Difference between revisions of "Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island"

Revision as of 14:16, 17 September 2005

{{Bob|bobscreen=S3d_title.png|publisher=Sega|developer=Traveller's Tales|system=Sega Genesis]], Sega Saturn, [[PC|europe=November, 1996|usa=November, 1996|japan=???|genre=3D Platform|seealso=Sonic Blast}} Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island, released on the Sega Genesis and Saturn in 1996, also released later on the PC. In the opinions of many, this was a fairly mediocre Sonic game, due to the sluggish gameplay and rather boring aspects that haunt the stages of the game. The music in the Genesis version, however, is widely considered to be some of the greatest in the series, and has spawned numerous remixes across the web.

The game was released in Europe for the Sega Mega Drive in November 1996. The Sega Genesis version was released in North America later that month. The game was released on the Sega Saturn in North America in the very same month to make up for the cancellation of Sonic X-treme; the game was literally ported in a month with FMVs, highly spruced up graphics (including an all 3D special stage, considered by many fans to be the best special stage in the series) and an entirely new, Red Book audio soundtrack. It was then released in Europe for the Saturn in February 1997. The Saturn version of the game was released for the PC in North America in September 1997, with the videos and soundtrack intact, as well as the notable addition of a save feature, but lacking some of the Saturn's effects (like the fog in Rusty Ruins) and a dumbed-down special stage, using sprites from the Genesis version but with the basic concept of the Saturn version. The PC version came to Europe on September 25, 1997. Finally, the game came out for the Saturn in Japan on October 14, 1999.

The game places Sonic in an isometric projection view in a de facto 2D environment. He must collect Flickies and bring them to the big warp ring in order to advance in a stage. There are 10 or 15 Flickies to rescue in each Act, except Act 3 of each zone, where you face Dr. Eggman.

The ROM used on both sides of the pond is exactly the same. The title differs depending on which country the game is in. In North America, the title is Sonic 3D Blast. In Europe, the title is Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island. The European title was used in Japan. The PC version, if minimized (for instance, if a user Alt+Tabs), uses a combination of both names, though the combined name is rarely used, with people generally favoring one region's name over the other.

The Saturn version of the game featured an entirely different Special Stage then the Genesis version, which resembled the special stages of Sonic 2. It also featured many graphical improvements over its Genesis counterpart.

Archie Comic Adaption

Published in January 1997. Dr. Robotnik roboticizes the Flickies, and instead of helping him track the Chaos Emeralds, they prevent Sonic, Tails & Rotor from heading to the Flickies' Island until they were returned to normal with salt water.

Manuals

Levels

Special Stages

The games special stages were accessable if you found Tails or Knuckles hidden in the level. (Note: These were the only times that those characters would ever appear in Sonic 3D) The Genesis special stages were played out on a giant bridge, where you'd grab rings while dodging bombs at a frantic pace. These special stages are ridiculously easy, and it is extremely hard to actually lose on one. The Saturn special stages were exceedingly better, and played a lot like Sonic 2's special stages. The challenge was still lacking though, and to lose on one was a feat that is certianly not to be proud of.

Production Credits

Credits

Program Design and Implementation: Jon Burton (Travellers Tales) Head Artist: James Cunliffe (Travellers Tales) Program Conversion: Steve Harding, Neil Harding (Travellers Tales) Head Designer: Takao Miyoshi (Sega Enterprises Ltd.) Producer: Kats Sato (Sega Europe Limited), Mike Wallis (Sega of America Inc.) Senior Producer: Yutaka Sugano (Sega Enterprises Ltd.)

Travellers Tales

Program Design and Implementation: Jon Burton Head Artist: James Cunliffe Code Conversion: Neil Harding, Steve Harding, Jon Burton Graphic Conversion + Additional Artwork: Neil Allen, David Burton, James Cunliffe, Jeremy Pardon, Jon Rashid, Alex Szeles, Barry Thompson, William Thompson Utility Programming: Gary Ireland, Neil Harding, Gary Vine, David Dootson, Andy Holdroyd Project Management: Jon Burton Production Support: Karen Roberts Moral Support: Helen Musk

Sega

Game Concept Design (SOJ): Kats Sato, Takao Miyoshi, Kenichi Ono, Takashi Iizuka Playfield Design (SOJ): Takao Miyoshi, Hirokazu Yasuhara Saturn Version Enhancement Design (SOJ): Takashi Iizuka, Hirokazu Yasuhara 3D Modelling (SOJ) : Toshiyuki Mukaiyama

Special Stage Development

Game Designers (SOJ): Takashi Iizuka, Daisuke Mori Programmers (SOJ): Tetsu Katano, Yasuhiro Takahashi, Atsutomo Nakagawa, Kazuhiko Hattori Artists (SOJ): Kazuyuki Hoshino, Yuji Uekawa, Nobuhiko Honda, Shinichi Higashi, You Nishiyama, Sachiko Kawamura

Movie Development

Movie Creation (SOJ): Norihiro Nishiyama Movie Processing (SOJ): Yuji Sawairi Music (SOE): Richard Jacques Sound Effects (SOE): Richard Jacques, Thomas Szirtes Closing Theme "You're My Hero": Richard Jacques (Music), Debbie Morris (Voice)

Technical Support

Additional Programming (SOE): Ed Hollingshead, Thomas Szirtes Additional Support (SOE): Tamer Tahsin, Colin Carter Document Translations (SOA): Osamu Shibamiya Lead Tester (SOE): Jason Cumberbatch Assistant Lead Testers (SOE): Dave Thompson, Roberto Parraga Lead Tester (SOA): David Wood Assistant Lead Tester (SOA): Mark McCunney, Ian McGuiness, Tony Borba Marketing (SOE): Andy Mee, Jo Bladen, Mark Maslowicz Marketing (SOA): Chrissie Kremer, Eric Dunstan, Kristin McCloskey, Mark Subotnick Advisors (SOJ): Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima Special Thanks To Genesis Version Music SFX Composers: Tatsuyuki Maeda, Jun Senoue, Masaru Setsumaru, Seiroh Okamoto Producers (SOJ): Yoji Ishii, Yutaka Sugano Producers (SOE): Kazutoshi Miyake, Kats Sato Producers (SOA): Manny Granillo, Mike Wallis Executive Producer: Shoichiro Irimajiri

Cheats

Sega Genesis version

To access level select, press B, A, right, A, C, up, down, A at the title screen. After entering this cheat, you may skip levels by pressing Start + A during gameplay.

Sega Saturn version

Hold on C+Start at the title screen to access the cheats. To cheat, press start, then press:

X - Gain one life

Y - Gain one medal

Z - Gain all chaos emeralds

A - Skip an act

B - Skip a stage

C - Skip to boss of stage

PC Version

While playing the game, hold on M and press escape to access a hidden menu, which lets you change many weird features of the game.

Boxart

Megadrive

Image:S3d-box-us.jpg|US Boxart Image:S3d-box-eu.jpg|EU Boxart

Saturn

Image:S3dss-box-us.jpg|US Boxart Image:S3dss-box-eu.jpg|EU Boxart Image:S3dss-box-jap.jpg|JP Boxart

PC

Image:S3dpc-box-eu.jpg|EU Boxart

Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems

1991 Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic Eraser 1992 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 1993 Sonic the Hedgehog CD | Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine | Sonic Spinball 1994 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Sonic & Knuckles 1995 Chaotix | Sonic Classics 1996 Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island