Oh boy, 3&K. The game everyone and their grandmother declares as “the pinnacle of 2D Sonic”, better yet, “the pinnacle of Sonic in GENERAL!”
So of course I think the opposite 😃
Full disclosure though, I don’t hate this game. I don’t even think it’s mediocre or just ok/average, I genuinely do like this game and think it has a lot going for it, but after replaying and 100%ing it again via Sonic Origins it is an incredibly bloated overrated Sonic game in my eyes.
Before I start to rag on it for being Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, let me go over what I loved about it. First off, may seem like a minor detail but the ability to control yourself in the air after jumping from rolling or spindashing is HUGE, it makes me miss this feature so much when playing the other classic games, having control ripped away from you and being at the mercy of where the ramp or whatever flung you from just never felt right, it felt restrictive. Second, the usual things Classic Sonic games get right are here and accounted for: creative zone themes, catchy af music, gorgeous spritework, tight controls, everything in this regard is as it should be. Lastly, I want to touch up on the visual storytelling, it stuck out a lot to me compared to the previous times I’ve played this game. Technically this is something they started doing more and more as the games went on but 3&K is the culmination of this multiplied tenfold. The way the environment changes throughout your playthrough of a level, the expressions of the characters, the background elements all combine into something I was actually kinda getting into more and more the more I noticed it.
I also like the instashield. While it’s not as fun or as useful as the drop dash, it works fine for what it does: make annoying enemies killable no matter what (though I do think if they just didn’t feel the need to make annoying enemies in the first place then this skill would be redundant, but I digress). I still don’t like the blue spheres special stages but I’ve gotten way better at them the more I play the game so they really aren’t that big of an issue for me, though some of the Super Emerald blue spheres stages still kinda suck.
The level design though…I’m so torn. The main gist is that 3&K segments its level design into two different factions: speed and platforming. Rarely do these 2 elements mix: you have wishy wooshy automated sections where you just kinda hold forward and watch Sonic rocket through loops, corkscrews, and so on for pure adrenaline dopamine, then on the other end of the spectrum you have really slow rather simplistic platforming sections to slow the pace down (lava reef act 2 in particular is just nothing but staircases). This type of structure works fine enough but I don’t think the levels in 3&K have a satisfying sense of flow because of it, and it doesn’t help that some of these levels just straight blow. Marble garden and Carnival Night are thoroughly unenjoyable for me and the levels noticeably degrade in quality during the & Knuckles portion of the game, so much of it just sitting and waiting in place before you can continue. I also think that the game as a whole is odd in terms of pacing, it puts me in a bit of a predicament. Individually these games are too short to be remarkably satisfying to play through but combined the game feels far too bloated to be enjoyed in a full sitting. The bosses don’t help either, they’re pretty terrible. A part of why I always go after Super/Hyper Sonic is so I don’t have to deal with these tedious waiting game bosses and can just wail on them whenever I want (apart from the lava reef final boss or the first sandopolis boss, you’re just kinda out of luck with those no matter what lol).
All in all I’m left with an experience that is certainly good, just not great. Sonic 1 and Mania still remain king of the classics for me.
So of course I think the opposite 😃
Full disclosure though, I don’t hate this game. I don’t even think it’s mediocre or just ok/average, I genuinely do like this game and think it has a lot going for it, but after replaying and 100%ing it again via Sonic Origins it is an incredibly bloated overrated Sonic game in my eyes.
Before I start to rag on it for being Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, let me go over what I loved about it. First off, may seem like a minor detail but the ability to control yourself in the air after jumping from rolling or spindashing is HUGE, it makes me miss this feature so much when playing the other classic games, having control ripped away from you and being at the mercy of where the ramp or whatever flung you from just never felt right, it felt restrictive. Second, the usual things Classic Sonic games get right are here and accounted for: creative zone themes, catchy af music, gorgeous spritework, tight controls, everything in this regard is as it should be. Lastly, I want to touch up on the visual storytelling, it stuck out a lot to me compared to the previous times I’ve played this game. Technically this is something they started doing more and more as the games went on but 3&K is the culmination of this multiplied tenfold. The way the environment changes throughout your playthrough of a level, the expressions of the characters, the background elements all combine into something I was actually kinda getting into more and more the more I noticed it.
I also like the instashield. While it’s not as fun or as useful as the drop dash, it works fine for what it does: make annoying enemies killable no matter what (though I do think if they just didn’t feel the need to make annoying enemies in the first place then this skill would be redundant, but I digress). I still don’t like the blue spheres special stages but I’ve gotten way better at them the more I play the game so they really aren’t that big of an issue for me, though some of the Super Emerald blue spheres stages still kinda suck.
The level design though…I’m so torn. The main gist is that 3&K segments its level design into two different factions: speed and platforming. Rarely do these 2 elements mix: you have wishy wooshy automated sections where you just kinda hold forward and watch Sonic rocket through loops, corkscrews, and so on for pure adrenaline dopamine, then on the other end of the spectrum you have really slow rather simplistic platforming sections to slow the pace down (lava reef act 2 in particular is just nothing but staircases). This type of structure works fine enough but I don’t think the levels in 3&K have a satisfying sense of flow because of it, and it doesn’t help that some of these levels just straight blow. Marble garden and Carnival Night are thoroughly unenjoyable for me and the levels noticeably degrade in quality during the & Knuckles portion of the game, so much of it just sitting and waiting in place before you can continue. I also think that the game as a whole is odd in terms of pacing, it puts me in a bit of a predicament. Individually these games are too short to be remarkably satisfying to play through but combined the game feels far too bloated to be enjoyed in a full sitting. The bosses don’t help either, they’re pretty terrible. A part of why I always go after Super/Hyper Sonic is so I don’t have to deal with these tedious waiting game bosses and can just wail on them whenever I want (apart from the lava reef final boss or the first sandopolis boss, you’re just kinda out of luck with those no matter what lol).
All in all I’m left with an experience that is certainly good, just not great. Sonic 1 and Mania still remain king of the classics for me.