The Blue Streak - 9/10
Our friend Sonic has certainly come a long way, hasn't he? Speeding through loops, busting robots, even racing through time and doing it all with some total 'tude! Well... Not so much anymore. To be blunt, Sonic today has slowed down. Way down. Anyone who experienced the rodent's golden years would know exactly what I mean, but if you don't, you likely haven't played this game. Yes, Sonic the Hedgehog 3. More speed, more friends, and more enemies! Sonic 3 picks up where the second left off. Sonic and Tail had just destroyed the heavily armored ship of Dr.Robotnik's, the "Death Egg", but unfortunatly it came crashing down on the mytical Floating Island. Now, this creates a dilemma for everyone. In order for Dr.Robotnik to get his vessel up and flying again, he must collect the powerful Choas Emeralds, because after all, those are what keep the Floating Island floating in the air. A no-brainer, right? Here's where the island's guardian, sly, yet a bit foolish, Knuckles the Echidna comes in. Robotnik tricks him into getting the emeralds for him, and to top it off the doctor makes him believe Sonic and Tails are out to steal them!
Here's where the action comes in. Select from being Sonic and Tails as a team, just Sonic, or my favorite, just Tails, with his flying and swimming abilities. Now, Sonic really doesn't have any special abilities, besides acting cool, of course. He does have what's called an "Insta-Shield". By pressing the jump button twice Sonic spins in mid-air, releasing a ball of energy around him. Sound awesome? Ehh... No, it's lame, it's only for a quick second, and never really works.
So, set off on the floating island collecting rings to stay alive through Zones ranging from lush jungles, to mighty glaciers, and even a crazy carnival. Each Zone contains two "acts", the second being harder than the last, and needing you to fight a boss battle against Robotnik at the end. Within each act be on the look out for giant rings, usually hidden quite well. You'll enter a bonus round that involves you... Ok, any immature people might take this explanation the wrong way... It involves you grabbing blue balls to turn them red on a big sphere-world, but watch out! Grab a red one, and you're out! Grab all the blue balls and get a choas emerald, get all the emeralds and... Well, if you don't already know, I'll leave that as a surprise.
The final zone would be Launch Base Zone. This is where you'll need to stop Robotnik's scheme of repairing the dreaded Death Egg, but what's this? Knuckles is still bent on stopping Sonic and Tails! No matter, just do whatever needs to be done and get on that ship! You can stop him! ...Or not. You'll fight one last battle with Robotnik on his ship, but also be sent falling back down on the floating island, along with the Death Egg plummeting downwards again. Ok, so this isn't a good way to end an adventure, huh? But this is only the beginning! With the game Sonic and Knuckles attached, you can finally finish the doctor's schemes! But that's a story for another time...
In short, Sonic 3 has some of the best graphics for the Genesis and truly a memorable sound track, with awesome gameplay included.
I am curious to see how both Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles will be released on the Virtual Console. It cannot be fully enjoyed unless they're attached as one game. For the Genesis the two cartridges where put together, but why wait until you see them on the VC? If you're Genesis is around collecting dust, whip it out, give this game a go again! Better yet, you can pick up Sonic Mega Collection on last gens' systems, and enjoy more of Sonic's good old days. So, if you have it, play it through again for old time's sake. If not, and you're into 16-bit, give it a run. You won't be disappointed.
Submitted by CallMeRoy
18/08/2007
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