Is this considered a trilogy or a tetralogy? I mean it’s two games but it was meant for one. I’ll say it’s a trilogy but here’s the story. 

Another genesis classic that if the first two haven’t been putting this game on the map, this one certainly will. I own the second half of the game for a long time now and thought to myself “hey why not get the first half of the game?” Mind you this was back in 2013 and I bought the game. It felt so complete playing the two and it instantly made an impact of the experience. I was first introduced to the game by a windows cd compilation disc back in 2006, which I played a lot until the game cracked and became unplayable. Since then I owned the physical copies, digital copies through Xbox, pfft it was even on sonic origins but there’s issues to address there which is why I’m not touching that version. Either way here’s part one of the trilogy. The blue hedgehog is back again in this installment of Sonic The Hedgehog 3! 

Story: 9

(From the manual.) After the events of Sonic almost destroying the death egg on Sonic 2, Dr. Robotnik crashed into Angel Island and noticed how it’s floating in the sky. He learned that the chaos emeralds are holding the island afloat, so he devised a plan to steal the emeralds and trick the guardian of the emeralds, Knuckles the Echidna, to tackle Sonic and Tails saying they’re the enemies of the island, trying to steal the emeralds. It’s up to the two to stop Robotnik from obtaining the emeralds and use them to fix his ship. Will they succeed or will knuckles stop the two and Robotnik finally win against his nemesis?

The story builds up after the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and it’s basically the same story as before. Only difference is that it’s a much more larger scale and with “cutscenes” during gameplay it actually makes the game more progressive than previous titles. 

For a Sega Genesis game. It’s a solid 9 out of 10. Overused probably, but it’s not broken yet. 

Graphics: 9 

The graphics are an upgrade to the previous title. More pseudo 3D effects. The paralax scrolling looks beautiful and backgrounds look more lively than before. Character models have a bit of a redesign (Sonic and Tails) and with the introduction of Knuckles the Echidna he looks good as a second antagonist. The fluidity is seamless Sonic Team did a wonderful job to make this one of the best Genesis titles in terms of graphics. One little nitpick is that I had to get used to Sonic’s redesign, especially his super sonic form with hair that’s a bit too long but that’s minor. Overall the graphics department, it’s a solid 9 out of 10 

Sound: 9

The sound is pretty good. You can hear a bit of scratchy audio that Sega is notorious for, and some sound effects and music gets cut off or overlapped by other sounds. I mean they did well to make it work but that’s what I noticed when playing the game. Though why a high rating? It’s so easy, the music itself. The soundtrack is one of the best I heard from the sonic series. Angel Island to Hydrocity and my personal favorite Carnival Nights. What makes this so much better is that the music changes each zone. A remixed version or something along the lines and I was amazed how much it changes the whole experience. From the burning forest using a more action paced Angel Island song to a more quiet version of Ice cap zone for act 2… this is simply astonishing and made me appreciate the game with how much work Sega did. The special stage music is so upbeat and energetic when collecting blue dots for the chaos emerald and bonus stages music is a good too. One more nitpicking and this is a good one. One Angel Island Act 1, after the first mini boss appearance after he destroys the forest to a blaze of fire, you immediately find a large ring if (you know where to find them) after completing that special stage the music changes to act 2 music but you’re still in act 1. I don’t know whether it’s a developer’s oversight or a glitch but that’s something I noticed and I don’t know if anyone else did. 

Overall a 9 out of 10. 

Depth :  7

The game lacks depth to a degree. Yes you can play as sonic, tails, or both. What’s neat is a second player can control tails and help you out with your adventure. There is multiplayer but it’s racing like before. They expanded the levels and give you more variety though it’s not much in content. Again the chaos emeralds come in play as the main objective as collecting them will turn you into super sonic. To collect them is to find large rings to hoop in and they’ll transport you into a special stage where you walk over blue balls to turn them red and if you get all of them you obtain a chaos emerald. Enclosing the perimeter with red dots with blue dots in the middles causes them to turn into rings which can help you get a continue if needed. Bonus stages are a welcome addition to the game. Featuring three bonuses, they’re there to basically give extra rings, power ups and one ups. Nothing too special but neat. I would say about branching paths to explore the levels more and see areas you’ve never been before, but I feel like it’s best to talk about that on a different review on an upcoming game. 

Overall it’s a 7 out of 10

Addictive: 8 

The game is pretty fun and keeps you on your toes with the story telling. The gameplay is fantastic and choosing weather as Sonic, Tails, or both can give a nice refresh of the gameplay. Sure there’s another character but that’s under certain circumstances which shall be reveal next time. The exploration part of the game is pretty cool and helps branch out to different paths, albeit end up at the same end destination. There’s not much to say about this rather than for being a platformer, you can get good uses of playing for hours, especially if you’re speed running. 

And 8 out of 10 for generosity. 

Difficulty: 7 

The game isn’t that difficult. It gives you extra lives after 100 rings. Bonus stages are generous. Special stages, although some are a challenge, overall gives you continues if collecting 50 rings if I recall. Maybe it’s 100 but yeah the way the game is designed is pretty much player friendly. With the save system implemented in the game it makes it easier to finish the game without restarting to the beginning. I think the most infamous example of it being hard is the Carnival Night zone 2 cylinder. That’s where most people get stuck at but if you know what to do, it’s pretty simple and you will feel kinda dumb about it. 

A 7 out of 10 

The game is pretty good overall, one of the best sonic games I’ve played in the Sega Genesis, and I’ve played sonic spinball so you know how well my tastes are. Some audio issues and some quirks here and there but the storytelling, the gameplay, the mechanics is what makes this game one of the best sellers of its time. What is interesting is that this game is incomplete. It was meant to be a bigger game but was split into two due to various reasons (McDonald’s) and to add the second cartridge with lock on technology you get the full experience of the game, though that’ll be a separate review. This is my rating for the game and the rating for the review 

My rating : 8.5/10

Review rating : 8.2/10

I agree Sonic 3 also Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Really put the Sonic series on the map. I remember when I got this game/s. I found myself playing this more than the 1st and second game.

I also liked this game because it introduced us to Knuckles. Knuckles is one of the popular sonic characters along with Sonic, Shadow, Tails.

It is easy to see why this game was popular the rocking tunes, graphics, and offering something new.

i did the same i played this game more times when i first bought it.