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| Sonic & Knuckles |
Overview
Story
Scans
Notes
Cheats / Secrets
Last Updated: 06.04.06 |
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Developer:
Sonic Team
Publisher:
Sega
Platform:
Sega Genesis
Players:
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 1994
 1994
 1994
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Rereleases
Sega Saturn:
Sonic Jam
RealArcade (PC):
Sonic & Knuckles
Nintendo Gamecube:
Sonic Mega Collection
Sonic Gems Collection
Sony Playstation 2:
Sonic Mega Collection +
Microsoft XBox:
Sonic Mega Collection +
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Staff Credits:.
Executive Producer:
Hayao Nakayama
Project Managers:
Hisashi Suzuki
Shinobu Toyoda
Masaharu Yoshii
Roger Hector
Producer:
Yuji Naka
Director:
Hirokazu Yasuhara
Lead Game Designer:
Hirokazu Yasuhara
Senior Game Designers:
Hisayoshi Yoshida
Takashi Iizuka
Takahiro Hamano
Lead Programmer:
Yuji Naka
Senior Programmers:
Hiroshi Nikaidoh
Masanobu Yamamoto
Character Designer:
Takashi Thomas Yuda
CG Artist:
Kunitake Aoki
Animator:
Takashi Thomas Yuda
Enemy Artist:
Satoshi Yokokawa
Scene Artists:
Kunitake Aoki
Chie Yoshida
Tsuneko Aoki
Shigeru Okada
Takashi Thomas Yuda
Satoshi Yokokawa
Art Assistant:
Osamu Ohashi
Music Composers:
Brad Buxer
Bobby Brooks
Darryl Ross
Geoff Grace
Doug Grigsby III
Scirocco
Sega Sound Team:
Tokuhiko Uwabo
Sachio Ogawa
Milpo
Masaru Setsumaru
Tatsuyuki Maeda
Tomonori Sawada
Masayuki Nagao
Jun Senoue
Sound Project Coordinator:
Hisaki Nimiya
Marketing:
Pamela Kelly
Executive Management:
Shoichiro Irimajiri
Thomas Kalinski
Mamoru Shigeta
Tomio Takami
Diane A. Fornasier
Roger Hector
Takaharu Utsunomiya
Hayao Nakayama
Paul Rioux
Sound Special Thanks:
Mayumi Nina Sakazaki
Cube Corp.
Opus Corp.
Masanori Nakayama
Studio Who
Howard Drossin
Promotions Director:
Thomas J. Abramson
Product Manager:
Pamela Kelly
Screen Shots:
Clint Dyer
Nemer Velasquez
Test Manager:
Stephen Patterson
Lead Testers:
Jason Kuo
Blair Bullock
Michael Baldwin
Dermot Lyons
Testers:
Greg Becksted
Julio Martinez
Andrew Podesta
Vy Nong
Keith Higashihara
Chris Pepper
Mark Lindstrom
Tony Lynch
Stephen Bourdet
Joanna Pataki
Maria Tuzzo
Crisi Albertson
Janine Cook
Bill Person
Christine M. Watson
Michael A. Williams
Heather Meigs
Vasily Lewis
David Wood
Mark Subotnick
Dan Jung
Loran Pudinski
Siegie Stangenberg
Simon Lu
Mark Paniagua
Michael Bench
Ivan Foong
Conan Tigard
Tim Spengler
Rick Greer
Ari Warner
Tony Hursh
Lancelot Nelson
Richard Wong
Daniel Dunn
Matthew Rosaaen
Matt Underwood
Manual:
Jason R. Rich
Special Thanks:
Deborah McCracken
Emi Kawamura
Jina Ishiwatari
Dominique Adevereaux
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| Overview |
Sonic and Knuckles is the second half of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Why did Sega separate them at birth? Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was past its deadline, so STI had to submit it before it was complete. They made up for their goof by inventing the "revolutionary lock-on feature," which allowed you to play the game as it was originally meant to be played - with all the zones from Sonic 3 running smoothly into Sonic & Knuckles. You can read more about the lock-on stuff in our Notes section. As with Sonic 3, we'll be treating this as a standalone game. Forgive me for some of the later screenshots - I accidentally took them with the lock-on, so Tails is in a few. Kudos to Flame for doing his job the right way.
Sonic's controls haven't changed from the last game, but Tails has been given the boot to make room for Knuckles.
Sonic the Hedgehog
Insta-Shield - (Jump + Jump)
A mid-air swipe that makes Sonic temporarily (read: VERY temporarily) invulnerable while increasing the jump's attack range. Does not work if Sonic has a shield Note: Original Japanese name is "W Kaiten," meaning "Spin Attack.").
Flame Dash - (With Flame Shield, Jump + Jump)
A very fast, mid-air dash that temporarily turns Sonic into a fireball.
Shock Jump - (With Bolt Shield, Jump + Jump)
A double-jump giving Sonic's jump extra height.
Bubble Bounce - (With Water Shield, Jump + Jump)
A downward bounce that can be used to attack enemies.
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Knuckles The Echidna
Glide - (Jump + Jump)
When the jump button is hit twice, knuckles will be able glide through the air. While gliding Knuckles slowly decends.
Climbing - (Glide into a wall, up and down buttons to move)
One of the most useful features, Knuckles can climb up and down walls and get to areas that you can't get to using Sonic.
Slide Tackle - (Run into the ground while gliding)
Not really a move, but it is very useful when attack enemies on the ground. |
Both characters have the same movement and they can both still do the spin dash by crouching and pressing the jump button. However, Sonic can jump a little higher than Knuckles.
The items haven't changed from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 either:
 | Big Ring
A special ring worth 10 regular rings. |
 | Water Shield
Enables you to breathe underwater. Can deflect a few attacks. Will dissappear instead of a ring loss if you take damage. |
 | Flame Shield
Makes you invulnerable to lava, fire, and fire attacks. Will dissappear instead of a ring loss if you take damage or if you enter water. |
 | Bolt Shield
Magnetically attracts rings towards you. Makes you invulnerable to electric attacks. Will dissappear instead of a ring loss if you take damage or if you enter water. |
 | Speed Shoes
Greatly increases your speed for a short amount of time. |
 | Invincibility
Makes you temporarily invulnerable to all attacks and spikes. You can still be killed by getting crushed or falling off the stage. |
 | Eggman
Acts as enemy damage. If you have a shield, you will lose it. If not, you will lose your rings. If you have no rings, you'll die. |
 | Extra Life
Gives you an extra chance to restart at the last checkpoint if you die. |
 | Special Stage Ring
Transports you to a Blue Sphere special stage for a chance to earn a Chaos Emerald. If you have all seven Chaos Emeralds and the seven Super Emeralds, it gives you 50 rings. |
Note: Some Item Sprites ripped by Supachao
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| Story | |
Sonic and Knuckles continues where Sonic the Hedgehog 3 left off. For the first time in the history of the games, the characters follow different paths.
Sonic's Story
Sonic has just prevented the Death Egg from launching in the Launch Base Zone. He falls from the wreckage into a forest deep in the interior of the island. In the distance, he can see the Death Egg making its fiery descent into a volcano. Never one to take things for granted, he decides to go check it out to make sure it's finished once and for all. His efforts are proved worthwhile almost immediately when he encounters badniks in the forest.
Knuckles' Story
Robotnik's launch base has been destroyed, Sonic appears to be gone, and all is calm on Angel Island. Knuckles is enjoying his well-deserved rest. Of course, that doesn't last for long: while he's relaxing with his friends in the Mushroom Hill Zone, a bomb falls from the sky and explodes, scaring away Knuckles' friends. As he sees a mysterious robot flying into the distance, Knuckles gives chase.
The zone map in Sonic & Knuckles does not follow a set path like the other games. The first three zones feature two acts, followed by a three-act zone, then two single act zones before the "final" two act zone. If you are able to successfully collect all fourteen Emeralds, you'll get to go on to the final zone, consisting of a single-act boss fight.
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Mushroom Hill Zone
A large forest filled with giant mushrooms and other plants. Some mushrooms can be used as a trampoline, some can be used as parachutes, and some can be used as teeter totters. Watch out for ivy plants - they latch onto you when you walk over them, and the only way to free yourself is to spindash. |
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Miniboss: This boss is very easy to beat when using Sonic, and a bit harder to beat when using Knuckles. This boss will be cutting down tree's and chucking logs at you, so get underneath the boss when he goes to chop a tree. When using Knuckles, the logs will bounce and when the boss is finished with one tree, he will lose his head, which will hurt you if it hits you.
Boss: What looks to be a harmless little satellite turns out to be the top of Robotnik's latest eggmobile modification. This battle is a chase through the forest. While running after him there will the spike-ridden hurdles that you must jump over or duck. Beware of the flames Robotnik's vehicle puts out, and hit him when the flames aren't there. After you defeat him, Robotnik will crash into a tree. Free the animals and watch as the Flying Battery fly's by with Robotnik following it. Whoever your playing as will latch onto the airship, and the next Zone will start. |
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Flying Battery Zone
Much like the Winged Fortress from Sonic 2, Flying Battery is a huge warship with traps and bottomless pits galore. Watchout for the spike magnets, as they will crush you if your under them while they come down.
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Miniboss: As you reach the end of the act, you'll see an innocent prison pod thats not that innocent. Jump on top of it like you would at the end of a boss battle to activate the boss. The boss will have two arms with spiked balls as hands. It will attempt to hit you with one of them if you stay in one place for too long. To beat this boss, simply stand on the very top of it and move when his eye's start to flash. He will then bash him self. Continue this and act 1 will end.
Boss: There is technically two parts to this boss. The first part is very similar to the Winged Fortress boss, only without the floating platforms. To defeat this boss, simply dodge the laser beams. Every time the Robotnik/Eggrobo shoots at you, the forcefields move closer and closer together. Don't worry, you will not be crushed. After a number of hits, the Flying Battery will start to dismantle and Robotnik will run off. Continue forward and be careful as the floor is slowly creeping upwards and taking too long will result in a hedgehog pancake. As you keep on going, you'll reach a dead end, or so it seems. Simply wait for the floor to reach you and you will be lifted up through a path in the ceiling and you will reach part two of the boss. This is fairly easy to beat, Robotnik will creep along ht e floor with spiked hands and shoot fire from the top of vehicle. Wait for him to start swinging up and down on the floor and hit him while he is swings. Once defeated, Robotnik will escape and Sonic or Knuckles will follow him and end up running off the airship, starting the next zone.
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Sandopolis Zone
If you look up the word long in a dictionary, you'll see a screenshot of this zone. I'm not kidding, this zone is extremely long! Anyways, this is zone takes place in what looks to be an Egyption desert. Quick sand is everywhere, so be careful not to stay in it too long, however sometimes there are hidden areas underneath the quicksand. Act 2 is inside a pyramid, where you must keep flames in the background going or deal with ghosts that may attack you.
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Miniboss: To defeat this boss you need to use strategy, since no matter how many times you hit it, it will regenerate. There are two way's to defeat it: one is hitting hit into the quick sand, and two is luring it towards you while you're in the quicksand and jumping onto solid ground when the boss jumps in after you, accidentally committing suicide.
Boss: This boss fight takes place in a huge room. After you fall into the room, walk forward and you will find a large pyramid walking towards you. Jump on it's arms and hit it's head to find out that Robotnik inside. Hit Robotnik when he is without the pyramid shield, then hit the shield when it returns to reveal Robotnik again. Repeat this process and you will complete Act 2. |
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Lava Reef Zone
By far one of the most impressive zones in all of the Genesis Sonic games, Lava Reef takes place inside of a volcano. There is obviously alot of lava, but some of the little effects such as the spiral ramps add up to create a formula that just works. This is the first zone since Sonic the Hedgehog 2 's Metropolis Zone to have three acts. Knuckles gets to skip the miniboss at the end of Act 2.
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Miniboss: This boss attacks in two stages. First, its metal arms shoot at you from the sides, then one of its hands will try to squash you against the brimstone. To defeat it, you've got to destroy the hand. It's usually easier to do if you destroy the arms first, but it's not necessary.
Boss: After Knuckles pushes a boulder towards you, you will fall onto a platform. The Death Egg, which is in the ceiling, will nuke the whole zone and everything will become hot again. Now the screen will start to to scroll and Robotnik will shoot missiles at you from a distance. Beware of the bottomless pits and hit the star post that you will come across as you progress. Now here comes the tricky part. You must jump from platform to platform and any error you make will most likely result in death. Keep on going and the screen will stop scrolling and you will sink down wards. Look for the fire shield, as it will make things MUCH more easier. Once you reach the bottom, Robotnik will pop up and cause the lava to flow toward him. You cannot harm him by jumping n him, so just stick on the platform and let him destroy himself as he shoots spike balls into the air. The balls will hit Robotnik and cause damage, and eventually defeating him. |
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Hidden Palace Zone
Two games later, Hidden Palace finally surfaces from the ashes of Sonic 2's cutting room floor. According to Yuji Naka, the purpose of this level was to act as a buffer to explain the Chaos Emeralds. I personally don't see how it explains anything, but it certainly acts as a buffer - it's the shortest zone in the game for both characters. As Knuckles, just walk forward about 500 feet, hop in a transporter, and you're done. As Sonic, keep running forward and upwards until you reach the boss. There are no enemies in this level, and Knuckles skips the boss...sort of because it's himself, maybe?
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Boss: Sonic and Knuckles duke it out. This battle is quite easy: just jump and avoid Knuckles when he spindashes at you. Attack him whenever he's standing still or gliding - but if you attack him while he's flying around, make sure to attack from behind, as his knuckles can hurt you. Judging by the difficulty of this battle, it's easy to see why Knuckles never fought you directly before. The side of the arena will begin to explode as soon as you deliver the final blow. While you've been fighting, Robotnik has been stealing the Master Emerald to use on his Death Egg. Knuckles attempts to go after him, but royally fails when the eggmobile tentacle rapes him with a thousand volts of electrical happiness. Knuckles, still a bit dazed, leads Sonic to a secret exit of the Hidden Palace with a teleporter to the next zone. |
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Sky Sanctuary Zone
Sky Sanctuary is Knuckles' final zone, but Sonic gets at least one more. Skip down for Knuckles' strategies.
As Sonic, you are treated to a cut scene as you enter. The Death Egg rises into the air, and Knuckles uses what remaining energy he has left to activate a bridge for you. This zone is full of jumps and falling platforms. Your goal is to keep working your way upwards so that you can reach the Death Egg. There are three checkpoints where you'll fight the boss...
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Miniboss 1: (Sonic only). Silver Sonic was a joke - this guy's the real deal. You'll have your first encounter with this new and improved "Mecha Sonic" (as he is unofficially called) in the form of the nostalgic bliss that is Green Hill Zone. The good 'ol wrecking ball has been resurrected from the junkyard, but there aren't any improvements to be seen. Jump onto the stolen Eggmobile from the platforms on the sides while avoiding the ball.
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Miniboss 2: (Sonic only). Mecha Sonic isn't done yet. He now attacks in the same machine Robotnik used back in Sonic 2's Metropolis Zone, spitting out miniature Mecha blimps whenever you get a successful hit. You have to have rings to win this battle - to hit him, you'll have to get hit as well. Attack from the left to the right so that at least one ring will always bounce back in your direction. The blimps/balloons/children of hell are as easy to avoid as they are to destroy - just jump into to them for a satisfying pop. After all the little guys are gone, hit Mecha once while avoiding his new attack to defeat him. For now, that is.
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Boss: (As Sonic). As Scotty beams you up to the top of the stage, Mecha Sonic slides through on his $149.99 pair of Soap Shoes. He doesn't need the help of any sort of machine this time around - at least, that's what he probably thinks, but in reality, this fight is a lot easier than the miniboss form you just faced. You can't attack him when he's curled into a ball, so your time of calling is as soon as he stands up from a landing. If you're feeling lucky, you can try the more advanced tactic of jumping as he slides along on his shoes. You can jump a split second before it looks like he'll hit you and actually hit him twice in the process - once while you go up and another while you go down. It might take some practice, but it works. As soon as you defeat him, the platform begins to crumble and off you go to Death Egg...
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Boss (Stage 1): (As Knuckles). Fresh from his shortest zone in the game, Knuckles doesn't have to complete a level in Sky Sanctuary either. As soon as you step off the teleporter, Eggrobo will come to grab you for his fishing trip. The screen pans over to show the hungry Mecha Sonic, who quickly goes for the bait, but Knuckles automatically glides across the screen to escape, so Mecha actually kills Eggrobo in the process. You'll now fight Mecha Sonic just as described above for Sonic - avoid him in ball mode, attack with the easy or advanced method, etc. He'll appear to be defeated for a few seconds before getting up and sliding across to the Master Emerald in yet another pan over, where he'll charge up into Super Mecha Sonic.
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Boss (Stage 2): (As Knuckles). Knuckles' final boss is a lot easier than you'd think. The newly charged box 'o bolts will attack in one of two ways at the beginning. Sometimes, he'll make a mad dash at you from the top-left corner of the arena. Most often, he'll shoot huge balls of energy at you from the same location, which causes him to lose his energy and require a quick, four second recharge of his Panasonic™ power supply. You have to hit him right before he starts to recharge on the Emerald. The best place to do this is right as he begins to hop back onto it. After a few hits, he'll change his tactics into yet another predictable effort - he'll shoot out fake rings in all directions, followed by a rolling blackout in which he loses his super form. Attack him as he drifts back to normal and falls in midair, but be careful, as he'll go right back into his super form in no time at all. A few hits in this form will result in his final destruction - an explosion that takes out the whole level. Lucky for Knuckles, Sonic is conveniently circling in his biplane below to catch him. That's a wrap for Knuckles' story. |
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Death Egg Zone
Robotnik's flagship of rotten, rotund ruin (alliteration +1), the Death Egg, has gone under a bit of Trading Spaces-style renovation since we last visited in Sonic 2. The Doctor has thrown out those neolithic steel beams and traded them for the fung-shui friendly laser-based platforms. Apparently, we've also left him with too much free time, as he's managed to create a machine that reverses gravity and reproduced it in various locations throughout his vessel. Silly doctor. Did I mention his new sound system? The music from the last Death Egg was enough to make your grandma cry, but the new theme has gone down in Sonic history as one of the coolest beats on the block. There are so many new gadgets that you have to take advantage of to get from one area to the next, but the game controls almost everything for you. Just be careful not to get ahead of it, or you'll find yourself frying on an electric node while the automatic rubber platform drifts about a hundred feet back waiting to run over your carcass. Lovely imagery to fit the smashing new curtains.
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Miniboss:
Boss: This is the final boss in the game if you haven't collected all the emeralds. There are four parts to it. Part one is a large orb that is protected by bumpers. Normal attacks cannot defeat it, so you'll have to use the gravity to your advantage. The orb will drop spikes that have wheels, and these will move side so side and after awhile, explode. use the teleporters to change the gravity when the spikes are under the orb. Robotnik will run away when the orb is destroyed and part two of the boss will start. Sonic will run after Robotnik, but some how Robotnik magically gains super speed and gets inside of a small vehicle before Sonic can catch him. The vehicle rises and turns out to be one rather large robot. Remember the Lava Reef boss? Well, it's the same thing here except that there are two hands instead of one. Also, in order to defeat the hands, you must hit the fingers. Once defeated, the robot sinks down off screen it appears that you've won, or so it seems. The robot then rises up again and will come after you, destroying the platform as it moves, thus starting part three. To beat this boss, hit it's nose, and it will reveal the Master Emerald. Hurry and get your hits in because that robots gonna let loose one powerful laser beam. Dodge the beam and try going for one more hit. The nose will close and will blow out flame. Continue to repeat the process stated above and you will defeat this part of the boss. By now your probably relieved that you've won, but you soon find out that Robotniks more persistent than you thought. Part four is simply chasing after Robotnik and hitting his eggpod, while staying on the quickly crumbling ground. Defeat him and you've beaten the game, unless you've collected all the emeralds, which in this case your in for quite a surprise. |
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Doomsday Zone
If all seven emeralds are collected, and you're playing as Sonic, you can access this Zone. In the Doomsday Zone, Sonic transforms into Super Sonic and fly's away after Robotnik. You start out with 50 rings, that slowly decrease. You must keep your ring count above 0 or else you will lose. Dodge the meteors and watch out for the missles.
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Boss: There are two parts to this boss. In part one, there is a large blue ship that eggman is escaping in that shoots small yellow fireballs and homing missles. To defeat this boss, trick the missles into hitting the head that is on the ship. Once defeated, the ship will fall off screen and you will see a familiat face speed away. Remember the final boss in Sonic 2? Well it's back and with it's same old tricks. When getting close to the robot, the robot will either shoot bombs or spike balls at you, depending on where your at on the screen. To beat this boss, it's simple, just run into it. Once it is defeated, you are treated to an awesome end-of-game cut scene, but I won't tell you about that, I don't want to spoil ALL the fun. =P |
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Special Stage
Sonic and Knuckles 's Special Stage is the same as Sonic the Hedgehog 3's, collect all blue spheres and avoid the red ones. Collecting all the rings will earn you a perfect. The bumpers send you into reverse and the yellow ones spring you into another part of the stage. |
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To become Super Sonic after collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds, collect 50 rings and press the jump button twice. Super Sonic is much faster and invulnerable, but each passing second costs one ring. You can still be killed by getting crushed or falling into pits as Super Sonic, though, so it doesn't mean you can be completely careless!
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| Cheats / Secrets |
Level Select (Sound Test)
To activate this cheat, enter Mushroom Hill Zone with ether character, find the nearest pedastel, and press LEFT LEFT LEFT, RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT, UP UP UP. You should hear a ring sounds. Pause and press A. At the title hold A and press Start.
More Continues
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Super Sonic
Debug Mode
Super Tails
100,000 Points
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