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117-619: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis . Like previous Sonic games, players traverse side-scrolling levels while collecting rings and defeating enemies. They control Sonic and Tails , who attempt to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds to stop Doctor Robotnik from relaunching his space station, the Death Egg, after it crash-lands on

234-552: A McDonald's promotion and cartridge size limitations. The Sonic & Knuckles cartridge features a "lock-on" adapter that allows other Genesis cartridges to be attached. Connecting the Sonic 3 cartridge creates a combined game, Sonic 3 & Knuckles . The lock-on function is available in most re-releases. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles allows the player to play Sonic 3 levels as Knuckles or Sonic & Knuckles levels as Tails, or both Sonic and Tails. Other new features are

351-627: A Sonic 3 prototype discovered in 2019, suggesting that they were written before being replaced by Jackson's music. In 2019, GameRevolution noted that Sonic 3 had been rereleased less frequently since Jackson's death in 2009 and speculated that this was due to legal problems with his estate . Sonic 3 was released in North America on February 2, 1994 ( Groundhog Day ), in Europe on February 24, and in Japan on May 27. Sega spent $ 20 million marketing it in

468-405: A life and return to the most recently passed checkpoint . Dying with zero lives gives the player a game over . The levels also include power-ups in television monitors that, when hit, grant the character an extra life , temporary invincibility to most hazards, a number of rings, a shield that allows them to breathe underwater, a shield that allows them to withstand fire from enemy projectiles, or

585-475: A post-credits scene in which Robotnik and Knuckles taunt the player. Sonic 3 includes a competitive mode: two players, controlling Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles, race through one or all of five stages that do not appear in the main game. In these same stages, a single player can compete against the clock in time attacks . Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were planned as a single game, but were released separately due to time constraints caused by

702-599: A true 3D platformer is a French computer game called Alpha Waves , created by Christophe de Dinechin and published by Infogrames in 1990 for the Atari ST , Amiga , and IBM PC compatibles . Bug! , released in 1995 for the Saturn , has a more conservative approach. It allows players to move in all directions, but it does not allow movement along more than one axis at once; the player can move orthogonally but not diagonally. Its characters were pre-rendered sprites, much like

819-448: A 1980 arcade release by Universal , is sometimes credited as the first platformer. Another precursor to the genre from 1980 was Nichibutsu 's Crazy Climber , in which the player character scales vertically scrolling skyscrapers. The unreleased 1979 Intellivision game Hard Hat has a similar concept. Donkey Kong , an arcade video game created by Nintendo and released in July 1981,

936-401: A 2D plane are called 2.5D , as they are a blend of 2D and 3D. The first platformers to simulate a 3D perspective and moving camera emerged in the early-mid-1980s. An early example of this was Konami 's Antarctic Adventure , where the player controls a penguin in a forward-scrolling third-person perspective while having to jump over pits and obstacles. Originally released in 1983 for

1053-501: A 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure , for its Dreamcast console. It used a hub structure like Super Mario 64 , but its levels were more linear, fast-paced, and action-oriented. Bonus stage A bonus stage (also known as a bonus level , bonus round , or special stage ) is a special level within a video game designed to reward the player or players, and typically allows the player to collect extra points or power-ups . Bonus stage either have no enemies or hazards, or replace

1170-462: A balance between open-ended and guided exploration. Another platform-adventure released that year, Pony Canyon 's Super Pitfall , was critically panned for its vagueness and weak game design. That same year Jaleco released Esper Boukentai , a sequel to Psychic 5 that scrolled in all directions and allowed the player character to make huge multistory jumps to navigate the vertically oriented levels. Telenet Japan also released its own take on

1287-464: A bonus stage does not normally have to be completed to move on. While a regular stage must be replayed until completion, possibly using up lives or continues upon failures, when a player begins a bonus stage they have one chance at it. Some bonus stages do contain an end location or condition to reach, but regardless of whether the player succeeds or fails, game play resumes at the next regular stage after one attempt. Other bonus stages have no end to reach,

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1404-412: A bounce pad, which also disappears after one use; falling afterwards causes the player to leave the stage with the most recent power-up collected. The second type, triggered by entering giant rings found in secret passages, involves running around a 3D map and passing through all of a number of blue spheres arranged in patterns. Passing through a blue sphere turns it red, and touching a red sphere causes

1521-481: A bouncing car that jumps on various platforms such as buildings, clouds, and hills. Jump Bug offered a glimpse of what was to come, with uneven, suspended platforms, levels that scroll horizontally (and in one section, vertically), and differently themed sections, such as a city, the interior of a large pyramid, and underwater. Irem's 1982 arcade game Moon Patrol combines jumping over obstacles and shooting attackers. A month later, Taito released Jungle King ,

1638-525: A brief burst of episodic platformers where the first was freely distributed and parts 2 and 3 were available for purchase. The abundance of platformers for 16-bit consoles continued late into the generation, with successful games such as Vectorman (1995), Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995), and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995), but the release of new hardware caused players' attention to move away from 2D genres. The Saturn , PlayStation , and Nintendo 64 nevertheless featured

1755-450: A forward-scrolling effect similar to Sega's 1985 third-person rail shooter Space Harrier . 3-D WorldRunner was an early forward-scrolling pseudo-3D third-person platform-action game where players were free to move in any forward-scrolling direction and could leap over obstacles and chasms. It was notable for being one of the first stereoscopic 3-D games . Square released its sequel, JJ , later that year. The earliest example of

1872-605: A high quality of animation. The 1988 shareware game The Adventures of Captain Comic was one of the first attempts at a Nintendo-style platformer for IBM PC compatibles . It inspired Commander Keen , released by id Software in 1990, which became the first MS-DOS platformer with smooth scrolling graphics. Keen's success resulted in numerous console-styled platformers for MS-DOS compatible operating systems, including Duke Nukem , Duke Nukem II , Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure , and Dark Ages all by Apogee Software . These fueled

1989-614: A mysterious floating island. Sonic 3 introduces Knuckles the Echidna , the island guardian, who lays traps for Sonic and Tails. Development began in January 1993 by Sega Technical Institute in California, shortly after the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 . It was initially developed as an isometric game similar to what would eventually become Sonic 3D Blast (1996), but became a conventional 2D platform game due to time constraints. Sonic 3

2106-462: A new saving system that allows progress to be saved anywhere during play. A PC version was released via Steam in January 2011, as Sonic 3 & Knuckles but later delisted as well as the other classic titles when Sonic Origins released. Sonic 3 was not included in the Sega Genesis Mini (2019), a dedicated console containing 40 Genesis games. AtGames , which was briefly involved with

2223-623: A number of successful 2D platformers. The 2D Rayman was a big success on 32-bit consoles. Mega Man 8 and Mega Man X4 helped revitalize interest in Capcom 's Mega Man character . Castlevania: Symphony of the Night revitalized its series and established a new foundation for later Castlevania games. Oddworld and Heart of Darkness kept the subgenre born from Prince of Persia alive. The difficulties of adapting platformer gameplay to three dimensions led some developers to compromise by pairing

2340-441: A quarter and a third of all console games. By 2006, the genre had experienced a decline in sales, representing a 2% market share as compared to 15% in 1998. In spite of this, platformers are still being commercially released every year, including some which have sold millions of copies. A platformer requires the player to maneuver their character across platforms to reach a goal while confronting enemies and avoiding obstacles along

2457-445: A score of 79% at Metacritic . Lucas M. Thomas of IGN wrote that Sonic 3 "completed the trilogy as the best of them all". Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer , however, considered Sonic & Knuckles superior. Frank Provo of GameSpot wrote that the most significant addition was its save system. He also enjoyed the new power-ups. Whitehead said that the large stages would keep players sufficiently engrossed. Thomas and Provo enjoyed

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2574-488: A shield that attracts nearby rings. Sonic 3 contains two types of bonus stages . When the player collects at least 50 rings and passes a checkpoint, they can warp to the first type, which involves bouncing up a gumball machine -like corridor to earn power-ups by hitting a switch. Both sides of the corridor are lined with flippers, which disappear when the character bounces on them, and the switch drops when both flippers supporting it are removed. The corridor's floor contains

2691-466: A shift in design. Later 3D platformers like Banjo-Kazooie , Spyro the Dragon , and Donkey Kong 64 borrowed its format, and the "collect-a-thon" genre began to form. In order to make this free-roaming model work, developers had to program dynamic, intelligent cameras. A free camera made it harder for players to judge the height and distance of platforms, making jumping puzzles more difficult. Some of

2808-406: A side-scrolling action game some platform elements: jumping between vines, jumping or running beneath bouncing boulders. It was quickly re-released as Jungle Hunt because of similarities to Tarzan . The 1982 Apple II game Track Attack includes a scrolling platform level where the character runs and leaps along the top of a moving train. The character is little more than a stick figure , but

2925-493: A single game. However, the manufacturing costs of a 34-megabit cartridge with NVRAM would have been prohibitively expensive. Due to the game's scope and Sega of America's commitment to launch a major McDonald's Happy Meal promotion in February 1994, the team reluctantly split it in half, allowing more time to develop the second part and splitting the cost between two cartridges. The Sonic & Knuckles cartridge's lock-on technology

3042-542: A small margin. Sega Magazine , however, stated that Sonic 3 has better special stages and was not only superior to Sonic 2 as a whole but would be "a serious contender for the Best Platform Game Ever award". Sega Power wrote that despite their skepticism, they found it "excellent" and easily "the most explorable and playable" in the series. Electronic Gaming Monthly also compared Sonic 3 favorably to Sonic 1 , 2 , and CD and awarded it their "Game of

3159-715: A teenager with a rebellious personality to appeal to gamers who saw the previous generation of consoles as being for kids. The character's speed showed off the hardware capabilities of the Genesis, which had a CPU clock speed approximately double that of the Super NES. Sonic 's perceived rebellious attitude became a model for game mascots. Other companies attempted to duplicate Sega's success with their own brightly colored anthropomorphisms with attitude. These often were characterized by impatience, sarcasm, and frequent quips. A second generation of platformers for computers appeared alongside

3276-439: A video game. According to Buxer, Jackson only worked on one of the 41 tracks that his team composed. Retro Gamer reasoned that, if this were true, it was unlikely that any music composed by Jackson himself remained in the game. Some Sonic 3 tracks were replaced in the 1997 Windows port Sonic & Knuckles Collection , as well as the remaster included in the 2022 compilation Sonic Origins . These tracks also appear in

3393-488: Is central to the genre, though there are exceptions such as Nintendo 's Popeye and Data East 's BurgerTime , both from 1982. In some games, such as Donkey Kong , the trajectory of a jump is fixed, while in others it can be altered mid-air. Falling may cause damage or death. Many platformers contain environmental obstacles which kill the player's character upon contact, such as lava pits or bottomless chasms. The player may be able to collect items and power-ups and give

3510-469: Is in a vector game called Major Havoc , which comprises a number of mini-games, including a simple platformer. One of the first raster -based platformers to scroll fluidly in all directions in this manner is 1985's Legend of Kage . In 1985, Enix released the action-adventure platformer Brain Breaker . The following year saw the release of Nintendo's Metroid , which was critically acclaimed for

3627-465: Is the endless runner , where the main character is always moving forward and the player must dodge or jump to avoid falling or hitting obstacles. Various names were used in the years following the release of the first established game in the genre, Donkey Kong (1981). Shigeru Miyamoto originally called it a "running/jumping/climbing game" while developing it. Miyamoto commonly used the term "athletic game" to refer to Donkey Kong and later games in

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3744-516: Is trying to steal the Master Emerald, and that the launch base is Sonic's base, turning the two against each other while he repairs the Death Egg. Sonic and Tails approach Angel Island in their biplane , the Tornado. Sonic uses the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonic , but Knuckles ambushes him and steals the emeralds. Sonic and Tails travel the island hindered by Knuckles and Robotnik. At

3861-611: The Atari 2600 , with 256 horizontally connected screens, became one of the best-selling games on the system and was a breakthrough for the genre. Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle was released on the ColecoVision that same year, adding uneven terrain and scrolling pans between static screens. Manic Miner (1983) and its sequel Jet Set Willy (1984) continued this style of multi-screen levels on home computers . Wanted: Monty Mole won

3978-568: The Death Egg , crash-lands on the floating Angel Island. The impact from the Death Egg's crash causes the island to fall into the ocean. There, Robotnik meets Knuckles the Echidna, the last member of an ancient echidna civilization that once inhabited the island. Knuckles is the guardian of the Master Emerald , which grants the island its levitation power and has an equal power level of the 7 Chaos Emeralds . Robotnik dupes Knuckles into believing Sonic

4095-675: The MSX computer, it was subsequently ported to various platforms the following year, including an arcade video game version, NES , and ColecoVision . 1986 saw the release of the sequel to forward-scrolling platformer Antarctic Adventure called Penguin Adventure , which was designed by Hideo Kojima . It included more action game elements, a greater variety of levels, RPG elements such as upgrading equipment, and multiple endings . In early 1987, Square released 3-D WorldRunner , designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nasir Gebelli . Using

4212-516: The Master System with Alex Kidd in Miracle World . It has horizontal and vertical scrolling levels, the ability to punch enemies and obstacles, and shops for the player to buy power-ups and vehicles. Another Sega series that began that same year is Wonder Boy . The original Wonder Boy in 1986 was inspired more by Pac-Land than Super Mario Bros. , with skateboarding segments that gave

4329-619: The Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, became the archetype for the genre. It was bundled with Nintendo systems in North America, Japan, and Europe, and sold over 40 million copies, according to the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records . Its success as a pack-in led many companies to see platformers as vital to their success, and contributed greatly to popularizing the genre during the third and fourth generations of video game consoles. Sega attempted to emulate this success with their Alex Kidd series, which started in 1986 on

4446-401: The Sonic 3 team became jealous of the priority given to the game. According to several sources involved in the development, Sega hired the pop musician Michael Jackson to compose music for Sonic 3 , but he left the project and went uncredited. Fans speculated about similarities to Jackson's music, but his involvement was not known until Hector mentioned it in an interview in 2005. Jackson

4563-776: The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 , and Sonic Classic Collection (2010) for the Nintendo DS . The Sonic Jam version introduces "remix" options: "Normal" mode alters the layout of rings and hazards, and "Easy" mode removes certain acts. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was released for the Wii Virtual Console in September 2007 and Xbox Live Arcade on June 10, 2009. The Xbox version was developed by Backbone Entertainment and has enhanced graphics for high-definition , online leaderboards, support for multiplayer via split screen and Xbox Live , and

4680-533: The virtual camera , it had to be constrained to stop it from clipping through the environment. In 1994, a small developer called Exact released a game for the X68000 computer called Geograph Seal , which was a 3D first-person shooter game with platforming. Players piloted a frog-like mech that could jump and then double-jump or triple-jump high into the air as the camera panned down to help players line up their landings. In addition to shooting, jumping on enemies

4797-595: The 1980 arcade video game Space Panic , which has ladders but not jumping. Donkey Kong , released in 1981, established a template for what were initially called "climbing games". Donkey Kong inspired many clones and games with similar elements, such as Miner 2049er (1982) and Kangaroo (1982), while the Sega arcade game Congo Bongo (1983) adds a third dimension via isometric graphics . Another popular game of that period, Pitfall! (1982), allows moving left and right through series of non-scrolling screens, expanding

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4914-563: The Carnival Night Zone theme, remained. In 2013, it was discovered that the music for IceCap Zone was derived from a previously unreleased 1982 song, "Hard Times", by Buxer's band the Jetzons . The Sonic 3 credits music became the basis for Jackson's 1996 single " Stranger in Moscow ". Senior Sega staff, including Sega of America's president Tom Kalinske , said that any involvement of Jackson

5031-471: The Emerald collecting would significantly extend the replay value . Sega Magazine enjoyed having the ability to play as Knuckles in the two-player mode. The Unknown Gamer felt that while the two-player mode was less fun than the main game, it was much improved over Sonic 2 due to the change of format from split-screen to full-screen. The visuals were very well received. Humphreys described Sonic 3 as "one of

5148-460: The Enchanted Castle , which was only modestly successful. That same year, Capcom released Strider in arcades, which scrolled in multiple directions and allowed the player to summon artificial intelligence partners, such as a droid, tiger, and hawk, to help fight enemies. Another Sega release in 1989 was Shadow Dancer , which is a game that also included an AI partner: a dog who followed

5265-584: The Hedgehog 3 is a 2D side-scrolling platformer . As with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 , players can control Sonic, Tails, or both simultaneously. In the former choice, players control Sonic while Tails runs along beside him; a second player can join at any time and control Tails separately. Sonic 3 adds the ability for Tails to fly for a short time by spinning his twin tails like a helicopter rotor . Unlike Sonic, Tails can also swim underwater. Sonic 3 takes place over six zones , each divided into two acts. Levels are populated with "badniks", robots created by

5382-424: The Hedgehog into 3D. Their project, titled Sonic Xtreme , was to have featured a radically different approach for the series, with an exaggerated fisheye camera and multidirectional gameplay reminiscent of Bug! . Due in part to conflicts with Sega Enterprises in Japan and a rushed schedule, the game never made it to market. In the 1990s, platforming games started to shift from pseudo-3D to "true 3D," which gave

5499-509: The Launch Base, where the Death Egg is under repair, Sonic and Tails fight Knuckles, but the Death Egg relaunches. On a platform attached to the Death Egg, they defeat Robotnik, causing the Death Egg to crash-land on Angel Island again. The story resumes in Sonic & Knuckles . Like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 , Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was developed in California by Sega Technical Institute (STI). After

5616-752: The Month" award. They later ranked it number 1 in The EGM Hot 50, indicating that it received the highest average score of any game they had reviewed in the past year. Lionel Vilner of Génération 4 believed Sonic 3 offered more challenge than its predecessors. The Unknown Gamer of GamePro proclaimed that it "proves that you can teach an old hedgehog new and exciting tricks. Take that old Sonic magic, add fun new variations, and you have another spectacular game." Some critics felt that Sonic 3 had innovated too little from previous Sonic games. Humphreys of Hyper saw only "a few new features" while Sega Power thought it

5733-462: The United Kingdom press. Examples include referring to the " Super Mario mould" (such as Kato-chan & Ken-chan ) as platform games, and calling Strider a "platform and ladders" game. The genre originated in the early 1980s. Levels in early platform games were confined to a single screen, viewed in profile, and based on climbing between platforms rather than jumping. Space Panic ,

5850-537: The United States, with Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles selling a combined 4 million cartridges worldwide. Like its predecessors, Sonic 3 received critical acclaim. Critics generally felt Sonic 3 was the best game in the series so far. Andrew Humphreys of Hyper , who declared himself not a Sonic fan, said it was "undoubtedly" the best of the series, including the acclaimed but obscure Sonic CD , though he said he preferred Sonic 2 's special stages by

5967-559: The United States. To promote the European release, the British band Right Said Fred adapted their song " Wonderman " to include references to Sonic. The song was used in Sonic 3 advertisements and released as a single, which charted in the UK at number 55. A single-cartridge version of Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles , Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Limited Edition , was canceled. A ROM image of this version

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6084-451: The Year". Another term used in the late 1980s to 1990s was "character action games", in reference to games such as Super Mario Bros. , Sonic the Hedgehog , and Bubsy . It was also applied more generally to side-scrolling video games , including run and gun video games such as Gunstar Heroes . Platform game became a common term for the genre by 1989, popularized by its usage in

6201-414: The ability to collect Super Emeralds, unlocking new "Hyper" forms for Sonic and Knuckles and a "Super" form for Tails; improved save options; access to areas that Sonic or Tails could not previously access; altered boss forms; and an additional ending that shows Sonic returning the Master Emerald to Angel Island. After Sonic and Tails defeat Dr. Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 , Robotnik's space station,

6318-519: The acrobatics evoke the movement that games such as Prince of Persia would feature. B.C.'s Quest For Tires (1983) put a recognizable character from American comic strips into side-scrolling, jumping gameplay similar to Moon Patrol . The same year, Snokie for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers added uneven terrain to a scrolling platformer. Based on the Saturday morning cartoon rather than

6435-415: The basis for the non-linear mission structure found in most open-world, multi-mission, sidequest -heavy games. Another Capcom platformer that year was Bionic Commando , which popularized a grappling hook mechanic that has since appeared in dozens of games, including Earthworm Jim and Tomb Raider . Scrolling platformers went portable in the late 1980s with games such as Super Mario Land , and

6552-428: The chip would not be finished by 1994, Sonic 3 was restarted as a more conventional 2D platform game. The designer Takashi Iizuka said the chip was an experiment to see if Sonic could work in 3D, and was abandoned due to its low polygon count. The isometric concept was eventually used for Sonic 3D Blast in 1996. According to Naka, the team wanted a deeper story to expand the Sonic world, which greatly expanded

6669-462: The completion of Sonic 2 , the producer, Yuji Naka , refused to develop another Sonic game if he had to work with the Americans again. STI split into two teams: one comprised Japanese developers, who worked on Sonic 3, and the other Americans, who worked on Sonic Spinball . Naka and Hirokazu Yasuhara were the primary creators of the Sonic 3 design document and project schedule. Naka selected

6786-535: The console as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, along with Super Mario World , while Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis . Sonic showcased a new style of design made possible by a new generation of hardware: large stages that scrolled in all directions, curved hills, loops, and a physics system allowing players to rush through its levels with well-placed jumps and rolls. Sega characterized Sonic as

6903-439: The console's development, said the exclusion was due to licensing problems with the soundtrack. In 2014, independent developers Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley proposed a remaster of Sonic 3 & Knuckles for iOS and Android , developed using Whitehead's Retro Engine , to Sega, similar to their remasters of previous Sonic games. Despite fan enthusiasm, Sega did not develop the project. Thomley speculated that this

7020-421: The criteria of a platformer, and was billed as an action adventure . It used true 3D characters and set pieces, but its environments were rendered using a rigid engine similar to the one used by Wolfenstein 3D , in that it could only render square, flat corridors, rather than suspended platforms that could be jumped between. Sega had tasked their American studio, Sega Technical Institute , with bringing Sonic

7137-406: The developers to introduce more vertical gameplay. Hector said Sonic 3 had a troubled development. He recalled having to prevent the rest of Sega from bothering the team while simultaneously making sure the game would be finished in time. Additionally, Hector struggled to balance resources between Sonic 3 and other projects, Naka was sometimes seen as a harsh leader, and American STI staff not on

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7254-449: The development team visited Jackson's home at Neverland Ranch during the development . Naoto Ohshima , the co-creator of Sonic, said Jackson recorded an a cappella demo tape for Sonic 3 . During the development, allegations of child sexual abuse against Jackson emerged. Buxer said the team received no instruction to halt work and sent the finished soundtrack to Sega in mid-1993. According to Hector and Ohshima, Jackson's involvement

7371-419: The earlier Clockwork Knight . The game plays very similarly to 2D platformers, but lets players walk up walls and on ceilings. In 1995, Delphine Software released a 3D sequel to their 2D platformer Flashback . Entitled Fade to Black , it was the first attempt to bring a popular 2D platformer series into 3D. While it retained the puzzle-oriented level design style and step-based control, it did not meet

7488-402: The end of the first act of each level and a boss fight with Robotnik at the end of the second. Reaching a new level saves the game to one of six save slots. As with previous Sonic games, Sonic 3 uses rings , scattered throughout the levels, as a health system; when the player is attacked without rings, is crushed, falls off-screen, drowns, or exceeds the act's ten-minute limit, they lose

7605-551: The expanded version, Amy Rose as a playable character. Since Sega was unable to use the original Sonic 3 & Knuckles soundtrack, Senoue produced rearrangements of the MIDI music featured in Sonic & Knuckles Collection using the original Genesis sound chip. In the United States, Sonic 3 was the top-selling Sega Genesis game in February 1994 . It became one of the best-selling Genesis games , selling at least 1.02 million copies in

7722-507: The expansive stages, secret areas, much less linear level design, and difficulty. Mean Machines agreed, describing the game as "a rollercoaster ride from start to finish" and listing Carnival Night as their favorite level, which they described as "probably the most slickly programmed portion of game in Megadrive history". Humphreys and Mean Machines felt that the game was too short, but they and Sega Magazine felt that its two-player mode and

7839-509: The fifth-best Genesis game in November 1994. In 2014, GamesRadar ranked Sonic 3 & Knuckles as the seventh-best Genesis game. In 2013, Jeremy Parish of US Gamer ranked it eighth. Sonic 3 was the first appearance of Knuckles the Echidna , who featured prominently in later Sonic games. Sonic the Comic (UK) and the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic (US) published adaptations of

7956-521: The first award for Best Platform game in 1984 from Crash magazine. Later that same year, Epyx released Impossible Mission , and Parker Brothers released Montezuma's Revenge , which further expanded on the exploration aspect. The first platformer to use scrolling graphics came years before the genre became popular. Jump Bug is a platform-shooter developed by Alpha Denshi under contract for Hoei/Coreland and released to arcades in 1981, only five months after Donkey Kong . Players control

8073-530: The foreground and background, and the camera panning and curving around corners. Meanwhile, Pandemonium and Klonoa brought the 2.5D style to the PlayStation . In a break from the past, the Nintendo 64 had the fewest side scrolling platformers with only four; Yoshi's Story , Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards , Goemon's Great Adventure , and Mischief Makers —and most met with a tepid response from critics at

8190-464: The game a greater sense of speed than other platformers at the time, while its sequel, Wonder Boy in Monster Land added action-adventure and role-playing elements. Wonder Boy in turn inspired games such as Adventure Island , Dynastic Hero , Popful Mail , and Shantae . One of the first platformers to scroll in all four directions freely and follow the on-screen character's movement

8307-663: The game. For Sonic 's 20th anniversary, Sega released Sonic Generations , a game that remade aspects of various past games from the franchise. The Nintendo 3DS version features a remake of the final boss, "Big Arms", and re-arranged version of the "Game Over" theme. The Hydrocity level was also remixed in Sonic Mania (2017), and the Angel Island level had its first section recreated in Sonic Mania Plus' (2018) "Encore Mode". Platform game The genre started with

8424-498: The gameplay from its precursor but traded the frog-like mech for a cartoony rabbit mech called Robbit. The title was successful enough to get two sequels and is remembered for being the first 3D platformer on a console. Rob Fahey of Eurogamer said Jumping Flash was perhaps "one of the most important ancestors of every 3D platformer in the following decade." It holds the record of "First platform videogame in true 3D" according to Guinness World Records . Another early 3D platformer

8541-452: The genre continued to maintain its popularity, with many games released for the handheld Game Boy and Game Gear systems. By the time the Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 launched, platformers were the most popular genre in console gaming. There was a particular emphasis on having a flagship platform title exclusive to a system, featuring a mascot character. In 1989, Sega released Alex Kidd in

8658-413: The genre, such as Super Mario Bros. (1985). Donkey Kong spawned other games with a mix of running, jumping, and vertical traversal, a novel genre that did not match the style of games that came before it, leaving journalists and writers to offer their own terms. Computer and Video Games magazine, among others, referred to the genre as "Donkey Kong-type" or "Kong-style" games. "Climbing games"

8775-414: The level themes, and the "chunkier, more detailed" overall aesthetic. Rik Skews of Computer and Video Games stated that "the graphics were stunning, attention to detail is breathtaking". Ahmet of the same publication also noted that the graphics were more detailed than those of previous installments. The Unknown Gamer described the settings as having "gorgeous background detail and lots of visual treats" and

8892-454: The levels were open and had objectives. Completing objectives earned the player stars, and stars were used to unlock more levels. This approach allowed for more efficient use of large 3D areas and rewarded the player for exploration, but it meant less jumping and more action-adventure . Even so, a handful of boss levels offered more traditional platforming. Until then there was no settled way to make 3D platformers, but Super Mario 64 inspired

9009-451: The main character new abilities for overcoming adversities. Most games of this genre consist of multiple levels of increasing difficulty that may be interleaved by boss encounters, where the character has to defeat a particularly dangerous enemy to progress. Simple logical puzzles to resolve and skill trials to overcome are other common elements in the genre. A modern variant of the platform game, especially significant on mobile platforms,

9126-502: The majority of the team, while STI director Roger Hector oversaw development and Pamela Kelly led the marketing. Development began in January 1993. The team initially used the Sega Virtua Processor chip, allowing for 3D graphics . They created a prototype with isometric graphics with the working title Sonic 3D . The original special stage featured a polygonal Sonic in a figure eight-shaped stage. When it became apparent that

9243-489: The maze game, Namco's 1984 Pac-Land is a bidirectional, horizontally-scrolling, arcade video game with walking, running, jumping, springboards, power-ups , and a series of unique levels. Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani described the game as "the pioneer of action games with horizontally running background." According to Iwatani, Shigeru Miyamoto described Pac-Land as an influence on the development of Super Mario Bros. . Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. , released for

9360-405: The more linear 3D platformers like Tork: Prehistoric Punk and Wario World used scripted cameras that limited player control. Games with more open environments like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie used intelligent cameras that followed the player's movements. Still, when the view was obstructed or not facing what the player needed to see, these intelligent cameras needed to be adjusted by

9477-404: The most beautiful games around" and full of "flashy new visual tricks", highlighting Sonic's ascension up pipes and spiraling pathways as particularly inventive. Sega Magazine exclaimed that its graphics were "brilliant" even for a Sonic game, while Provo praised the "elaborate" backgrounds. Mean Machines thought similarly, giving special praise to the camera's quick scrolling, the diversity of

9594-461: The name. Yuda envisioned him as a supporting character for Sonic, and felt he would make a good playable character. Whereas Sonic symbolizes speed, Knuckles symbolizes power, and the emphasis of the character was to break walls. His shoe coloration was inspired by Jamaica 's flag. The original name for the character was "Dreds", referring to his dreadlocks. The design was tested with focus groups of American children. Knuckles' climbing ability allowed

9711-526: The new wave of consoles. In the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Amiga was a strong gaming platform with its custom video hardware and sound hardware . The Atari ST was solidly supported as well. Games like Shadow of the Beast and Turrican showed that computer platformers could rival their console contemporaries. Prince of Persia , originally a late release for the 8-bit Apple II in 1989, featured

9828-407: The normal penalties for being struck by enemies or hazards with simply being thrown out of the bonus stage. Many bonus stages need to be activated or discovered in some manner, or certain conditions must be satisfied to access them. Otherwise, they may appear after the player has completed a certain number of regular stages. They are often much shorter than regular stages. Unlike most regular stages,

9945-408: The platform-action game, Valis , which contained anime -style cut scenes . In 1987, Capcom 's Mega Man introduced non-linear level progression where the player is able to choose the order in which they complete levels. This was a stark contrast to both linear games like Super Mario Bros. and open-world games like Metroid . GamesRadar credits the "level select" feature of Mega Man as

10062-416: The play area. Nintendo 's flagship Super Mario Bros. (1985) was a defining game for the nascent genre, with horizontally scrolling levels and the player controlling a named character—Mario, which became a mascot of the company. The term platform game gained traction in the late 1980s, as did the alternate form platformer . During their peak of popularity, platformers were estimated to comprise between

10179-549: The player around and aid in battle. In 1990, Hudson Soft released Bonk's Adventure , with a protagonist positioned as NEC 's mascot. The following year, Takeru's Cocoron , a late platformer for the Famicom allowed players to build a character from a toy box filled with spare parts. In 1990, the Super Famicom was released in Japan, along with the eagerly anticipated Super Mario World . The following year, Nintendo released

10296-405: The player more control over the character and the camera. To render a 3D environment from any angle the user chose, the graphics hardware had to be sufficiently powerful, and the art and rendering model of the game had to be viewable from every angle. The improvement in graphics technology allowed publishers to make such games but introduced several new issues. For example, if the player could control

10413-516: The player must simply survive as long as they can before inevitably failing at some point. Some bonus stages have a short time limit, where the player must either complete the stage before the time runs out, or simply survive until the clock runs down to zero. As bonus stages are often shorter and over in one attempt, players cannot as easily practice and perfect their play through of them in the same way as regular stages that permit or demand more attempts upon failure. Namco 's 1980 arcade game Rally-X

10530-430: The player to leave the stage, unless the player has just completed a cycle around an arrangement of blue spheres, in which case all of these spheres turn to harmless rings. Removing all of the blue spheres gives the player a Chaos Emerald ; if Sonic (not Tails) collects all seven, he unlocks the ability to become Super Sonic , which makes him invincible to most obstacles. Failing to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds triggers

10647-1043: The player. In the 1990s, RPGs , first-person shooters , and more complex action-adventure games captured significant market share. Even so, the platformer thrived. Tomb Raider became one of the bestselling series on the PlayStation , along with Insomniac Games ' Spyro and Naughty Dog 's Crash Bandicoot , one of the few 3D games to stick with linear levels. Moreover, many of the Nintendo 64 's bestsellers were first- and second-party platformers like Super Mario 64 , Banjo-Kazooie , and Donkey Kong 64 . On Windows and Mac , Pangea Software 's Bugdom series and BioWare 's MDK2 proved successful. Several developers who found success with 3D platformers began experimenting with titles that, despite their cartoon art style, were aimed at adults. Examples include Rare 's Conker's Bad Fur Day , Crystal Dynamics 's Gex: Deep Cover Gecko and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver , and Shiny Entertainment 's Messiah . In 1998, Sega produced

10764-482: The project expecting to work with Jackson. Other tracks were composed by Sega sound team members, such as Jun Senoue , who became a regular composer for the series. According to Buxer, Grigsby and Jones, their music remained in the game. Jones credited himself along with Jackson and Buxer for musical cues for "levels 2 & 3" of " Sonic the Hedgehog " on his website. An anonymous source involved in development also told GameTrailers that Jackson's contributions, such as

10881-476: The project size. As Sonic was an action game with international appeal, they told the story visually, using in-game cutscenes , instead of text. The levels are triple the size of those in Sonic 2 . Additional bosses, different musical arrangements and graphics were used to distinguish act 1 and 2 of each stage. Many elements were conceived during the development of Sonic 2 but deferred to Sonic 3 . Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were originally planned as

10998-402: The sound as "Sonicky ... with the emphasis on the 'icky'"; he also found it strikingly similar to the first two Sonic games' soundtracks. The Unknown Gamer also saw musical similarity to previous installments, and described the individual tracks as "catchy... until you've heard it a hundred times." Following the release of Sonic & Knuckles , the Sonic 3 & Knuckles version of the game

11115-486: The time. Despite this, Yoshi's Story sold over a million copies in the US, and Mischief Makers rode high on the charts in the months following its release. The term 3D platformer usually refers to games with gameplay in three dimensions and polygonal 3D graphics. Games that have 3D gameplay but 2D graphics are usually included under the umbrella of isometric platformers , while those that have 3D graphics but gameplay on

11232-531: The top down perspective, Frogger (1981) as climbing games. In a December 1982 Creative Computing review of the Apple II game Beer Run , the reviewer used a different term: "I'm going to call this a ladder game, as in the 'ladder genre,' which includes Apple Panic and Donkey Kong ." That label was also used by Video Games Player magazine in 1983 when it named the Coleco port of Donkey Kong "Ladder Game of

11349-674: The use of wordless cutscenes to create a coherent story and thematically connect the zones. McFerran, however, felt that the visuals had been downgraded, particularly Sonic's "dumpier" sprite and "the infamous 'dotty' textures". Thomas thought the music was "impressive", but not quite on par with Sonic 2 's . Some critics, such as Adam Ghiggino of PALGN , felt Sonic 3 had been insufficiently upgraded for re-releases. Whitehead of Eurogamer wished online co-op had been implemented. Provo of GameSpot and Thomas of IGN wished that Sega had re-released Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles together as Sonic 3 & Knuckles instead. Mega ranked it

11466-437: The video game industry internationally. The following year, Donkey Kong received a sequel, Donkey Kong Jr. and later Mario Bros. , a platformer with two-player cooperative play . It laid the groundwork for other two-player cooperative games such as Fairyland Story and Bubble Bobble . Beginning in 1982, transitional games emerged with non-scrolling levels spanning multiple screens. David Crane's Pitfall! for

11583-403: The villain, Dr. Robotnik ; Sonic and Tails can defeat them by jumping on them or using the "spin dash" attack, which also gives the character a speed boost. The levels include obstacles and other features such as vertical loops , corkscrews, breakable walls, spikes, water that the player can drown in, and bottomless pits. There is a miniboss fight with one of Robotnik's large, powerful robots at

11700-455: The visual flash of 3D with traditional 2D side scrolling gameplay. These games are often referred to as 2.5D. The first such game was Saturn launch title , Clockwork Knight (1994). The game featured levels and boss characters rendered in 3D, but retained 2D gameplay and used pre-rendered 2D sprites for regular characters, similar to Donkey Kong Country . Its sequel improved upon its design, featuring some 3D effects such as hopping between

11817-428: The way. These games are either presented from the side view, using two-dimensional movement, or in 3D with the camera placed either behind the main character or in isometric perspective . Typical platforming gameplay tends to be very dynamic and challenges a player's reflexes, timing, and dexterity with controls. The most common movement options in the genre are walking, running, jumping, attacking, and climbing. Jumping

11934-413: Was Floating Runner , developed by a Japanese company called Xing and released for PlayStation in early 1996, before the release of Super Mario 64 . Floating Runner uses D-pad controls and a behind-the-character camera perspective. In 1996, Nintendo released Super Mario 64 , which is a game that set the standard for 3D platformers. It let the player explore 3D environments with greater freedom than

12051-451: Was "not all that different" and Nintendo Life writer Damien McFerran said that "there's not a lot of new elements here to be brutally frank". While Deniz Ahmet of Computer and Video Games agreed that the game was "more of the same", he was placated by the new and imaginative ideas. However, Electronic Gaming Monthly enjoyed the new power-ups. Many aspects of the level design were praised; Electronic Gaming Monthly and Sega Power enjoyed

12168-467: Was a Sonic fan and had collaborated with Sega on the 1990 arcade game Moonwalker . Jackson's tour director, Brad Buxer , assembled a team and worked on the project for four weeks at Record One in Los Angeles in 1993. They developed fully fledged tracks, with extensive samples of Jackson beatboxing , to be adapted for the Genesis. Hector said the work had a recognizable Jackson sound. Naka said that

12285-497: Was a primary way to attack. This was the first true 3D platform-action game with free-roaming environments, but it was never ported to another platform or released outside Japan, so it remains relatively unknown in the West. The following year, Exact released their follow-up to Geograph Seal . An early title for Sony's new PlayStation console, Jumping Flash! , released in April 1995, kept

12402-466: Was arranged without their knowledge, and that no formal agreements were made. In 2013, Hector said that any similarities to Jackson's music in Sonic 3 were unintentional. The journalist Ken Horowitz raised questions about Jackson's alleged involvement, such as how an agreement between Sega and Jackson could have been kept secret from the media, why Sega's marketing never mentioned Jackson's involvement and why Jackson would reuse music originally composed for

12519-439: Was created, named and implemented so Sonic 3 could be experienced as intended. Among other features, it allowed the developers to keep the paths designed for Knuckles in Sonic 3 , which were inaccessible on the standalone cartridge. Sonic 3 features the debut of Sonic's rival, Knuckles the Echidna. Many designs for the character were considered; for the final design, Takashi Yuda chose the kind of animal, and Pamela Kelly chose

12636-432: Was critically acclaimed. Computer and Video Games rated this version of the game 97% and said, while "you need to buy both Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles to fully enjoy" it, Sonic 3 & Knuckles "is the best platform experience ever" and "what video games were invented for." At the review aggregator GameRankings , Sonic 3 holds a score of 89%, based on five reviews published in the 2000s. The Xbox 360 version has

12753-468: Was developed simultaneously with Sonic & Knuckles ; they were planned as a single game until time constraints and cartridge costs forced the developers to split it. The Sonic 3 cartridge can be attached to an adapter on the Sonic & Knuckles cartridge, creating a combined game, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles . Michael Jackson composed portions of the soundtrack, but left the project and went uncredited; sources vary on how much of his work

12870-498: Was due to legal problems regarding the music. In 2022, Sonic 3 & Knuckles was rereleased for the first time since 2011 as part of the compilation Sonic Origins . The Origins version is a new remaster running on the Retro Engine , developed by Simon Thomley of Headcannon, who previously worked on Sonic Mania and remastered versions of other Genesis Sonic games. Origins adds features including widescreen support and, in

12987-521: Was found in any previous game in the genre. With this in mind, Nintendo put an analog control stick on its Nintendo 64 controller, a feature that had not been seen since the Vectrex but which has since become standard. The analog stick provided the fine precision needed with a free perspective. In most 2D platformers, the player finished a level by following a path to a certain point, but in Super Mario 64 ,

13104-405: Was impressed by the new obstacles that Sonic can traverse at top speeds. The sound effects and music were also well received, though somewhat less so than the visuals. Sega Magazine described them as "brilliant" and "far superior" to Sonic 2 's . Mean Machines stated that every level had "great tunes" and sound effects and particularly praised the ending music. However, Humphreys described

13221-504: Was leaked online in 2008. Sonic 3 is included in the compilations Sonic Jam (1997) for the Sega Saturn , Sonic & Knuckles Collection (1997) and Sonic & Garfield Pack (1999) for Windows , Sonic Mega Collection (2002) for the GameCube , Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004) for the PlayStation 2 , Xbox , and Windows, Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (2009) for

13338-546: Was retained, and many tracks were replaced in rereleases. Sonic 3 was released in North America and Europe in February 1994, and in Japan in May. As with its predecessors, it was a critical and commercial success, with critics seeing it as an improvement over previous installments. Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles sold a combined four million copies worldwide, placing them among the bestselling Genesis games . They have been rereleased in various Sega and Sonic compilations. Sonic

13455-400: Was terminated following the allegations. However, Buxer and two other members of Jackson's team, Doug Grigsby III and Cirocco Jones, said Jackson went uncredited because he was unhappy with how the Genesis, which was incapable of playing back high-quality audio, replicated his music. Jackson's music had already been implemented and had to be quickly reworked by Howard Drossin , who had joined

13572-418: Was the first game to allow players to jump over obstacles and gaps. It is widely considered to be the first platformer. It introduced Mario under the name Jumpman. Donkey Kong was ported to many consoles and computers at the time, notably as the system-selling pack-in game for ColecoVision , and also a handheld version from Coleco in 1982. The game helped cement Nintendo's position as an important name in

13689-534: Was used in Steve Bloom's 1982 book Video Invaders and 1983 magazines Electronic Games (US)—which ran a cover feature called "The Player's Guide to Climbing Games"—and TV Gamer (UK). Bloom defined "climbing games" as titles where the player "must climb from the bottom of the screen to the top while avoiding and/or destroying the obstacles and foes you invariably meet along the way." Under this definition, he listed Space Panic (1980), Donkey Kong , and despite

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