Collection essentials #137: Sonic & Knuckles (Genesis)

 

Sonic & Knuckles released later in the same year as Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and it is basically what was supposed to be the second half of that game before deadlines forced the developers to split the project in two. And rather than just making two completely separate Sega Genesis cartridges and calling this one Sonic 4, the development team decided to do something pretty brilliant.

First, though, I want to mention that this marks the first time Knuckles the Echidna became a playable character. The main thing that sets him apart from Sonic is the ability to glide in mid-air, which he can do in the middle of any jump, and he can also grab onto and climb walls. He can’t use certain special abilities given by shields like Sonic can, though.

If you look at the Sonic & Knuckles cartridge in the photo and compare it to any Sega Genesis cartridges in my previous posts, you’ll see that it looks different. That’s because Sonic & Knuckles has a slot on the top of it to insert another cartridge into. You can totally play the game with no other cartridge inserted and play it alone, but if you play it with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 inserted on top, something amazing happens: the game transforms into one big, complete game called “Sonic 3 & Knuckles” which the developers originally intended to make all along! When played this way, you play through all of Sonic 3’s levels, and once you beat what was the final boss of Sonic 3, the levels of Sonic & Knuckles begin. There are, of course, benefits to playing this way beyond the convenience of not having to swap out Sonic 3 with Sonic & Knuckles in your console. For example, you can’t save your game with vanilla Sonic & Knuckles, but you can with Sonic 3 inserted on top. You can play Sonic 3’s levels as Knuckles, and you can play as Tails in the Sonic & Knuckles half, neither of which were possible before.

Additionally, if you insert Sonic 2 onto a Sonic & Knuckles cartridge, you can play through all of Sonic 2 as Knuckles! This puts a whole new spin on an old classic, and stuff like that was practically unheard of back then. Sadly the same isn’t true for Sonic 1, although you can use a Sonic 1 cartridge inserted on top to play more of the bonus “Blue Sphere” levels from Sonic 3.

Unfortunately for Sega, while Sonic & Knuckles did technically sell well, around the same time, Nintendo had a platformer released for their own system featuring a certain Kong that was extremely popular and overshadowed the blue hedgehog. Sega at one point had a lead over Nintendo, but losing out during the holiday ‘94 season proved to be the start of a decline for the company that they would never fully recover from. But more on that another time.

Sonic & Knuckles was a game I wasn’t even aware of growing up. It wasn’t until I got the Sonic Mega Collection for Gamecube when I was about 13 that I first learned about it and tried it, but it was many years that I truly gave it a serious play session aside from goofing around in the first few stages. I was in my early stages by that point, and when I finally played through Sonic 3 & Knuckles proper…I was totally blown away. I think the majority of fans would consider this to be the definite Sonic the Hedgehog game, and as of right now I’d have to say I agree. Sonic 1 and 2 have more nostalgia value for me personally, and many still consider Sonic 2 to be the best Sonic game, but I thought Sonic 3 & Knuckles was so great that I’d consider it my favorite. With so many levels, different playable characters, huge expansive well-designed levels, an excellent soundtrack, and plenty of secrets to find, Sonic 3 & Knuckles is one of the greatest platformers of all time, timelessly great and worth playing for any gamer.