When the bit wars were heating up in the early 90's, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was one of the exclusives that boosted sales of the Genesis after the Super Nintendo came out swinging. Sonic was already a household name by this point, it's been said not just by every publication covering the medium, but myself included. Sonic 3 began development immediately after 2 was released, and depending on who you speak to, is considered the best of the Genny Sonic games.

Released in 1994, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 continues the adventures of the Blue Blur and his sidekick and best friend Tails. The name of the game has always been about speed, it was the one gimmick or trait that separated Sonic from Nintendo's plumber. The first game was an exhilarating experience, but also a rather experimental one. The physics, running, and level design complimented each other, but not often enough to truly put it together. The character's attitude and the atmosphere masked a lot of flaws. Sonic 2 sported better mapped out stages, added the Spin Dash to pick up the pace of the sluggish momentum gathering, had cooler boss battles, and made a better attempt at ensuring the Bonus Stages were more tolerable.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 continued to make changes to accommodate the "gotta go fast" motif, and also to ingratiate the new character and rival to Sonic, Knuckles the Echidna. It simultaneously makes this the best designed Sonic platformer of the Genesis era, but in many ways, the game that highlights a lot of flaws the series would grapple with for decades after.

What are those problems? Well, Tails has the ability to fly, and Knuckles's play style is centered around his strength and ability to break walls. When it comes to Sonic? Sure, he's fast, but many a kid didn't want to run at blinding speed, only to bump into one of Robotnik's minions and lose all your rings. A lot of the usual bumper panels and speed boosters are ever present (I've always thought it was completely stupid that the "fastest thing alive" needs to run across boost pads), but he still just has his Spin Dash, it's boring. He also has this mid-air strike move that only widens his hit box by a centimeter, but once you earn one of the elemental shields that grants him a few abilities, such as a fire dash, that's designed to hurl you off the edge of platforms and makes Sonic nearly uncontrollable. The titular character is incapable of being interesting to play without some gimmicks that the game barely seems built around, AND can be lost very easily. Perfect.

At least this time, the zones seem better thought out and incorporate platform jumping that isn't aggravating (for the most part), and the water stages, while perilous, are a little more on the forgiving side. The best thing is now the ability to acquire the Chaos Emeralds and achieve the best ending is way more desirable in Sonic 3 than it had been in the previous two games. Instead of running into bombs or ensuring you don't throw up trying to get a read on which direction you're facing in a really horrible rotating map, Sonic 3's Sphere Grid bonus stage moves you automatically across terrain covered in orbs. Blue orb good, red orb bad, one touch and you're sent back to the Zone. These are easier to manage once you get used to the speed changes. It sucks that Tails doesn't really assist with this one the way he could gather rings without losing any in the chutes in Sonic 2. He's mostly just back there.

Graphics-wise, this is the best-looking of the Sonic games. Sonic's sprite has been redrawn with a more powerful shade of blue. The stages are all very striking and unique, the colors and textures make the best out of what was becoming aging Genesis hardware for the time. Like Castlevania Bloodlines, the development team for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 brought out creative visual techniques, showing the 16-bit beast wasn't necessarily out of tricks just yet.

Then there's the music. For the longest time, especially in the advent of the internet and social media, the story of Michael Jackson's involvement in the music production of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was a long speculated topic. This new recently came to light that keyboardist Brad Buxer, who often collaborated with Michael Jackson, created themes in the game based on some of Michael's songs:

Ending theme / Stranger in Moscow

Carnival Night Zone / Jam

Azure Lake / Black or White

Knuckles The Echidna / Ghosts and Blood on the Dance Floor

Minor Boss / Is It Scary

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a fine game, but wasn't built to be a Sonic the Hedgehog game. Becasue the project ended up being so huge, the other half of the game, which would become the Sonic & Knuckles attachment cart (marketed as "Lock-on Technology", because Sega ruled at that shit back in the day), picking up the story from where 3 ends. Knuckles is just more entertaining to play as, and since the games are split in two, this one can feel like a chore to play through just to experience the full game playing as Sonic. It's also incredibly easy, compared to the previous two, which I'm more than okay with. Sonic himself needed some real reinvention, even by this point, his play style was getting monotonous FAST. 

This also marks the first time Metal Sonic was bumped down as Sonic's key rival. Wait until Shadow comes a knockin'...