Galvatron
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Post by Galvatron on Aug 15, 2007 17:15:21 GMT
Oh, I didn't even realise it had been started. Really I'd rather Capcom released Biohazard 1.5 now. And it would have been great if Sonix Xtreme had been released on Saturn as it never really got a true Sonic game.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Aug 17, 2007 11:21:17 GMT
Over the years I've seen many people list the absence of a "real" Sonic game as being partly to blame for the Saturn's downfall, when the console was actually quite successful (in Japan, at least) and that it featured two exclusive games starring everyone's favourite - or should that be only? - blue hedgehog! I know it didn't appeal to all Saturn owners, but few realised at the time of its release that Sonic R was only the first part of more ambitious plans. Actually, it was the first part of Project Sonic, which also nearly included a fully 3D game that later got carried over to the Dreamcast, only to evolve into Sonic Adventure!
You've probably already seen elements from this long-lost (and relatively unknown) prototype without even realising it, since it formed the basis for the Sonic World portion of Sonic Jam! In fact, it's been suggested that the stage playable as Sonic World was originally much larger - possibly even an open level, much like those used as "hub" areas in Sonic Adventure. Due to an error with collision near the opening of the river, you can even break out of the normal game boundaries to find a small leftover texture that bears a passing resemblance to a section of floor later used in Station Square, proof if any was needed of Sonic Adventure's origins as a top secret Saturn development.
For those still not convinced, hackers looking in more detail at the programming code of Sonic Adventure discovered that much of the game was written in language native to the Saturn, with just enough rewritten data to run on the Dreamcast (as I've mentioned before in another topic, the Saturn and Dreamcast use Little and Big Endian modes respectively). Should you not yet understand, here's one remaining key fact you might have missed - during the plane transformation sequence in Sonic Adventure you can see that lower polygon versions of the Sonic and Tails models are used, and these are "lifted" directly from Sonic R!
Finally, there's also the fact some levels ran at a faster frame rate than others in the end product, such as Speed Highway, for example. This was purely because they were intended for the Saturn, and therefore didn't have the luxury of being able to utilise millions of polygons at a time. Thanks to a looming production deadline, Sonic Team couldn't improve these earlier designs, though some efforts were made later on with the DX update. As a final side note, the only two stages known to have definitely originated in the Saturn period of Adventure's development are the previously mentioned Station Square and Ice Cap, which is rumoured to have been the other level in a two-area internal prototype that included a larger version of Sonic World without the boundaries of the version we know it as today.
How come more people don't talk about this proposed game instead of Sonic X-Treme, as it would surely have promised to be of greater substance that what is essentially a bunch of slow-running engine tech demos?
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Post by superdeadite on Aug 17, 2007 13:09:09 GMT
Nice info Anthaemia! I agree that the "Saturn not having a true Sonic game" line is silly. In Japan the Saturn had Sakura Taisen I and II. These two games alone were far more popular then Sonic ever was.
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Post by terramax on Sept 9, 2007 10:46:36 GMT
Why was the Saturn version cancelled? If the Saturn was THE console in Japan I would have expected it to come to the Saturn even within the same time as the PSX version. Or was it because they thought it wouldn't make enough money out of Japan?
Or possibly that, with the Dreamcast in view, they decided it would be better to simply port it to the Dreamcast?
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Nick1984
'What a knucklehead!'
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Post by Nick1984 on Sept 9, 2007 18:14:53 GMT
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Post by Yart on Sept 9, 2007 18:44:16 GMT
Quite honesty, I would absolutely LOVE to see Megaman Legends on the Sega Saturn. I think with it's primitive 3D engine it would be able to run just fine on the Saturn, and I've always been a fan of the game and it's awesome control scheme. (The top buttons to turn and D-Pad to move and strafe. Just like Bulk Slash. That kind of scheme has always intrigued me, especially in a shooter)
That's what I find the Saturn lacks. Good ol' third person shooting/adventure hybrids. (Unless of course, there's a bunch I don't know of... >_> ) That's a genre in general I wish had more titles for the Saturn.
Oh. And Bee Storm: DoDonPachi II woulda been awesome too. :/ Unfortunately that game had no console ports period. I think it woulda been neat to see it only on the Saturn. (Would have also been the only way I'd be able to play the darn game!)
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Nick1984
'What a knucklehead!'
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Post by Nick1984 on Sept 9, 2007 20:04:05 GMT
Can people do this with the official mag? Here's the cover of Saturn+ issue 2 and the Deadly Skies review. Sorry about the rubbish photos. :
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Nick1984
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Post by Nick1984 on Sept 10, 2007 21:56:35 GMT
Oh, I didn't even realise it had been started. Really I'd rather Capcom released Biohazard 1.5 now. All footage of Resident Evil 1.5 www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qAlyZXJm8YA few screens
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Post by Anthaemia. on Sept 11, 2007 13:54:35 GMT
That footage is taken from the Complete Disc that came with Biohazard Director's Cut: DualShock Edition in Japan, and shows the "Version 1.5" prototype running on PlayStation. Nothing has ever been seen of the alpha stage Saturn build, which is rumoured to have been only 15% into production (and presumably therefore unplayable) as opposed to the varying figures of between 50% and 85% for its more commonly known Sony counterpart. Still, there are a few low quality screenshots that were posted back in the day on Capcom's official site I'm continuing to look for in my huge collection of videogame media assembled over the years, so maybe one day you'll get to see a more accurate representation of what Biohazard 2 - or should that be Resident Evil 2, since we're overseas? - looked like on the Sega platform...
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RealBlue
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Post by RealBlue on Sept 15, 2007 0:29:54 GMT
I would have loved a proper 32-bit 2D Sonic game on the Saturn. But Sega was too busy with Sonic Jam , Sonic R and Sonic Extreme (lol) to really care *sigh* Oh and Sonic 3D doesn't count! I know it was 2D(ish) but it just wasn't the same.
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mick_aka
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Post by mick_aka on Jan 6, 2008 14:59:20 GMT
I was quite upset that Fade to Black never got a Saturn release, one of my favorite PC titles but the higher polygon, retextured version ended up on PlayStation It is actually listed as a "Cancelled Sega Saturn Game" too The awesome intro: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgx66ff86T4
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Post by wardy on Jan 6, 2008 15:47:41 GMT
Games I really wanted on Saturn:
Syndicate Wars
Marvel Versus Capcom
Street Fighter 3
Sweet Home (what Resident Evil was originally going to be)
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Shenmue
King Of Fighters '98
Resident Evil 2 / Bio Hazard 2
Shining Force 3 fully translated
Grandia fully translated
Baroque fully translated
Daytona USA Remix
Metal Slug 2
Metal Slug X
Gun Blade NY
Golden Axe (as in a new side scroller)
Streets Of Rage (which eventually ended up as the abysmal Fighting Force on PSX)
DJ Wars fully translated
A decent conversion of DooM
Return Fire
The cancelled-despite-being-manufactured-and-ready-to-be-distributed X-Men Versus Street Fighter
A decent conversion of The House Of The Dead
And many more besides these.
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Post by wardy on Jan 6, 2008 15:53:31 GMT
Anthaemia. sir, your are a super hero.
Sonic X-Treme always looked boring and ugly, while Sonic World was (and I think still is from a technical standpoint) gob-smackingly brilliant with a draw distance so efficent you could see from one side of the penned-in playground the the other, there was no slowdown, everything was big and crisp, and it's a shame Sega gave us Sonic R instead.
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Post by Gareth on Jan 6, 2008 16:03:40 GMT
I started to get a little suspicious when Tomb Raider II wasn't announced for Saturn Actually it was announced and was in development for a few months before being cancelled because of "technical difficulties". As various other games showed, the Saturn was more than capable of running Tomb Raider 2 and so we can only conclude that those technical difficulties consisted only of Sony throwing money their way.
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mick_aka
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Post by mick_aka on Jan 6, 2008 16:07:40 GMT
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