Sonic X-Treme

[TheOcelot]

Yuji Naka probably did everyone a favour by not allowing his Nights engine to be used.

X-treme looks very dsorientating. The view of the levels looks like it would get annoying after a few minutes of playng it. Maybe a fun game to play at an arcade, but I can't believe that it would have been that popular on a console like the SEGA Saturn.

If anything X-treme put isometric Sonic 3d blast on the genesis in an even better light. An isometric Sonic game really wasn't that bad. In fact X-treme's replacement on the SEGA Saturn was an improved version of 3d Blast which is liked a lot more than the genesis version.

Yes X-treme does look like an interesting concept, but in the end it's just another chapter of the utter mess that SEGA made in the transition from 2d to 3d Sonic games.

Edited July 30, 2012 by MilesKnightwing

[Law]

It would had made the Sega Saturn a success by selling well, but it will receive medicore scores. Also the game looks "meh".

[...]

The most commonly shown of shots show a pretty strange yet unimpressive game that doesn't really look like a Sonic game BUT there were also some level maps kicking around senntient that were drawn by Yasuhara and seem to have emerged from a different period of development that basically look like a better version of Sonic 3D blast.

You mean some of these?

These were sketches made by him shortly before the game's cancellation.

[Mangoaxe5]

I still wish that we had gotten Sonic 16. Personally I think that a Satam Sonic game could be a lot of fun. Plus I think that storywise Satam has a lot to offer.

Can't believe I missed this:

He did not "sabotage" the project. He created a game engine from scratch for the Sega Saturn that allowed fluid 3D movement and controls (which, in laymans terms, might as well be building a Space Shuttle in your backyard because of how much of a complicated piece of shit the thing was to program for). Sega of America, under the direction of legendary asshole Bernie Stolar at the time, took the source code for that engine without asking and gave it to a group of guys who were making a game that looked like shit at the time regardless of how much the people making it were killing themselves to get it done (which is why they needed the engine to begin with).

Naka demanding that Sega take away something he made that he never said they could use in the first place does not make him a dick, and it certainly isn't "sabotage" by any means; particularly not when the game Naka designed the engine for in the first place hadn't even come out yet. That debacle was just another thing in a long line of SoA and SoJ screwing the team over that doomed the game from the start.

But it's not his game engine, it legally belongs to Sega. If someone else wants to his game engine they should be allowed to.

The more that I learn about Naka the more I dislike him. He's a racist jerk.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Vampfox

[Detective Shadzter]

Is this new?

Someone called ArgyleDX uploaded it on YouTube yesterday. I've not seen it before. The actual footage I've seen before in the below off screen recording, but the rest of it's new to me. It's also good to see the footage directly now, too.

ArgyleDX has also uploaded 2 other E3 1996 SEGA videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ArgyleDX

[sonfan1984]

The more that I learn about Naka the more I dislike him. He's a racist jerk.

How is he a racist jerk?

Oh and didn't see Shadzter post a video...but wtf is all I can say about it.

Edited October 28, 2012 by sonfan1984

[Vertekins]

How is he a racist jerk?

Apparently because he stood up for his rights in taking back an engine he made from the ground up to make his dream game which hadn't even been released at the time that was stolen without permission by the much bigger asshole that was Bernie Stolar.

Yeah, people who call Naka a racist are generally speaking out of their asses and don't know what they're talking about, citing his taking back of his engine and asking for Sonic 3's development team to be all-Japanese in the interests of the games' development due to language barrier as racism.

Is this new?

Wait....what?

X-treme a Mario 64 killer? X-treme "revolutionary"?

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...*Gasps for breath* HA HA HA HA HA

Now SEGA were pretty gutsy with their "Genesis does what Nintendon't" advertising but this, this really does take the cake.

[Milo]

To be fair, a lot of that footage from the first video arguably looks like a beta of the game early in development or even CG animations/cutscenes; especially considering that Sonic is forced into a blue sphere throughout most of the promo and is unable to collect any of rings. The entire level seems completely empty and lacking of detail, enemies, level hazards, etc.

The second video looks like the game later in development, as the levels have more detail, and seem to in line of the Genesis games in terms of level design and artstyle. Too bad it's in low quality and lacks any sound.

Gameplay still looks like a mess though.

[Cortez]

Out of curiosity, why wasn't Naka involved in X-Treme in any way?

[Your Vest Friend]

Out of curiosity, why wasn't Naka involved in X-Treme in any way?

He was probably busy on other titles like NiGHTS at the time.

[Rexeljet]

I think that Sonic Xtreme was flawed from the start. Although I'm all for bringing something new to the table, a main series Sonic game that is related to Sonic in name only is not a good move, unless of course this new style happens to be better than the original Sonic games, which from what I can see in the videos, it wasn't.

Sonic Xtreme seems to play like a speedier version of "Bug!" with a fish-eye camera. The level design is blocky, the classic physics and momentum is either nonexistent or not put too good use, and it doesn't seem particularly fun to play, especially in this day and age.

The Saturn is not a 3D powerhouse, it was always better at producing 2D, so I think that if a main Sonic game were to be made for it, it should have been a 2D game in the vein of the classic trilogy, with visuals being technically on par with the likes of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, or the first Rayman game. things like Special Stages, bonus stages, and perhaps boss stages and various objects in the actual zones would feature 3D graphics.

Out of curiosity, why wasn't Naka involved in X-Treme in any way?

because Sonic Xtreme was being handled by a different division of Sega who wanted to do their own thing. Naka was at Sonic Team at the time and wanted to give Sonic a rest for a good few years.

[azoo]

Naka was busy on games like NiGHTs, Burning Rangers, and other Sonic Team titles in the Saturn era; as well as watching over 3D Blast and R, and supervising the OVA. Also, they kinda were making a 3D Sonic (Sonic Adventure), but it took so long to get done that it wasn't until the Dreamcast that it got released in '98. And even then, they did release an incredibly early build of it to the public (through Sonic Jam's 'Sonic World').

Edited October 28, 2012 by Azukara

[Milo]

Slightly off-topic, but here's something interesting. From (where else?) Sonic Retro, here are a couple of comparison screenshots of two versions of Sonic 3D Blast: the final build (right) and what seems to be a (previously-unknown) old prototype of the game, which can be seen in the promo video.

Edited October 28, 2012 by Zinos

[Dejablue]

You know what...I'M JUST NOW really reading about X-Treme in any sort of detail. From the footage I saw. It wasn't fantastic but it didn't look half bad. It looked like it could have been fun with more love and attention.

It looked like Sega was trying to push a boundary but their tech wasn't able to utilize the concept to its full potential. Apparently some level design was inspired by NiGHTS. I wonder if that is still the case in current games (the floating booster rings)

Edited November 1, 2012 by Dejablue

[dlvja6490]

This game has been released, would have killed the franchise.

that happens to Sega for not respecting the limitations of the console, for example the same year came Megaman 8 which was a humble 2D game but with great graphics.

unfortunately, it's a shame that Sonic Team, not Sonic06 canceled, would have been the best option.

[Tornado]

But it's not his game engine, it legally belongs to Sega. If someone else wants to his game engine they should be allowed to.

Edited November 1, 2012 by Tornado

[Detective Shadzter]

The Games that Weren’t: Sonic X-Treme
http://www.snackbar-games.com/features/the-games-that-werent-sonic-x-treme/

[Detective Shadzter]

A new Edge article about the making of Sonic X-Treme has appeared online. 

 

The Making Of: Sonic X-treme
http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-making-of-sonic-x-treme/

[-blank-]

This game....ugh.

 

This game needed a lot of polish before it could have been put on store selves. Graphic-wise, it looks like complete shit and the fish-eye camera makes things look wonky. The level design leaves a lot of be desired as well. Gameplay doesn't look half bad though.

[Tenko]

It would have been interesting if it was released. Would the series have progressed any different? Would it have brought more sales to the Saturn platform? It's interesting to think about.

The story sounded utter crap tho, so did the new characters, the professor and his daughter or whatever. Sounded like something out of Adventures of Sonic >.<

[Milo]

This game....ugh.

 

This game needed a lot of polish before it could have been put on store selves. Graphic-wise, it looks like complete shit and the fish-eye camera makes things look wonky. The level design leaves a lot of be desired as well. Gameplay doesn't look half bad though.

 

All of the above 'tis to be expected from footage/screenshots of a game that never exceeded beyond the beta stages. Although I'm not saying the game would had been cleaned-up everything or would had undergone major design changes.

Edited April 20, 2013 by Gabe

[goku262002]

Necrobumping because holy shitballs:

Its the Metal Sonic boss fight, after 15 years!!

Thanks to Shoemanbundy and Andrew75 over @ Sonic Retro.

Also Andrew75 got in contact with Christina Coffin (1 of the developers) and told us how this boss fight worked:

 

The L,R triggers were set up to rotate the camera around sonic.

You could also press a certain button on the saturn controller to

'lock the camera onto the boss' so then all of your d-pad movement

would become relative to the boss character.

For example:

lock on mode controls:

left/right on d-pad lets you circle strafe left/right while facing the

boss (good for dodging projectile from mecha sonic)

up made you run towards the boss while the camera is still loiking at

him.

down made you run away from the boss while the camera still looked at

him.

As you can imagine, fighting the boss with the camera in 'lock on

mode' is very useful to dodge harmful things from the boss, and makes

it feel more like a 1 on 1 fighting game which is what I wanted.

Having the unlocked camera mode, where the camera stays in 3rd person

view behind sonic is also useful as well, so it depends on player

preference and certain bosses (I had plans for another boss to spawn

smaller enemies around him that you would have to jump/spindash into

and they go back to fighting the main boss)

So yeah, this game still amazes the hell of me sometimes.

Edited November 22, 2013 by goku262002

[QuantumEdge]

The more I look into this game, the more I feel saddened this never came to be.  That boss looks pretty darn good to say the least.

[Tenko]

I know Adventure would have come out regardless but it does make me wonder what, if anything the release of this game may have changed about the franchise. Especially if it was really popular and sold well.

[QuantumEdge]

I know Adventure would have come out regardless but it does make me wonder what, if anything the release of this game may have changed about the franchise. Especially if it was really popular and sold well.

I think that too.  But I get the feeling they wouldn't make every Sonic game after it have the same play dynamic it had.