Once you do activate Super or Hyper Sonic, you'll find that unlike the original game, the vast majority of his graphics now correctly reflect his change in form (though this does not currently extend to the Sonic 1 or Sonic 2 alternative sprite patches).īugfix correction on Flying Battery boss.īugfixes cover all sorts of issues, from common annoyances (such as Robotnik showing up for Knuckles in Flying Battery, or the unreadable HUD text in Angel Island) to tiny details (such as mapping frames being slightly misaligned, or doubled-up rings in the same spot). All of these changes can be reversed individually in the menu if preferred. While transformed, rather than being forced to listen to the invincibility theme on endless loop, the default behaviour is to speed up the existing level music as if you had super sneakers. The same alternate-button double-jump can be used to cancel a super transformation. One significant change affects activation of super forms this now requires pressing a different button from the one last used to jump to transform in mid-air, allowing for usage of all double-jump abilities without forced transformation, and allowing Sonic to transform even if he has a shield. The controls for Tails' flight in this mode can be toggled between Sonic 1 2013-style, in which player 1 directly controls Tails and down must be held while jumping to detach, or traditional Sonic 3-style as used during the Marble Garden boss, where player 1 can use the d-pad to direct Tails. A feature borrowed from Soallows Sonic, in a Sonic and Tails game, to have AI Tails start flying by holding up while double-jumping Sonic can then be picked up by Tails and control Tails' flight, allowing him to explore further without having a second player present.
Rather than being the third wheel, the Tails experience has been upgraded: he now has his own intro sequence, like Sonic and Knuckles (whose Sonic & Knuckles intro has been moved to the start of the full game in Angel Island), his own continue screen, and his own colours on the results screen. Most bugfixes are always on and cannot be disabled, but subjective feature tweaks can mostly be reverted to the original behaviour. Mushroom Hill also takes its name from the Sonic 3 level select, Mushroom Valley, and a new transition takes you from there straight to Sandopolis if Flying Battery is moved away from its normal position.Ī large number of tweaks and bugfixes have been made to smooth over rare and common issues in the game. When moving from Flying Battery to Icecap, the snowboard sequence involves the broken exit door from Flying Battery, as was once planned. Sonic 3 Complete features an option to restore it to that position, with a suitably altered night sky, and a further optional change to the indoor colour scheme to match the unused save screen icon from Sonic 3 (which has also been restored). It is commonly understood that Flying Battery Zone was originally intended to be played between Carnival Night and Icecap, but was moved around late in the development of Sonic 3. Perhaps most notably of all, the transition between the Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles zones is much improved, restoring Sonic 3's final boss Big Arm for Sonic and Tails at the end of Launch Base, and providing a cutscene based on the Sonic & Knuckles title screen to bridge the gap.įor those who aren't so set on Sonic 3 being the better half, it is possible to revert most of these changes using menu options or patches, and even to apply different musical configurations when playing the separate Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles halves. Launch Base's tricky traps are hence restored to their full power, and watching your step during the Hydrocity wall chase is well advised. As such, the default setup for Sonic 3 Complete restores Sonic 3's audio and visual style for the whole game, including, amongst other things, the original main game themes, Knuckles' iconic Jacksonesque drumbeat and associated miniboss theme, the reflective lack of music in zone transitions, the original title cards and a lack of "and Knuckles!" exclamations glued in wherever possible.įor the Sonic 3 zones, the original object layouts are available, and are used by default in most cases. The primary inspiration for the project's creation was the idea that Sonic 3's presentation got a lot of things right that Sonic & Knuckles changed for the worse. Original Sonic 3 (final) Launch Base layout. The following is a summary of some of the most notable changes included in Sonic 3 Complete.