sonic 3 & knuckles sits in a very weird spot within the genesis tetralogy (yes cd counts) for me, and i suppose it always will. sonic 1 and 2, i played to death on genesis and the mega collection, cd i bought gems collection to play alongside sonic r (which isn't really as bad as people make it out to be, by the way) and of course drooled over the 2011 remaster, and sonic 3 & knuckles kinda becomes the outlier. i played each game a good bit independently on the mega collection but i can't recall having unlocked the full title on that set. i think i first regularly started playing this game as intended via emulation, especially when i started hearing early youtube gaming guys and all the gaming magazines i read calling this the holy grail of the series. at this point in my life, i think i've been able to set the nostalgia glasses aside and after completing this game 3 times this year, as recently as today, i feel ready to share my earnest opinions on sonic 3 & knuckles - which from now on, i'll just call s3&k.
with all the improvements this game brings to sonic 2 - 3 playable characters, more bonus stages, a ton of levels, the insta-shield, to name a few - functionally speaking, yes, this is the most realized a genesis sonic game has ever been. the story is told subtly but effectively via short unplayable sequences or background effects, and it's pretty neat. the music, ever a point of copyright controversy, is incredible - while not my favorite of the era (cd's japanese soundtrack wins out by a gargantuan deal) there are some absolute masterpieces here. the spritework looks incredible and i think knuckles and tails look their best here - still more of a fan of sonic's 2 design though. even so, can i say that i feel this is the BEST of the genesis games? well... yes, and no.
yes, to the extent that this is unquestionably THE game the series was building up to and it masters that on almost all fronts. if you were to have someone play any of the genesis sonics, this is almost certainly the one to go with, even with its issues. the 'no' comes from the fact that considering its rocky development, it's very obvious that s3&k isn't one cohesive adventure - it's two rushed chapters smashed together to create a single comprehensive experience, and for being that, it's fantastically executed.
the game could've trimmed its two weakest stages -sandopolis and marble garden - and been better for it. the stage order makes sense when considering the sonic 3 stages and the sonic & knuckles stages individually, but when combined, it kind of feels off. why is mushroom hill halfway into the game? why is ice cap in the first half? there IS a cohesive, say 14 stage, dipless masterpiece here, but the rushed execution to promote sales shoots the game in the leg from being just shy of pristine. another point of contention is blue sphere, the chaos emerald-nabbing minigame, just not being all that engaging or fun - maybe not sonic 2 half pipe bad, but nothing enjoyable. i'm also sort of let down by the obvious rushed moments in the soundtrack where an act 2 remix will simply strip or swap instruments from the act 1 theme. this game's soundtrack is too good for those moments.
the more i think about it, the more grateful i am for sonic mania; sure, it might repeat stages from previous titles a little bit too much, but i really feel it delivers on the promise of the cohesive, story-driven, long-haul, fillerless masterpiece s3&k comes JUST shy of fulfilling.
with all the improvements this game brings to sonic 2 - 3 playable characters, more bonus stages, a ton of levels, the insta-shield, to name a few - functionally speaking, yes, this is the most realized a genesis sonic game has ever been. the story is told subtly but effectively via short unplayable sequences or background effects, and it's pretty neat. the music, ever a point of copyright controversy, is incredible - while not my favorite of the era (cd's japanese soundtrack wins out by a gargantuan deal) there are some absolute masterpieces here. the spritework looks incredible and i think knuckles and tails look their best here - still more of a fan of sonic's 2 design though. even so, can i say that i feel this is the BEST of the genesis games? well... yes, and no.
yes, to the extent that this is unquestionably THE game the series was building up to and it masters that on almost all fronts. if you were to have someone play any of the genesis sonics, this is almost certainly the one to go with, even with its issues. the 'no' comes from the fact that considering its rocky development, it's very obvious that s3&k isn't one cohesive adventure - it's two rushed chapters smashed together to create a single comprehensive experience, and for being that, it's fantastically executed.
the game could've trimmed its two weakest stages -sandopolis and marble garden - and been better for it. the stage order makes sense when considering the sonic 3 stages and the sonic & knuckles stages individually, but when combined, it kind of feels off. why is mushroom hill halfway into the game? why is ice cap in the first half? there IS a cohesive, say 14 stage, dipless masterpiece here, but the rushed execution to promote sales shoots the game in the leg from being just shy of pristine. another point of contention is blue sphere, the chaos emerald-nabbing minigame, just not being all that engaging or fun - maybe not sonic 2 half pipe bad, but nothing enjoyable. i'm also sort of let down by the obvious rushed moments in the soundtrack where an act 2 remix will simply strip or swap instruments from the act 1 theme. this game's soundtrack is too good for those moments.
the more i think about it, the more grateful i am for sonic mania; sure, it might repeat stages from previous titles a little bit too much, but i really feel it delivers on the promise of the cohesive, story-driven, long-haul, fillerless masterpiece s3&k comes JUST shy of fulfilling.