Why Sonic 3 sold significantly less than Sonic 2

[cloud1161]

in my personal opinion, the junction with sonic 3 with sonic and knuckles is the best sonic experience.  sonic 3 by itself is kinda dull with only 6 levels.  hyper sonic and knuckles and super tails is just great.  sonic 2 is still great and i can see why it sold so well.  it was a brand new experience for gamers at the time.  i never was a big fan of the first sonic.  im not sure why sonic 3 didnt sell as well as sonic 2.