known in regions outside North America as is a 1996 platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series for the Sega Genesis and Sega Saturn. As Sonic the Hedgehog, the player embarks on a journey to save the Flickies, birds enslaved by Doctor Robotnik. The player must guide Sonic through a series of themed levels to collect Flickies and defeat Robotnik. Though it retains game mechanics from prior Sonic games, Sonic 3D Blast is differentiated by its 2D isometric perspective, with pre-rendered 3D models converted into sprites.
The concept for Sonic 3D Blast originated during the development of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994). Most of the programming was outsourced to the British studio Traveller's Tales, as the Japanese Sonic Team staff was preoccupied with Nights into Dreams (1996). Development lasted eight months, and the team drew inspiration from Donkey Kong Country (1994) and Sonic Labyrinth (1995). Sonic 3D Blast was developed alongside the Saturn game Sonic X-treme. When X-treme was canceled, Sega commissioned a port of 3D Blast featuring improved graphics for the Saturn.
Both versions were published by Sega in November 1996, with a Windows port released the following year. Sonic 3D Blast was the final Sonic game for the Genesis, and has been re-released through Sonic compilations and digital distribution platforms. The game was commercially successful and received positive reviews for the Genesis version; critics welcomed the new gameplay style as well as the graphics and music. Subsequent releases were met with more mixed reviews, with the Saturn version being seen as too similar to the Genesis version. Retrospective reviews criticized the isometric gameplay, controls, and pace, although reception to the visuals and soundtrack remained positive. An unofficial director's cut version, featuring adjusted gameplay elements and improved controls, was released by the Genesis version's lead programmer, Jon Burton, in 2017.
Gameplay
Sonic 3D Blast is a platform game presented from an isometric perspective. Players control Sonic the Hedgehog, whose goal is to save the Flickies, collect the seven Chaos Emeralds, and defeat Doctor Robotnik and his robot army. Sonic retains most of his abilities from prior games: he can jump and spin in mid-air to defeat robots or hop on platforms, perform a spin-dash on the ground to gain speed, and collects rings as a form of health. Sonic can also collect power-ups, such as elemental shields, speed shoes, or invincibility, by breaking television monitors containing them.
The game is split into several levels called zones. Every zone has three acts: two standard levels, where the player must collect Flickies by defeating robots in order to proceed; and a boss fight against Robotnik, without any Flicky-collecting involved. In normal levels, once the player collects all five Flickies from each section of an act, Sonic is either further advanced into the act or taken to the next act. If Sonic and the following Flickies are hit by an obstacle or enemy, the Flickies and the rings Sonic collected will scatter. Each individual Flicky's color determines its behavior: blue, pink, and orange Flickies make an effort to find Sonic, while green and red Flickies wander off at random; the latter even jump about, making them harder to recollect. Sonic starts the game with four lives; if he is hit with no Flickies or rings in his possession, he will lose a life. Losing all lives results in a game over. Lives can be replenished by collecting a 1-up, and continues are obtained by collecting ten Sonic-shaped medals.
As with previous games, Sonic 3D Blast includes "special stages", in which the player collects Chaos Emeralds. Obtaining all seven Emeralds allows the player to play the final boss battle and discover the true ending of the game. To access these stages, the player must find one of Sonic's friends (either Tails or Knuckles the Echidna) hidden within a level, and stand next to them with at least 50 rings collected. Doing so allows the player to exchange the rings in order for the chance to play the game's special stage. During special stages, the camera shifts to behind Sonic as he runs down a preset path and must collect rings while avoiding obstacles that, when run into, make him lose rings. A certain number of rings need to be obtained at certain checkpoints to continue through the stage, and ultimately be able to make it to the end in order to receive a Chaos Emerald. Collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds also allows the "Final Fight" level to be played, consisting of a final boss fight and the good ending of the game.
Plot Doctor Robotnik discovers mysterious birds called Flickies that live on an island in an alternate dimension. He learns they can travel anywhere using large rings, so he exploits them by turning them into robots to help him search for the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic arrives at the island only to discover the presence of Robotnik, and he is tasked with saving the Flickies and defeating his nemesis.
Sonic travels through the island, saving the Flickies and clashing with Robotnik in his various machines. If the player collects all the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic proceeds into a black void, where he engages in a final battle with Robotnik, who pilots a large robot. Sonic manages to destroy the robot's weapons and defeats Robotnik, freeing the Flickies. If the player fails to collect the Emeralds, Robotnik escapes with it in his possession.
Development
Sonic 3D Blast was the final Sonic the Hedgehog game produced for the 16-bit Sega Genesis, and was developed as a swan song for the system. Sega had discontinued support for the Genesis in 1995, but produced the game because games typically sell for one to two years after their platforms' discontinuation. The basic concept was conceived by members of Sonic Team during the development of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994), but most of the programming was done by the British studio Traveller's Tales because Sonic Team was developing Nights into Dreams (1996) at the time. According to founder Jon Burton, Traveller's Tales had just finished developing a Toy Story game and wanted to start developing games for 32-bit systems such as the Saturn and PlayStation. Sega, impressed with their work on Toy Story and Mickey Mania, approached them with 3D Blast; as Sonic was extremely popular at the time, the concept "got their attention". In retrospect, Burton stated that he believed the game was commissioned because Sonic X-treme, in development for the Saturn at the time, was struggling, and Sega wanted to bring Sonic into the 3D era of gaming.
The game was developed from scratch in eight months, beginning in July 1995. It was originally titled Sonic Spindrift. Burton, who served as lead programmer, implemented an exception handler where, should an error occur, the game would greet the player with a secret level select screen instead of crashing; this was done so the game could easily pass Sega's approval process for publishing games. Burton also gave the game a unique Full-motion video (FMV) intro sequence, and used compression methods to make the video fit in the 4MB cartridge and appear higher resolution. The game makes use of some pre-rendered 3D models converted into sprites. The team decided to use 3D instead of 2D because they thought "it was time for something new." Inspiration for the isometric viewpoint was drawn from Sonic Labyrinth (1995) and Super Mario RPG (1996). The item collection was influenced by the 1984 Flicky game, and the graphics were inspired by Donkey Kong Country (1994). Sonic Team provided Traveller's Tales with game, level, and character designs. Burton remembered the partnership with Sega fondly, recalling that he greatly enjoyed "making a machine do something you haven't seen it do". Towards the end of development, Traveller's Tales began to expand its scope, and Burton passed the rest of programming to his employees.
Sega also commissioned a version of the game for the Sega Saturn in case Sonic X-treme was canceled. This cancellation did indeed occur, so Sonic 3D Blast was released in time for Christmas 1996 in its place. The game was ported in seven weeks, during development of the Sega Genesis version. While it does feature graphical changes, such as weather effects and higher resolution textures, the game largely plays the same as the original version. It features a higher quality opening video and improved graphics. Sonic Team filled in for development of the special stage in the Saturn version of the game, which includes polygonal graphics as opposed to sprites only. This version is also compatible with the Saturn's analog control pad. The team attempted to rework X-treme into bonus stages in the Saturn version. However, they were unable to properly transfer Sonic's model from X-treme into 3D Blast, so the feature was scrapped.
The soundtrack for the Genesis version, which features 24 tracks in total, was primarily composed by Jun Senoue and Tatsuyuki Maeda, with Masaru Setsumaru and Seirou Okamoto composing the final boss and staff roll themes respectively. The Saturn version features a different soundtrack in CD audio by Richard Jacques and features a vocal ending theme titled "You're My Hero", performed by Debbie Morris. The musical styles on the soundtrack were described by Sega Saturn Magazine as both traditional Sonic music and "hardcore techno".
Release Sonic 3D Blast was released for the Genesis in North America on November 7, 1996, and in Europe on November 14, 1996. The launch coincided with the release of the Game Gear game Sonic Blast, which also features pre-rendered 3D graphics. The Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast was released in North America later that year and in Europe on February 13, 1997. In Japan, the Saturn version was released on October 14, 1999 as Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island. A port of the Sega Saturn version was released for Windows in North America on September 16, 1997, followed by Europe on September 25, 1997.
The Genesis version of the game is available in several Sonic-themed compilations. These include Sonic Mega Collection (2002) for the GameCube; Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004) for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows; Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (2009) for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and Sega Genesis Classics (2018) for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It was also re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2007, with Sonic 3D Blast being the Japanese title this time, and on Steam in 2010. In October 2022, it was re-released again as one of the games included on the Sega Genesis Mini 2.
Reception Contemporary