The Sonic the Hedgehog movies feature an escalating series of threats for Sonic (Ben Schwartz) to deal with, but they also give him a power-up in the form of the Master Emerald. When Sonic absorbs all seven of the Chaos Emeralds that form the Master Emerald, he transforms into his Super state: a glowing gold form that makes him virtually immortal and even faster than usual. He can even fly!
The Super State has long been a staple of Sonic the Hedgehog games, but only recently started to appear in the movies: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 featured Sonic going Super for the first time to stop the latest mechanical menace created by Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 had Sonic dueling Shadow (Keanu Reeves) throughout space before joining forces — all while powered up in their Super states. But there’s another form that could potentially rival Sonic’s Super form, and that’s his Hyper form.
How Does Sonic the Hedgehog Become Hyper Sonic?

Sonic becomes Hyper Sonic when he gathers together the seven Super Emeralds (which are enhanced versions of the Chaos Emeralds) along with fifty rings. It then transforms him into a glowing white version of himself who possesses similar abilities to Super Sonic: he’s indestructible and can move faster for a limited period of time. But Hyper Sonic has two unique abilities that make him Sonic’s strongest form. First, there’s a Hyper flash attack that wipes the screen clean of enemies, clearing the path for Hyper Sonic. The second is that he can breathe underwater, which must have been a relief for players used to dying in underwater levels. The Hyper state comes with a catch: as long as it’s on, Sonic will continue to drop rings. When he’s out of rings, he goes back to normal, and fans of the Sonic games know that the Blue Blur’s the most vulnerable when he doesn’t have any rings on him.
Sonic’s Hyper State Only Appeared in One Sonic Game

Image via Paramount Pictures

Despite how powerful Sonic is in his Hyper state, he’s only managed to use it in one game: Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Said game was created when Sega Genesis players locked together the cartridges for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (the video game, not the movie) and Sonic & Knuckles. There’s actually a reason for this, as both were intended to be one game before time constraints and a deal with McDonald’s (yes, really) led to the development team splitting their planned game in half. Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka said that he felt Sonic 3 & Knuckles would be the only time Sonic used his Hyper form, since it or the Super Emeralds haven’t appeared in any other games. This wasn’t for lack of trying, as longtime Sonic the Hedgehog writer Ian Flynn said he wanted to utilize Sonic’s Hyper form in Sonic Frontiers before the idea was rejected.
Sonic Isn’t the Only Character Who Can Use Hyper Mode

Sonic 3 & Knuckles also lets players take control of Tails and Knuckles, and, as a result, both of them can utilize the Hyper state. It would be a genuinely great idea for Sonic the Hedgehog 4 to utilize the Hyper state in some way. The end credits of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 tease that someone sent Metal Sonic after Sonic, and Knuckles does wind up fighting the mechanical menace in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Since Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are a team, why not let them all get a power up? Amy Rose also was able to utilize the Hyper state in Sonic Origins Plus, which features an updated version of Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

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Additionally, Amy Rose also appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s post-credits, meaning that the stage is set for director Jeff Fowler to deliver a truly epic fight sequence in Sonic the Hedgehog 4. It’s clear that the creative team behind the Sonic movies has a love for the games, too, with producer Toby Ascher revealing that the approach to Sonic 3 & Knuckles inspired the release for Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog 3: “We did Sonic 2 and brought in Tails and Knuckles, and then the next step is Sonic 3 with the Knuckles expansion pack.” Sonic the Hedgehog 4 should take a similar approach and unleash the Hyper state.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Release Date

December 20, 2024

Runtime

110 minutes

Director

Jeff Fowler

Writers

Josh Miller, Patrick Casey, John Whittington

Producers

Neal H. Moritz, Tim Miller, Toru Nakahara, Tommy Gormley, Toby Ascher, Haruki Satomi, Hitoshi Okuno, Yukio Sugino