The greatest Sonic installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe leaves a mark on the Genesis solid lineup.
General:
Becoming one of the toughest games in history, Sonic 3 finally offered "Save Files" to help those that have trouble beating the games and getting all 7 of the Chaos Emerald. Another reason is that the game is slightly more tougher then Sonic or Sonic 2 with tougher enemies and more bosses to face. This game did not follow the one path level design much like Sonic and Sonic 2 did. This time, your give choices throughout the level to reach your goal making the whole level much more bigger and longer to complete. While Sonic 2 introduced a new enemy, Metal Sonic, this time Knuckles the Echidnia is the new enemy of Sonic.
Graphics:
Vastly improving on the last title, Sonic 3 offers more colors and details on the level itself. The background looks deeper and more livelier, the bushes in the first level really jumps far ahead of Sonic 2's bushes. Not only the levels itself improve but the characters themselves are now more detailed then ever and along with that with slightly more animations for some part of levels like on a spinning platform or hanging off of vines. Another addition is a much more bigger longer level design. In the first two Sonic titles you could beat the first level within 40 seconds, but this time you'll beat the level within 2 minutes thanks to mini-bosses at the first acts of each level. But there are moments when the game it self starts to slow down especially when you carry more then a 100 rings and get hit while there are more then 2 enemies on screen, the game WILL slow down to a crawl badly but only for a while. Overall the graphics didn't really push the console but it's excellent conisdering one of the Genesis' last major title.
Sounds:
One of the average soundtracks on any Sonic titles especially over the annoying final boss song on Sonic 2. There are some songs worth listening like "Marble Garden" and "Ice Cap" but the rest are just so plain average. Sometimes the song WILL get on your nerves like "Carnival Night" and "Launch Base" with the repeat of midi instrumental breaks. The sound effects are a half a step above Sonic 2 as most experienced Sonic 2 vet will defenitly notice the recycled sound effects. But the newer ones are much better then the older ones and has a little more "oomf" into them but overall the sounds of the game are good but not great.
Gameplay:
While the developers were trying to keep Sonic's fast paced style while inputting a much more bigger level requring you to go back and forth as you progress through the level but there will be some moments where you will try to outrun dangers like on the first level you'll get chased by a Plane Bomber while you try to outrun it to avoid getting bombed to peices. But there are some blind deathtraps scattered around abou forcing you to not to take Sonic's speed with careless attitude. It keeps the level tough but can get tediously annoying unlike "Hydrocity" since 60% of the level is filled with water and you can drown within 20 seconds unless youget air by getting out of there or finding air bubbles. Even though this game looks simple to play through from looking at the pictures but it is tough. Not because of the enemies but sometimes despite the level's vairity of design you can sometimes get lost among the level. Luckily this game has save files so you can save your game on checkpoints when you get tired of the game you can come back to the same level you left off. Even the total number of emeralds you have gained. You can still keep those emeralds when you beat the game and try to collect more if you didn't get them all on your first run. Overall the level design is worth remembering but the placements of traps and enemies can get really frustrating for newcomers.