Mega Drive: why do all emulators have the same sound problem?

General Games
#1

When playing Sonic 3, in zones like Ice Cap, when I get rings, the ring sound effect stops one of the music channels (resumes after a second or so).

While I don’t remember this happening in the real Mega Drive, I don’t think this is something would left unfixed to release. I thought it was a problem on Genesis-Plus-GX, or on Android, so I tried other emulators in other OS and the same happens.

I was just curious about the reason behind it, if anyone here knows :slight_smile:

PS: also, if someone confirms this happens on the actual console as well, I’d appreciate it ^^U

#2

Try it in Blast 'Em and Exodus (esp Exodus). If they do it, too, I’ll try it on hardware.

#3

I’ve just tried on Exodus (Blast’Em was really ugly and slow, and, funny fact, it got Sonic 3 + Sonic & Knuckles as just Sonic & Knuckles). It does the same.

Here’s how to reproduce the issue: -Play Sonic 3 + Sonic & Knuckles -Use the cheat code to access level select, that is: a) Start a game. b) Move forward until you find some moving ropes and let Sonic hanging on any of them. c) Press left, left, left, right, right, right, and up, up, up. You’ll hear the ring sound. d) Pause the game and press A. You’ll get back to the main screen. e) Press down twice or up once in the main menu to access the Sound Test. -In the levels list, choose Ice Cap Zone Act 1. -While Sonic is snowboarding, notice that when he gets rings, one of the instruments stops playing, then comes back a second after getting the last ring.

Hope it helps :slight_smile:

#4

Ok, that level select makes it a lot more doable! I’ll give it a shot this evening :slight_smile:

#5

Thank you! Looking forward for your answer :slight_smile:

#6

Finally got a chance to check this out and the organ/synthesizer instrument does indeed cut out during the ring sounds on my Genesis console.

1 Like
#7

The same thing happens on the SNES - try playing Secret of Mana. Hit an enemy and one of the sound channels cuts out. It’s because these systems only have a limited number of channels for music + FX (8, I believe).

#8

Thank you very much, hunterk :slight_smile: Somehow it’s a relief, hehe.