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:''Not to be confused with the similarily named [[Sonic the Hedgehog Extreme]].''
 
:''Not to be confused with the similarily named [[Sonic the Hedgehog Extreme]].''
{{Bob
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{{UnreleasedBob
| bobscreen=Sonic_X-treme_Title.png
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| bobscreen=SonicX-treme Saturn Title.png
| publisher=[[Sega]]
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| developer={{company|[[Sega Technical Institute]]|system=SAT,PC}}{{company|[[Point of View]]|system=SAT}}
| developer=[[Sonic Team]], [[Sega Technical Institute]]
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| publisher={{company|[[Sega]]}}
| system=[[Sega Saturn]]
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| system=[[Sega Saturn]], [[Windows 95]]
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| status=Early prototype dumped, later source code leaked
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| date=Fall 1996{{magref|ssmjp|1996-10|90}}{{magref|gameplayers|0908|57}}{{magref|gamepro|95|44}}, 1996-11-21{{magref|gamepro|98|62}}{{fileref|SonicXtremeUnknownFrenchArticle.jpg}}{{magref|egm|87|112}}, 1996-12{{magref|mms|45|26}}{{magref|nextgeneration|19|66}}{{magref|ssm|9|6}}, 1997-03{{magref|segamagazin|36|82}}
 
| genre=Action
 
| genre=Action
 
}}
 
}}
'''''Sonic X-treme''''' is an unreleased ''[[Games featuring Sonic the Hedgehog|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' game, developed by [[Sega Technical Institute]] and set to be published by [[Sega of America]] during the mid-1990s.  
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'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is an unreleased [[Sega Saturn]] action platform game developed by [[Sega Technical Institute]] and scheduled to be published by [[Sega of America]] in late 1996. An evolution of the previous ''[[Sonic Mars]]'', renamed to signify the move to more powerful hardware, ''X-treme'' suffered through one of the company's most troubled development cycles. From platform changes which saw months of work scrapped, to a displeased management team, and the overworking of its lead developers to serious illness, the game has become perhaps the most infamous cancelled ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' game, and unwillingly personifies much of the problems related to Sega of America's corporate structure for the following decade.
  
''X-treme'' is perhaps the most infamous ''Sonic'' game to be cancelled, and personifies much of the problems related to Sega's corporate structure for much of the decade. Following a showing at [[sega:E3 1996|E3 1996]], ''X-treme'' was aggressively pushed by Sega of America in an attempt to boost flagging [[Sega Saturn]] sales during the Christmas 1996 season. However after a troubled development timeline, the project was shelved, and a Saturn port of ''[[Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island]]'' was released in its place.
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Following [[Sonic X-treme/Development#E3 1996|a showing at E3 1996]], ''{{PAGENAME}}'' was aggressively pushed by Sega of America in an attempt to boost flagging Sega Saturn sales during the Christmas 1996 season. Despite ambitious claims and marketing hype, the project was quickly shelved after it became clear to management that the project would not meet the Christmas deadline. Instead, a Saturn port of ''[[Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island]]'' was released in its place.
  
==History==
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==Story==
Only one form of ''Sonic X-treme'' was officially revealed to the public - a [[Sega Saturn]] game featuring [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] in a fully-rendered 3D world. However, the project dates back much further, to the latter half of 1993 in which proposals were put forward for a [[Sega Mega Drive]] game. Development then shifted to the [[Sega 32X]], Sega Saturn and finally Windows PCs, before ending in early 1997.
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The story of ''Sonic X-treme'' went through multiple iterations over the game's many years of development.{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (1996-05-04) by Game Players}} Above all, the game was always intended to be a radical departure from the main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games in gameplay, and as such, its story does not appear to have been a continuation of the previous games' plot. Specifically, ''X-treme'' would not be titled ''Sonic the Hedgehog 4'' for this very reason.{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}. Additionally, while the addition of elements from the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' television series was once considered (particularly the inclusion of characters like [[Sally Acorn]]){{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}, this does not seem to have gone anywhere. Likewise, a tie-in comic series produced by [[Archie]] was considered near beginning of development{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}, but equally not followed up on.
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{{quote|1="There were numerous storylines for Sonic X-treme. What motivated the game design ranged from the narrative to some game mechanic or element that seemed the strongest and most interesting. [[Michael Kosaka]]’s Sonic Mars story helped direct my enemy character designs for the game. Initially they were very “computer” and “tech” inspired but gradually fit more in line with the classic Sonic enemy style as developed between Sonic 1-3. My Sonic Saturn storyline definitely affected the game design by requiring that Sonic rescue not only his friends but [[Dr. Eggman|Robotnik]], too – from a new threat, the Chaos Elementals. Later on, my Sonic Twist storyline was inspired directly by [[Ofer Alon]]’s twisting world concept for the game. It really depended on the storyline and what stage of development the game was in at the time, but rarely did the story and gameplay lack strong ties to one another."|2=''Designer [[Chris Senn]]''|ref={{intref|Interview: Chris Senn (2013-09-12) by Sega Addicts}}}}
  
===Development===
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[[File:sxc_tiara2.gif|thumb|left|Line art of [[Tiara Boobowski]], Sonic's love interest in ''Sonic X-treme''.]]
====Background====
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The story began with Sonic the Hedgehog doing a little surfing{{magref|segapower|81|42}}, when he spots the Bluestreak distress signal in the sky above. Using this signal were two new characters, an old man named Professor Gazebo Boobowski, and his daughter, Tiara Boobowski. These characters were “Keepers of the magical Rings of Order” who practice the ancient art of Ring Smithing{{magref|segapower|81|42}}, and Sonic had been summoned to their castle to foil Robotnik's plans to steal the six Rings of Order.{{magref|gameplayers|0906|40}}{{magref|nextgeneration|19|67}}{{magref|segapower|81|42}} Somehow, Robotnik manages to steal the Rings, but soon loses them, with players tasked with finding the Rings before the evil Robotnik can use them for his nefarious purposes.{{ref|http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml}} According to Wallis, this story was created specifically for ''[[sega:Game Players|Game Players]]'' magazine's [[Sonic's Red Shoe Diaries Part I (Game Players)|Red Shoe Diaries]] with combined input from [[Michael Kosaka]], [[Chris Senn]], [[Rick Wheeler]], and [[Jason Kuo]].{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20231129175726/http://lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml}}
With the release of ''[[Sonic & Knuckles]]'', Sega was more than aware of the potential contained within the ''Sonic'' franchise. Not wanting to lose the momentum created by the string of hits in the early 90's, Sega wanted to create the next "big" Sonic game, along with a slew of other titles to help support it. While games like ''[[Knuckles Chaotix]]'', ''[[Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island]]'', and even ''[[Sonic Blast|G Sonic]]'' were being done in other areas of [[Sega]], [[Sega Technical Institute]] received the big assignment - to create the true successor to ''Sonic & Knuckles''.
 
  
With such a daunting task ahead of them, and with the Japanese side of STI returning to their home country, the American team behind such games as ''[[Sonic Spinball]]'', ''[[The Ooze]]'', and ''[[Comix Zone]]'' dove head first into a project that would take numerous twists and turns before its cancellation.
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No less than seven other storylines were created over the project's lifespan, the final one authored by [[Hirokazu Yasuhara]] and [[Richard Wheeler]]. In this version, Dr. Eggman returns with a [[Death Egg]] that is larger than planet Earth, its gravity causing other planets to fall into an orbit with the space station. Miles "Tails" Prower teleports Sonic to the Death Egg in the hopes of stopping Eggman's latest scheme, but the beam is intercepted by one of the planets now in orbit. Finding himself on a strange world, Sonic also discovers that the [[badniks]] Eggman are using are powered by an alien species called "Mips," the natives to the planets that have become a part of the Death Egg's defenses.
  
====Early Attempts====
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One element notably absent from the project was the character of [[Dr. Eggman]]. While reportedly planned for the larger game in some capacity, [[Chris Senn]] recalls that no artwork or models were ever made of the character, resigning him exclusively to the game's backstory. If time allowed that he had been included, he would have been represented in the ''[[Project Condor]]'' stage of development.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} Curiously, [[Chris Coffin]] describes ''Condor'''s fourth boss fight (the "dumb AI" boss) as resembling a classic boss fight from earlier [[Mega Drive]] ''Sonic'' games, indicating a possible including of Eggman in a simple [[Egg Mobile]]-type fight.
[[File:sxc_demostill1.png|thumb|The first test animation created for ''Sonic X-treme's'' precursor, ''[[Sonic Mars]]'']]
 
The earliest pitches as to what would ultimately result in the "''Sonic X-treme'' project" were meant to be developed for the [[Sega Mega Drive|Mega Drive]]. The furthest along of these pitches was ''[[Sonic-16]]'', a game based on the Saturday morning series ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]''. Headed by [[Peter Morawiec]], the game was meant to be a slower, more story-intensive platformer. The second pitch was of an [[Untitled STI Sonic Game|untitled isometric game]] starring Sonic, the only work done being a single conceptual screenshot by [[Chris Senn]].
 
  
Though both were ultimately passed on, they helped lay the groundwork for a third pitch that was accepted - ''[[Sonic Mars]]''. Led by [[Michael Kosaka]] and featuring work by Chris Senn, the game was meant to be a fully polygonal representation of Sonic on the ill-fated [[Sega 32X]]. Before returning to Japan, [[Yuji Naka]] was shown the early animated work for the project, in which he could only shake his head and offer two very important words: "Good Luck."
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==Gameplay==
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[[File:sxc_overhead_knuckles_still.png|thumb|One of the proposed alternate playstyles that was ultimately discarded.]]
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Senn once envisioned ''X-treme'' featuring different playable characters, each of which would boast a unique gameplay mode. [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] would be played with the game's normal perspective, [[Miles "Tails" Prower]] from "Tails Cam" (directly behind him), [[Knuckles the Echidna]] from a top-down perspective, and [[Tiara Boobowski]] from a side-scrolling 2D perspective. While demo animations were created for these playable characters, the concept of including alternate gameplay modes appears to have never let the drawing board - although, Knuckles' reportedly had some development work completed. According to Senn, [[Ofer Alon]] insisted that the gameplay focus exclusively on Sonic himself, to keep things as simple as possible for what would be the series' first-ever 3D outing.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} During ''[[Project Condor]]'', [[Chris Coffin]] requested [[Ross Harris]] to edit Sonic's pre-rendered 3D model and make a playable [[Amy Rose]]. This was done, and while Coffin thought she was looked cute running around in ''Condor'', the idea was equally not followed up.
  
====Saturn Development====
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''X-treme'' was set to feature Zones consisting of three acts each. The first two acts would each emphasize a different ability or gameplay feature{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (1996-06-20) by Sega Saturn Magazine (UK)}}, like speed, precision platforming{{magref|mms|45|26}}, or puzzle-solving{{ref|http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml}}, with these acts described as "huge, multi-story constructions".{{magref|nextgeneration|19|67}} Act backgrounds were originally simple "flat backdrops", but the team had solid plans to implement two-layer parallax scrolling.{{magref|gameplayers|0909|52}}{{magref|segamagazin|32|6}} Staples of the ''Sonic'' franchise like spikes and bottomless pits were implemented (the latter of which only causing players to lose four [[Ring]]s), and cutscenes were planned for beginning and end of each Act.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} Each Act would take a reported 5-8 minutes to complete{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20230621013553/http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/timeline.shtml}}, with the third Act of each Zone pitting Sonic against a boss fight.{{magref|ssm|9|33}} [[Chris Senn]] recalls the number of Zones changing multiple times during development{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}; while some magazines reported up to 15 playable Zones{{magref|playmag|5|32}}{{magref|mms|45|26}}, this number appears to have been later scaled back to seven.{{magref|nextgeneration|19|66}} By the game's final appearance at Sega Gamer's Day 1996, this further dropped to a confirmed four zones{{magref|egm|87|112}}: [[Crystal Frost]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|40}}{{magref|ssm|9|33}}, [[Red Sands]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|39}}{{magref|segamagazin|32|6}}, [[Jade Gully]]{{magref|mms|45|27}}{{magref|gameplayers|0907|43}}, and [[Galaxy Fortress]].{{magref|gameplayers|0907|43}}{{ref|http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml}}
[[File:SonicXtremeJadeGullyScreenshot02.jpg|thumb|The layout to the first level in ''Sonic X-treme'', Jade Gully.]]
 
Because of internal disputes between Michael Kosaka and [[Dean Lester]], Kosaka left Sega in 1995, leaving the still-young ''Sonic Mars'' without a lead designer. Chris Senn, who had never been in a leadership position before in such an ambitious project, was thrust into the job. Though given the impression it was only a temporary position until another, more experienced designer could be found, he held the position through most of the development of the game. It was around this time that the Saturday morning cartoon elements were dropped from the game, and the decision to switch platforms to the next generation Sega system was brought up.
 
  
Due to the confusion behind what the true successor to the Mega Drive was to be, an effort was made to focus the development on the proposed cartridge-based nVidia-powered system being developed by Sega of America. Though the system promised to be even more capable at 3D rendering than Sega of Japan's "[[Sega Saturn|Project Saturn]]", a failed demonstration of the nVidia chip caused Sega of America's project to be turned down, and development shifted once again to a new console.
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Bonus rounds were also planned. Described as being similar to "how it was in previous Sonic games"{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (1996-06-20) by Sega Saturn Magazine (UK)}}{{magref|consolesplus|55s|4}}{{magref|segapower|81|42}}, these bonus rounds were never publicly demonstrated, and no further detail was given to their contents. However, Senn recalls that this bonus round concept was created by [[Michael Kosaka]] early into the game's [[32X]] development, and later became one of Senn's three "Amiga demos" used to pitch the idea to management; in the particular demo, Sonic rolls through a tubular red circuit and is tasked with collecting as many Rings as possible - directly inspired by the bonus rounds featured in ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'''s [[Special Stage (Sonic the Hedgehog 2 16-bit)|Special Stage]], but seen from a three-dimensional perspective. Later in development, surfing and bungee jumping gameplay{{magref|nextgeneration|19|67}} were also briefly described, but as this information comes solely from ''Sonic's Red Shoe Diaries'' (which invented much of its content specifically for the articles) and no other developers recall this topic, it is assumed this was also a fabrication of the magazine.
  
With the project fully underway, development for ''Sonic X-treme'' was split into two separate groups. The first, led by Chris Senn and programmer [[Ofer Alon]], focused on the main body of the game, creating the worlds that Sonic would run through. The second group, led by programmer [[Christina Coffin|Chris Coffin]], was tasked with creating the boss encounters, with a completely separate engine started in the 32X-era of the project.
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{{quote|1="The basic gameplay was focusing on Sonic being in 3D for the first time... so running, spindashing, etc. in a 3D world. Collecting rings was still the bread and butter goal while getting through the levels. Everything else stemmed from this classic set up... just variety in the scenery, concepts, special objects per world, etc…the gameplay was further enhanced by the enemies that populated each world. A lot of thought was put into giving the enemies personality, attacks, and defenses that really changed how the player needed to navigate/act/react when near them. This branched out to some of the initial basic power-ups, as well, further intertwining more levels of basic gameplay."|2=''Designer [[Chris Senn]]''|ref={{ref|http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml}}}}
  
Both teams were watched over by [[Mike Wallis]], who also become responsible for the smaller groups forming in each team, focusing on different aspects of development. Even though these divisions were meant to make development easier, in practice the entire process was a mixture of inconsistency and confusion. With certain people working on levels that hadn't been approved, others waiting until the programming was done, and lack of communication across the board, it was clear that this would not be an easy undertaking.
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[[File:SXC_JG04.jpg|thumb|left|An example of the "fish-eye" lens, one of the unique features in the game.]]
[[File:Gizaspeedway.jpg|thumb|Concept art for one of the title cards to Red Sands.]]
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Aside from the reflex lens (which increased the POV to combat a limited viewpoint), one of the game's most-noticeable features is the concept of "world rotation"{{magref|ssm|9|33}}{{magref|egm|84|74}}{{magref|playerone|65|88}}, which allows Sonic to run up walls and onto the ceiling at specific points in the world.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}{{magref|ssm|9|33}} Previously described as "full 3D camera rotation"{{magref|gameplayers|0908|57}}{{magref|gamepro|95|44}}, this technology was created by [[Ofer Alon]] as a means to experiment with free-roaming gameplay in a 3D world.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}
Originally developed on the Macintosh platform, Ofer Alon's engine was quickly ported over to the PC, with the intent being to port the code to the Sega Saturn. While the levels played smoothly on the PC, Ofer's early attempts at porting the code to the Saturn were anything but, a framerate of only three or four being the maximum. This, coupled with the numerous delays and internal arguments at SOA, prompted the executives to intervene.
 
  
At a meeting with Alon and Senn, technical director at STI, [[Robert Morgan]] informed the duo that they were bringing in a third party, a company called [[Point Of View]] (POV), to take over programming duties for the game. Showing the two a very basic display of Sonic on a checkerboard surface, Senn could not help but scoff at them. Though POV's stated purpose was to port Alon's work to the Saturn, it was made clear that yet another layer had been added to the ''X-treme'' development saga, Ofer Alon essentially being demoted. While Ofer took it in stride, Chris Senn was livid, unable to believe that Sega would want to essentially start from scratch.
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Other gameplay concepts were envisioned for Sonic's first 3D outing. Senn designed an intricate system of items and shields which could be combined with one another for added abilities. Additionally, a [[Flicky]]-like mechanic (as seen in ''[[Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island]]'') was planned, in which each Zone would boast its own unique design of small characters called Mips. Mips would feature different colors and movement patterns with each zone. The name "Mip" was dubbed by [[Michael Kosaka]], and is an abbreviation for the computer term "Million Instructions Per Second."{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} A [[Super Sonic]] transformation was also considered (as was the inclusion of [[Chaos Emerald]]s{{magref|mms|45|26}}), but ultimately dropped to focus on ensuring the regular gameplay would be fun, considering it was the character's first time in 3D.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}
  
Regardless, work on the engine continued, with Ofer Alon secluding himself to focus. POV, meanwhile, began its attempt to port an older version of the engine, finding it just as difficult as Ofer did when he tried, if not more so. Making matters worse, in March of 1996, a group of representatives from Sega of Japan (including then-president [[Hayao Nakayama]]) visited the American branch, expecting a presentation of the work done so far to ''Sonic X-treme''. Instead, effectively two presentations emerged - one demonstrating Chris and Ofer's PC engine, and another by POV.
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===Abilities===
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In addition to the expected [[Spin Dash]]{{magref|cvg|176|90}}{{magref|ssm|9|32}}, three new abilities were planned for Sonic's first 3D outing: the Spin Slash{{magref|cvg|176|90}}{{magref|mms|45|26}}, Ring Throw{{magref|gameplayers|0906|40}}{{magref|mms|45|26}}, and Sonic Streak.{{magref|gamepro|95|44}}{{magref|cvg|176|90}}{{magref|egm|84|74}}
  
Viewing the broken efforts of POV, Nakayama was furious at the state of the project, oblivious to the fact that it was not reflective of the work being done by Ofer. Pointing to the engine being the boss battles, he ordered STI to make the rest of the game like that. By the time Chris Senn arrived, the Japanese executives were already tense, and though he had a brief moment to mention that another, further along presentation was on its way, nerves got the better of him. Due to the poor reception of STI's first showing, Nakayama and the rest had already left the building when Ofer Alon arrived.
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The Spin Slash (previously known as the Spin Bash{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (2002-06) by Pachuka}}{{magref|gameplayers|0906|40}}) was a mid-air version of the [[Spin Dash]]{{magref|nextgeneration|19|67}} where Sonic transforms into a high-speed sawblade.{{magref|egm|84|74}} Performing this ability would have either caused more damage or increased Sonic's area of attack; however, Wallis says this ability would have been cut in the final version for being too similar to a midair Spin Dash in execution.{{ref|http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml}}{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (2002-06) by Pachuka}} The Ring Throw would feature Sonic throwing his collected Rings as an attack. This would deplete the player's actual [[Ring]] count.{{magref|gameplayers|0906|40}} While reportedly incorporated into early development builds of the game, Wallis recalls that the ability was removed for not working with the gameplay, recalling "things that sound good on paper don’t always translate into a good game feature."{{ref|http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml}}
  
===="Project Condor"====
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A third ability, the Sonic Streak (previously known as the Spin Streak{{fileref|STC Summer '96 - Xtreme.jpg}}{{magref|segamagazin|32|6}}) was reported on but never described in detail.{{magref|egm|84|74}}{{magref|maniac|1996-07|19}} Four additional abilities were planned{{magref|gameplayers|0907|42}} but never left the concept phase, being the Power Ball (an attack to strike down on enemies below), Super Bounce (a jump with added height but less control), Ring Shield (a shield players could create at the cost of their own Rings), and Sonic Boom (an attack in conjunction with the Ring Shield to attack all enemies on screen).
[[File:SonicX-tremeJadeGullyEngineTest.png|thumb|[[Sonic the Hedgehog]] in the first test level of "Project Condor," referred to as Jade Gully in-game.]]
 
In the aftermath of the meeting, STI was left with little choice but to follow Nakayama's demands, dropping Ofer Alon's work. Making Chris Coffin lead programmer, Mike Wallis gathered his team and sequestered them away from the politics at the STI headquarters, so they could focus on the project in the hopes of having it done by Christmas.
 
  
Knowing time was not on their side, Wallis turned to then-new CEO of Sega of America [[sega:Bernie Stolar|Bernie Stolar]], asking him for the engine being used for ''[[NiGHTS into Dreams]]'', the ''Sonic X-Treme'' team in desperate need of the development tools within. In a few days, the engine arrived, and for the next two weeks the team became familiar with the engine, thankful they wouldn't have to spend precious time programing elements that were already fully working within ''NiGHTS''. However, development using the engine was forced to cease, Yuji Naka having learned that his work had been taken without his consent. Threatening to quit, Sega bent to Naka's wishes, and the ''X-Treme'' team was forced to start back at square one.
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===Items===
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As one of the notable departures from mainline ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' games, powerups were designed to not appear in [[Monitors]] but in a rotating sphere, which Sonic would have to break open in a similar fashion. Sonic could also collect Traction Shoes which reduced his speed, making navigation of the 3D landscape easier. A number of special [[Ring]]s, like the Snake, Twist, and Homing Ring were planned, alongside something known as an "H-Ball Bomb".{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}
  
Desperate to make the deadline, programmer Chris Coffin moved into the development headquarters, working almost non-stop, the few hours of sleep being had in a cot within the office. The strain of the project became simply too much, Chris being overtaken with pneumonia in August of 1996. With doctors saying he only had months to live if he kept this up, Coffin was forced to bow out of the development cycle. With its lead programmer out of commission, Mike Wallis was forced to tell management that the game would not be completed in time for Christmas.
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While featuring staples like Invincibility and One-Up items, ''X-treme'' was also set to introduce a new system of powerups: Elements. Elements represented six different types of powers Sonic could unlock, with a hierarchy in which each Element had both advantages and disadvantages to each other. Similar to the later ''[[wikipedia:Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards|Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards]]'', up to two of these Elements could be acquired and combined to create PowerShields, similar to standard [[Shield]]s but boasting more unique abilities - like breaking through sections of the landscape or evaporating pools of water.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}
  
Though the official word was the project had been postponed, those involved knew the game had finally been canceled after years of production. To fill its place, a hastily-done port of ''[[Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island]]'' with enhanced graphics, a new special stage, and redone music was released on the Saturn that year. The advertisement money that was intended for ''X-Treme'' was devoted to Sonic Team's ''NiGHTS into Dreams'', which became the Sega Saturn's top seller that Christmas, the port of ''Flickies' Island'' being second.
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===Enemies===
<gallery>
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[[File:Sxc enemy phase1b.jpg|thumb|right|320px]]
SonicXTreme-JadeGully.png|A shot of "Project Condor" in action sometime after the 712 build.
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The first enemies designed for the project were created by [[Chris Senn]]. As a result of [[Michael Kosaka]]'s technology-themed ''Sonic Mars'' storyline, Senn's early enemy designs were loosely themed around computers and technology.{{intref|Interview: Chris Senn (2013-09-12) by Sega Addicts}} In total, Senn would create about 50 enemies during his work on the game{{ref|http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml}}, with each enemy boasting one of two colors: blue would indicate a weak enemy, and red would indicate a strong enemy.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} Artist [[Ross Harris]] would then model 3D sprites based upon his concept art{{ref|http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml}}, which would eventually be converted into a pre-rendered sprite. Despite this, only a reported 28 of Senn's roughly 50 designs would actually reach a playable state before the game's cancellation.{{magref|gameplayers|0909|52}}
SonicXTreme-JadeGully2.png|Another shot of the Green Hill-esque level, most likely Jade Gully.
 
SonicXTreme-RedSands.png|An unknown level (possibly [[Red Sands]]) showing off the 3D model of Sonic used at this stage of development.
 
SonicXTreme-LoadingScreen.png|A loading screen from this build, playing off the idea that this is Sonic's first Saturn outing.
 
</gallery>
 
  
====Sonic PC====
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For the game's bosses, the team had a number of curious choices planned for ''X-treme''. One boss was designed to chase Sonic the Hedgehog around the boss arena, and another would throw its head at Sonic and grow another.{{magref|gameplayers|0909|55}}{{magref|nextgeneration|19|66}} A third idea featured a unique gameplay feature where the boss arena would wrap back around to itself "carousel-style", seemingly acting as further inspiration for what would become ''[[Project Condor]]''s unique circular boss fights. Later in ''Condor''s development, four new bosses appeared: [[Fang the Sniper]], [[Metal Sonic|Mecha Sonic]], an "evil Sonic clone", and an unnamed fourth boss. These first three had reasonably-polished AI before the game's cancellation, while the fourth, described by Coffin as a "dumb" AI which operated similar to simple boss fights from earlier ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' games, required fewer resources and ran more smoothly.{{ref|1=https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/presenting.7325/page-4#post-128847}} This boss appears to have taken the form of the green gemstone fight playable at [[E3 1996]]. These bosses all all notably larger than Sonic, particularly in regard to Mecha Sonic; this was done not only because seeing such large characters was considered impressive, but that the increased size made the bosses easier to hit for players potentially inexperienced with 3D gameplay.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}
Even though they had been removed from the project, Chris Senn (who was also suffering severe medical issues as a result of ''Sonic X-treme'') and Ofer Alon continued to work on the engine and the textures used for the levels. Creating another presentation, the two showed off their work to the PC division of Sega with the hope that the game would be released on PC, where it always worked at the proper framerate.
 
  
The management declined to take it on, citing it was not in their budget to finance a new game, preferring to stick with ports of existing Sega titles. While Chris Senn believed the real reasons were just more internal politics at Sega because of Nakayama's distaste for the shoddy port of Ofer's work, the end result was still the same. Ceasing work on ''Sonic X-treme'', Ofer left the company, thus putting an end to the ''Sonic X-treme'' development saga.
+
==Music and sound==
 +
Given all the chaos surrounding the game's development, it would be no surprise that ''X-treme'''s soundtrack took a backseat to more pressing issues. Still, from about 1994 to 1996, [[Chris Senn]] created about 55 pieces of conceptual music intended to inspire creative discussion and help him envision other aspects of his design work{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}{{intref|Howard Drossin interview by SageXPO (August 2008)}} - the first music composed for the project. Said tracks were created with an Ensoniq ESQ-1, Mirage, and TS-10, alongside a Boss DR-550, all sequenced in Cakewalk 3.0 for Windows 95.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} Some of these tracks were frequently utilized for internal demonstration videos, with the track "Space Queens" growing strongly associated with the ''Sonic X-treme'' in the years following its cancellation.
  
===Legacy===
+
[[STI]]s in-house musician, [[Howard Drossin]] served as the project's official composer{{intref|Interview: Howard Drossin (2009-09-22) by Gamasutra}}{{intref|Howard Drossin interview by SageXPO (August 2008)}}, but for whatever reason only produced a handful of tracks late in the game's development.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} Notably, no sound effects were created for the project whatsoever.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} During the production of the later ''[[Project Condor]]'', [[Christina Coffin]] used tracks from the Japanese version of ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog CD]]'' as placeholder music while the actual soundtrack was being created.{{ref|1=https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/presenting.7325/page-4#post-128866}} While these tracks were definitely used internally, it is unknown if they played during the game's public appearances at [[E3 1996]] and [[Sega Gamer's Day 1996]].
With the cancellation of ''Sonic X-treme'', the Sega Saturn would not see a core ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' title released on the system. Though [[Sonic Team]], fresh from their work on ''NiGHTS into Dreams'', did briefly work on a ''Sonic'' title for the system, they realized it would be futile to continue further, seeing as the system's short lifespan was already visible. Taking what they had, they quickly slapped together the [[Sonic World]] area in ''[[Sonic Jam]]'', applying what they learned from this experiment into the production of ''[[Sonic Adventure]]'', which would ultimately be released on the [[Sega Dreamcast]].
 
  
Sega of America, having never officially canceled ''Sonic X-treme'' in the public's eye, at one point teased the idea of certain concepts from ''X-treme'' (such as Sonic's proposed arsenal of new moves) being carried over to ''Adventure'', but in reality it was all spin to try and rebuild brand loyalty in US, who had felt burned at the lack of a new Sonic platformer for the Saturn.
+
==History==
 +
====Background====
 +
{{quote|1="We had artists doing art for levels that hadn't even been concepted out. We had programmers waiting and waiting and waiting until every minute detail had been concepted out, and we had designers doing whatever the hell they wanted. It was a mess and because of the internal politics (the art director had trained his art team to hate the designers and programmers), it was even more difficult to get any work done."|2=''Producer [[Mike Wallis]]''|ref={{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20230621013553/http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/timeline.shtml}}}}
  
''X-treme'' stands as one of several examples of the fraught relations between Sega of Japan and Sega of America, others being the [[Sega 32X]] console itself, as well as problems concerning the Saturn and Dreamcast.
+
[[Sega Technical Institute]] was founded in 1990 by [[Mark Cerny]] as a means to train Western developers in adept game making and support [[Sega of America]]'s ability to make their own [[Genesis]] games, particularly games which could establish new ''Sonic''-like franchises based around mascot characters. His new studio would soon be joined by much of ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'''s Japanese development team and a slew of other developers from [[Sega of Japan]], who moved to the Bay Area and began working on ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'' soon after. Despite the two teams working closely together, Japanese management reportedly held a distrust of American handling of their flagship franchise{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20230901082151/http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml}}, and the Japanese side of STI frequently isolated itself to work alone. The two groups also clashed over work ethic, with the Western side of STI already known for its notoriously-slow development environment by 1992 - attributed by designer [[Peter Morawiec]] to a generous budget and lack of oversight.{{intref|Interview: Peter Morawiec (2007-04-20) by Sega-16}}
  
===Future===
+
To compound matters, fellow staff member [[Don Goddard]] recalls that the studio had very particular rules for its developers, particularly requiring an idea or piece of programming to be fully completed before anything further could be worked on. "Sega is the only place I've been at where you had to program the most optimized version of your code before they would let you move on to a new programming concept."{{intref|Interview: Don Goddard (2008-05) by hxc}} This issue was only exacerbated by STI management, which began favoring style over substance. [[Stieg Hedlund]] recalls that the need for constantly presenting projects for check-ins with management slowed down the creative process, as "the atmosphere encouraged presentations that were all surface and no substance, since there was no time or forum to go into depth. We became adept at creating MTV-style smash-cut videos."{{intref|Interview: Stieg Hedlund (2006-12-15) by Sega-16}}
Even though there was no official announcement, it became quite clear that ''Sonic X-treme'' was indeed canceled, and soon became a wildly discussed myth in fan circles, little known about what had happened to the game. It was only with the growth of the Internet and a fanbase reaching adulthood that allowed proper inquiry into what had really happened, resulting in fan contact with Mike Wallis, Chris Senn, and Christina Coffin. This outpouring of support led to the creation of the [[Sonic Xtreme Compendium]], a site owned and operated by Chris Senn meant to organize the many resources made during the project, and chronicle the highs and lows of development.
 
  
Though no copy of Ofer Alon's engine has been released, a prototype of Chris Coffin's boss engine (early in its conversion into "Project Condor") was [[Sonic X-treme beta auction|put up for auction]] on [http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/ ASSEMbler Games], and though effort was made to buy it for public release, it was ultimately sold to a private collector.
+
STI's lethargic development speed was even something the public was aware of, with the company's official explanation being the result of "approaching the game's design with a spirit of adventure and uncertainty", and that the developers were "leaving the [design of the] project open for as long as possible" until a team member thought of an idea. "Everyone has their own mental image of how the game should come together."{{magref|gameplayers|0907|43}} Despite these issues, ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' was still considered [[Sega Technical Institute]]'s central franchise{{intref|Interview: Stieg Hedlund (2006-12-15) by Sega-16}}, and one that would enjoy nearly limitless company resources behind its development. However, political issues, unexpected setbacks, and even life-threatening illnesses would eventually threatened to derail the ''Sonic X-treme'' project as a whole.
  
The latest major release of material concerning the game was in 2009, when a [http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=18538 package of unreleased textures] and level data was leaked to the public. Coupled with a viewer, the release finally allowed fans to experience the levels that were meant to be in Chris and Ofer's ''Sonic X-treme'', albeit in an unplayable format.
+
===Development===
 +
[[File:SonicXtreme SAT E3 1996 1.png|thumb|right]]
 +
{{mainArticle|Sonic X-treme/Development}}
 +
As one of Sega's highest-profile unreleased games, [[Sonic X-treme/Development|the complicated development cycle of the infamous ''Sonic X-treme'']] has captivated the [[Sonic scene]] since its cancellation in late 1996. Having languished in development hell at [[Sega Technical Institute]] for nearly two years, its troubled production resulted in high ambitions, a displeased management team, and the overworking of its lead developers to serious illness. In the years that followed, it became associated with a number of urban legends and misconceptions, with much of the development process still shrouded in mystery to this day. However, developers like [[Chris Senn]] and [[Christina Coffin]] have since provided invaluable insight into this time, bringing forth development materials and giving a wealth of interviews on one of the company's lowest times.  
  
===Project Names===
+
===Legacy===
The following is a list of names the game ''Sonic X-treme'' was developed under. It must be noted that there was a second, unrelated Sonic the Hedgehog game being developed for the Sega Saturn under the name ''[[Sonic Saturn]]'' as well.
+
{{quote|1="This game went through many iterations, working titles, team members, and target platforms. Its 3 year life cycle attempted to boldly go where no person had gone before, at least with a Sonic game. It failed to finish and reach market, but has had far-reaching implications on my career and has had a surprising effect on a number of interested fans. Sonic is quite a brand, and one I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to work on, especially at such a young age."|2=''Designer [[Chris Senn]]''|ref={{intref|Interview: Chris Senn (2013-09-12) by Sega Addicts}}}}
*''[[Sonic-16]]'' (Genesis)
 
*''[[Sonic Mars]]'' (32X)
 
*''Sonic32X'' (32X)
 
*''Sonic Saturn'' (Saturn)
 
*''Sonic Ringworlds'' (Saturn)
 
*''SonicBOOM'' (Saturn / nVidia08)
 
*''Sonic Xtreme'' (Saturn)
 
*''SonicPC'' (PC)
 
*''Sonic Bluestreak'' (briefly considered)
 
*''Super Sonic'' (briefly considered)
 
  
==Story==
+
[[Roger Hector]] says ''X-treme'' was just one of the [[STI]] projects which suffered from political tensions between [[Sega of Japan]] and [[Sega of America]].{{intref|Interview: Roger Hector (2005-02-15) by Sega-16}}{{intref|Roger Hector interview by hxc (August 2005)}} The project's lead designer [[Chris Senn]] also doubts that ''X-treme'', even had it been released, would have been able to live up to consumer standards for a Sonic game, or even been fun to play. "The team changed hands so many times as did the target platform for the game, making a collective vision for the game an inevitable impossibility."{{intref|Interview: Chris Senn (2007-04-03) by Sega-16}} Senn later became one of the project's primary sources of information, notably compiling his work on the game (along with the work of some other members) on a centralized website known as the Sonic Xtreme Compendium. In creating SXC, Senn honored a request by [[Ofer Alon]] to not share in-game maps or screenshots based on his engine, as Alon believes his work could still be copyrighted by [[Sega of America]].{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}
{{Main|Sonic X-treme Storylines}}
 
  
[[File:sxc_tiara2.gif|thumb|Line art of [[Tiara Boobowski]], Sonic's love interest in ''Sonic X-treme''.]]
+
It was rumored that [[Yuji Naka]] was involved in the project's cancellation.{{magref|mms|49|8}} This seems to have stemmed from Naka's cancellation of the similar ''[[Sonic Saturn]]''{{intref|Interview: Peter Morawiec (2007-04-20) by Sega-16}} (which ''X-treme'' is frequently confused with). The [[Sonic scene|Sonic community]] also speculated that the later ''[[Sonic Lost World]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s fisheye perspective was inspired by that of ''Sonic X-treme'''s. However, according to [[Chris Senn]], the projects were definitively unrelated, and their use of a shared perspective is simple coincidence.{{intref|Interview: Chris Senn (2013-09-12) by Sega Addicts}}
The storyline for ''Sonic X-treme'' was one never set in stone, with quite a few ideas thrown about during the development process. The best known of these (which were mentioned in such magazine features as the [[Sonic's Red Shoe Diaries Part I (Game Players)|Red Shoe Diaries]]) explains that [[Sonic the Hedgehog]], having received a "bluestreak" distress signal, runs over to the home of Professor Gazebo Boobowski and his daughter, [[Tiara Boobowski|Tiara]]. The two are the guardians of the [[Rings]] of Order, and also know the ancient art of ring smithing. [[Dr. Eggman]], having learned of the rings, has set about to claim them himself, prompting the professor to ask Sonic to retrieve the mystical rings before the evil doctor. When explaining the evolution of the storyline years later, Chris Senn stated that the "Rings of Order" story was hastily thrown together for the specific purpose of the Red Shoe Diaries feature in Game Players, the "final" story having yet to be solidified.
 
  
No less than seven other storylines were created over the project's lifespan, the final one authored by [[Hirokazu Yasuhara]] and [[Richard Wheeler]]. In this version, Dr. Eggman returns with a [[Death Egg]] that is larger than planet Earth, its gravity causing other planets to fall into an orbit with the space station. Miles "Tails" Prower teleports Sonic to the Death Egg in the hopes of stopping Eggman's latest scheme, but the beam is intercepted by one of the planets now in orbit. Finding himself on a strange world, Sonic also discovers that the [[badniks]] Eggman are using are powered by an alien species called "Mips," the natives to the planets that have become a part of the Death Egg's defenses.
+
With the cancellation of ''Sonic X-treme'', the Sega Saturn would not see a core ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' title released on the system. Though [[Sonic Team]], fresh from their work on ''NiGHTS into Dreams'', did briefly work on a ''Sonic'' title for the system, they realized it would be futile to continue further, seeing as the system's short lifespan was already visible. Taking what they had, they quickly slapped together the [[Sonic World]] area in ''[[Sonic Jam]]'', applying what they learned from this experiment into the production of ''[[Sonic Adventure]]'', which would ultimately be released on the [[Sega Dreamcast]].
  
Earlier storylines also briefly considered using the cast of the Saturday morning series ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', though those iterations of ''Sonic X-treme'' never went beyond the conceptual phase.
+
Sega of America, having never officially canceled ''Sonic X-treme'' in the public's eye, at one point teased the idea of certain concepts from ''X-treme'' (such as Sonic's proposed arsenal of new moves) being carried over to ''Adventure'', but in reality it was all spin to try and rebuild brand loyalty in US, who had felt burned at the lack of a new Sonic platformer for the Saturn. Additionally, ''X-treme'' stands as one of several examples of the fraught relations between Sega of Japan and Sega of America, others being the [[Sega 32X]] console itself, as well as problems concerning the Saturn and Dreamcast.
  
==Gameplay==
+
Even though there was no official announcement, it became quite clear that ''Sonic X-treme'' was indeed canceled, and soon became a wildly discussed myth in fan circles, little known about what had happened to the game. It was only with the growth of the Internet and a fanbase reaching adulthood that allowed proper inquiry into what had really happened, resulting in fan contact with Mike Wallis, Chris Senn, and Christina Coffin. This outpouring of support led to the creation of the [[Sonic Xtreme Compendium]], a site owned and operated by Chris Senn meant to organize the many resources made during the project, and chronicle the highs and lows of development.
[[File:SXC_JG04.jpg|thumb|An example of the "fish-eye" lens, one of the unique features in the game.]]
 
[[File:sxc_overhead_knuckles_still.png|thumb|One of the proposed alternate playstyles that was ultimately discarded.]]
 
Nearly from the get-go, the intent of ''Sonic X-treme'' was to place [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] in a completely 3D environment, building upon the ideas of exploration and the "go-anywhere-or-run-through" concept. The levels were constructed in an almost tube-like fashion, the camera pointing ahead to encourage the player to run forward towards their ultimate destination. Because 3D was still new and ''X-treme'' was experimenting with how to properly have Sonic in a 3D world, the camera was given a "fish-eye" lens, in an effort to let the player see more of their surroundings within a given zone. Taking a cue from the special stages in ''[[Knuckles Chaotix|Chaotix]]'', Sonic was also supposed to have the ability to run up walls and walk on ceilings, giving what might have seemed like a linear level added areas to explore.
 
  
Originally, [[Chris Senn]] wanted to use a number of playable characters, including [[Miles "Tails" Prower]], [[Knuckles the Echidna]], and newcomer [[Tiara Boobowski]], giving each their own style of gameplay and camera perspective. Sonic's was meant to be a 3/4 view, Tails was to have the camera positioned behind him, Knuckles would have had a top-down view, and Tiara's gameplay would have been viewed from the side. Though Chris Senn, the lead designer through most of ''Sonic X-treme's'' life, was excited at the prospect of multiple characters and styles, the game's lead programmer, [[Ofer Alon]], convinced Chris to keep things simple and focus on the core Sonic gameplay, and to only add more characters if time allowed.
+
===Preservation===
 +
[[Chris Senn]] recalls he doesn't have prototype material from the game's development period.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} [[Don Goddard]] thinks he has "code for a demo or two" from the ''[[Sonic Mars]]'' era, as well as a promotional billboard from the project.{{intref|Interview: Don Goddard (2008-05) by hxc}} [[Christina Coffin]] has already contributed what prototype CD-Rs she has from ''[[Project Condor]]''.{{ref|1=https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/presenting.7325/page-3#post-128838}}
  
[[Christina Coffin|Chris Coffin]], the lead developer of the boss stages, also briefly toyed with the idea of [[Amy Rose]] being a playable character, modifying the Sonic sprite set the team was using to look like the pink hedgehog. However, aside from the sprites being made, nothing else was done with the concept.
+
Though no copy of Ofer Alon's engine has been released, a prototype of Christina Coffin's boss engine (early in its conversion into "Project Condor") was [[Sonic X-treme beta auction|put up for auction]] in 2006{{intref|Interview: Peter Morawiec (2006-01-11) by hxc}} on [http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/ ASSEMbler Games], and though effort was made to buy it for public release, it was ultimately sold to a private collector.
  
The game was also meant to introduce a variety of new moves into Sonic's arsenal. Among them were the "Power Ball" (an attack to strike down on enemies below), "Super Bounce" (a jump with added height but less control), "Ring Shield" (a shield one could create at the cost of a number of rings collected), and the "Sonic Boom" (an attack in conjunction with the Ring Shield to attack all enemies on screen). There was also meant to be a [[ring]] attack, where Sonic could throw the rings he had collected at enemies, an idea that was introduced early on in the ''Sonic X-treme'' development cycle.
+
In 2009, a [http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=18538 package of unreleased textures] and level data was leaked to the public. Coupled with a viewer, the release finally allowed fans to experience the levels that were meant to be in Chris and Ofer's ''Sonic X-treme'', albeit in an unplayable format.
  
==The Unofficial Release==
 
 
[[File:Sonicxtremev37.png|thumb|''Sonic X-treme'' engine v37 ported to modern Windows by Jollyroger]]
 
[[File:Sonicxtremev37.png|thumb|''Sonic X-treme'' engine v37 ported to modern Windows by Jollyroger]]
 
In 2014, [http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=33545 ASSEMbler Games member Jollyroger acquired a source code archive of Point of View's work on ''Sonic X-treme'']. This archive contains the source for builds v37 and v40 of Ofer Alon's engine and level editor titled "SonicBoom", along with level data and a never before seen engine programmed from scratch by Point of View on Sega Saturn. The PC version of the engine requires an nVidia Diamond Edge 3D NV1 video card, NV1 SDK and a Windows 95 system to work.  
 
In 2014, [http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=33545 ASSEMbler Games member Jollyroger acquired a source code archive of Point of View's work on ''Sonic X-treme'']. This archive contains the source for builds v37 and v40 of Ofer Alon's engine and level editor titled "SonicBoom", along with level data and a never before seen engine programmed from scratch by Point of View on Sega Saturn. The PC version of the engine requires an nVidia Diamond Edge 3D NV1 video card, NV1 SDK and a Windows 95 system to work.  
Line 119: Line 103:
 
The v37 engine has been recompiled in the latest version of Visual Studio and the NV1 renderer code was converted to render in OpenGL instead. It was released for first time on February 23, 2015 as [http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=34038 a single level demo]. The level featured in this release was the same version of Jade Gully featured in the E3 1996 trailer.
 
The v37 engine has been recompiled in the latest version of Visual Studio and the NV1 renderer code was converted to render in OpenGL instead. It was released for first time on February 23, 2015 as [http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=34038 a single level demo]. The level featured in this release was the same version of Jade Gully featured in the E3 1996 trailer.
  
[[File:Sonic-xtreme-pov-saturn.jpg|thumb|''Sonic X-treme'' Point of View engine running on Saturn]]
+
Later on at the same year, more versions of the engine were released; v40 on PC/Saturn featuring the famed "fish-eye" 360-degree view, an updated version of v37 which included over 150 incomplete test levels and allowed running them manually with ease, and a port of Point Of View's engine to run on regular Sega Saturn hardware because the original code would only run on Saturn development hardware. Jollyroger expects other updates which go beyond the "as-is" phase by modifying several aspects of the gameplay in the hope of reaching a semi-completed version of the game. Although binaries of the v53 level editor were found in the archive, there was no source code, so creating a modern Windows port requires reverse-engineering the code.
Later on at the same year, more versions of the engine were released; v40 on PC/Saturn featuring the famed "fish-eye" 360-degree view, an updated version of v37 which included over 150 incomplete test levels and allowed running them manually with ease, and a port of Point Of View's engine to run on regular Sega Saturn hardware because the original code would only run on Saturn development hardware. Jollyroger expects other updates which go beyond the "as-is" phase by modifying several aspects of the gameplay in the hope of reaching a semi-completed version of the game.
 
  
Although binaries of the v53 level editor were found in the archive, there was no source code, so creating a modern Windows port requires reverse-engineering the code.
+
In 2016, Jollyroger discovered that the POV archive also contained binaries of build v001 on PC from 1995. This build is very early, with no controllable Sonic. You can control the camera by moving the mouse to explore the level. Although no source code was found, this build predates the transition to NV1 technology and renders entirely with software, therefore it will run on modern machines as-is. Due to the simplicity of the code, the engine runs extremely fast on modern CPUs.
  
[[File:SonicXtremev001.png|thumb|''Sonic X-treme'' engine v001 running on Windows 7]]
+
===Project names===
In 2016, Jollyroger discovered that the POV archive also contained binaries of build v001 on PC from 1995. This build is very early, with no controllable Sonic. You can control the camera by moving the mouse to explore the level. Although no source code was found, this build predates the transition to NV1 technology and renders entirely with software, therefore it will run on modern machines as-is. Due to the simplicity of the code, the engine runs extremely fast on modern CPUs.
+
The following is a list of names the game ''Sonic X-treme'' was developed under. It must be noted that there was a second, unrelated Sonic the Hedgehog game being developed for the Sega Saturn under the name ''[[Sonic Saturn]]'' as well.
 +
*''[[Sonic Mars]]''{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} (32X)
 +
*''Sonic 32X'' / ''Sonic32X''{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} (32X)
 +
*''Sonic Saturn''{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} (Saturn) (unrelated to ''[[Sonic Saturn]]'')
 +
*''Sonic Ring Worlds''{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}} / ''Sonic Ringworlds''{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} (Saturn)
 +
*''Sonic Boom!''{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}} / ''SonicBOOM''{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} (Saturn / nVidia08)
 +
*''Sonic X-Treme''{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} (Saturn)
 +
*''Sonic Twist''{{intref|Interview: Chris Senn (2013-09-12) by Sega Addicts}} (Saturn)
 +
*''SonicPC''{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} (PC)
 +
*''Sonic Bluestreak''{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} (briefly considered)
 +
*''Sonic Blast''{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} (briefly considered)
 +
*''SuperSonic''{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} (briefly considered)
  
 
==Resources==
 
==Resources==
Line 133: Line 127:
 
==Production credits==
 
==Production credits==
 
{{multicol|
 
{{multicol|
===''[[Sonic-16]]'' (Mega Drive) Pitch===
+
{{creditstable|
[[Peter Morawiec]]<br>
+
*'''Director:''' [[Roger Hector]]
John Duggan<br>
+
*'''Producer:''' [[Mike Wallis]]{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (2002-06) by Pachuka}}{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}{{magref|mms|45|26}}
[[Roger Hector]]
+
*'''Team Coordinator:''' [[Chris Senn]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}
 +
*'''Co-Lead Designers:''' [[Chris Senn]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}, [[Ofer Alon]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}
 +
*'''Art Director:''' [[Chris Senn]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}
 +
*'''World Layout Designer:''' [[Richard Wheeler]]{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (2002-06) by Pachuka}}{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}
 +
*'''Boss Programming:''' [[Chris Coffin]]{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (2002-06) by Pachuka}}
 +
*'''Boss Layout Designer:''' [[Jason Kuo]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (2002-06) by Pachuka}}
 +
*'''Computer Graphics Artists:''' [[Fei Cheng]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (2002-06) by Pachuka}}, [[Andrew Probert]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (2002-06) by Pachuka}}
 +
*'''Conceptual Art Designers:''' [[Fei Cheng]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}, [[Ross Harris]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}, [[Andrew Probert]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}
 +
*'''Conceptual Gameplay Design:''' [[Chris Coffin]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}, [[Richard Wheeler]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}
 +
*'''Lead Programmer:''' [[Ofer Alon]]{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (2002-06) by Pachuka}}{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}
 +
*'''Programmers:''' [[Don Goddard]]{{intref|Interview: Don Goddard (2011-11) by Torentsu}}, [[Chris Ebert]], [[Toshiyasu Morita]]
 +
*'''Lead Computer Graphics Artist:''' [[Ross Harris]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}
 +
*'''Artists:''' [[Alan Ackerman]]{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20231001044804/http://alanackerman.blogspot.com/2012/01/alans-resume.html}}{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}, [[Betty Cunningham]]{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20231012054918/http://www.flyinggoat.com/Resume/resume.html}}{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}
 +
*'''Conceptual Artist:''' {{SegaLink|Tony DeZuniga}}
 +
*'''3D Modeler:''' [[Kunitake Aoki]]{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}{{intref|Interview: Chris Senn (2013-09-12) by Sega Addicts}}{{ref|1=https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/presenting.7325/page-3#post-128836}}
 +
*'''Animator:''' [[Ross Harris]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}
 +
*'''Technical Director:''' [[Ofer Alon]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}
 +
*'''Music and Sound Effects Director:''' [[Howard Drossin]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}{{intref|Interview: Mike Wallis (2002-06) by Pachuka}}
 +
*'''Conceptual Music Composer:''' [[Chris Senn]]{{magref|gameplayers|0906|38}}
 +
*'''Composer:''' [[Howard Drossin]]
 +
*[[Dean Lester]]
 +
*[[Mark Kupper]]
 +
*[[Robert Morgan]]
 +
*[[Manny Granillo]]
 +
*[[Dave Sanner]]{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}{{intref|Interview: Don Goddard (2008-05) by hxc}}
 +
*[[Dean Ruggles]]{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}
 +
*[[Robert Steele]]{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}
 +
*[[Stieg Hedlund]]{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}
 +
*[[Hirokazu Yasuhara]]{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}
 +
| source=Developer statements
 +
| console=SAT
 +
}}}}
  
===''[[Sonic Mars]]'' (32X) Pitch===
+
==Magazine articles==
Chris Ebert<br>
+
{{Main|sega:Sonic X-treme/Magazine articles}}
[[Chris Senn|Christian Senn]]<br>
 
Jeremy Cantor<br>
 
Michael Kosaka<br>
 
Roger Hector<br>
 
Toshi Morita
 
  
===''Sonic Mars/Sonic X-treme'' (Sega Saturn/nVidia)===
+
==Technical information==
Chris Ebert<br>
+
''Sonic X-treme'' was primarily coded in [[wikipedia:C (programming language)|C]], [[wikipedia:C++|C++]], and [[wikipedia:Assembly language|Assembly]]{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} on [[sega:IBM PC|IBM]] and [[Windows|Windows 95 PC]]s, with additional work done on [[sega:Macintosh|Macintosh]] and [[sega:Amiga 3000|Amiga 3000]] computers; the game's pre-rendered graphics were created on dedicated {{SegaLink|Silicon Graphics}} workstations.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}} Additional programs involved in the game's creation are [[wikipedia:Softimage 3D|Softimage 3D]]{{ref|1=https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/presenting.7325/page-4#post-128889}}, [[wikipedia:Deluxe Paint Animation|DeluxePaint Animator]], [[wikipedia:Photoshop|Photoshop]], [[wikipedia:Imagine (3D modeling software)|Imagine]], [[wikipedia:Autodesk 3ds Max|3D Studio MAX]], [[wikipedia:Alias/Wavefront|Alias/Wavefront]], and possibly [[wikipedia:Strata 3D|Strata 3D]].{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html}}
Christian Senn<br>
 
Dean Lester<br>
 
[[Don Goddard]]<br>
 
Fei Cheng<br>
 
Mark Kupper<br>
 
Michael Kosaka<br>
 
[[Mike Wallis]]<br>
 
[[Ofer Alon]]<br>
 
Richard Wheeler<br>
 
Robert Morgan<br>
 
Roger Hector<br>
 
Toshi Morita<br>
 
[[Christina Coffin]]<br>
 
Manny Granillo<br>
 
Ross Harris<br>
 
Tony Dezuniga<br>
 
Alan Ackerman<br>
 
Andy Probert<br>
 
Betty Cunningham<br>
 
Dave Sanner<br>
 
Dean Ruggles<br>
 
Jason Kuo<br>
 
Robert Steele<br>
 
[[Stieg Hedlund]]<br>
 
Aoki Kunitake<br>
 
[[Howard Drossin]]<br>
 
[[Hirokazu Yasuhara|Yasuhara Hirokazu]]
 
  
===''Sonic X-treme'' (Sega Saturn/PC)===
+
===ROM dump status===
Christian Senn<br>
+
{{romtable|
Ofer Alon
+
{{rom|SAT|sha1=|md5=|crc32=|size=|date=|source=CD-R|comments=|quality=|prototype=yes|protoname=V40 prototype}}
 
+
{{rom|SAT|sha1=|md5=|crc32=|size=|date=1996-07-14|source=CD-R|comments=|quality=|prototype=yes}}
==="Project Condor" (Sega Saturn)===
+
{{rom|SAT|sha1=|md5=|crc32=|size=|date=1996-07-18|source=CD-R|comments=|quality=|prototype=yes}}
Christina Coffin<br>
 
Dean Ruggles<br>
 
Jamie Bible (Contract Programmer)<br>
 
Jason Kuo<br>
 
Mark Kupper<br>
 
Mike Wallis<br>
 
Richard Wheeler<br>
 
Yasuhara Hirokazu
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
==Gallery==
+
==External links==
<gallery>
 
SonicXtreme US E3 Promotional Video.mp4|E3 1996 trailer
 
SonicXtreme US E3 Promotional Video 2.mp4|E3 1996 trailer 2
 
</gallery>
 
 
 
==See Also==
 
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html Sonic X-treme Frequently-Asked Questions (December 23, 2008)]
 
* ''[[Sonic Saturn]]'' - A separate Sonic the Hedgehog title developed for the Sega Saturn concurrently with ''Sonic X-treme'' that was also canceled.
 
 
 
==External Links==
 
 
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20090228181852/http://senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/sxc/index.html Sonic Xtreme Compendium] - ''Sonic X-treme'' website run by developer [[Chris Senn]].
 
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20090228181852/http://senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/sxc/index.html Sonic Xtreme Compendium] - ''Sonic X-treme'' website run by developer [[Chris Senn]].
 +
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20110317064824/http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html Sonic Xtreme Frequently-Asked Questions (December 23, 2008)]
 
*[http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml Spotlight: Sonic X-Treme] - A feature from the website Lost Levels on the development of ''Sonic X-treme'', featuring an interview from Mike Wallis.
 
*[http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml Spotlight: Sonic X-Treme] - A feature from the website Lost Levels on the development of ''Sonic X-treme'', featuring an interview from Mike Wallis.
 
*[https://www.gamesradar.com/the-greatest-sonic-game-we-never-got-to-play/ The greatest Sonic game we never got to play] - A feature from the site GamesRadar on ''Sonic X-treme'', featuring an interview with Chris Senn.
 
*[https://www.gamesradar.com/the-greatest-sonic-game-we-never-got-to-play/ The greatest Sonic game we never got to play] - A feature from the site GamesRadar on ''Sonic X-treme'', featuring an interview with Chris Senn.
 +
 +
==References==
 +
<references/>
  
 
{{SonicXtremeOmni}}
 
{{SonicXtremeOmni}}
 
{{SonicSaturnGames}}
 
{{SonicSaturnGames}}
 
{{ScrappedGames}}
 
{{ScrappedGames}}

Latest revision as of 21:58, 22 March 2024

Not to be confused with the similarily named Sonic the Hedgehog Extreme.
SonicX-treme Saturn Title.png
Sonic X-treme
System(s): Sega Saturn, Windows 95
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Sega Saturn
Windows PC
Sega Technical Institute
Sega Saturn
Point of View
Planned release date: Fall 1996[1][2][3], 1996-11-21[4]Media:SonicXtremeUnknownFrenchArticle.jpg[5][6], 1996-12[7][8][9], 1997-03[10]
Genre: Action
Status of prototype(s): Early prototype dumped, later source code leaked

Sonic X-treme is an unreleased Sega Saturn action platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute and scheduled to be published by Sega of America in late 1996. An evolution of the previous Sonic Mars, renamed to signify the move to more powerful hardware, X-treme suffered through one of the company's most troubled development cycles. From platform changes which saw months of work scrapped, to a displeased management team, and the overworking of its lead developers to serious illness, the game has become perhaps the most infamous cancelled Sonic the Hedgehog game, and unwillingly personifies much of the problems related to Sega of America's corporate structure for the following decade.

Following a showing at E3 1996, Sonic X-treme was aggressively pushed by Sega of America in an attempt to boost flagging Sega Saturn sales during the Christmas 1996 season. Despite ambitious claims and marketing hype, the project was quickly shelved after it became clear to management that the project would not meet the Christmas deadline. Instead, a Saturn port of Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island was released in its place.

Story

The story of Sonic X-treme went through multiple iterations over the game's many years of development.[11] Above all, the game was always intended to be a radical departure from the main Sonic the Hedgehog games in gameplay, and as such, its story does not appear to have been a continuation of the previous games' plot. Specifically, X-treme would not be titled Sonic the Hedgehog 4 for this very reason.[12]. Additionally, while the addition of elements from the Sonic the Hedgehog television series was once considered (particularly the inclusion of characters like Sally Acorn)[13], this does not seem to have gone anywhere. Likewise, a tie-in comic series produced by Archie was considered near beginning of development[13], but equally not followed up on.

"There were numerous storylines for Sonic X-treme. What motivated the game design ranged from the narrative to some game mechanic or element that seemed the strongest and most interesting. Michael Kosaka’s Sonic Mars story helped direct my enemy character designs for the game. Initially they were very “computer” and “tech” inspired but gradually fit more in line with the classic Sonic enemy style as developed between Sonic 1-3. My Sonic Saturn storyline definitely affected the game design by requiring that Sonic rescue not only his friends but Robotnik, too – from a new threat, the Chaos Elementals. Later on, my Sonic Twist storyline was inspired directly by Ofer Alon’s twisting world concept for the game. It really depended on the storyline and what stage of development the game was in at the time, but rarely did the story and gameplay lack strong ties to one another."

Designer Chris Senn[14]

Line art of Tiara Boobowski, Sonic's love interest in Sonic X-treme.

The story began with Sonic the Hedgehog doing a little surfing[15], when he spots the Bluestreak distress signal in the sky above. Using this signal were two new characters, an old man named Professor Gazebo Boobowski, and his daughter, Tiara Boobowski. These characters were “Keepers of the magical Rings of Order” who practice the ancient art of Ring Smithing[15], and Sonic had been summoned to their castle to foil Robotnik's plans to steal the six Rings of Order.[16][17][15] Somehow, Robotnik manages to steal the Rings, but soon loses them, with players tasked with finding the Rings before the evil Robotnik can use them for his nefarious purposes.[18] According to Wallis, this story was created specifically for Game Players magazine's Red Shoe Diaries with combined input from Michael Kosaka, Chris Senn, Rick Wheeler, and Jason Kuo.[19]

No less than seven other storylines were created over the project's lifespan, the final one authored by Hirokazu Yasuhara and Richard Wheeler. In this version, Dr. Eggman returns with a Death Egg that is larger than planet Earth, its gravity causing other planets to fall into an orbit with the space station. Miles "Tails" Prower teleports Sonic to the Death Egg in the hopes of stopping Eggman's latest scheme, but the beam is intercepted by one of the planets now in orbit. Finding himself on a strange world, Sonic also discovers that the badniks Eggman are using are powered by an alien species called "Mips," the natives to the planets that have become a part of the Death Egg's defenses.

One element notably absent from the project was the character of Dr. Eggman. While reportedly planned for the larger game in some capacity, Chris Senn recalls that no artwork or models were ever made of the character, resigning him exclusively to the game's backstory. If time allowed that he had been included, he would have been represented in the Project Condor stage of development.[13] Curiously, Chris Coffin describes Condor's fourth boss fight (the "dumb AI" boss) as resembling a classic boss fight from earlier Mega Drive Sonic games, indicating a possible including of Eggman in a simple Egg Mobile-type fight.

Gameplay

One of the proposed alternate playstyles that was ultimately discarded.

Senn once envisioned X-treme featuring different playable characters, each of which would boast a unique gameplay mode. Sonic the Hedgehog would be played with the game's normal perspective, Miles "Tails" Prower from "Tails Cam" (directly behind him), Knuckles the Echidna from a top-down perspective, and Tiara Boobowski from a side-scrolling 2D perspective. While demo animations were created for these playable characters, the concept of including alternate gameplay modes appears to have never let the drawing board - although, Knuckles' reportedly had some development work completed. According to Senn, Ofer Alon insisted that the gameplay focus exclusively on Sonic himself, to keep things as simple as possible for what would be the series' first-ever 3D outing.[13] During Project Condor, Chris Coffin requested Ross Harris to edit Sonic's pre-rendered 3D model and make a playable Amy Rose. This was done, and while Coffin thought she was looked cute running around in Condor, the idea was equally not followed up.

X-treme was set to feature Zones consisting of three acts each. The first two acts would each emphasize a different ability or gameplay feature[20], like speed, precision platforming[7], or puzzle-solving[18], with these acts described as "huge, multi-story constructions".[17] Act backgrounds were originally simple "flat backdrops", but the team had solid plans to implement two-layer parallax scrolling.[21][22] Staples of the Sonic franchise like spikes and bottomless pits were implemented (the latter of which only causing players to lose four Rings), and cutscenes were planned for beginning and end of each Act.[13] Each Act would take a reported 5-8 minutes to complete[23], with the third Act of each Zone pitting Sonic against a boss fight.[24] Chris Senn recalls the number of Zones changing multiple times during development[13]; while some magazines reported up to 15 playable Zones[25][7], this number appears to have been later scaled back to seven.[8] By the game's final appearance at Sega Gamer's Day 1996, this further dropped to a confirmed four zones[6]: Crystal Frost[16][24], Red Sands[26][22], Jade Gully[27][28], and Galaxy Fortress.[28][18]

Bonus rounds were also planned. Described as being similar to "how it was in previous Sonic games"[20][29][15], these bonus rounds were never publicly demonstrated, and no further detail was given to their contents. However, Senn recalls that this bonus round concept was created by Michael Kosaka early into the game's 32X development, and later became one of Senn's three "Amiga demos" used to pitch the idea to management; in the particular demo, Sonic rolls through a tubular red circuit and is tasked with collecting as many Rings as possible - directly inspired by the bonus rounds featured in Sonic the Hedgehog 2's Special Stage, but seen from a three-dimensional perspective. Later in development, surfing and bungee jumping gameplay[17] were also briefly described, but as this information comes solely from Sonic's Red Shoe Diaries (which invented much of its content specifically for the articles) and no other developers recall this topic, it is assumed this was also a fabrication of the magazine.

"The basic gameplay was focusing on Sonic being in 3D for the first time... so running, spindashing, etc. in a 3D world. Collecting rings was still the bread and butter goal while getting through the levels. Everything else stemmed from this classic set up... just variety in the scenery, concepts, special objects per world, etc…the gameplay was further enhanced by the enemies that populated each world. A lot of thought was put into giving the enemies personality, attacks, and defenses that really changed how the player needed to navigate/act/react when near them. This branched out to some of the initial basic power-ups, as well, further intertwining more levels of basic gameplay."

Designer Chris Senn[18]

An example of the "fish-eye" lens, one of the unique features in the game.

Aside from the reflex lens (which increased the POV to combat a limited viewpoint), one of the game's most-noticeable features is the concept of "world rotation"[24][30][31], which allows Sonic to run up walls and onto the ceiling at specific points in the world.[13][24] Previously described as "full 3D camera rotation"[2][3], this technology was created by Ofer Alon as a means to experiment with free-roaming gameplay in a 3D world.[13]

Other gameplay concepts were envisioned for Sonic's first 3D outing. Senn designed an intricate system of items and shields which could be combined with one another for added abilities. Additionally, a Flicky-like mechanic (as seen in Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island) was planned, in which each Zone would boast its own unique design of small characters called Mips. Mips would feature different colors and movement patterns with each zone. The name "Mip" was dubbed by Michael Kosaka, and is an abbreviation for the computer term "Million Instructions Per Second."[13] A Super Sonic transformation was also considered (as was the inclusion of Chaos Emeralds[7]), but ultimately dropped to focus on ensuring the regular gameplay would be fun, considering it was the character's first time in 3D.[13]

Abilities

In addition to the expected Spin Dash[32][33], three new abilities were planned for Sonic's first 3D outing: the Spin Slash[32][7], Ring Throw[16][7], and Sonic Streak.[3][32][30]

The Spin Slash (previously known as the Spin Bash[34][16]) was a mid-air version of the Spin Dash[17] where Sonic transforms into a high-speed sawblade.[30] Performing this ability would have either caused more damage or increased Sonic's area of attack; however, Wallis says this ability would have been cut in the final version for being too similar to a midair Spin Dash in execution.[18][34] The Ring Throw would feature Sonic throwing his collected Rings as an attack. This would deplete the player's actual Ring count.[16] While reportedly incorporated into early development builds of the game, Wallis recalls that the ability was removed for not working with the gameplay, recalling "things that sound good on paper don’t always translate into a good game feature."[18]

A third ability, the Sonic Streak (previously known as the Spin StreakMedia:STC Summer '96 - Xtreme.jpg[35][22]) was reported on but never described in detail.[30][36] Four additional abilities were planned[37] but never left the concept phase, being the Power Ball (an attack to strike down on enemies below), Super Bounce (a jump with added height but less control), Ring Shield (a shield players could create at the cost of their own Rings), and Sonic Boom (an attack in conjunction with the Ring Shield to attack all enemies on screen).

Items

As one of the notable departures from mainline Sonic the Hedgehog games, powerups were designed to not appear in Monitors but in a rotating sphere, which Sonic would have to break open in a similar fashion. Sonic could also collect Traction Shoes which reduced his speed, making navigation of the 3D landscape easier. A number of special Rings, like the Snake, Twist, and Homing Ring were planned, alongside something known as an "H-Ball Bomb".[13]

While featuring staples like Invincibility and One-Up items, X-treme was also set to introduce a new system of powerups: Elements. Elements represented six different types of powers Sonic could unlock, with a hierarchy in which each Element had both advantages and disadvantages to each other. Similar to the later Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, up to two of these Elements could be acquired and combined to create PowerShields, similar to standard Shields but boasting more unique abilities - like breaking through sections of the landscape or evaporating pools of water.[13]

Enemies

Sxc enemy phase1b.jpg

The first enemies designed for the project were created by Chris Senn. As a result of Michael Kosaka's technology-themed Sonic Mars storyline, Senn's early enemy designs were loosely themed around computers and technology.[14] In total, Senn would create about 50 enemies during his work on the game[18], with each enemy boasting one of two colors: blue would indicate a weak enemy, and red would indicate a strong enemy.[13] Artist Ross Harris would then model 3D sprites based upon his concept art[18], which would eventually be converted into a pre-rendered sprite. Despite this, only a reported 28 of Senn's roughly 50 designs would actually reach a playable state before the game's cancellation.[21]

For the game's bosses, the team had a number of curious choices planned for X-treme. One boss was designed to chase Sonic the Hedgehog around the boss arena, and another would throw its head at Sonic and grow another.[38][8] A third idea featured a unique gameplay feature where the boss arena would wrap back around to itself "carousel-style", seemingly acting as further inspiration for what would become Project Condors unique circular boss fights. Later in Condors development, four new bosses appeared: Fang the Sniper, Mecha Sonic, an "evil Sonic clone", and an unnamed fourth boss. These first three had reasonably-polished AI before the game's cancellation, while the fourth, described by Coffin as a "dumb" AI which operated similar to simple boss fights from earlier Sonic the Hedgehog games, required fewer resources and ran more smoothly.[39] This boss appears to have taken the form of the green gemstone fight playable at E3 1996. These bosses all all notably larger than Sonic, particularly in regard to Mecha Sonic; this was done not only because seeing such large characters was considered impressive, but that the increased size made the bosses easier to hit for players potentially inexperienced with 3D gameplay.[13]

Music and sound

Given all the chaos surrounding the game's development, it would be no surprise that X-treme's soundtrack took a backseat to more pressing issues. Still, from about 1994 to 1996, Chris Senn created about 55 pieces of conceptual music intended to inspire creative discussion and help him envision other aspects of his design work[13][40] - the first music composed for the project. Said tracks were created with an Ensoniq ESQ-1, Mirage, and TS-10, alongside a Boss DR-550, all sequenced in Cakewalk 3.0 for Windows 95.[13] Some of these tracks were frequently utilized for internal demonstration videos, with the track "Space Queens" growing strongly associated with the Sonic X-treme in the years following its cancellation.

STIs in-house musician, Howard Drossin served as the project's official composer[41][40], but for whatever reason only produced a handful of tracks late in the game's development.[13] Notably, no sound effects were created for the project whatsoever.[13] During the production of the later Project Condor, Christina Coffin used tracks from the Japanese version of Sonic the Hedgehog CD as placeholder music while the actual soundtrack was being created.[42] While these tracks were definitely used internally, it is unknown if they played during the game's public appearances at E3 1996 and Sega Gamer's Day 1996.

History

Background

"We had artists doing art for levels that hadn't even been concepted out. We had programmers waiting and waiting and waiting until every minute detail had been concepted out, and we had designers doing whatever the hell they wanted. It was a mess and because of the internal politics (the art director had trained his art team to hate the designers and programmers), it was even more difficult to get any work done."

Producer Mike Wallis[23]

Sega Technical Institute was founded in 1990 by Mark Cerny as a means to train Western developers in adept game making and support Sega of America's ability to make their own Genesis games, particularly games which could establish new Sonic-like franchises based around mascot characters. His new studio would soon be joined by much of Sonic the Hedgehog's Japanese development team and a slew of other developers from Sega of Japan, who moved to the Bay Area and began working on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 soon after. Despite the two teams working closely together, Japanese management reportedly held a distrust of American handling of their flagship franchise[43], and the Japanese side of STI frequently isolated itself to work alone. The two groups also clashed over work ethic, with the Western side of STI already known for its notoriously-slow development environment by 1992 - attributed by designer Peter Morawiec to a generous budget and lack of oversight.[44]

To compound matters, fellow staff member Don Goddard recalls that the studio had very particular rules for its developers, particularly requiring an idea or piece of programming to be fully completed before anything further could be worked on. "Sega is the only place I've been at where you had to program the most optimized version of your code before they would let you move on to a new programming concept."[45] This issue was only exacerbated by STI management, which began favoring style over substance. Stieg Hedlund recalls that the need for constantly presenting projects for check-ins with management slowed down the creative process, as "the atmosphere encouraged presentations that were all surface and no substance, since there was no time or forum to go into depth. We became adept at creating MTV-style smash-cut videos."[46]

STI's lethargic development speed was even something the public was aware of, with the company's official explanation being the result of "approaching the game's design with a spirit of adventure and uncertainty", and that the developers were "leaving the [design of the] project open for as long as possible" until a team member thought of an idea. "Everyone has their own mental image of how the game should come together."[28] Despite these issues, Sonic the Hedgehog was still considered Sega Technical Institute's central franchise[46], and one that would enjoy nearly limitless company resources behind its development. However, political issues, unexpected setbacks, and even life-threatening illnesses would eventually threatened to derail the Sonic X-treme project as a whole.

Development

SonicXtreme SAT E3 1996 1.png
Sonic Retro emblem.svg Main article: Sonic X-treme/Development

As one of Sega's highest-profile unreleased games, the complicated development cycle of the infamous Sonic X-treme has captivated the Sonic scene since its cancellation in late 1996. Having languished in development hell at Sega Technical Institute for nearly two years, its troubled production resulted in high ambitions, a displeased management team, and the overworking of its lead developers to serious illness. In the years that followed, it became associated with a number of urban legends and misconceptions, with much of the development process still shrouded in mystery to this day. However, developers like Chris Senn and Christina Coffin have since provided invaluable insight into this time, bringing forth development materials and giving a wealth of interviews on one of the company's lowest times.

Legacy

"This game went through many iterations, working titles, team members, and target platforms. Its 3 year life cycle attempted to boldly go where no person had gone before, at least with a Sonic game. It failed to finish and reach market, but has had far-reaching implications on my career and has had a surprising effect on a number of interested fans. Sonic is quite a brand, and one I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to work on, especially at such a young age."

Designer Chris Senn[14]

Roger Hector says X-treme was just one of the STI projects which suffered from political tensions between Sega of Japan and Sega of America.[47][48] The project's lead designer Chris Senn also doubts that X-treme, even had it been released, would have been able to live up to consumer standards for a Sonic game, or even been fun to play. "The team changed hands so many times as did the target platform for the game, making a collective vision for the game an inevitable impossibility."[49] Senn later became one of the project's primary sources of information, notably compiling his work on the game (along with the work of some other members) on a centralized website known as the Sonic Xtreme Compendium. In creating SXC, Senn honored a request by Ofer Alon to not share in-game maps or screenshots based on his engine, as Alon believes his work could still be copyrighted by Sega of America.[13]

It was rumored that Yuji Naka was involved in the project's cancellation.[50] This seems to have stemmed from Naka's cancellation of the similar Sonic Saturn[44] (which X-treme is frequently confused with). The Sonic community also speculated that the later Sonic Lost World's fisheye perspective was inspired by that of Sonic X-treme's. However, according to Chris Senn, the projects were definitively unrelated, and their use of a shared perspective is simple coincidence.[14]

With the cancellation of Sonic X-treme, the Sega Saturn would not see a core Sonic the Hedgehog title released on the system. Though Sonic Team, fresh from their work on NiGHTS into Dreams, did briefly work on a Sonic title for the system, they realized it would be futile to continue further, seeing as the system's short lifespan was already visible. Taking what they had, they quickly slapped together the Sonic World area in Sonic Jam, applying what they learned from this experiment into the production of Sonic Adventure, which would ultimately be released on the Sega Dreamcast.

Sega of America, having never officially canceled Sonic X-treme in the public's eye, at one point teased the idea of certain concepts from X-treme (such as Sonic's proposed arsenal of new moves) being carried over to Adventure, but in reality it was all spin to try and rebuild brand loyalty in US, who had felt burned at the lack of a new Sonic platformer for the Saturn. Additionally, X-treme stands as one of several examples of the fraught relations between Sega of Japan and Sega of America, others being the Sega 32X console itself, as well as problems concerning the Saturn and Dreamcast.

Even though there was no official announcement, it became quite clear that Sonic X-treme was indeed canceled, and soon became a wildly discussed myth in fan circles, little known about what had happened to the game. It was only with the growth of the Internet and a fanbase reaching adulthood that allowed proper inquiry into what had really happened, resulting in fan contact with Mike Wallis, Chris Senn, and Christina Coffin. This outpouring of support led to the creation of the Sonic Xtreme Compendium, a site owned and operated by Chris Senn meant to organize the many resources made during the project, and chronicle the highs and lows of development.

Preservation

Chris Senn recalls he doesn't have prototype material from the game's development period.[13] Don Goddard thinks he has "code for a demo or two" from the Sonic Mars era, as well as a promotional billboard from the project.[45] Christina Coffin has already contributed what prototype CD-Rs she has from Project Condor.[51]

Though no copy of Ofer Alon's engine has been released, a prototype of Christina Coffin's boss engine (early in its conversion into "Project Condor") was put up for auction in 2006[52] on ASSEMbler Games, and though effort was made to buy it for public release, it was ultimately sold to a private collector.

In 2009, a package of unreleased textures and level data was leaked to the public. Coupled with a viewer, the release finally allowed fans to experience the levels that were meant to be in Chris and Ofer's Sonic X-treme, albeit in an unplayable format.

Sonic X-treme engine v37 ported to modern Windows by Jollyroger

In 2014, ASSEMbler Games member Jollyroger acquired a source code archive of Point of View's work on Sonic X-treme. This archive contains the source for builds v37 and v40 of Ofer Alon's engine and level editor titled "SonicBoom", along with level data and a never before seen engine programmed from scratch by Point of View on Sega Saturn. The PC version of the engine requires an nVidia Diamond Edge 3D NV1 video card, NV1 SDK and a Windows 95 system to work.

The v37 engine has been recompiled in the latest version of Visual Studio and the NV1 renderer code was converted to render in OpenGL instead. It was released for first time on February 23, 2015 as a single level demo. The level featured in this release was the same version of Jade Gully featured in the E3 1996 trailer.

Later on at the same year, more versions of the engine were released; v40 on PC/Saturn featuring the famed "fish-eye" 360-degree view, an updated version of v37 which included over 150 incomplete test levels and allowed running them manually with ease, and a port of Point Of View's engine to run on regular Sega Saturn hardware because the original code would only run on Saturn development hardware. Jollyroger expects other updates which go beyond the "as-is" phase by modifying several aspects of the gameplay in the hope of reaching a semi-completed version of the game. Although binaries of the v53 level editor were found in the archive, there was no source code, so creating a modern Windows port requires reverse-engineering the code.

In 2016, Jollyroger discovered that the POV archive also contained binaries of build v001 on PC from 1995. This build is very early, with no controllable Sonic. You can control the camera by moving the mouse to explore the level. Although no source code was found, this build predates the transition to NV1 technology and renders entirely with software, therefore it will run on modern machines as-is. Due to the simplicity of the code, the engine runs extremely fast on modern CPUs.

Project names

The following is a list of names the game Sonic X-treme was developed under. It must be noted that there was a second, unrelated Sonic the Hedgehog game being developed for the Sega Saturn under the name Sonic Saturn as well.

Resources

Download.svg Download Sonic X-treme
File: Xtreme.rar (20.74 MB) (info)
Current version: 712
Download.svg Download Sonic X-treme
File: 20150220 Release 001.zip (1.78 MB) (info)
Current version: v37

Production credits

Source: Developer statements

Magazine articles

Sonic Retro emblem.svg Main article: sega:Sonic X-treme/Magazine articles

Technical information

Sonic X-treme was primarily coded in C, C++, and Assembly[13] on IBM and Windows 95 PCs, with additional work done on Macintosh and Amiga 3000 computers; the game's pre-rendered graphics were created on dedicated Silicon Graphics workstations.[13] Additional programs involved in the game's creation are Softimage 3D[57], DeluxePaint Animator, Photoshop, Imagine, 3D Studio MAX, Alias/Wavefront, and possibly Strata 3D.[13]

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Saturn
 ?
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
CD-R Page
Sega Saturn
 ?
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
1996-07-14 CD-R Page
Sega Saturn
 ?
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
1996-07-18 CD-R Page

External links

References

  1. [ssmjp, issue 1996-10, page 90 ssmjp, issue 1996-10, page 90]
  2. 2.0 2.1 [gameplayers, issue 0908, page 57 gameplayers, issue 0908, page 57]
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 [gamepro, issue 95, page 44 gamepro, issue 95, page 44]
  4. [gamepro, issue 98, page 62 gamepro, issue 98, page 62]
  5. File:SonicXtremeUnknownFrenchArticle.jpg
  6. 6.0 6.1 [egm, issue 87, page 112 egm, issue 87, page 112]
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 [mms, issue 45, page 26 mms, issue 45, page 26]
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 [nextgeneration, issue 19, page 66 nextgeneration, issue 19, page 66]
  9. [ssm, issue 9, page 6 ssm, issue 9, page 6]
  10. [segamagazin, issue 36, page 82 segamagazin, issue 36, page 82]
  11. Interview: Mike Wallis (1996-05-04) by Game Players
  12. 12.00 12.01 12.02 12.03 12.04 12.05 12.06 12.07 12.08 12.09 12.10 12.11 12.12 12.13 12.14 12.15 12.16 12.17 12.18 12.19 12.20 12.21 12.22 12.23 12.24 12.25 [gameplayers, issue 0906, page 38 gameplayers, issue 0906, page 38]
  13. 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 13.17 13.18 13.19 13.20 13.21 13.22 13.23 13.24 13.25 13.26 13.27 13.28 13.29 13.30 13.31 13.32 13.33 13.34 13.35 13.36 13.37 13.38 13.39 13.40 http://www.senntient.com:80/projects/xtreme/FAQ.html (Wayback Machine: 2011-03-17 06:48)
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 Interview: Chris Senn (2013-09-12) by Sega Addicts
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 [segapower, issue 81, page 42 segapower, issue 81, page 42]
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 [gameplayers, issue 0906, page 40 gameplayers, issue 0906, page 40]
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 [nextgeneration, issue 19, page 67 nextgeneration, issue 19, page 67]
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml
  19. http://lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml (Wayback Machine: 2023-11-29 17:57)
  20. 20.0 20.1 Interview: Mike Wallis (1996-06-20) by Sega Saturn Magazine (UK)
  21. 21.0 21.1 [gameplayers, issue 0909, page 52 gameplayers, issue 0909, page 52]
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 [segamagazin, issue 32, page 6 segamagazin, issue 32, page 6]
  23. 23.0 23.1 http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/timeline.shtml (Wayback Machine: 2023-06-21 01:35)
  24. 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 [ssm, issue 9, page 33 ssm, issue 9, page 33]
  25. [playmag, issue 5, page 32 playmag, issue 5, page 32]
  26. [gameplayers, issue 0906, page 39 gameplayers, issue 0906, page 39]
  27. [mms, issue 45, page 27 mms, issue 45, page 27]
  28. 28.0 28.1 28.2 [gameplayers, issue 0907, page 43 gameplayers, issue 0907, page 43]
  29. [consolesplus, issue 55s, page 4 consolesplus, issue 55s, page 4]
  30. 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 [egm, issue 84, page 74 egm, issue 84, page 74]
  31. [playerone, issue 65, page 88 playerone, issue 65, page 88]
  32. 32.0 32.1 32.2 [cvg, issue 176, page 90 cvg, issue 176, page 90]
  33. [ssm, issue 9, page 32 ssm, issue 9, page 32]
  34. 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 34.5 34.6 34.7 34.8 34.9 Interview: Mike Wallis (2002-06) by Pachuka
  35. File:STC Summer '96 - Xtreme.jpg
  36. [maniac, issue 1996-07, page 19 maniac, issue 1996-07, page 19]
  37. [gameplayers, issue 0907, page 42 gameplayers, issue 0907, page 42]
  38. [gameplayers, issue 0909, page 55 gameplayers, issue 0909, page 55]
  39. https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/presenting.7325/page-4#post-128847
  40. 40.0 40.1 Howard Drossin interview by SageXPO (August 2008)
  41. Interview: Howard Drossin (2009-09-22) by Gamasutra
  42. https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/presenting.7325/page-4#post-128866
  43. http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml (Wayback Machine: 2023-09-01 08:21)
  44. 44.0 44.1 Interview: Peter Morawiec (2007-04-20) by Sega-16
  45. 45.0 45.1 45.2 Interview: Don Goddard (2008-05) by hxc
  46. 46.0 46.1 Interview: Stieg Hedlund (2006-12-15) by Sega-16
  47. Interview: Roger Hector (2005-02-15) by Sega-16
  48. Roger Hector interview by hxc (August 2005)
  49. Interview: Chris Senn (2007-04-03) by Sega-16
  50. [mms, issue 49, page 8 mms, issue 49, page 8]
  51. https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/presenting.7325/page-3#post-128838
  52. Interview: Peter Morawiec (2006-01-11) by hxc
  53. Interview: Don Goddard (2011-11) by Torentsu
  54. http://alanackerman.blogspot.com/2012/01/alans-resume.html (Wayback Machine: 2023-10-01 04:48)
  55. http://www.flyinggoat.com/Resume/resume.html (Wayback Machine: 2023-10-12 05:49)
  56. https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/presenting.7325/page-3#post-128836
  57. https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/presenting.7325/page-4#post-128889


Sonic X-treme
SonicX-treme Saturn Title.png

Main page (Point of View|Project Condor|SonicPC)


Magazine articles


Development
Hidden content

Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems
Sega Saturn
 1996  Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island     1997  Sonic Jam | Sonic R    
 Unreleased  Sonic X-treme | Sonic Saturn
Unreleased Sonic the Hedgehog games
Sega Master System
Sonic's Edusoft | Sonic the Hedgehog (home computers) |
Sega Mega-CD
Sonic the Hedgehog |
Sega Mega-CD
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 CD |
Arcade
SegaSonic Bros. |
Sega Mega-CD
Sister Sonic |
Sega Mega Drive
Treasure Tails |
Arcade
Pre-May 1993 Sonic arcade games |
Sega Mega Drive
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Limited Edition |
Sega 32X
Sonic Sports |
Arcade
Sonic Ride |
Sega Saturn
Sonic Saturn |
Game Boy Advance
Sonic X: Chaos Emerald Chaos |
Nintendo DS
Sonic DS |
Xbox
Sonic the Hedgehog Extreme |
Game Boy Advance
Sonic Riders | Sonic the Hedgehog: Awakening |
Google Android OS
iOS
Sonic Central |
Google Android OS
iOS
Sonic Demo
Sonic X-treme incarnations
Sega 32X
Sonic Mars |
Sega Saturn
Sonic X-treme (Point Of View | Project Condor | SonicPC)