Sonic 3 & Knuckles

Original Release: 2nd Feb 1994 (Sonic 3), 18th October 1994 (Sonic & Knuckles)
Developer: Sega Team
Publisher: Sega
Original Platform: Mega Drive
Version Played: Retro Engine (Xbox Series S)

My initial experience with this wasn’t on the Mega Drive like the other games, instead I had the Sonic & Knuckles Collection on PC, so my experience has always been with the full game. Due to time constraints, this was originally released in two parts: Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, with the latter allowing you to connect Sonic 3 to play both combined. Sega finally acknowledged that Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a single game with the release of Sonic Origins.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles follows on from Sonic 2 and features more of the same great gameplay. One big new feature are the elemental shields that have their own abilities. The special stage is also much nicer than the previous games, featuring a Blue Sphere mode where you have to collect spheres from around a large sphere, with the game speeding up as it goes along. To date, this is still the best special stage.

Ice Cap Zone gets a special mention in this as the best stage, especially with the snowboarding section, although I think the second half of the levels are just ok, with only Sky Sanctuary Zone being a really fun one. Overall, it’s still a brilliant game.