Sonic Xtreme

What the heck is Sonic Xtreme is what I can hear more than a few of you fine folks ask. Truth be told, this is one of the most interesting parts of the history of Sega’s famous blue mascot. I have to state that what we are talking about today is not what you would call a fully-fledged finished game. However, it is very interesting to play and it does make you think about what could have been had Sega been a better run company during the development of this game.

Where Is Sonic?

Ok, so the Sega Saturn would get Sonic Jam, Sonic 3D, and Sonic R, but it never got its own Sonic platform game. Sonic Xtreme was going to be one of the killer titles for the Sega Saturn. Truth be told, the development of this game was a mess from the start as it went from Genesis/Mega Drive to the 32X before the Saturn was decided as the console it would be released for.

The development process was a massive headache for pretty much everyone involved. However, when you look back at history, you have to wonder if Sega could have had this game ready to rock and roll and be released in the first 12-18 months of the Saturn’s life, the console could have put up a much better fight against the PlayStation and Nintendo 64.

More Story-Driven?

One of the most interesting things to be revealed about Sonic Xtreme is that the game was going to be more story-driven than we were used to in a Sonic game. Files that were leaked revealed a story that was not just about Robotnik/Eggman. Instead, we also had a character that Eggman was trying to steal rings from. The Sonic series when the Adventure series started did become very story-heavy so this could have been the game that started that trend. It was also said that there was a movie being made to go along with the game which sounded pretty interesting.

Sonic The Bug

While I applaud all of the people who have worked hard to make a playable version of this game. What we can do at the moment is rather limited, but for me, the gameplay is very interesting. While this is what you could call a 3D Sonic game. For me, it has much in common with the Sega Saturn game, Bug in the way it plays. Sonic does have more freedom to walk around than Bug did, but It is still rather similar and this style would have certainly made sure Sonic Xtreme stood out from the pack. There were going to be different zones, power-ups, and new abilities for Sonic too. Sonic had his classic design, but he looked much better than he previously had. It would have been very interesting to see this game go up against Mario and his first foray into the world of 3D gaming.

I highly recommend that you check out the playable build of Sonic Xtreme as it is a very interesting piece of gaming and Sonic the Hedgehog history. You cannot help, but wonder how much more appealing the Sega Saturn would have been during the holiday season in 1995 or 1996 if Sega could have gotten this onto store shelves. I feel by 1997 it may have been too late, but in 95 or 96, they could have put up a much better fight against their rivals with a brand-new and exclusive Sonic game!

Final Score: NA (it is really hard/unfair to score a prototype of a game)

Pros:

• It is a very interesting piece of gaming history
• It is the first real Sonic 3D game
• Some very interesting ideas here
• I liked the way the levels have a kind of “Sonic Lost World” vibe about them
• It could have given the Sega Saturn a real fighting chance

Cons:

• The game is clearly not finished
• Would this have been able to go head to head with Mario 64?