Sonic 3D
| Sonic 3D Blast | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer(s) | Sonic Team Traveller's Tales |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Producer(s) | Kats Sato Yutaka Sugano |
| Designer(s) | Takao Miyoshi |
| Composer(s) | Jun Senoue (16-bit version) Richard Jacques (Saturn version) |
| Platform(s) | Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Saturn, Windows, Mac OS 9, Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Release date(s) | Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
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| Genre(s) | Isometric Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | 32 Mbit cartridge, CD-ROM (1) |
Sonic 3D, also known as Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island in Europe, Sonic 3D Blast in North America; and both in Japan, is an isometric platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was developed in the United Kingdom by Traveller's Tales and published by Sega. Primarily developed as the last Sonic game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, it was later ported to the Sega Saturn and PC, and later re-released on many compilations and digital distribution platforms as well.
A separate game, titled Sonic Blast, was also released for the Sega Game Gear in the same year. However, much like the Game Gear versions of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, they are similarly titled but decidedly different games.
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[edit] Gameplay
[edit] Main game
In contrast to the other Sonic games released for the Sega Genesis, which were 2D sidescrolling platformers, this game is played from an isometric viewpoint in a 2D environment and uses pre-rendered 3D sprites, displaying pseudo-3D graphics.
In the game, Doctor Robotnik discovered mysterious birds, called flickies, that live on an island in an alternate dimension. He learned that they can travel anywhere using large rings, so he decided to exploit them by turning them into robots to help him search for the Chaos Emeralds.[1] Sonic must collect flickies by finding and destroying those robots located around the level, and bring them to a large ring located somewhere in the level. Once he collects all five flickies from a given subsection of a level, he is allowed to advance either further into the given level, or to the next level. Every level has three parts, 2 involving standard levels, and the third being a boss fight against Robotnik, without any flickies collection involved.
If Sonic or the flickies are hit by an obstacle or enemy, the flickies will scatter. The color of the individual flicky will determine how it acts while away from Sonic. Blue and pink/orange ones make an effort to follow after Sonic, while green or red ones wander off at random, the latter even jumping about, making them harder to recollect.
[edit] Special stages
Like in previous Sega Genesis Sonic games, special stages are the means to collecting the Chaos Emeralds. In order to access these stages, either Knuckles or Tails must be located within the regular levels. When stood next to, they take all the rings currently in Sonic's possession. If Sonic has over fifty rings, or supplies them with fifty rings or more with multiple visits, he is warped to a special stage.
There are three different versions of the special stages among the different versions of the game, but all three involve the same basic premise as the the special stages from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Sonic runs down a pre-set path and must collect rings while avoiding obstacles that, when run into, make him lose rings. A certain number of preset rings need to be obtained to continue through the stage, and ultimately be able to make it to the end and be rewarded with a Chaos Emerald.
Collecting all 7 of the Chaos Emeralds is the only way to reach the "Final Fight" level, consisting of the final boss fight and good ending of the game.
[edit] Development
The Sega Saturn port of the game was used as a last resort and back up plan to release a Sonic game for Christmas 1996 after the cancellation of Sonic Xtreme.[2] Sonic Team filled in for development of the special stage in the Saturn version of the game.[3]
The soundtrack for the Mega Drive version was composed by Tatsuyuki Maeda, Seirou Okamoto, Jun Senoue, and Masaru Setsumaru, the latter two would later write music for Sonic Adventure in 1998. Several incidental themes are reused from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles.[citation needed]
The Saturn and PC versions' soundtrack was composed by Richard Jacques, and is stored as Red Book audio. This soundtrack features the song "You're My Hero" performed by Debbie Morris, which is played during the end credits.
[edit] Alternate versions and ports
[edit] Saturn version
In addition to the original Sega Genesis version, Sonic 3D was also available for the Sega Saturn to make up for the cancellation of Sonic X-treme, which was intended to be Saturn's big game for the 1996 holiday season. The game was ported in seven weeks, during development of the Genesis version. It features some minor upgrades from the Genesis version, including a higher quality opening video, slightly higher quality graphics and an entirely new, CD audio soundtrack composed by Richard Jacques. It also contained a different special stage, developed separately by Sonic Team. Beyond this, the game was largely the same.
[edit] PC version
In September 1997, a port of the Saturn version was released for PC in Europe and North America. It contained the same the videos and soundtrack, but lacking some of the Saturn's graphical upgrades, such as the fog. Features exclusive to this version include the ability to save one's progress in the game, and a third version of the special stage that mixed the 2D sprites from the Genesis version with the basic 3D gameplay of the Saturn version.
[edit] Compilations
Compilations that include the game include Sonic Mega Collection (2002) for the Nintendo GameCube, Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004) for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC, and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (2009) for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
[edit] Digital releases
The Mega Drive/Genesis version of the game was released for the Wii's Virtual Console system.[4] The game was digitally re-released for the PC through Steam as well.[citation needed]
[edit] Reception
Sonic 3D has gained mixed to negative reviews. IGN criticized the game, complaining about the poor controls in conjunction with the isometric viewpoint, and change in the previous Sonic formula, stating "you can't deny that the game's core design is repetitive and, ultimately, kind of bland. The sense of speed and intense action that Sonic's name was built on is absent here, replaced by, essentially, a looping, lazy fetchquest."[5] Gamespot was more positive on the game, praising its graphics, soundtrack and challenging boss fights.[6] However, common complaints were still that "...wandering around the levels looking for the last enemy gets boring very quickly. Had this game been more action oriented, with more enemies and much faster gameplay, it would have truly lived up to the Sonic name"[7] Entertainment Weekly was harder on the Saturn version of the game than the Genesis version, claiming that "while 3D Blast is super by 16-bit standards, it falls flat on Saturn, where 32-bit games with far more sophisticated 3-D graphics and gameplay are the norm."[8]
In retrospect, Screw Attack ranked it #5 in its list of worst Sonic games of calling the game "a 2-D overhead with a bad angle". [9] Conversely, 1up would describe the game as "much better than you might be led to believe by the negative reviews it garned back in the day."[10]
[edit] Legacy
Archie Comics published a comic adaptation of the game for a 48-page special, published in January 1997. A loose adaptation of the game also appeared in issues #104-106 of Sonic the Comic.
Certain tracks from the game were later remixed for Sonic Adventure in 1998; composer Jun Senoue stated he included those tracks because he personally enjoyed, and they had gone unheard until the remixes, as the Genesis version was not released in Japan.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ http://wii.ign.com/articles/839/839435p1.html
- ^ http://www.gamesradar.com/the-greatest-sonic-game-we-never-got-to-play/?page=7
- ^ "Sonic Boom!". Sega Saturn Magazine. January 1997.
- ^ http://wii.ign.com/articles/839/839435p1.html
- ^ http://wii.ign.com/articles/839/839435p1.html
- ^ Sonic 3D Blast: http://www.gamespot.com/saturn/action/sonic3dblast/review.html
- ^ http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-3d-blast/reviews/sonic-3d-blast-review-2534101
- ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,295392,00.html
- ^ "Best and Worst Sonic Games | ScrewAttack - Something Original... Every Freakin' Day". ScrewAttack. http://screwattack.com/videos/Best-and-Worst-Sonic-Games. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
- ^ http://www.1up.com/reviews/sonic-mega-collection_3
- ^ http://www.tssznews.com/2011/07/11/video-summer-of-sonic-2011-retrospect-released/
[edit] External links
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