Tails of Saturn | Sonic Xtreme Voxel version running on Real Sega Saturn Hardware @TailsOfSaturn | Uploaded September 2022 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
We're in for a treat today. The SAGE (Sonic Amateur Games Expo) features not 1, but 2 Sega Saturn entries. This one is a recreation of Sonic Xtreme by Voxel. Distinct from XL2s Sonic Z-Treme, this one tries to recreate the original vision of Sonic Xtreme, including the fisheye lens and stage rotation. You tap the C button to turn rotation on and off. The physics feel more faithful to Sonic's 16bit origins and everything runs great with a decent frame rate. I couldn't find a way to spin dash and would like to see that introduced in a later build as it was definitely present in the footage from back in the day. A great addition in this build is that switches work and there are scripted high speed sections that see Sonic run through loops and twisting, winding paths. The sun lens flare looks great but can be a bit distracting. Sonics shadow looks really nice as well, and it appropriately rotates with the stage when you change angle.
You also get a final boss stage (I wasn't able to beat him) against Nack the Weasel (aka Fang the Sniper). Fully 3D and working very similarly to XL2s Metal Sonic Boss fight demo. By default, you get Sonics Sprite in these sections, but go to the options menu and you can switch to the project Condor Sonic Model or the Sonic Jam/R model. I really like the Condor model for this boss fight, and to me this section really feels like a demonstration of the 3D sonic game we could have had. It looks great, is full of polygons and detailed textures, Nack/Fang and Sonic (Condor) are well modelled and convey the cartoony sense of character that is so important to Sonic characters, and the sense of momentum and responsiveness of the controls feel spot on.
On the downside, playing this shows that the Sonic Xtreme level designs aren't very well suited to Sonic the hedgehog gameplay. The draw distance is too short to see obstacles and drops ahead of you. This would be fine if the levels were designed with speed in mind, but you never seem to get many long straights where Sonic can run and pick up speed. Turning off the fisheye lens actually helps a lot, but I do think the curvature of the fisheye lens fits Sonic's style well. It just looks less polished with it off. These issues are obviously not the fault of Voxel, and if they introduced the 2 other levels from Z-Treme it would help. Those 2 stages (Called Red and Galaxy when loading) seemed to have level design better aligned with Sonics brand of high speed platform exploration. Overall, I had great fun with this. I would have probably enjoyed it more if I hadn't already thoroughly explored the levels in Sonic Z-Treme. A great addition to the Saturn homebrew scene, very technically impressive and really faithful to the original in development Sonic Xtreme.
Running on real hardware. Burned to a CD-R and played using a Pseudo Saturn Cart. The Saturn itself is outputting via RGB Scart into an OSSC. 240p is line doubled to 480p and then recorded via a USB capture device. I'm using OBS to record the footage.
Download it here: sonicfangameshq.com/forums/showcase/sonic-x-treme-sega-saturn.1383
Alternative Download Link: segaxtreme.net/resources/sonic-x-treme-homebrew-version.145
We're in for a treat today. The SAGE (Sonic Amateur Games Expo) features not 1, but 2 Sega Saturn entries. This one is a recreation of Sonic Xtreme by Voxel. Distinct from XL2s Sonic Z-Treme, this one tries to recreate the original vision of Sonic Xtreme, including the fisheye lens and stage rotation. You tap the C button to turn rotation on and off. The physics feel more faithful to Sonic's 16bit origins and everything runs great with a decent frame rate. I couldn't find a way to spin dash and would like to see that introduced in a later build as it was definitely present in the footage from back in the day. A great addition in this build is that switches work and there are scripted high speed sections that see Sonic run through loops and twisting, winding paths. The sun lens flare looks great but can be a bit distracting. Sonics shadow looks really nice as well, and it appropriately rotates with the stage when you change angle.
You also get a final boss stage (I wasn't able to beat him) against Nack the Weasel (aka Fang the Sniper). Fully 3D and working very similarly to XL2s Metal Sonic Boss fight demo. By default, you get Sonics Sprite in these sections, but go to the options menu and you can switch to the project Condor Sonic Model or the Sonic Jam/R model. I really like the Condor model for this boss fight, and to me this section really feels like a demonstration of the 3D sonic game we could have had. It looks great, is full of polygons and detailed textures, Nack/Fang and Sonic (Condor) are well modelled and convey the cartoony sense of character that is so important to Sonic characters, and the sense of momentum and responsiveness of the controls feel spot on.
On the downside, playing this shows that the Sonic Xtreme level designs aren't very well suited to Sonic the hedgehog gameplay. The draw distance is too short to see obstacles and drops ahead of you. This would be fine if the levels were designed with speed in mind, but you never seem to get many long straights where Sonic can run and pick up speed. Turning off the fisheye lens actually helps a lot, but I do think the curvature of the fisheye lens fits Sonic's style well. It just looks less polished with it off. These issues are obviously not the fault of Voxel, and if they introduced the 2 other levels from Z-Treme it would help. Those 2 stages (Called Red and Galaxy when loading) seemed to have level design better aligned with Sonics brand of high speed platform exploration. Overall, I had great fun with this. I would have probably enjoyed it more if I hadn't already thoroughly explored the levels in Sonic Z-Treme. A great addition to the Saturn homebrew scene, very technically impressive and really faithful to the original in development Sonic Xtreme.
Running on real hardware. Burned to a CD-R and played using a Pseudo Saturn Cart. The Saturn itself is outputting via RGB Scart into an OSSC. 240p is line doubled to 480p and then recorded via a USB capture device. I'm using OBS to record the footage.
Download it here: sonicfangameshq.com/forums/showcase/sonic-x-treme-sega-saturn.1383
Alternative Download Link: segaxtreme.net/resources/sonic-x-treme-homebrew-version.145
