Difference between revisions of "Sonic Saturn"
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After ''{{PAGENAME}}'''s cancellation, the bonus round was initially considered for inclusion in ''[[Sonic X-treme]]''. A single known screenshot indicates it was indeed ported over to ''X-treme'' during its ''Project Condor'' phase{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20230919002626/https://tcrf.net/Prerelease:Sonic_3D_Blast_%28Sega_Saturn%29}}, but that game's August 1996 cancellation forced [[STI]] to consider other options. Despite this, development on ''Sonic Pool'' progressed through September and the following October, when at least one additional arena (Future) was added and the HUD's positioning was changed. Every screenshot from this period show Sonic's model in the same pose, suggesting that animations had not yet been implemented. | After ''{{PAGENAME}}'''s cancellation, the bonus round was initially considered for inclusion in ''[[Sonic X-treme]]''. A single known screenshot indicates it was indeed ported over to ''X-treme'' during its ''Project Condor'' phase{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20230919002626/https://tcrf.net/Prerelease:Sonic_3D_Blast_%28Sega_Saturn%29}}, but that game's August 1996 cancellation forced [[STI]] to consider other options. Despite this, development on ''Sonic Pool'' progressed through September and the following October, when at least one additional arena (Future) was added and the HUD's positioning was changed. Every screenshot from this period show Sonic's model in the same pose, suggesting that animations had not yet been implemented. | ||
| − | In one last attempt to see their work on ''Sonic Pool'' make it to market, [[Peter Morawiec|Morawiec]] urged [[Yutaka Sugano]] (producer of the [[Saturn]] version of ''[[Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island]]'') to include the bonus round in that game. Unfortunately, due to the tight deadline of ''Sonic 3D'''s release | + | In one last attempt to see their work on ''Sonic Pool'' make it to market, [[Peter Morawiec|Morawiec]] urged [[Yutaka Sugano]] (producer of the [[Saturn]] version of ''[[Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island]]'') to include the bonus round in that game. Unfortunately, due to the request being made around October, and the already-tight deadline of ''Sonic 3D'''s upcoming November release, this too was abandoned in favor of a 3D version of ''[[Sonic 2]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Special Stage (Sonic the Hedgehog 2 16-bit)|special stage]] developed in-house at [[Sega of Japan]].{{intref|Interview: Peter Morawiec (2000-12-27) by ICEknight}} |
<gallery> | <gallery> | ||
Revision as of 23:29, 18 September 2023
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| Sonic Saturn |
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| System(s): Sega Saturn[1] |
| Publisher: Sega |
| Developer: Sega Technical Institute Burbank[1] |
| Development timeframe: Early 1996[2] to Mid 1996 |
| Planned release date: Late 1996[1] |
| Genre: Action |
| Number of players: 1 |
| State before cancellation: Partially-developed[1] |
Sonic Saturn is an unreleased Sega Saturn action platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute Burbank[1] and scheduled to be published by Sega in late 1996. Commissioned by Sega of America management earlier that year[2] to be produced alongside Sonic X-treme as one of two potential mainline Sonic the Hedgehog titles for the system, it was planned to present Sonic as a dedicated three-dimensional model instead of a sprite, and would feature a more realistic interpretation of the character's world than seen before.[2]
While concept artwork, gameplay designs, background software, and even a playable bonus round were created for the project, Sonic Saturn was never publicly announced, and was ultimately cancelled due to Yuji Naka's dislike of the game.[2]
Contents
Production credits
- Designer: Peter Morawiec
- Programmer: Adrian Stephens
History
| “ | "Sonic Saturn (or Sonic 3D) was a different project [from Sonic X-treme], which Adrian and I started at STI Burbank in early 1996. It was supposed to be a 3D Sonic game for the Saturn – those concept images I sent you previously are from that game. Adrian had a very nifty and fast spherical renderer going on for it, for things like bodies and heads. This game was going for a more realistic rendition of Sonic’s world, but Naka didn’t like it so the project was axed. (Ironically, the subsequent Sonic game for the Dreamcast was much more realistic). Following that, there was a slight chance of salvaging our tech and assets to create a bonus game for the Travelers Tales developed Sonic 3D Blast, although we will never know just how seriously this was ever considered. Nonetheless, we quickly whipped out a prototype, which we called Sonic Pool, but it never went past that." | „ |
| — Developer Peter Morawiec[2] | ||
Following the poor commercial performance of the development team's previous title Comix Zone (attributed by designer Peter Morawiec to the launch of the PlayStation), and Sega of America's focus shifting to the upcoming Saturn, three of Sega Technical Institute's high-profile staffers decided to move from the company's Palo Alto, California headquarters and establish an independent game development studio in Los Angeles: designer Peter Morawiec, programmer Adrian Stephens, and composer Howard Drossin.[1] Before this could take place, the team was convinced by STI head Roger Hector and Sega of America vice president Shinobu Toyoda to stay within Sega's umbrella. Ultimately, the new studio was established as a satellite office of STI located in Burbank, California, and given the name STI Burbank.[1]
The newly-founded studio's first task was producing a mainline entry in the Sonic the Hedgehog for the Saturn.[1] In order to compete with games like Super Mario 64, Morawiec intended Sonic Saturn to be a fully three-dimensional platformer.[3] To this end, programmer Adrian Stephens coded a game engine based on sphere-rendering technology[2], specifically designed to overcome polygon faceting caused by the system's limited processing power.[3]
While concept artwork, gameplay designs, background software, and even a playable bonus game were all created, Sonic Saturn's development was left in limbo due to Yuji Naka's reported dislike of the project. This created political tensions between STI Burbank and other divisions of the company, and resulted in the game's ultimate cancellation[3] in mid 1996.
Sonic Pool
The game's bonus rounds were going to consist of a billiards minigame titled Sonic Pool. Sonic would position himself behind a ball and perform a Spin Dash to strike it forward, with the camera then switching to an overhead view to show the ball's movement. The balls can also be pushed around the arena, but this is much slower. Later stages would have featured enemies wandering about the playfield, which could harm Sonic. The goal was to sink all seven balls into dedicated portals within a certain time limit. A number of differently-themed arenas were included in Sonic Pool, including Egypt, Galaxy, Roman, Future, and Snow. An additional arena, set in an American Southwest-themed courtyard, was also planned.[3]
After Sonic Saturn's cancellation, the bonus round was initially considered for inclusion in Sonic X-treme. A single known screenshot indicates it was indeed ported over to X-treme during its Project Condor phase[4], but that game's August 1996 cancellation forced STI to consider other options. Despite this, development on Sonic Pool progressed through September and the following October, when at least one additional arena (Future) was added and the HUD's positioning was changed. Every screenshot from this period show Sonic's model in the same pose, suggesting that animations had not yet been implemented.
In one last attempt to see their work on Sonic Pool make it to market, Morawiec urged Yutaka Sugano (producer of the Saturn version of Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island) to include the bonus round in that game. Unfortunately, due to the request being made around October, and the already-tight deadline of Sonic 3D's upcoming November release, this too was abandoned in favor of a 3D version of Sonic 2's special stage developed in-house at Sega of Japan.[3]
Title
Egypt (September)
Galaxy (September). A Death Egg can be seen in the background.
Roman (September)
Snow (September). Curiously, the amount of balls is only 5.
Egypt (October)
Future (October)
Legacy
In December 2000, ICEknight of the Sonic scene fansite Sonic the Hedgehog Database emailed developer Peter Morawiec about his work on a number of unreleased Sonic games. Morawiec responded later that day, providing a wealth of knowledge on topics such as Sonic X-treme, Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball, and Sonic Saturn, even sharing development material from his time working at Sega Technical Institute.[3]
Concept art
Wetlands stage render
Wetlands stage background
Cybernik badnik concept art
Cybernik badnik concept art
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Interview: Peter Morawiec (2007-04-20) by Sega-16
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Interview: Peter Morawiec (2006-01-11) by hxc
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Interview: Peter Morawiec (2000-12-27) by ICEknight
- ↑ https://tcrf.net/Prerelease:Sonic_3D_Blast_%28Sega_Saturn%29 (Wayback Machine: 2023-09-19 00:26)
| Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems | |
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1996 Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island 1997 Sonic Jam | Sonic R Demos Sonic R: Trial Version
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| Unreleased Sonic the Hedgehog games |
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| Sonic X-treme incarnations |
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