Sonic 3D blast was one of the last Sonic games released on the Sega Genesis. Most of you would probably agree it was not Sonic's best video game. The graphics and sound were mediocre, and the controls were frustrating.
I guess Sega thought it was good enough to port to the Sega Saturn in 1996. I bought the game not expecting any real difference from the Genesis version; boy was I wrong! The level layouts are exactly the same from the Genesis version (from what I can tell), but the graphics are completely upgraded. I would go as far as to call it "eye-candy", I was impressed with the level of detail on some of the stages, such as the monkey's popping out of trees, and even random rain and weather simulation!
You take control of Sonic in a "pseudo-3D adventure", trying to catch these birds called "flicky's" that you get after you kill an enemy. You must lead these flicky's to the end of the level in order to advance. Not the usual "fly through everything" Sonic game. This one is more deliberate and slow, however that doesnt mean its not fun. The music is different from the Genesis version, and its much better on the Saturn with ambient tunes that are surreal and near mesmerizing on some stages.
There is one fatal flaw however. One thing that the programmers totally messed up on; no save feature! Not even a password system. You mean I have to beat this in one shot? I tried and surprisingly I got to the last level in about 3 hours, and got burnt out so I turned it off for later. Actually, seems like the Saturn version is a little bit easier then the Genesis version, partly due to the 3D Saturn Controller, which works quite well with this game.
One more thing to mention is the bonus stage, which is completely different and resembles the bonus round from Sonic 2; only much better graphics, and quite a bit harder, due to sensitive controls. It seems hard to keep Sonic in a straight line, he keeps swerving to the left and right like he's drunk or something. Overall, this game is definitely worth getting even if you have the genesis version. Just make sure you have some time on your hands if you plan on beating it.
B