Sonic Jam

Sonic Jam

-- Intro -- Ah, goodness...the memories, the memories! (WARNING! Another Green Gibbon! "Sonic story" imminent. Proceed at your own risk.) Initially, I was disappointed that Jam didn't improve the games within with enhanced graphics and sound. But the more I played, the more I began to appreciate the fact that they were kept in their untouched original forms. Look, I am not an emotional person. But when I started Sonic 1 from the get-go...those old Toys-R-Us memories came a-floodin' back. And in a lapse of composure, a real live bead of the salty stuff slipped past these long-dry tear ducts. Just one, and for the length of a split second, I was a ten-year old kid playing Sonic at a Toys-R-Us kiosk again. Oh yeah, you know what's important in my life.

-- Story -- (None Available)

-- Gameplay Info -- Quite obviously, it's a classics collection including the four original Genesis Sonic titles: Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic & Knuckles. As mentioned above, the games are in their untouched original forms, with just a couple extras...

Now, you can choose between three difficulty settings. In EASY, every Zone has only one Act, and there are alot less obstacles. In NORMAL, certain obstacles are removed. In ORIGINAL mode, everything's just as it was the first time and is the logical choice for experienced speedsters.

Other additions include the option to enable the Spin Dash in Sonic 1, and the option to turn the timer off in any one of the games. There are also "flash saves" similar to those in Sonic CD...only one to a game, though, and it's deleted as soon as you start a new one. You can also play the Special Stages right from the splash screens, as well as Time Attack in every single Zone and Act. Finally, you can view both the Japanese and US instruction manuals...every single page!

From the title screen, you can also choose to go to the Sonic World. The Sonic World, like the 3D museums in the PSX Namco collections, serves as a pretty interface to access some game history and other goodies. Right at the entrance you'll find a red and white trampoline...jump on it to access the World Missions. Each World Mission challenges you to complete a certain task (such as collecting 50 Rings, hitting all the Lampposts, etc.) within a time limit. Complete the task, and new objects will appear around the Sonic World. By the time you've done them all, you'll find the following items scattered around the level: Rings (100 to be exact), Springs, Lampposts, monitors (that reveal cheats for the original games), giant balloons, Tails, Flickies, and finally a giant Ring. Jump into the giant Ring to view the credits.

But the real substance of the Sonic World are the various "houses". Here's what you'll find:

Character House -- Contains profiles and conceptual art of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Robotnik. Also covers Sonic's original friends (Flicky, Ricky, Picky, Pocky, Rocky, Pecky, and Cucky) and all the Badniks from Sonic 1 - S&K.
Music Shop -- A sound test with tracks from Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Sonic Jam all in one convenient stop.
Movie Theater -- A collection of Sonic cinemas including:
- Sonic CD opening, complete uncut version
- Sonic CD ending, complete uncut version
- A promotional clip from the Sonic anime OVA
- An unidentifiable clip of American Sonic animation
- An unpublished computer-animated clip from a planned Sonic ride
- Two Japanese Sonic 1 TV commercials
- Two Japanese Sonic 2 TV commercials
- Japanese Sonic 3 TV commercial
- Japanese Sonic Spinball TV commercial
- Japanese Sonic CD TV commercial
- Japanese Sonic & Tails (Sonic Chaos) TV commercial
- Japanese Sonic & Tails 2 (Triple Trouble) TV commercial
- Japanese Sonic Drift TV commercial
Art Gallery -- A collection of various Sonic art.
Hall of Fame -- A timeline chronicling major events in Sonic history.

On a final note, there are also computer wallpapers accessible by popping the Sonic Jam disc into your PC CD-ROM. For hardcore Sonic fans, this collection is absolutely essential.

Information

Review By:
Green Gibbon

Debut:
August, 1997 (Sonic Jam)

Players:
2

Publisher:
SEGA

Developer:
The Sonic Team

Codes & Cheats

14 Continues in Sonic 2
At the options screen, play sounds 01, 01, 02, 04.

Antigravity
While Sonic 3 is locked into Sonic & Knuckles, simply enter the correct debug code and press A whenever you want to float around. To allow gravity to reassert itself simply press A again.

Bonus Images
For some nice screen shots and wallpaper, place the Sonic Jam CD in your computer and look in the "Extras" folder.

Bonus Mini-game
At the title screen, highlight "Sonic World" then hold A and press START. This will send you into Sonic World to get 100 rings in under 60 seconds. Good luck!

Clean Pause Screen
For cleaner screenshots, press X + Y + Z while the game is paused.

Debug Mode in Sonic & Knuckles with Sonic 3 locked on
Enter the Sonic & Knuckles with Sonic 3 locked on code. Then, when you enter a Zone, hold A and Start until the letters leave the screen. Unpause the game, and use the regular Debug keys (B to enter, A to switch, C to place) to place object.

Hidden Codes
In the Sonic World segment of the game there are polygonal versions of the power up boxes in the Sonic games. Walk up to them and press either A, B, or C to read them. Each one gives a different code that can be used on the different Sonic games.

Level Select in Sonic & Knuckles
To access a stage select with no game locked in, play through the first level until you reach the machine that allows you to pull yourself up. Jump and hang from one of the handles, then, while your character is hanging from the handle, press Left, Left, Left, Right, Right, Right, Up, Up, Up. You'll hear a chime if you entered it fast enough. Pause and press A, the game should restart. When the title screen appears, hold A and press start. Note that you cannot access certian levels unless you have Sonic 3 locked on.

Level Select in Sonic & Knuckles with Sonic 2 locked on
To access a stage select with Sonic 2 locked on, quickly press Up, Up, Up, Down, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right. At the main menu you should hear a chime. Hold A and press Start.

Level Select in Sonic & Knuckles with Sonic 3 locked on
For a stage select with Sonic 3 locked on, play through the first stage until you reach the swinging vine. Jump onto it, and while your character is swinging from the vine, press Left, Left, Left, Right, Right, Right, Up, Up, Up. You should hear a chime. Pause and press A, the game should restart. Press Up or Down at the title screen to access Sound Test mode with a stage select.In this menu, while highlighting Sound Test, press Left/Right to change the sound, A to skip sounds by ten, C to play the sound, and B to stop the sound. While highlighting a stage, press C to change the yellow number at the upper left of the screen. This number indicates your character: 00 is Sonic and Tails, 01 is Sonic, 02 is Tails, and 03 is Knuckles. Note that some characters can't enter some levels; for instance, Knuckles can't enter Doomsday 1 or 2

Level Select in Sonic 1
Start a game of Sonic the Hedgehog. When Sonic's head appears, press Up, Down, Left, Right, A, Start.

Level Select in Sonic 2
Go to the Options screen and play sounds 19, 65, 09 and 17.

Level Select in Sonic 3
To get level select on the title screen press: Up, Up, Down, Down, Up, Up, Up, Up. Then press up or down depending on which choice you're on and you should go to sound test. This code is a lot easier than the code for the Genesis version.

Level Select in Sonic 3
Start "Sonic 2" and play sounds 19, 65, 09 and 17. Now hold A and press RESET, but don't release A.

When the game restarts, choose Sonic 3. When the title screen appeasr, release A and press UP to reveal the SOUND TEST option. Select this to enable Level Select.

Skip Ending Credits
Once you have beaten the game you can skip the credits by hitting A+B+C+start

Sonic 2 Music (using your PC)
If you look in the Sonic12 folder, you should find some music from Sonic 2 in AIFF format.

Start with All Chaos Emeralds in Sonic 2
At the level select screen, play sounds 04, 01, 02, 06.

Tails Teleport
In Metropolis Zone in Sonic 2, playing as Tails if you hold down and jump the split-second after let go of down you will teleport to the level below you. There also needs to be floor below you.

Tails in Sonic & Knuckles
Play Sonic & Knuckles and lock it on to Sonic 3. Play as Tails alone and beat Sonic 3. (It's not so hard). Then you can play Sonic & Knuckles as Tails.

Unlock All Levels in Time Attack mode
To unlock all the levels in Time Attack mode for Sonic, Sonic 2, or Sonic 3 enter the level select code for that game and play the final level. This will automatically unlock all the levels until you clear your Saturn's memory.

View All Movies
To watch all the movies in the theater in sequence, press X, Y, and Z, and while holding these, press A. It'll take longer to load up then usual, then you'll watch all the movies in order. If you watch carefully you'll notice a few that aren't available in the theater selection screen.

View Credits
To view the credits for Sonic Jam, go to Sonic World, and complete all of the world missions. Once you have, go to the waterfall. You should see a gigantic gold ring. Now, go on the platform near you that goes up and down. When it's at its highest point, jump in the huge gold ring.

View Digital Manuals (using your PC)
To view the digital manuals for the Sonic games on your computer screen, put the CD in your computer and look in the Man_Eng and Man_Jpn folders. The manuals are stored as .TIF files, which can be read by most professional paint packages (e.g. Paint Shop Pro) This can be useful if you want to print out sections of the manual (e.g. High score tables)

View Sonic Museum pictures (using your PC)
[Use a paint package that can support raw data files e.g. PSP4]. Open the MDG2 folder on the CD, and load one of the files, telling the program it is a raw data file. For the width, enter 640. For the height, enter 448. If there is a colors dialog box, set it to single channel (grayscale). After the picture has loaded, use the Negative Image tool. You should now have a b/w image from the Sonic Museum on your PC screen! (Note: For some reason, the picture is offset to the left - nothing is wrong with your computer!)

View Titles and Info screens (using your PC)
If you have Paint Shop Pro, you can view some of the title screens and other backgrounds etc. Put the CD in your PC again, and select the Browser function. Enter in D: (or whatever your CD is), and it should come up with some pictures from the game.

Music

Museum Theme

Pictures

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