ChuChu Rocket may have made it here first, but Phantasy Star Online was the online game for Dreamcast. At a time when MMORPGs were light years away from Guild Wars and World of Warcraft, Sonic Team’s baby emphasised teamwork and action, but still included all the depth you could ask for.

Using three basic attacks you could string into combinations, dealing damage was a great deal more involving than some more modern MMORPGs, but the key to success lay in creating a team of the three character types – Hunter, Ranger and Force – to maximise their strengths and cover each other’s weaknesses. The fundamental problem of communication across different language was overcome by the innovative Word Select system, which used set phrases and keywords to build sentences that were then automatically translated into each user’s languages.

PSO’s problems, sadly, are fairly wide. Combat is repetitive – move, light-light-strong, move, etc. – and in your first twenty hours you’ll probably finish Forest about twenty times. Hackers reigned supreme on Dreamcast – ask any PSO player about Nol, FSOD or Spread Needles and you’ll hear it all – but later versions mostly escaped in comparison. Version 2 added dozens of new weapons and armour, increased the level limit from 100 to 200 and introduced Ultimate mode: very difficult, graphically altered versions of the four main levels. Episodes I & II added a whole new world with new classes, weapons, stages and enemies, and Blue Burst’s Episode IV did the same again. We don’t talk about Episode III.

After the hundreds of hours PSO has taken from me, it almost makes it in by default, but the truth is it’s still a wonderful game that holds some mystic addictive quality I can’t pinpoint. Its adventure, community and teamwork are still hard to beat, and the sheer thrill of finding a red box is one of gaming’s greatest drugs. Profound, Forrest, Gracia and Claude all salute you, Phantasy Star Online. You really do have the knack.

I could have split these into two separate entries, but as they were originally conceived and are best enjoyed as one game, I’ve combined them. In my eyes, Sonic 3 and Knuckles is the greatest Sonic game ever created, but I’ll admit it also divides opinion. Some see it as the point the focus shifted from pure horizontal speed to include more exploration-based gameplay, but for me it’s the most evocative, artistic and imaginative of Sonic’s outings.

One important factor in Sonic 3‘s appeal for me is the inroads it made into developing character, with Sonic and Tails enjoying new moves, from shields to swimming, and obviously the introduction of Knuckles was a huge step at the time. Even the animations moved the characters along – Sonic flexes his muscles while holding onto handles, Tails’s cheeks puff out as he holds his breath and Knuckles’s laugh is brimming with that cheeky menace we’ve come to expect from him. Sonic’s development from two-dimensional sprinter into inspirational hero took a great leap here.

The game’s art is the strongest of the 2D Sonics, brilliantly depicting the Floating Island’s decaying civilisation with a wonderful palette and eye for detail, from curling vines to tiny bubbles, with the glassy sheen and rich blue-and-white of Ice Cap a classic Sega level – even in thick snow, there are blue skies. An important life lesson, you could say.

One of the many small pleasures I get from Sonic 3 and Knuckles (S3&K) is the sense of coherence: the levels are all connected and you see Sonic move from one to another, instead of instantly appearing in a new Zone. It’s a minor thing in the context of a Sonic game, but it goes a great distance to making you feel you’re really covering some ground on the Floating Island, without any overhead map or suchlike. Likewise, the transition from Sonic 3‘s conclusion to the start of Sonic and Knuckles is brilliantly handled, and really does feel like you’re playing an extension of the game, particularly with the addition of Super Emeralds.

Overall, Sonic 3 and Knuckles is a beautifully presented and endlessly rich adventure, full of the series’ characteristic charm and speed (try to keep up whilst on Carnival Night Zone’s candy canes), and the crown jewel in an amazing run of Mega Drive games that ensured, no matter what followed, Sonic was a legend.