i remember playing this with my dad, his mind was blown by how you could put another cartridge on top and play things differently he died a few months after we got sonic and knuckles, it was very unexpected and i was only 7, but some of my favorite memories are playing sonic with my dad
Surprising that the Sonic music actually encouraged people I came across to become great sprinters or long distance runners. One guy was nicknamed sonic because he had a sonic tattoo and enjoyed the music.
When I was 7 I got a Sega Genesis from my mom and it got placed in our family bayhouse. While my dad worked on the house I would play Sonic 3, and when he would take breaks he would watch me play and ask questions about the game. He hated video games but he would put that hated aside for me since he knew I was a bit of a nerdy kid and wasn't gonna be like my brother the trouble maker lol. It's been almost 30 years but those memories of him watching me are cherished, it's those little things with a son and his dad you never forget
I'm so glad I grew up in the 90s. Truly a magical time to be a kid, watching all the gaming tech evolve right before your eyes and all the excitement of trying something NEW and revolutionary every time a new console was released. That feeling of wonder and curiosity from reading gaming magazines and looking at the screenshots is something that has been lost but, it's something I'll never forget. As an adult, I've gained a much, much deeper appreciation for all the old games and consoles, good and "bad"; I've been a collector for years now and I wish I could go back in time and buy all these games and hardware again and take so much better care of them. Sadly, collecting and preserving the classics has become an expensive hobby now that nostalgia is big business and these games and consoles are treated as nothing more than commodities to sell back and forth to artificially inflate their "value" and make money from. That said, I'll never stop collecting and preserving games. I love having an "interactive library" I can share with my friends and family. I never get tired of browsing my shelves with friends and finding games and oddities I didn't even know I had. GTV helps keep this feeling and motivation alive in me. I'm a diehard fan for life! Also, still waiting on that Kunio-kun retrospective! 😉😄
Well as someone who also watches a lot of videos on this game and the others in the series that makes watching this one kinda infuriating it with the way some details are glossed over or over emphasized, those Origins cutscenes didn’t need to be here and feel out of place.
I used to go to the Parkway Center Mall VGE and sometimes Northway Mall one too. Then the evil Funcoland moved in by the end of the 90s. Thanks for watching as always my man 💎
@@DontKnowDontCare6.9 As mentioned in the video, yes. Still, I think everyone who somehow experienced it remembers that functionality primarily because of Sonic 3&K. The next game that I would consider had something similar was Metal Gear Solid 1 when playing VR/Special Missions.
That's the cool thing with cartridges it had over disc media. It didn't just contain data, it contained more hardware and you could boost capabilities with it.
@@jarlwhiterun7478 agreed 👍! But i also have a lot of nostalgia for Sonic 2 on genesis. Because it was my first sonic game ive played. Also fighting the final boss with zero ring was very stressful and at the same time epic .
I have played most Sonic games. This one is still my favorite Sonic of all time. No Sonic game has ever beaten that feeling of going through so many different places and environments (island, desert, water, nighttime, lava, sky) and the great moment of going into space into the Death Egg. Only SA2 comes close with the ARK. But it doesn’t feel the same.
The reason it was 18 Mb was because there were two roms on the cart, a 16Mb rom for S&K and a 2Mb rom that acted as a patch to Sonic 2. Technically, this made S3&K a 32Mb rom, and S2&K a 10 Mb rom. Again, technically, no combination of the games was in any way functionally 34Mb.
@@bobbyewing311I tried that shit with every game I had to see what would happen. Sphere stage every time lol. Though if I remember correctly the game u used seemed to dictate the color of the stage. Not sure if thats actually true or just my 8/9 year old self thinking that's what was happening
@@rorynolan2322 They did that intentionally as sort of an easter egg. Every game inserted created a new sphere world. Apparently there were millions of combinations that would randomly generate.
Forever a Nintendo kid growing up, but damn was it hard not being jealous of Sega friends sometimes. Knuckles is such a bad ass character and I remember swapping a buddy consoles for a week just so I could play as him using S&K. Great vid as always mang 🤙
My Sega friend and I would also swap SNES/Genesis for a few weeks or months sometimes. I wanted Sonic and he wanted Zelda. Bonus was he was much smarter than me at figuring out Zelda so I got my SNES back and Zelda had a 100% save file on it 😊
Same here. My sister got a sega and sonic and knuckles. I hustled up a copy of sonic 3 and I was SUPER nice to my sister so I can play it. I let her play all of my super Nintendo games. I was about 11 at the time.
I played through Sonic 3 & Knuckles a few months ago for the 30th anniversary. I forgot how absolutely awesome the game is. Peak 16 bit gaming, killer soundtrack... It's still one of the best platformers ever made.
I grew up during this time. (11) I was always amazed at how they did this. And now, to hear the backstory adds an extra feel of appreciation and nostalgia. Thanks for that. 💪🏾
Oh man that epilogue was written and delivered so well. I was 8 years old in 1994 and as time marches on I'm still transported back in time anytime I play the classics from that era. Excellent work as always Mr. GTV
One interesting and frustrating element I accidently discovered back in the day was the final Robotnik boss in Sonic 2 using Knuckles is that Knuckles seems to jump ever so slightly lower than Sonic or Tails, so when Robotnik is walking in his big mech suit, you can't hit above his claws very easily at all. I burned through so many lives to beat him and couldn't work out what was going on since I had completed it so many times before that is was basic. I think my solution was to only attack when he landed and squatted right down.
@@FViola440 Yeah I guess 'back in the day' when I was playing this as a new release, we didn't have google to check what was going on haha. I still beat Robotnik despite chewing through about 30 lives lol
Somehow, all the neighborhood kids at the bus stop would play this in the living room of the house we'd normally wait for the bus at. Each day a different kid would keep an eye out for the bus and we'd always miss it when one certain kid was "keeping watch" 😂 fun times
This takes me back to around late summer in 1994 when I wanted a Sega Genesis more than anything despite having my Super NES since Christmas 1992. All I could think about from September to December was getting my own Sega Genesis and I did for Christmas along with Sonic 2, Sonic 3 , and Sonic & Knuckles and was very grateful that day. Another game that also made me want my own Genesis so badly I got the next day with some cash I got for X-mas was Contra : Hard Corps.
Excellent video. I was a Nintendo boy (albeit with a Game Gear), and was loving Donkey Kong Country in 1994. As a 44 year old adult I've now got my Megadrive with Sonic 1 & 2. Intend to fully upgrade and have a tower of power along with Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic 3.
Wow!!! The creators of the Sega company have done excellent work with the Sonic and Knuckles lock-on technology and they thought of everything. Sonic 3 locked on with Sonic and Knuckles. Sonic 3 and Knuckles is one mega beast of a game that has everything and has 3 playable characters, save feature slots, 14 zones, 14 special stages, 3 bonus stages, 7 chaos emeralds, 7 super emeralds, elemental shields, super forms, hyper forms, fun 2 player competition mode, cutscenes, 2 of the best true endings, epic boss fights, and excellent soundtrack. Sonic 3 and Knuckles is the perfection of the formula.❤ Sonic 2 locked on with Sonic and Knuckles. Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is good with easy gameplay mode and slightly easy special stages but no save features. Sonic 1 locked on with Sonic and Knuckles. A ton of blue sphere special stages.
✨️Lock-on technology sure was a home-run slogan! The way you explained Sega's sorcery, all the crayzee ads from the 90's and your melodic narration💝 Sublime documentary, GTV is pampering us all again! As a Nintendo kid from 25 years ago to today, I'm impressed and delighted! Thank you!🎆🧧
@@GTV-Japan ✌️Ganbare, GTV-sama!⚘️ Here's a little more feedback: In a way, Sonic & Knuckles preceeded Stop'n'Swop and perfected the technique long before Nintendo did. Formidable adversaries must recognize each other's grit🤝🏻 - Looking forward to your next one!🌅
Miyamoto showed up at my house with the yakuza and beat the hell out of me for downloading a Super Mario World ROM. He didn't even care that I have the cartridge. Don't mess with the BIG N!
If you told that joke to someone who's a Japanese or lived in Japan for a while, youll be laughed at. Most Yakuza have gone abroad from Japan or laid very low thanks to some intrinsic Yakuza exclusion laws. So theyre almost extinct by this time. Just ask Sega and their former board of directors back in the 90s. Who're missing finger joints. (Source: Untold History of Japanese Game Developers)
@@DontKnowDontCare6.9how do you say they’re “laying low” then say, “they’re extinct”? Doesn’t that contradict the statement? Now I’m confused because I watched a video the other day talking about yakuza and how they’re still around
the "GTV Sonic Saga" is my favorite saga of all time now 😁 whether you will make more sonic videos or not, i will stay here, this is one of my favorite youtube channels ever 👍
I still remember picking up my Sonic and Knuckles cartridge from Toys R US and handing over the ticket they used to have and receiving that cartridge I couldn't wait to go home and see what games could work with it!! Great video and production as well!!
Still remember 8 year old me in a Toys R Us drooling over the set up display for S&K. It's one of those weird really strangely clear vivid memories. I can remember the smell of the air, the lighting, the morning hue to everything, the reason I was there (buying a friend some tonka trucks for his birthday). That was the visit I told my mom I wanted "a Sega" and I ended up getting one that year for Christmas.
When I got my model 2 Sega Genesis, it was for a Christmas, and I'm pretty sure it was 1995; and it came with Sonic & Knuckles. It was my introduction to Sega and the Sonic universe (I had already been into Super Nintendo since 1992). For years, I had no idea what games I could attach to the top of Sonic & Knuckles, until I eventually found some boxed copies of Sonic The Hedgehog and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 at a thrift store, sometime around 2000-2004. Fast forward to about 2016 or 2017, and I FINALLY bought a loose Sonic The Hedgehog 3 cartridge from somebody I was referred to by a mutual friend (I also bought his black label copy of Final Fantasy IX at the same time), so, after at least 20 years, I could finally play the entire game!
Great video for the 30th Anniversary! I’ve made a poster just for the Sonic 3 & Knuckles days ago on their 30th anniversary. Just wanting to let you know to keep making these awesome videos, every minute was worth it. (and knuckles)
Alot of people on the internet try to paint this period in time as the moment the cracks in the old Sega armor started to show. But the reality is the total opposite. People forget that after Nintendo released Star Fox, the SNES went through a nasty commercial slump throughout most of 1993 and 1994, and it didn't end until Donkey Kong Country released. It was so bad the Super Metroid flopped in sales. During that time, Sega reigned supreme during those two years. and their crown jewel of that period was Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Granted yes when the Sega Saturn came out in 1995, THEN things started to shift in Nintendo's favor at the expense of the Sega armor cracking. The only reason why people have the impression that the SNES was the more dominant of the two systems was because of how the SNES performed in Japan (where the Sega was struggling), and that brief period in the mid 90s when the DKC games where new. THAT's where most of the sales numbers of the SNES you see on the internet actually came from. On the whole though, videos like are what keeps the memory alive and helps us see through the bias that has taken over gaming journalism these days. Sonic 3 and Knuckles is peak 16-bit era gaming.
There’s also a large number of people with the mindset of “Nintendo still makes hardware and Sega doesn’t = Sega wasn’t ever good” I’m surprised at this!
I think another reason the internet paints this time as the start of the decline of Sega is because of the multiple interviews from people who were at Sega at the time, which with various axes to grind with each other. Nintendo, meanwhile was (and very much still is) a black box to everyone who isn't a part of them. That and we have very few interviews of those who worked for Nintendo but left the company after a period of time. Most of what we have is from the Iwata days, which far from Nintendo's Golden Age (could still be considered a Silver Age, if you ask me)
I was only 3 when the game came out. But I do remember playing Sonic & Knuckles & Mortal Kombat 2 as my first 2 video games a year later. I do remember getting the PC ports this game, Sonic R, & Harry Potter 1 in Xmas 2002 ❤
Even though I've never played Sonic 'n Knuckles (I think I played a hacked Sonic version game in a SNES back in the day!) and I don't know the saga at all, I can appreciate your passion and effort doing these videos. As I commented on the other video, I'm more of a DKC freak. Here in Colombia Sega was never that popular and I grew up thinking the reason so few people owned a Genesis it's because it was a lot more expensive. I remember playing MKII, SSF2 and The Lion King in Genesis around 1995 in a classmate's house. Everyone else had SNES, even on the streets, we could see tons of modified/dedicated cabinets with a SNES inside, all with sticks and buttons, resembling an arcade machine. Those were glorious times indeed. Thanks again for putting this stuff together. Great video !
You do great work. Just, every single video is a unique look at things i thought i already knew. You make me a little smarter every time i watch. Thank you, GTV.
Well in the true Lock-on (tm) spirit some of the Sonic 3 video is mixed in. If you watched them together you’d see the reused parts. But since not everyone saw that, I thought it was important to add that in. Thanks for watching
You know how to tell a whole story man, and package the excitement of the times right along with it. I was 5 years old when Sonic 3 came out. I didnt get to play sonic 1 and 2 until later in life because it was sold out in so many places. As of 5 years ago i was finally able to buy a boxed copy of Sonic and Knuckles for the first time in my life because the one i had growing up didnt have a box and looking at all of the collection now sonic 1,2,3, and knuckles in a row in my house on a desk for display reminds me how golden those times were. You did an amazing job with this video i had to hold myself back from actually tearing up. You have a new subscriber as well. Thank you for remind us what it meant to be alive in that era from so many perspectives. What an incredible experience.
Thanks for liking the video so much. It’s sad Sega ditched plastic cases at this time because otherwise you’d surely have had the SK box laying around! It must have been exciting to play Sonic as (one of) your first games! If you like Sega I’ve made a lot of videos about them so I’d say check em out. I always keep up with comments so I hope to see you around soon!
1994-1995 truly was some of the best years in gaming. The peak of 16 bit consoles and the excitement of the 3D future around the corner. So many amazing games that came out then that still hold up incredibly well today!
2024 might’ve been the year of Shadow but at least Knuckles got something for his 30th anniversary with the Paramount+ Knuckles show, as divided and mixed it might’ve been to some. 2024 could actually be the year of Shadow & Knuckles, I’ll see myself out.
Great video. I wasn’t a Sega kid, but I liked Sonic games well enough. I was firmly in the Nintendo camp ever since my parents got an NES for me and my younger brother in 1986. I still remember these heady days of video games. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
I always love hearing about retrogame analisis on how they affected the market and their prices. I knew about Groundhog Day, but nothing about the Alcatraz event until i clicked this video, good stuff 🎉
What's sad is that there were other games that were going to use lock-on technology but never came to be. It's a shame because lock-on technology was a marvel back then.
I replayed Sonic 3&K a month ago or so again as Sonic 3 A.I.R. on PC and had massive fun! It's truly a classic albeit I was always more of a Sonic 2 person, especially since that's the first Sonic I have ever played, with Sonic 2 and Sonic & Knuckles also being part of my current game collection. Sorry Sonic 3, but that stupid barrel in Carnival Night is my younger self's nightmare.
I remember getting my Donkey Kong country VHS tape in the mail with that Nintendo power....still got it. Love the cool kid brigade they put in charge of demoing it off.....thank God we were leaders not followers right.....AV club...assemble. form of loneliness lol
Spaghetti Os missed quite and opportunity! Another 90s commercial I liked was the Toyota one where the guy is doing donuts in a parking lot to force the last bit of ketchup out the bottle
I think Sonic outdid both Mario and Donkey Kong Country in the 16-bit era. Nintendo has always relied on its competitors making stupid mistakes, and that's what Sega was doing right about this time with its add-ons. Without those mistakes, Sonic might still be the king of video games today.
Total combined 4 millions sales of Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles... Versus.. Donkey Kong Country's 11 million units total sales Yeah, Sonic definitely outdid Mario and DK. LOL
Sonic absolutely outdid Donkey Kong and Mario in the U.S. 👍 DK1 sold 9.3M units worldwide. About 50% of that number is from Japan alone. Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 were the best-selling 16-bit games in the U.S. by a comfortable margin.
@@dcboys4195 Donkey Kong AND Mario? No. Oh my god no. It didn't even come close. As for _how_ not close it came - Sonic 1 and 2 sold a combined 8.03 million in the US (3.03m [not counting copies bundled with Geneses, obviously] and 5m, respectively), which rises to 11.26 million if you include Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Sonic CD (1.02, 1.24, and 1 million respectively). Super Mario World _alone_ outsold _all of them combined_ at 12.78 million. That's not even counting Super Mario All-Stars (5.99m), Super Mario Kart (3.54m), Yoshi's Island (1.65), Super Mario RPG (660k), even _Mario Paint_ sold 1.43m, outselling later Sonic games. If we bring Donkey Kong Country into it, the first sold 4.36m, the second made 2.1m, and the third 1.17m. So, just to summarize, Donkey Kong Country sold a combined 7.63 million and Super Mario sold a combined 26.05 million (arguably more, this is only counting the highest selling titles and not other spin-offs), for a grand _33.68 million_ to Sonic's ~11.26 (to be taken with a fair amount of salt, sales data on Sonic 1 and 2 seems to vary a lot and at least one site seems to be almost entirely comprised of made up or misunderstood numbers, so I've erred on the higher side). This is just in NA, too, which paints a MUCH more flattering picture for Sonic. So was Sonic the best selling Genesis game by a comfortable margin? No doubt. But overall 16-bit NA game? Not in a milion years.
Sonic 3 and Knuckles is my favorite Sega game and one of my favorite games of all time. As a musician my favorire thing about it is the incredible soundtrack. The fact that act1 and act2 of each stage have different versions of the music is amazing to me
One thing not mentioned by the video is another unique selling point of connectable cartridges: if 1 friend owned Sonic 3 and another friend owned Sonic & Knuckles, they could get together and play the combined game.
Nintendo Crushed Sega in the Console Race in Japan all thoughout. But only managed to Crush Sega in America from Late-1994 and beyond The SNES was Also more popular than the Saturn World Wide and even was more Popular than the Playstation.....that is until Final Fantasy 7 entered the scene and drove up the Popularity of the Sony Fun Machine.
30:40 Genesis sold more software in the U.S. from the start of October 1995 to the end of November 1995 in the United States. Also sold at par with the Snes in terms of hardware during that timeframe. Snes did sell 2.7M vs. 2.1M Genesis over the course of the entire year 1995. Genesis was short supplied by 300K consoles during the holiday shopping season 1995. 1995 was still extremely competitive in the U.S. despite Nintendo being "all-in" with the Snes compared to Sega, which had SOJ and all the Japanese 3rd parties move on to the Saturn at the end of 1994. Starting in 1996 is when the gap between the two widended in the U.S. Sega barely supported Genesis in 1996. Pretty much waited until the end of the year to drop Sonic 3D Blast, Vectorman 2, and the downport of VF2.
Sega reached 20% in Japan with the Mega Drive. Low but not so bad. It sold as well as the Wii U did. Funny enough the exact same number is cited for both 3.58 million in Japan. So if you think back to that, it’s almost the same feeling.
@dcboys4195 and hey what about Nomads?! I’m sure that closed the gap! Yes it is true the snes only outsold the genesis when Sega killed it! I remember the news and a lot of people were upset by that. But hey the Saturn was now only $199 with 3 games, what a deal right?
I still have all my old gaming consoles, the sets cd and 32x and sonic and knuckles. Put em all on at the same time and the Sega Genesis looks like a behemoth! I loved the music and game magazines and everything about gaming in the 90s and early 2000s. Best time for gaming.
@GTV-Japan There is alot of stuff in sonic 3&knuckles they still haven't been discovered yet I found a game genie code to unlock blue knuckles in sonic 3 complete
Sonic 3 and Knuckles was my favorite video game growing up as a kid. I just played it all the time because it was designed so well. I played Sonic 3 solo, then S&K solo, so when combining them it felt like the best Sonic game ever made It was so good that even when Sonic Mania was released, I was disappointed it didn’t have as many levels or things to do as Sonic3&K had, forgetting that they basically combined two separate games to get that much content back in the day.
One of the greats! And yet another great documentary from you. Wonderful work. Sonic 3 & Knuckles is easily one of my top 5 Sega Mega Drive/Genesis games, and strong contender for best game in the series even still. This game still looks amazing, it's one of my favorite platformers of all time. A masterpiece!
I’m actually surprised at the response. I loved the game but I thought most people considered it played out and overdone by this point. I guess that’s revisionist history often written by bitter Nintendoids 🤣 I still can’t figure out how some of the graphics in those stages are possible. Thanks for watching!💎💎
Every time I play this game it’s always combined with sonic and knuckles which is why I love playing sonic 3 with sonic and knuckles combined and not only that I also prefer playing this game together over playing it separately.
GTV, the only channel that almost makes me wish I had been a Genesis kid instead of a Nintendork haha. Normally I have like no interest in the Sonic series, but man, you really bring the history of it to life.
Hey that’s cool! I take no real Sides and just try to tell interesting stories. However since a lot of channels and vids are Nintendo focused maybe there’s more undiscovered on the Sega side. I’ll be making a video about some Saturn games next month!
Two of the greatest games ever for sure. While digital storefront versions of the games combined lack some music tracks or have sprite changes, you could take both Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles roms and combine them via copy /b and get the complete game as meant to be. Subscribed.
honestly Sonic 3 got things so right back in 1994, that by making basically the same game again in 2017 with Sonic Mania, they made one of the best Sonic games in years by that.
I was 9 turning 10 when all this happened. I was an SNES kid but I remember thinking how neat the concept of plugging two cartridges together into the console was and any chance I got at a friend's house who had one or both games, we'd marathon it. I have a LOT of love for the 16 bit era. It truly was a special, unique and memorable time. The marketing both sides had and the even blow for blow fighting between the two with great game after great game across the board just left me personally feeling like I had infinite options laid out before me for fun gaming experiences. We all know the story from there and it's sad to see how fractured most of the industry is now. Nintendo is still the solid rock and the constant when it comes to still having that feeling of earlier generations where the colors, excitement and passion bleed so obviously out of our screens. But I got to live in the greatest gaming era, right at one of those perfect ages where it mattered. Those summertime sleepovers with late nights sneaking up to play all nighters and the random hangouts at a friends house that looked just like one of those Pizza Pocket commercials, or going to Blockbuster to rent something for the weekend, it really was the PERFECT time to be a kid and a gamer.
I feel similar about that bit at the end. Will never forget the first time I saw Donkey Kong Country for the first time. Just blown away. Not to mention allll the other awesome stuff happening throughout the 90's. Still get a bit of that excitement when playing them again, it's why I like it still
Now is the greatest time to be a gamer, you can emulate all the games from the “glory years” on basically any device. I’ve been gaming since the mid 80s and can recognize that.
correct! every conceivable type of media, not just games, all on one device in your pocket! But if we are only talking about new games you can buy now, the 90s has the 20s beat!
Man, I loved this game as a kid. I had save files with every character in Sonic 3 and Knuckles to get the super emeralds and see everyone's super/hyper form. I remember my friends being angry at me because, for a couple of weeks, I simply refused to spend time with any of them because I was indoors playing Sonic 3 and Knuckles every minute I could. Looking back, it was a completely unique time in gaming. I don't think these exact circumstances can ever be duplicated by a company releasing a DLC expansion or a major update; this was unprecedented for a lot of kids my age.
Sonic & Knuckles was (probably, I have no way of confirming this) the first video game I ever rented. My brother and I got a Genesis for Christmas 1994, and since we both enjoyed the included Sonic 2, the hot new Sonic game was the obvious thing to try next. It quickly became a favorite of mine, though I didn't actually *own* a copy until a couple of years later.
My uncle had Sonic and Kuckles and at the time it blew my mind. I had a Sega and a Sega CD add-on, but never got S&K at home, but I played it for hours when I would visit their place.
And the shocking plot twist is this was the uncle who worked for Nintendo!! Haha just kidding! That sounds cool! I never had an uncle who liked games. Pretty cool! 💎💎💎
Excellent video. Your work is always superb. And man, what a surprise Sonic & Knuckles was. Like many other things Sega did in the 90s, the possibilities with Lock-On technology were incredible. Yet, Sega never did anything else with the idea. You are 100% on the money: it was great to be a part of that specific era of gaming. It was never the same, before or after. As I grow older, I find it increasingly difficult to connect with modern gaming. I am, however, going back more and more to the games of the 80s and 90s. The few exceptions are some retro-inspired games like Sonic Mania, The Messenger (what a game!), Blazing Chrome or TMNT Shredder's Revenge, which manage to capture the true feel of classic gaming. Anyway, thank you very much for the video. It was great.
Hey! Glad you liked it and are still here after so much time! I feel the same with modern games. Still fun. But lacking a lot of thrills it used to have. The ride itself was just as fun as the games and that’s missing. Sony and the ¥80,000 ps5 slim was the final straw for me!
@@GTV-JapanModern games are, also, way too long. Not every game needs to be 40+ hours long. I have two jobs, so free time is a luxury. A game that has 5 minutes cutscenes every 15 minutes of gameplay represents a big waste of time for me. That is why I keep coming back to the classics. If I have half an hour of free time, I can finish a full game of Super Street Fighter II or play half of Final Fight CD or Streets of Rage II. And then there is the subject of digital sales. With modern games, you don't really own the game. They can take it away from you whenever they want. Lately, not even buying a physical copy of a game guarantees that you will be able to keep playing it in three years time.
That Franco American commercial was a core memory unlock. Holy shit. 😮 I remember how excited I was as a kid when I finally got S&K and first locked those two cartridges together… man
Happy 30 years to S&K!!! I got this for Christmas at the time. I always wanted Sonic 3 but never got it. One of my friends had Sonic 3 so we would take turns playing each half of game when put together. I also got Sonic Mega Collection in 2003 on Gamecube which my TV could support 60hz mode (UK was PAL region). In 2015, I bought a Mega Drive and all the Sonic games for it which meant that I finally owned both halves of Sonic 3.
Love the vídeo! And the effort to pronounce the Brazilian Portuguese word "Ação" from the Games Magazine Ação Games, It's a tough one rsrsrs (and by the way, as a Brazilian who grow-up in the 90's, i still got my collection of those magazines!)
i remember playing this with my dad, his mind was blown by how you could put another cartridge on top and play things differently
he died a few months after we got sonic and knuckles, it was very unexpected and i was only 7, but some of my favorite memories are playing sonic with my dad
I’m so sorry to hear that! I’m going to pin this so everyone sees it and knows what an awesome guy he was!
Damn cherish and remember those moments I do the same with my son and he loves these old games
Facts me too
Surprising that the Sonic music actually encouraged people I came across to become great sprinters or long distance runners. One guy was nicknamed sonic because he had a sonic tattoo and enjoyed the music.
When I was 7 I got a Sega Genesis from my mom and it got placed in our family bayhouse. While my dad worked on the house I would play Sonic 3, and when he would take breaks he would watch me play and ask questions about the game. He hated video games but he would put that hated aside for me since he knew I was a bit of a nerdy kid and wasn't gonna be like my brother the trouble maker lol. It's been almost 30 years but those memories of him watching me are cherished, it's those little things with a son and his dad you never forget
I'm so glad I grew up in the 90s. Truly a magical time to be a kid, watching all the gaming tech evolve right before your eyes and all the excitement of trying something NEW and revolutionary every time a new console was released. That feeling of wonder and curiosity from reading gaming magazines and looking at the screenshots is something that has been lost but, it's something I'll never forget.
As an adult, I've gained a much, much deeper appreciation for all the old games and consoles, good and "bad"; I've been a collector for years now and I wish I could go back in time and buy all these games and hardware again and take so much better care of them. Sadly, collecting and preserving the classics has become an expensive hobby now that nostalgia is big business and these games and consoles are treated as nothing more than commodities to sell back and forth to artificially inflate their "value" and make money from.
That said, I'll never stop collecting and preserving games. I love having an "interactive library" I can share with my friends and family. I never get tired of browsing my shelves with friends and finding games and oddities I didn't even know I had.
GTV helps keep this feeling and motivation alive in me. I'm a diehard fan for life! Also, still waiting on that Kunio-kun retrospective! 😉😄
Thanks for the support as always! Kunio kun? Hmm ok I’ll make it so next year!
I miss everything pre super gay
I've already watched hundreds of videos about Sonic 3 and Knuckles, that sure isn't gonna stop me from watching this one.
Great! 💎
Well as someone who also watches a lot of videos on this game and the others in the series that makes watching this one kinda infuriating it with the way some details are glossed over or over emphasized, those Origins cutscenes didn’t need to be here and feel out of place.
You’re not alone my friend 😊
LOL 1994 was a great year for gaming. I worked at Video Game Exchange and had my son. He's 30 now and loves gaming!
I used to go to the Parkway Center Mall VGE and sometimes Northway Mall one too. Then the evil Funcoland moved in by the end of the 90s. Thanks for watching as always my man 💎
Despite the deaths of Kurt Cobain and John Candy, I'd say 1994 was an outstanding year overall.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you still play games?
Or is it not possible at your age
Ummmm take a wild guess! What’s different between 1994 and now? Well. It is a logical fact of life that’s there is less time each year.
1993 / 94 was the best time in gaming. Arcades were still alive and kicking. And the Saturn was just around the corner. Lots of timeless classics too!
Arcades were alive and kicking up untill 1999 in my region 😅
The Sonic & Knuckles lock-on technology was very unique for its time.
Cough cough Game Genie were it was based from cough cough
@@DontKnowDontCare6.9 As mentioned in the video, yes.
Still, I think everyone who somehow experienced it remembers that functionality primarily because of Sonic 3&K.
The next game that I would consider had something similar was Metal Gear Solid 1 when playing VR/Special Missions.
very OR unique. It cant be both... (it was unique) a great idea.
That's the cool thing with cartridges it had over disc media. It didn't just contain data, it contained more hardware and you could boost capabilities with it.
Happy 30th anniversary sonic and knuckles 1994.
Sonic 3 and knuckles is my favourite entry in the series .
@@jayt2917 Mine too. Although Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 and Sonic Mania are close contenders for me.
It's the best by far.
Sonic 3 and Knuckles
Sonic 2
Sonic
Sonic Mania
Sonic CD
All the rest
@@jarlwhiterun7478 agreed 👍! But i also have a lot of nostalgia for Sonic 2 on genesis. Because it was my first sonic game ive played. Also fighting the final boss with zero ring was very stressful and at the same time epic .
I have played most Sonic games. This one is still my favorite Sonic of all time. No Sonic game has ever beaten that feeling of going through so many different places and environments (island, desert, water, nighttime, lava, sky) and the great moment of going into space into the Death Egg. Only SA2 comes close with the ARK. But it doesn’t feel the same.
@@jarlwhiterun7478sonic cd had a special place in my heart, but yeah, this is the list.
The reason it was 18 Mb was because there were two roms on the cart, a 16Mb rom for S&K and a 2Mb rom that acted as a patch to Sonic 2. Technically, this made S3&K a 32Mb rom, and S2&K a 10 Mb rom. Again, technically, no combination of the games was in any way functionally 34Mb.
I remember tryinng to put games like Altered Beast into the S&K cartridge only to be met with the sphere gathering game from Sonic 3.
@@bobbyewing311I tried that shit with every game I had to see what would happen. Sphere stage every time lol. Though if I remember correctly the game u used seemed to dictate the color of the stage. Not sure if thats actually true or just my 8/9 year old self thinking that's what was happening
@ hahahaha I thought the same thing!!!
@@rorynolan2322 They did that intentionally as sort of an easter egg. Every game inserted created a new sphere world. Apparently there were millions of combinations that would randomly generate.
Or…consider this…magic.
This was a magical time in gaming for me. I was 14 during the release and remember it fondly.
I was 15 living in Belgium . Legendary times
Forever a Nintendo kid growing up, but damn was it hard not being jealous of Sega friends sometimes. Knuckles is such a bad ass character and I remember swapping a buddy consoles for a week just so I could play as him using S&K.
Great vid as always mang 🤙
I think a lot of people did that!💎🍌
My Sega friend and I would also swap SNES/Genesis for a few weeks or months sometimes. I wanted Sonic and he wanted Zelda.
Bonus was he was much smarter than me at figuring out Zelda so I got my SNES back and Zelda had a 100% save file on it 😊
Same here. My sister got a sega and sonic and knuckles. I hustled up a copy of sonic 3 and I was SUPER nice to my sister so I can play it. I let her play all of my super Nintendo games. I was about 11 at the time.
Sonic 3 & Knuckles (together, not seperate) is the greatest Sega Genesis game...I'll die on that hill.
FACTS
Facts
It is. It is one of the greatest games of all time.
I played through Sonic 3 & Knuckles a few months ago for the 30th anniversary. I forgot how absolutely awesome the game is. Peak 16 bit gaming, killer soundtrack... It's still one of the best platformers ever made.
I honestly think that the lack of number and being “part 2” creates confusion and hurts its image especially in the modern day 💎
I grew up during this time. (11) I was always amazed at how they did this. And now, to hear the backstory adds an extra feel of appreciation and nostalgia. Thanks for that. 💪🏾
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching and enjoying the ride!💎💎💎
Wow. That epilogue made me teary-eyed! Wasn't expecting that! Haha. Another wonderful video. Thanks for all your hard work!
Thanks for staying to the end! 💎
I got too busy watching the bonus stage and getting anxiety over trying to find the last blue orbs to listen to the epilogue. 😂
Oh man that epilogue was written and delivered so well. I was 8 years old in 1994 and as time marches on I'm still transported back in time anytime I play the classics from that era. Excellent work as always Mr. GTV
Thanks for watching! 💎 it’s funny how we can look back at the past and it still feels like the future
I was 7, the 90s were truly the best of times
I totally forgot about that Christmas ad towards the end, love that ad
It was very clever, and it barely features any anachronistic elements, so it could easily air today.
Its been 30 years. I remeber Sonic and Knuckles coming out, it was crazy seeing how you could lock on previous Sonic games and play them
One interesting and frustrating element I accidently discovered back in the day was the final Robotnik boss in Sonic 2 using Knuckles is that Knuckles seems to jump ever so slightly lower than Sonic or Tails, so when Robotnik is walking in his big mech suit, you can't hit above his claws very easily at all. I burned through so many lives to beat him and couldn't work out what was going on since I had completed it so many times before that is was basic. I think my solution was to only attack when he landed and squatted right down.
Yep.
And still to this day, Knuckles typically jumps lower than Sonic. One of the reasons why Knuckles is typically considered "Hard Mode"
@@FViola440 Yeah I guess 'back in the day' when I was playing this as a new release, we didn't have google to check what was going on haha. I still beat Robotnik despite chewing through about 30 lives lol
God, I hate video games. Yet also, God I love video games.
@@KanoWhite53 do the impossible
That was how I won in S2. I didn't dare attack him when he was walking towards me
Great job on the soundtrack for this one. The transitions between what sound like original tracks and subtle remixes is so smooth!
This channel should be 10x its size. Consistently punching higher.
Being able to play a new character in all sonic games was absolutely mind blowing as a kid. It felt like I was playing something I shouldn’t 😂
Somehow, all the neighborhood kids at the bus stop would play this in the living room of the house we'd normally wait for the bus at. Each day a different kid would keep an eye out for the bus and we'd always miss it when one certain kid was "keeping watch" 😂 fun times
Haha! Sounds like you had fun! And I’m sure you all turned out great despite missing the bus sometimes 💎💎
This takes me back to around late summer in 1994 when I wanted a Sega Genesis more than anything despite having my Super NES since Christmas 1992. All I could think about from September to December was getting my own Sega Genesis and I did for Christmas along with Sonic 2, Sonic 3 , and Sonic & Knuckles and was very grateful that day. Another game that also made me want my own Genesis so badly I got the next day with some cash I got for X-mas was Contra : Hard Corps.
Awesome story! I’m happy it all worked out well 💎💎💎
I didn't know there was so much hype for this, I've played sonic 3 and knuckles and I thought it was kind of long for an old school sonic game
Excellent video. I was a Nintendo boy (albeit with a Game Gear), and was loving Donkey Kong Country in 1994. As a 44 year old adult I've now got my Megadrive with Sonic 1 & 2. Intend to fully upgrade and have a tower of power along with Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic 3.
Wow!!! The creators of the Sega company have done excellent work with the Sonic and Knuckles lock-on technology and they thought of everything.
Sonic 3 locked on with Sonic and Knuckles. Sonic 3 and Knuckles is one mega beast of a game that has everything and has 3 playable characters, save feature slots, 14 zones, 14 special stages, 3 bonus stages, 7 chaos emeralds, 7 super emeralds, elemental shields, super forms, hyper forms, fun 2 player competition mode, cutscenes, 2 of the best true endings, epic boss fights, and excellent soundtrack. Sonic 3 and Knuckles is the perfection of the formula.❤
Sonic 2 locked on with Sonic and Knuckles. Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is good with easy gameplay mode and slightly easy special stages but no save features.
Sonic 1 locked on with Sonic and Knuckles. A ton of blue sphere special stages.
✨️Lock-on technology sure was a home-run slogan! The way you explained Sega's sorcery, all the crayzee ads from the 90's and your melodic narration💝 Sublime documentary, GTV is pampering us all again! As a Nintendo kid from 25 years ago to today, I'm impressed and delighted! Thank you!🎆🧧
Hang on because the other side of the story will be coming next. And soon!
@@GTV-Japan ✌️Ganbare, GTV-sama!⚘️ Here's a little more feedback: In a way, Sonic & Knuckles preceeded Stop'n'Swop and perfected the technique long before Nintendo did. Formidable adversaries must recognize each other's grit🤝🏻 - Looking forward to your next one!🌅
Miyamoto showed up at my house with the yakuza and beat the hell out of me for downloading a Super Mario World ROM. He didn't even care that I have the cartridge. Don't mess with the BIG N!
If you told that joke to someone who's a Japanese or lived in Japan for a while, youll be laughed at.
Most Yakuza have gone abroad from Japan or laid very low thanks to some intrinsic Yakuza exclusion laws. So theyre almost extinct by this time. Just ask Sega and their former board of directors back in the 90s. Who're missing finger joints.
(Source: Untold History of Japanese Game Developers)
@@DontKnowDontCare6.9how do you say they’re “laying low” then say, “they’re extinct”? Doesn’t that contradict the statement? Now I’m confused because I watched a video the other day talking about yakuza and how they’re still around
@@yukithesnowman314 Damn dude. Just trying to make ppl laugh. Quit being a hater.
@@Sarcophagus74 fuck I meant that for don't know don't care, sorry!
@DontKnowDontCare6.9 that's a lotta words to just say "Well ackchyually!"
I've been waiting for this video for a long time. Not since I was a kid have I been so excited to see a new UA-cam video
Aw. I’m touched. Thank you! 💎
This combination is by far my most favorite 16-bit game.
man i remember getting Sonic and Knuckles for christmas. the first DLC for a game. still have it and Sonic 3 is just in there.
the "GTV Sonic Saga" is my favorite saga of all time now 😁
whether you will make more sonic videos or not, i will stay here, this is one of my favorite youtube channels ever 👍
There are a ALOT of Sonic games to make videos out of. And Sonic Team games too.
I still remember picking up my Sonic and Knuckles cartridge from Toys R US and handing over the ticket they used to have and receiving that cartridge I couldn't wait to go home and see what games could work with it!! Great video and production as well!!
I remember those times! We didn’t have Toys R Us nearby but the store had a similar setup
Wow that ending was extremely well written. I am right there with you.
Thanks so much for the kind words! I knew I wasn’t alone 💎💎
Still remember 8 year old me in a Toys R Us drooling over the set up display for S&K. It's one of those weird really strangely clear vivid memories. I can remember the smell of the air, the lighting, the morning hue to everything, the reason I was there (buying a friend some tonka trucks for his birthday). That was the visit I told my mom I wanted "a Sega" and I ended up getting one that year for Christmas.
When I got my model 2 Sega Genesis, it was for a Christmas, and I'm pretty sure it was 1995; and it came with Sonic & Knuckles. It was my introduction to Sega and the Sonic universe (I had already been into Super Nintendo since 1992). For years, I had no idea what games I could attach to the top of Sonic & Knuckles, until I eventually found some boxed copies of Sonic The Hedgehog and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 at a thrift store, sometime around 2000-2004.
Fast forward to about 2016 or 2017, and I FINALLY bought a loose Sonic The Hedgehog 3 cartridge from somebody I was referred to by a mutual friend (I also bought his black label copy of Final Fantasy IX at the same time), so, after at least 20 years, I could finally play the entire game!
Sounds like it worth the journey! 💎💎💎💎💎
Great video for the 30th Anniversary! I’ve made a poster just for the Sonic 3 & Knuckles days ago on their 30th anniversary. Just wanting to let you know to keep making these awesome videos, every minute was worth it. (and knuckles)
Great! Enjoy the celebration 🎉💎
Alot of people on the internet try to paint this period in time as the moment the cracks in the old Sega armor started to show.
But the reality is the total opposite. People forget that after Nintendo released Star Fox, the SNES went through a nasty commercial slump throughout most of 1993 and 1994, and it didn't end until Donkey Kong Country released. It was so bad the Super Metroid flopped in sales.
During that time, Sega reigned supreme during those two years. and their crown jewel of that period was Sonic 3 and Knuckles.
Granted yes when the Sega Saturn came out in 1995, THEN things started to shift in Nintendo's favor at the expense of the Sega armor cracking.
The only reason why people have the impression that the SNES was the more dominant of the two systems was because of how the SNES performed in Japan (where the Sega was struggling), and that brief period in the mid 90s when the DKC games where new.
THAT's where most of the sales numbers of the SNES you see on the internet actually came from.
On the whole though, videos like are what keeps the memory alive and helps us see through the bias that has taken over gaming journalism these days. Sonic 3 and Knuckles is peak 16-bit era gaming.
There’s also a large number of people with the mindset of “Nintendo still makes hardware and Sega doesn’t = Sega wasn’t ever good” I’m surprised at this!
Sega will always be number 1 in my eye.
I think another reason the internet paints this time as the start of the decline of Sega is because of the multiple interviews from people who were at Sega at the time, which with various axes to grind with each other. Nintendo, meanwhile was (and very much still is) a black box to everyone who isn't a part of them. That and we have very few interviews of those who worked for Nintendo but left the company after a period of time. Most of what we have is from the Iwata days, which far from Nintendo's Golden Age (could still be considered a Silver Age, if you ask me)
Fantastic stuff as always, seeing all the vintage ads makes such a difference!
Wasn’t it great when TV was so simple? You turned it on and it just played. Whatever was on you watched and liked it. So much better than UA-cam!
I was only 3 when the game came out. But I do remember playing Sonic & Knuckles & Mortal Kombat 2 as my first 2 video games a year later. I do remember getting the PC ports this game, Sonic R, & Harry Potter 1 in Xmas 2002 ❤
That’s awesome 💎💎
Beautiful video!!!! that´s was such a travel back in time, such nostalgia!
I can confirm this hype for sonic 3 and knuckles. Am a 45 year old gamer and 1994 was an epic year for thé 16bit mega drive/genesis
Right on brother!
Even though I've never played Sonic 'n Knuckles (I think I played a hacked Sonic version game in a SNES back in the day!) and I don't know the saga at all, I can appreciate your passion and effort doing these videos. As I commented on the other video, I'm more of a DKC freak. Here in Colombia Sega was never that popular and I grew up thinking the reason so few people owned a Genesis it's because it was a lot more expensive. I remember playing MKII, SSF2 and The Lion King in Genesis around 1995 in a classmate's house. Everyone else had SNES, even on the streets, we could see tons of modified/dedicated cabinets with a SNES inside, all with sticks and buttons, resembling an arcade machine. Those were glorious times indeed. Thanks again for putting this stuff together. Great video !
Yeah I can see not caring much about Sega from that. Nintendo just had better distribution in South America. Thanks for the support as always!
I remember getting this day of release and I didn't put it down for months.
S&N3K is the best platformer ever made in my opinion.
Good opinion 💎💎💎💎
You do great work.
Just, every single video is a unique look at things i thought i already knew.
You make me a little smarter every time i watch.
Thank you, GTV.
Thank you for the kind words! I hope to see you in the next video. Comments like yours will keep me going and make sure I don’t drop the ball. 💎💎💎
Yep, still the best game in the series when you lock-on to Sonic 3. Happy 30th anniversary.
Sonic 3&K is the best platformer of that era. So many memories and hours of fun
I could have sworn that you made this video already before, but I guess not. Lucky me that I get to watch it then!
GTV uploaded his documentary explaining the release of Sonic 3 on Goundhog Day of 1994. He may have touched on the lock-on technology on that video.
Well in the true Lock-on (tm) spirit some of the Sonic 3 video is mixed in. If you watched them together you’d see the reused parts. But since not everyone saw that, I thought it was important to add that in. Thanks for watching
As many times as this story was told it never gets old!! I'm shocked this was the only series that used this technology...missed opportunity
I know! Imagine MK with that!
Even back in the 90s, Sega was rushing unfinished Sonic games out the door to meet a deadline.
You know how to tell a whole story man, and package the excitement of the times right along with it. I was 5 years old when Sonic 3 came out. I didnt get to play sonic 1 and 2 until later in life because it was sold out in so many places. As of 5 years ago i was finally able to buy a boxed copy of Sonic and Knuckles for the first time in my life because the one i had growing up didnt have a box and looking at all of the collection now sonic 1,2,3, and knuckles in a row in my house on a desk for display reminds me how golden those times were. You did an amazing job with this video i had to hold myself back from actually tearing up. You have a new subscriber as well. Thank you for remind us what it meant to be alive in that era from so many perspectives. What an incredible experience.
Thanks for liking the video so much. It’s sad Sega ditched plastic cases at this time because otherwise you’d surely have had the SK box laying around! It must have been exciting to play Sonic as (one of) your first games! If you like Sega I’ve made a lot of videos about them so I’d say check em out. I always keep up with comments so I hope to see you around soon!
A new GTV Video ! Yesssss !!!
Thanks for being here day one! Sorry for the wait!💎
1994-1995 truly was some of the best years in gaming. The peak of 16 bit consoles and the excitement of the 3D future around the corner.
So many amazing games that came out then that still hold up incredibly well today!
2024 might’ve been the year of Shadow but at least Knuckles got something for his 30th anniversary with the Paramount+ Knuckles show, as divided and mixed it might’ve been to some. 2024 could actually be the year of Shadow & Knuckles, I’ll see myself out.
hahahah paramount+ hahaha
I hate how underrated this channel is. You should have well over a million subscribers.
It’s ok. We’ll get there someday!
Even if it was just a way to market a game being separated in two halves I find it still interesting how they came up with the idea.
Easy: Video game development crunch and Sega's tolerance of Galoob's Game Genie. Put them together and you get Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
I honestly expected more cartridges like this. I was surprised back then that it didn’t happen.
Great video. I wasn’t a Sega kid, but I liked Sonic games well enough. I was firmly in the Nintendo camp ever since my parents got an NES for me and my younger brother in 1986. I still remember these heady days of video games. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
I’m glad ya liked it! 💎💎💎
Sega - brings DLC to the world with sonic & knuckles!
"Test Drive II: The Duel" has entered the chat
@ hahahaha
I always love hearing about retrogame analisis on how they affected the market and their prices.
I knew about Groundhog Day, but nothing about the Alcatraz event until i clicked this video, good stuff 🎉
I was a happy kid Christmas 1994 : )
Brought me back in time, so glad to grow up with these games. Very informative, well done!
Cheers! I just recorded the follow up about donkey Kong country!
What's sad is that there were other games that were going to use lock-on technology but never came to be. It's a shame because lock-on technology was a marvel back then.
All thanks to the 32x and failure of the sega cd. Sega lost a lot of money during this period.
I know! Fighting games had a lot of potential with this
Thanks for this dose of nostalgy i needed so much
I was there, when i played Sonic 2 with Knukles...no words man
You got it!💎💎💎💎
I replayed Sonic 3&K a month ago or so again as Sonic 3 A.I.R. on PC and had massive fun! It's truly a classic albeit I was always more of a Sonic 2 person, especially since that's the first Sonic I have ever played, with Sonic 2 and Sonic & Knuckles also being part of my current game collection. Sorry Sonic 3, but that stupid barrel in Carnival Night is my younger self's nightmare.
Me too! But I’ve come to appreciate S3K!
It was super fun locking on random other games to see what they did. Everynow and then it’d work for a crazy playable glitchfest
I remember getting my Donkey Kong country VHS tape in the mail with that Nintendo power....still got it. Love the cool kid brigade they put in charge of demoing it off.....thank God we were leaders not followers right.....AV club...assemble. form of loneliness lol
You have no idea how happy I am to see that trippy Sonic pasta ad. The 90s were an amazing fever dream.
Spaghetti Os missed quite and opportunity! Another 90s commercial I liked was the Toyota one where the guy is doing donuts in a parking lot to force the last bit of ketchup out the bottle
I think Sonic outdid both Mario and Donkey Kong Country in the 16-bit era. Nintendo has always relied on its competitors making stupid mistakes, and that's what Sega was doing right about this time with its add-ons. Without those mistakes, Sonic might still be the king of video games today.
Total combined 4 millions sales of Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles...
Versus..
Donkey Kong Country's 11 million units total sales
Yeah, Sonic definitely outdid Mario and DK. LOL
Sonic absolutely outdid Donkey Kong and Mario in the U.S. 👍
DK1 sold 9.3M units worldwide. About 50% of that number is from Japan alone.
Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 were the best-selling 16-bit games in the U.S. by a comfortable margin.
@@dcboys4195 Donkey Kong AND Mario? No. Oh my god no. It didn't even come close.
As for _how_ not close it came - Sonic 1 and 2 sold a combined 8.03 million in the US (3.03m [not counting copies bundled with Geneses, obviously] and 5m, respectively), which rises to 11.26 million if you include Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Sonic CD (1.02, 1.24, and 1 million respectively). Super Mario World _alone_ outsold _all of them combined_ at 12.78 million. That's not even counting Super Mario All-Stars (5.99m), Super Mario Kart (3.54m), Yoshi's Island (1.65), Super Mario RPG (660k), even _Mario Paint_ sold 1.43m, outselling later Sonic games. If we bring Donkey Kong Country into it, the first sold 4.36m, the second made 2.1m, and the third 1.17m.
So, just to summarize, Donkey Kong Country sold a combined 7.63 million and Super Mario sold a combined 26.05 million (arguably more, this is only counting the highest selling titles and not other spin-offs), for a grand _33.68 million_ to Sonic's ~11.26 (to be taken with a fair amount of salt, sales data on Sonic 1 and 2 seems to vary a lot and at least one site seems to be almost entirely comprised of made up or misunderstood numbers, so I've erred on the higher side). This is just in NA, too, which paints a MUCH more flattering picture for Sonic.
So was Sonic the best selling Genesis game by a comfortable margin? No doubt. But overall 16-bit NA game? Not in a milion years.
Until donkey Kong country, mario all stars and super mario world (USA) trump those records
Just.Kidding
You need to have friends.
Sonic 3 and Knuckles is my favorite Sega game and one of my favorite games of all time. As a musician my favorire thing about it is the incredible soundtrack. The fact that act1 and act2 of each stage have different versions of the music is amazing to me
Hell yeah! First in and super happy for a new Gtv vid!
One thing not mentioned by the video is another unique selling point of connectable cartridges: if 1 friend owned Sonic 3 and another friend owned Sonic & Knuckles, they could get together and play the combined game.
Well I assumed people would mix and match.
Nintendo Crushed Sega in the Console Race in Japan all thoughout. But only managed to Crush Sega in America from Late-1994 and beyond
The SNES was Also more popular than the Saturn World Wide and even was more Popular than the Playstation.....that is until Final Fantasy 7 entered the scene and drove up the Popularity of the Sony Fun Machine.
Even the PC Engine was beating the Megadrive back then. Not a good look for a company that's trying to outsell Nintendo in the 90s.
30:40
Genesis sold more software in the U.S. from the start of October 1995 to the end of November 1995 in the United States. Also sold at par with the Snes in terms of hardware during that timeframe.
Snes did sell 2.7M vs. 2.1M Genesis over the course of the entire year 1995. Genesis was short supplied by 300K consoles during the holiday shopping season 1995.
1995 was still extremely competitive in the U.S. despite Nintendo being "all-in" with the Snes compared to Sega, which had SOJ and all the Japanese 3rd parties move on to the Saturn at the end of 1994.
Starting in 1996 is when the gap between the two widended in the U.S. Sega barely supported Genesis in 1996.
Pretty much waited until the end of the year to drop Sonic 3D Blast, Vectorman 2, and the downport of VF2.
Sega reached 20% in Japan with the Mega Drive. Low but not so bad. It sold as well as the Wii U did. Funny enough the exact same number is cited for both 3.58 million in Japan. So if you think back to that, it’s almost the same feeling.
@dcboys4195 and hey what about Nomads?! I’m sure that closed the gap! Yes it is true the snes only outsold the genesis when Sega killed it! I remember the news and a lot of people were upset by that. But hey the Saturn was now only $199 with 3 games, what a deal right?
@@GTV-Japan Excellent point. Never forget the Nomad. The Switch of its day.
I still have all my old gaming consoles, the sets cd and 32x and sonic and knuckles. Put em all on at the same time and the Sega Genesis looks like a behemoth! I loved the music and game magazines and everything about gaming in the 90s and early 2000s. Best time for gaming.
Do you have the Sega Power Strip for ultimate ultimateness!!?
Kids think modern sonic games are good they are mostly trash they have no idea how great sonic 3&knuckles game is
I know! Someone let a few into the comments here! 😖
@GTV-Japan There is alot of stuff in sonic 3&knuckles they still haven't been discovered yet I found a game genie code to unlock blue knuckles in sonic 3 complete
Sonic 3 and Knuckles was my favorite video game growing up as a kid. I just played it all the time because it was designed so well. I played Sonic 3 solo, then S&K solo, so when combining them it felt like the best Sonic game ever made
It was so good that even when Sonic Mania was released, I was disappointed it didn’t have as many levels or things to do as Sonic3&K had, forgetting that they basically combined two separate games to get that much content back in the day.
One of the greats! And yet another great documentary from you. Wonderful work. Sonic 3 & Knuckles is easily one of my top 5 Sega Mega Drive/Genesis games, and strong contender for best game in the series even still. This game still looks amazing, it's one of my favorite platformers of all time. A masterpiece!
I’m actually surprised at the response. I loved the game but I thought most people considered it played out and overdone by this point. I guess that’s revisionist history often written by bitter Nintendoids 🤣 I still can’t figure out how some of the graphics in those stages are possible. Thanks for watching!💎💎
Every time I play this game it’s always combined with sonic and knuckles which is why I love playing sonic 3 with sonic and knuckles combined and not only that I also prefer playing this game together over playing it separately.
GTV, the only channel that almost makes me wish I had been a Genesis kid instead of a Nintendork haha. Normally I have like no interest in the Sonic series, but man, you really bring the history of it to life.
Hey that’s cool! I take no real
Sides and just try to tell interesting stories. However since a lot of channels and vids are Nintendo focused maybe there’s more undiscovered on the Sega side. I’ll be making a video about some Saturn games next month!
So glad I got to be here for this. Best era indeed
This was fantastic, great work!
Cheers!💎💎💎💎
Two of the greatest games ever for sure. While digital storefront versions of the games combined lack some music tracks or have sprite changes, you could take both Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles roms and combine them via copy /b and get the complete game as meant to be. Subscribed.
Awesome! Thanks for coming onboard 💎💎💎
honestly Sonic 3 got things so right back in 1994, that by making basically the same game again in 2017 with Sonic Mania, they made one of the best Sonic games in years by that.
I was 9 turning 10 when all this happened. I was an SNES kid but I remember thinking how neat the concept of plugging two cartridges together into the console was and any chance I got at a friend's house who had one or both games, we'd marathon it. I have a LOT of love for the 16 bit era. It truly was a special, unique and memorable time. The marketing both sides had and the even blow for blow fighting between the two with great game after great game across the board just left me personally feeling like I had infinite options laid out before me for fun gaming experiences. We all know the story from there and it's sad to see how fractured most of the industry is now. Nintendo is still the solid rock and the constant when it comes to still having that feeling of earlier generations where the colors, excitement and passion bleed so obviously out of our screens. But I got to live in the greatest gaming era, right at one of those perfect ages where it mattered. Those summertime sleepovers with late nights sneaking up to play all nighters and the random hangouts at a friends house that looked just like one of those Pizza Pocket commercials, or going to Blockbuster to rent something for the weekend, it really was the PERFECT time to be a kid and a gamer.
that sand level with the ghosts always pissed me off as a kid
I feel similar about that bit at the end. Will never forget the first time I saw Donkey Kong Country for the first time. Just blown away. Not to mention allll the other awesome stuff happening throughout the 90's. Still get a bit of that excitement when playing them again, it's why I like it still
Now is the greatest time to be a gamer, you can emulate all the games from the “glory years” on basically any device. I’ve been gaming since the mid 80s and can recognize that.
correct! every conceivable type of media, not just games, all on one device in your pocket! But if we are only talking about new games you can buy now, the 90s has the 20s beat!
Boy, I remember the craze when this game came out. I got mines in Woolworth 😌 good times..
I watched this whole video start to finish! Great video brings me back! You have a new subscriber.
Man, I loved this game as a kid. I had save files with every character in Sonic 3 and Knuckles to get the super emeralds and see everyone's super/hyper form. I remember my friends being angry at me because, for a couple of weeks, I simply refused to spend time with any of them because I was indoors playing Sonic 3 and Knuckles every minute I could.
Looking back, it was a completely unique time in gaming. I don't think these exact circumstances can ever be duplicated by a company releasing a DLC expansion or a major update; this was unprecedented for a lot of kids my age.
Totally. With digital add ons the joy is gone.
“The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long.”
Lao Tzu when he was asked about Sega's future following their performance in the early 90s
Sonic & Knuckles was (probably, I have no way of confirming this) the first video game I ever rented. My brother and I got a Genesis for Christmas 1994, and since we both enjoyed the included Sonic 2, the hot new Sonic game was the obvious thing to try next. It quickly became a favorite of mine, though I didn't actually *own* a copy until a couple of years later.
Must have been exciting! Thanks santa!🎅🏻
My uncle had Sonic and Kuckles and at the time it blew my mind. I had a Sega and a Sega CD add-on, but never got S&K at home, but I played it for hours when I would visit their place.
And the shocking plot twist is this was the uncle who worked for Nintendo!! Haha just kidding! That sounds cool! I never had an uncle who liked games. Pretty cool! 💎💎💎
Great video. I lived through all of this and cherish these memories.
Never let them die out!! 💎💎
Excellent video. Your work is always superb. And man, what a surprise Sonic & Knuckles was. Like many other things Sega did in the 90s, the possibilities with Lock-On technology were incredible. Yet, Sega never did anything else with the idea. You are 100% on the money: it was great to be a part of that specific era of gaming. It was never the same, before or after. As I grow older, I find it increasingly difficult to connect with modern gaming. I am, however, going back more and more to the games of the 80s and 90s. The few exceptions are some retro-inspired games like Sonic Mania, The Messenger (what a game!), Blazing Chrome or TMNT Shredder's Revenge, which manage to capture the true feel of classic gaming. Anyway, thank you very much for the video. It was great.
Hey! Glad you liked it and are still here after so much time! I feel the same with modern games. Still fun. But lacking a lot of thrills it used to have. The ride itself was just as fun as the games and that’s missing. Sony and the ¥80,000 ps5 slim was the final straw for me!
@@GTV-JapanModern games are, also, way too long. Not every game needs to be 40+ hours long. I have two jobs, so free time is a luxury. A game that has 5 minutes cutscenes every 15 minutes of gameplay represents a big waste of time for me. That is why I keep coming back to the classics. If I have half an hour of free time, I can finish a full game of Super Street Fighter II or play half of Final Fight CD or Streets of Rage II. And then there is the subject of digital sales. With modern games, you don't really own the game. They can take it away from you whenever they want. Lately, not even buying a physical copy of a game guarantees that you will be able to keep playing it in three years time.
@GimblyGFR ditto baby! Ditto!
That Franco American commercial was a core memory unlock. Holy shit. 😮 I remember how excited I was as a kid when I finally got S&K and first locked those two cartridges together… man
It was food with Lock-on (tm) Technology!!💎💎
That Alcatraz contest is one of the coolest promotions I've ever seen Tom Kalinske was second-to-none in marketing.
Username checks out!!!
I consider this as the best game(s) the best of my time. I didn't stop replaying it till about ten years ago.
Happy 30 years to S&K!!!
I got this for Christmas at the time. I always wanted Sonic 3 but never got it. One of my friends had Sonic 3 so we would take turns playing each half of game when put together.
I also got Sonic Mega Collection in 2003 on Gamecube which my TV could support 60hz mode (UK was PAL region).
In 2015, I bought a Mega Drive and all the Sonic games for it which meant that I finally owned both halves of Sonic 3.
Nice! A great story!!
@@GTV-Japan Thank you 😀
Love the vídeo! And the effort to pronounce the Brazilian Portuguese word "Ação" from the Games Magazine Ação Games, It's a tough one rsrsrs
(and by the way, as a Brazilian who grow-up in the 90's, i still got my collection of those magazines!)
Thanks! At least I didn’t say “uh cow” 👍