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| Sonic 3D Blast |
[View Rear]
Overview
Story
Saturn Version
Notes
Cheats / Secrets
Last Updated: 06.03.06
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Developer:
Traveller's Tales
Publisher:
Sega
Release Date:
11.01.96
Platform:
Sega Genesis
Players:
1 |
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 November 1996
 February 1997
 10.14.1999
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Rereleases
Sega Saturn:
Sonic 3D Blast
PC:
Sonic 3D Blast
RealArcade (PC):
Sonic 3D Blast
Nintendo Gamecube:
Sonic Mega Collection
Sony Playstation 2:
Sonic Mega Collection +
Microsoft XBox:
Sonic Mega Collection +
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Staff Credits:.
Executive Producer:
Kats Sato
Producer:
Yutaka Sugano
Design and Implementation
Jon Burton
Chief Programmer:
Jon Burton
Background Artist:
James Cunliffe
3D Models and Animation
James Cunliffe
Neil Allen
Dave Burton
William Thompson
Jon Rashid
Sonic Animation
Dave Burton
Bonus Game Implementation
Dave Dootson
Chief Artist:
James Cunliffe
Playfield Design:
Takao Miyoshi
Hirokazu Yasuhara
Game Concept Design:
Kats Sato
Takao Miyoshi
Kenichi Ono
Takashi Iizuka
Music and Sound Effects
Tatsuyuki Maeda
Jun Senoue
Masaru Setsumaru
Seiroh Okamoto
Project Manager:
Jon Burton
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| Overview |
Sonic 3D Blast (known as Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island in Europe and Japan) is the seventh installment of the series, and it's a little different from the other games. This was the series' first major departure from 2D graphics. It instead used an "isometric" viewpoint, also known as 2.5D graphics. It also contained a short pre-rendered 3D video before the title screen (which looked horrible on the Genesis). Unfortunately, the game suffers greatly from control issues. The isometric viewpoint did not work well with the non-analog Genesis controller, and added to the game's difficulty - to get anywhere, the player had to essentially move in two directions at once. Also, Sonic is rather slow in-game, and it often feels like you are running through molasses. The spindash is also very hard to get going - it will not activate if Sonic is standing on an incline.
This game was originally developed for the Sega Genesis, but with the constant delays in developing Sonic X-Treme, and with the Christmas season approaching, Sega decided to have Travellers' Tales port the game to the Sega Saturn...in only seven weeks. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but the developer came through with flying colors. Not only did they improve the graphics in-game, they added an entirely new special stage, several pre-rendered 3D sequences, and an entirely new (excellent) soundtrack. While the game still suffers from the same control issues, it is a far better offering than the Genesis version. Unfortunately, it was no Sonic X-Treme, and did not help the sagging Saturn sales.
In 3D Blast, you must run around and collect Flickies by destroying badniks. There are seven zones, which contain three acts, and an eighth secret zone that can only be accessed by collecting all seven emeralds. While acts one and two are normal acts, act three is a boss fight. To get through an act, you must collect five flickies in three areas. After collecting five, jump at the large ring located somewhere in the zone to send the flickies back home, which also opens up a door for you to go to the next area. On the third area, you will be transported out of the act after "cashing in" all the flickies. There are certain items in the game (mostly continues) that Sonic alone cannot reach. To get these, simply collect a certain amount of flickies, and they will collect the item for you. |
| Story |
| The story begins with Robotnik finding out about seven chaos emeralds located on an island named Flicky Island. Flicky Island is home to a special kind of bird named Flickies. Robotnik decides to imprison these birds in his robots to help with the search for the emeralds. Later, Sonic decides to visit his feathered friends by going to Flicky Island. But to his suprise, he finds only badniks, no flickies. Sonic then destroys the badniks to find out that the flickies are inside of them. he then begins his quest to free the flickies and prevent Robotnik from collecting all the emeralds. Little does Sonic know, though, that Robotnik was expecting him, and has built a monsterous machine to destroy Sonic once and for all. |
 
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Green Grove
Green Grove is your typical tropical paridise, filled with plants, waterfalls, and even a few oasis', although you are not affected in anyway when entering the water. You start off in act one in an open space, so take some time to learn the controls. The badniks here are easy to destroy, but just incase you are having trouble with a few of them, obtain a gold shield, which will allow you to perform a homing attack on a nearby badnik.
Boss: Robotnik appears in his Eggmobile and drops a huge spiked ball onto the ground. This ball will then follow you everywhere you go for a few seconds and then will come to a halt. Robotnik will then lower his vehicle to pick up the ball. Take this time to hit Robotnik but be careful not to hit the bottom, as you will be hurt by the ball. But, no worries, there are tons of rings in the arena so you'll be fine. After five hits, Robotnik's history. This may also be the first boss to show more damage after each hit - the cockpit window of the Eggmobile cracks every time you score a hit. |
 
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Rusty Ruin Zone
Ah yes, more cliche fun. This time, it's an ancient roman ruins type zone. Slightly harder than Green Grove, this zone sports many traps, such as swinging spiked balls, spikes, and flamethrowers. Watch out for the steep slopes, those can be a pain in the rear to get up. Also, look for the spinning tiles as they will make sonic invincible to badniks and allow allow him to break through certain objects that otherwise can not be harmed.
Boss: In this battle, Robotnik takes control of what looks to be a stone statue built into the wall. He was two ways to attack, he can either crush you with one of his claws, or shoot pellets at you. To defeat him, simply stand under one of the claws, wait for the claw to move forward, move out of the way so you don't get crushed, jump on top of the claw while it's down, and take a little ride as the claw is brought back up. Now, attack the head of the statue, which happens to be Robotniks Eggmobile. Five hits and he's done. |
 
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Spring Stadium Zone
Spring Stadium is well...a stadium full of springs. But that's not all there is, there are balloons, spikey floors, tubes, and more. Shields and rings are very valuable in this Zone, but if you know what you're doing it shouldn't be too hard.
Boss: Robotnik will come after you with two arms, with both of them containing spiky hands that can crush you. He will chase you around for awhile before totally flipping out and slamming those hands down on the ground. It's actually a pretty easy boss, just run around in a big circle as he chases you and when he starts to hit the ground, nail him. After eight hits, Robotnik is history. |
 
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Diamond Dust Zone
Diamond Dust is a winter themed zone quite similar to Ice Cap Zone from Sonic 3. There are many traps and environmental hazards out there, such as avalanches and ice paths that can send you into a badnik or spikes if your not careful. There are also small frozen ponds that, when jumped on, break and send Sonic to another area of the zone. Also, watch out for the ice machines, getting hit by one of their blasts will turn Sonic into one big icicle. Jumping three times will in this state, however, will free yourself.
Boss: This boss also seems to have been inspired by Ice Cap Zone, as it, like it's Ice Cap counterpart, will blow ice cold gas at you from his eight ice cannons. Hitting Robotnik will result in him losing one of his ice cannons, and he will also fly out of range and drop a snowman mine into the arena. Destroy the mine and Robotnik will lower himself again. After eight hits, Robotnik's machine bites the dust and you'll move on. |
 
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Volcano Valley Zone
How one goes from a snowy mountain to an extremely hot, lava filled volcano is anyone's guess, but one thing is for certain, and that's that this zone is considerably harder than the previous ones. A fire shield is almost mandatory if you wish to complete this zone, there are also many hazards in this zone that will make you lose your shield so be very careful.
Boss: If you thought the zone was hard, then your in for a rough ride. This boss is extremely difficult, the only way to hurt Robotnik is to jump on the pipes, walk up to him and THEN jump on him, all while avoiding bursts of flames coming up through the pipes and a trail of flames following you around the arena. Rings are of indescribable importance here so take one or two at a time. After eight hits, you'll finally defeat this demon of a boss. |
 
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Gene Gadget Zone
You've made it to Robotnik's base; the fight is almost over. This zone is much easier than the previous one, but it's still a little hard. There are lots of traps here, so be careful.
Boss: The fight starts on a conveyor belt, which has spikes at the bottom. Robotnik will fly in and out of range, and there to six spikes will come down the belt. Watch out for the missiles that Robotnik will shoot from his hovercraft. Just hit him eight times when he is in range and you'll beat him. |
 
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Panic Puppet Zone
The final zone, and it's no cake walk. All sorts of traps and badniks are here. Flickies no longer are trapped in badniks; they are now in glass containers. Act 2 contains no flickies, so really all you have to do is get out of it alive.
Boss: This boss battle is not too difficult, but fight it with caution. Robotnik's contraption has two arms, and you must hit the shoulders when they are blinking in order to destroy the arms. Both arms take four hits to destroy. If you haven't collected all the emeralds, then congrats, you've finished the game, however if you have collected all the emeralds, there is one more challenge ahead.. |
 
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The Final Fight
The zone name pretty much describes this zone, it's the final fight between you and Robotnik. He will come at you with everything he's got, which means that there is little room for mistake. There are five stages of the fight and you will have to go through it twice. The first stage consists of two lazers, and you must simply not get hit by these. Once the machine moves forward, hit it. Now you will proceed to stage number two. The machine will shoot fire snakes at you. Just run away from them, but don't get cornered. Once it comes up on the platform, hit it on the side to move on to stage three. Now this one is very difficult, the machine will bring out two hands, and they will hover over the platform. Watch out as they will rev up and crush you if you stay below them. After pounding the ground three times, they will then go to opposite sides of the platform and zip across it. Get to a corner where there isn't a hand and jump. Now stand opposite of the machine, which has just come onto the platform and hit it, bringing on stage four. Stage four is by far the easiest stage of the five, with the machine shooting missiles into the air. Just dodge the missiles and hit the machine when it comes onto the platform, which brings you onto the last stage, stage five. In stage five, the machine will shoot bullets at you, just dodge them and hit the machine yet again when it comes onto the platform to enter...STAGE SIX....just playing. After beating stage five you'll repeat the process, and if you are successful, congrats, you've completed the game 100%! |
 
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Special Stage (Genesis Version)
This special stage has Sonic running forward on a track. All you have to do is collect a certain amount of rings while avoiding the mines and you'll get an emerald. To get to the special stages, just collect 50 rings and touch Tails or Knuckles to have intercour-err I mean to enter the stage. |
| Saturn Version |
Note: All Saturn screenshots are from MobyGames
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| These are just a couple of examples of the improved graphics in the Saturn version of 3D Blast. The first boss (from Green Grove Zone) is obviously different. Rusty Ruin Zone is also covered in fog. Despite the graphical upgrades, however, the gameplay is essentially the same as the Genesis version. |
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Special Stage (Saturn Version)
This special stage is similar to the special stage from Sonic 2 - Sonic is running on a halfpipe, collecting a pre-determined number of rings to get a Chaos Emerald. However, this special stage is loaded with spike balls, speed boosters, bottomless pits, springs, and a whirling tube. It is considered the highlight of the Saturn version of the game, and one of the best levels in any Sonic game. |
| Notes |
Music
The very good Genesis soundtrack was composed by Jun Senoue, who also worked on Sonic Adventure, and who remixed several 3D themes in that game.
The Saturn soundtrack, written in literally a few weeks, is top-notch. It was composed by Richard Jacques, who also composed the music for Sonic R.
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PC Version
The PC version of Sonic 3D Blast is a modification of the Saturn version. The game uses the graphics and soundtrack from the Saturn version, but uses a stripped-down version of the Saturn special stage with the Genesis graphics, which amounts to a clone of the Sonic 2 special stage. It does, however, add a Sonic 3-style save feature, something no other version or port of the game has. |
Sonic Mega Collection
The Genesis version of Sonic 3D Blast was ported directly to Sonic Mega Collection and Sonic Mega Collection+, and is accessible from the get-go. The full game manual is also available in SMC and SMC+.
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Random Facts
This was the first Sonic game to be developed by a team other than Sonic Team or Sega Technical Institute. At the time, Sonic Team was developing NiGHTS into Dreams and STI was busy with the ill-fated Sonic X-Treme.
Unlike previous Sonic games, the Genesis version of this game used the exact same ROM for all three regions (US, Europe, and Japan). The only differences are on the title screen. The title screen will display "Sonic 3D Blast" for US hardware, and "Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island" for European and Japanese hardware.
For some reason, the Saturn version of this game was not released in Japan until 1999. |
| Cheats / Secrets | Level Select
At the title screen enter the controller code baracuda (press B, A, right, A,
C, up, down, A). You should then be taken to the next screen. Select the start
option and the Level Select screen appears. Begin at the act of your choice,
including the Final Fight or a Special Stage. If you choose a Special Stage you
will begin the game in Green Grove Zone, Act 1 after the stage ends. This code
also lets you skip any act by pausing the game and pressing A.
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