Not as good as 2, but still fun.

what?! You simply have to press up+down in 'carnival night act 2' ?! fffffffffuuu--

stupid spinning red barrel in 'Carnival Night Act 2', I curse ye!

Least favourite of the bunch, though it had some neat ideas. Marble Garden, most of Carnival Night, and most of Launch Base just aren't fun to me because it's too hard to get a good flow going without completely mastering the levels. Oh and I'm not a big fan of the bonus game, so the whole exploration thing is lost on me. The visuals are a step up, with some cool background effects and great spritework, but some of the music is just bland/annoying (specifically, in those same zones which I don't enjoy playing).

Sonic 3 is a game where the mechanics and level design work directly against each other, with the controls encouraging you to move as fast as possible, but the level design limiting the player (for the most part) to carrying out sets of precision jumps that should have never been seen in a sonic game. While the first and last zones give the player enough freedom to explore without getting lost, zones like Carnival Night lack direction (and under a time limit this can become an issue). Credit however has to be given to the aesthetics - beautiful natural environments contrast brilliantly with Robotnik's intricate machinery. The boss fights were also entertaining, building on the core mechanics of the game in intriguing ways.