Sonic 3D Blast

The Good
The game was at least long enough and posed a decent challenge, and the graphics for the game were at least sharp and clean looking, but that isn't enough.

The Bad
This game just doesn't feel like a Sonic game AT ALL. Even more modern games like Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 at least still have that Sonic feel, but this feels like a different game series, not a Sonic game.

First off, the isometric view of the levels doesn't work right, and the controls for the game felt very loose and slippery. Sonic skidded around a lot when I tried to move him, and lining him up for loops and dashes was a frustrating chore sometimes. But what really bothers me is the gameplay: instead of just running through levels as fast as you can, you instead have to rescue little Flicky birds, which are trapped in robot enemies. There's no time limit, so you can take your time to find all the robots in a stage, but the real problem with this is that it also slows the gameplay down to a near-crawl. Plus, I can't stand Sonic's design in this game. He looks way to "kiddie", and the enemies and even Eggman look rather childish. The sound effects are okay, but the music isn't very good at all. I miss the days when Dreams Come True (a Japanese rock band) was composing all of the Sonic music...

The Bottom Line
A very embarrassing moment in Sonic's life. If you're looking for a good Sonic game for your PC, look for Sonic CD instead.

The Good
Attempts at 3D games on 16-bit systems are generally hit or miss - Sonic 3D Blast definitely falls into the former category. With minor exceptions of tricky enemy placements or moving platforms towards the end, the game's presentation is very clear and intuitive, not to mention most textures being far prettier and more detailed than in 2D games on the Mega Drive. On top of that, Sonic controls really smoothly, which cannot be said about some fully 3D games in the series like Adventure or Heroes.

The level design might feel a little simplistic early into the game, but the more you progress, the more varied and uniquely designed each zone you explore will be. It also feels generally more fair and balanced than in the earlier Sonic games, with malicious traps and artificial difficulty being fairly rare, especially for a fourth-generation console game. And while the gameplay itself is definitely slower-paced, the interesting level design more than makes up for it.

Another great thing about Sonic 3D Blast is the original soundtrack, primarily composed by Senoue Jun and Maeda Tatsuyuki. The tracks are very memorable, with interesting, synthwave-anticipating sound design, polished arrangements, catchy melodies, and a lot of atmosphere.

The Bad
One thing that drags Sonic 3D Blast down quite a bit is the difficulty spike towards the very end. While most of the game is reasonable and balanced when it comes to difficulty, the two final bosses are extremely unforgiving, almost like the infamous final sequence in Sonic 2.

The Bottom Line
Sonic 3D Blast is a strangely overlooked gem, a great example of 2.5D graphics and design on 16-bit consoles, and quite possibly the best entry in its iconic franchise. 8/10

[played in official emulator as part of SEGA Mega Drive Classics on PC]

The Good
The graphics are very nice for a genesis game. The worlds, cutscenes, and characters all look great. When this game was released on November 30, 1996 the Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive) was in it's twilight stage. So you would expect to see nice graphics. The music has a lot of effort put into it. Lots of the songs are catchy and hard to forget. But really, they're not as good as the previous Sonic Genesis games.

The Bad
The gameplay can get SO BORING! Instead of just racing to the goal, you have to get a certain number of birds called "Flickies" before you can continue or finish the stage. And since the Flickies can be so hard to find, sometimes PARTS of levels can take you 30 minutes! It should be optional. If this game had a time limit, it would've been a disaster. The controls are very weird. The game isn't a side scroller, instead Travellers Tales decided to make it an Isometric platformer making controling with the d-pad awkward. The Saturn version was better if the 3D control pad is used because it has a thumbstick.

The Bottom Line
Sonic 3D is a mixed bag. The graphics and music are good, but boring gameplay and poor controls make it fairly average. It was NOT worth $50 back in '96. Part 1/5 in my Travellers Tales saga.

DID YOU KNOW THAT: This game was released in Japan ONLY on the Saturn in 1999? By then, the Dreamcast was out!

The Good
Donkey Kong Country for the SNES can't touch this. This is Sega's swan song for the genny. It pushed it too the limits. Great graphics. Remember it takes more than 200+ static colors on screen to make a game graphically super. The resolution and shading is really great for the 16 bit dinosaur. This game brought sonic to the next level. No longer a side scroller, but a fully roaming sonic. Game play is excellent. For a genny cart it sounds actually pretty good.

The Bad
There is nothing not to like about this game unless you hate sonic.

The Bottom Line
The final installment of the sonic series for this system. This is a must game for all genny owners. The peak of game development on Sega's 16 bit machine.

The Good
There is almost nothing to like about this game. Let me see....umm.....well the graphics were great I'll admit that.

The Bad
Well where should I start? For one you cant play as Tails or Knuckles, the enemies and story are unbelievably corny, and after a game like Sonic 3 and S&K its hard to believe Sonic Team could mess up this bad. Unlike the previous side scrolling super speed adventure of the classic Sonic's this game has you running (very slowly) around some badly designed level freeing birds, BIRDS!!!, 10 FREAKING STAGES OF BIRDS!!! This game is so boring it will give you a headache.

The Bottom Line
Avoid this game like it is trying to kill your family! What are you even doing on this page?? RUN RUN!!!!