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Post by Team Andromeda on Oct 19, 2018 17:04:04 GMT
According to vintage press releases, it seems as if SOA had very high hopes for BUG! as the company's new flagship series. Sales of the original game were so high that plans were announced not just for the eventual sequel, but a computer-animated kids TV show, which I've heard was quite far into production when the powers that be decided to pull the plug on this and another installment in the Saturn franchise that I once saw mentioned under the possible working title of FREE BUG! (due to its major plot element of the two previous auxiliary characters teaming up with a new third partner to help save the titular figure). My guess is that Bug Too! didn't perform as well as originally expected, or maybe Realtime Associates chose to move away from the Saturn, joining the majority of third party developers after mid-1997? Also, it probably didn't help that there were considerable problems behind the scenes at SOA by this point as well - Sega Technical Institute folded soon after the completion of Die Hard Arcade, while many of the remaining staff were quickly assigned to work on either localisations or the ill-fated Eclipse and Black Belt hardware projects, with only a few able to produce relatively basic tech demos when it came time to finally unveil the Dreamcast. This splitting of resources is why the Dreamcast launched with very few US-developed Sega titles in development beyond Geist Force, and even that wouldn't ultimately see the light of day. By contrast, the Saturn hit shelves with plenty of support from Sega's US division, including Black Fire, Ghen War, BUG! and Congo... Actually, maybe it's for the best that their mostly disappointing efforts didn't spill over to dilute the Dreamcast's even more crucial launch window? Very sad, Bug and Bug II were really good games and if not for the insane difficulty levels and lack of saving, could have been amazing games imo. Its a shame Realtime Ass, weren't given the task of making Sonic X, can't help but think they would have done a better job and making a half decent 2.5 Sonic game using the BUG game engine .
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Post by Team Andromeda on Oct 19, 2018 17:08:30 GMT
I think that was a load of tosh, spun around by Saturn Power and EDGE. I suspect the Cart rumours came from some badly translated press leaks about the Saturn 4-Meg Cart. The only reason Tomb Raider II was cancelled was down to the fact, SONY paid EDOIS a fortune for the console exclusive rights to the series
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Post by zyrobs on Oct 19, 2018 20:06:07 GMT
Guardian Heroes, Nights, Exhumed, Princess Crown...there are so many titles that actually deserved to be continued. Sigh. Nights did get a sequel and Princess Crown got Odin Sphere (a sequel in everything but name).
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Post by Anthaemia. on Oct 20, 2018 1:37:32 GMT
Very sad, Bug and Bug II were really good games and if not for the insane difficulty levels and lack of saving, could have been amazing games imo. Its a shame Realtime Ass, weren't given the task of making Sonic X, can't help but think they would have done a better job and making a half decent 2.5 Sonic game using the BUG game engine . I've always thought the PC version of Sonic Xtreme looked very much like it was running on the BUG! engine (which wasn't ever the case, I should point out), so the first thing I did when playable code finally surfaced was create something that worked quite well: Despite only being put together as a joke, the slower pace and ability to climb walls seemed a far better match for Bug than it would have for Sonic in a flagship 32-bit game. Unfortunately, all that remains of my ill-fated sprite swapping project is this lone screenshot, though I remember it wasn't exactly difficult to implement, with only the HUD not working when I gave up on the idea. I'm actually surprised nobody's tried taking the concept to its logical conclusion, but it's clear there isn't much love for Bug these days... and Clockwork Knight or Astal, for that matter!
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Post by xDerekRx on Oct 25, 2018 6:55:48 GMT
I always thought we would see Vectorman 3 on the Saturn back then, perhaps in polygon form.
Bug 3 could have made that next eventual step as well, such as Bug 3D, maybe cashing in more on the Crash Bandicoot style of gameplay. Clockwork Knight 3 could have also followed the same path.
Astal was great especially for such an early title. A sequel would have probably looked quite amazing.
I know some of these mascots and exclusive titles are forgotten or even seen as a bit awkward these days when looked back upon. But I find them as charming now as I did back then. They were the Saturns quirky little games that defined the system early on. Three Dirty Dwarves, Bugs, Clockwork Knights, Mr Bones, Astal. And Ive always had the weird fascination with Congo (and thus Ghen War as well). Id even throw Sonic 3D Blast (Saturn version) in that group as well. Scud was also one of those quirky weird exclusives thats interesting. All part of the Saturns weird charm.
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Post by Tongara on Oct 26, 2018 9:33:02 GMT
As much as I love Clockwork Knight myself, I'm glad a third game didn't come out. I don't trust SEGA not to have ruined it at that point, and especially now. I'd hate for them to even remake the game as again I don't trust them, but a re-release on Steam and other consoles as a downloadable title would suit me just fine.
I know about Pengin War (and own the proto), but would have much prefered to see that release as part of a compilation title. One non-english magazine did mention it possibly being released as part of a double pack alongside a version of Baku Baku Animal, which is another game I love, so I would have loved such a thing!
I was cautiously optimistic about the unreleased Gamecube sequel in the form of an RPG that I'm convinced actually started life on the Dreamcast prior to SEGA leaving the market due to my own research. I feel like it would have been a 3D platformer with RPG elements. It could have been interesting.
Other than that, I'm happy it just stayed at the two games, and that it will remain forever perfect imo.
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Post by xDerekRx on Oct 27, 2018 7:50:25 GMT
Cool info, I didnt know that there was a planned sequel. A nice 3D Dreamcast sequel I would have been ok with.
But I also agree I enjoy it as a 2 part series exclusive to the Saturn.
My nostalgia for some of these titles as a kid was mainly via demo discs. Baku Baku, Clockwork Knight and Bug came on a US demo disc we got packaged with the system. I enjoyed playing the first couple levels of Clockwork, Bug and especially Baku Baku. Wasn't until much later into my adult years that I got the full versions of all of these but they will always be uniquely Saturn titles.
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Post by zyke on Oct 27, 2018 12:01:15 GMT
Guardian Heroes, Nights, Exhumed, Princess Crown...there are so many titles that actually deserved to be continued. Sigh. Nights did get a sequel and Princess Crown got Odin Sphere (a sequel in everything but name). Yeah, but the topic question is which sequels we would love to see "on the system".
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Post by zyrobs on Oct 27, 2018 14:49:10 GMT
Nights did get a sequel and Princess Crown got Odin Sphere (a sequel in everything but name). Yeah, but the topic question is which sequels we would love to see "on the system". Oh, that's easy. All of them.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Oct 27, 2018 19:29:58 GMT
As much as I love Clockwork Knight myself, I'm glad a third game didn't come out. I don't trust SEGA not to have ruined it at that point, and especially now. I'd hate for them to even remake the game as again I don't trust them, but a re-release on Steam and other consoles as a downloadable title would suit me just fine. I know about Pengin War (and own the proto), but would have much prefered to see that release as part of a compilation title. One non-english magazine did mention it possibly being released as part of a double pack alongside a version of Baku Baku Animal, which is another game I love, so I would have loved such a thing! I was cautiously optimistic about the unreleased Gamecube sequel in the form of an RPG that I'm convinced actually started life on the Dreamcast prior to SEGA leaving the market due to my own research. I feel like it would have been a 3D platformer with RPG elements. It could have been interesting. Other than that, I'm happy it just stayed at the two games, and that it will remain forever perfect imo. Your idea of what Knight'n Knight might have been sounds very much like Dark Savior for the Saturn, and I agree with you that it probably began life on Dreamcast (along with so many of Sega's earliest third party titles, for that matter). As for a possible compilation set, don't all three original Clockwork Knight games - including Pengin War - run flawlessly in SSF and most other Saturn emulators with similarly high levels of compatibility? I'm surprised Sega hasn't yet released such packs for Clockwork Knight and Panzer Dragoon...
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shaddow085
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: January 2018
Posts: 272
Location:
PSN: Wesker85
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Post by shaddow085 on Oct 29, 2018 10:14:23 GMT
Angry because I want it on my Saturn, and it was planned to come out with extras too. I blame Bernie. I could get on my N64, but I think playing Resi on an N64 controller would just feel off.
Well to me the N64 Version is the best Version of Re 2, but the Dreamcast Version is quite close .
Although I was not a Saturn User back then, It is still a pity that Re 2 was not released on the Saturn. The Original Game today known as Re.1.5 was planned for the Saturn after all.
And I still wonder if the Saturn would have been capable to run Re 2 or not. The offical reason for the cancellation was the game would not run on the Saturn as well as on the Playstation.
I wonder if that is true, or if there there was another reason like the immidate dead of the Saturn...
A Re 2 on the Saturn using the Video extansion Card would have been a nice thing.
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martiniii
Joined: January 2010
Posts: 2,112
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Post by martiniii on Nov 20, 2018 2:47:47 GMT
One little air bubble, though... Core said the Saturn VF3 they saw had two playable characters. I agree that it seems unlikely that Tomb Raider II for Saturn got very far along at all. Core were showed off a beta of Saturn Ninja before they even said they had started on TR2. Also, around this time they were complaining that Sega hadn't let them see the technical specifications for the 3D accelerator cartridge yet. Assuming they were indeed going to use that cartridge for TR2, I can't imagine they could get much done without knowing what hardware limitations they were working with. Was there ever any confirmation about which two characters were in the tech demo that Core staff remembered playing? I've seen quite a few sources talk about a tech demo featuring Aoi (displaying various techniques over a solid blue background), but never anything interactive. Indeed, that particular demo was only ever seen on one of several VHS tapes doing the rounds within Sega's offices, while the aforementioned demos showcasing Akira were from long before even pre-production began on Saturn VF3. I don't recall the exact dates right now, though I'm fairly sure the Akira demos first appeared in magazines around late '95, when Tadahiro Kawamura of AM2 presented the earliest revision of SGL. Sadly, I have not seen it indicated anywhere which two characters these were. Always the possibility that someone exaggerated a bit. I think that was a load of tosh, spun around by Saturn Power and EDGE. I suspect the Cart rumours came from some badly translated press leaks about the Saturn 4-Meg Cart. Seems unlikely at best, given that it was reported in all the major gaming magazines of the time, not just Saturn Power and Edge. The notion that these magazines' foreign correspondents didn't know 3D acceleration from RAM expansion seems particularly far-fetched.
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martiniii
Joined: January 2010
Posts: 2,112
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Post by martiniii on Nov 20, 2018 2:54:40 GMT
I always thought we would see Vectorman 3 on the Saturn back then, perhaps in polygon form. Given that Vectorman 2 came out near the end of 1996, wouldn't Vectorman 3 more likely have been on the Dreamcast? Although I was not a Saturn User back then, It is still a pity that Re 2 was not released on the Saturn. The Original Game today known as Re.1.5 was planned for the Saturn after all.
And I still wonder if the Saturn would have been capable to run Re 2 or not. The offical reason for the cancellation was the game would not run on the Saturn as well as on the Playstation.
I wonder if that is true, or if there there was another reason like the immidate dead of the Saturn... Well, that is the reason Capcom gave for putting off a Saturn version of the original Resident Evil for so long. Indeed, their original stance was that they probably wouldn't make a Saturn version of Resident Evil at all due to the hardware not being as well-suited for the game.
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