I'm 35 years old with 3 kids. My eldest son plays all the sonic games I played at his age and loves the sonic movie. There something cool about watching your kids play the same games you did at that age and enjoy them.

One of the all time best soundtracks in video game history. This game gives me a nostalgia that is different from a just a great game nostalgia. Sonic 3 feels like the end of an era for not only the quality of the Sonic series but really as Sega in regards to being relevant in pop culture. Soon both Sega and Sonic would have a rough couple years ahead.

Back in the day i loved the OST so much i recorded the music in tape directly off the tv. Still like it a lot. The music from Sonic & Knuckles is a great complement to it!

God damn what a great game. My absolute favorite Sonic game, and being able to add Knuckles is just the icing on the cake. Fantastic music, beautiful sprite work, and some of the most impressive technological feats the Genesis ever output. So good.

Dude... I just had a nostalgia mindsplosion at the sight of those McDonalds Sonic toys, I remember having every single one of them... Wow... That feeling was strong. lol

I'm glad we didn't get Sonic 3D Blast as the official third Sonic game. It isn't a terrible game, but Sonic 3 (& Knuckles) just seems like a much more fitting end to the Genesis Sonic trilogy. The lock-on technology with Sonic & Knuckles was so revolutionary for its time. Playing through Sonic 3 & Knuckles complete is still one of my favorite Sonic games. Ever since Sonic & Knuckles was released, I don't think I could ever go back to playing just Sonic 3 alone. Here's to hoping the Sonic Mania team is planning an all-new Sonic sequel (Mania or otherwise) in the upcoming years!

One of the best soundtracks in the entire series. I still have the “Flying Battery” theme as part of one of my playlists.

Had so much fond memories playing this as a kid. I remember being stuck in a certain section in the Carnival Zone with the moving platform. Literally took me years to finally figure out how to get pass it haha.

So glad that Sonic 3 wasn't mindlessly sacrificed on the altar of "let's make it 3d, because change".

Really gotta disagree with you on the music. Hydrocity 2 is very elite. Every track is very distinct. I think it's on par with s2.

I remember renting this from a place called Microplay for a week in like 8th grade. On the very last day right before school, I finished it and ran to the bus already at the bus stop before school. Best Sonic on Genesis.

Sonic 3 and Knuckles is one of my favorites , I am so glad its finally getting an HD rerelease.

One of the best games and soundtracks of all time.

Hydrocity and Ice Cap zones' soundtracks are forever engraved in my brain, and they have some great remixes out there too.

I still remember being blown away when I discovered that Tails could swim in Sonic 3! To date, he's the only character in the classic Genesis games that could do that!

The lack of enemies never bothered me. In fact I really like the way it is, so running isn't interrupted as often. Bosses could be more epic probably.

I've been waiting for this. My all time favorite with the S&K add-on. The new features, shields, amazing music and levels, and the save feature blew my mind.

Having watched videos related to Jackson's involvement I can say confidently his team contributed some of the music for the final product. Ice Cap zone in particular is a dead giveaway to a song Brad Buxer (who is credited and worked with Jackson) had personal involvement on

I remember when this originally released in the UK for the first week or 2 you could only get the game in a Megadrive console bundle. However it was my birthday that month (February) so my dad had to contact a friend who owned a rental shop to get me a sly copy out of a bundle set for £60... God bless you dad 😊

I have all of the sonic games and I gotta say, I prefer numbers 1 and 2. But 3 is fun too though. Great video, as always, Segalordx!

The Sonic 3&K OST is miles beyond and more iconic than S2 or S1 OST's.

my #1 favorite sega game of all time. this is the video i've been waiting for. the most underrated mainline sonic game. it has michael jackson on the soundtrack for christs sake. it doesn't get any better than this.

Sonic 3 ans Sonic & Knuckles are the best games on the franchise, I've got great memories playing them on my Genesis. Thank you for reviewing this old games that brings us so much memories.

I have a love-hate relationship with Sonic 3. Big Arm was such a huge struggle for me. With how short it seemed at the time, I was genuinely upset after the "final" boss slog. Then S&K released, with the combined game becoming my favorite 2D Sonic.

Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles are both 9 out of 10 games as stand alones. As a complete package it is legitimate 10/10 caliber game.

Honestly, I am more of a Sonic & Knuckles guy myself. I like the levels & music far better in that one. Of course having both games locked on is even better still, with the hidden final Doomsday Zone being an amazing & fitting end to the original 2D era of Sonic :) Sonic Mania was the first thing to do it right ever since then, almost 30 years later.

WHAT! I been on a Sonic 3 binge just these last few days and ofcourse along with Sonic & Knuckles it's my all time favorite so this came at the PERFECT time!

Although I had a Genesis growing up, Sonic 1 was the only game I owned for a long time. I remember renting Sonic 3 and working really hard to beat the other players' times in the time attack mode. Great memories with a great game. Possibly the best soundtrack in the entire Sonic franchise.

I really love the bonus ring music.

Such an amazing experience playing sonic 3 and knuckles together. Nothing on snes holds a candle to this unique experience

44 here and still love reminiscing of those days. I absolutely loved the Sonic 3 music. I remember rigging up our old console record player stereo with RCA cables and a 3.5mm jack adapter to connect to the headphone jack on the Gen1 just to listen to the music in stereo and it sounded even better! It's so hard to find a functional Genesis that's complete without a hefty price tag nowadays. Still have 17 of the games from back then in a tote.

Love this game, I remember finally getting all 7 emeralds to become golden Sonic!

Sonic 3 has the best soundtrack of the series hands down.

Sonic 1, 2 and 3 were gems. I played so much of those games they became my "homework break" games. I was already in college but they were so inspiring and entertaining. You picked another rich topic with plenty of memories attached. I would love it if you did a review of Segas Spider-Man Genesis game. Great job SLX!!

Great review and I totally agree about the music, but you fogot to mention two of the main inovations of the gameplay: the Tails ability to swim and carry Sonic during flight

Definitely a classic to always replay.

I would love for you to review Sonic Mania. Its been out for a little over 4 years now and im shocked you never reviewed it. It's truly an amazing game.

The subtle storytelling, especially when combined with Sonic & Knuckles, always impressed me. The games really should be viewed as one whole. I would also say Hydrocity and Icecap Zone's music can stand with any of the tunes from the first 2 games.

My Brother and I grew up in the golden age of SEGA and even at the "TAILS" end loved this....

To each his own, but I prefer environmental challenges to defeating enemies.

14:55 - Hearing an American say ‘Fiver’ in that context is surprising to me. It’s common to hear that or ‘Tenner’ in the UK (definitely England) when referring to £5 or £10, hadn’t realised it’s used across the pond too!

S3’s soundtrack is a little better than 2’s in my opinion.

S3&K is among the greatest 2D platformer games ever made in my opinion

Michael Jackson being uncredited due to the molestation allegations is just one possible reason for him not being credited. SLX neglected to mention the other possible reason, which was Michael was not satisfied with the quality of the Genesis' sound capability and left the project. I thought SLX would have known that or would have at least mentioned that as being a possible reason.

You are so right about the length. I still remember going to my friends for his bday in the 90s and we were stunned when it ended after an hour and a half. If only it released the way it should have. Sadly back then we weren't the only ones annoyed that the game felt way too short and incomplete then.

The Sonic and Knuckles cart was the most awesome thing I had ever seen when that came out, added a new character to the already pretty much flawless Sonic 3. Sega nailed it with these. Sorry, a little random but if you know you know.

The crazy thing, as a kid I never even realised the importance of the instashield. I don’t even know if I knew about it.

I used to play Sonic 3 on Sega Genesis all the time! I could never get passed the carnival zone I think due to the amount of lives that I was left with.

Sonic 3 was an awesome game from my childhood! The music and gameplay was an amazing experience! I loved seeing the graphics on each stage too! Awesome video SLX!

Have been a fan of your videos for a while. Your skills as a critic are most evident in this video. There's a lot of retro gaming content in YT, but not a lot of quality criticism. This was the only Sonic we didn't have growing up. I wonder if this was supposed to be released during holiday season 1993 rather than Groundhog Day 1994; it meant we got Sonic Spinball for Xmas that year. The criticism about Sonic 3 and S&K being split are easy and obvious to make, but damn Sega wasn't afraid to take chances by being different in doing experimental things like this. Their presence in the hardware business is sorely missed.

It’s about time and congratulations on 100k

Hydrocity, Icecap, and Launch Base are some of my favorite soundtracks of all Sonicdom. If you count S&K, Flying Battery and Lava Reef are also banging. Just slightly edges out Sonic 2 IMO

This is simply one of the best platformers ever made. It's one of the retro games I revisit the most frequently. I love this game especially when combined with Sonic and Knuckles. This is just the most polished Sonic has ever been. It's all the little refinements that add up. Everything that this game does is it improvement over Sonic 1 and 2. The seamless act transitions and the way the music is remixed for Act 2. The level design that rewards both exploration and speed - any complaint you may have had about the pacing of the earlier games has been addressed here. The ability to save progress combined with lots of hidden Giant Rings making it so much easier to actually collect all the Chaos Emeralds as part of a normal playthrough. The bonus stages actually being fun and not a chore. The fact that the playstyles of the characters let you pick the difficulty of the game. I also love the subtleties and depth of gameplay - for example, the ways you can use the insta-shield. It is so satisfying to use against bosses, and so impressive when you get the timing down right to avoid getting hit with your invincibility frame. This is hands-down my favorite of the Sonic soundtracks as well. Although Sonic 1 and 2 are absolutely great, this one had masterful use of the FM synth of the Genesis. There's a good KZfaq video called "Which Sonic Game is the Best? - RTTTA" and as a joke he was putting Sonic 3's music up against Donkey Kong Country and although that's kind of silly to do, I get the point, the music just rocks and has so much energy.

I was just thinking about sonic 3 the other day 😁

So was I the only one bamboozled by “the barrel?” Still a great game

Congratulations on your 100k subscribers!!😁

I owned the Sonic 3 And Knuckles combined game, and it was my favorite Sonic experience. The graphics were the best, the soundtrack was killer, Knuckles was an awesome antagonist, and depending on how many Chaos emeralds you collected, you could even play bonus levels for Super Emeralds to get a hyper version of Sonic with your progress carrying over from both versions. It seriously to this day is my favorite Sonic title.

Congrats on hitting 100,000 subs You deserve it 👏🏿 😎

Growing up I had sonic 2 and my cousin had sonic 3! Seeing all the upgrades in sonic 3 I was amazed I loved sonic 1 and 2 but sonic 3 was a joy to play as well! I had so many fond memories of this game! I liked the Michael Jackson styled tunes as he was such an amazing musician! The game play was great too the fact that tails can lift sonic was a great add on! Awesome review SLX! Great insight here!

I still play my original Sega Genesis and Sonic games I did as a small kid in the 90s. The Genesis is my favorite system. Sonic 3 was amazing and still is today!

I like how he showed off the multiplayer... " You don't have friends like me" Awww... LOL

If i remember correctly, the not as much enemies in stages was a delibirate design choice of devs, since dr eggman crashlanded on the island, and had not that much time to make an army before sonic and tails arrived.

I am always scratching my head when Sega Lord X posts another incredible video, and I see someone has given it a thumbs down. I just want to cradle them in my arms and ask, "who hurt you..."

Fun fact: the only appearance of super tails is in this game(s), if you combine both sonic 3 and sonic & knuckles and gather all chaos emeralds in both of them!

I love Sonic 3 and Knuckles. It is imo the best Sonic game. I didn’t even know about Sonic and Knuckles when I got Sonic 3 for my 9th birthday. I was 3 going on 4 when Sonic 3 came out and 4 when Sonic and Knuckles came out. It wasn’t until 2002 or 2003 when I got Sonic and Knuckles and finally experienced the entire game. I have very fond memories of playing this game and I remembered when I first beat the game. I think it does everything better than Sonic 2, including the music. Awesome review as always!

To me, Sonic 3 + Knuckles is the absolute crowning jewel of the Sega Genesis. It had the best graphics, the best music, the best gameplay, it was cinematic, it had unbelievable pacing, it just did it all, something the Sonic Franchise would never do again until Mania, but Mania was kinda just a rehash of the best parts of Sonic 3 anyway.

That damn red bouncing barrel in Carnival Night Zone. Spent HOURS trying to jump to lower it.

I remember there was a Sega Genesis display at my Sears that let you select between multiple different games in the cabinet and Sonic 3 was playable in it in advance of its release. I couldn't believe it. I played the CRAP out of it, selfishly making my mother sit in the car in the parking lot... I had just never been so addicted to gaming as I was then.

You are one of the hardest workers in the platform. Love your channel. Keep up the good work

I still remember the McDonald's Happy Meal toys that came out for "Sonic The Hedgehog 3", and the only one that I didn't like was the Dr. Robotnik toy due to it being the crappy American version of the character that we got stuck with for all the Sonic merchandise that was released during in the 1990s, especially since he barely looked like his counterpart from the video games. XP

Oh my goodness, I remember the massive amounts of hype for this! Me and my brother had the happy meal toys, ran to the living room every time we heard the commercials playing and once the game arrived, played the holy hell out of it!

Play all the sonic games when I was in high school and I love the fact that you could combine sonic three add sonic knuckles it makes an awesome game

Jackson : from what I gathered Producer Bill Bottrel composed Sonic 3's music. Bill Bottrell made one tremendous job in Jackson's Dangerous album with glass smashing all over the place and trumpets fading. Sega had grown very fond of New Jack Swing since Streets of Rage. Michael Jackson didn't compose the music. You have to remember HOW Michael Jackson worked. He would beatbox and hum a tune in a tape recorder, as you'd do under the shower, and leave the rest to actual people who knew arrangements, such as Quincey Jones. This basic method made his pop music easy to listen and appeal to a very large audience. But he also relied on knowledgeable songwriters such as Rod Temperton, Steve Porcaro from Toto, Van Halen and obviously Slash from Guns'N Roses. Once these great writers faded off the picture, Jackson's music took a dive. He went from king of pop to tramp of R'N'B. Sonic 3's was not composed by Michael Jackson because he was not capable of it and this mere fact made the whole copyright excuse all the more irrelevant as I and all Sega fans are very grateful for this near perfect conclusion to the classic Sonic Trilogy. This game used a lot of time and money but it has everything we could wish for.

My favorite Sonic game! Love your reviews dude always! Keep up the amazing work!

Oh man. I got Sonic 3 at launch - and I never knew the battery backup was non-volatile! That explains why my saves from the time I was a kid are still present 27 years later! Makes me like this game even more - especially since the same saves work for S3&K. For what it’s worth - Hydrocity and Marble Garden are some of my favorite Sonic levels of all time. And honestly, the Sonic 3 music is much more memorable to be than Sonic 2. I spent a lot of time doing both but staring at the moving backgrounds in Ice Cap zone, that was truly mind blowing back then. Of course, this isn’t complete without mentioning Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Still my favorite Sonic game overall.

Sonic 3 is a great game. Sonic 3 with Sonic & Knuckles is one of the greatest games. That deal Sega made with McDonald's prevented Sonic 3 from being one of the greatest games of all time. They had to have something out by February 1994. It would have been nice to see the game released in its entirety on one cart. However, the lock-on technology with Sonic & Knuckles was pretty awesome at the time.

Ya know what's funny? Despite the fact that I grew up in the Gamecube and 360 era's my entry into Sonic wasn't the Adventure games, the Advance series, or Unleashed. It was Sonic 3's digital re-release on the Xbox 360 that made me a big fan of the series. I love Sonic 3 and actually got excited when I learned Sonic & Knuckles was coming to the Xbox 360 as well. Glad it's finally getting the port love that Sonic's 1, 2, and CD got.

9:04 I wholeheartedly disagree. Sonic 3 & Knuckles has very easily the best soundtrack on the Genesis, up there with Streets of Rage 2. If you have a background in music theory, you'll recognize themes and devices that connect the acts 1 and 2 themes of each zone to the plot, with, for example, switched from major to minor keys communicating am increase in danger. There aren't any bad or forgettable tunes here, but themes from Ice Cap Zone, Flying Battery Zone, Lava Reef Zone, and Hidden Sanctuary Zone, just to name a few, are S-Tier chip tunes. I'll even go far as to say every single song in S3&K is, on a technical and theoretical level, better than every song in Sonic 2. And Sonic 2 has a great soundtrack.

I could listen to Ice-Cap on loop for hours, one of the best MD tunes ever created!

I really enjoyed the Sonic games on the Genesis. I was a SNES fan and Mario World was a whole different experience, that I absolutely loved, but the sonic series was so good. My cousin had a genesis and I played the hell out of it. Sooooooo much fun.

Michael Jackson’s crediting for Sonic 3’s music wasn’t dropped due to the molestation charges, it was done before that because allegedly Michael wasn’t satisfied with what the Genesis sound chip could do in the context of what they were planning for Sonic 3. Granted, the allegations probably cemented Sega being quiet on the issue, but they were not the reason Jackson wasn’t credited.

Ice Cap zone 2 is by far one of the best sonic themes ever

I agree that the soundtrack on Sonic 2 is a tad more memorable but the tracks of Ice Cap Zone are absolute masterpieces.

To me, the Icecap Zone track is the coolest music to come out of the 16-bit era

This brought back some memories, I remember having a blast with this game, I was so excited to play it.

Angel island zone has an amazing hook in the music. Your sample didn’t catch it, but it’s awesome

Excellent intro to one of my most beloved games of all time.

absolute classic nostalgic soundtrack, love your work

Dude - Ice Cap Zone’s music is easily among the best in the entire series.

I always check your reviews, you pick a lot of great titles, this is the only sonic game I have no experience with, thanks Sega lord x

I never understood why people criticize Sonic 3 it is such a great game I can play it till this day and enjoy it and be impressed with the graphics and game play

That carnival music is extra fire

I have always thought of this game as a hidden gem or the Lost Levels of Sonic’s franchise. I actually got a copy of Sonic & Knuckles by accident in a used bargain bin. I thought it was useless without locking onto 3, and I couldn’t afford 3 at the time, so it went unused for months. One day I turned it in just to see what would happen, and it was like a whole game ! It didn’t feel complete; more like a selection of prototype levels, which I played tirelessly. In modern times, I have a hard time finding re releases of this one, and when I do, it still feels like a hidden gem or Sonic’s Lost Levels. These days, I play on iPhone, where we have Sonic 1, 2, CD, and 4 with this one noticeably missing.

some good warm memories playing this night's during summer school holiday in 94,awesome

Sonic 3+knuckles is my favorite genesis game

pure classic. i still run this every year or so. if slx hasnt he needs to run sonic mania, which feels 100% like the sonic 4 we deserved.

I will never get tired of Sonic 3 or listening to reviews of it on youtube.

Sonic 3 w/Sonic & Knuckles is probably my favorite. Sonic 2 is amazing but the save feature from Sonic 3 put it over the top for me. I played Sonic 3 from its original release but didn't know that it was incomplete, I just thought that at the time that Sonic & Knuckles was just basically an addon...which in a way it was, but didn't know that it was actually the rest of the game

I dont know how much Sonic 3 or S3 & K reviews I've watched but I wouldnt be surprised if I already watched s SegaLord X Sonic 3 review. My point is keep em coming 👌🏽

Great video, Sega Lord X. How the heck have four people disliked this (the video has only been published for an hour)?!