Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles

released on Jun 23, 2022

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles was remastered and released as part of the Sonic Origins compilation, alongside the remasters of Sonic 1, 2 and CD. It has improvements over the original version, such as widescreen support and higher resolution, due to running in a different engine from the original game. Such as the other ports in the compilation, this remaster also adds the Drop Dash ability which starred in Sonic Mania. Part of the soundtrack had to be changed to the songs of the PC port of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which are based on the beta soundtrack of the game.


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Back in the beginning of the 00's, with the beginning of internet as we know it nowadays with jared's notorious video about his day at the zoo, i can see myself on a busted wood chair, ready to boot up the computer and seek the stupidest content known to man, wandering from URL's to URL's.

In this sea of frivolous 30 seconds content, one.. one video caught my attention. A blue hedgehog, spiky hair, a goofy belly and white and red sneakers, bursting at full pace on a field that seemed vast, and yet he was effortlessly running all over the place with an agility and style never seen before.

Ever since that day, i've always been a "fan" of Sonic, not necessarly the franchise, but more the character. The ability they had to make a design so effective that carried a interesting and beautiful message without a single word coming out of his mouth amazed me more than any character with a script of 20000 lines of dialogues could ever do.

In the history of video games, many franchise tried to get ahead of mario, which domination's cannot be overstated, but to know that out of all of them, only that goofy ass hedgehog did it means a lot to me.

With a level design that was complex and deep, pushing the player to comeback, repeat and master it, with a atmospheric soundtrack and a lovely and vibrant pixel art (that is still relevant to this day), Sonic showed to everyone HOW do you make a 2D platformer, sure it has flawed levels (Marble Zone, the horrible Labyrinth Zone, Wing Fortress (not SO bad but still)) on the other side it also gave us the most iconic level ever with Green Hill Zone and its ability to teach in a subtle way anything you need to know about the franchise and how most level could be approach.

From then, you can still question some game design decision in CD a Sonic 2, even tho CD has one of the best level design if you like exploration, while 2 was more speed oriented (not memorable levels but the ost is), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 always kept thing fresh from a level to another, all while erasing the problems from its predecessor. Apart from Carnival Night Zone anything else is just brilliant.

Marble Garden Zone pacing is very good, especially in act 2 while eggman chases you all over the place while provoking the level to almost collapse on himself really got me hype'd up.

I loved Ice Cap both acts, i do have a preferrence for the 2nd one, for its esthetic and freedom that the 1st one lacks for obvious reason that well you're in a underground sooo..

Hydrocity second act is for me the peak of momentum in this franchise, absolute shot of dopamine, well structured as the game always alternate between avoid obstacle, exploration to find bubbles and not drown and finally rewarding you with insane phases of pure speed and adrenaline.

Sandopolis is my personnal favorite aestheticaly speaking, im a sucker for some sunset and desert yellow-ish area, also loved the inside with the ghost and the rise of sand, requiring the player to gather all the knowledge he has of the game engine and mechanics to reach the end.

Boss fight are decent, some of them are anoying and repetitive, however some interesting ideas were really cool like Screw Mobile in Hydrocity Act 2, asking you to dodge the bomb and then use their explosion to reach eggman.

The story i didn't care too much to be honest, but its decent and has some epicness (thinking about the scenes after knuckles boss fight and last level in space).

I know the review was kinda messy and all over the place, writing is not necessarly one of my strenghts but after playing that game i had to right something, because the game is just too good, the pinnacle of the franchise, an hybrid, with a level design that suits both exploration and speedrunning, all while oozing with a gorgeous style, makes it a game still worth playing knowadays.

Its for sure top 3 in the franchise for me so far, with Mania and CD (Generation and SA2 are just behind) and playing it for the first time in 2024 after being introduced to Sonic after watching Sonic CD Intro back in 2006 or 07 feels like the whole circle was completed for me.


This review contains spoilers

9.6/10
Really good game, I enjoyed blue spheres but I prefer half pipes more, the controls are good here, the ost is nice too, the sonic 3 half I enjoy a lot but the sonic and knuckles half here is fine. The level design in sonic 3 is pretty good, it's just fun from start to end, sonic and knuckles is fine, it really depends on my mood, sometimes I think it's good but other times I don't really like it.
Music for both is pretty cool too for both, ice cap and flying battery are my favorite zone tracks.
That's all I have to say for sonic 3&K, talking about the remaster, this is the only project in origins that the devs actually cared about what they're making. Since the others felt like really lazy ports of the mobile version but that's just me.
I still do keep my opinion that 3&K is a fantastic game from start to end.

Neben Sonic CD glaub ich echt mein lieblings classic Sonic geworden

So this is the Origins version, and the current build. It plays incredibly, but the replacement tracks are still just bad. I can stand them, but they still suck compared to their prototypes or just the original OST. But this port’s much better after all the updates. From a general standpoint? Perfectly fine way to experience 3&K for a casual fan. Not the best if the game owns a part of you like it does me. Bitch suck dick.