Though my exams are still keeping me busy, I found some time to upload the Sonic 2 rips Para has given us so far. Next up will be the Prototype and CD, the latter being pretty massive.

Hope you enjoy.

-Xypter

No doubt, it has been awhile since I have given this archive some TLC. In fact, there have been a log of submissions dating back to November last year. The good news however, is that with the update in archive format, this has opened up our collection to accepting older MFZ sheets.

Though the quality is questionable, this update brings an update to all MFZ sections. Most noteably, there have been 8 new sprite tutorials added, 3 of which come from one of our very own members Blur. Other major additions include Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles with their evil variants, derived from the InSonicnia days.

For the new customs section, our Others section got a hefty update, courtesy of Xeric and his beautifully made custom sprites. though progress has been going at a snails pace, the Sonic 1 Prototype page has been created and updated to the current number of sheets Para has been able to rip.

I can't promise quicker updates with my current test schedule, but rest assured that this archive will continue to receive updates whenever possible.

If you are interested in contributing, we are still open for submissions in our Discord. If you are lurking, I hope you enjoy the new additions, wherever you can find them 😈.

A small update.

All custom sprites that were in the old collection have been transitioned to the new collection. You can now view all new work in its proper place, organized by submitter firstly, then organized by title secondarily. Sort of makes all the new stuff look a bit sparce now that it's finished.

I am now ready to start on the backlog of sprites that have yet to be uploaded. There are some old stuff waiting to be added. Feel free to join the Discord if you have anything that you would like to add as well.

Also note that if you feel any twing of motivation, you can also help create some of our new icons for the rips section, and be included in our upcoming thank you page, a list of all of the members who have made this collection possible so far.

Until next time

-Xypter

After many hours of hard work, in part from myself as well as a half dozen of our members, we are finally releasing version 2 of our sprite archive.

What does this entail exactly? For starters the look of the buttons has been completely redone. After a lot of feedback regarding the MFZ's smaller icons, a decision was made to increase their size, as well as give room for text titling to enable us to clearly label each sprite sheet. We have also decided to split the archive into three distinct sections:

Customs: For any and all sprites that are not considered rips. These would fall into the category of recent work done post-MFZ.

Rips: Any work taken from official/fan games.

MFZ Archive: All items associated with the old archive, as well as sheets produced in the MFZ era.

The decision to split the archive was made not only from a need for more detailed icons, but also to symbolize the seperation in quality of work accepted during the MFZ's lifespan. Though much of the old archive has a lot of good gems, its organization and quality lacked consistency. Our goal in seperating the new from the old is an attempt to solve those two issues. We cherish and respect the work that was done during the MFZ, and want to continue to preserve that legacy. At the same time, we understand that times have changed, and the standard of quality has been elavted as spriting as an art form has evolved. So too has web development taken a technological leap, necessitating that we continue to find ways to use the new tools at our desposal.

So how will things be moving forward? 

First, we will be working closely with Παρατηρητής, who has graciously decided to let us host his sheets, in making a more comprehensive rips section. There are many sections right now that are currently empty, but over time will be filled with new content as he continues to rip sheets from the official titles. The goal is to eventually have all of these games 100% ripped in effort to create the most comprehensive, easy to use sheets available.

Second, we will continue to add new sheets to the MFZ archive, sticking with our original object of preserving the past. I personally still love a lot of the old sheets that were created during that era, and feel it is still a resource people will find useful.

Lastly, we will be looking to the future, by accepting high quality custom work made by the community today. There are so many artists still creating sprite sheets hosted all over the internet. We hope that as we become more comprehensive as a resource, people will look to host their work here to make it widely accessible to other content creators. With enough time we hope to become the largest sprite community on the internet.

Though we are just getting starting, I hope you will enjoy the first part of our efforts. Sonic 1, has been completely archived, so use it to your hearts content.

Xypter

Wonder of wonders, we actually have new content! How exciting.

This update comes courtesy of the Mod Gen team. No, unfortunately none of them are back, but we are taking an active effort to keep the project's remains alive by having them part of the collection. Big thanks goes to OmegaSonic for filling in the gaps. We may still have more to upload soon enough so stay tuned.

There are also a couple updates of some older sheets. Credit to Lost3DBlastFan for those. We also have one new custom background provided to us by Dolphman.

The Old

The New

That's all I got. Stay tuned for more.

Hey you! Yeah you! I see you reading this. If you or someone you love have some good sprites lying around, why don't you head over to our Discord and share the love. What have you got to lose? Matter of fact, what are you still reading this for? Join NOW!!!

I apologize for this late update. Though I like to update every Friday, sometimes life gets ahead of me and real world matter take precedence. We are back on track though, this time with some new Sonic Mania sheets curtesy of Dolphman. We also have a new addition by our recent member Void, as well as an old archive submission by Lost3DBlastFan. Here is the breakdown:

The Old

The New

That's all for now.

For anyone new browsing this page, if you have any personal rips or custom sprites of your own, hop onto the Discord and submit your work. We would love to add more cool original work to this collection.

Yeah, we have a metric ton of new sprites. This week we are showcasing new content courtesy of our members. Before that, here are some older sheets added for archival purposes:

The Old - Big thank you to Lost3DBlastFan for combing through the old archives and finding some missing gems.

The New

Our first sheet is brought to you by SonicKast. A custom Metal Sonic sheet:

Next on our list is a custom Sonic sheet by Kris, with a second addtion to the Sonic Expanded series with Sonic Expanded 2.

For those that have been lurking on on the MFZ for a long time, you may remember sheets uploaded by Nova-Nebulas. Here are a few new sheets that he's made since the old archive:

Finally, we have a large addition to the Machinary, Custom BG's and Items section, courtesy of Jebo14. A big thank you for letting us host your sheets:

Big, BIG thank you to all our contributors who continue to improve the quality of this collection. All your work is much appriciated.

Until next week

-Xypter

After a couple weeks of getting myself situated, I finally got around to posting our second major addition to the archive. A big shout out and thank you to Dolphman for contributing most of the sheets you see here. I'm sure many of you are aware on how much time goes into ripping and organizing these sheets. Not to mention that a lot of what you see involved other contributors. These sheets provide major additions to the Badnik, Items & Icons and Eggman sections, along with a couple of very cool custom background sheets.

Here's what we got:

Also in this update is a special addition of a another Sonic sprite sheet made by Shinbaloonba. We Have decided to add this piece in support of continuing his legacy, and making sure his work is not forgotten.

That's all for now.

-Xypter

After finishing the majority of the archive, I finally got around to putting up the first update. From now on, each new icon will be disgnated with a *new* symbol, kinda like this:

We have a lot of items new and old added this update. Here's what we got:

The Old

Special thanks to TheBlurCafe, MotorRoach and Kast for hunting these down for me.

The New

Suggestions are now open on our Discord for anyone who would like to add to the archive. The forums are also still available for any uploads. I will endeavor to update our archive every Friday, but no promises.

Well folks it's happened, the old Mystical Forest Archive has finally been restored. Many hours of hard work were put into this project. I honestly had no understanding of how taxing this process would be until I was way over my head in tedious icon creating. In all, it took two months to recreate the 1000+ icons in the collection, a fair amount of time for me considering I work full time and pursue other hobbies. My initial excitement motivated me in the beginning, but the small community of memebers who have began to use this resource has kept me pushing through the growling process. I have to admit that after awhile this became more of a chore than something I enjoyed.

Regardless, I think a lot of people will appreciate having this back. New sprite additions will help make this resource more useful, as well as give us some healthy goals to work towards. There are so many spriters who have created their own projects while the MFZ was gone. Some of these sheets have also been improved. Not to mention that Sega released Sonic Mania a couple years ago, opening the floodgates of hundreds of moders creating sprites for the game. While the old archive has been restored, this is only the beginning of more things to come.

As a side note, I have left the archive counter at 99% since there were a number of sheets I was not able to locate during my archiving. If any of you would care to help me find them, I have attached a text document listing the names of these sheets and their sections.

Edit: An official list has been added to the Discord under #bounties. Join the fun damn it.

So what can be expected in the next couple weeks?

First the suggestions process needs an overhaul. Admitedly I'm a bit embarrassed to invite any more members until there is a solid process for suggesting sheets to the collection. During this week I will be creating general sheet guidelines, a step-by-step guide for suggesting a sheet and preparing our Discord to handle this process in an organized way.

Second will be scouting out talent. My ultimate goal for our community is that we will become a hub for Sonic spriters, comic makers and game developers alike. A place where creators can come together to share their work and contribute to the archive. I believe that the more artists we can host, the better our site will become as a resource for creators to use. I have a vision for many more things to come, and I'm hoping that along the way I can share that passion with others who feel the same way.

As a kid, spriting was an exciting hobby that gave me an outlet for my creativity. I've made so many valuable friendships through the years thanks to sites like the MFZ. I hope as I continue this project, that the same will happen for all of you.

Hope you all are doing well. Happy Tuesday!