I think many people became very sad about that realisation. After all, we all wanted the true Sonic game on the Sega Saturn, but instead we had this game as a supplement to what they are thinking of doing for the Sega Dreamcast. That's pretty painful considering we all felt SEGA was on to something big for the Sega Saturn. Oh well...
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Sonic Jam for Saturn
- Thread starter Agent Unknown
- Start date
I think many people became very sad about that realisation. After all, we all wanted the true Sonic game on the Sega Saturn, but instead we had this game as a supplement to what they are thinking of doing for the Sega Dreamcast. That's pretty painful considering we all felt SEGA was on to something big for the Sega Saturn. Oh well...
Azure Dream
Member
I think one thing some people don't remember about the (admittingly awesome) Sonic Jam overworld is that Sonic ran painfully slow through it. I don't mean from today's perspective with Boost-Boost-Boost and all that. I remember trying to do the Time Trials, and it just ached how long it took Sonic to get from point A to point B.
It was so weird there was that secret title screen code to go for all of the rings in some ridiculously small amount of time, but didn't actually bother to even acknowledge if you managed it, you still just time out.
It was so weird there was that secret title screen code to go for all of the rings in some ridiculously small amount of time, but didn't actually bother to even acknowledge if you managed it, you still just time out.
Tangentially related, but I was going through a bunch of my old crap and I found this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue-jo2qWiFA
The footage of the game wasn't necessarily new but all the other videos I saw were off-camera.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue-jo2qWiFA
The footage of the game wasn't necessarily new but all the other videos I saw were off-camera.
Agent Unknown
Member
I was also just thinking how lame it is that Nintendo can't give us simple manual scans like the ones we see in this collection for their VC games. Being able to see the Japanese instruction art is a sweet bonus all on its own.
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
M2's efforts are definitely up there, both the PSP Konami shooter compilations (Gradius, Parodius, Twinbee, Salamander) and the various Sega Ages Complete Collections on PS2 (Treasure Box, Fantasy Zone, Phantasy Star, Monster World). I wish Sonic Team had just got M2 to do the Mega and Gems Collections on GC/PS2, as is they were a bit janky.
Azure Dream
Member
Gems Collection had a bad port of Sonic CD, but Sonic R and Sonic the Fighters were both improved over their original releases. Sonic R alone had the draw distance cranked way up over what it was originally.
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Sonic R was a PC port, which is why it was improved iirc. I never spent much time with Gems Collection but Sonic Fighters/Championship seemed pretty glitchy too, though it was being emulated.
I think M2 would've done a much better job on both (not to mention Sonic CD, which they'd have undoubtedly used the MCD version of instead), they're real perfectionists with this stuff. They probably would've squeezed in Chaotix and Sega Sonic too. :3
Zuhzuhzombie!!
Member
IIRC I read some where that the 3D game in the compilation was there to show that it wasn't difficult to make a 3D Sonic game that kep the Sonic vibe.
Xtreme looked neat, but it didn't really look like a Sonic game.
Xtreme looked neat, but it didn't really look like a Sonic game.
Agent Unknown
Member
I'd rather have had a good port of Sonic CD over both of those though.
I own the M2 Konami PSP shmup collections and they are indeed awesome (just like M2 themselves). I really need to check out some of their Sega Ages collections, been awhile since my Japanese PS2 got some love.
Azure Dream
Member
Well, it was a little later, but we got an awesome port of Sonic CD on tons of platforms, so wish granted?
Agent Unknown
Member
Really? I thought Xtreme looked pretty cool. The rounded 360 degree rotating levels seriously remind me of SMG. I'm not joking when I say that when I first saw the E3 2006 trailer for Galaxy that I thought, "Hey, that looks kind of like Sonic Xtreme!"
Some vids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0o8axzRGqg&feature=youtube_gdata_player
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzvS_beXtXk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
From lostlevels.org, an in depth story of Sonic Xtreme's painfully troubled development and demise (you will definitely like Naka a bit less after reading this) straight from the devs' mouths:
http://www.lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml
Agent Unknown
Member
True but I still need to replace my red ringed 360 and don't have a PS3 so gonna be awhile until I get it.
I was really impressed with the demo that I played at a friend's house.BlazeHedgehog
Member
Meanwhile, I think the only reason anybody is still interested in Sonic X-treme is because people naturally want what they're told they cannot have.
Now that we have more footage to judge, I don't think the game looked very fun at all, even the later "New Worlds PC" demo videos. It looked like a super generic mascot platformer, like the kind of shitty games that birthed characters Bubsy and Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel. There was actually very little appreciable "Sonic-like" about it.
And Sega was trying to position it as their answer to Mario 64, on top of that. Nope, sorry.
The Saturn has a similar (not identical) chip, but Sonic Jam isn't using it. Someone who ran it through a disassembler found they're running on the SH2: http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=13218&view=findpost&p=256244
Sir Abacus
Member
It's just missing the VDP, YM2612 and Z80 that you'd also need to make a Gesnsis game work natively...
Agent Unknown
Member
Who was talking about it surpassing Mario 64? Of course it looks dated now and it's early footage but it still looked cool for its time. I would've bought that over Crash any day. It just needed some more polish (and to be brought out of its Naka and SOA consigned management dungeon).
giancarlo123x
Banned
This makes me so happy. This video is awesome. The soundtrack is something else.
Relaxed Muscle
Member
I always though that the "Nights engine" version had way more potential than the other one, even if was way more early. The previous version never looked fun to me, actually they look really clunky.
Agent Unknown
Member
Is there footage of it running on the Nights engine or did they not even get to use it before Naka freaked out?
Agent Unknown
Member
Cool, thanks. That does look prettier.
Toy Soldier
Member
I remember initially thinking it would make a ton of sense to toss in some momentum-based speed boosts that didn't interfere with the layout of the overworld...but the controls felt so good that it didn't cross my mind much after that. You're probably right, though - nowadays I might be more inclined to be bugged by the lack of speed, we're spoiled a bit.
MrCunningham
Member
Probably the case. Though both Animaiacs and Tiny Toons were outsourced to multiple animation studios around the world, including South Korea, Taiwan, Canada, USA, New Zealand.
But this was probably done by TMS Entertainment, perhaps?
Here's another video of Sonic running on the Nights engine
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w55Upe8yOYQ
Thank you very much for these videos.
Agent Unknown
Member
Had my brothers in law over tonight and they both got a big kick out of this collection when I showed if to them. We took turns playing Sonic 1 and a bit of 3.
Thank you
This is my favorite video of this week.
Edit: Always believed that Sonic Xtreme would have been the saving grace of the series. Instead, well, you know what happened.
Edit 2:
They considered Sega Sonic for Sonic Gems and decided not to include it, since it wouldn't be playable without the trackball. Ha ha ha! Funny joke since neither Sonic R nor Sonic the Fighters was "playable".
I'm watching these videos, and to me it looks like the game has sloppy controls and that the perspective does the game no favors when it comes to seeing where you're going. The game does not look very fun to me.
Agent Unknown
Member
Gotta say, this game and my Saturn collection in general are really helping me wind the time down waiting for the Wii U launch.
As in Chicago Dominick's? They used to sell games?
Zuhzuhzombie!!
Member
Rewatching all of these videos (its been a long while) I guess maybe I was wrong. The fish eye keeps the game looking like a 2D plane, but there's the 3D elements as well.
Mitsurux
Member
HueyFreeman
Banned
Couldn't agree more. This title would have done more to damage Sonic's/Saturn's reputation than any title that's come since, both in japan and in the west. It's just a really odd solution to hardware limitations to fish eye the viewpoint - i can imagine this actually making people physically ill, and fittingly so, as the decision to release it would be on par with Nintendo's gaffe with the Virtual Boy.
This was when Sega was still making pretty sound decisions. This was one of them. Focus on NiGHTS.
Agent Unknown
Member
See this, Nintendo? Digital scans of a video game manual. This is fan service:
