Sonic 3D Blast 5
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- For the unlicensed NES game, see Somari.
Sonic 3D Blast 5 | ||||||||||
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System(s): Game Boy, Game Boy Color | ||||||||||
Developer: Makon Soft (Yong Yong) | ||||||||||
Genre: Action | ||||||||||
Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||
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Sonic 3D Blast 5 is an unlicensed Sonic the Hedgehog platform game for the Game Boy. As with many unlicensed games, this game appears for sale on eBay occasionally, showing a picture of a cartridge, and is occasionally included on various multicarts. It is presumed to have been released after 1997, as it features music from Sonic & Knuckles Collection. Sonic 3D Blast 5 is infamous for its poor quality, and has served as the basis for multiple other unlicensed games.
Infamously, VisualBoyAdvance will not run Sonic 3D Blast 5 as it doesn't seem to recognise the game, but BGB and mGBA will run the game without issues. The MyOldBoy emulator for Android devices doesn't load the game, loading a blank screen instead.
Contents
Gameplay
The intro, title screen and in-between level screen are still images taken from the Sega Saturn version of Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island. All the levels are named "Green Hill Zone", though most of them are based on other Zones, with only the Act number changing on the title card. Sonic the Hedgehog is the only playable character in the game, using his sprites from Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble.
The game's physics are very crude in comparison to official games. Sonic has only two separate movement speeds; his initial walk is replaced by a run after he moves a certain distance. He is unable to hit Badniks from the side when using his jumping Spin Attack, and must land directly on top of them, which also causes him to unroll from his ball form (though the player can still land on Badniks and defeat them whilst twirling in midair, so long as they land on top of the Badniks). The rolling Spin Attack and the Spin Dash are also present, but are not fully functional. The former does not damage enemies, and the latter doesn't always work (sometimes the player passes through the enemy, while other times they suffer a hit).
As normal, Rings allow Sonic to survive a hit, and are deducted in full after one; however, they do not fly out of Sonic's grasp when lost. The Invincibility Monitors that appear will make Sonic immune to damage from Badniks, but it cannot destroy them, and Sonic can still be damaged, lose Rings, or lose a life from spikes. There are also Super Ring monitors that grant 10 Rings, and spring monitors that cause springs to appear on the ground in the same spot, even though most of them go nowhere. Due to poor coding, it is possible that some objects may not load when they are supposed to come into view, and as a result the player may find themselves in situations where they cannot progress because a moving platform or Badnik hasn't spawned.
Levels
Round 1 | |
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This level is apparently designed after Green Hill Zone and shares some of its graphics. Sunflowers and palm trees can be seen and the background music is taken from Angel Island Zone. | |
Round 2 | |
This level is designed after Flying Battery Zone. As with most such stages, it is set high above the ground, as clouds can be seen in the background in the outdoor sections. Most of the level's difficulty is centered in these sections, as the player must carefully jump across moving platforms, made very difficult by the broken physics. | |
Round 3 | |
This level appears to be designed after Spring Yard Zone, taking place in a city with mountains also filling the background. A badly-encoded version of the Data Select theme from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 plays in this level. | |
Round 4 | |
This is a desert level where sand, palm trees, and pyramids can be seen in the background, presumably inspired by Sandopolis Zone or Desert Palace. The foreground is a sort of stony ruins area with many platforms that fall once stood on. It is often considered to be the most difficult level in the game due to frequent glitches that can occur, and one area is virtually impossible to pass without a cheat code or by performing an incredibly tricky jump achieved by luring a Buzzbomber. | |
Round 5 | |
This level takes place in the wilderness, taking inspiration from Marble Garden Zone. Corn stalks and tall weeds can be seen quite frequently. Mountains are also present in the background. |
Variants
Multiple variants of Sonic 3D Blast 5 exist, all of which are made for the Game Boy Color, with the quality of the colourisation varying between games (though generally tends to be of poor quality). All variants are backwards-compatible with earlier Game Boy models including the Super Game Boy, and will use the original monochrome palettes from Sonic 3D Blast 5 when played on those systems. The level order is also shuffled across multiple games, as listed here:
Level | Sonic 3D Blast 5 | Sonic Adventure 7 | Sonic Adventure 8 | Pokémon Jade |
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"Green Hill Zone" | 1st | 5th | 5th | 5th |
"Flying Battery Zone" | 2nd | 4th | 1st | 4th |
"Spring Yard Zone" | 3rd | 2nd | 4th | 3rd |
"Sandopolis Zone" | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 1st |
"Marble Garden Zone" | 5th | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd |
Sonic Adventure 7
Sonic Adventure 7 is a later version of Sonic 3D Blast 5 released in 1999. The manual that comes with the game copies its text from the US Sonic Blast manual with screenshots and character art from Sonic Adventure added. All text referring to Knuckles the Echidna (without controls) are replaced with "Sonic Adventure 7 ".
The intro is an abridged version of the Sonic & Knuckles title screen animation (and despite his appearance, Knuckles is not playable), and the title screen is the Sonic Adventure cover art. The graphics seem to have been hastily recolored, as they are often unfitting and visually unpleasant (e.g. many neon colors are used and some sprites are not colored in), and the music has been changed to more rearrangements from Sonic & Knuckles Collection. The level order has been changed, with the fourth level from S3DB5 becoming the first level. This version is more well known and better supported in emulators such as VisualBoyAdvance, and was hacked into later games.
Manuals
Sonic Adventure 8
Sonic Adventure 8 is a rearranged version of Sonic Adventure 7 released in 2000. The intro has been redone again, this time featuring a screenshot of Sandopolis Zone, and most of the music has been reverted back to the tracks heard in S3DB5. The colour palettes have been changed (making Sonic red), and the level order has been rearranged again, with the Flying Battery level (second level in S3DB5, fourth in SA7) becoming the first level.
For many years, Sonic Adventure 8 had not been dumped, but as of September 12, 2017, taizou from Handheld Underground has dumped the ROM and created an MBC5 hack, allowing it to work on any emulator[1]. When played on real hardware using a flash cartridge such as the EverDrive-GB series, the ROM will not work due to a checksum issue with the bootstrap (the Super Game Boy's bootstrap functions differently so the issue does not apply to it), thus requiring the ROM's checksum to be corrected before it can be played.
Pokémon Jade
Another version released in 2001, titled Pokémon Jade: Special Pikachu Edition exists (not to be confused with the bootleg English translation of Keitai Denjuu Telefang), replacing Sonic with Pikachu, Rings with Poké Balls, and the Badniks with other Pokémon (plus a long, unnecessary introduction). The first level has been changed to the desert level much like in Sonic Adventure 7, and the colourisation is somewhat improved.
However, the game cannot be played past the first level, as reaching the Signpost at the end will crash the game due to a programming error. In order to access the other levels, the player must use cheat device codes or hack the game. Doing so reveals that the level order is mostly the same as in Sonic Adventure 7, albeit with the Spring Yard and Marble Garden levels swapped around.
As of March 21, 2018, Pokémon Jade has been dumped by taizou and released on Handheld Underground[2]. The available ROM dump is currently only supported by both hhugboy and mGBA due to the unique mapper it uses, and does not work on any flashcarts.
Pokémon Adventure
Pokémon Adventure is similar to Pokémon Jade and other prior versions, but was released in 2000, and replaces the levels and the musical score with completely different ones. The enemies used in this version are all taken from other Makon Soft-developed games, such as Rockman 8, Super Mario Special 3 and Sonic Adventure 7.
Hidden content
Main article: Sonic 3D Blast 5/Hidden content |
Screenshots
Sonic 3D Blast 5
Sonic Adventure 7
Sonic Adventure 8
Physical scans
Sonic 3D Blast 5
Sonic Adventure 7
Sonic Adventure 8
Pokémon Jade
Pokémon Adventure
Downloads
Download Sonic 3D Blast 5 Sonic 3D Blast 5 (87 kB) (info) Sonic Adventure 7 (70 kB) (info)
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Technical information
ROM dump status
System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments | |||||||||
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? |
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256kB | Cartridge | Sonic 3D Blast 5 | ||||||||||
? |
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512kB | Cartridge | Sonic Adventure 7 | ||||||||||
? |
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512kB | Cartridge | Sonic Adventure 8 (raw dump) |
External links
- Sonic 3D Blast 5 Gameplay Footage on YouTube.
- Sonic Adventure 7 Gameplay Footage on YouTube.
- Pokemon Jade Review on YouTube.
- Savestates for S3DB5 in a .zip file
- Savestates for SA7 in a .zip file
- Savestates for SA8 in a .zip file
References
Sonic 3D Blast 5 | |
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Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Hidden content | Bugs
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