Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - Hidden Boss Music

[Chuukun1]

oh I never knew why the music changed on this boss, now I do, u learn something new every day

[MrPibePlay]

i make a s3yk version whith remastering sounds 

[petovic1]

thats not hidden

[Tickenest]

@petovic1 It is when you have to take some unlikely actions to make it happen.

[NewYorkS4U]

This doesn't work (obviously) when you combine the game with the "Sonic & Knuckles" cartridge.

[Tickenest]

@NewYorkS4U Right, but no need for it to do so.

[starpenguin1]

is a glitch because the music of S and K dont removed all

[indigopeach]

This glitch also works in the Act 2 boss fight as well.

[omgitsaaron]

I remember that glitch n_n. Hey uploader, have you ever found any re-released or modded versions of S&K3? Every time the genesis games are re-released on a different system they alway have S3 & S&K, but never friggin S&K3! >:(

[Tickenest]

@omgitsaaron I was unaware that they don't typically release the combined version. Never bought the games after the Genesis generation personally, sorry.

[Shadowtheheartbroken]

@Tickenest S3&K is an unlockable for games like sonic mega collection but you have to play for a VERY LONG TIME to get it.

[OmagaMinion]

@omgitsaaron its on sonic mega collection/

Sonic & Knuckles Collection/

Sonic Action Pack/

Sonic Action 4 Pack/

Sega PC Mega Pack/

and if you get sonic 3 and sonic and knuckles on xbox you can combine them.

[omgitsaaron]

@OmagaMinion Thanks a million! :D

[bombermanwinner]

@omgitsaaron also on ds, sonic classic collection

[0906smw]

@omgitsaaron Sonic Classic Collection has..

Sonic 1

Sonic 2

Sonic 3

Sonic and Knuckles

Sonic 2 and Knuckles

Sonic 3 and Knuckles

Also, you can unlock S3&K on some genesis collection games.

[tistifli]

@0906smw hey why did you make that comment and i'm playing sonic classic collection

[Krueger22]

@omgitsaaron I think most ports will let you combine the two if you buy both games. The 360 ports do at least. PSN doesn't have either games and I haven't tried it on the Wii yet.

[catraquinze]

i barely noticed cause most times i play s3&k xD

[OmagaMinion]

This happend to me too on the gamecube and genisis version you can easily try it yourself by almost drowning on that boss if you dont believe me or Tickenest.

[SlasherV8]

I hate this boss

[Cooter3422]

That's one of the very few things I remember discovering by accident... Haha! :-)

[Andrew42143]

I remember when this happened to me. I had to end that robots life because I got pissed.

[LegoSonicHalo]

you suck at dodging that thing

[doom0666]

gotta love video game glitches

[theannoyance1999]

This happened to me, however it was at robotnik himself and it happened after I entered The bonus zone during the boss.

[lopatanelopatavriti1]

what is hidden on it?

[Tickenest]

@lopatanelopatavriti1 The only way to get this boss music to play is by starting the "drowning" music and then breaking the surface of the water, and it was probably unintentional that it worked out this way.

[pinksakurablossoms]

@Tickenest i thought the second song always played when that boss came up?

[Tickenest]

@pinksakurablossoms Only if you're playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles. In this case, we're playing Sonic 3 by itself.

[eidairman1]

@Tickenest This just proves that Sonic 3 was 1 complete game and they forgot to remove all sound bits out for SK.

[SuperThunderBolt2]

This has happened to me too. It's actually normal.

[bassisnevertooloud96]

the "secret song" is much better

[Harkz0r]

What gets me is why all the themes were changed to the S&K versions when plugging in Sonic 3. They should have split it halfway so that the Sonic 3 versions played in the original S3 zones, and the S&K tracks in the later ones, unless this wasn't possible due to engine limitations. Still, this is an interesting bug. :)

[gjtrue]

Sonic 3's miniboss theme is WAY BETTER!!!!!!

[lilmattere]

@gjtrue I like the sonic 3 mid bos theme cos it has dat hiphop kinda feel to it

[IceRazgriz]

Thats not a hidden boss!

[Tickenest]

@IceRazgriz No, the title refers to the fact that the boss music that plays after the near drowning is hidden, not that the boss itself is hidden.

[crazyguy1913]

@IceRazgriz music

[InquisitorSinCross]

getting this music at act 2 is really a lot easier. But I have another thing that bothers me since childhood - why Sonic remains in his Super form only after you defeat Dr.Robotnik at Hydrocity and always changes back to normal form at all other levels in the game?

(Yes its possible to collect all 7 Chaos Emeralds right before the end of the Hydrocity level)

[TiagoCampante2U]

@InquisitorSinCross actually it is possible to get them all in the very first level, in sonic 3 and in Sonic&Knuckles

[TheCth121]

which is better? s3 miniboss(hip-hop style) or s&k miniboss?

[TiagoCampante2U]

@TheCth121 defenitely s&k miniboss. s3's sucks

[DragonZeara]

oooo.. man i was confused to hell when this happened XD i love this music x3

[rikublaze]

the better boss theme

[AllHailKingKurt]

Wow, that is a good find, I have had this game and Sonic & Knuckles for years, and knew that they had different boss sounds, but never noticed that water/music glitch before!

[kissmeboi]

how about i watched this vid like 30 times then just realized one or two weeks ago the 2 boss musics change

[KyonV13]

I remember doing this in Act 2 that by going too fast at the end of the level it triggered this music to start....I've done it a few times but I'm not so sure how exactly it's done.

[DarkestFireWings]

Dude, I noticed that the music changed, but I never thought anything about it. XD

[Tsukiyomaru0]

I don't think it is a glitch... I think the PC version had this music. But I remember hearing it 99% of the times I fought a boss.

[ScarletRunner8]

@gamegod9000 Yeah, it's the major boss music for Dr. Robotnik / Eggman, then it changes to the minor boss music in S&K. The change is probably a glitch and not meant to be hidden, but what I don't understand is why the major boss music is being played instead of the Michael Jackson one, which is played for every minor boss in Sonic 3, except this one.

[Tsukiyomaru0]

@ScarletRunner8 What if it was placed on purpose? As in... A Easter Egg?

[gamegod9000]

...isn't the first boss song also supposed to be the Michael Jackson boss theme? For mini bosses? But it's the regular boss song!

[allfenom]

Noob

[NinjaGhostScorpion]

Has a spy espionage feel to it.

[TheFandomHouse]

That happened on my game once!

[pikazomboe]

Yes!!!!

I looked for that song but I couldn't find it!

I usually do it during act 2. It's easier that way.

[KaneNFL443]

Oh so thats what happened when I played this boss. One day I was playing this boss and then the mid-boss theme from Sonic and Knuckles started playing.. I guess I must have accidentally triggered it haha..

[hulffle]

wow, i never noticed that

[HyperSonicXtreme]

Known this trick for years

[abraveastronaut]

While I'm rambling, I might as well mention that the music in Sonic & Knuckles is all stored in the same places internally as the corresponding Sonic 3 music, if you compare their sound tests. And then the sound test for Sonic 3 & Knuckles is Sonic 3's with the Sonic & Knuckles tracks written over their counterparts, with the funny result that the Act 1 boss theme is actually in there *twice*--once to replace the Sonic 3 miniboss theme, and once where Sonic 3 already had it.

[abraveastronaut]

Incidentally, as a result of Sonic & Knuckles having been intended to be part of Sonic 3, nearly ALL of its music is sitting around unused in Sonic 3--all the levels, and both the "slot machine" and "spheres" bonus stages. The only exceptions are the S&K theme song and the variations on it (invincibility theme, extra life fanfare, credits), since obviously Sonic & Knuckles didn't need its own theme when it was just the second half of Sonic 3.

[abraveastronaut]

This also works in act 2 (and is actually a little easier there).

[Tickenest]

@abraveastronaut Are you sure? I thought the Act 2 boss music was the same in S3 and S&K.

[abraveastronaut]

@Tickenest Yes, it is. (And for some reason, that's also the music that normally plays during the boss fight in this video--you can hear it at the beginning). Both of the underwater bosses in S3 use the Act 2 boss music for some reason, and both of them can be tricked into switching to the S&K Act 1 boss music via nearly drowning. Try it yourself--it's pretty cool.

[InvalidGesture]

@abraveastronaut

Yeah, it is cool.

And did you try going in to Knuckles' places in Sonic 3 (without using the Sonic 3 &Knuckles mode)?

[TerryTheAppleFox]

@Tickenest It may be the same in eggman battles in both S3 and S&K, but the bug focuses on one particular song, when you drown in a fight, not focusing on who you're fighting...

[MJDiaz90]

trust me. it does that. so dont go all bitching. happen to me.

[shadowleraja]

i always used to drwon on purpose just to fight with the s&k boss song

[Shishizurui]

I remember hearing this..

This boss is a washing machine lol.

[carrieea3]

AWSOME!!!

[kasumi4eva]

suits it well too lol

[HyperSonic7701]

Notice how the boss theme is incorrect as it was, and how it only got worse LOL

[SuPeRsOnIc363541]

this happens on the 2nd act too

[NanosoftRussia]

I was found it also

[Tickenest]

@MOVEIFAN Well, I guess Sega never bothered to fix the bug, so it appears in every version and collection!

[MOVEIFAN]

It is funny I found this find today because I was playing this game yesterday on the sonic mega collection for ps2 and the exact same thing happened. I know it is from sonic and knuckles but it is still weird that it happened.

[BonazaiGirl]

That happend to me before. I used to have both Sonic 3 and S&K and attached them and this happend to me on a different level though.

[scb00662]

sonic 1 and 2 had some of the same music and sonic 3 and sonic and knuckles should have some of the same too

[JRCT3E]

The glitch happened while I was playing too, I've found it great, but I had 0 rings and was get hit by the boss. ;(

[VidmanXX]

That's actually one of the boss themes from Sonic & Knuckles. I'm guessing that it only made it's way into Sonic 3 because the 2 are so compatible.

[Tickenest]

@VidmanXX It's probably there because parts of S&K were left in Sonic 3 even when it was decided to split the two games, and a programming error caused this mid-boss music to play in this circumstance (and it was never caught in testing.)

[deathgrinful]

@Tickenest Actually, that S&K miniboss music was supposed to be played when you are Knuckles. That was the original concept from Sega and it makes more sense since Knuckle's bosses were much harder and the music will add the intensity factor to it.

[TiagoCampante2U]

@deathgrinful you're wrong. act1 and act2 has two different boss themes, and the first one its the boss theme for boss in act2, the next one, after the drowning, is for bosses in act1

[SuPeRbOoMfAn]

pretty cool glitch bro

[cottagechskitty]

I've had this glitch but its been 3 mini to S&K mini. Not main to mini. That's funny :)

[coulthard1984]

nice

[jaysds123]

You can do this in act 2 as well :P

[Tonberry2k]

Very cool. I never noticed this.

[raslin2000]

how could the mini boss music just change so rapidly between sonic n knuckles and sonic 3 tracks. whooops just made a rated b movie of the best genesis game ever made. thumbs downer!!!!!

[DarthBane123]

I don't get it

[DarthBane123]

@DarthBane123 oh ok nevermind

[FlamerasX]

I've done this before....

WITHOUT REALIZING THAT THE MUSIC CHANGED

whoops.

[figgy190]

u saw blue knuckles on the sign for a split second

[Arceus9295]

ME TOO XD

It looks so wierd.

[Jb33124]

same here its at 0:57

[irismey]

You know you can keep that sign still spinning. Which is fun 2 do 2.

[Willber99]

I once noticed this bizarre change when I played Sonic 3 on an emulator.

[KennethMoreland]

Retrofag.

[deathgrinful]

@KennethMoreland Gayfag.

[MasterMario14]

That change is funny, but something else is even funnier: Before the music changes, it isn't the usual miniboss music but the Act 2 boss music.

[gbnnn]

because the first music isn't supposed to be the miniboss music.

[SuperSonicRider9000]

@gbnnn I think he meant Sonic 3's miniboss music. That plays on all of the Act 1 Bosses except this one for some unknown reason. In S3K this is fixed and plays the proper boss music.

[Monsterworldfan64]

I found this the first time I played this!

[TwinUzis]

I tried this on the Ultimate Genesis Collection on 360. It works on there, too.

[Boyceification]

I remember this music back then, I thought it was weird.

Also back when i used Game Genie on Act 2 of the Hydrocity zone, when I beat Robotnik (eggman) the screen let me go further right than I was meant to and went into some tunnel. Some James Bond type music started playing... it might have been the music in this video but I can't remember.

[roguetrip99]

It's the rocket powered testicle!

[DudeDie222]

@roguetrip99 You must've watched Cybershell's playthrough of S3&K.

[roguetrip99]

Yes, I am a big Cybershell fan

[DudeDie222]

@roguetrip99 Who isn't?

[gbnnn]

LOL

[joshua5576]

@roguetrip99 ROFL LOL

[KennethMoreland]

This was such a wasted  oppurtunity for a Rickroll, please hang yourself.

[Tickenest]

Good Lord...your comment, sir, was so caustic and cutting that I have no choice but to accede to your demands.

[HowardTwoThousandTen]

@KennethMoreland it' might be a wase of time but it has this song from sonic and knucles and here you can only here it!

[ommeh49]

hmm... i think that music is from sonic&knuckles

[jakep2007]

yes it's defiantly from sonic and knuckles i remember that song :P

[joshman196]

@ommeh49 no really?

[charon128]

Lol i totally remember the change and thinking it was weird!

[Macedragon37]

OMG I vaguely remember this change in music! That's amazing!

[kitsbits22]

I remember doing that by accident when I was a kid, but never really payed attention to it; I thought it was just a glitch, or something. I wasn't quite sure why the music changed suddenly like that as soon as you would begin to drown, but now I know! Thanks for sharing!

[Palmerholic]

Yeah, I noticed this but kind of forgot about it. You forget the placement of the boss themes because after playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles you sorta forget the S3 theme existed. I'm also upset that the hip-hop flavored sub-boss theme only gets used twice in the whole game.

[Maymona13]

Yeah, I noticed that. How is this?

[gamegod9000]

It starts out as boss music- and after that (I think after drowning song) it goes to mini boss music! (S3&K)

[Xaragon64DS]

Why is this song in the game's coding? Did MJ get accused before the release of Sonic 3 so SEGA intended to change it later? I doubt it's the BETA boss theme, because I downloaded a BETA and that song didn't show up.

It's also weird that the lavel select screen was ripped from Sonic 2 with the same icons and format when Sonic & Knuckles had it's own that took over for the combined game. I guess they didn't intend for players to find that.

[jakeyboy909]

hmm, that's interesting. It makes you wonder why they changed it to this 'hidden' version for S3 in the first place.

[jimp1992]

Nice. I never noticed this before.

[XDianaaaaaaX]

i lost 1:02 in this shit!

this sucks!

[Tickenest]

Unfortunate. Maybe you'll read the description next time.

[Sonicandcalvinfan20]

This Is From Hydrocity Zone.

[toddmilhouse]

not really hidden. music is in the sound test if you know who to access the level select for sonic 3. :\

[Tickenest]

And given that you need a code to access the sound test, I'd say it qualifies as "hidden."

[Sonicandcalvinfan20]

This Is From Hydrocity Zone. Not Hidden Palace

[Tickenest]

Who said it was Hidden Palace?

[figaro589]

Chinese water torture for the person who said that! lol

[SoLinkSmash]

I discovered something awesome! in Sonic 3 and Knuckles, use debug to get Knuckles into Sky Sancuary. Two Knuckles comes out of the portal!

[gamegod9000]

Even know MJ is a good singer, he shouldnt have been in charge of SONIC songs. This song is EPIC WIN! SHOOP DA WOOP!

[PKNproductions]

actually, the boss music from S&K was supposed to be the music for this game, but they didn't program it right, so they accidently left in the music that was gonna be the song BEFORE the new boss music was written... the song that they accidently left in instead was written by none other than MJ

Rest in peace

[hulffle]

ive probably encountered this glitch once, ive just never noticed the music changed. when i was watching this vid i wasn't paying attention and didn't know the music changed

[TekmonX]

Interesting find man :)

[Sslicer]

i never knew about the glitch.

but i did discover that when you pause and unpause the game quickly you'll see a blue knuckles

further proof...let this video load all the way..then about 0:57 seconds into this clip, full screen the video and play&pause really quickly...you'll see a blue knuckles

i wonder what other stuff they left in this game?

[Tickenest]

It looks to me as though it's a red Knuckles who looks blueish because the signpost is underwater, but you'd have to watch it in the original game to be sure either way.

[MiladyLey]

I remember the music changing a lot in that one...I was wondering if something was wrong with my copy. ;p

[BlumiLand]

u really suck at sonic 3.

[Tickenest]

I'll try harder next time, sorry.

[Xaragon64DS]

The BETA version used the Knuckles Theme mix (with Michael Jackson's voice clips) for this fight, then the half version used the Robotnik theme, and then you discover the S&K boss theme is still within the game's coding. That was a replacement song, isn't it? At least that song is decent, unlike the PC version's censorship songs.

[aafang]

lol. I never even realized that the mini-boss music for the two games were different! probably because I have S3&K together always.

[velocityeleven]

I don't like playing them indivually, doesn't feel right

[aafang]

That is true!

[atomicpuppet]

niiiice!!

[NinjaGhostScorpion]

Kinda reminds me of 007.

"The name is Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog."

[SuperSonicFan172]

Thats the song from Sonic 3 and knuckles mini boss.

Good trick!

[corruptedphantom]

i still remember freaking out when i beat this boss that i might drown and not be able to move when the credits were up :P

[robinzuur]

lol i always tought this whas a normal boss

[Jereplofje]

It is. Read the description. :p

[DarkIndustry502]

Its strange other people found out this little trick...I always wanted to get it to work (shit, I was like 10 years old then), and preferred the secret music over the original...

[Tickenest]

Yeah, I prefer the secret music, too. Good thing it turned out to be *the* music in S&K and S3&K.

[ReuWil]

It kind of fits anyway - you nearly drown, and escape drowning...but then the danger of the boss still remains when you emerge. I found it on accident myself, then would activate it again while fighting Dr. Robotnik having Sonic crouch down in the shallow water. I thought they did this on purpose to give two opportunities to find it because this is a mini boss, and it is playing the normal boss music rather than the mini-boss music - and on this stage only.

[mavrickindigo]

I'm probably the only one who liked the Sonic 3 sub boss music. I wondered why this level didn't use it as the song.

[felipecotti]

You're not alone, dude.

[KennethMoreland]

Should've made the music a rickroll.

[WWEDX2OO7]

i always thought this was intresting

[thevideogameguy87]

i first heard it after i beat the game and started again ¬.¬

[ellabeeip]

this is the same boss fight as in the normal ones :S

[Tickenest]

You need to watch the video to the end.

[thaneros]

Who didn't know about this.......

[Tickenest]

Eh, it's not something you'd automatically come across, and it's just noteworthy for how unusual it is.

[sonicjoshalt]

Not noteworthy, not too unusual. The pointer just played the other boss music, this situation was also in the Sonic 2 beta a couple times. No one noticed it at the time, that's all.

[KjareGamer345]

Cool glitch

[SamuraiClinton]

The "hardware limitations" were also marketplace limitations since Sonic fans didn't wanna pay the extra dollar unlike other Megadrive games. But they had to anyway for Sonic 3 & Knuckles levels.

Also, come to think of it, I think the C'mon song was originally intended to be the remix theme for Hidden Palace since it is similar to the Knuckles theme; and that glitch on this level may be some unanticipated effect since the C'mon was programmed to play on act 1 at last minute programming!

[Tickenest]

Well, I've read that it really was a technical limitation in that they couldn't put everything they wanted to on a single cartridge, but yeah, I'm sure they were well aware that they'd hit people up for money twice to play the full game.

I agree with your theory that they probably patched the code at the last moment to play the C'mon song and didn't think of the near drowning scenario that I showed in the video. There's no way to be sure but it's as good an explanation as any other.

I becha some fellow team member though the C'mon song was so good that maybe they wanted to use it ins