If there's one thing that can be said about the average Backloggd user, it's that they likely have Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles in their top five games. I can't say that's too surprising, because I too think it's the perfect platformer, and expands brilliantly on every mechanic and design concept of the previous three games. It's so good, in fact, that the entire series earned an extended rest until 2016's Sonic Mania. Yup, it's hard to believe but there were no Sonic games between 1994 and 2016! It's a little something called "going out on top."

Of course, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is two games in one, or rather two halves made whole again. Thanks to the power of Lock-On Technology™, it's literally one game's contents stacked on top of another with a few additional bug fixes, layout changes, and music swaps thrown in for good measure. Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles both have value on their own, but it's hard not to argue that Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the definitive way to play.

Levels are utterly massive, with single acts taking just as long to complete as full zones in previous Sonic games, and yet they never feel like they overstay their welcome. Tails and Knuckles come with their own unique movesets that open additional pathways inaccessible to Sonic, and similar to Sonic 2, special stage portals are scattered throughout levels rather than being an end-of-stage reward for keeping your rings. What you end up with is a game that takes multiple runs to see completely, and each subsequent jog through S3&K's 13 zones feels better than the last. I touched on the importance of exploration in Sonic games without losing sight of the game's pacing, how finding new paths and hidden areas should continue to push you forward, and I think Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the absolute zenith of this design philosophy in the Sonic series. There's always something new to find, but the game just flows in a way that discovery never comes at the expense of progress.

The zones themselves look incredible, with much more richly detailed sprites than anything seen in the series prior. Mid-act set pieces help change the flow and appearance of levels, like Robotnik's bombing run on Angel Island casting the rest of the level in flames, or an attack from the Death Egg heating up the previously cooled off interior of Lava Reef. Sonic 3 & Knuckles is well known for its cutscenes, which tell a story quite effectively without relying on dialog to give context to character actions or plot twists. Even small details in the backgrounds of levels help flesh out the narrative, like statues of Sonic in the upper portion of Hydrocity serving as an early hint of Sonic's prophesized arrival on the island. This focus on story never gets in the way of the game itself and actually does a remarkably good job at making the adventure feel big. I praised Sonic 1's gradual transition from natural to industrial locations for how it makes you feel like you're working your way from the outskirts of South Island towards the heart of Robotnik's headquarters, but Sonic 3 & Knuckles takes that concept and runs with it. Each Zone features an interstitial cutscene that connects the previous level to the next, making you feel like you're actually chasing Robotnik across the island rather than popping up in unrelated locations because video games. Indeed, the entire premise of the story is built off the back of Sonic 2, with Sonic and Tails following the decommissioned Death Egg in their biplane as it crashes on Angel Island. All of this adds so much character, I don't think you can really go back and do a retro style Sonic game anymore and chunk out these narrative elements. It's one of those things that was done so well it effectively becomes part of the series DNA, an expectation rather than a one-off.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles also features my favorite boss battles in the series. Each encounter offers something unique, and are a fair deal more threatening than those in Sonic 2 while still being intuitive enough so as to not be roadblocks. I also really enjoy the mid-bosses and think it was a smart idea to add these as a way to break up each act. In terms of pacing, these serve as climaxes to the first act as well as pallet cleansers, giving Sonic a reason to stop and plant his feet for a second before transitioning into the next act. This is far more effective than simply having him run through a goal post and fading to black, and actually quite necessary given that doing so after a 4 minute level would just kind of feel awkward.

The blue sphere special stages are perhaps the best in the classic series. I've previously commented on how Sonic special stages are just technical showpieces that Sonic Team couldn't be bothered with actually making fun, but I think blue spheres actually manages to be a good time while still looking impressive. If you smack another cart on top of Sonic & Knuckles you can access a new mode where blue sphere levels are randomly generated. I don't recall the exact number of possible permutations, but there's enough content there that you could go grey before completing them all. And yet, there was a period of my life where I would run through a few of them each day just to see how many I could knock out. I love blue spheres. I'm a danger to myself an others.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is such an incredible game. Thanks to fans, there's also Sonic 3 Complete and Angel Island Revisted which add various tweaks and improvements to the base game, and I think both are definitely worth checking out. It's fun to play around with Complete's restoration of the original intended level order, and AIR provides so many granular options for tweaking the Sonic 3 experience that you can more or less build your perfect version of the game. Plus it has wide screen sport and the music is crystal clear. The Michael Jackson-like voice samples found in many tracks have all their compression removed, it is almost startling how clear they sound. However, I don't want to get too into the weeds on either of these games. Suffice it to say, I think they're worth checking out.

I could talk about this game forever. At the same time, it's also one that I find difficult to discuss in a focused or nuanced way, because every time I start to describe one element I like it ends up reminding me of another I enjoy just as much, and then my thoughts just become scattered until I'm gushing incoherently about how much I love this game. I just think it's that good. I mean, I like Sandopolis for chrissake. Even people who give this a 5 out of 5 would tell you they don't like Sandopolis. That could've been the whole review and it'd give you just as good an idea of how great I think Sonic 3 & Knuckles is without wasting your whole morning on this essay.

Also, it's pronounced high-draw-city. It's not a city! It clearly looks like an aqueduct that's carrying water to Marble Garden, which is the ruins of an ancient city. It's also a water level that focuses on being fast, Hydrocity is a play on the word "velocity!" Yes I know Yuji Naka said it's actually Hydro City, but he made Balan Wonderworld, are you seriously going to tell me that's who you trust!? I will punch you in the nose if you say "Hydro City" to me, I promise you this.