Sonic & Knuckles Collection (ソニック＆ナックルズコレクション[3] Sonikku & Nakkuruzu Korekushon?) is a video game compilation of four (five in North America and Europe) Sonic the Hedgehog titles that were originally released for the Mega Drive/Genesis. It was developed by Sonic Team and released for Windows-based PCs by Sega in 1997. It was later re-released by different distributors in multiple regions.
List of games[]
The games included in the compilation are as follows:
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3
- Sonic & Knuckles
- Sonic 3 & Knuckles
- Blue Sphere (listed as "Special Stage Mode")
The North American and European versions of the collection also include Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver. However, in Japan, Sonic & Knuckles Collection and Sonic the Hedgehog The Screen Saver were released separately on the same day.
Gameplay[]
The selection menu for Sonic 3 & Knuckles, from Sonic & Knuckles Collection.
The games in Sonic & Knuckles Collection themselves are virtually identical to those that were originally released in the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. However, the game is given a selection menu for the different titles it contains. When booting up Sonic & Knuckles Collection, the game's selection menu is displayed.
The background music of the games in Sonic & Knuckles Collection is emulated in MIDI format. Additionally, the Windows version has an option in the set-up menu for FM synthesis instead of general midi. However, some of the soundtracks were replaced with music actually taken from the prototype version of Sonic 3. These include Carnival Night Zone, IceCap Zone, Launch Base Zone, Sonic the Hedgehog 3's credits theme, Knuckles' theme in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the miniboss music from Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and the Competition main menu. One possible explanation for this is that the final pieces of music from the Mega Drive version used sound effects not contained within the general MIDI standard, and many sound cards at the time of release did not have the capability to play additional samples along with the MIDI. Another explanation for the replacement is that the songs were replaced likely due to legal reasons, because connections could be made between similar music by the pop star musician Michael Jackson.[6] Musical differences aside, the game plays virtually identically to its original incarnations.
A notable difference in the compilation is that the Level Select cheat code only works for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in Angel Island Zone. It also does not enable Debug Mode like in the original, although it is still capable of enabling playable characters to be playable in Zones that they cannot access without Level Select, such as Tails in The Doomsday Zone and Knuckles in Sky Sanctuary Zone Act 1. Also, when using the Level Select code in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, following by selecting the first Special Stage option, the player is allowed to play as Knuckles in the Zones for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, unlike in the original where following this procedure would access Blue Sphere, although these Zones are incomplete can cannot always be beaten. Also, the Sound Test is featured in the options toolbar instead of in the actual games; this is due to a glitch that would occur where the game would reset if the player tried to listen to a song.
Sonic & Knuckles Collection is virtually impossible to play in windowed mode on any system with a CPU faster than 350MHz as the game does not have proper speed-limiting routines in this mode, causing it to significantly overclock.[7] However, the timings used by the game are based on the monitor's refresh rate; Switching the game to full screen mode will let the game play properly, no matter what the system's speed is. In windowed mode, the game can be played at the correct speed whenever the screen refresh rate is at 60 Hz. Sega has also provided a patch to fix this problem without reducing the refresh rate.[8]
Controls[]
| Button formation[7] | Movement | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Keyboard (P1) | Keyboard (P2) | Joystick/Gamepad | |
| [←]/[→] | [X]/[V] | Joystick left/right | Move |
| [↑] | Joystick up | Look up | |
| [↓] | [C] | Joystick down | Crouch |
| [ENTER] | [A] | Enter | Spin Jump |
Re-releases[]
| Image | Title | Platform | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sonic Action Pack | PC | Compilation released in 2000. |
|
Sonic Action 4 Pack | PC | Compilation released in 2001. |
|
Sega Mega Pack | PC | Compilation released in 2005. |
Trivia[]
- The original music tracks used for Carnival Night Zone, IceCap Zone and Launch Base Zone originate from the November 3, 1993 prototype of Sonic the Hedgehog 3.[9]
- This game, along with Sonic the Hedgehog CD and Sonic's Schoolhouse, is one of the demos included in the Hershey's sampler promotional disc.
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ Sonic and Knuckles. Xplosive. Archived from the original on 18 January 2007. Retrieved on 15 March 2022.
- ↑ Sonic & Knuckles Collection (PC) United States Expert Software release box, back.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 ソニック＆ナックルズ コレクション (Japanese). Sega. Archived from the original on 5 February 2005. Retrieved on 27 September 2022.
- ↑ Sega Entertainment brings three enhanced Sonic classics to the PC for the price of one. Business Wire (18 March 1997).
- ↑ Après Sonic CD, la nouvelle Collection Sonic arrive sur PC: Le 20 mars 1997, SEGA lance Sonic & Knuckles Collection sur CD-Rom PC (French). Sega Europe (10 March 1997).
- ↑ Lynch, Joe (26 January 2016). Michael Jackson Wrote 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' Music: Crazy Theory Confirmed?. Billboard. Retrieved on 18 April 2018.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 FAQs: Sonic and Knuckles. Xplosiv. Archived from the original on 3 March 2006. Retrieved on 15 March 2022.
- ↑ s3kpatch (EXE). Sega. Archived from the original on 22 January 2004.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Nov 3, 1993 prototype). Hidden Palace. Retrieved on 10 May 2021.