Reception
edit| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 66.55% (Sat)[1] 58.75% (Gen)[2] 56.00% (PC)[3] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| GameSpot | 7/10 (Sat)[4] 5.6/10 (PC)[5] 4/10 (Gen)[6] |
| IGN | 6/10 (Gen)[7] |
| Nintendo Life | 6/10 (Gen)[8] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B (Gen)[9] C (Sat)[9] |
Sonic 3D Blast was met with mixed reviews. Aggregating review website GameRankings gave the Sega Saturn version 66.55%,[1] the Sega Genesis version 58.75%.[2] and the PC version 56.00%.[3] Critics disapproved of 3D Blast's gameplay style, some finding its isometric perspective limiting. Lucas M. Thomas of IGN lamented that "the sense of speed and intense action that Sonic's name was built on is absent here, replaced by, essentially, a looping, lazy fetchquest".[7] Austin Shau of GameSpot echoed this concern, calling the gameplay "an exercise in tedium".[6] Besides the game's goals, Shau and Thomas criticized the controls, particularly in the area of Sonic's overly slow-paced movement and slippery deceleration.[6][7] Thomas did admit that the game "has its moments" of quick-footed vigor, but characterized these as few and far between,[7] and Shau summarized that, while not unsalvageable in isolation, the game's elements violently clashed and customers would be "spending 800 Wii points for a vat of oil and water".[6] Damien McFerran of NintendoLife stated that its repetition was broken only by its boss battles and special stages,[8] the latter of which Shau wrote off as "childishly easy".[6] Reflecting on its complaints years earlier upon the game's inclusion in Sonic Mega Collection Plus, however, Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com called the game "much better than you might be led to believe".[10]
McFerran greatly enjoyed the game's visuals: "the CGI visuals are stunning considering the hardware, the animation is excellent and the level design is colourful and varied".[8] Thomas praised the game's "valiant" pre-rendered graphics, especially taking its limited hardware into account.[7] Shau stated that the graphics were one major area in which the game bore a welcome resemblance to its Genesis predecessors, and particularly appreciated the return of the ring-scattering sound effect. He thought similarly of the music, which he called "chipper".[6] Thomas also gave the music a subscore of 7.5/10, the highest of any element of the game, and noted that its themes would be memorable to players.[7] McFerran welcomed the graphical improvements of the Saturn version,[8] and GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann appreciated this version's superior handling of certain animations.[4] Entertainment Weekly, however, noted the game's unusually similar presentation on two platforms with differing expectations, claiming that "while 3D Blast is super by 16-bit standards, it falls flat on Sega Saturn, where 32-bit games with far more sophisticated 3-D graphics and gameplay are the norm."[9] Staff of GameSpot saw the PC version as similar to the others, but pointed out some slowdown effects while the camera scrolled, attributing these to its wide color palette.[5]
- ^ a b "Sonic 3D Blast for Saturn". GameRankings. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ^ a b "Sonic 3D Blast for Genesis". GameRankings. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ^ a b "Sonic 3D Blast for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ^ a b Gerstmann, Jeff (12 December 1996). "Sonic 3D Blast Review (Saturn)". GameSpot. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ a b GameSpot Staff (21 October 1997). "Sonic 3D Blast Review (PC)". GameSpot. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f Shau, Austin (12 December 2007). "Sonic 3D Blast Review (Genesis)". GameSpot. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f Thomas, Lucas M. (4 December 2007). "Sonic 3D Blast Review (Genesis)". IGN. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ^ a b c d McFerran, Damien (2 November 2007). "Sonic 3D Blast Review". Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ a b c Walk, Gary Eng (13 December 1996). "Sonic 3D Blast Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ^ Parish, Jeremy (29 November 2004). "Sonic Mega Collection Plus Review for PS2 from". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2015.