Sonic 3D Blast

aka: Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island
Moby ID: 3494
Genesis Specs
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Description official descriptions

While visiting Flicky Island, Sonic notices that the Flickies, his small, feathered friends that can travel between parallel worlds, were captured and turned into badniks (the robot enemies of Sonic) by Dr. Robotnik in his never-ending quest for the Chaos Emeralds. Seven levels separate Sonic from the final showdown with Robotnik.

Sonic 3D was the last Sonic title released for the Mega Drive, the only platforming presence of the blue blur in the Sega Saturn, and one of his rare appearances in Personal Computers. The title, considering the era it was released, is somewhat misleading, as instead of full blown 3D graphics it uses an isometric view where Sonic can move not only forwards and backwards, but also left and right.

Gameplay is much slower when compared to other games in the series, and the number of badniks is reduced to five in each section. As usual, when Sonic destroys one badnik, an animal leaps free from its insides, but this time Sonic has to pick him up and lead them to an interdimensional ring. While they can be taken one by one, exploring the level with all five allow the player to reach for otherwise inaccessible continue tokens. Unlike all other previous games, time isn't a requirement: if the player completes a level in more than 10 minutes, it would only mean there would be no time bonus at the end. Finally, to collect all seven Chaos Emeralds, Sonic first must find Tails or Knuckles and offer them at least 50 rings.

Spellings

  • ソニック 3D フリッキーアイランド - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Genesis version)

46 People (45 developers, 1 thanks) · View all

Program Design and Implementation
Head Artist
Head Designer
Producer
Senior Producer
Programmer
Background Artist
3D Models and Animation
Sonic Animation
Bonus Game Implementation
Additional Programs
Project Management
Production Support
Moral Support
Game Concept Design (SOJ)
Playfield Design (SOJ)
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 72% (based on 33 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 94 ratings with 5 reviews)

A hidden gem

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]

Genesis · by Pegarange (282) · 2023

An embarrassment to Sonic.

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.

Windows · by Satoshi Kunsai (2020) · 2002

Action

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.

Genesis · by attilathehun (3) · 2004

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Trivia

References

The Flicky characters are based on an arcade game of the same name.

Sonic X-Treme

The game was set to be a "safety net" for the Saturn in case of Sonic X-Treme failing to pass the production stages. It did, and so Sonic 3D became the only platformer appearance of the blue hedgehog in Sega's 32-bit console.

Version differences

The bonus stages are different between the three versions. In the Mega Drive version, you travel across a bridge collecting Rings while avoiding spike balls. In the PC version, you move along a halfpipe, again collecting rings and avoiding spikes. In the Saturn version, you travel across a polygonal tube, which has spike balls, speed boosters, a whirling tube, springs, bottomless pits, and (of course) rings.### Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
  • March 1997 (Issue 92) - Genesis Game of the Year runner-up + Genesis Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)

Information also contributed by AxelStone and Luis Silva

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 3494
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Archagon.

SEGA Saturn added by Kartanym. Wii added by Sciere. Linux, Macintosh added by Foxhack. Genesis added by Syed GJ.

Additional contributors: Itay Brenner, Alaka, Alexander Michel, j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】.

Game added March 28, 2001. Last modified February 12, 2024.