# Sonic the Hedgehog 3

> Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is the 1994 Mega Drive game that brought Knuckles into the series, with larger zones, elemental shields and a save system.

Web page: https://emulationking.com/sega/genesis/games/sonicthehedgehog3/
Page updated: 2026-09-30

- Console: SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive
- Released: 1994
- Developer: Sega Technical Institute

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was developed by Sega Technical Institute and released for the Mega Drive in 1994. After the Death Egg crash-lands on Angel Island, Sonic and Tails meet Knuckles, who has been tricked by Dr. Robotnik into guarding the Master Emerald against them.

It added battery saves, three elemental shields, the Blue Sphere special stages and zones that flow into each other with story scenes. The game was split in two, and its second half was released later that year as Sonic & Knuckles.

A static recompilation runs the Mega Drive game natively.

## Sonic the Hedgehog 3 PC Ports

- [Sonic 3 Recomp](https://emulationking.com/sega/genesis/games/sonicthehedgehog3/ports/sonic3recomp/index.md): Sonic 3 Recomp is mstan's static recompilation of the Mega Drive Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for Windows and Linux, with widescreen.