Sonic & Knuckles is a 1994 platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. Like previous Sonic games, players traverse side-scrolling levels at high speeds while collecting rings and defeating enemies.

The Story Behind Sonic & Knuckles

Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were originally planned as a single game; according to designer Takashi Iizuka, the team "really wanted to hit a home run", with larger stages that took longer to develop. The game has been re-released through the Wii's Virtual Console and Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade. Sonic & Knuckles was released worldwide on October 18, 1994.

Two finalists were also awarded a copy of every Sega product released for the next year. It was released around the same time as Nintendo's Donkey Kong Country for the Genesis's competitor, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

How Sonic & Knuckles Plays

Completing a Special Stage earns the player a Chaos Emerald; collecting all seven Emeralds allows the player to turn into Super Sonic or Super Knuckles, more powerful versions of the characters. The player character moves through six levels, each divided into two acts. Robotnik's robots, while the second ends with a regular boss fight with Robotnik (or EggRobo in Knuckles's campaign).

There is also no multiplayer mode or save feature. Sonic and Knuckles traverse levels differently; Sonic can jump higher and has access to unique shield abilities, whereas Knuckles can glide and climb most walls. Since Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 were initially developed as one game, their gameplay is similar: both are 2D side-scrolling platformers with similar level design, graphics, and game mechanics.

Why Players Still Load It Up

Reviewing the Virtual Console release, Nintendo Life writer James Newton praised its support for the old lock-on feature of the original release, claiming that the game does not truly shine without having purchased Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and 3 to activate this feature. Lucas Thomas of IGN said it was "a great game on its own", but the lock-on feature completely revamped the overall experience. They gave it a perfect 5.0 out of 5 in all four categories (graphics, sound, control, and funfactor).

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing features a track inspired by the Death Egg as downloadable content along with the Metal Sonic character. Sega Magazine review similarly praised the lock-on technology and the new innovation the unique cartridge offered, adding that Sonic & Knuckles hidden stages and bosses would strongly add to the replay value of the combined game. Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer preferred Sonic & Knuckles to Sonic 3, stating that he could not fully appreciate its predecessor without its "companion piece".

Sega's 16-bit machine reached Japan in 1988 and North America the year after, and it spent its life defined by the fight it picked. The marketing was loud and openly combative, and for a few years in the early nineties it genuinely worked — this was the console that made Nintendo look like the establishment.

Sonic & Knuckles — Frequently Asked Questions