Sonic Blast

Sonic Blast
North American Game Gear cover art
Developer(s)	Aspect Co.
Publisher(s)	Sega
Director(s)	Ryushin Hamada
Producer(s)	Hiroshi Aso
Designer(s)	Fumikazu Sugawara Taro Murayama
Programmer(s)	Toshiaki Araki Yoshiaki Makishima
Composer(s)	Kojiro Mikusa
Series	Sonic the Hedgehog
Platform(s)	Game Gear, Master System
Release	Game Gear NA: November 14, 1996 EU: November 1996 JP: December 13, 1996 Master System BR: December 1997
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

Sonic Blast^[a] is a 1996 side-scrolling platform video game known for its use of pre-rendered visuals. To stop Doctor Robotnik from using Chaos Emerald shards to fortify his base, the player controls Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna through 15 levels. As a Sonic the Hedgehog series platformer, the characters run and jump to reach the end of a level while defeating enemy robots and collecting rings. In separate bonus stages, the player must run forward and collect rings to earn one of the Chaos Emerald shards.

The game was developed by Aspect Co. and published by Sega for the Game Gear. It was the final Sonic the Hedgehog game for the system, and has been rereleased on the Master System (1997), through three Sonic-themed compilations (2003, 2004, and 2023), and the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console (2012). Despite their similar titles and coinciding releases, Sonic Blast and Sonic 3D Blast have little in common. Retrospective reviewers generally had little praise for Sonic Blast and have deemed it one of the series' worst games. Although some considered its graphics impressive when considering the technological restrictions of the Game Gear, most found its animations and colors mediocre. The level designs and slow gameplay were also criticized.
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