-----    -----    |\    |  -----    -----       ---   
  |\    |  ----
|       /     \   | \   |    |     /           /   \  
  | \   |  |   \
-----  |       |  |  \  |    |    |           /     \ 
  |  \  |  |    |
    |   \     /   |   \ |    |     \         /-------\
  |   \ |  |   /
-----    -----    |    \|  -----    -----   /        
\  |    \|  ----

        | /  |\    |  |   |    -----  | /  |     
-----   -----
        |/   | \   |  |   |   /       |/   |      |   
   |
        |    |  \  |  |   |  |        |    |     
-----   -----
        |\   |   \ |  |   |   \       |\   |      |   
       |
        | \  |    \|  -----    -----  | \  ----- 
-----   -----


Sonic and Knuckles FAQ/Walkthrough
For Sega Genesis
Version 2.0
Written by CNash
May 2000

Hi and welcome to this, my second FAQ that I have
written! 
My topic  this time is the Genesis classic, Sonic and
Knuckles. 
My other FAQ,  Genesis Streets of Rage 2, can be found
online 
at www.gamefaqs.com.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Contents
--------

i.) What's new in this version?
ii.) Conventions in this document
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.) Credits and copyrights.


i.) What's new in this version?
-------------------------------

-Repaginated the whole thing.
-Corrected grammar errors.
-Added Contents.
-Added ASCII Art! Sure it may not look right to you,
but it does to me..

------------------------------------------------------------------------

ii.) Conventions in this document:
----------------------------------

Since both Sonic and Knuckles play almost exactly the
same, 
I'll just write Sonic when I mean Knuckles as well.
But if there is 
an occasion when Knuckles' special attacks come in
handy, I'll 
let you know.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1a.) Special Attacks:
----------------------

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1b.) Character-specific special attacks:
----------------------------------------

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. You 
can also do this without any shield at all!

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.
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.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

2.) Zone Guides:
----------------

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) 
Pull-up machines can be tackled by, um, pulling down!
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, email
me if you get any 
more). The boss itself is a simple case of dodge the
spiky wooden logs.
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...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 the second level
of 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 spiky flame-thrower. Avoid the spikes
and the flames
and hit him when he swings up. This is slightly harder
for Knuckles.
Now you can spin off into...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 (again!)
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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
d.) Lava Reef (1)
The reason I like this zone is because of it's cool
music, and not it's 
hot lava. 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:
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).

Lava Reef (2)
First take a good look at the flame throwers, and how
they work. 
They'll cause you problems later. Now avoid (if you
can) the 
spinning spiky landmine things on a pole (they have a
belt of 
spiky things that rotate round a big pole). If you
don't have a single 
clue what I'm on about, forget it.
The Boss: Dr. Robotnik (who else?)
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!)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Past this point, Sonic and Knuckles' levels are
completely different. 
I'll start with:

e.) Hidden Palace (Knuckles)
Just jump up 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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 hit 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 to reach 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.
Now run up the towers and jump onto the...

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Extra-Hard Eye.
Up till now, all the mini-bosses have been a bit
cheesy, but the eye 
is quite hard. You'll end up using nearly all you
lives and continues 
on it, but by this time you'll have collected so many
continues that 
you won't care anymore.
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.
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.

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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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!
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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.) Linkup Capabitities
-----------------------
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!
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.

Sonic 2
Once you link S&K to S2, you'll be able to play all of
the Sonic 2 
stages..with Knuckles!
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 
(one after the other)! And this means you can play S3
levels 
with Knuckles and S&K levels with Tails!  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!
---------------------------------------------------------------

4.) Special and Bonus Stages
----------------------------

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. 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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.) Cheats
----------

The secret Level Select

To gain a level select, start a game with Sonic and go
to a pull-up machine. 
Grab on and quickly tap in:
Left, Left, Left, Right, Right, Right, Up, Up, Up.
You should hear the sound of a ring being collected.
Now pause the game 
and press A. This should reset the game to the title
screen. Now hold 
A+Start on the title screen until the level select
pops up. You will notice that
all the levels from Sonic 3 are there too. This is
because Sonic 3 and Sonic 
and Knuckles was originally going to be one game, but
the idea was scrapped
in order to get the game out on time. If you select
one of these levels you'll go 
back to Mushroom Hill. 
To carry this over to Sonic 3, hold Reset and insert
the S3 cartridge into S&K, 
then release reset. There should be a new option
called Sound Test. Select it 
and you go to the level select screen, and you can now
select the S3 levels.
On both games, press C to change the number under
Angel Island 1. This 
selects your character. 0=Sonic and Tails, 1=Sonic,
2=Tails and 3=Knuckles.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6.) Copyrights and Credits
--------------------------

Thanks for reading my FAQ on Sonic and Knuckles. This
document is 100% 
written by CNash, and you may not rip it off without
my express permission
(which I am not going to give). If you do decide to
rip it off, I'm 
confident that GameFAQs will alert me if you attempt
to put the ripped-off 
version of my FAQ on www.gamefaqs.com.

More tips, cheats and rumors can be forwarded to: 
chris_1256@yahoo.com
If you wish to feature my FAQ on your site, put it on
a
magazine cover disk, or otherwise do anything with it,
email me at the 
same address and we'll talk shop then.

If you paid for this, you are dumb. The latest version
of this FAQ can 
always be found at www.gamefaqs.com.
Read my words of wisdom about the phenomenon that is
Pokemon on 
http://cgi.gamefaqs.com/boards.

Bye!
CNash 2000

