okay minus world. it's time to stop fucking around.

you have to pick between sonic 3 as a standalone game, or sonic & knuckles as a standalone game. no lock on technology involved or anything. just playing one or the other.

which one do you like more, and why?

i'm voting sonic & knuckles btw. i love my boy knuckles and i love every stage in that game to death. it was also my first genesis sonic experience that didn't involve dying in chemical plant over and over when i was 5 years old. i got it via something called realplayer arcade that sold genesis roms officially i think? (???)

sonic and knuckles zones aren't as good

This post was last modified: Aug 16, 2022 at 8:38 PM by Draku.

easiest question of my life sonic 3 starts out amazing with a set of phenomenal zones and then has 2 awful and super boring gimmick zones, the absolute worst shit imaginable, back to back and ice cap isn't nearly good enough to rescue it despite having a meme section. launch base is pretty good. the game kind of just ends, you can tell it's not finished and they simply had to pick an ending point even if big arm is cool.

sonic & knuckles starts with mushroom hill which is ok. it's not as good as angel island zone BUT it has a ton of hidden areas and is fun to explore. flying battery is god tier and easily on the level of hydrocity zone so it picks up the slack there. sandopolis is a solid zone, act 1 is all right and act 2 is a FUN gimmick that actually brings interesting elements to the game unlike the absolute godawful shitstains that are marble garden and carnival night. lava reef is fantastic and super atmospheric in both acts, lots of fun with kino music. hidden palace and sky sanctuary are basically two acts of the same zone and feel climactic, unlike anything in sonic 3 proper. hidden palace isn't much of a zone but it's still a cool and memorable moment and where knuckles turns around, unlike in 3 where he simply has to remain an asshole out of necessity because his arc isn't actually done yet. sky sanctuary is fun as fuck and has great music, it gets you hyped up for the final stretch.

death egg zone feels like a TRUE final level: unlike launch base's fairly easy difficulty and plain setting, you're in for a rough time, but in a fun way unlike, say, marble garden. lots of fun, the final boss is definitely easier than sonic 3's but it's rad so it gets bonus points anyways. and then you have doomsday which again is actually climactic and is a real conclusion with unique gameplay not seen anywhere else in either title. giving you a meaningful bonus for having all the emeralds for once is awesome too, great move.

so, sonic and knuckles is missing like, one "true" gameplay zone by comparison to sonic 3 since sky sanctuary isn't quite there as fun as it is, but considering the actual lineup of zones it DOES have is way better and that, if given the option, i would never play marble garden or carnival night ever again when going through 3. it also feels, even by itself, like you're going through a proper plot and resolving it. you could easily enjoy this on its own and feel like you were getting a full experience whereas sonic 3 will only ever feel like a "first half".

by the way if you didn't know, marble garden sucks.

marble garden is the fun version of a sonic 1 level but there's a reason you shouldn't make sonic 1 levels