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This article contains information about or related to a canceled video game.
As a result, the content of the article may have been canceled or replaced by another subject.
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Sonic Mars[1] is an unreleased spin-off game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, which was originally designed for the Sega 32X. A concept game, this title got canceled due to unknown reasons (presumably due to a combination of the Sega 32X's limitations and its ultimate failure in the market), and the project was moved to the Sega Saturn, where it would be gradually reworked into Sonic X-treme.

The game itself was going to corporate elements from the Sonic the Hedgehog television series, which was airing around the time of its development.

Plot[]

The plot of Sonic Mars was described in lead designer Michael Kosaka's script:

While Sonic is away checking on a security alarm in a remote part of the Great Forest, his pals (Sally, Bunnie, Tails and Knuckles) have discovered a strange message from within one of Robotnik’s super computers.[2]
(Dr. Robotnik is trying to take over a computer VR world (Micro Mobius) and the message is a plea for help from its peaceful inhabitants.)[2]
Sonic returns to Knothole to discover that Robotnik has captured his friends and taken them into his VR world. Sonic attempts to save his friends and thwart Robotnik’s plan to "reformat" Micro Mobius.[2]

Characters[]

Character Description
Sonic the Hedgehog Our hero. The one-and-only, incomparable speedy hedgehog.[2]
Princess Sally Acorn Intelligent, practical, courageous and clever computer whiz.[2]
Tails Young, innocent, but extremely dexterous companion to Sonic.[2]
Bunnie Rabbot Exceptionally strong and a solid team player.[2]
Knuckles Very cool, very capable Sonic buddy.[2]
Doctor Robotnik Evil and conniving nemesis of Sonic and his pals.[2]
King Cyberooski Elderly and benevolent leader of Micro Mobius.[2]
Mips Inhabitants of Micro Mobius who are being morphed into Robotnik's various bad guys.[2]
Princess Tiara Daughter or King Cyberooski. She will vie for Sonic's attention (much to Sally's displeasure). Will Sonic have to choose?[2]

Gameplay[]

Sonic rescues a friend in each Zone, with them being added to the available roster for player two to choose from.

Controls[]

First player[]

Button formation Movement[3]
Sonic
Controlpadds Move
Hold Sega Genesis A Button + Controlpadds down Duck
Sega Genesis C Button Jump/Spin Attack
Sega Genesis B Button Call Mips
Hold Sega Genesis A Button + Controlpadds down > tapping Sega Genesis A Button > release Controlpadds Dash
Hold Sega Genesis A Button > tapping Sega Genesis A Button > release Sega Genesis A Button Super Speed Dash
Sega Genesis A Button/Sega Genesis B Button/Sega Genesis C Button x2 Insta-shield
START Pause

Second player[]

Button formation Movement
Tails[3] Knuckles[4] Bunnie[4] Sally[4] Tiara[4]
Controlpadds Move
Hold Sega Genesis A Button + Controlpadds down Duck
Sega Genesis C Button Jump/Spin Attack Spin Attack Jump Jump Attack Jump Spark Attack
Sega Genesis C Button N/A Use Nicole to reprogram box N/A
Hold Sega Genesis A Button + Controlpadds down Dash Dash N/A Tacheyon Tornado
Hold Sega Genesis A Button + Controlpadds up N/A Extend arm up N/A
Hold Sega Genesis A Button > release Sega Genesis A Button Super Speed Dash N/A Super Speed Dash
Sega Genesis A Button/Sega Genesis B Button/Sega Genesis C Button x2 Fly/Swim Fly/Climb N/A Activate Hoverboard Hover as electrical particles
START Change character

Objects[]

Items[]

Gimmicks and obstacles[]

Characters[]

Playable characters[]

Non-playable characters[]

Enemies[]

Bosses[]

  • Orbotnik[12] (King's Gambit Zone)
  • Frozebotnik[13] (Ice Breaker Zone)
  • Beignetnik (Fat Tuesday Zone)
  • Trouble Clef Trap[14] (Dream Weave Zone)
  • Octocknik (Cryptic Grotto Zone)
  • Endless Loop Trap[15] (Core Memory Zone)

Zones[]

The game was to feature six Zones with three Acts each,[16] and one of Sonic's friends being rescued from each. The Zones and their associated characters are as follows:[8]

  1. King's Gambit Zone:[17] Tails
  2. Ice Breaker Zone:[17] Knuckles
  3. Fat Tuesday Zone:[17] Bunnie
  4. Dream Weave Zone:[17] Sally
  5. Cryptic Grotto Zone:[17] Tiara
  6. Core Memory Zone[17]

Bonus Zone[]

The Bonus Zones in Sonic Mars would have been entered through a "Bonus Zone Entry Blackhole".[5] This entry point would appear above a Starpost while holding fifty or more Rings,[5] much like the Star Circles featured in other Sonic games.

Special Zone[]

The Special Zones in Sonic Mars were to be accessed once the player found a hidden "Special Zone Entry Star".[5] Multiple of these entry points would be hidden through the Zones,[5] much like the Giant Rings featured in other Sonic games. Special Zones would serve as the way to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds,[5] which were required to complete the game.

Development[]

SonicMarsSallyconcept

A concept sketch for Sonic Mars. Art by Michael Kosaka.

Sonic Mars's proposal was assembled on 17 May 1994 by then-lead designer, Michael Kosaka. Assisting Kosaka with the proposal were Chris Senn and Don Goddard. The plan was to make this game the first 3D polygonal video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, complete with three-dimensional locales and characters from Sonic's world. It was also decided early on that Sonic Mars was to be set within the framework of the Sonic the Hedgehog television series, which was still airing at the time of this game's conception. It was to include two playable Sonic the Hedgehog television series characters: Sally and Bunnie, as well as Tiara Boobowski (named "Tiara Cyberooski" in this game, who would later be moved to Sonic X-treme). Additionally, Antoine and a Swat-Bot were planned to appear, the former being rescuable and the latter signaling the player was close to the boss.

After presenting the game to Sega of America's management, they gave the game green light and left Sega Technical Institute (STI) to develop the game. When it was shown what the American department of STI was developing as the next entry in the Sonic series however, Yuji Naka shook his head and said "good luck". Naka's response was based on the less-than impressive material he had been shown and his first-hand experience on the difficulties involved in developing a Sonic game.

Not long after the proposal had been green-lit, Michael Kosaka left Sega as a result of issues between himself and Comix Zone's developer, Dean Lester. Taking over as lead designer was Chris Senn. Don Goddard meanwhile began reworking the script to Sonic Mars.[18] Some time after, the Sonic the Hedgehog television series elements were dropped due to disinterest from the creators. After then switching systems, the game itself would end up being completely reworked into what would become known as Sonic X-treme.

In 2007, an early script[19] of Sonic Mars by Michael Kosaka was leaked. Interestingly enough, on the list of upcoming games are Sonic 3+ and Sonic Stadium.[20] Another script[21] was also leaked by Don Goddard. The cover page of Kosaka's script is dated 19 May 1994, while Goddard's was created later.[18] A key difference between the two, other than the date, is that Kosaka's script is written like a guide for production or a pitch for the game, while Goddard's script is purely development notes and sketches of the programming.

Staff[]

While Michael Kosaka's script had a credits section of "TBD",[20] Don Goddard had the following people credited:

  • Director/Game Designer: Chris Senn (Chris)
  • Technical Programmer: Ofer Alon (Ofer)
  • Lead Programmer/Game Design: Don Goddard (Me)
  • Tools Programmers: Mark, Robert
  • Reference: Adrian Stephens (Adrian)
  • Producer: Mike Wallis

Videos[]


References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 1.
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 2.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 4.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 5.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 6.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 12.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 17.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 9.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 13.
  10. Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 19.
  11. Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 8.
  12. Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 27.
  13. Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 29.
  14. Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 33.
  15. Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 37.
  16. Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 10.
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 14.
  18. 18.0 18.1 Senn, Chris . Sonic Xtreme - Storylines & Names. Senntient. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014.
  19. Michael Kosaka . Sonic Mars Game Script by Michael Kosaka. Sonic Retro. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020.
  20. 20.0 20.1 Kosaku, Michael (16 March 1994). SONIC MARS - Game Script 1.1. Sega Technical Institute. pg. 48.
  21. Goddard, Don . Don Goddard Sonic 32X game script. Sonic Retro. Archived from the original on 23 February 2020.
Sonic the Hedgehog scrapped video games

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