Think back to 1994

In fact think back to February 2^nd 1994.

What were you holding?

Now, I’m sure there are various answers, some of which can’t be printed, and I’d like to say there are no wrong answers… But I would be lying to you. The correct answer was a Sega genesis game pad in one hand and copy of Sonic 3 in the other.

Where to begin?

It’s been reviewed a million times or more by fanboys and haters alike, but 16 years on let me give you some of the passion and flavor that surrounded what many believe to be a masterpiece of the 16 bit age.

Sonic 3’s storyline was one of the complex of the 16 bit platformer age, being supported heavily by The Sonic Comic (STC) and introducing the last truly epic Sonic character – Knuckles (Not to mention the continuation into the Sonic and Knuckles game in October later that year – what a happy Christmas 1995 was.. I digress)

In short, after Robotniks defeat in the Death Egg at the end of Sonic 2, his evil fortress falls from space crashing into an island floating above ‘Mobius’ (Sonics home planet).. Shortly after, Porker Lewis, Sonic and Johnny Lightfoot capture Robotnik and decide how best to deal with the fallen dictator. Unbeknown to Sonics team, Robotnik had formed an alliance with the ‘Floating Islands’ sole inhabitant, Knuckles, and convinced him that the hedgehog’s gang is actually the bad guys.  The plot thickens. Knuckles helps Robotnik escape and tries to help Robotnik get rid of the hedgehog, the fox and all other woodland critters!

Each Zone has 2 Acts, making about 12 playable levels, with bunches of special zones, enabling you to collect all the chaos emeralds at an early stage in the game (Check out Super Sonic baby!). For a completionist like myself, being able to totally pwn bosses, as a 10 year old, was like a dream come true. Due to the multitude of new shields and bonus stages, collecting extra lives and continues was equally simple, however it didn't infringe on the difficulty of the game. Almost all Zones containing instant kills such as drowning (Marble garden being the only zone without water – I saw that on Wiki!), being pancaked, or generally just falling into bottomless pits. Fun fun fun.

Due to the huge landscape and areas to explore, the programmers at Sega were unable to complete the full story on one cartridge, which led us to the next installment – Sonic and Knuckles. How about that? The cartridge was at its absolute capacity for Sonic 3.

One crucial reason this game was a landmark in the sonic series was due to introduction of the ‘Non-volatile Ram’ – allowing players to save their progress in multiple slots (6 I believe). Although the game itself was not a weekend project, the ability to save alleviated the pressure to rush through levels and allowed for greater exploration of the huge landscape.

I was lucky enough to start collecting the Sonic Comic in 1993 and the build up to this game was phenomenal.  The funding Sega was putting into Panini stickers, Adventure game books and Sonic slippers were sending kids loopy. Even sonic Spaghetti!

Sonic 3 had an amazing soundtrack, as have all in the Sonic series (Strongly hinting that you should check the Ice Cap Zone for a quick recap on Youtube). Michael Jackson was involved in production at one point, however due to allegations made against him at the time, he was unaccredited in the games final role call. Can you believe that?  How much had Sega allocated for the soundtrack alone, only to pull the top act at the last minute?

What separates this game from others in the series, or any other games in the 16-bit era at the time was the ability to interact with friends. Sure you had tails in Sonic 2… but other than running around and collecting a few rings, tails was as useful as a one legged man in an arse-kicking contest. In sonic 3 Tails has the ability to carry Sonic over short distances, or lift him to inaccessible areas, even create advantages in Boss battles. Of course leading to breakdowns in friendships and many heated arguments.

Perhaps this is old news (Perhaps), but wherever gaming is in 16 years time, this particular game will always remain a testament to Sega at its height.

Yuji Naka and Hirokazu Yasuhara, 2 thumbs up!