Part two of the third installment of the game or the fourth game of this tetralogy. However you look at it this is the end of the sonic series for the genesis, kinda (if you don’t count Sonic 3D Blast but I felt like it’s better suited for Saturn). It’s kind of funny how I owned this game before owning the Sonic 3 and I played it quite a bit. What’s neat about this game is the secrets it has hidden within the lock on technology. This is Sonic & Knuckles (Sonic 3 and Knuckles if a complete game but refer to my previous review for sonic 3) 

Story : 8

Immediately after the events of Sonic 3, the death egg falls down once more and crashes back to the floating island. Sonic, fearing about Dr. Robotnik grabbing the emeralds and the Master emerald, the energy source that keeps the island floating, he embarks on a new adventure to find the emeralds and defeat Eggman for the final time. In his way is Knuckles the Echidna who will attack all invaders who trespass this island, targeting the emeralds. Will Sonic be successful or will the scuffles between the him and Knuckles allow Robotnik to succeed? 

The story is a great continuation of the first half of the Sonic 3 storyline. Dr. Robotnik still bent on his plans of getting the emeralds, you have a choice between Sonic or Knuckles to see how the story unfolds between the two. This is how you end a series for the Genesis. 

And 8 out of 10

Graphics: 8

The graphics aren’t changed at all considering it was meant to be one game at the time with Sonic 3. They’re still beautiful to look at no doubt, and the scenery changing for each zone is still pretty cool to watch as the game progresses. The fluidity of the characters haven’t been changed either and the models are basically the same as the previous title. Special stages and bonus stages are the same and honestly, there’s not much to say that I haven’t said about Sonic 3. I wouldn’t say reused assets… tho at least make it a little more pizzazz to keep it a little fresh 


And 8 out of 10. 

Sound: 8 

The soundtrack of the music is pretty good but not as memorable as the first half of the game (Sonic 3). They represent the stages well and they continue the trend of spicing up or remixing the songs for each act. The issues from the previous title persists here with some minor cut off audio and music when being overlapped by other sound effects or enemies. Spin dash still gets a bit of a cut off at times and the audio still has some scratchy spots here and there. I mean overall it’s still pretty good though not much has change. 

An 8 out of 10 

Depth: 9 

The story continues on with the game, able to choose between Sonic or Knuckles, each with their own paths to go between each zone and finding ways to achieve their goals. It lacks content on its own but there’s something special about this game. It features a lock on technology that when paired with Sonic 3, it creates the full game to its original purpose. Not only you’re able to play the full story with Sonic, but Tails is back and you can now choose Knuckles to play in Sonic 3 zones and find new pathways and secrets within the games. The replay ability is enhanced by a lot and it is remarkable how complete the game feels when the two cartridges combine together. 

What makes it better for the story is that it can come with different endings whether or not you collected every emerald in the game. It gives you the final boss if super sonic (tails or knuckles) and it gives you a reason to play the game again if you haven’t collected all the emeralds yet. 


That’s not all though, when connected to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, you have the ability to play Knuckles in the game, going through the stages of Sonic 2 as the red echidna. That’s pretty amazing knowing that this is a possibility that I wouldn’t have dreamed of. One trick of this lock on technology is that when you put on a game that isn’t Sonic 2 or 3, you get a “No Way!” On the screen but by pressing A, B, C buttons you get access to the special stages of the blue spheres. There’s an endless combination of the mode and with Sonic 1 you get access to every one. It’s probably impossible to play every level since there’s so many endless possibilities for the game but this is rather the most impressive hidden feature that they had. 

A 9 out of 10

Addictive : 8

The game is pretty addicting when continuing the storyline. It has so much to offer, especially the blue spheres mode with the lock on technology feature. Honestly I feel like that’s the main thing that’ll get me playing for hours on end since it’s an endless supply and I do like puzzles (I don’t know if considered a puzzle but yeah). When combined with Sonic 3 it gives you more options, as stated on the “Depth” section of the review. I mean there’s really not much to talk about in terms of addictive that I haven’t said in depth so. 

8 out of 10

Difficulty : 6 

The game itself isn’t that difficult, able to zip through levels with ease. I mean yeah it brings back obstacles (sandopolis zone turning on lights) that hinders speed and such but I wouldn’t say it is as bad as the first Sonic the Hedgehog game. Getting the chaos emeralds are the challenge, with some needing trial and error to get the blue spheres and obtaining the emeralds. Enemy placements aren’t that bad and like the other titles, it’s more of a trial and error game. It’s very generous giving you extra lives by collecting 100 rings, bonus games and 1 up boxes and getting continues aren’t that bad collecting rings in special stages. Controls are easy to maneuver also, nothing feels stiff or tanky so I would say the game is fairly easy with some few challenges. 

It’s a 6 out of 10


Sonic and Knuckles was meant to be as one game with Sonic 3, but due to time constraints they had to break it up as two games and I felt like it was a smart move, knowing now how much content the lock on technology gives when connecting to sonic 2 or 3, or blue spheres when connecting to Sonic 1. This is truly a great ending to a series for the Genesis and it’s a bit sad we don’t see a main line sonic game until the Dreamcast with Sonic Adventure. I mean yeah there’s Sonic 3D blast and Sonic R… both decent games but I felt like were spin-offs to the main series. Again, is this a trilogy with a two part third game or a tetralogy? Either way, it’s a fun experience for me to play this game and honestly the blue spheres kept me going back trying to see how much I can beat but it’ll be nearly impossible to get every single one of them. For this review, here is my rating and the review average rating based on my scores. 

My rating : 9.5 / 10
Review rating : 8 / 10