Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles

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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sonic Team
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code Rating US 2011-01-26 $4.99 71162

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles is a game that results when Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is locked-on to Sonic & Knuckles via Lock-On Technology. It acts as one large combined game and all the levels and characters from Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles become available. In Sonic Classic Collection, the game is oddly referred to as Knuckles in Sonic 3.

Gameplay

There are several noticeable differences when playing the games combined. Knuckles is playable in the Sonic 3 levels and Tails becomes available in the Sonic & Knuckles levels. Also, all of the levels from both games are accessible, starting from Sonic 3. Once these levels are completed the Death Egg falls off screen intact instead of being destroyed, and then the play continues straight to the levels of Sonic & Knuckles. The final boss of Sonic 3 is also omitted for Sonic and Tails.

After collecting all the Chaos Emeralds of Sonic 3 a new quest becomes available when entering the first Giant Ring in Mushroom Hill Zone, which allows the player to collect seven new Emeralds called "Super Emeralds" through a Special Stage hub area in Hidden Palace Zone. When these Emeralds are collected, Sonic can transform into Hyper Sonic and Knuckles can transform into Hyper Knuckles. Tails has no Hyper form, but the Super Emeralds are needed for him to transform into Super Tails, as the Chaos Emeralds alone have no effect on him. There are also several other notable differences when playing these two combined games:

• Game progress can be saved in Sonic & Knuckles by using Sonic 3's save feature (there are now 8 save slots instead of 6). All game progress for this game is saved in the FRAM of the Sonic 3 cartridge used.
• Save slots now display information about continues and lives remaining. It also shows collected Super Emeralds.
• The music used in Sonic & Knuckles is used in the combined game. Thus, the songs that were different between Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles (which include the title screen, 1-up, and invincibility sounds, as well as the mid-level boss music, Knuckles' theme and end credits theme) play the Sonic & Knuckles versions.
• Passing a Star Post makes all 3 Bonus Stages from both games available, including the Slot Machine stage (20-34 Rings required), Glowing Spheres stage (35–49 Rings required), and the Gumball Machine stage (50–65 Rings required).
• Knuckles' levels are different from Sonic's and Tails' in most cases, with new areas and bosses.
• There are slight differences in object placement in some of the Sonic 3 Zones (Launch Base especially). Sonic and Tails skips the final boss of Launch Base, while Knuckles still has to do it (although he skips the first true boss of Launch Base).
• Sonic & Knuckles levels are the same, with one exception: the Mushroom Hill Zone is slightly extended at the beginning, has one supplementary Giant Ring (or, in Knuckles' case, two), and gets an intro to tie the level to Launch Base Zone (Sonic is airlifted in by Tails, Knuckles falls down after having jumped from an exploding platform).

Manuals

• 

  Steam digital manual

Versions

Also released for

• Sonic & Knuckles Collection for PC (1997) (Some Sonic 3 tracks using the versions from the Nov. 3, 1993 prototype)
• Sonic Jam for Sega Saturn (1997)
• Sonic & Garfield Pack for PC (1999)
• Sonic Action Pack for PC (2000)
• Sonic Action 4 Pack for PC (2001)
• Twin Pack: Sonic CD and Sonic & Knuckles Collection (2002)
• Sonic Mega Collection for Nintendo GameCube (2002)
• Sega PC Mega Pack for the PC (2003)
• Sonic Mega Collection Plus for PlayStation 2 and Xbox (2004)
• Sonic Mega Collection Plus & Super Monkey Ball Deluxe for the Xbox (2005)
• Sega Fun Pack: Sonic Mega Collection Plus & Shadow the Hedgehog for the PlayStation 2 (2009)
• Sonic PC Collection for the PC (2009)
• Sonic Classic Collection for the Nintendo DS (2010)
• Virtual Console on Wii (2010)
• Sega Mega Drive Classic Collection Volume 3 (2010)
• Sega Mega Drive Classic Collection Gold Edition (2011)
• Sonic 3 & Knuckles for Steam (2011)
• Sonic Origins for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, Steam and Epic Games Store (2022)

Production credits

Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles/Production credits

Sound test

Here is a list of the music featured in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, as it is located in the sound test, which can be accessed by entering the level select code.

• 01: Angel Island Zone Act 1
• 02: Angel Island Zone Act 2
• 03: Hydrocity Zone Act 1
• 04: Hydrocity Zone Act 2
• 05: Marble Garden Zone Act 1
• 06: Marble Garden Zone Act 2
• 07: Carnival Night Zone Act 1
• 08: Carnival Night Zone Act 2
• 09: Flying Battery Zone Act 1
• 0A: Flying Battery Zone Act 2
• 0B: Icecap Zone Act 1
• 0C: Icecap Zone Act 2
• 0D: Launch Base Zone Act 1
• 0E: Launch Base Zone Act 2
• 0F: Mushroom Hill Zone Act 1
• 10: Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2
• 11: Sandopolis Zone Act 1
• 12: Sandopolis Zone Act 2
• 13: Lava Reef Zone Act 1
• 14: Lava Reef Zone Act 2/Hidden Palace Zone
• 15: Sky Sanctuary Zone
• 16: Death Egg Zone Act 1
• 17: Death Egg Zone Act 2
• 18: Act 1 Boss
• 19: Act 2 Boss
• 1A: The Doomsday Zone
• 1B: Bonus Stage: Glowing Spheres
• 1C: Special Stage
• 1D: Bonus Stage: Slot Machine
• 1E: Bonus Stage: Gumball Machine
• 1F: Knuckles' Theme (Sonic & Knuckles)
• 20: Azure Lake Zone
• 21: Balloon Park Zone
• 22: Desert Palace Zone
• 23: Chrome Gadget Zone
• 24: Endless Mine Zone
• 25: Title (Sonic & Knuckles)
• 26: Staff Roll (Sonic 3) (Unused)
• 27: Game Over
• 28: Continue/Competition Results (Sonic & Knuckles)
• 29: Act Clear
• 2A: 1-Up (Sonic & Knuckles)
• 2B: Chaos Emerald
• 2C: Invincibility/Super Theme (Sonic & Knuckles)
• 2D: Competition
• 2E: Act 1 Boss (Sonic & Knuckles)
• 2F: Data Select
• 30: Final Boss
• 31: Drowning
• 32: All Clear (Sonic & Knuckles) (Unused)
• DC: Staff Roll (Sonic & Knuckles)
• FF :Sega (From Title Screen) In Poor Quality Sound

Cartridge image

• 

  Sonic 3 Locked on to Sonic & Knuckles

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 63522553 MD5 c5b1c655c19f462ade0ac4e17a844d10 SHA-1 cfbf98c36c776677290a872547ac47c53d2761d6	4MB	1994-06	Cartridge

ROM hacking

• SCHG:Sonic 3 & Knuckles

External links

• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles on Steam

References

Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems

1991  Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic Eraser     1992  Sonic the Hedgehog 2     1993  Sonic the Hedgehog CD | Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine | Sonic Spinball     1994  Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Sonic & Knuckles     1995  Chaotix | Sonic Classics     1996  Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island     2024  Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (promotional cartridge)      Prototypes  Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Sonic the Hedgehog CD | Sonic Spinball | Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Sonic & Knuckles | Knuckles in Sonic 2 | Chaotix | Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island  Unreleased  Sonic the Hedgehog (Mega-CD) | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 CD | Sister Sonic | Treasure Tails | Sonic-16 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Limited Edition | Sonic Sports | Sonic Mars

2010  Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic Spinball | Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine | Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island | Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing     2011  Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles | Sonic Adventure | Sonic Generations     2012  Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I | Sonic the Hedgehog CD | Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II | Sonic Adventure 2     2013  Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed     2015  Sonic Lost World     2017  Sonic Mania | Sonic Forces     2019  Team Sonic Racing     2022  Sonic Origins | Sonic Frontiers     2023  Sonic Colours: Ultimate | The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic Superstars     2024  Sonic X Shadow Generations      Prototypes  Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II (Beta 8)