OVERSonic '06 gets a native Android port with MarathonRecomp-Android
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) now runs on Android without an emulator. SansNope, who already makes the Android version of Unleashed Recompiled, released MarathonRecomp-Android on GitHub, an unofficial Android port of sonicnext-dev's MarathonRecomp. v0.1.0 and v0.1.5 both came out on October 26.
How it works
MarathonRecomp is a static recompilation of the Xbox 360 game: its PowerPC code is translated ahead of time into C++, and its Xenos shaders into SPIR-V, so it runs as native code. The Android port builds that for arm64 phones and draws it with Vulkan, and adds a launcher styled after the 2006 menus. It's not affiliated with the MarathonRecomp team or SEGA, and Android problems should go to the port's issue tracker, not upstream.
What you get
- In-app install: the launcher installs the game from your own files (a folder or ZIP) and counts any DLC it finds. No PC step is needed to play.
- Drivers: bundled Mesa Turnip builds for Adreno, picked automatically and swapped out if one fails to start. You can also import your own
.soor AdrenoTools/ExynosTools zip. - Touch controls with a layout editor, plus a render-scale setting that keeps the HUD at native resolution.
- Android tuning: worker threads are kept off the small CPU cores, and the swap chain is pre-rotated so the system doesn't add an extra composition pass.
- v0.1.5 adds experimental Mali and PowerVR support from the Unleashed port. The game's BC textures are converted to ETC2 as they load, so loading takes longer on those GPUs.
How it runs
So far it's been tested on two phones. A POCO F5 (Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2, Adreno 725) runs the hub, events, a boss, Wave Ocean and Dusty Desert at about 60 fps at 60% render scale, with short drops during scene loads. A Snapdragon 8 Elite phone (Adreno 830) handled the hub and a level at 125% render scale. Mali is still unproven: the first reports from two Helio G99 devices (Mali-G57) say the game doesn't start yet, and older Bifrost Mali GPUs aren't supported at all. Adreno 610 (Snapdragon 680) shows broken title and menu graphics with the default driver. The touch controls don't adapt to menus or cutscenes yet, and anti-aliasing is off upstream. MarathonRecomp itself is still in active development, and the developer says the Android port was built with AI help.
What you need
An arm64 phone or handheld on Android 10 or newer with Vulkan, and your own legally acquired Xbox 360 copy of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). No game files are included, and Overclocked doesn't host or link them. Snapdragon devices with Adreno 7xx or 8xx are the safest bet right now.
Get the APK from the project's GitHub releases. It's now in the Overclocked ports directory. Today's other directory updates include Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite Recomp v0.3.1 with a 60 fps beta, Tooie Recompiled v1.1.0 with custom touch controls and driver import, Free Riders Recompiled 0.10.35, DW5 Android v1.5 and Ocarina ReTuned 0.5.0 with a dual-screen mode.