Sonic Blast

Sonic Blast
Logo of the game
Original title	G Sonic
Studio	Aspect Co. Ltd
Publisher	Sega
Senior Developer	Hiroshi Aso (Producer) Ryushin Hamada (Director)
composer	Kojiro Mikusa
Erstveröffent- lichung	Sega Game Gear : November 15, 1996 December 12, 1996 December 13, 1996 Sega Master System : November 21, 1997 Nintendo 3DS eShop : April 8, 2012 June 14, 2012 June 20, 2012
platform	Sega Game Gear , Sega Master System , Nintendo GameCube , Windows , PlayStation 2 , Nintendo 3DS
genre	Jump 'n' run
Game mode	Single player
medium	Cartridge , Nintendo eShop
language	English
Age rating	USK PEGI

Sonic Blast in Japan as G Sonic known, is a 2D platformers Run - video game , that of Aspect Co. Ltd. develops and by Sega for the Sega Game Gear was first published on 15 November 1996 in Europe. It represents the fifth and final 8-bit platformer for the Sega Game Gear and was only released for the Brazilian market at the end of 1997 for the Sega Master System . The two playable characters in this game are Sonic and Knuckles the Echidna .

It is the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble (1994).

action

Sonic was taking a nap on South Island when suddenly he is woken up by a clanking noise. He sees a Chaos Emerald fly away in five colored shards and Dr. Robotnik who takes flight. Sonic starts looking for the splinters, as does Knuckles, who appears to have been attacking a laser from Dr. Robotnik fended off Sonic by throwing a Chaos Emerald in between. So both Sonic, Dr. Robontik, as well as Knuckles the five splinters of this Chaos Emerald. When Sonic or Knuckles end the game with the five shards, they put it back together to form a Chaos Emerald.

Gameplay

In Sonic Blast , the player takes control of the blue hedgehog Sonic or Knuckles the Echidna in a side-scrolling 2D platformer. In addition to the control pad for movement, only one action button is required to jump. In jumping or rolling form, called Spin Attack, Sonic and Knuckles can defeat opponents or open item boxes in the form of monitors. If you let Sonic or Knuckles duck down with the control pad and then press and release the jump button, the character with the Spin Dash can quickly dash forward with the Spin Attack from a standing position. In this game, Sonic can double jump by pressing the jump button again after jumping in the air. This allows Knuckles to slide forward in mid-air. When touched, the golden rings can be collected; If the character is damaged, it is unusual for it not to lose all, but a maximum of ten rings. If the character takes damage without having rings or falls into a deadly abyss, he loses an extra life, of which you have three at the start of the game. If you collect 100 rings, you get another extra life. An extra life, ten rings, a protective shield, temporary increased speed, temporary invulnerability, a checkpoint or in the case of a Dr. Robotnik-Monitor's loss of damage should be included. In this game, the goal can also contain 10 rings, 30 rings, an extra life or a continue. Most opponents can be defeated with the Spin Attack, which frees the trapped animals.

The game consists of five zones ( Green Hill Zone , Yellow Desert Zone , Red Volcano Zone , Blue Marine Zone and Silver Castle Zone ) each with three so-called "acts" that can be defined as levels . Each zone has its own theme, appearance and variety of opponents. At the end of the third act there is also a fight against Dr. Robotnik. A large ring can be found in the second acts of each zone, which leads to a special stage that contains one of the five Chaos Emerald splinters.

development

Sonic Blast for the Sega Game Gear was created to form a counterpart to the new Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island for Sega Mega Drive and Sega Saturn . Therefore, character models were also pre-rendered here, which was difficult to implement due to the limited technology. Although it was a small development team, the game was completed relatively quickly. It is the last Sonic game for the Sega Game Gear and the third last Sega Game Gear title ever. The port to the Sega Master System for the Brazilian market at the end of 1997 was implemented with technical flaws, as little was done. But Sonic Blast counts as the last, official game for the Sega Master System.

reception

reviews publication Rating Nintendo World Report 4/10 Digitally Downloaded

Sonic Blast received mostly negative ratings. Above all, the graphic style with pre-rendered character models was very damaging to the gameplay, resulting in an even smaller screen section, sluggish gameplay and clearer problems with the frame rate. Graphics, sound and innovation all declined. The levels themselves were uneven, poorly designed, seemed empty and were mostly extremely short, as was the entire game. The lowest point is the frustrating, even more sluggish and opaque Blue Marine Zone , which is the only one with a significantly longer playing time. In general, Sonic Blast is considered to be Sonic's worst 2D platformer and one of the worst Sonic games ever. It was sometimes assumed that they had deliberately created a moderate 2D offshoot in order to underline the supposedly greater gaming fun on the simultaneously published Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island in contrast .

Nintendo World Report rated Sonic Blast with 4 out of a total of 10 points and criticized the short playing time, graphics and sound, the very slow underwater levels and the significantly smaller screen section compared to its predecessors.

New releases

After Sonic Blast was first released for the Sega Game Gear and the Sega Master System, the game was also on Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (2003, Nintendo GameCube , PC ), Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004, PlayStation 2 , Xbox , PC) and Sonic PC Collection (2009, PC) included. In addition, the game for the Virtual Console of Nintendo 3DS (2013) was released again.

Web links

• Sonic Blast on MobyGames
• Web emulator for Sonic Blast

Individual evidence

1. ↑ File: Sonic Blast GG US Manual.pdf - Sonic Retro. Retrieved March 10, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Sonic Blast Review Mini - Review Mini. Retrieved March 10, 2020 .