The GHZ Forum

You’ve cleared every zone, acquired every emerald, achieved every A rank, viewed every ending and have finally unlocked the ultimate reward. Was it worth the effort?

Vote for your favourite unlockable and discuss the reasons for your choice, unlockables that were disappointing and how fair you felt the unlocking requirements were.

The Pencil Test in Sonic CD absolutely made it for me, the animated sequences were so cool in the first place, it was really cool to see the rough versions and things that they didn't use. I kept looking back to it for art references too, so it was a particularly valuable thing. I don't think I would consider it such a great extra these days (especially since so many games give you a "cut scene gallery" after beating it, I'd take such a thing for granted) but at the time, I was ecstatic.

Are the unlockables and extras really different in the Japanese versions? I didn't know Metal Sonic was playable in SADX either (I never bothered getting all the emblems after doing it on the DC already), does playing as him make any difference?

No, he's the same as Sonic. And you can't even play as him in the adventure field.

Super/Hyper is my favorite, no question. Not only do I enjoy the rush of power that super speed and invulnerability bring, it added a whole new dimension to the gameplay. Now I wasn't just focusing on getting through the level, I was carefully gathering rings and timing my transformation so that I'd have enough to last through the boss fight (usually just on Launch Pad act 2). Although worrying about transforming distracted me from enjoying the levels (as did the distraction of collecting the emeralds in the first place) it was a new way to play the game and using it was entirely optional.

My second favorite is the stuff in Sonic Jam's Sonic World. Those games were fun and left me with a sense of accomplishment rather than the tedium of getting A ranks or beating the horrible special stages of all the recent games. SA2's GHZ was also good, but too short to and simple to leave me satisfied after all that effort.

The worse, before anyone else points out the obvious, was Mega Collection Plus. Play each game 50 times, THEN play all 18 of them for 3 hours each. Your reward for burning out your system's motor is the hints section for each game, containing such exclusive insight as could only be found on every game site on the Internet.

Supposedly Metal Sonic was meant to have been playable in the original DC Sonic Adventure, but the idea had to be dropped due to time constraints.

The 3D Green Hill rendition from Sonic Adventure 2 was major for me, especially after I discovered that it actually follows the level design of the original 2D version. Of course it turned out to be extremely clunky and not much fun in 3D, but that wasn't the point, so I was giddy. I'd love to see similar bonuses in other series.

I did that shit twice, on Dreamcast and then again on GameCube. I may never have that kind of willpower again for anything else as long as I live.


I always kind of thought "Super Hard" modes were a lame unlockable, not just in Sonic but in any game. If I just beat it, why would I want to play through the whole thing again with less lives and more bullshit to avoid?

Yeah, I agree about the Super Hard mode thing. I didn't really get the point of playing through RE4 again on a harder mode just to unlock a gun that I would only get to use if I replayed the game yet again. That game still did kick ass though.

I'd have to say my favorite was Hyper Sonic because as Frieza said earlier it added a whole new dimension to the game. Whenever I hook up my Genesis, the first thing I do before anything else usually is play an Ice Cap Act 1 on my Hyper Sonic save. You could easily get 97 rings while only encountering one enemy during the first minute of that level.

The extra that I thought wasn't worth it was the 3D GHZ. I thought it was a really neat idea, and I got all but like 5 emblems. Then I realized how long it would take to get all A's, so I did what any lazy fuck would do and downloaded a save off GameFaqs. I played the level a few times and thought I made the right choice not unlocking it the proper way. I didn't even bother keeping the downloaded save. I thought the idea was neat, but the only thing I really gained from it was realizing that a remade 3D S3&K is a terrible idea.

I sigh when I see somebody pine for the ability to play as Super Sonic in all levels again. That is the last thing I want to see back. He tore the balance of the game apart. It takes away all the challenge - the only thing you have to worry about is collecting rings, and that's usually no problem if you have any skill. Once you have all the emeralds, you can just coast through the rest of the game until the final boss because you're invincible for extended periods. How is that any fun?

I've come to hate Super Sonic enough that whenever I play through Sonic 2, I get the first 6 Emeralds, but I wait until the last minute in Wing Fortress to get the 7th. That way I still get the good ending, meager as it is, without even having to use the bastard. Or I just play as Tails - perhaps that's what he was good for. Sonic 3 was a little better about it (you can't change if you have a shield), but it still sucked all the fun out.

I don't necessarily have a problem with Super only showing up during the final bosses these days, except that they do a half-assed job of it. The only decent super form finale there has been since Doomsday was Exception from Sonic Rush, which wasmildly entertaining. The rest have either been stupid easy (Perfect Chaos) or just dumb (The Moon Zone). Why can't there, for once, be a final boss where you play as normal Sonic?

...i'm rambling here, so i'll just get to the subject at hand: in this series, i've observed that none of the unlockables are ever that good, but i'm going to make a weird choice and say that my favorite is the good ending from Sonic 1. It's hardly an unlockable, but I think it fits the bill if only in a circumstantial sense. It's simplistic enough at first - Sonic releases the Emeralds into the air and puts on a light show and a slick pose amongst a crowd of small animals. What wins it for me is the image after the credits: Eggman throwing a tantrum on the word END. It's the perfect finishing touch, and it's funny to watch to boot. Worth the frustration of clearing those annoying rotating mazes? Oh yes.

The Green Hill remake wasn't all that hot, but I place it second because, after putting all that time into collecting nearly 200 emblems, I expect something befitting of that task when I get done with it. It felt linear (that "SA2 effect") even with the original's level design, but much less so than, say, Prison Lane, and short as it was, I enjoyed it.

I did that shit twice, on Dreamcast and then again on GameCube. I may never have that kind of willpower again for anything else as long as I live.

I'm guessing the Chao might have had a lot to do with it? Well, at any rate, you had more stamina with SA2 than I did. I couldn't bear to get all 180 on the Dreamcast version because the VMU game was so mind-numbingly bad; I gave up at 171. It was a snap on the GameCube, though, because when I finally got SA2:B, I had up to then been pumping up a Chao in Sonic Advance for 10 months.

Edit: Something else about Super Sonic: the looping music when playing as him is bloody aural hell

I would have to say Hyper/Super Sonic gets my vote, since it was the only unlockable I bothered to get, (besides some of the extras from Gems Collection) plus I found running at top speed and killing everything to be quite entertaining when I was younger.

I'm only voting for Hyper Sonic because I didn't had the patience to get all the emblems in SA2. But it's still fun to shred through a level.

Truthfully, I haven't played the 3D GHZ, but my vote went to the SA2 unlockables anyway because I honestly enjoyed the act of collecting unlockables as much as the unlockables themselves. The one exception is that goddamn Chao garden. I just couldn't be bothered to raise them through the garden or the VMU, and I haven't bothered to download a Gamefaqs file yet, so I'm missing out on the GHZ.

Sonic CD would be a close second for reasons already stated by G. Silver.

Voted for the Game Gear games since it was the only way I was able to try some of them out (well, besides emulation, but I really had no motivation to hunt down Sonic Drift and Sonic Drift 2 roms). I always appreciate being given free games too.

I have a similar sentiment about Super Sonic--I see why he's there and he's fun to play around with a bit (and you can do some cool things with him), for me it got old fast, playing as regular Sonic is way more enjoyable, especially if you have a second player along for the ride, because if you go Super all of a sudden you are playing by yourself.

Looping the invincibility music over and over in S3&K rather than creating a distinct Super Sonic theme is one of the worst things they did in that game, there's a certain cheap quality to that, since they did it in Sonic 2. A lot of the unrefined elements got cleaned up with S&K, so considering they changed some of the music already and they added the Hyper modes, you'd think they'd have added some more music.

I loved Super in Sonic 2, he was more uncontrollable, you couldn't exactly choose when to transform because of the single-jump method and also, there's another thing too, Emerald Hill has seven starposts so you can get him before the first boss battle.
But the fun part is exploring the level carefully to find them and making sure not to overrun past any starposts.

In Sonic 3 it was kind of cheap though, the music, Super and Hyper modes, plus Easier to control and transform.

My vote goes to Green Hill Zone in Sonic Adventure 2, mainly for the same reason of nostalgia as everyone else.

Another notable mention is the journal extracts in Sonic Battle. They tied up many of the loose ends of the Shadow/Emerl story in a way that wouldn’t have been as effective as using cut-scenes.

Supposedly, Super Hard Mode in Shadow the Hedgehog reveals a plethora of secrets about the Sonic universe, but I don’t think I’ll ever have the time or patience to unlock it.

Once you have all the emeralds, you can just coast through the rest of the game until the final boss because you're invincible for extended periods. How is that any fun?

While that makes sense in theory, it doesn’t really apply in practice. The Mega Drive games, particularly S3&K, had such a wide range of alternate routes and bonuses to uncover that reaching the end was never the main motive for playing. As such, even though Super Sonic made it easier to reach the goal, it was far more exciting to use him to thoroughly explore the levels, particularly as his speed made it less frustrating to access the upper sections.


^_^

I really dug the Sonic remixes.

However, I quite nearly voted 'Extra Characters' on principle, because who DOESN'T like more people?

While that makes sense in theory, it doesn’t really apply in practice. The Mega Drive games, particularly S3&K, had such a wide range of alternate routes and bonuses to uncover that reaching the end was never the main motive for playing. As such, even though Super Sonic made it easier to reach the goal, it was far more exciting to use him to thoroughly explore the levels, particularly as his speed made it less frustrating to access the upper sections.

But i'd much rather get to those sections the hard way to make it as challenging as possible. It's why I prefer Sonic 1 over most of the other Genesis Sonics.

Expert Mode in Shadow is godawful. It's an insult compared to Super Hard Mode. The levels are barely re-arranged any at all - there were couple that I swore were only changed in one short section of the stage. The only changed stage that deserves the billing of "Expert" is Cryptic Castle - they made that stage really weird. A couple examples: Torches hidden inside trees (?!), and in the large fan room, you can only get the fan working by finding and touching Cheese amongst a large and tightly-packed group of Chao.

The only secrets to come from the mode are from the characters, sort of...there's one hint sign at the start of every stage that has one or two of the cast members say something either mildly encouraging or amusing. It reveals that the President is a lazy bastard ("Mr. President, you'll be late for your limbo party with the Minister of Commerce") and that the Commander has recenty become a grandfather, amongst other things. Just take my word...if you ever get to Cosmic Fall in Expert Mode, kill the sound or Cheese will make you suffer.

Kill the sound. I like the sound (oops!) of this.

I cast my vote for Super Sonic. It was a nice reward for learning to get the Emeralds in Sonic 2,3 and Knuckles when I first started playing the games, and I thought the little transforming animation looked cool.

The Sonic Adventure 2 extras would've got higher up for me, but I played the gamecube version which pretty much gave me all the extra characters.

Metal Sonic(Before heroes) is my favorite evil character, so yeah, being able to play as him is cool!.

I liked unlocking the Hyper versions of Sonic and Knuckles (and the Super version of Tails). Yes it made the zones too damn easy, but it also added a new addition to gameplay; a "how fast can you get 50 rings and clear this Act?" feel to it. I always felt just playing as Sonic in Sonic 3 & Knuckles was boring now and again, as he couldn't fly like Tails did or glide and climb like Knuckles could.

But he could travel faster though, which is what Knuckles gliding and Tails flying accounts for, in a way.
Knuckles' game is about using verticals and barriers to compensate for his lack of jumping ability, Tails is similar when it comes to exploration with using his flying and swimming ability to have more freedom around the levels.
As for Sonic, exploration comes down to pure physics and using your momentum to reach those same areas, it's not boring, you just have to think in a different way.

I know Sonic 1 wasn't designed that way, seeing as how Knuckles and Tails didn't exist yet, but I still loved trying to get to areas the non-conventional way using momentum and jumping at the right time. Like in GHZ act 2, rather than going underneath and hitting the spring so that you can land on the top of the loop, I'd hit the speed power up and jump off the top of the hill left of the loop. If you did it right, you could easily land on top, or even overshot it. I think later in the same act, or maybe the next one you could hit a spring on a rock and hit jump at the exact peak on a little roller and land on top of another loop. I think that was a pretty standard, if not the only way, to get on that one. I still thought it was a really neat way to use Sonic's speed.

Hyperness, especially if you get all the super emeralds in mushroom hill, then you scream through the rest of the game in multi-colored glory.

Second Wooduck51, reached superness in Sonic 2 on first zone, in Sonic 3 on second zone and in S&K in the first one

If only you could redesign the level structure so it can be as challenging as Sonic 1 WHILE being Super/ Hyper...

I had one of those friends who bullshitted to me very often about a lot of stuff because he liked the attention he got by lying to everyone. I didn't believe him when he said Sonic & Knuckles offered up a new second level of transformation until I saw it with my own eyes.

It was glorious and perhaps one of he most memorable moments in the Sonic franchise, right along side Doomsday Zone.

I agree with Super and Hyper Sonic, but it's a shame that nowadays you can only go Super in the extra zone. This is especially true of Advance 2, where the Emeralds are ludicrously hard to get, and you have to get a complete set for every character. Just for that second part, you should be able to give every character a Super mode. Of course, that would ruin how special it is for Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails, so the obvious solution becomes to let only those three get Emeralds, and then to let them transform during regular zones.