Al-X-Gamer 1/6/11 (This is going to be one interesting review.)

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 (DEATH EGG-SAGA Part 2)





Before I get into the main review let me tell you some history about this game. (Yeah, I know this is uninformedgamer.com but it’s important that this piece of info is known to my readers.) When Sonic 3 was being first developed it was supposed to be the longest, most EPIC Sonic game ever invented. Unfortunately they didn’t finish the whole game before the Christmas time due date so they took what levels were done and added a few modifications to create what was known as the technical “Sonic The Hedgehog 3”. It wasn’t until 6 months later when the game’s sequel “Sonic and Knuckles” was released. SEGA considers Sonic and Knuckles as “Sonic The Hedgehog 3 part 2.” This is true so much to the fact that if you’ve beaten Sonic 3 already you could continue from what you earned in your Sonic 3 data and continue on from there. So without further ado: Sonic 3 and Knuckles Part 1.



First impressions come from its beautiful opening cut scene. The level starts with beautiful music and graphical detail and so starts another fantastical Sonic adventure.



The story takes place right after the events of Sonic The Hedgehog 2. Sonic has collected all Seven Chaos Emeralds and had discovered the power of the mighty SUPER SONIC.

After a show-down with the evil genius fat-man Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik within the depth of his dark space battle station, the Death Egg has become non-functional and starts crashing down to Mobius. Strangely enough the Death Egg’s fall was stopped by a mysterious floating island.



Sonic and his best friend Tails, decide to investigate. If Dr. Robotnik had survived that crash, he just might rebuild his Death Egg ship and even take over the island, regardless if it is inhabited or not. Better move fast, because the only thing that can levitate an island like that is Chaos Emerald power; just what Eggman needs to get his ultimate-weapon up and running again. While flying to the mysterious island, Sonic grows impatient and transforms into Super Sonic; blasting over the ocean toward the large land mass. Shortly after entering the area, Sonic felt an impact. This impact was so intense, that it knocked all the Chaos Emeralds out of Sonic. This impact was a mighty punch from the island’s sole guardian…
Knuckles The Echidna!!!



After Knuckles ran off with the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic and Tails conclude it’s time for another quest to defeat the evil Dr. Robotnik once again.

These graphics…These graphics are the BEST 16-bit graphics I’ve ever seen. I don’t care what those SNES fan boys say, these graphics are bold, smooth, rough, detailed, textured and colorful. Also known as PERFECT!!!



Along with the luxury for the eyes is the indulgence for the ears: the sounds, the glorious sounds! The soundtrack for the first part is sheer brilliance. Every melody, tune and beat not only fits the stages’ environments perfectly, but they also are extremely captivating. Like that of Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda and Mega Man, if you hear remixes from various places, you know it’s a famous tune from a video game. Rumor has it that the “King of Pop” Michael Jackson wrote much of the game’s marvelous melodies. (Like in Sonic 2, the boss battle is one of my favorites.) Some of Sonic’s best known music came from this game. The sound effects are as unique to a game series as unique to a game series as you can get. If you randomly hear a Sonic sound effect from somewhere, you would automatically recognize it. All from the: whoop, the didl-ing, wurv-wurv-wurv-wurv and the spiz-spiz-spiz-spiz; it’s all here in its 16-bit prominence.

Now as we all know, the beautiful graphics and the magnificent sounds are just the whip-cream, syrup and cherry on top of this delicious ice cream Sundae of a video game. Like the previous games you’ll be: zooming through zones, looping through loop-de-loops, hopping over hazards, spin dashing above spikes and bashing Badniks all with your Speed-Momentum based game play (and 1-ring surviving life system) that was in the previous two Sonic games; all at that blazing Super Sonic Speed. (It’s like a roller coaster for your eyes.)

But what’s new to this game? First off the level maps are larger than that of Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 combined. This means there will be a lot of exploration and a ton of different routes to take to get to the end. An upgrade to the standard barrier, are 3 kinds of barriers with special abilities (only Sonic can use.) The way to get to the SPECIAL ZONE has changed, instead of getting fifty rings and jumping into a designated area somewhere in the stage, this time massive Warp Rings are hidden around the huge zones. This time when entering, you’ll receive a challenge in the form of “Collect All the Blue Spheres”. Eventually, it will become a painstaking challenge to collect the Chaos Emeralds, but it is worth it.



     Since there are a wide variety of places to explore, this game’s genre is an Action-ADVENTURE-Platformer. Like in Sonic 2, each Zone is split up into two acts, yet this time around, instead of simply passing the stage you will have to do battle with one of Dr. Robotnik’s various, atrocious… SUB-BOSSES!!!



Many kinds of secrets are held in this grand, blockbuster game. Tails is in this game again; therefore one can plug in the P2 controller to use him. (Or you can select to just play as him on the data select screen, oh yeah forgot to mention that since the levels are so long you can save your game.) Tails is more useful now if the P2 controller is plugged because he can now pick up and carry Sonic to high, unreachable places when in controlled flight. Like a video game should, the levels go from easy to difficult, but if one is quick and careful (or just has all the Chaos Emeralds), one could easily get through this game. Then again, this is only just the first set of levels of the true “Sonic The Hedgehog 3”. The bosses are more uniquely designed now, and later on, they are much harder to hit, but like all (er…most) bosses, figure out the pattern and you will defeat him.



As always, Sonic controls perfectly. None of the controls are broken. With a game like this, a slow down would be hideous, but you can trust SEGA for that not to happen in this game. The user interface is flawless as it should be. With that being said, are you ready to take on the odious Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik and his dastardly plan again?



This game is a game of EPIC proportions and is one of the best action-adventure-platformers I’ve ever played. Truly another master piece from SEGA and Sonic Team, the funny part is that this is only half a game. Probably the best half-done game you will ever play. This game gets a 5/5 (10/10) with the title of WAY PAST COOL!!!

Ps. I’m not a fan of First Person shooters, so don’t expect me to review very many of those.