Board 8 > What's the "canon" way to play through Sonic 3 & Knuckles?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm hoping to complete the Genesis trilogy this week, so I want to make sure I have this right:

1. Play through with Sonic until I get all of the Chaos Emeralds
2. Replay the previous levels to collect all of the Super Emeralds
3. Finish the game as Sonic (+Tails)
4. Play through as Knuckles
5. Fight some kind of special end boss that's only unlocked if I already beat the game as Sonic (??)

Correct me if I am wrong there.

Also, these Super Emeralds are going to make me want to kill myself aren't they?
---

@LeonhartFour
---

1. Play through Sonic 3, collecting all of the Chaos Emeralds
2. Play through Sonic & Knuckles, collecting all of the Super Emeralds
3. Finish the game. You will fight a special final boss as long as you collected all the emeralds.
---

These are by far the easiest emeralds to get of the Genesis games.

As for Sonic the Hedgehog canon, no idea.
---

Steiner posted...

2. Play through Sonic & Knuckles, collecting all of the Super Emeralds

Do the emeralds carry over to Knuckles if I get them as Sonic?
---

Kenri posted...

These are by far the easiest emeralds to get of the Genesis games.

As for Sonic the Hedgehog canon, no idea.

Canon's probably not the best word. Just looking for the way to get the true/complete ending.
---

each save is as either Sonic, Sonic & Tails, Tails, or Knuckles. You have something like 8 save slots. The emeralds and progress are unique to each.
---

when you play "Sonic 3 & Knuckles" the end of Sonic 3 flows straight into the beginning of Sonic & Knuckles, and at that point your Chaos Emeralds reset and the Super Emeralds are unlocked
---

If you want all the endings, play as Sonic and get all the emeralds, then play as Knuckles and get all the emeralds. Tails has everything the same as Sonic except he doesn't get to play the final level.
---

So then I just need to collect the Chaos Emeralds as Sonic, then Knux can grab each of the Super Emeralds when he gets to the bonus stages?
---

No, Sonic needs to get all the chaos emeralds and super emeralds, then Knuckles needs to get all the chaos emeralds and super emeralds.
---

your sonic save and knuckles save are not related in any way
---

Better question is does anyone NEED the Super Emeralds? What benefit does that provide?
---

Mewtwo59 posted...

If you want all the endings, play as Sonic and get all the emeralds, then play as Knuckles and get all the emeralds. Tails has everything the same as Sonic except he doesn't get to play the final level.

Super Tails is a reward all its own though.
---

Nelson_Mandela posted...

Better question is does anyone NEED the Super Emeralds? What benefit does that provide?

your emeralds reset at the start of sonic & knuckles. the chaos emeralds are only useful for transforming into super sonic, in the sonic 3 section of the game. after the start of sonic & knuckles, you won't be able to transform into super sonic again, you must collect the super emeralds and become hyper sonic.
---

Nelson_Mandela posted...

Better question is does anyone NEED the Super Emeralds? What benefit does that provide?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TGalu36BHA" data-time="
---

Steiner posted...

Nelson_Mandela posted...

Better question is does anyone NEED the Super Emeralds? What benefit does that provide?

your emeralds reset at the start of sonic & knuckles. the chaos emeralds are only useful for transforming into super sonic, in the sonic 3 section of the game. after the start of sonic & knuckles, you won't be able to transform into super sonic again, you must collect the super emeralds and become hyper sonic.

They only reset if you go into a special stage after you get to Sonic & Knuckles. However, I'm pretty sure that you can only get the true ending if you get all the super emeralds.
---

Ah, I re-read Steiner's post. I was under the impression that you had to beat S&K as Knuckles in order to get to the ultimate boss or something.
---

Knuckles has his own final boss that's different from Sonic's. So if you want the full list experience you'll have to play through as Knuckles.
---

Mewtwo59 posted...

Knuckles has his own final boss that's different from Sonic's. So if you want the full list experience you'll have to play through as Knuckles.

Does Knuckles need to have the Super Emeralds to fight him?!
---

no, that is the only final boss knuckles will fight, regardless of having super emeralds.
---

No, it just changes the ending.
---

Hmm
---

The canon way is to get all the Emeralds and Super Emeralds as Sonic because that's the only way you can unlock the true last boss of his route. It's not as big of a deal for Knuckles.
---

You play Sonic 3, then put Sonic 3 into Sonic & Knuckles and play Sonic & Knuckles.
---

you play it in the way that gets you hyper tails
---

Kenri posted...

Nelson_Mandela posted...

Better question is does anyone NEED the Super Emeralds? What benefit does that provide?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TGalu36BHA" data-time="

I lost my shit at this response
---

LeonhartFour posted...

The canon way is to get all the Emeralds and Super Emeralds as Sonic because that's the only way you can unlock the true last boss of his route. It's not as big of a deal for Knuckles.

Awesome. I guess the story wouldn't make sense anyway if multiple characters are getting the same chaos emeralds.
---

There's a theory (that I support, and indeed used to think was canon until I learned it had never been officialy confirmed) that playing as Knuckles is a 'sequel' to Sonic's game rather than an alternate continuity. As in, Sonic does his thing, blows up the Death Egg, saves Floating Island, then some of Robotnik's minions **** up the Emerald chamber all over again and Knuckles goes out to fix it.

There's a few things to support this (the Death Egg is missing from all the backgrounds it appeared in for Sonic when you visit them as Knuckles, the ghosts in Sandopolis Zone are there from the start because Sonic already released them, Sky Sanctuary is much smaller because a bunch of it collapsed when the Death Egg launched, etc), although there are other things that make less sense (Angel Island Zone is unburnt at first, Knuckles visits Flying Battery when it should have crashed (although there's also evidence that Knuckles was originally meant to skip that zone when 3&K was one game)).
---

Yeah, Knuckles was supposed to skip Flying Battery, which is why his version is exactly the same as Sonic's.
---

Also, I thought for a long time in Knux's route that it was just Robotnik wearing a mask to dupe him while they were still on the same side because my word is Knuckles gullible until I learned recently that it's just an Egg Robo.
---

I didn't know Leon was such an authority on Sonic lore. Neat.
---

I wouldn't say "authority" by any stretch, but I know several factoids, I guess.

I'd come closer to considering myself an "authority" when it comes to Street Fighter lore because I've read so much about it, but even then, that'd be an exaggeration.
---