Sonic 3 Rebuilt
By TomatoWave_0
Returning to the SHC is the latest version of Sonic 3 Rebuilt! Over the last year, a lot of progress has been made, and me and the rest of the team are very excited to showcase the work we've done. If this is your first time hearing about this hack, here's a basic rundown:
Sonic 3 Rebuilt is a ROM hack that is built off of Sonic Clean Engine. This hack restores all Sonic 3 & Knuckles content into the game, while also aiming to provide many fixes and improvements to the original game, as well as restore some unused ideas and content as well.
Here's what's changed since then:
- The full game is now playable, with the only change being Knuckles skipping Flying Battery.
- SRAM functionality has been added, meaning games can now be saved.
- Competition Mode has been finished, with some additional improvements added in as well.
- The options menu has been expanded, and many new options have been added for more customization. These options are also saved via SRAM as well.
- Blue Spheres has been restored, meaning you can now get all Chaos Emeralds and Super Emeralds, and unlock Super and Hyper forms. The "Blue Sphere" game has also been restored and expanded as well, with all characters playable, and improved visuals.
- You can now toggle individual moves on and off, allowing for full moveset customization
- Some music tracks can be swapped for different versions, such as Carnival Night, Ice Cap, and Launch Base.
- Several bug fixes for stock S3&K bugs (Some bugs are still present, but a decent amount of them have been fixed.)
If you'd like to mess around with the debug features, here are the codes available:
Level Select: On the title screen, press these buttons in this order: Up, Up, Down, Down, Up, Up, Up, Up. Hold A and press Start to enter the level select menu
Debug Mode: On the level select screen, go to the sound test, and enter this code: 1, 9, 9, 4, 2, 2.
Chaos & Super Emeralds: On the level select screen, go to the sound test, and enter this code: 1, 9, 9, 4, 10, 18.
Continues: On the level select screen, go to the sound test, and enter this code: 1, 9, 9, 4, 3, 14.
We hope you enjoy the 2025 demo of Sonic 3 Rebuilt!
- Project Lead: TomatoWave_0
- Programming: Filter, Malachi, TomatoWave_0, Malachi
- Additional Programming: giovanni.gen, TheBlad768, RobiWanKenobi
- Programming Special Thanks: HitaxasTV: Basic splash screen code which is no longer in use
- Art: Atomiswaveluhke, BlitzHunter, Dr. Cheesecrumbz, July2612, Manardo, TomatoWave_0
- Additional Art: Devy, Gamemaster12
- Art Special Thanks: CartoonsAnimate22: Character sprites from the 2024 demo which are no longer in use
- Music Edits and Sound Effects: TomatoWave_0
- Additional Sound Efffects: giovanni.gen
- Playtesters: ArcaniaCQ, DaxKatter, KGL, Malachi, Matt139, RadioTails
- AtGames Firecore Sound Fix: Esrael Neto, BigEvilCorporation
- Flamedriver: Flamewing
- Sonic Clean Engine: Red Miso Studios
File Type: rom/mega-drive
File Size: 3.87 MB
0/10 its just sonic 3 again also why am I listed as a programmer twice?
The Sonic 3 effect (When you rush a ROM hack so badly it causes a loss of quality)
After seeing a playthrough of this, I realized I missed a major bug with Knuckles' story, and I'm not sure why it happens. Basically, LBZ1 is bugged in which the event code doesn't update properly, and causes a softlock, meaning you can still only finish the game as Sonic or Tails. I'm really sorry for overlooking this...
I really do like this hack, it's slowly shaping up to be my ideal version of Sonic 3, it's unfortunate that a major bug managed to sneak in, but nothing that can't be fixed in the future. When it comes to the music options, I really hope that an option will be added to disable the Super music entirely and just use the speed up level songs. Also related to the Super music, in MGZ act 2 after Robotnik appeared with his theme song, it swapped the Super music for the default one, until I transformed again.
Last modified by FredyFired @ 2025-10-06 22:41:06
love it, sad the bugs but there will be fixes in the future I hope. also Super Sonic has a new power, he turns invisible when balancing, dont know how it will be useful but is kinda cool
That's also a bug. We are working on fixing many bugs in the demo, and will be considering releasing a post-SHC patch once the 2025 contest has ended.
love it, comment space2short
Issue
Sonic has the roll-lock disabled, which I love, BUT, when choosing Knuckles or Tails, they have roll-lock enabled by default
This is specially annoying for Knux, some fun stuff can be done when changing direction quickly with the glide after a spindash. It makes a world of difference to me.
I wish you could add the peelout animation when performing the move itself, and when going fast enough. You could make it a toggle for those who want a more Vanilla-like experience.
I'd also like a toggle for disabling the super music, as someone commented above.
Awesome work, I love every bit of it, It's nigh to replacing my sonic 3 complete rom on my PSP GO, congratulations to all the team from a Sonic 3 lover!
I couldn't say it in the previous comment due to character limit
Unfortunately, Eggman got really angry that his diabolical traps were being fixed, so he short circuitted the jukebox in some zones. As a result, no music will be playing in the miniboss of Marble Garden, the sub-boss of Flying Battery, and the miniboss of Launch Base. Very sorry for the inconvenience.