SONIC 3D BLAST : FLICKIES ISLAND
MEGA DRIVE, SATURN & PC : SONIC TEAM/TRAVELLERS TALES 1997
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Mega Drive Version |
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Saturn Version |
HISTORY
Sonic 3D was Segas attempt, albeit a weak one, to give Sonic a breath of 3D action while the rest of the world was still going mad over Mario 64 and Sony were still doing well with their titles. Sonic 3D was initially to be a Mega Drive only title yet the underrated Saturn desperately needed a good Sonic game. The eventual cancellation of Sonic X-Treme resulted in its port to the 32-Bitter.
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Sonic Team, already occupied with other projects, enlist the help of Travellers Tales here in the UK to do some work. Travellers Tales had previously shown some impressive programming skills throughout the Mega Drive era.
Sadly this game feels like a throw together effort despite the impressiveness of the Mega Drive version. It does not make Sonics first appearance in 3D a brilliant one where the Saturn version is concerned anyway.
Sonic 3D Blast: Flickies Island was released on Mega Drive, Saturn and PC. The PC version lags behind the Saturn version slightly.
STORY
Flicky Island is the home of the mysterious Flicky Birds. They are very rarely seen and it is thought that their appearance is closely linked to the locations of the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic decides to check out Flicky Island. Robotnik, always after the prizes travels to the island. With his evil scientific genius he now knows the secret of the Flickies - they live in a parallel universe and come into this world via Teleport Rings.
Robotnik creates the Teleport Ring Generator designed to lure the Flickies over for him to do with what he pleases and yes again they are turned into robotic slaves.
Sonic arrives and find the island in turmoil. The Flickies must be rescued from their
mechanical prisons and returned to their own dimension as well as getting the Chaos
Emeralds before the mad doctor gets his hands on them.
GAMEPLAY
Although the name suggests a different style of play, Sonic 3D is not that much of a diversion from the usual Sonic style of game. The graphics engine being an isometric view is really the only change.
Running around, jumping, collecting rings and special items, destroying enemies and obtaining the Chaos Emeralds all still have to be achieved. As usual there are plenty of nooks and crannies that can be found with some exploration. These are generally found by smashing through walls or loose floor panels.
Sonic is the only playable character. He moves around in all directions via the D-Pad. Buttons A and C are jump and button B is specifically for the Spin Dash which you have to be stationary to perform.
The levels themselves are split into sections like game boards because they are chequered. There are a minimum of 2 boards per act. Each act contains the usual Sonic special items inside monitors.
Ring - earns 10 rings
Invincibility - temporally invincible
Speed boots - temporary speed boost.
Sonic - extra life
Sonic Medals - collect 10 for a continue.
There are also 3 types of shield each protecting Sonic from a particular element inside of each zone All shields also absorb one hit.
blue protects you from electrical damage
red protects you from fire
gold gives Sonic the Blast Attack. Perform a double jump to home in on an enemy to destroy it.
Your goal on each board is to rescue all of the five Flickies and get them to the teleport ring. The five Flickies are scattered through out the game board and imprisoned as Badniks. Simply destroy the Badnik by means or a jump or Spin Dash attack to release the bird. Run over it to make it follow you. The Flickies will then follow you in an orderly line.
Once free Flickies will still need your attention. If any of the group take a hit they will disperse. If Sonic takes a hit they will also disperse along with the usual scattering of rings. Each colour of Flicky behaves slightly differently.
Blue
Blue Flickies are the least trouble Once you bust them open stand still and they should
make their way to you.
Pink
Pink Flickes move around a little more but they do try and catch up with you. They will fly
in circles around you when you're standing still.
Red
Red Flickes move around from one point to another and don't try to follow you. They
don't move very far but good timing is needed to catch them.
Green
Green Flickies = Problems. They veer of randomly around the game board and are the
most difficult to catch. On some of the harder levels going after these may get you killed.
The indicator at the bottom right of the screen shows you how many Flickies you've rescued.
Once you have collected a Flicky you can take it to the teleport ring. There are advantages to be had by having a full line of Flickies. You can reach some of the Sonic Medals that are usually above springs and the more Flickies you take to the teleport rings at once the more points you get. Once a Flicky has gone through the teleport ring it does not come back out. Once all 5 Flickies have been sent home the teleport ring will then serve as the route to the next section.
The Saturn version of the game will display a map of the act when the start button is pressed showing your score, time elapsed and how many Sonic medals you have collected.
Saturn In Game Map
Each zone consists of three acts with act three being a confrontation with Dr Robotnik. There are 7 Zones with a final boss zone.
ZONES |
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MEGA DRIVE |
SATURN |
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Green Grove Zone Rusty Ruin Zone Spring Stadium Zone Diamond Dust Zone Volcano Valley Zone Gene Gadget Zone Panic Puppet Zone The Final Fight |
Green Grove Zone Rusty Ruin Zone Spring Stadium Zone Diamond Dust Zone Volcano Valley Zone Gene Gadget Zone Panic Puppet Zone The Final Fight |
Click on a name for more info |
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Tails and Knuckles make cameo appearances during each act and serve as your gate into the special stages. You need to take 50 rings to either of them to gain access for the chance to collect a Chaos Emerald. Their positions in each act are static but you can only be transported to a Special Stage once. After collecting all the Chaos Emeralds you can enter more stages for the prize of an extra life instead.
The special stage you enter is different depending on which version of the game you have but both special stages revolve around the same idea - collecting set amounts of rings in a certain amount of spacer.
Mega Drive Version |
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You run along a weak quazzy-3D bridge. You must collect a specified amount of rings in a certain distance. There are mines to avoid and you'll loose rings should you touch one. There are also steps in the bridge which are easily jumped over but sometimes hamper the oncoming view. Complete all the goals and the shiny gem is yours. |
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Saturn Version |
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An enhanced version of the special stage from Sonic 2 would be the best way to describe this. The half pipe design benefits from the Saturn's polygon abilities. Saturn power shows through with the designers adding tunnels, corkscrew twists, springs and platforms. That said the handling is quite sluggish and will need some getting used to. |
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CONCLUSION
If Sonic 3D were only released on the Mega Drive then it would have been a great send off title for the 16-BIT machine. Releasing it on the Saturn does make it look like a slighty enhanced Mega Drive game therefore putting another nail in the Saturns coffin by making people think that the machine was going to be receiving more Mega Drive enhancements. Sonic 3D should have been kept for the Mega Drive because that is where it looks the most impressive.
As Sonic 3D was not the Sonic game for the Saturn, Sega should have kept with Sonic X-Treme which sounds easy to say but Im sure it would have helped more and a good Sonic game was needed to compete against the likes of Mario 64.
What Sonic 3D does do is prove that the Mega Drive was a powerful machine back in it's day. It is quite impressive to see the Mega Drive doing a little isometric action without the need for a mushroom shaped 32-BIT upgrade. Sonic 3D does remain one of the great 16-BIT achievements. Another perk of the Mega Drive version is the music. They tend to be the great catchy Sonic tunes for 16-BIT whereas the Saturn's CD soundtrack is nothing short of awful.
The main differences between the Saturn version is really the Special Stage. Graphically the game is the same with a few enhancements, being mostly weather effects as well as the CD audio. Gameplay wise the game is identical.
As for the Saturn version, the extra graphical effects being mostly weather throughout the zones are really what make the game different as well as the different special stage as well as the aforementioned sound track. Apart from that the levels are the same ( with a few extra sound effects ) and the gameplay remains unchanged. Coupled with this pretty crap loading times then you're better off sticking with 16-BIT.
As the action takes place at a slightly different angle you'll find yourself mistargeting many enemies and objects while you get used to the change in camera angle which can be a little irritating. The Saturn Special Stage will take a bit of practice because the handling is a little crap.
One major flaw to Sonic 3D is the sheer lack of any save feature. If this were omitted on the Mega Drive the reason for that maybe to keep the price of the cartridge down. After all the Mega Drive was pretty old at the time that said Sonic 3 had save states. However, not having a save state feature on the Saturn is absolutely criminal considering the machine has built in battery backup memory.
In the end, Sonic 3D is not too bad. It's just another Sonic game which looks a little different but it does fall a little short of a classic Sonic outing. Whether this is because Sonic Team alone did not do the game is unlikely. It feels like a rushed product and serves as a reminder of the dark years of Sonic.
CHEATS
Extra Life In Rusty Ruin
At the very start of Act 1 enter the door behind you and perform a spin dash to find the extra life.
Mega Drive
Level select:
Press B, A, Right, A, C, Up, Down, A, Start when the phrase "Press Start" appears on the
opening screen. The level selection screen will be displayed when game play begins.
Level Skip
Activate the level select cheat. Pause the game and press A.
Saturn
At Title screen when Start is flashing, hold down C and press Start. It will enable the cheat code.
At any time during play, pause and press:
A to skip 1 level
B to skip 3 levels
C to skip to puppet panic zone 3
X to add 1 life
Y to add 1 extra medal
Z to earn all Chaos emeralds
