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Translations:Proto:Sonic the Hedgehog 3/Sound Differences/1/en

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This is a sub-page of Translations:Proto:Sonic the Hedgehog 3/Sound Differences/1.

Hmmm...
To do:
  • Re-record all of the final songs (and some of the proto songs) with either real hardware, or at least a better emulator like BlastEm. The current rips were recorded with Fusion, which is rubbish for audio (and for emulation in general).
  • All of the tracks have differences (albeit some are very subtle, like slight volume changes). They need to be documented.
  • Re-document the music ala Sonic 2's Simon Wai prototype.

Between Sonic 2 and Sonic 3, the sound driver was completely replaced. In this prototype, the replacement driver is in an early state where it hasn't had features from the previous driver re-implemented yet, and it seems to suffer from some glaring bugs. There are also some other general differences:

  • Sounds often bug out and sustain until either the game is paused or something else plays on that sound channel.
  • Various objects don't play the correct sound effect:
    • The underwater "alarm" sound uses a completely different sound; likely just an incorrect ID assignment.
    • Many bosses don't play sounds. This includes explosions, zooming, etc. They play one sound when being defeated.
    • Oddly the correct sound effects are present in the sound test, but most instances have their assigned sound effects based on Sonic 2.
  • Collecting a ring only plays the sound for the right speaker, and doesn't alternate between the ones for the right and left (despite both sounds being present).
  • The Spin Dash plays the rolling sound, much like Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis as well as some of the Sonic 2 prototypes.
  • Playing a theme that would interrupt the stage theme prevents it from reloading.
  • Beating an Act doesn't play the Act-clear jingle, instead continuing to play the stage theme.
  • The Speed Shoes play the invincibility theme rather than speeding up the music, and does not cut back to the level music when the effect ends.
  • The Sonic 3 miniboss theme doesn't exist (read below), which means all minibosses play the Sonic & Knuckles variation. A remnant of this exists in the final where jumping before drowning during the Hydrocity bosses causes the game to play the Sonic & Knuckles theme.
  • If you leave the water before you drown in Hydrocity as Super Sonic, the game will play an early version of Mushroom Hill Act 2, the song that's in slot $10.
  • The song used for the Level Select ($2F) does not glitch after listening to it for an extended amount of time, unlike in the final version of Sonic 3.
  • The themes for Carnival Night, Ice Cap, Launch Base, Knuckles, and the Competition menu are completely different. Interestingly, MIDI versions of these were later used in Sonic & Knuckles Collection. In fact, all of the music in this build matches up better with their MIDI counterparts, suggesting that all of the music was taken from a later build.
Sound ID Name Proto Final Sonic & Knuckles Collection Notes
$01 Angel Island Zone Act 1
Rougher instrumentation.
$02 Angel Island Zone Act 2
Missing a few notes, rougher instrumentation, and is slightly slower than the final.
$07 Carnival Night Zone Act 1
The Sonic & Knuckles Collection version plays in a slightly different key.
$08 Carnival Night Zone Act 2
$09 Flying Battery Zone Act 1
More powerful lead guitar.
$0A Flying Battery Zone Act 2
Ditto, the "Woooah" clip is also more bold in this version.
$0B Ice Cap Zone Act 1
Seems unfinished at this version due to missing drums and a general lack of polish.
$0C Ice Cap Zone Act 2
The Sonic & Knuckles Collection use crash cymbals at the end of certain parts unique drum samples.
$0D Launch Base Zone Act 1
The Sonic & Knuckles Collection version plays in a slightly different key and starts with a crash cymbal.
$0E Launch Base Zone Act 2
$0F Mushroom Valley Zone Act 1
Different bass; this made some people jokingly call the song "Seinfeld Valley Zone" due to its similarities with the Seinfeld theme.
$10 Mushroom Valley Zone Act 2
Ditto.
$13 Lava Reef Zone Act 1
$14 Lava Reef Zone Act 2
Rougher instrumentation.
$15 Sky Sanctuary Zone
Rougher instrumentation.
$1A The Doomsday Zone
Has a rather unpleasant (and loud) synth instrument instead of a star sound.
$1C Special Stage
Uses the usual snare drum instead of a unique snare drum.
$1F Knuckles' Theme
Sonic & Knuckles Collection uses a unique drum sample for this track.
$21 Balloon Park
Plays in a slightly different key.
$22 Desert Palace Zone
Ditto.
$23 Chrome Gadget Zone
Ditto.
$26 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Credits
The loop features a different percussion section not present in Sonic & Knuckles Collection, the removal might be due to problems with the MIDI porting process; it's believed that this song was composed by Tatsuyuki Maeda since he's known for his PSG-heavy Genesis songs (like Diamond Dust Zone).
$29 Act Clear
Rougher instrumentation.
$2A 1-Up
Louder and faster than the final.
$2D Competition Menu
Seems unfinished at this point due to a general lack of polish.
  • The unused theme from the PC game is also present as slot $2E, which is where the Sonic 3 miniboss theme is in the final release. In Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, this slot contains a duplicate of the Sonic & Knuckles miniboss theme, which is used instead of slot $18 to play music for the minibosses. This renders slot $18 unused in all final retail releases of Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles except for Sonic & Knuckles Collection.
Proto Sonic & Knuckles Collection