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Madserb2023
Member
No. The Nintendo 64 managed to do what Sega couldn't and successfully bring their franchises into the 3rd dimension and still got destroyed by Playstation. Sega would still have come last, just not perhaps as far behind. Should have just made the best 2d system they could and concentrated on arcade conversions and carved out their own niche in the way Nintendo has done now. A great 2d Sonic 4 would have been better than some abysmal 3d game that would have compared unfavourabley to its competitors.
deriks
4-Time GIF/Meme God
No
Sega was fucking around even with the Mega Drive, and the Saturn didn't get major third party games. Combined with poor marketing, it was destined to fail
Dreamcast on other hand could do better if they didn't fucked up before... I think there's a timeline when Sega still do consoles with Microsoft as a prime partner
Sega was fucking around even with the Mega Drive, and the Saturn didn't get major third party games. Combined with poor marketing, it was destined to fail
Dreamcast on other hand could do better if they didn't fucked up before... I think there's a timeline when Sega still do consoles with Microsoft as a prime partner
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
No.
Saturn was completely fucked. It was poorly supported, more expensive, more difficult to develop for, and 90% of the games looked worse.
Sonic couldn’t save Dreamcast, and at least that was a competent system that did a lot more things right.
Saturn was completely fucked. It was poorly supported, more expensive, more difficult to develop for, and 90% of the games looked worse.
Sonic couldn’t save Dreamcast, and at least that was a competent system that did a lot more things right.
Imma be real, Sonic X-treme doesn't look good to play, it would have been destroyed by Crash and Mario 64 regardless.
The issue is that SoJ and SoA conflict, especially with Japan always doing the worst decisions possible for the west, the Saturn and even this game was a major victim of it.
The issue is that SoJ and SoA conflict, especially with Japan always doing the worst decisions possible for the west, the Saturn and even this game was a major victim of it.
SkylineRKR
Member
No, first all it would've been difficult to create a good Sonic game for Saturn. A 2D game wouldn't cut it in 1995, it had to be 3D. Even in 1998-99, Sonic Adventure didn't save the DC and it wasn't remotely as good as Mario 64. Sega would've never been able to create a compelling 3D Sonic game for Saturn.
xellos2099alpha
Member
I think one of the reason saturn does well in japan is due to the 2d games offering; there was a 3d game obcession in usa at that time. So much that they do not want to publish 2d games in usa.
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German Hops
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
Sega had more issues than just Sonic.
ManaByte
Gold Member
Careful some warriors will attack you for stating the truth about the ban of 2D games in the US.
JohnnyFootball
GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
No. It was Sonys fault that Sega made all these bad decisions.
Duh.
Duh.
fart town usa
Gold Member
I say no. It was just too different and difficult to pull off what the PSX was designed for. Sonic may have sold a few more consoles but it wouldn't have made a difference.
OmegaSupreme
advanced basic bitch
Nope. The Saturn was a failure on many fronts. There's nothing a crap sonic game could have done.
This one of the major reasons. The Saturn was hard to code for 3D, the rumor that it was 2D then bolted on 3D at the last minute was because the original project while having the latter capabilities, was much weaker than the PS1 so Sega had to add another SH2 CPU that caused trouble for most developers. Sega tought that the industry would do a progressive switch from 2D to 3D but it was a view entirely based on Japan, the western side switched overnight.
SCEA had a "ban most 2D games" rule in effect even after Bernie Stolar leaving, most gamers and third party publishers didn't have interest in these games regardless, with only fighting games and some stuff or another that was peak 2D graphics getting a release, SCEA was even tough on low budget 3D games such as Simple 2000 series getting release on Europe but not in North America.
The Nintendo 64 not only had Mario 64 and Zelda Ocarina, third party developers like Midway and Acclaim developed the best console versions on the system which were all 3D games, some games like Rush and 007 Twine were night and day better than the PS1 counterpart.
The irony is that Sega had the most profitable 3D arcade games with Daytona USA and Virtua Fighter, but tought the otherwise with the Saturn.
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SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
The right Sonic game at the right time could have helped a lot in the US, but they also botched the launch in the US in general by trying to shadow drop it and burning a lot of retail relationships.
If they got a good Sonic game out (not XTreme) in the first 9 months or so of the Saturns life it probably would have stood a much better chance of lasting until the Dreamcast came out, but I doubt it would have entirely reversed their fortunes or allowed them to beat Sony
If they got a good Sonic game out (not XTreme) in the first 9 months or so of the Saturns life it probably would have stood a much better chance of lasting until the Dreamcast came out, but I doubt it would have entirely reversed their fortunes or allowed them to beat Sony
Captain Toad
Banned
Like he saved Dreamcast?
Honey Bunny
Member
Cultural shift away from home-quality arcade games could have saved the Saturn, and the Dreamcast. Sega were growing out of touch.
I Love Rock 'n' Roll
Member
Of course, at least in Japan and to some extent in Europe.
In US, it could have been big too, depending on the moment it were to hit the market. A Christmas'95 3D Sonic will have been the greatest and very last moment to save the Saturn in North America. Nights and Sonic would have been both very strong in the same year.
In US, it could have been big too, depending on the moment it were to hit the market. A Christmas'95 3D Sonic will have been the greatest and very last moment to save the Saturn in North America. Nights and Sonic would have been both very strong in the same year.
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Syphon Filter
Member
didnt they have a sonic? i think sonic R or something...
SkylineRKR
Member
Sonic R came out in late 1997 and was a racing game by an outside developer. Before that they had the rather awful Sonic 3D as well, no one cared much about both games.
Saturn needed a real Sonic 4 game when the system was still kind of relevant, ie. 1995 or 1996. Or at launch. But it wasn't the case. Perhaps a 2.5D Sonic game could've do something around launch if it was good, well before Mario 64. It was certainly a problem that Saturn discarded many IP that made the Genesis succesful.
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wvnative
Member
No, the PlayStation was taking off like wildfire, and quite frankly, the Saturn itself even to a casual eye was a POS, and was hamstrung by bad marketing decision after bad decision. If it had launched with a good proper Sonic game, it would have had much better starting momentum, but I believe it would have still ended up fizzling out.
SCB3
Member
Funnny how they do continue to do that even now most of the time
Hero_Select
Member
No.
Outside of the Genesis, Sonic has never really been a system seller.
Outside of the Genesis, Sonic has never really been a system seller.
Evil Calvin
Afraid of Boobs
No. It couldn't do 3D well. Just a couple years later the Dreamcast did it well.
Horseganador
Member
No Sonic could save this hard-to-program chip salad.
NecrosaroIII
Ask me about my terrible takes on Star Trek characters
By 1996, no one cared about Sonic
Azelover
Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
Not save, but it could have increased sales a little.
But If, and only If, the game was actually good. I played Sonic Xtreme, and although it looked very interesting, the controls were awful. It was gonna be a really bad game. That was not gonna work at all.
But If, and only If, the game was actually good. I played Sonic Xtreme, and although it looked very interesting, the controls were awful. It was gonna be a really bad game. That was not gonna work at all.
German Hops
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
Not true.
Just look at Sonic R and the early prototypes for Sonic Xtreme.
STI simply wasn't given enough time and resources to make a proper 3D Sonic, but to say the Saturn wasn't powerful enough is naïve.
In fact, the Saturn had the potential to outclass the N64, but unfortunately , it was too difficult/intense for most programmers at the time.
Not to mention Sega didn't provide a thorough SDK.
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RAIDEN1
Member
But like Sega Lord X said in the video, if you combined the best bits of Clockwork Knight and Bug! You could have a template in making a decent Sonic title instead of the fish-eye lense they were trying to do....and the irony is the Sega CD and the 32x didn't have this much hassle in getting a Sonic related game on those add-ons, but when it came to their 32-bit "power-house" it was nowhere to be seen, the 32x didn't need a Knuckles Chaotix...
MALpractice311
Member
Absolutely not. Sega had already made themselves a joke at that point insofar as consoles go with their nonsense Sega CD and 32X.
Crew511A
Member
In the early 90's, Sega portrayed itself as the cool, edgy guy while Nintendo was the bloated, arrogant, establishment. By 95, Sega was bloated and out of touch, while Sony was the cool, new system. Nothing was going to change that.
That being said, a Sonic game on Saturn wouldn't have hurt. The fact we didn't have one on Day 1 of the Saturn's launch shows how out of touch Sega was. I know NiGHTS was supposed to be the new mascot, but I don't think it was ever going to be palatable for most Western audiences.
That being said, a Sonic game on Saturn wouldn't have hurt. The fact we didn't have one on Day 1 of the Saturn's launch shows how out of touch Sega was. I know NiGHTS was supposed to be the new mascot, but I don't think it was ever going to be palatable for most Western audiences.
cartman414
Member
It was true, but it doesn't change the fact that it sucked it happened that way.
I wouldn't mind seeing a modern, beefed-up equivalent to what the Saturn could handle with 2d. Scaling and rotating tons of sprites and handling backgrounds, no polygon fakery, done on the fly via hardware functions.
cireza
Member
I know these consoles by heart and I disagree.
The Saturn is not able to push 3D and scroll at speeds you are expecting for a proper game in 3D, but neither is the PS1. N64 maybe, but the console is riddled with other bottlenecks anyway.
Sonic X-Treme does not offer a true 3D gameplay but circumvents it with 2D planes. If you had given me this in 1996/1997 and told me "hey, here is your 3D Sonic game", I would have been hugely disappointed. It is not a free roaming 3D experience.
Sonic R is a technical achievement but the speed is not that high and the draw distance is short.
Making a proper 3D platformer would have been possible only at the cost of slowing down the pace of the game and working with scaled down areas.
And SEGA did provide a very competent library to make 3D on Saturn :
Sega Graphics Library - Sega Retro
segaretro.org
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Ragnarok
Member
Definitely maybe.
It needed to be good and a release title and it would have moved lots of early units which would have gotten more third parties on board. Also, I’m assuming having Sonic on deck for original launch would have made Sega more confident in a showdown with Sony and they wouldn’t have launched early and alienated retailers.
Domino effect of shit that culminated in the destruction of Sega.
Sonic Adventures didn’t save DC because by that time there hadn’t been a main Sonic game for 4 years. He wasn’t a part of the cultural zeitgeist any more and mostly irrelevant. And nothing could have saved the DC anyway due to the enormous amount of consumer mindshare they pissed away with the Saturn.
It needed to be good and a release title and it would have moved lots of early units which would have gotten more third parties on board. Also, I’m assuming having Sonic on deck for original launch would have made Sega more confident in a showdown with Sony and they wouldn’t have launched early and alienated retailers.
Domino effect of shit that culminated in the destruction of Sega.
Sonic Adventures didn’t save DC because by that time there hadn’t been a main Sonic game for 4 years. He wasn’t a part of the cultural zeitgeist any more and mostly irrelevant. And nothing could have saved the DC anyway due to the enormous amount of consumer mindshare they pissed away with the Saturn.
S0ULZB0URNE
Member
Nope.
Releasing a CD add on,32x add on and than having a *surprise* (overpriced) Saturn announcement in a short time frame not only kills a product but also kills a brand.
For what it's worth... I enjoyed my Saturn , playing imports etc and it holds up better than the PS1 imo.
Releasing a CD add on,32x add on and than having a *surprise* (overpriced) Saturn announcement in a short time frame not only kills a product but also kills a brand.
For what it's worth... I enjoyed my Saturn , playing imports etc and it holds up better than the PS1 imo.
xellos2099alpha
Member
Admit it or not.... 3d games of that era are all pretty shitty. The 2D games of that area is still being treasured today.
Frayed Ends of Sanity
Member
The Saturn was always doomed to fail and it's a shame because there are some great games on the console but Sega of Japan made all the wrong decisions. Sonic would've sold some extra consoles but not enough to where it would matter. It's also a shame that Sega never kept up with it's Genesis IP's that did so well for them like Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Phantasy Star etc
I've also read that Sega of America wanted to team up with Sony after the Nintendo fall out to basically make the PlayStation the next Sega console. Sega Japan refused and then Sega America learned about a 3D chip they could've used for the Saturn but Sega Japan deemed it too expensive. That chip would later be used for the N64
I've also read that Sega of America wanted to team up with Sony after the Nintendo fall out to basically make the PlayStation the next Sega console. Sega Japan refused and then Sega America learned about a 3D chip they could've used for the Saturn but Sega Japan deemed it too expensive. That chip would later be used for the N64
RAIDEN1
Member
All the failed collaborations though (let's not forget what might have been Nintendo's own Playstation or "Super CD" if their deal with Sony went through) paved the way for Sony to go it alone....and they succeeded where 3DO, and Atari had failed.....(Commodore were never really in the game at that point anyway...)
