Played on Sega Saturn via the Sonic Jam compilation.
It’s always seemed odd to me that Sonic 3 is the fan favorite when, in many ways, it is the least exemplary game of what Sonic actually represents, at least out of the trilogy. In the process of pushing the supplementary elements to their peak, I can’t help but feel that it lost a bit of what made the previous games special in the first place.
Stages are now more segmented than before, stressing the core facets of Sonic in set increments based on what the game wants you to experience at any given point. And that isn’t a bad thing at all in and of itself, but it creates a strange mismatch between the loosey-goosey mechanics that are meant to be stretched in wide-open stages with several different ways of traversing them and the new more fixed way the levels are designed. And no, having a bunch of different pathways doesn’t exonerate the game of this, because those pathways don’t naturally lead in and out of each other in ways that dynamically interact with the mechanics. They just sort-of… exist for their own sake. They exist to make the characters feel more distinct from each other and to stress the inherent enjoyment of exploring, which is fine! I’m just trying to say that it doesn’t feel like Sonic in the same way the other games do. Take Mushroom Hill for example. You can move around the stage in a lot of ways, but they aren’t systemic; they don’t naturally interact with the mechanics. You go fast because the game has taught you to go fast at these specific times and you explore because the game has taught you to explore at this specific time. Compare this to Emerald Hill, where most paths offer gameplay that is fit to purpose for their location and naturally lead to each other.
I think that because of this, Sonic 3 is much more focused on the situational interactions, which, again, is perfectly fine. But, again, it isn’t really fit for a game that plays like this. Launch Base is a fun zone because you speed through these amazing setpieces and roll under lasers. Lasers are cool! My point here is that it is fun because of what it is on its own, and not because Sonic is in it. It is often elevated by fantastic narrative design that naturally weaves the player through a believable world full of super impressive sights and some of the best sounds produced on the Genesis. Sonic 3 is a well above average platformer that stands its ground, but the definitive Sonic experience? Not a chance. I hope this doesn’t piss anyone off. When I was younger this was like my favorite game ever but, well, people change. It was probably a good thing that I had distanced myself from these games for a bit. While I’ve played them so much in the past that I still remember them thoroughly, the time has allowed me to re-evaluate how I really feel about them.
It’s always seemed odd to me that Sonic 3 is the fan favorite when, in many ways, it is the least exemplary game of what Sonic actually represents, at least out of the trilogy. In the process of pushing the supplementary elements to their peak, I can’t help but feel that it lost a bit of what made the previous games special in the first place.
Stages are now more segmented than before, stressing the core facets of Sonic in set increments based on what the game wants you to experience at any given point. And that isn’t a bad thing at all in and of itself, but it creates a strange mismatch between the loosey-goosey mechanics that are meant to be stretched in wide-open stages with several different ways of traversing them and the new more fixed way the levels are designed. And no, having a bunch of different pathways doesn’t exonerate the game of this, because those pathways don’t naturally lead in and out of each other in ways that dynamically interact with the mechanics. They just sort-of… exist for their own sake. They exist to make the characters feel more distinct from each other and to stress the inherent enjoyment of exploring, which is fine! I’m just trying to say that it doesn’t feel like Sonic in the same way the other games do. Take Mushroom Hill for example. You can move around the stage in a lot of ways, but they aren’t systemic; they don’t naturally interact with the mechanics. You go fast because the game has taught you to go fast at these specific times and you explore because the game has taught you to explore at this specific time. Compare this to Emerald Hill, where most paths offer gameplay that is fit to purpose for their location and naturally lead to each other.
I think that because of this, Sonic 3 is much more focused on the situational interactions, which, again, is perfectly fine. But, again, it isn’t really fit for a game that plays like this. Launch Base is a fun zone because you speed through these amazing setpieces and roll under lasers. Lasers are cool! My point here is that it is fun because of what it is on its own, and not because Sonic is in it. It is often elevated by fantastic narrative design that naturally weaves the player through a believable world full of super impressive sights and some of the best sounds produced on the Genesis. Sonic 3 is a well above average platformer that stands its ground, but the definitive Sonic experience? Not a chance. I hope this doesn’t piss anyone off. When I was younger this was like my favorite game ever but, well, people change. It was probably a good thing that I had distanced myself from these games for a bit. While I’ve played them so much in the past that I still remember them thoroughly, the time has allowed me to re-evaluate how I really feel about them.