Why is Sonic 3 (& Knuckles) your favourite sonic game?

[AwesomeMonstar]

Personally, I think Sonic & Knuckles alone is the best Sonic game. Not counting the portables that is. I feel like Sonic 3 is like this extra fat that Sonic & Knuckles doesn't need. It's a great enough game without it and playing through both together, it feels like Sonic 3 is the boring stuff you have to get through before the REAL game starts once you get to the Sonic & Knuckles part.

I played Sonic CD recently and frankly it sucks. So Sonic & Knuckles is still my fave. Sonic 3 doesn't have the same quality level design and flow that Sonic & Knuckles has

Took the words right out of my mouth/fingers

Y'all do realize sonic 3 and knuckles is both games combined right?

[pkdavid]

All the Sonic games have their good points. They also all have at least one zone you can't stand!

I like the simplicity of Sonic 1 along with the difficulty of getting all the chaos emeralds. Labyrinth is the most horrendous zone.

Sonic 2 has the one of the greatest soundtracks of any game ever. The two player mode has to be one of the most unique ever devised, with quite a depth of strategy when it come to winning. The special stage on Sonic 2 happens to be my favourite. Mystic cave is a pain!

I quite like Sonic 3. Although it's not as great as all the others, it does have it's moments. Some of the music is outstanding e.g. Marble Garden. Overall the game is a little short in length, variety and the art in some of the later levels is a bit bland. Carnival Night is the zone I hate in Sonic 3.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is epic and that's the main reason I love it so much. Along with the crazy collect-the-emerald-a-thon to get hyper sonic, hyper knuckles and super tails the sheer variety and scope of the game still amazes me. It genuinely feels like an adventure and is truely a satisfying and enjoyable game to complete.

[Original_Name]

All the Sonic games have their good points. They also all have at least one zone you can't stand!

I like the simplicity of Sonic 1 along with the difficulty of getting all the chaos emeralds. Labyrinth is the most horrendous zone.

Sonic 2 has the one of the greatest soundtracks of any game ever. The two player mode has to be one of the most unique ever devised, with quite a depth of strategy when it come to winning. The special stage on Sonic 2 happens to be my favourite. Mystic cave is a pain!

I quite like Sonic 3. Although it's not as great as all the others, it does have it's moments. Some of the music is outstanding e.g. Marble Garden. Overall the game is a little short in length, variety and the art in some of the later levels is a bit bland. Carnival Night is the zone I hate in Sonic 3.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is epic and that's the main reason I love it so much. Along with the crazy collect-the-emerald-a-thon to get hyper sonic, hyper knuckles and super tails the sheer variety and scope of the game still amazes me. It genuinely feels like an adventure and is truely a satisfying and enjoyable game to complete.

Beast Mode. You nailed it.

[randombullseye]

I like Sonic 3 because it follows 2. 2 was amazing, and 3 was okay. Sonic & Knuckles I liked more, since you know, Knuckles plays so crazily different. Also Tails in Sonic 3 was great.

But for me, Sonic 2 is THE game. But I like to think of them all as a set. Sonic 3 & Knuckles being a noticeable decline, but still a decent follow up.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Just to throw it out there my favs in no order are probably:

Sonic CD
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Sonic 1

And just to fuel the fire. I hate Sonic 2. Graphics sucked, music sucked, bosses were week, and that very very very annoying Super Sonic music. I would give goods to the special stage but the Saturn version of 3D blast has that. Honestly my favorite Sonic game is tied up between Sonic Adventure and S3&K but I decided to go with the 16bit games only.

[AwesomeMonstar]

Just to throw it out there my favs in no order are probably:

Sonic CD
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Sonic 1

And just to fuel the fire. I hate Sonic 2. Graphics sucked, music sucked, bosses were week, and that very very very annoying Super Sonic music. I would give goods to the special stage but the Saturn version of 3D blast has that. Honestly my favorite Sonic game is tied up between Sonic Adventure and S3&K but I decided to go with the 16bit games only.

I'm so glad I wasn't the first to say it. Lemme add on. Level design sucks as there are tons of essentially unavoidable traps set out throughout the stage, which really is crap when i have to keep 50 rings at all times, Special stages reward memorization often more than skill and tails has a bad habit of running into fucking everything in them, the way to get to the special stages is basically a damn collect-a-thon, which, since the rings all regen after you win or lose at a special stage, often has you backtracking just so you can activate the next one, and finally, no fucking saves in a game that definitely needs them. Sonic 3 and knuckles had a more epic, varied, and fast design that made it much, much more impressive to me.

[RemyC]

Level design sucks as there are tons of essentially unavoidable traps set out throughout the stage, which really is crap when i have to keep 50 rings at all times

I've always felt that #3 and Knuckles did nothing about the "unavoidable" traps. They just threw out a band-aid, with the dozens of shields scattered throughout every level...making it wimp easy.

Special stages reward memorization often more than skilll and tails has a bad habit of running into fucking everything in them

How so? The rings all travel in a steady path. You see all the obstacles approaching well in advance. Why would you play a game with tails, if you aren't playing with someone who can control him?

no fucking saves in a game that definitely needs them

you really think so? I can get through the game with all the emeralds in well under an hour.

[AwesomeMonstar]

I've always felt that #3 and Knuckles did nothing about the "unavoidable" traps. They just threw out a band-aid, with the dozens of shields scattered throughout every level...making it wimp easy.

Atleast you don't feel nearly as cheated as when a damn arrow comes out of nowhere at the height of your jump, or a bug attacks at the end of the tunnel, or random spikes errupt form the ground when you run by, not timed mind you, on a cycle that it's been going on since the level started, leaving the chance you get hit purely to luck.

How so? The rings all travel in a steady path. You see all the obstacles approaching well in advance. Why would you play a game with tails, if you aren't playing with someone who can control him?

go to 1:17 and tell me how the fuck I'm supposed to know the one in the middle is coming. Yes, on overage it does go in a pattern but it does pull bullshit like this more often than it ever should. Also, I'd agree with the tails thing IF it wasn't the default choice.

you really think so? I can get through the game with all the emeralds in well under an hour.

Well aren't you swell? I don't think your in the majority though.

[MrPopo]

How so? The rings all travel in a steady path. You see all the obstacles approaching well in advance. Why would you play a game with tails, if you aren't playing with someone who can control him?

go to 1:17 and tell me how the fuck I'm supposed to know the one in the middle is coming. Yes, on overage it does go in a pattern but it does pull bullshit like this more often than it ever should. Also, I'd agree with the tails thing IF it wasn't the default choice.

I always assume the level designers are bastards and are going to put bombs where I can't see them.

When I first played Sonic 2 I wasn't a fan of the special stages. But then I played Sonic Rush, which had a similar special stage, and by then I was older and wiser. So now I've warmed up to it, but they still aren't as good as the S3&K stages, in my opinion. Those ones had some clever layouts.

[Filtymcnasty]

Gameplay: Sonic 3 & Knuckles (S3K) has some of the best and faster stages, although there are some that can be annoying and/or frustrating. The level design of some of the levels are great, while others are a bit awkward, which can be said of all of the Sonic games. The Special Stages in S3K are great and challenging, but feel out of place in a game that has such a major focus on speed. In Sonic 2's Special Stages, you got the speed that is essentially the whole point of the game. The ever-abundant shields are somewhat of a crutch, but the different elements (Fire, Water, Lightning) adds a new aspect of gameplay not seen in the previous Sonics (Water Shield=No more gulping down bubbles!).

Story: S3K does an excellent job of telling a story without any dialogue whatsoever, rather than the simple "Run, Kill Shit, Get Rings, Kill Eggman, Yay." The story gives you a feel of epicness, with the battles erupted all over the planet, ranging from the Forest to Deserts to Cities and finally to the Death Egg. It gives us a "Vegeta" (Arch-Nemesis and eventual Ally) with Knuckles, a very badass looking Mecha Sonic, and a goal to not only defeat Eggman and save the world, but also to restore the Super Emeralds and get back the Master Emerald. And as an added bonus to restoring the Super Emeralds, you get Hyper Sonic, a more original super form rather than Super Saiyan Sonic (yes I said it!).

Music: Each Sonic game has its greats and flunks as far as music goes, but S3K has generally great music, particularly the Final Stage as Super or Hyper Sonic.

Overall, Sonics 1, 2, and S3K are great games in their own, but as far as extra innovations and improvements, S3K is the best out of the 3, with excellent music, a simple yet epic storyline, and great gameplay features that gives it lasting appeal. And of course... being able to save is the shit!