Sonic & Knuckles Reveiw

Rank at end!

Summary

Often remembered for it's revolutionary lock-on tech...it might not be as good without it. 

Gameplay

• There isn't much of a difference since Sonic 3. As with before, the standard moves (spindash, etc) are there and there are also special shields. 
• For Knuckles, he's not quite as good at jumping high, but he is able to glide and climb, two unique moves Sonic can not due. 
• Generally since Knuckles can punch through rocky areas, he takes a shorter path and then faces a harder boss.   

Level Design and Music

• Mushroom Hill may be a hill, but it bears little resemblance to the palm tree lined starting levels of the past. And...I don't like it. 
• I do like that it changes in appearance as Sonic/Knux goes through, but it seems long and less interesting. 
• There is also a place where the player can get stuck in a nasty loop, which is annoying. 
• I think the main boss--while fine in S3&K--is too difficult for a first level (S&K).  
• Flying Battery seems cool at first, but is also plagued by long length and annoyances like false capsule and bottomless pits. 
• Both these levels just get boring, which kinda' stinks since they are the first two levels. 
• Musics not bad--matches the location pretty well I guess.
• Sandopolis is where things start to get interesting. 
• It's still pretty long, but this Egypt-inspired location is at least more interesting. Sonic explores the sandy outside and works his way through the dangerous, haunted inside. What nasty little ghosts! 
• Luckily the music's pretty good. Maybe that's why the stage is not as tiresome. 
• Lava Reef is one of my all time favorites, even if the bosses both SUCK. At least in the second one you can get a fire-shield. That helps. But those fingers are so time consuming, ugh.
• The music is awesome--actually I heard that borrows a bit from an 80s song... 
• [update: fount it ("Point of No Return" by Exposé--I confused it with a song of the same name by Nu Shooz--oh, the 80s] 
• Well regardless it's a favorite by sound and appearance. Lava Reef is colorful. It took a bland idea of lava and rocks and brought it to something more. 
• The music slows and becomes mysterious as Sonic enters the darker, blue cave-like section. 
• It leads to Hidden Palace, the climax which is a short and nice breather. 
• Sky Sanctuary has a more peaceful sound to it and is a beautiful take on the old ancient ruins idea. However I personally have a distaste for it because of Generations. I'm not sure what it is, but I don't really like it. 
• Death Egg is cool yet challenging both in appearance and sound, setting the stage for many similar zones to come. 
• The final boss with out the emeralds is too difficult, I think. In fact all of the bosses are either to hard or long, or both. Even an easy one like in Flying Battery Act 1 will still eat up time. 
• I like idea of the super fight, though--it would inspire many in the future.   

      

Characters and Story

• For Sonic, things pick up from last time with Sonic still going after Robotnik and trying to stop him from getting the emeralds. 
• What keeps things interesting is Knuckles. "While they're going the rounds with each other, who's going to stop Dr. Robotnik?" 
• Sonic and Kncukles fight and, after seeing that he was wrong, Knuckles aids Sonic. This would inspire many rival ideas in the future...
• As for Knuckles, he's just fighting a robot/the usual badniks off his island, I think. 
• Where as Sonic 2 highlighted friendship, S&K highlighted rivalries and showed that the line between enemy and ally isn't as clear as it seemed.  

Final Thoughts

• Man I love the TSR version of Sandopolis. 
• It's always an extreme disappointment...no save file. The put it into Sonic 3 but couldn't put it in &K? A safe file's important! It makes it so the game doesn't have to be all at once and so all that "work" of making it to a zone isn't wasted. I don't care if they needed room for lock-on stuff--it's a step backward, especially if one owns S&K and not S3. 
• Tails isn't really around either (without lock-on), which is a bit of a bummer but the emphasis is on Sonic and Knuckles I guess. 

Final Ranking: B

While a fair game with a few killer levels, alone Sonic and Knuckles doesn't really improve over past titles. In fact the longer length seems more tiresome instead of new.  

Sonic 3 & Knuckles 

These two games are more average alone, but combined and it's an epic. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are all playable through many levels with many chances to get the emeralds. I do think the "super" emeralds are kind of disappointing. "Hyper" is flashy but pretty overrated for what it is. At least it's an excuse for "Super Tails," though.    

Final Ranking S

I think with combined it's worthy of an S. Still suffers from some being too long, I think, but at least it has a save file so it's does not have to be hours worth of playing. 

Sonic 2 & Knuckles

Not too impressed since it mostly just seems like...well, Knuckles in Sonic 2. I might as well play Sonic 2, then. Sure, Knux can climb but he's short and that can be a bit of a pain.  

Final Ranking: C

Average. 

Blue Sphere 

As a bonus, if a different cartridge is in (or Sonic 1--for "full") a new round of Blue Spheres is available. It's good for practice but just as frustrating. 

Final Ranking: D

Blue Sphere's is aggravating. It's a cool Easter Egg, and good for practice for the real Blue Sphere stage, but as a mini game it's generally more irritating than it is fun.