Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994) (VG)

Director:

Hirokazu Yasuhara

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

On a routine trip to Angel Island, Sonic and Tails encounter a strange Echinda who steals the Chaos Emeralds under direct orders from the evil Dr. Eggman.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Emerald | Super Power | Furry | Floating Island

Also Known As:

Sonic 3 (UK)

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Sega of America

Trivia:

The game has two different kind of bonus stages. The first (hitting a large ring) sends you to a Blue Sphere stage where you get a Chaos Emerald for collecting all blue spheres, and the other stage (hitting a star lamp post after 50 rings) sends you to a bouncy gum-ball machine where you can collect different force fields, 1UPs, rings.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sonic: The Fighters (1996) (VG)

Thrice is Nice!

Sonic 3 picks up on what happened to Dr. Robotnik's Death Egg after it was destroyed in Sonic 2. This time, the mad scientist continues the mayhem on different grounds.

On Mobius' Floating Island, Dr. Robotnik's Death Egg is in need of repairs. But this time, he has someone to help him. This is where Knuckles is introduced, who would become Sonic's friend/rival later on.

Although there are less zones here than in Sonic 2, there's still just as much ground to cover. First, there's Angel Island Zone (the tropical region), Hydrocity Zone (the underwater region), Marble Garden Zone (an ancient garden community), Carnival Night Zone (entertainment in the big city at nite), Ice Cap Zone (the arctic region), and Launch Base Zone (area where Robotnik's ship is being restored, as can be seen in the background). The last zone has three tough bosses that upon defeating again destroys the space ship before it even goes into outer space.

All six zones have two acts, both of which are really long. This time, each have two bosses.

Knuckles is convinced that Sonic and Tails are the bad guys, and as the two are out to stop Robotnik yet again, someone is around to make the mission more difficult. Meanwhile, Robotnik is given more time to fix his ship, using the chaos emeralds. Here, the emeralds are the sources for the power of the Floating Island. In between the mission, you have to recollect the seven chaos emeralds (since Knuckles steals them from you at the start of the game) before Robotnik gets them.

Sonic 3 isn't quite as powerful as Sonic 2, but it's still a very good game.

Next up: Sonic & Knuckles!