Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis)

Sonic 3D Blast
Also known as: Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (EU/AU) Developers: Traveller's Tales, Sonic Team Publishers: Sega (US/EU/AU), Tec Toy (BR) Platform: Genesis Released in JP: December 19, 2002 (Sonic Mega Collection) Released in US: November 7, 1996 Released in EU: November 14, 1996 Released in AU: 1996 Released in BR: December 1996 This game has unused areas. This game has hidden developer credits. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused music. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden level select. This game has a development article This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article This game has a bugs page

Sonic 3D Blast is Sonic, but in isometric 3-D! Analog control not included.

Released as a stopgap during a rather tumultuous time in Sega's history, 3D Blast is a combination of the Sonic formula and Flicky's gameplay. The game would later be ported to the Saturn and Microsoft Windows, where it originally received mixed reviews due to the two game concepts clashing with each other.

In December 2017, Jon Burton (the game's lead programmer) created a "Director's Cut" patch to improve on many of the flaws present in 3D Blast, leading to a critical re-evaluation of the game.

To do: Document unused leftover sound effects from previous Sonic games.

Sub-Pages

Development Info

Prototype Info

Prerelease Info

Bugs

Level Select

Press B, A, Right, A, C, Up, Down, A (BARACUDA, seemingly a misspelling of "barracuda") at the title screen. You'll hear a twinkly sound and be taken to the main menu. Set your desired options, choose "START", and you'll be presented with the Level Select.

(This is probably much better for the long-term health of your console and cart than the next method.)

Cleverly-Disguised Crash Handler

A somewhat unique exception handler where, unlike (for example) the Sonic 1 crash-and-print-text-on-the-screen, the game congratulates you and loads up the Level Select. Obviously, this method of crashing is much more appealing to the player than a complete lockup, and may have prevented a number of angry tech support calls. This was done to pass quality assurance from Sega and to prevent the game from printing an exception handler, as any exceptions the game threw up would simply redirect the player to this screen.

There are numerous methods for activating this screen: loading a bad savestate from an emulator, using a bad Game Genie or Pro Action Replay code, pulling the cart out and putting it back in, having dirty contacts on the cart/console, hitting an obscure program bug, etc.

Jon Burton, the game's lead programmer (who has made a number of videos detailing 3D Blast and other Traveller's Tales games), has a video that explains in more detail why the Level Select is used as a crash handler.

(Source: GameHut)

Unused Music

Gumball Machine

The Gumball Machine Bonus Stage track from Sonic the Hedgehog 3. It is not possible to play in-game, as it is not referenced by the sound driver. Located at $CAE1C.

Full Invincibility

While only partially unused, the invincibility theme only plays for about 18 seconds in-game, but there's a bit more to it that can only be heard in the Sound Test. This can also be heard if the player pauses at the same frame the music begins.

Unused Areas

To do: There needs to be map rips with the unused areas highlighted instead of the in-game screenshots.

Green Grove Zone Act 1

After passing the first loop of Act 1, there is a large empty area blocked off by a wall. In the E3 prototype, this area is properly accessible; apparently, only the collision was removed. Lower down, there is another area that does not appear in the E3 prototype.

Diamond Dust Zone Act 2

An alternate route exists blocked off towards the beginning of the Act, just after the first spring.

Spring Stadium Zone Act 2

There's a blank collision area set at a very low level near the coiled tube.

Sound Driver Credit

Present at 0xD2E82.

Sound Driver for Sonic Series
Coded by Y.Kashima & M.Sets.
Sun Sep  1 1996 17:02