A Gamer's Cheat Codes Wiki
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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a platform video game developed by Sega Technical Institute and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis in North America) on February 2, 1994 in North America, February 24, 1994 in Europe, and May 27, 1994 in Japan. The game was technically the fourth main entry in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, being released 1 year after Sonic CD, but following the events of Sonic 2's ending.

While Sonic 2 introduced multiple playable characters in the form of Tails, this was the first entry in the series to include multiple playable characters with unique abilities, giving Sonic the new "Insta-Shield" ability and Tails the ability to fly at any point. This was also the first game include Sonic's friend and rival, Knuckles the Echidna, to the series, along with his ability to glide long distances.

The game was originally meant to be a much larger game, but due to a McDonald's Happy Meal promotion that was set to be released in February of 1994, the game would end up being split into two separate entries, the latter half being dubbed Sonic & Knuckles.

Cheat Codes[]

All of the codes provided relate to the original Mega Drive and Genesis releases of Sonic 3. Later re-releases or remakes may not have these cheat codes, or the codes may have changed.

Level Select + Debug Mode Press Up, Up, Down, Down, Up, Up, Up, Up after the SEGA logo screen fades to black and Sonic begins to move, but before the title screen appears. Scroll below Competition to find a Sound Test option and select it. There's only roughly a one second window of opportunity to do this, and the lag frames don't necessarily help, but you'll hear a ring chime if you did it. If this ends up being too difficult...
Sonic3LevelSelect
Level Select + Debug Mode Alternative Method

(Genesis Only, Requires Sonic 2)

Load up Sonic 2, go to the Sound Test and enter 19, 65, 09, 17 to launch the Level Select. After this, swap the cartridge with Sonic 3 without turning the power off, and then press Reset. Sound Test should be under Competition.

This is less of a cheat code and more of an exploit, however is still notorious enough and doesn't require code modifying to count. Do note that this could damage your games, console, or both.

Sonic3LevelSelect

Sound Test Cheat Codes[]

After entering the Level Select + Debug Mode cheat, if you go to the sound test and listen to specific sounds, you'll be able to access certain cheats.

All Chaos Emeralds Play sounds 02, 04, 05, 06 in the sound test. A Chaos Emerald sound will confirm play, you'll be able to access Super Sonic immediately upon collecting 50 rings.
Special Stage 1 Go the level select, play sound 00, and press + on Special Stage 2.
Special Stage 2 Go the level select, play sound 01, and press + on Special Stage 2.
Special Stage 3 Go the level select, play sound 02, and press + on Special Stage 2.
Special Stage 4 Go the level select, play sound 03, and press + on Special Stage 2.
Special Stage 5 Go the level select, play sound 04, and press + on Special Stage 2.
Special Stage 6 Go the level select, play sound 05, and press + on Special Stage 2.
Special Stage 7 Go the level select, play sound 06, and press + on Special Stage 2.
Unused Special Stage 8 Go the level select, play sound 07, and press + on Special Stage 2.

Trivia[]

  • The reason the alternative method for the Level Select works is due to the fact that the RAM variable that unlocks the level select is preserved when you reset the console. Since Sonic 3 was built on top of the Sonic 2 source code, they share quite a bit of RAM variables.
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