A screenshot of an animated mockup from the game in the 32X stage of development.
Most obviously, there's the game itself. But on a larger front, many fans to this day debate the larger impact this game's release might've had on the Sega Saturn, whose failure was partially attributed to the lack of a major flagship Sonic game to drive sales, and Sega's ultimate fate as a console manufacturer. The game went through many different revisions along with the game's storyline
, which had several different mechanics and gameplay styles.
Intended for release on Christmas 1996 for the Sega Saturn, it would've been Sonic's first true leap into the third dimension. However, it was canceled after undergoing the most Troubled Production of any Sonic game, with the killing blow being two very important people in the project, Christina Coffin and Chris Senn, contracting serious illnesses from overworking; Chris was outright told he had six months to live if he didn't stop. Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island was ported to the Saturn in its stead. This was also the reason why Sonic R, which was rushed out and a Dolled-Up Installment of a Formula 1 Racing game by the same developers, was released as well.
Genesis/32X Stage of Development
Screenshots and mockups of the game in its Sega Genesis/32X stage of development.
- There were many early ideas in the Genesis stage of development, such as a slower-paced game with more of a focus on stealth titled Sonic-16. These were scrapped after Yuji Naka took a look at the demo and dismissed it due to its slower pace going against the nature of the Sonic franchise. It was also meant to be the last Sonic game released for the Genesis before Sega stopped supporting it.
- There was also an untitled isometric game that was scrapped because Sega didn't like the idea at the time. Then they changed their minds out of desperation 3 years later.
- Sonic Mars: Sonic saves both a virtual world and his friends from Dr. Robotnik. The game was going to be a tie-in to the Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) TV series, but the idea was scrapped since the TV show never saw a release in Japan. While Sonic would have been the default for Player 1, Player 2 would have the option of multiple different characters: Sally Acorn, Bunnie Rabbot, Tails, Knuckles, and Tiara. Some special stages were envisioned as mini-games, such as one where Sonic plays air hockey with Robotnik, and the game had different endings depending on whether Sonic chose Sally or Tiara.
Sega Saturn Stage of Development
Screenshots and mockups of the game in its Sega Saturn stage of development.
- Sonic Saturn: The story involved Sonic having to fighting the Chaos Elementals, six shadowy demons that were trapped in the Master Emerald released by Dr. Robotnik that took over his robots and captured Tails and Knuckles. An antagonistic force being contained inside The Master Emerald was later used for Sonic Adventure, while the concept of six demon-like characters that can control machinery was reused for the Zeti in Sonic Lost World.
- Sonic Twist: The story involved Sonic trying to get to his date with Tiara before sundown, with Robotnik trying to stop him at every turn by warping all of reality. The game was more comedic in tone compared to the other previous and further stages of development; the zones were mostly based on various forms of slowing down distractions such as a Circus Zone, a mall filled with the latest high-tech gadgets and toys, an Egyptian maze tourist spot, a Las Vegas casino, an underwater cybernetic coral reef, a highway with backed up traffic, and a hellish looking inferno factory. The game also had a Majora's Mask-like timer called Tiara-Vision, where the ending would change depending on how long the player took to complete the game. The seven Chaos Emeralds would also be a factor in the outcome of the ending, as Sonic collects them to make them into a necklace for Tiara.
- Sonic BOOM and Sonic DOOM: The story involved Robotnik trying to harness the power of the Master Emerald, only to release and contract a "Doom Virus" that's going to kill him. He tricks Sonic into getting infected as well, who then has to find a cure. There was a second villain named the Chaos Doom, a formless evil spirit who infects Sonic and Robotnik with the virus and tries to stop Sonic at every turn from finding a cure. The game had a time limit where you would gradually have less and less time with each act and an overall time limit in the final stage before Sonic dies from the virus. It was conceived as the first part of a two-parter, with the sequel being Sonic trying to retrap the DOOM spirits back into the Master Emerald. The idea of a virus or hazard that will kill Sonic within a span of time was later used in Sonic and the Secret Rings, and was a major plot point in the IDW Comics' Metal Virus Saga many years later.
- The premise for Sonic PC, a PC port, involved Sonic getting kidnapped by a giant robotic spider and sent to a space prison. He breaks out and travels planet to planet to get back home. After Sonic X-treme was canceled, Chris Senn and Ofer Alon wanted to develop the game for PC as a last-ditch effort to keep the game alive, but the idea was rejected by the Sega PC division, who only developed pre-existing titles for PC (with some exceptions).
- In the Sonic X-Treme story, Robotnik builds a Death Egg so large it starts pulling in the planets around it. Tails tries to teleport Sonic straight to the Death Egg to stop it, but the signal is intercepted by a moving planet, so Sonic now has to hop from planet to planet to get to the Death Egg. Along the way, he rescues alien creatures called "Mips" that Robotnik was using to power his Badniks. The idea of saving aliens from Eggman was later reused for the Wisps in Sonic Colors. The game would have had anti-gravity concepts such as running upside down and standing on walls in a similar fashion to another game released 10 years later.
Other Games
Screenshots and Concept Art of the scrapped Sonic Saturn game.
- There was a side Sega Saturn Sonic game also titled Sonic Saturn, with no relation to the other Sonic Saturn that was in development, made by Sega Technical Institute at the same time as X-Treme. The game aimed to depict a more realistic rendition of Sonic's world, with the Badniks in the game's concept art looking more menacing and grotesque,◊ due to being mutated organic metal hybrids, and the game had an engine that would've used polygonal models and environments instead of pre-rendered sprites in a 3D environment like in the X-Treme game. The game was presented to Yuji Naka who didn't like the game, so the idea was scrapped without being formally announced. The developers wanted to reuse the game's engine for the special stages of Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island as a pool style mini-game, but this was also rejected, and the Sonic 2-styled special stages were made for the game instead.
- There was a side project by Chris Senn using the X-Treme engine that never came to be. However, the sprites for this scrapped game (with two characters that apparently would've been called Gabby◊ and Chaz◊ respectively) can be found in the game's prototype.
- Around 2009, Chris Senn was developing a revival of X-treme as a fan project codenamed Project S, later changed to a game inspired by it. Unfortunately, the project was canceled in 2011.
Miscellaneous
Other Gameplay styles/Characters
Concept art of the scrapped Tiara Cyberooski/Boobowski character that would have been the "true" Love Interest to Sonic.
- Originally the game was a tie-in to the SatAM TV series, with characters like Sally Acorn and Bunnie Rabbott being playable. The idea was vetoed out by Sega due to the show not having much presence outside of the U.S. The characters would make a cameo appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball.
- Other gameplay ideas involved other characters such as Knuckles having topdown overhead gameplay, and Tails with Star Fox-esque first-person flight mode gameplay. These gameplay changes were scrapped to put more focus onto creating Sonic's gameplay.
- A character named Tiara Cyberooski, later changed to Tiara Boobowski, was a Manx cat (originally conceived as a bandicoot) and the "true" Love Interest to Sonic, as while Amy had a crush on Sonic, he didn't reciprocate it. She would have had 2.5D side scrolling gameplay. She was later scrapped in order to focus more on Sonic rather than the new characters themselves.
- Gazebo Cyberooski/Boobowski was Tiara's father, originally conceived as a cyber king that was later changed into a professor during the SonicBOOM/DOOM period when the team realized they needed a professor character. Like his daughter, he was scrapped so the team could focus more on Sonic.
- Amy Rose was going to appear in the game alongside the classic trio of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. She was scrapped early into the development of the Saturn version of the game when it was decided that, instead of thinking of multiple playable characters, the development team should focus on getting Sonic right first.
- The game had a couple of ideas for a second antagonist other than Dr. Robotnik, such as The Chaos Elementals, six shadowy Hooded formless beings that were imprisoned in the Master Emerald, and The Chaos Doom/Element Legion, an evil element controlling being, later beings, that was sealed in the Master Emerald with a toxic atmosphere made to preserve them. These characters were scrapped to keep the focus on the rivalry between Sonic and Robotnik.
- This concept art shows that there were also around 5 designs of Mecha Sonic (the Pre-Final Boss of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, not to be confused with the Mecha Sonic from Sonic 3 & Knuckles), and Metal Sonic would have appeared as a boss fight as well.
- Fang the Sniper was planned as a boss, but later scrapped.
Promotional Material
This is the first page of the Sonic's Red Shoe Diaries article in Game Players Magazine that was not meant to be used and made to keep interest in the game.
- "The Red Shoes Diaries", a story in which Tiara and her father call on Sonic to help keep the Rings of Order away from Robotnik, was never actually used in any version of the game, simply being thrown together for the "Red Shoe Diaries" feature in Game Players Magazine for promotional purposes, as the game's story had yet to be finalized.
- One of the main reasons the game was rushed for a Christmas 1996 release — aside from Crash Bandicoot (1996) and Super Mario 64 releasing around that time — was that the game would have been featured prominently in a Sonic film, Sonic: Wonder of the World, that was planned to release sometime around the time the game would have released. The film never saw the light of day, mainly for the same reason as this game, until 24 years later in a completely different form.
- The game was going to be a tie-in to a Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Christmas special, but due to the game's cancellation, the special was renamed Sonic Christmas Blast to promote Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island, although references to the game can be found in the special.
