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Sonic 3 and Knuckles: Difference between revisions
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[[Sega]]'s third 16-bit entry in the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' series, and the followup to the wildly popular ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'', was so epic that time and hardware constraints forced them to [[One Game for the Price of Two|split it into two separate games]]:
''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'', released February 2, 1994, covered the first half of the game, with gameplay as Sonic, Tails, or both. Knuckles the Echidna, the final member of Sonic and Tails' [[Power Trio]], made his debut in this game, but as an antagonist rather than a playable character.
''Sonic & Knuckles'', released October 17th that same year, covered the second half of the game, including Knuckles' [[Heel Face Turn]], and allowed gameplay as either title character (but not Tails).
The game also featured "Lock-on Technology"--a slot on top of the cartridge, in which another Mega Drive / Genesis cartridge could be inserted. By connecting the ''Sonic 3'' and ''Sonic & Knuckles'' cartridges this way, the two could be played as one complete story, ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'', with all three characters playable for the entirety, as was originally intended.
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So while Sonic and Tails thwart Robotnik, Knuckles waylays them with traps and all around acts as a thorn in their side. This finally comes to a head when everyone reaches the Hidden Palace: Robotnik steals the Master Emerald and electrocutes Knuckles for trying to stop him. Knuckles realizes he's been had, and immediately joins Team Sonic, showing them how to get out of the Hidden Palace and onto the Death Egg.
The plot of Knuckles' game covers most of the same levels as Sonic's, and features Knuckles fighting one of Robotnik's EggRobos--rather than the Doc himself--piloting souped-up versions of the level bosses. This culminates with a battle in the clouds against a Master Emerald-powered Mecha Sonic. It's a bit unclear ''when'' this all occurs in relation to the plot of Sonic's game. Official sources, such as the game manuals, imply that both plots occur simultaneously. However, [http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_3_%26_Knuckles_chronology_and_endings in-game details appear to contradict this], and suggest that Knuckles' plot begins shortly after the end of Sonic's plot.
The gameplay represented further [[Sequel Escalation]] compared to ''Sonic 2'': The top speeds were even faster, the levels were even larger, and for the first time ''every'' Act featured a boss fight.<ref>Although, if you play as Knuckles, you get to skip the Carnival Night and Lava Reef main bosses, and Hidden Palace is just an interstitial breather.</ref> There was more focus on plot as well--Knuckles' antagonism towards Sonic and Tails was shown through a number of in-level, wordless cut scenes, and every level ends with a brief scene of the characters traveling to the next level.
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* [[Batman Can Breathe in Space]]: Death Egg Zone Act 2, and Doomsday Zone.
* [[Because Destiny Says So]]: The mosaics in the background of Hidden Palace Zone are clearly a stylized depiction of Hyper Sonic's fight with the final boss.
* [[Bedsheet Ghost]]: In Sandopolis Zone Act 2.
* [[Berserk Button]]: The second stage of the Death Egg Zone's miniboss seems to have one: it will start spinning a pair of spiked platforms extremely rapidly while firing off a massive laser beam if you attack it.
* [[Big Boo's Haunt]]: Act 2 of Sandopolis; the ghosts will pester you (eventually hurting you) constantly if you [[Blackout Basement|don't keep the lights on]].
* [[Blackout Basement]]: Carnival Night Zone Act 2 (for Sonic and Tails), and Sandopolis Zone Act 2.
* [[Bonus Stage]]: Unique among ''Sonic'' games for having two types:
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** "Bonus Stages:" Stages for collecting rings and powerups. Accessible via a circle of stars that appear if you pass a [[Check Point|star post]] with 20 or more rings.
* [[Boss Only Level]]: The Doomsday Zone.
** The Great Eggman Robo may also count, as it seems to be in its own act.
* [[Boss Rush]]: Sky Sanctuary Zone.
* [[Bottomless Pit Rescue Service]]: With the Marble Garden Zone boss, due to the nature of the battle.
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** Also, after Knuckles lowers the bridge for you in Sky Sanctuary, ducking next to him makes him look at your character and wave his arm, as if telling you to go on without him.
** And, in Sonic's continue screen, Tails tugs at his arm while pointing forwards.
* [[Convection, Schmonvection]]: Two-thirds of Angel Island Zone is in the middle of a massive forest fire, yet the characters don't seem to mind. And naturally, [[Lethal Lava Land|Lava Reef Zone]]'s lava only hurts you if you actually touch it.
** Of course, you can stand on the lava just fine if you have a fire shield, even stand in a lava waterfall.
* [[Conveyor Belt O' Doom]]: Death Egg Zone has elevators with conveyor belts that randomly switch direction and try to force Sonic into spikes or gun turrets.
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** The standalone ''Sonic 3'' cartridge has the ''S & K'' miniboss music dummied out, you can hear it during the Hydrocity Act 1 boss fight if you wait until the drowning music starts, then jump out of the water.
** Another reversed example: The infinite oxygen of the bubble shield is useless in the standalone Sonic & Knuckles, as it does not contain a single underwater section.
** The S&K music is also in the S3 cartridge...all of it. In the sound test, most of the zone music that exists in track 09 onward is from S&K. So its dummied out in that its not used but its still in the cartridge.
* [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]]: Sonic goes into [[Super Mode]] to fight the [[Perfect Run Final Boss]]. Though it's less of an [[Ass Pull]], because the player could use the same super mode in any earlier level of the game, and the requirements to fight it are collecting all of the [[Green Rocks]] that let you turn into [[Super Mode]]. In most subsequent games, the [[Super Mode]] is only used for [[True Final Boss|True Final Bosses]].
* [[Endless Game]]: ''[[Blue Sphere]]''.
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** Hyper Sonic is a virtual game breaking machine since the developers probably didn't full test him given that he was a last second throw-in for the 2 games being separated.
* [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]: After the Angel Island Zone is set on fire, there isn't really any dramatic change to the gameplay to indicate that the zone's on fire. No coming face-to-face with flaming walls or anything. It has basically no gameplay effect whatsoever, aside from one zip line that cuts off fairly quickly because a small section of it is burning halfway down.
** Knuckles shuts off the lights in Carnival Night, but aside from raising the water level for all of 30 seconds, it seems to do nothing except show off how much of a prick he is.
* [[Gotta Catch Em All]]: In Sonic 3, there are 7 Chaos Emeralds to collect, and getting all of them lets you use the first [[Super Mode]] (unless you're playing as Tails). Later, once you get to the Sonic & Knuckles levels, you can power up the gems into the Super Emeralds... and collect them again, for a total of 14 emeralds. Getting the second set lets you use your character's hyper form.
* [[Gravity Screw]]: Used extensively in Death Egg Zone, as well as the anti-gravity platforms in Carnival Night.
* [[Green Rocks]] / [[Mineral MacGuffin]]: The Master Emerald and the various Chaos Emeralds.
* [[Guide Dang It]]: There is one point in Carnival Night Zone, Act 2, where a red-and-white barrel (the Barrel [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|Of Doom]]!) is blocking the path. The only way to proceed is by standing on the barrel and pressing up and down on the D-pad as the barrel wobbles. There's nothing in the game itself to suggest this.
* [[Hailfire Peaks]]:
** Angel Island is equal parts [[Green Hill Zone]] and [[Jungle Japes]]. Only after a certain point it's [[Incendiary Exponent|ON FIRE]].
** Sandopolis Zone is a [[Big Boo's Haunt|Haunted]] [[Temple of Doom]] in [[Shifting Sand Land]].
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* [[Immediate Sequel]]: To [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]
* [[Inconveniently-Placed Conveyor Belt]]: Hydrocity Zone, Death Egg Zone.
* [[Infinite
* [[Invisible Wall]]: Appears in a cut scene in Carnival Night Act 2, and just before the first boss battle in Launch Base Act 2.
* [[Jerkass]]: Knuckles, until Hidden Palace Zone.
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* [[Levels Take Flight]]: Flying Battery Zone features a few segments where the player must navigate the outside portions of Eggman's ship.
* [[Load-Bearing Boss]]: The gigantic Eggman mecha at the end of Death Egg Zone. [[Justified Trope|Makes sense]], since it not only contains the power source for the whole station, but is also so darn huge that crash landing into the superstructure would certainly do the trick.
* [[Logo Joke]]: In ''Sonic 3'', the Sega logo remains in place as a blue ball blazes towards the camera before revealing itself to be Sonic, followed by a white flash that leads into the title screen. In ''Sonic & Knuckles'', the Sega logo remains as the background turns into Angel Island, splits apart as the Sonic and the Death Egg land on the ground below, and voila, title screen.
* [[The Lost Woods]]: Mushroom Hill Zone.
* [[Manual Misprint]]: A few of the enemies from ''Sonic & Knuckles'' showed up in ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'''s instruction manual.
* [[Marathon Level]]: The stages, compared to previous games in the series, are exceptionally long, but both acts of Sandopolis Zone and Carnival Zone Act 2 definitely stand out.
** Good luck finishing Death Egg Zone Act 2 (where your time at the end of the stage carries over to the final stage) in under 10 minutes.
* [[Magikarp Power]]: While Sonic and Knuckles unlock their [[Super Mode]] after getting 7 emeralds, Tails doesn't unlock his until he collects all 14 emeralds. However, his Super Tails abilities--particularly the four birds who will attack any enemies or bosses in Tails' vicinity--are even more of a [[Game Breaker]] than Hyper Sonic or Hyper Knuckles in that you can literally kill almost every boss ''just by standing in one spot'' (since you're invincible) ''and letting the birds kill the boss for you''.
* [[Minus World]]: As Hyper Sonic, you can glitch-dash through walls into areas normally only accessible by Knuckles. A Pandora's Box of further glitches can be triggered from here.
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* [[Mobile Factory]]: The Flying Battery Zone.
* [[Mutually Exclusive Powerups]]: The three shields.
* [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]: Knuckles in Hidden Palace Zone.
* [[No One Should Survive That]]: Par for the course with Dr. Robotnik. Upon being defeated in Lava Reef Zone, his craft is [[Lava Pit|engulfed in lava]] (which instantly hardens).
* [[Nostalgia Level]]: Hidden Palace Zone is a treat for those who had been wondering about that level [[Dummied Out|that only existed as a song in the options menu]] of ''Sonic 2''. The giant ceiling laser from Flying Battery Zone is clearly a reference to [[That One Boss]] from ''Sonic 2'''s Wing Fortress Zone. In Sky Sanctuary Zone, you fight a rehash of the wrecking-ball boss from ''Sonic 1'''s Green Hill Zone, and the boss with the spinning things from ''Sonic 2'''s Metropolis Zone. <ref>Interestingly, the slight alterations of sprite proportions and game physics made both fights rather different from the originals. The Green Hill boss was originally a [[Warmup Boss]]; here he's rather harder to damage without hitting the wrecking ball on the rebound. The original Metropolis boss could only be safely hit at one point in his attack pattern; here, the boss is significantly easier because he can ''also'' be damaged while he's at the top of the screen doing nothing.</ref>
** Flying Battery's mid boss is also a Wing Fortress reference: A laser cannon that shoots giant beams of destruction while two pillars of light keep you trapped inside. The spiked platforms are conspicuously absent, though.
** Marble Garden's mid-boss uses a burrowing attack based on [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2|Mystic Cave's]] boss.
* [[One Game for the Price of Two]]
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** Doomsday: You maneuver so the Robotnik-mecha's own missiles hit it in the face.
* [[Quicksand Sucks]]: Sandopolis Zone, and Desert Palace Zone from the 2-player mode. Also, Marble Garden Zone featured tar-like stuff that behaved the same way as the other examples of quicksand.
* [[Recurring Riff]]: The "Level Clear" music from this game has been reused by many other ''Sonic'' games, and even shows up as Sonic's victory music in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]] Brawl''.
* [[Sand Worm]]: Wormlike badniks in Sandopolis.
* [[Scoring Points|Secret Bonus]]: Complete an act with the clock on 9:59 (one second before a Time Over) and you are awarded 100,000 points, enough for ''two'' extra lives! Not easy as it is at that time you must land the critical hit on whatever boss you're fighting.
** Easiest with Knuckles in Carnival Night Act 2, as he doesn't fight a boss. Just stand in front of the capsule until 9:58 or so and then jump and break the capsule. Requires patience.
* [[Secret Level]] / [[True Final Boss]]: Doomsday Zone, which is only accessible if you beat Death Egg zone as Sonic, with a full set of emeralds, and is just an extended fight with Robotnik's final Egg-Mecha.
** Also in the other levels, many nooks and crannies are only accessible if you're playing as the right character.
* [[Segmented Serpent]]: Flying enemies in Angel Island, flying enemies in Mushroom Hill, [[Sand Worm|sand worms]] in Sandopolis, and yet more flying enemies in Lava Reef. Hitting them anywhere besides the head will injure you.
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