One Game, Two Cartridges - Sonic 3 & Knuckles (Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, 1994) Review
NOTE: This review is part 4 in a retrospective on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Feel free to read the other Sonic reviews I’ve done here - https://expithecat.blogspot.com/search/label/sonic%20retrospective
So now we get to the last game in the Genesis trilogy (or quadrilogy if you count CD), that of course being Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The game turned out to be 2 parts sold over 2 separate cartridges, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was released on Groundhog’s Day of 1994 (or… Hedgehog’s Day) with it’s second half, Sonic & Knuckles, being released in October of the same year. The two were intended as one whole game, but due to time constraints and a McDonald’s promotion, only Sonic 3 was released with the first 6 levels of the whole game at first with the rest coming later.
Sonic & Knuckles used what Sega called “lock-on technology”, coming in the form of a cartridge slot that had another on top of it, and by attaching it to a copy of Sonic 3, you basically got the full game as it was intended. And by attaching it to Sonic 2 you got to play as Knuckles in Sonic 2 which is also nice. Attaching it to any other game just gave you a “No Way” screen and allowed you to press A+B+C for a random special stage, or in Sonic 1’s case allowed you to choose from any special stage by entering the code. Unfortunately, that means if you really wanted to play as Knuckles in Garfield: Caught in the Act, I have some bad news for you.
When it comes to the 2D games and the series in general, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is often cited as the best. A lot of people felt like it truly refined the formula established in 1, 2 and CD and was just a bigger, better Sonic game than its predecessors. And this opinion is generally shared between classics fans, Adventures fans and modern fans alike, giving the game kind of a universal appeal with having bigger stages and also having a bit of storytelling at many points as well.
However, this isn’t a sentiment that I quite agree with. Don’t get me wrong here, I still really like this game and would consider it my second favorite out of the original 2D platformers. That said, when given the choice between this game and Sonic 2, I always found myself going back to Sonic 2 more. I wasn’t always entirely sure why that was but I kind of just found Sonic 2 more consistently fun and always felt more motivated to go back to it over Sonic 3 & Knuckles. And playing them almost back to back now, I’m kind of starting to see why that was.
Presentation-wise, I’d say Sonic 3 & Knuckles was a big step up and is actually a quite good looking game for the system. In general the environments have more of a realistic look while also still fitting into the Sonic aesthetic. I still kind of feel like Sonic 2’s more colorful environments fit the Sonic series and look a bit better, but that aside Sonic 3 & Knuckles is definitely one of the best looking games on the system no doubt. My only real complaint with this game’s visuals is that I’m not a big fan of the Sonic sprite in this game. I definitely felt Sonic 1 and 2’s sprites captured the “attitude” and character a bit better whereas Sonic 3’s sprite looks a bit more… dopey to me and I think there is a reason why the older Sonic sprite is more iconic and was the one built off of in Sonic Mania.
The soundtrack is also pretty damn good, probably my favorite soundtrack of the Genesis games. Supposedly, Michael Jackson had actually worked on the game’s soundtrack but was uncredited. I’m not really sure what that reason was for - some say it was due to the allegations against him at the time, or just the fact that he didn’t like the Genesis’ sound capabilities. That said, there are times where you can probably tell where he worked on the soundtrack - particularly the credits theme of Sonic 3 alone sounding similar to Stranger in Moscow which he was writing at the time of the game’s development and was released as an album a couple years after Sonic 3 released. Actually reading about that is how I even discovered that song and now it’s one of my favorite songs ever and probably my favorite Michael Jackson song.
In a slightly more obscure and unrelated case, there’s also Ice Cap Zone which sounds exactly like a song called “Hard Times” by The Jetzons, an 80’s indie band that Brad Buxer (one of the game’s composers) was a part of, which is pretty cool.
So, with that out of the way, there’s the gameplay and design I have to talk about - obviously the core of the game’s value. Like I said, this game is often cited as the best out of the “classic” games, and many would say that it was the game that really balanced out the speed and platforming aspects of the first two games and was just bigger and better than its predecessors. And, while I don’t quite agree with it being the best, I will say I do understand where those who say so are coming from.
Sonic 3 & Knuckles is definitely bigger than Sonic 1, 2 or CD. While the game was released as 2 halves over the span of a year, the entirety of Sonic 3 & Knuckles contains 13 zones, 14 if you count the very final “Doomsday” zone, and even with that aside S3&K’s levels definitely feel a lot bigger than Sonic 1 or 2’s. And compared to Sonic CD, which also had bigger levels with more of an emphasis on Sonic CD, S3&K’s levels don’t really feel as “empty” to me with how they are structured and how objects are placed. That was a pretty big issue to me with Sonic CD, I felt like despite how big the levels were, I didn’t really feel quite as rewarded for exploring and I often felt like what I was looking for would often be too spread out. With Sonic 3 & Knuckles, it feels like they packed everything closer together and I think that was ultimately for the best - it definitely feels more rewarding for me to go and explore this game’ levels in comparison.
Special stages are also here once again, and again collecting 7 emeralds give you the ability to go Super Sonic or Super Knuckles, but this time you can also go for the Super Emeralds and collecting all those in addition to the Chaos Emeralds grants you the ability to play as Hyper Sonic, Hyper Knuckles or Super Tails (damn is this the only time in the series where tails has a super form). These abilities are like Super Sonic, but Sonic and Knuckles are able to breathe underwater in their Hyper forms and have their abilities increased. A pretty cool reward for going for 100% completion, and on top of that playing as Sonic or Knuckles while going for all the emeralds unlocks the true final stage, Doomsday Zone.
The special stages themselves I would probably consider better than 1 and 2’s, the latter of which had a major depth perception issue which basically made the stages pretty much require memorization if you wanted a chance to beat them. Sonic 3’s Blue Spheres are definitely more fun in my opinion and generally have good layouts, although I do find it kind of annoying that Sonic goes faster after a certain amount of time which leads to me constantly mistiming a jump or movement. They brought these special stages back in Mania for the gold medals and I definitely think this was the best option to go with.
So, overall, there’s definitely a good case to be made on why Sonic 3 & Knuckles is not only the best out of the classic games, but the Sonic series in general, and I can’t blame anyone for thinking so.
Buuuuuuuuttt, as I said previously, I still find myself kind of preferring Sonic 2. This obviously isn’t to say I think that Sonic 3 & Knuckles is just a bad game in comparison, but I’ll just say this - while Sonic 3 & Knuckles is generally considered the best out of the classic games, there are a good number of people in the fandom and in general who will argue that Sonic 2 was the better game for one reason or another. And to be honest, I kind of find myself agreeing with that crowd.
I feel like, over the past couple years of being more involved with the Sonic fandom and replaying many of the games (as well as playing many of the games for the first time), I kind of find myself noticing what exactly I enjoy most about certain Sonic games. And I think a lot of it can be attributed to how fun the games and levels are to speed and run through - I think that’s what really makes the series stand out to me, and it’s an arcade-y style that is also built off with having multiple branching pathways so that playing the game multiple times still gives you more to offer on top of just trying to go fast. I’m not quite sure how to explain it, but Sonic Generations is my favorite Sonic game because I feel that it generally blends these elements better than any other Sonic game - having a great emphasis on speed and having levels that are just fun to run through, but still offer multiple pathways and bigger, more open level design which just adds to that replayability. And Sonic 2 and Sonic Advance are also both 2D games I feel do this well.
With Sonic 3 & Knuckles, while the levels do a really good job of being big and open and allowing for exploration, I actually kind of feel like in comparison to Sonic 2 the “speed” aspect is downplayed a lot more. Whenever I play Sonic 2, I generally have a sense of the overall flow of the game’s levels, and I enjoy going back to the game a lot just because of how fun it is to just speed through it’s levels. Sonic 3 & Knuckles, on the other hand, has times where the game kind of feels like it’s coming to a crawl, and on top of that with how much longer a lot of the levels are, this just isn’t quite a game I enjoy going back to in the same way I enjoy going back to Sonic 2. And whereas I’m perfectly okay with playing the entirety of Sonic 2 in one sitting, save or no save, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a game where I feel after a couple levels I just need to take a break.
And to add on to that, there’s moments where I feel like some of the levels go on for a bit *too* long to the point where they feel padded out to add to the game’s time. It’s not something I can really easily explain, but there’s times where the game makes me think “can this level just be over already?” The Sonic & Knuckles levels especially feel this way to me - particularly Sandopolis and Mushroom Hill, but the Sonic 3 levels also have their moments too - especially in the case of Marble Garden. And I think what ultimately puts Sonic 2 over 3&K for me is that there are just some levels that just feel too slow or too long and give the game somewhat of an inconsistent pacing. It isn’t as big of a problem as in Sonic 1 and I’d still say overall 3 & Knuckles does a fine job of balancing platforming and speed, but just doesn’t hit the sweet spot I like in the way Sonic 2 does.
There’s also the whole notion that Sonic 2 is full of cheap enemy/hazard placement and whatnot, but I would argue that this game isn’t completely innocent in that regard either. Granted, it never gets quite as bad as Metropolis Zone, but there were still moments where I would hit an enemy or hazard that I had just barely enough time to react to. I guess that’s just a staple of classic Sonic game design.
I feel like, in a way, Sonic 3 & Knuckles kind of has a different appeal to it than Sonic 2. Whereas Sonic 2 shines in being a good speed based platformer, Sonic 3 & Knuckles feels like a game one would rather take the time through and explore through it’s bigger and more open levels. And I’d probably say that on that front, as well as S3&K’s special stages being the best out of the classic games, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is definitely a more interesting and fun game for me to 100% complete, but with how I play Sonic personally, Sonic 2 just appeals to me more on the basis of having fun levels to speed through for one reason or another. I do think that overall there are good cases to be made for either game, and while Sonic 2 still remains my favorite classic game, I can definitely understand many’s preference for Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
And if you haven’t played this game and want to, I would recommend it, although it is slightly harder to get a hold of than Sonic 1 or 2. Apparently what I talked about with the soundtrack having ties to Michael Jackson and The Jetzons, that’s caused a good amount of legal issues and hazards especially after the former’s passing in 2009, so Sonic 3 & Knuckles just hasn’t really been re-released quite as much as Sonic 1 or 2. There isn’t a Christian Whitehead version of the game, and the game’s pretty much absent from most Genesis compilations made past 2011, including the Sega Genesis Mini and the “Sega Genesis Classics” collection for PS4, Xbox One and Switch. Of course, this game’s otherwise still been ported a bunch of times and if you still have your old PS3 or 360 you can get the Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection which does contain this game. However, I’d personally recommend buying the game off of Steam, which is still being offered as part of Sega’s Mega Drive and Genesis Collection hub, and you can also install the Sonic 3 AIR mod for the game. While I am still a Genesis purist, Sonic 3 AIR is probably the definitive way to play the game on any sort of modern system and is the closest thing we’ll probably get to a Christian Whitehead port. It’s definitely worth a play at the very least.
With Sonic 3 & Knuckles, while the levels do a really good job of being big and open and allowing for exploration, I actually kind of feel like in comparison to Sonic 2 the “speed” aspect is downplayed a lot more. Whenever I play Sonic 2, I generally have a sense of the overall flow of the game’s levels, and I enjoy going back to the game a lot just because of how fun it is to just speed through it’s levels. Sonic 3 & Knuckles, on the other hand, has times where the game kind of feels like it’s coming to a crawl, and on top of that with how much longer a lot of the levels are, this just isn’t quite a game I enjoy going back to in the same way I enjoy going back to Sonic 2. And whereas I’m perfectly okay with playing the entirety of Sonic 2 in one sitting, save or no save, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a game where I feel after a couple levels I just need to take a break.
And to add on to that, there’s moments where I feel like some of the levels go on for a bit *too* long to the point where they feel padded out to add to the game’s time. It’s not something I can really easily explain, but there’s times where the game makes me think “can this level just be over already?” The Sonic & Knuckles levels especially feel this way to me - particularly Sandopolis and Mushroom Hill, but the Sonic 3 levels also have their moments too - especially in the case of Marble Garden. And I think what ultimately puts Sonic 2 over 3&K for me is that there are just some levels that just feel too slow or too long and give the game somewhat of an inconsistent pacing. It isn’t as big of a problem as in Sonic 1 and I’d still say overall 3 & Knuckles does a fine job of balancing platforming and speed, but just doesn’t hit the sweet spot I like in the way Sonic 2 does.
There’s also the whole notion that Sonic 2 is full of cheap enemy/hazard placement and whatnot, but I would argue that this game isn’t completely innocent in that regard either. Granted, it never gets quite as bad as Metropolis Zone, but there were still moments where I would hit an enemy or hazard that I had just barely enough time to react to. I guess that’s just a staple of classic Sonic game design.
I feel like, in a way, Sonic 3 & Knuckles kind of has a different appeal to it than Sonic 2. Whereas Sonic 2 shines in being a good speed based platformer, Sonic 3 & Knuckles feels like a game one would rather take the time through and explore through it’s bigger and more open levels. And I’d probably say that on that front, as well as S3&K’s special stages being the best out of the classic games, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is definitely a more interesting and fun game for me to 100% complete, but with how I play Sonic personally, Sonic 2 just appeals to me more on the basis of having fun levels to speed through for one reason or another. I do think that overall there are good cases to be made for either game, and while Sonic 2 still remains my favorite classic game, I can definitely understand many’s preference for Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
And if you haven’t played this game and want to, I would recommend it, although it is slightly harder to get a hold of than Sonic 1 or 2. Apparently what I talked about with the soundtrack having ties to Michael Jackson and The Jetzons, that’s caused a good amount of legal issues and hazards especially after the former’s passing in 2009, so Sonic 3 & Knuckles just hasn’t really been re-released quite as much as Sonic 1 or 2. There isn’t a Christian Whitehead version of the game, and the game’s pretty much absent from most Genesis compilations made past 2011, including the Sega Genesis Mini and the “Sega Genesis Classics” collection for PS4, Xbox One and Switch. Of course, this game’s otherwise still been ported a bunch of times and if you still have your old PS3 or 360 you can get the Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection which does contain this game. However, I’d personally recommend buying the game off of Steam, which is still being offered as part of Sega’s Mega Drive and Genesis Collection hub, and you can also install the Sonic 3 AIR mod for the game. While I am still a Genesis purist, Sonic 3 AIR is probably the definitive way to play the game on any sort of modern system and is the closest thing we’ll probably get to a Christian Whitehead port. It’s definitely worth a play at the very least.
So now we get to the last game in the Genesis trilogy (or quadrilogy if you count CD), that of course being Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The game turned out to be 2 parts sold over 2 separate cartridges, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was released on Groundhog’s Day of 1994 (or… Hedgehog’s Day) with it’s second half, Sonic & Knuckles, being released in October of the same year. The two were intended as one whole game, but due to time constraints and a McDonald’s promotion, only Sonic 3 was released with the first 6 levels of the whole game at first with the rest coming later.
Sonic & Knuckles used what Sega called “lock-on technology”, coming in the form of a cartridge slot that had another on top of it, and by attaching it to a copy of Sonic 3, you basically got the full game as it was intended. And by attaching it to Sonic 2 you got to play as Knuckles in Sonic 2 which is also nice. Attaching it to any other game just gave you a “No Way” screen and allowed you to press A+B+C for a random special stage, or in Sonic 1’s case allowed you to choose from any special stage by entering the code. Unfortunately, that means if you really wanted to play as Knuckles in Garfield: Caught in the Act, I have some bad news for you.
When it comes to the 2D games and the series in general, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is often cited as the best. A lot of people felt like it truly refined the formula established in 1, 2 and CD and was just a bigger, better Sonic game than its predecessors. And this opinion is generally shared between classics fans, Adventures fans and modern fans alike, giving the game kind of a universal appeal with having bigger stages and also having a bit of storytelling at many points as well.
However, this isn’t a sentiment that I quite agree with. Don’t get me wrong here, I still really like this game and would consider it my second favorite out of the original 2D platformers. That said, when given the choice between this game and Sonic 2, I always found myself going back to Sonic 2 more. I wasn’t always entirely sure why that was but I kind of just found Sonic 2 more consistently fun and always felt more motivated to go back to it over Sonic 3 & Knuckles. And playing them almost back to back now, I’m kind of starting to see why that was.
Presentation-wise, I’d say Sonic 3 & Knuckles was a big step up and is actually a quite good looking game for the system. In general the environments have more of a realistic look while also still fitting into the Sonic aesthetic. I still kind of feel like Sonic 2’s more colorful environments fit the Sonic series and look a bit better, but that aside Sonic 3 & Knuckles is definitely one of the best looking games on the system no doubt. My only real complaint with this game’s visuals is that I’m not a big fan of the Sonic sprite in this game. I definitely felt Sonic 1 and 2’s sprites captured the “attitude” and character a bit better whereas Sonic 3’s sprite looks a bit more… dopey to me and I think there is a reason why the older Sonic sprite is more iconic and was the one built off of in Sonic Mania.
The soundtrack is also pretty damn good, probably my favorite soundtrack of the Genesis games. Supposedly, Michael Jackson had actually worked on the game’s soundtrack but was uncredited. I’m not really sure what that reason was for - some say it was due to the allegations against him at the time, or just the fact that he didn’t like the Genesis’ sound capabilities. That said, there are times where you can probably tell where he worked on the soundtrack - particularly the credits theme of Sonic 3 alone sounding similar to Stranger in Moscow which he was writing at the time of the game’s development and was released as an album a couple years after Sonic 3 released. Actually reading about that is how I even discovered that song and now it’s one of my favorite songs ever and probably my favorite Michael Jackson song.
In a slightly more obscure and unrelated case, there’s also Ice Cap Zone which sounds exactly like a song called “Hard Times” by The Jetzons, an 80’s indie band that Brad Buxer (one of the game’s composers) was a part of, which is pretty cool.
So, with that out of the way, there’s the gameplay and design I have to talk about - obviously the core of the game’s value. Like I said, this game is often cited as the best out of the “classic” games, and many would say that it was the game that really balanced out the speed and platforming aspects of the first two games and was just bigger and better than its predecessors. And, while I don’t quite agree with it being the best, I will say I do understand where those who say so are coming from.
Sonic 3 & Knuckles is definitely bigger than Sonic 1, 2 or CD. While the game was released as 2 halves over the span of a year, the entirety of Sonic 3 & Knuckles contains 13 zones, 14 if you count the very final “Doomsday” zone, and even with that aside S3&K’s levels definitely feel a lot bigger than Sonic 1 or 2’s. And compared to Sonic CD, which also had bigger levels with more of an emphasis on Sonic CD, S3&K’s levels don’t really feel as “empty” to me with how they are structured and how objects are placed. That was a pretty big issue to me with Sonic CD, I felt like despite how big the levels were, I didn’t really feel quite as rewarded for exploring and I often felt like what I was looking for would often be too spread out. With Sonic 3 & Knuckles, it feels like they packed everything closer together and I think that was ultimately for the best - it definitely feels more rewarding for me to go and explore this game’ levels in comparison.
Special stages are also here once again, and again collecting 7 emeralds give you the ability to go Super Sonic or Super Knuckles, but this time you can also go for the Super Emeralds and collecting all those in addition to the Chaos Emeralds grants you the ability to play as Hyper Sonic, Hyper Knuckles or Super Tails (damn is this the only time in the series where tails has a super form). These abilities are like Super Sonic, but Sonic and Knuckles are able to breathe underwater in their Hyper forms and have their abilities increased. A pretty cool reward for going for 100% completion, and on top of that playing as Sonic or Knuckles while going for all the emeralds unlocks the true final stage, Doomsday Zone.
The special stages themselves I would probably consider better than 1 and 2’s, the latter of which had a major depth perception issue which basically made the stages pretty much require memorization if you wanted a chance to beat them. Sonic 3’s Blue Spheres are definitely more fun in my opinion and generally have good layouts, although I do find it kind of annoying that Sonic goes faster after a certain amount of time which leads to me constantly mistiming a jump or movement. They brought these special stages back in Mania for the gold medals and I definitely think this was the best option to go with.
So, overall, there’s definitely a good case to be made on why Sonic 3 & Knuckles is not only the best out of the classic games, but the Sonic series in general, and I can’t blame anyone for thinking so.
Buuuuuuuuttt, as I said previously, I still find myself kind of preferring Sonic 2. This obviously isn’t to say I think that Sonic 3 & Knuckles is just a bad game in comparison, but I’ll just say this - while Sonic 3 & Knuckles is generally considered the best out of the classic games, there are a good number of people in the fandom and in general who will argue that Sonic 2 was the better game for one reason or another. And to be honest, I kind of find myself agreeing with that crowd.
I feel like, over the past couple years of being more involved with the Sonic fandom and replaying many of the games (as well as playing many of the games for the first time), I kind of find myself noticing what exactly I enjoy most about certain Sonic games. And I think a lot of it can be attributed to how fun the games and levels are to speed and run through - I think that’s what really makes the series stand out to me, and it’s an arcade-y style that is also built off with having multiple branching pathways so that playing the game multiple times still gives you more to offer on top of just trying to go fast. I’m not quite sure how to explain it, but Sonic Generations is my favorite Sonic game because I feel that it generally blends these elements better than any other Sonic game - having a great emphasis on speed and having levels that are just fun to run through, but still offer multiple pathways and bigger, more open level design which just adds to that replayability. And Sonic 2 and Sonic Advance are also both 2D games I feel do this well.
With Sonic 3 & Knuckles, while the levels do a really good job of being big and open and allowing for exploration, I actually kind of feel like in comparison to Sonic 2 the “speed” aspect is downplayed a lot more. Whenever I play Sonic 2, I generally have a sense of the overall flow of the game’s levels, and I enjoy going back to the game a lot just because of how fun it is to just speed through it’s levels. Sonic 3 & Knuckles, on the other hand, has times where the game kind of feels like it’s coming to a crawl, and on top of that with how much longer a lot of the levels are, this just isn’t quite a game I enjoy going back to in the same way I enjoy going back to Sonic 2. And whereas I’m perfectly okay with playing the entirety of Sonic 2 in one sitting, save or no save, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a game where I feel after a couple levels I just need to take a break.
And to add on to that, there’s moments where I feel like some of the levels go on for a bit *too* long to the point where they feel padded out to add to the game’s time. It’s not something I can really easily explain, but there’s times where the game makes me think “can this level just be over already?” The Sonic & Knuckles levels especially feel this way to me - particularly Sandopolis and Mushroom Hill, but the Sonic 3 levels also have their moments too - especially in the case of Marble Garden. And I think what ultimately puts Sonic 2 over 3&K for me is that there are just some levels that just feel too slow or too long and give the game somewhat of an inconsistent pacing. It isn’t as big of a problem as in Sonic 1 and I’d still say overall 3 & Knuckles does a fine job of balancing platforming and speed, but just doesn’t hit the sweet spot I like in the way Sonic 2 does.
There’s also the whole notion that Sonic 2 is full of cheap enemy/hazard placement and whatnot, but I would argue that this game isn’t completely innocent in that regard either. Granted, it never gets quite as bad as Metropolis Zone, but there were still moments where I would hit an enemy or hazard that I had just barely enough time to react to. I guess that’s just a staple of classic Sonic game design.
I feel like, in a way, Sonic 3 & Knuckles kind of has a different appeal to it than Sonic 2. Whereas Sonic 2 shines in being a good speed based platformer, Sonic 3 & Knuckles feels like a game one would rather take the time through and explore through it’s bigger and more open levels. And I’d probably say that on that front, as well as S3&K’s special stages being the best out of the classic games, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is definitely a more interesting and fun game for me to 100% complete, but with how I play Sonic personally, Sonic 2 just appeals to me more on the basis of having fun levels to speed through for one reason or another. I do think that overall there are good cases to be made for either game, and while Sonic 2 still remains my favorite classic game, I can definitely understand many’s preference for Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
And if you haven’t played this game and want to, I would recommend it, although it is slightly harder to get a hold of than Sonic 1 or 2. Apparently what I talked about with the soundtrack having ties to Michael Jackson and The Jetzons, that’s caused a good amount of legal issues and hazards especially after the former’s passing in 2009, so Sonic 3 & Knuckles just hasn’t really been re-released quite as much as Sonic 1 or 2. There isn’t a Christian Whitehead version of the game, and the game’s pretty much absent from most Genesis compilations made past 2011, including the Sega Genesis Mini and the “Sega Genesis Classics” collection for PS4, Xbox One and Switch. Of course, this game’s otherwise still been ported a bunch of times and if you still have your old PS3 or 360 you can get the Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection which does contain this game. However, I’d personally recommend buying the game off of Steam, which is still being offered as part of Sega’s Mega Drive and Genesis Collection hub, and you can also install the Sonic 3 AIR mod for the game. While I am still a Genesis purist, Sonic 3 AIR is probably the definitive way to play the game on any sort of modern system and is the closest thing we’ll probably get to a Christian Whitehead port. It’s definitely worth a play at the very least.
With Sonic 3 & Knuckles, while the levels do a really good job of being big and open and allowing for exploration, I actually kind of feel like in comparison to Sonic 2 the “speed” aspect is downplayed a lot more. Whenever I play Sonic 2, I generally have a sense of the overall flow of the game’s levels, and I enjoy going back to the game a lot just because of how fun it is to just speed through it’s levels. Sonic 3 & Knuckles, on the other hand, has times where the game kind of feels like it’s coming to a crawl, and on top of that with how much longer a lot of the levels are, this just isn’t quite a game I enjoy going back to in the same way I enjoy going back to Sonic 2. And whereas I’m perfectly okay with playing the entirety of Sonic 2 in one sitting, save or no save, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a game where I feel after a couple levels I just need to take a break.
And to add on to that, there’s moments where I feel like some of the levels go on for a bit *too* long to the point where they feel padded out to add to the game’s time. It’s not something I can really easily explain, but there’s times where the game makes me think “can this level just be over already?” The Sonic & Knuckles levels especially feel this way to me - particularly Sandopolis and Mushroom Hill, but the Sonic 3 levels also have their moments too - especially in the case of Marble Garden. And I think what ultimately puts Sonic 2 over 3&K for me is that there are just some levels that just feel too slow or too long and give the game somewhat of an inconsistent pacing. It isn’t as big of a problem as in Sonic 1 and I’d still say overall 3 & Knuckles does a fine job of balancing platforming and speed, but just doesn’t hit the sweet spot I like in the way Sonic 2 does.
There’s also the whole notion that Sonic 2 is full of cheap enemy/hazard placement and whatnot, but I would argue that this game isn’t completely innocent in that regard either. Granted, it never gets quite as bad as Metropolis Zone, but there were still moments where I would hit an enemy or hazard that I had just barely enough time to react to. I guess that’s just a staple of classic Sonic game design.
I feel like, in a way, Sonic 3 & Knuckles kind of has a different appeal to it than Sonic 2. Whereas Sonic 2 shines in being a good speed based platformer, Sonic 3 & Knuckles feels like a game one would rather take the time through and explore through it’s bigger and more open levels. And I’d probably say that on that front, as well as S3&K’s special stages being the best out of the classic games, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is definitely a more interesting and fun game for me to 100% complete, but with how I play Sonic personally, Sonic 2 just appeals to me more on the basis of having fun levels to speed through for one reason or another. I do think that overall there are good cases to be made for either game, and while Sonic 2 still remains my favorite classic game, I can definitely understand many’s preference for Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
And if you haven’t played this game and want to, I would recommend it, although it is slightly harder to get a hold of than Sonic 1 or 2. Apparently what I talked about with the soundtrack having ties to Michael Jackson and The Jetzons, that’s caused a good amount of legal issues and hazards especially after the former’s passing in 2009, so Sonic 3 & Knuckles just hasn’t really been re-released quite as much as Sonic 1 or 2. There isn’t a Christian Whitehead version of the game, and the game’s pretty much absent from most Genesis compilations made past 2011, including the Sega Genesis Mini and the “Sega Genesis Classics” collection for PS4, Xbox One and Switch. Of course, this game’s otherwise still been ported a bunch of times and if you still have your old PS3 or 360 you can get the Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection which does contain this game. However, I’d personally recommend buying the game off of Steam, which is still being offered as part of Sega’s Mega Drive and Genesis Collection hub, and you can also install the Sonic 3 AIR mod for the game. While I am still a Genesis purist, Sonic 3 AIR is probably the definitive way to play the game on any sort of modern system and is the closest thing we’ll probably get to a Christian Whitehead port. It’s definitely worth a play at the very least.
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