Sonic X-Treme

xDerekRx · Post by **xDerekRx** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:15 pm

I think all of us at one point or another read the story of Sonic Xtreme. Ive long tried to get past it when it was initially canceled but new articles and developments keep popping up that make me get back into thinking about it.

For those that dont know, Sonic Xtreme was going to be the first fully Sonic 3D game. It was in development limbo for what seemed like 5 years. It was planned for the 32x before moving onto the Saturn.

It went through developer and programmer changes left and right, inner Sega politics and never got released, even though the game was nearly completed. Instead us Saturn owners got Sonic 3D blast (which I thought was good but no Soinc Xtreme of course)

But now after all these years its seems the original programmers who spent their lives making the game only see it get cancelled or releasing all kinds of stories about the harsh life making the game was and how awful Sega of Japan really was. They are also releasing videos and all kinds of insight about what really happened that is interesting.

I hope someday we get to see the game. This alone could have saved the Saturn (hard to say but Sonic sold the Genesis) and could have been a real challenge to Mario 64 if it was good.

More info is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_X-treme

Youtube videos show the early demos of how the game was going to look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzvS_beX ... re=related

Warp2063 · Post by **Warp2063** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:28 pm

I actually had not seen that video before. Now I really want to play it... and I will probably never get the chance. :/

There's other stuff online about it... as I remember, there was a page where a lot of the concept art, some of the level designs, some of the actual art, and some of the music was posted by part of the original team.

HoboJoe · Post by **HoboJoe** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:39 pm

Well, there is a project to make a Sonic X-treme game, it's called Project-S, I was following it for awhile, but I don't know how far they've gotten, cause they didn't seem to release much to the public back then.

http://www.senntient.com/forums/viewforum.php?id=24
If you're interested that's the public forum

Manji · Post by **Manji** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 6:05 pm

i think the perspective on the stages is peculiar (almost like looking through a peep hole the whole time). from the video posted, seems like the enviorments were not as colorful, lively, populated or animated as compared to the 2D Sonic worlds. and this could be because it wasnt finished, but i have to judge it by what it is. play control seems a bit awkward as well. can you fall off the stage?? seems like it might happen often unless the edges doubled as barriers to keep that from happening. also, i see a lot of platforming involved. based off my memories from Sonic 1 and Sonic 2, there were some definite platforming elements but mostly it was getting Sonic up to full speed and blazing a trail.

all in all though, i would love to play it!

Warp2063 · Post by **Warp2063** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 6:15 pm

The camera view for Sonic used the fish-eye lens so that you could get a better view of your surroundings. I actually rather like the effect, and I'm impressed with how that would have had to have been done. The other characters would have a different view. I can't remember whether I read that each had their own view mode, or just Sonic.

xDerekRx · Post by **xDerekRx** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:25 pm

You guys should read the article or the faq on the site Hobo posted.

To Manji, it was never finished. But the base was there. They had an entire engine and editor built and ready to go. You would have certainly had more detail and color in a finished product.

Its really one of the saddest stories youll ever read. The game programmer spent his whole life designing a brilliant editor that allowed it to be built this way. 2 people almost died while making this game. It came down to miscommunication between Sega Japan and Sega America. Its so heartbreaking to read it because this could have been the defining Sonic game, youll never know unless it gets released or reworked.

RUMOR has it that one copy of the prototype was sold for 3000$ on ebay. There are playable demos and some other leaks that are available. I really hope the Saturn prototype gets leaked. I would love to try it on a Saturn.

Trip Mercy · Post by **Trip Mercy** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:40 pm

That is just another of the MANY games SEGA should have followed through on. It might have helped the Sega Saturn, but so would have lowering the price and having released on the original release date instead of moving up 5 months. Hindsight is always 20/20 though, isn't it? We would love if someone with all the code for this game said "I'm gonna make this happen so Sega Saturn owners can play this." That's not going to happen, nor will it be remade for any other system. It's the same reason they won't finish Shenmue, or make a Dreamcast 2. It simply isn't worth the trouble. It's a project that will cost a lot of money, and they are too scared that they won't make it back.

Warp2063 · Post by **Warp2063** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:45 pm

Part of the problem with lowering the price on the Saturn was that there were so many specialized chips, they had a hard time coming up with revisions that could cut down on the costs. Since Sony built the PlayStation with parts they themselves made, they were able to consolidate the design and lower the price more easily.

Really what the Saturn needed was a different system architecture. It was quite interesting, but too difficult for most developers to want to deal with.

xDerekRx · Post by **xDerekRx** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:01 pm

Trip Mercy wrote:That is just another of the MANY games SEGA should have followed through on. It might have helped the Sega Saturn, but so would have lowering the price and having released on the original release date instead of moving up 5 months. Hindsight is always 20/20 though, isn't it? We would love if someone with all the code for this game said "I'm gonna make this happen so Sega Saturn owners can play this." That's not going to happen, nor will it be remade for any other system. It's the same reason they won't finish Shenmue, or make a Dreamcast 2. It simply isn't worth the trouble. It's a project that will cost a lot of money, and they are too scared that they won't make it back.

Shenmue doesnt need to be completed since it was on the Dreamcast. But Sonic Extreme is a game that never existed which sucks.

I think some day we will get a release in some form. The old programmers are so passionate and seem like they want to do something. Who knows.

As an original Saturn owner, they were at least able to grab my parents. When the system wars in the middle period, Sega offered the 3 games free pack and thats when I got my Saturn, for Xmas. All 3 games that came with it were awesome. And I loved my Saturn just as much as my PC, PS1, N64. But as for the masses, Sega made lots of mistakes. It would take too long explain. But for me its still one of the most fun systems to play/collect. You almost have to at least applaud Sega for at least trying right as the system died. They brought over PD Saga, a couple RPGs, Burning Rangers, HOTD port and so on. So its not like they gave up and shat the bed in the US market. Although they could have done so much more, I look back at the Saturns last 10-15 releases and thought at least they released a few games that showed the Saturns true capabilities before it died.

Trip Mercy · Post by **Trip Mercy** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:47 pm

I love Sega it's because of them that I'm a software programmer myself. The Saturn was technically more capable than the PS1, because of it's two main processors and 6 additional cpu's. However, it was EXTREMELY difficult to program for so it lost A LOT of third party support so it failed. and yes, shenmue was on the dreamcast, but shenmue is a 16 chapter story and only up to chapter 7 is covered up to shenmue 2. My point is that Sega has a bad habbit of letting down the people that love it so passionately. Myself included. Did you know Shenmue 2 was voted number 10 on IGN's list of top 100 games of all time? but shenmue 3 will never exist.

but yes, Sonic Xtreme is game that absolutely should have been seen through to the end, and the Saturn could have been great, if only SEGA would have been smarter about the whole thing.

Warp2063 · Post by **Warp2063** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:31 pm

Trip Mercy wrote:I love Sega it's because of them that I'm a software programmer myself.

A good chunk of us on this site are software programmers.

dbdrummer88 · Post by **dbdrummer88** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:44 pm

I would have really liked to see this game come out. I remember first hearing about it a few years ago. In my opinion, this cold have given the saturn a better run and could have also helped keep them on top.

Trip Mercy · Post by **Trip Mercy** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:56 pm

Warp2063 wrote:
Trip Mercy wrote:I love Sega it's because of them that I'm a software programmer myself.
A good chunk of us on this site are software programmers.

Well it's good to hear that I'm among similar people.

xDerekRx · Post by **xDerekRx** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 1:28 am

Yup and not only am I simply a Saturn fanboy but I used to do game design in the early 2000s. Mostly level design/art and some minor coding.

All of us should get together and make a Sega Saturn game. Would be awesome.

xDerekRx · Post by **xDerekRx** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 1:35 am

Trip Mercy wrote:I love Sega it's because of them that I'm a software programmer myself. The Saturn was technically more capable than the PS1, because of it's two main processors and 6 additional cpu's. However, it was EXTREMELY difficult to program for so it lost A LOT of third party support so it failed. and yes, shenmue was on the dreamcast, but shenmue is a 16 chapter story and only up to chapter 7 is covered up to shenmue 2. My point is that Sega has a bad habbit of letting down the people that love it so passionately. Myself included. Did you know Shenmue 2 was voted number 10 on IGN's list of top 100 games of all time? but shenmue 3 will never exist.

but yes, Sonic Xtreme is game that absolutely should have been seen through to the end, and the Saturn could have been great, if only SEGA would have been smarter about the whole thing.

I see what you were getting at Trip. I agree

Shenmue 1 for DC is one of my all time favorite games. In my Top 10. I would have personally enjoyed seeing it for the Saturn like it was kind of planned for, just to see it really push the systems limits but the DC version was amazing. It was so ahead of its time when I first played it.

Youre right about Shenmue 3, it seems with each stepping down that happens at Sega, the less people involved in making the 3rd Shenmue. I really think that will get done one day. Too many fans of the series.

You could even say SOA dropped the ball on Shemue 2. That game should have came out in the US but yet the UK got it?? I paid a little more to get it but I made sure I played Shenmue 2 on DC instead of Xbox but glad they made that version for people in the US.

We can always dream.

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Sonic X-Treme

Sonic X-Treme