"Electronic Gaming Monthly" named "Sonic 3D Blast" a runner-up for Genesis Game of the Year (behind "Vectorman 2"). In retrospect, the game has been viewed more negatively; some journalists called one of the worst games in the "Sonic" franchise. "USgamer" and "Complex" wrote that the game did not feel like a true "Sonic" game, the latter exclaiming it was "offensive" to call it 3D. "PC Gamer" described it as "the first sign that "Sonic" in 3D was just plain not going to work". The game is remembered as a black sheep in the franchise.