s3k_no_damage

Sonic 3 & Knuckles - No Damage

Setup:
- Played on original Genesis carts (with Lock-On Technology) on a Mega SG

Rules:
- Sonic only
- No damage or obvious hits
- No deaths
- No major glitches/zips
- Some minor skips are allowed, like skipping the first miniboss in Sky Sanctuary
- Shields are allowed, but getting hit out of a shield counts as a hit
- Sonic being in i-frames due to things like getting knocked out of a Launch Base spinning platform don't count as a hit
- There are some special situations, like the gas clouds in Lava Reef. Sonic being in a particular state like this isn't a hit, but taking Ring damage counts as a hit (one per hit in this case)
- No pressing Pause except for taking small breaks in non-dangerous situations
- Must be performed live on stream

The Insta-Shield is one of the most powerful parts of the run, allowing for both an attack and temporary i-frames. Shield powerups are very powerful too, but at the cost of giving up the Insta-Shield. Getting purposefully hit to lose a shield in preference for the base Insta-Shield is NOT allowed, in the sense that it will count as a hit. So the player has to choose whether or not they want to have a shield for the remainder of a stage/for the boss. Losing a shield does not necessarily mean taking a hit though- for example, taking a Lightning or Flame Shield into water will cause Sonic to lose it, but that does not count as a hit.

This is regular end, not true end. No one wants to watch & I don't want to play 14 special stages every run, on top of Super/Hyper Sonic being obviously overpowered and not being able to be turned off once available. Could be a different challenge for someone, someday

Compared to Mega Man runs, the most difficult situations are comparatively not as hard, but Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles together is a long gauntlet, and the hardest No Damage runs so far are the longer ones, where the pressure mounts over time. It'll take me many attempts before I get comfortable with the strats, stage layouts and backups