Sonic the Hedgehog 3

"Truly a masterpiece to remember"

Already the Sonic series was looking promising. Sonic the Hedgehog was a major success, giving players a new perspective of video gaming. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 introduced even more techniques in gaming. Nintendo really started getting scared after this title was released, though. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 would go down as one of the best Sonic games ever created. This game introduced new special stages, brighter levels, and even a new character that is pretty popular today. Even after titles such as Sonic Heroes and Sonic Battle, this game, when connected onto Sonic & Knuckles, is my favorite game of all time.

Story: 10/10
Yet again, the story in this game isn't all too different from the previous titles. Dr. Robotnik is out to gather up all of the animals on the island to make an army of unstoppable robots. Instead of ruling the world with an iron fist, as originally planned, Dr. Robotnik is after something more valuable: all 7 chaos emeralds. With the 7 chaos emeralds at his disposal, Dr. Robotnik can easily rule the world. In order to get the chaos emeralds, he needs some help, so he finds himself an echidna known as Knuckles. This dude is tricked to be on Dr. Robotnik's side and is out to prevent Sonic from gathering up all of the chaos emeralds. With a new villain, Sonic is going to have quite a hard time defeating Dr. Robotnik at his new scheme! But with his new bunch of tricks, it shouldn't be too hard.

Gameplay: 10/10
The gameplay in this game isn't too difficult to master, although timing is the real challenge. The controls are simple: The A button to jump, A + A to do a special, down + A to spin dash, up + A to fly, down + A while moving to roll, right/left to move right and left, and up/down to scroll up and down the stage. It's not as easy as it sounds, though, because the levels in this game can become quite a debacle if you don't know what you are doing. The main focus of this game is speed, but in some stages, you need to solve a puzzle in order to continue. It may involve jumping from platform to platform or moving through an underwater maze. Sometimes the gameplay is easy, like in the very first set of levels, whereas at the same time it can be down-right hard, like in the last group of levels. The new thing to master in this game is the A + A special moves that can be performed when you get a shield. In the previous games, all you got was this shield that protected you from attacks. In this game, though, there are three different types of shields! All these shields protect you from losing rings when attacked, but a certain shield has a certain added effect. The fire shield allows you to sustain no damage when attacked with fire! Plus, if you jump and press A in mid-air, you can do a fire dash, which puts you at top speed when you touch the ground again. The water shield allows you to breathe underwater, which is pretty cool when going against those pesky underwater levels. Press A while in mid-air to do a bounce, which can make your overall jump higher. The electric shield (my personal favorite) can do three things. This special shield allows you to dodge electric damage, which could help against bosses. It can also allow you to double jump when you press A while in mid-air. The special part about this shield is that it's a magnet against rings! If you come close to a ring, it will be pulled towards you, which could help in the ring collecting process. Throughout the level, there are giant rings hidden. Jump in one of them, and you'll be transported to a special stage, giving you an opportunity to grab a chaos emerald. The controls are easy: right/left to move right and left, and A to jump. If you collect all of the blue spheres without touching the red ones, you'll get a chaos emerald; if you obtain over 50 rings, you can get yourself a continuation, which is good for 3 extra lives after you main life count is gone. The lampposts are no longer used for special stages, oh no. Now they're for a bonus stage! If you have 50 rings when you touch a lamppost, you can jump in the stars surrounding it. You'll be transported to a gumball machine that allows you to grab a new shield, rings, and even an extra life! With these new additions to the game, it looks extremely marvelous.

Graphics: 10/10
Amazingly enough, the Sonic sprite is even MORE updated than the previous versions. He's now even more blue and shinier than ever. The levels are all still bright and cheery, and the backgrounds totally rock. The enemies look better now than before, which is good. The animations on the power-up boxes have been improved drastically. The speed shoes now look more like shoes rather than rectangles, and the drawings on the shield boxes are pretty good as well. The animations of the bosses look really detailed, which provides quite a challenge. I especially like how well the boss animations go along with the boss music.

Sound: 10/10
The sound is classic Sonic, only improved! My my, did they do quite a deal with this music. The revving-up sound Sonic and Tails make when charging up a speed dash is crystal clear, and well as are the jumping and rolling maneuvers. When you perform a special while having a shield, you can hear the corresponding sound--a crackle of electricity, a blaze of fire, a bounce of a bubble. I especially like the boss music in this game because it is of more detail. The sound and the graphics are what make this game a classic.

The Bottom Line: If you have played the previous Sonic titles and didn't like them, then I still suggest that you give this game a try. The graphics have been improved, the sound is crystal clear, and the gameplay is simply beautiful. If you liked the previous titles, then you'll love this grand game.

FINAL SCORE: 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/19/04