Sonic Saturn (lost build of cancelled Sega Saturn prototype of platformer; mid-1990s): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 13:36, 22 April 2023

The loading screen for Sonic Saturn.

Status: Lost

During the production of Sonic X-Treme, Sega Technical Institute were planning to make another Sonic game for Sega's ill-fated console, the Sega Saturn. The game's work working title was Sonic Saturn.

Unlike Sonic X-Treme, the game's world was meant to be more realistic. Based on what very little concept art that has actually been leaked, it (like X-Treme) appeared to have Metal Sonic in it.

It was never actually announced to the general public, and also didn't get far into production before cancellation.

Sonic Pool

Like other Sonic the Hedgehog games, Sonic Saturn was planned to have 3D special stages. (Similar to Sonic 2, Sonic 3 and Knuckles, Sonic 3D Blast, e.t.c.) It had Sonic in a 3D environment playing pool.

The main objective was explained by Peter Morawiec, who worked on the game:

"The idea was that Sonic would run around to position himself behind a ball, go into a stationary spin-dash, then you could 'aim' your direction and... let go -- the camera went overhead to show the resulting action as he smashes into other balls. The goal was to put all those balls away (into those portals) within one minute, or some such time limit. He could also push into the balls, but that wasn't very fast and thus wasn't the preferred way to play. In later stages there were little enemies crawling around, making your job more difficult (Sonic would get hurt and loose rings upon colliding with them). There were some other arenas in the works, such as South-Western courtyard etc."^[1]

When Sonic Saturn was cancelled, Peter Morawiec attempted to integrate the Sonic Pool special stages into Sonic X-treme's Project Condor phase. However Sonic X-treme would then be cancelled in August 1996 which put Morawiec in a tough spot again. In an attempt to save the project, Morawiec urged the producer of Sonic 3D Blast (Yutaka Sugando) to rework the Sonic Pool special stages into bonus games for the Saturn version of 3D Blast, but eventually the deadline proved to be impossible to hit which meant Sonic Pool would have to be canned. Sonic Team then stepped in to develop the Sonic 2-esque special stages seen in the final version of Saturn 3D Blast.

It's worth noting all the screenshots we have of Sonic Pool come from Peter Morawiec himself and the first two in game screenshots are dated from October 1996 while all the other in game screenshots (not including the title screen) are dated to September 1996.

Gallery

Videos

LSuperSonicQ’s video on the subject.

Images

Background art used for the game.
Concept art of the wetlands level.
Cybernik Badnik concept art.
More Cybernik Badnik concept art.
The title for the Sonic Pool special stage.
Sonic Pool screenshot 1 of 6.
Sonic Pool screenshot 2 of 6.
Sonic Pool screenshot 3 of 6.
Sonic Pool screenshot 4 of 6.
Sonic Pool screenshot 5 of 6.
Sonic Pool screenshot 6 of 6.

External Links

Sonic Retro page on Sonic Saturn.

References

↑ Peter Morawiec interview with information on the game. Retrieved 04 Feb '23

[1] Peter Morawiec interview with information on the game. Retrieved 04 Feb '23

[1]

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-Alongside the production of Sonic X-treme, Sega Technical Institute was working on another game only known as "Sonic Saturn". Rather than use sprites for sonic, though, it was going to use a 3D model for Sonic. This game was meant to have a more realistic rendition of Sonic's world than X-treme. It was never actually announced publicly that it was in production, but didn't get very far before being canceled.
+{{InfoboxLost
+|title=<center>Sonic Saturn (Sega Saturn)</center>
+|image=Sonic saturn loading screen.png
+|imagecaption=The loading screen for ''Sonic Saturn''.
+|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
+}}
+During the production of ''Sonic X-Treme'', Sega Technical Institute were planning to make another Sonic game for Sega's ill-fated console, the Sega Saturn. The game's work working title was '''''Sonic Saturn'''''.
+Unlike ''Sonic X-Treme'', the game's world was meant to be more realistic. Based on what very little concept art that has actually been leaked, it (like ''X-Treme'') appeared to have Metal Sonic in it.
+It was never actually announced to the general public, and also didn't get far into production before cancellation.
 ==Sonic Pool==
+Like other ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games, ''Sonic Saturn'' was planned to have 3D special stages. (Similar to ''Sonic 2'', ''Sonic 3 and Knuckles'', ''Sonic 3D Blast'', e.t.c.) It had Sonic in a 3D environment playing pool.
+The main objective was explained by Peter Morawiec, who worked on the game:
+<blockquote>"The idea was that Sonic would run around to position himself behind a ball, go into a stationary spin-dash, then you could 'aim' your direction and... let go -- the camera went overhead to show the resulting action as he smashes into other balls. The goal was to put all those balls away (into those portals) within one minute, or some such time limit. He could also push into the balls, but that wasn't very fast and thus wasn't the preferred way to play. In later stages there were little enemies crawling around, making your job more difficult (Sonic would get hurt and loose rings upon colliding with them). There were some other arenas in the works, such as South-Western courtyard etc."<ref> [http://www.sonicdatabase.com/interviews/peter.htm Peter Morawiec interview with information on the game.] Retrieved 04 Feb '23</ref></blockquote>
+When ''Sonic Saturn'' was cancelled, Peter Morawiec attempted to integrate the Sonic Pool special stages into ''Sonic X-treme'''s Project Condor phase. However Sonic X-treme would then be cancelled in August 1996 which put Morawiec in a tough spot again. In an attempt to save the project, Morawiec urged the producer of ''Sonic 3D Blast'' (Yutaka Sugando) to rework the Sonic Pool special stages into bonus games for the Saturn version of ''3D Blast'', but eventually the deadline proved to be impossible to hit which meant Sonic Pool would have to be canned. Sonic Team then stepped in to develop the ''Sonic 2''-esque special stages seen in the final version of Saturn ''3D Blast''.
+It's worth noting all the screenshots we have of Sonic Pool come from Peter Morawiec himself and the first two in game screenshots are dated from October 1996 while all the other in game screenshots (not including the title screen) are dated to September 1996.
+==Gallery==
+===Videos===
+{{Video|perrow  =1
+  |service1     =youtube
+  |id1          =T9WTbrc-tVw
+  |description1 =LSuperSonicQ’s video on the subject.
+}}
+===Images===
+<gallery mode=packed heights=175px>
+Sonic saturn background.jpg|Background art used for the game.
+SonicSaturnConcept.jpeg|Concept art of the wetlands level.
+Cybernik badnik.png|Cybernik Badnik concept art.
+Cybernik badnik2.png|More Cybernik Badnik concept art.
+Sonic bonus game.jpg|The title for the Sonic Pool special stage.
+Sonicsat1.jpg|Sonic Pool screenshot 1 of 6.
+Sonicsat2.jpg|Sonic Pool screenshot 2 of 6.
+Sonicsat3.jpg|Sonic Pool screenshot 3 of 6.
+Sonicsat4.jpg|Sonic Pool screenshot 4 of 6.
+Sonicsat5.jpg|Sonic Pool screenshot 5 of 6.
+Sonicsat6.jpg|Sonic Pool screenshot 6 of 6.
+</gallery>
+==See Also==
+*[[Shadow the Hedgehog (lost Teen rated version of platformer; 2005)]]
+*[[Sister Sonic (lost build of cancelled "Sonic the Hedgehog" localization of "Popful Mail" Sega CD side-scrolling platformer; 1993)]]
+*[[Sonic 3D Blast (found cassette demo tape of unused game soundtrack; 1996)]]
+*[[Sonic Adventure New Year's DLC (found "Sonic the Hedgehog" holiday-themed DLC; 1998)]]
+*[[Sonic Boom (non-existent lost episode of animated TV series; 2014)]]
+*[[Sonic Boom 2013 (lost Crush 40 livestream performance from "Sonic the Hedgehog" convention; 2013)]]
+*[[Sonic DS (lost Nintendo DS tech demo; 2004)]]
+*[[Sonic Generations (lost game demo; 2010)]]
+*[[Sonic Jr. (lost build of unreleased Sega Pico game; existence unconfirmed; 1994)]]
+*[[Sonic Riders (lost build of cancelled Game Boy Advance port of racing game; 2006)]]
+*[[Sonic Sports (lost build of cancelled Sega 32X sports game; 1995)]]
+*[[Sonic Synergy (lost original build of "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric" Wii U action-adventure game; 2007-2013)]]
+*[[Sonic The Hedgehog (lost build of cancelled Sega CD port of Sega Genesis platformer; 1992)]]
+*[[Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (lost build of cancelled iOS port of Sega Genesis platformers; 2014)]]
+*[[Sonic The Hedgehog: Awakening (lost build of cancelled "Sonic the Hedgehog" game; existence unconfirmed; late 2000s)]]
+*[[Sonic X-Treme (found build of unreleased Sega Saturn platformer; 1996)]]
+*[[Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (found iOS game; 2010)]]
+*[[Sonic the Hedgehog "2006" (lost complete build of Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 platformer; 2006)]]
+*[[Sonic the Hedgehog (lost Tokyo Toy Show prototype build of Sega Genesis/Mega Drive platformer; 1990)]]
+*[[Sonic the Hedgehog (lost Winter Consumer Electronics Show 1991 demo build of Sega Genesis/Mega Drive platformer; 1991)]]
+*[[Sonic the Hedgehog (lost build of cancelled Amiga port of Sega Genesis platformer; 1992)]]
+*[[Sonic-16 (lost build of unreleased Sega Genesis/Mega Drive game based on "Sonic the Hedgehog" animated TV series; 1993)]]
+*[[Sonic Runners (found endless runner mobile game; 2015)]]
+==External Links==
+*[http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_Saturn Sonic Retro page on ''Sonic Saturn''.]
-The bonus rounds of Sonic Saturn were going to be a game of pool. After the cancellation of Sonic Saturn the pool game was being considered to be included as a bonus round in the Saturn version of Sonic 3D. Due to time constraints, this too was abandoned in favor of a 3D version of Sonic 2's special stage.
+==References==
+{{reflist}}
-The concept for the game was Sonic would stand behind a ball, use his Spin Dash and aim his direction then smash into it. The camera would then switch to an overhead view and show the resulting action as he smashes into the other balls. The goal was to knock all the balls into some portals within a certain time limit. It was possible to push the balls but it is slower than spinning into them. Later stages would have enemies walking around, damaging Sonic if he touched them. Other arenas were also being developed, such as a South-Western courtyard, among others.
+[[Category:Lost video games]]
+[[Category:Completely lost media]]