Sonic 3 and Knuckles - Boss Run - Knuckles' Storyline - Part 1
510Possibly Sonic at his best, Sonic 3 (and Knuckles) is probably my favourite entry in the series. It got nearly everything right, unlike the newer titles which get a few things right and nearly everything wrong.
Since playing as Knuckles does change things up (Quite significantly in some cases), I've decided to record a few of the Sonic game bosses as Knuckles.
Where as Sonic can speed through bosses, Knuckles requires a little more finesse to beat them quickly.
Three things to bare in mind:
a) Knuckles cannot jump as high as Sonic. This is the biggest difference as far as Boss Battles go. This often means he cannot hit a boss at a moment where Sonic can.
b) He lacks Sonic's sub-spin move... meaning he can't bypass boss armour. This also means, he cannot hit a boss at a moment where Sonic can. Many of the moments you see here where you may very well think "Oh, i'm sure you could hit that.." No. You can't. Not with human timing.
See Hydrocity Sub-Boss and IceCap boss for examples.
c) For obvious reasons, (i.e the glide move), he doesn't get Sonic's Shield moves.
Most of the time, Knuckles can't beat a boss as fast as Sonic, but he'll give it a damn good shot.
Boss Notes:
AI 1 - This and the Angel Island Boss were recorded on a different emulator, hence the rather odd sounding music.
AI 2 - Hah. Exact same strategy as Sonic's version of the fight.
HC 1 - Yes it is possible to hit it whilst it's in the air, but the timing is so precise it would require slowing the game down in order to do it. I.e, tool assistance. Which I don't do. The entire point of these videos is human playing skills after all. :P
HC 2 - The altered boss AI means I can't use Sonic's strategy here. (In Sonic's version, the boss comes down to your level, whereas here he stays in the air. Yes, it makes a big difference.) Time to fight it normally then.
MG 1 - Hah.
MG 2 - I'm not sure why Knuckles has difficulty hitting this twice per emergence, but he does. You either get hit by the flame or collide with the spiked rope trying to hit him. The lack of the sub-spin makes a bit difference here. :/
CN 1 - Exactly the same as Sonic's battle.
CN 2 - Oooo.. how difficult. XP
IC 1 - Seeing how Knuckle's cannot bypass the bosses' Ice Armour, trying to do what I did here is very risky. So much so in fact, I don't even try to do it whilst on the right side of the screen. The timing is JUST so that Knuckles can't get across the screen and hit him.
IC 2 - Is it just me, or was this faster than my Sonic version of the battle? O_o
LB 1 - Double trouble. This is tricky, as you hit one of them, the other might hit you. Most people recommend to climb the walls, but I find it's easier to stay on the ground and spindash out of the way. :P
LB 2 - Ok. This thing REALLY difficult as Knuckles. The lower jump height means Knuckles has a very hard time dodging the lasers, (you need to hit the boss to dodge the lasers, see?).
S3 Final - In what must be a case of the Bizzarro effect, what was originally a hard boss for Sonic is now very easy for Knuckles. Remember, Knuckles does not have Sonic's "split second invincibility" Sub-Spin, and therefore cannot jump through the arms without taking damage. Meaning, no, where Eggrobo was situated at 7:05 , I didn't really have a very good chance at hitting the thing. No problem when it's moving up how-ever. :P
Since i'm awaiting the arrival of my Windows XP Activation code (someone forgot to include it and the XP disk with my PC ¬_¬), and have only just been able to get them to ship another one (when all else fails, don't goto Sales Support, email someone else!), theres every chance my Pc will deactivate... erm.. tommrow. So i'll have to wait till that arrives to upload any more videos. Sonic and Knuckles' bosses shouldn't take too long though, as Knuckles gets to skip most of them XD