RETRO REBOOT | Sonic 3D Blast (Sega Saturn)
Sonic's paltry Saturn effort Blasts face first into the pavement
RETRO REBOOT
"ColonelFancy" Mike Lind
11/3/20264 min read
Developer: Traveler's Tales & Sonic Team
Published by: Sega
Release date: November 7th, 1996
I have always kinda dunked on Sonic over the years. There is some nostalgia I have for Sega's Blue Blur, but the games have not held up with me over the years. That may have been made clear in my review of Sonic Adventure, I think that game felt dated for its time. One game that I didn't enjoy even at the time of its release was Sonic 3D, the Hedgehog's first (and overdue) foray onto the Sega Saturn. Talk about something that's aged poorly...
I talked about it briefly in my BUG! review, the belief that the lack of a true Sonic the Hedgehog platforming adventure really hampered the appeal of the Saturn to North American video game fans and consumers. It certainly had nothing to do with the incredibly expensive launch day price tag, not at all. There is some merit there, it is inconceivable to launch a platform without your flagship mascot that put the brand on the map churning out any software.
Sonic Xtreme, a game that was reported to be so good that it didn't want to be released, was far from ready to go on stage. 3D Blast was the last Sonic game for the rapidly aging Sega Genesis, and most of the Sonic team staff had been working on NiGHTS in Dreams, so most of Blast's development was handled by Traveler's Tales. Despite my feelings for Rascal (every studio has to start somewhere and learn their lessons), they're a talented team.
I suppose regarding the subject matter, is Sonic 3D Blast a TERRIBLE game? It's...tolerable...I guess?? The problem is, I don't find it terribly fun. Going for an isometric view is a means of trying to cheat for the 3D effect is not uncommon. This was right before a lot of studios were going for full 3D rendering in action platform video games, so there can be some merit there. 3D Blast does not do a quality job of capturing the speed and satisfaction you get from 2D Sonic games, and the faux third dimension playfield makes exploration drag.
Due to the nature of gathering the Chaos Emeralds for the true ending, Sonic the Hedgehog has always been a collect-a-thon of sorts. And in the Sonic games (a least the early ones), rescuing the roboticized flickies goes hand-in-hand. But in 3D Blast, you have to traverse through these stages and defeat Robotnik's robo-minions and proceed. You do these for about two stages before leading to a boss battle with Robotnik (I refuse to call him Eggman, come at me, if you must), wash, rinse, repeat.
The maps bounce back and forth between being incredibly boring or frustratingly monotonous, as backtracking becomes tedious really fast. My patience running low was the fastest experience I had throughout 3D Blast. Sonic generally slide around in an annoying manner in the 2D games, but in 3D Blast, controlling him can be a chore, even with the Saturn exclusive 3D controller.
The typical bounce pads and springs are omnipresent, and I'll keep asking why "the fasting thing alive" needs these devices to propel himself forward so often, but I digress. They're about the same level of nuisance in 3D Blast as any other Sonic the Hedgehog game, but he needs them more than ever. Sonic's movement just feels heavy and sluggish, there's no sense of precision or accuracy when attempting to stick a landing or plan a jump. Again, it's manageable, not impossible to grasp the nuances. But 3D Blast makes the same mistake Sonic Adventure does: it tries waaaay too hard to do what the 2D games do instead of experimenting with the new environment.
One bright spot, the music. Holy hell, this is probably my favorite Sonic the Hedgehog OST. If it isn't, it's definitely in my top 3. The game's subtitle is Flickie's Island in other parts of the world, and that's a much better name for the game. But us stupid goddamn Yanks needed everything in the mid-90's to sound as KEWL as possible.
There is a very tropical, utopia vibe with the tracks, and it does set the tone effectively. Then there's Spring Stadium, which sounds like a trip to a casino, the Christmas-y atmosphere that Diamond Dust Zone encapsulates, and the industrial techno electronica dance mix that is Gene Gadget and Panic Puppet Zone. The post-1999 games embraced the energy and vibe of the alternative butt-rock from Crush40 and Hoobastank throughout the 2000's, and the fanbase resonates with it strongly. 3D Blast felt like a swan song of the Genesis era. Then again, Generations flirts with this era of tunes.
All in all, Sonic 3D Blast is a pretty boring slog. there may have been some novelty at the time of its release, but the enjoyment it does provide is very fleeting. The visuals are pretty nice, and the aforementioned music is astounding. I found the placid level inconsistent and annoying, made rather annoying by the camera feeling too overly close to Sonic. The Robotnik boss fights are ridiculously easy, and nothing new is truly tried with the gameplay. Even if it's not a horrible entry, it's largely forgettable.