Sonic & Knuckles

Developer(s)	Sega Technical Institute Sonic Team
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	Takashi Thomas Yuda (character design) Hirokazu Yasuhara (lead designer) Yuji Naka (programming)
Engine	Sonic 3 modified
Platform(s)	Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
Release date	^USA October 17, 1994 ^JPN October 18, 1994 ^PAL October 18, 1994
Genre(s)	Platform game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	VRC: GA
Media	16-megabitcartridge, CD-ROM
Input methods	Game controller

Sonic & Knuckles is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed by American studio Sega Technical Institute in collaboration with Sonic Team, and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive in 1994. It is the direct sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which was released earlier that year. The game features unique 'lock-on technology' which enables another cartridge to be plugged in via the socket on top.

3Lock-on Technology

Gameplay

For a more detailed examination of gameplay, see Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Oct 13, 2016.Tails laughs manically as the spikes hit Sonic and he drops the remote to the slot machine. Link to more of my Sonic 3 & Knuckles GBA Remixes: https://goo.gl/SZjYUN.
Sonic & Knuckles The slot machine in Sonic & Knuckles. In Sonic & Knuckles (and its add-on extension Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles), a single slot machine appears in the Slot Machine-based Bonus Stage. In this game, the slot machine has a blue background frame that is shaped like a '+' and possesses a red and yellow outline.

Passing a star post can now open up all 3 Bonus Stages, including the slot machine stage (20-34 rings required) and the magnetic orbs stage (35 49 rings required) from Sonic & Knuckles as well as the gumball machine (50 65 rings required) from Sonic 3. Knuckles' levels are different from Sonic's and Tails' in most cases, with new areas and bosses. Sonic Slot is a Play Order minigame in Sonic Shuffle. Each player has a slot machine that counts down from 999 to 000 in about 10 seconds. The players must press to stop the reels before they go lower than 000, or they will be placed last by default. Whoever gets closest to 000 goes first, and whoever is furthest from 000 goes last. Sonic Slot is a Play Order minigame in Sonic Shuffle. Each player has a slot machine that counts down from 999 to 000 in about 10 seconds. The players must press to stop the reels before they go lower than 000, or they will be placed last by default. Whoever gets closest to 000 goes first, and whoever is furthest from 000 goes last.

Sonic And Knuckles Online Game

This time the game focuses on Sonic and Knuckles, who was not playable in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, when Knuckles was against Sonic and Tails. Instead however, Tails has now been removed from play. Essentially there are two separate games to tackle, depending on which character is selected at the start of the game. Although the appearance of the zones is the same for either character, their layout and some of the bosses' tricks differs noticeably at a number of points in the game (another noticeable difference is that Knuckles fights EggRobo who has different and particularly smarter strategies), increasing from the Lava Reef Zone onwards. However, the style of play does not differ significantly from one character to the next as it does, for example, in Sonic Adventure.

Despite no save file slots, gameplay is much more expanded, as Sonic and Knuckles do not play all of the same levels. And a significant differential between them is that they don't have all of the same moves. Sonic can jump higher and run a little faster than Knuckles, and he has the 'insta-shield.' Knuckles can climb walls and break through some of the blocked entry ways. And just as Sonic has the gift of speed, Knuckles can glide through the air with the greatest of ease.

Sonic & Knuckles title screen.

As in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, there are two types of Stages: Bonus Stages and Special Stages. The Bonus Stages are entered by collecting at least 20 rings, and at least 50 to access the second Bonus Stage, and jumping through the bright ring of stars that appears above each checkpoint in the Zones. This time however, the gumball stage has been replaced by two new Bonus Stages. The first combines the slot machines of Sonic the Hedgehog 2's Casino Night Zone and the 360° tumbling labyrinth Special Stage (to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds) of the first Sonic the Hedgehog. If three Robotniks appear on the slot machine, you lose 100 rings, or all your rings below 100. The second Bonus Stage is a large vertical course, with magnetic orbs that Sonic can use to propel himself upward. Along the way he can pick up shields, rings or lives. He is chased by a horizontal force field that slowly moves up and, when Sonic is caught in it, ends the stage, and reaching the top of the stage ends it as well.

Storyline

Sonic & Knuckles carries on from where Sonic the Hedgehog 3 left off. At the end of Sonic 3, after Dr. Robotnik's defeat at Launch Base, the rebuilt Death Egg fell back onto Angel Island and crashed on top of Lava Reef's volcano (retconning the ending of Sonic 3, in which the Death Egg is destroyed). Now the evil doctor attempts once again to repair the Death Egg, this time by trying to use the Master Emerald to fuel its engines. This all-powerful jewel, upon which the Chaos Emeralds base their powers, is guarded by Knuckles. In Sonic 3 and for all but the last few levels of Sonic & Knuckles, Dr. Robotnik was able to fool the echidna into working for him and against Sonic. In Hidden Palace Zone, he betrays Knuckles in order to obtain the Master Emerald. Knuckles then realizes that Dr. Robotnik has been playing him all along. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles then reluctantly work together in order to stop Robotnik and save Angel Island. In this way Sonic & Knuckles resolves the feud between the two characters, and ties up the plot of Sonic 3.

Lock-on Technology

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 locked-on to Sonic & Knuckles cartridge.

Sonic & Knuckles utilizes 'lock-on technology' that lets the cartridge plus the Genesis/Mega Drive access data from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 so that elements of both Sonic & Knuckles and the locked-on game are combined. To play these combined games, the hatch on top of the Sonic & Knuckles cartridge can be flipped open and the second game placed inside.

The lock-on technology was actually a way of making up for the fact that the developers could not meet the deadline for Sonic 3. Originally, Sonic 3 was to be released with Knuckles as a playable character, and with all the Sonic & Knuckles levels playable (the level select screen in Sonic 3 features inaccessible Sonic & Knuckles levels and music for said levels can be played in the sound test). Time constraints forced them to split the project in two, releasing Sonic 3 with the completed levels and continuing work on the uncompleted ones, plus adding the Super Emeralds, and the lock-on gimmick. Indeed Sonic 2 had once run into similar problems, resulting in the original Hidden Palace and several other levels being removed.^[1]

Notably, no other video game in history features a 'lock-on' feature quite like Sonic & Knuckles. Some NES games released by HES, as well as the Super Nintendo game Super 3D Noah's Ark, feature a cartridge port on the top to accept other games for the system, but this was purely to override the systems' respective lockout chips, as these games were not licensed by Nintendo. Some video game peripherals require being joined with a cartridge in a similar manner (i.e. Game Genie; GameShark), or transfer data between games (the Transfer Pak) but don't allow the 'lock on'-style merging

Sonic And Knuckles Slot Machine