[This post is part of a collaborative Sonic retrospective based around the games on Sonic Mega Collection Plus. To read more, please head over to the central post!
For this one I welcome for the first time Pixie Poison, who you can find at Pockets of Iridescence and on Twitter as @PixiePoison90.]
Sonic & Knuckles
Or: How I Came to Embrace the Mega Drive and Love the Echidna
I was very late to the Mega Drive party. Most ‘90s gamers, particularly fellow UK ones, were practically born with a Mega Drive controller in their hands. It took 15 years for me to finally have the opportunity. And, as many had done before me, I started with the adventures of the blue blur himself.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, he and I were already very well acquainted. I first jumped down the gaming rabbit hole at age 5 with the Sega Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog and I still know every tense inch of the Labyrinth levels to this day. But I was eager to see what Sonic’s Mega Drive outings had to offer. I was a kid in a toy shop again. Those recognisable stages, the signature tunes and high-speed platforming action in sparkling 16-bit were breathtaking to me, despite gaming approaching the PS3/Xbox 360 era. And one particular game soon emerged as a favourite, one game that stood out among the others in so many ways and claimed my Sonic Mega Drive crown: Sonic & Knuckles.
The game opened in Mushroom Hill Zone, the first bars of its infectious theme began to play and I was already hooked. The scenes and locales in previous games were engaging to be sure, but Sonic & Knuckles raised the bar enormously. The visuals showed what the Mega Drive was capable of and how exquisite 16-bit graphics could be. The two protagonists were more detailed and expressive than ever, even when running at break-neck speeds and every level of every zone was a feast for the eyes. Every few platforms I would find myself stopping to absorb every little intricate detail, from the falling leaves and dappled toadstools of Mushroom Hill to the rippling sandfalls and sunset-kissed temples of Sandopolis. The visual and musical changes between Level 1 and Level 2 in each zone were also inspired, not to mention one of the best boss themes in the Sonic franchise that still never fails to be badass and get you pumped.
All this would have been enough, but Sonic & Knuckles didn’t quite stop there in being the Sonic awakening it was for me. There was one more huge aspect it held over the others: the enigmatic echidna himself, Knuckles.
Not having played Sonic 3 at the time (a mistake in hindsight), I had only crossed paths with Knuckles once before in Sonic Triple Trouble for the Game Gear – another huge Sonic favourite – in which he was very much a villain and I had yet to finish it when I embarked on Sonic & Knuckles. And the child-like part of my subconscious still saw Sonic as automatically superior on a superficial level; anything blue was de facto the best! So there was an initial level of shock discovering that you could also play the “villain”, something I had not yet experienced outside of the fighting game genre. And playing as Sonic to start with certainly appeared to enforce this view. Until the two clashed. Knuckles was revealed to have been merely an unwitting pawn in Robotnik’s diabolical schemes. Not an enemy. I was now eager to embark on his side of the adventure and see what the story had in store for him. I wrapped up with the blue blur and began anew with the red.
“I’m oh so glad we met the second time around.”
You can always trust Sinatra to have a lyric for any situation and this sums up my first experience with Knuckles perfectly. While Sonic seemed to be traversing strange and unfamiliar territories, Knuckles seemed right at home in the natural locales, gliding through the mushroom forests and scaling the sand temples. His special moves soon became second nature to me and I began to enjoy his gameplay experience far more. But beyond the purely gameplay elements was the character himself at the root of it all. An Angel Island native, he is the last of his kind and the Guardian of the Master Emerald, a duty he takes very seriously and (without straying too far into spoilers) is reflected in the challenging nature of his playthrough. He is independent and often solitary, feeling most at peace in the natural landscapes of his home. But he is also fiercely loyal and will unwaveringly support and protect the few he considers friends.
All of these were (and still are) traits I recognised within myself. While I did socialise, I was equally perfectly happy in my own company, sometimes preferring it. If I had a job to do, I would put nothing but the utmost effort into doing it well. And the friendships I kept were kept heartily and fiercely; I would fight tooth and nail to protect them if need be. A whole new level of connection developed with this strong, stoic and principled echidna. Sonic was still the beloved blue blur of my childhood, but Knuckles was the fiery red fighter I embraced going into adulthood.
The gaming industry is ever-evolving and forever churning new fantastical feats. But there’s something quite magical about experiencing a retro classic for the first time many years after it first emerged. For me, it was the vibrant and detailed rival duo expedition of Angel Island. Sonic & Knuckles will always be the game that saw my Mega Drive journey reach ecstatic heights and showed me that red is just as worthy as, perhaps even surpasses, blue.
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