Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a combination of the platforming games Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, using what is described by Sega as "lock-on technology". The gameplay is the same as in both titles, with the only addition from this combination being the Super Emeralds, upgrades of the Chaos Emeralds that can be collected for Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles' Hyper forms. The plots of both games have been connected by this combination and span from Dr. Robotnik's deception of Knuckles to Knuckles's realization of said deception and later team-up with Sonic.

This run by BenInSweden, Chrezm, eandis, and kaan55 expands on the bug that breaks the lock-on technology of the Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles combo by finding an even quicker way, saving nearly two minutes over the authors' previous run. It is recommended to read the authors' notes for details on this new method and how it was devised.