Sonic 3D Blast 5

Sonic 3D Blast 5 is known to be possibly the worst Game Boy game of all time.

If you wanted a Pokémon version, here you go.

To do: Add screenshots and any more important info for the alternate versions of this game.

Revisions#

To do: Any more Sonic 3D Blast 5 leftovers?

All of these versions are 512kB in size, while the original game is 256kB.

Unused Graphics#

The Green Hill Zone title card from Sonic 3D Blast 5 goes unused in all other versions of the game, but the graphics are still present in the ROM. They are also loaded into VRAM on the Game Over screen.

Sonic Adventure 7#

Proof that remaking a terrible Game Boy game in SUBLIME GREEN, BRILLIANT BLUE, and RADICAL RED won't make it any better. If anything, doing that makes it worse.

• The intro has been changed, now using screenshots taken from the intro for Sonic & Knuckles.
• The map screen has been replaced with a simple screen featuring Sonic and a blue "Start". The title card was also replaced.
• The level order is different, with the first level in this version being the fourth level in Sonic 3D Blast 5.
• Most of the soundtrack has been replaced, and the songs used in both versions are slightly lower pitched here.

Unused Graphics#

These tiles are loaded into VRAM on the title screen. An earlier version of the game would have likely flashed "PUSH START" on the title screen, much like Super Mario Special 3. Only Sonic Adventure 7 has these tiles.

Sonic 8#

A minor hack of Sonic Adventure 7, released in 2000. Also known as "Sonic Adventure 8" on the packaging.

• The intro is noticeably shorter, with only two frames. The graphics here are different too, and are made up of hastily edited graphics from the rest of the game as well as a screenshot of Sandopolis Zone from Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
• The soundtrack has been reverted to the same songs used in Sonic 3D Blast 5, albeit still being a slightly lower key.
• The "Start" screen is different, with the graphics taken from Sonic 3D Blast.
• The title cards are also different, and now feature the Sonic Adventure logo from SA7's title screen.
• The Zones have been swapped around again, with the Flying Battery-inspired Zone (the second level in S3DB5 and fourth level in SA7) being the first one in this version.
• The in-game graphics have been recolored, but they don't use any more colors than SA7.

Pokémon Jade Version: Special Pikachu Edition#

In 2001, Sonic Adventure 7 was reskinned with a Pokémon theme and features the following (mostly cosmetic) edits:

• The intro stills have been replaced with images of seemingly-random Pokémon and some of the characters from the anime.
• A story has been added to the game, which appears after the title screen, as with most of Makon Soft's Pokémon-themed games.
• The Zone title cards have been replaced entirely, and are now written in Comic Sans.
• Some of the sprites have been redrawn, and Sonic has been replaced with the Pikachu sprites from Pokémon Adventure.
• The palettes for the stage backgrounds have been updated, and now use more than 4 colors.
• The stage order and soundtrack have been reverted to that of SA7.
• The songs for Stages 1 and 5 were swapped, as were the intro and title screen themes.
• The controls have been updated very slightly, as you can now move left and right at any point while jumping upwards.
• The code to end the stage when touching the goal post appears to be broken, as doing this now crashes the game. As a result of this, everything beyond Stage 1 is now inaccessible without hacking.

Anti-Piracy#

Sonic 3D Blast 5 unusually puts a frequently called routine on the header, not only prevents the cart being read by copiers and emulators relying on header information, but also makes fixing the header much harder since one must have to move the routine to a safe space before fixing it.

Later variants utilize Ka Sheng's proprietary copy protection mapper, making the protection on a more hardware level.