Sonic Isometric Blast: Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis/Saturn, 1996) Review

NOTE: This review is part 8 in a retrospective of the Sonic franchise. Feel free to read the other Sonic reviews I’ve done here - https://expithecat.blogspot.com/search/label/sonic%20retrospective

Honestly I don’t have anything funny to say here so…

Background and History

I guess since I’m… sort of talking about a Saturn game here, I think I should start off by talking about the Sega Saturn. In 1994, Sega released their next major console, the Sega Saturn, in Japan, and released the system one year later worldwide. It was intended to be the next generation of Sega, their kick into the 32-bit era, and their way of competing with the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo’s next upcoming console which turned out to be the Nintendo 64. While the Saturn’s development was mostly finished by the end of 1993, the upcoming PlayStation prompted Sega to upgrade the console a bit more - giving it a second video display processor and overall improving the texture mapping and 2D performance of the system. Of course, this did at the time make the Saturn harder to develop for, and the Saturn ultimately wouldn’t take off as much as the Genesis or PlayStation did in the US and Europe due to a mix of being harder to develop for and also the system having a “surprise” launch that ended up causing a drought in software for the system on top of having developers and stores boycott the console due to their lack of awareness towards the Saturn’s launch. It did, however, see a bit more success in Japan, even outselling the Nintendo 64 there.

But of course, with Sega’s console coming out and the 3D era of games just beginning, Sega wanted to bring their fast blue mascot into the third dimension. Sonic X-treme was originally intended to be the first 3D Sonic game, however due to having a rough development, it was ultimately cancelled. Instead, the Saturn got a port of Sonic 3D Blast, a game that was originally intended as their “B game” for the Genesis that year to tide fans over.

Sonic 3D Blast itself was originally concepted around the time of Sonic 3’s development - an isometric Sonic game - and began development in 1995. At the time however Sonic Team was developing a new IP for the Saturn - that being Nights into Dreams, and development of 3D Blast was headed by Traveller’s Tales - a company at the time known for the Toy Story game and Mickey Mania and would later make games like Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex and all the Lego games. I don’t really have too much to say about the game’s background and development itself, but I would recommend checking a Youtube channel called “GameHut” if you haven’t already. It’s a channel run by the founder of Traveller’s Tales and worked on this game, and he goes over a lot of elements of the game’s development, and has also created a mod for the game’s Steam Mega Drive/Genesis Classics release that I’ll be talking about later on.

Personal Experiences

To be honest, I’ve always held an interest in the Sega Saturn. Back when I was getting into retro gaming and collecting I just found the Saturn to be an interesting system. And I’m not really sure what drew me to it, but it just felt like a pretty cool and niche system with some interesting games like Nights into Dreams and Sega’s arcade ports. I’ve always wanted to pick up the system myself, but like the Dreamcast, various things have made me end up deciding against it - in this case being the price of the system and it’s games. The console has kind of seen a gold rush both because of people who are nostalgic for the system are buying it again and that others are just now finding out about the system and realizing it was actually pretty damn good, so of course by the time I had any sort of disposable income prices of the system had already skyrocketed.

But Sonic 3D Blast was one game on the console I had interest in. Of course around that same time was also when I was getting into the Sonic franchise, and there were games I wanted to try. And 3D Blast was one of those. I could’ve just gotten the Genesis version on the Wii Virtual Console, but the Saturn version to me just seemed like a better version entirely due to the enhanced graphics and my preference towards the soundtrack. I really did want to play the game in general though and when I got a Sega Genesis, this was one of the first games I got for it. And… I actually really liked this game growing up. It wasn’t exactly comparable to my love for the classic games (especially 2) but I did find it to be a fun game I occasionally enjoyed going back to. But of course I was kind of the odd one out, in general this game’s reception has always been mixed. In fact if you go on Somecallmejohnny’s video of the game one of the top comments is a comment from my now dead channel from 5 years ago saying that I’m one of the 3 people in the world that likes Sonic 3D Blast so there’s that.

Story

The story is actually told in the intro and credits of the Sega Genesis version! 

Dr. Robotnik/Eggman learns about a species called “Flickies” and decides to use them for his robot army and conquer the world. Sonic goes to Flicky Island and finds out about what Robotnik/Eggman has done, and of course tries to stop them.

I mean it’s about what I would expect from a classic Sonic game. I can’t really talk too much about story presentation, although the Genesis version does at least explain what is going on which the Genesis games never really did outside of the manual, so I guess there’s that. The Saturn version doesn’t really tell anything though, although it does have nice FMV intro and ending cutscenes. Still, it’s not really deep or anything, about what I would expect from the classic era of Sonic, so… well, let’s just go on.

Graphics

I will say for one thing that the graphics of the Genesis version of this game are pretty impressive for the hardware it’s running on. I have heard some occasional criticism towards the game’s visuals, but you really have to keep in mind that for a Genesis game, this game is at the very least pretty impressive. The characters and environments are made up using CGI pre-rendered artwork, kind of like what Donkey Kong Country did on the SNES but also isometric and on the Sega Genesis. And I do think the graphics are pretty nice for what they are. Hell there’s FMV in the Genesis version - it’s compressed to shit, but still, FMV in a freaking Genesis game.

That said, the Saturn’s graphics and visuals definitely look nicer in almost every way to me. I guess that’s about to be expected considering the Saturn is a more powerful console, but I still think it’s worth talking about. The graphics in general I feel are a bit more “polished” than compared to the Genesis version and I do think the Saturn version does a lot more with the environments that the Genesis version just couldn’t do. Stuff like having animals “mining” on the cliffs in Green Grove and the fog and rain effects in Rusty Ruin I feel really add to the atmosphere of these levels. The ground also has an actual texture now, and another little touch I like is that certain elements like the bridges in Green Grove and some tiles in Rusty Ruin “tilt” when you walk on them which is a minor but still neat effect they added. The Genesis version is still the more “impressive” version visually, but putting that factor aside, I definitely feel like they took advantage of the Saturn’s higher power and the game definitely just looks really good on the Saturn. It probably isn’t pushing the Saturn to it’s limits or anything, but it’s still a really nice looking Saturn game. Another little thing is that the “pause” screen changes depending on the zone that you’re playing which is, again, a minor detail but something pretty cool that they did add.

Music

And in a similar fashion to Sonic CD, this game technically has two soundtracks. Not based on region this time, but with the Genesis and Saturn versions being different, the soundtrack ends up being a key difference between them. And frankly, with the notion that Sonic games usually have great soundtracks, this game isn’t only no exception, but I would actually go as far as to say both soundtracks are among my favorites in the series. I’d probably say between the two I have a slight preference towards the Saturn soundtrack, I’ve always just found a bit more appeal with the more “atmospheric” tone that the Saturn version has compared to the Genesis versions, but the Genesis soundtrack still slaps. There are some tracks that I prefer in the Genesis version - particularly the Volcano Valley Act 1 and final boss themes (the latter mostly just because the Saturn final boss theme is just a slightly different version of the regular boss theme), but I’d say overall the Saturn version has always been the one I’ve found myself listening more to over the years and has just stuck with me more in general. Some of my particular favorite tracks in the Saturn version being the themes for both acts in Rusty Ruin and Diamond Dust (diamond dust has always just given me a christmas-y vibe which I like), the Special Stage theme, and the credits theme “You’re My Hero.” I know some people prefer the Genesis soundtrack, and I respect that, but I’ve always held a slight preference to the Saturn soundtrack myself. Should mention that some of the Genesis tracks were also remixed in Sonic Adventure. And they also reused an unused boss theme from the Genesis version in Sonic 4: Episode 1 and I don’t really understand why because it sounds like clown music rather than a boss theme but whatever.

Gameplay

But of course, the gameplay tends to be what’s the most divisive among people in general. This game is definitely a completely different take from what the other Genesis games offered - as it is the game’s in an isometric view so on that note alone it doesn’t necessarily translate the gameplay of the 2D side scrollers. But even with that aside, the game isn’t as straightforward as going from point A to point B. Each act is split into a few sections where you hunt down 5 flickies, each hidden inside one of Robotnik/Eggman’s robots, and transport them to a giant ring. Only exceptions to this being Panic Puppet, where in Act 1 they’re simply stored in these tube things and in Act 2 you just go straight to point B.

I definitely feel 3D Blast is a lot based around exploration than speed, and considering this is a different take on the Sonic series in an isometric view, I do think this is ultimately the best direction the game could’ve gone in. Granted this isn’t the first Sonic game to do an isometric view, before this there was the arcade game “SegaSonic the Hedgehog” as well as “Sonic Labyrinth” on the Game Gear. The latter of which I heavily disliked, and the former I played a bit on MAME a while ago and don’t really know how to feel about. From what I can tell though, SegaSonic the Hedgehog does seem to have a bit more focus on being fast-paced although it feels like as a result the levels are a lot more linear, compared to 3D Blast where it’s levels feel more exploration-heavy and open-ended.

But on that note, the people who don’t enjoy the gameplay of Sonic 3D Blast often talk about finding it repetitive or tedious in some way. And I can understand where they’re coming from - having to rescue flickies and transport them can just kind of get old after a while and this game doesn’t really push variety that much outside of it’s main gameplay style. Doesn’t help either that the Flickies are also kind of a pain in the ass. If they get hit by a hazard while being behind Sonic, they’ll try to run away, leaving you to have to go back for them, and if Sonic gets hit himself, they all scatter around the area. The flickies themselves have somewhat different behaviors for when they get hit and run away, the Green once being the worst of the bunch due to having no pattern and just going wherever it wants. The worst case scenario, sometimes flickies will fly around or above a hazard making them very difficult to get back without taking damage or dying, Volcano Valley being the absolute worst with this.

However, when it comes to the core part of obtaining the flickies themselves, I never really had much of a problem with it. I think overall these levels are designed well enough around the objective, with having different pathways and areas you can look for flickies on top of extra goodies like extra lives or those Sonic medals that lead to a Continue. And honestly I’ve always found some fun in exploring the levels in general and just being kind of open to go in whatever direction I want. Typically the Flickies fall into a linear progression regardless aside for some exceptions (mainly with the later stages, Volcano Valley and Gene Gadget), so I didn’t really feel like I ever really got off track or “lost” or anything while hunting down the flickies, and even the stages that didn’t quite have this linear progression, I still felt like I had an idea of where to go. Sonic 3D Blast has always felt somewhat arcade-y to me in a way, I guess just on the note of looking for flickies in each section of each level. Actually there was a game called “Flicky” released by Sega in the arcades early on where the objective was to small birds called Chirps in each level and I get the impression that this game took some inspiration from that. 

I think another one of the biggest criticisms towards this game I’ve seen though is towards it’s controls. A lot of people feel that they are a bit too slippery, and I can honestly understand this point of view. I especially felt this was kind of an issue in the game’s occasional moments of platforming, where it was very easy for me to overshoot a jump, undershoot a jump or land and then easily slip off the platform. And I don’t really think the isometric view really helps with that either. Even I have to admit that occasionally the perspective did kind of throw me off in some areas. 

At the same time though there… really isn’t much platforming in this game. There’s a few times where you have to jump across floating platforms in Rusty Ruins and in general I didn’t really feel that the control issues really hindered the overall experience of the game for me personally. Again, the game is a lot more based around exploration of the levels and figuring out the occasional gimmick here and there so platforming really isn’t that much of a consideration in this game’s levels. And I think that’s really for the better because platforming with this game’s control and perspective isn’t exactly a great feat.

I gotta say however that the bosses in this game were easily my least favorite part of it all. I feel like these definitely had the tendency to really make the game’s worst aspects stand out more to me, especially as the game progressed on. Volcano Valley’s boss in particular requires a bit of platforming as you try to land on these pipes coming out of Robotnik’s machine, and with my stated problem with this game’s platforming it felt really easy to go a bit too far and fall into the lava. Panic Puppet’s boss (which is the final boss if you don’t collect the emeralds) felt like I had to be really precise in hitting Robotnik where the game wanted me to all while trying to dodge the obstacles especially in the case of the third act of it. The “actual” final boss though… is fine, I don’t really have anything to complain about it. It’s pretty easy although I kind of feel like it drags for a bit too long. Bosses haven’t really ever been Sonic’s strong suit, but this is one case where I feel like the bosses really highlight the overall problems with the game.

Of course, that brings me to my next point regarding the special stages. Once again, the Chaos Emeralds appear in this game and to get them, you have to beat seven special stages. Truth be told, I don’t exactly like it when games hide a “true” final level or boss behind 100% completion, but as far as the Genesis version is concerned the special stages there are piss easy. All you’re really doing is running on a straight forward path and on my first attempt to play the game I managed to get all the emeralds. Definitely not among the best or most interesting special stages, but I guess to be fair that’s never really been a strong point of Sonic games. 

The Saturn version on the other hand has special stages that I actually quite like. They’re pretty much a modern take on the half-pipe stages from Sonic 2, but unlike those I could actually see what I was running into and felt like I could properly react, and unlike the 3D Blast Genesis’ stages they still offered a good challenge. This isn’t really unique to the game since Sonic 4: Episode 2 ended up doing this later on, but I think 3D Blast Saturn’s take on it might be my favorite take on the half-pipe stages, and the music and visuals definitely enhance the experience. There is one somewhat annoying change to the special stages though in the Saturn version. In the Genesis version, you’re able to collect two emeralds in an act if you can find Knuckles and Tails, but in the Saturn version, you’re just limited to one emerald per act regardless if you’re able to find both Tails and Knuckles or not. This kind of comes off to me as a somewhat annoying change, not really major, but it makes getting all the emeralds take slightly longer.

The shields from Sonic 3 & Knuckles also make a comeback here. Kind of. There’s three available to you through the entire game. The blue shield acts as a pretty much a standard shield, although I did realize it does protect you from the electrical currents coming out of the ground in Gene Gadget. The red shield is here, and pretty much protects you from fire and lava which makes Volcano Valley go from being the worst stage in this game to kind of a cake walk. But the yellow shield I found the most interesting for one reason. If you get it, Sonic gains the ability to home in on enemies, which… technically makes this the first Sonic game with any form of homing attack. I don’t really have much to say about the shields, but that is something worth noting.

I also do have one more criticism towards this game and that’s… why is there no save feature? Okay, to be fair, 3D Blast isn’t exactly the longest game, but at the same time I really don’t see any reason as to why this couldn’t have been included in neither the Genesis or Saturn version of the game. I mean this was 1996, and the Saturn was literally next-gen hardware, so why they couldn’t allow for a save feature beats me.

Conclusion

So, there’s my thoughts on Sonic 3D Blast. Is it one of the best Sonic games ever? No. Is it as good as the classic games? Hell no. But at the same time… I always felt like I got enjoyment out of this title. It’s not perfect, the control issues can be really bad and I can definitely understand why some wouldn’t enjoy it’s approach to gameplay, but I really like what this game was going for and it’s always been an interesting game that I’ve occasionally gone back to, even when growing up. I don’t really go back to it much nowadays, especially not compared to the classic games, Mania, Colors or Generations, but I still feel like I enjoy this game when I play it and I don’t really find myself agreeing with it sometimes being considered one of the worst games in the series or whatever.

Would I recommend this game? Honestly, yeah. It has it’s issues, some straight up don’t like the game, but ultimately the game’s pretty easy to come across nowadays. Granted, almost every re-release of the game has been the Genesis version and if you were to play the game on modern platforms that’s the version that you’ll get unless you emulate the Saturn version on a PC. The Genesis version of the game is available on Steam as well in the Sega Genesis Classics collection for Switch, PS4 and Xbox One. There was a PC version of the game released in 1997 that you may come across on eBay that acts as a port of the Saturn version, and in some ways it could be the best way to play the Saturn version of the game due to having a save feature and just being more accessible in general, but at the same time the special stages in this version aren’t the same as in the Saturn version and are… honestly pretty shitty.

However, ultimately I’d say the best way to play this game is to get it on Steam and download the “Sonic 3D Blast: Director’s Cut” mod for it. I had mentioned earlier that there was a channel called “Game Hut” that documents a lot of the game’s history and development and the owner of the channel, Jon Burton, actually developed a modded version of the game that comes off as a complete version - having a save feature, bug fixes, improved controls and Super Sonic as an award for collecting all the emeralds. It is a mod solely for the Genesis version, but I’d say it’s the best way to play the game in my opinion, especially on a modern platform, and one I want to do a full playthrough of some day and may go back to more often when revisiting the game. I just wish that there was a version of the game with all these features but the visuals and special stages of the Saturn version, and at least the option to choose between the two soundtracks.