Sonic Retrospective Part VII – Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 11:58AM | By: Kyle in Features, Retro, Sonic Retrospective, Video Games 
After Sonic the Hedgehog 2 turned out so well, SEGA once again put STI in charge of the next numbered Sonic game. The game was essentially made by the Japanese half of the developer while Sonic Spinball was made by the other. Originally, Yuji Naka, the producer of the game, wanted to use a new chip to give the game a pseudo-3D isometric view, like the eventual Sonic 3D. However, the chip would not be ready in time so he had to scrap that idea.
Instead the team decided to go with an enourmous game, one that they admitted early on might need to be split in half. As the game went through development, they worked on all 14 zones, with priority given to the first six for the inevitable split. When it was decided it had to be split, they left in code for knuckles and various other pieces of data in Sonic 3 so the lock-on technology the team came up with would be able to work better.
Not wanting customers to feel cheated for having to buy the game twice, they then added more backwards compatible features like Knuckles in Sonic 2 and Blue Sphere. They were going to add a Knuckles in Sonic 1 feature, but pallette issues caused them to cancel that and replace it with Blue Sphere, which let you play thousands of the Sonic 3 special stages.
The game also added Knuckles the Echidna (who was originally green, but that coloring was not popular in focus groups). Originally conceived as another friend for Sonic, the eventually decided on making him a rival. He is "stronger" than Sonic and Tails in that he can break through some walls without a spindash, thus giving him access to areas that Sonic and Tails cannot reach. He can also glide and climb walls. When playing as Knuckles, bosses, stage paths, and even entire stages are different, making a second playthrough very worthwhile.
They did a good job of differentiating Knuckles from Sonic and Tails, even if there is a bit of an overlap with him and Tails. Speaking of Tails, he can fly here for the second time and this tme the controls are much better, consisting of hitting jump while in the air. They also gave Sonic a special power to go along with the new, different types of protective shields. Electric shields give him a double-jump, fire shields allow him to dash forward in a fireball, and water shields allow him to bounce on the ground and jump higher.
Fun fact, this is why I never beat Carnival Night Zone with anyone but Knuckles as a kid.
The levels in Sonic 3 & Knuckles are mostly well designed, but there are a few hiccups. The end of Sonic 3, Launch Base Zone has some interesting level design to it, but ends up with a lot of retreading the same ground. Carnival Night Zone also has a few issues with bouncy things shooting you backwards too much and the infamous barrel.
The barrel requires you to press up and down to move it in those directions while sonic is standing on it. Sonic then has to jump into a passage way once he can sneak under the barrel. The problem is, the game never tells you that you can control the barrel. There is no reason to assume you can do this, yet the game insists on throwing you in a locked room with the barrel.
Aside from that and Sandopolis Zone's annoying ghost attacks, the level design is quite good. The first stages in both games not only are fun to run through fast, but are filled with secrets, especially Mushroom Hill Zone. You could play through Mushroom Hill Zone 5 times and still not see all of the hidden areas.
Both gamesare willed with giant, sprawling stages filled with hidden passages and secret stage rings that really make the game fun to both run through and explore. The special stages are accessed through giant rings hidden in each level, and the special stages in Sonic 3 & Knuckles are the best in the series. They take place in a pseudo-3D environment with the goal of tourching all of the blue spheres while avoiding the red ones. It's actually fun in its own right and thousands of the levels are accessible when you attach Sonic the Hedgehog to Sonic & Knuckles.
The other lock-on game is Knuckles in Sonic 2, which is kind of a fun extra as he actually has his abilities in it, and is worth a shot if you want to play Sonic 2 a bit differently. However, due to the game not being made with Knuckles in mind, it feels a bit tacked on.
There were plans for Micheal Jackson to do the music for the game, but the child molestation charges were beginning to come out at the time and reports are conflicted as to whether or not SEGA canceled the deal, Micheal Jackson wasn't happy with the restrictions of working on the Genesis, or whether or not bits and pieces of what he did made it into the final product.
Sonic 3 & Knuckles is my favorite Sonic game, I have a lot of fond childhood memories of it and can still enjoy it to this day. It has its issues, but it's a lot of fun to play and is one of the games future 2D titles should try to emulate.
Next time: Sonic Triple Trouble
Reader Comments (4)
This game has very special memories for me- I had a copy of sonic 3 (the save function never worked on it) and my friend who I saw every 2 weeks had S&K.
When we met up, we would immediately slap the cartridges together and play until our parents came to forcefully remove the Mega Drive.
The sheer length of the game and the immensity of the Doomsday Zone are both etched on my mind until this day, as well as the unending frustration that my carts save function did not work.
Also, fuck the pyramids and desert zone, I sucked horribly at that level.
So I was doing some similar snivelling in my blog about the barrels of endless frustration. When I went to find a picture of them to aid my description I nearly peed myself with laughter coming across your blog. Seems you're doing the almost same thing I am, had the exact same youthful problem and similar opinions. :D
The only thing I disagree with is your thoughts on the launch zone. I rather enjoyed the level and liked the music (keep in mind I'm practically deaf and wear hearing aids while playing Sonic).
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