Play Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Online

So Sonic 3 picks up right where Sonic 2 left off—Robotnik’s Death Egg crashes onto this floating island, and of course, he’s up to no good. Knuckles, the island’s guardian, gets tricked into thinking Sonic and Tails are the bad guys, so now you’ve got this angry echidna messing with you the whole time. Classic Robotnik move.

The levels feel huge compared to Sonic 2, with way more paths to take—some hidden, some obvious. You’ll still be blasting through loops and bouncing off springs, but now there are these new shields that actually change how you play. The fire shield lets you dash through enemies like a flaming cannonball (just don’t touch water), the water one gives you infinite air underwater (finally, no more drowning panic), and the electric shield? It’s basically a ring magnet. Tails can’t use the shield abilities, but he can fly short distances, which is handy for skipping tricky sections.

Bonus stages are split into two types now: the classic slot machine one from Sonic 2 (hit the crank, hope for extra lives) and these new blue sphere challenges where you’ve gotta collect every blue orb without touching red ones. Clear those, and you’ll snag Chaos Emeralds—good luck finding the giant rings hidden in each zone, though.

And yeah, the two-player mode’s back, complete with chaotic power-ups that’ll swap positions or spawn enemies mid-race. Zones are longer, bosses are trickier, and Knuckles keeps popping up to ruin your day. It’s still Sonic at its core, just with way more to mess around with.