Sonic the Hedgehog 3, often abbreviated and officially titled in Europe as Sonic 3, is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It was developed in the United States by members of Sonic Team working at Sega Technical Institute, and was published by Sega, debuting worldwide in the first half of 1994. The game is a sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and follows on directly from the end of the game, in which Sonic defeated his enemy, Dr. Robotnik; crash-landing on a floating island, Sonic encounters new character Knuckles the Echidna, and must once more retrieve the Chaos Emeralds while also working to stop Dr. Robotnik from relaunching his ship, the Death Egg.
The game is closely tied to its direct sequel Sonic & Knuckles, as the two games were originally one until time constraints and cartridge costs forced the game to be split into two interlocking parts. Combined, both games have sold over 3.5 million copies.[citation needed] A version re-worked for Xbox 360 was released via Xbox Live Arcade on June 10, 2009 with support for HD televisions.
Storyline:
The Sonic 3 storyline commences shortly after the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Dr. Robotnik's space station, the Death Egg, has fallen out of orbit after his mech suit exploded in his final showdown with Sonic, causing critical damage to the ship.
However, instead of impacting the planet, the Death Egg crash-landed on Floating Island, a mystical floating landmass that had previously been reputed only by legend to exist. As Dr. Eggman begins to repair the ship, he meets up with the Island’s sole inhabitant, Knuckles the Echidna. Knuckles is the last surviving member of an ancient civilization, whose ruins and relics are scattered throughout the island. He is also the guardian the Master Emerald, which grants the island its levitation powers.
Knowing Sonic and Tails will try to track him down, and realizing he can use the Master Emerald to power the ship, Dr. Robotnik tricks Knuckles into believing Sonic is trying to steal his Emerald. Shortly after, Super Sonic and Tails land on Angel Island in their bi-plane, the Tornado, in search of Dr. Robotnik. As soon as they arrive, Knuckles ambushes Sonic from underground with such force, he knocks the Chaos Emeralds from him, returning him to normal. Stunned, Sonic can only watch as Knuckles steals the Emeralds and disappears inland. Once recovered, Sonic and Tails set off in a race against time to stop Knuckles, Dr. Robotnik and the relaunch of the Death Egg.
Gameplay:
In single player mode, the player can choose to play solo, as either Sonic or Tails, or as a team, controlling Sonic, with the AI controlling Tails, which is the default configuration. Another player may take control of Tails at any time by using a controller plugged into port 2. The object of the game is to progress through the levels. In order to completely finish the game, seven Chaos Emeralds must also be collected from the special stages.
Sonic and Tails in the second zone, Hydrocity.
The gameplay builds on the formula laid down in Sonic 2. Sonic and Tails are now equipped with special moves that are activated by pressing the jump button a second time while in mid air. Tails will fly if he’s out of water, or swim if he’s in water, both for a limited amount of time. In a team game, a second player can use Tails to "airlift" Sonic for a short amount of time. Both characters can gain one of three elemental shields (fire, lightning, and water) which protects against damage from that element, with sonic gaining an additional attack from each one. If Sonic has no shield equipped, he can generate an Insta-Shield, giving him a split second burst of protection from projectiles and increasing Sonic's attack radius.
Based on an improved Sonic 2 game-engine, Sonic 3 included more scope than any other game in the series to date: the play fields were three times larger than previous games, with multiple paths for different characters, more environmental elements with which to interact, faster maximum speeds, more end-of-level bosses, and more setpieces, all without any of the framerate issues that plagued certain parts of Sonic 2.
The game introduced many staples to the series, such as an increasingly story-driven game, multiple shield types, several musical indents and themes used in most subsequent games, and introduced Jun Senoue to the series, who would later become sound director of the 3D Sonic games, lending them their signature rock-inspired soundtracks.
Each stage connects to the next, via continuation, backdrop elements or a cut scene to convey spatial relation between the levels. The game conveys a sense of existing in an interconnected geographical location, as opposed to separate, disconnected zones. With these transitions between the levels, the game developer expanded the idea initiated in the final levels of the original title and its sequel. A similar concept was used in NES game Little Samson.
Multi-player:
Sonic 3 has a head-to-head, split-screen 2-player mode similar to the one in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. However, instead of using levels from the single player game, a set of short wrap-around tracks and scaled-down character sprites were created, in addition to making Knuckles a playable character. Players can select to play a Grand Prix of all five tracks, a single track to race on, or race the clock in time trial. The aim of all modes is to complete five laps of the track as quickly as possible.
Special Stages:
As in previous Sonic games, star posts are scattered throughout each level to act as restart points. If Sonic has collected at least 50 rings when touching a star post, a bright halo of stars will float above it, which Sonic can then jump through to access a bonus stage based on a gumball machine, where rings, 1-Ups, and shields can be won.
A diagram of how rings are generated by walking the perimeter of a group of blue spheres.
Most acts contain multiple large golden rings hidden throughout the stage, which act as special stage entrances.
Each of the special stages are based on a three-dimensional, checkered sphere, of which only a small surface portion is visible at any given time. The surface of this sphere is covered in rings and smaller spheres which the player can collect. The smaller spheres are colored blue, which need to be collected in order to successfully complete the stage; red, which results in instant retirement from the stage, or red-and-white stars, which act as bumpers, and will send the player backwards.
The player moves across the surface automatically, following the edges of the checkered squares. At each corner, they can turn left, right, continue straight, or jump forward by a distance of one or two squares. As players collect blue spheres, they will turn into red spheres behind him. However, if the player goes around the outline of a group of spheres with at least one blue sphere inside (see diagram), all the spheres in that group will turn into rings. As time goes on, the player will move increasingly faster, making it easier to make a wrong move and run into a red sphere.
The stage ends when all the blue spheres are collected, which results in a Chaos Emerald, or a red sphere is touched, which prematurely ends the stage. In addition, earning 50 rings grants the player a continue, and collecting the maximum amount of rings in a stage results in a perfect clear, which adds 50,000 points to the total score, granting an automatic extra life.
There are seven special stages, one for each emerald. When all emeralds are collected, Sonic can become Super Sonic by collecting 50 rings and performing a double jump. At this point, any additional giant rings found will add 50 rings to the player's total, instead of starting a special stage.
Super Sonic is invulnerable, and can run faster and jump higher than normal Sonic. While playing as Super Sonic, the ring count is drained down to zero at a rate of one ring per second. Once all rings are gone, Sonic reverts to his normal form.
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