This is one of the greatest games ever made and the entire reason I finally got a Genesis. I was 12 in 1994 and was happy with my Super Nintendo but I wanted Sonc 1 and 2 but nhappily let them go but when I saw this lock on mechanism and 14 chaos emeralds I went ape shit ballistic begging my mom for Genesis I finally got one because my stepdad ran up his cred cards and bought one and then never played it and I kinda you know sneaked it into my room which his drunk ass never noticed. It's funny because his father is the reason I got Super Nintendo in 1991. In an effort to get his son to visit him more often he bought and incentive to make me want to go to his house but that xmas my stepdad went into his dads house and basically took the SNES so I would be occupied during the 191-92 New Years Eve Party and we never took it back lol. Funny I type this on New Years eve 2018.
I've always adored this game above all other Sonic games for all the reasons you've listed. Of course, the music is also one of the game's greatest features as well. All classic Sonic games have great music (Sonic Spinball's music is rough around the edges, admittedly, but Lava Powerhouse is the standout track and one of the best tunes in the series in my opinion), but Sonic 3 (the first half especially) has the best music by far. We all know that Michael Jackson, along with his team of composers and arrangers, was responsible for providing the game with it's unique sound and music, but it goes beyond that. The music itself has personality and add so much to each act, and by extension, each zone, making the already enormous game feel even bigger and more grand in scale. Also, this is the best looking game in the classic series. Period. Sonic's redesigned sprite looks almost three-dimensional and cool, like the character he'd been set up to be. And, the levels are all so completely diverse and have such a sense of depth with the flawless parallax scrolling and other tricks (look at the water in Hydrocity Zone; from the surface, you can see the tops of the waves, but as you dive into it, you can see the underside of the waves, giving it a very 3-D look). And, speaking of Hydrocity Zone, it is the best set of water levels in any Sonic game. It's fun, it's intense, it offers you several methods to traverse, both above and below the waves, there's Tails' swimming ability & Knuckles' glide ability to offer alternative methods of travel, the bubble shield to enable the characters to breathe underwater, and, it's FAST!! It's the fastest Sonic has ever been underwater with the underwater physics. I also love (as you've mentioned) the story of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It's the first game to place story first. Angel Island now becomes a character unto itself with its own history, mythology and personality compared to South and Westside Islands, which have varied locales, but no real sense of history. As you play through the game, depending on how well you play, the fate of Angel Island is altered, giving you a real sense of urgency to set things right, which never really happened in a Sonic game before. I've always loved this game, and unlike many gamers when it was released, I was extremely glad for the changes made in this installment. Sonic 1 was the first game I saw in demo mode on display that really made me understand that games could offer much more than what I'd been used to in the 8-Bit generation, so I'll always have a soft spot for it. However, it did have more than its fair share of tedium in all the waiting you were forced to do, and Labyrinth Zone is one of the worst areas in all of classic Sonic with how slow, long, boring and unpleasant it is to play through. That said, it's still a very enjoyable game. Sonic 2 was also great. I had a younger brother who'd always play as Tails in 1-player mode to act as my decoy and buddy whilst I blew through the levels. Therein lies the problem. As you'd said, too great an emphasis is placed on speed, leading to a short, very easy and shallow Sonic experience overall. Unless you elect to get all the Chaos Emeralds, you can beat it more quickly than you can its predecessor. When Sonic 3 came out, and my brother and I played it and discovered that Tails can not only fly, but carry Sonic with him, we'd run down the timer searching for secrets and alternate routes to play through the levels. Unlike Sonic 1, you wanted to take your time and explore the levels rather than wishing them to end, and unlike Sonic 2, you weren't plowing through them faster than you felt that you should be able to. They did everything right with this one.
I hated the design of Sonic in Sonic 3. I felt they'd perfected his look in Sonic 2, then completely ruined it again in 3. Also I hated the fact that the third game lost the bold and clean looking level design of the first two and tried to take on a more detailed, cluttered look. It was a good game, but I really don't think it was the strongest in the franchise. Sonic 2 was the high point for me!
Absolutely amazing critique. The only thing you didn't implicitly mention (but did receive quite a bit of screen time) is the ultimate encounter with Dr. Robotnik in the Doomsday Zone. After four games' worth of busting his 'bots, I can think of no better way to top off the series.
I beat Sonic 1 and 2, but whenever I was younger and had played Sonic 3 I could NOT get past that carnival level. This is the second video of yours where this barrel was mentioned in Sonic 3. I'm quite convinced this barrel was the reason why I couldn't beat the level. Maybe not, I don't remember. All I know is I could never find the freaking end of that level! So annoying!
Great rundown of what makes the level design work so well. S3&K is definitely my favorite Sonic game, but in retrospect, I honestly think the insta-shield, the 3 element shields, and the Hyper forms (let alone Super Sonic) break the game. As enjoyable as these things are, they take what would've already been a very easy game, and make it exponentially easier. Most of the bosses can be taken out in a matter of seconds if you bring the right shield, or even just use the insta-shield.
God damnit, this video perfectly explains my absolute undying love for this game... Even going so far as to talk about "Complete" which I not only recommend, but demand fans of the game play... FURTHERMORE.... I've been playing this game nonstop for over 20 years.... TWENTY YEARS... and I had no idea sonic's insta-shield worked that way... I'm going to go play the whole damn thing all over again for well over the 200th time lol.
That barrel....I played up to that point easily a hundred times and could never ever beat it. One day I was bored and kept pressing up and down and noticed it was also moving up and down.
I wasn't even born when this game came out but I still love it and for a really long time this was my favourite video game! I actually think it's perfect!
Daniel Carville Haha, that was pretty much my reaction putting it together, too. This was the first video where I really went into this kind of point-by-point detail, and it really is awesome how solid Sonic 3 is, even when you subject it to that kind of analysis.
The Geek Critique Your statement on Sonic 3 is bullshit.. The levels are an awful mess that just seems like the game was trying to stuff as much as possible in, the other characters sucked because they were just worse version of Sonic, the music outside of boss music was awful. This game is one of the most overrated games of all time.
Objection! To me, as someone who played Sonic starting in 1991, Sonic 3 and Knuckles was not the best. You could say that it "had the most" or that the other games not having a save feature and chaos emerald storage over games makes this superior in that respect. But when it came out, I had many problems with this game, and I still do. Firstly, even from the opening screen, 3D Sonic looks derpy. None of that attitude. Just a round low-quality 3D render with no 'tude. Then, as soon as I started the game, I was SUPER SONIC! The most powerful creature around! And then I'm promptly punched out of it by a freaking echidna. How does that work, again? That was Sega basically punching me in the face, and saying that "Sonic's time is over. Knuckles is the new star and he's the cool one now while Sonic is a weakling." The extra moves for every other character and the stupid insta-shield brought that home if I didn't already get the hint. Sonic wasn't even faster...even though...HE'S SONIC. I can kind of understand in Sonic 2 with Tails, as Tails couldn't fly, and I'd often leave Tails behind and he'd have to fly back in later, but now, everyone was basically Sonic, but better. (Knuckles couldn't jump as high, but still. It's not "Jumpy the Hedgehog".) Then, we get to the stages. HUGE!...but boring. They are not good for speed runs, either. By the end of Act 2, I'm like, "God, I hope the next stage is more fun. This was a slog." And then I get to the tops in Marble Garden. Here's another thing... The styles are "Not Sonic". Now, they are "more Sonic" than "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric", but I've never played that and we're not talking about that. Still, again, Sonic is soft plush toy and derpy looking in sprite form. The stages are completely different. Before, they were surreal. HALF-ROBOT TREES! Interesting geometric patterns! Now, it's looking more cartoony but less surreal. It looked like any other 2D platformer that tried to be Sonic...but it WAS Sonic. I'm not saying that the game was bad. Far from it. On its own, it's still one of the best 2D platformers. However, looking at what came before, it was a downgrade. And even now, I don't have fun playing it unless I can be Hyper Sonic and be badass again and have the most power out of any character and also make the slog through the levels much less of a chore by utilizing higher double jumps and extra speed.
lol, Hyper Sonic is so endearing to fans because it's a direct reference to Goku in Dragonball Z, which was also gaining popularity during the same era
Yep. Sonic 3 and knuckles was the greatest of all time, sonic might have peaked, and only gone down but that Russian fan game shows it can be great! That fan base is still here!
Ahhh... dlc done right. Not only does it double the game in size and excitement, but it retroactively affects the previous game, and bonus stages for the 1st. A dlc that, still to this day, has never been matched in scope.
Nice video, i agree on everything, except maybe the "best game of all time". It's definitely the best Sonic game though. And its in the top 3 of my best platformers of all time, along with Yoshi's Island and DKC2. It's sad how recent Sonic games have devolved since then.
Imgema Well, play Generations and Colors if you haven't. Other than that, yeah. What looked for a few years like a recovery was, apparently, only a temporary reprieve. And yeah, there's was a huge asterisk next to that BEST GAME OF ALL TIME comment, leading to an implied footnote stating, "In my opinion." It just ticks every single box of what I'd want in a video game, haha.
I played colors, its a good game but it didn't grab me like Mario Galaxy did.. and it seems its copying many ideas from galaxy too. And generations is good only because it caters to nostalgia. Meaning that its only good because the old Sonic games were good. Funny thing is that i didn't really care for the later levels that are based on more recent Sonic games. Also, i had to play it on the PC. 30fps flickering on the console makes this almost unplayable to me.
Imgema Honestly, even if Generations didn't cater to people's nostalgia, I still think it's a fantastic game. It's not Sonic 3 or Sonic 2 quality, but it's certainly in my top 5 favorite Sonic games.
@@Imgema For me its the opposite,. super mario galaxy for me its easy and boring, perhaps you read this a lot, but after mario 3 (nes), mario never reached that level of greatness. Actual marios are very easy. Colors destroyed super mario galaxy, its not a difficult game but really well done. But everyone has a different oppinion.
As a kid getting to finally play as Knuckles had me buzzed all the while waiting till Christmas Day, so teasing us with him in the first part was a perfect marketing ploy too. In terms of flaws, I kinda wished they'd done something with the 2 player mode with the lock on, maybe S+K could have had it's own set of levels to combine with S3 (which would have likely added to it's standalone appeal too). They could have at least fixed Knuckles' move set. Compared to the expansive one player experience, Competition Mode seems so underwhelming. I do kinda agree on it's scale otherwise however, it set my ridiculous standards for expansion in levels and characters in platformers. While the likes of Mario and Crash were fun for me, I was always disappointed whenever they ruined progression by recycling levels or tunes or being so out with the times as to not have three fully playable characters with their own stories.
Games were $50 back then? Damn I remember when I saw Kingdom Hearts 2 for $60 and thought that was crazy, hope it never reaches $70... oh wait DLC made it so it went over that.
This game is definitely better than Ocarina of Time, Tony Hawk 2, GTA 4, Soul Calibur, Mario Galaxy, Diablo 2, Super Metroid, [insert favorite Final Fantasy here], Skyrim, Goldeneye, Mass Effect 2, Half Life 2, and World of Warcraft. Just pokin' fun :P
Well, I mean, _I_ think it is. But that's because it's more to my tastes than any of the other games you mentioned. That whole "best game of all time" thing should be read as pretty tongue-in-cheek. Gaming is WAY too subjective to make a declarative statement like that, and really have it hold any water. And in the years since I made this video, I've kind of come to wish that the culture would get away from phrases like that. I mean, it WON'T, but it doesn't really mean much. As an example, the exact same elements that some people would cite as the reason that Skyrim is the best game ever, might be the same ones that caused ME to find it a bit of a bore.
It IS all opinion based, isn't it?. And we have set criteria for "objectively good game design," but at its core, that's actually subjective too. All it takes is a game to come out that smashes design expectations and rewires what we thought of as "bad" gameplay. You'll get people that hate it, and people that love it.
I'm really glad I got to find out about this channel early, you do amazing reviews and made me play the sonic classic series once again for the 100th time
If you check the playlist of the sonic videos you can find the selection video for the Jp or US soundtrack, go into the description of that video and there are links for them
I wish I could tell ya. I found it a few years ago, when I was trying to find a good Ice Cap remix to use for Cool Edge in the Generations Unleashed mod. I've tried, but haven't been able to find it again.
Who else knew about the lil "easter egg" where once Knuckles is worn out and panting in Sky Sanctuary, if you duck down by him to see how he is, he motions to you to go on. Always loved that, such an awesome attention to detail that I'm sure many people missed.
I thought I was a hardcore S3&K fan until you said there were 77 giant rings. I might have found half of them. And I've played the game through upwards of 20 times.
I've probably beaten it hundreds of times, and I still find new ones every time I go looking. Check out the site Zone:0 if you haven't. They do in-depth level analysis for each zone in the classic series. I just opened all of those and added up how many transporter rings they reported.
I've been playing the game since it's release in 1994. At least once a year, around Christmas vacation, I'll delete all my old saves and play it again. It wasn't until this video where I noticed Sonic pushing spikes to the side to get to super ring from above. 20 years. Never knew that shortcut. xD
@@TGCClassic That means there's really no definitive answer to this unless someone rips the data and adds up every time the sprite appears. Or someone interviews the dev team. Probably there can be anywhere between 77 and 144 of those things.
This a prime example of what sonic truly is. He wasn't just a mario killer, and he isn't just some cartoony hedgehog. Sonic is meant to impress and excite. That's why the recent games feel souless. They dont have faith in themselves. like it's ashamed of being sonic, and playing it safe is better. When Sonic is so much more. Wether or not you go by the classic Games, or The Adventure games, sonic is more.
Even as of now, it's still not the same. Playing it safe beyond repair and trying to please the people who complain about everything is what ruining him, and his original intention: being something NOT Mario and he was always that, until Colors Wii changed things up and became his recent successful "3D" (more like a 2D game with 5% 3D and the rest of 3D being automation and drifting) ended up being exactly like a bad Mario Maker game, which is what they replicated throughout the years to come (Gens was anniversary and was alright)
Sonic is also a series that was allways plagued by gross design errors. And nobody EVER talk about those...(mainly because people praising the series played It when they was kids, and make silly statements like "Mario level" or "Mario like" as It Is universally considered a negative statement...) Sonic allways was flawed and confused to what It wanted to be.
@@1r0zz those are certainly words, which is funny because people talk about them occasionally, you gotta clarify thou. My favorite part about your reply is "played it as kids" That's pretty dumb to say if you ask me; because I'm sure most who played it were teens or young adults.
@@iiOmarSP you mean that a game (cartoon styled platformer btw) out in 1991, on a console sold since 1988, was for some unfatomable and implausible reason MOSTLY PLAYED BY TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS?!? hell, at 91 not even PC gaming was mostly composed of teens and adults and before the 5th/6th generation of consoles SURE AS HELL, console gamers wasn't mostly made by teens or young adults and that's mainly by 3 fact that: 1) people born in the 3rd/4th generation kept playing as it was "metabolized" in their culture. 2) games become more mainstream and quasi-socially acepted 3) for a part of the 5th/6th/7th generation games had diversification and maturity. now we are once again standardized, cheap and aimed for kids (with edgy but toothless self serious bullcrap) so big nope there. someone who played sonic 1, 2 or 3 (and knuckles, and knuckles, and knuckles) most probably DID play them when he was a kid. hell, I was considered childish at playing Silent Hill 2 on PC in 2003! just THINK how a teen or young adult would have looked playing sonic in 1991 not with his sons!
@I Am I Mario IS a cartoon platformer... Also like 60% of the games on the platform... Also, sonic is not really more challenging(harder or "adult" as some fans expectorate) than Mario... It's true that the first stage is bigger and more complex and slightly harder than a super Mario first level, but sonic never smootly gets more challenging, while final levels of older Mario games are HARD...world 7 and world 8 in super Mario 3 are extreeme. Also put things in context the true reason why DK, sonic, bubsy(lol), crash, spyro, rayman, cyperin(1000 points to who knows who he is) and so on exist is to be "Mario Alternative"... And the ma in reason why they are not really successful is because they cannot change as Mario change...
@@Victory-in-YAHUSHA Sonic 3 and Knuckles is still better than Mania in my opinion the problem with Mania is that its nostalgia pandering I wish it had full original levels and apparently it was going to but Sega was like nah bro we gotta have those nostalgia zones.
This is pretty much the prefect review of this (very near) perfect game. Yep, chalk me up as another that considers this the very best gaming has to offer.
The Geek Critique Out of curiosity, what is your favorite zone in the game? Flying Battery is my favorite video game level. It just has the perfect blend of speed and platforming and has so many fun elements.
WaddleDee105 Sky Sanctuary for me, not really for the gameplay, but for the aesthetic and music. Also the buildup in the story to the Deathegg showdown.
WaddleDee105 Oh god, my favorite? I have no idea. The answer is usually, "Whichever one I'm currently playing." If pressed... I might say either Ice Cap or Lava Reef. Or Hydrocity. ...or Carnival NIght. I LOVE THEM ALL.
Personally, I tend to think that MegaMan ZX is the best gaming has to offer, but the most important topic here, is simply how often gamers and designers overlook Sonic 3. Sonic is kind of an odd game, and even though it held it's own, has always had a smaller fanbase than Mario, but most newer gamers have a hard time getting over the way it's designed, and even designers are that way too. There's a lot to learn from Sonic 3, and I think that, with what we're capable of in the modern age of game design, it could be even better. I mean, I've often imagined Sonic 3 borrowing mechanics from MegaMan, but only the best ones. Everything would be kept, but then add an armor for more controlled dashing, wall run (Not in MegaMan, but still cool), etc. Imagine a level where you can shift the pull of gravity, making the levels a bit of a puzzle, or a boss fight that rivals the complexity of later MegaMan titles. Man, this game is fantastic, but there's so much untapped potential that a lot of designers blatantly overlook.
You're very close. If you collect 50 or more rings, you can make Sonic, Knuckles and Tails transform into Super Sonic, Hyper Sonic, Super Knuckles, Hyper Knuckles and Super Tails. And one more thing: the super and hyper characters can also get Time Overs after the level's timer hits the 9:59 mark.
@@charliekahn4205 And before then, the only thing they really added was a means of waiting out a softlock. (The secret way out of Dr. Robotnik's diabolical traps.)
My favourite game of all time also. Virtually everything in this game is incredible. The controls, the visuals, the soundtrack, the SFX, the difficulty level, the level design, the replay value, the story (very well done despite its simplicity), the atmosphere, the boss fights, the variety, the length of the game, the multiple characters, the multiplayer, the attention to detail... Yes it has the odd flaw here and there, but in my 20 years of playing video games I've never found another game that manages to get so many things spot on. Without doubt Sonic 3 and Knuckles deserves to be in the conversation when discussing what is the greatest game of all time. Unfortunately it's one of those games that doesn't get the recognition it deserves from the wider gaming world. It seems a big reason is Sonic 2. Despite clearly being a step down from Sonic 3 it's a game that so many more people played, hence why more people rank it as the best in the series. Another reason possibly is the lock-on system. The gaming media and even Sega themselves seem to disregard S3&K as one game, and instead regard them as two separate ones. A lot of people seem blissfully unaware as they play Sonic 3 or Sonic and Knuckles that really they're just playing one half of the game. Additionally the Mega Drive losing the console war to the SNES makes me think that the former's games are forgotten about to an extent. I can't help but feel that if S3&K was on SNES then it would be a much more famous and popular game.
I've played this game I don't know how many times. It is indeed the greatest Sonic game ever made, bar none. If Sonic Team TRULY wanted to make Sonic 4, they would've used this game as the example.
OMG the Barrel on Carnival Night zone we didn't know you could press up and down on the D pad, and we literally had 1 person jumping while the 2nd player slipped through the crack. It was horrible.
Hotsex spy Oh man, I was stuck in Marble Garden with Tails, same as I was stuck in Carnival Night with Sonic. I actually beat the game with Knuckles well before anyone else, just because of that.
TBH I think the pacing of Sonic 3 would be better if every single act didn't have a mini boss. That's why I only added them sporadically in Time Twisted. Because it quickens the pace of the game and on first playthrough first act bosses are surprising and make more of an impact because of it.
I've been playing a lot of Sonic lately, and this video has shown me I need to go back to the genesis games more than ever. I had the games growing up but I never got very far in them. It wasn't until Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast that I ever beat a Sonic game, and my memories with Sonic all mostly came from there. I just wrote and created my own review on Sonic Adventure if you care to watch, I think you might find it enjoyable. Sorry just had to fit that in somewhere. I am already replaying Sonic 1 in an effort to go back through the classic series, but I'm gonna holding my breath until I can get to 3. I look forward to watching more of your stuff!
There were a lot of cool things about this review, but by far my favorite is that you are the only person on the internet to CALL THE SHIELDS BY THEIR CORRECT NAMES. OMG THANK YOU!
Thank you for doing justice to a great game. It seems to be popular to shit on Sonic these days, even going so far as to say the early games were never good to begin with. It's been driving me crazy.
I expect Sonic 3 and Knuckles (if given enough time to develop it as 1 big game) I expect it would’ve been finished properly still and released as a 32Mbit cart with some of the unused data that fills both carts removed to fit into slightly less than the 34mbit that they add up to. 32Mbit was more expensive to produce than a smaller cart, but this wouldn’t have impacted the consumer, Sega would’ve sold it at normal price but just had a slightly smaller profit margin. I agree though that the lock on was a good thing overall as it’s really cool, but also Knuckles in Sonic 2 and Blue Sphere.
Sonic 3 is definitely may favorite of the classic series for all the reasons you state. Its variety, balance and polish is unmatched by the others on the Genesis.
It was 2010, my 6th birthday (yes, im that young) and i got my first ever video game console: THE PLAYSTATION *2* and the first game i ever played was Ratchet & clank I hated it, and i was a dumbass so i didnt know you can change the game inside the console The next game was the first game i ever enjoyed playing: Sonic mega collection (+) I played it, o boy i played it I first played sonic 3 and was TRIGGERED BY THIS RED SONIC WITH A SHIT EATING LAUGH Next was sonic &k where YOU GET TO PLAY AS THE SHITHEAD?! Also where is that orange fox? A few days later a text appears saying "you unlocked sonic 3&k" and i was stoked And thus, my gaming life started Also, on a side note, i was so pissed at Knux that i just started multiple save files with him just to delete them so that save select music along with all the sound effects got glued to my brain
I never new, Sega Mega Drive Game's, get really hot and need a cooling vent, that's Awesome how cool is that sega mega drive really knows what they are doing they win.
These games are also soft coop if Tails is involved. This element I always loved because while normal coop normally involves commitment (aka you can't go on while the other player has a bathroom break) in here that would never work, but they still let you take control of Tails. When I played the game with my nephew I'd just fly him over hard platforms it was great.
Calling something the best game ever made is difficult, there are too many legendary games, games call your tastes, you like some stuff and don't other, but yeah, Sonic 3 for sure is the best Sonic game.
I was so that 2player stages were treated like utter crap in this installment, EVEN THOUGH I played the hell outta them. As I grew older I appreciated the music more and more, and Chrome Gadget music should've gotten a fuller version in an official campaign zone.. that bass is too good to be a hidden gem.
Ah, S3&K... my second favorite of the classic series, but also my third favorite game of all time. I've played this so much I can literally play it blindfolded.
This is part of TGC's coverage of Sonic the Hedgehog games! Don't miss them: ruclips.net/p/PLYoabN6QznuIl47fs9wFK10HBJNqv_5P3
The Geek Critique love your videos man. You're on another level of quality. Keep it up!
The Geek Critique Then If Sonic And Knuckles Is Part Two Why Can't You Be Sonic And Tails?
i don't like the sonic classic games sonic 2 is sorta good
Are you ready for Mania?
This is one of the greatest games ever made and the entire reason I finally got a Genesis. I was 12 in 1994 and was happy with my Super Nintendo but I wanted Sonc 1 and 2 but nhappily let them go but when I saw this lock on mechanism and 14 chaos emeralds I went ape shit ballistic begging my mom for Genesis I finally got one because my stepdad ran up his cred cards and bought one and then never played it and I kinda you know sneaked it into my room which his drunk ass never noticed. It's funny because his father is the reason I got Super Nintendo in 1991. In an effort to get his son to visit him more often he bought and incentive to make me want to go to his house but that xmas my stepdad went into his dads house and basically took the SNES so I would be occupied during the 191-92 New Years Eve Party and we never took it back lol. Funny I type this on New Years eve 2018.
correction: Knuckles is not cackling, he is *chuckling*
Or snickering deviously.
But I thought, unlike Sonic, he doesn't chuckle...
Rice1is1nice yeh he rather flex his muscles 💪
But in his song he says unlike sonic i dont chuckle
He's hard as nails, it ain't hard to tell
My main man Knuckles
Unlike Sonic, he don't chuckle
I agree with every word of this video
SoNick Funnily enough, so do I!
Haha, what a strange coincidence!
Me too
I don't. I actually have a few problems with it
I've always adored this game above all other Sonic games for all the reasons you've listed. Of course, the music is also one of the game's greatest features as well. All classic Sonic games have great music (Sonic Spinball's music is rough around the edges, admittedly, but Lava Powerhouse is the standout track and one of the best tunes in the series in my opinion), but Sonic 3 (the first half especially) has the best music by far. We all know that Michael Jackson, along with his team of composers and arrangers, was responsible for providing the game with it's unique sound and music, but it goes beyond that. The music itself has personality and add so much to each act, and by extension, each zone, making the already enormous game feel even bigger and more grand in scale.
Also, this is the best looking game in the classic series. Period. Sonic's redesigned sprite looks almost three-dimensional and cool, like the character he'd been set up to be. And, the levels are all so completely diverse and have such a sense of depth with the flawless parallax scrolling and other tricks (look at the water in Hydrocity Zone; from the surface, you can see the tops of the waves, but as you dive into it, you can see the underside of the waves, giving it a very 3-D look).
And, speaking of Hydrocity Zone, it is the best set of water levels in any Sonic game. It's fun, it's intense, it offers you several methods to traverse, both above and below the waves, there's Tails' swimming ability & Knuckles' glide ability to offer alternative methods of travel, the bubble shield to enable the characters to breathe underwater, and, it's FAST!! It's the fastest Sonic has ever been underwater with the underwater physics.
I also love (as you've mentioned) the story of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It's the first game to place story first. Angel Island now becomes a character unto itself with its own history, mythology and personality compared to South and Westside Islands, which have varied locales, but no real sense of history. As you play through the game, depending on how well you play, the fate of Angel Island is altered, giving you a real sense of urgency to set things right, which never really happened in a Sonic game before.
I've always loved this game, and unlike many gamers when it was released, I was extremely glad for the changes made in this installment. Sonic 1 was the first game I saw in demo mode on display that really made me understand that games could offer much more than what I'd been used to in the 8-Bit generation, so I'll always have a soft spot for it. However, it did have more than its fair share of tedium in all the waiting you were forced to do, and Labyrinth Zone is one of the worst areas in all of classic Sonic with how slow, long, boring and unpleasant it is to play through. That said, it's still a very enjoyable game.
Sonic 2 was also great. I had a younger brother who'd always play as Tails in 1-player mode to act as my decoy and buddy whilst I blew through the levels. Therein lies the problem. As you'd said, too great an emphasis is placed on speed, leading to a short, very easy and shallow Sonic experience overall. Unless you elect to get all the Chaos Emeralds, you can beat it more quickly than you can its predecessor.
When Sonic 3 came out, and my brother and I played it and discovered that Tails can not only fly, but carry Sonic with him, we'd run down the timer searching for secrets and alternate routes to play through the levels. Unlike Sonic 1, you wanted to take your time and explore the levels rather than wishing them to end, and unlike Sonic 2, you weren't plowing through them faster than you felt that you should be able to. They did everything right with this one.
I hated the design of Sonic in Sonic 3. I felt they'd perfected his look in Sonic 2, then completely ruined it again in 3. Also I hated the fact that the third game lost the bold and clean looking level design of the first two and tried to take on a more detailed, cluttered look. It was a good game, but I really don't think it was the strongest in the franchise. Sonic 2 was the high point for me!
Sonic 3 & Knuckles is and excellent example of taking everything that worked in previous games and perfecting it.
I actually agree with this video. Plus, it is nice to hear "good" things about Sonic for a change.
Sonic 1 & sonic 2 & sonic 3 are the best for me. Nice Review that i am watching Thank's Geek Critique:-) ;-).
Absolutely amazing critique. The only thing you didn't implicitly mention (but did receive quite a bit of screen time) is the ultimate encounter with Dr. Robotnik in the Doomsday Zone. After four games' worth of busting his 'bots, I can think of no better way to top off the series.
Five years later and this is still my favourite sonic game.
I beat Sonic 1 and 2, but whenever I was younger and had played Sonic 3 I could NOT get past that carnival level. This is the second video of yours where this barrel was mentioned in Sonic 3. I'm quite convinced this barrel was the reason why I couldn't beat the level. Maybe not, I don't remember. All I know is I could never find the freaking end of that level! So annoying!
The barrel made me stop playing Sonic 3 for months at release.
Great rundown of what makes the level design work so well. S3&K is definitely my favorite Sonic game, but in retrospect, I honestly think the insta-shield, the 3 element shields, and the Hyper forms (let alone Super Sonic) break the game. As enjoyable as these things are, they take what would've already been a very easy game, and make it exponentially easier. Most of the bosses can be taken out in a matter of seconds if you bring the right shield, or even just use the insta-shield.
I'm glad someone else thinks this is the superior sonic game. I think even the sonic 3 half on its own is better than the others, including sonic 2.
God damnit, this video perfectly explains my absolute undying love for this game...
Even going so far as to talk about "Complete" which I not only recommend, but demand fans of the game play...
FURTHERMORE.... I've been playing this game nonstop for over 20 years.... TWENTY YEARS... and I had no idea sonic's insta-shield worked that way...
I'm going to go play the whole damn thing all over again for well over the 200th time lol.
I forgot how good this game was. So much nostalgia
I've not seen many videos by you and this really impressed me. Very entertaining!
Sonic 3: Eggman lies to an Island protector to stop Sonic and Tails, while stealing more animals. Stop him!
That barrel....I played up to that point easily a hundred times and could never ever beat it. One day I was bored and kept pressing up and down and noticed it was also moving up and down.
Keep it a stack I had no idea how to use the shield for sonic
The peak of the franchise.
I wasn't even born when this game came out but I still love it and for a really long time this was my favourite video game! I actually think it's perfect!
That's pretty much how I felt about Sonic 3&K, though hearing you go over the merits of the game, damn... it really IS that good.
Daniel Carville Haha, that was pretty much my reaction putting it together, too. This was the first video where I really went into this kind of point-by-point detail, and it really is awesome how solid Sonic 3 is, even when you subject it to that kind of analysis.
The Geek Critique Your statement on Sonic 3 is bullshit.. The levels are an awful mess that just seems like the game was trying to stuff as much as possible in, the other characters sucked because they were just worse version of Sonic, the music outside of boss music was awful. This game is one of the most overrated games of all time.
@@ahatt96 you're an excellent troll.
If the sega classics bundles had Sonic 3 and Knuckles instead of just Sonic 3 to save space to play more games, I would have bought them.
Man I remember Sonic 3 as the prettiest Sonic game I've ever played.
Objection! To me, as someone who played Sonic starting in 1991, Sonic 3 and Knuckles was not the best. You could say that it "had the most" or that the other games not having a save feature and chaos emerald storage over games makes this superior in that respect. But when it came out, I had many problems with this game, and I still do.
Firstly, even from the opening screen, 3D Sonic looks derpy. None of that attitude. Just a round low-quality 3D render with no 'tude. Then, as soon as I started the game, I was SUPER SONIC! The most powerful creature around! And then I'm promptly punched out of it by a freaking echidna. How does that work, again? That was Sega basically punching me in the face, and saying that "Sonic's time is over. Knuckles is the new star and he's the cool one now while Sonic is a weakling." The extra moves for every other character and the stupid insta-shield brought that home if I didn't already get the hint. Sonic wasn't even faster...even though...HE'S SONIC. I can kind of understand in Sonic 2 with Tails, as Tails couldn't fly, and I'd often leave Tails behind and he'd have to fly back in later, but now, everyone was basically Sonic, but better. (Knuckles couldn't jump as high, but still. It's not "Jumpy the Hedgehog".)
Then, we get to the stages. HUGE!...but boring. They are not good for speed runs, either. By the end of Act 2, I'm like, "God, I hope the next stage is more fun. This was a slog." And then I get to the tops in Marble Garden. Here's another thing... The styles are "Not Sonic". Now, they are "more Sonic" than "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric", but I've never played that and we're not talking about that. Still, again, Sonic is soft plush toy and derpy looking in sprite form. The stages are completely different. Before, they were surreal. HALF-ROBOT TREES! Interesting geometric patterns! Now, it's looking more cartoony but less surreal. It looked like any other 2D platformer that tried to be Sonic...but it WAS Sonic.
I'm not saying that the game was bad. Far from it. On its own, it's still one of the best 2D platformers. However, looking at what came before, it was a downgrade. And even now, I don't have fun playing it unless I can be Hyper Sonic and be badass again and have the most power out of any character and also make the slog through the levels much less of a chore by utilizing higher double jumps and extra speed.
This video perfectly sums up this game
Sonic & Knuckles is so hot
the cooling vent on it would catch on fire
lol, Hyper Sonic is so endearing to fans because it's a direct reference to Goku in Dragonball Z, which was also gaining popularity during the same era
Yep. Sonic 3 and knuckles was the greatest of all time, sonic might have peaked, and only gone down but that Russian fan game shows it can be great! That fan base is still here!
Defiantly tied for my favorite game with Paper Mario TTYD.
Alex Olmsted Paper Mario was okay, but it doesn't come close to Mario RPG.
SilentBudgie Don't make me laugh.
It's true. Mario RPG was amazing. I played through it again and again when I was young.
Ahhh... dlc done right. Not only does it double the game in size and excitement, but it retroactively affects the previous game, and bonus stages for the 1st. A dlc that, still to this day, has never been matched in scope.
Nice video, i agree on everything, except maybe the "best game of all time". It's definitely the best Sonic game though. And its in the top 3 of my best platformers of all time, along with Yoshi's Island and DKC2. It's sad how recent Sonic games have devolved since then.
Imgema Well, play Generations and Colors if you haven't. Other than that, yeah. What looked for a few years like a recovery was, apparently, only a temporary reprieve. And yeah, there's was a huge asterisk next to that BEST GAME OF ALL TIME comment, leading to an implied footnote stating, "In my opinion." It just ticks every single box of what I'd want in a video game, haha.
I played colors, its a good game but it didn't grab me like Mario Galaxy did.. and it seems its copying many ideas from galaxy too. And generations is good only because it caters to nostalgia. Meaning that its only good because the old Sonic games were good. Funny thing is that i didn't really care for the later levels that are based on more recent Sonic games. Also, i had to play it on the PC. 30fps flickering on the console makes this almost unplayable to me.
Imgema Honestly, even if Generations didn't cater to people's nostalgia, I still think it's a fantastic game. It's not Sonic 3 or Sonic 2 quality, but it's certainly in my top 5 favorite Sonic games.
@@Imgema For me its the opposite,.
super mario galaxy for me its easy and boring, perhaps you read this a lot, but after mario 3 (nes), mario never reached that level of greatness.
Actual marios are very easy.
Colors destroyed super mario galaxy, its not a difficult game but really well done. But everyone has a different oppinion.
I agree with you : Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the best game of all times!
seeing this video in the plays list mention a video about sonic CD witch is not in the play list
Hm? Yeah it is, it's right here: ruclips.net/video/isZJyXU7R5o/видео.html
As a kid getting to finally play as Knuckles had me buzzed all the while waiting till Christmas Day, so teasing us with him in the first part was a perfect marketing ploy too.
In terms of flaws, I kinda wished they'd done something with the 2 player mode with the lock on, maybe S+K could have had it's own set of levels to combine with S3 (which would have likely added to it's standalone appeal too). They could have at least fixed Knuckles' move set. Compared to the expansive one player experience, Competition Mode seems so underwhelming.
I do kinda agree on it's scale otherwise however, it set my ridiculous standards for expansion in levels and characters in platformers. While the likes of Mario and Crash were fun for me, I was always disappointed whenever they ruined progression by recycling levels or tunes or being so out with the times as to not have three fully playable characters with their own stories.
So when is Tails and Knuckles ever gonna get a real Super/ Hyper form?
Amazing video! Well done.
I have a question does it have a virus
I got a Sonic Fusion toothbrush ad. Go figure.
I don't get the conveyor belt thing. Can someone explain?
Games were $50 back then? Damn I remember when I saw Kingdom Hearts 2 for $60 and thought that was crazy, hope it never reaches $70... oh wait DLC made it so it went over that.
In my opinion this is the best game of all time
This game is definitely better than Ocarina of Time, Tony Hawk 2, GTA 4, Soul Calibur, Mario Galaxy, Diablo 2, Super Metroid, [insert favorite Final Fantasy here], Skyrim, Goldeneye, Mass Effect 2, Half Life 2, and World of Warcraft.
Just pokin' fun :P
Well, I mean, _I_ think it is. But that's because it's more to my tastes than any of the other games you mentioned. That whole "best game of all time" thing should be read as pretty tongue-in-cheek. Gaming is WAY too subjective to make a declarative statement like that, and really have it hold any water. And in the years since I made this video, I've kind of come to wish that the culture would get away from phrases like that. I mean, it WON'T, but it doesn't really mean much. As an example, the exact same elements that some people would cite as the reason that Skyrim is the best game ever, might be the same ones that caused ME to find it a bit of a bore.
It IS all opinion based, isn't it?. And we have set criteria for "objectively good game design," but at its core, that's actually subjective too. All it takes is a game to come out that smashes design expectations and rewires what we thought of as "bad" gameplay. You'll get people that hate it, and people that love it.
I'm really glad I got to find out about this channel early, you do amazing reviews and made me play the sonic classic series once again for the 100th time
I got an ad for something called sonic fusion. Huh.
RUclips gave me an add for the Sonic Fusion thoothbrush before this video. I just thought that was funny.
I 100% agree with EVERYTHING stated in this video.
Anyone else not able to find the Sonic CD episode?
If you check the playlist of the sonic videos you can find the selection video for the Jp or US soundtrack, go into the description of that video and there are links for them
Not my favourite you can't defeat the marble garden boss as tails I tried
Great video but I like the level design of Sonic 2 quite a bit better.
& Knuckles
what's the song remix for ice cap zone act 2 heard at 8:00
I wish I could tell ya. I found it a few years ago, when I was trying to find a good Ice Cap remix to use for Cool Edge in the Generations Unleashed mod. I've tried, but haven't been able to find it again.
okay man thanks for the reply.
It’s been over 5 years but in case you happen to see this and still haven’t found it here ya go: www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/364020
Sonic & knuckles has better background art than Sonic 3.
SIGN THE PETITION PEOPLE!!!
and then somthing called sonic mania happened
Who else knew about the lil "easter egg" where once Knuckles is worn out and panting in Sky Sanctuary, if you duck down by him to see how he is, he motions to you to go on. Always loved that, such an awesome attention to detail that I'm sure many people missed.
Cybershell
I knew about it as I got it every time as a child
Yep
I remember this from the video "The time sonic made me question my sanity"
Cybershell!
& Knuckles
34 mb?! that's an average N64 game lol Never realized just how big S3&K was.
But 1 genesis cartridge was 4mb?
1 Mb is 1 MB devided by 8, guys
So 125 KB
ISPs have a tendency to promote with big numbers, but theyre actually talking about Mbs, not MBs
@@D3sdinova So the cartridge would still boast…
34 MEGA POWER!!!!!!
@ELI BONHAM What are you even going on about?
@ELI BONHAM it wasn't tho.
I thought I was a hardcore S3&K fan until you said there were 77 giant rings. I might have found half of them. And I've played the game through upwards of 20 times.
I've probably beaten it hundreds of times, and I still find new ones every time I go looking. Check out the site Zone:0 if you haven't. They do in-depth level analysis for each zone in the classic series. I just opened all of those and added up how many transporter rings they reported.
I've been playing the game since it's release in 1994. At least once a year, around Christmas vacation, I'll delete all my old saves and play it again. It wasn't until this video where I noticed Sonic pushing spikes to the side to get to super ring from above. 20 years. Never knew that shortcut. xD
@@TGCClassic That means there's really no definitive answer to this unless someone rips the data and adds up every time the sprite appears. Or someone interviews the dev team. Probably there can be anywhere between 77 and 144 of those things.
@@charliekahn4205 Sonic Retro has all the level maps including visual indicators of where the big rings are.
This a prime example of what sonic truly is. He wasn't just a mario killer, and he isn't just some cartoony hedgehog. Sonic is meant to impress and excite.
That's why the recent games feel souless. They dont have faith in themselves. like it's ashamed of being sonic, and playing it safe is better. When Sonic is so much more. Wether or not you go by the classic Games, or The Adventure games, sonic is more.
Even as of now, it's still not the same.
Playing it safe beyond repair and trying to please the people who complain about everything is what ruining him, and his original intention: being something NOT Mario and he was always that, until Colors Wii changed things up and became his recent successful "3D" (more like a 2D game with 5% 3D and the rest of 3D being automation and drifting) ended up being exactly like a bad Mario Maker game, which is what they replicated throughout the years to come (Gens was anniversary and was alright)
Sonic is also a series that was allways plagued by gross design errors. And nobody EVER talk about those...(mainly because people praising the series played It when they was kids, and make silly statements like "Mario level" or "Mario like" as It Is universally considered a negative statement...)
Sonic allways was flawed and confused to what It wanted to be.
@@1r0zz those are certainly words, which is funny because people talk about them occasionally, you gotta clarify thou.
My favorite part about your reply is "played it as kids"
That's pretty dumb to say if you ask me; because I'm sure most who played it were teens or young adults.
@@iiOmarSP
you mean that a game (cartoon styled platformer btw) out in 1991, on a console sold since 1988, was for some unfatomable and implausible reason MOSTLY PLAYED BY TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS?!?
hell, at 91 not even PC gaming was mostly composed of teens and adults and before the 5th/6th generation of consoles SURE AS HELL, console gamers wasn't mostly made by teens or young adults
and that's mainly by 3 fact that:
1) people born in the 3rd/4th generation kept playing as it was "metabolized" in their culture.
2) games become more mainstream and quasi-socially acepted
3) for a part of the 5th/6th/7th generation games had diversification and maturity. now we are once again standardized, cheap and aimed for kids (with edgy but toothless self serious bullcrap)
so big nope there. someone who played sonic 1, 2 or 3 (and knuckles, and knuckles, and knuckles) most probably DID play them when he was a kid.
hell, I was considered childish at playing Silent Hill 2 on PC in 2003! just THINK how a teen or young adult would have looked playing sonic in 1991 not with his sons!
@I Am I Mario IS a cartoon platformer... Also like 60% of the games on the platform...
Also, sonic is not really more challenging(harder or "adult" as some fans expectorate) than Mario...
It's true that the first stage is bigger and more complex and slightly harder than a super Mario first level, but sonic never smootly gets more challenging, while final levels of older Mario games are HARD...world 7 and world 8 in super Mario 3 are extreeme.
Also put things in context the true reason why DK, sonic, bubsy(lol), crash, spyro, rayman, cyperin(1000 points to who knows who he is) and so on exist is to be "Mario Alternative"...
And the ma in reason why they are not really successful is because they cannot change as Mario change...
Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a fucking masterpiece! Defs in my top 5 fave games!
Sonic 3 & Knuckles is my favorite Sonic game too.
he meant favorite game period
Sonic Mania is my new favorite, but S3&K is very close!
Sonic 3 and knuckles was my favorite sonic game
Then I played mania
@@Victory-in-YAHUSHA Sonic 3 and Knuckles is still better than Mania in my opinion the problem with Mania is that its nostalgia pandering I wish it had full original levels and apparently it was going to but Sega was like nah bro we gotta have those nostalgia zones.
I played S3&K and i had fun, getting all super emeralds too. My favorite sonic game by far, other than sonic 4 ep1 and 2
Great job yet again! Sonic 3 is no doubt a masterfully crafted game and your analysis of it's design was really well done!
“Can your analysis explain why Sonic 3 is so great?”
“YES! YES IT CAN!”
This is pretty much the prefect review of this (very near) perfect game.
Yep, chalk me up as another that considers this the very best gaming has to offer.
WaddleDee105 Glad you enjoyed it! And yep, I know I'm in good company.
The Geek Critique Out of curiosity, what is your favorite zone in the game? Flying Battery is my favorite video game level. It just has the perfect blend of speed and platforming and has so many fun elements.
WaddleDee105 Sky Sanctuary for me, not really for the gameplay, but for the aesthetic and music. Also the buildup in the story to the Deathegg showdown.
WaddleDee105 Oh god, my favorite? I have no idea. The answer is usually, "Whichever one I'm currently playing." If pressed... I might say either Ice Cap or Lava Reef. Or Hydrocity. ...or Carnival NIght. I LOVE THEM ALL.
Personally, I tend to think that MegaMan ZX is the best gaming has to offer, but the most important topic here, is simply how often gamers and designers overlook Sonic 3. Sonic is kind of an odd game, and even though it held it's own, has always had a smaller fanbase than Mario, but most newer gamers have a hard time getting over the way it's designed, and even designers are that way too. There's a lot to learn from Sonic 3, and I think that, with what we're capable of in the modern age of game design, it could be even better.
I mean, I've often imagined Sonic 3 borrowing mechanics from MegaMan, but only the best ones. Everything would be kept, but then add an armor for more controlled dashing, wall run (Not in MegaMan, but still cool), etc. Imagine a level where you can shift the pull of gravity, making the levels a bit of a puzzle, or a boss fight that rivals the complexity of later MegaMan titles.
Man, this game is fantastic, but there's so much untapped potential that a lot of designers blatantly overlook.
You're very close. If you collect 50 or more rings, you can make Sonic, Knuckles and Tails transform into Super Sonic, Hyper Sonic, Super Knuckles, Hyper Knuckles and Super Tails. And one more thing: the super and hyper characters can also get Time Overs after the level's timer hits the 9:59 mark.
The Time Over thing was definitely a bad thing to keep when the levels were so huge.
@@charliekahn4205 And before then, the only thing they really added was a means of waiting out a softlock. (The secret way out of Dr. Robotnik's diabolical traps.)
My favourite game of all time also. Virtually everything in this game is incredible. The controls, the visuals, the soundtrack, the SFX, the difficulty level, the level design, the replay value, the story (very well done despite its simplicity), the atmosphere, the boss fights, the variety, the length of the game, the multiple characters, the multiplayer, the attention to detail... Yes it has the odd flaw here and there, but in my 20 years of playing video games I've never found another game that manages to get so many things spot on.
Without doubt Sonic 3 and Knuckles deserves to be in the conversation when discussing what is the greatest game of all time. Unfortunately it's one of those games that doesn't get the recognition it deserves from the wider gaming world. It seems a big reason is Sonic 2. Despite clearly being a step down from Sonic 3 it's a game that so many more people played, hence why more people rank it as the best in the series. Another reason possibly is the lock-on system. The gaming media and even Sega themselves seem to disregard S3&K as one game, and instead regard them as two separate ones. A lot of people seem blissfully unaware as they play Sonic 3 or Sonic and Knuckles that really they're just playing one half of the game. Additionally the Mega Drive losing the console war to the SNES makes me think that the former's games are forgotten about to an extent. I can't help but feel that if S3&K was on SNES then it would be a much more famous and popular game.
I've played this game I don't know how many times. It is indeed the greatest Sonic game ever made, bar none. If Sonic Team TRULY wanted to make Sonic 4, they would've used this game as the example.
And when Sega finally did put out a worthy game, it wasn't even made by Sonic Team.
OMG the Barrel on Carnival Night zone we didn't know you could press up and down on the D pad, and we literally had 1 person jumping while the 2nd player slipped through the crack. It was horrible.
Have to admit I almost cried during the video, well done!
I couldn't agree more simply beautifully done
LeoHightower
Hey buddy, didn't know you watch this channel too!
juice hedgehog just started recently
Top comment and only 3 replies? Well now there's more
You can really feel TGC's sincere love for the game in the videos. You can't fake that.
Nothing can truly be called the best of all time until you've seen all of time.
Well, video games begun in the 70s, so many people have lived through their entire era of existence.
All time includes the ever-eternal future
I would agree that Sonic 3 is the greatest Sega Genesis game OF ALL TIME!!!
I find Tails to be the hard mode for one reason, the Marble Garden zone act 2 boss, he is almost impossible to hit without getting hit yourself.
Hotsex spy Oh man, I was stuck in Marble Garden with Tails, same as I was stuck in Carnival Night with Sonic. I actually beat the game with Knuckles well before anyone else, just because of that.
***** Eh, I find his version of Sandopolis is much shorter.
6:48 I've never actually seen that sprite of Knuckles before. It honestly made me jump a little.
I prefer the Sonic 3 Complete rom hack but I did enjoy Sonic 3 & Knuckles back in the day.
SolarFarle of course sonic 3 complete is a very good game from what I've seen
I started playing sonic 3 recentley, &
*_Rest of comment coming soon_*
Well, how was it?
Lol rip
FUCK YEAH HYPER SONIC
AHHH, back then when sonic games were masterpieces....
*cough* generations *cough* unleashed *cough* mania *cough*
I mean unleashed is no Masterpiece but generations and Mania? Yeah
I liked Colors quite a bit. If the controls were slightly better I'd say it's fantastic.
@@phoenixdown5181 i liked colors more than generations, boost to win its great , but the platforming is affected by that.
Metropolis zone and sonic 1. Also sonic cd
No Sonic game is a masterpiece
TBH I think the pacing of Sonic 3 would be better if every single act didn't have a mini boss. That's why I only added them sporadically in Time Twisted. Because it quickens the pace of the game and on first playthrough first act bosses are surprising and make more of an impact because of it.
I've been playing a lot of Sonic lately, and this video has shown me I need to go back to the genesis games more than ever. I had the games growing up but I never got very far in them. It wasn't until Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast that I ever beat a Sonic game, and my memories with Sonic all mostly came from there. I just wrote and created my own review on Sonic Adventure if you care to watch, I think you might find it enjoyable. Sorry just had to fit that in somewhere. I am already replaying Sonic 1 in an effort to go back through the classic series, but I'm gonna holding my breath until I can get to 3. I look forward to watching more of your stuff!
There were a lot of cool things about this review, but by far my favorite is that you are the only person on the internet to CALL THE SHIELDS BY THEIR CORRECT NAMES. OMG THANK YOU!
Thank you for doing justice to a great game. It seems to be popular to shit on Sonic these days, even going so far as to say the early games were never good to begin with. It's been driving me crazy.
Well done sir! I agree with everthing you said about Sonic 3.
My two favorite video games of all time are Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Super Metroid.
Two masterpieces released in the same year damn 1994 rocks.
They actually called the softlock bugs as "Robotnik's diabolical traps!?" Lmao. 😂
I expect Sonic 3 and Knuckles (if given enough time to develop it as 1 big game) I expect it would’ve been finished properly still and released as a 32Mbit cart with some of the unused data that fills both carts removed to fit into slightly less than the 34mbit that they add up to. 32Mbit was more expensive to produce than a smaller cart, but this wouldn’t have impacted the consumer, Sega would’ve sold it at normal price but just had a slightly smaller profit margin. I agree though that the lock on was a good thing overall as it’s really cool, but also Knuckles in Sonic 2 and Blue Sphere.
Sonic 3 is definitely may favorite of the classic series for all the reasons you state. Its variety, balance and polish is unmatched by the others on the Genesis.
It was 2010, my 6th birthday (yes, im that young) and i got my first ever video game console: THE PLAYSTATION *2* and the first game i ever played was Ratchet & clank
I hated it, and i was a dumbass so i didnt know you can change the game inside the console
The next game was the first game i ever enjoyed playing: Sonic mega collection (+)
I played it, o boy i played it
I first played sonic 3 and was TRIGGERED BY THIS RED SONIC WITH A SHIT EATING LAUGH
Next was sonic &k where YOU GET TO PLAY AS THE SHITHEAD?! Also where is that orange fox?
A few days later a text appears saying "you unlocked sonic 3&k" and i was stoked
And thus, my gaming life started
Also, on a side note, i was so pissed at Knux that i just started multiple save files with him just to delete them so that save select music along with all the sound effects got glued to my brain
I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion but I think that the Sonic 3 Special Stages are the best in the series.
I never new, Sega Mega Drive Game's, get really hot and need a cooling vent, that's Awesome how cool is that sega mega drive really knows what they are doing they win.
These games are also soft coop if Tails is involved. This element I always loved because while normal coop normally involves commitment (aka you can't go on while the other player has a bathroom break) in here that would never work, but they still let you take control of Tails. When I played the game with my nephew I'd just fly him over hard platforms it was great.
The Insta-Shield? I never knew that actually did anything. I figured it was some programming placeholder for the shield abilities.
Calling something the best game ever made is difficult, there are too many legendary games, games call your tastes, you like some stuff and don't other, but yeah, Sonic 3 for sure is the best Sonic game.
Fantastic review of my favourite platformer! Oh and I didn't know about Sonic 3 Complete, guess I'll go check it out soon.
Fun Fact: Michael Jackson himself was involved in composing the game's music.
In all my years playing and re-playing Sonic 3 and Knuckles... I never knew you could push those spikes aside in Flying Battery zone!
This is the greatest video ever to describe Sonic 3's greatness
I absolutely hate hydrocity act one, holy shit is it horrible.
I was so that 2player stages were treated like utter crap in this installment, EVEN THOUGH I played the hell outta them. As I grew older I appreciated the music more and more, and Chrome Gadget music should've gotten a fuller version in an official campaign zone.. that bass is too good to be a hidden gem.
Ah, S3&K... my second favorite of the classic series, but also my third favorite game of all time. I've played this so much I can literally play it blindfolded.
"Robotnik's diabolical traps", truly the best plan by Dr. Robotnik.
Sonic 3 and Knuckles is for sure one of the best (retro) games ever made,
its just so vast, unbelievable!