637: Sonic 3 & Knuckles

[JaySevenZero]

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Sonic 3 & Knuckles for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.

[Billy]

Sonic 3 & Knuckles has forever been my favourite game of all time. The levels are vibrant, large and well designed, the music joyously excels in its composition and elevates the game, and the gameplay loop here is at its most refined and satisfying. Above all, it's the vibe of Sonic 3 that I adore the most and return to time and time again: the tropical paradise of Angel Island, the subterranean waterfalls of Hydrocity, the distant ruins in Marble Garden and the sampled "Go!"s of Launch Base. I daydreamed about these places as a child. It is a core memory for me. It is a peak distillation of 90s cool, the crest of a wave that broke and gave way to the new 3D era. Even 30 years later, Sonic 3 & Knuckles remains a joy to me.

[Seph]

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is easily in my top 10 games ever, possibly top 5. It's the reason why, no matter how many Mario games are released and people drone on about how that series is the greatest thing to exist, Sonic 3 & Knuckles remains my favourite platformer.

When Sonic 3 was released, it was maybe the most exciting moments in me lifetime of gaming. I loved the first game, I never owned 2 but liked it, the Master System games were always fun for me; but this one looked like it would blow the rest away. And it did. I remember when my family bought it from Our Price using some sort of collectable voucher system (I miss those days), meaning we got it really cheap on release. It was also one of the few games my dad enjoyed playing (as Tails), which means it did something memorable.

Sonic 3 was so enjoyable and mindblowing for me that I had no idea I was basically playing half of a game. The levels were so packed and well designed that I didn't feel like I was being short changed. If anything, the shorter runtime meant that I played through it more. While adding saving files was a welcome addition, the insta-shield is maybe the greatest innovation the game introduced. Hitting the timing right on this made the final boss a lot easier as the small safe hitbox was really hard to hit without it. The visuals were also incredible. The fire-soaked Angel Island act is incredible and the special stage showed what 3D games could look like if the obsession with polygons didn't happen.

When Knuckles came out, I was blown away again. The lock-on technology is still impressive to me, especially how they were able to sync it up with Sonic 2 as well. To me, this was the closest thing I've seen to actual magic. It was a great game in its own right, but the complete package is, to me, the best game to be released on the Mega Drive. The levels, the bosses, the music, the little gimmicks thrown in (Sonic on a snowboard), the special stages, the pacing of the overall package; I can't think of anything I would change about it.

Why Sega didn't capitalise on this amazing game with a follow-up on the Saturn is crazy. I know the story, but having your mascot available at launch should have been a priority; especially a shiny 2D game. While I can say I enjoyed the Adventure series when that popped up, it has aged badly; meaning that Sonic 3 & Knuckles is probably the last great entry in this series until Mania was released.

The replayability of this thing is insane. In my younger days, when summers lasted forever and I had nothing better to do anyway, I went through every save file on the game (which I think is about 7?) and completed the game with every emerald. I played this game that much that I completely maxed out and did everything that was possible multiple times. Back then you didn't have timers and trackers monitoring your gameplay, but even with this stat, plus the other times I played the game without doing this, Sonic 3 & Knuckles must be one of my most played games.

[KarlDaFrog]

I never owned a Sega Genesis, but it was my first console experience and Sonic and Knuckles 3 was a staple of my neighbours. My best friend and I played the previous entries, including Sonic CD and Sonic Spinball, all under exposed insulation in his concrete basement. I was a bit young and usually best suited to the “Tails” role. I remember being confused by the Sonic 3 cartridge and the “lock on technology”, sometime you start in Angel Island, sometimes you start in Mushroom Hill. Sometimes Knuckles is an arrogant jag, sometimes he’s on your team. But I was always on a cool adventure with my primary colored friends.

[sheeldz]

There are very few games in my life that have been as important to me as Sonic 3 and, later, Sonic & Knuckles. Being a Mega Drive kid in the early 1990s was a feast, but being all in on Sonic is hard to describe to those who aren't old enough. He just was cool, and whilst that's hard to fully grasp after years of ups and downs, by the time Sonic 3 came around he could do no wrong.

Sonic 3, on it's own, is a masterpiece. It takes everything from Sonic 2 and cranks it up even further. The music is astonishing, the shiny graphics of Sonic and the levels to my eyes are the true Sonic 2D look, and the feeling of mid-bosses, continuous level design, narrative between the levels, and a save function included... it was the epitome of Sonic. Also, there's a racing mode!?

Sonic & Knuckles, on it's own, is a flawed experience. Backwards steps in terms of functionality and a steep difficulty curve obviously lies bare it's true origins as the first ever Sonic DLC.

Obviously, popping the carts together unlocks an odyssey, the magnus opus of 2D Sonic. Nothing has came close, for me, to the music and gameplay feel of the title, and the branching stories created by seeing Knuckles' side of the battle from the first level of Sonic 3. Blue Sphere ranks as the most infuriating but excellent special stages the series has seen. Best music track: Flying Battery. Best level: Hydrocity. Or maybe Lava Reef.

Finally, the true achievement moment for me; I did the full 101% completion - all the emeralds, Super emeralds, 99 lives, 99 continues, for Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Sonic & Tails. Multiple Times.

TWR: Lock On Perfection

[Jobobonobo]

When one looks at the Sonic trilogy on the Mega Drive, it is quite clear to see that each title refines and builds up on the concepts of the previous title. Sonic 1 was an new and exciting way to play patformers with its emphasis on speed. However with the exception of two zones, it is mostly a standard platformer with some speed thrown in occasionally. Sonic 2 made the level design fit in far more closely with the philosophy of clearing levels as fast as possible, added the spin dash so you can build up speed no matter where you are, reduced level acts to two and introduced a new friend for Sonic in the form of Tails. Sonic 3 and Knuckles builds on what made Sonic 2 great by making the levels more elaborate with multiple routes, seamlessly mixing speed with tight platforming, multiple elemental shields, fighting giant badniks at the end of each first act and introducing another new character, Knuckles the echidna with a wide suite of new movement options and his ability to bust through walls with his fists. Tails also finally gets to fly in this game and as a result, each character has a different way of going through the levels.

While I am typically one that rolls their eyes at the mention of Sonic and story, S3 & K does a lovely job of weaving the story in as there are little vignettes at the end of each level showing Sonic and friends traveling through the world and trying to stop Robotnik. It is completely visual storytelling with no text boxes, let alone voice acting and I think if the Sonic games are to do story then this is a nice compromise between no story and the nonsense of Sonic 06.

Also worthy of praise are the lovely new graphics which are more vibrant than ever and I remember the 3d models of Sonic and Knuckles blowing me away when I was a young one. Each level just pops on the screen and the animation of both heroes and enemies really showed that the Mega Drive could stand up to the SNES in terms of eye candy. And the music! Some of my favourite tracks from the series are found here with the funky Mushroom Hill, the toe tapping Hydrocity, the hip hop influenced Launch Base and the heroic Sky Sanctuary. One other major improvements on previous entries is also that the water stage, Hydrocity is an actual fun water stage and the feeling of building enough speed that you can run on top of the water shows that the development team learnt to not repeat the same issues that plagued Labyrinth Zone from Sonic 1.

Now I have gushed about this game quite a bit, but that does not meant I find it to be perfect. The bloody barrel in Act 2 of Carnival Night was the bane of my childhood existence and I think could have been communicated a bit better on what you had to do to get past it. I only learnt what to do by looking up Gamesfaqs when I had the Sonic Mega Collection on Gamecube. Oh well, I still had the separate cartridge of Sonic and Knuckles to finish Sonic’s story. Also Act 2 of Sandopolis is a bit of a headache with the constant pushing of switches and keeping lights on to stop ghosts from attacking you. But these really are small blemishes to what is otherwise easily one of my top platformers of the 16 bit era. Sonic 3 and Knuckles really is a grand culmination of what came before and for me is 2D Sonic at its very best.

TWR: Peak 2D Sonic

[Hyperdeath84]

Sonic 3 & Knuckles has a storied history with rushed releases, McDonald's tie ins and musical legal complications, but remains for me the definitive 2D Sonic experience, with Mania coming in a close second. The additions made to the formula are so good they make going back to even Sonic 2 feel quite odd. The elemental shields and individual character abilities are very well implemented, even Sonic's insta-shield is really useful when properly deployed. The levels are massive and have routes and secrets designed for each character to explore independently, encouraging multiple play throughs. While I still prefer Sonic's taller design from Sonic 2, this is easily the best looking game in the Mega Drive series. The backgrounds are luscious, detailed and vibrant, they absolutely hold up today.

The most impressive aspect of the game for me is in its storytelling. Each stage has a shift between Act 1 and Act 2, with some reason for the alteration coming from Robotnik or Knuckles messing with the player's journey in some way. When Angel Island is set ablaze at the beginning it really hammers home how evil Robotnik is and how he spreads destruction everywhere he goes. I felt more animosity towards him this game than any of the others. Each level also links into the next with a small cutscene that makes the game feel like one long adventure with no gaps. Not even Mania could maintain this detail consistently. We follow the adventure from the usual verdant opening level right into outer space, and it all feels connected while telling a simple yet compelling story without one word of dialogue. Completing every special stage with Sonic and unlocking the Super Emeralds leads to a space chase among asteroids that is a legitimately epic way to conclude the game and makes the Sonic run my personal favourite of the three, though Tails and Knuckles have their highlights too.

Finally, as is expected of Sonic in the 2D era, the music is fantastic. My love for the original soundtrack and the nostalgia that comes with it makes me unwilling to try Sonic Origins knowing many of the tracks have had to be changed for legal reasons regarding Michael Jackson's estate - a situation I'm sure will be covered in the show. My one niggle is that I actually prefer some parts of the soundtrack that play in Sonic 3 when not connected to the Knuckles cartridge; Knuckles's theme, the title theme and the invincibility theme are all better in 3 than they are in 3 & Knuckles in my opinion. I also really like the end credits theme of Sonic 3 which is essentially a sped up version of Jackson's "Stranger in Moscow". The music for this game is such an interesting topic it could almost do with its own episode.

Three word review: 2D Sonic perfected