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Once recovered, Sonic and Tails set off in a race against time to stop Knuckles, Dr. Stunned, Sonic can only watch as Knuckles steals the Emeralds and disappears inland. No sooner than they have arrived, Knuckles ambushes Sonic from underground with such force, he knocks the Chaos Emeralds from him, returning him to normal. Shortly after, Super Sonic and Tails land on Angel Island in their bi-plane, the Tornado, in search of Robotnik. Knowing Sonic and Tails will try to track him down, and realizing he can use the Chaos Emeralds to power the ship, Robotnik tricks Knuckles into believing Sonic is trying to steal his Emeralds, and he's come to help him. He is also the guardian of a set of Chaos Emeralds, jewels that grant the island its levitation powers. Knuckles is the last surviving member of an ancient civilization, whose ruins and relics are scattered throughout the island. Robotnik repairs the ship he meets up with the Islands sole inhabitant, Knuckles the Echidna. However, instead of impacting the planet, the Death Egg crash-landed on Angel Island, a mystical floating landmass that had previously been reputed only by legend to exist. Robotnik's space station, the Death Egg, has fallen out of orbit after his mech suit exploded in his final showdown with Sonic, causing critical damage to the ship. In the Sonic chronology, Sonic 3's storyline commences shortly after the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Dr. Combined, both games have sold over 4 million copies. The game is closely tied to its direct sequel Sonic & Knuckles, as the two games were originally one until time constraints and cartridge costs forced the game to be split into two interlocking parts. The game debuted worldwide in the first half of 1994. It was developed by American studio Sega Technical Institute in collaboration with Sonic Team, and was published by Sega. Sonic the Hedgehog 3, often abbreviated and literally known in Europe as Sonic 3, is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. Takashi Thomas Yuda (character design), Hirokazu Yasuhara (lead designer), Yuji Naka ( programming)
