Sonic 3 & Knuckles Longplay (Mega Drive/Genesis) [60 FPS]
130Developed by Sonic Team/Sega Technical Institute and published by Sega in 1994.
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Al82_Retro
Add me on Google+: http://bit.ly/1tPwL1u
Time Codes:
Intro: 0:00
Angel Island Zone: 0:30
Hydrocity Zone: 16:15
Marble Garden Zone: 30:54
Carnival Nights Zone: 40:01
Ice Cap Zone: 52:26
Launch Base Zone: 59:07
Mushroom Hill Zone: 1:12:38
Flying Battery Zone: 1:34:20
Sandopolis Zone: 1:44:42
Lava Reef Zone: 1:57:27
Hidden Palace Zone: 2:11:24
Sky Sanctuary Zone: 2:13:37
Death Egg Zone: 2:20:17
Foreword: I originally planned to play Sonic & Knuckles standalone, but didn't realise that it would be difficult to get the Super Emerald storyline doing this. Therefore, I've played the entire Sonic 3 & Knuckles (games in their connected state) for the complete package. The first half duplicates just about everything from my Sonic 3 longplay video, so just use the time codes to skip through it.
Here is the final chapter in the classic 2D gaming canon, Sonic & Knuckles. As I stated in my Sonic 3 longplay video, the content from Sonic & Knuckles was originally intended to be part of Sonic 3. Due to time constraints and production costs, the came was cut in half and the second half of the game was released as Sonic & Knuckles.
The original S&K cartridge was extremely innovative for it's time, featuring "lock on technology". The cartridge had a cartridge connector on top of the device specifically designed to allow gamers to plug their Sonic 3 cartridges into the top of it. Doing so would unlock the full Sonic 3 experience with all the levels and the complete story.
This video plays through the game in it's connected state, which is officially known as Sonic 3 and Knuckles. When played standalone, the game title changes to Sonic & Knuckles.
S&K adds several new zones to the game. The acts in Sonic 3 were undoubtedly the largest of any Sonic game at the time, but S3&K makes them even bigger! On average, each act can take a good four minutes to clear and that's without entering any bonus stages. As always, the levels are non-linear, with multiple routes to the finish line; the level of testing and Q&A that the game must have gone through to ensure that all routes/levels remained playable and enjoyable must have been quite a task!
The main difference in terms of story between S3&K and S&K depends on whether Sonic has retrieved all of the Chaos Emeralds. If he has, then from Mushroom Hill onwards, he can access the Hidden Palace where the Super Emeralds reside. Within the Hidden Palace, he can access further bonus stages (collecting blue orbs) to retrieve the each of the Super Emeralds. Once complete, Sonic can transform into Hyper Sonic, which is an improved version of Super Sonic: the player gains access to a dash attack that can be performed mid-air.
On a personal level, I never owned Sonic & Knuckles. I did rent from a video store and did get to experiment with the lock on modes (I did own Sonic 3), but I only got as far as Flying Battery Zone before it had to be returned.
By 1994, Doom and it's sequel had been unveiled and I had moved on to PC gaming, so I didn't really pay much attention to the game. It's undoubtedly an excellent title, but I don't have the fond memories about S&K that I do about Sonic 3.
Perhaps one day, Sega will decide to stop releasing awful 3D Sonic games and get back to creating proper Sonic games.
#retrogaming