There wasn't a lot for me to say in 1994 except fuck yeah Sonic and Knuckles. The sheer novelty!
A cartridge with a lid that when lifted, revealed the lock-on technology that would have legions
of kids experimenting with their cartridges in vain. Just imagine NBA Jam and Knuckles.
That blasted NO WAY screen! Well, if you haven't been living under a rock and you are roughly
my age, you were proud to call yourself an owner of Sonic and Knuckles, and my favorite
combination, Sonic 3 and Knuckles, had an advantage over Sonic 2, since you could play
two games in chronological order. Oh Knuckles. A
fondness for him had I, with his rastaman dreadlocks, irie colored steel shoes, and
enigmatic personality. Defender of the Chaos Emeralds and floaty Angel islands in the sky.
It's a damn shame he doesn't have the hops that Sonic does, but man, the son of a bitch
had fists the size of cannonballs and the ability to beat the crap out of walls. With
such pugilistic skill, it's a wonder he can't just run into Badniks to make them go boom.
Knuckles' story follows a different path from that of Sonic and Tails, seeing as his sole
mission is to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds and not necessarily to defeat Dr. Robotnik,
who hoodwinked Knuckles into believing Sonic had attacked Angel Island, therefore leading
to animosity between the two. Therefore, the Eggman is replaced by EggRobo while the evil
bastard rebuilds the Death Egg. Probably the most impressive aspect of this game are the
3D Chaos Emerald stages, which might make lesser gamers sick to their stomach. To this
day, I haven't seen a more impressive test of reflexes and skill in a 16-bit video game.
Grabbing that emerald is one of the more satisfying feelings you'll achieve in any video game.
It's like reaching a piece of the Lost Ark of the Covenant. It's really hard to believe
this was going to be released as one full game, the project pulled back due to limited
time and financial constraints. Imagine owning a cartridge the length of a pop tart. It was
an excellent move by Steam to add this one-two combination to the Sega Genesis Classic Collection,
although buyer beware, you'd better have a controller to play this, lest you die slowly
on the inside fumbling with a keyboard like I did here.
