Sonic Mania Cheats And Secrets Guide: Unlock Mean Bean Machine, Super Sonic, And More!

Warning: The following article contains some non-story-specific Sonic Mania spoilers.

Sonic Mania has only been in wild for a day, but already hardcore hedgehog fanatics have discovered numerous secrets, unlocks, and cheats hidden away in the game. What would a retro-style Sonic the Hedgehog game be without ’em? Dedicated players can unlock new moves, a debug mode, level select menu, full version of Mean Bean Machine, and more! Scroll on down for a full guide on how to get all the goodies (thanks to the folks at USGamer for some of this info).

Most of the unlockables depend on collecting two things – Blue Sphere Medals, and Chaos Emeralds. Here’s how you get those…

Blue Sphere Medals

The classic Sonic 3-style “Get Blue Spheres” bonus stages can be accessed by hitting a mid-level checkpoint with 25 rings or more. You’ll get a Silver Medal for collecting all the blue spheres and finishing the level, and a Gold Medal by getting all the blue spheres and rings. Thankfully, you only need Silver Medals to unlock things.

Chaos Emeralds

Chaos Emeralds are earned by completing different, more challenging special stages. These can be accessed by finding giant rings hidden in various out-of-the-way places. Special stages task you with running through a “3D” course reminiscent of the original Mario Kart – catch the UFO running from you to earn a Chaos Emerald. There are 7 Emeralds in all.

Unlock Time Attack and Competitive Multiplayer

The first, and easiest unlocks in the game. Time Attack is exactly what it sounds like, and the Competitive Multiplayer is a split-screen race based on the mode from Sonic 2. These two new modes will join the main menu after you beat Sonic Mania‘s first stage.

Unlock Sonic 3’s Insta-Shield and Sonic CD’s Super Peel Out

Two favorite special moves from the past return, replacing Sonic’s new Jump Dash ability. To unlock these, just get a single Silver Medal in the Blue Sphere bonus stages. To use them, enter Mania Mode from the main screen, select the “No Save” options from the file select screen, then press the Triangle Button (or whatever the “top” button is on your controller) to select which cheats you want to activate.

Unlock Knuckles Mode

Playing off the “& Knuckles” meme, you can now have Knuckles be your tagalong character instead of Tails. This even works if you’re playing as Knuckles — double the echidna! Like the special moves, Knuckles mode is unlocked by collecting Blue Sphere Silver Medals, then toggling the mode on after selecting “No Save” from the file select screen. Knuckles Mode is the second Blue Sphere unlock.

Unlock Mean Bean Machine

Yup, as mentioned, you can unlock a full version of Mean Bean Machine, aka the classic Sega puzzle game Puyo Puyo. While it doesn’t have the wacky 90s cartoon branding of the original Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, it does have multiple difficulty levels and multiplayer. Like everything so far, this is accessed by collecting Blue Sphere Medals – this is the third unlock you’ll get, and is accessible through the “Extras” menu.

Unlock Debug Mode

Every retro Sonic the Hedgehog game needs to have a debug mode! This lets you place items wherever you want, explore the boundaries of levels, and generally mess with the game. You know the drill by now – this is unlocked with Blue Sphere Medals. This is the last such unlock in the game.

Unlock Super Sonic and the True Ending

Anybody who’s played through a classic Sonic game before probably knows this one – in order to get the game’s real ending and play as Super Saiyan-style Sonic, you’ll have to collect all 7 Chaos Emeralds and finish the game. Pretty straightforward, although not exactly easy!

Unlock the Level Select Menu

The most straightforward way to get the level select menu is to simply beat the game, although there’s a sneakier way – the catch being, it only works on the Nintendo Switch. Simply hold down the B and Y buttons on the main menu, and the game will reset, and when you start the game again, you should be able to select your level. Again, this doesn’t seem to work for Xbox One or PS4 – an issue with Achievements perhaps?

Phew! And that’s it – all the Sonic Mania unlockables we know about (so far). I’m sure more will be discovered as hardcore Sonic fans continue to pick the game apart! You can check out WWG’s full review of Sonic Mania here.