Somewhat truncated as a result of the split.
Now that I'm trying to catch up with all the games I missed I am a little bit disappointed with Sonic 3. The first sequel was released to unprecedented hype in the run up to Xmas in 1992, while Sonic 3 seemed to just appear in shops with little to no fanfare.
The gameplay is nearly no different from the previous games. Sonic jumps, dashes, spins, accelerates and smashes as usual. The special stages have been changed again. The rotating labyrinths and speedway chases are gone and in their place there is the cruelest, hardest level I've ever played in any video game. Sonic runs around on a giant sphere collecting blue spheres and avoiding red spheres, all in giddy, disorientating faux-3D. It's the kind of thing that provokes seizures. And unless you have the reflexes of a superhuman gunslinger and have a control pad with responses far beyond what the Mega Drive was capable of you'll never, ever manage to succeed at them all.
The music is also a bit of step-down from Sonic 1 and 2. Those tunes were catchy and fun, while the tunes in this game are just kinda middling and mediocre. A bit of a missed opportunity.
And don't get too excited about the ending. The game just...STOPS. There's no epic climax, no eye-candy, no credits recap. It just ends. I do realize that this is because the game is really only halfway finished but the developers still could have put in something...anything! A cliffhanger perhaps?
Despite the disappointment, I'm still looking forward to Sonic & Knuckles. It's got a lot to make up for. Afterwards I'll revisit Sonic 3 with the lock-on and see if it makes for a better experience.
Graphics A
Sound B
Gameplay B
Lasting Appeal B-