Originally posted by Gallstaff@May 22 2002,14:09
hey where are those codes that i asked for?
Here ..
Sonic the Hedgehog
To use the debug menu for level select, at the title screen press ^, v, <, >, hold A and press [Start]. Alternately, the same code, but pressing C after each direction, will give you debug options (in the game, B toggles debug mode, A cycles through objects, and C places the selected object, also you can pause and hold B for slow-motion, press C to advance only one frame, or press A to reset while keeping most codes enabled and keeping any collected emeralds. Enter both codes a few times, pause-A resetting in-between and eventually you'll end up with both level select and debug).
Collect all the emeralds through repeatedly using 'special stage' on the level select menu before you start the game (if you're really cheap, use debug mode and just move the placement cursor over the emerald, pressing B to return to Sonic and end the level) to make your life easier.
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Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic 2 is the debug king of the Sonic series (I'm thinking MegaMan 3 here...). There are probably more codes than I've listed here (I've gotten some pretty strange non-*ding!* sounds from the sound test before, but haven't linked any effect to them so far...), but I think these will be enough to start out.
To get to the main Sonic 2 level select, go into the options menu and play tunes 19, 65, 9 and 17 (the birthday of one of the game's big producers), return to the title screen, hold A and press [Start].
From the level select sound test play tunes 04, 01, 02 and 06 to give yourself Super Sonic from the start of the game (jump after collecting 50 rings, you'll transform as if you had all the emeralds).
Enter tunes 01, 09, 09, 02, 01, 01, 02, 04 (Sonic 2's release date) to activate debug mode (same controls as Sonic 1's debug). Hold A when you select your level.
For 14 continues, enter 01, 01, 02, 04 (probably just part of the release date again).
Hold C when you select your level to activate 'night mode,' basically a dark field over any unoccupied foreground location. (may have to enter debug first)
The monitor you get in debug mode is the 2-player position warp monitor. Not useful on its own, but if you activate Super Sonic and switch positions with Tails, Super Sonic's speed and invincibility will be transferred to tails. Place 2 monitors (you can't place an unbroken monitor once you've broken an existing switch monitor), and switch back to Sonic after giving Tails Super abilities, and get hit or let your rings count back to 0. Get 50 more rings and you can become Super again (after your rings reach 0 once, they won't drain again until you become Super again, and Tails will keep all his Super abilities until he dies (pits, crushing or drowning will kill him).
At the title screen, press ^, ^, ^, v, v, v, ^ or ^, ^, v, v, ^, ^, ^, ^ to switch the game's 'Tails/Miles polarity' (anywhere the game says Tails or Miles the names will be reversed).
Game Genie code ACLA-ATCY will cause the pointer from the level select's Emerald Hill 1 to point to the start of the infamous Hidden Palace zone. Only a shadow of the original data is left (level was removed during the game's production), but the music is still there, and you can use debug to scroll around the level and see what's left. All the level-specific graphic data is gone, plus the data which tells the game what floors/walls are solid, but sprite function data still exists (there ae a few crumbling platforms, a couple 'auto-spins' on pipe entrances and some nifty bridges which change color as you walk across them (palette data is also intact)). Sprites already in the level still function, for the most part (I haven't found any enemies I know were there from a beta ROM I've played), but the sprites debug mode lets you place are taken from Oil Ocean zone. Also, check out the only Tails 1up monitor in the game!
I've been working, periodically, with the hex code of Sonic 2 bin roms (the exact hex in the cart its self, and thus the hex GameGenie works with). If the remaining Hidden Palace data is still on the cart, just not where the game expects it to be, I may be able to work out some Game Genie code combination that makes the HPZ fully playable to the degree in which it was playable when furhter work on it was abandoned. If anyone has information which might help me in this endeavor, don't hesitate to E-mail me at
seanstar@aol.com!
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Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Yep, there's a debug/level select here too! Press ^, ^, v, v, ^, ^, ^, ^ quickly (but accurrately, you're more likely to miss it by not hitting all the ^s and vs correctly than by hitting them too slowly) between the darkening on the SEGA screen and the completion of Sonic's intro to the title screen (as with almost all of SEGA's Sonic codes, you'll hear a ring chime). The Options menu can now be found on the title screen below the 2-player line. I guess SEGA got tired of hiding stuff after Sonic 2 because all you need to do here is hold A when you select your level to trigger debug mode. Controls are the same as in all the other games, except for the fact that in addition to B toggling debug, A flips gravity. The monitors here are Super Sonic monitors, which give you 50 rings and Superdom. Alas, like the warp monitors, once you break a Super monitor you can no longer place Super monitors, so plan ahead.
BTW, notice anything strange? That's right! Mushroom Valley, Flying Battery and Sandopolis aren't even in Sonic 3! Yes folks, this is another Hidden Palace Zone type phenomenon. These levels were, in all probability, removed from the game during development. Unlike the dearly departed HPZ, however, these levels were put back into Sonic & Knuckles! (I've heard playable traces of them still exist in Sonic 3, but I've yet to actually get at them there) Yes, I know there is a HPZ in S&K, but believe me, it's not the same as S2's. I personally think the original HPZ was much cooler than the one SEGA finally used. For a small (very small, actually) peek at the original HPZ's graphics, select either of the 2nd 2P VS levels. Yes, not only did SEGA not clean the unused levels out of the level select, they also retained all the S2 level icons, including the HPZ which could never be viewed in S2's level select!
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Sonic & Knuckles
Another level select (this one, alas, without a debug... read further for details)! As either character, make your way to the first chance to hang on something (in this case, one of the jack-pump-lifters), and press <, <, <, >, >, >, ^, ^, ^ (*ding!*). Pause and press A as if you were in debug to reset. Now guess what! Hold A and hit [Start]!
... And guess how much attention SEGA paid to the S&K level select screen? That's right! Not too smegging much! You can choose from any level in S&K or Sonic 3, but hte Sonic 3 levels put you right at the start of S&K. Note of interest: the music here is from Sonic 3.
Okay, so the codes for S&K alone are pretty lame. I agree. This, however, is because, to my understanding, S&K was never supposed to exist in the first place. It was supposed to be included in Sonic 3, but the developers ran out of space. Hence the invention of the super-special lock-on system, which does nothing more than tack the S&K code onto the code of another game (it was originally supposed to work with Sonic 1 as well as Sonic 2 & 3, but a glitch with Knuckles gliding into Scrap Brain conveyor belts caused Sonic 1 linking to be dropped). Below are codes to work with Knuckles in Sonic 2 and 3:
S2&K:
Yippee Skippee the Level Select: ^, ^, ^, v, v, v, <, >, <, > at the title screen. For debug, enter S&K's release date: 01, 09, 09, 04, 01, 00, 01, 08. Anyone starting to notice a pattern? Same controls as always.
S3&K:
SEGA gets tricky here, but I have to admit the debug for S3&K is much easier to pull off reliably than the debug for S3. First, start a game. Any will do, as long as you start in Angel Island (the no-save file is nice here). Grab the first swinging vine you come across and enter the S&K code of <, <, <, >, >, >, ^, ^, ^ (*ding!*). Pause and press A. Find the Options below 2 Player on the title screen and go to Mushroom Hill. <, <, <, >, >, >, ^, ^, ^ (*ding!*) on a ratchet-pump. Pause and press A. Next time you select your level, hold A when you press [Start]. Controls are the same as in Sonic 3. By pressing C you can change your starting character. Try doing odd things like sending Knuckles to the Death Egg if you get bored.
