The latest game to star Sega's blue blur is Sonic Lost Worlds, which looks quite tantalizing. Though does it remind you of something, perhaps another game?
And no, I'm not talking about Super Mario Galaxy, thought the comparisons are apt. The game in question also stars Sonic the Hedgehog, but was never released. Ever heard of of Sonic X-treme?
Some background: during the 16bit era, mascots were a very big deal to all the publishers. Both the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis were flooded were mediocre platforming personalities, but two did stand out: the old and venerable Mario plus the new and brash Sonic. They were the kinds of the 2D sidescrollers.
When the 32bit era came, the focus shifted towards producing a compelling 3D experience, but the need to have a mascot, a personality to represent one's hardware, was still a necessity to some. Nintendo still had Mario, but this time in glorious three dimensions, while brand new player Sony had Crash Bandicoot, who also tread three dimensional space.
As for Sega, they had… nothing. At least for a while.
Attempts at creating a Sonic game that worked in 3D for the Sega Saturn proved to be very difficult. The trouble developmental cycle is a tale that is both fascinating and bit heartbreaking, at least to longtime Sega fans: there were simply too many cooks, who were not necessarily in the same kitchen, yet simply wouldn't help each other out.
Case in point, vita technology that would have helped the project along at a key point, i.e. the 3D engine that one of Sonic's creator, Yuji Naka, had created for NiGHTS was denied to the X-treme team, due to ego most likely, which further doomed the project. NiGHTS would end up being the defacto mascot for the Saturn, and as impressive as it was, the game did not catch on.
What you see below is a level from the unfinished game, the PC version:
It's remarkable how much it shares with the recently announced game, doesn't it? It'll be interesting to see how much of X-treme shows up in Lost Worlds, perhaps as tribute to what could have been Sonic's shining moment of the 32-bit era, one that could have possible changed the tides for the Saturn.
