Prior to the release of the open-world Sonic Frontiers in late 2022, Sega has revived and remastered the classic side-scroller Sonic format. The original trilogy plus Sonic CD have been bundled and rereleased as Sonic Origins, packaging the late-90s nostalgia together with some new and exciting features. One classic feature making a return is the hidden level select cheat menu, though getting to it is a bit different using modern controllers.
Level select allows for quick access to any stage in the game. This makes for an easy means of practicing for S-rankings, replaying those favorite levels, or mopping up achievements and trophies. Unusually for such cheat codes, picking and choosing stages in this way does not disable achievements or trophies. Here's how to activate these sneaky cheat codes in Sonic Origins.
Sonic The Hedgehog 1, 2, And 3
Level select in each of the three original Sonic titles is accessed through basically the same method. To begin, the player need only boot up whichever one of these Sonic classics they'd like to play and wait for the title menu to load. Once they get to the "Press Button" screen, they can go ahead and ignore that prompt, and stay on this screen. Here, players need to enter a code on the directional pad. The code differs by game:
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Up, Down, Left, Right
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles: Up, Up, Down, Down, Up, Up, Up, Up
A musical chime will be heard if the cheat code for the corresponding game is entered correctly. Fans can then advance to the level select menu by simply hitting the jump button. From there, they can freely choose any level in the game, regardless of whether they have reached it previously or not. Not only that, but there's a further bonus too: any of that title's available characters can be freely picked from.
Sonic CD
Unfortunately, Sonic CD is the one title in this collection that does not (as of the time of writing) have any known cheat codes. Their existence can't be ruled out entirely yet, as the original game did feature the same cheats as the other titles (including level select), but the old cheat codes have proven to be unresponsive on the remaster. Perhaps they will be found one day, but for now, fans will have to play their way to their favorite Sonic CD levels the old-fashioned way.
For those looking to knock out some easy trophies or achievements in Sonic Origins, these level select cheats are immensely helpful. As mentioned, this collection is a rare example of a game whose cheats do not disable its achievements or trophies. Hedgehog enthusiasts can easily jump to particular levels to grind out rings for the Ring Collector trophy (collect 1000 rings) or enemy kills for the Everyone's Hero trophy (defeat 200 foes). They can even jump to the very last level of the classic trilogy's game's to more quickly acquire the All Clear! trophy (for finishing the four titles).
Recent installments of the Sonic franchise have received mixed reviews at best, but there is no going wrong with the original trilogy. Here's hoping that Frontiers and future releases can live up to it.