Sonic Heroes

Sonic Heroes lets you play as four teams of three, all consisting of a Speed, Fly, and Power type character, across 14 stages with varying layouts and objectives for each team.

It's the last 3D game in the series to feature the Adventure era's English voice cast before they switched to the 4Kids crew, the first time the rest of Team Chaotix showed up in a game since the mid-90s (minus Mighty), introduces E-123 Omega to the Sonic series, and is generally seen as one of the quirkiest games in the series. Its reception is very divisive, with people either loving or hating it.

This was notably the first mainline Sonic game to see a multi-platform release, as well as the first overall Sonic game to be released on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Development Info Prototype Info Prerelease Info

Version Differences#

Platform DifferencesBig's eyes glow in the dark?!

Resources#

Unused AudioEveryone’s got something to say.

Debug Modes#

Debug Menu#

Apply the code below on the US PlayStation 2 version to be greeted by this screen when first starting the game. The second page options do not work properly.

Known controls:

• X / Circle to change level order. It is unclear what this means or if it works properly.
• D-Pad Right / Left to move through options.
• Square to change page.
• START exits the menu.

Debug Menu At Boot
D0477DEC 00000000
002BA108 000000C8
D051969C 0000FFF7
002BA108 000000C4

For GameCube, apply this code to access the menu after selecting any non-Story mode:

$Level select menu (10.8)
000a1e27 00000003

$Level select menu (NTSC-U):
000a9ebb 00000003

For the PC version, change the value at 0x54E8 (0x2750B if using Story Mode) or 0x2712D (the startup navigation) in Tsonic_win.exe from 02 to 03 (to enter the level debug menu) or 05 (to go to the movie debug menu).

Debug Displays#

Camera Info#

To do: Codes for other versions.

The Action Replay codes below will enable a debug display during gameplay. The PS2 version of the code will lag the game a lot for unknown reasons.

GameCube US
042B9080 00000001

PlayStation 2 US (Press Select to enable, R3 to disable)
E002FFFE 0051969C
204AD1C0 00000001
204AD1C4 00000001
E002FFFB 0051969C
204AD1C0 00000000
204AD1C4 00000000

Object Editor#

Apply the code below for the PlayStation 2 US version to enable this. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to work correctly and will lag the game a lot.

Object Editor (D-Pad Down to enable, R3 to disable)
E002FFBF 0051969C
00B11895 00000001
20B817DC 00000001
E002FFFB 0051969C
00B11895 00000000
20B817DC 00000000

Geometry Debug#

Apply the code below for the PlayStation 2 US version to enable this. With the code on, press and hold D-Pad Up / D-Pad Down to increase/decrease geometry distance.

Geometry Debug (Press L3 to enable, R3 to disable)
D051969C 0000FFFD
00B11898 00000001
D051969C 0000FFFB
00B11898 00000000

Extra Splines#

Lost Jungle has two un-reachable splines placed in the level, distance away from the mid-point of the level, with one on the upper left, and the other on the bottom right.

Unused Techniques#

Amy and Espio originally shared Sonic and Shadow's Tornado Jump techniques before they were given their own unique moves. These Tornado Jumps were far enough into development to have unique colors (pink for Amy, green for Espio) and corresponding voice lines in bank3j.pac for the Japanese version and bank3e.pac for the other versions respectively.

In the E3 prototype version, leaves still float around Espio when using the original Tornado Jump.

To re-enable the original Tornado Jump, change the following hex values in the PC version's Tsonic_win.exe, then simply test their Tornado Jumps in-game:

• 0xDF6B5 - 00
• 0xDF912 - 00
• 0x17909C - 00
• 0x179B3E - 00
• 0x184587 - EB
• 0x1B007A - 00
• 0x1D29EE - 8B CE
• 0x1D324B - E9 9E F7 FF FF
• 0x1D356B - E9 7E F4 FF FF
• 0x1D40F6 - F7 C1 00 00 40 00 75 12 81 C9 00 00 40 00 C7 85 30 03 00 00 00 00 80 3F EB 06 81 E1 FF FF BF FF 3C 0F 0F 85 37 01 00 00
• 0x1D4256 - 0F
• 0x1E2F6D - 00
• 0x248B1C - EB (Fixes alpha blending issues for proper invisibility rendering)
• 0x382A44 - F0 29 5D 00

For GameCube, apply this region-free Gecko code:

$Original Tornado Jump techniques for Amy and Espio
F6000001 80008180
7C840774 2C040009
D2000004 00000009
2C040009 41820028
38000001 2C000000
4182001C 881C06A0
7C000774 68000001
981C06A0 3C003F80
901C069C 38000000
2C000000 40820008
3880FFFF 2C040009
60000000 00000000
E2000001 80008000
F6000001 80008180
2C000009 40820108
D2000000 00000009
2C000009 41820028
38800001 2C040000
4182001C 889C06A0
7C840774 68840001
989C06A0 3C803F80
909C069C 38800000
2C040000 40820008
3800FFFF 2C000009
60000000 00000000
E2000001 80008000
F6000001 80008180
2C000009 40820084
D2000000 00000009
2C000009 41820028
38800001 2C040000
4182001C 889C06B0
7C840774 68840001
989C06B0 3C803F80
909C06AC 38800000
2C040000 40820008
3800FFFF 2C000009
60000000 00000000
E2000001 80008000
F6000001 80008180
2C000009 4182000C
38600000 4E800020
12000004 00004800
E2000001 80008000

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: How do you enable this for other teams, and can Sonic/Shadow do this too?

Additionally, Chroma Camo can be enabled for other characters besides Espio.

Unused Textures#

The textures can be accessed similarly to Grand Theft Auto III. By using the Magic.TXD editor one can view, edit, and create textures for all platforms Sonic Heroes was released on.

indirect_test.txd#

This tile texture was used to test the indirect shader before applying it to an object or a part of the level geometry.

stg06.txd#

Textures meant for fireworks in the casino levels. However, no firework models were placed in those levels, leaving them unused.

stg09.txd#

A texture meant for objects that emit powder particles, such as the mushrooms in the jungle levels. They use ef_p00 from cmn_effect.txd instead.

s12.txd#

Used (from the stage effect txd archives)	Unused (from s12.txd)

A smoother, more smudgy looking version of Mystic Mansion's teleportation particles.

s14.txd#

Included in the textures for Final Fortress, is a 512×512 version of the sky texture. Only the 256×256 version is used in the stage and the Egg Emperor boss fight. The TXD file also includes the contents of indirect_test.txd, e3Adv.txd, and play_ground.txd.

stg73.txd#

GameCube/Xbox/PC	PlayStation 2	Xbox (unused)

Stored only in the Xbox version for 2 Player Frog Forest, is a color variation of the black poison frog with less green in RGB value compared to the one found on Lost Jungle, normally used for the PlayStation 2 versions, except in higher quality 256x256 resolution.

e3Adv.txd#

Leftover textures from the E3 demo.

Strangely, the PC version is essentially "padded" with duplicate texture files, such as "event____.txd" files. Also, comsoon.txd is empty.

Teleporter switch textures were also in s71.txd for Xbox.

Unused Objects#

This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.

There are several stage objects that go unused (located in the dvdroot folder):

1. stg06_kw_hanabi_blue.one - Blue Fireworks
2. stg06_kw_hanabi_green.one - Green Fireworks
3. stg06_kw_hanabi_purple.one - Purple Fireworks
4. stg06_kw_hanabi_red.one - Red Fireworks
5. stg06_kw_hanabi_yellow.one - Yellow Fireworks
6. OBJ09_POWGREEN.DFF - Green Powder (stg09obj.one)
7. OBJ09_POWPINK.DFF - Pink Powder (stg09obj.one)
8. OBJ09_POWYELLOW.DFF - Yellow Powder (stg09obj.one)
9. OBJ09_FROGGREENBEAT.DFF - Battered Frog (stg09obj.one)
10. OBJ09_FROGBLACKBEAT.DFF - Battered Black Frog (stg73obj.one, Xbox)
11. OBJ14_SANDERS_K.DFF - Green Thunder (s14obj.one)

Used	Unused

adv_ef_warpb.dff#

Used	Unused

Used (In-game)	Unused (In-game)

An unused silver swirl warp effect found in the comobj.one archive of the dvdroot folder. Unlike the two other warp effects, this one rapidly permeates the screen and quickly teleports the player to another position. It can be enabled in the PC version by hex editing the byte at an object offset such as 717FB from 58 to 60 and 71967 from 54 to 5C. For the orb switch, their codes are 68 at 103132 and 64 at 10333D.

For the GameCube version, use this code to replace the gradient warp with the swirl one:

F6000002 80008180
2C000004 40820020
3860000A 38800002
12000004 48000000
E0000000 80000000
F6000003 80008180
818C0040 7D8903A6
4E800421 3800FFFF
901F0030 38000002
10000017 00000003
E0000000 80000000
F6000003 80008180
818c0044 7D8903A6
4E800421 3800FFFF
901f002c 38000002
10000017 00000003
E0000000 80000000

Early Team Sonic Seaside Hill#

Watch on YouTube

Present only in the European GameCube version is a file called _s01_P1.bin which is, bizarrely, an early version of Team Sonic's Seaside Hill. It seems to match up with the layout seen in the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Bonus Disc demo and the 10.8 prototype, but why it is left only in this version is a mystery.

Unused Code#

Demo Gameplay#

The gameplay demo that would play after idling long enough on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube versions were left out of the PC version. It can be re-enabled by replacing the original array at 5698A with 80 F9 06 0F 4D CB. If done correctly, the gameplay demo will play after the opening movie. The demos in this version are from the PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions, but they are buggy, except for Team Dark's demo. Team Sonic's demo is out of sync and Sonic starts to fly out of a loop to his death. If Sonic makes it through the loop, Knuckles starts to aimlessly punch Sonic and Tails into a wall. Team Rose's demo is also out of sync and incorrectly changes characters before Amy dies from falling off the table, followed by Big getting stuck inside a pinball machine, Cream falling out of the pinball table (and respawning Amy), and followed by Amy and Cream jumping 3 times before walking off the platform to their deaths. Team Chaotix's demo shows Charmy missing a jump, failing to circle around the rings before falling off the platform, followed by flying towards the right and tiring out and falling to his death. If he does make it up without falling, Charmy will eventually get detected by a frog.

Transparent Magician Effect#

To do: Add codes for other versions.

For the Magician/Bishop Robot that appears in castle-themed levels, there are material opcodes in the PC version starting at 212D5F (612D5F in RAM) which render the robot transparent with additive alpha blending which was never used by any of the enemy's techniques. However, editing the byte array at 210F83 from 00 00 80 3F to a lower float code in little endian may render a transparent version of the robot after it appears on the placed location.

For GameCube, apply the Gecko codes below:

48000000 800030C8
DE000000 80008180
300815C8 D00302AC
D20815C4 00000004
3821FFFC 3C803F80
3884FFFF 90810000
C0010000 38210004
60000000 00000000
E2000001 80008000

48000000 800030C8
DE000000 80008180
300AEF48 D02302B4
D20AEF44 00000004
3821FFFC 3C803F80
3884FFFF 90810000
C0210000 38210004
60000000 00000000
E2000001 80008000

There are also several material flags that aren't used in the game, of course including ones from unused objects, including the Fireworks object at 0xB4AC3, the hint collision (which is a 72 flag pointer) at 0x75137, the green thunder at 0x48A700 and the three powder objects at 0x468ED4 (Green), 0x468EE4 (Pink), and 0x468EF4 (Yellow) on PC.

Inaccessible Areas#

To do: Many stages have inaccessible areas that have yet to be documented here. This channel has several videos showing Rose where they shouldn't be. Based on the Seaside Hill video, some areas also seem to have unique object placement variations that go unseen since you never go to them. Also, properly investigate unused layouts in 2P Mode, particularly Seaside Hill, Grand Metropolis and Rail Canyon.

Due to how the levels are structured, all four teams can theoretically access every area in a level - including those that are "exclusive" to one team. This is most evident with Team Rose, as their levels are the shortest and either cut out roughly the first third of it (such as Power Plant) or physically block them from proceeding at a certain point (such as Lost Jungle).

However, with the use of glitches and/or hacks, teams are able to go to places they weren't meant to. And oddly enough, several of these areas have remnants of them being able to go there normally, such as unique object placements or otherwise unused lines of dialogue.

Team Sonic#

Team Sonic in Team Chaotix's final area of Mystic Mansion, accessibly only through using hacks. There doesn't seem to be any way to leave due to the lack of a teleport flower, let alone a way to open it.

Original Rail Canyon Team Chaotix mission#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: It's a bit confusing what the text is even talking about. And are there any other differences aside from this small area? Are there other stages like this?

These codes restore the original Rail Canyon used for other teams aside from Chaotix on the team's stage mission.

PC:

• 0x4B69C: 0x08000000
• 0x55894: 0x08
• 0x3C8A24: 0x08

Original	Alternative

Hidden Setting#

In the PC version, adding the line

Charmy_Shutup 1

to "%AppData%\SEGA\SONICHEROES\sonic_h.ini" will disable all voice clips that do not have accompanying subtitles (such as attacks, idling, and scoring).

Oddities#

To do: Some of this and the next section should probably either go into the Platform Differences sub-page, the Bugs page if it's ever made, or potentially a Regional Differences sub-page if there's enough undocumented differences.

As seen here, there's a self-destruct switch out of the wall in Team Rose's Final Fortress, to the left of where it normally is. If you fly next to the left wall, you'll be able to see it, and you can actually press it if you use glitches.

Voice Clip Oddities#

There are some clips in-game for when the characters explain the bobsled controls. However, these explain that if the Flight character is thrown off, the bobsled won't be able to jump. The order for character removal is Speed, Power, Flight, so when the Flight (i.e. last remaining) character is thrown off a life is lost. This hints that previously, the order for character removal was different or random.

When fighting Metal Madness, the Hint Orb at the right makes Team Rose say that the boss will shoot fire if you grab his right arm (the flame-shooting arm). Maybe this battle was different earlier in development, because you can't do anything even remotely close to grabbing in it, and the moment he decides to shoot flames appears to be random.

Final Fortress Laser Muzzle Flash#

While it's impossible to see normally, the lasers fired in Final Fortress at the rails actually do have a muzzle flash effect while firing. However, because of backface culling set by the effect's world render pass, the direction of the normals, and how briefly the laser appears before it goes offscreen, the player can never see it.

PC and Xbox Save Fail Messages#

While technically used, it's almost impossible to see these screens in normal gameplay as the Xbox version is almost guaranteed to save and the PC version is unlike to actually run out of storage space. If either of these end up happening, however, the message will use the incorrect message. The Xbox version will display the GameCube version's Memory Card mismatch screen, while the PC version will use the Xbox version's message, but will be bugged, as the space needed to get cleared will be displayed as "%2d".

Regional Differences#

Present only in the European versions of PlayStation 2 and GameCube is a unique screen that allows the user to switch between 50hz and 60hz (with a compatible television), as well as a Test option (for European PlayStation 2 only) previously seen in the Dreamcast versions of Sonic Adventure and its sequel. Interestingly, the artwork for Ocean Palace in the background can be found in the E3 prototype, albeit as an unfiltered PNG file. The North American GameCube and Xbox versions lack this feature, with the latter instead setting the video mode by checking the console's set video output.

• The American and Japanese PS2 versions are the only versions to have a voice language setting, which lets you choose between the Japanese and English dub as well as being able to change the language for text. The GameCube, Windows, and European PlayStation 2 versions only have a menu to change text language. The Xbox version has both voice languages present, but has no language menu and uses the set console language.
• The European PlayStation 2 release (when set to 50hz mode) has a glitch where the game sometimes registers two button presses instead of one, which can cause issues during gameplay (e.g. doing an air dash instead of jumping, not selecting the wanted character, etc.); this bug does not occur on emulators.
• The European GameCube version provides the option to play in 60hz. However, this just takes the 50hz mode (which already plays at the right speed and only skips frames) and forces it to run at 60hz, instead of properly adjusting the gameplay speed, resulting in it running 20% faster.
• In the PlayStation 2 version, the ✕ button was not switched to be confirm for the North American version (In Japan, the ◯ button is typically confirm). This was switched for the European release.
• Team Chaotix's Team Blast lasts 9 seconds in Western versions, but 12 seconds in Japanese versions.

References#