Sonic races through the green fields. The sun races through a blue sky filled with white clouds. The ways of his heart are much like the sun. Sonic runs and rests; the sun rises and sets. Don't give up on the sun. Don't make the sun laugh at you.
— Words taken from Japanese cover of Sonic & Knuckles.
Sega's third 16-bit entry in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and the followup to the wildly popular Sonic The Hedgehog 2, was so epic that time and hardware constraints forced them to split it into two separate games:Sonic the Hedgehog 3, released on February 2, 1994, covered the first half of the game, with gameplay as Sonic, Tails, or both. Knuckles the Echidna, the final member of Sonic and Tails' Power Trio, made his debut in this game, but as an antagonist rather than a playable character.Sonic & Knuckles, released on October 17 of that same year, covered the second half of the game, including Knuckles' Heel Face Turn, and allowed gameplay as either title character (but not Tails).The game also featured "Lock-on Technology"—a slot on top of the cartridge, in which another Mega Drive / Genesis cartridge could be inserted. By connecting the Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles cartridges this way, the two could be played as one complete story, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, with all three characters playable for the entirety, as was originally intended.When playing as Sonic or Tails, the plot picks up right where the Genesis Sonic 2 left off. Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik's Death Egg, just recently destroyed by Sonic, crash lands on the mysterious Angel Island (or Floating Island, as the American game manuals called it). Sonic and Tails follow, intending to stop Robotnik from rebuilding the Death Egg. Not one minute after landing, Sonic gets a face full of fist, courtesy of the island's native inhabitant: Knuckles, the last surviving Echidna and protector of the Master Emerald whose power keeps Angel Island aloft. Knuckles is convinced that Sonic is a thief who intends to steal said Emerald. Why? Because Robotnik told him.So while Sonic and Tails thwart Robotnik, Knuckles waylays them with traps and all around acts as a thorn in their side. This finally comes to a head when everyone reaches the Hidden Palace: Robotnik steals the Master Emerald and electrocutes Knuckles for trying to stop him. Knuckles realizes he's been had, and immediately joins Team Sonic, showing them how to get out of the Hidden Palace and onto the Death Egg.The plot of Knuckles' game covers most of the same levels as Sonic's, and features Knuckles fighting one of Robotnik's EggRobos—rather than the Doc himself—piloting souped-up versions of the level bosses. This culminates with a battle in the clouds against a Master Emerald-powered Mecha Sonic. It's a bit unclear when this all occurs in relation to the plot of Sonic's game. Official sources, such as the game manuals, imply that both plots occur simultaneously. However, in-game details appear to contradict this, and suggest that Knuckles' plot begins shortly after the end of Sonic's plot.The gameplay represented further Sequel Escalation compared to Sonic 2: The top speeds were even faster, the levels were even larger, and for the first time every Act featured a boss fight.note Although, if you play as Knuckles, you get to skip the Carnival Night and Lava Reef main bosses, and Hidden Palace is just an interstitial breather. There was more focus on plot as well—Knuckles' antagonism towards Sonic and Tails was shown through a number of in-level, wordless cut scenes, and every level ends with a brief scene of the characters traveling to the next level (the second act of each zone typically started exactly where the first act ended, with the player simply regaining control after the end-of-level sequence).A number of game mechanics made their Sonic debut here as well, such as a game save feature and specialized shields. The Special Stages from Sonic 2, where the Chaos Emeralds could be won, were revamped, and three different Bonus Stages were introduced, where extra rings and powerups could be collected. Cast Speciation (first introduced in the previous year's 8-bit title Sonic Chaos) was further developed: Sonic could make use of a brief, midair "Insta-Shield", and do a special attack while having one of the shields (a double-jump with the lightning shield, a bounce attack with the bubble shield, a fiery charge attack with the fire shield); Tails could fly (by himself or while carrying Sonic) and swim; and Knuckles could glide and climb sheer walls, but couldn't run as fast or jump as high as Sonic.Sonic & Knuckles' lock-on technology also worked with the Sonic The Hedgehog 2 cartridge, allowing you to play Knuckles in Sonic 2. The developers attempted to implement a similar feature with the original Sonic the Hedgehog, but found that Knuckles' color palette was incompatible with the game's (though a fan hack eventually proved that Knuckles could indeed be implemented in Sonic 1). Instead, combining the two cartridges gives you the Blue Sphere minigame, with many, many, many, many, many, many(did we mention many?) variations on the Special Stage.Oddly enough for a franchise at its peak, this would be the last core series Sonic game until Sonic Adventure, which directly follows this one. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is a proper sequel, though the Excuse Plot of Episode I doesn't suggest it.
The auto scrolling scene with the bomber airship in Angel Island Zone Act 2.
The wall of doom in Hydrocity Zone Act 2.
The collapsing ceiling/rising floor/whatever the hell Eggman's drill-mech does to the landscape in Marble Garden Zone Act 2.
The rising water level in Knuckles' version of Launch Base Zone Act 2.
The auto scrolling boss fight in Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (and the page image for Get Back Here Boss).
The crumbling airship in Flying Battery Zone Act 2.
The rising sand sequences in Sandopolis Zone Act 2. The boss of the level is an advancing sphinx-mecha, which crushes you against a wall if you take too long to defeat it.
The pre-boss fight forced-scrolling scene in Lava Reef Zone Act 2.
Robotnik's screen-filling, inexorably advancing mecha in Death Egg Zone Act 2. After defeating it, you chase Robotnik's Eggmobile, carrying the Master Emerald, while the platform collapses behind you.
The entirety of The Doomsday Zone.
One of the three Bonus Stages features this, with a glowing, upward-climbing double helix that ends the level if you touch it.
Airborne Aircraft Carrier: Flying Battery Zone; the Flying Battery also tries to bomb Sonic in Angel Island Zone.
And I Must Scream: Subverted: when you beat the Lava Reef Zone boss, Robotnik sinks into the lava, which cools and hardens seconds later. After the Knuckles fight in Hidden Palace Zone, he's shown to be perfectly fine.
Another Side, Another Story: ...Maybe. It's hard to tell, given the minimalist style of 16-bit-era storytelling, but Knuckles' adventure might actually take place after Sonic's; see here for an analysis.
Bag of Spilling: The good ending of Sonic 2 is used as the canon one, with the opening cutscene showing Super Sonic briefly before Knuckles punches the emeralds out of him and takes them away.
Bait-and-Switch Boss: Knuckles's version of Sky Sanctuary opens with EggRobo attacking... but then Mecha Sonic (unintentionally) destroys it, and you fight the Evil Knockoff of Sonic instead.
Because Destiny Says So: The mosaics in the background of Hidden Palace Zone are clearly a stylized depiction of Hyper Sonic's fight with the final boss.
Berserk Button: The second stage of the Death Egg Zone's miniboss seems to have one: it will start spinning a pair of spiked platforms extremely rapidly while firing off a massive laser beam if you attack it.
Blackout Basement: Carnival Night Zone Act 2 (for Sonic and Tails), and Sandopolis Zone Act 2.
Bonus Stage: Unique among Sonic games for having two types:
"Special Stages:" A 3D maze where you must "Get Blue Spheres". Finishing earns you a Chaos Emerald. Accessible via giant rings hidden in the levels.
"Bonus Stages:" Stages for collecting rings and powerups. Accessible via a circle of stars that appear if you pass a star post with 20 or more rings.
Book Ends: The game begins with Sonic flying towards Angel Island by plane and ends with him leaving. By collecting all emeralds Sonic also brings the Master Emerald back to Knuckles, who had taken the Chaos Emeralds from him in the beginning.
Brick Joke: As you run through Launch Base Zone Act 1, you'll eventually find Dr. Robotnik carrying some sort of box around. That's the stage's midboss. When you defeat it, you might notice there are another two boxes in the wall. Those are the ones Knuckles will later fight in his version of the level.
The Archie comic had a short adaptation of Sonic 3 in issue #13, and also a 48-page special based on Sonic & Knuckles. Neither story actually featured the Death Egg (as that was saved for a later mini-series).
Sonic The Comic had Robotnik's second Death Egg being stuck on the Floating Island for the span of about 19 issues, the first four of which adapted the plot of Sonic 3, and the last five of which were based on the closing levels of Sonic & Knuckles.
The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Inverted, in Hidden Palace Zone, Sonic can be airlifted by Tails to a hidden area where there are 30 extra rings. With those and the other rings that aren't hidden, Sonic can turn into Super/Hyper Sonic for the Knuckles battle.
Worse when Tails transforms, as any boss or enemy (except Knuckles) will get pecked to death by Tails' Super Flickies.
Also, after Knuckles lowers the bridge for you in Sky Sanctuary Zone, ducking next to him makes him look at your character and wave his arm, as if telling you to go on without him.
And, in Sonic's continue screen, Tails tugs at his arm while pointing forwards.
Continuity Nod: Many details and changes in scenery make it clear that, messups aside, Knuckles' story takes place after Sonic defeats Dr. Eggman.
Convection Schmonvection: Two-thirds of Angel Island Zone is in the middle of a massive forest fire, yet the characters don't seem to mind. And naturally, Lava Reef Zone's lava only hurts you if you actually touch it.
Of course, you can stand on the lava just fine if you have a fire shield, even stand in a lava waterfall.
Conveyor Belt-O-Doom: Death Egg Zone has elevators with conveyor belts that randomly switch direction and try to force Sonic into spikes or gun turrets.
The Determinator: Given how many mechs he goes through, Robotnik certainly comes off as this come the Death Egg and Doomsday Zones. He simply will not give up the Master Emerald no matter what.
The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: Most of the environmental hazards of the game can be rendered harmless with the right shield. Lava Reef Zone is obviously best played with the flame shield, whereas the lightning shield becomes extremely useful for running safely on the electrified floors and ceilings of Death Egg Zone.
One subversion is that Knuckles fights Dr. Eggman instead of EggRobo in Flying Battery, breaking continuity due to not using or not being able to implement a unique sprite for EggRobo. Knuckles can also reach one of Sonic's routes in Lava Reef to find a stuck Death Egg in the background, which should be gone.
Difficult, But Awesome: The insta-shield of Sonic's. Slightly increases the range at which you can hurt enemies, and allows you to phase though things like projectiles, invincible enemies and other terrain hazards. It only lasts a split second though, so good timing is an absolute must.
Divergent Character Evolution: Tails played like a Palette Swapped Sonic in the last game. He begins to diverge here; his speed and jump height have been reduced ever-so-slightly compared to Sonic, but players can now control his ability to fly. Although as a trade-off to this awesome ability, Tails can't take full advantage of the shields (i.e. the extra jumps they give Sonic) and he doesn't go super until he collects both the chaos emeralds and the super emeralds.
To be specific: Sonic is the fastest, has shield manipulation, and the highest jumping height. But as a trade off he has the worst traction.
Knuckles can glide and climb, and has the best traction with decent speed (better than Tails, not as good as Sonic) and acceleration.
Dummied Out: Much of Knuckles' content is present in the Sonic 3 cartridge, but can't be accessed without attaching it to the Sonic & Knuckles cartridge. Also happens in reverse: in the combined game, when you play Launch Base Zone (the final level of Sonic 3) as Sonic or Tails, the game skips over the original final boss of the level (including the awesome ending music). Though you do still fight it if you play as Knuckles.
The standalone Sonic 3 cartridge has the Sonic & Knuckles miniboss music dummied out, you can hear it during the Hydrocity Zone Act 1 boss fight if you wait until the drowning music starts, then jump out of the water.
Another reversed example: the infinite oxygen of the bubble shield is useless in the standalone Sonic & Knuckles, as it does not contain a single underwater section.
The Sonic & Knuckles music is also in the Sonic 3 cartridge...all of it. In the sound test, most of the Zone music that exists in track 09 onward is from Sonic & Knuckles. So its dummied out in that its not used but its still in the cartridge.
Evil Knockoff: Mecha Sonic. Ironically, in the first two fights he uses Robotnik's tactics by reusing boss machines from previous games. In Knuckles's playthrough, he's The Man Behind the Man and final boss.
Faceship: The Death Egg, which has Robotnik's face on it.
Floating Continent: The setting of the game, although it got knocked out of the sky by the Death Egg's crash landing prior to Sonic's arrival. It gets raised at the end of Sonic's story path and remains afloat throughout Knuckles's until Mecha Sonic steals the Master Emerald.
Foreshadowing: When fighting against Knuckles, there is a background mural depicting Robotnik stealing the Master Emerald, and Super/Hyper Sonic attempting to stop him. Guess what you have to do in the true final level?
Fungus Humongous: Mushroom Hill Zone has mushrooms large enough to bounce on, use as a seesaw catapult, and parachute from.
Game-Breaking Bug: Many. If you manage to kill the robot who flame the forest in the end of Angel Island Zone Act 1, Act 2 doesn't load the level layout. Also, if you kill the Marble Garden Act 1 boss off-screen by using co-op Tails, as soon as the goalpost lands, the game crashes.
Hyper Sonic is a virtual game breaking machine, since the developers more than likely didn't fully test him, given that he was a last second throw-in that is normally only usable at the end of both games. But start the game back up from the first act, and you get enough bugs to fill up three hours worth of glitch videos on YouTube. Luckily for most players, many of these are almost impossible to trigger while playing normally.
Tails can also trigger several game breaking bugs (usually exploiting the fact that he doesn't clip with objects in the world if he is just off screen), but most of these also require the player to intentinally go out of their way.
On that note, some copies of standalone Sonic 3 have a real showstopper—sometimes when you beat the boss of Hydrocity Act 2 as Tails, the screen remains locked in place and won't let you go over to the capsule, thus forcing the player to reset the game and play the entire level all over again.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: After the Angel Island Zone is set on fire, there isn't really any dramatic change to the gameplay to indicate that the zone's on fire. No coming face-to-face with flaming walls or anything. It has basically no gameplay effect whatsoever, aside from one zip line that cuts off fairly quickly because a small section of it is burning halfway down.
Knuckles shuts off the lights in Carnival Night, but aside from raising the water level for all of 30 seconds, it seems to do nothing except show off how much of a prick he is.
Gotta Catch 'Em All: In Sonic 3, there are 7 Chaos Emeralds to collect, and getting all of them lets you use the first Super Mode (unless you're playing as Tails). Later, once you get to the Sonic & Knuckles levels, you can power up the gems into the Super Emeralds... and collect them again, for a total of 14 Emeralds. Getting the second set lets you use your character's hyper form (which then lets you use Tails' Super Mode).
Gravity Screw: Used extensively in Death Egg Zone, as well as the anti-gravity platforms in Carnival Night.
Guide Dang It: In what is probably the most famous example of all time, there is one point in Carnival Night Zone Act 2, where a red-and-white barrel (the Barrel of Doom) is blocking the path. The only way to proceed is by standing on the barrel and pressing up and down on the D-pad as the barrel wobbles. There's absolutely nothing in the game itself to suggest this.
It is possible to get past it with well-timed jumps (jumping on it is the only action that gives obvious feedback) and turbo spin-dashing under it as it recoils back up, but it is certainly not the intended solution and it's too easy to run out of time trying to pull it off.
Hand Wave: What the instruction manual does in regards to certain glitches, where Mercy Invincibility could cause you to get stuck in certain places and be forced to reset the console, handwaving them as one of the "many diabolical traps" set up by Robotnik.
Hoist by His Own Petard: This is how about half the bosses in Sonic & Knuckles are defeated. Let's run it down:
Eggman's depth charges in the boss fight of Hydrocity are the means by which you launch up to hit him.
The mid-boss of Carnival Night Zone has a spinning disc with spikes on the edge. The disc is supposed to destroy the floor beneath your feet but if you hit the machine, it opens up and when the disc makes contact, will damage the machine.
The Act 1 boss at the Flying Battery can be beat by making it hit itself in the head by standing on top of it and running away really quickly.
The first Act 2 boss of Flying Battery causes the whole place to shudder and collapse by recklessly firing into the floor.
The mid-boss of Sandopolis will leap into a sand pit (hitting him does no good except throws him backward).
The boss of Lava Reef is destroyed when his mines slide into him.
The first boss of Death Egg Act 2 launches rolling spiked mines at you but if you reverse the gravity when the spikes are facing the machine launching them, they will damage it instead of you.
Hub Level: The area where the Master Emerald is kept becomes sort of a Hub Bonus Level when playing the second half of the linked game; entering a giant ring sends you there, where you can choose which Super Emerald you'll try to obtain.
Humongous Mecha: Robotnik uses one at the end of Sonic & Knuckles.
Idle Animation: As in the previous games, Sonic will look at the player and tap his foot impatiently if the player does nothing for several seconds, occasionally pointing in the direction he's currently facing. A Dummied Out animation had him falling asleep as well.
Tails will stare at the player and occasionally yawn.
Infinite 1-Ups: Those alarm lights that trigger flying enemies in Launch Base Zone. Hold down a spin dash in one of those alarms, and a constant stream of enemies will fly right into you and be destroyed. The score given for the chain of hits eventually results in one life being granted every 3 secondsnote After you destroy 12 enemies, you get 10,000 points for each enemy destroyed; you get a one-up every 50,000 points., and even if you die by time out, since it's before the first checkpoint, you can just walk back there and do it again. There is a limit to how many lives can be recorded, and also a cap on your score.
Invisible Wall: Appears in a cutscene in Carnival Night Act 2, and just before the first boss battle in Launch Base Act 2.
Levels Take Flight: Flying Battery Zone features a few segments where the player must navigate the outside portions of Eggman's ship.
Load-Bearing Boss: The gigantic Eggman mecha at the end of Death Egg Zone. Makes sense, since it not only contains the power source for the whole station, but is also so darn huge that crash landing into the superstructure would certainly do the trick.
Logo Joke: In Sonic 3, the Sega logo remains in place as a blue ball blazes towards the camera before revealing itself to be Sonic, followed by a white flash that leads into the title screen. In Sonic & Knuckles, the Sega logo remains as the background turns into Angel Island, splits apart as the Sonic and the Death Egg land on the ground below, and voila, title screen.
Marathon Level: The stages, compared to previous games in the series, are exceptionally long, but both acts of Sandopolis Zone and Carnival Zone Act 2 definitely stand out.
Good luck finishing Death Egg Zone Act 2 (where your time at the end of the stage carries over to the final stage) in under 10 minutes.
Launch Base Zone Act 2, when playing Sonic 3 alone. The main body of the level can be quick if you know your way around; otherwise you'll be forced into a massive detour. Then you have to fight three bosses, with a cut-scene in between that (unlike in the locked-on game) continues to run down the timer. Oh, and the last boss has an annoying phase in which he goes back and forth at the top of the screen, then the bottom; during this period you can't hit him. Like every other stage, your time limit for the entirety of this is 10 minutes. Good luck.
Magikarp Power: While Sonic and Knuckles unlock their Super Mode after getting 7 Emeralds, Tails doesn't unlock his until he collects all 14 Emeralds. However, his Super Tails abilities—particularly the four birds who will attack any enemies or bosses in Tails' vicinity—are even more of a Game Breaker than Hyper Sonic or Hyper Knuckles in that you can literally kill almost every boss just by standing in one spot (since you're invincible) and letting the birds kill the boss for you.
Minus World: As Hyper Sonic, you can glitch-dash through walls into areas normally only accessible by Knuckles. A Pandora's Box of further glitches can be triggered from here.
Mirror Boss: Knuckles if you play as Sonic and/or Tails, though he's ridiculously easy to beat. He is pretty much the same Knuckles you can play as, with the additions of a punch attack and the ability to block by ducking. He even takes Collision Damage, though trying to walk into him will just get you punched. But you can stand in front of him and get Tails to walk into him from behind if playing as Sonic and Tails. Tails takes damage too, but he's invincible (in 2P mode). If Knuckles drops from a glide on your head, only he'll take collision damage.
Non Indicative Name: Marble Garden Zone has a grasshopper badnik named Mantis. Strangely enough, there were actual mantis badniks in the previous game.
Nostalgia Level: Hidden Palace Zone is a treat for those who had been wondering about that level that only existed as a song in the options menu of Sonic 2. The giant ceiling laser from Flying Battery Zone is clearly a reference to That One Boss from Sonic 2's Wing Fortress Zone. In Sky Sanctuary Zone, you fight a rehash of the wrecking-ball boss from Sonic 1's Green Hill Zone, and the boss with the spinning things from Sonic 2's Metropolis Zone.*
Interestingly, the slight alterations of sprite proportions and game physics made both fights rather different from the originals. The Green Hill boss was originally a Warmup Boss; here he's rather harder to damage without hitting the wrecking ball on the rebound. The original Metropolis Zone boss could only be safely hit at one point in his attack pattern; here, the boss is significantly easier because he can also be damaged while he's at the top of the screen doing nothing.
Marble Garden's mid-boss uses a burrowing attack based on Mystic Cave's boss.
One Game for the Price of Two: If you don't have Sonic and Knuckles, you can't play as Knuckles or play half of the story's levels. If you don't have Sonic 3, you can't play as Tails (with or without Sonic), play the other half of the levels, or do the 2-player mode. And if you don't have both games, you can't use the Hyper Modes (and Super Tails).
Oxygenated Underwater Bubbles: Present throughout Hydrocity Zone, and can be released by bursting open underwater balloons in Carnival Night Zone Act 2. There's also water in Angel Island, and Act 2 of both Icecap and Launch Base, but you have to use Debug Mode to access the bubble for those levels, as they aren't already placed.
Player Tic: So who else presses up rapidly on the control pad after beating Robotnik to make it look like the player character is laughing?
Poison Mushroom: The powerup monitors with Robotnik's face on them.
Poor Communication Kills: Hidden Palace Zone has a mural showing Robotnik with the Master Emerald in his hands, and Super/Hyper Sonic confronting him. Knuckles misintepreted this as Robotnik trying to save the Master Emerald from Sonic, and thus treated Sonic and Tails as enemies.
Power Floats: Super Mecha Sonic. Both of Sonic's super forms also hover above the ground when they're at full speed.
Power-Up Letdown: Because there are no levels with water from Mushroom Hill onward, the Bubble Shield becomes this.
Carnival Night Zone Act 1: You hit the boss to make it expose its weak point, but the actual damage is done when the bouncing spike platform collides with it.
Flying Battery Zone Act 1: You trick the boss into hitting itself.
Flying Battery Zone Act 2: The mini-boss is a laser in the ceiling; you dodge it until it completely tears up the airship.
Sandopolis Zone Act 1: You beat it by knocking it or luring it into a quicksand pit.
Lava Reef Zone Act 2: You survive until Robotnik's own attacks destroy his machine.
Death Egg Zone Act 2: You defeat the first boss by manipulating gravity to hit it with its own mini-bots.
You can also spin-dash at a minibot that has its spikes stuck in the floor/ceiling to catapult them at the boss.
The Doomsday Zone: You maneuver so the Robotnik-mecha's own missiles hit it in the face.
Quicksand Sucks: Sandopolis Zone, and Desert Palace Zone from the 2-player mode. Also, Marble Garden Zone featured tar-like stuff that behaved the same way as the other examples of quicksand.
Recurring Riff: The "Level Clear" music from this game has been reused by many other Sonic games, and even shows up as Sonic's victory music in Super Smash Bros Brawl.
Scenery Porn: Beautiful pixel art, and impressive parallax scrolling on the backgrounds. There are a lot of little cosmetic details to the graphics that were in no way necessary to making the game and are clearly an example of Doing It for the Art.
Secret Bonus: Complete an act with the clock on 9:59 (one second before a Time Over) and you are awarded 100,000 points, enough for two extra lives. Not easy as it is at that time you must land the critical hit on whatever boss you're fighting.
Easiest with Knuckles in Carnival Night Act 2, as he doesn't fight a boss. Just stand in front of the capsule until 9:58 or so and then jump and break the capsule. Requires patience.
Secret Level / True Final Boss: The Doomsday Zone, which is only accessible if you beat Death Egg Zone as Sonic, with a full set of Emeralds, and is just an extended fight with Robotnik's final Egg-Mecha.
Also in the other levels, many nooks and crannies are only accessible if you're playing as the right character.
Segmented Serpent: Flying enemies in Angel Island Zone, flying enemies in Mushroom Hill Zone, sand worms in Sandopolis Zone, and yet more flying enemies in Lava Reef Zone. Hitting them anywhere besides the head will injure you.
Solid Clouds: In Sky Sanctuary, solid clouds serve as trampolines in order to reach higher areas. This is carried over into its appearance in Sonic Generations.
Some of the Act 2 themes pick up in tempo and urgency compared to their Act 1 counterparts, like the Hydrocity and Sandopolis themes.
Spiritual Successor: Flying Battery Zone to Wing Fortress Zone from Sonic 2. Carnival Night Zone would appear to be this to Casino Night Zone from the name, but besides being brash and colourful levels they don't share much in detail.
Stalactite Spite: The stalactites and icicles in Lava Reef Zone and Ice Cap Zone, respectively.
Stalked by the Bell: In Sandopolis Zone Act 2, ghosts start to appear as lights in the level go out, and will start attacking unless the player continues to switch new lights on.
Story Driven Invulnerability: At several points, Robotnik shows up outside of a boss fight but cannot be destroyed.note at least, not without exploiting some Game Breaking Bugs that allow you to land 256 hits on him. The most notable instance is during his theft of the Master Emerald.
Super Not Drowning Skills: Bestowed by a Bubble Shield. Fridge Logic dictates that gas exchange between the water and the giant air bubble would not be able to keep up with Sonic's respiration, so Sonic would still run out of air, but who cares?
The Hyper forms of Sonic and Knuckles can breathe underwater without the bubble shield, but by the time it becomes possible to get these forms, you've already passed the last level with water in it. Breathing underwater is thus only relevant if you're replaying any of the zones with water on a save file.
Super Mode: In addition to the usual Super Sonic, it's also possible to play as Super Knuckles. And if you collect all 14 Emeralds you can become Hyper Sonic, Hyper Knuckles, or Super Tails.
Tactical Suicide Boss: Hot Mobile in Lava Reef Zone. The spikeballs it sends out eventually come back down the slope and hit itself. It's otherwise completely immune to Sonic's/Tails'/Knuckles' attacks (includingSuper/Hyper forms).
Threatening Shark: Inverted. The "Jawz" mook you face in Hydrocity Zone is arguably the easiest enemy to beat in the entire zone. It slowly propels itself horizontally from offscreen, and while it has a tendency to appear suddenly and in groups, it can be hit anywhere with a spin attack or jump attack. The inversion is that Jawz appears exclusively in Act 2, while the much more bothersome Buggernaut appears exclusively in the Act 1. Hence, Hydrocity is actually better with sharks.
Timed Mission: Every level has a time limit of 10 minutes. In the Doomsday Zone, your time limit is imposed by Sonic's Super Mode slowly draining the rings in his posession; run out of Super Mode and you fall to your death.
Used to great effect in Knuckles's version of Sky Sanctuary Zone. Angel Island is slowly sinking in the background and will drop off the screen at the 10 minute mark.
Totally Radical: The monkey badnik in Angel Island Zone, an obvious update of the similar Coconuts badnik from Sonic 2, according to the manual glories in the name of Monkey Dude.
Unwinnable by Mistake: When playing as Sonic with Tails tagging along, it's possible to glitch Tails off-screen so he doesn't return. Doing so in Marble Garden Zone makes it impossible to fight the boss.
Also, in the Sonic 3 only version of Hydrocity Zone Act 2, it's fairly easy to go past the boss and right to the capsule without doing the boss fight. But the only way out is to reset. The clock continues to run despite hitting the capsule, but unfortunately, even time over doesn't save you. The only way out is to reset and then it will usually let you go to Marble Garden.
Walk, Don't Swim: Tails can swim. Knuckles can glide in the water. Sonic sinks like a rock.
Walk on Water: You can run across the surface in Hydrocity.
Wasted Song: Some of the music from the individual Sonic 3 gets Dummied Out if you're playing the two games in tandem, including the fantastic miniboss music.
It's interesting to note that if you are playing Sonic 3 by itself and do anything that makes the music temporarily change (gain invincibility and have it wear off, start drowning and then jump out of the water, etc.) during either Hydrocity Zone boss, the song will switch to the Sonic & Knuckles mid-boss music instead of going back to the Sonic 3 version. The tune otherwise doesn't appear in Sonic 3 at all.
Weaksauce Weakness: Fire shields let you run over molten magma and lightning shields make you a ring magnet and immune to electricity, but both are immediately cancelled if you touch water. Annoying in the Sonic 3 portion, with water in 5 of its 6 zones, but not once you reach the Sonic & Knuckles levels which have no water sections at all.
Weaponized Exhaust: If the boss uses a rocket to fly, it can use that rocket to hurt you. Luckily, though, The Dev Team Thinks of Everything; if you have a fire shield, you're unaffected by the exhaust, giving you a great angle to attack from.
When All Else Fails, Go Right: Averted heavily. The levels steadly go from having to go right from going up, down, or left instead.
Wrap Around: A few areas in Ice Cap Zone and Sandopolis Zone tend to loop when not exited from them properly. With the Hyper Sonic in Sonic 3 cheat, you can wrap around back to the first act of a Zone, resulting in messed-up graphics and other glitches.
, and suggest that Knuckles' plot begins shortly after the end of Sonic's plot.The gameplay represented further Sequel Escalation compared to Sonic 2: The top speeds were even faster, the levels were even larger, and for the first time every Act featured a boss fight.note There was more focus on plot as well—Knuckles' antagonism towards Sonic and Tails was shown through a number of in-level, wordless cut scenes, and every level ends with a brief scene of the characters traveling to the next level (the second act of each zone typically started exactly where the first act ended, with the player simply regaining control after the end-of-level sequence).A number of game mechanics made their Sonic debut here as well, such as a game save feature and specialized shields. The Special Stages from Sonic 2, where the Chaos Emeralds could be won, were revamped, and three different Bonus Stages were introduced, where extra rings and powerups could be collected. Cast Speciation (first introduced in the previous year's 8-bit title Sonic Chaos) was further developed: Sonic could make use of a brief, midair "Insta-Shield", and do a special attack while having one of the shields (a double-jump with the lightning shield, a bounce attack with the bubble shield, a fiery charge attack with the fire shield); Tails could fly (by himself or while carrying Sonic) and swim; and Knuckles could glide and climb sheer walls, but couldn't run as fast or jump as high as Sonic.Sonic & Knuckles' lock-on technology also worked with the Sonic The Hedgehog 2 cartridge, allowing you to play Knuckles in Sonic 2. The developers attempted to implement a similar feature with the original Sonic the Hedgehog, but found that Knuckles' color palette was incompatible with the game's (though a fan hack eventually proved that Knuckles could indeed be implemented in Sonic 1). Instead, combining the two cartridges gives you the Blue Sphere minigame, with many, many, many, many, many, many (did we mention many?) variations on the Special Stage.Oddly enough for a franchise at its peak, this would be the last core series Sonic game until Sonic Adventure, which directly follows this one. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is a proper sequel, though the Excuse Plot of Episode I doesn't suggest it.
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