Sonic 3D (subtitled as Flickies' Island in Europe, Blast elsewhere) is a video game starring Sonic the Hedgehog. Released in November 1996 in the UK, the game saw lone playable character Sonic traverse Flickies' Island, aiming to stop Doctor Robotnik's latest evil scheme.
Story
After his last defeat, Robotnik happened to discover the existance of another dimension, where a species of Flicky lived. Realising they could travel anywhere in large Rings, Robotnik captured them and used them in his latest breed of Badnik. Sonic visited the island one day and saw what the evil genius had done to his friends, so set about on another adventure to save them.
STC Adaptation
Five months after Sonic 3D hit UK shores, a brief adaptation appeared in the pages of Sonic the Comic. Beginning in Issue 104 and lasting three issues, the story Fllickies' Island had the same idea as the game, having Robotnik capture the Flickies and using them in new Badniks in his attempt to take over the world. Instead of happening to visit the island, Sonic learned about the Flickies' dilemma through Tails and his ability to talk to the birds. Reluctantly, Sonic went with them to find Robotnik in his new Rusty Ruin Zone base. The story changed when a Prosecutor from the Drakon Empire arrived to take the threat away for trial.
Although the actual adaption was brief, Robotnik remained on Flickies' Island until he was defeated again in Issue 130. Straight after, Sonic and the Freedom Fighters headed to Flickies Island to rid it of Robotnik's influence, but were caught up in Agent X's plans.
Locations
Although never explicitly stated, Robotnik's exploits on Flickies' Island take part in a ruined building and so could be considered to be in the Rusty Ruin Zone. Even more tenuously, the majority of the island seems to be green and tropical, perhaps relating to the Green Grove Zone. However, all adventures on the island simply relate to the whole area by its name. Absolutely no fiery, icy or springy locations are to be found.
Lasting Effects
From this point in Sonic the Comic, right until the Sonic Adventure story arc, Sonic was given a different look, in line with SEGA's model sheets. Now, Sonic's spikes were pointed upwards more often than not, particularly when looking forward. His traditional "Christmas tree" look was gone, now looking like Super Sonic or the (yet to be invented) Shadow the Hedgehog.
Flickies would also make minor appearances, although they were just hostages to be rescued from Badniks.
Trivia
- Although it may seem as though the regional subtitles are hardcoded, they are actually coded to detect the region of the machine the game is running on.[1]
- A European copy running on a North American Genesis or Saturn will display Sonic 3D Blast, while a North American copy running on a European Mega Drive or Saturn will display Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island.
- The Japanese versions follow the same rules as the North American Genesis and European Saturn versions, despite the former not being released in Japan until Sonic Mega Collection.
- The PC version however has their subtitles hardcoded to the disc, although image files on the disc show that the region detection was to follow the same rules.
- This same version combines both subtitles in the Window header if the game is minimized or windowed. This makes the PC version's full subtitle as Sonic 3D Blast: Flickies' Island, though the proper region name will still appear in the title screen.