Sonic Compilation, released in North America as Sonic Classics 3 in 1 or Sonic 3 in 1,[1] is a video game compilation of three Sonic the Hedgehog titles originally released for the Sega Mega Drive. It was originally released in the PAL regions for the Mega Drive in July 1995 but was later rebranded in North America for the Sega Genesis in 1997, making it the last Sonic game to be released for said console.
Sonic Compilation is notable for being the first collection of multiple Sonic games on one cartridge. In some locations, it was bundled with the Sega Mega Drive console during its later years. This game is also the only game besides the original Sonic the Hedgehog that, when combined with Sonic & Knuckles using lock-on technology, will enable players to play the full Blue Sphere game.
The games in Sonic Compilation themselves are nearly identical to those that were originally released, not including some revisions to their codes. However, the game is given a selection menu for the different titles it contains, which displays new renderings of the box art for each of the three games. The menu was changed in later released versions.
When booting up Sonic Compilation, the game's selection menu is displayed. The control of the selection menu is done with : by pressing left or right, the player can select the different games. After selecting one of the games, the player cannot go back and must reset or turn off and on the console to select another.
Trivia
Due to the way memory is stored in this cartridge, Game Genie codes for the standalone cartridge releases of Sonic The Hedgehog and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 will not work on this release of the games. Instead, a distinct set of codes is required for both games.
The background music and chime heard when a game is selected on the game selection menu are from Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine.
The game selection screen is a direct copy of the layout used in the Sega 6-Pak cartridge, which contained six of Sega's first party titles including the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
: by pressing left or right, the player can select the different games. After selecting one of the games, the player cannot go back and must reset or turn off and on the console to select another.
