The SEGA Generation

[Nivek]

Well Namco supporting 3DO was a genuine suprise and seems they revitalize the console and nice Knuckles Chaotix got a chance to shine rather being tied an awful Addon.

 

[EternalMadness1997]

Well Namco supporting 3DO was a genuine suprise and seems they revitalize the console and nice Knuckles Chaotix got a chance to shine rather being tied an awful Addon.

Yep. Knuckles Chaotix is definitely more well known here, thanks to being on a high selling system. And Namco supporting 3DO, yup. It would be hard for them to really turn back to Sega without looking inferior/weak compared to them after that previous statement, the Atari Jaguar is as good as dead and the N64 won't come until next year (and still uses cartridges) and the SNES can't handle true 3D graphics. 3DO was basically their only logical option.

 

[The Gamer Sunflower]

At least Knuckles chaotix got it right for SEGA Saturn instead of rushing out Sonic Xtreme on SEGA Saturn, So Nintendo is becoming the new SEGA in this alternate timeline now? does it mean that Nintendo will go third party with them releasing some mario games for Sega Console and maybe even a new console for that matter in 2001?

 

[EternalMadness1997]

At least Knuckles chaotix got it right for SEGA Saturn instead of rushing out Sonic Xtreme on SEGA Saturn, So Nintendo is becoming the new SEGA in this alternate timeline now? does it mean that Nintendo will go third party with them releasing some mario games for Sega Console and maybe even a new console for that matter in 2001?

Actually no, Nintendo won't go third party (at least not in 2001). I'm just following OTL for the Virtual Boy because, well, it's the Virtual Boy. I guess.

I apologize if I made Nintendo seem too weak I'm probably just terrible at managing equal focus on Sega and Nintendo here....and I may be unaware of certain game's release titles. Either way though, no, Nintendo actually won't be going third party. At least not in the same timeframe that Sega did.

 

[Deleted member 100251]

At least Knuckles chaotix got it right for SEGA Saturn instead of rushing out Sonic Xtreme on SEGA Saturn, So Nintendo is becoming the new SEGA in this alternate timeline now? does it mean that Nintendo will go third party with them releasing some mario games for Sega Console and maybe even a new console for that matter in 2001?

Nintendo didn’t have the cash problems SEGA had, OTL, which allowed them to live on. Unless things have turned for the worst very soon after the Saturn released, I’m guessing no.
Nintendo’s always has had a lot more money then SEGA. Just my 2 cents, not my TL - so who knows. I wanna wait and see.

 

[The Gamer Sunflower]

Actually no, Nintendo won't go third party (at least not in 2001). I'm just following OTL for the Virtual Boy because, well, it's the Virtual Boy. I guess.

I apologize if I made Nintendo seem too weak I'm probably just terrible at managing equal focus on Sega and Nintendo here....and I may be unaware of certain game's release titles. Either way though, no, Nintendo actually won't be going third party. At least not in the same timeframe that Sega did.

Oh, thanks goodness that they are not going third party like SEGA is.

 

[Nivek]

So what is next?

 

[EternalMadness1997]

(This is the main 1996 post, there will be a second 1996 post mostly focusing on reviewing/discussing the games & pop culture more in-detail)

FIREBORNE
December, 1995

A newcomer to the gaming scene has arrived in the form of Fujiwara, hailing from the land of Nara, Japan! Formed by former Nintendo employee Kazuhiko Tsukamoto, Fujiwara has just dropped a major bombshell onto the gaming scene - Fireborne!

In Fireborne, you play through a very well thought out and well written story involving the latest new up and coming young male hero - who goes simply by the name of Rai. He has it all - sweet young looks, spikey red hair, the ability to manipulate fire to his will thanks to an ancestry he is all to unaware of. The world that Rai lives is one taken over by an indivudal of tremendous power and a mysterious origin - establishing a malevolent empire in the process. While the aim of the game is to do what you can to weaken the warlord's grip over the world, how you go about doing this is actually up to you!

The gameplay of the game is set to be a combination of both a sidescrolling shooter and a platformer with elements of an RPG as well - Rai's fire abilities have both variety and range as well as power - though the enemies he faces also have much the same qualities. From what we've seen, this game is not going to just let you win because you want to - you're gonna have to make it for yourself!

You ready to burn down the house?

Available for the Sega Genesis, Sega CD, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly

"From the very beginning of the Sega Saturn's launch, I was worried something like this might happen. Not very long after the Saturn had been launched into orbit and it began to sell as well as had been predicted, Nakayama contacted me and said he wanted to end support for the Mega Drive, or as I called it the Genesis, to focus completely on the Saturn. I didn't have any authority over what he did in Japan or what the boys in Europe did, but I tried to talk Nakayama out of it. I believed that the Genesis could still sell a few hundred thousand more units but he seemed to disagree with me." - Tom Kalinske, 2016 Interview with Sega Retro.

"I was concerned from the start that Nakayama might do things that could hinder our great triumph, so to speak. Once Sega of America let us know that Sega was planning to cut all support for the Sega Mega Drive and Mega CD add-on, which would lead to the cancellation of several ongoing projects, I grew a bit concerned. I informed Ohga of Nakayama's plan and he quickly made a move to speak with Nakayama about it. The arguments between the two became quite heated if I recall correctly." - Michael "Mickey" Schulhof, former head of Sony Computer Entertainment America, 2016 Interview with Sega Retro

"It was pretty obvious from the start that there was resentment from Sega of Japan towards it's European and American divisions, likely due to their previous marketing failure in the homeland. This was all too evident during the Saturn's development. If things were going to be successful in the long term, someone had to enforce Sega of Japan to let Sega of America and Sega Europe be autonomous while things were going well, which they were." - Ken Kutaragi, 2016 Interview with Sega Retro.

"The arguments got heated between all three parties pretty quickly, neither Ohga nor Nakayama wanted to back down but neither one of them wanted to end their partnership either after so much money was being made. Eventually though, Ohga's willpower won out and Nakayama conceded to letting Sega Europe and Sega of America decide for themselves when to eventually discontinue the Mega Drive - Genesis - if ever at all. From what I heard, the Board of Sega Japan weren't happy about this. However, I never had much another issue with them again, and in the long term it is what kept me in the business. " - Tom Kalinske, 2016 Interview with Sega Retro

"Nakayama-san was very shocked and outraged at what he percieved as Sony 'butting in' on Sega's internal affairs, trying to control Sega like a puppet. It was something the board of directors at the time feared was going to happen from the start. Ohga-san simply wished for Sega of Japan to allow Sega America and Sega Europe to be left to their own devices, and for Sega Japan to focus on Japan first and foremost. Nakayama-san did not like being told what to do. Ultimately it was Chairman Okawa-san that convinced Nakayama-san to concede to Ohga-san's demands." - Anonymous Sega insider, 2017 interview.

"One major change in the industry was the increase of Sonic's popularity - even in Japan. Largely due to the Saturn selling well, though I'm sure Sony's marketing schemes had something to do with it - since all of the Sega CD ports and games they made for Sega were tweaked and released as Japanese exclusive Saturn games. There was also a two part OVA series that actually pitted Sonic against Metal Sonic released very early in 1996, though oddly enough this OVA featured a completely unique version of Sonic's world compared to what we've seen and had major Sonic CD vibes from it's animation style." - YouTube, Sonic the Hedgehog Retrospective, 2011

"With Sega looking like it was about to dominate the world, one couldn't help but ask what Nintendo was doing at this time. The answer was failing. Plain and simple, the Virtual Boy was a failure. Covered with warning labels, Japanese people preferring to run to Sonic and the Saturn like a messiah - I legit heard that Sega and Sony ran a Japanese ad campaign for Sonic games that implied 'Sonic would never blind you' or something like that just to rub it in - either way you looked at it the Virtual Boy was just a failure. Luckily for the house of Mario through, the Super Nintendo still had some great hits to fire out for itself - especially from RARE. The sequels to Donkey Kong Country were fantastic, as were most First and Second Party Nintendo titles. Really, they should have just scrapped the Virtual Boy and waited for the 64 - because it's only when that thing came out that the failing stopped. So yes, please put your pitch forks down." - Leon Lee, The Great Debate: Sonic vs Mario, YouTube, 2011

"Behind the scenes, things weren't looking good for Nintendo. Yamauchi was not very happy with Sega's sudden dominance that seemed to have no end, but he was determined that he would not let them go unrivaled for long. Most of all though, was the continued loss of key third party supporters. The scandal behind why Argonaut left Nintendo's side is one that is quite controversial, they claim that Miyamoto-san 'stole' their idea for a 3D Platformer title that they had proposed as a possible Yoshi game, but those who restate that claim I do not think know the full story. Though I will admit, Yamauchi-san telling Square 'We don't need you, you need us' - in quite a more aggressive tone, was a definite mistake. We could not have foretold how successful their project would have been. However, we had quite a few tricks up our sleeves as well, and in the end we did get a long quite fine." - Anonymous Nintendo insider, 2017 interview

"The only part of the market Sega failed to trample Nintendo in by 1996 was the handheld market - which had as a whole been slowly declining. That is, until Nintendo and GameFreak unveiled Pokemon Red & Blue to the world on February 27. Little did the world know that while it started slow, oh boy....it was going to pick up so much steam." - YouTube, The History of Pokemon, 2010

"Pokemon. Oh boy, Pokemon. That's what I will admit is fun about being Nintendo's rival, they always have one more trick up their sleeve just when you think they're down for the count - and it's quite challenging trying to find ways to combat their little tricks too. It's a challenge I've accepted since '91 though, and one I've welcomed too." - Tom Kalinske, 2016 Interview with Sega Retro

"From the very start, 1996 was shaping up to be a very unique year for gaming. You had everyone waiting for Nintendo's next console, one which back in November the Japanese actually got a taste of - by that point it was renamed the Nintendo 64, while everyone was also laughing at the Virtual Boy, Sega was selling like mad, 3DO was doing better than before but not really comparable to the other two, Atari was disappearing into the shadows and being forgotten about - the Atari Jaguar was literally just discontinued without an announcement, and even Apple and Bandai partnering up on some Home console named the 'Pippin' in March. In both Japan and North America though, the Pippin went absolutely nowhere." - IGN: The History of Gaming: 1996, 2016

SUPER MARIO RPG
March, 1996

You can't just run away from your problems anymore. From now on, you'll have to think on your feet.
Jumping, ducking and dodging have always been a critical part of any button-bashing Mario adventure. But with the new Super Mario RPG you'll also be pushing every brain cell you've got. That's right. You and the world's most heroic plumber will have to battle through all the twists, turns and thumb-numbing action of a classic Mario adventure. Plus, meet the mental challenge as the story unfolds in this fully-rendered role-playing game! It's the best of both worlds. One minute your neck and neck at the Yoshi races. The next you're gambling the night away at the Grate Guy's Casino. And, in between, you'll have to test your brains on mind-mushing riddles and new action-puzzles. Of course you'll find plenty of new friends who can help out. But they'll need your help in return. Without you, Mallow will never find his true family. Geno will never become a real boy. And Booster will never find a bride. You'll also bump into all kinds of new baddies, plus classic goons from every Mario game in history. Only now they're rendered in ACM with a 3-D, three-quarter overhead view. So get ready for all kinds of new Nintendo action and brain-bending Square Soft adventure. Remember, running and jumping is a great start. But this time around you'll also need plenty of brains to finish.

- Nintendo Power advertisement for the Super Mario RPG, released for the SNES on March 9 1996, it received critical acclaim and commercial success - one of the highest selling game in Japan for 1996.

TEKKEN 2 FOR THE 3DO!
March, 1996

You might wanna schedule a training session at your local dojo, cuz Tekken 2 has just arrived on the 3DO - and the 3DO only! Now with even more special additions! Reverse your enemies attacks, use back throws, chain throws and two special characters can even use the sidestep! Among other awesome additions to the sweet, classic Tekken gameplay that only the folks over at Namco could bring you! If you own a 3DO, which you should if you are reading this, then why don't you own Tekken 2 yet? Are you waiting for Sega to make this for you?

Be prepared for the fight of your life in the latest installment of the Tekken series, one of the 3DO's greatest hits, straight from the Arcades and into your living room - all designed by the same guy who made that Virtua whatever series too! Oh, and did we also mention that this game is not in Full Motion Video, but flow blown 3D? In case any of you are unfamiliar with the way Namco does things around here.

So seriously, why are you still reading this instead of running off to your local game store?

- 3DO Magazine advertisement for Tekken 2, home console port released on March 29 1996.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 & KNUCKLES CD
April, 1996

Here comes the Hedgehog, right back onto the Sega Mega CD - yet another great crossover project between both Sony and Sega! I hope you didn't think it stopped existing, 'cos it's still got a lot left to show ya! Such as this, the should-have-been version of everyone's favourite third installment - Sonic the Hedgehog 3.....and Knuckles! Experience the game in the way it was meant to be played, completed. We've got it all. The Death Egg, Mecha Sonic, Knuckles' side of the story, a playable flying Tails, very addicting multiplayer mode, fast but expansive levels with tons of things to be on the look out for on your journey to stop the Doc, save feature fully intact, Knuckles, Tails and Sonic all accounted for, and every last inch of both Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles present in this extra special Mega-CD edition! Not to mention, but an entirely redone CD soundtrack for your ears to sit back and enjoy the sound of! Not only that, but we actually added a few more features, cuz now Metal Sonic joins the multiplayer fun - among quite a few other goodies too!

So what are you waiting for? If you somehow missed out on this hit back in 1994, you might want to take your chance now before it's all sold out - because trust me, Sonic sells as fast as he runs!

- Segazone Advertisement for the Sega CD port of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, released in Europe on April 6, 1996 and in North America on April 13, 1996. In Japan it was released on February 2, 1996 as a Sega Saturn title with the original soundtrack left intact. One of the more notable aspects of the Saturn/CD port was it's glitch and sprite fixes.

PANZER DRAGOON II ZWEI
April, 1996

You ready for more of Panzer Dragoon? Well don't fret, because Sega has delivered! Get ready not for what happened after, but instead what happened before! Play as Jean-Luc Lundi who lives in a village cloaked in superstition, a place where any mutant coolias are killed. However, when Lundi finds a coolia that is mutated, he takes it upon himself to keep it and even name it. Thanks to this, he is able to take to the skies.

From there, the battle is on after the large ship named Shelcoof destroys Lundi's village in an attempt to kill his coolia. With that, the fight for payback and for life begins in a rail shooter with solid gameplay that only Panzer Dragoon could possibly give you.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly

DRAGONS OF THE EAST
May, 1996

From newcomer to the gaming scene Fujiwara comes a very unique RTS - Cup of Gold! Play through the history of East Asia during the late 19th Century and Early 20th Century - from 1890 to 1939, and try to change the course of history (or play it for yourself). You can play as the mighty Qing Dynasty, one of the Qing warlords, the Japanse, the Koreans, French Indochina, British Hong Kong, or even the Phillipines right as tensions between the mighty Qing and the Japanese were about to flare up!
Will you save the Qing and stay in power over China? Or will history stay the course? Or, will you be Japan and conquer everything in your path? Or will Korea manage to surprise the world? Heck, you could even be a warlord and break off from the Qing if you so choose!
The choice is yours, history is in your hands.

Available for Microsoft Windows, Sega-Sony Saturn, Super Nintendo Entertainment System and 3DO Interactive Multiplayer

- Electronic Gaming Monthly

E3 1996 - ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO WIKI GUIDE

The 2nd Electronic Entertainment Expo took place between May 16-18, 1996 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

A lot of things had happened between the first and second Electronic Entertainment Expos. By this time it had become clear that the launch of the Saturn was a triumphant success - Sega was bigger than ever before with the help of Sony backing them. Nintendo was in a quite awful spot with the Virtual Boy, but after what they showed of the Nintendo 64 to Japan in November it seems they had a turn around due for E3. 3DO was definitely the third place of the Big Three, and was already planning on moving on to another console soon by this point as well - sales picking up but not matching it's competitors at all. Atari was not even present at the second E3, their corporation effectively gone and the Jaguar quietly discontinued - Sega had basically destroyed it.

For the Gaming industry at large 1996 was coming off as a slow year. Sales for video games were slowing down compared to other years and there was a bit of talk about the possibility of another industry crash like the one back in 1983.

For their pre-E3 Party this year, Nintendo hired Cirque Soleil to perform at its pre-E3 party. Men on stilts waded through the crowded ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel. Acrobats performed weird stunts. It was a great show that might have been lost on many of the young game enthusiasts in attendance.

Nintendo was fresh off of unveiling their Nintendo 64 - formerly the Ultra 64, in Japan last November, but the big questions at E3 were "How good Nintendo's new hardware might be?", "How much would it cost?" and "How much game support it would recieve?". Up until that E3, the only games seen for N64 were half-completed versions of Super Mario 64 and Kirby Ball.

For Nintendo's showing, Ken Lobb and a guy only known as Isaac actually demonstrated the 3D Analog stick for the N64. Making Mario move around in circles just made everyone explode - so to speak. It was clear that Nintendo still had it.
Nintendo announced a price of $249.95 - though didn't do it as historically as their rival the year before. Super Mario 64 would be a pack-in game, but wasn't the only game to show - they showed off their port of DOOM, Pilot Wings 64, Goldeneye, Blast Dozer and Shadow of the Empire. Nintendo also revealed t he Game Boy Pocket - a new Game Boy that was 20% smaller and had a higher contrast screen.

For a second time in a row, Sega stole the show with a surprise announcement - they were dropping the Saturn to $199. It reminded everyone of that humiliating - for them - announcement of the year before. It has been said that after that announcement had been made that there was actually meeting of the hardware manufacturer leaders in which they agreed to never make any such announcements in 1996. However, Jim Whimms, who was the executive vice president and top dog at SCEA, claimed he never agreed to anything. "That was a meeting for presidents," said Whims. "I sure as hell was never invited."

Following that announcement from Sega, both 3DO and Nintendo tried to stay the course with their prices - but it didn't last. By the end of Day 1, Nintendo announced plans to match price with the N64, and 3DO did the same by Day 2.

Prices weren't all that Sega showed off though, because E3 1996 was when the first footage of the long awaited Saturn Sonic title were shown to the public. The crowd went absolutely bonkers - from what footage was shown it looked as impressive as Super Mario 64, and Sega even announced an analog controller to go along with the game. The release date for the game was given as 'Sonic Day, 1996', which was a code for June 23, 1996. The anniversary of when the first Sonic game released.

While Sonic was definitely the star of the show, other promising titles for the Saturn included NiGHTS into Dreams which actually came from Sonic Team itself and the coveted Saturn port of Virtua Fighter 3 right alongside a new fighting game - Fighting Vipers. We were also gonna get Tomb Raider, Bug Too! (sequel to 1995's Bug!), Mr. Bones, Virtua Fighter Kids, PaRappa the Rapper, Resident Evil, Die Hard Trilogy, Mortal Kombat Trilogy and oh so much more. The Saturn definitely had the most upcoming software - largely due to being every third party developer's average preffered system.

3DO's booth didn't recieve as much attention as Sega or Nintendo's, but Trip Hawkins' big announcement was that the 3DO M2 was no longer an add-on but was strictly going to be the upcoming console. For the most part the M2 would be overlooked, but from the prototype of D2 being shown alongside the talk of it being able to play DVDs it seemed like a pretty powerful piece of upcoming hardware. In the meantime though, the base 3DO still had a few more titles to release to the world - more exclusives from Namco as well as Konami which also began supporting the 3DO system as of late (Capcom was sticking with Nintendo).

Of the software shown for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, we were set to recieve Namco Musuem Volume 1 and Namco Musuem Volume 2 in the months after the show, as well as Rage Racer from Namco's side. For Konami, people were interested in the early prototype of what was the next Metal Gear Game - Metal Gear Solid. This had previously been teased in January's Konami release on 3DO - Policenauts.

Most of Konami's other titles - Vandal Hearts, Contra: Legacy of War, International Track & Field and Project Overkill were all going to be both 3DO and Saturn titles.

Microsoft also made a big splash at E3, 1996. Though all eyes were on Nintendo, 3DO and Sega, Microsoft had plenty of surprises in it's game efforts. The Redmond PC giant wanted the world to adopt Windows as a newe gaming platform, and to prove Windows was better than DOS. To this end, they started their own games initiative.

Microsoft's showing included Close Combat, a highly detailed World War II simulation with RT combat. They also showed off NBA Full Court Press - a basketball game, and a driving game known as Monster Truck Madness.

For PC game fans, this next set of games was remembered as the "Deadly Hell" line up. Microsoft also had two more games - Hell Bender and Deadly Tide. Hell Bender was a 3D futuristic flying shooter, and Deadly Tide was a rail shooter.

For third party developers outside of Konami and Namco, one of note was Argonaut games - who were previously one of Nintendo's greatest developers outside of RARE, only now they were suddenly on their own. They presented a 3D platformer intended to be a Saturn eclusive - Croc, only for the floor to be stolen by Mario (and Sonic). Croc looked pretty good at the time, but the problem was that the show had already been stolen. It is believed that Argonaut's people actually said they hoped Sonic outsold Mario - but no quotes of this actually exist.

Then came a newcomer to the scene, Fujiwara. Founded in Nara, Japan by a former Nintendo employee in Mid 1995 (some time after the first E3), they were mostly a PC, Sega and 3DO developer.They were mostly known for their 1995 release Fireborne, which was gearing up to be their flagship franchise. For E3 1996, Fujiwara's main announcements were the next game in the Fireborne series - Fireborne II, and an upcoming 3D game set in Anicent Egypt. Fireborne II was to be for both Saturn and 3DO, though the Egypt game was for PC.

Capcom meanwhile was continuing to pump out a lot of hits for the Saturn, Street Fighter games such as Alpha 2, along with Star Gladiator and Mega Man 8. Titles that were of keen interest to gamers. Capcom did say they would continue third party support for Nintendo too, but no mention of any support from them for 3DO.

However, the most important of all Capcom's titles was the one known as Resident Evil - set to be a Sega-Sony Saturn and Windows PC exclusive. A survival horror game, it blew the audience away and attracted a lot of attention over to Capcom and Sega's booths.

- IGN, 2012

SONIC THE FIGHTERS
June, 1996

Sonic the Hedgehog returns to the world of the arcades! This time, the blue bur is coming in the form of a fighting game - aptly named Sonic Championship! Already out in Japan, this tournament fighter for the Chaos Emeralds is coming out in the west next month, so you might wanna plan your arcade trip now because with the media craze surrounding that spikey blue hedgehog the arcades might just be packed over this cabinet!

- Electronic Gaming Monthly, this brief blurb was coincidentally on the same page as a rather large spread about two more major gaming titles of the year.

SONIC AND MARIO...SAME DAY, SAME YEAR, SAME INNOVATION, DIFFERENT CONSOLES
June, 1996

May this day forever go down in gaming history, June 23 1996. Sonic X-Treme (Sonic Saturn for Japan and Europe) and Super Mario 64......ON THE SAME DAY.

That's right, we're not decieving you. Both Sonic AND Mario have jumped into the world of 3D platforming....on the same day AND in the same year. Not only that, but this was also the anniversary of Sonic's first ever title too. The gaming press is going MAD over this, and so are we! We honestly can hardly tell which game is more revolutionary than the other! Both of them have accomplished the previously thought unthinkable - bringing the world of gaming into complete and full 3D. Yet, does this mean that the N64's bits don't mean everything? Does this mean Mario trumps Sonic in the end?

In our opinion, it comes down to taste. This isn't one of our review columns, so we can't say which one we prefer, especually since we aren't the S or the N. What we can tell you though is to look out for these things! Mario's truly inspiring quest takes him yet again through the Mushrom Kingdom to save Princess Peach from Bowser, only this time, he is in 3D and running (and jumping) around in an immensely fun 3D enviornment with wide open areas filled with exploration and platforming as well as puzzles and traditional Mario fun. Sonic X-Treme on the other hand retains that Arcade-esque experience that only Sega could deliver, but does it in a truly stunning way - Sonic too is fully 3D and speeds on through his enviornment in one of the most visually stunning performances we've seen. In addition, the storyline of Sonic's outing is simple yet so innovative for the time that it would be a crime for us to spoil it, but just like Mario the bare basics is having to go and defeat that bad ol' Doctor Robotnik yet again just like in the 2D days!

Either way, both of these titles are predicted to be the top sellers for the Saturn and the Nintendo 64 - even in Japan Sega is reporting high sales for the game just from the media circus around this date alone! Of course, Japan is in love with Mario too......only time will tell which of these games overcomes the other. One thing the entire industry can agree on though, is that this day will never be forgotten so long as video games are still a thing.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly

MARIO CRASHES SONIC'S ANNIVERSARY
June, 1996

Good. Lord.

June 23 couldn't be any more historic even if we were lying to you. Which don't worry, we're not.

Sonic Saturn and Super Mario 64 have been released....on the same day. Not only that, but today was the blue hedgehog's anniversary of all things! Sega and it's fans are already calling out the plumber for being such a party crasher!
The gaming press and critics couldn't be any more divided. For every one who looks to Super Mario 64 as yet another truly revolutionary Mario title, there is another that fires right back saying the 32-bit Sonic Saturn (Sonic X-Treme in North America) is just as revolutionary if not more!

This all stems from this year's E3 just a month ago, where both games were proudly shown off to critical and worldwide amazement. Both of the titans of gaming were dead set on this release date it seems, Sega not willing to even consider delaying Sonic on his own anniversary no less, yet Nintendo was not going to delay their Nintendo 64 any longer either.

As for which one of them is doing better, it's too early to tell as both games are flying off the shelves at truly lightning fast levels, and both are recieving near universal acclaim on every single independent magazine that features them!

- GamesMaster, the UK's biggest gaming magazine.

SONIC VS MARIO: WHICH IS TRULY THE BEST?
July, 1996

Last month, on the 23rd of June 1996, the gaming world was shaken to it's core when two historic games were released from the House of Hedgehog and the House of Mario, two games that accomplished the same thing for the industry and left people wondering: "Which one is better?"

Now, if you are looking for an objective answer on Sonic X-Treme vs Super Mario 64, then we are sorry to dissappoint but we don't think we'd do it justice here. However, what we did do was go through the streets of America n and ask the gamers themselves what they think of the situation, now that the games have started flying off the sales like mad.

"Sonic X-Treme, most definitely. Half the bits but just as awesome. I definitely think Sonic wins out." - Anthony

"You'd have to be insane to think that Mario's title isn't the better title. I'm sorry, but it's true! Since when has Sonic ever been better than Mario? I'll tell you, never!" - Alex

"Mario isn't anything but a party crasher at this point! Sonic all the way, definitely. Nintendo's just desperate for sales at this point if they release this on Sonic's anniversary, yeah." - Laura

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually don't know which one is better to be honest. I've played both of them and I have to say, wow. Wow is all I can say." - Naomi

"Sonic has a more unique story, that's for sure! I'm tired of saving Peach all the time! it's about time somebody showed the Big N who's boss! I'm glad Sonic is stealing Mario's spotlight, it's time we had something new!" - Ivan

"You get too much play time out of Mario 64 for me to even think Sonic could possibly be a better game." - Oscar

"Two words: 64 bits." - Truman

"Sonic, definitely. It was exactly like how I imagined a Sonic game would work in 3D." - Paige

- Electronic Gaming Monthly

NiGHTS INTO DREAMS: FLYING RIGHT ONTO THE SATURN!
July, 1996

Flying onto the Sega-Sony Saturn from the world of Dreams, it's NiGHTS! Who is NiGHTS? Well he's the star of the Saturn's next hot game after Sonic X-Treme, of course! NiGHTS is from the world of dreams, and that world is in peril from NiGHTS' own creator, Wizeman and his wicked yet loyal (to him) Nightmarens. As NiGHTS, you have to guide Elliot and Claris through the dream world to help them gather the ideas and defeat all the nightmaren in your path. The controls are tight and the creativity and originality is booming in this rail flyer from the makers of Sonic Team themselves! That's right, THE Sonic Team made this, so you know it's a good one! More about the game can be read below.

- Sega-Sony Saturn Magazine excerpt. NiGHTS into Dreams became one of the Saturn's primary hits and considered one of the greatest games of all time - right alongside other Summer 1996 titles. Even Shigeru Miyamoto admitted he enjoys the title.

SEGA FOUNDER ENTERS RETIREMENT
July 16, 1996

Video game giant Sega Enterprises, dominanting the market in the face of competition from 3DO and Nintendo, announced Monday that David Rosen, co-chairman and chairman of it's U.S. affairs, has officially resigned with intent on entering into retirement.

Rosen, a long time veteran of Sega, started as the founder of Rosen Enterprises in 1954, focusing on selling art created in Japan to the American markets, and photo studios for Japanese ID cards. In 1957, the focus shifted and the business pioneered the importation and operation of coin-op amusement machines from the U.S. into Japan to meet the growing market at the time. In 1965, Rosen Enterprises merged with Nihon Goraku Bussan (Service Games). From that point on they used the brand name 'Sega' and since then Rosen had been a key member of Sega's executive team, having overseen their rise from jukeboxes and slot machines to arcade cabinets and home consoles. He leaves behind 31 years as one of Sega's founding figures.

Replacing Rosen as chairman of Sega America is Stephen "Steve" Race, who was previously the Vice President of the American division.

Sega, partnered with Japanese conglomerate Sony, is dominating the gaming industry at the moment and largely battling with Nintendo and 3DO for market share in the U.S - while largely dominating the market in Europe and Japan. Analysts expect Sega's market share to continue to grow by next year, with much of it coming from it's competitors and smaller gaming corporations in the United States.

- Los Angeles Times

THE HEDGEHOG IS COMING TO THE BIG SCREEN!
August 3, 1996

Video game giant Sega Enterpises has made another shcoking announcement in the wake of the media attention that is it's release of one of the highest selling games of the year, that Sonic the Hedgehog - it's mascot and one of gaming's biggest icons - is going to be having a feature film for itself produced by Sony Pictures.

Sony Pictures, also currently in production of the film Men in Black, have stated that production of the film had begun earlier this July, and so because of that it is too soon to actually give details about the film. What is known is that it will be done entirely through traditional animation and according to Sony, "faithful to the original games as much as possible".

Sega is currently retaining a dominant stance in the gaming market, though has met powerful competition in the form of Nintendo. Nintendo has not claimed any plans to release any movies based on it's properties. This film announcement comes three years following Nintendo's own Super Mario Bros. based film, which was a critical and financial failure to the company.

- Los Angeles Times

CRASH N' DESTROY: THE RACING GAME
September, 1996
Here comes another exclusive title for the Sega-Sony Saturn! This time, from development studio Naughty Dog in the form of Crash Racing! This is a race with some serious attitude too, because for once crashing into your opponents is the name of the game! That's right, you can play the game straight and innocently, but the real way to play in Crash Racing is slamming your opponnents and knocking them straight out of the race or at least out of your way. You can do it either with pick-up weapons or the old fashioned way. All while picking up some major speed, too! A race only available on the Saturn!

- Sega-Sony Saturn magazine

BUBSY 3D
October, 1996
Sonic, Mario and....Bubsy?!

That's right, Bubsy is back, and this time he's in 3D just like the big boys on the block! Play as Bubsy as he finds himself captured by his mortal enemies - the woolies. In their attempt to steal the world's yarn supply, they have found themselves bringing Bubsy to their own homeworld! Venture through an alien world filled with numerous platforms to jump on and across, atoms to throw at enemies, rockets to collect, and enemies to jump on! Oh, we almost forgot the fans to extend your gliding time too - yes, Bubsy is indeed a bobcat that can glide.

This is the fourth Bubsy game in world history - the first three having been 2D ventures, two of them being readily available on your Sega Genesis.

We definitely recommend to check it out! This is a stunning experience that really needs to be seen to be believed, because trust us when we say that Accolade really made sure that Bubsy 3D was it's own original thing and not just some cheap Sonic clone. For real, it's definitely not a Sonic clone.

- Sony-Sega Saturn magazine excerpt. Bubsy 3D would go on to be considered one of the worst games ever made.

SONIC 3D BLAST: FLICKIE'S ISLAND
November, 1996

The Genesis isn't dead yet, it seems! One 3D Sonic game just isn't enough, because now it's the Genesis' time to shine! From the same people who brought you Mickey Mania, comes this new installment in the Hedgehog's adventures! This time, the Hedgehog is traveling through the island of Flickies in an isometric adventure to save the birds from the clutches of Robotnik!

While the main name of the game is it's unique Isometric angle, the rest of it's name is dedicated to speed (and lots of it), kicking late 1990's graphics that only the Genesis could bring to the table, and a kicking soundtrack that is standard for the Sonic series! Don't worry, this game has it all check and mate!

Be prepared for high speed Sonic action on the Genesis one more time, on Flickie's Island!

- Electronic Gaming Monthly. Sonic 3D Blast: Flickie's Island was released in Japan as a Saturn title, but everywhere else for the Genesis and Sega CD.

SONIC IS IN THE HOUSE....THE SCHOOL HOUSE!
November, 1996

It's time to learn, with Sonic! That's right, kids and parents, Sonic now owns his own schoolhouse and is ready to teach the basics of education from Kindergarten to First Grade! Your child will learn the basics of spelling, reading, math and be able to have classic fun in the playground or even go on wild field trips with everyone's favourite Hedgehog!

You will see the Hedgehog up close and personal as he takes a hands-on approach to teaching, with you being in first person to really get a good view of the teach as he does his thing!

Only available for Microsoft Windows.

- Sega-Sony Saturn magazine excerpt

"1996 was definitely one of the biggest years for gaming. It started pretty slow and people were worried about a crash, but in the end it turned to one of if not the biggest years in the entire industry. For the first time in his history, Sonic actually had a high seller in Japan, and was even getting a feature film in a couple of years! Super Mario 64 was another major title too of course, crashing Sonic's anniversary and getting the Nintendo 64 to really start selling even with it being one of the only games available at launch. We got some of the best - and some of the worst - games ever made during the year. Low game sales turned into high sells within a matter of months after E3, and debates over which games were better became a very big deal. Most importantly, the age of 3D gaming was finally kicking off for real, many developers opting for 3D titles rather than 2D." - Elliot Mcdonald, 'Years of Gaming: 1996', YouTube, 2017.

 

[Deleted member 100251]

What a great update! Fireborne sounds really cool.
And SM64 and Sonic X-Treme on the same day?! Wow!
Fujiwara also sounds like a really interesting company.
Then there's Tekken for the 3DO. Seems a lot of games, like Bubsy 3D and SMRPG, went as OTL, which is pretty nice.

A Sonic movie by Sony? That makes a lot of sense, and is really cool!

CRASH N' DESTROY: THE RACING GAME
September, 1996
Here comes another exclusive title for the Sega-Sony Saturn! This time, from development studio Naughty Dog in the form of Crash Racing! This is a race with some serious attitude too, because for once crashing into your opponents is the name of the game! That's right, you can play the game straight and innocently, but the real way to play in Crash Racing is slamming your opponnents and knocking them straight out of the race or at least out of your way. You can do it either with pick-up weapons or the old fashioned way. All while picking up some major speed, too! A race only available on the Saturn!

- Sega-Sony Saturn magazine

"Naughty Dog"
Hmmm.
"Crash Racing"
Hmmm.

Spoiler

Given that its by Naughty Dog and has Crash in the title, is this the path a certain Bandicoot will go ITTL? If so, sweet! (Reminds me how Argonaut was planning a Yoshi Racing title, though that had platforming elements in it).

Awesome update, keep up the great work!

 

[EternalMadness1997]

What a great update! Fireborne sounds really cool.
And SM64 and Sonic X-Treme on the same day?! Wow!
Fujiwara also sounds like a really interesting company.
Then there's Tekken for the 3DO. Seems a lot of games, like Bubsy 3D and SMRPG, went as OTL, which is pretty nice.

A Sonic movie by Sony? That makes a lot of sense, and is really cool!


"Naughty Dog"
Hmmm.
"Crash Racing"
Hmmm.

Spoiler

Given that its by Naughty Dog and has Crash in the title, is this the path a certain Bandicoot will go ITTL? If so, sweet! (Reminds me how Argonaut was planning a Yoshi Racing title, though that had platforming elements in it).

Awesome update, keep up the great work!

Yep. I figured Crash's series as we know it might be butterflied/scrapped due to, well, Sonic being a big deal and a Sony ally. I'll see if I can squeeze him into still being a character in general or not though. And yeah....there's still a lot of games I see no reason to change. Bubsy 3D was just one of them........it just taints the Saturn this time around

And yeah, Namco has most of their games starting out on the 3DO here ^_^ And oh yeah, I learned of the Argonaut thing. Very interesting how it ultimately turned into Croc.

 

[Nivek]

And yeah, Namco has most of their games starting out on the 3DO here

And they carry that consoles and Now Konami too

 

[The Gamer Sunflower]

Alright. let me clear that up: how will Ristar and other SEGA games even be affected there in this timeline?

 

[Nivek]

Alright. let me clear that up: how will Ristar and other SEGA games even be affected there in this timeline?

Dunno others game but ristar was On the Ultra popular genesis and didn't
Panned out

 

[The Gamer Sunflower]

Dunno others game but ristar was On the Ultra popular genesis and didn't
Panned out

Oh. that's what i thought... what about on nintendo side... I was almost more of a Sega person than Nintendo person but it didn't go well with me, so i went with PlayStation in OTL, so I guess I have a SEGA Saturn Instead of PlayStation in This timeline.

 

[EternalMadness1997]

Alright. let me clear that up: how will Ristar and other SEGA games even be affected there in this timeline?

Panzer Dragoon & NiGHTS will definitely sell more and be more "mainstream"

Not sure about Ristar....to be honest it's hard imagining him succeeding in replacing Sonic. Maybe he is a little more well known too.

Sega's arcade classics remain, well, arcade classics.

OH, and pretty much all of the 32X games from OTL are ITTL Saturn games.

An d technically...yeah Alternate me would probably own Sega consoles instead of Sony too, I was a Sega nut and was probably only getting a GameCube due to Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 being on it, my first Mario titles being Sunshine & Luigi's Mansion (plus Melee). So it was Sonic that got me onto Nintendo....

Funny enough, I learned that I would have grown up Nintendo, but my family got rid of their Nintendo system before I was born and got a Genesis instead. If they hadn't, I would likely have grown up a Mario kid and not a Sonic kid

 

[EternalMadness1997]

(Once again, invented people are named using generators)

"Fireborne. The first major title from then newcomer to the gaming scene, Fujiwara. Coming right at the tail end of the fourth generation of game consoles, Fireborne was a pretty decent title for it's time. It wasn't one of the top world sellings but it garnered a pretty nice cult following and was reviewed quite highly back in the day when it first came out. It was also on pretty much all of the home consoles....save for the Atari Jaguar. Which to be fair was pretty much in the process of discontinuation at that point.
Anyway, in Fireborne you play as Rai, who is pretty much your average Anime boy hero. He's even got that anime design to him. The entire game is styled like an anime, basically.

The plot of the game is that Rai was born with the ability to bend fire to his will, hence the title, and because of this it is believed he is the "chosen one", the one destined to overthrow the evil tyrant of the world and bring an era of peace and happy times to all and all that crap......is this where Sonic Underground got it's plot from? Anyone remember that show? No? Eh, it's pulled off better here.

Anyway, the gameplay of Fireborne is like that of a side-scrolling shooter with platforming elements, and though that sounds like Megaman trust me it's a lot different than that. Rai controls like a fighting game character - he has a very large series of melee moves as well as his vast series of fire-related combos, and even sports the ability to use fire to get some speed as well as air. The enemies reflect this, a lot of them take more than one hit to take down.

So really this game is a side scrolling platformer shooting beat 'em up. I don't think there's ever been a game quite like this before. The story also has a lot of depth to it that makes it come off almost like an RPG type deal.

As mentioned before, the idea of the story is that the world is dominated by one single, evil empire that uses the power of it's technology to control the world, the opressive ruler ruling through fear and intimidation - and trust me he's a menacing bastard. His heir though....not so much. He's pretty much just an evil brat version of Rai...and a recurring boss through the game.

Most of the game's levels are actually, very interesting! To mimic the feel of an RPG, you don't really see a splash screen when you reach the next level. Instead you go through story progression and basically just continue on, as if you really are progressing through a world rather than just being transported to another location. However things are a bit different on the CD-based versions of the game, where loading can be a bit of a problem. The enviornments you go through are for the most part your dystopian post apocalyptic cities, but as you weaken the evil empire you get to visit more beautiful, even stunning locations within Rai's world such as forests and plains. Though word of warning: the swamp area is particularly difficult to travel through compared to the rest of the game, second only to the obligatory water environment.

Now, another interesting part of this game is also it's history. Apparently, Fireborne was actually under development while the founder of Fujiwara was still working at Nintendo. However, Nintendo rejected the project in favor o of the other things they had going on at the time. Due to that, Fireborne not only became multi platform, but also did not have any Nintendo console port....ever. Which is actually kind of unfortunate, because this game was very interesting and satisfying to master, I can see why it actually spawned a series of it's own.

Overall, I definitely recommend checking this game out." - Kaitlyn Baldwin, Youtube, 2012

"Dragons of the East. Dragons of the East is one of those Alternate History simulator games, kind of like the ones you see from Paradox. This one though, is centered around east asia during the late 1800's and up to right before World War 2. There really isn't much to say about this game, it was one one of Fujiwara's early titles.

The graphics are pretty much standard for a 1996 game like this, it looks pretty much like an oldschool computer game. I personally find that the PC, Saturn and 3DO versions run better than the others but the graphics don't look very different between either of this game's ports.

As for the gameplay, it's really a standard point and click thing, like how technically these games most are played. The AI in this game is not as refined as in Paradox's titles though, and cascading alliances between enemies is an alarmingly common occurence. The game also puts pretty strict limits on things - you aren't allowed to build any more of a unit or object than what the game calculates you can - which means if you want a really huge army you better choose China. In addition the economic feature of this game is very simplified and easy to understand though perhaps a bit too easy to actually manage, even for nations that realistically should be incredibly poor. Inversely, it is also incredibly easy to make your nation of choice go bankrupt too.

In addition, you have a choice to your nation to play as. You can play as Russia (though only the far east is visible), The Phillipines (U.S.A/Spain), Britain (Hong Kong), France (Indochina), Siam, China, The Chinese Warlord vassals, Korea and Japan. The other nations of east asia are visible but not playable. This goes for Russia as well, of which only the far east is visible. For the most part, the AI nations will attempt to recreate history to the best of their abilities, and only become enemies for you if you get in the way of them doing that. I have never seen the AI attempt to do anything that didn't happen in real history.

Overall, a pretty alright RTS game from Fujiwara, but it does show how far the genre has come." - Konner Adams, The RTS Game Master, YouTube, 2013

"Fujiwara's third game came out during the holiday season of 1996, and was an interesting little gem called.....The Great Nile. Tough admittedly it leaves a little to be desired. At E3 1996 it was teased as being 3D, but really it's not.

It's basically an educational game going from the source of the Nile to the river's delta, and it just tells you about the history of the river and it's civilizations over the years, with 3D rendered pictures of environments as pop-ups. It's a major let down but trust me not many people I think really played this.

There's really not much to say about the game. It's just your typical edutainment title. It's meh." - Saniyah Moses, Edutainment Historian, YouTube, 2014

FIREBORNE II - FROM 2D TO 3D
November, 1996

An announcement has been announced by Fujiwara Games regarding their teased 'Fireborne II' title, the sequel to the moderate hit title is going to no longer be 2D, but the series' jump into 3D! Now unfortunately this mean a longer wait until the game actually comes out, but if the standard of 3D games is anything to go by, it will definitely be worth the wait!

- Electronic Gaming Monthly

"Crash 'n Destroy is an interesting little game from Naughty Dog, and one of their first major titles. To my knowledge it was a pretty damn good seller. The game is basically a racing game where you do race around a track in laps, but with the option of crashing into and destroying your opponent, with special moves and the ability to restore health from pick-ups in the form of crates.

It's actually kind of fun, even if it as a kart racer can't help but be compared to Mario Kart. The game features a cast of colourful cartoon style characters and while violent, nothing more graphic than anything you'd see on Looney Tunes.

These characters are all very colourful and it's hard to describe them, you have antrho animals, cartoonish humans, and even cartoony characters I can't describe. They really managed the models and textures well too for an early 3D title, and it holds up very well. It's basically a more chaotic alternative to Mario Kart and a G-Rated Twisted Metal. Naughty Dog definitely started out well." - Cain Campbell, YouTube, 2014

Spoiler: Sonic X-Treme Review

"Sonic Saturn - or if you are from the land of the red, white and blue, Sonic X-Treme - is considered by many to be one of the greatest games of all time and even one of, if not the, greatest Sonic title ever made. For years, there has been a debate over whether or not it is actually better than Super Mario 64, which has gone on ever since the two games shared the exact same release date. This has been such a large debate throughout the world of gaming that often it actually overshadows the games themselves.

Now as all of Nintendo's fans know, Super Mario 64 is a massive platformer game with tons of exploration, jumping and things to collect and is just like this game considered one of the best and most revolutionary games of all time. I made a whole separate review on it if you want to know more. But, how does it's greatest rival compare to it? Let's find out!

Whereas Mario's gameplay is a massive platforming undertaking complete with hub worlds, numerous collectables, and an focused on jumping everywhere, Sonic's gameplay is focused on running everywhere. Of course, that's not all. Sonic's gameplay is designed like you are a car that runs instead of drives, well okay not exactly like a car he sure as hell turns better than one but anyway he picks up speed as he runs though the super peel out from Sonic CD returns if you instead want to have top speed more instantly. You can also lock his speed in with the press of a button - and no you don't need to hold it, you literally just need to press it. Also with the press of a button Sonic can roll into a ball, and holding it while standing still enters the powerful spin dash, which Sonic can use alongside jumping to attack his enemies. However, the game also gives Sonic some other ways to attack his enemies - the 'insta-shield- from Sonic 3 returns to give a little extra range to his jump, and so do the elemental shields which give Sonic the ability to do a fire dash, a bubble bounce and pull rings into him immediately. Oh and they also make him immune to their respective element. As a whole, Sonic's gameplay is built on combining speed with platforming and exploration, his levels are designed around his mechanics to be long enough to be remembered but still be sped through - but also reward you for patience and exploring.

Now like Mario, Sonic is the only playable character in the main campaign of the game, however he is not the only playable character at all. In the multiplayer and time attack modes you can actually play as Knuckles, Tails and even newcomer Tiara! All of them play similar but in their own way - Knuckles jumpers lower, can punch stuff and glide as well as climb walls. Tails can fly and use his tails to attack things, and Tiara uses a staff as a melee weapon and actually throws her rings at enemies. Only Sonic can use the peel-out though, in case you are wondering.

Overall, the gameplay in Sonic's legendary first leap into 3D is excellent and perfectly captures what it would be like to control Sonic in 3D. But....what about the story?

Yes, this is a game from 1996, the days where good story telling didn't really matter much in a game - and heck in a game like this it still really doesn't in hindsight, but surprisingly enough one of Sonic's main attributes is it's more unique story in it's first 3D game compared to Mario's first outing. Now apparently there were TONS of revisions to the story before they finally settled on the final product, and since I don't have time to go through each one let's focus on the one: Tails calls Sonic over about a message he's recieved by a girl known as Tiara Boobowski, who claims to be trapped in a virtual world created by Robotnik. Sonic being the hero that he is, goes into the world with the help of Tails and goes on a virtual quest to save Tiara from her confinement and beat Robotnik yet again!

Or....is he?

Throughout the game there are many interesting things.

For one, Tails doesn't go in with you but rather stays behind to manage the computer he sent you in through, and serves as something of the guide character through the game. He's much better than Robotnik's idea of a tutorial character anyway - Melvin the Mole, who is literally a compulsive liar. He tries to tell you the 'B' button jumps. Yeah. Last but not least though, there is Tiara.

Tiara is this game's main new character, and as I said before she first comes off as if she is someone trapped in the virtual world. In fact, she and Sonic throughout the game actually interact a lot over the course of the story and it actually does come off like she could make Amy move over and become Sonic's love interest. Something that would be quite surprising for a 1990's Sonic game! Surely Sonic isn't ready to settle down, right? Right? Well, turns out that it's not that simple.....but let's get to that later.

Before we get to the end of the story, let's go through the levels. The way levels work in this game are simple - you get a minature hub world in the form of Tails' worskhop, where you can run around a small but still fun to explore little building that actually has a lot of easter eggs in it from Tails' bedroom, inventing rooms, and even artifacts and references to previous games in the franchise! However, outside of being able to access the initial two levels by walking out the door, there's not much else to say about the workshop hub. You access the virtual world and it's levels through heading to the machine and computer Tails has set up in the main room, and you can even talk to Tails whenever you like!

The first level is Jade Gully, your basic Green Hill style level, a tropical forest/lake themed level, with lots of greens all over the place. It's the easiest level and gets you accusstomed to the controls of the game. There are three acts, with the third act being the boss - a giant badnik named Slasher, which is pretty much those old Slicer badniks but jumbo sized.

After that, you head for Tails' workshop through Sunset Plateau, a desert-plains-mountain themed level with a lot of reds, oranges and yellows as well as badniks fitting the theme of a heated desert. It's also one of the more open levels, with tons of room for Sonic to just run around all over the place to get a lot of speed going. The Boss of this level's Act 3 is the Egg Scorpion, and this is the first time you fight Robotnik inside of his classic machines - this time Scorpion themed (reminding me of Sonic Spinball).

Then, there's Virtual Hill - the first level in the Virtual world. It's actually pretty much a 3D recreation of Green Hill from the original Sonic title, only incorporating beta elements such as Splats finally appearing and the ability to roll on the checkered balls that Robotnik famously uses...speaking of which that actually is the boss of this level too. Naturally, it is this level where you meet Melvin and Tiara in the flesh. I'll note here that for the most part there is no difference from the virtual world to the "real" world, except if you looks at the sky, the sky is purposely textured to have this faint digital bar on it, which denotes the virtual world. In later levels though it becomes more visible.

Then comes Holiday Hall, a Holiday themed level straight from Sonic CD II - the game hardly anyone remembers save for that impossible eldritch horror final boss it had. Anyway, Act 1 is Easter, Act 2 is Halloween, and Act 3 is Christmas. That's pretty much all there really is to say about this level -the boss is the Holly Hoppy Lantern, a robot combining elements of Santa, the Easter Bunny and a Jack-o-Lantern. Yikes.

After that we get Crystal Frost, a Winter Mountain level with underground gave thrown in too. It's basically this game's true "Ice Cap" level, and even has elements of that gem too. Interestingly enough, if Sonic falls in the water here he actually freezes into a block of ice...unless he has a bubble shield. I find this detail most interesting.

Then we reach the water level....Blue Ocean. Thankfully, this level gives Sonic a vehicle to drive through the water thanks to Tiara finding it so it's not as unbearable otherwise. This level is also rather short and plays more like a rail shooter than a platform level. It's the only level to play like this though. The boss is Super Jawz, a large version of the shark themed badnik who looks much more like a real shark. His defeat scene is rather hilariously a parody of the actual movie.

After that we emerge on Mushroom Coast, a combination of Mushroom Hill and a beach level of all things. You can bounce on the mushrooms while you enjoy the backdrop of a nearby shoreline, basically. Anyway, the boss for this level is the Egg Robo from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, rather fittingly.

Then, Sonic enters the underground sector of an industrial city in Metal Blade, which as the title suggests features a lot of hazards based around blades. This is when the gradual difficulty spike really becomes rather notable - this level takes no prisoners. The boss here is actually a automatic version of the original game's final boss of all things!

This is followed by Casino Dome, a golden Casino Level filled with slot machines just like Casino Night of old. There's not really much to say, there's slot machine and card gimmicks all over the place here, and a slot machine itself is even this level's boss! This level also has my personally favourite track, in my opinion anyway.

Then we are treated to Red Sands, the game's second desert level. However, this one has more of a pyramid theme to it, being more akin to Sandopolis compared to the more Arizona mesa theme to the last one. The first act is outside, while the second act is a bit morel like act 2 of Sandopolis and the old marble zone as it goes inside the Pyramid, before Act 3 takes us back out to fight the Sphinx.

Cyber Tower is next and as you are nearing the end of your quest by this point, this is where things really hit the fan. With an industrial, urban and overall futuristic tower feel to the level you are nearing Robotnik's headquarters and this is where the romance with Tiara becomes really apparent and seems to actually hit off! The entire level is an ascent upwards through the tower while all of the defenses try to keep you back. When you finally reach the top floor, you have to face off against none other than Metal Sonic himself in one of the game's more difficult boss fights.

At last, the Galaxy Fortress is reached, aka the Death Egg level of the game. The hardest level thus far, all of the stops are pulled out and finally it's time to beat Robotnik himself in Act 3 - he even goes Sonic the Fighters and uses a battle suit for the occasion. After that, the game ends as the virtual world seems to collapse after the Fortress is destroyed, Sonic having a limited time to get out of there before it goes. However, when Tails brings him back, Tiara is not with them.

That is, unless you have the Chaos Emeralds. Yes, the emeralds return too! To get the Chaos Emeralds, you have to locate a large warp ring within each level that transports you to what is basically a 3D pool mini-game taking place in several different locations. It's actually quite challenging to master and is actually a fun change of pace from the rest of the game, and keeps up the amazing 3D work. Each stage is themed after the levels of the game. There are 7 special stages in all though, so they aren't based off of every single stage. Interestingly, the game's original concept, this Bug! like fish-eye lens sprite based game, was actually turned into the special stages for the Saturn port of Sonic 3D Blast, which was released in early 1997 after Saturn's release but wasn't really marketed as much.

Once you collect all seven emeralds and then finish the final stage - which by the way thanks to the computer screen in the workshop you literally just need to go to said computer, choose the fortress act 3 and boom - you finally get to see the true ending of the game.

As it turns out, Tiara is actually not your ally at all.....but entirely a creation of Dr. Robotnik just to keep Sonic in the virtual world long eough to gain his trust and trap him in it forever! Shutting down Sonic's connection to Tails, Tiara proceeds to betray Sonic in one of the most shocking moments in video game history - before the virtual world begins slowly deleting itself meaning Sonic doesn't have much time left. In the 2 act Digital Kingdom Sonic catches up to Tiara and lets her absolutely have it in an extremely satisfying final showdown against that virtual temptress, before using the Chaos Emeralds to go Super, which actually lets Sonic escape the virtual world and pop out in Robotnik's Gyro Station - which is just a one boss act against Robotnik's new Death Egg Robot. Whereas the Tiara boss is actually hard yet satisfying, this "true" final boss is easy due to being fought in super form. Either way, it is satisfying as all hell.

In the end, Sonic and Tails celebrate Robotnik's defeat and everything is all's well that ends well. Amazingly, you can still replay all of the levels after you finish the game. No real reason why, you just sort of can. It's literally not explained, but it doesn't matter or need to be. Overall, an excellent ending to an amazing story.

Now, before we move on any further one thing I will ouch more on is the soundtrack of the game - it is phenonmanal. Practially the standard of any Sonic game is it's soundtrack and this game is certainly no exception. Every single track fits the level or situation perfectly, and really helps you get into the atmosphere of the level and the action. I actually have almost no complaints about the soundtrack outside of my opinion on individual tracks.

Now, criticisms. Even Super Mario 64 has valid criticisms for itself. For starters, this still is an early 3D platformer, albeit a very ambitious one. The rail shooting level is a bit slow as it is of course the obligatory water level, even if the change in gameplay makes it easier to slog through. In addition, while the camera is mostly fine there can still be moments where it can get obstructed by the architecture of a level. This isn't much of a problem though, the game is completely devoid of bottomless pits until Cyber Tower and Digital Kingdom, and the object does go transparent to show you where Sonic is.

There also is a rather lackluster multiplayer. It's basically the special stage graphics, you play as a '3D' sprite racing down a straight line in a race for the center of the stage with your buddy...and that's about it. You can play as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy or Tiara in the multiplayer. That really is all there is to it.

Now, the question everyone has been asking for years....which one is better? Sonic? Or Mario? Well, to tell the truth....I don't feel like I can actually say that here. Not because I can't form an opinion, but because it would take so long to actually justify the opinion and to actually analyze both of these things. In the end, I still think it's best we not focus on which one of the two is better than the other and instead focus on them as separate titles - in which case both of them are definitely some of the best games ever made." - Lucas Okuda, Youtube, 2015

SONIC X-TREME VS SUPER MARIO 64: THE SALES COMPARISON
June, 2006

Ten years ago, the gaming world was shaken to it's core when two titantic and historic games were released in the form of Sonic X-Treme and Super Mario 64. For years now, the gaming world has been debating which one of the two titles is superior to the other. Do we have an answer? Well, sort of.

1996 was a relatively slow year in gaming until the months after the annual E3, Sonic and Mario especially getting things going - Panzer Dragoon and NiGHTS being the icing on top of the cake. However, one question arose - Sonic or Mario? Which one won the console war? If there even is a inner - most people view the console war between Sonic and Mario as still very much ongoing - which in a way it is. Now, we don't have an opinion on which game is objectively better, but we do have the sales records as the two systems have reached over ten years of age now.

In the end, the Saturn has achieved a massive amount of sales as one of the highest selling home consoles in human history. 26.59 million units of the Saturn have sold in Asia as a hole - most of the sales coming from Japan.

Now, for the games themselves.

Sonic Saturn/Sonic X-Treme sold 1.94 million copies in Japan, outselling Super Mario 64 which had 1.91 million in the same region and being Sonic's first ever commercial success in his home country (Sega even said at the time they didn't ever intend on Sonic doing so!); In North America though, Sonic's 3D outting sold 6.23 million copies compared to Mario 64's 6.91 million, meaning Mario kept his crown there; In Europe there was a much more drastic change of pace, Sonic sold a whopping 8.85 million copies compared to Mario's measly 2.85 million. Then there's other regions of the world which can be relatively combined - Mario ranks in at 0.23 million 'other' sales, while Sonic clocks in at 1.30 million copies of 'other' sales, most of Sonic's sales hailing from Brazil.

In the end, Super Mario 64 ranks in at approx. 11.89 million sales while Sonic Saturn/Sonic X-Treme rakes in 18.32 million, placing Sonic's first 3D outing actually above Mario's.

However, critics say that this is not really all fair, considering the Saturn had been out for two years prior to Mario 64's release date, and Sonic's first 3D game is also backwards compatible with all of Sega's 3D consoles. They argue that in the end, the sales of a game don't really dictate which game is better or not, especially considering both of these two were also bundled with their systems.

Either way, with Super Mario 64 having gotten it's own portable re-release, it's stunning that the higher selling Sonic title has not had even a hint at being re-released, with the 10th anniversary being this year! Oh well, the House of Hedgehog is probably just focusing on the next generation right now. Maybe someday.

- IGN: The Great Debate: 10 Years Later

"Virtua Fighter vs Tekken is pretty much another one of the 90's great video game rivalries, right up there with Sonic vs Mario and even Panzer Dragoon vs Star Fox. With Virtua Fighter and Tekken though, it was Sega vs Namco instead of Sega vs Nintendo.
It all stems from the two being rivalries in the arcades, and while Namco did have Sega games, it never seemed to be something they really did very often and when the Saturn came out the head guy of Namco - for reasons still debated about to this day, announced that Namco was not going to support Sega anymore, but did it in such a way it initially came off like Namco was going to stop making home console ports entirely. When the Saturn's success was all too clear, Namco decided to announce in a surprise moment at the first E3 they were supporting the 3DO Company now and most of their fifth generation games had their home console ports on the 3DO only as exclusives.

Needless to say, aside from Gex, Street Fighter and Wing Commander they were pretty much the only games really worth playing on the thing. Problem is, they came out on it in 1995...the same year and even same month in some cases as the Saturn did. 3DO sales did increase, but it was nothing compared to how much the Saturn was selling. This in turn hurt the chances that Namco's series really had for mainstream success, a lot of them didn't start kicking off until recently in the industry.

As such, Virtua Fighter has gone on to since be the highest selling fighting game series in the industry, yes, something that shocked me too considering Capcom and everything but that's what Wikipedia says, anyway.

Virtua Fighter may be more mainstream and popular, but Tekken definitely still has it's fanbase and it's own appeal, and it did become the 3DO's top selling game for the later end of it's life cycle. Though admittedly the original 3DO definitely downgraded the graphics of the game. It's not because the 3DO couldn't handle 3D but more it wasn't built to emulate arcades in the way the Saturn was. I mean let's be real here, the Saturn was made by the kings of the arcades, 3DO was made by the guy who made EA. That said the 3DO versions are still playable and enjoyable experiences, definitely some of...no, scratch that, the best games on the entire console.

Virtua Fighter of course is also some of the best games of the fifth generation too, especially VF 3. VF3 is what ultimately sealed which one was considered mainstream better, too. Funny enough, these two "rival" series were actually made by the same guy." - Virtua Fighter vs Tekken, YouTube, 2011

"The popularity Sonic started getting in 1996 and beyond was INSANE. Europe just exploded with Sonicmania, practically, and America loved him to bits too, though in America was where he really competed hard with Mario. In Japan meanwhile, it was the first time in human history that Sonic was a higher seller than Mario - something which I'm sure made Sega of Japan happy. At the same time though, Mario still remained the top seller in North America - the Nintendo 64 was actually selling better than the Saturn in Canada for example. I'm not entirely sure about the U.S. sales though but I know the N64 was HOT for 1996." - Henry Johnston, YouTube excerpt, 2011

"Nintendo had definitely been taking a beating up to 1996, but when the Nintendo 64 came out it was the light at the end of the tunnel for them. Mario had saved them. The Virtual Boy had been a humiliation and the Saturn had hurt their market share hard - it actually turned Japan from Nintendo country into Sega country, but with Mario and Pokemon, things weren't the end quite yet. Pokemon helped portable sales go from slowly decreasing to massively increasing, and Mario 64 got the Nintendo 64 to really start selling well - definitely keeping Nintendo above 3DO. Sure Mario's chance to be the innovator of 3D had been taking from him and he had no choice but to share it with Sonic, but he still showed the world Nintendo wasn't finished yet." - Sergio Gibbs, YouTube excerpt, 2011

KNUCKLES' CHAOTIX
September, 2006

Released in 1995, Knuckles' first ever title to himself was sort of a mixed bag in the Saturn's launch library. It wasn't the most popular launch title and confused a lot of people - where was Sonic? Well, at the same time it wasn't terrible either and is for a lot of people a bit of a guilty pleasure. However, it's gimmick mechanic and how many acts there were in the levels, as well as how one selects levels and characters did get in the way of the games's success. Regardless, people did feel there was potential in a Knuckles game - just that it needs to be a little different from this. Regardless, the game does retain it's own cult following within the greater Sega fanbase.

In terms of sales, Knuckles' first solo game is a relatively moderate success, according to most reports over the years the game sold 0.04 million copies in Japan, 0.62 million copies in North America, 1.10 million copies in Europe and 0.17 million copies in other regions of the world. This places the game at a grand total of 1.93 million copies sold worldwide.

- The Sega World, Blogspot

PANZER DRAGOON & PANZER DRAGOON II
July, 2006

It's called Sega's answer to Star Fox, and the only rival to Nintendo's hit series in sight. It's name, Panzer Dragoon, and it was one of the Saturn's first big hits. The rivalry between the two series hit off in the mid-late 1990's. To this very day both series are considered some of the best of their respective companies and systems, and are beloved by gamers alike - both bring back so many nostalgic memories of the era.

Here, we will present the sales of the first two games in the series, both of which actually came out prior to the 3D version of it's so-called "rival", which funny enough was intended to be it's rival at all.

Panzer Dragoon - the first title in the series released in 1995, was one of the Saturn's very first hits and was actually available at launch. It spread pretty well, too. Selling 0.37 million copies in Japan, 2.03 million copies in Europe, 0.20 million copies in North America and 0.98 million copies in other regions. This puts the original title at a total of 3.58 million sales worldwide.

Panzer Dragon II Zwei, the second title in the series and a prequel to the first title, was moderately more successful than it's predecessor - selling 0.72 million copies in Japan, 0.78 million copies in North America, 2.89 million copies in Europe and 1.01 million copies from other regions, totalling 5.4 million sales worldwide.

Panzer Dragoon remains one of Sega's more recognizable and well remembered Saturn era titles, and the first two titles were some of the console's high selling titles.

- The Sega World, Blogspot

NIGHTS INTO DREAMS: HOW WELL DID IT DO?
July, 2006

NiGHTS into dreams... is definitely one of the best games of the Saturn era and definitely one of the best titles of gaming history. A definite must-have for any Saturn owner. Unlike a lot of Sega's well known games, it doesn't have any true Nintendo or even Namco rival, and is largely definitely it's own thing. Even Shigeru Miyamoto himself has confessed to actually enjoying the series, and let's face it - nobody blames him!

The game is one of the most creative entries of the 1990's, taking place in the world of Nightopia where children by the name of Elliot and Claris are brought in to save the world of dreams from the wicked Wizeman and his nightmaren, needing to recover the dream energy in the form his 'Ideya' in order to defeat him. Hilariously, some gaming magazines at the time actually mispelled 'Ideya' as 'Idea' at the time. To help them, is NiGHTS, the titular character of the story, who merges with them (or something like that) to fly around Nightopia, collect the Ideya, and take down Wizeman.

The Sales of NiGHTS great debut into the world of gaming definitely reflect it's popularity. Sega reports 1.43 million sales for the game in Japan, 7.01 million sales in Europe, 0.43 million sales in America and 0.94 sales in other regions of the world. This puts this title at a grand total of 9.81 million copies worldwide - one of the Saturn's top selling games, and it certainly is well deserved.

With it's popularity, NiGHTS has joined Sega in being one of Sega's most iconic and well remembered franchises, and is definitely one of the staples of the Saturn era of gaming. Many gamers from this era still have the music of this game stuck in their heads, so we hear.
Overall, in terms of how it did, it definitely did well. Very well for the time and now.

- The Sega World, Blogspot

"Anyone who thinks Sonic is better than Mario is delusional."

"Anyone who thinks Mario is better than Sonic is an imbecile."

- IGN Boards comments, 2008

"I personally prefer Virtua Fighter to Tekken, though I haven't been able to get my hands on many of the Tekken games, personally."

"I am probably one of the only people in my town who grew up on the 3DO and Tekken instead of Virtua Fighter."

- IGN Boards comments, 2009

"Can we invent time time travel to go back in 1996 already? I want to experience the year all the best games ever made came out for the first time."- YouTube comment on video of E3 1996, 2010's

​

"NiGHTS into Dreams was my first video game, and I will never be able to say I hate it. It will forever hold a special place in my heart." - YouTube comment on a NiGHTS into dreams playthrough, 2015

"The Saturn is my native console." - 'Caddy'

"I think Sonic's popularity grew in Japan because Sega's demographic of teens and college age people had a saturn already and just bought Sonic for their kids. Just a theory though."

"But Sonic can still be liked by teens and college kids though, too. But you're probably right, at least in some cases. I doubt that's the only reason though."

"I still wonder what would have happened if Sega rejected Sony's partnership. I don't know if I'd like the gaming industry if that happened. So many good games might never have happened."

"Well all the games Sony and Sega worked on together would not exist. But IDK if Sony would be successful in gaming on their own. Sega was pretty strong, unless they made a lot and I mean A LOT of terrible decisions."

"What I wanna know is what would have happened if Nintendo didn't betray Sony and turn to Phillips. That still pisses me off a little. What we got out of that was a straight up joke."

"It wasn't really a betrayl. Nintendo didn't like their end of the deal and tried to work things out, but at the same time decided to make a surprise partnership with Phillips without Sony knowing. That said, Yamauchi also stated that he was genuinely surprised Nakayama even agreed to partnering with Sony."

"I don't blame him, who could've guessed how successful Sega would've gotten from just one partnership."

- YouTube comments discussion, 2012

 

[Nivek]

Seems Europe is Segaland when NA is more fierce and finally to sega of japan board they're relevant in japan, seems europe love of sega might be a punch for Sega of Japan too.

Sega was pretty strong, unless they made a lot and I mean A LOT of terrible decisions. Yeah Sega was ridding hit, they would goes full insane to loss

 

[EternalMadness1997]

Seems Europe is Segaland when NA is more fierce and finally to sega of japan board they're relevant in japan, seems europe love of sega might be a punch for Sega of Japan too.

Sega was pretty strong, unless they made a lot and I mean A LOT of terrible decisions. Yeah Sega was ridding hit, they would goes full insane to loss

Indeed. Europe was Sega country, Japan WAS Nintendo country....until Sega (life) found a way.....

And eyup. They would really need to be be infected with the bonkers alright

 

[The Gamer Sunflower]

Indeed. Europe was Sega country, Japan WAS Nintendo country....until Sega (life) found a way.....

And eyup. They would really need to be be infected with the bonkers alright

indeed... but what about North america?

 

[jolou]

SEGA c'est plus fort que toi