Sonic Origins is pretty great. A solid 3.5/5, as I said in my review. However, the lack of games is disappointing, as there are a whole lot of other classic Sonic titles that are well worth preserving. Thankfully, a fan has found a way to do just that.
Gamebanana user maddiemaybe has released a mod that enables the original release of Sonic 3 to be played in Sonic Origins. This gets rid of all the add-ons that are introduced when the game is paired with Sonic & Knuckles, giving us the much-loved Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Better yet, it also restores the original - and much better - soundtrack, getting rid of the new tracks added for Origins.
Playing Sonic 3 might make for a much shorter experience, but it's more faithful to its original 1994 release. It also means you can just blast through Sonic's part in the story, rather than have the game continue after Launch Base Zone.
But perhaps the best bit of all is that it brings back Sonic 3's original soundtrack, as it pairs with another mod created by user CubieJudy. This means you can hear the original tunes for Carnival Night, Ice Cap, and Launch Baze Zone in all of their glory. This is likely to be a popular feature, given that fans aren't loving the new tracks that replaced the originals in Origins. This is because the replacements are remixes of prototype tracks, rather than totally new compositions.
Speaking of these tracks, fans recently believed that the mystery as to why Sega can't use them had finally been solved. Ex-producer Yuji Naka appeared to confirm the widely accepted theory that it was actually Michael Jackson who composed some of the tracks, meaning that Sega has no right to re-use them. However, he later clarified that this wasn't what he meant, so it's gone back to being a mystery. In any case, Sega isn't in a rush to resolve the situation and put the bangers back in the game.
Sonic Origins is available to play now on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.