Sonic & Knuckles: Started and Completed

So, I completed Sonic & Knuckles, the final of the original Sonic series, in one shot.

S&K also had the best logo.

Chaos emerald stages aside, it was definately the best of the series.  The levels had the perfect balance of high speed cruising and proper platforming.  Some parts were tougher than others, but nothing seemed out of place (like the boss in Sonic 2).  The two bonus stages were also top calibre.  The first being a mix of Sonic 2's casino night zone and Sonic 1's special stage.  Admittingly it got a bit dry the tenth time around. The second was a wicked 'twirl around balls to get higher and collect stuff' thing that was awesome.  They should have done this for Sonic Spinball.  The lessons from failures and successes of the previous games came together for this final game of the series.

Sweet swirly electric staticy balls of funness.

I realized that I hadn't played much S&K as a kid because I got frustrated by one of the bonus stages (which I didn't understand, due to a lack of patience) and the Sandopolis zone.  I recall often getting stuck on the first Sandopolis Zone and the second one simply being too hard for me due to the harassing ghosties.  Basically, I didn't deserve to go farther.  Still, I thought they were the weakest parts of S&K on my current run through.

Stupid ghosties.

Now off to slay a bunch of demons!