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Sonic 3 A.I.R. - SAGE 2018 Demo

Project Overview

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Overview
Sonic 3 - Angel Island Revisited (Sonic 3 A.I.R.) is an unofficial port of Sonic 3 & Knuckles for Windows PCs.
It very closely resembles the original game, but adds features you would only expect from a modern fan game engine - including full support for 16:9 widescreen display, alpha transparency effects, and smooth 360° rotation.

The project goal is to provide a fully ported version of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, with all the necessary changes to make all of it work in widescreen. It's also planned to add several bugs fixes and game improvements on top.
In addition, this is a playground for trying out others things, like an experimental Time Attack game mode that allows you to directly race against the recordings of your previous best runs of each act.


Features
  • 100% accurate Sonic 3 & Knuckles physics
  • Sonic, Tails, Knuckles fully playable, including Sonic & Tails co-op
  • Widescreen display
  • Additional effects like 360° rotation
  • Optional high quality pixel filter xBRZ
  • Controller support
  • Experimental Time Attack mode
  • Many fixes and small gameplay tweaks
  • Added movement options like Tails Assist and Flight Cancel

Technical information
(for those of you interested...)
The heart of the game engine powering Sonic 3 A.I.R. is a script interpreter that runs a ported version of the original game code. It's using a custom scripting language that is built specifically to allow for a relatively easy semi-automatic conversion of the Mega Drive's / Genesis' 68K machine code to this script. To make sure that the port behaves exactly like the original, the scripts get tested for accuracy by comparing the script execution to the original 68K code execution in a modified emulator. This way odd physics or similar issues can be ruled out without too much hassle.


Requirements
Sonic 3 A.I.R. is built on top of the Sonic 3 & Knuckles Steam version. Being a direct port of the original game code, it gets most of its data from the ROM that is part of this Steam release.
So in order to play, owning the S3&K Steam game is a requirement.
Other than that, you only need a PC with Windows 7 or higher.


Download
Get the latest demo here:
http://85.214.142.96/sonic3air_demo.zip
(Please note the requirements above!)


Additional Recommendations

GalacticG is working on remastered versions of the game's music tracks, and you can download his work as an audio mod for Sonic 3 A.I.R.
For more info, see this post: https://www.sonicfangameshq.com/forums/threads/sonic-3-a-i-r.221/page-4#post-2530

Screenshots and media!

Trailer for SAGE 2018


Additional gameplay videos


Latest reviews

Sonic 3: Angle Island Revisited is a game where I am very appreciative that gets a widescreen treatment (even though I am not a Sonic fan). This game is a fan-made port of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, which no one tackles before and Eukyarot did it and everyone can finally play this version. Despite this, this isn't just a widescreen version, it has multiple options to choose how you played in the first game. And to that, I'll be reviewing this latest game at v20.07.24.0 so this is my review so don't expected to have something to praise for.

Options:
There is a lot of customization to go through when it comes to playing on both versions. The PC version has a widescreen (just like every other PC release.), having support for the consoles controls (which I never owned), and even can be allowed you to edit the keyboard for as long as you like. For the mobile version, you have the controls section, which acts like the Sonic 1 and 2 remastered version except the controls feel like the 2012 version of Sonic CD in a much better way. The mobile version can be tricky sometimes especially I haven't played Sonic on mobile since November.

Oh yeah, the Level Layout options: The only thing I liked is the moving platform on Sandopolis Zone and altered some level design to keep things not frustrating. I don't know any changes so I'll leave it up to you.

Achievements, Unlockables & Secrets:
There are 18 achievements on Sonic 3: AIR which when complete these will unlock some new modes (i.e. Debug Mode and Knuckles and Tails Mode (which also functions similar to the 2013 version of Sonic 1 and 2)). There are some secrets that you have to find out, unfortunately. And I think the Knuck & Tails mode is pretty great, especially that you can access to Sonic place that knuckles haven't explore.

Mods Support:
You heard me right, mod support is here. Never been playing the mods in this game and it was great. For people who don't know how to get to the AppData folder, press the Windows logo + R button, then type %appdata% and Enter and you should be able to download the mods.

Gameplay and Conclusion:
The gameplay I played with was great. It's everything I always wanted to find out why Sonic 3 & Knuckles were their favorite and I can see why. Some complaints I have were some enemies were too annoying, some gimmicks, and the memorization of the Blue Sphere special stages.

Overall, Sonic 3 AIR is a great unofficial port of the critically acclaimed Sonic 3 & Knuckles (that it still has issues for some reason) and it manages to be a 60 fps gameplay consisted and it was marvelous.
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Reactions: RodirodDude
This is trying to emulate the Sonic 3 and Knuckles like if Taxman and stealth made it and for this demo... I am kinda disapointed at the lack of actually making it feel like one. The fact this is a "port" kinda more puts it into an emulator thingy. This feels like Sonic 3 but is Sonic heavier or lighter? Or faster? I got confused and stopped playing. This is still amazing and all and I hope it gets completed!

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Item information

Added by
Eukaryot
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4.40 star(s) 5 ratings

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