Sonic & Knuckles (1994)

Preliminary: Well, even tho I usually play originals, I am playing Sonic & Knucles locked-on to Sonic 3, so I can play as Tails as first player and am enjoying it much more than either Sonic or Knuckles, and much more than I did with Sonic 3. This isn't quite Sonic CD, but have already gotten through 3 Acts so that says something. Doubt I will finish it tho, I just don't love Sonic gameplay and design. Luckily Tails's ability to fly helps with some of my qualms but still.

Day 1

These bosses have been quite easy so far.

I pushed through the annoying moving block segment, and it's emphasizing a lot of water which eliminates the joy I had dwith Tail's flying. Plus it's really buggy?!? Like I keep getting pushed into walls, once through some blocks, and I am often getting sprite overload slowdown. But I still am enjoying Tails' gameplay and the music.

At least tehre is quite a bit less of the pop out aspect, so I can have fun going fast sometimes. But it still has the issue of how to go into hyper ball mode. I wish the controls were a bti different. I know tons of people are used to Sonic controls and probly love it, but I hate when I jump when I wanted to go into the hyper speed mode.

Tails is also the cutest in how you flip when the fans are blowing you upward lol. Cute.

But it's still just too glitchy for a big mainstream release like this. And I wanna try one more Act/level but this boss where he puts bomb in the water is so slow and takes so long cuzx you have to wait between opportuniteis for hits.

Alright let's do one more level then likely give this a 3 star and move on, or return to thist omorrow.

Welp yeah 3 star it is. The attack of the odd momentum/jump mechanic for hills for Sonics arose again in this Marble whatever Zone and as much as I like the music and Look, and am enjoying this as one of the best Sonic games so far, I just will never fully click with Sonics.

Look: 7.5/10 Not impressive for late 94 (actually quite disappointing at the very beginning :-X), but still classic Sonic Look. And some great backgrounds

Sound: 8/10 Always a highlight of any Sonic game

Play: 7.5/10

Feel: 7.5/10 One of the best early Sonics for sure.

Attachment: 7.5/10 At first I was going to give a it 7, but since my favorite character to play as is Tails and I liked how the first couple Acts were designed when playing Tails, this got a slight boost.

Overall: 7.6/10 This could go up to an 8 star if I return to this some day and delve deeper as Tails.

Played on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection.

Thank goodness for save states, this game is hard. There were some sections that harkened back to Sonic 2 with unreactable hazards. It was weird having a battery save in Sonic 3, just for Sonic and Knuckles to decide that they didn't want to have that anymore.

With Sonic and Knuckles completed, I'm done with my foray into 2D Sonic. It has reaffirmed what I always knew in my heart: I do not like 2D Sonic. It had neat ideas, but I just prefer more linear levels that are easier to digest.

Continuing on from my review of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles is the aforementioned second part of the Sonic 3 experience. It plays identically, and has all of the same benefits and advancements that were made in the core Sonic 3 game, except save files which are weirdly absent when you play it on its own. This time, you can also take control of Knuckles, though for this playthrough I just stuck with old reliable Sonic.

Because of its connection to Sonic 3, there really isn't too much to say about this that I haven't already mentioned in my Sonic 3 review. It's got another excellent set of levels, though it does also suffer from being the product of a split release. Sonic & Knuckles blatantly feels like the second half of another game, as its difficulty curve is a little steeper right off the bat. Because of that, I'd say it's not a great idea to jump right into this without playing Sonic 3 before it.

Inversely to Sonic 3's issues, Sonic & Knuckles has a bit of an abrupt and wonky start, with opening areas Mushroom Hill Zone and Flying Battery Zone clearly not being intended as early-game levels. However, once the game gets its momentum going, it delivers the epic finale that Sonic 3 was missing, with Sky Sanctuary Zone in particular being one of my favorite sequences in the entire series.

Much like Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles also has its occasional clumsy moments, with Sandopolis Zone being a slight low point (Though not nearly as bad as Carnival Night Zone). The best thing would be to not do what I did, and just play the combined Sonic 3 & Knuckles as the developers envisioned. I haven't done it myself, but I think when looked at in its totality, the full Sonic 3 experience is probably greater than the sum of its already excellent parts.

Replayed Sonic and Knuckles (as part of "Sonic 3 and Knuckles") in Sonic Origins. (Got all the Super Emeralds, good ending.)

Everything I love about Sonic 3, I also love about Sonic and Knuckles (which is essentially just "Sonic 3: Part 2"). And the thing is, if I were forced to choose between the two games which is my favorite? It'd be Sonic and Knuckles. Every single level just knocks it out of the park. Mushroom Hill? Amazing. Flying Battery? Amazing. Sandopolis? Amazing. Lava Reef? Amazing. The setting of each zone is so memorable, and the tracks you run down are so well-crafted. And each song is a banger!!! I'm quite sure if I were to make a list ranking all the classic 2D Sonic levels, a large percentage of the top 10 would be zones from Sonic and Knuckles.

One of the best things about Sonic 3 and Knuckles is the replayability. Not only are there more tracks to run down and more hidden areas to find, but you now have three different characters to play as. Tails can fly, while Knuckles can climb and glide. If you're a newcomer to Sonic games and are struggling with it, I strongly recommend trying Sonic 3 and Knuckles, and playing as Tails. This will allow you to explore the levels much more easily, and help you get a hang of the controls and a feel for the general flow of things. And if you like exploring but also want a bit more challenge, then Knuckles is there. He can access his own special areas of each level, and has a shorter jump that makes bosses a bit tougher to deal with.

Amazing game that I can replay again and again, and still find new little secrets! Glad to have this classic gem easier to access once more for those curious about the old Sonic games.

Beat Sonic 3 & Knuckles (got the 7 emeralds) on Genesis using the Sonic 3 Complete rom and played as Sonic & Tails.

Sick game, great tunes. Some of the levels are a bit more gimmicky and annoying than previous Sonic entries. Not sure if I like this more than 2, but I really like the save feature and how you can approach the levels differently.

I was really stoked to play through this because I had both titles as a kid, but the lock-on connector on my Sonic & Knuckles cart stopped working pretty early on, so I mostly played them separately.

8/10, highly recommended.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Review

Sonic & Knuckles is quite simply just more of Sonic The Hedgehog 3. Which I'm 100% fine with.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 was supposed to be a lot longer than it was. But because of hardware limitations, It was split into two games. Sonic & Knuckles is basically Sonic The Hedgehog 3 PART 2. That's why the game is just more of Sonic The Hedgehog 3 because that's exactly what it is.

I find myself enjoying this more than the first half. The game isn't much different other than that it continues where Sonic The Hedgehog 3 left off. But the Zones are so much more fun in this one in my opinion and I love how the Chaos Emeralds are handled. In Sonic & Knuckles you can collect the Super Emeralds which are just enhanced Chaos Emeralds which allow you to turn into Hyper Sonic, Knuckles, or Tails.

The story is also super satisfying and brings a great conclusion to the Genesis Sonic series. This is far better than any other 2D Sonic game released during this era.

4/5

Would Recommend

For the sake of being efficient, this is a review of Sonic 3 AND Sonic & Knuckles.

I really really enjoy S3&K level design, it's incredibly good just in terms of level density and smart use of building up momentum and utilizing downtime. The 2D Sonic games really find their rhythm here, ironing out the issues like enemies within the pathway that you have to outright memorize to not take hits and making sure the downtime where you're not speeding through is effective.

The speedruns of the game elegantly show how strong the levels get, and the exploration element to find the chaos emeralds is pretty fun this time around too. The minigame to get it itself is still ok at best but at this point I've come to expect it. The bosses this time around are also pretty strong, and not much needs to be said on the game's excellent soundtrack.

It's great, everything from Mushroom Hill to IceCap to Sky Sanctuary is strong and consistent. Sure, you do have a couple stinker levels and the platforming in of itself doesn't get to anywhere where I'd call it amazing, but I definitely enjoyed my time through the whole thing. Still holds up. (8/10)