Sonic 3D Blast

This article is about the Sega Genesis/Sega Saturn/PC game. For the Game Gear game, see Sonic Blast.

Sonic 3D Blast (aka Sonic 3D, Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island, or Sonic 3D Blast: Flickies' Island) is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was developed by Traveller's Tales instead of Sonic Team and published by Sega. The game was originally released in Europe for the Sega Mega Drive in November 1996. The Sega Genesis version was released in North America later that month.

Release

In addition to the original Genesis version, Sonic 3D was also ported to the Sega Saturn, and released in North America to make up for the cancellation of Sonic X-treme (which had been intended as the Saturn's killer game for the 1996 holiday season); the game was literally ported in seven weeks. FMVs, highly spruced up graphics (including an all 3D special stage, considered by many fans to be the best special stage in the series) and an entirely new, Red Book audio soundtrack by Richard Jacques (who would later also produce the soundtrack for Sonic R). It was then released in Europe for the Saturn in February 1997.

The Saturn version of the game was released for PC in North America in September 1997, with the videos and soundtrack intact, as well as the notable addition of a save feature just like Sonic 3, but lacking some of the Saturn's effects (like the fog in Rusty Ruins) and a dumbed-down special stage, using sprites from the Genesis version but with the basic concept of the Saturn version. The PC version came to Europe on September 25, 1997. Finally, the game came out for the Saturn in Japan on October 14, 1999 (the same date that Sonic Adventure International was released in Japan).

Story

Once again, Robotnik wants the Chaos Emeralds. So he tries to learn about the mysterious Flicky birds. He realises that the Flickies live in a parallel dimension so he invents a device that sucks them all out and he turns them into robots to search for the Emeralds. Of course, Sonic won't stand for this and so he rescues the Flickies and places them back in their dimension.

Gameplay

The game places Sonic in an isometric projection view in a de facto 2D environment (pseudo-3D/2.5D). He must collect Flickies and bring them to the big warp ring in order to advance in a zone. Each zone consists of 3 acts. There are 10 or 15 Flickies to rescue in Acts 1 and 2 (barring Panic Puppet). In Act 3 of each zone, you face Dr. Eggman in one of his machines.

The ROM used on both sides of Atlantic Ocean is exactly the same. The title differs depending on which country's system the game is in. In North America, the title is Sonic 3D Blast. In Europe, the title is Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island. The European title was used in Japan. The PC version, if minimised (for instance, if a user Alt+Tabs), uses a combination of both names, though the combined name is rarely used, with people generally favoring one region's name over the other.

Flicky Types

The Flickies Sonic rescues in each level come in four different colours. Each colour has its own personality.

Blue Flickies make a conscious effort to find Sonic. If they cannot find him, they fly around in a tight circle, making them easy to locate.

Pink Flickies act largely like blue ones, but fly around in bigger circles if unable to find Sonic. In the Volcano Valley Zone in the Mega Drive version, the pink Flickies are replaced with bright orange, flaming Flickies, presumably due to colour pallette limitations.

Red Flickies don't make any effort to find Sonic, instead bounding between two near points constantly. Their movement range is small, but they jump very high and can thus be hard to catch.

Green Flickies simply wander all over the levels with no interest in finding Sonic.

Zones

Green Grove Zone-

Your basic first level of a Sonic game. With no really tricky traps. Grass, trees, mountains, the usual. There are mines that explode if you get close. The boss robot throws a spike ball at you.

Rusty Ruin Zone-

An ancient city that had risen from the ocean. There are spikes swinging on chains and flamethrowers in the walls. The boss robot has a cannon on its belly, and can be hit by climbing up on the hands.

Spring Stadium Zone-

There are many bumpers in this level, and all of the colors of Flicky. Spikes pop out of the ground in some parts, but there are balloons you can bounce on to hop over them. The boss can be defeated by running from it until it comes down and starts thumping it's spiky arms on the ground. Then, you can attack the front.

Diamond Dust Zone-

An icy level, you can slide down steep hills and slide on patches of ice. If you're frozen, you can jump a few times to crack through. There are also holes in the ground for you to warp between areas. There are spikes made of crystals that you can spin into to destroy and there are some difficult snowman robots. The boss robot tries to freeze you, and attacks with exploding snowmen.

Volcano Valley Zone-

A difficult volcano level. There are shields that protect you from the lava and fiery traps, but they try to get you to lose it by scattering spikes everywhere. Sometimes pipes are hidden under rocks that you can smash, leading you to a life or a sheild. There is also a type of Flicky that only appears in this level. The boss robot shoots out fire that (somehow) chases you. You have to climb on a pipe and hit the head, avoiding the steam shooting out.

Gene Gadget Zone-

Pipes and fans are the main way to travel here. Electric floors zap you when you step on them. The second act has a difficult part on a steep slope that you have to spend some time on. The boss battle takes place on a conveyer belt with spikes placed in certain spots.

Panic Puppet Zone-

The Flickies are not placed in robots here, but instead, small containers. The only robots that exist are spider-like robots that have cannons on all four sides. Act 2 doesn't even have Flickies at all, you just have to reach the goal, which is to go up a pipe that is, oddly enough, in a giant Eggman's nose.

The Final Fight- (Only available if you have collected all the chaos emeralds)

With only a limited amount of rings, you have to fight 5 different parts of Eggman's doomsday weapon, twice each. However, they use attacks that you have already encountered in the game, making it a bit simpler.

Trivia

This game is often criticised for not being true to the core Sonic games, due to its lack of speed and rather clumsy controls (problems mostly caused by its isometric format).
The Genesis version includes a 10-second FMV sequence, albeit very pixilated, which plays before the title screen.
There have been many fake pirated versions of the game such as Sonic 3D Blast 5, which was in fact not 3D but actually a NES port of Sonic 1.
The Chaos Emeralds that are seen in the Genesis version are cube-shaped instead of being in the usual diamond design. Strangely, in Sonic Rush, there exists a set of jewels called the Sol Emeralds, which are also cube-shaped.
One high note is that the music (mostly the Saturn version) is considered to be some of the best Sonic music, and several tracks from the Genesis version were remixed in Sonic Adventure. This is not a coincidence as Jun Senoue worked on the music for both games (Richard Jacques did the music for the Saturn/PC versions).
The Game Over theme used in the Sega Genesis version comes from Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which was also carried over to Sonic & Knuckles, while Sonic Pocket Adventure has a version of this song transposed up a few notes.
Likewise, several of the sound effects are the same as those in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, indicating that the development of the game was largely based off the previous, much like Sonic 3's basis in Sonic 2, and Sonic 2's in Sonic 1.
Furthermore, hidden in the cartridge data (not accessible from the sound test) is the music from the Gumball bonus stage from Sonic 3, which was also composed by Jun Senoue.
Issue #1 48-page special(1997) of the Archie comic book includes the cover story of Sonic 3D Blast.
Also, in the PC version of the game, the CD could be inserted into a CD Player, and you would be allowed to listen to the music from the game.

External links

Sonic 3D Blast | Sonic 3D Flickies' Island | Sonic 3D Blast | Sonic 3D Blast