Today the Unseen 64 family would like to welcome another beta-geek that is going to help us to expand the unseen archive: Tilemaxx is now part of the U64 Staff! But the list it’s not finished yet, as there are still a couple of new friends that could join us soon.. but we are still working on that ;)
This is probably an old news for hardcore Sonic fans, but everyone else will be happy to know that at the Sonic Retro website they are working on a playable remake of the Sonic 1 beta! As they write on the project page: “Sonic 1 Beta Remake is a Sonic 1 hack created by Mistergambit, first released on September 14th, 2006. This hack has all of the Sonic 1 levels redesigned to look like their prototype counterparts as seen in various magazine screen shots. This hack also has new objects, such as a functioning Splats, The Checkered Ball that was scrapped from GHZ, and more. To make it seem more like a genuine prototype, Some levels are made to look unfinished.“
You can read more info and download the beta remake at Sonic Retro! Props to them :)
Here’s a video from the remake of the beta Marble Zone:
In this old video from Earthworm Jim 2 there are some differences from the final version: the health display’s different, there’s some extra animations in the flying segment, the door segment’s layout has changed completely and there’s the unused green tentacle enemy (which looks incredibly well animated- maybe that’s why it was cut). You can check more info and screens about the beta version of EJ2 in our archive page
Video:
Al Carlson has made us notice that The Roots, a cancelled XBOX action RPG, was released for the Nokia N-Gage. Obviusly the Ngage version looks different from the XBOX one and probably even the gameplay is a bit different, but we wonder if it could have the same storyline as the unreleased game. You can check the Ngage version of The Roots at these links:
Thanks again to Al for this information! It’s interesting to notice that another cancelled game, Johnny Whatever for the PS2, was somehow released for the Gizmondo . Even if they are some of the more unknow portable gaming consoles, the Ngage and the Gizmondo have some love for lost games.
The Unseen 64 Podcast is only in Italian, sorry!
U64 Podcast: Episodio 1.4 – Sonic Xtreme 3° parte [32:37] Eccoci finalmente all’ultimo episodio della podcast dedicato alla leggenda di Sonic Xtreme, per concludere la discussione sul progetto e mettere un po’ di ordine alle tante informazioni di cui abbiamo parlato nelle scorse puntate. Una mezzoretta in compagnia dello staff ormai stanco e poco sveglio, per ascoltare la triste storia del team impiegato per 16 ore al giorno nel tentativo di finire Xtreme, la richiesta dell’engine 3D di Nights, il rifiuto di Naka, la malattia di Coffin, la fiducia di Sega Of America, la cancellazione definitiva del progetto Sonic Saturn, i collegamenti con il cartone animato, la sostituzione con Sonic 3D Blast, i misteriosi livelli bonus di Sonic 3D Poll, le palle di Sonic, le lezioni di economia aziendale del sig. Bakka, la filosofia giapponese dello sviluppo videoludico, Sonic e la lotta contro il tempo, l’eredità del progetto Xtreme, il rilascio online del prototipo giocabile, le crudeli lotte fra i Sonic fans, la rinascita di Xtreme nel Project S, l’utopica questione delle beta rilasciate su WiiWare e le aggiunte a Pokemon Snap, le rivelazioni segrete di un Nintendaro fallito e il cambio di personalità di un giovane Segafan. Un degno finale per una podcast con poco ordine. >> U64 Episodio 1.4 – Download Versione in MP3
