Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is the pinnacle of 2D Sonic and probably one of the spot’s for the series magnum opus, not necessarily the best game in the series but the most important. You could argue that the entire trilogy and maybe even the Adventure games have that magnum opus status but Sonic 3 is the amalgamation of everything they’ve learned so far in this series. Being more ambitious, bold and bigger than any other game in the series of even the Sega Genesis, so much so that this was planned to be a fully 3D game.

Developed by the same peeps who made Sonic 2, (Sega Technical Institute) helemed development this time and had the same goal as they did with Sonic 2, make it bigger. Bigger story, levels, more things to do and so much more, Sonic 3 was a game that may have been too ambitious, with possible cartridge limitations without having NVRAM (which was very expensive).

Then Mcdonalds came along.

The funniest thing is that without a Mcdonalds promotion, Sonic 3 would not have been split into and the team would have possibly figured out a way to get both ends of the game in one cartridge but I guess that Mcdonalds money was too tantalising. Sonic 3 didn’t end being such a breakout success commercially as Sonic 1 or even 2 since it was released on it’s own only selling 4 Million combined sales with both parts but received critical acclaim both then and now, with many fans considering it the best sonic game, i don’t think that but it’s still pretty damn good.

One thing before i go into this game’s story and such is the amount of ports this game received, I played this game one of the best ways possible via Sonic 3 Complete, keeping the core experience the same while adding a few quality of life changes such as unique zone icons, fixing up the sprites for Super Sonic, Egg Robo in Flying Battery (you can also put Flying Battery before Ice Cap, which is the better order in my opinion), skippable cutscenes, new Knuckles intro, correct colour palette for Knuckles, Big Ars Boss, Tails being playable in Blue Spheres and a heap of customisable options, there’s also Sonic 3 AIR which has all of these as additional mods or features in it along with 16:9, Achievements, and the Drop Dash. But yeah, onto the actual review.

The Story of Sonic 3 begins immediately after Sonic the Hedgehog 2, When the Blue Blur kicked the absolutely shit out of Robotnik, his Space Station “The Death Egg” crash lands on a remote floating Island named Angel Island, which then shortly falls into the Ocean, causing a Tsunami. Robotnik investigates the crash and finds the guardian of the Island, a Stocky Jamaican Red Echidna called Knuckles. Realising he’s on the Island with a Giant Emerald of limitless power, he creates a plan to once again put his floating masterpiece in space, tricking the gullible Echidna that an evil Hedgehog named “Sonic” with his cowardly 3 tailed named “Tails” who will steal his Giant Green Emerald as they have already stolen 7 other Emeralds. Knuckles stays on guard on the Island while Robotnik captures the Animals in the Island to convert them into Badniks once again. A few days later, the duo investigate the island after Tails notes of a large chaos energy surge while Sonic finds a ring with ancient inscriptions, knowing where this ring comes from. Using the Tornado and Super forms, the duo rush to the island but are ambushed by Knuckles, who then steals the Emeralds, the duo are thrusted into another high octane adventure, now with a red rat on their tail.

Sonic 3’s story is bigger than any other game before despite Sonic CD having fully animated cutscenes, but you can tell there’s a vision to feel like Sonic 3 was one big interconnected adventure feels fulfilled, since i played 3 Complete, having that transition cutscene using the Sonic & Knuckles feels so right and slips right into the game, there’s also transition cutscenes for each Act to make getting to the stages feel more natural, some points have Eggman fuck with something in the middle of the stage and most transitions are caused by that red rat named Knuckles, i like this little rascal. He has a funny design and they can’t figure out if he’s Red or Pink, hell since he also made a playable debut, they made an extra campaign about an rogue Egg Robo raising an Army to finish the fight that Eggman has done.

It feels like the themes (jesus what am I doing with my life of examining the thematic story elements of a Genesis game released in 1994) of previous games have all culminated into one, the idea of nature vs technology and how both serve as the perfect utopia and solution and the positive impact that Sonic has on people, excellently shown through the sequence after the Sonic and Knuckles boss fight, showing how Knuckles will put aside having a rivalry with the blue blur for the entire game and will help him to the greater good. It’s simple but effective, it really makes Sonic 3 feel grander than all of the other games, having one Act Zones that act as more as set pieces such as Hidden Palace and Sky Sanctuary while still remaining enjoyable in its own right. Sonic 3 feels like a pure culmination of what has come before just in terms of story being bigger, bolder and more involved, and it’s just getting started.

Presentation wise, it feels like Sonic the Hedgehog 3 feels like a swansong game to the Genesis despite the thing running for 3-4 years after this game, I’d say Sonic’s sprite is slightly rough in this game, it doesn’t look bad but compared to previous games something does look wrong in opinion but other than that in terms of presentation, i don’t have much complaints. The environments look more alive (as much as a Genesis game could) than ever before while still maintaining a great balance between cartoony and realism, the sprite art has been polished to perfection with the best roster of design badniks, the backgrounds genuinely look great and varied, you can tell the team really wanted to use the more realistic world of Angel Island to sell this Island and how it connects all together despite their being so many different ecosystems like previous games. One thing i’d also be hard pressed not to mention is the soundtrack which was infamously composed by 6 people, 7 if the “rumours” are true that Micheal Jackson did contribute somehow (I mean if Yuji Naka went to his house then i’m pretty sure he did have some involvement), I don't know if the 6 composers helped, but this soundtrack slaps. Each zone now has 2 unique tracks, making this easily the largest soundtrack in the Genesis trilogy, all the tracks are good. All. of, them. The Soundtrack also started the career of the greatest Sonic musician, Jun Senoue, so it’s fitting the soundtrack is so good. I’d say the Sonic 3 half has the better songs overall but the Knuckles part is great too! I’ll go in depth on the Ost when I go over the stages, but just so you know, while Sonic 1 and 2 have some more iconic tracks like Green Hill, Chemical Plant and other tracks, I feel Sonic 3 has the better score overall.

Finally, onto the game itself, Sonic 3’s gameplay is, once again, more of the same from previous Sonic games, Linear Stages scattered with rings which you collect as health, allowing Sonic to have one extra hit before the rings scatter everywhere, once he’s hit again, he will lose a life. There’s a lot of new features to the core Sonic gameplay. One being Sonic’s new move, The Insta Shield/The Air attack, the spin dash (more based on it’s incarnation from Sonic the Hedgehog 2) returns alongside the super peel out in Sonic 3 Complete, being the literal game changer here is the Insta Shield, by a press of a button, Sonic will gain a white “air” shield for a split second, allowing him to deflect certain projectiles and (more importantly) increases his hit box, allowing for more reach to hit objects, Badniks and Bosses. This feels like a technique that’s easy to learn but hard to master, i never really used it when i first played Sonic 3 but i regularly use it, while not as much of a game changer as the Spin-Dash does help to fully widen Sonic’s Arsenal and make it accessible for all situations.

Another new aspect of Sonic 3 is its playable characters, Tails and Knuckles. Tails is essentially the easy mode allowing players to fly for a limited time, though doesn’t have any flight cancel options which is a weird omission , and Knuckles, who can’t jump as high as the 2 characters but can glide, break certain objects just by walking and can climb on walls. While I still prefer Sonic, I can't deny how well that these characters feel natural to the Sonic gameplay and lend themselves well to multiple playthroughs.

The Biggest and best new addition are the Elemental Shields, once again Speed Sneakers, Invincibility Power Ups return but the Shield power is removed and is in place for 3 new Shields that only Sonic can fully utilise, all of which provide some kind of immunity to the environment. The Fire shield allows for Sonic to air dash and gives him immunity to fire, but at a cost will instantly deactivate when he comes in contact with water, The Bubble Shield allows for a bounce attack, instantaneously making Sonic lose all momentum and drop to the floor, also making Sonic immune to water and in turn, can’t drown, and finally, the Thunder Shield allows Sonic to Double Jump, absorb rings and be immune to the very scarce electrical attacks. I feel, once again, all of these new gimmicks add a ton to the game in terms of variety and ways to play, and they’re also just fun to use whenever they scarcely appear in the stages.

But enough about the new fangled gimmicks that Sonic 3 gladly has, the core gameplay of Sonic 3 is just fun, there’s no other way to explain, it’s just fun. Sonic 3 perfectly mixes all 3 level design philosophies from previous games, the platforming of 1, the speed of 2 and the exploration of CD, all of these are mixed into one nice concoction, all elements feel prevalent in the entire game and doesn’t feel like there’s too much of one element nor to little. The Zone roster this time includes:

-Angel Island Zone: Great opening Zone for the game, definitely not as iconic as Green/Emerald Hill but it’s a fun zone and shows how much grander and better Sonic 3 is compared to Sonic 2 and 1 with great tropical visuals and that iconic 16-bit Music, This is also where another one of Sonic 3’s new gimmicks comes into play, each zone now is capped by a Boss. The Act 2 Boss is slightly frustrating at points and the 1st Act is way too easy, there’s also what i like to call the “play Sonic Forces demo” with that ship section
-Hydro City Zone (It’s called Hydro City!): This keeps the momentum (literally) that Angel Island Zone has and manages to be better, the music goes hard especially in the 2nd Act, I love the aesthetic of the lost ancient city and the bosses here are fun despite there being some jank in the 2nd Act for the boss, the best part in my opinion is how it mixes platforming underwater and full on high octane action in the surface, both feeling naturally woven into the level design. It's overall a great Zone and sorta feels like a slightly better version than Chemical Plant
-Marble Garden Zone: Honestly, this is the only Zone in the entire game that sorta turns me off, well the first Act at least, the 2nd Act is actually pretty decent, the first act is really boring, despite a cool aesthetic and admittedly decent music. But the main issue is that a lot of the Zone just wastes your time, whether it be the moai mini bosses, running down long slopes or the annoying top spin gimmick, in a game where the pace is always going, it doesn't feel smooth whenever it leans into it's gimmicks, the bosses are also not very interesting or memorable in this zone and can be pretty frustrating in Act 2's case. It's not a bad stage but is pretty boring and a noticeable low point in this game
-Carnival Night Zone: Is it weird to call this Zone underrated? The Red Barrel of Doom isn't really that bad (maybe it's because when I was younger I watched a Sonic Paradox short that featured it so I had foresight beforehand but I digress), i really dig the aesthetic they were going for here of a fun filled park, however i don't really like the original Music that this stage offers and i vastly prefer the prototype music for this stage only, the original music is way too repetitive in my opinion but the prototype music fits the stage a lot better with its upbeat tone. The Bosses also are really enjoyable in this act and actually give some good challenge, overall while not as good as the other Zones, it's nice to see the game picking up steam after Marble Garden
-Flying Battery Zone: Playing the game in the intended Zone order is way more fun in my opinion, since it naturally progresses in terms of difficulty, it felt too much like a difficulty increase after Mushroom Hill but onto the actual zone itself, it's fun, as said before in terms of difficulty this is where Sonic 3 really ramps up especially in the 2 Bosses, a lot of the fun with this zone is with gaining speed and platforming, it feels rewarding fully speeding through the stage after a tough platforming section. The aircraft setting really allows for all of the cool set pieces such as bursting through the skies or hastily switching between the inside and outside, the music is also great, feeling dire yet energetic, especially in the 2nd Act. Overall it's a great zone, though the Mania version is far superior
-Ice Cap: It's fucking Ice Cap Zone, the music is the best in the game, it's essentially one of the first songs that come into whenever i think of Sonic, while the original prototype track probably fits the stage slightly more, the MJ Track we got fits perfectly unlike Carnival Night despite balantly coming from an unreleased Song that also slaps. The stage itself is also great, I love the iconic snowboarding section, the cold winter aesthetics looks great and the platforming is challenging yet fun/fair. I'd say some gimmicks that this stage brings can be annoying but its overall a fun stage with great music
-Launch Base Zone: This act in this game that acts as the final Zone of the standalone Sonic 3 works pretty well though is probably slightly weaker then a lot of the other Zones, especially in the 2nd Act, but it's fun. It's a satisfactory ending to the original game with the great and challenging Big Arms boss and the wrap up to Knuckles character, but it's missing the special sauce that all the other final zones had that made it so great and unforgettable, but since it isn't the actual final zone it's cool, i like the both versions of the music and the aesthetic of a ancient city being hastily turned into a rocket station, the difficulty is hit or miss, sometimes it gives a good challenge with fun in terms of platforming and the gimmicks it has, but i feel the stage does have a weird lack of rings, especially in Act 2. It's not a bad Zone, far from it, but it definitely feels slightly weaker than the other stages
-Mushroom Hill Zone: After the consistent difficulty increase in the stages, Mushroom Hill is suppose to be a short little break before the game ramps up in difficulty again as well as being as an introductory zone for the & Knuckles part of the game, it's a fine zone, i love the stoner ass music they gave for it and the 4 seasons forest aesthetic is unique, i love the bosses in this zone for being unique and challenging, it's a fun zone, though i don't have much to say on it.
-Sandopolis Zone: I'm usually the one only fan of Desert stages and yeah, this is one of the Desert stages, Sandopolis is a good fun yet challenging stage, Act 1 is really fun and i found the Boss in Act 1 to be a neat little change of pace but Act 2 is slightly annoying with that ghost gimmick, It's not too bad but at points nuking the ghosts with the light gets too far at points, overall a weaker zone in this game but a good zone nonetheless
-Lava Reef/Hidden Palace Zone: I feel a lot of nostalgia with this Zone. A lot of flash media extensively used this Stage's cool ass volcano setting for stages and animation along with the music, so it does hold a special place in my heart. That being stage this stage is just okay, other than the nostalgia i hold for the aesthetic and music, it's really a zone that i draw a blank when thinking about the level design in this version of the game at least, a fun zone but sorta forgettable, with the exception of the boss in Act 2 and the part leading up to that with the Death Egg, I additionally lumped Hidden Palace into this Zone because it uses the same aesthetic from Act 2, it's not really a zone per say more so a Boss Act like Death Egg from Sonic 2, this boss itself is piss easy though so I don't really get the point so yeah onto the next Zone.
-Sky Sanctuary: A One act Zone this time that acts as the transitory act for Death Egg or as a climactic final stage for Knuckles, either way this stage is fantastic. I love how it feels like a mad dash to stop that Egg Fucker from unleashing that Egg Shapped space station or a mad dash to protect the Master Emerald from Mecha Sonic (another Metallic Sonic Eggman mad) fitting with the great hevenly yet forbidding music playing as Sonic or Tails it has a short section of 2 Bosses from previous games from Green Hill Zone and Metropolis respectively before the actual boss happens which is pretty fun. Mecha Sonic for Knuckles is the final Boss for him, surprisingly fitting well especially in the 2nd Phase when it uses the Master Emerald for power. Despite being a shorter Zone, it packs a punch both story wise and gameplay wise, a great zone to get us ready for the final frontier.
-Death Egg Zone/Doomsday Zone: Damn what a way to cap of a game, now being promoted from an actual 2 Act Zone with a optional final boss zone, Death Egg rules in this game, i love the music and the aesthetic of the space station, the sub bosses here are pretty fun, it's fairly challenging with its unique gimmicks though some jank is linked with gimmicks and can waste your time such as the gravity not fully working as intended. The extra final boss is really fun and challenging and really exemplifies the mad dash nature with Robotnik, i love the design of the new Death Egg Robot and the music is so insanely unnerving yet somewhat powerful. It's overall a great way to cap off the game and the Classic Sonic series on Genesis as a whole.

All in all, it feels genuinely fun and challenging to explore all these stage since you can find a plethora of collectibles such as the aforementioned items, Rings, Special Stage Rings which warp to the Special Stages, The Blue Sphere stages, where you’d have to get a certain amount of Blue Spheres (or rings as an optional bonus) while the stage speeds up, these special stages are easily the best in the series so far since they’re actually fun! The Simple fun of trying to collect all the Blue Spheres while trying to avoid the red spheres, all of the stages feel fair yet challenging, which was a balance that Sonic 1 and 2’s Special stages wished they had, once again giving you Chaos Emeralds and even Super Emeralds past Mushroom Hill, The Super forms feel a lot better and more fleshed out here especially with Hyper Sonic, Tails and Knuckles also get Super and Hyper forms (Though Tails only gets a Super from from the Super Emeralds i guess), it's not a super amazing award but i do like the better endings and plus, doing the special stages aren't as much as a pain so it's not a big deal. There’s also Bonus Stages, taking the place of Sonic 2’s methods of Special Stages which uses 50 rings for entry, consisting of a few Minigames not too dissimilar to Casino Night Zone, allowing players to get Shields, Continues and Lives.

Overall, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is great. It's the culmination of everything that the series has done and set out to do so far, if your not even a fan of sonic, a fan platformers or just games in general. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Angel Island Revisted and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Complete get my earnest recommendation.