The Story of Sonic & Knuckles, Lock-On Technology and The End of The Golden Age of 16-Bit Gaming!!!
In 1994, Sega continued their winning streak over Nintendo, thanks to the company’s breakout superstar, Sonic The Hedgehog!! The year was a long plateau, bookended by two Sonic games, that when combined, made one of the largest video games ever seen! All while the 16-Bit Era was reaching its limit, thanks in part to Sega’s drive, as well as Nintendo playing catch up. It’s the beginning of the end of the Golden Age. One of the greatest times to be a gamer!! This is The Story of Sonic & Knuckles! On October 18th, 1994, Sega released one of their most memorable video games Sonic & Knuckles. A technical marvel, the game wasn’t quite Sonic the Hedgehog 4 though not the exact game as Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles gave Sega a unique way to expand on existing games, while offering a whole new, separate adventure at the same time. Selling a game cartridge that can connect with other cartridges, unlocking characters, and parts of levels that could never be done so, otherwise. While October 1994 was far from the end of the 16-Bit Era, the time is often remembered as when the very best games were released alongside the backdrop of the looming Next Generation.
It had been a 4 year rollercoaster for Sega in America, ever since Sonic the Hedgehog was first released for the Sega Genesis on June 23rd, 1991. The character and game stole the spotlight from the debut of the Nintendo’s Super NES, and in the end turned Sega into the Market Leader in the U.S.A. Sega released a sequel the next year and while Sonic 2 was a great game on its own, the marketing behind it set the stage for how game releases are done today. November 24th, 1992 … “Sonic 2sDay” put the second Sonic on sale around the world on the same day - just before Christmas - to maximize sales! The idea worked so well that Sega did it again in 1993! Only this time, Sega released three games at once. Sonic CD, Spinball and Chaos, with the Sonic Mania Day event! When that year’s shopping season had ended, the Sega Genesis was in more in American homes than the Super NES: 13.5 million to 11 point 3.
When the calendar turned to 1994, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 was ready to roll! In the tradition of prior Sonic games, a publicity event was scheduled! On February 2nd, 1994 Sega set up shop in the town of Punxatawney, Pennsylvania, a town made world famous only a year before, thanks to the movie Groundhog Day, directed by Harold Ramis and starring Bill Murray. The festivities that day were gigantic for such a small town. The schools had no class for the day, but kept the doors open for the public to come by and try out the new game. People travelled from around the country to line up and be the very first in the world to pick up Sonic 3! Sega re-christened the longstanding holiday Groundhog Day, into Hedgehog Day! The early release date ran counter to what everyone was expecting. The timing worked to Sega’s advantage in several ways: With Christmas already in the rearview mirror, Sega fans could get the next game in the series now! No waiting for the end of the year! Sega could keep up with the heavy demand, by manufacturing cartridges during the “slow” season, building up a large reserve for later, when sales were expected to be high.
This also helped alleviate shortages around the world, as Sonic 3 was released outside of the U.S. in the weeks and months after Hedgehog Day. Reviews for Sonic 3 were great! Not a single score from major publications were less than 90% Some scores were perfect! Talks of “Game of the Year” were already being thrown around, just as the year was getting started. It all gave Sega a money making opportunity that lasted the whole year! But what those who went home with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on February 2nd didn’t know, was that this new game was only one piece of the puzzle. A second “Sonic 3” would soon be on the way!
It was a little strange that Sega released its biggest game of 1994 in the dead of Winter. Despite the perfect marketing opportunity, behind the scenes there were hurdles that gave way to this decision. Sonic 2 was developed in a newly created division within Sega of America - STI: The Sega Technical Institute. The concept brought in some of the best veteran Japanese talent who trained young, new American artists and programmers, working together to create games that American audiences could appreciate.
Things rarely ran smoothly. Sonic 2 was produced in a rush. While it certainly doesn’t look like it, the game was completed in only nine months. The cross cultural collaboration took its toll on Yuji Naka, who strongly shaped the direction of the game. With regards to potential Sonic 3,
he refused to work on the game if any Americans were involved with him directly. Sega and STI conceded to this demand. Hirokazu Yasuhara, AKA Carol Yas was brought in direct, marking the third time in a row he collaborated with Yuji Naka. Takashi Iizuka would join as a newcomer to the series, as a designer. The team worked
separately from the Americans at STI, who spent 1993 making Sonic Spinball. Sonic 3 lost not only one, but two composers! Masato Nakamura of the band Dreams Come True parted ways with Sega, amicably. His newfound fame and touring schedule didn’t allow much in the way of side work. Sega moved forward with an even bigger name penciled in for the soundtrack: Michael Jackson! While no public announcement was ever made, nor any contracts signed, those who worked at Sega and with Michael during this time have commented about the secretive story. The music heard in Sonic 3 has traces of Michael’s style: Carnival Night Zone sounds very similar to “Jam” from the Dangerous album. Long before the game was ever finished, the collaboration ended without a clear reason. Michael was never credited in Sonic 3 and never commented about his
involvement with the game. Some may point to Sega wishing to distance themselves from legal troubles Michael Jackson had in 1993, though that doesn’t line up against Michael’s involvement in Scramble Training, an arcade “Ride Game” released that year. Eventually, Tokuhiko Uwabo, AKA “Bo” and Jun Senoue were given the task. Bo had collaborated with Yuji Naka on many older Sega games, While Sonic 3 would be the first of many Sonic compositions for newcomer Jun. From the onset, Sonic 3 was created with the goal of going above and beyond Sonic 2. That meant designing more levels, longer levels, and creating graphical touches that had yet to be seen in 16-Bit games. A new character, Knuckles was born, an adversary to Sonic and Tails.
New features, such as three types of shields that can help Sonic move through stages were added. As well all of the features from past games, such as the split screen multiplayer mode and Super Sonic had to return All of it lead to a game that would surpass 32 Megabits, a memory size that was unheard of in 1993. The larger memory size would mean a higher cost at retail. As well,
the game had so many unfinished ideas that Sonic 3 would not be ready for Christmas 1993. Sega took a gamble on its greatest franchise. Taking the game splitting it into two parts, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, released at the opposite ends of 1994. Two games that when put together would give fans access to the complete vision that Sega and STI intended! How that happened was something never before seen in home gaming, something some might call…magic! With the release of Sonic The Hedgehog 3 on February 2nd, 1994, Sega had the first part of its year long strategy in place. Half of the game was completed, on sale, and in homes. It was easy for STI to take the elements that were unfinished and mold
that into Sonic & Knuckles…at least… with the help of a little contraption. While STI was working on Sonic 3, the Sega home offices in Japan were constantly updated on the progress made in California. When the tipping point was reached - that Sonic 3 could potentially be two games - the hardware division in Japan offered a solution. A cartridge that could accept other cartridges and combine the game codes of both. The concept began a few years before, when Sega partnered with Galoob and Codemasters for the Game Genie enhancement device. The partnership gave Sega their own ideas about how to create a similar product.
With that, the existing code from Sonic 3 could be altered and re-used in Sonic & Knuckles. Connecting two cartridges would mix both games together. Since Sonic 3 was similar code-wise to Sonic 2, that game could be expanded as well! Mixing and matching cartridge combinations had a lot of potential. Separating Sonic & Knuckles into its own game all begins with the story, taking place concurrently with, and continuing after Sonic 3. At the end of Sonic 2, West Side Island was liberated from the evil Dr. Robotnik,
with Sonic retrieving the seven Chaos Emeralds and knocking Robotnik’s space station, the Death Egg, out of orbit. The space station crashed to Earth, landing on the mysterious, floating, Angel Island. The collision forced the island to sink back into the ocean, causing a tidal wave that reached the home of Sonic, prompting him and Tails to leave in the Tornado to investigate. Angel Island is home to Knuckles the Echidna. The last of his kind with the sworn duty to protect the Chaos Emerald Altars that dot the island.
Not long after, Robotnik meets Knuckles. Pretending to be a friendly scientist, he earns the trust of the echidna, claiming that the recent disruptions were the cause of Sonic and Tails, who must be stopped to save the Angel Island Emeralds. With the choice of Sonic or Knuckles as your character, the game breaks into two stories. With Sonic, The Death Egg crash-lands on Angel Island once more. While retrieving the missing Chaos Emeralds, Sonic passes through a Super Ring to the Hidden Palace Zone to discovers the Master Emerald, which keeps Angel Island floating in the sky. Here, Sonic fights Knuckles one-on-one. During the battle, Robotnik steals the Master Emerald!
When Knuckles tries to stop him, Robotnik electrocutes the echidna and escapes. Knuckles realizes he had been lied to the entire time and joins forces with Sonic! Knuckles’s Story takes place after Sonic destroys the Death Egg once and for all. Mecha Sonic returns to Earth with Egg-Robo in tow, stealing the Master Emerald, which gives it powers that equal Super Sonic. It’s up to Knuckles to save the day and rid Angel Island of the troubles Robotnik has brought here once and for all! The format of Sonic & Knuckles is similar to that of Sonic 3, featuring seven Zones, usually with two Acts each, designed to be seamless - meaning that the gameplay is continuous! There are no breaks between these stages, like in past games. Don’t forget that Sonic stages are never linear, and oftentimes, slowing down to explore has it benefits. Knuckles is able to climb up walls and fly for a short time, which gives gameplay in his half of the game a different approach.
Backgrounds and foregrounds are fully animated, often changing as the Zone progresses! Each of the Acts have amazing graphical detail and rarely repeat the same color, offering eye popping visuals from start to end that make you wonder how these graphics are handled while Sonic or Knuckles move along at an amazing speed. The forests of Mushroom Hill Zone, the heat of Lava Reef Zone and the winds of Sky Sanctuary Zone offer a varied and colorful game that follows the style of Sonic 3 without repeating any of those elements! The Chaos Emeralds are retrievable in Special Stages, like always. In Sonic & Knuckles these areas are accessible through giant rings that appear in several places, without any requirements. Sonic navigates a rotating 3-D globe, with red and blue spheres scattered about. Sonic must collect all of the blue spheres, as the speed increases. But, touch a red one and
you’re out! There are also rings to collect and bumpers that push back, adding to the challenge. Bonus Stages are accessible through Star Posts. Passing through while holding 20-34 rings unlocks the Slot Machine. Almost like a combination of Casino Night Zone and the original Sonic 1 Bonus Stage. The Rotating bumpers push Sonic or Knuckles around, while landing in the center offered up a chance at extra rings, but be careful because you can also lose all of your rings as well! Holding 35 or more rings will unlock the Glowing Spheres. Giant pulsing balls of energy push Sonic or Knuckles around the stage. Here,
you can collect different colored gum balls that grant 1-Ups, shields or rings. While Sonic & Knuckles has a lot packed into the game, there were several things from Sonic 3 that were left out. There is no option to play as Tails in the game! You can only choose Sonic or Knuckles, that’s it! The split-screen 2-player mode is also absent, and most glaring omission - Sonic & Knuckles has no save feature!! You have to finish the game in one session! The reasoning behind these choices is that when combined together with Sonic 3, the game can access all of these, leaving them out saves space on the Sonic & Knuckles cartridge. With Sonic 3 coming out first, one can assume that fans at home already have the
game. And if not, it serves as a selling point to encourage customers to go get it. All of these decisions, for better or worse, were made under tight and stressful deadlines at STI. To reach the end goal, Yuji Naka and his rule that Americans stay out, was overruled. Sonic & Knuckles was not a full collaborative effort, but programmers, designers and play testers from the Western side of STI were finally involved in a mainline Sonic. One more addition to the team was made. Hollywood composer Howard Drossin, signed on to contribute extra music tracks. All of it was overseen by Roger Hector, who called the shots at STI.
Weighing in at 18 Megabits, a rather unusual number when the standard was 16, Sonic & Knuckles on its own, was a fine continuation to the legacy Sonic had built. When combined with Sonic 3, it became the largest 16-Bit video game Sega had ever made. In the Summer of 1994, STI handed the game code off to the Sega home offices for mass production. From here, Tom Kalinske and his marketing team stepped up to make sure the public was aware of this new Sonic game, and understood how it works. Back in the ‘90s, the main event for technology and game was the Consumer Electronics Show, then, held twice a year. Sega, had an impressive Winter ‘94 show, when Sonic 3 made its surprising
reveal. Many wondered what Sega could have left in the tank for the Summer show. Rather than wait for the Summer CES, where Nintendo, and other competitors, will show off their best, new works, Sega did an end-run with a special event - Sega Gamer’s Day - held three weeks before the CES!! The event showed off dozens of games Sega would release in the second half of 1994 and some in ’95! Sonic & Knuckles was the marquee Genesis game on display. But what really stole the show was a new device that would upgrade the Genesis into a 32-Bit machine, for only $150! The Sega 32X!! At a time where the Next Generation felt years away, and possibly two or three times as expensive as 16-Bit, the 32X offered an affordable option to transition into the future. And since the 32X was an add-on, standard Genesis games would still work! Including Sonic & Knuckles. A standalone game that no one was expecting, with its own upgradability.
It’s a concept that had been around for some time in PC gaming space: Expansion Packs. Where new levels and items could be added to an existing game. However due to the nature of home gaming, with a lack of hard drives and rewritable media, they idea never found a way to catch on, until now. Sega trademarked a clever name for the interface that made all this possible. Lock-On Technology™ Sonic & Knuckles was excellent on its own. Add Sonic 3 and give it an upgrade! Add Sonic 2 and
make Knuckles a playable character, giving the game some new life by re-playing those older levels with Knuckles’s move set. Add Sonic 1 and you’ll get a message saying NO WAY! Don’t worry, its just a joke. Push A, B and C when you see this screen to access a mind blowing 134,217,728 playable levels of the Blue Spheres Bonus Game. Add any other Genesis game and just one of these millions of stages will randomly load, making the deep cuts of your gaming library worth dusting off. It was something never thought possible. Games no longer had to be set in stone forever and could freely change and evolve over time.
The was an ulterior motive for holding Sega Gamers’ Day. It allowed the gaming media to report on these events in gaming magazines one issue before CES coverage, stealing the thunder, potentially of whatever Nintendo or anyone else would announce. All of the excitement could be captured by Sega before CES ever happened, with a second showing at CES to further push the competition out of the headlines. With the revelations made at Sega Gamers’ Day, the media and fans at home went away with some big surprises and a look at the future of games, with some of these ideas coming to pass. With Sega having established big November releases with Sonic 2 and CD, most everyone expected Sonic & Knuckles to arrive about one month before Christmas.
At the ‘94 Summer CES, Nintendo finally stood up to Sega and punched back. A new game that had been worked on for years behind the scenes went public: Donkey Kong Country. The game featured rendered 3D graphics, looking more advanced than any game that had ever come before. A “Next Generation" game on current hardware! More importantly, the game was produced without add-on chips or upgrades of any kind. A massive ad campaign followed, showing a different side of the Big N, full of edge ‘90s attitude while touting that all you needed to get the Next-Gen today was a $99 Super NES! Nintendo took one more swing at Sega, planting their flag on the date Sega had already claimed.
The Tuesday before Thanksgiving. In 1994, that day was November 21st! Everything that Sega had built up all year long was instantly wiped out. Sega went ahead and announced its schedule for 1994. The 32X would be released on the same day as Donkey Kong Country,
November 21st! While Sonic & Knuckles was slated for October 18th! The plan gave Sega a slight head start sales wise, while allowing the 32X to go head to head with Donkey Kong Country. Following the CES, Sega’s fall promotional campaign went into full swing! Lock-On Technology™ quickly became a new buzzword as advertisements, on TV and in print went live! Fans at home defended their side of the “Console Wars,” while attacking the other! For Sega, three main tracks of promotions ran concurrently. First, the release date of October 18 was heralded once again as simultaneous worldwide release. Commercials in every region remarked that the world would Lock-On™ to Sonic & Knuckles in unison. While this had been done before with Sonic 2sDay,
that didn’t actually happen all in one day, as Sonic 2 was released in different regions a few days apart then choreographed on videotape to appear as a 24 hour event. With Sonic & Knuckles the claim can truthfully be made that this was the first game to go on sale everywhere on Earth at the same time! Second, Sega teamed up with Blockbuster Video to promote Sonic & Knuckles as an exclusive rental! Sure nothing could stop a mom and pop video store from renting out the game as well, but the move gave Sonic 2 and 3 owners a chance to “try before you buy.” This arrangement contrasted with Nintendo who opposed game rentals, even going as far as taking store owners to court for renting out video games. It was one of many partnerships Sega fostered in the 1990s wherein the other party received hostile actions from Nintendo. Lastly, Sega signed on with MTV for the main event of the pre-release hype: a contest known as “Rock the Rock!” To start the campaign, short video blurbs began appearing on MTV that claimed Knuckles was missing, asking the viewer at home to find him! It all gave way to a massive contest. The first round of which was held at Hard Rock Café locations in the U.S., Japan, Mexico, Brazil and elsewhere around the world in early October.
Customers could try out the game pre-release and compete with each other. The winners from the opening round were flown to San Francisco California, where the infamous maximum security prison, Alcatraz, aka “The Rock” is located. There, each participant was “booked” and sent to a cell! In the next round, the goal was to collect as many rings as possible in Mushroom Hill Zone in 3 minutes! The top two scorers went to the final round, competing head to head grabbing rings in Launch Base Zone. The winner, Chris Tang was awarded $25,000, every Sega game released for the next two years, and left Alcatraz a free man! The contest aired on MTV one day before release. The contest was only a part of the special broadcast- the remainder was filled with interviews from STI staff discussing how Sonic & knuckles came to be, as well as general thoughts on game design and how Sega does business behind the scenes.
The next day, October 18th, 1994 Sonic & Knuckles would go on sale around the world! Sega VS. Nintendo: Round 4 was officially underway!! When Sonic & Knuckles hit the store shelves on October 18th, 1994, thousands of copies quickly went off to happy homes! You would have been hard pressed to find a extra copy still hanging around by the end of the day! The field was already overcrowded with great games. Mortal Kombat II, and NBA Jam were just two of many games on both the Genesis and Super NES not to mention the exclusives on each side already on sale, or coming soon, that were all fighting for someone’s hard earned $60! But many had set that money aside for the newest Sonic! In the Gaming Media, reviews that came down the line were very positive. In Japan, Beep Mega Drive was the go to source for Sega info. Across multiple issues in 1994, Sonic & Knuckles was discussed in depth, with details about how Lock-On Technology™ works, and what it can do. Beep issued a score of 32 out of
36 (Base 9 fans where you at?) in December ’94. In the U.S., GamePro magazine gave a perfect score in its November issue, saying that Lock-On Technology™ was a “revolutionary element.” The review also went into detail about how to access areas in Sonic 3 and Sonic 2 that were never before seen, until you play as Knuckles. DieHard GameFan scored the game with an average of 91% in November. Referring
to the game as “Sonic 4,” the reviewers remarked that Lock-On™ gives you “a lot of value for your money.” The Review speculated on future games that could adopt the feature, imagining a world where the interface would apply to Phantasy Star games. Well.. one can dream… (In retrospect DHFG is really annoying with all of its stupid takes, most of which were done to garner cred.) In the U.K., CVG Magazine issued a score of 91 in its November
’94 issue. The review admits openly that coming so quickly after Sonic 3, “a scrappy game” was expected, but it wasn’t! The review praises the “imaginative hazards sprinkled throughout each level,” and called Sonic “an affable character!” In Brazil, Açao Games Magazine gave a perfect score in October! The article explains much of the gameplay mechanics and gives a few tricks and tips like other publications, while commenting that the Lock-On™ “format is innovative” and the game is “an excellent addition to the series.” There were dozens of reviews just like these around the world, but the hype of the “16-Bit Wars” meant that Sonic & Knuckles would live or die in its comparisons to Donkey Kong Country.
Electronic Gaming Monthly was, without a doubt, the most respected American gaming publication in the ‘90s, with their review scores often used as a barometer for public opinion. In December, EGM gave Sonic & Knuckles a score of 37 out of 40! The same score was given to Donkey Kong Country in November! Oddly enough the games were reviewed in opposite order of which they were released. Both won Platinum Awards and Game of the Month! An interesting contemporary side by side comparison, where Sega vs. Nintendo had no clear winner! The Review Crew said that Sonic & Knuckles “looks like every other Sonic game out there” but encouraged readers to “sit down, play for a while, and let the differences show themselves.” And that “Knuckles adds a new dimension”
wrapping things up by declaring Sonic & Knuckles as “The ultimate Sega game!!” Sonic & Knuckles continued to rack up sales in 1995 and beyond, eventually reaching 1.2 million units sold in the U.S. alone. Often the sales data is combined with Sonic 3, as they are two parts of the same game, for a worldwide total of over 4 million.
This might be done to spin the numbers in the face of Donkey Kong Country which became the best selling game of 1994. To compare hardware sales mentioned in press releases at the time, The Sega Genesis sold 4 million units in 1994, raising total lifetime sales to 17.5 million. The Super NES sold 3.7 million units in 1994, with 15 million systems total in U.S. homes. Despite modern-day opinions of the 32X, the device sold out everywhere in 1994! Not to mention a few games to go with each one! With over 500,000 units sold, that number that beats the sales of the 3DO, Jaguar and CD-i combined! In dollar amount, Sega of America posted revenues of $3.4 Billion, only a slight decrease from the
year before. Nintendo never announced its American internals, but revised its worldwide financial forecasts downward for 1994 and 95, citing a strong Yen and tough competition in the industry. Sega took these numbers and ran to the goal line, declaring victory once again! Proudly announcing everywhere that the Sega Genesis outsold the Super NES for the 4th year in a row. The Genesis had a 57% market share. And Sega was the most profitable American video game company!
Going into 1995, Sega continued to ride the success of the Genesis and all of its Sonic games, keeping sales high as the Sega readied itself for the coming transition to 32-Bit! Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles became pack-in games in different regions at different times during the final years of the Genesis and Mega Drive. The price was often less that $99 in those later years, offering a great value!! There was talk of a complete Sonic 3 & Knuckles game in one cartridge, without Lock-On Technology™, but the idea never came to pass. In the years after the 16-Bit Era, the complete game has been released a few times. Starting with a Windows PC version in 1997, and more recently as part of Sonic Origins in 2022.
Modern re-releases of Sonic 1 and 2 also feature Knuckles, though these days the entire game is digital download, with nothing to Lock-On™ to. However nothing re-released has been exactly the same as the original two cartridges. Many Sega compilations omit either of the two games. The few times where everything is complete,
some music tracks are not the same. Some graphical and gameplay changes have been made as well. For many what the original separate games were has been blurred, confused or forgotten. Truly the only way to play Sonic 3 & Knuckles the way it was originally designed is to get the original Genesis cartridges. But no matter how you play it, Sonic & Knuckles stands as one of the best 16-Bit experiences ever made, and worth keeping and playing forever! We’ve made it to the end! Thanks for sticking around, for the entire GTV Sonic Saga. Reflecting
on things, 1994 really feels like the last great chapter in the Golden Age Sega had built in the early ‘90s. It was far from the end, but when looking back at certain events, such as the release of the bit 32-Bit machines in Japan right on the heels of Sonic & Knuckles, you can’t help but feel like 16-bit was swept out the door, killed off too early. Sure, the jump to 32-bit was amazing! Though only a few can claim to be there from day one. Probably most of us weren’t there until Year Two. ’94 and ’95 showed us the future, but what was not expected - a current-gen system still managing to impress, five or six years into its life cycle - made it feel like the future had already arrived, and that the Genesis could live … almost forever! That’s exactly what 1994 felt like. And it was even more special when you had trusted, classic characters that had been there for the entire ride. That’s the other side of the coin. Sega managed too only overtake Nintendo but continued that
initial wave that started in 1991. Four Sonic games in four years! Not to mention CD, the Game Gear games and side games like Spinball. Add in all the other games and the spot-on marketing, that was always on TV, everywhere you looked. It was all an impressive effort, un-precedented, and most importantly, successful! It all proved that the Big N could be taken on, and taken down, which sealed Sega’s own fate not much later by Sony, in part because they proved it could be done! Even if Sega’s mid-'90s decline hadn’t happened, time would have still moved on— we all grew up. All things must end. You can't go back. It’s hard to put into words, it just felt special to be part of something exciting happening in the here and now, even if it was just a game. That’s the feeling I relieve whenever I fire up the Genesis to play Sonic & Knuckles or any of the classics from 1994.
And honestly, that’s more than enough for me. I still play these games today with the same excitement - as if they were brand new, and I always will.
2024-10-26 10:13