Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles for Sega Genesis Tips, Walkthrough Version 2.0, 7/7/01 Abbreviations: Spin dash: SD William Walker email J-D-Walker@worldnet.att.net This document Copyright 2000 William Walker. Reproduction and distribution without permission is okay, as long as (1) I am given credit for my work, and (2) it's not done for commercial purposes. Violence: none Credits: Sega made some tips for these games, and I'd like to thank them very much! Otherwise I got all the information from playing myself and reading the manual. Hello! Did you know that the most popular games for Sega Genesis were the Sonic the Hedgehog series? In this FAQ I'll cover Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, the third and fourth and some of the best games in the series. I'll include walkthroughs for all the levels, plus a level select if you can't seem to beat a level. That last part is important; this file includes a controller code that lets you start at any level you want. That can be very important if you're stuck. Look for it at the end of the file. Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get started! Welcome to Sonic! This section is repeated in several of my Sonic tips. If you've already read it, skip it to get to the tips for this game. Ivo Robotnik, the demented scientist, has plans for a giant sky station called the Death Egg (aka Star Wars) with which he plans to conquer the world. So he's captured all the animals on Floating Island, the magical island that floats in the sky due to the power of the chaos emeralds, giant gems with amazing powers. Anyway Robotnik's has put them in prison eggs and plans to turn them into robots. Some of the animals have already met this horrible fate and will never stop trying to defeat you. In Sonic 1, we won't see the Death Egg yet, as Robotnik's robot army works to build it at his current lair, the scrap brain. Robotnik also knows how to build traps, obstacles and many other things to prevent anyone from stopping him. The only thing that can stop him is our hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic's best ally is his sneakers that enable him to outrun any trap, and his spiky skin that will give him the upper hand against most of the slew of robots he's going to face. The animals are on his side, and it's guaranteed that he'll be able to find some stuff on the island that'll help him out. But even Sonic may need protection sometimes. That's where he'll need gold rings. Sonic usually can't die as long as he has a ring, and rings are plentiful, appearing everywhere, often in groups. Unfortunately there are some things that kill Sonic even if he has rings. One of these would be running out of time. Sonic always has only ten minutes to complete a level. In Sonic 2, despite being foiled once, Robotnik has completed his Death Egg ship and can take over the world if he gets his hands on the priceless chaos emeralds. To stop him Sonic will need to destroy the death egg. He also wants to get all the emeralds. Even though you don't need them to win the game, if you collect them all you can become an all new Super Sonic, who's invincible and is also super fast! You can collect the emeralds in Sonic 1 too, but you can't become Super Sonic. Also Sonic 2 has a new character named Tails, who is a two-tailed fox who can fly using his tails as a helicopter. Tails is Sonic's sidekick and you can even play as Tails if you wish. To battle back, Robotnik has created a Sonic robot called Robo-Sonic, and he's going to put up a hard fight. Besides many more new zones Sonic 2 also has a competition mode in which Sonic can compete against Tails in three of the zones. Sonic 2 promises loads of fun. In Sonic 3, Dr. Robotnik's Death Egg was apparently destroyed. But what really happened was that it crash landed on floating island. The only way Robotnik can repair it is to get the seven chaos emeralds. The emeralds are faithfully guarded by Knuckles the Echidna. But Dr. Robotnik tricks him into thinking that Robotnik is a good guy. So Knuckles hides the emeralds away and prepares to give them to Robotnik while Sonic and Tails try to destroy the Death Egg ship again. You can become Super Sonic, play as Tails, and do everything in the old game, plus there are now three kinds of shields instead of one, a new bonus stage, and six new zones that are all about 50% bigger than Sonic 2. There is also a save feature, found only in this game. This game also has a tipbook out for it. There's also a new competition mode. The last Genesis platform game in the series is Sonic & Knuckles. It is almost identical to Sonic 3, because they were originally one game, but made into two games in order to get them out on time. In this one Knuckles is a good guy, and you can play as him if you want! If you do, you can use Knuckles's special moves, which are gliding, wall climbing and wall bashing. Tails, however, is not present in this game. If you play as Knuckles your mission is to destroy the new Robo-Sonic, who tried to drop a bomb on you. Knuckles can get to power-ups that Sonic can't or has a difficult time getting to, and can also use new routes through levels. Since he can't jump as high as Sonic, sometimes he has to take a route that Sonic can't. This happens in both acts of Lava Reef zone. These other routes are often harder then the route Sonic would take and will require perfect use of Knuckles's special moves. Knuckles's game ends when he beats Robo-Sonic in Sky Sanctuary zone. This means his game is shorter than Sonic's. If you play as Sonic you must destroy Robotnik once and for all. Robotnik has found the existence of a giant emerald called the master emerald. It is hidden somewhere in a hidden palace, guarded by Knuckles. If Robotnik gets his hands on this emerald, his Death Egg will be able to conquer the world and floating island will be destroyed! Robotnik plans to follow Knuckles to the place where this giant gem is hidden. As Sonic, you must not let that happen! Despite having a longer game, Sonic will probably have an easier time of it. The final zone takes place inside the Death Egg, and you can bet there's some pretty tough characters around there. Sonic will have an easier time getting the emeralds because when Knuckles plays, he goes on a different route then Sonic and can't get to some of the giant gold rings. If you get all the emeralds you'll not only have the ability to become Super Sonic, but also can play a final zone with you as Super Sonic. If you succeed, you'll destroy Robotnik for good! (Well, until he comes back on Dreamcast). Also S & K has two new bonus stages, but that's only the half of it. S & K has an even more astounding feature. On the top of any S & K cartridge is an top that can be opened. When it's open, you can put any other Genesis cartridge into it! This is called the lock-on feature. If you put Sonic 1 into S & K, you'll get a screen with the characters all saying 'No Way.' Hold down Buttons A, B, and C, and press start and it'll say special stage. Now you can play through stage after stage after stage, trying to collect chaos emeralds. I hear that there are over 32,000 of them! Astounding, huh? And you can lose the stage unlimited times, and it doesn't matter. If you collect all the rings in a stage you'll warp ahead ten stages. If you collect the emerald you can move on to the next stage. You can play until you get bored, or until your game gets shut down because you never paid your electric bill. Great, huh? Well, the next thing will make you jump out of your skin! If you lock-on with Sonic 2, you'll play all of Sonic 2 - as Knuckles! There will be no Tails or competition mode, but you can use Knuckles' special moves in the levels of Sonic 2! Unfortunately you'll have a hard time winning the game because of Knuckles' low jump. If you lock on with Sonic 3, you can do the following: -- Play the zones of Sonic 3 and S & K one after another, as Sonic, Tails, Sonic and Tails or even Knuckles -- Use Tails in the zones of S & K -- Use Knuckles in the levels of Sonic 3, with new levels, routes, and bosses galore -- Collect 14 emeralds -- Become Hyper Sonic or Hyper Knuckles, who is always surrounded by stars, glows white, and can jet forward as if he had a flame shield. Hyper Knuckles isn't as glamorous, but when he moves he becomes a blur. Both also have all the powers of Super Sonic or Knuckles. -- Have fun, fun, and more fun I'm done now, right? WRONG! I've done all the Genesis Sonic games, but there's one more I like: Sonic CD. Sonic CD takes place between Sonic 1 and 2. There is no Tails, Knuckles or Death Egg, just Sonic, Robotnik, and a new and improved Robo-Sonic. In this one Sonic's girlfriend, Amy, has been abducted by Robotnik in an attempt to lure Sonic into a trap. Sonic, of course, says that no trap can beat him and goes off to rescue Amy. This game is basically the same as Sonic 1 with one major difference: time travel. To travel through time, you must first touch a past or future lamppost and then travel at ultra-fast speed for about 8 seconds to warp through time. If you slow down at the wrong time, you may lose the time warp and have to find another lamppost. A good strategy would be to find two springs that bounce you back and forth at a fast speed. Your goal is to go to the past and find and destroy the animal cage for that level to create a good future. Also you collect time stones instead of emeralds and if you get all the time stones, you get an automatic good future in each level. If you get all the time stones plus good futures in every level you get a bonus ending. Another change from Sonic 1 is that there's a save feature. Well that's all the games. It's now time to go through the individual zones and tell you what to do. This is a very long FAQ, but very detailed. I hope this FAQ helps you master Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, the third and fourth of one of the best sets of games in the world. Good luck! BASIC STUFF To control yourself simply use the d-pad to move, and press A, B or C to jump. If you press jump twice you'll do a special attack depending on your shield. To roll, press down while running. To spin dash, press down while standing still and then press A, B or C. Press them again to charge up power, and release down to jet forward. Rings are everywhere in this game, often appearing in groups, and you need rings. If you get hit, you'll lose all your rings but can get some back if you're fast. You die if you get hit with zero rings, get squished, run out of time, fall off the screen or drown. Any of those things except the first kill you even if you have rings. To get points, you must do good things. You get 100 points for each badnik you bust, 100 points for each ring you have at the end of a level, 10 points for each bumper you hit in Carnival Night zone (after a while bumpers don't give points) and a time bonus at the end of each act. You receive a minimum of 100 points for time bonus, and each zone completed is worth 1000 points. For more points, jump and hit the end of level marker as it comes down at the end of act 1. Each time you hit it, you get points, and if it comes down in the right spot a power-up might appear. To get another life, collect 100 or 200 rings in one act (you must have them all at the same time) smash a 1-UP monitor, collect 50,000 points or collect all the rings in a special stage. To collect a continue, which is worth three lives after a game over, collect 50 rings in a special stage. Power-ups Super ring: ten rings 1-UP: another life Power shoes: super speed for a while Invincibility: invincible for a while STUFF NEW IN SONIC 3 & KNUCKLES Three shields: Now, instead of having one shield, you can have three: electric, fire and bubble. Electric shields suck rings toward you and give protection from some attacks. Fire shields protect you from fire attacks. Bubble shields let you breathe underwater forever and give some protection. All shields disappear if you get hurt, btu you will not lose any rings. you also lose electric and fire shields if you touch water. Special attacks: If you have no shield at all double jumping causes you to flash for a split second. Your attack range will be extended and you'll be protected from attack. If you are Super Sonic, you cannot do any special attack at all. Touching a shield as Super/Hyper Sonic is worthless, except for electric shields which will suck rings in. If you are Hyper Sonic, which you can only become by collecting all fourteen emeralds in both games, you can do a blast attack by jumping twice. This jets you forward and kills anything nearby. If you have a bubble shield, you can do a bounce. If you have a fire shield, you can do a fire dash. If you have an electric shield you can do a double jump. Special stage: To enter a special stage, touch a giant gold ring. The object is to collect all the blue balls. If you touch a red ball you'll be teleported out of the stage. Press the arrow keys to move around. You can also jump. When you touch a blue ball it becomes a red ball. If you see a square or rectangle of blue balls that's 3X3 or bigger, touch only the ones on the outside and all the balls become rings. 50 rings is a continue, all rings is 50,000 points and a bonus life, and 100 rings is also a bonus life. White balls bounce you backward, so try to avoid them. Also, in Sonic & Knuckles stages yellow balls catapult you five balls. After getting all the blue balls you'll get one emerald. Unlike Sonic 2, you play the stages in order even if you don't complete them. Remember to always look for giant rings! Save feature: Before starting the game you'll see six slots (ten if locked onto Sonic & Knuckles, if playing Sonic & Knuckles alone you can't save). Use the arrow keys to choose one. Then press up and down to change characters from Tails, Sonic or Sonic and Tails. If you have both games locked on you can also use Knuckles. If playing Sonic & Knuckles alone you can only play as Sonic or Knuckles. When you exit a game, you can begin again at the beginning of the zone you were in. You'll lose your points but keep your lives, emeralds and continues. You can also go to the No Save slot, but only do so if you're confident you can finish the game in one sitting. By using Robotnik you can erase a game, by moving Robotnik onto it, pressing start, and then pressing left. Competition mode: In competition mode you can be Sonic, Tails or Knuckles, but they're all the same. You can play five very short race courses in order in Grand Prix mode, only one race in Match Race, or practice with Time Attack. In each race you must go right as quickly as you can. The first player to complete five laps wins. Be careful not to die, get stuck in a trap, go the wrong way or make a false start. Each character plays the same. Bonus stages: Touch a starpost with at least 50 rings (20 rings if playing locked on) and jump into the stars to be transported to a bonus stage. For more information on bonus stages, see the end of the walkthrough. I've never beaten the boss of Marble Garden zone as Tails alone, but several other gamers say it is possible by hitting him from below with your tails. Thanks to all the gamers who e-mailed to me about this. One gamer -- p_lynch@bellsouth.net -- suggests to wait until Robotnik in his big drill passes across the screen horizontally; have Tails swing up under him to hit him right in the middle, from below. Good luck. Walkthrough NOTE: IF YOU'RE PLAYING SONIC 3 ALONE IGNORE THE SONIC & KNUCKLES PART. IF YOU'RE PLAYING SONIC & KNUCKLES ALONE SKIP RIGHT TO MUSHROOM HILL ZONE. IF YOU'RE PLAYING BOTH GAMES TOGETHER AS SONIC OR SONIC AND TAILS READ THE ENTIRE WALKTHROUGH. IF YOU DO NOT GET AT LEAST SEVEN EMERALDS WHEN PLAYING TOGETHER SKIP DOOMSDAY ZONE. IF YOU'RE PLAYING SONIC & KNUCKLES ALONE YOU MUST COLLECT ALL SEVEN EMERALDS TO ACCESS DOOMSDAY ZONE. IF YOU'RE PLAYING AS KNUCKLES ALONE (YOU CANNOT PLAY AS SONIC AND KNUCKLES, TAILS AND KNUCKLES OR ALL THE CHARACTERS TOGETHER) READ THE WALKTHROUGH FOR KNUCKLES. ONLY READ THE WALKTHROUGH FOR SONIC IF IT SAYS "SAME AS SONIC." LET'S GO!!! HINT: IF A LEDGE COLLAPSES, LEAVE THE SCREEN AND COME BACK TO MAKE IT REAPPEAR. ANGEL ISLAND ZONE After Knuckles steals the emeralds you'll begin the game. Go right, and you'll find a monkey badnik in a tree. Jump and hit him and continue right, and jump on the boulder. Under it is a hidden spring. Bounce up to the spring on top of the tree, and then bounce up/left to a ledge with a super ring and power shoes. Grab them and drop back down. Go right, jump over the spring, and do a SD to bash through a ground badnik. Jump over the spikes. Now you'll find an overhang that collapses. Drop down and SD left through a boulder. There's a giant gold ring behind it. When you come back, go right and jump over two more springs. Jump over the boulder and SD through a loop. You'll fly over a small pond. Now bounce up on a spring. Go right to a boulder. Push it left and then jump on the spot where it was to break through the ground and reveal two super rings and an invincibility. Grab them and bounce back up, and hit the spring being careful of the spikes. Now you'll go through a loop. Hold left to slow down and SD left, through two loops and bounce up to a platform with a starpost. Hit it drop back to the spring. Bounce right onto a loop. Jump right onto the top of the other loop, and from here make a SD right to a 1-UP. Drop back down and go back to the spring. Now SD right, and if you build up enough speed you'll go up through the tree. At the top go right and you'll meet a flying pod. Ignore it and it and other pods will burn the place up. Now that everything is burning, go right to a starpost. Hit it, and go right when the spikes are up (don't stand under them unless you want to die) and drop down. You'll crash through some floor. SD left through a boulder and bounce up and slightly left or right on the spring and you'll find another giant gold ring! Now go back down, and right. SD across the pond because the bridge will collapse, and now stand on the boulder and jump up to a moving platform. jump right to a ledge with a badnik that shoots mines out. SD through it and quickly jump to the ledge at the right before the overhangs collapse. Go right through a loop picking up a super ring, and bounce up on a spring. Jump on the boulder and then jump to the ledge on the left, beat the mine badnik and grab the fire shield. Then jump to the ledge on the right and go right to the mid-boss. Yep - now there are bosses at the end of act 1. Anyway this boss is the same one you met before, only now you must fight it. Since you have the fire shield you can't be hurt unless you touch the boss itself, so simply jump and hit it from the side or top. Only six hits and he's toast. If you for some reason don't have the fire shield be much more cautious, as he'll shoot a flame to the side. After beating it you're on to act 2. Act 2 To start, go right and SD through the boulder. Press no buttons and you'll find another giant gold ring. After you come back SD through the boulder and drop down. Drop into the pond and you'll find a flying badnik. To beat it, you must jump and hit it in the head. Now jump on he boulder and hit the spring under it to bounce up. Drop back down and keep bouncing until platforms begin to come down the waterfall. Jump quickly to climb up and at the top, you'll find a 1-UP. Then drop back down and go right on a ledge about halfway up the waterfall. Jump and grab the hand slide for a short ride. When you land, go left and drop down the small pond and go left for another 1-UP. Now go right, avoiding the floating spiky logs. At the end, SD up the hill and out of the water, and go right. SD up another hill and SD through the boulder. Go down a tunnel, and bounce on the spring. Land on the collapsing ledge and go right and jump on the button. This drains the water and opens a path below you, leading to a starpost. Hit it and go right, to a bridge. SD across after the bridge flips, and if you fall, use the electric shield down there to get back up with a double jump. Then go right, bounce up, go left, and SD up and land on the log above you. Go right, and if you have the electric shield double jump up to the moving platform above you - to the right of it is a 1-UP. Go right through some loops, and on the other side of the waterfall, drop down to the bottom SD right, and hold right to go through a fake wall to another giant gold ring. To climb back up, you must make use of the tricky platforms that appear and disappear. At the top, go left and SD through the boulder for two super rings and a bubble shield. Now go right, quickly crossing the collapsing bridge, and SD up the hill charge up your SD several times so you can reach the fire shield on top of the tree. Then hit the starpost, SD through the boulder and after exiting the tunnel you'll meet the boss. The first stage of this boss involves a giant airship that flies above you and drops bombs on you. Just hold right and you should be okay. After escaping the airship you'll fight Robotnik. Be sure to stay on the center island or you'll die. Robotnik appears and drops a fireball that destroys the bridge. Now he'll go behind the waterfall and reappear somewhere. There's an outline of him that shows where he appears and when he does, he'll drop two fireballs, then disappear and reposition. Since you probably have the fire shield just get below him and keep jumping until he blows. If you don't have the fire shield, get in a couple of hits first, then after he drops the fireballs hit him until he disappears. After eight hits he's toast. Hit the animal cage from below, and then Knuckles drops you into the next zone. IF YOU RUN LOW ON AIR, A COUNTDOWN STARTS. TO REPLENISH AIR FOR A WHILE, JUMP OUT OF THE WATER OR STAND NEXT TO AIR POCKETS FOR A WHILE TO MAKE BUBBLES APPEAR. GOBBLE UP BIG ONES. HYDROCITY ZONE When you start, hold left for a super ring. Now drop down into the water and, avoiding spikes, go right, pick up another super ring, and hit the button. A current sweeps you away. When you grab a pole press up so when you jump off you won't hit the spikes. Soon you'll fall into a water area. SD left for a super ring and invincibility, and a spring that bounces you right. There's some piranhas here, if they get you you'll die. Kill them quickly and jump up to the conveyor belt. Stay in the middle, and on the right side hold right when you reach the end to get off. Hit the super ring and bounce up on the spring below it for ten more rings and a gulp of air. Go right, cross another conveyor belt and get the super ring below it, and jump and bash the cannon being careful of its shots. This causes the floor below to collapse. Hold right and you'll go through a fake wall on the right. Grab the bubble shield and drop down, bust the cannon (its shots can't hurt you if you have a shield) and drop down again. Jump over some spikes and ride another current. Soon you'll shoot up in the air. Hold right to land near a starpost. Go down a hill, and jump up to a moving platform. get an electric shield up there, and then go back down and through the loop. If you go through fast enough you'll hit a spring. Press no buttons and you should go through some loops and skim across a lake without going through. Should you fall through, you'll be on your own. After the lake you'll meet some fly-like badniks. Beat them and double jump up to a moving platform. Climb up some moving platforms and jump on top of the loop, where a super ring and a 1-UP are. Grab them and SD right, and soon you'll find a cannon. Beat it and go through a tunnel. A hand grabs you and throws you right. Slow down fast and go left through the wall to find a giant gold ring. Use the spring in this room to bounce right, through a starpost and loop, to the mid-boss. This is one of the tougher mid-bosses in the game. The machine appears in the center, then rolls through the arena twice. Jump over it both times. The bottom half of the arena is water, so you'll lose electric/fire shields. After it settles in the center jump and hit it. Don't let up until it spins you around in a whirlpool. When it stops, quickly regain control and keep hitting it. Try to destroy it before it rolls around the room again. Act 2 This is a hard act. One of the longest and toughest in the game. At the start, SD right through some blocks. You'll shoot up. The wall begins to move right, so you must be very quick. SD up a hill, then SD through some blocks. If you're playing Sonic 3 alone, be careful not to hit the spring that sends you left, but if you're playing locked on a 1-UP is there! Drop down some small holes in the floor, then SD up a few more hills. You're now safe from the moving wall. Be ready to lose a few lives here. SD right through more blocks, and you'll see a rotating cylinder above you. When it goes down, SD up the curved wall to land on top of it. Then climb up a shaft via a spring and some fans, and then go right down a slide. You'll shoot up in the air. Land on or near a hand in the floor that throws you up a twisting slide. You'll hit a starpost. Climb the steps, being careful of flying shark badniks that fly from the right. You'll meet a badnik with a large spike on its back. go near it to make it fire the spike, or just SD through it and you'll go through a loop and for a ride. At the end you'll shoot up in the air. Land on the ledge and go right, being careful not to touch the red spring. If you fall, climb back up on the moving platforms. Go right, SD onto the cylinder and go up. Hit the spring and hold left to go into the left wall. There's a hidden 1-UP here. Now climb the shaft via fans on alternate sides, and at the top SD left for a neat ride. At the end, SD left and jump over the spikes (you'll probably get hit because of the low ceiling) for a 1-UP. Be careful not to enter the chute on the left. Jump back over the spikes and SD right through some blocks and up a curved wall. A hand throws you up a twisting slide, and when you fly up in the air hold left for an invincibility. Hit the springs next to hit to shoot right for yet another ride. When you shoot up, hold left to reach a giant gold ring. Get on the block chain next to the room with the ring, and when it's at its upper right corner, SD right and you'll find some cylinders that move horizontally. You've got to be quick here or you'll be crushed or impaled on the spikes. After getting out of this rather nasty part hit the invincibility and climb up on some fans. At the top, go left for a super ring and a spring behind it that sends you on another ride. Press no buttons and you'll get ten rings, then hold right to land on the ledge. Go right, avoiding flying sharks, to a starpost. Climb up another cylinder part - just jump quickly and you should be OK. At the top go left. A hand grabs you and sends you on yet another ride. You'll shoot up, at the top are two moving cylinders. Hold in the direction of the lowest one, and if you make it stand on the right one and when it's at its highest, jump up and hold right to reach another giant gold ring. Go down a little, go right, and when you meet Knuckles he'll collapse the floor. Go right and ride another current. Hit the starpost at the end and g right to the boss. This boss isn't too hard. He'll come down, and you should hit him from the side being careful of the fan on the bottom. Now run for the side and hold to the outside of the arena (the bottom of which is filled with water) to avoid the whirlpool that sucks you in. If you touch the center you'll be damaged. After the whirlpool stops jump on the waterspout as it comes down, and then jump and hit Robotnik. Now he'll drop depth charges in the water - stand next to one and when it's about to explode, jump and you'll avoid damage and be blasted up to Robotnik. You can get in a few hits this way. After a while he does the whirlpool again. Eight hits will do him in. Go right and jump on the prison egg, and a giant water blast sends you to... BE VERY CAREFUL OF THINGS THAT MOVE UP AND DOWN, AS THEY CAN KILL YOU IN ONE HIT! MARBLE GARDEN ZONE This starts with an awesome ride down some slopes. At the start, pull right and spin down the hill. If you don't fall you can get a super ring on the right, and behind it in a secret room is an electric shield. Plunge down the hills until you reach the bottom. You can collect a total of 90 rings here. At the bottom SD through a pillar and jump over the large spiked ball that moves back and forth. Don't bother hitting the thing above you; wait for it to cause some steps to come down enabling you to go back up. Go back up and go right to a mud pit. If you fall in, keep jumping until you get out, as if you sink in it you'll drown. On the other side you'll meet some spikes that do NOT hurt you if you jump on them, instead they shoot energy balls to the side. They're hard to beat, but if you really want to use a SD attack. SD on or near the bleu thing on the ground to make steps appear, and climb them to a blue top. Jump on it and hold left to move it up and left. Release left and it descends. These tops can be tricky so prepare to fall a few times. Ride it left to a ledge, and go left jumping over springs until you find three spinning platforms. Use them to reach another ledge above you, and go right. (Beat the blue things by hitting them when they retract their spikes [duh!]). SD on the blue thing and cross the spikes via a moving platform. keep using the moving platforms until you reach the top of the steep hill. Go right, SD through a pillar, and when you find a top, ignore it and drop down into a mud pit. Go left to a giant gold ring. Cross the mud pit and go right down a hill avoiding spikes. You could try clearing it with one big leap. After this SD under a spiked ball when it's up and grab the electric shield. Go right to a starpost. There's a hill here, and you must SD up with a well-charged dash. If you fall to the bottom be careful not to go down the big pillar - it's really hard to get out of there. At the top of the hill you'll find spinning platforms. Use them to reach a ledge up/left of where you are, with two super rings. then go right, and jump over the spikes. Continue right, SDing under a spiked ball grabbing three super rings and you'll find a statue. It'll fire arrows, so be careful. Hit its forehead three times to collapse the floor. Go down, cross some spikes via moving platforms, and jump into the left wall for another giant gold ring! Go down a hill, hit the spring on the right, and go by some hills. When you find another spring, drop down (the floor collapses) and go right jumping over spikes and another spring. The first spiked ball can be avoided by dropping down, and SDing right (you're safe below it). For the next one, time your SD so you'll go under it and the spiked pillar which will KILL you in one shot. SD next to the blue thing and either go back left and use the pillar that appears to reach some moving platforms which lead to a tricky 1-UP, or just drop down. Go left, jump on the top that automatically moves and get on it for a ride. When you stop on a hill, slide down and SD up another one. Now either climb the moving platforms for a fire shield, or just go right past two mud pits to a starpost. SD through the pillar to the mid-boss. This is easy. The little drill ship (which you saw before) will go up and cause some spikes to fall. Only the spikes hurt you, and they can be deflected by any shield. When the machine drops back down hit it like mad and you might be able to bust it before it goes back up. Unless it comes down on you you'll be okay. You can also go for some hits at the beginning. Act 2 Go right, SD through a pillar and jump on the little ring to be pulled up. Jump off onto the platform and do that agin. Jump onto the ledge and go right, SDing through the pillar. Stay in the center and when Robotnik appears, hit him and he leaves. You won't see him again for a while. Now go right, being careful of the mantis on the ground, and SD right. You should go through the pillar before the ground lowers. If you succeed, climb up on the moving pillar (careful of the spikes on the side) jump on the moving platform, and jump through the right wall. Go right and drop down to a super ring and a 1-UP. Go left, SD through the pillar and down the hill, and touch the top. You'll bash through the ground. Jump off the top and SD under the crushing pillar. Climb some moving platforms, and go right being careful of the swinging spiked ball. Avoid the spring and mantis, SD on the blue thing and climb the steps, and drop down. SD under the crushing pillar for a giant gold ring. Then go back under the pillar, SD into the badnik and bounce up on the spring, and climb up on the moving platform. Jump on the top for a ride. Unfortunately at the end you'll lose a shield if you have one (but no rings). Get out of the mud pool and continue right. Climb some spinning platforms and go left, SDing on the blue thing and climbing the steps. Before the floor collapses, grab the ring and pull up. Climb another ring, hit the spring, and you'll land on or near a starpost. Hit the spring next to it for a ride, and at the end go left, jump over the spiked ball and get an invincibility. Then climb the moving platforms, and at the top go left. Blaze through the next part quickly as you're only invincible for a while. When you find a statue, hit it three times and drop down. Then go left, get a fire shield if you're playing Sonic 3 alone, and beat another statue. Go back right, SD through some pillars, and go right (SD on the blue thing) and go down a hill. Jump the spring and use the spinning platforms to reach a top. Ride it and jump off when you're going up a shaft. Then go left and Sd under a crushing pillar. Before the floor collapses go left through the wall to a giant gold ring. Drop down and when you reach the top again, get on and don't do anything until you stop. Go right, jump over spikes, and beat a statue. Drop down, go right and grab the fire shield, and go left to a starpost. SD on the blue thing and drop down. Stay in the center and hit Robotnik when he appears. He'll go away. Go left and down a hill, get the super ring and when the ground lowers, go down another hill and race right. Drop down, go left under a crushing pillar, and drop down. Now you've got to make your way right as fast as you can before you get crushed by the rising floor. If you survive, hit the starpost and go left, being careful of mantises in the floor (try SDing). The rest of the level is so simple I won't go into it. Robotnik appears at the top of the screen. If you have an electric/bubble shield you can hit him, but otherwise it's risky. For some reason, the fire shield doesn't protect you from his engines. When he drops down, hit him at least once (if you're Super Sonic just deck him, but you can't beat him until he drills through the ground) and the ground disintegrates. Tails will be flying in this part with you, even if you're playing as Sonic alone. Robotnik appears, and you've got to jump off Tails and hit him away from the drill and engines. He'll appear from the top, bottom or side. If you fall, Tails will catch you, but if you get hit, you'll lose all your rings and can't get any back, so you'll die after two hits (unless you have a shield). Eight total hits sends this guy packing. (If trying to beat this boss as Tails alone, see note right before the walkthrough section of these tips.) WARNING: IF YOU ARE SUPER/HYPER SONIC DURING THIS BOSS, YOU WILL BE SENT OUT OF THE GAME AND HAVE TO START THE ZONE ALL OVER!!! DO NOT BECOME SUPER OR HYPER SONIC!!! Note: This has happened to be every time, but gamer Jason Andrews has told me that it only happens to him sometimes. CARNIVAL NIGHT ZONE This place reminds me of Casino Night Zone in Sonic 2 (my favorite Sonic game). There's also a ton of giant gold rings here. Remember that if you have all the emeralds hitting a giant ring gives you 50 rings. I'm afraid a walkthrough would be impossible here, as it's just so big. There are a few things you should know. Antigravity floors make you float, balloons bounce you up, cannons can blast you to new heights (jump in and press jump to shoot) grid tubes you cling to and you can move you slowly up or down, badniks include clams that fire spiked balls that any shield can deflect and neon bats that fly around the bats can be beaten with a simple jump but the clams are very hard to beat, as they bounce you off if you jump on them. If you jump onto a magnetic wheel you can jump off, and press down to spin faster. There's tubes that shoot you up, one-way doors, and yellow tubes that can deposit you in one of two places. Candy cane poles you can spin down, and bumpers you can bounce off. To use platforms, jump on them and jump just as they come down to make them rise. To find the giant gold rings, just try jumping through every wall for giant rings and secret rooms. Act 2 is pretty much the same, except some of it is underwater. It also introduces a new badnik, a stationary robot that switches from ceiling to floor and fires energy balls every few seconds. Remember that some pieces of floor can be broken with a simple jump, and rotating candy barrels can crush you, so WATCH OUT! Spin dash under them if necessary. For some barrels, jump on them and then press and hold up to make them move higher. When they start going down, press and hold down to make them swing further. Don't jump off until you can reach where you want to go. It's a little like the elevator cars in Tazmania, only you don't jump. Oh, very important: act 2 is so huge you'd better not mess around too much, as you might run out of time. Oh, by the way, here's a few more tips: balloons you pop underwater give bubbles, and in act 2's second and last underwater area (where everything is dark) after the water lowers, use the candy barrel to go down enough for a 1-UP, one of several in this huge and colorful place. The mid-boss is kind of weird. It's a machine that releases a disk of the bottom that breaks away blocks. Avoid it and when the machine is not electrified, hit it and the bottom part extends. If the disk hits t like that, it takes damage. You can also hop on top of the disk. Four hits does it. You should try to beat it quickly, as it the disk breaks away too many blocks holes appear, and falling down one is fatal. At the end of act 2, Robotnik appears in an electric machine. Stay out from under him and try not to be on the side of the screen. When he drops an orb of energy, run to the side of the screen farthest from it, as he'll create an electric storm that sucks you in. Hold to the outside of the arena and you'll be fine. Then when he comes down to retrieve the orb, similar to the boss of Green Grove Zone in Sonic 3D Blast, hit him and bounce away. That's the safe and time consuming way. If you don't have that much time, or want to get done quickly, you could use the electric/bubble shields to get up to him, or when he comes down, jump on him and don't bounce away. Both of these methods get it done faster but will cost you rings. If you're Super/Hyper Sonic you can just jump and smash him, of course. HINT: IF YOU GET FROZEN BY AN ICE SHOOTER AND HAVE TAILS, PAUSE THE GAME AND PICK UP THE SECOND CONTROLLER. IF YOU HIT THE ICE BLOCK SONIC IS IN QUICKLY, YOU WON'T BE HURT. ALSO IF YOU SEE SOMETHING FROZEN, JUMP ON IT ONCE TO BREAK THE ICE. ICECAP ZONE This zone starts with a neat ski ride in which you collect 40 rings. (If you jump at the tight time, you can get 50). Eventually you'll hit a wall, fall underground and some snow falls on you. SD right through sone ice pillars and hit the starpost. Then hit the spring next to it and go up the swing. Jump to the ledge on the right (careful: the edge collapses) and spin dash through the bottom of the ice pillar to knock part of it off. Then climb up it to the next ledge, and don't hit the switch embedded in ice yet. Instead go right through the wall to a giant gold ring. When you return, jump on the switch twice to collapse the floor. Drop down a hill and go right, SDing under the ice shooters. Drop down the hill on the right. This hill repeats itself if you miss, so don't worry. It's actually four hills, jump when you slide down the fourth hill and you'll land on an ice platform. kick back and enjoy the ride as it bashes through some ice pillars. Be careful of the pillars that come down from the ceiling and try to crush you, and be very careful of the pillars that rise from the floor. Bounce up/left on the frozen spring for an electric shield. Then bounce straight up for ten rings. Go right, spin dashing through the little penguin badniks that charge at you on the ground, and bounce up on another spring. In the next part you'll have to go up on some swings. To use one, either SD into it or use a spring. When it goes up, quickly jump to the ledge or next swing. Also watch out for sharp icicles on the walls. At the top go right and you'll find eight ice pillars. Some of them go up when you touch them, so hurry across or SD. On the far right are two moving ice pillars. Get on the right one, then when the left one goes all the way up, slip between them and quickly drop down and get onto the hill. You can get crushed here if you're not very careful. At the bottom of the hill, get the frozen super ring and go right. The icicles on the ceiling fall when you come close enough, and once they fall you can use them as stepping stones to cross the bed of spikes. Be careful of the ice shooter in the middle and on the other side, bounce up on a spring and go right down another hill. At the bottom go left up an incline. Jump over the ice platform and hit the starpost. Then push the platform right, and when it starts moving get on and you'll go for a rather neat ride. At the end, bounce up and go right. Cross some more ice pillars with an SD and go down a hill, running over another set of pillars. Now go right, avoiding shooters and go up on a swing. The remainder of the level is a series of swings, so master jumping and SDing and by careful of wall springs that might knock you back to the bottom. Also beware of shooters. At the top the last swing's chain breaks. Now go right (some pillars appear to stop you from going back), hit the starpost, bounce up a hill and go right to the mid-boss. This is easy. A small machine looking like a little snowman appears ahead, and you can't hit it yet unless you have the electric/bubble shields or are Super/Hyper Sonic. Soon it surrounds itself with some snowballs and dives across the screen. Stay in the corner and you'll be fine. After it gets rid of the snowballs jump and hit it hopefully twice before it goes out of reach. It then drops five snowballs on you, but they fall slowly and shouldn't be a problem. Then it repeats the pattern. Six hits should do it. Act 2 Ladies and gentlemen, I will not do a walkthrough for this act. It is so easy, I won't waste space. About the only things you should know are you can SD to get out of snow piles, and when you find the purple slings jump on, and if you jump from high enough you'll fly up. Keep slinging until you get to where you're going. Badniks include penguins and nasty orbs that are surrounded with mines. If you have the electric shield (there's one at the beginning) just bash it, if not avoid it or wait until it releases the mines, then smash it. There's tons of loops here, and a few pillars. In some places you'll go underground, and part of the underground area is water, and if you fall in you'll die. There's only one 1-UP here, very high up, and it would be impossible to describe. Be careful of shooters and platforms that drop. Also underground there are two Robotnik power-ups, don't touch them as they hurt you! Try to take the high road here, as it's easier. One last thing, at the end when you hit a starpost and fly off a hill hold right to access a secret area if you were fast enough. Use the sling to get the rings above, then go through the right wall for a giant gold ring. There's another giant gold ring underground somewhere. At the end, Robotnik attacks in a rather nasty ship that fires jets of liquid nitrogen. They'll freeze you, so it's a plus to have Tails here. To hit it, jump on the platform in the center after it fires down, then quickly jump and hit it and then GET OUT OF THERE! After six hits the platform breaks, and only two more hits does this guy in. LAUNCH BASE ZONE HINT: TRY NOT TO TOUCH SIRENS, AS THEY CAUSE SOME BIRD BADNIKS TO ATTACK. THERE'S A WAY TO GET UNLIMITED LIVES HERE, BUT ONLY THE CLEVEREST PLAYERS WILL FIGURE IT OUT. First, go right and up a small hill. You'll find a badnik surrounded in spikes, and he moves whenever you turn around. Unless you're invincible, leave him alone. Soon you'll find a giant rotating cylinder. Get on it and jump off when you're on the bottom. Go right, and be careful of the spiked thing that goes up and down and crushes you. Jump into the wall behind it to find a giant gold ring! Go right, back under the spiked crusher and go right. You'll find some collapsing floor; bounce up on the spring under it. To the right is a thing that fires a flame every few seconds. If you just blaze through you'll get burned. The trick is remembering it's there, and jumping over it after it flames. Continue right past some hills and enter the tube. You'll be blasted up through the ceiling. You'll land near an elevator; jump in and you'll go for a short ride. When you come out go left, under a spiked crusher and spike badnik, and jump into the cup. When it stops go right into a building and climb up on some moving platforms. The thing on the wall occasionally opens to fire two bullets, the only way to beat it is when it's open. Go left, past the spikes (there if playing locked on) and hit the red button on the wall. Now go right through an opened passageway, get the power-up (electric shield if playing alone, invincibility if playing locked on) and get in the cup. Go left, avoiding or jumping and bashing the laser things above you, and get in another cup for a short ride. At the end go right out of the building, busting the frog-like thing that carries two balls and drops them on you, and drop down by the flame thrower. Go left up the hill, go down in the cup, and go left to some power shoes (careful of the frog badnik with the spinning ball). Then spin dash right for a long ride. At the end, go left past two frogs, cross a rotating cylinder, and go up the incline jumping over the spring and flame thrower. Hit the starpost and drop out of the building, hitting the thing on the ground called a booster. You'll go up a curved wall. Go right and get in the cup, and jump on the dropping platform and go into the building. Hit the red thing and drop down. Go right, (I may not mention every single badnik from now on) and avoid a flame thrower and spring. Jump onto the hook and press right. On the other side, jump off and go right. Avoid the crusher and enter the tube (through the left, you dope) and you'll blast through the ceiling. Go right and jump over a gap. If you fall, SD back up. On the other side go right, hit the booster and go right to a rotating cylinder. Cross it, drop down and enter a hole in the wall at the bottom of it on the right for a bubble and electric shields. Then get back up and go right, avoid the crusher and get in the elevator. Avoid another crusher and drop down to another elevator. Get in and go left, dropping down via some moving platforms. Hit the red button and go right, collecting a super ring. Drop down, spin dash right for a ride in which you hit a starpost, and then enter the building. Go up on some moving platforms and some cups until you meet Knuckles. He'll throw a bomb (if you fall now you'll die) and jump right and get out of the building. It'll collapse, and you can go right through a starpost to the mid-boss. This is pretty easy. A machine with two swinging spiked arms appears, and follows you around. Avoid it until it retracts its arms, then hit it from the side. After three hits one arm breaks off, making it possible to hit it while it's attacking you. After six hits, it's history. Act 2 You should have all the skills you need here, so a walkthrough won't do much good. It's the same as act 1, only there's a little bit of water. Also you'll be walking on pipelines a lot. Oh, and about midway through, you'll find one of those pillars you have to SD through. This one has water running through it, and at the end you'll find a super ring and Robotnik icon if playing alone, and an invincibility and super ring if playing locked on. you should move through this stage quickly, so you'll have plenty of time to fight the final battle. Oh, there's a few secrets. At the beginning after riding a cup drop down between two platforms, and go into the water. Before hitting the spring, go through a tunnel above it leading to the last giant gold ring. Also, when you're at the first rotating cylinder after the ride in the pipe, jump off the bottom, go left and enter the tunnel for a 1-UP. At the end... THE FINAL BATTLE At the end of act 2, Robotnik jumps into a weird and stationary machine. A small platform emerges from the wall and a cannonball comes out from it. The next time the cannonball comes out under it, and they alternate. If the cannonball comes out of the top, get on the platform and jump. After the cannonball fires, jump and hit the top of Robotnik's machine. Try to get done quickly. After eight hits, it's gone. If you have Tails, get a friend to use the second controller and try to get Tails behind Robotnik so he can just deck him. Even if you don't have Tails, it isn't too hard. After beating him, get into the small cockpit behind him (if Tails is with you, he'll die as he can't do this part, and do not become Super/Hyper Sonic until you reach the platform as this takes a while). You'll ride right, and the repaired Death Egg begins to take off. Knuckles tries to stop you but falls off the pillar and drowns if playing alone. When you reach a platform on the far right, get ready for the final battle. Robotnik appears in a large pillar-like machine that goes up the screen firing lasers at you. Be careful. Also there's a tiny spiked ball that spins around the top section of the machine. When it isn't in the way, jump and hit the machine from above. It's easier if it's coming up. After four hits, the top section breaks off. It can only fire one laser now, and four more hits demolishes the second section. The third and last section is unarmed, except with that darned spiked ball. Jump on it once and it's toast. If you're playing locked on, stop reading now and start Mushroom Hill Zone. If you're playing Sonic 3 alone, don't read Mushroom Hill Zone or any zones thereafter, but you must fight one last boss. The screen turns dark, the music changes, and a machine made up mainly of a spiked crown and hand appears. It'll swoop across the screen twice. It really helps to have plenty of time with this. You've got to jump and hit it under the spiked crown and above the hand. If you touch either one you'll take damage. After two swoops, or if he catches you in the hand, he'll appear on the top and eventually stop and drop down, leaving only the spiked crown above the floor. He'll then go back and forth, and you'll got to jump over him. Eventually he'll stop. Quickly get behind him and he'll fly away again. He then repeats this pattern. After eight hits, you've beaten Sonic 3!!! Great job! If you finished with all the emeralds, you'll get to use a secret stage select. Not bad? Just press up or down to access any zone you want in the save screen. If you're playing locked on, you have just entered Sonic and Knuckles and are roughly halfway through. If you are playing Sonic & Knuckles alone, start reading here after reading the basics section. Oh, last but very important: If you're playing Sonic & Knuckles alone, giant gold rings are the same as they are normally. If you're playing locked on, giant gold rings from now on are all flashy. Unfortunately you can no longer become Super Sonic unless you activate all the Super Emeralds, when you become Hyper Sonic. (To become Hyper Sonic in Sonic 3, use stage select after beating both games). When you touch a giant gold ring you'll be warped to the Hidden Palace, a place you'll see later. Any emeralds you collected in Sonic 3 will be lost, but for each one you have an inactive super emerald appears. Jump on a pedestal without any super emerald to play a Sonic 3 stage in which you did not collect the emerald and if you win, a super emerald appears there. To exit without playing any stages, walk onto the spot you get beamed down onto (Star Trek style!). Jump on an inactive super emerald to play a Sonic & Knuckles stage and if you win, you will activate that super emerald. To win the game 100%, you must beat all 14 special stages and activate all seven super emeralds. When you reach Hidden Palace Zone, there will be no more giant gold rings. When you complete Hidden Palace Zone, you'll see all the super emeralds. Honestly, I can't think of anyone who'd read all that. MUSHROOM HILL ZONE This zone is very easy. About the only thing you might have trouble with are the pulling machines. Jump onto one side, then press down and hold it for a second. Release it and you'll swing up. (Only read this part if playing locked on) At the start, go right until you find Knuckles. Simply press the button to open the door and go left to a giant gold ring. Now go right, hit the spring, and use the bar to swing up. Hold right to find two super rings. the dragonfly is hard to beat, as he's only vulnerable in the head. Go right and (start reading here if playing S & K alone) beat the butterflies. SD through a loop and if you went fast enough, you'll land on a high ledge. Bounce on the spring left to a bubble shield and some rings. Drop back down and go right to some power shoes. The mole above them throws mushrooms that send you flying away, but you can beat him with a quick bop. Continue right, climb up on a pulling machine, and go right. Bounce up on the spring and jump over the spikes. Take out the mole, grab the super ring, and hit the spring to go through a loop and off the ledge. Use some mushrooms to bounce up (each time you bounce on them, they bounce you higher) and go right through a loop. Drop down and go right, and drop down again. Go through some loops and when a vine catches you, SD off and hit the spring. You'll land on a dropping mushroom, drop down and go down the hill. You should find a spring that sends you right up the hill and up to some high ledges. Go right, using a hidden spring to bounce over the spikes, and drop down. Go left and down to a pulling machine. Jump through the wall to the left of it for a giant gold ring. When you return, go right out of its chamber and hit the spring. Continue right along the path until you get stuck on a vine. SD off, jump the spikes, and go right. Take out a mole and a badnik disguised as a mushroom by hitting it twice. Use the spring or pulling machine to go up the hill, and SD right through some loops to the mid-boss (you'll hit a starpost as you go). This mid-boss has engines at the bottom of it, so if you don't have the fire shield follow it right and as it lowers, hit it from the side or top. You should have no trouble. Just be careful of the logs it fires off. Act 2 Go right and Knuckles hits a switch that takes you to a fall version of this zone. Go left for an invincibility, and go right, jumping to the ledge for a bubble shield. The chicken badnik to the right will try to blow you away, so make your move when the wind stops. When you find two see-saw mushrooms, jump on the one without the weight and you'll be catapulted up. Do so again and this time land on the floating ledge on the left. Grab the two super rings, and then Sd into the spring and hold right to skip a large part of the act. You should land on or near another spring that sends you through a loop. A bit to the right is a giant gold ring. Exit its chamber to the right and cross the spikes using the extending vine bridge. Go down the vine and swing down on a bar, then go right. Use the first mushroom you see to reach a ledge above with a super ring and an invincibility. Hit the spring, then hit another spring and go right for a quick ride. Be very careful not to fall down between the vine bridge, and go up on the pulling machine. Go right, killing the dragonfly and getting the hidden speed shoes, and bounce up to the spring. Hit it and time your jump off the swing just right so you swing up and right to a ledge. Go right, through a loop and SD onto the spring. When you land, go right to a giant gold ring. When you exit to the right, you'll be in a colorless place. Use the mushrooms to bounce up to the spring on the wall. Bounce right really far for some rings, any shield of your choice, and a 1-UP. Use the spring on the right to bounce right, swing down on some bars, and go right until you find a pulling machine. Knock out the chicken beside it and enter the wall behind it for another giant gold ring! Go up on the pulling machine, hit the spring at the top, and go right up on a see-saw. Hit the starpost and go right to the boss. This boss is easy if you do it right. First, jump on the satellite device and press no buttons and you can get in as much as five hits on Robotnik before he flies away. Now go right, and jump over the spiked balls between the trees. When you're close enough, hit Robotnik when his engines are off. Eight total hits and he'll slam into a tree, exploding. Jump on the animal prison to free some animals. Now Sonic jumps onto the... FLYING BATTERY ZONE This would make a great final zone, as it's all mechanized and quite hard, with no giant gold rings. get ready for a real ordeal here. Okay, first touch the jet sled and you'll go up into the giant warship and through a loop. You'll go down a grid tube and then land on a platform that takes you down a shaft. Jump onto the ceiling handles and move left, being careful of the flame thrower and badniks on the ground that spew flames (as you might guess, a fire shield is very useful here). The last ceiling handle in the second group takes you down through the floor. Jump on top of the flame thrower to avoid being toasted and grab onto more ceiling handles. Ride the last one down, and you'll find some mouse-like badniks that move back and forth on walls, floors and ceilings. Go left for a super ring and flame shield, and notice how above you the ceiling changes and lowers. If you jump and hit the spot right where the ceiling lowers, you'll get a hidden and completely inconspicuous 1-UP. In the next part, you'll deal with some small moving platforms and ceiling handles in an outside area. This is one of the toughest parts in the game, as if you miss a jump you'll fall to your death. If you make it to the other side, hit the jet sled and shoot up a ramp. Go left, past a flame thrower, to a starpost. Now there are some horizontal grid tubes. The thing is, exit each one so you'll get through the narrow space between them. On the other side, SD up a ramp and jump on to of the flame thrower to bounce up. You'll hit a jet sled and shoot up to some ceiling handles. Move left, jumping on the little pipe thing the snake platforms go through, then jump to the platform (be careful, the fans on the bottom of these platforms hurt you). Now jump left onto another pipe thing, and then you'll see another snake platform moving above you. Jump on and ride left, jumping on the ledge. This is another tricky part, and you must be careful that the platforms don't crush you. There's a flame thrower on the ledge that can and will knock you back to the floor if you don't time your jumps right. Now you'll find an animal cage, but it contains robots! Unless you have the fire shield you can't avoid hitting it. Now go left and use the flame thrower to bounce up. There are some mines here, touch them and they explode, so move it. When you find a pole grab it and move up, being careful of the missiles. At the top, jump off. You'll go by several more poles, and if you're the adventurous type climb up the top of the last pole and shoot left by holding left as you jump. Climb up the pole on the left, then shoot right twice to reach a super ring and a 1-UP. Be careful not to touch the propellers, and after getting it go back down and jump over the jet sled. Ride the platform down. You'll find some magnetic platforms that go up when the ceiling is electrified (every few seconds) and so do badniks. Be careful - they can crush you. Hit the starpost, and hit the button to open a floor panel. Drop down through a grid tube. At the bottom, go right, being careful of spiked balls (they rise when the ceiling electrifies if they're under it) and grab the super ring and the invincibility. Then go back left, past all the stuff, until you find a place where you've got to SD up some curved walls when the snake platforms aren't in the way. At the top, use the strings of spheres rotating around the big sphere to reach an animal cage on the left that bounces you up. Hit the jet sled for a ride. At the end, some floor collapses. Drop down and go right, past an electric ceiling, and hit the starpost. Hit a spring and go up the curved wall, hitting another spring. In the next part stand on the magnetic platforms and when they rise, jump to the next ledge. When you find an animal cage, bounce up on it and you'll be outside. Go right, and jump over the bowl-shaped areas that the swinging spiked balls go through with running starts. At the far right, watch out for the missiles and when they blow a hole in the floor, go through and go down a grid tube. If you fall, it's tough to get back up. After that, SD off the ramp and through the starpost to the mid-boss. This is sort of hard. When you jump on the animal cage, two spiked balls on chains appear. Stay on the button on the top of the cage until the eyes flash, then GET OFF it because one spiked ball will try to smash you. If you get away in time the spiked ball will hit the button, damaging the machine. Six hits does it. Act 2 This is very similar to act 1, so a walkthrough wouldn't do much good. It's not like I don't like you or anything, just that both of these stages are so damned long I don't want my file too long to be posted. There is more of everything, and something new: corkscrew poles. Get on one of the bolts as it goes up or down the pole, and when you want to get off, do so unless you want to be crushed. This act isn't as bad as the first, but will definitely take a while to do and has no secrets. DOUBLE BOSS!!! This is a very strange place in the game, probably because this was originally intended to be the last zone of the game. When you reach the first arena, you'll find a large laser on the ceiling. You can't hit it, but even if you could (with Super/Hyper Sonic or the electric/bubble shields) it can't be destroyed. Instead, simply run back and forth, and when it stops and fires the laser, just don't be under it and it misses and takes damage, and the lasers on the sides (don't hurt you) move inward. After six missed blasts (each one is harder to avoid than the last) it's toast. Go right and hit the starpost. Now you've got to escape a rising floor that tries to crush you. Do plenty of SDs and ignore rings used to decoy you. When you see the super ring, you made it. Wait for the floor to take you up a shaft, and eventually it goes up into the sky, where you'll fight the second boss. Robotnik will fall from the top, grabbing onto the platform with two giant spiked claws. He'll slowly move toward you. Jump over him, and when he starts swinging above the platform, hit him. You can try getting two hits each time he swings. Eight hits does the job. In case you're interested, he'll fire a flame if you land between the claws. SANDOPOLIS ZONE Uh, guys? Welcome to the desert. The main enemy here is a scorpion with a small spiked ball at the end of its tail. If you get close, it'll swing that at you with uncanny accuracy. To beat it, spin into it from behind. Easier said than done. Okay, let's begin. First jump out of the sand and go right, jumping in the sand wave. Jump quickly to go to the top, and go right to a stone block. Push it onto the little black things so it starts moving, and ride it right. You'll find a pillar that tries to crush you - SD over it and go down the sand slide. Go down another slide and before you hit the spring, climb up the sand wave for a super ring. Hit the spring and go right, grabbing onto the little handle above you to swing over the quicksand pit. On the other side, go right and over another pillar. SD through a loop that shoots you up. You can ride the moving pillar left here for two super rings. Anyway, go right and use the stone block to cross the quicksand. On the other side is a platform that swings up when touched. Then go right, taking out a scorpion and a weird guy who hides under rocks. Then swing up on the platform, and jump left to an invincibility. Jump up two sand waves, and go right to a scorpion. Kill it and go right to a starpost. Hit it and ride down two sand slides. You'll be in a quicksand pit with two sandworms in it (they'll remind veteran gamers of the Lanmolas in The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past) they're only vulnerable in the head, so avoid them. Jump out of the pit (if you sink in you'll die, but some of the pits higher up that you can only reach with Super/Hyper Sonic do not kill you) and go right. Jump up the sand wave and hold right to get off on the right side of the spiked pillar. Push the stone block onto the ride and ride it right. If you mis this next thing you'll be on your own. When the ride appears to end, jump right onto a swinging platform. ride it up, then go right to a giant gold ring. When you come back, go right and drop down. You'll find a sand slide you must go up by jumping on the blocks that go down. When you get to the beginning, go right to a spring. Go right through a loop be careful of a spiked pillar, grab the handle, and go down over the quicksand. Go right past a scorpion and go into the string of spheres. You'll be slung up. Get into the sand wave and go up. At the top, either go up on the swinging platform and go right, or go left past a scorpion to two super rings. To the right is a starpost. The rest of the level is so straightforward I won't bother talking about it. Just avoid those pillars and scorpions, and keep going until you reach the mid-boss. This is very easy if you do it right, and almost impossible if you have no idea what to do. You don't need to hit the giant beast of living rock, just lure it over into the quicksand on the left and it'll destroy itself. Just be careful not to get hit. Act 2 This is a very long act, but I'll walk you through part of it. It's got two new things: the levers and light handles. With time, the pyramid darkens and ghosts appear and swoop down on you. Ghosts only appear after you hit the animal cage, which is unavoidable. Grab a light handle and all ghosts disappear, and they can't hurt you until it's really dark. Push levers to open doors, but they slowly close, some really fast. Go right, avoiding a pillar (all the pillars can crush you) and grab the light handle. Jump over the quicksand pit and push the lever as far as possible. Then run right, hit the bouncy spheres and climb up the sand wave. If you were fast enough, you'll be able to run left and grab an electric shield. Then go right, through a loop and you'll hit the animal cage containing ghosts. Push the lever and run right, getting on the sand slide. When you slide left, use the electric shield's double jumping power to go back up the slide. This is tricky, but if you make it to the top you'll find a giant gold ring on the left. These slides are infinite, so when you slide down/left try to jump onto a slide going down/right and you should get out. Once out of the sand slides hit a starpost grab a light handle an push the lever all the way. The next part must be done very quickly. Hit the spheres on the left, push the block, and ride it right. Ignore the light handle and charge up an SD. When you reach the next ledge, release and you'll shoot under the door if you were fast enough. Grab the handle and keep jumping until you reach the ledge (if you miss, you're screwed) and go right. Grab the light handle and push the lever. Go right, climb up some swinging platforms and go left under a pillar. Bounce up by the door and take out a scorpion. Go right, hit the spheres and go through two sand waves. Hit the starpost. My walkthrough will be paused here. Keep going until you find a dead end. Not so. Hit he yellow stopper on the ceiling and the chamber begins to fill up with sand. The sand will crush you, so do the next part quickly. I can't walk you through it, as you just need to go as fast as you can, push levers and grab light handles. If you're fast you can grab goodies like super rings. there's also a 1-UP somewhere in there. After the sand stops for the second time, my walkthrough ends as you should have no trouble going through the rest. Just be careful around pillars, pull levers, an grab light handles. There's another stopper near the end, but it will not cause sand to rise, instead it causes sand to rise to an extent enabling you to reach the next ledge. Also, if you're fast enough with the last lever you can reach a giant gold ring. You can't reach it after hitting the last starpost. The boss chamber is huge. Robotnik's inside a giant statue, as big as the robot at the end of Sonic 2. Luckily it isn't as hard. When the arm in front comes out, jump on it and then hit the machine above the spikes to cause the rocks to fall back. then hit Robotnik's cockpit before the rocks return. Just be careful of the spikes and the laser beam it occasionally shoots. During this battle the machine slowly moves left, so if you aren't fast enough you'll get crushed. If that happens, you might want to consider going back to preschool, or maybe school for Downs kids. Point is, it should never happen. LAVA REEF ZONE This volcanic place begins with a fall down a big shaft. At the bottom, SD right through some rocks and under falling spikes. Hit the button to open the rocky door and coss a pit of lava via floating rocks (they sink, so watch it). On the other side, jump and hit the worms in the head. Go up the steps, being careful of fireballs. At the top, pick up the electric shield and go right. Cross a small lava pit and go right. You'll find a rock with a face that explodes after a while, but can't hurt you if you have any shield. Cross another lava pit via collapsing ledges and jump on the little rock. You'll be bounced up to a completely obscure secret area with two super rings and a 1-UP. Drop back down and go right. You'll find what I call a toxobot, a little pole that creates a cloud of poison gas that sticks to you and steals rings. The pole itself can also hurt you. Jump on it to beat it. Hit the button and SD right for a ride. At the end, jump over the spikes and lava pit when the lava stops falling. Go left past another exploding rock. Bounce up/right on the spring for a starpost, super ring and fire shield. Guard the latter with your life. Go left past some swinging spiked balls, and hit the green gun to open the door. Get on the machine and SD left to make it go down. Charge up the SD to go faster. Then go right, (from now on, exploding rocks and worms won't be mentioned) hit the button and go past the lava fall when it stops (remember if you have the fire shield lava can't hurt you). You'll find a large machine that drills through the floor. After the floor breaks, jump behind it for a 1-UP. Then drop down into a lava pool. Run left to a super ring, then go right and hit he button to open the door. If you don't have the fire shield, you'll be hit here. Go up some steps and up a SD machine (SD right). Avoid the fireball shooter and SD through some rocks, to a large red platform with spikes on the bottom. It goes up, then slams down. Jump through the wall on the right on the bottom for a super ring, and higher up jump through for a giant gold ring. Then go left along the ledge, ride another thing up (careful not to get crushed) and go right. Use another red platform to go up to an electric shield, then double jump up/right and go through the wall to a ring-filled chamber. Go back down and right. SD through the rocks and get some rings above (careful of the fireball shooters) and go left, hitting a starpost. Hit the fire shield and get some rings, then go right over a bridge. Use the spring to bounce up to a higher ledge (the route right takes you back) and jump over the rolling spiked ball for an electric shield and super ring. Then go right, using the red platform to reach a SD machine. Ride it up to even more rings and a 1-UP. The rest of the stage just has more of the same, so I won't go into it. This is a hard mid-boss. Two gun orbs on chains come up, and fire off three shots any shield can deflect. The first time they come up, hit them as they come up, then as they fire hit them by jumping and using your flash shield (only works if you have no other shield, but the electric/bubble shields let you get high enough anyway) and you'll hit the orb. Each one takes four hits. After they go down a giant hand appears. Run back and forth until it stops and tries to slam down on you. When it does, hit it once or twice before it goes down. Six hits kills the hand. Act 2 This is... blue (!). It has almost no lava. I'll be able to walk you through the whole thing. First go right and jump by the flame thrower that fires a jet of fire. Jump when it recedes. Then go right, hit the button to open the door and cross a cylinder surrounded by rotating spiked balls. Continue right past two platforms that crush you. Jump onto the moving platforms and go right along them, reaching the upper ledge. Jump over the flame thrower and go right, past two more flame throwers. Drop down and go left, then right again, SDing through the weak wall. Bounce up on the spring to the moving platform, and then jump left through the wall to a giant gold ring. Drop back down and go left. Use the spring to get the rings on the ceiling, and go right jumping over the spiked balls. Jump over three flame throwers and go right until you see an conveyor belt of platforms with spiked bottoms. Jump on one and go up, then right. Now climb up the platforms, being careful of the spiked balls going around some of them. At the top, hit the button and go left, jumping over spiked balls and avoiding the crushing thing. Continue left, past a toxobot and several flame throwers, to a fire shield. Use the spring to reach another conveyor belt. Ride it up, then go right past several toxobots. Hit the button and grab onto the rotating cylinder. The trick is to jump off just as you start to swing up to go up to the next cylinder, then to the platform. bounce up to the moving platform and jump right through the wall to a giant gold ring. Then go by several platforms, and go right (SD) and use the spring to collect the rings on the ceiling. Then go left, down a ramp, and then go back left into the gap. Inside is a super ring and electric shield. Grab them and go through he right wall for the final giant gold ring. After you return, hit the button and go right. Go past the flame thrower and hit the starpost. Climb up some platforms, avoiding lava, spiked balls and flame throwers. At the top, go right, up several stairways (if you fall, you'll die) and Knuckles drops a boulder on you. You'll fall down to the boss. Oooooohhhhh... this is hard. First, pull right and the place turns red, and a machine fires off some missiles. The middle of the platform disappears. Now go right, hurrying because missiles will fall from above, destroying platforms. Falling in the lava almost certainly kills you, and the screen automatically scrolls. Later on, falling kills instantly and some platforms collapse. If you're playing on PC, make sure the screen is as big as possible as it slows the game down. When you reach the starpost, you're down with the first part. Now you'll find four platforms that go down a lava fall. Falling here kills you, the screen scrolls fast, and the platforms are small. This is hard, unless you're Super/Hyper Sonic, in which case it's impossible. When you reach the fourth platform, you'll go down. Jump to the right and you'll land on an electric shield. Now go left across some small platforms with six rings above each one. If you fall... well, you'll find out. At the end, grab the fire shield and get on the platform. Ride down the lava fall and Robotnik appears at the bottom. Don't think just because you have a fire shield it's going to be a cakewalk. Robotnik will appear on the right in a lava-proof metal ball, and is invulnerable. He'll fire out three spiked balls which land on the left and roll down the lava, which becomes a slope, toward him. They'll hurt you even if you have a fire shield, so watch it! Lava platforms will slide down, exploding when they hit him. When the spiked balls hit him they'll damage him. After three hits, he'll go back under the lava and appear again on the left. Stay in the center. When you lose the fire shield, it gets MUCH HARDER. You must jump from platform to platform as they slide down the lava. If you're too slow, you'll slide right into Robotnik. You've also got to avoid spiked balls, and make very accurate jumps. After 14 hits, it's over, and trust me, you'll be glad when it is. If you finish all of that on one life, you probably don't need me anymore. If you use all your continues on that, I have four words: You are not alone. HIDDEN PALACE ZONE This is the shortest zone I've every seen in a platform game. all you have to do is go up some stairs via invisible springs until you find the teleporter. Get the super ring to the right of it, then jump on and you'll be beamed up (Oooh... how Star Trekian!) to the next level. Then go right, through a starpost, to the boss. Knuckles has had it up to here with you hedgehogs! He's tired of constant trickery and has decided to exterminate you... and what a pushover he is! He'll either jump and glide across the room, or spin dash across. When he's standing in the corner, jump and hit him. When he glides, jump and hit him from below. Just don't touch his knuckles. After eight hits, he's stunned. Upon taking that eighth hit, Knuckles's brain gets a little jarred. He suddenly realizes Sonic is there to try to save Floating Island, and that Robotnik, not Sonic, is trying to steal the emeralds. But it's too late. Sonic and Knuckles go right into a chamber with all the super emeralds. If playing locked on, you'll see some of them active. At the center is the master emerald, which Robotnik takes. Knuckles tries to stop him, but Robotnik uses two electric chargers to zap Knuckles, and the floor collapses, and Robotnik flies away. Knuckles, using his powerful knuckles, smashes the door to your cell. Follow him right to a teleporter and you'll both be teleported to Sky Sanctuary (Kert Rats! That's Star Trek backwards!) SKY SANCTUARY This is a very easy zone. All you have to do is climb up some towers and beat Robosonic three times. Yep - there are three bosses here. First, go right to find a pit. You won't die is you fall in, but you'll see the Death Egg shoot off several ships. After a while, Knuckles jumps over the pit and a bridge appears. He won't be able to help you anymore. Go right and jump onto the bar. Then jump on the ledge, being careful of the spikes that will KILL you in one hit because of lack of rings. now go right to a badnik that fires lasers at you. Just smash it and hit the spring. Cross a bridge and climb up on the tower. Now jump onto the white clouds on the right and flip up to a ledge with an electric shield. Use more clouds to go up to the collapsing bridge above, and go left. You'll find a large rotating green belt. Jump on and jump off to the left, take out another badnik, and hit the spring that appears. Soon you'll find several small gray towers floating. You must cross to the left, being careful as the towers collapse. If you fall, you can just climb back up. Once you make it past the towers, flip up on some clouds and go left to the first mid-boss. Remember the first boss in Sonic 1? The one with the large swinging ball? This one's the same, except with Robosonic in the cockpit. Get in a few hits early on, then hide under a platform and the ball will miss. When it swings to the other side, jump and hit him then quickly get back under the platform. this is easier with the electric shield. After eight hits, a teleporter appears - jump on to go to the next part. Go right over a collapsing bridge. If you fall, just teleport back up. Then beat a badnik and go right to a starpost. Above the spikes is a pole - grab on and then jump onto the white cloud. Flip onto the ledge and go right, until you find another pole. There's two poles - when possible, jump on the higher one, then to the green thing, then right to a fire shield. Continue right, drop down to a super ring, and cross a rotating thing. Flip up on some clouds and keep right, ignoring the spiked cup thing. SD across the collapsing bridge to the second mid-boss. Ladies and gentlemen, remember the boss of Metropolis Zone in Sonic 2? It's back. First, jump over it twice using double jumps or fire dashes. When it goes to the center, run to the corner until the orbs around it retract, then hit it from below. Don't destroy the little clone! Instead, unlike the old battle you can jump and hit it from below now. Keep hitting it always keeping at least one clone on the screen, and once it's lost all its orbs destroy the clones. Then, avoid its lasers and hit it once from below to beat it. Jump on the teleporter. In the third and last part, go left and take out the badnik. Hit the starpost and cross a rotating thing. Jump on the floating tower and go left, jumping in the spiked cup for a short ride. Then go left, up on some clouds, and right across a rotating thing. Beat a badnik and ignore the spiked cup. Drop down by the collapsing bridge for a super ring, then continue right past a cup and a cloud to a teleporter. Jump on and go right to a tower. A badnik comes out; beat it and go in to be sprung up. Now just go up some collapsing bridges via springs, hit the starpost, and jump on the teleporter to go to the boss. Finally, something new. Okay, Robosonic will appear on the left, then jump and dash across the screen. Next he'll jump and bounce over. The third time, he'll jump and land, dashing the rest of the way. When he lands, he'll either stay put or be facing away from you. If he is, he'll dash across the screen. Jump over him. Anyway, hit him on the head, being careful of the spikes on the back of his head. After eight quick hits, it's over. The platform collapses and Sonic races up a collapsing tower. At the top, he jumps onto the... DEATH EGG ZONE Okay, welcome to the world's greatest final zone. We've got electric floors, moving spikes, antigravity... you name it, we got it. Start by going right and you'll find a badnik with a spiked ball around it. Hit it from above to beat it, and go right to a bridge of electrons that appears and disappears. Cross by quickly, and you'll find a platform. the side you're on goes down. Okay, drop down and use a jet sled (de-ja-vu!) To shoot up. Go right to a thing that you can float above - it can't hurt you. Hit another jet sled when the electrons are active, and hold up and you'll grab onto a thing that takes you up over an electric floor. Go left, jumping over the jet sled and spring, and grab the bubble shield. Then jump onto the platform to be taken up. Time it so a missile doesn't hit you. Then go right, through an antigravity ride, and jump over the spikes. Ride the platform up and hit the jet sled. You'll land on a platform that rises like steps when touched. Go up and right, avoiding missiles launched every few seconds, and hit the starpost. Now there's two electron bridges above you - jump quickly and at the top, go right quickly before the bridge disappears. If you fall, you're on your own. Now go up some steps, with missile launchers on each one. Grab the handle on the platform to ride over the electric floor. Hit the jet sled and you'll soon find a "cliff". Walk up to it and you'll be sent through one of the weirdest things in video games: a tube of light that send you over a dangerous part. If you go back, you can grab three super rings and an electric shield... decide for yourself if it's worth it. On the other side, hit the jet sled and go through an antigravity ride. You'll find a conveyor belt that goes down a shaft lined with missiles and spikes. Trick is, touch it to make it go, then jump off. Wait a while, then jump down and hopefully you won't get hit. Then go left, cross an electron bridge over an electric floor, and you'll find a swinging platform. Get on and drop through the floor below it, to an invincibility! With it go out of its chamber and go left, racing across the electric floor. At the end, there's a pit that will KILL you... jump over and hit the starpost. Soon you'll find yourself in a huge antigravity chamber. There's a lot of rings and springs here. To get out, you've got to hit the moving thing in the middle with six lights. Each time you hit a light it turns red. You'll be constantly pulled right, so you'll need to use the springs to get on the left side and hit the lights. After all the lights are red, you'll exit the chamber. My walkthrough for this act ends here - you should have all the skills you need to get through. Don't worry - it isn't far. This is a tough mid-boss, but then again, what do you expect from the very last zone? This consists of two phases. First, the eye surrounds itself with metal orbs. Wait until the orbs come down to the ground and then, jump and hit the eye itself. The orb's circle expands, so bounce back to the corner. This is easier with any shield. When you hit the eye one of the orbs explodes, becoming eight spikes which fly at you. Get in another hit before the orbs go back around the eye. Each hit destroys one orb. After eight hits, all the orbs are gone, but it's not over. The eye now grows two platforms with spikes on the bottom, and breaks off. It moves around the room, the platforms rotating around it. Jump onto one of the platforms and then, when the eye is near the center and you're below it, jump and hit it. Stay on your platform as each hit makes the eye go ballistic and the platforms spin really fast, and a laser appears. Just stay on the platforms and you won't get hurt. Patience is important here. Eight more hits defeats this mechanical monstrosity. Act 2 This act is pure skill, so a walkthrough won't do any good. Make sure you have plenty of lives. This act has a lot of stuff from act 1 - electron bridges, conveyor belt shafts and light tubes. It also has antigravity booths. Walk in and gravity reverses, allowing you to walk on the ceiling! The controls are still the same, however. You can also change gravity by pressing a weird button. Also, there is a tube early in this stage, and you can choose to exit to the left or right. Each route has its own challenges and both lead to the end. Also tough are platforms that act like see-saws, only now they are over death pits and you must press one side down to be able to reach a ledge. Remember that they break after a while. THE FINAL BATTLE This consists of nothing but a series of bosses. First off, you'll face a large purple sphere with a moving shield (two if Tails is with you) that prevents you from hitting it normally. It'll drop spiked bombs on wheels that roll back and forth, and eventually explode, sending spikes in three directions. To hit the machine, run into one of the antigravity booths when the sphere and a bomb are almost vertical, and when gravity shifts, the bomb's spikes hits the machine, damaging it. They can only hit the machine from the bottom. This battle takes a long time, so be patient. After eight hits, it's toast. Run right through the destroyed booth and chase Robotnik into his giant weapon of destruction. You'll only have any rings the first time you fight, so try to do it on the first try. Once you reach this point, you can't go back. Run right to avoid dying as the platform begins to collapse, then you'll see a huge robot with two three fingered hands appear. After a while, the hands slam down on the ground. Stand in front of a hand and when it slams, JUMP! Then you'll hit one of the fingers. Each finger is destroyed after three hits, and you've got to destroy all six to beat it. Be patient and you will go far. WAAAAAAY too easy, right? Well, guess what? Now that you've beaten the first part of the giant weapon of destruction, Robotnik gets pretty mad. His next machine covers half of the screen, and causes the platform to collapse as you move right. It shoots a giant fireball. Jump over it and quickly hit the machine and a panel opens, revealing the master emerald. It begins to power up - hit it once and when the sound stops, JUMP! It fires a huge laser. Jump and hit it again and the laser won't scathe you. Then the panel closes and another fireball comes. Once again, patience is more important then dexterity - trying to hit it more than twice will most often lead to your demise. You must be alert and paying attention during this battle. After eight hits, the machine is destroyed. THE END? No, it's NOT the end! Robotnik now tries to escape with the master emerald, and the Death Egg begins to disintegrate. The screen scrolls right really fast, and the platform collapses. You've got to hold right the entire time, and hit Robotnik's cockpit. It really isn't too hard, and you can get a few hits in at the beginning. After eight more hits, the game is over? Well, it is, so CONGRATULATIONS... unless you have seven or more (if playing locked on) emeralds. DOOMSDAY ZONE Do not read this unless you have all seven emeralds (playing alone) or all the super emeralds existing and all Sonic 3 stages complete (locked on). The Death Egg explodes, and Sonic begins to fall toward Earth. Luckily he transforms into Super Sonic (unless you're playing locked on and activated all the super emeralds, in which case it's Hyper Sonic, but here there's no difference) and begins to fly right. He'll lose one ring per second, and although nothing can hurt him, if he runs out of rings he'll become regular Sonic again and die. In the first part you'll need to go through an asteroid field avoiding asteroids (they slow you down) and missiles launched by Robotnik (knock you back). Also try to get rings as you fly - the more you get, the longer you can survive. After a while you'll com out of the asteroid field and meet up with a gigantic ship piloted by Robotnik. It'll fire little energy balls that knock you back. You can charge forward by pressing A, B or C. soon three homing missiles will be launched. Get above the cockpit so that as the missiles home in, one hits the cockpit and damages the machine. Then dash back, fly to the bottom, and charge right not letting any of the missiles hit you. Charge forward and up, and position yourself so another missile hits the cockpit. This can be extremely hard, so prepare to get frustrated. After eight missiles hit the cockpit, the machine explodes. Problem is, it's STILL not over... Robotnik tries to escape again. This is the absolutely last boss of the game, and it's pretty easy. Just keep charging forward, avoiding the bombs Robotnik releases that knock you back, and asteroids. You can get rings as you fight, and all you have to do is charge at the machine eight times. If you have enough rings, you can outlast him. After eight hits, Robotnik is destroyed and you'll be able to get the master emerald. Sit back and enjoy the ending babe - you've earned it. The ending depends on whether you were playing locked on, Sonic 3 alone or S & K. it also depends on whether you got all the emeralds or not. So, great job! Now, as promised, I have to do a Knuckles walkthrough. KNUCKLES SUPER MOVES Knuckles cannot do the flash shield or any other special attack Sonic can. Instead he can by double jumping glide forward, impaling anything with his rock-hard knuckles. Most walls can also be smashed with his Knuckles that Sonic would have had to have used a spin dash. Also, you cannot play as Knuckles in Sonic 3 unless playing locked on. To climb a wall, glide into one and use the D-pad. ANGEL ISLAND ZONE Act 1 of Angel Island Zone is exactly the same as Sonic until the last spring. Knuckles can't jump a high as Sonic, so he can't reach the mid-boss. Or so it seems. Just hold right when bouncing on the spring to crash through some boulders and face the same mid-boss, only now the missiles it fires hit the ground and can hurt you. You won't have a fire shield either. Act 2 is completely different!!! Okay, go right and jump and smash through the floor. Now you're underground. Go right, and when you see some spikes, go down/right carefully to get a fire shield. Then go right being careful of badniks and spikes (there's a lot of them) until you see a starpost. There's a super ring halfway through, and use moving platforms to cross spikes. After the starpost SD right through three loops and you'll shoot up to a cliff. Go right, and if you fall, wall climb back up. Now go right until you find a boulder. Go through and go down a tunnel. Get on the platform and then go across the collapsing bridge. Go right, through some spikes, to a starpost. Now go right through another underground area, this one's easier. When you see some boulders, hit the nearby spring to bash through them to the boss. He's the same as before, only he drops four fireballs now and you probably don't have a fire shield. Just be patient and wait until you can get in a good hit. HYDROCITY ZONE Both acts are the same as always until you get to the point where Knuckles collapses the floor if you were Sonic. Go right through the wall, go up some cylinders, glide over some spikes, drop down by some cylinders and soon you'll find the boss. Now he won't go down before making the whirlpool, so you must use the depth charges to hit him. MARBLE GARDEN ZONE Act 1 is the same as always, except at the end, you can't jump high enough to hit the mid-boss. (Oh, and at the first blue wheel, glide left and climb up). Use the spiked pillar to hit it. Act 2 is also the same until you find a statue you can't reach. Go back left until you see an arrow pointing up. Climb the pillar next to it. Then glide left to a wall, climb it. Then go back right and climb again, jump over the spiked ball and hit the starpost. Go left and when Robotnik appears, hit him and spin dash on the blue wheel. Go right, climb the steps, and hit the statue's forehead three times. Then go back left and climb the wall. At the top, grab the speed shoes to the left. The rest of the level consists of a dash similar to Sonic's, only at the end, hit the statue really fast before you get crushed. After that, just keep going until you find the boss. New boss! Okay, this requires some luck. First, a spiked chain will come out of the ceiling. Then another comes out of the floor. You never know where one appears, so you may get hit. Then Robotnik will come down the chain, retrieving it. Hit him once each time he does. After eight hits, it's done. CARNIVAL NIGHT ZONE This is another act completely new. Uh... I won't be able to walk you through this one. It's pretty simple, same stuff as Sonic, no secrets (except at the start, go left to some power shoes). The mid-boss is the same as always. Act 2 Oooohhhh... this is a hard act. It starts the same as Sonic, but no water. Soon you'll crash through a wall on the right. The walkthrough begins here. (To crash through the wall, climb it - you might actually get killed there). Soon there's a blue clam. Jump it and hit the spring. Now glide over two beds of spikes, the second with a candy barrel which will kill you. Get the super ring and electric shield and go past some rotating bumpers. Glide over another bed of spikes, climb the wall and get in the cannon. Blast up/right (if you don't time it just right, you'll hit the spikes) now go right through a starpost. Keep going right, through some one-way doors, and you'll find yourself on three super rings. grab them all and drop down, keep going right and soon you'll find the animal cage. No boss here. After freeing the animals jump on the teleporter. Welcome to... ICECAP ZONE The first act is the same as always, except: 1. There's no ski ride. 2. Shortly after the electric shield, you'll find your path blocked. Go right through some ice pillars (smash them with your knuckles). Now you'll be in an area with little ice mines. You can try gliding back and forth, but more often then not you'll hit a mine and go to the bottom, where you want to go. There's an electric shield in the bottom right corner. 3. On the last series of swings, don't jump on the second swing. Instead go right past some penguins through the wall. Keep going right, hit the starpost, then drop through the floor. The mid- boss is the same as always. Act 2 Mostly the same, except you'll start underground. Stay out of the water, keep trying to go up, and you'll be fine. The boss is a little harder because the platform moves up and down. Be patient and wait for a good shot. Don't worry: you can't be crushed. LAUNCH BASE ZONE Act 1 is the same as always until the last building. Climb up a long way, then go right and make your way through a short path until you find the mid-bosses, hitting a starpost on the way. You'll have to fight TWO of the same boss at the same time! It's quite hard, but you should be able to win. Act 2 is completely different, and has the same stuff. It's pure skill, no secrets, so a walkthrough wouldn't help. Oh, and at the end it fills with water. You must go left, climb the wall, race right, hit the spring and get in the cup before your air runs out. Hurry!!! There's a bubble shield somewhere here, but you probably will lose it before you get to the water part. After the water, keep going until you find the boss. You'll first fight that laser machine, then the grabber thing with the spiked crown. It'll dive across the screen four times though. After beating them both up, it's onward to... MUSHROOM HILL ZONE Whew! I'm glad we got that over! Both acts are the same as Sonic, except: 1. At the beginning of act 2, you'll go through a wall and down a spiked shaft... glide, you idiot! Soon you'll be on Sonic's route. 2. The boss is a bit harder, but nothing too bad. FLYING BATTERY ZONE Again the same, except using the wall climb you can reach areas Sonic can't. When you reach the boss, he'll be continuously firing flame spouts, so you can only hit him once from the side each time he swings up. He'll also only swing up twice. Be careful jumping over him too. SANDOPOLIS ZONE Act 1 is the same as always, except by wall climbing you can reach the upper part of the act. Act 2 is also, until shortly after the third starpost you can't go up because of your low jump. So go right, smash through the wall, and go right to another wall. Climb it, hit the stopper and go back to the left. Push the block onto the lever so it holds it open, then go right through the door. Keep going right, gliding through a small opening, until you find a starpost. Push the lever, and drop down to the boss. He's a little faster, but still easy. LAVA REEF ZONE Both of these acts are completely different. First, go right avoid falling spikes and SD under the spiked thing (it will kill you) and go down some steps avoiding spiked balls. Wait for the thing to drill through the floor, and drop down. Glide left on the lava for a super ring, then go right. Some of this collapses, so hurry. Use glides if necessary. Get on the spiked platform and jump off to the right for a super ring. Climb above it, and then glide left to a 1-UP. Drop back down and go right, past some nasty stuff, to a lava pit. Glide across when the lava stops falling. Now hit the starpost, being careful of the swinging spiked ball. Keep going right and go down. Jump over a lava pit via collapsing ledges and when you find a spiked platform, go up, climb the wall, and grab an electric shield. Then go right, past some fireball shooters. Go up the steps, SD under a spiked platform, go by two toxobots, and cross by two lava falls when the lava stops falling. Go down on a spiked platform and get the fire shield. Go right and get between the spiked platform and the door. When it goes up, SD left and hit the switch, then glide right through the door before you get crushed. Use glides to get through the next part. Soon you'll find a lava pit. Glide across and climb the left wall. Soon you'll find a tunnel - go right through to a starpost. Now collect a bunch of rings and go through several rocks (just walk through) and get an invincibility. Keep going past some fireball shooters and bounce up through the ceiling on the spring. Go right and open a door. the rest is the same as Sonic, and so is the mid-boss, only you can't hit the cannon orbs unless they're going up or down. Act 2 It starts the same as Sonic. When you reach the Robotnik monitors though, jump up and through the wall. You'll crash through. Go into the tube. Soon you'll hit a spring. Go left through some rocks and get the fire shield (use the spring, duh). Now go right past a flame thrower and three exploding rocks. Go past a moving platform and a cylinder with a chain of spiked balls circling it. Soon you'll find a spring. Bounce up to a starpost. Then go right, open a door, go past a moving platform (it can crush you, so watch it) and down a conveyor belt. Then go right, past a moving platform, through some rocks, to another tube. When you stop, go up by some flame throwers (you can stand on top of them, and you should climb the walls). If you don't have a fire shield this is a really tough part. When you see the moving platform, climb by (you can get crushed) and glide into the button under a flame thrower when it's off (try jumping from the platform itself). Then go left to a starpost and fire shield. Grab them and avoid the spiked ball. Then go right, past flame throwers, toxobots and swinging spiked balls. Open the door and enter the tube. My walkthrough ends here, as the rest of the level is just more flame throwers, spiked balls and moving platforms. When you go outside you're almost home. Just glide right (falling is fatal) and when you see the level end, go right through it. No boss. THE FINAL BATTLE First go right and jump on the teleporter to be beamed up to Sky Sanctuary. You'll collect three rings. Now jump into Robotnik's grabber and you'll be taken to Robosonic. He'll try to kill you but miss and blow up Robotnik instead. Now beat him, using the same tactics as Sonic does. After eight hits in the forehead, he's defeated... or is he? No, my friend, it ain't over. Not by a long shot. Robosonic now jets right and jumps onto the master emerald, turning into Super Robosonic! He'll fly above you, and eventually stop in the center. Stay in the bottom right corner. Now he'll either dive at you (jump over him) or shoot three giant energy balls at you. They'll be launched to the spot where you are, so run back and forth to avoid them. After this Robosonic becomes normal again. Stand to the side and when he comes down, jump and glide into him. Then jump, as he'll jet back right. Hit him again before he jumps back onto the emerald and powers up again. After six hits, it changes. He'll fly slowly, shooting out eight shots of platinum rings, but these hurt you! Stand below him and to the side and they'll miss. When he becomes normal again for a second, hit him. Just two more hits, and you've won the game. There is no Doomsday Zone. CONGRATULATIONS!!! BONUS STAGES When you touch a starpost with 50 rings (20 if playing locked on) stars appear. Jump into them and you'll be sent to a bonus stage. If you're playing Sonic 3 alone, you'll go to the Gumball Machine stage. If you're playing S & K alone, you'll play either the Slot Machine stage or the Energy Ball stage. If playing locked on, you could go to any one of these stages. White stars mean Gumball Machine, orange mean Slot Machine and red Energy Ball. It's easier to tell on PC. In Gumball Machine stage, first press no buttons and you'll hit the springs on the bottom of the shaft and bounce up. The springs disappear when hit, and if you fall past them you'll exit the stage. To stay in, hit the bumpers on the sides to bounce up to the gumball machine. Each time you hit a bumper, it disappears. When you hit the crank of the gumball machine, a gumball comes out. Grab it before it goes down to the bottom and disappears. The gumballs are: pink - 1-UP, black with a ring - 10 rings, B - shield (red - fire, brown - electric, blue -bubble), dark green - springs reappear, black - bounce off, clear - nothing happens. In Slot Machine stage, you'll be in a rotating grid similar to special stage in Sonic 1. On the edges are blocks. Hit a R block to reverse the direction the stage is rotating. On the edges are goals, and when you touch a block three times or for two long, it becomes a goal. Try not to touch goals, as they make you exit the stage. Jump toward the center as there are rings there. What you're trying to do is jump into the slot in the very center to make the slots rotate. It's not completely random, and usually you'll get three of the same thing. Here's what they're worth, from the tips: 3 different things - usually nothing, but sometimes you'll get something, Each bar - 2 rings, 3 Rings - 10 rings, 3 Tails - 20 rings, 3 Knuckles - 25 rings, 3 Sonics - 30 rings, 3 jackpots - 100 rings, 3 Robotniks - -100 rings, but you can't go below zero rings or die. In Energy Ball stage you'll be stuck to some energy balls and rotating around them. When you're going up, jump off to flip up. You can also use wall bumpers and star bumpers. Keep going up and collect rings, and touch the little orbs between rings. Touch one and a gumball appears and goes up - grab it quickly. The gumballs are the same as Gumball Machine stage, except some black ones with rings are worth 20, 40 or 80 rings. Also, the higher up you go the better they get. Expect some 1-UPS at the top. There's a force field coming up from below, so hurry. If you touch it you exit the stage, so don't go for every prize orb. You can also exit the stage by jumping off the top. Well, time for me to go, but have fun and above all, good luck!