SONIC 3D BLAST

Quick, what do Twilight Princess, Sonic 3D Blast, Yetis Cookie, and MTVs Celebrity Deathmatch has in common? That right, they all launched on two adjacent generations of hardware. Usually, it’s a bad sign; a moneymaking ploy that tends to underline just how dead one system is and how little effort went into taking advantage of whatever newshinyness the emergent generation offers. Behold, sonic 3D Blast: the infamous hedgehog’s swan song on the Genesis what got slapped onto the Saturn when Sonic X-Tree just kind of failed to happen.

 So, of course, the Saturn offered what the Genesis version was missing, like tighter controls, right? Wrong. Sonics quest to dismantle the robotic zed flockiest and deliver them safely to the goal ring is, unfortunately, just as sloppy as its previous version - which is to say it’s crafted from the elemental forces of ice and frustration.

 Your goal is to traverse each isometric stage, defeating foes and getting the flockiest they contain to follow you - just like in the arcade classic, Flick - but actually managing to aim yourself so as to not die can be a bit on the tricky side. Initially, your going to be slip-sliding all over the place, and later than initially, much the same will be the case. It doesn’t really improve, though you can kind of get used to it through liberal use of the B button to duck into a spin-dash (one of the only ways to make good use of your momentum) and religiously collecting as many shields as possible.

But let’s put that aside. That all gripes I’ve had since the Genesis version. This is the SATURN, after all, which means all sorts of new opportunities, am I right? Like, how about redoing the entire soundtrack to take advantage of the much richer Redbook audio available now that the games on cad-based format? Sure, it doesn’t have that classic Genesis bossy twang like it did before, but the improvements far outweigh the losses, sound-wise. Load times, on the other hand...EHz.

Well, that the price you pay for an upgraded soundtrack. As you might also notice the textures for the playfield and characters also look much more refined, taking advantage of the Saturn’s increased power. Enhanced visual effects include this waterfall, or the torturing of any bridges you happen to roll over. But the most pronounced change comes in the requisite Bonus Stages, where you’re trying to obtain the Chaos Emeralds so that Dr. Egging Robot man can’t get his confusingly-named mitts on them.

Now, Sonic 3D Blast on the Genesis just had a collect rings on a track mechanic, activated bypassing off 50 or more rings to Tails or Knuckles. This Saturn version, though, features an all-new take on... oh, what the hell, it’s just a 3D version of the half-pipe style bonus stages from Sonic 2.

 That said, it’s a 3D version game of the half-pipe style bonus stages from Sonic 2! Considered by many to be one of the most fun bonus games, it’s been rebuilt with new twists and turns, hedgehog accelerators, and timed rings that yield more baling the faster you navigate the course. A refreshing update of an old favorite... but whether it’s worth the ice-skating and load times that plague the rest of the game is a much more personal matter.