This review was inspired by one of my friends, who I've been told has said that "A lot of people claim Sonic 3 & Knuckles to be the best of the Classic Era, but nobody explains why that is."

Initially this was going to be something where I'd play 3 playthroughs of S3&K and Sonic CD (A game they consider better than S3&K) to compare how both handle their explorative aspects, but after just playing a few acts of Sonic CD, I just cannot waste my time doing that as it's a game that I think is shallow in every regard. Either way, I think I can explain well enough the various reasons, as I did take notes for this playthrough to note what makes Sonic 3 & Knuckles special.

To start, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a game that heavily rewards exploration and replayability while not being outright hostile with its objectives, level design is lengthy but in a way that doesn't halt Sonic's momentum.

The big complaint I hear about S3&K is that it's "too long", which I feel is an incorrect statement. S3&K's length is to the strength of the inherent rollercoaster nature of Classic Sonic. Many levels have you blistering through most of it within seconds, before having you stop to do some platforming, which gives the player time to fully explore their surroundings to find hidden power ups or Special Rings, before thrusting them yet again into another rewarding burst of speed.

The best comparison I can make is that S3&K's level design shares a similar philosophy to Nirvana's music. With Nirvana's music there is a clear rollercoaster type of design of "Loud-Quiet-Loud" segmenting the song. If the Loudness of the song was just on its own, it would get very annoying, but if the Quietness was also just on its own it would be boring, thus the combination of these elements, with the quietness enhancing the loudness creates the great tracks. So too does Sonic 3 & Knuckles do this with its level design, with Fast-Slow-Fast, which this entire analogy went to explain.

This not only is rewarding to play but also caters to what I think is the major pull to Sonic 3 (I'm just going to call the whole game Sonic 3 at this point because that's what it is.), it's an actual adventure. No longer are we warped off screen to be sent to new zones that have no correlation to one another, this game has actual transitions that show us going from place to place. Acts now directly lead into each other, giving the game a great sense of continuity and flow. The story cutscenes themselves, while minimalistic, feel larger than life and express an interesting narrative better than almost any other Sonic game.

There is only really one low point in the entire game, which is Sandopolis Act Two. Easily the one mire this game has, a level that's slow for the entirety of its runtime and based around a gimmick involving Ghosts and stuff, easily the worst level... but considering that it's the worst level in a game filled with gems like Hydrocity Zone (the best Sonic water level), Flying Battery, and Lava Reef (all levels that made it into Sonic Mania btw) I think it can get the pass, especially since other Sonic games have way, way worse.

Back on the topic of the explorative nature of Sonic 3, let's talk Chaos Emerald hunting, which has never before been more rewarding to complete. Unlike the prior Sonic games which required a ring quota, and to possibly find a checkpoint in the case of Sonic 2, Sonic 3's Special Rings are placed throughout the levels to allow the player multiple chances in a single stage to gather the 7 emeralds and unlock Super Sonic.

This is easily my favorite way of going about emerald hunting, and something I'm glad Mania kept over the "Ring at the End of the Stage" from Sonic 1 and CD or the Checkpoint system from 2. This just feels more in line with the things you do with the blue dude, as searching through the levels to find hidden goodies has been a trope since Sonic 1.

I'd also like to say that compared to something like Sonic CD's robot generators, the level design actually accommodates the player to get these and doesn't just fucking softlock you from getting the best ending when springs send you to the end of the stage.

Blue Sphere is, in hindsight, easily the best of the original special stages from the Classic Era, with only Mania's special stages beating it out in my opinion. The levels speeding up over time, gathering around the center of a group of spheres and turning them into rings to collect which helps to give the player continues and lives through increasing their score. I still think overall that Special Stages are antithetical to the inherent design of Sonic, but if they had to be in these games, I'd like them to be either Blue Sphere or Mania's Races.

On that note though, Super Sonic has never been more rewarding to earn and play. All of those Fast-Slow-Fast segments are made super fast, allowing you to completely annihilate enemies and the level itself, doubly so if you get the Super Emeralds and get Hyper Sonic, who himself has a screen nuke double jump. I did not get Hyper Sonic for this review though, mostly because he does hurt my eyes with his seizure inducing rainbowness. Still, I love getting him.

Let's talk about another thing unique to this game (unless you count the mode in Mania), Sonic's Insta-Shield. This ability, which is activated when you press the jump button twice, gives Sonic a brief few frames of increased range as well as invincibility which allows him to kill any enemy in the game that isn't a boss without taking damage. Orbinauts, the little spiky bois, are now nothing more than another obstacle to take down rather than a sit and wait. It is a move with a lot of versatility and makes Sonic, easily the weakest character to play in the game in regards to abilities, very unique. There's also the Elemental Shields, which while not only defending Sonic from their respective elements, gives him a secondary move to replace his insta-shield, be it a fiery dash, a bubble bounce, or an electrifying double jump.

This game is also the first mainline (fully) playable appearance of Tails and Knuckles, both characters being like Sonic but with their own unique way of traversing levels. Tails can flat out fly, allowing for exploration to be a breeze, and Knuckles can glide and climb walls, but can't jump as high as Sonic. These two characters provide oodles and oodles of replayability for the game, as they have their own Super, and in Knuckles case Hyper, forms with Tails being easily the most broken with his, and I quote SomeCallMeJohnny with this one, "FLICKY ARMY OF DEATH" which absolutely obliterates boss fights.

If you want an answer as to why this game is considered not only the definitive Classic Sonic experience, but the definitive Sonic experience in general, I can tell you: Sonic 3 is bigger, better, and uncut. It has that size, and it knows how to use it. Incredibly replayable, a grand journey, and rewarding gameplay. It's no question baby, it's the tops.

Anyways Sonic CD and Sonic 4 suck, good night.