Unlocking Level Select and Sound Test

Everything regarding level select in Sonic games is all found on this page, so use the links below to navigate.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Alone)
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Sonic & Knuckles (Alone)

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Alone)
This is by far one of the hardest cheats I have ever come across. Here, you going to need to have quick reflexes.

To start things off you need to know that there is a very small window of time to enter the commands for this cheat. To show you how small this is, listen to the "drum beats" after the SEGA logo before the main screen. You have to have this cheat entered between the 1st and 3rd "beat":

UP UP DOWN DOWN UP UP UP UP

...Yeah, not so easy, but it can be done.

The best way to perform this is to use two hands. When the first "beat" happens, start to enter the first 4 commands. DON"T WASTE TIME, MOVE QUICKLY! As soon as you are done with that, and I mean the moment you are done, start to enter UP constantly, don't even count. If you do more than 4 UP's, it won't ruin the cheat, it will still work.

If entered correctly, you will hear a "chime" sound that sounds like the "ring" sound in the game. If not, do not feel discouraged, just try again. When i tried it, it took about 20 times to get it right.

If you hear the "chime", press down twice to select sound test. Press Start and there you go.

I recently made a video of me performing this cheat, it can be found here.

Notes:

-If it doesn't work, just keep trying.

-Try to set the controls to something easy to press. If keyboard, choose arrows. If controller, use the D-pad, not the joystick.

-Do not enter Special Stage 1. It is just a loop of entering the zone and immedistly ending it. Use the second one instead.

-Start + A will bring you back to the main menu at any time.

-Some stages will only work for certain characters. To change characters just go back to the main screen, DON"T HIT THE RESET BUTTON TO DO THIS!!!!!!, and start a game with a different character. Once the game is started, press start then A and go back to the level select menu.

-Mushroom Valley and Flying battery are not avalible because they are part of Sonic and Knuckles. They were suppose to be a part of the game originally, but were later cut due to time constriants.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles
(Before you read know that this game is the one created when "Sonic 3" and "Sonic & Knuckles" are connected together. If it is different, then this will not help you.)

Unlock Level Select is very simple in this game. When the game begins, you should be in Angel Island Zone Act I. Start to run as if you were normally playing until you find a vine to swing on. Start to swing on the vine, and as you are swinging, enter the following sequence on the controller (or key board if you use emulation):

Left Left Left Right Right Right Up Up Up

After entering this, you should hear a "CHIME" sound. Press START and then press "A".

You should be returned to the SEGA logo. Once the main screen has appeared, press down until you see "SOUND TEST". Once selected, press START.

There you go...

As with any sonic game, once you restart the console, you lose the cheat and have to re-enter it.

Notes:

-Special Stage 1 will not run correctly. It will just be a repeating loop of special stage starting and ending in the first few seconds.

-Some levels will only be selectable by certain characters. To change characters, either reenter the cheat as a different character, or start a level as a different character and go back to the main menu.

-This same cheat will also work on the pulling machines in Mushroom Hill Zone.

Sonic & Knuckles (Alone)

It would seem that you can unlock this the same way you unlock it in Sonic 3 & Knuckles (Look above). The only differences are that you have to use a pulling machine instead of a vine and when you are brought back to the main screen, you have to hold "A" and press start to access the level select menu. This menu looks identical to the one found in Sonic 3 and Knuckles.

Notes:

-All of the levels that are before Mushroom Hill Zone are not accessible in this game. These levels belong to Sonic 3 so obviously can't go to them.