Console: Mega Drive / Genesis
Cost: 800 Wii Points
I've deliberately used the European title of the game for this review rather than its American name (Sonic 3D Blast) not just because I'm from the UK, but because that American name is an outright lie. It isn't a blast. As Sonic's final outing for the Mega Drive (handled by UK developer Traveller's Tales rather than Sonic Team or STI), the series leaves the console that gave birth to it with a whimper rather than a bang. You're job as Sonic is to go around each level, freeing five flickies from their robotic imprisonment by Dr. Robotnik while avoiding being hurt, then taking those flickies to a giant ring in order to progress to the next part of the level. And that's pretty much all you do. Flickies will follow you once you free them, but if you happen to get damaged the flickies will instantly turn into morons and wander off, normally into the most unhelpful place in the level, such as a pit of lava or something. The flickies don't get hurt, but all to often you end up losing them again in the process of trying to get them back.
Sonic has famously never been able to handle well in 3D, and this game is no different. Sonic handles like a madman on steroids, instantly accelerating to his top speed the second you press the d-pad in a direction, making avoiding traps rather difficult (as you might expect, it gets worse in the ice level). Thanks to the confusing isometric view, you'll often find judging your moves annoyingly difficult, and the fact that Sonic tends to have problems moving in a straight line doesn't help. In a step down from the awesome Sonic 3 and Knuckles, this time you can only play as Sonic. That's not to say Tails and Knuckles were left out of the game though, they're still there. Acting as star posts. Pay them 50 rings and you can enter a rather dull special stage similar to the one from Sonic 2 (but worse) in order to get a Chaos Emerald. Pay them less than 50 rings, and they'll take them anyway, but you won't get anything for it.
It's not all terrible though. The soundtrack is respectable, of a similar standard to the previous games. Meanwhile the graphics- while tending to lack a variety of colour in some levels- are fairly good. The aforementioned isometric view lets it down somewhat, and the flickies are sometimes hard to distinguish from the background, but overall it looks alright. The game is about the same length as the ones before, but unlike those games Sonic 3D typically has only one path through a level for you to follow, so the levels feel more constricted than before despite the wide open design. Once you finished the game, there's no reason or compulsion to play again.
Sonic 3D was never going to bring its franchise gloriously into 3D the way Mario 64 did due to the constraining limits of the Mega Drive, but it didn't even try to make the most of what it did have. What could have been a great game is let down by sloppy controls, repetitive gameplay and some dull level design. Also, the lack of Tails and Knuckles as playable characters feels like a missed opportunity. It's not a completely terrible game, and it can sometimes be fun, but there are much better ways to spend 800 Wii Points (especially since it's on the Sonic Mega Collection). This game is the first of many reasons why Sonic should have stuck to two dimensions.
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 8/10
Gameplay: 3/10
Lifespan: 3/10
Rating: 4/10
