Sonic & Knuckles
Reviewed by Dyson Turner
Sonic & Knuckles, the forth installment in this series,
though not as good as the 3rd game it still holds its own.
This is definitely a game I wouldn't deny a good experience
on and I really recommend it. This time some things have
been changed, but made room for new and revolutionary
changes. For instance this game has no 2 player, mode even
though there are 2 main characters, they are 2 different
games. Also different is there isn't any save game feature,
which was present in the 3rd installment, which is a huge
bummer. This game wasn't as hard though so it really wasn't
necessary. When I first played this game I was not really
impressed, it had just about the same graphics from Sonic
the Hedgehog 3, and only few other things were noticeably
improved. The music in the beginning was different but it
was at least better than the music in Sonic 3. Sonic did the
same moves he did in Sonic 3, but Knuckles had new moves,
which was a good thing. Also new to this game was the fact
that you could put a game on top of it the other 2 Sonic as
a matter of fact and play new adventures. This was the first
and only Genesis game capable of doing it, and was the games
main attraction. This game had even more hype around it than
Sonic 3, and in my opinion lived up to every bit of it. This
is one of those games that you will never regret getting and
every one marveled over when this first hit the shelves.
Story 10/10
Well Sonic & Knuckles story was different from each other.
Sonic right after the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, landed
back on Angel Island. Dr. Robotnik once again was presumed
dead, but he made his comeback as well, and his doomsday
device also landed on the island unscathed. Sonic lost
contact with his little bud Tails, and was doing his one on
his own again. Dr. Robotnik recaptured all the little
animals he can find and made them all badniks again. This
was Sonic's last chance to free his world of Robotnik but he
also had to watch to for that pesky Echidna Knuckle. At this
point the Chaos Emeralds were useless, but there were more
that had even better powers and he needed to find those and
so did Robotnik to finally rule the world.
Knuckles feeling all threat was over from he finally had
some time to relax I nthe shade. That is when a huge bomb
came and blew up in his face, he thought it was that rude
and arrogant hedgehog, and thought that Sonic was the enemy.
Back then and in the 3rd game Knuckles thought that Sonic
was the enemy, and that he could trust Robotnik, so he went
on the path to track down Sonic. He also was there to
protect the Chaos Emeralds that were on that island. He
always though that robotnik was the good guy.
These stories eventually meet up and make this game have the
best story ever. In my opinion this game was a brilliant way
to end off the series of games.
Graphics 10/10
The graphics were splendid just like they were on Sonic the
Hedgehog 3. You could tell that some things have been
improved like the overall speed in the game, and some of the
small things that Sonic and Knuckles did. The enemies looked
great as well, and showed a lot of realism and color.
Everything in this game had a great deal of realism, and it
is amazing to believe that this and the 3rd one came out in
the same year. Knuckles looked exactly the same way he did
in Sonic 3, but his body detail was different. He now had a
wait to long stance just like Sonic and Tails did in the
other games in this series. Also the opening scene was
fantastic and the best in the series. You see Sonic fall and
a small piece of land right next to Sonic, and they both are
very large and detailed. Some of the backgrounds did look
the same, and were the same as the ones in Sonic 3, well
that would be excepted. Seeing as though this game did take
place around the same time that one did, and that they were
both on Angel Island. Some stages really out did expectation
like the Desert and the Pyramids with the well detailed
ghost characters looked just as good as what the SNES was
producing. These graphics as well as its many other versions
in my opinion were the absolute best on Genesis, and you
really weren't getting any better than this.
Sound 10/10
From the opening theme to the ending credits this game was
pure gold in the sound department. Really love what they did
with the opening theme, and this one really fits the way the
Sonic games were like the original 2. Even though its
totally different than the original I still love it just the
same. Then the first few Zones music sounds great as well,
and really will stick on your memory for a long while after.
Some music like the desert zone, and the carnival night zone
which is in every game, sounding way better than
exceptional, and it really out did what the earlier games
were capable of doing. The sound effects in this game were
beyond the norm, you had all the regular ones from the other
games, still no Sonic voice liked rumored but it was still
good. Most of the sounder effects did stay the same though,
but just got crisper than before. You still had the music
for the invincibility stars which was close to the opening
theme in the game just faster, this music sounded great, and
gave you good feeling. Some of the songs did just sound like
remixes from the other series, but for the most part it was
way better than the norm. The music in this game I would
have to say was outstanding. It really went well along with
the graphics to give you an overall better atmosphere and
feel for the game, this game was both a treat for the eyes
and the ears.
Game Play 10/10
This game is for 1 player only, and in my opinion was a huge
mistake on the part of Sega. You had to choose a character
strait from the beginning, either Sonic or Knuckles. They
started at the same stage but went on different paths. Sonic
had the same moves from Sonic the Hedgehog 3, such as the
regular spin, the spin dash and the sharp spin. Knuckles had
a nice array of moves, he did have all the moves Sonic did
plus more. Like the float, and he grabs walls and climbs up
them plus some more. I say that this game did have more acts
and zones than the last one but it just wasn't that hard.
You had all the sane items that were present in the other
Sonic 3 and only Sonic could use their powers. You had the
same special stage found in Sonic 3, where you are in a 3D
ring and you have to collect all the spheres. Though now
there are two other special stages. These special stages
don't get you a Chaos Emerald though. One stage you hit off
bumpers from the wall, and grab a power up the way you go.
Some times it is just a black bumper or 10 coins, at other
times you may get an extra life. Then other's another one
where you have to try and make it to the top of the stage,
if you do you is rewarded for your effort. Then there is the
main draw of this game and that is the fact that you can put
a game on top of it and relive another older sonic
adventure. The first and only games you can officially use
this with is Sonic the Hedgehog 2 or 3. In Sonic 2 if you
add it on you get a new title screen, where you can only
play as Knuckles though. You get all the power ups and
everything is set up like it is in Sonic 2 but you can get
and do something easier as Knuckles. Then for maximum
enjoyment, play this with Sonic 3 and this is probably the
most fun you'll ever have. Now you can finally play as
Knuckles in Sonic 3, which has been, rumored a lot about
when it was released. You again the same lay out but you can
visit different parts of each stage, and play in places
Sonic couldn't go before. This is very cool and it seems
like Sega had plans for this because they stuck all that
extra stuff in there anyway, despite the fact at the time
you couldn't use it. I just wish more games had utilized
this technology. The difficulty in this game I would say is
intermediate, although if you an expert and have beaten the
other Sonic's cleanly then this should be no problem for
you. There is not any save or password feature.
Overall 10/10
This is an overall fun game it had great graphics, sound and
was fun to play. I had only a few gripes with this one. My
only few gripe with this were few like the fact there was no
two-player mode. I think it would of been great since the
were on Knuckles Angel Island that he would have had a side
kick like Sonic had Tails. Or at least Tails being in the
game it would have made it more enjoyable. Amy feel as
though because of the add on technology that lead to the
fact many of the older features had to be cut out in order
to preserve continuity, and it just wasn't much room left. I
would have rather had those features sacrificed because it
would have been much cooler for both of them too have
sidekicks. Some other things in this game were problems for
me. Like the fact there was no options so thus you couldn't
play the fun competitive mode. I think that should have been
at least been included, which was a huge mistake. Plus the
fact that no other games after this one utilize this feature
so it really was worthless. It was fun for a while but your
basically still playing the same game. The fun factor was
low though; it wasn't fun playing without a second player,
which I got accustomed to in the other two games. On the
contrary the replay value was really high. Since the fact it
did have the add on technology it made both of the older
games and this one more fun, and could have you playing it
for weeks. This was a very good game to cap off the Genesis
series of Sonic games, I think if there would have been more
it would been ridiculously and it would ruined the whole
experience. This is one of the star games in any body
Genesis collection, and will be remembered as one of the
best games ever. This was probably tied with Sonic 1 in my
opinion, the 2nd and the 3rd one was better though. There
were just a few things in this game that hampered this game,
and it just seems like a continuation of Sonic the Hedgehog
3. In other words it really wasn't that necessary for it to
be like this, and it could have been better. Even though
they did try and add on as much stuff as possible most of
the stuff really didn't need to be there. Well any way I
would still recommend this game for anyone who is looking
for a good title though. This is one of the games that are a
must have in my opinion.
OR
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