Sonic X-treme (Project Condor)

Sonic X-treme

System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega Technical Institute
Genre: Action
Status of prototype(s): Early prototype dumped

Project Condor is an iteration of Sonic X-treme, which came into being after a presentation of the game displeased Sega president Shoichiro Irimajiri. It is a substantial re-write of the game, with lead programmer Ofer Alon being dropped in favour of Christina Coffin, and director Chris Senn also being moved from the project.

A 1996-07-18 prototype is the only known surviving build of this iteration of the game.

Gameplay

"Jade Gully" as it appears in the dumped prototype of Project Condor.

This iteration of the game stems from Christina Coffin's "boss engine", which gave Sonic full 3D movement around a small arena. This engine had been shown in a very early state at E3 1996 and was relatively well received, and while further development added actual bosses, it was not designed for full 3D platforming, as Project Condor would seemingly demand.

Other than a few screenshots, little is known how far this iteration of the game progressed before being cancelled, although the 2D sprites of Sonic were replaced with 3D models, and the scenery became more colourful. It is assumed that some ideas from the original Sonic X-treme carried forward, though as so little of it was set in stone, it is hard to know for sure.

History

Main article: Sonic X-treme/Development#Project Condor

Following Shoichiro Irimajiri's March 1996 tour of Sega of America, in which he expressed his displeasure over the state of the game, all development was moved to Christina Coffin's boss engine, now known as Project Condor. The team was soon streamlined into a core group and began working notably long hours in order to make the game's Christmas 1996 deadline. This would result in the game's lead developers becoming severely ill from overwork, ultimately forcing the game's cancellation around that August.

Screenshots

A shot of Project Condor in action sometime after the 718 build.
Another shot of the Green Hill-esque level, most likely Jade Gully.
The only known screenshot of the Sonic Saturn bonus round Sonic Pool running in X-treme.
An early splash screen created by Ross Harris, confirmed to have not been a working title for the game.^[1]