Sonic and Knuckles FAQ/Walkthrough
For Sega Genesis
Version 4.1
Written by CNash
June 2008
This guide was written and tested using the original PAL release of the Mega
Drive cartridge "Sonic & Knuckles". This game is also available in special
collections for the PC, Sega Saturn and Nintendo Gamecube. Unless otherwise
stated, these collections are functionally identical to the original release,
and the advice given in this FAQ can be used for any of them.
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USAGE GUIDE (the legal stuff)
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This FAQ may not be redistributed in any way, shape or form (including
magazine articles and cover disks) without prior written consent of CNash
(Chris Nash), and even so, must not be re-typed or corrected in any way.
Non-compliance with these terms is a violation of copyright. Conversion to
HTML format is prohibited. If you wish to host this FAQ, please e-mail me
and I might agree to it.
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UPDATE HISTORY
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[January 2001]
• Added Mushroom Hill Secret Area solution.
• Added #4 in the "FAQ in a FAQ" section. Added a lot of stuff to the "Cheats"
section. Added passwords for extra special stages.
[November 2002]
• Fixed the horrible, horrible line spacing, and altered several sections for
clarity.
[August 2003]
• Added several points in the later sections of the FAQ, mainly concerning the
lock-on feature.
[February 2004]
• Gave the debug mode a section all to itself. Aren't I kind?
[June 2008]
• Some small changes for clarity here and there.
• "FAQ in a FAQ" is gone - most of the information is no longer relevant due
to the age of the system and peripherals (who's going to try locking a 32X
onto S&K anyway?), and the info for the Mushroom Hill secret place has been
added to the Zone listing.
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CONTENTS
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1.) Introduction
2a.) Special Attacks
2b.) Character-specific special attacks
3.) Zone Guides:
a.) Mushroom Hill
b.) Flying Battery
c.) Sandopolis
d.) Lava Reef
e.) Hidden Palace
f.) Sky Sanctuary
g.) Death Egg
h.) Doomsday
3.) Linkup Capabilities
4.) Special and Bonus Stages
5.) Cheats
6.) Debug Mode
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1a.) Special Attacks:
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Spin Dash: Hold Down and press Jump. You'll start spinning in place. To
blast off, release Down, and to get more power, repeatedly tap the Jump
button.
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1b.) Character-specific special attacks:
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Sonic:
Force Fields: Do a double jump (press A, B or C twice quickly) and you'll
perform a special attack related to the shield you hold.
Flame: A flaming dash across the screen.
Bubble: Bounce downwards.
Lightning: Boost jump.
You can also do this without any shield. I'm not sure whether it shields you
at all, as I've never been able to time it right.
Knuckles:
Fly and Bash: Do a double jump and you'll start flying. You can then simply
fly through robots or over obstacles.
Wall-Climber: Fly into a wall to grab onto it and press Up or Down to move
along it.
Wall-Basher: Simply run into any breakable wall to knock it down. Sonic can
do that too, but he has to use the Spin Dash. Some walls can only be broken
by Knuckles.
Another important point to note is that Knuckles has a slightly lower jump
than Sonic. This creates problems when the cart is linked to Sonic 2. See
'Linkup Capabilities' at the end of the Zone Guide.
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2.) Zone Guide
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a.) Mushroom Hill (1)
Quite simple. Get the hang of Sonic's attacks and learn how to go around
loops (use the Spin Dash) and get away from vines (again, use the Spin Dash).
Practice climbing and gliding (for Knuckles) Pulley machines require you to
press down repeatedly to lift yourself up.
The Mini-Boss: Woodcutter.
Dodge his flying logs, then hit him from the side. Made easier by use of the
Fire Shield, as you can simply stand below him and hit. (If you don't use
the shield and try this, you'll get hurt by his engine flames).
Mushroom Hill (2)
Like the first act, but Knuckles makes an appearance and blows you up to
another season (presumably Fall). If you're Knuckles, you can go past the
switch and get into Fall later. This level is quite overabundent with special
stage Giant Rings, and it is possible to get about four of the seven emeralds
required. Cross seasons again and you'll see a transmitting device of some
sort. Bounce on it and keep bouncing, as the device is resting on Dr.
Robotnik's head!
The Boss: Dr. Robotnik.
Take the number of hits you got in after the transmitter was destroyed, and
subtract it from eight. This will give you the number of hits needed to
destroy this boss. (I got it down to three). The boss itself is a simple case of
dodge the spiky mines. Between jumps, hit him the calculated number of times
and he slams into a tree. Now, free the animals and jump onto the Flying
Battery....
Secret area: At the last pulley machine, use the left side instead of the right,
and the spring in the next area will take you to a hidden place with some shield
boxes.
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b.) Flying Battery (1)
Both of these are quite hard levels. First, get used to running on the purple
machine-loops, and work your way through the battery. To get rid of the
missiles while you're in the open air, go to the far right end and let three
missles slam into the floor, creating a hole.
The Mini-Boss: The animal-trap that isn't.
This thing looks like a standard animal cage, but once you push it's button
it'll grow arms and eyes. The trick to do this is to stand on the button,
then wait until his eyes flash and quickly jump off. Do this about 5 or 6
times.
Flying Battery (2)
More or less the same as act 1, but a one new point to note. Beware of the
first animal trap that you encounter, as it contains robots!
The Boss: Dr. Robitnik.
The first phase of the doc's attack uses a powerful laser-death beam hanging
from the ceiling. This is deja-vu time for Sonic 2 players, as it is
identical to the one he used in Wing Fortress Zone, but this time you can't
destroy it. Just dodge it's beams and it'll destroy itself!
The second phase, after avoiding getting crushed by the platform, is a new
machine, the spikey flame-thrower. Avoid the spikes and the flames and hit
him when he swings up. This is slightly harder for Knuckles.
(Note: If you use Tails, you can hit the death-ray by using your tails, but
you can't destroy it that way).
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c.) Sandopolis (1)
This is, I think, the second hardest level in the game. Timing is essential
when attacking the Skorp (the thing with the tail), and don't stay in the
quicksand too long (duh!)
Mini-Boss: The Rocky Bear Thingy
Don't try and hit it, just lure it over to the quicksand pit on the left and
it'll fall in.
Sandopolis (2)
Inside the pyramid, use the light switches to get rid of the ghosts, for a
while. If they get very large, they'll start attacking you, and they're
invincible! Try and keep one step ahead of the pouring sand.
The Boss: Dr. Robotnik.
When is he ever going to quit? He's back, and he's brought a big spiky
Egyptian laser shooting thingy. Dodge the spikes, hit once to reveal
Robotnik, and once more to damage it. Do this eight times.
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d.) Lava Reef (1)
This happens to be my favorite level - judged purely on the coolness of the
music, of course. The lava is a pain - fire shields are good here. Break
through the rocks, learn how to cope with the overhead spike smasher things
and go off to face the mini boss, which is:
Mini-Boss: The Laser-aided Big Hand.
For each laser cannon, hit three times. The hand can only be hit when it's
closed (i.e. after trying to hit you), and then only from above.
Lava Reef (2)
First take a good look at the flame throwers, and how they work. They'll
cause you problems later. Now avoid the spinning spiky landmine things on
a pole (they have a belt of spiky things that rotate round a big pole).
The Boss: Dr. Robotnik.
Starts off by launching missles and destroying platforms. Make sure it's not
the one you're on. After the starpost, jump on the platforms and take the
last one down to the boss, picking up goodies on the way. Don't try and
get the boss directly, this is one of the 'dodge the spikes and it'll destroy
itself' bosses. Simply let the mines slam into his evil machine.
After the points tally has run down and the fire turns blue, it's safe to
walk on it. Go on through. (If you're Knuckles, you don't have to face a
boss at all!)
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Past this point, Sonic and Knuckles' levels are completely different.
I'll start with:
e.) Hidden Palace (Knuckles)
Just jump down the stairs and onto the teleporter.
Hidden Palace (Sonic)
Jump up the stairs and collect rings.
The Boss: Knuckles.
Finally, something different! Don't hit Knuckles head on, jump on him from
above about eight times and dodge his flying and spinning attacks. After
saving him from Dr. Robotnik, he'll be your friend and open doors for you.
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f.) Sky Sanctury (Knuckles)
This is the final level for Knuckles. Let the machine grab you, then watch as
RoboSonic completely misses you and destroys the flying robot.
The Big Boss: RoboSonic.
This is an exact replica of Sonic, but robotized. Snash it's face in eight
times, then it'll start flashing. Don't let your guard down, as it's not
over yet! RoboSonic will then jump on the big Emerald, and turn into Super
RoboSonic! While it's gold it's invincible, so always dodge it's tackles and
power balls and hit it three times once it goes back to blue and needs a
recharge.
After you've hit it about five times it'll shoot rings at you, but these
rings hurt you! Avoid them and hit it three more times to finally destroy
him and finish the game.
Sky Sanctury (Sonic)
Not the last level for Sonic. Go up the clouds and towers, beware of the
animals coming out as they're followed by a robot, and then find a blast from
Sonic's past!
1st Mini-Boss: Deja-vu, Sonic 1 style!
This boss is the RoboSonic in a machine exactly the same as the Sonic 1 Green
Hill boss. Avoid the ball and hit it. Fairly simple.
Up the towers again, for a second match-up!
2nd Mini-Boss: Deja-vu, Sonic 2 style!
This is the same as the Sonic 2 Metropolis Zone boss. Hit it eight times,
destroy the baby Robo-Sonics and hit it once more to destroy it.
Once more, climbing up the clouds to face the last incarnation of RoboSonic:
The Boss: RoboSonic.
Just hit it's face eight times to destroy it. Very easy.
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g.) Death Egg (1)
Very hard to get the hang of. Try and master upside-down walking, and the 3-
2-1 neon race tracks.
The Mini-Boss: The Eye.
Up till now, all the mini-bosses have been a bit cheesy, but the eye is quite
hard. Hit the eye until all the spiky things have been destroyed, then stay on
the spinning platforms and dodge the death ray, hitting the eye periodically.
Death Egg (2)
Exactly the same as act 1, but more in the open air (space?).
The Mini-Boss: Dr. Robotnik.
Did I say Mini-Boss? Yes, that's right, there are *two* Mini-Bosses in the
Death Egg. You can't hit it directly, this boss is mastered by use of the
anti-gravity booths. Let the bombs rain down upon the evil sphere, as you
reverse the gravitational flow. Note that they can only damage the machine if
the spikes are facing it.
The Boss: Evil Robotnik Emerald-Powered Machine.
Make a big effort on your first try if you have rings availible, because if
you die the first time you won't have rings the second time. Run ahead of it
and destroy the fingers, Lava Reef style. Now dodge the flamethrower and hit
it. Next, hit the emerald and dodge the beam by jumping at exactly the right
moment. Timing has to be impeccable on this zone, as one false move can cost
you your life! Do this a sufficient number of times, then hit Robotnik in his
flying machine a further five times to complete this boss.
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If you have collected all the emeralds, read on! It's not over yet!
If you haven't, you can miss out this next bit.
h.) Doomsday Zone (Super Sonic, all Emeralds only).
This is a flying boss, and you can't die! But keep an eye on your ring
counter, as it's slowly ticking away, and when it reaches 0 you'll drop out
of the sky! And to make matters worse, there is still the zone clock to
watch!
Collect rings to boost your time, dodge rocks and missles as they slow you
down. When you catch up to the machine, let the missles hit the cockpit.
Remember that you must do this very fast. Now dodge more missles. Finally,
fly into his cockpit another eight times.
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3.) Linkup Capabitities
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One of the great features of Sonic & Knuckles is that you can link Sonic 1, 2
or 3 to it and play new levels.
Sonic 1
"What?" I hear you cry, "You can't link Sonic 1 to Sonic & Knuckles! You get
all that No Way stuff!" Now this is probably the worst-kept secret in the
whole of video gaming, but if you link S&K to Sonic 1 and press A+B+C
together, you'll get to play with secret Special Stages that aren't in the
actual game! You can also do this with any other Sega cartridge, and the
stage differs with each cartridge! I'm told that there are around a quarter
trillion special stages on the Sonic 1 cartridge alone. But you do get a
password so you can continue later.
The passwords and stage codes are structured so that you can't just tap in
any number and get a stage - only some passwords work.
Actually, for a challenge, put in any cartridge made by Electronic Arts.
Their special stages are quite hard, especially the FIFA Soccer series.
But NEVER try this with a cartridge with memory back-up as this will totally
erase all saved games! This rules out Shining Force, Soliel, PGA Tour Golf
and others. Passwords are unaffected.
In the PC version, from the "Game" menu, just choose "Special Stage Mode".
Sonic 2
Once you link S&K to S2, you'll be able to play all of the Sonic 2 stages
with Knuckles, in a special mode called "Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the
Hedgehog 2" (KtEiS2). This means you can get to parts of levels that you
wouldn't be able to get to with Sonic alone. One downside to this is that
Knuckles has a slightly lower jump than Sonic or Tails, which makes some
levels harder than they should be, especially Death Egg Zone.
Sonic 3
You can now play all the S3 and S&K levels consecutively, and this means you
can play S3 levels with Knuckles and S&K levels with Tails! The collected
version of this game is called "Sonic 3 & Knuckles" (S3&K). Plus you can
save your game. When you collect all the Chaos Emeralds, the Giant Rings
start flashing multi-colored. Jump in, and all your emeralds will float up
and become gray ememeralds on flowery platforms. Jump on and you'll enter
S&K Special Stages. You can choose what order you play them in.
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4.) Special and Bonus Stages
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To get into a special stage, you must find the giant rings dotted around
the levels. The special stages are pretty straightforward. All you have to
to is navigate around a giant 3D ball, collecting Blue spheres and avoiding
Red ones. If you touch a Red you exit the stage, so beware! And if you touch
a Blue, it'll turn Red! A neat trick is to collect around the outside of a
square of Blues, and they'll all turn into rings. The star spheres are bumpers
which make you change direction (run backwards) and the yellows are springs.
Get all the blue spheres and you get an emerald.
Bonus Stage #1 is a slot-machine thing. Get inside it and you win rings or
mines depending on what your combination of pictures is. It's like a
combination of Casino Night Zone from Sonic 2, and the Sonic 1 special
stages. To get out, touch a goal tile.
Bonus Stage #2 is a weird electro-sphere game. Work your way up the spheres
to get to the top, and watch out for the forcefield trying to get you from
below. Prizes are in the little spheres, and get better as you move up the
playing field. Expect some 1-Ups at the top. The game will warn you with an
alarm when the forcefield gets close and if it touches you, you exit the
stage.
Bonus Stage #3 can only be entered if you link up S&K to Sonic 3, or play
Sonic 3 on it's own. First, drop down to the bottom and bounce up on the
springs, touching the lever of the machine. A prize will fall out. You have
to bounce on the yellow bouncers at the side to work your way up to it.
(REP) spheres replace the springs at the bottom.
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5.) Cheats
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[Level Select]
Go to Angel Island 1 (start a new game). Grab a vine and enter this code:
Left Left Left Right Right Right Up Up Up
If you've done it right (you need to do it fairly quickly, without pausing
in between button presses) you'll hear the sound of a ring being collected.
Now when you pause the game and press A, you'll be taken back to the title
screen.
When on the title screen, press down twice and you'll see a new option below
Competition called Sound Test. Select that and you'll see the level select
screen.
[Debug Mode]
Use the level select to go to Mushroom Hill 1. Find a pulley machine,
hang from it, and enter the same code as from Angel Island. You'll hear the
same sound, and you should now pause the game and press A to return to the
title screen. Enter Sound Test again, and with the level you want selected,
hold A while pressing Start. This will enable Debug Mode.
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6.) Debug Mode
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Debug Mode grants you access to several new functions.
This section deals with Debug Mode, and the many glitches and tricks you can
pull off by using it.
All zones are unlocked for every character while you're in Debug Mode.
This means that strange things can happen when the characters go to places
meant for the other characters - for example, take Sonic or Tails into
Sky Sanctuary 2, which is Knuckles's final boss.
Also:
• Bringing yourself back: if you've accidentally died while in debug mode,
press B to enable object placement, then B again, and you'll be back to
where you are. Be careful of pressing B while inside the scenery, though,
as this can cause unexpected results.
• Enter Sky Sanctuary 1 with Knuckles to have two Knuckles.
• You can play Doomsday Zone with Tails or Knuckles. If you use Knuckles and
beat the game, you'll have two Master Emeralds, a blue plane and a sky-blue
colored Sonic driving it! And during the credits, not only is Sonic standing
on the plane driven by the sky-blue Sonic, activate debug mode to freeze the
words and place glicthy birds and dolphins.
• Beat Sky Sanctuary 2 with Sonic, and you'll get a blue Knuckles on the plane,
and the sky-blue Sonic when you activate debug mode just before the credits.
You can still die, by letting Sonic drop to the bottom of the screen (or
the top with reversed gravity).
• In Lava Reef 3, activating Debug Mode while the screen is scrolling will
cause your movement to be locked in a diagonally-up direction, and different
parts of the level will scroll behind you. Exit debug mode in this state and
you'll fall to the bottom and die - but if you bring yourself back with debug
mode, the screen will scroll downwards really fast. If you exit debug mode
now, you will die.
• In Lava Reef 4, with Knuckles, placing a teleporter sphere and stepping on it
will cause you to fly upwards, then diagonally up, then upwards again, with
the background scrolling like the last glitch, until you're at the top of the
screen. Once there, you can press B twice to fall down to the end of the
stage. If you happen to hit the top of the screen in this stage, you'll be
transported to Sky Sanctuary 2.
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Bye!
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If you want to correct me on anything I've said, or give me new info, the
address to e-mail is:
cnash.mail AHT gmail DOHT com
