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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles

From Sonic Retro

(Redirected from Sonic 3 and Knuckles)

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Sonic3&Knuckles title.png
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code Rating
Steam
US
2011-01-26[1] $4.99[1] 71162
ESRB: Everyone

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, for unknown reasons, the game was renamed to 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

Versions

Also released for

Production credits

Source: In-game credits[2]

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.

Cartridge image

Technical information

ROM dump status

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

ROM hacking

External links

References


Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Sonic3 title.png

Main page (S3&K)
Comparisons (S3&K)
Maps
Achievements
Credits


Manuals
Promotional material
Magazine articles
Video coverage
Reception
Merchandise


Development
Hidden content (S3&K)
Bugs (S3&K)
Region coding
Hacking guide
Bootlegs

Sonic & Knuckles
Sonic & Knuckles title.png

Main page (S3&K|KiS2|Blue Sphere)
Comparisons
Maps (S3&K) (KiS2) (Blue Sphere)
Achievements
Credits


Manuals
Promotional material
Magazine articles
Video coverage
Reception
Merchandise


Development
Hidden content (S3&K)
Bugs (S3&K)
Region coding
Hacking guide
Bootlegs

Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems
Sega Mega Drive

Sega Mega-CD
Sega 32X
 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    
Steam
 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