Sonic the Hedgehog: Before and After

Sonic 3 & Knuckles vs Sonic Mania

Introduction

Welcome back everyone to the return of Sonic the Hedgehog: Before and After where I compare Sonic games released before 2010 to ones released afterwards. This was brought back to review Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces to see if those games will live up to their predecessors. Before I continue the winner of the previous comparison was Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice. Now this matchup is between Sonic Mania and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, the newcomer versus the legend. Both games use the Genesis formula established from the original trilogy reaching its peak with Sonic 3 & Knuckles. And like the previous comparison, none of these games have a handheld equivalent similar to Colors or Lost World, so it will be another mono e mono match. These games will be judged for their Gameplay, Graphics, and Story because adding Music will make this longer. I will be looking at the Steam versions, now will Mania be able to snatch the crown, or will it have to settle for second best. Time to find out, there will be spoilers ahead, so without further ado, welcome to the next level.

Gameplay

The gameplay category where I examine functionality, controls schemes, collectables, and the level design. By which I mean the general design, layout, bosses, and additional content the game has to offer. Since these games are literally similar to one another I'll start with Sonic 3 & Knuckles to see what Sonic Team did and then examine how Christian Whitehead improved upon them. Let's begin.

    Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles the last of the original trilogy and peak of the Genesis formula. The game was originally released as two separate titles at the time, Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, before being released together in future rereleases starting with the Sonic & Knuckles Collection for PC. Sonic & Knuckles had a lock-on that allowed you to the play the entire game and more. Okay, history lesson aside, let's begin the review, functionality.

Functionality: The core gameplay is simple, play as Sonic, his friend Tails, or newcomer Knuckles the Echidna. All three characters can Jump, Roll, perform a Spin Dash, and have their own special abilities: Sonic has a Insta-Shield increasing his attack range slightly but needs to be timed correctly and can use the elemental shields special abilities (more on that in a few), Tails can fly and damage enemies above him, and Knuckles can glide, climb, and break through obstacles. Which leads me to the Elemental Shields that protect you from the elements and small projectiles. The Aqua shield (aka Bubble shield) prevents you from drowning and allows Sonic to bounce. The Flame shield (aka Fire shield) protects you from fire/lava damage and allows Sonic to dash through the air before the Homing Attack. And the Thunder shield (aka Lightning shield) protects you from electric damage, can attracts rings, and grants Sonic the double jump. Before I forget, the Fire and Lightning shields disappear in water. Now for the Bonus Stages which consist of a Slot Machine, Magnetic Orbs, and a Gumball Machine each one accessible through the goal post if you have enough rings. The Slot Machine requires at least 20 rings to access and works similarly to Sonic 1. The character is rolled-up in a ball, a short space, blocks that will eventually become END and kick you out for touching it. The name of the game is simple, reach the slot in the middle, and hope you don't get Robotnik. Getting him beside himself or Jackpot(s) will take away your rings, stage ends when you touch an END. The Magnetic Orbs requires at least 35 rings to access and has you spinning around a magnetic orb of course. The goal here is to get to the top or touch the Force Field below, doing either will eject you. While here you can earn 1-ups, rings, elemental shields, nothing, or a bumper. And then we have the Gumball Machine requiring at least 50 rings to access and is literally a gumball machine, spin the crank, get a prize. You start with a row of springs but will disappear after being used and falling through the pit below will kick you out. The prizes are same as the Magnetic Orbs with the addition of a REP gumball that will rebuild the row of springs for another use. And that does it for the Bonus Stages, each one is short, and will give you something to help you along the journey. Perfectly leading me to the Special Stages featuring Blue Spheres. They are accessible through Giant Golden Rings, or Special Rings, which are hidden. The Golden Rings are used for Chaos Emeralds the regular ones and will toss you directly into the Special Stage itself upon touching it. The Special Rings (the rainbow ones) are used for Super Emeralds which are enhanced versions (only found in Mushroom Hill and beyond) and will let you choose which stage you want to enter. Be sure to have at least one emerald before entering or you might end up stuck. One more thing, Special Rings will be replaced with Giant Golden Rings if you haven't collected all seven Chaos Emeralds, except the first one at Mushroom Hill. And once you enter a Special Ring, you won't be able to transform, enter Doomsday Zone, nor get the Good Ending till you fully collected all seven Super Emeralds. Just know the reward is worth it, now to talk Blue Sphere, the objective is to turn all the blue spheres red. The obstacles you have to deal with are bumpers doing it thing, yellow spheres sending you flying, and red spheres that will kick you out of the stage, no big surprise. There are also rings to collect, collecting enough will earn you a Continue, and can be created by turning a perimeter of blue spheres red. That all you need to know about Blue Sphere, let's talk Debug Mode. Step one, go to Angel Island and grab a swinging vine, and then enter the following: Left (3 times), Right (3 times), and Up (3 times). When you hear a Ring you did it right, then you can pause the game and press the designated 'A' button to restart. Step two, go to Mushroom Hill either by Sound Test (pressing Up once or Down twice) or your save file, and find the first pulley thingy and press the following: Left (3 times), Right (3 times), and Up (3 times). The third and final step, hold your designated 'A' button and have fun. It works on No-Save Mode, a Save Game, or Sound Test. You'll have the powers of a god. I would recommend having a backup save file when using Debug Mode on a save file, just in case. When using Debug Mode you can become an object, place objects, and even cheat death by entering Object Mode before you leave the screen. Which nicely leads me to Competition Mode, multiplayer, where you go head to head with a friend (or by yourself) through five new small tracks. You can play through all them back to back, a single track, or time attack (which is solo). It features Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles with some differences: Sonic doesn't have the Insta-shield and Knuckles cannot glide or climb. Yet Tails can still fly. Some items featured here are Metal Shoes to slow you down and Swap to switch places.