This game is great even by itself, but there’s a major flaw!!! No Tails!!! NO TAILS!!! How can you have a Sonic game without Tails!!!! (Okay I show up in Sonic’s ending cutscene I think BUT STILL.) So yeah, I almost never play this game not locked on.
One general thing about this game is it goes to a lot more trouble to hide the giant rings than Sonic 3 so it’s extremely possible to get to the end of the game without having even had a chance to collect all the Chaos Emeralds if you’re not careful! So keep that in mind.
But, yeah. In spite of its deplorable lack of me, this game still rules, so I’m excited to be getting back to it! I’ll be even more excited to get to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, though!
Mushroom Hill Zone (2/26)
Nails the green first level thing while still being unique!! I’m a huge fan of this one. Those mushrooms look fun as heck to bounce on!!
The first mini boss is alright, and the first major boss is a pretty cool running boss! Pretty good start here!
Flying Battery Zone (2/27)
There’s some excellent continuity here because we saw this asshole bombing Angel Island Zone last game, so that’s pretty cool! And the zone itself is one of the better Eggman’s turf kinda levels, so that’s neat!
Both of the mini bosses (yeah we get two this time) are pretty decent! I’ve always really liked how trolly the Act 1 one is, and seeing Barrier Eggman back as a mini boss before Act 2’s true boss was a nice touch that made a lot of sense for the setting! So yeah, good stuff all around here.
It’s starting to feel really lonely playing as just Sonic, though. Really can’t wait to get back to this game in its full glory locked on to Sonic 3.
Sandopolis Zone (2/27)
I mean. See my entry about Oil Ocean Zone I guess, except this zone would even better if it weren’t for the racism. It has some badass mechanics, including GHOSTS in Act 2!
Act 2 is pretty challenging, and it’s pretty easy to time out on it. The bosses are pretty terrific aside from the Act 2 boss being super racist. But, yeah. This zone rules aside from... y’know.
Lava Reef Zone (2/27)
How good is Sonic & Knuckles? The midpoint of the game is between this zone and the following zone, and from this point on every single zone is S-Rank. Every. Single. One.
Act 1 is just a great lava zone with molten lava and all kinds of theme-appropriate obstacles, Act 2 has the lava cool off and is full of gorgeous crystals and stuff. It’s just brilliant. I find that I’m not having as much to say about these zones, because like all I really have to say is gushing about how good they are!!
Hidden Palace Zone (2/27)
Okay admittedly this zone is hella boring if you’re playing as Knuckles. It’s basically just a hallway. But as Sonic, you get to FIGHT KNUCKLES, and Knuckles finally realizes he’s been the biggest dummy ever when Eggman steals the Master Emerald, electrocuting Knux in the process when he tries to stop him. A weakened Knuckles then helps Sonic get to Sky Sanctuary.
Anyway, the reason this zone rules is because YOU GET TO FIGHT A MOBIAN. Like. I’m obviously not a big fan of that in terms of the idea of actually doing it, but in a video game that RULES. And I cannot tell you how excited I was about this as a kid. Like, Eggman is pure evil and needs to be stopped, but idk, I just find Mobians inherently more interesting? And the idea of a story with a Mobian antagonist is just so much more compelling than fighting Eggman’s overengineered garbage over and over. Just saying.
Sky Sanctuary Zone (2/27)
I mean. It’s a great zone just on its own, but on top of that all of the Badniks are Eggrobos, there’s two mini-bosses which are literally recreations of two S-Rank bosses from two previous games (the iconic Green Hill Zone boss from Sonic 1 and the genuinely challenging Metropolis Zone boss from Sonic 2) but with Mecha Sonic instead of Robotnik piloting them. So, yeah. That rules. And then the actual boss of the level is Mecha Sonic.
Like. I still find robotic versions of Sonic existentially horrifying, but even I had to admit that’s freaking COOL.
If you’re playing as Knuckles, this is actually the last zone and it’s way shorter. When you emerge from the teleporter, an Eggrobo is waiting for you to snatch you up in an Egg-O-Matic with a giant claw at the bottom of it (kind of like the one that kidnaps me in the opening cutscene of 8-bit Sonic 2, come to think of it!). He then hovers over to where Mecha Sonic is waiting to finish you off while you’re held in place by the hook, but you manage to escape just in time and Mecha Sonic ends up destroying the Egg-O-Matic instead of you.
The Mecha Sonic fight proceeds as normal from here, but after you defeat him he jumps onto the Master Emerald and, gasp, goes Super! So then it’s Knux vs. Super Mecha Sonic and while this lacks the epic scale of The Doomsday Zone, WOW does it ever rule. It’s one of my favorite boss fights in the entire series, even though it’s not all that difficult once you figure out his pattern. It’s just so cool conceptually that I don’t even care.
Death Egg Zone (2/27)
Wellp.
The Death Egg is legit terrifying. If you’re aboard it for any reason you’re gonna have a bad time. But letting it get up to space where it can operate with impunity is much, much worse. So in we go.
Gameplay-wise, this zone RULES. I know I’ve been saying that about a lot of these zones, but this game is just really good, okay? It’s pretty difficult and has a lot of unique obstacles, the background goes from the terrifying & cavernous interior of the Death Egg in Act 1 to being IN SPACE in Act 2 (with a lovely view of Mobius, serving as a reminder of what we’re fighting for).
And while the first two bosses are decent, Great Eggman Robo is iconic and the subsequent chase of Robotnik’s Egg-O-Matic with the Master Emerald in tow while the ground collapses behind you is super great.
This is a fantastic final-ish zone. It feels scary and dangerous, fighting your way through it feels brave... but it never quite feels like too much to handle. It’s just within your limit. You have to be on edge, the consequences for failing are dire, it’s not comfortable... but you can do it. It just does a really great job of capturing what fighting Eggman is like.
The Doomsday Zone (2/27)
So this is the first of the “Super Sonic in space fighting a big scary thing” sort of zones, so that rules. The scope of this is just incredible. It’s very much the logical next step from Sonic 2’s epic final showdown on the Death Egg. And it’s such a fitting end to the first run of main series Sonic games.
As far as feels... yeah, I’m kinda TERRIFIED when he does stuff like this, but also just... so awestruck and so proud of him. I know I can technically do this stuff too, but... yeah. I don’t know. It’s scary!
Ending
My one appearance in the game! I fly up in the Tornado to meet Sonic when he falls back down from space, a la Sonic 2, and then we take the Master Emerald back to Angel Island which ascends back into the sky! Bet that makes Knux happy!
In Knuckles’ case, the final boss battle takes place in the sky, not in space! And Sonic shows up in the Tornado to save him.
So, yeah. I don’t actually have a lot to say about this one because it’s just kinda... great? And a pretty natural extension of Sonic 3 (which isn’t surprising given they were originally supposed to be one game), so basically everything I said for that one also applies.
But, yeah. Sonic & Knuckles rules! Despite its deplorable lack of me. Which is no small feat!
As always, let’s rank some stuff! (I didn’t include any of the soundtrack that Sonic & Knuckles recycles from Sonic 3, which is mostly just the major bosses and the “final” boss.)
Zones
The Doomsday Zone (S-Rank)
Sky Sanctuary Zone (S-Rank)
Hidden Palace Zone (S-Rank)
Lava Reef Zone (S-Rank)
Death Egg Zone (S-Rank)
Flying Battery Zone (S-Rank)
Sandopolis Zone (A-Rank)
Mushroom Hill Zone (A-Rank)
Bosses
Mecha Sonic’s Super State (S-Rank)
The Doomsday Zone (S-Rank)
Mecha Sonic (S-Rank)
Knuckles the Echidna (S-Rank)
Great Eggman Robo (S-Rank)
Egg Mobile-H (A-Tier)
Flying Eggman (A-Tier)
Jet Mobile (A-Rank)
Egg Golem (A-Rank)
Hot Mobile (A-Rank)
Barrier Eggman (B-Rank)
Death Ball (B-Rank)
Red Eye (B-Rank)
Hang Mobile (B-Rank)
Hei Hou (B-Rank)
Gapsule (B-Rank)
Guardian (B-Rank)
Heat Arms (B-Rank)
Soundtrack
Lava Reef Zone Act 2/Hidden Palace Zone (S-Rank)
Lava Reef Zone Act 1 (S-Rank)
The Doomsday Zone (S-Rank)
Flying Battery Zone Act 1 (S-Rank)
Flying Battery Zone Act 2 (S-Rank)
Sky Sanctuary Zone (S-Rank)
Act 1 Boss (A-Rank)
Death Egg Zone Act 1 (A-Rank)
Death Egg Zone Act 1 (A-Rank)
Mushroom Hill Zone Act 1 (A-Rank)
Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (A-Rank)
Sandopolis Zone Act 2 (B-Rank)
Sandopolis Zone Act 1 (B-Rank)
Glowball Bonus (B-Rank)
Slot Machine Bonus (B-Rank)
One general thing about this game is it goes to a lot more trouble to hide the giant rings than Sonic 3 so it’s extremely possible to get to the end of the game without having even had a chance to collect all the Chaos Emeralds if you’re not careful! So keep that in mind.
But, yeah. In spite of its deplorable lack of me, this game still rules, so I’m excited to be getting back to it! I’ll be even more excited to get to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, though!
Mushroom Hill Zone (2/26)
Nails the green first level thing while still being unique!! I’m a huge fan of this one. Those mushrooms look fun as heck to bounce on!!
The first mini boss is alright, and the first major boss is a pretty cool running boss! Pretty good start here!
Flying Battery Zone (2/27)
There’s some excellent continuity here because we saw this asshole bombing Angel Island Zone last game, so that’s pretty cool! And the zone itself is one of the better Eggman’s turf kinda levels, so that’s neat!
Both of the mini bosses (yeah we get two this time) are pretty decent! I’ve always really liked how trolly the Act 1 one is, and seeing Barrier Eggman back as a mini boss before Act 2’s true boss was a nice touch that made a lot of sense for the setting! So yeah, good stuff all around here.
It’s starting to feel really lonely playing as just Sonic, though. Really can’t wait to get back to this game in its full glory locked on to Sonic 3.
Sandopolis Zone (2/27)
I mean. See my entry about Oil Ocean Zone I guess, except this zone would even better if it weren’t for the racism. It has some badass mechanics, including GHOSTS in Act 2!
Act 2 is pretty challenging, and it’s pretty easy to time out on it. The bosses are pretty terrific aside from the Act 2 boss being super racist. But, yeah. This zone rules aside from... y’know.
Lava Reef Zone (2/27)
How good is Sonic & Knuckles? The midpoint of the game is between this zone and the following zone, and from this point on every single zone is S-Rank. Every. Single. One.
Act 1 is just a great lava zone with molten lava and all kinds of theme-appropriate obstacles, Act 2 has the lava cool off and is full of gorgeous crystals and stuff. It’s just brilliant. I find that I’m not having as much to say about these zones, because like all I really have to say is gushing about how good they are!!
Hidden Palace Zone (2/27)
Okay admittedly this zone is hella boring if you’re playing as Knuckles. It’s basically just a hallway. But as Sonic, you get to FIGHT KNUCKLES, and Knuckles finally realizes he’s been the biggest dummy ever when Eggman steals the Master Emerald, electrocuting Knux in the process when he tries to stop him. A weakened Knuckles then helps Sonic get to Sky Sanctuary.
Anyway, the reason this zone rules is because YOU GET TO FIGHT A MOBIAN. Like. I’m obviously not a big fan of that in terms of the idea of actually doing it, but in a video game that RULES. And I cannot tell you how excited I was about this as a kid. Like, Eggman is pure evil and needs to be stopped, but idk, I just find Mobians inherently more interesting? And the idea of a story with a Mobian antagonist is just so much more compelling than fighting Eggman’s overengineered garbage over and over. Just saying.
Sky Sanctuary Zone (2/27)
I mean. It’s a great zone just on its own, but on top of that all of the Badniks are Eggrobos, there’s two mini-bosses which are literally recreations of two S-Rank bosses from two previous games (the iconic Green Hill Zone boss from Sonic 1 and the genuinely challenging Metropolis Zone boss from Sonic 2) but with Mecha Sonic instead of Robotnik piloting them. So, yeah. That rules. And then the actual boss of the level is Mecha Sonic.
Like. I still find robotic versions of Sonic existentially horrifying, but even I had to admit that’s freaking COOL.
If you’re playing as Knuckles, this is actually the last zone and it’s way shorter. When you emerge from the teleporter, an Eggrobo is waiting for you to snatch you up in an Egg-O-Matic with a giant claw at the bottom of it (kind of like the one that kidnaps me in the opening cutscene of 8-bit Sonic 2, come to think of it!). He then hovers over to where Mecha Sonic is waiting to finish you off while you’re held in place by the hook, but you manage to escape just in time and Mecha Sonic ends up destroying the Egg-O-Matic instead of you.
The Mecha Sonic fight proceeds as normal from here, but after you defeat him he jumps onto the Master Emerald and, gasp, goes Super! So then it’s Knux vs. Super Mecha Sonic and while this lacks the epic scale of The Doomsday Zone, WOW does it ever rule. It’s one of my favorite boss fights in the entire series, even though it’s not all that difficult once you figure out his pattern. It’s just so cool conceptually that I don’t even care.
Death Egg Zone (2/27)
Wellp.
The Death Egg is legit terrifying. If you’re aboard it for any reason you’re gonna have a bad time. But letting it get up to space where it can operate with impunity is much, much worse. So in we go.
Gameplay-wise, this zone RULES. I know I’ve been saying that about a lot of these zones, but this game is just really good, okay? It’s pretty difficult and has a lot of unique obstacles, the background goes from the terrifying & cavernous interior of the Death Egg in Act 1 to being IN SPACE in Act 2 (with a lovely view of Mobius, serving as a reminder of what we’re fighting for).
And while the first two bosses are decent, Great Eggman Robo is iconic and the subsequent chase of Robotnik’s Egg-O-Matic with the Master Emerald in tow while the ground collapses behind you is super great.
This is a fantastic final-ish zone. It feels scary and dangerous, fighting your way through it feels brave... but it never quite feels like too much to handle. It’s just within your limit. You have to be on edge, the consequences for failing are dire, it’s not comfortable... but you can do it. It just does a really great job of capturing what fighting Eggman is like.
The Doomsday Zone (2/27)
So this is the first of the “Super Sonic in space fighting a big scary thing” sort of zones, so that rules. The scope of this is just incredible. It’s very much the logical next step from Sonic 2’s epic final showdown on the Death Egg. And it’s such a fitting end to the first run of main series Sonic games.
As far as feels... yeah, I’m kinda TERRIFIED when he does stuff like this, but also just... so awestruck and so proud of him. I know I can technically do this stuff too, but... yeah. I don’t know. It’s scary!
Ending
My one appearance in the game! I fly up in the Tornado to meet Sonic when he falls back down from space, a la Sonic 2, and then we take the Master Emerald back to Angel Island which ascends back into the sky! Bet that makes Knux happy!
In Knuckles’ case, the final boss battle takes place in the sky, not in space! And Sonic shows up in the Tornado to save him.
So, yeah. I don’t actually have a lot to say about this one because it’s just kinda... great? And a pretty natural extension of Sonic 3 (which isn’t surprising given they were originally supposed to be one game), so basically everything I said for that one also applies.
But, yeah. Sonic & Knuckles rules! Despite its deplorable lack of me. Which is no small feat!
As always, let’s rank some stuff! (I didn’t include any of the soundtrack that Sonic & Knuckles recycles from Sonic 3, which is mostly just the major bosses and the “final” boss.)
Zones
The Doomsday Zone (S-Rank)
Sky Sanctuary Zone (S-Rank)
Hidden Palace Zone (S-Rank)
Lava Reef Zone (S-Rank)
Death Egg Zone (S-Rank)
Flying Battery Zone (S-Rank)
Sandopolis Zone (A-Rank)
Mushroom Hill Zone (A-Rank)
Bosses
Mecha Sonic’s Super State (S-Rank)
The Doomsday Zone (S-Rank)
Mecha Sonic (S-Rank)
Knuckles the Echidna (S-Rank)
Great Eggman Robo (S-Rank)
Egg Mobile-H (A-Tier)
Flying Eggman (A-Tier)
Jet Mobile (A-Rank)
Egg Golem (A-Rank)
Hot Mobile (A-Rank)
Barrier Eggman (B-Rank)
Death Ball (B-Rank)
Red Eye (B-Rank)
Hang Mobile (B-Rank)
Hei Hou (B-Rank)
Gapsule (B-Rank)
Guardian (B-Rank)
Heat Arms (B-Rank)
Soundtrack
Lava Reef Zone Act 2/Hidden Palace Zone (S-Rank)
Lava Reef Zone Act 1 (S-Rank)
The Doomsday Zone (S-Rank)
Flying Battery Zone Act 1 (S-Rank)
Flying Battery Zone Act 2 (S-Rank)
Sky Sanctuary Zone (S-Rank)
Act 1 Boss (A-Rank)
Death Egg Zone Act 1 (A-Rank)
Death Egg Zone Act 1 (A-Rank)
Mushroom Hill Zone Act 1 (A-Rank)
Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (A-Rank)
Sandopolis Zone Act 2 (B-Rank)
Sandopolis Zone Act 1 (B-Rank)
Glowball Bonus (B-Rank)
Slot Machine Bonus (B-Rank)