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Is Sonic 3&K a better game than Sonic 2?

on an individual basis, sonic 2 is just better all around. the whole game just feels a lot more 'thought out' if that makes sense.

however, if sonic3 & s&k were combined into one (which would be more in line with the original development of these games), then yes, it would be undoubtably be better than sonic 2.
 
Sonic 3&K is straight up heaven to me.

I can replay the whole game in my head due to how many times I've played it.

I await the true sequel.
 
Toxi said:
This is my main issue with Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Stages are just way too big for their own good. It's fine if the stage is fantastic like Hydrocity Zone, but a lesser stage like Carnival Night or Sandopolis just never ends.
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Honestly this only really bothered me in Sandopolis and Launch Base. The rest were fine imo.
 
Toxi said:
This is my main issue with Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Stages are just way too big for their own good. It's fine if the stage is fantastic like Hydrocity Zone, but a lesser stage like Carnival Night or Sandopolis just never ends.
Click to expand...

I dunno, I never felt a problem with length in S3&K because I blazed through them so fast. I only hate Carnival Night for that dumb cylinder I never understood how to get past when I was a kid.

Now, Metropolis Zone in Sonic 2... That was too long and lasted 3 acts. Also a lot of poor enemy placement with the grasshopper enemies.
 
Seven Force said:
I feel like Sonic 3&K is a little too gimmick oriented in comparison to 2. When the gimmicks are fun, they're good, but when they're bad, they're bad.
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Thought I was reading about Crash Bandicoot until I got to the next paragraph, heh. But I agree with this post.

But, just like Crash Bandicoot, I enjoy playing through 2 more than 3&K, usually. Lately I can at least power through Oil Ocean and get to Metropolis before bailing. I do plan on replaying 3 and Knuckles (and 3&K), but it probably would have happened by now if Sega would just let Taxman do his thing ;~;
 
Sonic 3 and Knuckles is the greatest game ever made, so yes. I grew up playing all the classic Sonic games on their PC ports. S3 and K was the king.

More people remember 2 since it sold the best by a large margin.
 
Sonic 2 goes downhill fast at Oil Ocean Zone culminating with Metropolis Zone's unfair bullshit enemies. At some point in the latter half of Sonic 2 I get tired of the game. I feel like when people think back to this game they only remember Emerald Hill, Chemical Plant and Casino Night, and forget the rest. The rest of the zones range from ok to subpar IMO.

3&K's elemental shields and the fact that the music and design of the stages changes between Act 1 and 2 do a lot to keep 3&K feeling fresh, and the game isn't so front-loaded. It doesn't seem as bad going through the admittedly longer mediocre zones when you remember that Ice Cap and Launch Base or Lava Reef and Sky Sanctuary are coming up.

The act transitions, zone transitions and little bit of story moments give 3&K a little bit of an adventure feel. That little bit of context and logic for Sonic traveling through all these places adds a lot for me.

3&K will always be my favorite. IMO it's the definitive Sonic game in terms of graphics, music, gameplay, levels, and presentation.
 
I played all the retro games for the first time last year, and the one thing I noticed is that they all got better the farther I got along. 2 is pretty good, but 3&K is one of the best 2D platformers of all time, it was so good I replayed it right after beating it and then did the Knuckles route too.

The only stain on that game is Carnival Night Zone, and kind of Sandopolis which is meh, but not terrible.
 
I like Sonic 2 quite a bit more. 3&K stages are just way too big. It has the best special stages though.

They're clearly the best two games in the series however so I'm not hating on one.
 
The answer is actually Sonic 2 and Knuckles. Flying over everything and climbing your way up to the good route >>>>>>>

Edit: for clarity--I mean playing as Knuckles in Sonic 2.
 
Toxi said:
Same. I personally prefer Sonic 2 for its more straightforward levels, but I thought consensus out Sonic 3 and Knuckles as the best.

And CD is garbage.
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FOH.

Sonic 3 and Knuckles is the best in the series, yes.

It's actually not that close--playing that game from the beginning to end was some of the best fun to be had in that era.
 
Together, its the best game in the series for me, apart, no. That being said, sonic 2 is still pretty damn good. Still keeping my fingers crossed for an android port of S3&K to go along with the android port of Sonic 2.
 
Generally speaking, yes. While Sonic 2 was the game that came with my Genesis, I pref. Sonic 3 more.
 
I'm not all that keen on the 'Knuckles' part. Sonic 3 by itself is amazing. Great levels, great music, great adventure.

GamerJM said:
2 is better but CD is better than both.
Click to expand...

It has gorgeous music but that's about it. The time travel mechanic doesn't work very well - when you want to time travel you'll inevitably hit some bumper or obstacle preventing you, and if you don't want to time travel you'll find yourself running past the gates and then whizzing uncontrollably to 88mph or whatever and time travelling anyway.
 
Sonic 2 3&K are all great games. I'd say 2 is more of a vanilla sonic game where 3&K added a little extra to the formula, as well as adding saving which was a pretty big deal. It really just depends what you're looking for. Sonic 1 was a good experience but doesn't hold up against the other two which feel really refined.

But as many others have said Sonic CD is terrible and you shouldn't even bother playing it. Really regret getting a Sega CD just for this game. It's worse then some of the new sonic games.
 
Sonic 2 isn't bad, but it's severely overrated. Aside from a few down spots here and there, Sonic3&K tramples all over it, pretty much the best in the series.
 
All Sonic CD has going for it is the music, really. The gameplay and levels are hot garbage. Sonic 2 is really good all the way until Oil Ocean, and then the quality kinda drops like a rock until you get past Metropolis.

3k has some of the highest highs in the Genesis series, but also some of the lowest lows (fucking Sandopolis UGH). The highs more than make up the difference in quality between 2 and 3k, and because of it 3k gets my nod as the best one. The 2nd game is still ace, though.

Now let us never speak of Sonic CD ever again.
 
Zimmy64 said:
Sonic 3 & K is almost certainly a better game than Sonic 2. Sonic CD is decent. Its strange up until 7-8 years ago the general consensus was that CD was by far the best Sonic game and then one day everyone woke up and realized that its actually not that great. (the worst in the original Sonic series IMO).
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thank god i'm not the only one who noticed that
 
I actually love Sonic 2 from start to finish and it remains my favourite of the series. Sonic 3 is functional. I don't like any of the Zones and the boss fights are forgettable.

Sonic & Knuckles is the technical best of the series and a damn good game. It just doesn't quite steal my heart like the second game did.
 
2 is the best. I literally beat that game a thousand times. I loved that fucking game as a kid. I still own two copies. I used to buy the Sonic comic books. But when I played Sonic 3, I dunno, it just didn't feel the same. Didn't grab me the same way. I think I even prefer Sonic 1. Just something in those games that I really like, not sure what it is. Maybe the level design or the music or something.
 
It's too close to call. They are just different games, both excellent, but there is nothing that makes S3&K stand out as the better game.
 
It's a tight race but 2, 3, and Knuckles are absolutely fantastic 2D Platformers (better than the Mario games). Sonic 3 and Knuckles combined could be the greatest 2D Platformer of all time. That was an amazing Xmas gift.
 
I think Sonic 2 was the best.

Sonic 3 looked a bit nicer, and the shields added to the game but it felt short and a bit easy.

Sonic 2 was more challenging, longer and had fantastic multiplayer modes. The bosses towards the end of the game were hard and took many attempts. Also felt like level designs were a bit better laid out for fluent speed runs.

Both great though.
 
Anth0ny said:
DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE







2 is barely better. God tier level design puts it over. Also, Sonic's derp sprite in Sonic 3 hurts the game tremendously.
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How can one post be this wrong?
jk

Sonic 3 sprite is awesome. That new shading on him was really cool. The character design was also beginning to reflect that mid gen/mid 90s cartoon look better than the sprites used in the previous three games. Sonic 3K also has the best soundtrack of the entire series (JPN CD excluded). The level design in 3K is also leaps and bounds more cohesive and just fun to move through despite their size whereas most Sonic 2 stages are either over too quick or drag on forever (Metropolis, Hill Top) or have obnoxious gimmicks like Sky Chase Act 1.

Honestly, every time I hear someone put Sonic 2 over 3K in these discussions, I just cannot resolve the notion in my head. Sonic 2 becomes a slog after Casino Night Zone that it never fully recovers from. Seriously guys, Hill Top Zone alone disqualifies any chances it has at dethroning 3K, and that's with the latter possessing Sandopoils.
 
I think Sonic 3&K is a much better looking game and I love the stages. I think 2 or CD are my absolute favorites, though. Whether that's nostalgia or legitimate I couldn't tell you.
 
S3&K is way better than Sonic 2 in my ipinion. it takes everything that Made Sonic 2 good and kicks it up a notch. and I absolutely love the "story" in the game. just like Super Metroid this game doesnt tell the story through cutscenes but how the game evolves.

and how the game unfolds with Dr Eggman getting progressively more and more agressive about finding the Emeralds to power his Death Egg. it all culminates in the last Level where Dr Eggman does everything in his power to keep the Master Emerald from Super Sonic
 
Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles are the best Sonic games, by far.

The art style is perfect, colorful with its own distinct aesthetic. The music is the best in the series, that 90s Michael Jackson influence. The level design is great and extremely varied, even generic things like ice worlds have a distinct personality to them. The Chaos Emerald bonus levels are addictive, challenging but fair, and the difficulty ramps up perfectly.

EDIT:

God it's so depressing, thinking about what happened to the series immediately after that high water mark.
 
PKrockin said:
Sonic 2 goes downhill fast at Oil Ocean Zone culminating with Metropolis Zone's unfair bullshit enemies. At some point in the latter half of Sonic 2 I get tired of the game. I feel like when people think back to this game they only remember Emerald Hill, Chemical Plant and Casino Night, and forget the rest. The rest of the zones range from ok to subpar IMO.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. I've never been a big fan of Sonic 2's later stages and usually call it quits at Oil Ocean. It makes me wonder if the development team focused most of its attention on the earlier zones or something.

But yeah, the other Genesis installments are awesome from beginning to end, but Sonic 2? Beginning to middle.
 
Yes, better and bigger levels plus you have the alternate knuckles only paths, it was really cool how they did that.
 
Yes.

Everything about the first two felt like it came together and was improved upon in the 3rd one.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is one of by favorite games ever.
 
Azure J said:
How can one post be this wrong?
jk

Sonic 3 sprite is awesome. That new shading on him was really cool. The character design was also beginning to reflect that mid gen/mid 90s cartoon look better than the sprites used in the previous three games. Sonic 3K also has the best soundtrack of the entire series (JPN CD excluded). The level design in 3K is also leaps and bounds more cohesive and just fun to move through despite their size whereas most Sonic 2 stages are either over too quick or drag on forever (Metropolis, Hill Top) or have obnoxious gimmicks like Sky Chase Act 1.

Honestly, every time I hear someone put Sonic 2 over 3K in these discussions, I just cannot resolve the notion in my head. Sonic 2 becomes a slog after Casino Night Zone that it never fully recovers from. Seriously guys, Hill Top Zone alone disqualifies any chances it has at dethroning 3K, and that's with the latter possessing Sandopoils.
Click to expand...

But Hill Top Zone is one of my favourite zones :(
 
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