The latter half of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, chopped off into its own cartridge with special features. Sonic & Knuckles is one of the strongest in the classic series, with Sonic's fantastic physics and moveset in top shape just like in 3. And just like that game, this one features six two-act zones that are both huge and incredibly dense with platforming challenges and occasional physics playgrounds. That said, a few nitpicks I've got with the levels and enemies in this one have me feeling a just a little less enthusiastic about this game compared to 3.
I'll start at an odd place and honestly the game's greatest strength: the story. Much like Super Metroid, this game is one that effortlessly tells an engaging character drama without any dialogue. Unlike the basic Eggman bases of other games (aside from the original Death Egg in Sonic 2), Sonic & Knuckles' third act is full of surprises and fun character interactions. The smaller details here also contributed a lot to the eventual lore of Sonic Adventure and the whole Echidna tribe story in the official games. That, and the general pacing of the levels is very strong and it feels more complete in the end than Sonic 3 when played alone.
The cartridge itself has a cartridge slot on top to "lock-on" other games, specifically designed to allow Sonic 3 & Knuckles, a hybrid game that skips 3's final boss and puts Sonic straight into Mushroom Hill, and a playable Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Other games don't unlock new features, but they do provide a game specific seed to the random Blue Spheres level generator built into the error screen. Praise be to Blue Spheres, the greatest special stage of all time.
My first major gripe is that this game has quite a few annoying level gimmicks. Sandopolis Zone has slow block pushing in its first act and the ghost timeout system in the second which is pretty tedious at times. Though, it's the one bad apple and the rest of the levels are very solid. Flying Battery and Death Egg stuck out as some of the best in my opinion. The real issue in my eyes is the game starts to lean into annoying enemies sort of like the ones in Sonic 2. With the different approach to level design and the insta-shield, it's not quite as bad. But still, both of these elements are downgrades from Sonic 3's remarkably consistent quality.
All of that said, I think this game was a great capstone to the Genesis/Mega Drive era of Sonic. It's a great platformer by pretty much all standards, with killer music and excellent visuals. The physics in this series is unlike anything else, and this entry does lean more into that than 3 in many cases. So I've got a lot of respect for it, even if it's not quite my favorite of the classics.
I'll start at an odd place and honestly the game's greatest strength: the story. Much like Super Metroid, this game is one that effortlessly tells an engaging character drama without any dialogue. Unlike the basic Eggman bases of other games (aside from the original Death Egg in Sonic 2), Sonic & Knuckles' third act is full of surprises and fun character interactions. The smaller details here also contributed a lot to the eventual lore of Sonic Adventure and the whole Echidna tribe story in the official games. That, and the general pacing of the levels is very strong and it feels more complete in the end than Sonic 3 when played alone.
The cartridge itself has a cartridge slot on top to "lock-on" other games, specifically designed to allow Sonic 3 & Knuckles, a hybrid game that skips 3's final boss and puts Sonic straight into Mushroom Hill, and a playable Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Other games don't unlock new features, but they do provide a game specific seed to the random Blue Spheres level generator built into the error screen. Praise be to Blue Spheres, the greatest special stage of all time.
My first major gripe is that this game has quite a few annoying level gimmicks. Sandopolis Zone has slow block pushing in its first act and the ghost timeout system in the second which is pretty tedious at times. Though, it's the one bad apple and the rest of the levels are very solid. Flying Battery and Death Egg stuck out as some of the best in my opinion. The real issue in my eyes is the game starts to lean into annoying enemies sort of like the ones in Sonic 2. With the different approach to level design and the insta-shield, it's not quite as bad. But still, both of these elements are downgrades from Sonic 3's remarkably consistent quality.
All of that said, I think this game was a great capstone to the Genesis/Mega Drive era of Sonic. It's a great platformer by pretty much all standards, with killer music and excellent visuals. The physics in this series is unlike anything else, and this entry does lean more into that than 3 in many cases. So I've got a lot of respect for it, even if it's not quite my favorite of the classics.