I never even knew the Saturn version was some kind of failure when I was a kid... I just loved playing it! The music and especially the bonus stages blew me away at the time

I was 13 when this game came out and I remember being fascinated seeing screenshots in magazines. I was amazed at how they could get this much graphical fidelity out of the Genesis. I loved the game when I played it.

The best part about this game was the music. The rest was just sonic ice skating trying to find birds

Sega was a huge dumpster fire at that point. Developing 3D and R, Travelers' Tales really did their best with what they had. It's really sad, how things went.

I was really hoping for a shout out to the director's cut that was developed several years later. That version I think has a lot more appeal even for people that didn't enjoy the game originally.

The Director's Cut hack from Jon Burton is definitely the way to play now. It fixes so many issues with the original it's unreal.

Being a Mega Man & Mario fan when I was a kid, my appreciation for Sonic has grown over the years.

The graphics in Sonic 3d Blast for the Genesis (aka Megadrive) were sheer wizardry. You could be forgiven for thinking that there might have been extra vram, and/or a graphics chip in the cartridge (like with some later Snes games), but there wasn't. Sonic 3D Blast did however use a much larger quantity of ROM on the cartridge than most other games.

I'm still impressed to this day with what they managed to pull out with 3D Blast on the outdated Genesis hardware. Very nice game and a technical wonder: still looks, sounds and plays amazing after all the years.

I remember that Christmas my aunt went to the USA (I'm Brazilian) and bought us a Sonic game for Saturn. At the time there was no internet so we wait for her to arrive to see the game. We were sure it would be Sonic Xtreme. Imagine our disappointment to see the name Sonic 3D blast.

Richard Jacques, who composed the Saturn game's soundtrack, also made the soundtrack for Sonic R. Aka, the greatest soundtrack of any game ever.

I've got a soft spot for the Genesis version, as it's the only Sonic game I had as a kid. Playing it now is even better with Jon Burton's Directors Cut, he put a lot of content back into the game that he intended to initially. Look up the GameHut channel, he talks about his coding. That FMV intro is absolute wizardry.

I wonder if "CODING SECRETS" were used to make "IMPOSSIBLE" things on the Genesis game.

That Rusty Ruins music for the Sega Saturn version was legendary though! I totally love it still to this day!

SLX you seem jaded on the Saturn version. You should go outside reach for the sunshine. And forget about the rain. Just think about the good times and they will all come back again 😉

I still play this game time to time. Love the music and visuals in the genesis version, also decent game for the SEGA Genesis’s final days. Saturn version should have been better.

For me as a kid, this game had a very confusing perspective and actually gave me headaches (Mega Drive version). It was one of the reasons I put off getting into 3D gaming if that's what 3D gaming was, as my small child brain thought.

Richard Jacques did a fantastic job on the saturn soundtrack that I still listen to today

I like both versions. Of course it would have been better if they had released an exclusive Sonic for the Saturn but as far as ports go, I think the Saturn version of 3D Blast does a good job improving sound and graphics making it better than the original version and yet staying true to the source material. There's no problem with the Saturn version itself, the problem is not having another Sonic made just for the Saturn to showcase the new plataform.

I'm thankful that a lot of the Genesis must was reused in Sonic Adventure. At least some of the great music wasn't trapped in this game.

For some reason I enjoy seeing side by side split screens of Sega Genesis and Sega Saturn's versions of Sonic 3d blast

Never noticed that the flowers move in the Saturn version but not the Genesis.

One interesting detail is how the intro animation was possible to fit and run on the Genesis: first compressed to only 16 colors and 256*80 pixels, then stretched back with line interrupts, and finally dithered with line offsets to recreate intermediate colors and a smoother image. There's a short video about it on GameHut.

I honestly prefer the look of the MD version. The "realistic" ground textures just doesn't fit for me

I don’t know, the Saturn version legit looks great to me. In fact it looks a lot better to me than a lot of Saturn games you’ve praised for their visuals. Really shows how flat the textures are on the Genesis version. Would’ve appreciated that version getting more rerelease love over the Genesis one.

The saturn version has like the greatest soundtrack ever thanks to legend Richard Jacques

I actually prefer the colors of the Genesis version to the saturns. It just pops more and it’s more visually appealing

Ohh man, Astal. That game didn't get the love it deserved. My friends gave me crap when I picked it up from the bargain bin. I played it at least once a day until I sold my Saturn 5 years later.

It's great how many pieces of music they remixed for other games. Green Grove (Genesis) became Windy Valley "The Air". Diamond Dust (Genesis) became both Central City in Sonic Chronicles and Snow Mountain in Sonic Dash. Volcano Valley Act 1 (Saturn) became the Kron Colony in Sonic Chronicles. Panic Puppet Act 1 (Genesis) became Twinkle Park "Twinkle Cart". An unused Knuckles bonus stage became Twinkle Park "Pleasure Castle". Panic Puppet (Saturn) became Metropolis in Sonic Chronicles, one of the boss fights in Chronicles, and also apparently Lost Impact in Shadow the Hedgehog. The Final Fight (Genesis) became the Mystic Ruins in Sonic Chronicles.

I grew up with the saturn version and the music was a big part of what i loved about it.the visuals were really clean as well especially the special stages. I played the genesis port years later.i just had more of a feel for the soundtracks on the saturn along with sonic r's soundtrack as well.the genesis version was really well made but i just can't get into it like i do with the saturn version

I was blown away by Sonic 3D on the Genesis. I was a kid and had never seen anything like it on the Genesis before. I did find it a bit fiddly though and never bothered to complete it, the only 16-bit Sonic game I never finished!

Pretty crazy that this was basically intended to be the Saturn’s mainline Sonic game. No doubt this hurt sales big time.

I was 11 when Sonic 3d Blast came out for the Genesis and I absolutely loved it, besides some movement issues and the feeling that sonic "glides" across the levels it's a great and fun game

sonic looks like a shiny inflated birthday balloon version of himself in this game

expectations are what kills any game really As an isolated experience, I love 3D Blast on my Saturn.

Sonic 3D Blast is the only Sonic game I never tired of. Especially the Saturn version, the soundtrack is magic

Very nice review man! I agree the Saturn should have had more improvements to it from the Genesis Port.

Wow!! I've got it on the Mega Drive, but I didn't realise how little difference there was between that and the Saturn version. You're probably gonna find better value for money on the Mega Drive version, by the looks of things. Nice comparison 👍

Yeah, it's really kind of sad. Compare even the Saturn version to something like Donkey Kong Country 2, a game using a similar conceit involving pre-rendered 3d models made into sprites, and it's just no contest. It's like the moment Sega of Japan achieved any success in their own country, they immediately set out to sabotage and dismantle everything Sega of America had achieved stateside, including greenlighting mediocrities like this game, while not giving their STI boys (or whatever they were called in the mid 90's) the proper support and autonomy. "It's cheaper to farm our flagship franchise out to Traveler's Tales, even if it means creating a subpar product that only adds to the perception that our current hardware is underpowered and our company is out of touch."

you weren't kidding. what an awesome soundtrack

I remember when as a ten year old I took my bike to the city centre and bought this game for my own money right around when it was released. I was an extreme Sonic fan, and even though I didn't own Sonic 3 I still brought Sonic 3D Blast instead for some reason. I was so disappointed.. My expectations were sky high, naturally, but as much as I tried to like it I just couldn't get past the fact that this is a boring game with bad and confusing controls. It's not a terrible game, the presentation is decent, the music is fantastic and at least they tried something different, but I'll never forget how ripped off I felt that day.

I hope Sega will re-release the Saturn version of 3D Blast someday. I liked the genesis version tho

I made the mistake of trading in my copy of SONIC CD in exchange for SONIC 3-D BLAST for the SATURN. I got screwed...

Regardless of anyone's feelings towards Sonic 3D Blast, I think we can all agree it's a technical marvel on the Genesis/Mega Drive. Travellers Tales did a bloody excellent job at fitting all that game on the cartridge. I mean, it's got an FMV for gods sake!

the graphics are actually pretty sweet on saturn so many dithers tho

The PC version was a port of the Saturn version, but the special stages looked like the Saturn version and Genesis version got together and had a baby.

Segaaaaaa

I’ll never forget how even though the box said “3D Blast,” it wasn’t 3D or a blast

Came here from Funhaus, i can’t believe I never found your channel man, you have gold on here

2:56 this having been the first Sonic game I actually owned, that close call with the spikeball nearly gave me cardiac arrest

I'm surprised that you didn't mention the directors cut hack that was made by Jon Burton, the former TT Games developer. It does add in some interesting things to fill in the void of the game like a tracker for the flickies, saves, level editor, and Super Sonic.

In the director's cut version of Sonic 3D Blast/Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island, you can save and load your progress, play as Super Sonic and a time attack mode was added. Plus, in the director's cut version of Sonic 3D Blast/Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island, Tails and Knuckles are found in Gene Gadget and Panic Puppet.

I remember renting this as a kid and being like ......wtf lol

Genesis version while a little impressive, it's lack of colour looks really bad ,it's like they thought they had more Colors available but had to cut back on the final release, while the Saturn isn't limited by that and looks real good, along with the weather effects and having some actual 3D objects in the stages, plus having special stages that are not only fully 3D they have a bit of platforming too and they are super fun to play "the only part of Sonic 3D, Sonic Team helped make, you can even see Sonic Adventure roots here" while the special stages in the genesis version were pure trash, just walk up the bridge and don't step on any bombs, very basic and not even good fake 3D like Sonic 2 and 3 had.

It's interesting to see the Saturn version, I got 3D Blast for Genesis when I was 3 or 4 years old and have fond memories of its music, the ending credits song is burnt into my brain in a primordial way. It is certainly the weaker of the Genesis titles and I preferred the mainline games it still has a special place in my heart. The graphical upgrade looks nice but I think if I revisit this title it'll be the way I have been doing it since I was shitting my pants and unable to spell my own name.

Absolutely love your channel man. Even for games I know and have played already your videos are so informative.

*get stuck for something to say *reaches hand into hat with little pieces of paper inside *pulls out paper and reads it, smiling and nodding slowly *turns to keyboard and types "from the gods"

I remember the initial disappointment getting this Christmas Day 1996. I'd read that it was basically a Genesis port, and not a particularly great game. Definitely not on the Saturn, the system I opted to spend my 17-year-old self's meager funds on instead of a Playstation. But, it was...fine? Definitely for someone who didn't have access to literally thousands of games like most of us do now. Every few years, I still pop it in for 10 minutes. And, man, that soundtrack. That Rusty Ruins tune you opened this review up with still finds its way on "chill out" and "videogame music" mixes pretty regularly. Fantastic.

There's a hack of the Genesis game released a few years ago by Jon Burton, the founder of Traveller's Tales, called Sonic 3D: Director's Cut. It's considered the definitive version, since it corrects bugs, tweaks some gameplay and graphics issues, and adds many improvements like world map, time attack, level editor. I've never liked 3D Blast, but the Director's Cut version makes it much more enjoyable, it definitely had the foundations of a pretty good game.

Man, whatever you’re doing on the video capture front, keep it up. Your stuff has been crisp as hell lately! 👍

Good review. I love this game. I can understand why most people didn't liked it, they wanted something more similar to the previous games, but that doesn't make Sonic 3D a bad game, it's a great game in my opinion. To jump on top of enemies without failing, I just looked to where the Sonic shadow was, it's really easy. It's a shame that the Saturn developers didn't have more time to make better graphics.

3D blast on Saturn had the best soundtrack of any game I've played without licenced music.

Another good video Sega Lord. I find it incredible that Sega never realized how important their Sonic games were and how they could release the 32x, Saturn and Dreamcast without a Sonic game ready on release. I personally think it should have been the pack in game for all 3 consoles but even if there was just one available I'd have to imagine Sega's fortunes would have been at least somewhat different.

Ive been dying to find a good comparison video. Thank you

Even when I disagree with some of your arguments, it's always a pleasure watching your videos and hearing your perspectives. Excellent at always!

I remember romanticizing the Genesis a lot when I was a kid, for years I had a SNES when my cousins had the much cooler Genesis. I finally got one in 1996, and I remember that Christmas I got Sonic 3D Blast, and I was so excited to have a brand new Sonic game with my still brand new to me Sega Genesis. It was so disappointing but I played it to death anyway.

It's amazing that Traveler's Tales was able to port and enhance the game in 7 weeks, and Sonic Team didn't just keep the Sonic Jam games the same, they made them worse in many ways. Traveler's Tales should have been entrusted with a true 3D platformer on the Saturn.

I tried the Genesis and owned the Saturn version of Sonic 3-D Blast. They are okay, but they could have been a lot better than what players got: especially the Saturn version, which could have taken advantage of more enhanced graphics beyond the Bonus stages. That, and the slow loading times on the Saturn were just half baked. I do, however, like some of the music from Richard Jacques on the Saturn port: especially "Green Grove Zone," "Rusty Ruin Zone," and "Diamond Dust Zone."

Before I even watch this, I predict this sentence: "The FMV scenes on the Genesis were nothing short of a revelation".

That's a very objective reasoning. Sonic 3D Blast for the Genesis belongs indeed to a different bag than the Saturn version, good video!

This was my first "3D" gaming experience. I remember reading GamePro and EGM issues for the next year or two really hyping up the idea of games going full 3D, gradually becoming more realistic, and this overall idea of full immersion in a game. There was a lot of talk about VR even back then, you had the Virtual Boy, and Sega was really going crazy with trying to sell this idea of being "part of" the game with FMV on the Sega CD, 3D games on the 32X, and early gimmicky peripherals like the rumble vest thing that vibrated your chest every time you got punched. I had all the Genesis add-ons, really trying to get that feeling that I was in the game, like we were just a few years away from full on VR, and as far as I knew, Sonic 3D Blast was basically the start of that. There was also Vectorman and the SNES had the Donkey Kong Country games that had a similar pseudo 3D thing going on, but I was a Genesis owner as a kid and Sonic was my childhood, so this was the perfect game to be my entry into 3D gaming. And then less than a year later, my friend invited me over his house to show me this new fangled PlayStation thing, something I'd only heard vague rumors about, and there it was: Crash Bandicoot. In that moment, I knew immediately that all that stuff I had my mom buy me for the Genesis was instantly obsolete, and that this was instead the actual future of 3D (along with Super Mario 64). One positive thing I will say, all the great childhood memories aside, is that at least for the first and third levels on the Genesis, there was something really neat and unique about the intensely colorful, abstract level design. Everything looks like it's made of plastic, like you're on some kind of set or in a play area, like a video game version of a funhouse or the Discovery Zone (anyone remember that place?). You can't really tell if you're indoors or outdoors. You're on a bridge with tropical trees everywhere, but there's a colorful, tiled floor and weird jumping pads. It's just kind of a shame that Super Mario 64, along with a ton of other titles, defined what it meant to make platformers or child-friendly games in 3D, and that's just been the way it is ever since. Imagine if there were a genre of platformers in full 3D with a perspective similar to Mario Odyssey or Jak & Daxter or whatever, except instead of wandering around a jungle or on a beach or something, you're surrounded by toy-like replicas of trees while wandering around a red-and-yellow-tiled wonderland that doesn't quite resemble any real life environment. I don't know, I liked it as a kid, and I guess I still do.

The Saturn deserved better about sums up the system’s life in North America.

I remember seeing the Saturn box of this in my pre-algebra book as a kid and being fascinated. This was during the 128-bit era and the consoles that failed held a certain mystique and allure to me

This was my sonic game for satern , joyed it so much , not until years later I fond out it was also on Genesis

The Saturn version imo looks cluttered. The extra patterns and tones they've put on everything does not help it at all.

It’s nice to see you do a review on this game, but the issue is, you barely talked about the many negatives of the game and you focused too much on bashing the Saturn version. Like really some of the platforming is obnoxious in this game and the whole concept is pretty boring. You also don’t seem to know about the 2017 directors cut for the genesis version.

This game blew my mind as a kid

I am so glad I'm not the only one who likes the soundtrack to Sonic 3D Blast! I never listened to the Saturn version, but the Genesis version is absolutely phenomenal! Right on the first level you get this incredibly funky bassline. The song is fun and kidsy but that bassline is NOT messing around. I say kidsy but actually listening to it, the songs are WELL constructed, great chord changes, and as a huge bonus, very long and completed tracks for every single level and event on Sonic 3D Blast (Sega version)

I love SEGA

Great video! I’m one of the ones you mentioned that enjoyed this game (both versions, but I lean heavily towards the Saturn version because of that sweet, sweet emerald half-pipe stage music and the other Saturn versions of the soundtrack!) .

If the Saturn version of 3D Blast had been a free pack-in game, I still would have felt ripped off.

Man I try to erase from my memories those games were a thing that I played 😬

I can feel your anger and frustration! Similar to myself at the time - love your content!

That's one of the great mysteries of gaming, I think. What would a Sonic 4 have been like, one that pushed the Saturn to the limit like his previous titles. I think you're right, something like Astral or Rayman. I think the gameplay would be a combo of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, with some of the good ideas of Sonic CD tossed in. It would have been magnificent.

Here we are enjoying another episode! 🔥👊

I remember renting this from Blockbuster and going WTF, this ain't my Sonic... This game was/is janky.

This is a reminder of how troubled the Saturn era was. As someone who grew up with a Genesis, there is a good reason why I skipped that console and had a PS1 and N64 during that era. I couldn't wait till I got a Dreamcast and was playing that as soon as I could, but the whole Saturn era was skipped by me, never got into it until years later when I got Saturn stuff off Ebay. Seems like the Saturn was for Sega fans what the Wii U was for Nintendo fans.

Honestly for a 32 bit port it looks very nice albeit darker than the genesis version. If you judge the game on its own without the grudge of the missing sonic sequel on the saturn, it is a very good game for saturn standards.

Sega actually didn't give up right away on the prospects of a true 3D Sonic game for the Saturn after what happened with Sonic X-treme. There was Sonic Saturn, which was a very different but still never the less fully 3D project; which was even intended to have a pool table styled mini-game. The other... Is Sonic Adventure! It began on the Saturn; with a different story to boot. However, it is not known what the story was originally going to be like (though presumably would have had both Angel Island and the Mystic Ruins). There is even Sonic world in Sonic Jam that gives some indication what the Saturn version of Sonic Adventure would have been like. However, it was eventually decided to add in Chaos to show off what the Dreamcast could do and the rest is history.

We really should've gotten a fully realized original Sonic title on the Saturn. It may not have made the Saturn competitive, but it would've really helped the die hard fans

GOD just hearing that channel opening could turn u into a sega fan,like an update to the sonic games "SEGA"!

Reading the comments is pretty funny. Guys just remember that Sonic 3D was not being pushed as the main sonic game of that generation. It was more on the lines of "It's on the Genesis, so here it is on the Saturn for those who want it"

Man that Sonic 3D blast Saturn soundtrack is amazing

I respect that, even though you’re a huge Sega fanboy, you hold them accountable for their shenanigans. Also, I loved the isometric grid first in Kirby’s Dream Course - a mixture of billiards and mini golf on SNES.

2 things this game still need: 1) time limits for every level and ranks, S rank should lead to an emerald bonus level and when you collect them all, you should go to Final Fight. Collecting Tails/Knuckles emeralds should make them playable. 2) enemies should be faster and dangerous and not all all of them should have flikies inside. Flikies should be random inside. For example, you have 10 enemies, 5 of them have flikies, 5 are not, your mission is find them.

I LOVE the soundtrack of the Saturn version! Used to listen to it on the Saturn media player dashboard thing lol

Thank you again for another awesome and informative video. We just had classic Game Fest down here in Austin TX this past weekend and your videos got me into Sega quite a bit. I had 10 pickups over the weekend and 8 were Sega titles. I picked up Golvellius and the Blue Variant of California games for the Sega Master System, Mickey Mani for the Sega CD, and 5 Saturn titles. I grabbed Virtua Cop 2, Quake, Earthworm Jim 2, Mortalk Kombat Trilogy, and Enemy Zero. Really looking forward to playing them during this next year. Thanks for the awesome videos and inspiring me to collect and play Sega games.

SLX, you're right to be still mad in 2021 about Sega about Saturn "management", i'm mad as well: it's simply not possible to forgive such a mess they did from 1993 to 1998 (which then drove even DC to its premature end).

It's 11pm! Eh, not like I was going to sleep anyway 🤷🏾‍♂️

Just got this for the genesis and it's solid! But yea I think we all would have appreciated an even unfinished Sonic Xtreme than this on the Saturn