Ive been looking to invest in Sonic Jam for a long time now. It will complete my Sonic Saturn set and Ive yet to own or play it before now or in the past. I planed on buying it when I was ready (same thing I said about PD Saga ha)
The only caveat is they state the disc is in rough shape and may not play all the way through. I have access to a free buffing machine at the corner and the guy that does it is the best. So if its just surface scratches this may be a fantastic steal. If not, 5 total for a mint manual is cool
Netlink Games Owned:
-Duke Nukem 3D
-Sega Rally
-Bomberman
-Virtua On -Daytona CCE Netlink Edition
Not to go off topic here but I think Sonic did well on the Saturn. Some people say Sega botched it by never getting X-Treme done but I look at all 3 of the games they did for the Saturn as success.
SONIC 3D BLAST was truely a Saturn game. People say its a port of the Genesis... while it technically is, they developed the SAturn one at the same time after it was planned as Genesis only game - updated the graphics to look a ton better and updated the levels, and updated the music (which was awesome). It was the first Saturn game I ever played (bought it the day after getting Saturn for Xmas along with Area 51 and Fighting Vipers). So much fun. People are mixed about it overall but I thought it was a great addition to the series. Not an epic platformer by any means like a Mario 64 but fun and enjoyable to listen/look at.
SONIC R - This game is just great. The graphics are very pretty, the character models are very cool. It also has lots of replay value and mini adventure aspects to it. In a way its kind of a mini 3d polygon Sonic adventure game when you are finding the crystals and coins. The music is poppy and fun. One of my favorite saturn games.
SONIC JAM - Its the one sonic game I havent played yet which might sound like a suprise but Ive always waited on it. Ive obviously already played all 4 of the Sonic Genesis greats 1,2,3,Knuckles but Im very interested in the mini sonic world with extras built around the classic games. Sonic 1-2-3-K are some of my favorite games of all time. Played them to DEATH on the Genesis as a kid so the whole package is going to be great, I dont even have to play it to know that.
CONCLUSION is that Sonic did well on Saturn. It had the Racer, had a collection, had a decent 3D adventure. Too bad it didnt have that one more 3D game but oh well, mistakes by Sega. The truth is I always just wanted to see a Polygon Sonic game and all 3 provide that. Sonic 3D blast has polygon sonic special stages. Sonic R is all polygon and looks great. And Sonic Jam has the 3D sonic world. It would have been cool to get a straight up platformer like Croc/Mario 64 using 3D polygon Sonic, but who knows if that was Sonics intent. People say how much the Sonic games suck today. His best games are 2D where his speed can shine without worrying about a 3D world messing it up.
I could go on and on about Sonic per Sega system but all 3 did quite well
Genesis - Sonic 123K as well as Sonic CD
Saturn - best version of 3D Blast, Sonic R, Collection
Dreamcast - Adventure 1+2 and the oddball releases were very good
Netlink Games Owned:
-Duke Nukem 3D
-Sega Rally
-Bomberman
-Virtua On -Daytona CCE Netlink Edition
I agree with you xDerekRx, sonic was excellent as a 2D game. I have every one in cartridge for the genesis (1-2-3-K-3D-Spinball-and Sonic CD), and sonic 2 for gamegear. I already have Sonic R for saturn and am looking to purchase the other 2 sonic games.
Sega (i feel) has not put nearly any effort into making a geat sonic game like they used to. When I got my genesis 2 with sonic 2 for my 4th birthday, my life was complete. To this day it is still my favorite game of all time. The speed, the challenge of beating it with no saves, the crazy environments, the bosses, all of these things made all the older games soo much fun. I wish to see a change in the new sonic games, but until then I will always have the greats with me to make me happy
SEGA messed up big with X-treme. The way it passed hands and engines like old clothing was embarrassing and totally symbolic of the dissarary SEGA was in while transitioning to 32-bit. They just had their hand in too many jars, supporting all these systems at once in 1995:
Sega Genesis
Sega CD
Sega 32X
Sega Game Gear
Sega Nomad
Sega Channel
Sega Saturn
No wonder they had failed projects and broken promises.
When you see the demos of Sonic X-treme with the Bug engine the fact that it was never released is all the more tragic. Even as is, that game looks absolutely awesome. Fast fast fast and with that wide angle distortion it really transitions the 2D speed to the third dimension as good as it could have been done at the time. Still, no other games have really experimented with that perspective, and that's a shame.
Sonic R is a great game, one of my favorites on the system, and Sonic Jam is a nice compilation with a titillating teaser for that Sonic could have been in a 3D platformer. Sonic 3D Blast is nothing more than a stop-gap, and one that's too slow and visually boring with all the isometric squares eating up what used to be lush grassy landscapes. Travellers Tales might have done all they could do to optimize it for the Saturn, but it's still totally constricted to a 16-bit approach to isometric platforming. In many ways it reminds me of the 32X demo of Sonic, which is interesting, sure, but a bore to go through.
Nice steal on that Sonic Jam though, that's a great price beat up or not!
Grolt while I agree Sonic 3D blast was a stop gap, I enjoyed it as a small 3d sonic romp. I liked the way it looked, especially the weather effects. But more so the music I liked a lot. It was nowhere near an epic Sonic but even though Stolar hated Saturn and probably the reason Sonic didnt do well on thesystem, I thought Sonic did ok.
Netlink Games Owned:
-Duke Nukem 3D
-Sega Rally
-Bomberman
-Virtua On -Daytona CCE Netlink Edition
There's a very convoluted history with the development of the first 32-bit Sonic property. Long before even the demos with the Bug! engine there was "Sonic Mars", which was being designed for the Mars console before it became the 32X add-on. There were a few playable levels, but as you can see, there is no way Sonic could make it to prime time looking like that and playing so slow. Still, an interesting step in the Xtreme development, and while I wish the Bug! engine version made it to market, this one is certainly best left on the cutting room floor.
Yeah, you can tell Sega put A LOT of work into all this polygonal R&D, it's just a shame nothing really came of it in the 32-bit generation. Sonic Jam was really just a test demo for what would become Sonic Adventure, and even the beauty that is Sonic R is really just an evolved engine that Sonic Team created for the bonus levels of the Saturn Sonic 3D Blast.
Its unfortunate because Im a huge fan of 32 bit polygon era. There was nothing before it really and games after it were too advanced. I liked that nice middle ground.
Which brings me to Sonic. Sonic never got the 32 bit polygon. It got 2D then it got Dreamcast.
This is why I love Sonic R, Sonic Jams open, and the Sonic Blast bonus levels. They include 32 bit polygon Sonic!
I basically treat Sonic R as my 32 bit adventure Sonic. Its got lots of little exploration opportunities to unlock stuff.
Netlink Games Owned:
-Duke Nukem 3D
-Sega Rally
-Bomberman
-Virtua On -Daytona CCE Netlink Edition
In general, you can skim a disc if it has light to moderate scratches. If there's damage on the label side, forget it. You often find that with Saturn games - little picks where you can hold the disc up to the light and see through it.
I couldnt get the disc to play but I think if I got resurfaced at my local shop it might work better. I might just buy a disc only for 10$ now. Good deal overall.
Netlink Games Owned:
-Duke Nukem 3D
-Sega Rally
-Bomberman
-Virtua On -Daytona CCE Netlink Edition
