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| Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles; Lock-On Included! | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 23 2011, 08:01 PM (924 Views) | |
| Complete_Dweeb | Dec 23 2011, 08:01 PM Post #1 |
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I’M rAD
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WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, IF YOU ACTUALLY CARE FOR THE STORY OF THIS GAME THAT MUCH, DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW In 1994, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was released worldwide for the Sega Genesis. This game was intended to top Sonic 2's record breaking sales, but it didn't quite achieve that goal. The game was great, but something felt missing. There were plenty of area's in the game that neither Sonic nor Tails were capable of exploring, and the new character in the game, Knuckles, was seen quite a lot throughout the game, but you couldn't actually play as him outside of the multiplayer. Lastly, if you somehow managed to pull off that level select code (I'VE ONLY GOTTEN IT TO WORK ONCE), you would have noticed various stages that were never in the game, including Mushroom Valley, Flying Battery, and Sandopolis. It didn't make any sense, and no one could figure out the answer. Later that year, Sonic and Knuckles was released. It turned out that Sonic 3 was supposed to be one giant game, but due to time and money constraints, it had to be split into 2 separate games, Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. However, Sonic and Knuckles featured a unique "lock-on technology" that allowed one to plug in a second genesis cartridge on top of it. If you plugged in Sonic 1, you could play Blue Sphere, we'll get to that later. If you plugged in Sonic 2, you would be able to play as Knuckles in Sonic 2. Most importantly, if you plugged in Sonic 3, you got Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and this game is the true Sonic 3. ![]() So let's get started, shall we? Story: This is the first Sonic game to ever include story elements other than "Bad guy is evil, kill him." At the end of Sonic 2, Dr. Robotnik's Death Egg crashes into the floating Angel Island, causing it to fall to the ocean. It's there that Robotnik meets Knuckles, an echidna bound to protect the island's main source of power, the Master Emerald. Knowing that Sonic & Tails will likely search for him. Robotnik tricks Knuckles into thinking that Sonic & Tails are evildoers bent out on stealing the Master Emerald. Of course, Sonic & Tails do travel to Angel Island on in search of Robotnik, using Sonic's Biplane, the Tornado, piloted by Tails. Sonic jumps off of the Tornado, uses the 7 Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonic and blazes through the jungles of Angel Island...for about 5 seconds that is. Out of nowhere, Knuckles pops out of the ground and knocks the Chaos Emeralds right out of Sonic, cancelling his Super Transformation. Knuckles then proceeds to steal the Chaos Emeralds, and runs off. This is where the game first starts off, after making through the first 6 zones, Sonic (or Tails) confronts Robotnik at the Death Egg's Launch Base. After he's defeated, the Death Egg falls down to Angel Island once more, landing directly in the Volcano of Lava Reef Zone. After 4 more zones, you finally confront Knuckles in Hidden Palace zone. After defeating him, Robotnik proceeds to steal the Master Emerald, finally showing Knuckles who the real villain is. After making it to Sky Sanctuary Zone, we see that Robotnik has used the Master Emerald to finally get the Death Egg running once more, releasing an army of Egg-Robos, Robots designed to look like Robotnik. After Sky Sanctuary Zone, Sonic/Tails make it to the Death Egg Zone, finally confronting Robotnik for the last time. After defeating the Death Egg Robot Mk.ll as I like to call it, Sonic once again uses the power of the Chaos Emeralds to turn Super and chase after Robotnik as he escapes with the Master Emerald (unless you didn't bother to get the Chaos Emeralds or you're playing as Tails, in which case the game ends right there.) Finally getting the Master Emerald back from Robotnik, Sonic takes the Emerald back to Angel Island, causing the Island to once again float in the Sky. So that's the end, right? Nope, not quite yet! Shortly after Angel Island is saved, Knuckles is seen relaxing with his animal friends, but out of nowhere, an Egg-Robo drops a bomb on Knuckles, causing him to chase after it. After making it all the way from Angel Island Zone to Sky Sanctuary Zone. Knuckles realizes that Angel Island is starting to fall again. He soon finds out that the Egg-Robo was enlisted by Mecha Sonic, a robot designed to impersonate Sonic. After Knuckles seemingly wins the fight with Mecha Sonic, Mecha uses the power of the Master Emerald to go Super. Soon, Knuckles finally beats Super Mecha Sonic, causing Sky Sanctuary to crumble beneath his feet. If Knuckles didn't get all 7 Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald falls along with Sky Sanctuary, causing Angel Island to fall once again, this time permanently. If he did get all 7 Chaos Emeralds, though, Knuckles saves the Master Emerald and Angel Island...rises up into space. I'm not joking, that's what happens. Anyway, for a game coming out in the early 90's, this is probably one of the best stories I've ever seen written. ![]() Gameplay: The game is divided into 14 Zones, each consisting of two Acts with a Boss Fight at the end of each. The Zones consist of Angel Island, essentially the Green Hill of this game, Hydrocity, a Water Level where you don't have that big a chance of drowning, Marble Garden, a sort of Ruins-esque area, Carnival Night, THAT FREAKING BARREL, Ice Cap, where there are no real ice physics whatsoever, Launch Base, which was the final Zone of Sonic 3, Mushroom Hill, *Insert Mario joke here*, Flying Battery, an airship with by far the hardest boss in the game *cough*sarcasm*cough*, Sandopolis, a Desert area with a very tedious second Act, Lava Reef, I WONDER WHAT THIS ZONE COULD POSSIBLY HAVE, Hidden Palace, by far the hardest Zone in the game with the Second-Hardest Boss in the game *cough*even more sarcasm*cough*, Sky Sanctuary, a Sky Level where you won't have much fear of falling, Death Egg, which is the Scrap Brain/Metropolis of this game, and Doomsday, where Super Sonic chases after Robotnik as he escapes with the Master Emerald. This game also features a save system, completely defeating the purpose of continues. After you beat the game, you also get a level select feature that let's you replay any level you want, keeping your Chaos Emeralds from your previous playthrough. We'll get into those later. The Basic Controls are very simple, you use the Control Pad to move, the A, B, and C buttons to jump, and the Start button to pause the game. Throughout each stage you will find Gold Rings. As long as you have at least 1 Ring, you can take a hit from an enemy. If you touch an enemy or hazard, you lose all your Rings. If you get hit by an enemy or hazard with no Rings, you lose a life. There are also things that kill you regardless of your Ring Count. These include drowning, being crushed, falling into a bottomless pit, and running out of time. If you press Down on the Control Pad and press any button, you'll rev up a Spin Dash, which upon releasing the Control Pad, sends you blazing off in whichever direction you're facing in. If you press Down while running, you'll curl up into a ball. As long as you're in this ball-form, you can attack enemies and destroy them. You also curl into ball form while jumping and after a Spin Dash. In this game, you can play as 4 (technically 3) characters; Sonic alone, Sonic with Tails, Tails alone, and Knuckles. Each character has their own special abilities which are all performed by jumping and pressing any button mid-jump. Sonic is capable of using the Twin-Spin Attack (More commonly referred to as the Insta-Shield). This causes Sonic to surround himself with a shield for a split-second. It doesn't seem it would do that much, but it's capable of making short work of bosses when used properly. There are also 3 different types of Elemental Shields in this game; the Bubble Shield, which allows you to breathe underwater, the Fire Shield, which protects you from Fire & Lava, and the Electric Shield, which not only attracts Rings to you, but also protects you from Electric Hazards and...Ice Hazards. While all 3 Character can use these Shields, Sonic gets a Special Ability when he gets one of them. When he has the Bubble Shield he can perform a bounce-attack, the Fire Shield grants him an Air Dash, and the Electric Shield gives him a Double Jump. Shields go away when you get hit. It should also be noted that neither the Fire Shield nor the Electric Shield can be used underwater. Tails has the ability to fly. He can't fly forever, but it's a pretty nice ability to have for getting to shortcuts and hidden items. If you're playing as Sonic with Tails, you can actually plug in a second controller and control Tails. What's even more interesting is that you can use Tails to pick Sonic up and grant him access to areas he normally can't reach, although I've only ever used this "co-op" feature once. Knuckles has the ability to glide. If Knuckles glides into a wall, he can actually climb it. Knuckles is also slightly slower and jumps slightly lower than Sonic, and he usually takes different routes than Sonic or Tails, making him the "Hard Mode" of the game since these routes are usually more challenging. Located throughout each level are TV Monitors. Breaking these monitors gives you various power-ups, including the pre-mentioned shields, invincibility, 10 Rings, Speed Shoes, and an Extra Life. Also located throughout each level are Giant Rings. Jumping through these Rings takes you to a Special Stage. In the Special Stages, the Gameplay is changed to a Third-Dimensional style in which your character is automatically being propelled forward and you can only change the direction they're running. You can still jump by pressing any button. The object of the Special Stages is to turn all the Blue Spheres into Red Spheres by running into them. If you touch a Red Sphere, you automatically lose the Special Stage and are sent back to the level you were previously in. You can also collect rings in the Special Stages. If you find a grid of Blue Spheres and then circle the perimeter of it, all the Blue Spheres will turn to Rings. If you get all the Rings in a Special Stage, you are given a Perfect, which gives you 50,000 points (a.k.a. an extra life). Once you turn all the Blue Spheres into Red Spheres, you are awarded with a Chaos Emerald, once you obtain all 7 Chaos Emeralds, you get the ability to use that character's Super Transformation, excluding Tails. You activate your character's Super Transformation the same way you perform their special ability, by jumping and then pressing a button mid-jump. You can maintain your Super Transformation as long as you have rings, which gradually drop as you have your Super Transformation activated. Super Sonic not only turns Golden, but also gets the equivalent of having Speed Shoes and Invincibility at the same time, and has a higher jump. Super Knuckles gets the same Invincibility+Speed Shoes treatment, but he's also capable of gliding much faster than before, and if he glides into a wall fast enough, he can kill all enemies on-screen. But wait, there's more! Once you get to Mushroom Hill Zone, you can find flashing Giant Rings that take you to the Master Emerald's resting place, the Hidden Palace. Upon entry, the Chaos Emeralds are taken from you, meaning you can't turn Super anymore. But trust me, it'll be worth it in the end. You can now take on 7 more Special Stages in order to upgrade the Chaos Emeralds into the Super Emeralds. Once you upgrade all 7 Chaos Emeralds, not only do Sonic & Knuckles get to transform into Hyper Sonic and Hyper Knuckles, but Tails finally gets a Super Transformation. Hyper Sonic, in addition to everything Super Sonic can do, now flashes Seizure Lights and is capable of doing a Double Jump in Mid-Air. He also get's after-images, which is cool. Hyper Knuckles is pretty much just Super Knuckles with after-images, so there's no real difference. Super Tails is by far one of my favorite transformations only because of his gimmick. While Super Tails gets the same Speed Shoes+Invincibility treatment, he also gets surrounded by Super Flickies, which are Golden birds that home in on the nearest enemy. This means that Super Tails can just stand completely still and have his Super Flickies do all the work for him, making Super Tails even more broken than Hyper Sonic! Like any Sonic Game, the level design is built around Speed, and Momentum Based Platforming, and it certainly shows here. ![]() Soundtrack: It's Sonic, therefore the music is automatically awesome. But just in case you're actually insane enough to question the music of a game composed by Michael Jackson himself, then here are some examples. Hydrocity Zone Act 2 Ice Cap Zone Act 2 Flying Battery Zone Act 1 Graphics: The Graphics of this game are amazing for the Genesis. The Sprite Animation is top notch, and the Art Style is what you'd expect from a Sonic game. Although I personally preferred Sonic 2's graphics more, I just think Sonic's appearance in this game looks...weird. ![]() Replay Value: I honestly don't know what it is about this game that makes it so replayable. It could be the sheer amount of alternate pathways you can find in the game, the thrill of just blazing through the entire game with Hyper Sonic from Angel Island to Doomsday, or maybe just that music, that music. I've beaten this game with all 4 character selections, do I really need to tell you how good the Replay Value is? In conclusion, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is one of the best if not the best Classic Sonic game for the Sega Genesis. There's almost nothing I find wrong with it. It's the perfect platformer game, and no matter what you say, I'm sticking with that. If you want to try this game, DO NOT play just Sonic 3 or just Sonic & Knuckles, play Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It's one of my all-time favorite games and I STRONGLY recommend you play this game. So with that...typed, I'll see you guys later. Edited by Complete_Dweeb, Jul 30 2012, 04:46 PM.
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| krismaster4 | Dec 23 2011, 08:15 PM Post #2 |
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Stayin' Cool, in Sanfransokyo. AS A MILLIONAIRE!
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I don't care that it spoils. The review in itself I'd give a 9.5/10 |
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| krismaster4 | Dec 23 2011, 08:16 PM Post #3 |
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Stayin' Cool, in Sanfransokyo. AS A MILLIONAIRE!
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I don't care that it spoils. The review in itself I'd give a 9.5/10 |
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| UnrealOdin | Dec 24 2011, 12:27 AM Post #4 |
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Trillionaire
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Very informative review. You're starting to show me up! Maybe I should write another review :/ But I tend to keep mine shorter to avoid having to write a wall of text, and to have the readers read a wall of text, but that's just one of my preferences. |
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| Complete_Dweeb | Dec 24 2011, 12:31 AM Post #5 |
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I’M rAD
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I know, I just constantly have this feeling that I have to go as in-depth as I possibly can when I make these, and I don't know why.
Edited by Complete_Dweeb, Dec 24 2011, 11:54 AM.
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| krismaster4 | Dec 25 2011, 11:10 AM Post #6 |
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Stayin' Cool, in Sanfransokyo. AS A MILLIONAIRE!
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It's not a bad thing though of you think about it. |
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| UnrealOdin | Dec 25 2011, 02:11 PM Post #7 |
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Trillionaire
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You don't want to make a review to short, you also don't want to make it too long, one of the hardest skills to master is writing an informative review while still keeping it short. |
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| Complete_Dweeb | Dec 25 2011, 08:53 PM Post #8 |
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I’M rAD
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Well, I personally believe that you're better off having too much than not enough. |
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| UnrealOdin | Dec 26 2011, 12:09 AM Post #9 |
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Trillionaire
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It all depends, I mean if you have useless information, or repetition creating a large body, then that's not good. But if you pull a KrisMaster4 and make a review in 14 words, that's not good either. |
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| krismaster4 | Dec 26 2011, 12:37 AM Post #10 |
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Stayin' Cool, in Sanfransokyo. AS A MILLIONAIRE!
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Hey that was ONE time! |
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| UnrealOdin | Dec 26 2011, 10:33 AM Post #11 |
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Trillionaire
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That's a 100% of the time you've made a review, it's had 14 words in it. That's a pretty bad ratio. |
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| krismaster4 | Dec 26 2011, 04:00 PM Post #12 |
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Stayin' Cool, in Sanfransokyo. AS A MILLIONAIRE!
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Dude I was making one that was like a couple paragraphs about okami but it's gone. |
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| Complete_Dweeb | Dec 26 2011, 05:48 PM Post #13 |
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I’M rAD
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How is it that in both of my reviews so far, the topic has been shifted to Kris's MvC 3 review? |
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| UnrealOdin | Dec 26 2011, 07:51 PM Post #14 |
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Trillionaire
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Because I still find it hilarious that he made it. |
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| krismaster4 | Dec 26 2011, 07:55 PM Post #15 |
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Stayin' Cool, in Sanfransokyo. AS A MILLIONAIRE!
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Okay let's not talk about it anymore. 'Kay? 'Kay. |
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| Complete_Dweeb | Dec 26 2011, 08:12 PM Post #16 |
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I’M rAD
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I doubt that's going to stop Odin from constantly bringing it up. Although I do think that it's getting a bit old. Yeah, Kris made a bad review, is it honestly THAT big a deal? |
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| Kuja | Dec 26 2011, 09:25 PM Post #17 |
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Lucky
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Nope. Anyways your reviews are really good, keep it up. |
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2:23 PM Jul 11