It's funny that this game came up right after Contra: Legacy of War. Similarly to that game, Sonic 3D Blast also was its series first foray into "wannabe-3D" or in other words, "3D" from an isometric perspective. Similarly, this game was not received all that well. And similarly, the publishers decided to let external developers make these games instead of using their established teams.
While in Sonic and Sega's case, the main team was preoccupied making a different game, Nights into Dreams, it begs the question, why did Sega think it would be OK to not have a flagship Sonic title for its new 64-bit system, the Sega Saturn? Why was it such an afterthought while an, admittedly technologically impressive, Sonic game was being commissioned for the previous gen Sega Genesis again?
Well apparently the reason was that a different Sonic 3D game was being worked on around the same time called Sonic X-treme. It ended up being cancelled. We have footage of it and from a first glance ... yeah. It looks bad. What were they thinking with the fish-eye view?
As I said with Contra: Legacy of War, I understand the temptation for 3D games at the time, but if it's too complicated for you to do right, you have to realize that 2D is still the way to go. Right? You can't starve your fans of your flagship gaming character and expect to do well in competition with Nintendo.
So in the end what happened was that Sega wanted a port of Sonic 3D Blast to be made for the Sega Saturn. While the development of Sonic 3D Blast for the Genesis only took about 8 months, the job to port it to the Saturn was done in 7 (!) weeks (!). So you can imagine how different the game looks on the much more powerful Sega Saturn: not all that much. You can't really blame the devs all that much here, it's exclusively mismanagement by Sega in my opinion.
Anyway, what the Saturn version does differently is, of course, look very slightly better, but outside of that, it only has a different special stage (which is the same one used in Sonic the Hedgehog 2), a higher quality opening video and a different (very good) soundtrack.
But did it need any more changes than that? Is the game any good? Let's find out.
 |
| Title Screen |
STORYTELLING/CHARACTERS | 2/10
An opening video and an ending cutscene are all you get in-game as far as the story goes. That goes like this:
There are these birds called "Flickies" that can travel using large rings, so Dr. Robotnik wants to turn them into robots and use them for his purposes (i.e to collect the Chaos Emeralds). Sonic wants to rescue them, so he has to go into each level, kill all the non-stationary enemies so that a flicky pops out of each of them, and then carry them with him to the large ring at the end of a level so they can travel back to their home I guess.
Simple, sufficient.
GAMEPLAY | 9/20
This is the first "3D" Sonic game. It uses an isometric perspective. As mentioned, the goal is to go into each level, kill the 5 enemies carrying flickies, and bringing them to the large ring that either opens up the next section of the Act or finishes it. Each world has 3 Acts with the final one acting as the boss fight, pretty standard stuff for Sonic.
Outside of this main goal, you collect rings and find hidden areas where Tails and Knuckles await your arrival. If you can bring them 50 rings, you are moved to secret stages. These are the same as in Sonic the Hedehog 2. You run forward in a half-pipe track, you need collect a set number of rings to get to Stage 2 of the mini-game, where you need to collect a higher set number. The only obstacle are the bombs, and they're easy to avoid after your first run. Getting the required rings gives you a Chaos Emerald. Collect all 7 and you unlock Super Sonic ... wait, no you don't. Super Sonic is not in the game. Instead, you unlock the secret final boss fight against Dr. Robotnik.
Outside of the hunt for secret stages and collecting 5 Flickies, there is nothing else in the game for you to do. There are a total of 8 zones, each with a different theme, but in terms of gameplay, some are similar to each other. Multiple zones have fans that blow you in the air for example. There is always a stationary enemy shooting in 8 directions that you can't kill. There are also turrets that shoot out fire (in Volcano Valley) or ice (in Diamond Dust) depending on the zone. Enemies vary slightly in appearance but are mostly the same, as they don't attack and just have to be rolled over and stepped on to kill them.
Speaking of rolling over, the game brings back the Spin Dash. It's the only skill Sonic has other than simply spinning forward slowly. In terms of power ups, there are invincibility (nothing can hit you) or shield power ups (takes one blow for
you). The only other one of note are the Speed Shoes, but this is worse than useless because the areas are so tight and hard to maneuver that collecting speed does you literally no good. You will hit a wall or an enemy within a second or two, and going that long without having to turn at some point is pretty much impossible in the game. This means that the game overall has a much slower feel to it than usual. I've complained before that I personally am not a fan of the high pace of Sonic games, but that's entirely subjective. Sonic fans love it. So to have that nerfed here is definitely a negative for the series fanbase. The only time speed shoes are useful are when they are paired with invincibility, in which case you can just run around to your heart's content, but you will still bump into stuff very regularly.
The main problem with the gameplay is that Sonic just feels so damn slippery all the time. The manual even warns about how you can control him better in the Diamon Dust zone, where there is ice, but jokes on them, every single zone feels like you are on ice. This makes precise jumps incredibly painful because you misjudge your speed and fly past your target or are way short of it. The isometric perspective also creates this issue with positional depth (similarly to Contra Legacy of War and many other isometric 3D titles of its time I'd assume), so jumping on moving platforms is an incredibly frustrating exercise.
Even if the controls were a charm though, the game never feels truly exciting. They are mostly kept into short areas where you are tasked with finding the 5 enemies. Once you do, you bring the flickies you get to the ring. Get hit on your way to the ring and the flickies are thrown in random directions, meaning you have to pick them up again. It's so annoying to deal with in a platformer, again, even with perfect controls. And when everything goes well, you simply carry them from point A to B with very little resistance other than the stationary enemies and the few spikes or lava pits you can hit.
It's a competent but boring gameplay loop at its best, and a really frustrating game at its worst, leaning more towards the latter usually. To have this as the only non-racing Sonic game for the Saturn is wild.
 |
| Killing one of the many of the few copy&paste enemies |
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE | 8/10
Regardless of what one (or in this review: I) might think about the gameplay itself, the music of Sonic 3D Blast on the Sega Saturn is great. You have your typical good vibes, playful, upbeat tracks like in the Green Grove Zone, but the game also impressed me with its more orchestral-like music such as in the Volcano Valley Zone thanks to its use of dramatic melodies that give it a more cinematic feel. Then there is the mix between the two with Rusty Ruins, which has a very mysterious quality to it thanks to its melody while retaining a bouncy vibe from its drum pattern.
Most interestingly, the game ends with a song featuring vocals called "You're My Hero", which must be the second time vocals are used in a Sonic game after Sonic Boom, right? And generally you almost never hear vocals in games up until this point, so it was a fun surprise.
Either way, I enjoyed the music overall.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN | 6/10
The visuals on the Sega Saturn version are definitely better than for the Genesis version, but that is common sense when you have a more powerful machine. The textures look more detailed, the floor tiles don't look as lifeless, the final boss is lit up versus completely dark in the Genesis version and there is overall a higher quality look to the game.
Unfortunately, the colors used still make for ugly floors. It's also the same two colored pattern in each level, making them feel a bit similar. Outside of the flooring, the stages do have very different backgrounds. Sadly, these backgrounds are often undiscernable from playable areas that I often found myself trying to make a jump over there, only to be blocked by invisible walls.
And honestly, 2D Sonic games look much better no matter how you slice it. The effort here is not poor, but stages look heavily inspired by older Sonic games and don't offer ANY unique gameplay mechanics to make them stand out. So I'd pick the 'originals' any day of the week. Those offer unique platforming possibilities to make them feel like playgrounds for the player to experiment in or to fight the distinct challenges each stage represents. In Sonic 3D Blast, they only look different.
 |
| I don't know about you, but it's not my favorite world map |
ATMOSPHERE/IMMERSION | 5/10
It sounds like a Sonic game and it has Sonic elements in gameplay. These parts are not that hard. Add stages from previous entries, copy elements from previous entries (while foregoing others, making this a less complete game), make Tails and Knuckles stand there so more Sonic characters are somehow included, have Dr. Robotnik be the villain and you have a basis for "Sonic vibes" these games will emanate at this point. But the game doesn't do anything beyond that.
Very little story, an ugly looking world map, a random handful (literally) of killable enemies in each part of the stage and the awkward camera angle are some of the things holding the game back in this regard.
CONTENT | 2/10
Sonic 3D Blast offers a semi-decent amount of content for a platformer, but it falls short of delivering the depth and variety expected from a Sonic title, especially given its release on the Sega Saturn. It took me roughly 5 hours using save states a couple times, so it would take your average player from the 90s 10-15 hours at most. That's not so bad.
Unfortunately, most of the time you hunt down for the flickies, even if you do so on a lot of different stages. They vary thematically but often obstacles are copied and pasted with a different filter. Special stages are not unique (only visually upgraded from Sonic 2) but at least offer some bonus content. Also, Super Sonic is missing.
It's an OK time for a weekend, doesn't overstay its welcome if you find some enjoyment out of it but overall, there are many much better platformers out there, especially of the 3D variety.
 |
| The special stage you might remember from Sonic 2 |
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN | 3/10
I've touched on this so far already. To sum up, a mix of boring "find flickies and bring them to the ring" and "different looking but similarly playing stages" makes for a repetitive and uninspired game.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION | 3/10
I suppose the move to "3D" counts as kind of innovative but very little is done with it and it would have been better to stick with 2D if they didn't give 3D a proper try a la Super Mario 64. Other than that, this is a more empty, less appealing version of older Sonic games.
REPLAYABILITY | 2/5
You can hunt down all Chaos Emeralds in your second attempt if you failed the first time out, since the final boss fight is locked behind that. Otherwise, no replayability.
PLAYABILITY | 4/5
Works well at all times, but the controls are so awful that I docked a point for that. Jumping on moving platforms or trying to come to a stand still in these little pits some enemies are in without rolling past them is so unnecessarily finicky.
OVERALL | 49/100 ⭐⭐½
The worst thing you can say about Sonic 3D Blast is that it is kinda "meh". And that's not what you want for a Sonic game at all. It gives off an "unfinished" and "rushed" vibe everywhere. I didn't grow up with Sega consoles and never really looked this stuff up, and after doing so I'm flabbergasted by the fact that THIS is the only game that Sega gave Sonic platforming fans to play on their 64 bit console.
No comments:
Post a Comment