This article pertains to the beta elements from Sonic & Knuckles.
Unused Zones[]
The True Doomsday Act 2[]
The actual Act 2 of The Doomsday Zone is inaccessible by normal means without cheats or glitches. The level is empty, except for a few chunks off screen. Due to there being no Rings in this area, the player will immediately fall to a bottomless pit and lose a life.
Gumball Machine Bonus Stage[]
The level remains absent, aside from the lock-on technology, and simply crashes on the title card due to the lack of data.
Slot Machine Act 2[]
A duplicate of the slot machine bonus stage.
Glowing Spheres Act 2[]
A duplicate of the glowing spheres bonus stage where the player spawns inside of a wall.
ID 0D Act 1[]
Normally used for giving Hidden Palace Zone its own title card in-game, accessing it directly crashes the game on a black screen while the Special Stage music plays. When playing the locked-on version, the Angel Island Zone Act 1 title card shows before the game crashes and restarts.
Carnival Night Zone (ID 03)[]
Upon entering Mushroom Hill Zone, and then using a Pro Action Replay code upon loading, remnants of Carnival Night Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 can be viewed, which only contains a cycling palette and background scrolling data. Though still in playable state, this will cause some of the foreground graphics to become corrupted and reaching the boss area will softlock due to the boss code of Carnival Night Zone being removed from the ROM.
Unused sprites[]
Sonic the Hedgehog 3[]
These graphics, which were found in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, are still present in the game's files.
Sprite | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
Static Monitor | An unused animation for a Monitor with static effects, which harms the player if opened, like an Eggman Mark. | |
S Monitor | An unused sprite for Monitor with the S item. Can be placed in Debug Mode. | |
"Bored" Animation | Sonic in his signature "waiting" pose, but instead of pointing towards the direction he is facing, he falls asleep instead. Strangely, the final frame is used for the instructions for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in Sonic Classic Collection, and later gets properly used in Sonic Origins. | |
"Whistle" animation | Sonic whistling. | |
Black and white Sonic death sprite | A black and white version of Sonic's death sprite. Such a sprite has been found in the files of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog CD as well. |
Sonic & Knuckles[]
Artwork | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
Super Sonic Slot
Machine Panel |
Reel image for the slot machine Bonus Stage. | |
F-Ball | An unused gumball intended for the glowing spheres for the Bonus Stage. It can be placed using Debug Mode, but it does nothing. | |
S-Ball | An unused gumball from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is found again in the glowing spheres Bonus Stage. | |
Platform | An unused platform intended for the glowing spheres Bonus Stage. Using Debug Mode, It can be placed in the stage and also be stood on. | |
Death Egg Hologram Projector | A machine that displays a hologram of the Death Egg, which is a reference to Star Wars. It can be found by hex-editing a savestate of Death Egg Zone's Act 2. | |
Slot | This object has no functionality and acts like a solid block. It is found in the Slot Machine Bonus Stage using Debug Mode and it appears to be based on the slot. | |
Hey Ho Pieces | A set of unused sprites, for the Mushroom Hill Zone Act 1's mini-boss, can be found in the mini-boss object data. Some sprites have minor differences from the final version. The body and head are displayed as separate sprites here, unlike the final version of the boss. | |
Fliying Battery object decoration | A decorative pipe-like object that can be placed in Debug Mode in Flying Battery Zone. | |
Early Capsule button | Graphics related to an earlier version of the button seen on Capsules being stored alongside the first set of Flying Battery Zone's object art. It has a longer post with the button itself having its shading unchanged from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. | |
FBZ2 Boss Head | A sprite from Flying Battery Zone 2's boss which goes unused due to a
programming oversight. It can be restored by using the Pro Action Replay code and it can be seen when it does its swinging attack. | |
Egg Golem Piece | A kind of screw that should complete the body of the Egg Golem, the boss of Sandopolis Zone Act 2, is not present. Its sprite is loaded and the object has a sub-value to load it. | |
LRZ2 Stepping Stone | A lava stepping stone for Lava Reef Zone Act 2. Though the stepping stones only appear in Act 1, they do not appear anywhere in Act 2, thus this Act-specific sprite goes unused. It can be found and placed in Debug Mode. | |
Eggrobo Jumping | The Eggrobo do not jump in this game. It is later used in Sonic Origins (although normally not seen in normal gameplay) if Knuckles reaches the Egg Cannon. | |
Knuckles intro cutscene | An unused Knuckles cutscene sprite for Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 when hanging onto the Flying Battery ship. | |
Black and white Knuckles | Just like Sonic and Tails, Knuckles also has a black and white version of his death sprite, which is also unused. | |
Sonic Swinging | An unused set of sprites for Sonic swinging, which have been found all the way up to the Sonic 3C 0408 prototype. Similar sprites for Tails and Knuckles also existed at one point. |
Tails[]
By hacking the game, a savestate can be found of a file for Tails and he can be enabled by using a PAR code of FFFF09:02. While he is playable, almost all his sprites are missing. The only sprites that are available are Tails running around the collapsing pillar at the end of Sky Sanctuary Zone, along with Lave Reef Zone with the same context, and his transformation sprite.
Super Insta-Shield[]
At one point in development, Super Sonic was supposed to have his own Insta-Shield which was superior to its predecessor. This Insta-Shield would be activated the same way as the Insta-Shield, except once activated, it would release a golden wave of energy instead of white that had a greater range and would last a whole second before having to recharge for about two seconds. This was removed because if it is used, the game will freeze for about three minutes and for some unknown reason, send Sonic to Hidden Palace Zone where the game would subsequently crash. (The move was found in the sprite files)
Unused music[]
Number 23 in the Sound Test reveals the "Game Clear" from Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Although it is not used here, a longer version of this jingle can be heard at the end of the credits medley. It is later used in Sonic Origins during the score tally in Launch Base Zone Act 2 after defeating Big Arms.
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