Sonic 3 and Knuckles: Difference between revisions

''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.

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.

The gameplay represented further [[Sequel Escalation]] compared to ''Sonic 2'': Thethe 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.

A number of game mechanics made their ''Sonic'' debut here as well, such as a game save feature and specialized shields. The Special Stages from ''Sonic 2'', where the Chaos Emeralds could be won, were revamped, and three different Bonus Stages were introduced, where extra rings and powerups could be collected. [[Cast Speciation]] (first introduced in the previous year's 8-bit title ''[[Sonic Chaos]]'') was further developed: Sonic could make use of a brief, midair "Insta-Shield", and do a special attack while having one of the shields (a double-jump with the lightning shield, a bounce attack with the bubble shield, a fiery charge attack with the fire shield);, Tails could fly (by himself or while carrying Sonic) and swim;, and Knuckles could glide and climb sheer walls, but couldn't run as fast or jump as high as Sonic.

* [[Action Bomb]]: [http://info.sonicretro.org/Iwamodoki Iwamodoki].

* [[Advancing Boss of Doom]] / [[Advancing Wall of Doom]] / [[Descending Ceiling]] / [[Auto-Scrolling Level]] / [[Get Back Here Boss]] / [[Rise to the Challenge]]: There's a higher concentration of "keep moving or die!" scenes here than in any other ''Sonic'' game.

** The auto scrolling boss fight in Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Andand the page image for [[Get Back Here Boss]]).

** The entirety of Thethe Doomsday Zone.

* [[Airborne Aircraft Carrier]]: Flying Battery Zone;: the Flying Battery also tries to bomb Sonic in Angel Island Zone.

* [[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]].

** "Special Stages:": A 3D maze where you must "Get Blue Spheres". Finishing earns you a Chaos Emerald. Accessible via giant rings hidden in the levels.

** "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.

* [[Comic Book Adaptation]]: In both ''Sonic'' comics:

** Inverted,: in Hidden Palace Zone, Sonic can be airlifted by Tails to a hidden area where there are 30 extra rings. With those and the other rings that aren't hidden, Sonic can turn into Hyper/Super Sonic for the Knuckles battle.

** Without the 7 Chaos/Super Emeralds, however, Knuckles plays this straight;: Hishis spin jumps and spin dashes take priority over Sonic's, and he can block your spindashes by crouching. [[Captain Obvious|You can't block his]]. When he's attacking with a glide, however, you can hit him nearly anywhere that isn't his fists. [[Good Old Fisticuffs|Oh, and he can punch you in the face if you walk too close to him, and he's not attacking you]].

* [[Divergent Character Evolution]]: Tails played like a [[Palette Swap|Palette Swapped]] Sonic in the last game. He begins to diverge here;: his speed and jump height have been reduced ever-so-slightly compared to Sonic, but players can now control his ability to fly. Although as a trade-off to this awesome ability, Tails can't take full advantage of the shields (i.e. the extra jumps they give Sonic), and he doesn't go super until he collects both the chaos emeralds and the super emeralds.

* [[Dummied Out]]: Much of Knuckles' content is present in the ''Sonic 3'' cartridge, but can't be accessed without attaching it to the ''Sonic & Knuckles'' cartridge. Also happens in reverse: Inin the combined game, when you play Launch Base Zone (the final level of ''Sonic 3'') as Sonic or Tails, the game skips over the original final boss of the level ([[Wasted Song|including the awesome ending music]], sniff). Though you do still fight it if you play as Knuckles.

** The standalone ''Sonic 3'' cartridge has the ''SSonic & KKnuckles'' 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''Sonic &K Knuckles'' music is also in the S3''Sonic 3'' cartridge... all of it. In the sound test, most of the zone music that exists in track 09 onward is from S''Sonic &K Knuckles''. So itsit's dummied out in that itsit's not used, but itsit's 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]].

* [[Every Ten Thousand Points|Every Fifty Thousand Points]]: You are awarded an extra life every 50,000 points.

* [[Evil Knockoff]]: Mecha Sonic. Ironically, in the first two fights, he uses Robotnik's tactics by reusing boss machines from previous games. In Knuckles's playthrough, he's the [[Man Behind the Man]] and final boss.

* [[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.

* [[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.

** Lava Reef Zone starts off as a straight volcano level,; then in Act 2, the lava cools off and there's white crystals everywhere.

* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]: This is how about half the bosses in ''Sonic & KnucklesKnuckle''s are defeated.

* [[Humongous Mecha]]: Robotnik uses one at the end of ''Sonic & Knuckles''.

* [[Immediate Sequel]]: To ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]''.

* [[Mission Pack Sequel]]: ''Sonic & Knuckles'' to ''Sonic 3''.

** 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: Aa laser cannon that shoots giant beams of destruction while two pillars of light keep you trapped inside. The spiked platforms are conspicuously absent, though.

** Carnival Night Act 1: Youyou hit the boss to make it expose its weak point, but the actual damage is done when the bouncing spike platform collides with it.

** Flying Battery Act 1: Youyou trick the boss into hitting itself.

** Flying Battery Act 2: Thethe mini-boss is a laser in the ceiling; you dodge it until it completely tears up the airship.

** Sandopolis Act 1: Youyou beat it by knocking it or luring it into a quicksand pit.

** Lava Reef Act 2: Youyou survive until Robotnik's own attacks destroy his machine.

** Death Egg Act 2: Youyou defeat the first boss by manipulating gravity to hit it with its own mini-bots.

** Doomsday Zone: Youyou maneuver so the Robotnik-mecha's own missiles hit it in the face.

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: Flying Battery Zone to Wing Fortress Zone from ''Sonic 2''. Carnival Night Zone would ''appear'' to be this to Casino Night Zone from the name, but besides being brash and colourfulcolorful levels, they don't share much in detail.

* [[Story-Driven Invulnerability]]: At several points, Robotnik shows up outside of a boss fight but cannot be destroyed.<ref>atAt least, not without exploiting some [[Game Breaking Bug|Game Breaking Bugs]] that allow you to land 256 hits on him.</ref>. The most notable instance is during his theft of the Master Emerald.

* [[Super Mode]]: In addition to the usual Super Sonic, it's also possible to play as Super Knuckles. And if you collect ''all 14 Emeralds'', you can become Hyper Sonic, Hyper Knuckles, or Super Tails.

* [[This Is a Drill]]: All of the bosses from Marble Garden Zone.

** '''Angel Island''': [standalone ''Sonic 3'' only]: Duringduring Act 2, enter and exit a bonus stage or special stage to remove the boundary preventing Sonic from returning to Act 1. Once back in Act 1, stand on top of the left-pointing wall-spikes under the crumbling cliff, face left and look up. While the screen is scrolled up, have Tails air-lift Sonic until the spikes are just out of sight. Let Tails descend with Sonic in tow, and he will be hurt and fall into the wall. When Tails returns, have him lift Sonic up to just below the slope above. Hop off to the right and walk over an invisible floor under the slope; he will fall through an invisible shaft, and land in Knuckles' boss area. Start to play Knuckles' Act 2 as normal, hitting the checkpoint under the breakable floor. Unfortunately, the lower boundary is locked too high, and trying to progress causes Sonic to die as though he fell into a bottomless pit. When Sonic respawns at the last checkpoint, the breakable floor returns, and he cannot escape from Knuckles' Act 2. (Inin ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'', the offending checkpoint is removed.).

** '''Marble Garden''': Inin Act 1, as Hyper Sonic, find the only spinning top on a pedestal in the act. Head to the right, and drop into the area under the moving platforms, where the Lightning Shield is. Stand right next to the right wall, and crouch until the camera scrolls all the way down. Jump as high as you can; the game will bug out, and drop Sonic into an eerily empty version of Act 1. Go to the location of one of the Super Rings (it's the one that's normally at the end of a hidden tunnel to the right of a 1-up monitor). This will trigger the Act 2 boss fight(!). If Eggman is defeated, the timer stops and the Egg Capsule hovers down as usual, but the Capsule will be impossible to hit in this location. Since the clock has stopped, and the screen is locked in place, there is no way to lose a life. The only way out is to reset the console.

** '''Carnival Night''': Inin Act 2, as Hyper Sonic, crouch under the last set of spikes before the area where Knuckles shuts off the power, until the camera scrolls all the way down. Let Tails airlift Sonic into the spikes and fly all the way to the right, getting Sonic stuck in a wall. As Sonic, jump and hold left. This will allow them to bypass a checkpoint completely. After the cutscene with Knuckles plays, touch the checkpoint and enter the bonus stage. Upon returning, the lower boundary will be set much higher than normal, and the water will be missing. Jumping down into the normally flooded section will kill Sonic, as if he fell into a bottomless pit. Even after respawning, the lower boundary isn't set to the correct position; there is no way to complete the level.

* [[Unwinnable By Mistake]]:* When playing as Sonic with Tails tagging along, it's possible to glitch Tails off-screen so he doesn't return. Doing so in Marble Garden Zone makes it impossible to fight the boss.

** Also, in the ''Sonic 3'' only version of Hydrocity Zone Act 2, it's fairly easy to go past the boss and right to the capsule without doing the boss fight. But the only way out is to reset. The clock continues to run despite hitting the capsule, but unfortunately, even time over doesn't save you. The only way out is to reset and then it will usually let you [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd0o_YngH6Y go to Marble Garden].

** '''Marble Garden''' [standalone ''Sonic 3'' only]: Whenwhen Sonic and Tails enter the Act 1 Boss room, stop just before the Tunnelbot is onscreen. Controlling 2P Tails, defeat the Tunnelbot just offscreen. Once the signpost falls, Act 2 begins to load; if Sonic is standing too far to the left, he'll be outside Act 2. The game will have no idea how to handle the situation, and effectively freeze. (Inin ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'', if Tunnelbot is defeated offscreen in this way, the camera will promptly scroll right, pushing Sonic within bounds of Act 2 before the signpost lands.).

** '''Carnival Night''': Whenwhen Sonic is damaged while floating over anti-grav pads, he'll fall through. In some places, anti-grav pads are all that separate Sonic's Act 1 from Knuckles' Act 1. If Sonic accidentally falls into the first half of Knuckles' Act 1, and hits the first checkpoint, the only way to continue is to exploit a bug in Sonic's Super or Hyper transformation that allows him to pass through spinning barrels. If Sonic doesn't have all the Emeralds, doesn't have enough Rings to transform, screws up the exploit, or dies and respawns at that checkpoint, he's stuck.

* [[Video Game Caring Potential]]: Many players have commented that they did not have the heart to leave the injured {{spoiler|Knuckles}} on his own in Sky Sanctuary Zone.

** It's interesting to note that if you are playing ''Sonic 3'' by itself and gain invincibility during the mid-boss of Hydrocity Zone, the song will switch to the ''Sonic & Knuckles'' mid-boss music once the invincibility wears off. The tune otherwise doesn't appear in ''Sonic 3'' at all.

* [[Weaponized Exhaust]]: If the boss uses a rocket to fly, it can use that rocket to hurt you. Luckily, though, [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything]];: if you have a fire shield, you're unaffected by the exhaust, giving you a great angle to attack from.