Sonic & Knuckles

This page details development materials of Sonic & Knuckles.

Music Demos#

On October 19, 1994, an official soundtrack CD was released in Japan titled Sonic and Knuckles & Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Despite having "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" in the title, it consists of MIDI demos from the Sonic & Knuckles tracks in particular. They seem to have been made after the November 3, 1993 prototype, as some of the songs are much closer to the final version than the ones heard in that build. However, a few songs (mainly the ones with extended intros) may predate the November prototype.

Song	Audio	Final	Notes
Title Screen			Unique and otherwise unheard middle section.
Mushroom Valley Zone Act 1			Has an extended and unique intro section. The track itself is labeled "Mushroom Hill", the zone's final name in S&K and S3&K.
Flying Battery Zone Act 1			Extended intro.
Flying Battery Zone Act 2			Extended intro.
Miniboss			Unique guitar riff section at 1:08.
Robotnik			An instrument in the left channel is higher-pitched and louder. The intro is slightly slower in tempo.
Sandopolis Zone Act 1			Extended intro.
Lava Reef Zone Act 1			Slightly slower tempo. The percussion is more reminiscent of Act 2's, and has a long, unique middle section starting at 0:47.
Glowing Orbs Bonus			Slower tempo. A unique loop section starts at 0:57.
Slot Machine Bonus			Slightly slower tempo. The second loop is extended with alternate harmonies.
Special Stage			The percussion at 0:03 has a unique salsa timbale. The first section loops twice before getting to what is otherwise the second section.
Sky Sanctuary Zone			Slightly slower tempo. 0:50 to 1:42 features a wholly different and extended loop section.
Death Egg Zone Act 1			Extended intro that happens to sync up perfectly with the tower collapse sequence at the end of Sonic/Tails' Sky Sanctuary.
Final Boss			The ending features a short flourish that isn't present in any of the Genesis tracks, but is present in the Sonic & Knuckles Collection versions. It is still reserved to play in the final Genesis track in FM1/5, but all the notes are left blank.
The Doomsday Zone			The loop is slightly different, pausing with a drum break before continuing.
Knuckles' Theme			Slightly slower tempo. It repeats the main section an additional two times before another entirely different (and longer) loop section.