Sonic the Hedgehog 3

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File:Sonic 3.jpg

Sonic the Hedgehog 3, also known as Sonic 3, is a video game for the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Genesis. The game was developed by Sega Technical Institute, published by Sega and released in 1994. It is the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Sonic 3 and its sequel Sonic & Knuckles, were originally planned to be a single game, but were split up due to cost.

Controls

File:Sonic 3 - Sonic walk.gif File:Sonic 3 - Tails walk.gif Walk: Press left or right to make your charater walk in that direction.
File:Sonic 3 - Sonic run.gif File:Sonic 3 - Tails run.gif Run: Keep walking in a directon and your charater will start to run.
File:Sonic 3 - Sonic lookup.gif File:Sonic 3 - Tails lookup.gif Look up: Press up while standing still to look up. After a few seconds the camera will pan upwards.
File:Sonic 3 - Sonic crouch.gif File:Sonic 3 - Tails crouch.gif Crouch: Press down while standing still to crouch. After a few seconds the camera will pan downwards.
File:Sonic 3 - Sonic push.gif File:Sonic 3 - Tails push.gif Push: Some objects in the game can be moved by pushing them. Walk in to an object and keep walking to push the object.
File:Sonic 3 - Sonic spindash.gif File:Sonic 3 - Tails spindash.gif Spin Dash: While crouching press the jump button repeatedly to do the spin dash.
File:Sonic 3 - Sonic instashield.gif Insta-Shield: Jump and when in the air jump again, and sonic will gain a shild for a split second.
File:Sonic 3 - Sonic bounce.gif Bounce: With the water shield, jump and when in the air jump again, and sonic will bounce.
File:Sonic 3 - Sonic doublejump.gif Double jump: With the lightning shield, jump and when in the air jump again, and sonic will do a double jump.
File:Sonic 3 - Sonic fireballspindash.gif Fireball Spin Dash: With the flame shield, jump and when in the air jump again, and sonic will do a fireball spin dash.
File:Sonic 3 - Tails fly.gif Fly: Only Tails can fly. To do so, jump and when in the air jump again. Keep pressing the jump button to go up and stop pressing it to go down. Tails can only fly for a short time before getting tired and falling back to the ground.
File:Sonic 3 - Tails swim.gif Swim: Again, only Tails can swim. This is done the same way as flying, except you need to be underwater. While underwater jump and when off the ground jump again. Tails can only swim for a short time before getting tired and falling back to the ground.


Zones

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 contains six zones, each divided up into two acts. At the end of each act you must fight against a boss.

Angel Island Zone

After Sonic arrives he is stopped by Knuckles who steals the seven Chaos Emeralds he is carrying. The zone is green and jungle-like to begin with, but halfway through act 1 it is set ablaze by Dr. Robotniks robots.

Act 1

Special Stage rings
  1. Near the start of the zone, just after the first drop, turn left. Do a spin dash to break the rock blocking the entrance to a hidden room containing the special stage ring.
  2. After the zone is set on fire, go down the first drop and break the rock to the left. In the hidden room is a spring. The special stage ring is above the spring.
Boss
Sonic and/or Tails must do battle against one of the hovering flame drones which set the zone ablaze.

Act 2

Special Stage rings
  1. After you go through the narrow shoot at the very start of the stage, just keep pressing right and you should break into the hidden room after you exit the shoot.
  2. When you get to the waterfall with the rocks that appear and disappear, fall down into the pool below. Do a spin dash up the right wall to find the hidden room where the special stage ring is.
Boss
At the waterfall Sonic and/or Tails fight Dr. Robotnik's own flame-wielding vehicle. After you cross the bridge it is burned by Dr. Robotnik. Robotnik's vehicle will fade in and out of the waterfall; when he is behind the waterfall he can not be hit but he also can not fire his fire ball's at you. This is easier if you have the flame shield as Dr. Robotnik's fireballs are unable to harm you with this shield.

Hydrocity Zone

This zone takes place in a hydroelectric dam. There is a lot of underwater sections to this zone.

Act 1

Boss
The boss is a machine capable of producing whirlpools.

Act 2

Boss
Dr. Robotnik uses a machine which is also capable of producing whirlpools. He also lays down depth charges in the water.

Marble Garden Zone

The marble ruins of an ancient civilization. This is the only zone without any water to drown Sonic or Tails, though tar pits can still drag the heroes down and kill them.

Act 1

Boss
The mini-boss uses a pair of drills to attack Sonic and Tails, both directly and by drilling into the rock above and raining debris on their heads (reminiscent of Dr. Robotnik's own vehicle in the Mystic Cave Zone of Sonic 2).

Act 2

Boss
Dr. Robotnik attempts to crush the pair under the collapsing ruins, and when Tails airlifts Sonic out of danger, charges at them directly with his drill.

Carnival Night Zone

This zone takes place in a carnival at night. It is similar to the Casino Night Zone from Sonic 2.

Items

Barrel
When Sonic/Tails stand on these you can make them bounce up and down by pressing up and down while standing on them..
Balloon
Sonic/Tails can bounce off of these by jumping into them. When underwater they release air when burst.
Bouncer
Sonic/Tails bounce off these giving 10 points every time.
Wheel
Sonic/Tails can run around these when you jump on to them.

Act 2

Halfway through this Act, Sonic must push a rotating cylinder down through a slot low enough for him to escape through. This is completed by pressing up and down on the D-Pad, without jumping.

Boss
Sonic and Tails face Dr. Robotnik, who this time drops a large sphere and uses it to create an electric storm that draws the pair towards its discharge.

Icecap Zone

See also: Sonic the Hedgehog 3/Icecap Zone

Act one takes place in a frozen cave, while act two has Sonic on the snow covered surface.

Launch Base Zone

See also: Sonic the Hedgehog 3/Launch Base Zone

This is where Dr. Robotnik is building his Death egg.

Special Stages Act 1

1. At the very first rotating bridge drop down and go left. When you get to the wall jump up into a secret passage to find the special stage ring

Items

Sonic 3 contains many items from previous Sonic games as well as new ones. Most notably, the shield is now available in three versions. Each shield has a unique power that can be used by Sonic. Tails is unable to use these powers as he can fly and swim instead.

Rings

Rings protect you when you are hit. If you are hit when you are carrying rings, you lose all of them, and if you are hit when you have no rings you lose a life. Every 100 rings collected gives you an extra life.

Item Boxes

Sonic/Tails must attack these to get the contents.

File:Sonic 3 Super Ring Monitor .png Super Ring: Gives you 10 Rings.
File:Sonic 3 Invincible Monitor .png Invincible: Makes you invincible for a short period of time. Note that some moving objects are still harmful.
File:Sonic 3 Fire Monitor .png Flame Shield: Protects you from flames. Goes out in water.
File:Sonic 3 Water Monitor .png Water Shield: Allows you to breathe underwater.
Sonic 3 Electric Moniter.png Lightning Shield: Acts as a magnet for rings. Goes out in water.
File:Sonic 3 Speed Monitor .png Power Sneaker: Lets you run faster for a short period of time.
File:Sonic 3 Extra Life Monitor .png 1-Up: Gives you an extra life. Note that the picture is of the character you are playing as.
File:Sonic 3 Robotnik Monitor .png Robotnik: Causes damage.

Shields

Shields protect you from harm. If you are hit when you have a shield, you lose the shield instead of your rings. In Sonic 3, there are 3 different types of shield. Each shield gives Sonic an extra attack while he has it (Tails can't use these extra attacks, but can fly instead).

Name Effects Attack (Sonic only)
Water Shield Allows you to breath underwater Bounce
Lightning Shield Acts as a magnet for rings. Electric attacks do no harm Double jump
Flame Shield Fire does no harm Fireball Spin Dash.

Giant Ring

These are hidden around the levels. When you go through them you will be taken to a special stage. If you have collected all the Chaos Emeralds it will give you 50 rings instead.

Chaos Emeralds

There are seven Chaos Emeralds in total. Each Chaos Emerald comes in a different colors: red, blue, green, orange, purple, white, and aqua, respectfully. Collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds will turn Sonic into Super Sonic, and result in a special ending upon the completion of the game.

Star Post

These are placed at random through out most levels. If you die, you restart at the last star post you ran through. If you have 50 or more rings when you pass through a star post, a ring of stars will hover above. You can jump into these to go to the bonus stage.

Special Stages

There are seven special stages in the game, one for each Chaos Emerald you can collect. In the special stages, you must collect all the blue spheres while avoiding the red spheres. If you collect all the blue spheres you are rewarded with a Chaos Emerald. If you collect all seven Emeralds you get the ability to transform into Super Sonic.

Game Screen

File:Sonic 3 - Special Stage Ring Display.PNG This counter in the top right corner shows how many rings have been collected.
File:Sonic 3 - Special Stage Sphere Display.PNG This counter in the top left corner shows how many blue spheres are remaining.

Items

Sonic 3 - Blue Sphere.gif You must collect all of these to get the chaos emerald. When you touch them they turn red.
Sonic 3 - Red Sphere.gif If you touch any of these you lose.
Sonic 3 - Bumper Sphere.gif You bounce off these making you go backwards. Just press up to go forward again.

Making Rings

Groups of blue spheres can be turned into rings by going around the outside of them.

A Simple Example

1. File:Sonic 3 - 1.PNG 2. File:Sonic 3 - 2.PNG 3. File:Sonic 3 - 3.PNG

There must be at least 1 blue sphere in the center.

Irregular Shapes

1. File:Sonic 3 - 4.PNG 2. File:Sonic 3 - 5.PNG 3. File:Sonic 3 - 6.PNG

Notice how only the spheres in the outline and the center turn into rings.

Stage 1

File:Sonic 3 - Special Stage 1.PNG
Stage 1 map

This is the first of the special stages. You must collect 102 blue spheres to get the emerald. There are also 64 rings available. To collect the rings, go around the edge of the 4, 4x4 groupings of blue spheres.


Stage 2

File:Sonic 3 - Special Stage 2.PNG
Stage 2 map

There are 135 rings available on this level.

Bonus Stages

In Sonic 2 jumping in to the stars above a star post brings you to the special stage, however in Sonic 3 you are brought to a bonus stage instead. The goal is to try and collect as many useful items as possible. The items available are: To enter a bonus Stage you need to pass a Starpost with 50 or more rings. Stars will appear above the starpost. Jump into the stars to enter the bonus stage.

Items

Sonic 3 - Gum1up.png Gives you an extra live.
Sonic 3 - Gumclear.png Does nothing.
Sonic 3 - Gumsolid.png You bounce off these when hit.
Sonic 3 - Gumrep.png Replaces the rings at the bottom.
Sonic 3 - Gumring.png Gives you 10 rings.
Sonic 3 - Gumelec.png Gives you the lightning shield.
Sonic 3 - Gumfire.png Gives you the flame shield.
Sonic 3 - Gumwater.png Gives you the water shield.