Most Sonic fans agree that Sega’s hedgehog mascot had his early peak during the Genesis days in the mid 1990s. But 1996’s Sonic 3D Blast does not receive the same love as its 2D predecessors.
Many of Sonic 3D Blast’s problems had nothing to do with the actual game.
It was one of the last major Sega releases for the aging Genesis. Its successor, the struggling Saturn, was already out. Many fans were looking forward to Sonic Xtreme, which was going to be publisher’s marquee game for the new system. But Sega cancelled the project, moving 3D Blast to the Saturn with some small graphical improvements.Sonic 3D Blast’s isometric take on 3D gaming seemed quaint in 1996. Super Mario 64, which came out a month earlier, looked leaps more impressive with its full 3D worlds and dynamic camera. But Sonic 3D Blast also has some of its own problems. The controls are slippery, and levels have players finding Flickies — colorful, little birds — in nonlinear scavenger hunts that can become frustrating.
Sonic 3D Blast is not a bad game (it also has one of the ). But its problems and poor timing doomed it to mediocre reviews and a cool reception from fans. Now lead programmer Jon Burton is going back to the game he helped create 21 years ago to try to make it a more polished experience.
No Sega, no problems
Burton’s Sonic 3D Blast Director’s Cut is not an official Sega product. Instead, it is available as a patch that you can install into a ROM of the Sega Genesis version, which you can then play on any device that can run a Genesis emulator.
It’s available in a beta form. Normally, you’d expect that a major gaming company wouldn’t be happy about someone, even if they worked on the original game, making a free, unofficial update to one of their products.But Sega has a long history of being lenient and even supportive of the Sonic fan game community. This year’s excellent Sonic Mania has its roots in the work of former Sonic modders and fan game creators. So far, Sega has not told Burton he can’t make his Director’s Cut.
“I enjoyed working with Sega,” Burton told GamesBeat. “They really knew their stuff. They’re a great bunch of people. I really enjoyed going over to Japan and meeting with them there. They treated me extremely well the whole time with the project. But on this, this is just me in my spare time thinking, well, I’d like to fix some of this stuff. If I can patch that in such a way that everybody’s happy — if you own the game and you can patch this over the top, great. If Sega steps in and says hey, you can’t do this, I won’t do this. Either way I’m enjoying the process.”
While most Sonic games come from Sonic Team, Sega enlisted Traveler’s Tales to develop 3D Blast. Burton founded Traveler’s Tales in 1989, and he still works there today. You probably know the studio for all of its Lego games. Before 3D Blast, Traveler’s Tales had created popular Disney games for the 16-bit era: Mickey Mania and Toy Story. Then Sega got…
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