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Not to be confused with Sonic Blast or Sonic the Hedgehog Blast.

Sonic 3D Blast (ソニック3Dブラスト[14] Sonikku Surīdī Burasuto?) (North America) or Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (ソニック3D フリッキーアイランド Sonikku 3D Furikkī Airando?) (Europe and Japan) is a 1996 platformer video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was developed in the United Kingdom by Traveller's Tales and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Saturn and PC.

The Japanese version was released simultaneously with Sonic Adventure International as a Sega Saturn exclusive under the name Flickies' Island, although later re-releases of the Mega Drive version used the name Blast. The Mega Drive version has been released on the Wii's Virtual Console service in late 2007 on the European and Japanese markets, and on 19 November 2007 in North America. The plot arc of Sonic 3D Blast revolves around the evil Dr. Eggman who wreaks havoc on Flicky Island by capturing the Flickies and turning them into Badniks in an attempt to locate the Chaos Emeralds and conquer the world. Therefore, it's up to Sonic the Hedgehog to hunt down the Emeralds, save all of the birds, as well as the entire island and put an end to Eggman's sinister plot.

The original Genesis version was also included in Sonic Mega Collection in 2002, a compilation on the Nintendo GameCube of seven Sonic hits, and was later featured in the 2004 re-release Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 systems, which featured the seven original games, plus unlockable Game Gear titles and other bonus features. The PC release, based on the Saturn incarnation, used the full title, Sonic 3D Blast: Flickies' Island, on its window.

Plot[]

Spoiler warning: Plot, ending details or any kind of information follow.
Sonic3DSaturnTitle

The title screen of the European version of the Sega Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast.

The stories surrounding the Chaos Emeralds, beautiful gems that possess mysterious power, would prompt Sonic and his friends Tails and Knuckles to visit a mysterious island known as Flicky Island. According to the legend, the seven Emeralds lie dormant on this island. The first thing on the agenda for the hedgehog and his friends is to look for birds named "Flickies," which serve as clues to the gems' location.[15]

At the same time, there is a spy satellite in the sky far away that scouts out Flicky Island. This satellite belongs to the evil scientist Dr. Eggman, who has been looking for the island after hearing about the Chaos Emerald legend as well. He immediately examines the whereabouts of those jewels, and he soon finds out that he will have to use the Flickies in order to find them. He thus comes to the area to capture the birds. However, there are no trace of these anywhere, only forests and mountains that stand still as death. Suddenly however, the doctor sees a Dimension Ring appear in the distance. From it, a flock of Flickies pops out. These stay in the trees, and when they finish eating the local nuts, they go back into the Ring again. With this observation, The villain has figured out the Flickies' secret: the Flickies are coming and going through subspaces using Dimension Rings as they please. As Dr. Eggman thinks about this to himself, he quickly completes a "Dimension Ring Generator". He then begins capturing the Flickies and imprisons them in Badniks one after another.[15]

Following that event, Sonic immediately arrives. When he sees Dr. Eggman imprisoning the Flickies in Badniks, he yells out in frustration to his nemesis. The doctor, however, merely gloats to the hedgehog that he will not be able to stop him this time, as he will conquer the world once he has all the Chaos Emeralds, before flying away in his Egg Mobile.[15]

Making his way across Flicky Island, Sonic frees the Flickies from Eggman's Badniks and, with Knuckles and Tails' help, travels to the Special Stages to find the Chaos Emeralds before Eggman does. At the Panic Puppet, the villain's base, Sonic has freed all the Flickies from his nemesis' control. From there, he has a showdown with the scientist. After this, the game's ending will depend on the player's progress and the version of the game they are playing:

  • If the player has not collected all seven Chaos Emeralds in the Sega Mega Drive version, the screen will show Dr. Eggman's Final Weapon, with him declaring offscreen that he can conquer the world anytime he is in possession of this machine. After the credits, the doctor will be shown with the Chaos Emeralds the player has not managed to collect, with the text "TRY AGAIN" above him.
  • If the player has managed to collect all seven Chaos Emeralds in the Sega Mega Drive version, the game will continue with Sonic being transported to The Final Fight with the Chaos Emeralds and the Flickies' aid. There, Sonic will fight Dr. Eggman and his Final Weapon. After defeating his nemesis, Sonic returns to Flicky Island through a Dimension Ring, where he is thanked by the Flickies for his efforts. The hedgehog says that he did what he wanted to do, and that no one messes with his friends. With the doctor having been defeated, all Flickies have been saved, and Flicky Island is in peace and free once again.
  • If the player has not collected the seven Chaos Emeralds in the Sega Saturn/PC version, Sonic and the Flickies will return to Flicky Island. However, unbeknownst to them, a Dimensional Ring emerges nearby, in which Dr. Eggman has the Chaos Emeralds in his possession as he eerily laughs.
  • If the player has secured the seven Chaos Emeralds in the Sega Saturn/PC version, Sonic will fight and defeat Dr. Eggman in the Final Weapon. Following his victory, he will celebrate with the Flickies on Flicky Island.

Characters[]

Image Character Biography
Sonic 3D Blast - Sega Saturn Version Sonic the Hedgehog The world's fastest, sonic-speed hedgehog. Once again, he'll face off against his nemesis (?), Dr. Eggman, for the Chaos Emeralds![16]
Tails cross Miles "Tails" Prower An energetic fox with two tails who adores Sonic. This time, he appears as a helper character.[17]
Knuckles-Art-Sonic-3D Knuckles the Echidna Sonic's rival, the flying echidna. He's a rival, but this time he appears as a helper character, just like Tails.[17]
Eggman-Art-Sonic-3D Dr. Eggman The world's most evil super genius scientist. This time, he's going to beat Sonic to a pulp.[18]
Flicky 5 Flicky green 2
Flicky red 2 Flicky pink 2
Flickies Small birds who live on Flicky Island. They are said to be the key to the secret of the Chaos Emeralds, but they are being held by Dr. Eggman.[18]

Gameplay[]

Green grove act 2 02

Green Grove Zone, the first Zone in the Sega Genesis version of the game.

Sonic 3D Blast is an isometric view action and platforming video game. The player takes control of Sonic the Hedgehog, who can run, jump and Spin Dash. The game features seven main Zones, each divided into two Acts and a third, shorter Act with a boss fight against Eggman.

The main objective of Sonic 3D Blast is to beat the aforementioned Acts in the least amount of time possible. To do so, the player needs to find all five Flickies in different sections of an Act, which can be done by defeating the Badniks in that Zone. The Flickies have different behavior according to their colors; the blue ones will try to find Sonic, and if they do not manage to do so, they will fly around in circles; the pink ones behave the same as the blue ones, except that they will fly in bigger circles; the red Flickies will not make any efforts to find Sonic, and make large jumps that make them hard to catch; the green Flickies wander around in random places, sometimes even trying to avoid Sonic. The playable character needs to touch a Flicky to make it follow Sonic and take them to the Dimension Ring. Once done, the player will be able to proceed with the Act, eventually reaching the goal.

In Sonic 3D Blast's Acts, many Rings can be seen scattered everywhere. Rings serve as the playable character's basic method of protection from enemy attacks and other hazards, for if Sonic takes damage while having at least one Ring, he'll survive at the cost of losing all of his Rings and Flickies. And if Sonic is hit without having any Rings on him, he loses a life and must try the current Act again from either the beginning or at the location of the Dimension Ring that serves as a checkpoint. The game is over once Sonic loses all of his lives, but the player can keep playing by using any obtained Continues.

The secondary goal is to find the Chaos Emeralds, which can be done by visiting a Special Stage within the first five Zones. Upon completing a Special Stage, Sonic will be awarded with an Emerald. If he collects all seven Emeralds and defeats Eggman in Panic Puppet Zone, he can access the final Zone and the good ending of the game.

Scoring system[]

Main article: Point#Sonic 3D Blast

Controls[]

Button formation Sonic-3D-Life-Icon-Sega-Saturn Movement
Mega Drive Saturn PC (original) PC (Steam)
Directional buttons [←]/[↑]/[→]/[↓] // [1]/[2]/[3]/[4]/[6]/[7]/[8]/[9] (numpad) [←]/[↑]/[→]/[↓] Walk/Run
A/C A/C [CTRL]/[SPACE] [A] Spin Jump
Sega Genesis B Button Sega Saturn B Button [SHIFT] [B] Sonic Spin Dash
Directional buttons + Sega Genesis B Button Directional buttons + Sega Saturn B Button [←]/[↑]/[→]/[↓] // [1]/[2]/[3]/[4]/[6]/[7]/[8]/[9] + [SHIFT] [←]/[↑]/[→]/[↓] + [B] Spin Attack
START [ENTER]/[F3] [ENTER] Pause

Characters[]

Playable characters[]

Non-playable characters[]

Badniks[]

Zones[]

  1. Green Grove Zone: A Green Hill-esque tropical paradise with checkered soil.
  2. Rusty Ruin Zone: The once-submerged remnants of an ancient culture, dredged up from the sea bed by Eggman.
  3. Spring Stadium Zone: A bouncy arena filled with balloons and spikes.
  4. Diamond Dust Zone: The frigid slopes of Flicky Island's mountain range.
  5. Volcano Valley Zone: An active volcano.
  6. Gene Gadget Zone: Dr. Eggman's genetic research laboratory.
  7. Panic Puppet Zone: A fortified factory and the center of Dr. Eggman's base, with the game ending here if the player has not collected all 7 Chaos Emeralds.
  8. The Final Fight: The steel foundations beneath the previous Zone that can only be accessed if the player collects all 7 Chaos Emeralds.

Special Stages[]

To warp to a Special Stage where the player can try for a Chaos Emerald, either Tails or Knuckles must be located within the regular levels. The player must then hand over a minimum of fifty Rings to one of them in order to be taken to the Special Stage. The player must stand next to either Tails or Knuckles for the Rings to be absorbed. However, the player is not required to hand over all fifty Rings at once but can instead hand over a portion and then come back later in the same level and hand over the remaining Rings.

There are three different versions of the bonus levels based on the game's platform:

  • Sega Genesis/Mega Drive: Sonic runs down a bridge, collecting Rings and avoiding Bombs.
  • Saturn: Sonic runs down a three-dimensional half-pipe covered in Rings and Bombs, the player must collect enough Rings to progress to the end of each stage.
  • PC: Sonic runs down a half-pipe similar to those in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

After Tails/Knuckles has received fifty Rings and Sonic returns back to the level, Tails/Knuckles will not transport the player back to the Special Stage again, but will instead give Sonic extra bonus points at the end of the level if the player continues to give them more Rings.

Bosses[]

  1. Green Grove Zone boss (only appearance)
  2. Rusty Ruin Zone boss (only appearance)
  3. Spring Stadium Zone boss (only appearance)
  4. Diamond Dust Zone boss (only appearance)
  5. Volcano Valley Zone boss (only appearance)
  6. Gene Gadget Zone boss (only appearance)
  7. Panic Puppet Zone boss (only appearance)
  8. Final Weapon (The Final Fight) (only appearance)

Modes[]

Sonic 3D Blast features many modes that can be acceded through the main menu. These are:

  • Start: Begins the game.
  • Controls: Allows the player to change their controls.
  • Sound Test: Allows the player to listen to the game's tracks.

Development[]

Background and conception[]

JonBurton

Traveller's Tales co-founder Jon Burton (pictured) served as the lead programmer of Sonic 3D Blast.

In 1989, Traveller's Tales was co-founded by British game developers Jon Burton and Andy Ingram. The company achieved recognition through its collaborations with Sega and The Walt Disney Company, having gained the former's respect through their work in titles like Puggsy (1993), Mickey Mania (1994) and Toy Story (1995).[19]

The Mega Drive, a 16-bit video game console made by Sega, had enjoyed great success over the early 1990s with the release of games in the hit Sonic the Hedgehog series. A plethora of titles in the franchise were released for the system, including Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992), Sonic Spinball (1993) and Sonic 3 & Knuckles (1994). These earned Sega worldwide success and allowed the Mega Drive to closely compete with Nintendo's SNES console in North America and Europe.[19]

In late 1994 and early-to-mid 1995, Sega released the Saturn, the successor to the Mega Drive, in Japan and the rest of the world respectively, and discontinued production on the 16-bit console shortly thereafter. However, they wanted to release a new Sonic game for that platform, as games released one or two years after a system's discontinuation tended to still sell well.[19][20]

Following the completion of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, series co-creator Yuji Naka reunited with his fellows at Sonic Team and began work on non-Sonic projects, including NiGHTS into Dreams... (1996). As such, Sega contacted Traveller's Tales to make the new game;[19] such idea "got their attention" as the series was still very popular at the time. Development of Sonic 3D Blast would take eight months to be finished.[21] Traveller's Tales founder Jon Burton served as lead programmer. The game was at first titled "Sonic Spindrift" before being given the final name.[22]

Gameplay and art[]

Sonic 3D Blast uses 3D-like graphics and is played from an isometric perspective. The graphics were made from 3D-rendered models which were converted into sprites, and the overall artstyle was inspired by Donkey Kong Country (1994). Inspiration for the isometric gameplay came from Sonic Labyrinth (1995) and Super Mario RPG (1996), and the Flicky collection system was influenced by Flicky (1984).[23]

Sega Saturn release[]

In addition to the Mega Drive release, Sega also commissioned a port of Sonic 3D Blast for the Saturn in case Sonic X-treme, slated for release in Christmas 1996, was cancelled. The cancelletion did occur in the end, so Sonic 3D Blast was released as a replacement for the holiday season instead.[24] The Saturn version was developed alongside the Mega Drive one for eight weeks. The port also had higher resolution and weather effects, among other changes, but otherwise was made to play exactly like the 16-bit version. Sonic Team members filed in for development of the overhauled Special Stages, which were inspired by those in Sonic 2 and given polygonal graphics rather than sprites only.[19]

Soundtrack[]

Jun Senoue worked on the music for the Mega Drive version, while Richard Jacques scored the Saturn/PC version. Many of the themes used in the Mega Drive version come from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. The Game Over music from Sonic 3D Blast was also used in Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure.

The Saturn version features a theme song, "You're My Hero," composed by Richard Jacques and performed by Debbie Morris. This song is heard during the game's end credits.

Reception[]

 Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
GameRankings 59% (GEN)[25]
67% (SAT)[26]
Review scores
Publication Score
AllGame 3Star fullStar fullStar halfStar empty
Computer and Video Games 4/5 starsStar fullStar fullStar fullStar empty (GEN)[27]
Electronic Gaming Monthly 7.25/10 (GEN)[28]
6.625/10 (SAT)[29]
GameSpot 4/10 (GEN)[30]
7/10 (SAT)[31]
5.6/10 (PC)[32]
IGN 6/10 (GEN)[33]
Nintendo Life 6/10 (GEN)
Sega Power 92% (GEN)[34]
Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) 82% (SAT)
Entertainment Weekly (GEN)
(SAT)

Sonic 3D Blast has gained generally mixed reviews, with critics at the time finding the game's controls and slow pace frustrating, but praising its visuals and music.

IGN was critical of 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."[33] The sense of speed and intense action that Sonic's name was built on is absent here, replaced by, essentially, a looping, lazy fetchquest." Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot was more positive on the game, praising its graphics, soundtrack, and challenging boss fights.[31] Unfortunately, there were still common complaints 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."[31] However, the staff at GameSpot's review of the PC port was much more critical, saying they "can only hope that our little blue buddy's next PC cameo will carry a little more merit."[32]

Entertainment Weekly was harder on the Saturn version of the game than the original Mega Drive version, claiming that "while Sonic 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." Overall, the Saturn version received slightly more positive reception than its Mega Drive counterpart, with critics praising the revamped Special Stages and the weather effects.

Retrospective commentary has also been more negative; ScrewAttack ranked it #5 in its list of worst Sonic games, calling the game "a 2-D overhead with a bad angle." Conversely, 1UP.com described the game as "much better than you might be led to believe by the negative reviews it garnered back in the day."

Sales[]

Mike Wallis, a lead producer, director, and employee in the American branch of Sega, recalled in an interview that the Sega Mega Drive version of Sonic 3D Blast was commercially successful for the company, selling over 700,000 units, despite the discontinuation of official support for the console in 1995. The Saturn version was the second best-selling game of that system worldwide, behind NiGHTS into Dreams, another title also developed by Sonic Team.[20][35]

Re-releases[]

The Mega Drive version of Sonic 3D Blast is included in several compilation releases, such as: Sonic Speed Pack!, Arcade Collection for Windows, Sonic Mega Collection for the GameCube,[36] Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows,[37] and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[38] It was also digitally re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console system[33] in 2007, within the Sonic Double Pack for Windows and on the Steam marketplace in 2010.[39] The game was also playable for VIP members of the PlaySega browser game service sometime in the late 2000s/early 2010s. The game is also featured in the compilation game Sega Genesis Classics alongside many other Sega Genesis games.

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 through 106 (May through July 1997) of Sonic the Comic.

Certain music tracks across both the Mega Drive and Saturn/PC versions of the game were re-arranged for future Sonic games including Sonic Adventure, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, and Sonic Generations. For Sonic Adventure, composer Jun Senoue stated he included those tracks because he personally enjoyed them, but they had not widely been heard as he only composed the music for the Mega Drive version, which was not released in Japan.[40] In addition, an unused beta song would also be re-used by Senoue as the boss theme in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I.[40]

Sonic 3D Blast: Director's Cut[]

In 2017, Jon Burton, the lead programmer of the Mega Drive version, announced that he was working on an unofficial director's cut patch of the game that can be installed into the ROM of the game. The director's cut features improved controls and gameplay additions not seen in the original version, such as a Debug Mode level editor, a level password save system, Time Attack challenges, and the ability to transform into Super Sonic.[41][21] A beta version was released in November 2017.[21]

Cheats[]

Mega Drive version[]

  • Level Select: On the title screen press Sega Genesis B Button, A, Right, A, C, Up, Down, A. If done correctly, the player will be taken to menu screen. At the menu screen, press the start option to be transported to the Level Select Screen.
  • Level Skip: After completing the Level Select code and then selecting a Zone, pause and press A during gameplay to skip to the next level. Also, when skipping a Zone during a Special Stage, the player will be awarded with its Chaos Emerald without even going through the stage.

Saturn version[]

  • Level Skip: Enabled by default. Hold C and press the start button at the start screen. The player should until they get into the main game, and press start to pause. Then press A, Sega Saturn B Button or C.
  • 'Easy Emeralds/Quick Emerald Gain: Enabled by default. Hold C and press start at the start screen. The player should until they get into the main game, and press start to pause. Then press Sega Saturn Z Button.

Trivia[]

  • Director Jon Burton revealed on his Youtube channel (Gamehut) that the Sega Saturn port of the game runs on the exact same code as the Sega Genesis version of the game. In order to streamline the process of porting the game to the system, Burton wrote his own compiler that allowed him to directly port the games Hex Assembly source code as is. The updated graphics would then be easily dropped into the game and overlaid over the original assets, as they do not directly interact with the gameplay code.
  • In the Genesis version of the game, there is a peculiar glitch that can be triggered in the Sound Test menu. Playing track 14 (the boot-up cutscene music) and then playing track 19 (the 1-Up jingle) at the last second will trigger a series of random notes and sounds from the game. Leaving it running song enough will eventually cause this glitch to completely override the standard music and sound effects of the game.
  • The European box artwork for Sonic 3D Blast was created by Me Company with a clay model used to design Sonic's head.[42]
  • This is the second game to feature Knuckles' socks being the wrong color, as they are blue instead of green; the first game to see this was in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, where they were yellow when not playing as Knuckles.
  • In the Mega Drive version, by inputting the following the player can access to the Level Select screen: Sega Genesis B Button AA C ↑ ↓ A, with the inputs spelling "Baracuda".
    • It is also possible to access the Stage Select by crashing the game (via glitches or physically tilting the game cartridge), according to the Traveller's Tales' founder Jon Burton.[43]
  • At Jack in the Box fast food restaurants, copies of the PC version of the game were given away as bonuses in kids' meals up until the release of Sonic Adventure.
  • The names of the Zones in this game are all alliterations, much like in Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
  • Richard Jacques, the composer for the Saturn/PC version soundtrack, remixed the music featured in Green Grove Zone for another Sega game, Metropolis Street Racer, into the song "It Doesn't Really Matter," sung by T.J. Davis, who had previously collaborated with Jacques for the soundtrack in Sonic R.
  • The Sega Saturn port of the game uses an arrangement of the 1-Up jingle from Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 instead of the Sonic 3 & Knuckles 1-Up jingle by Jun Senoue that was reused for the Genesis version, and both versions of the game use the Chaos Emerald jingle. Despite this, Yukifumi Makino, who originally composed the former jingles, is not credited in the Saturn version.
  • This is the second game where collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds does not unlock Super Sonic.
  • This is the last Sonic game to be released on the Sega Mega Drive.
  • This is the first Sonic game to have been released on the Sega Saturn, though Sonic and Dr. Eggman had originally appeared as unlockable characters in Christmas NiGHTS Into Dreams....
  • This is the only Sonic game where the European version features a different name than the North American version.
  • One of Sonic's waiting animations appears in Sonic Generations as one of Classic Sonic's animations.
  • The Japanese Sega Saturn version has slightly faster loading times, but removed/changed the level skip code.
  • Matthew Felix holds the world record score at 1,746,900 points achieved on 19 December 2013.[44]
  • Sonic 3D Blast was the third to last first-party Saturn game released in Japan, where it was a Saturn exclusive until the release of Sonic Mega Collection, which finally brought the Mega Drive version to Japan.
  • Sonic 3D Blast bears some similarities to the video game Flicky, another game created by Sega and the debut of the Flickies. Both games focus on the rescue of small birds who follow the player in a chain behind them, with the birds also separating from the player if an enemy breaks the chain. In both titles levels are cleared by collecting all of the birds and bringing them to a specific point.
  • Sonic 3D Blast is one of the two Sonic games to be added to the Arcade Collection, the other being Sonic R.
  • Some of the tunes (such as the 1-Up jingle and Continue music) were reused from Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The game also reuses several samples heard in previous Sonic games.
    • The sound effects appear to be enhanced on the Saturn/PC version.
  • As with Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Sonic & Knuckles Collection, and Sonic R, the original PC port of Sonic 3D Blast was released as part of the "Sega PC" brand.
  • A Sonic Jam promotional screenshot showed that Sonic 3D Blast was planned to have a Game.com version, which was later scrapped for unknown reasons.
  • Unlike previous Sonic games, the Mega Drive version of this game uses the exact same ROM for all three regions (NA, EU, and JP). The only differences are on the title screen, with it displaying "Sonic 3D Blast" for North American hardware, and "Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island" for European and Japanese consoles.
  • In issue 54 of the video game magazine Superjuegos, a section on Sonic 3D Blast is featured, which refers to all the Zones in this game by alternate names, most of which come from previous Sonic the Hedgehog titles:

Videos[]

References[]

  1. Sonic X-Treme Interview - Mike Wallis. Secrets of Sonic Team. "Mike Wallis: They were part of the backup plan with Sonic 3D Blast, and Travellers Tales did the game and SOJ did the Bonus Levels"
  2. Playing Catch Up: Traveller's Tales' Jon Burton. Gamasutra. "Jon Burton: Sega supplied the game design and level layouts, so we implemented the gameplay, created the technology to run that kind of game on a Mega Drive and created the rendered graphic style and so on"
  3. "Genesis Preview: Sonic 3D Blast". Game Informer (42): 22. October 1996. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 24 February 2022.
  4. セガサターン専用CD-ROM(セガ発売) (Japanese). Sega (JP). Archived from the original on 30 March 2020. Retrieved on 23 December 2021.
  5. "GI News". Game Informer (42): 14. October 1996. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 24 February 2022.
  6. Recently Released Titles. Sega-saturn.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 1996. Retrieved on 23 December 2021.
  7. Press release: Sega brings Sonic to Saturn in latest stage of console combat. Sega Europe. 31 January 1997.
  8. Johnson, Chris (16 September 1997). Sonic Lands on PC. GameSpot. Archived from the original on 8 January 2001. Retrieved on 18 August 2024.
  9. News for September 16, 1997. Online Gaming Review (16 September 1996). Archived from the original on 9 February 2001. Retrieved on 18 August 2024. "Sega Entertainment announced today that they are releasing Sonic 3D Blast for the PC platform at a retail price of around $29.99."
  10. Wii - Virtual Console. Nintendo (JP). Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved on 24 February 2022.
  11. Sonic 3D Blast. Nintendo (US). Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved on 24 February 2022.
  12. Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island. Nintendo (UK). Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved on 24 February 2022.
  13. Sonic 3D Blast. SteamDB. Retrieved on 24 February 2022.
  14. (in Japanese) ソニックメガコレクション最強攻略ガイド. Shogakukan. 1 March 2003. p. 194. ISBN 978-4091060907.
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (Sega Saturn) Japanese instruction booklet, pgs. 4-5.
  16. Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (Sega Saturn) Japanese instruction booklet, pg. 20.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (Sega Saturn) Japanese instruction booklet, pg. 21.
  18. 18.0 18.1 Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (Sega Saturn) Japanese instruction booklet, pg. 22.
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 "History". The History of Sonic the Hedgehog. Les Editions Pix'n Love. 6 September 2013. ISBN 978-1-926778-96-9.
  20. 20.0 20.1 Horowitz, Ken (19 June 2007). Interview: Mike Wallis. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009.
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 Minotti, Mike . The RetroBeat: Sonic 3D Blast sprints to a new legacy with an unofficial Director’s Cut. Venture Beat. Retrieved on 22 November 2017.
  22. Happy 30th Birthday Sonic! Enjoy My Earliest Sonic Prototypes!. YouTube. GameHut (23 June 2021). Retrieved on 27 September 2022. "Jon Burton: This was originally called Sonic Spindrift, that was the working title for this game, obviously later it became Sonic 3D."
  23. (PDF) Mean Machines Sega. pp. 22-26. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 16 August 2023.
  24. Houghton, David (24 April 2008). The greatest Sonic game we never got to play. GamesRadar. Retrieved on 16 August 2023.
  25. Sonic 3D Blast for Genesis. GameRankings. Retrieved on 19 July 2013.
  26. Sonic 3D Blast for Saturn. GameRankings. Retrieved on 19 July 2013.
  27. Lomas, Ed (November 1996). "Review: Sonic 3D Flickys Island". Computer and Video Games (180): 74,75. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 24 February 2022.
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External links[]

Sonic the Hedgehog spin-off games
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