FrameRater I suspect so too. The game came out late in the Genesis’ life, and 3D was the big hype. And then Nintendo also had Donkey Kong Country two years prior while Sony was hyping how the PSOne does 3D graphics. So I imagine Sega chose the name to play up the 3D qualities in a bid to stay relevant.
I seriously thumbed through the comments to see if there was anyone besides be that had this exact same thought. My effort was not in vain. I needed this validation, thank you! 😂
That derpy Sonic Face from the beta menu became a meme in the community for a short while. There was tons of great photo shops with him way back when it was discovered.
I would have loved it if he implemented a 1/100 chance of Derp Sonic appearing in place of normal Sonic in the menu in the Director's Cut as an easter egg.
Mindblowing. What's next? Will we learn that the mirror room music is also from 3D Blast? Or that Open Your Heart was 3D's main theme, but it had to fit into 32KB of ROM, and Jon could only crunch the vocals down to 64 KB? :P
Sonic Spindrift would have been a pretty cool name. My guess is SEGA wanted to separate its identity from Sonic Spinball and Sonic Drift. I was amazed to learn that Sonic Adventure took yet another track from this game, that isn't even released to the public! I love Twinkle Park's castle theme!
Either that or SEGA really wanted the game to have "3D" in the title for marketing purposes; this was during that whole 3D craze after all, where everyone wanted to see their favorite characters in 3D.
Had a chuckle at “We didn’t tell sega we were working on a fmv intro”... followed by “this music didn’t make it due to lack of space on the cartiridge”... Lucky Sega liked the fmv intro hah
I collect old computers as a little hobby and I've got four of those Silicon Graphics Indogo 2 machines. I didn't pay £400,000 for them though, I got them for £50 for the lot! Trying to build them up right now, two belonged to the British Navy and the other two were for a production company that made intros for TV shows.
I like the name Spindrift, But it might have been changes as there was a Sonic DRIFT already, as well as a Sonic SPINball, Also having games in 3D was the "cool" thing at the time.
"spindrift" sounds cool, but it has the problem of not really having anything to do with the game at all. Sure, you can spin of course, but that's always been a staple move for sonic. And there's no drifting whatsoever. "3D Blast" was probably the better name, at the end of the day, even if it sounds a bit generic. At least the european game renamed it to "3D: Flickies Island". Makes it sound a tad less generic, whilst also telling you more of what the game is about beyond being 3D.
The whole Blast Processing advertisement thing was used only in the US, so it makes sense that they used the 3D Blast title over there. In Europe nobody would have understood the reference. As for why the alternative Flickies Island subtitle, I’m not sure. Maybe the original Flicky game was better known in Europe, because of the Master System’s bigger presence there?
Flickies' Island was also in the Japan title as well I recall. It was only America that changed it to 'Blast' to help market that and the Game Gear 'Sonic Blast' since they were both using pre-rendered sprites. In other words - good old marketing buzzwords!
sieonigh it would require the Sega CD to be in that quality on the Genesis unless you're talking about a version in Genesis quality using FM synthesis.
Genuinely fascinating stuff that we didn't know before, Jon. Finding out that the 'Pleasure Castle... for Twinkle Park' track from Sonic Adventure was originally composed for Sonic 3D Blast is amazing. We really need to hear that demo tape! I seriously hope you get the permission to release it!
That blew my mind when you said Twinkle Park's theme was made for Sonic 3D Blast originally. I wonder what that song sounds like on Genesis? Also, I prefer Sonic 3D Blast over Sonic Spindrift. That doesn't sound like it has much to do with whatever actually happens in the game.
One question remains though: What is your preferred version (besides your director's cut)? The Genesis/Mega Drive oder the Saturn version (or maybe even the PC version)? What is the "go to" version?
Well, Saturn is a difficult console to make games in it, so i guess thats one of the reasons he didn't make a Satun DX version, the other could be that everybody knows about the Genesis version
Among fans it seems like the genesis version is the overall favorite so that’s probably the one he prefers too lol He could be in the minority though, so who knows (unless he responds, of course lmao)
The Saturn version looks awesome and has better bonus stages, but some of the music isn't nearly as good as the Genesis version. Diamond Dust, Panic Puppet, Green Grove and the Lava levels had much better compositions on the Genesis in my opinion. Loading times were pretty long on the Saturn, but it still looks beautiful!
I had no idea that the Twinkle Park music was from Sonic 3D! I'm not that supprised because Jun Sunoue reused a few tracks already but that's still awesome. Makes me want to hear that demo tape even more now!
Wow, amazing that the Twinkle Park(?) track from Adventure was going to be the Tails bonus stage in Sonic 3D! Is the version you have on Jun's demo tape exactly the same as it eventually appeared in Adventure (and this video) or are there differences?
Modern - No, near the middle of the video, it's revealed that Twinkle Park's Main Theme was lifted from a bonus stage theme that wasn't implemented due to running out of cartridge space. Had that theme made it in, Tails bonus stages would have played one song and Knuckles bonus stages would have played the other.
I would imagine they sound different. Can't imagine the Mega Drive/Genesis would have been able to create the instruments and sounds required to make it sound like the Sonic Adventure version without taking up a ridiculous amount of cartridge space. That's why Sonic never had rock music in his games until the CD console era.
While I can't say for sure what kind of quality the track's original recording had, it's pretty obvious that the Genesis couldn't support CD-quality sound, so it would have sounded much lower fidelity. It should also be pretty apparent that cassettes do not exactly have the capacity for high quality sound either - as such, there is no way that the original demo tape sounds the same. Another video explained that he has not been able to get SEGA's permission to use the tracks from the demo tape in a video, so of course he had to superimpose the official SA version in place of it for this video.
So was the 2-player mode gonna be interlaced/480i (2x vertical resolution) like Sonic 2's two player mode? Would it have been squished or would you have specifically drawn the graphics to look correct in that mode?
I'm guessing the interlaced mode would have been very difficult to implement with just the Mega Drive's processors. It was already difficult in Sonic 2, water stages could not be implemented at all.
Spindrift sounds pretty interesting. All in all some interesting points. Really pushing the technical limits in some ways huh. 8 pixels of scrolling is not a lot by any means.
I like the Flickies Island title better, honestly. If you had the chance, would you work on a new 3D sonic game? Whether like one of the more modern titles or like this isometric classic.
Sonic Adventure blew my mind playing it when you get to the part of Stage 2 where the first stage Sonic 3D Blast for Genesis played (*points his finger at the screen reading that sentence back). I am the only person I know that bought the game on Genesis (I got it for a bargain of $20 brand new when 16-bit stuff started clearing out.. bought it on a whim because I thought the game was Saturn only). I prefer the BGM of the Genesis version over the Saturn.... the Saturn music never fit the game.
3:01 I'm guessing that wiggling the cart causes a Bus Error exception on the 68K, and you use that vector for the cheat menu routine? Probably could do with a mild disclaimer about "cart tilting" though. The MD and cart ROMs are fairly robust, but you never know if some weird bus contention might result. :p (yeah, yeah, I know - perhaps a tad alarmist. lol)
In a nutshell, Jon's original video mentioned that the menu was made to catch errors so it would pass Sega's quality checks. Tilting the cartridge causes an error condition, like you mentioned, and sends the player to that menu.
That part about converting the assembly into C, emulating a Genesis, and then adding additional code is actually pretty fascinating. I'd love to know how that was pulled off, and how they managed to organize the code to keep the different parts from interfering with each other. The part about emulating a Genesis sounds particularly fascinating. In general, I love the videos where you go into all your programming tricks about compression and clever effects.
This is some pretty cool information. I like how the Twinkle Park came from this game. Now we need to get Webber's OK to show off that demo tape. Also, if you kept the original speed of the game, the game would control horribly IMO.
I’d be curious to hear a bit more about the Saturn version of 3D Blast; even if it ran the same code, it was notorious for being tricky to work with(though rewarding).
Wow... that Twinkle Park theme: Was it EXACTLY like that and was just inserted into Sonic Adventure? Adventure sure borrowed a few tracks from this game, but I never thought an unused one made it in.
You did the right thing on numbers 9, 5 and 2. Interesting how Twinkle Park's second track was planned for this game. Now people are going to do a Megadrive remix of it thanks to you. You know, by mentioning how the Saturn version reused your code, people will want your DX version on the Saturn, too. 3D Blast is a gimmick name. Then again, anything with the words 3D is considered gimmicky.
Love your videos mate. Your Wild Copper Amiga demo was the reason I learnt 68k on the Amiga and went on to write my own demos. But I was thinking - I never did work out how you did the spinning text .. anyway - keep up the good work.
Thanks for #5, cuz I keep offering this very important tip to folks in the Sonic hacking communities: "There's usually a good reason certain assets don't survive the beta".
I definitely like this video format. Fact #3 (at 3:20) is my favorite, I had been wondering how the game was adapted for the saturn. That's really cool.
Wow, I was just thinking yesterday about that Twinkle Park track and how similar it seemed to the rest of 3D Blast's 16-bit soundtrack. Very cool to know I was on to something there!
I guess that "clever compiler" that made the C code for the Saturn version was also used to make the Windows version of the game? I seem to recall reading that the Windows version wasn't really emulation (and that the Sonic & Knuckles collection was ported similarly).
Since Sonic Drift was a Game Gear racer, and Sonic Spinball also existed already, having those in a combination name for a Sonic game likely would of made no sense. That and yes, the term '3D' was a popular trope back then, even though it is NOT 3D, it is 2.5D.
The music for Twinkle Park is one of my favourites of _Sonic Adventure._ That it was apparently composed much sooner is something I'm having more than a little trouble coming to terms with...
It's very interesting knowing Twinkle Park's theme was planned to be used in 3D Blast. Now I'm wondering what it would sound like if it was used in 3D blast.
As of yet, he has to get permission to release it. It's probably just a genesis version of Twinkle Park anyway. Pretty much something like this: ruclips.net/video/1ZgGKpZbMwo/видео.html
I mean, it *MIGHT* be okay for him to build that song into the Genesis format used by the game and show that off. Not swearing to that though; he'd know much better than me about the nuances of copyright law.
The demo tracks likely aren't music produced with the YM2612, as they're only demos. It's probably something more similar to this: ruclips.net/video/JZcmFipeXSY/видео.html
Thanks for addressing Sonic 3D Saturn in this! It was really only 2 questions I had about it. The other was was the decision to change the chaos emeralds from emerald cut to brilliant cut from the Genesis/MD to Saturn. Was it Sega's change? TT's change? and why?
I love the 3d blast music (despite being reused in other sonic games at the time) but I also love the pc/dreamcast version with the ambience and atmosphere + those effects really made the levels feel bigger. Like there was different weather per zone. Kinda wished there was a remix of both music together as one and the option to swap between both versions and a merged remix.
Spindrift would have been a cool name, but I suppose "3D Blast" is more consise for consumers just browsing the shelves and magazines. Advanced graphics themselves were a selling point, but that's no mystery or secret.
Pedro Morais - He states in the video that it was *originally* intended for one of the two types of bonus stage. I was asking him which of the two, since he never specified that detail. Thank you, though!
I adore the fact you've practically made a solid RUclips channel based on a sonic game most found mediocre (Not me flicky was ln of my favorite SEGA Games growing up).
The Indigo2 was a low end SGI machine. The contemperaneous Onyx, released in 1993, can be used as a desk for itself and in its most extreme configuration could cost you over $600,000.
I can't fucking believe wiggling the cartridge to make that screen appear was INTENTIONAL. I thought I was going mad as a kid when I pulled it off a few times.
Wow, those SGI workstations.... these days I got two of those Indigo2 ones, fully running with Irix and a few applications. Quite nice seeing them in this vid and knowing about another thing they were used for :-)
Spindrift kinda sounds like it would be a racing game... but it wasn't until after that game was released that western culture was exposed to drift racing on a mainstream scale, so maybe I would have thought otherwise when I first played this game in elementary school...
Yeah, I'd also think "racing game" if I'd seen the name Spindrift. I mean, I don't think 3D Blast is a great name either, but at least it's more descriptive of the product.
I would like to note that I discovered the secret level select screen differently than most. I had a Sega Nomad and discovered it worked outside of the code you could enter one day when my school bus hit a bump in the road and the cart hit the back of the seat in front of me. I later discovered in my electronics class (while trying to repair my Nomad from other damage of my incredible misuse) that shaking the Nomad back and forth did the same thing. Always thought it was odd. I have a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 exploit/cheat I discovered by accident that only works on a model 1 Sega Genesis that I have never seen documented that has some similarities... I should really do a video on it as I wonder if the exploit applies in all regions.
I suppose the name change occurred for marketing reasons. Games with 3D graphics and gameplay were in at the time 3D Blast got released, and games like Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot were selling like hotcakes. It wouldn't be too surprising if SEGA tried getting more profit by changing the game name so it says: "Look! Sonic has gone 3D too! Please buy our game!"
A couple of questions about #3: 1. How do the gameplay differences in the versions, such as the different special stages, fit in? 2. I assume the PC version was produced using the same methods? 3. Could this technically mean that you could change the Saturn and PC versions of the same the same way you changed the Genesis/Mega Drive versions by changing the same code?
I liked how the Flickies behaved differently. It gave them personality, set them apart from each other and spiced up gameplay if you lost one (green one was kinda dumb, but he also looks vacant so it made sense!) I also like how the red one with the spiky hair would jump in place like he was hyperactive. :D 2:28 wow my mind is blown, I loved that song- didn't know it came from Sonic 3D Blast.
I'm 36yo and I had only a sega genesis. Im a computer technician and I love your video about how games are made. Keep the good work. From Montréal Canada
I hate it so much that you can't show that tape's music!!! I so wish I could listen to those songs! Thank you for the video though, it was really cool :D
![Sonic CD LOST BITS | Unused Content, Prototypes & Debug Mode [TetraBitGaming]](/img/1.gif)
I imagine the name was changed because Sega wanted to promote the 3D gameplay as a marketing tactic.
FrameRater I suspect so too. The game came out late in the Genesis’ life, and 3D was the big hype. And then Nintendo also had Donkey Kong Country two years prior while Sony was hyping how the PSOne does 3D graphics. So I imagine Sega chose the name to play up the 3D qualities in a bid to stay relevant.
"3D"
Why would it even be named "Spindrift" when you can't drift in it?
But it's called flikies island in Europe
BmanBman Bman It's called "Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island" in Europe.
When I saw the blanked out "SONIC S-------T" in the title, I literally said out loud to myself:
"SONIC SHIIIIIIT"
I seriously thumbed through the comments to see if there was anyone besides be that had this exact same thought. My effort was not in vain. I needed this validation, thank you! 😂
Clikbait. I'm sure not only you (and me myself) watched the video just because of that.
I'm sure at least 80% of us watched because of that. It was super clickbaity, but it was effective.
Saaaaaame
Same
That derpy Sonic Face from the beta menu became a meme in the community for a short while. There was tons of great photo shops with him way back when it was discovered.
I think it was kind of the "& Knuckles" of the time, in that people tried to put it in everything.
Looks creepy
I would have loved it if he implemented a 1/100 chance of Derp Sonic appearing in place of normal Sonic in the menu in the Director's Cut as an easter egg.
Imagineif you read the thumbnail and thought "oh that's ez! It's sonic s^&*!"
There was an attempt to call Derpy offensive, so lets just call our favourite boy by his ACTUAL name.
Down's Syndrome Sonic.
Hold on. You mean BOTH Twinkle Park songs were originally from 3D Blast? Not just Panic Puppet Act 1?
Well now I NEED to hear that demo tape.
Mindblowing.
What's next? Will we learn that the mirror room music is also from 3D Blast? Or that Open Your Heart was 3D's main theme, but it had to fit into 32KB of ROM, and Jon could only crunch the vocals down to 64 KB? :P
Pfft, I wouldn't be surprised if the mirror room theme was also recycled from unused content. -I can't tell if you're serious or being sarcastic tho.-
The what now?
...wait. hol up.
That song was from Strong Bad?
Huh. Shows how well versed I was in RUclips Poop knowledge. Lmao
Wow, good memory...
also, it's a small world!
1:23 "Making 3D games sure wasn't cheap"
Should've added loot crates, Jon
Surprise game mechanics
Print out this coupon and send to Sega Inc, PO Box XXXX. Attach check for $9.99. Your loot box code should arrive within 5-10 working days.
LOL
Sonic Spindrift would have been a pretty cool name. My guess is SEGA wanted to separate its identity from Sonic Spinball and Sonic Drift.
I was amazed to learn that Sonic Adventure took yet another track from this game, that isn't even released to the public! I love Twinkle Park's castle theme!
Either that or SEGA really wanted the game to have "3D" in the title for marketing purposes; this was during that whole 3D craze after all, where everyone wanted to see their favorite characters in 3D.
I'm using this name for my fan game actually!
sonic blast sms/gg markeitng
Had a chuckle at “We didn’t tell sega we were working on a fmv intro”... followed by “this music didn’t make it due to lack of space on the cartiridge”...
Lucky Sega liked the fmv intro hah
I collect old computers as a little hobby and I've got four of those Silicon Graphics Indogo 2 machines.
I didn't pay £400,000 for them though, I got them for £50 for the lot! Trying to build them up right now, two belonged to the British Navy and the other two were for a production company that made intros for TV shows.
Intros for TV shows?! B-but I thought only Amiga made it possible! :P
you should called Mr. collector jr ha ha!!!. are they still functioning? are you still able to design 3d models on them?
Use them to make Donkey Kong Country 4 for us please ;-)
Hello you!!!
Larry Bundy Jr Would love to see you partner up with him and make a video about these machines and showing their capabilities :)
I like the name Spindrift, But it might have been changes as there was a Sonic DRIFT already, as well as a Sonic SPINball, Also having games in 3D was the "cool" thing at the time.
I agree with the second point.
Drift was the dodgy cart racer type thing on the SMS/GG wasn't it?
Spindrift sounds cooler than 3d blast and even it's European name Flickies Island.
"spindrift" sounds cool, but it has the problem of not really having anything to do with the game at all. Sure, you can spin of course, but that's always been a staple move for sonic. And there's no drifting whatsoever.
"3D Blast" was probably the better name, at the end of the day, even if it sounds a bit generic. At least the european game renamed it to "3D: Flickies Island". Makes it sound a tad less generic, whilst also telling you more of what the game is about beyond being 3D.
Sonic Spindrift - The Pinball based Kart racer that never was...
Spindrift, eh?
What of the Flickies' Island title for PAL regions, where did that come from?
Sonic Spindrift : Flickies' island
Sound cool.
The whole Blast Processing advertisement thing was used only in the US, so it makes sense that they used the 3D Blast title over there. In Europe nobody would have understood the reference. As for why the alternative Flickies Island subtitle, I’m not sure. Maybe the original Flicky game was better known in Europe, because of the Master System’s bigger presence there?
The PC version combined the names into Sonic 3D Blast: Flickies' Island, interestingly enough.
Flickies' Island was also in the Japan title as well I recall. It was only America that changed it to 'Blast' to help market that and the Game Gear 'Sonic Blast' since they were both using pre-rendered sprites. In other words - good old marketing buzzwords!
+Astfgl Flicky is not available for Master System
2:27 Twinkle park! Friggin awesome.
imagin if it actually came out in that quality on the genisis
On the OST it's titled "Pleasure Castle ...for Twinkle Park" Definitely one of the best sonic songs from that time
sieonigh it would require the Sega CD to be in that quality on the Genesis unless you're talking about a version in Genesis quality using FM synthesis.
@@GoldenGrenadier I reacted the same way :D
It's torture seeing all these hints about the contents of that demo tape.... Have you had any updates on the legality of releasing it?
Who else read the thumbnail as ''It was going to be called Sonic Shit'' ??
The clickbait clearly worked, at least it's a good video
GEOMETRY NACHO NOTICE ME SENPAI
@@vinnyj1234a r/wooosh for no fucking reason other than annoy you.
would have been accurate...
Genuinely fascinating stuff that we didn't know before, Jon. Finding out that the 'Pleasure Castle... for Twinkle Park' track from Sonic Adventure was originally composed for Sonic 3D Blast is amazing. We really need to hear that demo tape! I seriously hope you get the permission to release it!
That blew my mind when you said Twinkle Park's theme was made for Sonic 3D Blast originally. I wonder what that song sounds like on Genesis? Also, I prefer Sonic 3D Blast over Sonic Spindrift. That doesn't sound like it has much to do with whatever actually happens in the game.
He's talking about the castle part of Twinkle Park, not the Go Kart part
Yeah, I forgot for a minute that there were more than one songs in Twinkle Park.
One question remains though: What is your preferred version (besides your director's cut)? The Genesis/Mega Drive oder the Saturn version (or maybe even the PC version)? What is the "go to" version?
Considering he did the Directors Cut patch to the Megadrive version, I'd say the Megadrive
Well, Saturn is a difficult console to make games in it, so i guess thats one of the reasons he didn't make a Satun DX version, the other could be that everybody knows about the Genesis version
Kimarnic y e s
Among fans it seems like the genesis version is the overall favorite so that’s probably the one he prefers too lol He could be in the minority though, so who knows (unless he responds, of course lmao)
The Saturn version looks awesome and has better bonus stages, but some of the music isn't nearly as good as the Genesis version. Diamond Dust, Panic Puppet, Green Grove and the Lava levels had much better compositions on the Genesis in my opinion. Loading times were pretty long on the Saturn, but it still looks beautiful!
I had no idea that the Twinkle Park music was from Sonic 3D! I'm not that supprised because Jun Sunoue reused a few tracks already but that's still awesome. Makes me want to hear that demo tape even more now!
4:35
Sonic Spindrift sound really cool, but it would fit a racing game more.
Same, wish they used it for the upcoming Sonic racing game, but it has an "R" in it, so...
No Spindrift... :(
Sonic 3D Spindrift Blast: Flickies' Island.
What a mouthful.
&Knuckles
I'm extremely curious to hear about your 68k to C (de)compiler, could you make a separate video about it?
I hope he listens. That does sound interesting.
I don't think he has any of the code/tools for the Saturn version... he might not be able to.
Sam Za Nemesis I don't think he made the Saturn port himself.
From his description it sounds like he didn't make it and may not have it anymore.
Wow, amazing that the Twinkle Park(?) track from Adventure was going to be the Tails bonus stage in Sonic 3D! Is the version you have on Jun's demo tape exactly the same as it eventually appeared in Adventure (and this video) or are there differences?
Are you talking about Panic Puppet Act 1?
Modern - No, near the middle of the video, it's revealed that Twinkle Park's Main Theme was lifted from a bonus stage theme that wasn't implemented due to running out of cartridge space. Had that theme made it in, Tails bonus stages would have played one song and Knuckles bonus stages would have played the other.
Actually, he said in another comment that it was for Knuckles's stages, not Tails!
I would imagine they sound different. Can't imagine the Mega Drive/Genesis would have been able to create the instruments and sounds required to make it sound like the Sonic Adventure version without taking up a ridiculous amount of cartridge space. That's why Sonic never had rock music in his games until the CD console era.
While I can't say for sure what kind of quality the track's original recording had, it's pretty obvious that the Genesis couldn't support CD-quality sound, so it would have sounded much lower fidelity. It should also be pretty apparent that cassettes do not exactly have the capacity for high quality sound either - as such, there is no way that the original demo tape sounds the same.
Another video explained that he has not been able to get SEGA's permission to use the tracks from the demo tape in a video, so of course he had to superimpose the official SA version in place of it for this video.
The fact about the Saturn verison using the "same code" really surprised me.
So was the 2-player mode gonna be interlaced/480i (2x vertical resolution) like Sonic 2's two player mode? Would it have been squished or would you have specifically drawn the graphics to look correct in that mode?
Game Sack it looks like the screen real estate is just cut in half since sonic and the terrain are both still proportional.
Squishing the screen probably would have been a good idea, but even the one-player game barely gives you enough room to see.
Game Sack
I love me some Gamesack.
Please do one on nfl2k
I'm guessing the interlaced mode would have been very difficult to implement with just the Mega Drive's processors. It was already difficult in Sonic 2, water stages could not be implemented at all.
OK, you blew my mind when you said Pleasure Castle ..for Twinkle Park from SA1 was originally meant for 3D Blast. I never would've predicted that!!
holy shit i never knew BOTH twinkle park themes were from 3d blast
Wait BOTH? I only thought it was the first one!
Jackson Green The bumper cars part is from 3D Blast's story part and the unused Tails bonus stage so yep. Also Windy Valley part 3 is Green Grove
Well theres still the creepy mirror area in twinkle park which I don’t think originated from this game
I'm honestly pretty blown away that that cheesy boss theme from Sonic 4 originally came from 3D Blast. You learn something new every day...
Watching videos like this makes me wish I'd continued my game dev career in the 80s. I've always wondered about it.
It’s very fascinating seeing the game developer dissecting his own game.
Spindrift sounds pretty interesting.
All in all some interesting points. Really pushing the technical limits in some ways huh.
8 pixels of scrolling is not a lot by any means.
I like the Flickies Island title better, honestly.
If you had the chance, would you work on a new 3D sonic game? Whether like one of the more modern titles or like this isometric classic.
HE would if he could but unfortunately LEGO has his hands tied
Love your stuff! It's cool seeing all these facts about 3D Blast, an otherwise overlooked title.
The sonic 4 and sonic adventure music tracks were pretty surprising facts tbh
Sonic Adventure blew my mind playing it when you get to the part of Stage 2 where the first stage Sonic 3D Blast for Genesis played (*points his finger at the screen reading that sentence back). I am the only person I know that bought the game on Genesis (I got it for a bargain of $20 brand new when 16-bit stuff started clearing out.. bought it on a whim because I thought the game was Saturn only). I prefer the BGM of the Genesis version over the Saturn.... the Saturn music never fit the game.
sonic 4? eh.
"3D Blast" just sounds like a happier, more welcoming title than "Spindrift"
Pleasure Castle was originally supposed to be on 3D Blast?? WHAT?
3:01
I'm guessing that wiggling the cart causes a Bus Error exception on the 68K, and you use that vector for the cheat menu routine?
Probably could do with a mild disclaimer about "cart tilting" though. The MD and cart ROMs are fairly robust, but you never know if some weird bus contention might result. :p
(yeah, yeah, I know - perhaps a tad alarmist. lol)
(watches the "cart punching vid".)
Oh, nevermind. lol
Delet tehs
In a nutshell, Jon's original video mentioned that the menu was made to catch errors so it would pass Sega's quality checks. Tilting the cartridge causes an error condition, like you mentioned, and sends the player to that menu.
To summarize, "It's not a bug, it's a feature!™"
Hmm, I already remember this trick happened before.
That part about converting the assembly into C, emulating a Genesis, and then adding additional code is actually pretty fascinating. I'd love to know how that was pulled off, and how they managed to organize the code to keep the different parts from interfering with each other. The part about emulating a Genesis sounds particularly fascinating.
In general, I love the videos where you go into all your programming tricks about compression and clever effects.
This is some pretty cool information. I like how the Twinkle Park came from this game. Now we need to get Webber's OK to show off that demo tape. Also, if you kept the original speed of the game, the game would control horribly IMO.
Hey Jon, it's EpicJoshy again. I like your Sonic 3D Director's Cut version. It's super cool.
I’d be curious to hear a bit more about the Saturn version of 3D Blast; even if it ran the same code, it was notorious for being tricky to work with(though rewarding).
I like the name "Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island". It really suits the game because Sonic is on Flicky Island rescuing the Flickies, right?
Plus the game is using a 3D landscape with rendered models. It's sprite based pseudo-3D but still 3D.
Wow... that Twinkle Park theme: Was it EXACTLY like that and was just inserted into Sonic Adventure? Adventure sure borrowed a few tracks from this game, but I never thought an unused one made it in.
3:00 Resumed: Every time the game crashes, it takes you to the level select, instead of reseting the game like the previows games
You did the right thing on numbers 9, 5 and 2.
Interesting how Twinkle Park's second track was planned for this game. Now people are going to do a Megadrive remix of it thanks to you.
You know, by mentioning how the Saturn version reused your code, people will want your DX version on the Saturn, too.
3D Blast is a gimmick name. Then again, anything with the words 3D is considered gimmicky.
"I said the mother of all curse words: the S-----------t word!"
I'm so happy to see that you keep making these videos.
This game was my childhood
As a coder myself, I think you are brilliant. The tricks you have made in Sonic, Mickey and ToyStory games are awesome.
Well, at least we got to hear that unused music in later games.
Will you make a video explaining the Mega Drive to Saturn conversion in detail? Please? :)
Love your videos mate. Your Wild Copper Amiga demo was the reason I learnt 68k on the Amiga and went on to write my own demos. But I was thinking - I never did work out how you did the spinning text .. anyway - keep up the good work.
Thanks for #5, cuz I keep offering this very important tip to folks in the Sonic hacking communities: "There's usually a good reason certain assets don't survive the beta".
And i thought down syndrom sonic was made on purpose like : "This game isn't finished so we didn't finished Sonic's brain !"
Everyone's favorite! Derpy Sonic!
I definitely like this video format.
Fact #3 (at 3:20) is my favorite, I had been wondering how the game was adapted for the saturn. That's really cool.
Wow, I was just thinking yesterday about that Twinkle Park track and how similar it seemed to the rest of 3D Blast's 16-bit soundtrack. Very cool to know I was on to something there!
I love all the trivia that you are providing! Thank you so much! 😊
I guess that "clever compiler" that made the C code for the Saturn version was also used to make the Windows version of the game? I seem to recall reading that the Windows version wasn't really emulation (and that the Sonic & Knuckles collection was ported similarly).
Since Sonic Drift was a Game Gear racer, and Sonic Spinball also existed already, having those in a combination name for a Sonic game likely would of made no sense.
That and yes, the term '3D' was a popular trope back then, even though it is NOT 3D, it is 2.5D.
I like the name sonic 3d blast. It’s more charming in my opinion.
I'm sorry, but all I can see in the thumbnail is "SONIC SHIIIIIIT"
The music for Twinkle Park is one of my favourites of _Sonic Adventure._ That it was apparently composed much sooner is something I'm having more than a little trouble coming to terms with...
This was a great video! My personal favorites are definitely the coding secrets though, it boggles my mind the tricks you guys came up with
It's very interesting knowing Twinkle Park's theme was planned to be used in 3D Blast. Now I'm wondering what it would sound like if it was used in 3D blast.
Is there any way we could hear the original version of the unused bonus stage music?
As of yet, he has to get permission to release it. It's probably just a genesis version of Twinkle Park anyway. Pretty much something like this: ruclips.net/video/1ZgGKpZbMwo/видео.html
I mean, it *MIGHT* be okay for him to build that song into the Genesis format used by the game and show that off. Not swearing to that though; he'd know much better than me about the nuances of copyright law.
Msf101 except the actual version would sound like Sonic 3D Blast, not a genesis version of Sonic Adventure.
Exactly, someone should make a 3D Blast arranged version!
The demo tracks likely aren't music produced with the YM2612, as they're only demos. It's probably something more similar to this: ruclips.net/video/JZcmFipeXSY/видео.html
Wow that scrapped Sonic 3D Blast song was later used in sonic adventure. Didn't expect it to be that song!
Thanks for addressing Sonic 3D Saturn in this! It was really only 2 questions I had about it. The other was was the decision to change the chaos emeralds from emerald cut to brilliant cut from the Genesis/MD to Saturn. Was it Sega's change? TT's change? and why?
I love the 3d blast music (despite being reused in other sonic games at the time) but I also love the pc/dreamcast version with the ambience and atmosphere + those effects really made the levels feel bigger. Like there was different weather per zone.
Kinda wished there was a remix of both music together as one and the option to swap between both versions and a merged remix.
I can't believe that Pleasure Castle (Unused track that was used in Sonic Adventure) was an unbiased track for Sonic 3D blast
I don't like much top tens, but you made it in a way more interesting than others! Keep up the good work!
I never really enjoyed Sonic 3D as much as the 2D games, but seeing what kind of work went into it is really fascinating.
Loved the variable-difficulty flickies. My kids yelling "Get the blue flicky!" each time one was lost.
Spindrift would have been a cool name, but I suppose "3D Blast" is more consise for consumers just browsing the shelves and magazines. Advanced graphics themselves were a selling point, but that's no mystery or secret.
this is the best video I've seen on your channel
So was that song for the Tails bonus stage, or the Knuckles one?
72speedway
Eyyo, it was for Tails'. Wait...actually, it was for Miles' bonus stage
*big smile*
Wait! Sorry, I misheard it. He doesn't say which one. You're right to ask, never mind, aha...
Pedro Morais - He states in the video that it was *originally* intended for one of the two types of bonus stage. I was asking him which of the two, since he never specified that detail. Thank you, though!
Knuckles
GameHut - Cool! Thank you!
PLEASURE CASTLE WAS ORIGINALLY A 3D BLAST TRACK?!?!?
Awesome video. I love all the technical details.
I adore the fact you've practically made a solid RUclips channel based on a sonic game most found mediocre (Not me flicky was ln of my favorite SEGA Games growing up).
The Indigo2 was a low end SGI machine. The contemperaneous Onyx, released in 1993, can be used as a desk for itself and in its most extreme configuration could cost you over $600,000.
Huh; it’s fascinating to know another of Jun Senoue’s Sonic Adventure compositions started life as a Sonic 3D track!
I think Sonic 3D Blast was the best name choice, but Sonic Spindrift sounds like a great title for a Sonic racing game in the same vein as Sonic R
I found out the cartridge tap level select on the start up sega logo. Didn’t know it could be done at other times
I can't fucking believe wiggling the cartridge to make that screen appear was INTENTIONAL. I thought I was going mad as a kid when I pulled it off a few times.
Wow, those SGI workstations.... these days I got two of those Indigo2 ones, fully running with Irix and a few applications. Quite nice seeing them in this vid and knowing about another thing they were used for :-)
Spindrift kinda sounds like it would be a racing game... but it wasn't until after that game was released that western culture was exposed to drift racing on a mainstream scale, so maybe I would have thought otherwise when I first played this game in elementary school...
Yeah, I'd also think "racing game" if I'd seen the name Spindrift. I mean, I don't think 3D Blast is a great name either, but at least it's more descriptive of the product.
Great video for one of my favorite Sonic games of all time. I had the PC port when I was a kid.
I remember getting this game for the Saturn when I was a kid... Never been so disappointed in my life.
First off, love the new effects on the intro/etc. Second, add one to the "more top 10s" counter for me, please, good sir!
I would like to note that I discovered the secret level select screen differently than most. I had a Sega Nomad and discovered it worked outside of the code you could enter one day when my school bus hit a bump in the road and the cart hit the back of the seat in front of me. I later discovered in my electronics class (while trying to repair my Nomad from other damage of my incredible misuse) that shaking the Nomad back and forth did the same thing. Always thought it was odd.
I have a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 exploit/cheat I discovered by accident that only works on a model 1 Sega Genesis that I have never seen documented that has some similarities... I should really do a video on it as I wonder if the exploit applies in all regions.
I suppose the name change occurred for marketing reasons. Games with 3D graphics and gameplay were in at the time 3D Blast got released, and games like Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot were selling like hotcakes. It wouldn't be too surprising if SEGA tried getting more profit by changing the game name so it says: "Look! Sonic has gone 3D too! Please buy our game!"
You are that guy who made big part of my childhood.
Twinkle Park's theme is one of my favourite Sonic tunes. I'm amazed it was almost in 3D Blast of all games :o
A couple of questions about #3:
1. How do the gameplay differences in the versions, such as the different special stages, fit in?
2. I assume the PC version was produced using the same methods?
3. Could this technically mean that you could change the Saturn and PC versions of the same the same way you changed the Genesis/Mega Drive versions by changing the same code?
Spin Drift sounds cool, I can see why having 3D in the title may have been appealing at the time.
I liked how the Flickies behaved differently. It gave them personality, set them apart from each other and spiced up gameplay if you lost one (green one was kinda dumb, but he also looks vacant so it made sense!) I also like how the red one with the spiky hair would jump in place like he was hyperactive. :D 2:28 wow my mind is blown, I loved that song- didn't know it came from Sonic 3D Blast.
I'm 36yo and I had only a sega genesis. Im a computer technician and I love your video about how games are made. Keep the good work. From Montréal Canada
This video was great! I would love to see more videos in this format.
I actually have Sonic 3D Blast as part of Sonic Mega Collection for the GameCube, it's a pretty fun game.
I hate it so much that you can't show that tape's music!!! I so wish I could listen to those songs! Thank you for the video though, it was really cool :D
1:47 The different patterns remind me of Pacman ghosts.
SONIC
SPENDTHRIFT
"I'm too cheap!"
Gotta go on a tight budget!
This is the Sonic for those kids who are now adults. Can't wait to race through an ASDA or Lidl.
Sonic shot