In the emulation world, this lock-on process is not automatic. Early emulators struggled to replicate the cartridge-slot passthrough. To solve this, ROM hackers and tool creators developed that combine both games into a single .bin file.
The "wsonic3bin" filename often appears in abandonware collections, but Sega still actively protects its IP. For preservationists, keeping personal backups is the ethical path. sonic knuckles wsonic3bin file