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Sonic 3D Blast is an action-platform video game, originally released for the Sega Genesis in 1996. An installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the game—which was the final game in the franchise released for the system—follows Sonic as he embarks on a journey to save the Flickies, a species of bird that is being enslaved by Doctor Robotnik. While the game retains similar gameplay mechanics to prior games, Sonic 3D Blast is differentiated by its isometric viewpoint, making use of some pre-rendered 3D models converted into sprites.

While the basic concept of Sonic 3D Blast was created by longtime series developer Sonic Team, most of the actual programming was done by Traveller's Tales. The game was conceived as a swan song for Sonic on the Genesis, which had been discontinued. The game was developed alongside the unreleased Sega Saturn game Sonic X-treme; when X-treme was cancelled, Sega commissioned a port of 3D Blast for the Saturn as a backup plan. The game was first published by Sega as Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island in Europe on November 5, 1996. It was later ported to Microsoft Windows in 1997, and has been re-released on numerous Sonic themed compilations and digital distribution platforms.

Sonic 3D Blast received mixed reviews. Critics generally disliked its isometric gameplay, citing frustrations with its controls and slow pace, but praised its visuals and music. Certain tracks from the game were later arranged for use in Sonic Adventure in 1998. An unofficial director's cut developed by the original game's programmer Jon Burton was announced in 2017, featuring improved controls and gameplay additions not seen in the original version.

Gameplay

Sonic 3D Blast is a platform game played from an isometric viewpoint. Players control Sonic the Hedgehog, whose goal is to save the Flickies, collect the seven Chaos Emeralds, and defeat Doctor Robotnik and his robot army. 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. In normal levels, once the player collects all five Flickies from each section of an act, Sonic is either further advanced into the act, or taken to the next act. If Sonic and the following Flickies are hit by an obstacle or enemy, the Flickies and the rings Sonic collected will scatter. Each individual Flicky's color determines its behavior: blue, pink, and orange Flickies make an effort to find Sonic, while green and red Flickies wander off at random; the latter even jumping about, making them harder to re-collect. Sonic starts the game with a limited number of lives; if he is hit with no Flickies or rings in his possession, he will lose a life. Losing all lives results in a game over.

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.

Development and release

Sonic 3D Blast was the final Sonic game created for the Sega Genesis, and was developed as a swan song for the system. Sega had discontinued official support for the system in 1995, but intended all along to produce the game for the 16-bit console because games typically sell for one to two years after their platforms' discontinuation. While the game's basic concept was conceived by longtime series developer Sonic Team, most of the actual programming was done by the UK-based developer Traveller's Tales. The founder of Traveller's Tales, Jon Burton, was the game's programmer. Burton 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 and various tricks to make the low-resolution video fit in the 4MB cartridge and also appear higher resolution.

Sega also commissioned a version of the game for the Sega Saturn in case Sonic X-treme, which was also in development for the Saturn at the time, was cancelled. This cancellation did indeed occur, so Sonic 3D Blast was safely released in time for Christmas 1996 in its stead. The game was ported in four months, during development of the Sega Genesis version. While it does feature some slight graphical upgrades and changes, the game largely looks and plays the same as its Genesis counterpart. Neil Harding wrote a program to convert the code from 68000 assembly language into C++ code which was used on the Saturn and the PC versions. The code was ported in three months, then an additional month was spent adding graphical enhancements. It features higher quality graphics, opening video, and a new, CD audio soundtrack composed by Richard Jacques. 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.