Investigate when Knuckles leaves and you realise its another giant ring. So if you've already got all of the Chaos Emeralds, you'd think why the heck would this be here. The ring is actually multicoloured and when you jump in it takes you to the Hidden Palace Zone! Why? Well, if you've got all of the Chaos Emeralds, you can start to collect the SUPER Emeralds, which go alongside the Master Emerald. You might think that this is totally pointless, but get them all and you can turn into... HYPER SONIC, HYPER KNUCKLES AAAAAANNNND...... SUPER TAILS! Yes that's right, all you Tails fans can now rejoice that you can now control him in Super form.

From Knuckles' point of view, obviously you can't play Sonic 3 as Knux, but NOW you can! Unlike Sonic & Tails story, you fight BOTH bosses on Launch Base, but hey, Knuckles's story is shorter, so there :D. Anyway, after Launch Base, the robotic 'Eggman' drops a bomb on the Launch Base, so Knuckles tries to leg it off the Base, but the explosion catches him and he is thrown onto the Mushroom Hill Zone. Again, you get a special beginning part of the level if you are playing Sonic 3&K, with a giant ring. When Knuckles enters the ring he is taken to the Hidden Palace, just like Sonic and Tails.

When playing as Knuckles in Sonic 3, just like in Sonic 2&K, you can access certain areas that sonic and Tails cannot. Only this time the places are a bit more obvious and there are a lot more special places that only Knuckles can be granted access with his strength and climbing ability. A prime example is Angel Island Act One, at the end, Sonic and Tails have to go up from this screenshot, but Knuckles has to take this way instead, and Act Two sees Knuckles in an underground area of the Zone.

Also, seeings as Tails does not get a part in Sonic and Knuckles, when you do get to play him in Sonic 3&K, there's certain areas inaccessable to Sonic and even Knuckles. This is because of his flying ability. Knuckles can glide and climb, but he cannot hover in mid air and not lose altitude, only Tails can do this. And you can use this to your advantage in Hidden Palace Zone where you can fly high into the sky and find a platform full of these goodies, with two more ring monitors and a 1-Up nearby that.

All this hype about special hidden areas, you'd thought we'd forgotten about Sonic, eh? Well, think again, because Sonic is the star of the show, and the reason that the Sonic Stadium is here. In fact there WAS a level I erm, 'forgot' to mention in S&K. That level was the VERY last one, and that was The Doomsday Zone. After you defeat Eggman on the Death Egg, if you have all of the Chaos Emeralds and Super emeralds, then you can enter this final battle between HYPER SONIC and Eggman as he tries to get away with the Master Emerald into Space. Thankfully, air isn't a problem for Super, or even Hyper Sonic. This level has Sonic transform into either Super Sonic or Hyper sonic and using your provisional 50 rings, you must try to stay as your alter-ego for as long as possible until you complete the level, by collecting rings. Run out of rings, and you transform back and fall to your death. Defeat Eggman for the last time and peace will be finally restored!

Now, this is what it's all about - this was the main intention of Sonic 3, however the remaining part of the story had to be carried over to Sonic and Knuckles, but boy was it worth it! All the goodness of Sonic 3, and then playing the same levels as Knuckles to open previously inaccessible pathways, playing Sonic & Knuckles levels in a two player co-operative, now with the addition of Tails, and the final apocalyptic ending with Hyper Sonic! This... is a legend, not a game. Believe it. Oh, and buy it.

Sonic Score: A bit more than deserving 10 out of 10!

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