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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 "Barrel of Doom"


canderson

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I remember me and my bro sitting around for hours trying to coordinate Sonic and Tails jumps perfectly to get a maximum rebound effect. I was so young back then. If someone had told me that a puzzle in a Sonic game had a solution other than running, jumping, or spinning, my head would likely have exploded.

Probably a good introduction to basic physics, though.

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It took me months to get by the damn barrell! Eventually one night I was watching my friend and I thought to myself "Ha he will not get by that!" and when he did I asked him to restart the level and show me how he did it. And thus I learned. But my God it was very annoying not knowing what to do.

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Gah, that barrel... it's the very first thing that comes to mind when I hear Sonic 3. :P

It's the first thing that comes to mind because it was so unorthodox, not because of how much of a problem it was. When I was a kid, I remember getting some Time Overs and what-not, but I don't think I actually had too much trouble with it. I remember beating the game a few days after I got it, so it couldn't of been that big of an obstacle.

Though a few years ago, when I bought another Genesis and played S3&K, I got stuck for a bit on the barrel again haha. By the time I re-figured it out, the timer had 9 minutes left, so I ended up dieing lol.

Good times.

Edited by Blash
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Except up to that point the way the game had presented the solution for the previous barrels was completely different from the actual solution for the infamous one.

... No. Not really.

You can jump, or press up and down. Either way, you have a solution. And there are so many barrels in Carnival Night, you should be messing around with SOME.

And then there's the fact that when you think of buttons to make things go up and down, the fact that a few of you noticed pressing DOWN after a jump helped, and the whole point that nothing else is working for you, it dosen't take long to try every up-and-down thing you can do in the game.

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...trial and error? Big thing comes down. Avoid it. Big thing chases you. Run away as far as you can. Don't move until big thing is about to land. Hit big thing when it finally bends down low enough for you to hit. Repeat.

Time consuming, yes. Difficult - the timing can be, yes. But trial and error? Never seen it as that.

You seem to have refused to acknowledge the fact that there's no way of knowing that jumping into it kills you until you've already killed yourself on it at least once in the most anticlimactic manner imaginable. Most things that kill you on bosses have spikes or flames, so I'd be a little more forgiving if they'd made it a bit more obvious the first time.

Here's the thing: NOTHING in the game hints that pressing up and down can control anything.

Nothing in Lava Reef hints that the elevators are moved using the spindash.

Nothing in the Marble Garden hints that the big round blue switches are triggered by spindashing near them.

Nothing in the Death Egg hints that the final boss is one giant moving touch of death except for a tiny window of opportunity when he recovers from a jump.

Hell, for that matter, nothing in the games even hints that having stuff dropped on you will kill you instantly regardless of your ring count. Until, naturally, you get splattered.

This kind of thing is to be EXPECTED. Is it really so bad that a Sonic game should expect you to figure something out yourself for a change? I'm not a big fan of trial-and-error puzzles either, but this is ridiculous. Pressing up or down to move an elevator is a standard to the friggin' platforming genre, so it's not the game's fault if you're stupid.

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All you guys seriously mean it?! You couldn't pass those giant barrels thingies?!

When you got stuck onto these things, wasn't that evident that just jumping didn't work and some other button should work?

Not tryin' to sound harsh but I did beat Sonic 3 in the ol' Mega Drive days as a kid, and again with my Saturn/Sonic Jam and later on with my Gamecube/Sonic mega collection...

It wasn't that hard... but I suppose internet is the place where everybody has something to b#tch about.. so go on!

(from where does this "barrel of doom" legend come from?! I've never hear of it before this topic!)

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Nothing in Lava Reef hints that the elevators are moved using the spindash.

Nothing in the Marble Garden hints that the big round blue switches are triggered by spindashing near them.

Spin-dashing is one of the main abilities of the game, it becomes obvious to anyone that this is a potential option, though.

Nothing in the Death Egg hints that the final boss is one giant moving touch of death except for a tiny window of opportunity when he recovers from a jump.

That's... Different. It's easier to experiment, because you know you have to hit it somewhere. It's just a question of where and when.

Hell, for that matter, nothing in the games even hints that having stuff dropped on you will kill you instantly regardless of your ring count. Until, naturally, you get splattered.

Unless you're playing a Wario game (where common sense tends to get thrown straight out the window), getting crushed is a generally bad idea in platformers in general, it's just common sense.

This kind of thing is to be EXPECTED. Is it really so bad that a Sonic game should expect you to figure something out yourself for a change? I'm not a big fan of trial-and-error puzzles either, but this is ridiculous. Pressing up or down to move an elevator is a standard to the friggin' platforming genre, so it's not the game's fault if you're stupid.

Remind me, how many platformers in those days actually had such elevators? Besides, the barrels didn't seem anything like elevators, it becomes seemingly obvious early on what their function is, and the player is never informed otherwise, nor shown. Once again, as others have stated, the room gives off the impression that it requires a more complex trick to get past it, and because the barrel reacts to jumping on it, the player gets the added impression that finishing the puzzle requires doing something of the sort. You'd have to be lucky to have figured it out in less than a minute, and honestly, very few people have.

All you guys seriously mean it?! You couldn't pass those giant barrels thingies?!

When you got stuck onto these things, wasn't that evident that just jumping didn't work and some other button should work?

Not tryin' to sound harsh but I did beat Sonic 3 in the ol' Mega Drive days as a kid, and again with my Saturn/Sonic Jam and later on with my Gamecube/Sonic mega collection...

It wasn't that hard... but I suppose internet is the place where everybody has something to b#tch about.. so go on!

(from where does this "barrel of doom" legend come from?! I've never hear of it before this topic!)

That bloody barrel is one of the most infamous cases of Guide Dang It in history, and not without reason, stumping countless gamers who encountered it.

Edited by Soma Cruz
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I also got stuck at this part... I got annoyed because nothing would work, so I started to press random buttons in case there was some code or something. It took me a while to figure I only needed two buttons :P

But it was well worth it. Going up and down is so fuuuuun! \('▽`)/

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I find it bizarre how the people who found this puzzle easy are being so uppity and on their high horse about it. It's pretty obvious that you guys are an exception so seriously, stop acting like everyone else is stupid. =\ It's just mean.

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Oh, I remember the barrel all too well. It made me HATE this game at one point when I was a kid (and to an extent, I've begun to dislike S3&K again for the same reason). I hated the barrel so much that whenever I played S3&K, I played as Knuckles religiously and ignored playing the other characters. It wasn't until 2000 when I finally passed the barrel and beat the game entirely. And, yes, I used the bubble-shield-jumping technique that quite a lot of people used to get past it.

(There was a reason why in Sonic Jam, the barrel was removed in the Easy and Normal modes.)

Good times, indeed. NOT! :angry:

Edited by Dark Qiviut
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Well, me and my pals never had any problems back then :P

Younger gamers probably have due to new games being filled up with tutorials (i hate those things)...

I always felt it kinda natural...just some physics and a platformer character... logic!

If you had problems with this I don't even want to know if any of you guys did finish the 2 Earthworm jims or Cool spot..

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If you had problems with this I don't even want to know if any of you guys did finish the 2 Earthworm jims or Cool spot..

I beat Cool Spot on the Master System as a kid. It was hard but fair. I can't really draw a comparison to Sonic 3 since Cool Spot didn't have any puzzles with no explanation, lol.

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But the Mega Drive version doesn't go easy on players who don't take time to think a bit about the way to go through a level...

not a comparison, just a remark!

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Spin-dashing is one of the main abilities of the game, it becomes obvious to anyone that this is a potential option, though.
The up and down buttons are potential options, too. What's your point?

I digress though, those were just a few examples. I personally think people blow this one problem way out of proportion when Sonic games did this all the time and got away with it. Well, less so nowadays, admittedly.

Remind me, how many platformers in those days actually had such elevators?
Kirby Superstar and Abe's Oddessy immediately comes to mind. You'll have to forgive me for being unable to make a gigantic list this late at night just to prove the point, but it was indeed a fairly common trait as far as platformers go.

Besides, the barrels didn't seem anything like elevators, it becomes seemingly obvious early on what their function is, and the player is never informed otherwise, nor shown. Once again, as others have stated, the room gives off the impression that it requires a more complex trick to get past it, and because the barrel reacts to jumping on it, the player gets the added impression that finishing the puzzle requires doing something of the sort. You'd have to be lucky to have figured it out in less than a minute, and honestly, very few people have.
I don't believe I ever claimed I finished it in a minute or less, nor did anyone else. But ten years honestly comes off as some kind of ridiculous exaggeration to me too, and I'm curious how many people here are lying about it. I'm convinced at least one of you are.

All the same, I don't buy this "seemingly obvious" crap. I'll admit, I fell for the "omg the barrel moved because I jumped on it" deception too initially, but it was pretty obvious after a few dozen attempts that it wasn't budging the barrel nearly enough to get me where I needed to, so I tried something else. Are you honestly trying to tell me that these people tried the exact same thing for ten consecutive years on end in some deluded belief that it would get them somewhere the longer they tried it? I find that, quite frankly, impossible to believe. I'm not going to lie - to me that concept reeks of sheer stupidity.

I also like how certain people claim the only other "barrels" in the level are the ones that move in a pattern of their own accord and act as if they haven't been given a chance to learn from them. I know for a fact that the exact same barrel is scattered through other parts of the level (I recall one in particular which requires the bobbing up/down movement to reach a higher area in one of the paths - I'm willing to bet some people cheated though). Ultimately, it's a lesson in common sense more than anything. It's no bloody wonder the fans ate up the possibility of a "press this button to win" function come Sonic Rush, because obviously a lot of people don't like wracking their brains in this franchise.

Edited by Blacklightning
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I also like how certain people claim the only other "barrels" in the level are the ones that move in a pattern of their own accord and act as if they haven't been given a chance to learn from them. I know for a fact that the exact same barrel is scattered through other parts of the level (I recall one in particular which requires the bobbing up/down movement to reach a higher area in one of the paths - I'm willing to bet some people cheated though).

I don't recall anyone disagreeing with that. The point still stands that the previous non-automated barrels merely make the matter worse since ALL of them are passable with jumping, not up/down movement. Maybe you needed up/down to reach alternative paths, but those who get it into their heads that jumping is a solution will never know about those paths will they?

The game basically teaches you that you need to jump on the barrels to manipulate them, then throws a puzzle at you which requires you to completely disregard that fact.

It's exactly the same as getting a puzzle where to push a switch you had to jump on it with A, and then B, and then C. The whole game has taught you that it doesn't matter which button you use, so it would be a stupid puzzle.

Also, the "most platformers use up/down to operate elevators" is a poor arguement anyway. You shouldn't need to play an unrelated game to understand how to do another.

Oh, and besides, the spin dash things in Marble Garden were obvious to me right away since they actually look like what Sonic does when he's curled up. Likewise the lifts in Lava Reef had those little wheels on them that made me assume you needed to complete the machine by spinning in the middle. If they really didn't want the barrel to be a mind-numbing puzzle they should have put up/down arrows on the barrels or on the wall next to it. That might have given enough of a hint.

Finally, I don't think 10 years is an overexaggeration. I've had Sonic 2 on Master System since I was like, 5, but I didn't find all the emeralds until I was something like 16. I still played the game, I just played the limited version I had with my knowledge. In that regard, it took me about 10 years to finish it. It's not like these people played the game CONSTANTLY for 10 years, it's a simple case of they half gave up. They would just play what they could, get stuck at that bit again and go play something else.

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All the same, I don't buy this "seemingly obvious" crap. I'll admit, I fell for the "omg the barrel moved because I jumped on it" deception too initially, but it was pretty obvious after a few dozen attempts that it wasn't budging the barrel nearly enough to get me where I needed to, so I tried something else. Are you honestly trying to tell me that these people tried the exact same thing for ten consecutive years on end in some deluded belief that it would get them somewhere the longer they tried it? I find that, quite frankly, impossible to believe. I'm not going to lie - to me that concept reeks of sheer stupidity.

I think it's less that people tried the exact same move for 10 solid years, and more that it simply didn't occur to them to try the up-down move (they may have tried many other things). People fail to see obvious solutions for the same reason that lateral thinking puzzles stump so many people. The answer may be right there, but without a more obvious hint, the brain just doesn't make the connection.

Some people might, though, and so everyone else probably look ridiculous to them :P

Also, I highly doubt that anyone played the game solidly, every day, for ten years. More likely they never solved it over a ten year period, but they were only occasionally going back to it.

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I don't recall anyone disagreeing with that.
Do note that I'm not explicitly calling anyone out here. I'm not singling people in this thread out.

The point still stands that the previous non-automated barrels merely make the matter worse since ALL of them are passable with jumping, not up/down movement. Maybe you needed up/down to reach alternative paths, but those who get it into their heads that jumping is a solution will never know about those paths will they?
I don't believe I denied that point in particular, but all the same the possibility is still there, and I'm sure people bumped into them plenty of times in their 10-year efforts.

The game basically teaches you that you need to jump on the barrels to manipulate them, then throws a puzzle at you which requires you to completely disregard that fact.
And? Honestly, either way if a certain possibility doesn't work the first hundered dozen times, I can't see why people would keep trying. It's pretty obvious that it isn't going to work by that point, so if they aren't trying other things anyway they'd have to be completely missing the point. Would you try hammering on a brick wall for 10 hours straight just because you could somehow knock down the last 5 with your bare hands? It's just common sense, nothing more.

Also, the "most platformers use up/down to operate elevators" is a poor arguement anyway. You shouldn't need to play an unrelated game to understand how to do another.
Who said you needed to? It's that little thing called experience - it helps.

I think it's less that people tried the exact same move for 10 solid years, and more that it simply didn't occur to them to try the up-down move (they may have tried many other things). People fail to see obvious solutions for the same reason that lateral thinking puzzles stump so many people. The answer may be right there, but without a more obvious hint, the brain just doesn't make the connection.
Now see, this is a more logical argument. I still think there aren't nearly enough possibilities to keep a player stumped for 10 years, even on-and-off (I could probably describe the entirety of Sonic's functionality, minus the physics, in this post if I felt like it), but this is actually an interesting look into the issue and one that carries some meaningful insight. You could learn a thing or two from Flyboy here. =P
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And? Honestly, either way if a certain possibility doesn't work the first hundered dozen times, I can't see why people would keep trying. It's pretty obvious that it isn't going to work by that point, so if they aren't trying other things anyway they'd have to be completely missing the point. Would you try hammering on a brick wall for 10 hours straight just because you could somehow knock down the last 5 with your bare hands? It's just common sense, nothing more.

That's the problem: it isn't obvious. Jumping really does seem to work, so rather than players thinking "this isn't the solution" they think "I'm not performing the solution well enough" and will keep trying. In fact, I recall one person in the topic said they eventually did manage to do it via jumping.

Your brick wall example is good, but you forgot to mention the fact that in this particular case, hammering on the brick wall makes it tilt back and forth and wobble, but never actually fall down. That false hope is was kept people from trying other things, instead thinking that if they could just do it a little better than they are, they'd succeed.

Edited by JezMM
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Pressing up or down to move an elevator is a standard to the friggin' platforming genre, so it's not the game's fault if you're stupid.

Except in Sonic 2's Casino Night Zone, where they're automatic. And then there's Hydrocity Zone, where you use the same 3D-ish sprites, but can't affect the barrels there.

Honestly, either way if a certain possibility doesn't work the first hundered dozen times, I can't see why people would keep trying.

It's easy to get it close by jumping, which is the problem.

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That's the problem: it isn't obvious.
I still call bullshit on this, even if only because no sane person would do the same thing for ONE year, let alone ten, and expect to get anywhere with it if it never worked in the first place in this particular scenario. Honestly, you're just acting like a broken record now - are you even taking this point into consideration? I'd appreciate it if you stopped parroting and actually answered this query properly.

Interesting to know that it actually might be possible to bypass it via jumping though. I never managed to get more than a barrel's width of where it started whenever I tried that approach.

Your brick wall example is good, but you forgot to mention the fact that in this particular case, hammering on the brick wall makes it tilt back and forth and wobble, but never actually fall down. That false hope is was kept people from trying other things, instead thinking that if they could just do it a little better than they are, they'd succeed.
Excuse me? Did you honestly try to take that example that seriously? AND act under misguided assumptions to attempt to prove your point? Good lord. Maybe I should've just stuck with the Sonic 2 final boss scenario. *epic facepalm*

EDIT:

It's easy to get it close by jumping, which is the problem.
I used to get the inputs "close" to right in the old Street Fighter games too, but even then I realized I still wasn't getting anywhere. It still doesn't justify re-attempting the exact same failed method over such a long period of time. I don't see how this comes off as a valid excuse at all. Edited by Blacklightning
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I used to get the inputs "close" to right in the old Street Fighter games too, but even then I realized I still wasn't getting anywhere. It still doesn't justify re-attempting the exact same failed method over such a long period of time. I don't see how this comes off as a valid excuse at all.
Phenomenally bad example here, With Street Fighter inputs, the incorrect input gets you nothing. For this to to be comparable, Ryu would have to do a crappy little Hadoken when you enter df-f + P.
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Phenomenally bad example here, With Street Fighter inputs, the incorrect input gets you nothing. For this to to be comparable, Ryu would have to do a crappy little Hadoken when you enter df-f + P.
Yeah, that was a terrible example, I admit. Shut up, I'm tired. :unsure:

Like said earlier, I'll go back to the Death Egg example. Now the Final Boss kept killing me mysteriously whenever I jumped into it, even when I supposedly hit an exposed spot (hence the "nearly")... but even then, it'd be pretty silly if I kept trying to replicate the exact same strategy under the exact same contexts every attempt, wouldn't it? Not the least of which, for a bloody decade. The same logic applies here - even if you supposedly "nearly" get it right for a year straight, why in the holy mother of god should that justify re-trying the same tactic for ten years?

Or, it could be like firing a pistol and never hitting anything, when there's still the possibility that the sight's crooked.

Or, it could be like trying to read a CD when you're actually trying to cram them into a floppy disc drive.

Or, it could be like trying to make a fire when maybe, just maybe, the rain isn't helping.

please tell me the point is getting through to someone

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Yeah, that was a terrible example, I admit. Shut up, I'm tired. :unsure:

Like said earlier, I'll go back to the Death Egg example. Now the Final Boss kept killing me mysteriously whenever I jumped into it, even when I supposedly hit an exposed spot (hence the "nearly")... but even then, it'd be pretty silly if I kept trying to replicate the exact same strategy under the exact same contexts every attempt, wouldn't it? Not the least of which, for a bloody decade. The same logic applies here - even if you supposedly "nearly" get it right for a year straight, why in the holy mother of god should that justify re-trying the same tactic for ten years?

Or, it could be like firing a pistol and never hitting anything, when there's still the possibility that the sight's crooked.

Or, it could be like trying to read a CD when you're actually trying to cram them into a floppy disc drive.

Or, it could be like trying to make a fire when maybe, just maybe, the rain isn't helping.

please tell me the point is getting through to someone

All of your examples are pretty bad. The point they are trying to make is some people gave up, thinking they just couldn't get the jumping right, then occasionally came back, but gave no consistent effort.

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Hm...

Well on my case I didn't have much trouble with the barrel since on the other ones I used to spin arround them faster then normal using left-right controls so.... I tried going up and down and slowly it worked.

Tho I never knew it was announced somwhere for the solution but oh well.

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I was never able to pass the barrel as a kid. This could be because I only had my Mega Drive for a couple of years until it was put in my loft never to be seen again until about a year ago so I didnt get much time to figure it out. I then got Sonic and Knuckles collection for the PC and was finally able to make it with some well timed jumps. I am now able to get past the barrel with ease (Although I've never actually tried the up-down thing because until only recently I thought that jumping was the only way down

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