PixlBit

Sega announced the surprise addition today.

While not originally part of the October VC lineup announcement, Sega announced the addition of Sonic & Knuckles to the Japanese Virtual Console lineup earlier today.

Similar to its original cartridge predecessor, Sonic and Knuckles will bring back the lock-on technology it featured back on the Genesis. This lock-on technology originally allowed players to combine data from Sonic and Knuckles into Sonic 3 and Sonic 2. Players simply opened a compartment at the top of the Sonic and Knuckles cartridge, and put one of the other compatible titles into this slot.

This allowed Knuckles to be a playable character in Sonic 2 and Sonic 3, the latter of which he was originally intended to star in. Finally, in the original Sonic, the lock-on technology unlocked a special Blue Sphere bonus stage.

This lock-on feature will be replicated for the release of Sonic & Knuckles for the Virtual Console. If gamers already have one of the Sonic titles available on the service, a special screen will pop up when they select Sonic and Knuckles, asking if they would like to utilize the lock-on technology. After making a decision, they must select a title of their choice in order to play the now unlocked features.

There has been no further word stating that Sonic & Knuckles will be making its way onto Western shores at any point in the near future.

Sonic & Knuckles will release on the Virtual Console on October 27 for 600 Wii Points.