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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles Game Review

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles is a 1994 platform video game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. It’s for the most part a terrific sequel.

Back in 1994, Sega was making a second Sonic sequel, but they made such a large game with way too many levels. Due to the size issue, they decided to split the game in two. The resulting products were called Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. Decades later, they released the titular Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles and I am going to review that version as this game was always meant to be played in its entirety instead of separated.

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Although this entry continues to be regarded among many fans as the best classic Sonic game, I personally still find the second entry to be the best one as it is more streamlined and better handled in its difficulty level. But there is one thing that this game does better and that has to be the plot. It’s a surprisingly solid storyline that features a great character arc for Knuckles himself, who was a great addition here. His turn to the good side was believable and well realized. It was such a good story that it would eventually be adapted into a film.

You can play as either Sonic, Tails or Knuckles. I ended up choosing Tails as he is by far my favorite Sonic character. He is just as cute and endearing as always. I find his flying ability to be so incredible that it genuinely felt like cheating at times. This is how much it helped you during certain vast levels where you could just fly over platforms instead of having to jump over one by one. The game is somewhat broken in that regard as both Knuckles and Tails are much cooler than Sonic is, making playing with them significantly easier.

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There are fourteen zones in this game, seven per each game. I did not get to play the last zone as that one is special and only unlocked with specific requirements that I did not fulfill. The first zone is called Angel Island Zone and it’s your standard greenish opener – not too hard, but fun and solid regardless. I despised Hydrocity Zone. This is the most frustrating level probably in the entire classic Sonic trilogy as it is wholly set underwater and it requires you to constantly find those annoying bubbles in order not to suffocate. It’s a slow, annoying level that ground the entire game to its halt in that moment.

Marble Garden Zone fares much better. It’s colorful and featuring some unique mechanics, but that moving platform that you have to jump onto and glide until it destroys walls was frustratingly difficult to operate with. Carnival Night Zone is difficult, yes, but it’s also a gorgeous-looking level that is particularly inspired in its pinball-inspired athletics and gameplay.

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I adored Ice Cap Zone. It’s one of the best and most underrated Sonic 3 zones that benefits from gorgeous visuals of the snow and a very fun, for once not uneven difficulty level. Launch Base Zone is an odd level, but for the most part it works in adding something fresh to the franchise. Mushroom Hill Zone is easy enough and breezy, but enjoyable and visually dazzling.

Flying Battery Zone is also short, but it benefits from a great aerial setting and a terrific boss. Sandopolis Zone was based on Ancient Egyptian imagery obviously. As a huge fan of that setting, I found this level visually appealing and very well designed, but there was a moment where I got lost inside the pyramids for quite a long time as it’s an overly spacious, labyrinthine level.

Lava Reef Zone was pretty strong and visually appealing. The difficulty level in this area was just right. Hidden Palace Zone is way too brief while Sky Sanctuary Zone is absolutely gorgeous and beautifully designed in both its obstacles and in its immediate surroundings. As for Death Egg Zone, it mostly consists of the boss fights and I found them to be pretty demanding, but not excruciatingly hard.

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The bosses in the game overall are terrific and frequently very well imagined, but uneven in the varied difficulty. The same goes for the levels themselves and I personally found the Sonic 3 levels much harder than the Sonic & Knuckles levels, which was a problem as it should have been the other way around given their placements in the combined game.

Each level has a miniboss fight after the first act and the main boss at the end of the second act in a structure that really worked for me. What felt a bit too unfair, though, was the time limit. If you do not finish a level within the ten-minute timeframe, you end up dying. This led to me frantically fighting my way through a boss fight in a minute or two that I had left to beat him. Given that the game has exploration in it, this was not a good choice. Speaking of said exploration, if you find a big ring, you end up in a special stage where you have to collect blue balls. If you touch a red ball, you are finished. If you collect all the blue spheres, you get a Chaos Emerald. There are seven of them in the game and collecting all seven unlocks Super Sonic. It was a very interesting addition that enriched the gameplay experience significantly.

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Graphically speaking, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles represents more of the same. It looks very similar to the last game, though obviously this one is more polished and a bit more detailed. The diversity of the zones was another highlight and some of them were pleasingly colorful and meticulously detailed. The sound is also terrific and the score is actually stupendous with a couple of themes being highly memorable and evocative. The game also controls well and its length is simply right. I just wish that it was smoother in the difficulty department.