Difference between revisions of "Sonic Jam (Game.com)"

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Sonic Jam

System(s): Game.com

Publisher: Tiger Electronics

Developer: Tiger Electronics

Licensor: Sega

Genre: Action

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code	Rating
US	1998-07-10	$19.95^[1]	71-734

Sonic Jam is a game released on the short-lived Tiger Game.com exclusively in North America. It is a pseudo-compilation of three Sonic the Hedgehog games originally released for the Sega Mega Drive; Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and Sonic & Knuckles. Though the game shares the same name as Sonic Jam for the Sega Saturn, its content is entirely different. Its poor quality has led to poor reception from critics and fans alike, and has been cited as one of the worst Sonic games ever made.

In 2011, an official Game.com emulator was released, meaning the game is now playable on computers^[2].

Story

“	Oh no, the evil Dr. Robotnik is back and meaner than ever! Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles need to use all their speed and skill to keep the world a safe place and defend the Floating Island.	„
— Sonic Jam Game.com US manual^[3]

Gameplay

Sonic Jam for the Game.com does not contain entire games; each game contains only the first respective Zone consisting of four Acts each. The first Act ends with a Signpost, while most other Acts end with a boss fight. When all four Acts are completed, the game ends and the player's high score will be recorded to the Game.com's internal memory, with each game having its own high score.

There are three selectable characters; Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, all of whom retain the Spin Attack and Spin Dash using only the button. Sonic cannot perform the Insta-Shield, and Knuckles cannot glide or use his wall climbing ability, however Tails is still able to fly. The Spin Dash functions differently from the original games in that when charging the move, the player must hold instead of to hold the charge, and the move cannot be charged more than once. The only power-ups available from Item Boxes are Super Rings, Power Sneakers, Invincibility and 1-UPs (which always show Sonic's icon regardless of the player's character).

The game has a very low framerate, and as such the footage used in the Game.com commercial had been sped up^[4].

Selectable games

Games are selectable on the main menu. After selecting a game, a character select screen appears next.

	Sonic 2
	All the levels use the graphics of Emerald Hill Zone. There are three regular enemies and three bosses. The bosses used are Egg Poison from Chemical Plant Zone in Act 2, Egg Hammer from Aquatic Ruin Zone in Act 3, and Egg Drillster from Emerald Hill Zone in Act 4. Surprisingly, the last boss in this game is the first boss of the 16-bit version.
	Sonic 3
	All the levels use the graphics of Angel Island Zone. There are three regular enemies, one reused from Sonic 2, and two bosses. The bosses used are the Fire Breath in Act 2 and Egg Scorcher Mk. III in Act 4.
	Sonic & Knuckles
	All the levels use the graphics of Mushroom Hill Zone. There are three regular enemies and three bosses. The bosses used are the Egg Scrambler and Hey Ho from Mushroom Hill Zone in Acts 2 and 3 respectively, and also the Gapsule from Flying Battery Zone in Act 4.

Bonus Stage

The Bonus Stage, in which the player is instructed to "Get Black Spheres".

The Bonus Stage^[5] in Sonic Jam is based on the Special Stage from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, and the method of accessing it is similar in that the player must find and enter Giant Rings hidden throughout the levels. The objective is to collect all of the black spheres while avoiding the white spheres. Like in the original Special Stages, encircling a large square of black spheres will turn the spheres into Rings, which are worth 100 points each. It is impossible to jump in these Bonus Stages, making it more difficult to avoid white spheres.

As there are no Chaos Emeralds to collect, collecting every black sphere will instead award the player with 10,000 points.

History

Development

Main article: Sonic Jam (Game.com)/Development

Hidden content

Main article: Sonic Jam (Game.com)/Hidden content

Manuals

US manual
Digital manual from Hasbro website

Screenshots

Character selection screen.
Sonic Ending
Tails Ending
Knuckles Ending

Physical scans

Game.com, US
Cover
Cart File:SonicJam GameCom US Manual.pdf Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System

Hash

Size

Build Date

Source

Comments

?

CRC32	8b4a63f9
MD5	10a19c8b536ce8e767445e04abdea9cb
SHA-1	393a98138c8825ed61990e1b15e1967f87068ac6

2MB

Cartridge

References

Sonic Jam (Game.com)

Sonic the Hedgehog games for other systems
Sonic Jam (1998) \| Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (1999) \| Sonic N (2003) \| Sonic X (2007) \| Sonic the Hedgehog (2008) \| Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (2012)
Prerelease Sonic the Hedgehog games for other systems
Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (prototype; 1999-10-22) \| Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure Taikenban \| Sonic N (prototype; 2003-09-16)

[:File:Gamecom_US_Catalogue.pdf_p6-1] File:Gamecom US Catalogue.pdf, page 6

[https:.2F.2Fhiddenpalace.org.2FNews.2FMiscellanea-2] Hidden Palace: News

[:File:SonicJam_Gamecom_digital_manual.pdf_p3-3] File:SonicJam Gamecom digital manual.pdf, page 3

[https:.2F.2Fwww.youtube.com.2Fwatch.3Fv.3DDp460zM_PGA-4] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp460zM_PGA

[:File:SonicJam_Gamecom_digital_manual.pdf_p5-5] File:SonicJam Gamecom digital manual.pdf, page 5

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Bob
+{{bob
 | bobscreen=SonicJamGCTitle.png
+| publisher=[[Tiger Electronics]]
+| developer=[[Tiger Electronics]]
+| licensor=[[Sega]]
+| system=[[Game.com]]
 | title=Sonic Jam
-| publisher=[[Tiger Electronics|Tiger]]
+| genre=Action
-| developer=[[Sega]]
+| players=1
-| system=[[Game.com]]
+| releases={{releases
-| releases=
+| gamecom_date_us=1998-07-10
-{{release|Gamecom|US|1998-07-10}}
+| gamecom_rrp_us=19.95{{fileref|Gamecom US Catalogue.pdf|page=6}}
-| gamecount=3
+| gamecom_code_us=71-734
-| genre=Compilation
+| gamecom_rating_us=e
-| esrb=e
+}}
 }}
+'''''Sonic Jam''''' is a game released on the short-lived [[Tiger Electronics|Tiger]] [[Game.com]] exclusively in North America. It is a pseudo-compilation of three ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games originally released for the [[Sega Mega Drive]]; ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'', ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 3]]'', and ''[[Sonic & Knuckles]]''. Though the game shares the same name as ''[[Sonic Jam]]'' for the [[Sega Saturn]], its content is entirely different. Its poor quality has led to poor reception from critics and fans alike, and has been cited as one of the worst ''Sonic'' games ever made.
+In 2011, an official Game.com emulator was released, meaning the game is now playable on computers{{ref|https://hiddenpalace.org/News/Miscellanea}}.
-'''''Sonic Jam''''' is a pseudo-compilation of the 3 popular [[Sega Mega Drive|Mega Drive]] Sonic games; ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'', ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 3]]'', and ''[[Sonic & Knuckles]]''. It was released on the short-lived [[Tiger Electronics|Tiger]] [[Game.com]] exclusively in North America. Though the game shares the same name as the [[Sega Saturn]] ''[[Sonic Jam]]'', the content is entirely different.
+==Story==
+{{quote|Oh no, the evil [[Dr. Robotnik]] is back and meaner than ever! Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles need to use all their speed and skill to keep the world a safe place and defend the [[Floating Island]].|''Sonic Jam'' Game.com US manual|ref={{fileref|SonicJam Gamecom digital manual.pdf|page=3}}}}
-''Sonic Jam'' for the Game.com does not contain entire games, just levels which are loosely based on the Mega Drive classics. There are three selectable characters; [[Sonic]], [[Tails]], and [[Knuckles]], all of whom retain their moves from ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 3]]'' with the exception of Knuckles, who cannot glide or use his glide or wall climbing ability. No powerups introduced in ''Sonic 3'' are available, however the method of entering Special Stages are similar to that of ''Sonic 3''. The game has a very low framerate, and as such the footage used in the Game.com commercial had been sped up.{{ref|1=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp460zM_PGA}}
+==Gameplay==
+''Sonic Jam'' for the Game.com does not contain entire games; each game contains only the first respective [[Zone]] consisting of four Acts each. The first Act ends with a [[Signpost]], while most other Acts end with a boss fight. When all four Acts are completed, the game ends and the player's high score will be recorded to the Game.com's internal memory, with each game having its own high score.
-In 2011 an official Game.com emulator was released, meaning the game is now playable on computers.{{ref|http://www.hidden-palace.org/?updates/c/38}}
+There are three selectable characters; [[Sonic the Hedgehog|Sonic]], [[Miles "Tails" Prower|Tails]], and [[Knuckles the Echidna|Knuckles]], all of whom retain the [[Spin Attack]] and [[Spin Dash]] using only the {{A}} button. Sonic cannot perform the [[Insta-Shield]], and Knuckles cannot [[glide]] or use his wall climbing ability, however Tails is still able to [[Propeller Flight|fly]]. The Spin Dash functions differently from the original games in that when charging the move, the player must hold {{A}} instead of {{Down}} to hold the charge, and the move cannot be charged more than once. The only power-ups available from [[Item Box]]es are Super Rings, [[Power Sneakers]], [[Invincibility]] and 1-UPs (which always show Sonic's icon regardless of the player's character).
-==Story==
+The game has a very low framerate, and as such the footage used in the Game.com commercial had been sped up{{ref|1=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp460zM_PGA}}.
-:(''Taken from the manual'')
-<br>Oh no, the evil [[Dr. Robotnik]] is back and meaner than ever! Sonic, Tails, and
-Knuckles need to use all their speed and skill to keep the world a safe place
-and defend the Floating Island.
-==Selectable games==
+===Selectable games===
 Games are selectable on the main menu. After selecting a game, a character select screen appears next.
-===''Sonic 2''===
+{{InfoTable|imagewidths=200|
-All the levels use the graphics of [[Emerald Hill Zone]]. There are three regular enemies and three bosses. The bosses used are [[Water Eggman]] from [[Chemical Plant Zone]], [[Tonkachi Eggman]] from [[Aquatic Ruin Zone]], and [[Drill Eggman]] from Emerald Hill Zone. Surprisingly, the last boss in this game is the first boss of the 16-bit version.
+{{InfoRow
-===''Sonic 3''===
+| title=''Sonic 2''
-All the levels use the graphics of [[Angel Island Zone]]. There are three regular enemies, one reused from Sonic 2, and two bosses. The bosses used are the [[Angel Island Zone Sub-boss]] and [[Angel Island Zone Boss]].
+| screenshot=SonicJam GameCom GameSelect Sonic2.png
+| screenshot2=SonicJam GameCom Sonic2 EHZ.png
+| desc=All the levels use the graphics of [[Emerald Hill Zone]]. There are three regular enemies and three bosses. The bosses used are [[Egg Poison]] from [[Chemical Plant Zone]] in Act 2, [[Egg Hammer]] from [[Aquatic Ruin Zone]] in Act 3, and [[Egg Drillster]] from Emerald Hill Zone in Act 4. Surprisingly, the last boss in this game is the first boss of the 16-bit version.
+}}
+{{InfoRow
+| title=''Sonic 3''
+| screenshot=SonicJam GameCom GameSelect Sonic3.png
+| screenshot2=SonicJam GameCom Sonic3 AIZ.png
+| desc=All the levels use the graphics of [[Angel Island Zone]]. There are three regular enemies, one reused from Sonic 2, and two bosses. The bosses used are the [[Fire Breath]] in Act 2 and [[Egg Scorcher Mk. III]] in Act 4.
+}}
+{{InfoRow
+| title=''Sonic & Knuckles''
+| screenshot=SonicJam GameCom GameSelect SonicK.png
+| screenshot2=SonicJam GameCom SonicK MHZ.png
+| desc=All the levels use the graphics of [[Mushroom Hill Zone]]. There are three regular enemies and three bosses. The bosses used are the [[Egg Scrambler]] and [[Hey Ho]] from Mushroom Hill Zone in Acts 2 and 3 respectively, and also the [[Gapsule]] from [[Flying Battery Zone]] in Act 4.
+}}
+}}
+===Bonus Stage===
+[[File:SonicJam GameCom BonusStage.png|thumb|right|200px|The Bonus Stage, in which the player is instructed to "Get Black Spheres".]]
+The '''Bonus Stage'''{{fileref|SonicJam Gamecom digital manual.pdf|page=5}} in ''Sonic Jam'' is based on the [[Special Stage (Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles)|Special Stage]] from ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'' and ''Sonic & Knuckles'', and the method of accessing it is similar in that the player must find and enter [[Giant Ring]]s hidden throughout the levels. The objective is to collect all of the black spheres while avoiding the white spheres. Like in the original Special Stages, encircling a large square of black spheres will turn the spheres into Rings, which are worth 100 points each. It is impossible to jump in these Bonus Stages, making it more difficult to avoid white spheres.
-===''Sonic & Knuckles''===
+As there are no [[Chaos Emeralds]] to collect, collecting every black sphere will instead award the player with 10,000 points.
-All the levels use the graphics of [[Mushroom Hill Zone]]. There are three regular enemies and three bosses. The bosses used are the [[Mushroom Hill Zone Sub-boss]] and [[Mushroom Hill Zone Boss]] from Mushroom Hill Zone and also the [[Flying Battery Zone Sub-boss]].
+==History==
+===Development===
+{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Development}}
+==Hidden content==
+{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Hidden content}}
 ==Manuals==
 <gallery>
@@ Line 40: / Line 69: @@
 </gallery>
-==Game development==
+==Screenshots==
-Images and info about the game during its development phase can be found [[Game Development:Sonic Jam (Game.com)|here]].
-==Cheats==
-*'''Extra Life''' - Pause the game and press {{A}}, {{A}}, {{A}}, {{D}}, {{D}}.
-*'''Invincibility''' - Pause the game and press {{A}}, {{B}}, {{C}}, {{A}}.
-==Resources==
-===Screenshots===
 <gallery>
-Image:Sonic Jam Game Select.png|Game selection screen.
 Image:Sonic Jam Character Select.png|Character selection screen.
-Image:Sonic Jam EHZ.png|Sonic 2 gameplay
-Image:Sonic Jam AIZ.JPG|Sonic 3 gameplay
-Image:Sonic Jam MHZ.png|Sonic & Knuckles gameplay
 File:SonicJam SonicEnding.png|Sonic Ending
 File:SonicJam TailsEnding.png|Tails Ending
@@ Line 60: / Line 77: @@
 </gallery>
-===Physical scans===
+==Physical scans==
 {{Scanbox
 | console=Game.com
@@ Line 68: / Line 85: @@
 | spinemissing=yes
 | cart=Sonic Jam cart.jpg
+| manual=SonicJam GameCom US Manual.pdf
+}}
+==Technical information==
+===ROM dump status===
+{{romtable|
+{{rom|Gamecom|sha1=393a98138c8825ed61990e1b15e1967f87068ac6|md5=10a19c8b536ce8e767445e04abdea9cb|crc32=8b4a63f9|size=2MB|date=|source=Cartridge|comments=|quality=}}
 }}
@@ Line 73: / Line 97: @@
 <references/>
+{{SonicJamGameComOmni}}
 {{SonicOtherGames}}
 [[Category:Other games]]
 [[Category:Game compilations]]