Sonic 3 & Knuckles (Mega Drive) Review

The first big change from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the addition of the save system. Both Sonic titles that came before S3&K were short enough and designed around being beaten in one sitting, but that simply cannot be the case anymore. Sonic 3 & Knuckles is especially long for a platformer, and it's filled with countless secrets. While the best of the best can probably get through the adventure at a short pace, the majority of players would need the save system to get through it.

It's not just because of length that the save system is a good addition; however, it's just a nice feature to have that paces the game around the player instead of the other way around. Breaks can be taken whenever, and little to no progress will be lost. It's a quality of life change that only helps the overall experience.

Following the save system, the next big change is the character select. In all main Sonic entries before S3&K, Sonic was the only playable character in the single-player. Added here, however, are Tails and Knuckles, who play wildly different from the blue hedgehog.

Both Tails and Knuckles run slower than Sonic, but that's more than made up for thanks to their own gimmicks. Tails can fly, allowing him to traverse bottomless pits easily and get to newfound heights, and Knuckles can glide and climb, making his platforming slower, but a bit more precision-based than the other two characters.

With three distinct potential playstyles, the level design makes sure to cater to each of the characters' traits and abilities. Branching paths keep different playthroughs interesting and worthwhile by featuring areas that can only be reached with Tails' flight or Knuckles' climbing, but without ever forgetting to cater to Sonic, giving him his own unique segments that capitalise on the series' selling point: speed.

Top notch fast action is front and centre more than ever in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. There are still occasional breaks in gameplay for more traditional platforming, but Sonic Team clearly showed that the developers learned from previous mistakes by integrating them more efficiently to create a natural flow in running and jumping where as little speed as possible needs to be lost.

Through the addition of Tails and Knuckles, S3&K has cleverly integrated its own pseudo difficulty slider. Because the fox and echidna are slower than Sonic, and the level design is primarily designed with speed foremost, they can be used for reflex practice. Neither character can reach the speed Sonic can, but that means nothing more than just allowing levels to be learned naturally. Which leads back to Sonic Team's biggest breakthrough: letting the player control the pacing.

There's so much control in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, more so than any other title in the series. It doesn't try to force a tutorial or break the action for arbitrary reasons, instead letting everything progress through the controller. The few cut-scenes there are are incredibly short, and action still remains possible in some of them. There's an emphasis on making sure the player is always in charge, that Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles can move at their own pace without worry. It's something modern Sonic games have forgotten. There are plenty of reasons as to why S3&K is good, but its best reason is simply that it respects its audience.