Sonic Mars
From Sonic Retro
| Sonic Mars |
|---|
| System(s): Sega 32X |
| Developer: Sega Technical Institute |
| Development timeframe: 1994[1]-1995[2] |
| Planned release date: 1994-11, 1995-06 |
| Genre: Action |
Sonic Mars is an unreleased Sega 32X action-platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute and scheduled to be published as a launch game for the system.[1] Intended to be the first 3D entry in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, it was estimated to ship on a 16MB cartridge with two-player simultaneous gameplay. However, the commercial failure of the 32X and a myriad of development issues resulted in the game eventually being moved to the Sega Saturn - where it would evolve into the equally-unreleased Sonic X-treme.[3]
Contents
Story
| “ | "While Sonic is away checking on a security alarm in a remote part of the Great Forest, his pals (Sally, Bunnie, Tails and Knuckles) have discovered a strange message from within one of Robotnik's super computers.
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„ |
While Sonic Mars's story changed numerous times through development, the plot retained a number of recurring themes. Aside from the introduction of Tiara Boobowski and her father King Cyberooski (the leader of Micro Mobius), Robotnik's SWATbots were set to make a return as enemies. Additionally, the series staple of Animal-powered Badniks has been replaced with the concept of Mips, the inhabitants of Micro Mobius who are being captured and used for the same purpose.
The game's opening cutscene was storyboarded out in Michael Kosaka's initial game script, in which the Freedom Fighters intercept a distress call from the virtual reality world of Micro Mobius. Soon, Sonic returns from a patrol to find Knothole Village destroyed by Robotnik's Raiderbots, and his friends captured. He quickly makes his way to Robotnik's lair, where he accidentally gets teleported into Micro Mobius, beginning the game.
Two types of cutscenes were planned. The first type would be triggered by various events, like collecting Item Boxes. These types of cutscenes would appear during gameplay, displaying a character's portrait on the top of the screen accompanied by on-screen dialogue. Depending on the situation, this dialogue could either provide encouragement or discouragement to players, and each character would feature their own dialog. Sonic begins stages with a shout of encouragement, and shares his worry when he has only one Ring remaining. Tails will cheer on the player after collecting a Super Ring power-up, as does Knuckles when an Invincibility is collected. Sally comments when acquiring a 1-Up, Tiara congratulates the player when reaching 50,000 points, and Bunnie provides a warning when the timer reaches 9:00. Non-playable characters also provide dialogue throughout the story, such as King Cyberooski complimenting players on collecting 100 Rings, and SWATbots going on alert when approaching bosses. Robotnik also chimes in, taunting Sonic upon every death. In the penultimate cutscene, Sonic has to make a choice between Sally and Tiara, with the character he runs after being played in the final stage.
The second type of cutscene would be triggered when a level is completed, incorporating fully-animated scenes powered by the 32X. These videos would be entirely rendered in 3D, containing brief vignettes of the story and showcasing the various character's personalities. Sonic would wag his finger, Tails would hold his fist in the air, Knuckles would pose in a martial arts stance, Bunnie would perform a flying side kick, Sally rests her hand on her hip, and Tiara would emit sparks from her fingertips. An additional cutscene was planned to feature Antoine D' Coolette comically slipping while trying to high-five Sonic.
According to Michael Kosaka's game script, there were two endings planned for Sonic Mars. The bad ending is shown when all seven emeralds are not collected. There is no ending cutscene, and the game simply displays the credits followed by a "The End" screen with Sonic and a random partner. If all seven emeralds are collected, a special ending cutscene is played, showing the cast back together again. They commenting on Robotnik's downfall while rebuilding Knothole Village in a safer location, and are thanked for their hard work by King Cyberooski. The group begins tossing Sonic into the air in celebration as he gives a thumbs-up, followed by the credits scroll, ultimately concluding on a "The End" screen with Sonic and Tails.
Gameplay
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Sonic Mars would have featured action-platform gameplay with six playable Zones (each separated into three Acts), two bonus stages, and an emphasis on cooperative gameplay. Zones were reportedly made up of "2-4 floating cubes suspended in mid-air", with unlockable characters hidden in each area. Each Act concludes with a Signpost. Like Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the sign can be juggled in the air, and there is a chance an Item Box will appear. All of the Rings collected by Sonic are then shown splashing out of a tube.
Had it been released, the game would have featured a unique easter egg. Upon starting the game, pressing any button besides 
will play an audio clip of either Sonic, Tails, Sally, or Robotnik saying "SEGA!". Yet another cheat was to be hidden on the title screen, where a button sequence would activate a cheat menu featuring a level select and sound test.
Playable characters
Sonic Mars planned to include six playable characters, all boasting unique on-screen dialog. Starting the game with Sonic the Hedgehog, players can encounter new characters during gameplay. Rescuing these characters by bringing them to the end of the level unlocks their future use. Each character is able to perform a special ability by double-tapping any button, and players can switch between characters on the fly by pressing .
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Sonic the Hedgehog |
|---|---|
| Sonic is the hero of the game, who has the special ability to activate a shield which protects from damage for a split second.
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Miles "Tails" Prower |
|
Zone: King's Gambit | |
| Tails is Sonic's young sidekick, who has the special ability to fly, swim, and carry Sonic using his tails. When rescued, he and Sonic high-five each other.
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Knuckles the Echidna |
|
Zone: Ice Breaker | |
| Knuckles is Sonic's friendly rival, who has the special ability to glide and climb walls. When rescued, Knuckles and Sonic spin dash into each other, with the impact giving off fireworks.
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Bunnie Rabbot |
|
Zone: Fat Tuesday | |
| Bunnie is a partially-roboticized friend of Sonic, who is able to vertically extend her grappling arm to both reach new places and pull items and characters towards her. She does not have a double-tap special ability. When rescued, Sonic offers Bunnie a high-five, only for her to smack him silly.
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Princess Sally Acorn |
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Zone: Dream Wave | |
| Sally is another close friend of Sonic, who has the special ability to summon a temporary hoverboard which can fly, surf, and carry Sonic. She is also able to use NICOLE to reprogram locked doors, traps, and computer systems. When rescued, Sally kisses Sonic, but folds her arms and turns away when it is not reciprocated.
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|
Tiara Boobowski |
|
Zone: Cryptic Grotto | |
| Tiara is a princess with electrical powers, who has the special ability to transform into particles of electricity to navigate the level and carry Sonic. When rescued, Tiara hugs Sonic, only for Sally to walk in and express her disappointment, with both women then walking offscreen.
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Items
| Super Ring | |
|---|---|
| Awards Sonic with extra Rings. | |
| Invincibility | |
| Grants Sonic temporary invincibility. | |
| Power Sneakers | |
| Increases Sonic's movement speed. | |
| 1-Up | |
| Awards Sonic with an extra life. | |
| Magnetic Shield | |
| Allows Sonic to take an extra hit and attract nearby Rings, acting like its Sonic the Hedgehog 3 counterpart. | |
| Bubble Shield | |
| Allows Sonic to take an extra hit and breath underwater, acting like its Sonic the Hedgehog 3 counterpart. | |
| Electron Box | |
| Allows Sonic to walk over electrified conduits. | |
| Eggman Mark | |
| Damages Sonic. | |
| SWATbot Repel | |
| Repels Rings for 15 seconds. | |
| Continue | |
| Awards an extra Continue. Acquired by collecting 255 Rings. |
Zones
|
King's Gambit |
|---|---|
|
Boss: | |
| King's Gambit would center around a chessboard theme. In this level you rescue Tails. The background would have a bright blue sky filled with puffy clouds and a bright sun. In the distance hills could be seen. The theme of the boss area is a roulette wheel, with the boss sitting in the middle of the area. | |
|
Ice Breaker |
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Boss: | |
| The level would have a snow theme, similar to IceCap Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The background would have snow covered mountains in the distance and a body of water filled with glaciers and broken pieces of ice. The northern lights would cycle different colors in the sky. The boss area would have two intersecting snow-covered ridgelines and four small cliff areas. The background shows snowy mountains and a clear blue sky. | |
|
Fat Tuesday |
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Boss: | |
| Fat Tuesday would take place in New Orleans during Mardis Gras. Neon lights, lit office buildings, car headlights can be seen and tail lights can be seen on the freeway below. A red-orange sunset can be seen in the background. The boss arena is set in the city during the parade. Sonic can jump onto the second floor balconies and rooftops. | |
|
Dream Wave |
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Boss: | |
| Dream Wave takes place in the cloudtops. You can see the night skies and stars, moons and galaxies are visible. The boss area's background is a subtle undulating blue/black color-cycling background which rhythmically pulses to the accompanying music. | |
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Cryptic Grotto |
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Boss: | |
| Cryptic Grotto is an underwater level covered with seaweed and several caverns. The boss area takes place underwater as well, with a sunken ship in the background. | |
|
Core Memory |
Core Memory is a level filled with electrical parts and data buses, and the game's final stage. Printed circuits can be seen. The boss area is an "Endless Loop Trap", a continuous connected loop which your character is forced to run along. There are a few speed bumps built into the road. The background is outer space with stars and moons littering the night sky.
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Shadow World |
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Boss: Unknown | |
| Shadow World was infrequently mentioned, and little is known about this world other than there are swinging spiders that pop out of the shadows. Before they swing out you can see a light reflection from their eyes but occasionally these light reflections will be from normal animals. | |
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Jungle World |
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Boss: Unknown | |
| Jungle World would be a jungle-themed Zone, with three specific Acts planned out:
Act 2: Waterfall Zone begins after getting off the vine from the last level you land on another cliff. From there you need to jump from rock to rock the entire length of a waterfall being careful not to be knocked off by the steam of water. Enemies planned are more mostly harmless wildlife. Mother birds that are protecting their nests and squirrels which throw nuts. Act 3: Logjammer Zone features a colony of beavers at the bottom of the waterfall, pushing logs down the river. The logs will float offscreen so you need to jump from log to log. The water is shallow so it is possible to jump in it and collect powerups sitting in it. Sonic needs to avoid being crushed by the logs also. The only enemies planned are Beavers. They can climb on the log and bite or swat you with their tail. If Sonic is in the water with them they can't bite but will swim faster.
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Special Zone |
| Special Zone is alluded to in some concept artwork included with the script but nothing is said of it, other than you collect Chaos Emeralds here. It is probably the same as a regular level but with the Chaos Emeralds hidden somewhere. | |
|
Bonus Zone |
Bonus Zone is an air hockey table minigame with Sonic on one end and Robotnik on the other. Two tubes are located at the center which despense the pucks or Bonus spheres. The bonus spheres contain 1-ups, continues, points, or power-ups and are destroyed when hit, or on their own when they are on screen for several seconds. The d-pad moves the air shuttle,  button centers it near the goal,  button speeds it up, and  button will try to move it in the projectory path of the puck.
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Sonic Bowl |
| An American football-themed area, possibly a minigame. Sonic is able to return a kickoff, must avoid getting showered with Robo-Ade (a parody of Gatorade), and must contend with the unique Team Player and Linebacker Badniks. | |
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Sonic Bowling |
| Sonic Bowling is a minigame in which Sonic would roll into a ball and move down the alley and and either knock down a row of pins, or collect a row of rings. | |
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Rabbit Races |
| Rabbit Races features a jealous rabbit character will frequently challenge Sonic to a race. He is slower than Sonic so he relies on traps, like trip cords and catapulting platforms to beat him. When he's far enough ahead he rests and sits agains a tree mocking you. The script mentions that it would be a bonus round available for use on certain rounds. |
Enemies
| Skuzzy | |
|---|---|
| Socket | |
| Cache Masher | |
| Stacker | |
| Viruz | |
| Chipset | |
| Floppy | |
| Stagnat Sentry | |
| Activates when Sonic draws near. | |
| Patroller | |
| Patrols a set path. | |
| Hunter-Killer | |
| Activates when Sonic draws near, and patrols a set path. | |
| Team Player | |
| An American football-themed Badnik which was set to appear in the unnamed football Zone. | |
| Linebacker | |
| An American football-themed Badnik which was set to appear in the unnamed football Zone. Seems to be a tougher version of Team Player. | |
|
Unknown bat Badnik |
History
Development
|
Main article: Sonic Mars/Development |
| “ | "Michael was studying the previous Sonic games and creating the design document for the game…I seem to remember making some 2D side-view animations of Sonic at that early stage. My first real artwork consisted of two animations demonstrating the game concept. They were flat-shaded and looked like actual games in action. I even made ring-counters that incremented when Sonic picked them up. These animations were to be used to sell the concept to the executives." | „ |
| — Designer Chris Senn[1] | ||
Envisioned by Sega of America management sometime around early 1994 as a Sonic the Hedgehog title for the upcoming 32X, Sonic Mars would suffer from one of the most troubled development cycles the company had yet seen. While the project would eventually evolve into the equally-troubled Sonic X-treme, the game's 32X outing was significantly more capable of being run smoothly by its respective system, and was even fully planned out when it was moved to the Sega Saturn.
Production credits
- Executive Producers: Dean Lester[1], Manny Granillo[1]
- Producers: Michael Kosaka[1], Mike Wallis[5]
- Team Coordinator: Michael Kosaka[1]
- Co-Lead Designer: Chris Senn[1], Michael Kosaka[1]
- Art Director: Don Goddard
- Artist: Jeremy Cantor
- 3D Modeler: Ross Harris
- Animator: Chris Senn[1]
- Technical Programmer: Ofer Alon
- Programmers: Don Goddard[6], Chris Ebert[1], Mark Kupper[7], Toshiyasu Morita
- Tools Programmers: Mark Kupper, Robert Steele
- Writers: Michael Kosaka, Christian Senn, Don Goddard
- Promotional Artwork: Jeremy Cantor[1]
- Reference: Adrian Stephens
- Source: Developer statements
External links
- Demonstration Video on YouTube.
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml (Wayback Machine: 2023-09-01 08:21)
- ↑ File:SonicMars 32X conceptart titlescreen static.png
- ↑ http://lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml (Wayback Machine: 2023-11-29 17:57)
- ↑ File:SonicMars 32X Kosakascript.pdf, page 4
- ↑ Interview: Mike Wallis (2007-06-19) by Sega-16
- ↑ Interview: Don Goddard (2011-11) by Torentsu
- ↑ Interview: Don Goddard (2008-05) by hxc
| Sonic Mars | |
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| Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems | |
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1991 Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic Eraser 1992 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 1993 Sonic the Hedgehog CD | Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine | Sonic Spinball 1994 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Sonic & Knuckles 1995 Chaotix | Sonic Classics 1996 Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island |
| Unreleased Sonic the Hedgehog games |
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