Gunstar Green wrote:I'm glad the month is over, this thread was bad for my blood pressure.
Just kidding, I enjoyed seeing some outside perspectives on a game I know inside out, upside down and around and it forced me to be a little more objective about something I couldn't be more biased towards.
Though the criticism did make me question and re-examine it ultimately hasn't changed my opinion that Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the apex of the series.
Because it is
RyaNtheSlayA wrote: Seriously. Screw you Shao Kahn I'm gonna play Animal Crossing.
Gunstar Green wrote:I'm glad the month is over, this thread was bad for my blood pressure.
Just kidding, I enjoyed seeing some outside perspectives on a game I know inside out, upside down and around and it forced me to be a little more objective about something I couldn't be more biased towards.
Though the criticism did make me question and re-examine it ultimately hasn't changed my opinion that Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the apex of the series.
Well, I'm late in again but I did a run of Sonic 3 and Knuckles with Sonic and I like it quite a bit but Sonic 2 remains my favourite.
I think Sonic 3 alone is okay but the most flawed of the 16-bit Sonics, &Knuckles is pretty damn good all round aside from some irritating sections. It's been a long time actually since I'd played them bolted together and it's a pretty amazing feat. Really seamless a true Mega Drive technical achievement.
I just find both aspects of the game a bit too reliant on traps deliberately placed to halt your momentum and some levels that go on way too long (Sandopolis and Marble Garden). That and blue sphere is both literally and figuratively balls.
Funnily enough I rate MD Sonics how I rate PS1 Crash Bandicoots: 2>1>3. None of them are close to average games though.
I only managed to actually finish Sonic 3 & Knuckles with all the characters now in May.
In any case I enjoyed replaying the levels from Sonic 3, some of which I really like (despite water appearances).
The worst of the bunch for me is Sandopolis by far.
Personally I'm not a huge fan of Knuckles given the significantly reduced jump height). Conversely it is a real joy to have Sonic with the Electromagnetic shield which enables double jump. Tails is fun to play as well, remains the most powerful character in general (although Sonic's shield moves and double spin doesn't get enough respect I think - it is also nice that you don't activate Super/Hyper mode with Sonic if you have a shield).
Super/Hyper Knuckles is apparently just Knuckles with the speed and invincibility power ups, which is a bit of a disappointment. Does he even jump higher?
I don't see why they didn't let Tails have Super/Hyper, Super could be, like Knuckles, just speed+invincibility while the rings last. Anyway the auto-targeting help is really cute and a good power-up, particularly against some bosses.
Super Sonic jumps significantly higher and Hyper Sonic is a blast (although one can easily lose lives by enjoying zooming around). I already commented on the epic-level of S&K's Sonic ending, which applies to S3&K as well with even more length (frankly I think the combined game is too long, but one understands why that happens given they released them separately and they can be played individually at reasonable lengths).
The other characters endings are a bit weak I guess.
Overall I still prefer Sonic 2, for nostalgia reasons maybe, but Sonic 3 and S&K are both really good entries overall and there's some really fun stuff.
Ivo wrote:Super/Hyper Knuckles is apparently just Knuckles with the speed and invincibility power ups, which is a bit of a disappointment. Does he even jump higher?
I don't think he does. Hyper Knuckles causes an earthquake when he glides into a wall, clearing any enemies on screen. It's cool but functionally pointless.
