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Sonic Jam (Game.com)

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Sonic Jam
System(s): Game.com
Publisher: Tiger Electronics
Developer:
Licensor: Sega
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code Rating
Tiger Game.com
US
1998-07-10 $19.95[1] 71-734
ESRB: Everyone

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 manualMedia:SonicJam Gamecom digital manual.pdf[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 A 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 A instead of Down 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.

SonicJam GameCom GameSelect Sonic2.png
SonicJam GameCom Sonic2 EHZ.png
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.
SonicJam GameCom GameSelect Sonic3.png
SonicJam GameCom Sonic3 AIZ.png
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.
SonicJam GameCom GameSelect SonicK.png
SonicJam GameCom SonicK MHZ.png
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 StageMedia:SonicJam Gamecom digital manual.pdf[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

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

Hidden content

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

Manuals

Screenshots

Physical scans

Game.com, US
Jamcom-box-us back.jpgNospine.pngSonicJam GameCom US Box Front.jpg
Cover

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Tiger Game.com
 ?
CRC32 8b4a63f9
MD5 10a19c8b536ce8e767445e04abdea9cb
SHA-1 393a98138c8825ed61990e1b15e1967f87068ac6
2MB Cartridge

References


Sonic Jam (Game.com)
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Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Hidden content | Bugs | Development | Magazine articles | Reception


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