Sonic 3D Blast

perspective.|alt=sonic screenshot Sonic 3D Blast is a platform game presented from an isometric perspective. 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. 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. ==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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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). 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. The soundtrack for the Genesis version, which features 24 tracks in total, 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 and Europe in November 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 A port of the Sega Saturn version was released for Windows in Europe on September 11, 1997, and worldwide later that year. Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows; and ''Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection'' for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was also re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2007, with Sonic 3D Blast being the Japanese title this time, ==Reception==

Contemporary Reception to the Genesis version of Sonic 3D Blast was generally positive upon its original release. While Dan Jevons of Mean Machines Sega was initially skeptical of the first 3D Sonic game appearing on the Genesis, he proclaimed Sonic 3D Blast to be "a legitimate addition to the Sonic series, and a smart game in its own right". He and Angus Swan of the same publication were grateful for the change in gameplay style, which they said added depth to the structure of the series formula. They additionally praised the music, controls, and sense of inertia in Sonic's movement. Dan Hsu of Electronic Gaming Monthly experienced a similar adjusting period. Electronic Gaming Monthly named Sonic 3D Blast a runner-up for Genesis Game of the Year (behind Vectorman 2). Reception to the Saturn version was mixed. Though Lee Nutter of Sega Saturn Magazine compared the gameplay unfavorably to previous Sonic games, he found it had a great deal of fun to offer and praised it as being more challenging than any previous Sonic game. and was one of the system's better-selling games, according to Wallis. The staff of GameSpot saw the PC version as similar to the others, but pointed out some slowdown effects while the camera scrolled, attributing these to its wide colour palette. Brett Alan Weiss of AllGame voiced a similar opinion, feeling it was a "nice departure" from the style of the side-scrolling Sonic games. PC Gamer described it as "the first sign that Sonic in 3D was just plain not going to work". The game is remembered as a black sheep in the franchise. ==Legacy==

Archie Comics published a comic book adaptation of Sonic 3D Blast for a 48-page special in December 1996, written by Mike Gallagher. A loose adaptation of the game also appeared in issues 104 through 106 (May through July 1997) of Sonic the Comic. Senoue re-arranged two of his musical pieces from the Genesis version for Sonic Adventure (1998), saying he wanted the Japanese market to hear them as the Genesis version was not released in Japan. He also used a cut theme as the boss theme in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I. After Sonic 3D Blast, Traveller's Tales and Sonic Team collaborated again on the Saturn racing game Sonic R (1997). Sonic 3D Blast was one of Traveller's Tales earliest games; the studio later became known for their work on video games based on the Lego toy line, In 2017, Burton released an unofficial director's cut patch for the Mega Drive version of Sonic 3D Blast, with improved controls and additions such as a level editor, a password save system, time attack challenges, and the ability to transform into Super Sonic. ==Notes==