Sonic 3-D Blast was released in 1996 for Sega Genesis and Saturn and on PC in 1997. Unlike what it's name says, this game is NOT Sonic's first appearance into the 3-D world. His first appearance wouldn't come til' Sonic Jam on the Sega Saturn (in the Sonic World part of the game, which was all 3D) but his REAL first Sonic gameplay feel to 3D didn't come til' Sonic Adventure in 1999. Sonic 3-D Blast was merely a 3/4 platform game.

The story to Sonic 3-D Blast is that Robotnik (yeah, you know it) thought up of another plan to find the chaos emeralds by capturing these "Flicky's" that have these powers to go through these ring portals. Robotnik took advantage of their power, by first... putting them in Robots. (*is confused by Robotnik's thinking*) So, naturally, Sonic goes and tries to save them. I don't play this much, so I'm having a little trouble remembering the story. But thats about it.

Graphics

For the Genesis, these graphics are very good. It might not be 3-D, unlike what the title says, but the game still sports great sprites, good backgrounds, and it being better graphics than all the other Sonic games for Genesis is another pretty good feat. I love these graphics on this system. It shows how good the Genesis was.

10/10

Sound

The music is pretty good, like always. They all can be pretty catchy tunes, although they're very inferior to the Saturn and PC versions. The sound is the same it always was, but really, in 1996, I think they'd change some of it. Its really getting old. Its good nonetheless.

8/10

Gameplay

This is where the game starts to hurt. Sure, the 3/4 platform view may LOOK nice on the Genesis. But it sure doesn't PLAY nice. The jumping in this game can get horrible. Its really hard to hit any badnik's at all in this game because of the view Travellors Tales have given you. Its even really hard to hit them when you are spindashing! The Control is so hard and frustrating, sometimes the only way to hit a badnik is to get a shield that homeattacks on them. The speed is sorta fast, but knowing you'll probably be going slow so that you won't get hit by anything and die, this is not Sonic worthy speed. Although, at times, this game does feel like a Sonic game and it can be fun at times. The bosses are challenging, and not completely stupid, so they're fun to fight as well.

7/10

Replay

Well... this feels a bit like Sonic 1 in a way when it comes to replay value. Thats right. The replay value went back 5 years by having no other real good modes to play in. And this isn't the type of game you'll want to play over again after the first 2 times of playing it. Which brings the game back even further.

6/10

Bottom Line

This game had potential to be a last big Sonic hit on the Genesis, but failed by the many bugs in control and no options or extra modes.

7/10