this right here is what sonic is about. a simple, well told story, with banger ass music, excellent level design, and super fun gameplay. i cant believe its taken me this long to finally see what people are talking about but this is it. i can truly say that sonic is GREAT and have no regrets about that. i love all of the sprite art and paralax backgrounds, every zone felt unique and had fun gimmicks unlike the earlier games might have. even the water/puzzley levels felt snappy and fun to explore. man i really love this game

Sonic & Knuckles. Very nostalgic game for me and my brother. I first played this game on windows back in the early 2000's when I was 7 or 8. I think Sonic 3 is the best game out of the Genesis trilogy. The graphics have been enhanced and the music is SO GOOD! The boss battle theme for Eggman goes hard! It unlocked a memory in my brain that I forgot about. I used to get that song stuck in my head when I was a kid and now it's stuck in my head again. Loved this game and so far, it's my favorite 2D Sonic game. Let's see if I will change my mind after I play Sonic CD and Mania.

I happen to prefer Sonic 2, but I can't say in good conscience that this game isn't just as good. This game handles exploration better than any other in the classic series, as the Special Stages are now gated behind your knowledge and discoveries of the levels, rather than your ability to play cautiously like before. That increased prevalence of exploration ties into the new focus on making the Floating Island feel more like a real location, with act and zone transitions almost allowing you to chart your progress on a map. Managing to wordlessly tell an actual story is quite an achievement as well. The moment Knuckles realises he's been tricked and has his change of heart is a really well-defined character trait, even though it's told purely through sprite animations with no sound or text. It's lucky that the story ramps up in the S&K half because it also contains Sandopolis Zone, which would otherwise be enough to ruin it.

Without question, the very best of the 2D Sonic games. Everything culminated in this tour de force that featured three playable characters with unique mechanics, including the introduction of everyone's favorite punchy echidna. The level design is also much improved from Sonic's first outing, which is maybe best exemplified when comparing the games' respective water levels. There's also an abundance of mini games that are a significant step up from the special stages of previous games. As separate titles, Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles are quite good by themselves, but they really should be played as one game to get the most out of it. And I'd be remiss if I didn't cite yet another fantastic OST. Even the PC version has some interesting changes!

8.5/10

#bringbackHyperSonic!

No, but seriously what a great game - the environmental storytelling through fiery woods and Knuckles cockiness stealing the chaos emeralds; then learning of Eggman’s betrayal and subsequent team-up is all done without any dialogue and it’s conveyed amazingly.