If you ask me what’s the best classic sonic game I’d tell you it’s Sonic 2 with Sonic 3 & Knuckles in a close second. I just slightly prefer the pacing of Sonic 2 but in every other aspect Sonic 3 beats it out. Although if we count rom hacks like Sonic 3 AIR or Complete then Sonic 3 is my favorite.

Anyway, most things added to this game is a natural progression from the previous ones gameplay wise. Sonic is slower but since the stages aren’t really speed focused it isn’t that bad. The levels are way longer and a little more exploration focused. I think this does mess with the pace of the game, along with the fact that there’s 14 stages in total.

I think sega realized that when they included a save system. Because unlike previous titles it’s asking way more of you to complete it in one sitting. One thing is added to Sonic’s tool kit, another is removed. The peel out from Sonic CD but the Insta Shield is added. When jumping, if you time an additional button press you can extend Sonic’s hitbox. This pretty much gives you extra hits on whatever boss you're fighting, which is useful.

Speaking of bosses, they’re my favorite in classic Sonic. Usually sonic bosses aren’t the biggest things to write home about but these are fun, even the mini bosses. Extremely creative too, like the golden axe one or the final boss. The bosses have way better music than the others too.

The music in general has a perfect funkyness to it, and I love funky. Even the more ambient tracks are amazing. The alleged Micheal Jackson tracks are the best, along with Act 1 Boss theme and Ice Cap zone. I do appreciate that the further acts you get into the stage the fuller the music becomes.

The stages also follow the same progression looks wise. Like how in Ice Cap Zone the further you go, the brighter and more color it gets. The stages are beautiful in general, before Mania 2d sonic peaked with these backgrounds. The Sonic sprite receives a bit of an update but not much of one to make a stark difference.

I guess I should talk about the story now. Dr. Eggman starts destroying Emerald Island and Sonic tries to stop him. But when he arrives he has the chaos emeralds knocked out of him by Knuckles, which is actually his first appearance in the series. He was tricked by Dr. Eggman that Sonic was the one that wanted to steal the master emerald. So you have to chase Dr. Eggman, recollecting the chaos emeralds and trying to avoid Knuckles along the way. Pretty basic setup for a sonic game, not bad though. More story that we ever got at that point.

There’s also a Knuckles side of the story that takes place after Sonic’s. Eggman’s badniks take over the island again and he has to stop them. Knuckle's playstyle is a lot slower and exploration focused, having a glide. There’s also a multiplayer mode and a Tail campaign but the multiplayer one uses completely different stages and Tail’s follows the same story as