Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (and Knuckles)

Sega found themselves in an interesting situation after the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, a game that improved over the original and was an incredible exercise in level design and overall game creation. It was a success, and they knew they could equal or even outdo that success with another game in the series. The question they found themselves asking is "where do we go from here?" and they were able to answer that question, eventually.

The backstory to the release of Sonic 3 and Knuckles is that the game was so expansive that they knew it would never be ready in time for its planned release, so they decided to split the game in half, allowing them to work on one half until release (Sonic the Hedgehog 3) and then finish up the other half for a new release later (Sonic and Knuckles). A shrewd move, given that they could now earn twice as much money from the one game. They developed a new style of cartridge for Sonic and Knuckles that allowed you to plug Sonic 3 into the top of it and finally play the game the way it was originally imagined to be. While they were always intended to represent one whole game, if you want to play it now and were to download it from the Xbox Live Arcade, you need to download both games as they were originally released.

Sonic 2 added a new character, Tails, and Sonic 3 adds a third playable character, Knuckles. Knuckles can glide and climb up walls, giving him a new and different skillset to the other two characters and helping him stand out as a reason to invest in this new game. Sticking with a similar system to the last game, with bigger levels and new characters, Sonic 3 and Knuckles sets off right from the bat to make sure players got something new, something worth spending their money on, which seemed advantageous to gamers possibly worried about having to pay twice for one whole game.

The addition of Knuckles and his new abilities ties into the level design, with levels being specifically designed to be traversed in different ways, with alternate routes. If you want to speed through the whole level as Sonic, you can do that. If you want to explore more and climb up places you couldn't normally with Knuckles, then you can do that too. Branching paths and larger levels make playing and replaying them a joy. Both halves of the game are balanced perfectly, with very large levels for you to delve into and get lost in. While they have been released as two separate games, they do fit together perfectly with their large levels to explore. The levels allow for extreme speed and calmer exploring perfectly, giving you the chance to slow things down yourself if you wish. While later levels become very tricky and cause you to deliberately slow your speed down, you won't mind it so much because the levels themselves are so much fun to explore.

However, one thing to mention in this review is that Knuckles is unable to be selected as a playable character in Sonic 3, only able to play through those levels when the two games are locked together. This applies to more recent releases as well. The games are considered as two separate pieces and so to play as Knuckles in Sonic 3 on the Xbox Live Arcade (for example), you need to have both parts downloaded. This was an initial risk for Sega but their determination to treat Sonic 3 and Knuckles as both one huge game and two separate games is admirable, making sure that each half has merit on its own.

Once again the musical score fires on all cylinders and is a joy to listen to. Rumours abound that Michael Jackson himself was involved in a few of the tracks in Sonic 3 and there are similarities in certain songs (the end credit music sounds suspiciously like "Stranger in Moscow") but overall the music excels once again, continuing a trend of memorable music from this series of games. Catchy and appropriate for the stage, music remains a high point in a Sonic the Hedgehog game. Across both halves of the game, you will find at least a track or two that will infectiously stick in your head.

Sonic 3 and Knuckles, taken as one whole game, is an amazing achievement for its time, even having Sega create new technology to get the game to be completely playable. On their own however, each half also holds its own as a single game, both completely viable as whole games on their own. Together it is a joy to play, although there is a lot to go through. Individually, they are easier to digest, but either way you play it, Sonic 3 and Knuckles is a great game. Level design is superb, arguably better than the game preceding it, with large snaking areas that leave plenty of room for exploration. Sega asked themselves "where do we go from here?" after the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and it turns out they were able to answer this question bravely. A great achievement in gaming.