Birdies! Love the Birdies!! Review

Birdies! Love the Birdies!!

Good old forgetful Sonic has lost the Chaos Emeralds again. (Where to get an emerald that is not green has been a question that has haunted me

since the first Sonic the Hedgehog.) This time they’ve landed on

Flicky Island, home of the interdimensional birdies aptly called Flickies.

Dr. Robotnik is also hot on the trail of the Emeralds, so it’s up to Sonic

to save the day once again and find all the Chaos Emeralds first. Maybe

this time he’ll put them somewhere safe. (I recommend a sock drawer.)

There were some high expectations for Sonic’s premiere voyage onto the

Saturn. The rarely known Sonic CD for the Sega CD was Sonic’s first

adventure on CD and it was pretty good. Sonic 3D Blast, however,

seems to have taken a step in the wrong direction. No longer trapped in

two dimensions, Sonic is now free to roam around in an isometric world.

Unfortunately, as cool as this game is to look at, it eventually becomes remarkably

boring to play.

Kudos to Sega for some of the sharpest graphics we have ever seen. The

rounded, cartoony atmosphere is perfect for Sonic 3D Blast, right

down to the monkeys on the trees. The character design is just as funky as

ever: one of your enemies appears to be a distant cousin of the Michelin

Man. If sprites bore you, the polygonal bonus levels should make you

happy. The halfpipe bonus levels, first seen in Sonic 2 are back

again and crazier than ever. Now, there are ledges you have to jump,

accelerators you have to hit, and distorted tracks which spin like a

corkscrew right underneath you. There should have been an option to just

play the bonus levels, but that’s what secrets are for . . . I hope.

The sound and background music are identical in style to the previous

Sonics, but sound a lot better on the CD systems. There is a slight, but

noticeable, load time for the special music when you get invincibility or

speed shoes, which gets annoying. The jump noise, shield, and popping of

the enemies seem to have been sampled from the original Sonic the

Hedgehog, but somehow fit with the cartoony atmosphere.

The gameplay is where Sonic 3D Blast really suffers. This is

Sonic the Hedgehog, he’s always been fast, he should always be fast.

(That is until age catches up with him and he has to start using a walker.)

The people at Sega seem to have forgotten this simple fact. Sonic 3D

Blast is SLOW!

Because this is a much more non-linear game, you have to take your time, kill all the enemies, and

collect little birdies. This addition is what makes Sonic 3D Blast

boring. You can no longer just run as fast as you can through a level just

to get it over with. Even worse is the lack of a save feature. In order

to win, you have to sit down for many hours and play continuously until you

defeat Robotnik.

Sonic 3D Blast isn’t a bad game in the grand scheme of things, but is probably the worst Sonic game ever made. This is

not to say that little kids might not like it. In fact, the cute graphics

and characters would probably be perfect. In an era of violent, bloody

games, parents have a hard time finding good games for their young

children. Sonic 3D Blast is perfect for a younger crowd of game

players. As for the rest of us, rent it before you buy. While this game

may be your cup of tea, it definitely isn’t the Sonic we know and love.