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General comparisons
The user is now prompted to press a button to display the title screen menu, and the copyright date is shortened to "©SEGA".
The level select has been rearranged into a more sensible list, and the Competition Mode Zones have been made selectable again. Preview icons have also been restored, now showing downscaled versions of the Data Select save icons, and character selection is now represented as Continue icons akin to Sonic Mania.
Gameplay comparisons
The Tails assist feature from the 2013 remasters and Sonic Mania has also been added to this game.
Tails now has a Super Tails form with just the Chaos Emeralds, giving him the regular Super benefits without the Super Flickies, functioning like it did in Sonic Mania...
...while the original Super Tails normally accessed with the Super Emeralds has been renamed to Hyper Tails.
Graphics comparisons
Characters have a new set of ducking and "looking up" sprites for when spinning. This is most visible with the infamous barrel section in Carnival Night Zone Act 2.
If Sonic has been left idle by the player for nearly a minute, he will fall asleep from boredom, using an animation that was unused in the original game.
Sonic's mid-air "twisting while running" sprites have been redrawn in the Sonic 3 style, rather than being holdovers from Sonic 2.
Knuckles has an extra "hit" frame, and so animates while sliding down slopes in certain Zones.
Super Sonic (and by extension, Hyper Sonic) has more frames of animation than before. In the Mega Drive original, Sonic's regular sprites (with the Super Sonic palette) were used for these actions.
Hyper versions of characters have semi-transparent trails.
As with other games in the collection, the number of Ring animation frames has been doubled.
Giant Rings also have more frames.
Eggman's glasses have been recoloured blue to match official artwork.
Laughing animations are now present for Eggman/Eggrobo when the player gets hit, for consistency with Sonic 1 and 2.
Level comparisons
The intro sequence for Sonic now has sound effects for when Sonic jumps off the Tornado and transforms into Super Sonic. Additionally, sand is now kicked up when Super Sonic dashes across the beach.
If the player has got all the Super Emeralds, Sonic transforms into Hyper Sonic in the intro instead.
After ambushing Super Sonic, Knuckles now puts up a fighting stance.
When playing a Sonic & Tails game, Tails walks in from the left instead of flying in from above.
Tails now has his own intro sequence where he lands the Tornado on the beach and disembarks into the jungle.
With Knuckles, the Sonic & Knuckles introduction plays out in Mushroom Hill Zone, after which Knuckles starts in Angel Island. In the Mega Drive Sonic 3 & Knuckles, there is no introduction.
The swinging vines animate more smoothly.
Upon encountering the Fire Breath halfway through Act 1, characters now automatically move to the center of the screen and look up, with control restored once the Fire Breath is on the screen.
The Capsule flies away after it has been opened at the end of Act 2.
Both Giant Rings in Act 1 can be accessed by jumping in a hole beneath a Blastoid, which although was the case in Sonic 3, was not in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
Characters now use multi-directional running sprites when riding the spinning tops through spiral chambers.
The moving spiked pillars animate more smoothly.
In the shifting terrain sections near the end of Act 2, the camera's vertical position is now locked for the duration of the sections.
When fighting the Drill Mobile as Knuckles, the drill now stops at the ceiling with a slight screen shake rather than burrow through it.
The Capsule in Act 2 now spawns if Knuckles takes Sonic & Tails' path.
The snowboard now rotates smoothly when Sonic initially jumps on it.
Sonic/Tails now look up when the avalanche comes down on them.
Snow now splashes when Sonic/Tails jumps out of the avalanche.
The falling snow is semi-transparent.
Ricky is now released from Badniks, which was the case in Sonic 3, but not in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, where Flicky was released instead. Flicky is still released from the Capsule at the end of Knuckles' Act 2, however.
Tails is now taken onto the same path as Sonic and Knuckles by the elevator at the start of Act 1, rendering his unique path accessible only through backtracking.
The screen now flashes white when Knuckles bombs the tower near the end of Act 1.
After Knuckles blows up the tower, the collapsing platforms now break on their own, and any objects inside the tower now disappear.
The containers for Knuckles' fight against the Twin Hammers are positioned lower, matching their unused positions in Sonic 3 Alone.
After Knuckles defeats the Twin Hammers, the pipe he is standing on now crumbles instead of simply vanishing.
The water level rises much faster during Knuckles' path in Act 2.
The Ball Shooter is now piloted by Eggrobo if fought as Knuckles.
Tails can now ride the Egg Mobile with Sonic after defeating the Ball Shooter. In the Mega Drive game, he would fall to his death.
The Egg Mobile now takes damage when Knuckles punches it.
The exhaust from the Death Egg's rocket boosters now flash.
Sonic and Tails fight Big Arm, which although was the case in Sonic 3, was not a boss for the pair in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
After Big Arm is defeated, Eggman bounces off the platform, which causes it to break off from the Death Egg. In the Mega Drive game, Eggman simply moved off the screen and the platform started breaking off on its own.
Act 2 now officially ends after the platform has broken off from the Death Egg.
Eggman is seen flying towards the falling Death Egg after Act 2. These sprites exist in the standalone Sonic 3, but are unused. An Eggrobo version of these sprites also exists for if Knuckles is in the arena.
An extra cutscene, inspired by the Sonic & Knuckles title screen, shows the Death Egg landing on Angel Island.
When defeated, Hey Ho now turns away from the tree rather than freezing on the last animation frame.
Palettes now smoothly transition between seasonal variants.
Characters rotate while looking at Flying Battery. In the Mega Drive original, there is just a horizontal flip.
Tails now always flies onto the Flying Battery, instead of grabbing onto it as in the Mega Drive original.
Act 1 begins with all characters jumping up to the first platform.
The path that splits to the right from the second elevator in Act 2 does not transition to the outside graphics correctly.
The Barriers protecting Eggman are semi-transparent.
Completely different Eggman sprites are used for the Hang Mobile, and he looks at the player character when they jump over him.
Eggrobo now rides the Hang Mobile when playing as Knuckles.
In the end of Act cutscene, the door rotates as it falls off.
The rocks change their palette in the Act 2 transition when the lava cools down, rather than afterwards.
The palette cycle used for Act 2's crystals is corrected to use all four shades.
Knuckles now laughs after punching the boulder towards Sonic and Tails. This behaviour was originally present in the Sonic 3C prototypes.
In the lead up to Hot Mobile, the boulder which knocks Sonic and Tails can be seen landing.
Smoke trails in the background are semi-transparent.
The crystals at the beginning of the zone now palette cycle as in Lava Reef Zone Act 2.
Enter from a Giant Ring, and characters look at the Chaos Emeralds as they land.
All foreground clouds are semi-transparent.
The wrecking ball for the "Green Hill Zone" Mecha Sonic fight rotates, and swings more naturally, matching its Sonic the Hedgehog behaviour.
In Knuckles' version of Sky Sanctuary Zone, the HUD temporarily disappears when Eggrobo brings Knuckles to Mecha Sonic.
Eggrobo now shows the "defeated" expression when his Egg Mobile is critically damaged by Mecha Sonic...
...and then pops like a Badnik as the Egg Mobile breaks apart, releasing an animal.
If Sonic is used in Knuckles' Sky Sanctuary Zone via Edit mode, Sonic now escapes using the Drop Dash. He will do this even in Classic Mode, where the Drop Dash is normally disabled.
Likewise, Tails will now escape by flying.
Instead of disappearing, Eggman falls off the screen, using an animation from Sonic Mania.
The bumpers on the Death Ball rotate smoothly.
Knuckles has a better look at Sonic and Tails in the Super Emerald ending sequence.
As was the case with Sonic Mania, the floor has more frames of animation so movement appears smoother.
Collected Chaos Emeralds "pulse" rather than flicker.
The gumball machine switch rotates smoothly.
The exit "beam"(?) in the Glowing Spheres Bonus Stage is semi-transparent in Origins, whereas it flickered in the original game.
The Slot Machine Bonus Stage rotates smoothly, much like the Special Stage in Sonic 1.
The reels on the Slot Machine spin and stop more smoothly.
Competition
All of the Competition levels have been redrawn, and so now play in full screen in single player. This leads to a curious situation where in order to match the original gameplay, character speeds and jump heights are increased. Azure Lake.
Balloon Park
Chrome Gadget
Desert Palace
Endless Mine
If two players are racing, a Sonic 2-style split screen setup is used.
Audio comparisons
References
