Sonic Delta
From Sonic Retro
Sonic Delta |
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Version: v0.79 |
Last release: 2024-09-30[1] |
Status: Active |
System: Sega Mega Drive |
Original game: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles |
Credits: Esrael Neto |
Sonic Delta, also known as Sonic Delta 40 MB, Sonic Delta Next, and Sonic Delta Origins, is a Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles ROM hack by Esrael Neto. The game serves to combine the entirety of the main four Sonic the Hedgehog titles from the Sega Mega Drive (Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles) along with restoring various prototype elements that were seen in those game's respective prototypes.
The version number of Sonic Delta began with an earlier form of this ROM hack, Sonic 2 Delta, based upon the "Simon Wai" prototype of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The switch to using Sonic 3 & Knuckles as a base began with Version 0.29, adopting the Sonic Delta name with Version 0.31.
Contents
Gameplay
Sonic Delta serves to present a unified Sonic the Hedgehog gameplay experience. Using the save feature from Sonic 3, players can choose to control Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Sonic and Tails, or Knuckles and Tails. The character sprites are taken from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, along with each character's unique move set. The game's HUD is also based on the one from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, with two distinct modifications. The first is the timer, which includes milliseconds, as is done in Sonic the Hedgehog CD. The second is the Ring counter, which not only shows how many Rings the player has at a given time, but shows how many Rings exist in the entirety of the level. An extra addition to the HUD appears when a player reaches a boss encounter. On the bottom of the screen, a life bar appears for the boss, along with its name.
To match the stages from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, act transitions have been added to the zones from Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic 2. Depending on how the acts are laid out, this may involve a wall to hide a background position shift, a short section before the official level starts to get Sonic to a different starting position, or simply placing the two acts next to each other. Transition cutscenes between levels have also been added, with two exceptions: the transition between Wood Zone and Chemical Plant Zone, and Aquatic Ruin Zone to Casino Night Zone.
If all seven Chaos Emeralds are collected, each character can activate their Super form. If the seven Super Emeralds are collected, they can activate a Hyper form.
2 Player VS
Two different 2 Player modes are available in Sonic Delta. The first is an expanded version of the 2 Player mode found in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Player one can be toggled between either Sonic or Knuckles, while player two is always Miles "Tails" Prower. The original four 2P stages from Sonic 2 are featured: Emerald Hill Zone, Mystic Cave Zone, Casino Night Zone, and the Special Stage. Joining these four are Labyrinth Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog, Bridge Zone from the 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog, Hill Top Zone from Sonic 2, and the exclusive Winter Hill Zone. To allow their inclusion, Labyrinth Zone does not feature any water, nor does Hill Top have its animated background.
Just as in the original, players are judged by five criteria: Score, Time, Ring count at the end of the Act, Total Ring count (including those lost by being hit), and number of Item Boxes popped open. The player that wins the most out of those five takes the round. Also included is the option to compete with all available item boxes, or to only have teleportation item boxes.
The second 2 Player Mode is "Sonic 3 VS," which is the competition mode from Sonic the Hedgehog 3. All stages and characters are carried over from the original.
Controls
Zones
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Green Hill Zone |
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Game: | |
Sunflowers now use a palette similar to the Sonic the Hedgehog prototype. A small section is added to the end of the Act 1 containing loops and speed boosters. | |
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Marble Zone |
Game: | |
UFOs from the prototype appear in the background. All 3 Acts have their extra paths from the 2013 mobile version. | |
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Sparkling Zone/Spring Yard Zone |
Game: | |
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Labyrinth Zone |
Game: | |
Uses the prototype background, with its own parallax effect. | |
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Star Light Zone |
Game: | |
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Clock Work Zone/Scrap Brain Zone |
Game: | |
Act 3 uses the same prototype decorative elements as Labyrinth Zone. | |
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Final Zone |
Game: | |
3 rings are provided at the start of the zone. The player bounces up from under the stage, as in Sonic the Hedgehog (2013). A cutscene plays afterwards depicting the Tornado arriving to carry the player towards the next stage. | |
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Green Hill Zone/Emerald Hill Zone |
Game: | |
Contains prototype layout elements, such as the scrapped Snail badniks. | |
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Winter Hill Zone |
Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (unused) | |
Based on a concept not used in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The graphics are similar to those from Brenda Ross' mockup of a winter zone. The layouts are derived from the Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble stage Robotnik Winter Zone. The BGM is a 16-bit recreation of that zone's music, along with an original boss "Penguin Blaster." | |
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Wood Zone |
Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (unused) | |
Uses assets from prototypes removed from the final version. Uses the 2 player music for Emerald Hill Zone from the Simon Wai prototype. Has an original level layout, and and original boss fight named "Saw Mobile". | |
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Chemical Plant Zone |
Game: | |
Minor alterations, such as the loops looking like those from the Nick Arcade prototype. | |
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Neo Green Hill Zone/Aquatic Ruin Zone |
Game: | |
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Casino Night Zone |
Game: | |
The slot machines use graphics from the Sonic & Knuckles slot machine bonus stage for consistency. | |
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Hill Top Zone |
Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (unused) | |
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Dust Hill Zone/Mystic Cave Zone |
Game: | |
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Hidden Palace Zone |
Game: | |
The layout is based on, and an extension of, the one found in the "Simon Wai" prototype. The boss is a receration of that from the 2013 mobile version. | |
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Sand Shower Zone |
Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (unused) | |
Uses graphics similar to the mockup screenshot of a zone not implemented in the original Sonic 2.. The zone has a custom boss fight against the Bead Worm, based on the boss of the same name from Sonic Chaos. The boss is set on a moving train in an homage to Mirage Saloon Zone. | |
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Oil Ocean Zone |
Game: | |
Uses the layout from Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, with some extra objects. | |
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Metropolis Zone |
Game: | |
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Cyber City Zone |
Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (unused) | |
Uses recreated tiles and level design based on available production materials. The boss is a reimagining of Sonic Mania's Studiopolis Zone boss. | |
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Sky Chase Zone |
Game: | |
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Sky Fortress Zone/Wing Fortress Zone |
Game: | |
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Death Egg Zone |
Game: | |
3 rings are present at the start of the zone. The ending cutscene omits the stills featuring Miles "Tails Prower, but does include a sprite of Death Egg falling | |
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Angel Island Zone |
Game: | |
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Hydrocity Zone |
Game: | |
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Marble Garden Zone |
Game: | |
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Carnival Night Zone |
Game: | |
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Ice Cap Zone |
Game: | |
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Launch Base Zone |
Game: | |
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Mushroom Valley Zone/Mushroom Hill Zone |
Game: | |
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Flying Battery Zone |
Game: | |
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Sandopolis Zone |
Game: | |
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Lava Reef Zone |
Game: | |
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Hidden Palace Zone |
Game: | |
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Sky Sanctuary Zone |
Game: | |
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Death Egg Zone |
Game: | |
At the start of the Kyodai Eggman Robo boss fight, 3 rings are provided. | |
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Doomsday Zone |
Game: | |
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Bridge Zone |
Not available during normal gameplay. Accessible through a cheat code imputed in the sound test. |
Bonus and Special Stages
Bonus stages are entered in a similar manner as they are in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. When a player touches a Star Post, a circle of stars appears over the top. Jumping into the circle before it disappears, the player is warped to one of four different Bonus Stages. Which one a player is taken to is based on the amount of rings they have divided by four.
There are also two different types of Special Stages available. New to the stages of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are Giant Rings hidden somewhere in each act. Non-boss acts, with the exception of Scrap Brain Zone Act 2, have at least one Giant Ring hidden. By finding one and jumping into it, the player is warped the the half-pipe Special Stage from Sonic 2. Collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds allows the player to transform into a super form. With the transition to Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the player must once again recollect the Chaos Emeralds by finding the Giant Rings hidden in those stages, as is the case with the official release.
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Special Stage |
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Originally the Special Stage from the first Sonic the Hedgehog, Chaos Emeralds have been replaced with extra lives. Reached if, by dividing your ring count by 4, the remainder is 3. | |
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Gumball Machine |
Game: | |
Reached if, by dividing your ring count by 4, the remainder is 0. | |
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Glowing Spheres |
Game: | |
Reached if, by dividing your ring count by 4, the remainder is 1. | |
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Slot Machine |
Game: | |
Reached if, by dividing your ring count by 4, the remainder is 2. | |
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Special Stage |
Accessible by finding a Giant Ring hidden in zones from Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. | |
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Special Stage |
Accessible by finding a Giant Ring hidden in zones from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. |
Version 0.68 introduced an options menu, which initially contained various music options in the game. It has since expanded to include several gameplay options as well.
- Play "Get Blue Spheres" Mini Game
- Sonic Delta Credits
- Zone Music Options
- The music themes from Casino Night, Death Egg, Hidden Palace, Metropolis, Oil Ocean, Sand Shower, and Sky Fortress can be toggled between their prototype and final versions. Sand Shower's "Prototype" music is Oil Ocean's final music, whereas Sand Shower's "Final" music is a remix of Yellow Desert Zone from Sonic Blast. The music themes from Carnival Night, Ice Cap, and Launch Base can be toggled between their prototype and final versions.
- Boss Music Options
- Boss encounters in Sonic and Sonic 2 have a choice between the original Sonic boss music, Sonic 2 prototype, final Sonic 2 theme, Sonic 3 prototype, and Sonic 3 final. The mini boss theme can be toggled between its prototype and final versions. Knuckles' theme can be toggled between its prototype, Sonic 3, and Sonic & Knuckles versions.
- Miscellaneous Music Options
- Extra life, invincibility, and Super theme for Sonic and Sonic 2 can be set to a variety of options. Extra life, invincibility, and Super theme for Sonic 3 & Knuckles can be set to a variety of options. Super theme can be turned off entirely. General options for data select menu, competition menu, and the jingles for continue, game over, and score tally.
- Level Title Options
- Spring Yard/Sparkling, Scrap Brain/Clock Work, Emerald Hill/Green Hill, Wing Fortress/Sky Fortress, Mystic Cave/Dust Hill, Cyber City/Genocide City, Aquatic Ruin/Neo Green Hill, and Mushroom Hill/Mushroom Valley zones can all be individually toggled between their final and prototype names.
- Gameplay options
- The original Sonic Special Stage and Sonic & Knuckles Slot Machine bonus stages can be set to have the original staccato rotation or smoother custom rotation. The difficulty for the Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles special stages can be toggled between normal and easy. The surfboard intro for Sonic 3 can be toggled on and off. The title screen can be toggled between Sonic Delta and Sonic 3. "Miles Assist" can be toggled on and off. Monitor behavior can be chosen between Sonic 2 and Sonic 3&K.
- Sound Test
- Includes a plethora of music not featured in gameplay, including music arranged from several Master System and Game Gear Sonic games, the Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island boss music, and the menu music from Virtua Racing.
Cheat codes
A handful of cheat codes have been implemented in the game. To activate them, enter the options menu, scroll down to the sound test, and play the corresponding songs in order.
- Level Select: 01, 09, 09, 01, 00, 06, 02, 03
- Debug Mode: 01, 09, 09, 02, 01, 01, 02, 04
- All Chaos Emeralds: 01, 09, 09, 04, 00, 02, 00, 02 or 04, 01, 02, 06
- All Super Emeralds: 01, 09, 09, 04, 01, 00, 01, 08
- Bridge Zone: 01, 09, 07, 07, 00, 09, 00, 05
- Blue Knuckles: 01, 09, 09, 05, 00, 04, 02, 01
Development
Production credits
- This project is a continuation of Sonic II Delta and Sonic III Delta
- Prototype Name: Sonic Delta Next
- Project Director: Neto (Esrael Neto)
- Lead Programmer: Neto (Esrael Neto)
- SMS Bridge Music Conversion: Nineko, Puto
- SMS Lahbyrinth Music Conversion: Puto
- GG Robotnik Winter Music Conversion: Chron D
- Sky High Music Conversion: Nineko
- SMS Sonic II Boss Music Conversion: Nineko
- GG Sonic II Boss Music Conversion: Nineko
- Sunset Park Boss Music Conversion: Nineko
- Gigalopolis Music Conversion: Nineko
- Yellow Desert Music Conversion: Meta
- Sand Shower Graphics: The Taxman
- Cyber City Recreation: Hez
- Additional Graphics: Mastered Realm, Volbby
- Level Design: Neto (Esrael Neto)
- SMS Level Conversion: Neto (Esrael Neto)
- Thank You For Playing
- Source: In-game credits
Downloads
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Download Sonic Delta
File: Sonic Delta v079.rar (3.01 MB) (info)
Current version: 0.79 |
Prior versions
- Sonic Delta v0.75 (2.89 MB, released 2022-05-07)
- Sonic Delta v0.65 (2.83 MB, released 2021-06-16)
- Sonic Delta v0.60 (2.83 MB, released 2021-01-16)
- Sonic Delta v0.39a (2.81 MB, released 2020-05-30)
- Sonic Delta v0.39 (2.81 MB, released 2020-05-29)
- Sonic Delta v0.38 (2.83 MB, released 2020-05-01)
- Sonic Delta v0.37 (2.83 MB, released 2020-04-25)
- Sonic Delta v0.36b (2.83 MB, released 2020-04-22)
- Sonic Delta v0.36a (2.83 MB, released 2020-04-20)
- Sonic Delta v0.36 (2.83 MB, released 2020-04-19)
- Sonic Delta v0.35 (2.82 MB, released 2020-04-10)
- Sonic Delta v0.34a (2.82 MB, released 2020-04-04)
- Sonic Delta v0.34 (2.82 MB, released 2020-04-03)
- Sonic Delta v0.33 (2.82 MB, released 2020-03-31)
- Sonic Delta v0.32 (2.82 MB, released 2020-03-28)
- Sonic Delta v0.31 (2.82 MB, released 2020-03-22)
- Sonic 2 Delta v0.30 (2.82 MB, released 2020-03-13)
- Sonic 2 Delta v0.29 (2.82 MB, released 2020-03-10)
See also
- Sonic 2 Delta - Other versions of this hack, focusing exclusively on Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Sonic 3 Delta - A related, now abandoned hack of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with the levels of Sonic & Knuckles implemented
External links
- Sonic Hacking H.P. – Official Sonic Delta website (in Brazilian Portuguese)
References
- ↑ https://www.neto-games.com.br/rom_hack/sonic_delta_40_mb.php (Wayback Machine: 2024-12-24 22:01)