Solar Eclipse/Titan Wars

[martiniii]

Anybody know whether there are any differences between the PAL and USA versions of this game? I've already been meaning to pick up the Japanese version to check out the dubbing and what-not, but if there's any noticeable difference in the PAL version I'd like to add that to my wish list as well. Even glitches would be of interest to me.

Normally I don't take interest in multiple versions of the same game, but (1)I really like this one, (2)it has codes that let you start at any level(so it won't take long to check out the differences), and (3)most importantly, from what I understand every version goes very cheap.

[martiniii]

While doing my recent review of this game, I stumbled upon this vintage interview with the developers: www.gamezero.com/team-0/articles/interviews/crystal_dynamics-solar_eclipse/

Some interesting stuff in there, even though I can't understand some of the technical jargon. And now I have two fresh questions:

1.The interviewer says that he stumbled upon one of the secret levels. I was always under the impression that the secret levels in the game were only accessible by inputting codes; certainly I've never stumbled upon any of them in the course of my two playthroughs. Anyone here know how to reach any of those levels without using the codes?
2.Andy Trapani mentioned that a port would hit the Playstation in Q2 1996, roughly a year after the game was released for the Saturn. Why did this never happen? The game pushes the Saturn hardware pretty well for its time, so I'm wondering if they just couldn't find a way to make it run competently on the Playstation.

[swedishmeat87]

Nice review yeah really intressting why dident it came for PSX Damn maybe we should email him and ask how to make games on Sega Saturn ? eheehe

[infernalcombustion]

Despite our differing opinions on this game martiniii, I can report one instance of a secret level - I have been sent to an underwater level twice during the course of playing through the game. Both times were immediately after killing the 1st boss.

I don't know if this had anything to do with any particular criteria within the level though I'm afraid, perhaps it has something to do with the hit ratio or destroying certain ground instalations??

If this happens on the 1st level then I'd think that these 'secret' levels must be accessable throughout the game. Unfortunately though I have no idea how.

[martiniii]

Jan 30, 2011 17:00:31 GMT infernalcombustion said:

I have been sent to an underwater level twice during the course of playing through the game. Both times were immediately after killing the 1st boss.

I don't know if this had anything to do with any particular criteria within the level though I'm afraid, perhaps it has something to do with the hit ratio or destroying certain ground instalations??

In my copy of the game, the underwater level is introduced with the following poem: "You beat the boss with time to spare/Now kill some time in the boss's lair" So I'd gather from that that it's a timed thing, which would explain why I haven't seen it, since I'm a cautious player by nature.

I forgot to ask: According to the Wikipedia entry on the game, the actor playing the protagonist is THE Gary Hudson - the real life space pioneer. This is completely false, yes? While it would be cool if it were true, I find it hard to believe that a television actor/producer/director is also a former astronaut, especially since his bio on IMDB says nothing about this.

[infernalcombustion]

Cheers martiniii, that does make sense.

[martiniii]

Well, I sent a message to Eric Lindstrom himself, and he was kind enough to reply, so we have some answers!

Turns out that the Playstation version WAS released. A little later than they said it would in that interview(November 1996), but it was released.

However, us Saturn fans still come out ahead. First of all, the Playstation version was simply a straight port. Second, it was released only in Europe; in Japan and the USA, the game was still a Saturn exclusive. This explains why I thought it was canceled; the PS version doesn't come up in searches for Solar Eclipse, since it was released only as Titan Wars.

Speaking of titles, he volunteered this bonus bit of information: The game was actually titled simply Titan throughout development, and was changed to Solar Eclipse by marketing at the last minute.

Finally, he didn't sound 100% sure, but he said as far as he knows there are no differences between any version of the game, for any region.

Oh, and infernal, given your comments on the game's difficulty, I think you might find this amusing: Mr. Lindstrom said he was glad I found the challenge so good, since he had a hard time deciding whether they had balanced the game correctly. Why? Because by the time Solar Eclipse shipped, he was so good at the game that he could beat it not only without losing a life, but without getting hit!

[infernalcombustion]

Mar 21, 2011 20:03:42 GMT martiniii said:

Well, I sent a message to Eric Lindstrom himself, and he was kind enough to reply, so we have some answers!

Turns out that the Playstation version WAS released. A little later than they said it would in that interview(November 1996), but it was released.

However, us Saturn fans still come out ahead. First of all, the Playstation version was simply a straight port. Second, it was released only in Europe; in Japan and the USA, the game was still a Saturn exclusive. This explains why I thought it was canceled; the PS version doesn't come up in searches for Solar Eclipse, since it was released only as Titan Wars.

Speaking of titles, he volunteered this bonus bit of information: The game was actually titled simply Titan throughout development, and was changed to Solar Eclipse by marketing at the last minute.

Finally, he didn't sound 100% sure, but he said as far as he knows there are no differences between any version of the game, for any region.

Oh, and infernal, given your comments on the game's difficulty, I think you might find this amusing: Mr. Lindstrom said he was glad I found the challenge so good, since he had a hard time deciding whether they had balanced the game correctly. Why? Because by the time Solar Eclipse shipped, he was so good at the game that he could beat it not only without losing a life, but without getting hit!

Cool martiniii, great to hear you got some difinitive information from Eric himself.

I had a 'fuzzy' memory of seeing the Playstation version in UK stores, but from my own experience, sometimes my memory plays tricks on me!! So it's good to know that it was actually correct in this instance (it makes a change for the PS version to be a straight port too, instead of the other way around!!). Also, as I stated somewhere before, I'm pretty much 100% sure that there are no differences between the American and European Saturn incarnations of the game.

Finally, I can't say that I'm surprised by Eric's comments regarding the difficulty of the game - although zero hits is a particularly awesome statement (And I've certainly not completed it without losing a fistful of lives)!! I've played this game a lot (as you know) and it definitely rewards repeated play, especially the 1st few levels which are an absolute cake-walk with a little practice.

And to think I used to think this game was impossible.

[martiniii]

Still love this game. Anybody else pop it in their Saturn in celebration of today's solar eclipse?

[Team Andromeda]

I have the game and was surprised at how much better it was over the 3DO and PS versions and how much effort was put into the Satun version in terms of extra content. Not a big fan of the game myself mind

[davyk]

This game came 77th the last time we had a best game poll!

Wonder how it would do now?

Remember this?  

segasaturngroup.proboards.com/thread/10406/sega-saturn-10th-anniversary-results

[captainkael]

maybe a bit higher davy! Its really good. I enjoyed going through it. Jurassic park would still be high for me as well. Especially after I finally finished it LOL

[Team Andromeda]

I really liked Jurassic Park on the Saturn, it looked really good too. It was just too hard for its own good, a lot like Bug

[Saturnova]

Solar Eclipse was great, finally played through it months ago. Difficult at times but well worth seeing through 'til the end.