- Aftermath (2)

Learn about the aftermath in Sonic & Knuckles, including the Giant Ring in Mushroom Hill Zone and different endings based on Chaos Emerald collection.

Upon returning to Mushroom Hill Zone, exit the passageway and go right for a while to end up in the area that you start from in Sonic & Knuckles alone. There is no difference between the levels in S3&K and S&K from this point, so read the S&K Walkthrough for help on progressing through the second half of S3&K. Any other differences will be mentioned in that walkthrough. The final Zone is Sky Sanctuary for Knuckles.

Endings

If you collected all 7 Chaos/Super Emeralds, Regular/Super Knuckles will appear on Sonic's biplane, holding the Master Emerald. Sonic and Knuckles return to the Floating Island. As the island rises higher into the sky, Sonic leaves in his biplane. If you obtained 0-6 Chaos Emeralds, an exhausted Knuckles will appear on Sonic's biplane, but he won't have the Master Emerald. Sonic and Knuckles return to the Floating Island. The island descends into the sea as Sonic leaves in his biplane.

When you complete the game, watch the credits roll and you'll eventually see a short scene at the end, depending on whether you collected all 7 Chaos/Super Emeralds. If you got all 7 Chaos/Super Emeralds, you'll see a view of outer space where Knuckles faces the screen in front of the Sonic & Knuckles logo. If you acquired all 7 Super Emeralds, you'll also see Sonic, Tails and Knuckles standing in front of the Sonic 3 & Knuckles logo. If you obtained 0-6 Chaos Emeralds, you'll see a short-circuiting Mecha Sonic with the Master Emerald. He somehow repaired himself, despite exploding to pieces. The robot comes back to life and jumps onto the Master Emerald, but nothing happens.

Giant Ring Locations (Sonic/Tails)

This section lists the locations of the Giant Rings.

You land in Mushroom Hill Zone. Act 1 has been extended slightly with a new opening area. Go right a bit and break through the walls to find a passageway containing a Giant Ring. Jump into it to be transported to the Emerald Chamber of Hidden Palace Zone. Check the SpecialStage section for more information.