Sonic 3D Blast (Sega Saturn) Playthrough

I DON'T OWN ANYTHING FROM SEGA OF AMERICA! In 1996, Sega published Sonic 3D Blast (released as Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island outside North America), an isometric platform game developed by Traveller's Tales with assistance from Sonic Team. The project originated in 1994 during the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Because Sonic Team was busy working on Nights into Dreams, Sega outsourced the programming to Traveller's Tales. Impressed by the studio's technical work on Toy Story and Mickey Mania, Sega used this game to bring their highly popular mascot into the 3D era, especially since the Saturn title Sonic X-treme was heavily struggling in development. Following the absolute cancellation of Sonic X-treme—a project whose development was complete hell—Sega officially commissioned an enhanced version of Sonic 3D Blast for the Sega Saturn. Because of the intense pressure to fill the void left by the canceled project, this port was rushed into production and completed in a mere seven weeks while the team was still developing the Sega Genesis version. Just like the original 16-bit release, the game is an isometric platformer where players control Sonic the Hedgehog on a quest to travel through themed zones, rescue the enslaved Flickies, and defeat Doctor Robotnik. However, the Saturn version was designed to bring the blue blur more officially into the 3D era of gaming with several major upgrades: Visual Enhancements: The game features significantly higher-quality graphics and cleaner visuals than the Genesis version. Expanded FMVs: The presentation is enhanced with two high-quality full-motion video (FMV) sequences, compared to the single compressed intro video found on the Genesis cartridge. Reimagined Soundtrack: The game's musical score was completely redone to take advantage of the Saturn's superior CD-audio capabilities. True 3D Special Stages: The bonus stages were completely transformed into real-time 3D polygons. It plays similarly to the iconic half-pipe special stages from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, giving players a much truer "3D" experience while collecting the Chaos Emeralds. Funny enough, because of Sonic X-treme's cancellation, this game marked the very first time a Sonic game appeared on the Sega Saturn system. In North America, this version was released on November 22, 1996, hitting store shelves just 17 days after the Genesis version launched on November 5th. European gamers received the port the following year in February 1997 under the title Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island. Unlike the West, the original Sega Genesis version was never officially released in Japan. However, because the Sega Saturn was a massive commercial success in Japan—significantly outperforming its western sales—Sega finally gave Japanese fans a proper port late in the console's lifecycle on October 14, 1999. This unique release occurred almost a year after the Japanese debut of Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast, and just one month after Sonic Adventure launched internationally. The Saturn's immense popularity in Japan allowed the system to comfortably surpass the 20th century before the console was officially discontinued globally in 2000.Ultimately, this port serves as a polished, enhanced edition of the game. A similar PC version was also released alongside it during the 1996 holiday season, featuring the same visuals, soundtrack, and FMVs as the Saturn, though it uses a unique hybrid special stage that mixes Saturn 3D platforms with Genesis 2D sprites.