Explore all Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles levels, characters, and endings. Learn about boss differences and bonus stages.
Available Levels: Angel Island Zone, Hydrocity Zone, Marble Garden Zone, Carnival Night Zone, Icecap Zone, Launch Base Zone, Mushroom Hill Zone, Flying Battery Zone, Sandopolis Zone, Lava Reef Zone, Hidden Palace Zone, Sky Sanctuary Zone, Death Egg Zone, and The Doomsday Zone.
Playable Characters: You can play as Sonic & Tails, Sonic Alone, Tails Alone, and Knuckles Alone. Knuckles can play in the Sonic 3 levels, and Tails can play in the Sonic & Knuckles levels.
Boss Differences: In Launch Base Zone, Sonic and Tails skip the Spiked Grabber boss, while Knuckles skips the Ball Launcher boss. Knuckles also faces tougher or different bosses in general due to his low jump, which allows him to explore more challenging, new areas.
Endings: There are 3 possible endings: bad, normal, and best. These depend on whether you collect all 7 Chaos/Super Emeralds in the Special Stages.
Special Stages: The Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Special Stages are easier, with blue spheres turning into Rings when passed through, fixing previous lag. Mushroom Hill Zone Act 1 has an expanded opening area with a Giant Ring that is always shiny.
Music and Changes: In the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 levels, the theme music for Knuckles and Mini-Bosses matches their Sonic & Knuckles counterparts. The music for Mushroom Hill Zone has been slightly changed with a few more beats. Item Box and Badnik placements have been altered; for example, there are no Robotnik Boxes and fewer Orbinauts in Launch Base Zone.
Progression: After finishing Launch Base Zone, your score is totalled and a cutscene (a non-interactive cinematic the game plays automatically) plays to transition to Mushroom Hill Zone.
Save System: The game features 8 save slots. Progress, lives, continues, and emeralds are saved, displayed on the Slots (which function as your HUD (heads-up display — the on-screen icons showing health, ammo and the minimap) - Heads-Up Display).
Forms: There is a Super Form for Tails and a Hyper Form for Sonic/Knuckles.
Bonus Stages: There are 3 Bonus Stages available.
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