I first tried mapping this game in 2005, which was nine years ago
![Shocked :o](https://www.vgmaps.com/forums/Smileys/default/shocked.gif)
! Needless to say, I was nowhere near as good at mapping at the time as I am today (and compared to some, I'm still not that good so don't think I'm on some ego trip) so I gave up after assembling serviceable maps of a few stages that had a lot of areas I couldn't capture.
Anyway, after experimenting with Sonic Advance 2 on the GBA, I decided to see if I could use a modified version of my camera Lua script for this game since Gens-ReRecording also supports Lua. I wasn't as successful as I would have wanted since I was not able to control the camera directly this time; although I found the coordinates for it, trying to change them makes the display super jittery and only shows the sprites at the intended location, with the actual stage graphics being all messed up. I *can* move Sonic himself around freely though along the isometric axes, and since the camera automatically centers on him I can eventually capture the entire map, even if it's harder than by moving the camera vertically and horizontally like on the GBA.
I wasted a lot of time capturing the starting position and orientation of the various enemies and obstacles only to eventually realize that that there's absolutely no consistency there, with enemies of the same type never starting on the same frame of animation as each other. I decided to introduce some order, by only using one or two frames per type of enemy and obstacles and using the closest one as seen in game because otherwise, it would have looked sloppier while being more accurate.
I also decided to use transparencies to add in two hidden paths, one leading to a cannon on the right edge of the stage and another behind the waterfall. Something to note (if you care about such details) is that the graphics of the right path are actually there but are hidden underneath those of the cliff, while there are no graphics for the path behind the waterfall so I had to assemble it by hand based on the space where Sonic can move after hiding the layer with the waterfall.
Finally, I've attached two pictures at the end of this post to show just how much empty space there is on the first map and how much filler I had to add (don't mind the eye-searing purple). At first, I thought I'd leave the map as is but after taking a look at smaller versions of all the maps on another site, I realized I could pretty much extend the map vertically with very little editing. I only had to remove a few tiles on the outer edges that weren't visible anyway.
Green Grove Zone, Act 1:
Green Grove Zone, Act 2:
Green Grove Zone, Act 3:
Rusty Ruin Zone, Act 1:
Rusty Ruin Zone, Act 2:
Rusty Ruin Zone, Act 3:
Spring Stadium Zone, Act 1:![](https://i.imgur.com/P0tR8MAm.png)