Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I had already covered the Genesis version of this game. Specifically, it was a DX or "Director's Cut" of itself made by the actual lead designer of this game, himself: Jon Burton. It has its own perks and improvements that you won't find anywhere else.
However, long before that, the Sega Saturn version of this game was made out of pure compensation. Sonic was going to get a proper fully-3D Saturn title called Sonic X-Treme, but SO MUCH conflict with that game's development (some of it nearly having someone work themselves to DEATH) ended up leading to it get cancelled.
(And even if it was fully done and released, it didn't look like it was going to make a very good impression, anyway. So this game's creation was a Lose-Lose, either way.)
To try and salvage this, Traveller's Tales' Sonic 3D Blast on the Sega Genesis was turned into a Sega Saturn game, with new details added to the Zones, a completely different soundtrack by TT's own Richard Jacques, and completely different Special Stages designed by Sonic Team, themselves, based on their work on a game compilation on the Saturn called Sonic Jam.
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Still, the plot of this Saturn port remains entirely the same as it did on the Genesis:
You've seen these Flickies since the very first Sonic game. Though they would only usually be blue. They actually came from the Arcade Sega game known as Flicky.
In this game, the Flickies of Flicky Island are special birds that can travel between dimensions. Once Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik caught wind of this, he quickly stormed the island to capture the birds, trap them in robots, and plans to use them to take over the world.
That's when our tried and true hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, also arrives on Flicky Island, on a brand new mission to free all of these mystical birds, and drive the mad doctor off the island!
----------
Besides the denser graphics and the changed soundtrack, the biggest difference in this version of the game is how its Special Stages are treated.
You still need to find Tails and/or Knuckles and give them 50 Rings before you're whisked away into a Special Stage. This time you'll actually get to see them take Sonic there in a brand new fully 3D version of Sonic 2's Special Stage.
Which is to say, collect enough Rings as you dash through the pipeways. Do this for both Rounds and then you get a Chaos Emerald. Watch out for bombs along the way, and this time, jumping won't save you from getting hurt by them on contact. There are further additional things in these Special Stages compared to Sonic 2, like boosters and bonus rings that quickly count down as you approach them. You can even have Sonic Spin Attack down slopes to go really fast!
----
But then... here's something I don't catch on about these Special Stages until later in this playthrough.
In the original Genesis version of the game, you could basically get as many as 4 Chaos Emerald per Zone. You just needed to find Tails & Knuckles per Act 1 & 2 of that Zone.
In the DX version I mentioned before, this was reworked so that you could only get 1 Chaos Emerald per Zone, no matter which friend you talked to first. Anything to overstep that would just net you a 1-UP, meaning you won't get all the Emeralds until very late into that mod.
However, long before that, in this Saturn version, it went for a middleground. You can collect just 2 Chaos Emeralds per Zone, but ONLY 1 per Act. So that means you could talk to Tails in Act 1 of a Zone, then Knuckles in Act 2 of that same Zone, or vice-versa, or just one of them in both Acts, and you will get your two Emeralds from the Special Stages before you complete the whole Zone.
Just as well, if you try to talk to Knuckles in Act 1, but then talk to Tails within that same Act 1, or vice-versa, then whoever was your second buddy will still have their Special Stage lead you to a 1-UP. Just a total waste of time, for me, especially for how fast I bring my life count up to 9 (and unfortunately it caps at that number, too. No invisible higher count, here).
I didn't realize this until later, when I had forgotten that Tails & Knuckles stop appearing after this game's 5th Zone (because the DX version allowed them to appear later than that). So if I skip out on a guaranteed opportunity to get a Chaos Emerald early on and you wonder why, then *this is why.*
----------
The battles against Eggman are also how they were in the Genesis game. Just note that the Saturn version here won't be using two alternating boss themes.
----------
If you’ve gotten curious about this DX version of the Genesis game I keep bringing up, then you can watch my Green Grove video of it, here!:
youtu.be/_8p9wWZv5d8
I had already covered the Genesis version of this game. Specifically, it was a DX or "Director's Cut" of itself made by the actual lead designer of this game, himself: Jon Burton. It has its own perks and improvements that you won't find anywhere else.
However, long before that, the Sega Saturn version of this game was made out of pure compensation. Sonic was going to get a proper fully-3D Saturn title called Sonic X-Treme, but SO MUCH conflict with that game's development (some of it nearly having someone work themselves to DEATH) ended up leading to it get cancelled.
(And even if it was fully done and released, it didn't look like it was going to make a very good impression, anyway. So this game's creation was a Lose-Lose, either way.)
To try and salvage this, Traveller's Tales' Sonic 3D Blast on the Sega Genesis was turned into a Sega Saturn game, with new details added to the Zones, a completely different soundtrack by TT's own Richard Jacques, and completely different Special Stages designed by Sonic Team, themselves, based on their work on a game compilation on the Saturn called Sonic Jam.
----------
Still, the plot of this Saturn port remains entirely the same as it did on the Genesis:
You've seen these Flickies since the very first Sonic game. Though they would only usually be blue. They actually came from the Arcade Sega game known as Flicky.
In this game, the Flickies of Flicky Island are special birds that can travel between dimensions. Once Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik caught wind of this, he quickly stormed the island to capture the birds, trap them in robots, and plans to use them to take over the world.
That's when our tried and true hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, also arrives on Flicky Island, on a brand new mission to free all of these mystical birds, and drive the mad doctor off the island!
----------
Besides the denser graphics and the changed soundtrack, the biggest difference in this version of the game is how its Special Stages are treated.
You still need to find Tails and/or Knuckles and give them 50 Rings before you're whisked away into a Special Stage. This time you'll actually get to see them take Sonic there in a brand new fully 3D version of Sonic 2's Special Stage.
Which is to say, collect enough Rings as you dash through the pipeways. Do this for both Rounds and then you get a Chaos Emerald. Watch out for bombs along the way, and this time, jumping won't save you from getting hurt by them on contact. There are further additional things in these Special Stages compared to Sonic 2, like boosters and bonus rings that quickly count down as you approach them. You can even have Sonic Spin Attack down slopes to go really fast!
----
But then... here's something I don't catch on about these Special Stages until later in this playthrough.
In the original Genesis version of the game, you could basically get as many as 4 Chaos Emerald per Zone. You just needed to find Tails & Knuckles per Act 1 & 2 of that Zone.
In the DX version I mentioned before, this was reworked so that you could only get 1 Chaos Emerald per Zone, no matter which friend you talked to first. Anything to overstep that would just net you a 1-UP, meaning you won't get all the Emeralds until very late into that mod.
However, long before that, in this Saturn version, it went for a middleground. You can collect just 2 Chaos Emeralds per Zone, but ONLY 1 per Act. So that means you could talk to Tails in Act 1 of a Zone, then Knuckles in Act 2 of that same Zone, or vice-versa, or just one of them in both Acts, and you will get your two Emeralds from the Special Stages before you complete the whole Zone.
Just as well, if you try to talk to Knuckles in Act 1, but then talk to Tails within that same Act 1, or vice-versa, then whoever was your second buddy will still have their Special Stage lead you to a 1-UP. Just a total waste of time, for me, especially for how fast I bring my life count up to 9 (and unfortunately it caps at that number, too. No invisible higher count, here).
I didn't realize this until later, when I had forgotten that Tails & Knuckles stop appearing after this game's 5th Zone (because the DX version allowed them to appear later than that). So if I skip out on a guaranteed opportunity to get a Chaos Emerald early on and you wonder why, then *this is why.*
----------
The battles against Eggman are also how they were in the Genesis game. Just note that the Saturn version here won't be using two alternating boss themes.
----------
If you’ve gotten curious about this DX version of the Genesis game I keep bringing up, then you can watch my Green Grove video of it, here!:
youtu.be/_8p9wWZv5d8
