Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-7657843-20170324174637/@comment-679780-20170413162656

Alexj98 wrote: it states on the wiki that you need to transfer the chaos emeralds essence into the blank super emeralds You're half right. It says "In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, when a player enters a flashing giant ring for the first time, they are transported to the Hidden Palace Zone, where a number of giant, dull gray Emeralds will appear depending on the number of Chaos Emeralds that the players have collected to date. When the player steps on these dull Emeralds, they are transported to a new Special Stage (identical to those that appeared in the unconnected Sonic & Knuckles), where they have a chance of winning a Super Emerald. If they succeed, the Emerald in the Hidden Palace that they originally stepped on will light up to their original colors."

The Chaos Emeralds have become the Super emeralds, but the power is only returned to them when you collect them in the Special Stage.