Sonic & Knuckles

THE MADNESS MUST END?

Memories about a certain blue hedgehog? Of course, Nick has written it

» MEGA DRIVE » 1994 » SEGA

Even as a small kid, it was clear that there was a lot going on with Sonic 3 that we players weren’t privy to. Well before seeing the level select screen with its telltale references to missing stages, there was the small matter of Knuckles. He looked like a player sprite, you could play as him in multiplayer, and if you paused at just the right time, you could see a blue version of him on the stage end post. Every couple of weeks I’d get Sonic The Comic and hope to see the cheat to let you play as Knuckles, only to have my hopes dashed.

When Sonic & Knuckles came along later in the year, it had all those missing stages and you could play as Knuckles. Suddenly everything made sense – Sonic 3 was only the first part of the story, and the lockon cartridge allowed us to experience the whole thing in one go. While cynicism taints every fibre of my being today, back in 1994 I never thought of it as a way to break one big game into two smaller games to make more money. After all, they’d got it to work with Sonic 2 as well, and that one was definitely finished.

The only problem came towards the end of the game, in the Hidden Palace Zone. Never mind that the name comes with its own baggage when it comes to Sonic secrets – the big problem was that Sonic and Knuckles had a fight. Now, Knuckles had been positioned as an antagonist and made many attempts to thwart you on your journey through Sonic 3, so having a battle with him wouldn’t have felt out of place. But once Knuckles became a playable character who battled Robotnik just like Sonic, it felt a bit weird and wrong, especially as the fight was non-standard in a few other ways. In time I came to understand what was going on (at this point in Sonic’s game, Knuckles doesn’t realise he’s been tricked by Robotnik), but I’ll never forget my ‘I thought they were friends now?’ confusion.