13 Video Game Sequels Better Than Their 'Classic' Originals

Taken separately, neither Sonic 3 nor its counterpart Sonic & Knuckles hold a candle to the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Sega's original runs rings around the latter instalments. Ha. Rings! Geddit?

Both Floating Island-themed entries are far, far too short—an identical complaint levelled at Sonic 2 upon its release (don't let the nostalgia of the passage of time fool you: Sonic 2 was panned for its limited lifespan at the time). It's eminently possible to blast through either outing in a single sitting without even getting pins and needles.

It was never supposed to be this way; Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were intended to be one huge game. Prohibitive manufacturing costs and a desire to meet deadlines (plus, as an added bonus, the opportunity to sell potentially twice as many games) led to the cart being divided into two parts, and sold separately.

But they yearned to be together. Thankfully, Sega included the ability to bolt the cartridges to one another, allowing players to experience the adventure in its conceived form. And boy is it just about the best Sonic game you could ever hope for.

Obviously, it suddenly becomes twice as big, whilst the quest to gather up not just the chaos emeralds, but super emeralds, adds a whole new layer of depth to a game that would otherwise be running from one side of the screen to the other. There's even a super-secret final level for the efforts. IN SPACE.

Can hedgehogs breathe in space? One has set up camp in my garden recently, but I can't throw it far enough to test the theory.