Sonic Origins: Secrets and Debug Mode Guide

Welcome to Sonic Origins secrets and debug mode guide! I’ll explain as much as I can about the secrets hidden away in Sonic Origins and how you can use debug mode to enhance your experience within Sonic Origins.

For example, you would assume that you have to play a game from start to finish to get one of the completion achievements right? Well, it turns out there is a quicker way to unlock achievements that doesn’t involve actually playing the game from start to finish. That’s right, we can use the secret level select and debug mode to complete the games fast! Not only that, but we can also give ourselves a near infinite amount of COINS too using debug mode!

Additionally, level select and debug mode are accessed the same way for each of the games in Anniversary mode, Classic mode, and even Mirror mode.

However, it needs to be said, that debug mode and the level select could get patched out by SEGA at any time if they wanted to. So, I would recommend trying these tricks as soon as you can.

Now that it has been said, let use dive into it!

Debug mode is a game state typically achieved by entering into the secret level select screen and inputting the debug mode code in the sound test area. You can typically tell you are in debug mode, if you can see the X and Y coordinates on screen.

Here, you can spawn several objects that are seen in the game. These include obstacles, enemies, checkpoints, goal posts, and capsules. Specifically with capsules, you can spawn rings, shields, and even lives/COINS. There are also these letter S capsules that will transform the character into their super form instantly.

You can even overlap the capsules on top of each other, so that the player can continuously open them without moving. Basically, you can give yourself as many COINS as you need, and more importantly, you won’t lose them even in debug mode!

With debug mode, you can also save yourself from dying. As soon as the dying animation plays, go into the debug form. When you revert, you can continue as if you weren’t killed. This is very useful against the final bosses.

Aside from giving you all the COINS you can ever need. You can also use them to help you obtain some of the achievements as well. Being able to go to the last level right away will save you time that you would have otherwise waste had you play it the normal way. Being able to choose which levels you want to play will help you go after certain achievements right away.

I’ll now show you how to unlock debug mode for each game and give a method to complete the game fast.

So on the title screen for this game, press Up, Down, Left, Right. Once you hear the confirmation jingle, press the screen. You will then be taken to the secret level select screen for this game.

Player will change your character based on the corresponding number:

00 = Sonic and Tails
01 = Sonic
02 = Tails
03 = Knuckles

Enabling Spin Dash will give the player the Sonic 2 Spin Dash. It will also allow Sonic to use the Drop Dash.

Enabling S1 Spikes will make the spikes function like they did back when Sonic 1 was first released.

These are the various Items options available here:

S1
S2
S1+S3
S2+S3

There are also options to enable and disable Gnd Spd Cap and Air Spd Cap.

You can also set the max amount of Chaos Emeralds at 6 or 7

To unlock debug mode from here, go to the sound test and play in order 01, 09, 09, 01, 00, 06, 02, 03. If you did it correctly, a jingle should play confirming you enabled debug mode.

To unlock super mode for a character from here, firstly, set the max emeralds from 06 to 07. Then, go to the sound test and play in order 04, 01. 02, 06. If you did it correctly, a jingle should play confirming you got every emerald needed to go super.

When you are done in the level select screen, go ahead and go to the Final Zone. You can tell debug mode worked if you can see the X and Y coordinates at the upper right corner. You can then switch to various objects, including COINS and S capsules.

Before you fight the final boss, go ahead and enter into your super form so that you won’t get hurt by the projectiles. You can still get squished, but you can save yourself by going into your debug form to continue fighting.

All you need to do is defeat the final boss and Sonic 1 will be counted as completed after the credits. Unfortunately, using a goal capsule and goal post here won’t end the game. You have to fight the final boss to end Sonic 1.

So on the title screen for this game, press Up, Up, Up, Down, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right. Once you hear the confirmation jingle, press the screen. You will then be taken to the secret level select screen for this game.

To unlock debug mode from here, go to the sound test and play in order 01, 09, 09, 02, 01, 01, 02, 04. If you did it correctly, a jingle should play confirming you enabled debug mode.

To unlock super mode for a character from here, go to the sound test and play in order 04, 01. 02, 06. If you did it correctly, a jingle should play confirming you got every emerald needed to go super.

If you press 00 three times at the sound test, you can access an extra game config menu. This works for Classic Mode too.

In here, you can change your player to these choices:

Sonic
Tails
Knuckles
Knuckles and Tails
Sonic and Tails

You can change your items to these choices:

Shield
Shield and the three Elemental Shields
Mystery Items
Mystery Items and Elemental Shields

There are also options to turn on or off flight and air cap.

When you are done in the level select screen, go ahead and go to the Death Egg Zone. You can tell debug mode worked if you can see the X and Y coordinates at the upper right corner. You can then switch to various objects, including COINS, Emeralds, and S capsules. Do note, checkpoint special stages are disabled in debug mode.

Before you fight the bosses, go ahead and go into your super form. This will make the fights go by faster without the pain associated with the fights.

All you need to do is defeat the final bosses and Sonic 2 will be counted as beaten after the credits. Unfortunately, using a goal capsule and goal post here won’t end the game. Instead, you will be taken to Hidden Palace zone if you try to use a goal capsule or goal post in Death Egg Zone. You have to defeat the final boss to end Sonic 2.

So on the title screen for this game, press Up, Up, Down, Down, Up, Up, Up, Up. Once you hear the confirmation jingle, press the screen, then go down and press Sound Test. You will then be taken to the secret level select screen for this game.

To unlock debug mode from here, go to the sound test and play in order 01, 09, 09, 04, 01, 00, 01, 08. If you did it correctly, a jingle should play confirming you enabled debug mode.

To unlock super mode for a character from here, go to the sound test and play in order 04, 01, 02, 06. If you did it correctly, a jingle should play confirming you got every emerald needed to go super.

Hyper mode requires inputting 04, 01, 02, 06 twice on the sound test. You should hear a jingle both times to confirm hyper mode is unlocked.

At this screen, you are also able to swap between characters here. There is currently no way to access Knuckle’s version of Sky Sanctuary Zone with anyone else.

When you are done in the level select screen, go ahead and go to The Doomsday Zone if you want to fight the final boss now. Or, you can go to Death Egg Zone Act 2 to play around with debug mode first. You can tell debug mode worked if you can see letters and numbers at the upper right corner. Do note the controls for debug mode is slightly different here than in the other Sonic games. You can go to Death Egg Zone Act 3 from Act 2 using the goal capsule or goal post. You can even go to Doomsday Zone from Death Egg Zone Act 3 using the goal capsule or goal post, even if you don’t have any of the emeralds.

All you need to do is defeat the final boss and Sonic 3 will be counted as completed after the credits. There is a trick where you can save rings and fight the final boss using the debug form. The boss will still track your character even in debug form, so you can lead missiles back to him in the first phase. In the 2nd phase, just fly close to the boss while in debug form, then revert to your character to contact the boss. Your debug form will pass through any asteroids without losing rings. You have to defeat the final boss to end Sonic 3.

Unfortunately, there are no easy stage/level select and debug mode cheats available for this game. I haven’t actually tested it out, but I’m going to assume you need to complete Time Attack mode under a certain time to unlock the other stuff. That will take significantly more time to do than just completing the game. Both the Anniversary and Classic modes use the updated version of Sonic CD.

So to beat Sonic CD fast, I would recommend playing as Tails in Anniversary mode to make the run as painless as possible. Tails pretty much can fly over anything that doesn’t have a ceiling. Heck, he doesn’t even need to contact the goal post to complete levels in certain cases.

Go ahead and skip the special stages. The aim is to complete the game fast anyways, and the true ending isn’t required for that.

I would probably not time travel either, however you might have an easier time at a stage in another time period.

Defeating the final boss of Sonic CD will complete the game and unlock Mirror Mode after the credits.

From how it worked in the 2011 port of Sonic CD, you have to complete all the stages in normal Time Attack mode under a certain time. Beating the whole game will unlock all of the standard Time Attack mode. You can then unlock Time Attack mode for Special Stages, D.A. Garden, and Visual Mode if you complete all stages in Time Attack mode in less than 25’00’00 or under 25 minutes for short.

Unlocking the stage select requires completing all the special stages in Time Attack mode in less than 5’00’00 or under 5 minutes for short. Unlocking the sound test requires completing all the special stages in Time Attack mode in less than 4’00’00 or under 4 minutes for short.

With sound test unlock, you will have access to debug mode and these other secrets!
Debug Mode – PCM 12 DA 11
Picture of Sonic in the style of a super hero – PCM 04 DA 21
A screenshot of an unreleased Sonic CD level – PCM 32 DA 08
Cute Sonic picture – PCM 11 DA 09
DJ Sonic picture – PCM 03 DA 01
Tails picture – PCM 12 DA 11
Secret Special Stage – PCM 07 DA 07
FUN IS INFINITE – PCM 12 DA 25

Under this section, I will talk about other things that can be found and done within Sonic Origins.

Go to the secret level select screen, then choose 02 for Tails or 03 for Knuckles under the player selection.

Go to the secret level select screen, then choosing 00 will give Tails as Sonic’s companion.

Set max emeralds from 6 to 7 in the secret level select screen.

At the level select screen, use the get all emeralds code. Then enter the Special Stage.

Spawn and use a goal post or goal capsule at the Final Zone. You will then be taken to a special level select screen.

Select Tails or Knuckles, then return to the title screen. The chosen character will then pop up at the title screen instead of Sonic.

Hidden Palace Zone may be inaccessible in the hidden level select screen. But, you can access it quickly by going through a spawned goal post or capsule at Death Egg Zone. You will then be able to go to Hidden Palace Zone without wasting much time.

Play sound 07 at the level select scree, then select special stage. You will then be taken to this secret special stage. You will have access to the other pause screen options here.

Select Knuckles only, then return to the title screen. Knuckles will then pop up at the title screen instead of Sonic and Tails.

Simply select the zones at the level select screen as Knuckles. Using Debug Mode, Knuckles can access Sonic’s version of Sky Sanctuary Zone from Hidden Palace Zone using a goal post or goal capsule.

There is a Mirror Mode to unlock for each game giving us a total of 4 Mirror Modes that need to be unlocked in Sonic Origins. If you did not get the Start Dash Pack, you will have to complete each game individually from start to finish. Unfortunately, you can’t use the level select screen or debug mode to help you with this, so you have to beat each game from start to finish.

Fortunately, it doesn’t matter which ending you need to get, so the only thing that matters is reaching the ending game credits. If you need a Mirror Mode to be unlocked, aim to do the one for Sonic CD first.

You can change the Story Mode, Mission Mode, and Boss Rush soundtrack from within Sonic CD Anniversary Mode, Classic Mode, or Mirror Mode.

You can change the Spin Dash in Story Mode, Mission Mode, and Boss Rush Mode from within Sonic CD Anniversary Mode under the Settings.

Instead of getting S ranks from multiple missions. You can instead do one mission from one game multiple times to gain S ranks instead. Caterkiller Swarm, True Trajectory, Stinger Swarm!, and Sandy Swim are all easy missions that can be all S ranked relatively easily.

If you happen to die against a boss, you can quickly force quit the game. When you reload the game, you will be able to continue the boss rush without losing the life.

It doesn’t particularly matter which game this is done in. I did it at Death Egg Zone in Sonic 2. With Debug Mode enabled, I spawned a whole bunch of COINS capsules. Keep in mind capsules will start disappearing if you spawn too many capsules. Go ahead and beat the zone afterwards to save those COINS. The max number of COINS is apparently 999.

Thank you for taking the time to read this guide! And leave a like and comment if you want.

Q: Will you do a focused achievement guide too?
A: Depends how much demand there is for that. These set of achievements aren’t particularly complicated to unlock though.

Q: Any additional features you want in Sonic Origins?
A: Since we have all these songs in the game, I was hoping that there will be an option for for more custom music options within the levels. For example, changing the Green Hill Zone music to The Doomsday Zone music.

Q: DENUVO SUCKS/NO TOGGLE FOR WIDESCREEN OR LIVES/I HATE THE SONIC 3 PROTOTYPE MUSIC/GARBAGE COLLECTION
A: Valid concerns. But they are not questions!

Q: Go play Sonic Forever, Sonic 2 Absolute and Sonic 3 AIR instead of this cash grab!
A: Also not a question! But I will agree they all definitely have more going for them than what Sonic Origins has done. But Sonic Origins is convenient to play on multiple gaming platforms.

Q: Will there be dlc like a playable Amy be in Sonic Origins?
A: Time will tell. It is up to Sega I guess.

Q: Will SHADOW be in Sonic Origins?
A: Get out of here already!