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Sonic the Hedgehog 3

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Release year: 1994 | Players: 1-2 players | Developed by Sega

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Game review

Sonic the Hedgehog had already been established as Sega’s golden (blue?) boy by the time 1994 sped around. The lightning-fast blue hedgehog had already enjoyed a pair of critically and commercially successful games on the Sega Genesis, successfully positioning him as a worthy rival to a certain red plumber. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 would cap off a trilogy of 16-bit platformers that combined adrenaline-pumping speed, vibrant colours, and a rocking soundtrack that has engrained itself within the ears of generations of gamers.

But could Sonic Team repeat their past successes, or would this third instalment finally put the brakes on what had been an unstoppable force up to that point?

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 begins with Sonic and Tails flying towards Angel Island, where they are abruptly stopped in their tracks by Knuckles – making his first appearance in this universe. Knuckles then takes the chaos emeralds from Sonic, plunging the world around them into a state of disarray. From there, it’s up to Sonic and Tails to work their way through six different zones as they seek to stop Knuckles and Dr. Robotnik.

As typical with older Sonic games, the story takes more a back seat, but I did appreciate the little cutscenes that take place during level or zone transitions. They make the game feel like one cohesive adventure and add a lot of character to the central cast.

But what about the gameplay? Sonic the Hedgehog 3 builds on the strong foundations laid by the first two games while scaling up certain parts of the action in smart ways. The levels now feel much more open than they did before. While they are still technically linear, gamers have so much more choice in deciding how they want to get from the start to the finish line.

Sonic and Tails can now also acquire shields that act in a similar way to power-ups in a Mario game. These shields offer small, but welcome, changes to the core gameplay such as allowing Sonic to double jump, breath underwater, or acting as a magnet to attract any surrounding rings. While they don’t influence the gameplay in a major way, I still enjoyed messing around with these shields as their mechanics added enough of an incentive to seek them out.

Outside of gameplay, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 still absolutely slays in the visual and audio departments. Each zone excels in establishing their own visual identity, from the neon underwater metropolis of Hydrocity Zone to the towering ancient marvel of Marble Garden Zone. I was always fascinated to see what the developers had in store for me next with these different locales, and that’s not even mentioning the music!

To avoid instigating a toxic internet argument, I won’t mention the supposed composer of Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s soundtrack by name, but all you know who I’m talking about by now, right? Regardless of who or who didn’t write the music, the game’s banging soundtrack well and truly earns its spot amongst the series’ absolute best – and that’s saying something!

If there’s one mark against Sonic the Hedgehog 3, it would be its length. With only 6 zones, the game is over just when things are really getting exciting. And that’s because this is technically only half of the game. Sonic Team was under intense time restraints during development and had to release the other half of Sonic 3 Sonic & Knuckles – later in 1994. This means, to get the full Sonic 3 experience, you really need to combine both games into the ultimate Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

Regardless of only being half complete, this half is still immensely fun, a delight for all the senses, and perhaps the pinnacle of the blue blur’s storied legacy.


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