Sonic the Hedgehog 3/Manuals

(This is the Japanese story listed in the manual for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Translation by Sega Japan.)

Main Story

In his previous adventure, Sonic destroyed Dr. Eggman's base, the Death Egg; now the debris has started its fall to Earth. And right in the path of the falling base floats a giant cloud-like mass. The giant shadow of Death Egg hides the cloud... Towering mountains, a gigantic forest... the cloud is none other than the legendary floating island, suspended in the sky.

The Death Egg became a fireball and hit the floating island; mountains were destroyed, the forests decimated...

This disastrous event greatly alters the island's path, forcing it towards the Earth.

The island crashes into the sea surface. The impact creates a gigantic wave, but the island doesn't sink. The floating island now sits on the sea surface as if nothing happened.

Many days pass...

On an island far from where the floating island hit the sea surface, Tails, a two-tailed fox, read a strong Chaos Emerald reaction on the Jewel Reader, a machine he has developed.

"Maybe this has something to do with that big wave I saw a few days ago..." he said.

Thinking there may be trouble, he decided to consult with Sonic.

At the same moment, while relaxing on the beach, Sonic found a small ring washed up on shore. Sonic looked at the ring carefully, and noticed some ancient characters carved on it.

The ring reminded Sonic of a legend he once heard about a "mystery island."

In an ancient time, the "mystery island" was part of the main continent. A people with an extraordinary culture inhabited it. That civilization had built a peaceful and happy society using the energy of something they called "The Mighty Stone". But at a certain point, a faction of dark-minded elders tried to steal the energy of the stone, and by accident made that energy explode.

The civilization was wiped out in a second, erased from history. Time passed, and a god descended from the sky to the newly created "mystery island". The sky god restored part of the civilization to the island, and threw the "Mighty Stone" into the open sky...

A ring washed up on the shore - the legend of the "mystery island" - Sonic, feeling his excitement build, made his preparations for another adventure.

Dr. Eggman, who managed to escape from the Death Egg before it fell, had heard that Chaos Emeralds are supposedly buried on the floating island. From the crevice created by the fall of the base, a massive presence of Chaos Emeralds is detected.

"If their energy could be utilized", Dr. Eggman thought, "the Death Egg may be able to fly into orbit again."

Dr. Eggman then quickly built a base on the floating island to harvest the Emeralds. He kidnapped animals and transformed them into robots, and changed the island's environment into a nightmare with his new Environment-Control Machine.

"Yes! Even if Sonic comes to the island, it will be too late! This time the Emeralds are mine!".

The actors and the stage are now ready; here starts Sonic the Hedgehog's newest adventure.

N.B. This translation was by Sega’s PC division. Looking at the original story, it appears they replaced ‘ground’ with ‘Earth’.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 — Guardian of the Floating Island

From the: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Japanese Game Manual Translation by: Michael "G. Silver" Stearns

That day, as he always seemed to, he was making his patrol around the alter on the island. Protecting the 7 Chaos Emeralds who sleep and control the power of the "Pillar" is the mission he has been charged with.

His name, Knuckles the Echidna. But to inhabitants of the island, he is an echidna called "Knuckle." Born and raised on the island, all of nature and the animals who live in it are his friends. And that which protects his friends is none other than the Chaos Emerald's crystaline "Pillar."

Suddenly something awoke.

Just as he was verifying that that not one Chaos Emerald was out of place, the Chaos Emerald right before his eyes rose and a strange vibration started.

Knuckles was confused by this phenomenon, which had never occurred before. In the blink of an eye, violent shaking occurred within the Chaos Emeralds. Then, as the shaking reached its climax, a "kiiiin" sound was heard along with a brilliant flash. The next thing Knuckles remembered was his own body, seeming to be lightly floating, and at that moment he was interrupted.

When Knuckles regained consciousness, he found his body thrown outside of the altar. He slowly go up, and what entered his eyes as he looked around was the Chaos Emerald altar--partially destroyed. In a flurry, Knuckles flew into the altar. However, in place of the emerald that should have been there, were fragments left of what had disappeared...

In a daze, Knuckles left the altar. He gazed off into the distance, powerless... it seemed like a peculiar thing had appeared around the lake. The sight of the giant, round, egg-like body that Knuckles beheld sent a shiver down his spine.

"That big egg is the dragon in the legend's...."

That egg appeared in the legend depicted in the Chaos Emerald altar--there was no doubt that it was the egg which would bring disaster to the island.

Some days later, Knuckles was patrolling the altar of the island's seven Chaos Emeralds, but all traces of the Emeralds had vanished. While in his relentless investigation of the island, Knuckles encountered an unfamiliar man in the woods.

The man called himself Dr. Eggman, and already knew Knuckles was the guardian of the Chaos Emeralds. He said to Knuckles:

"I am a scientist who came here to stop (?) that egg. Uumu, since you are the Chaos Emeralds' guardian I knew I had to inform you. The truth is, there is an evil hedgehog named Sonic that has been interfering in my research, he is the one who has stolen this island's Chaos Emeralds."

"The Chaos Emeralds were stolen....!"

With Dr. Eggman's ingenious lies, Knuckles was very easily tricked. That is how Knuckles' challenge to Sonic was started.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Profiles

From the: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Japanese Game Manual Translation by: Michael "G. Silver" Stearns

Knuckles the Echidna

• The guardian who protects the Chaos Emeralds on the Floating Island.
• Species is Echidna (Harimogura). Nickname is "Knuckle."
• He is the short-tempered type, but he is a kind and nice guy.
• He's a bit naive and innocent, and easily deceived.
• He doesn't dislike girls, but he is not very good with them?
• Special gloves let him dig holes, and he can break through walls.
• His hobby is, of course, digging. 'cuz he's a mole (Mogura).
• Finding secret routes is his specialty.
• He can also fly in the air for a little bit.
• Likes: Fruit. Dislikes: Bright sunlight

Full Manual

Scans of the full manual, as seen in Sonic Jam, are below.

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