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Sonic Blast

1996 side-scroller platform video game

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ2445378
Source-derived summary

Sonic Blast is a 1996 platform game developed by Aspect and published by Sega for the Game Gear. The player controls Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna, who venture through 15 levels to stop Doctor Robotnik from using Chaos Emerald shards to fortify his base. 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 special stages, the player must run forward and collect rings to earn one of the Chaos Emerald shards.

The game was the final Sonic the Hedgehog game for the system, utilizing pre-rendered visuals to maximize the graphical potential of the decreasingly popular handheld console. It was rereleased on the Master System exclusively in Brazil in 1997, various compilations in the series, 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.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Sonic Blast” as 1996 side-scroller platform video game. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1996, 1997, 2012—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1996. The account is most persuasive where Sonic, Blast and side-scroller can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as 1996 side-scroller platform video game. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2445378. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1996, 1997 and 2012.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Sonic Blast”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Sonic Blast primary sources, Sonic Blast archive and Sonic research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Sonic Blast”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Sonic Blast” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.