Making a Sonic Team fan, part 4...

Sonic Team had always gone above and beyond when creating new titles. Sonic, Burning Rangers, NiGHTS into dreams, and Billy Hatcher were all fantastic with unique game play elements. Like many AAA developers there were volumes of unused assets that remained on the cutting room floor as the games were each finalized. In some cases the remains of a beta stage, character, or even music could be found in the game data itself, waiting to be discovered by the community. The Sonic games had several examples of beta material being left on the Genesis cartridges. Similar things were expected for the Saturn disks, the only problem was getting to that data was hard. It took decades for home-brew programmers to get to the info, and compile it into a workable format.

In the previous blog I mentioned that Mecha NiGHTS had been uncovered during a data mine. Even more shocking was the possibility that there was a cut boss named Selph planned for the game. While combing through the data files people found all sorts of models, animations, and unused game assets, but nothing about another boss. In the logs they discovered the file names, and unused icons for the bosses. Gillwing, Clawz, Gulpo, Puffy, Jackie, Reala, and the final boss named Wizeman. For a while the only mention of an eight boss was text only. Self, sometimes spelled Selph would have appeared before the final boss. Yet there had never been any sort of concept art, or model that could be found. Until one day a single icon was isolated.

The community was split over what we were looking at. Even when there was an update to Selph following the datamine To me, and many others it was a pointy headed alien-like creature with dark eyes. Others saw a giant claw, or pincer. I began wondering how the character would have looked, and more important how this character would have fit into the game. Up until that point NiGHTS had faced many of the boss battles in head-on fights. Some bosses, like Clawz, and Gulpo required more strategy. Two other bosses, Jackie, and Reala also wore a hat similar to NiGHTS, and they could fly. If Selph were to appear just before the final boss, or even as a hidden boss, then it must have been a special encounter.

The name Selph was very significant for Sonic Team. In order to build the game the studio had to become well versed in the psychology behind dreams, and their meanings. One of the most influential psychologists that they often cited in interviews was Carl Jung. His theory of analytical psychology was very profound. He developed the idea of ways people present themselves, or mask their intents. The idea of a collective conscious, and unconscious as well as the concept of Self. Naoto Ohshima, Yuji Naka, and the Sonic Team crew became adapt at interpreting the dreams of their coworkers. They were so good at being amateur psychologists that many in the company shared a lot of personal information. Years later they realized that that they knew much more about their Sega counterparts than they should have. Talk about an HR nightmare! But I digress... I was inspired to create how I think Selph would have appeared in the game. 

The original release of the game was not necessarily understood by audiences when it came out. It became something special to those that figured out what Sonic Team accomplished. It was all the more important because the game conveyed a message without one word of dialogue, or anything to translate. NiGHTS into dreams… was more than a story of boy meets girl. It dealt with anxiety, especially anxiety in kids in a way that no other game or media had ever attempted. The question that many in the community had was how would a battle agains the “Self” have played out?

I would argue that the boss battle would have worked out to more of a chase sequence. There wouldn’t have been actual punching, kicking, or tackling involved. As this was something that NiGHTS already did with every other boss battle. Instead I think the battle would have been a series of encounters. A way for the main characters to chase after their true selves. I believe that Elliot, and Claris, the human stars of the game would have each turned into their own version of NiGHTS at the end of the sequence. Then they would then have had the power to confront the big boss Wizeman in the dream world without having to rely entirely on NiGHTS.

I think this scenario made sense for a number of reasons. In the final shared stage of the game both Elliot, and Claris had to work together to free NiGHTS from a prison. After doing so they would merge, or “Dualize” with the main character. This would give each of them the powers of NiGHTS, and the ability to take down the gigantic villain themselves. In essence they needed the courage to face their own fears. I believe that Selph was going to be a distinct boy, and girl version of NiGHTS, with their own identifying colors that matched Claris, and Elliot. It made a lot more sense to me than seeing two versions of the dream jester at the end of the game.

This was the way I interpreted Self based on the game icon, but also because I had played through every Sonic Team game ever made. I understood the way the studio framed the levels, and approached their battles. Not only that but I had studied Carl Jung in my anthropology classes, it gave me an additional insight into dream personas. So what happened with Selph? Why was the boss cut? Sonic Team had a tight deadline. They needed to have a killer app ready for the launch of the 32-bit Sega Saturn console in 1995. Sadly the game wouldn’t be ready until a year after the console’s launch. Pressed for time they began seeing what they could cut. This boss, a new battle, a new 3D model were put on the chopping block. The only thing they forgot to scrub from the game data was the name, and icon.

Sega was working on the Dreamcast console, while the Saturn was still finding its legs. To many, myself included, this was the death knell for the console division, and the company as a whole. At the same time this would be a chance for Sonic Team to return to the blue blur, and bring the hedgehog into fully realized 3D. NiGHTS came out in 1996, and Sonic Adventure in 1998. Ask any AAA studio what an absurdly short turnaround time that was, especially for completely new hardware. The studio acknowledged that the Nightopians were the prototype A-Life characters that inspired the development of the Chao in Sonic Adventure. I don’t think that was the only thing the team brought over from their previous work. Selph was a great concept that deserved a second look. Sonic Team. Sonic would fight Eggman in his new adventure, but he needed a bigger opponent as whell. Perhaps a shape shifting creature that started off small, but became progressively bigger, and more dangerous as the game went on. I would argue that the studio took another look at Selph, and with a few changes turned the design into Chaos.

This was all conjecture on my part, based on a single file name, and a single game icon. I’m sticking with it though until I hear otherwise from Sonic Team members. There was more art that I had done recently based on NiGHTS, but it was not quite what you might imagine. I’ll share more of it on the next blog. Until then I want to hear about the unused content, stages, bosses, or heroes that you wish you would have gotten to see. Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Who will rule The New Urth? A 1UP classic...

Primal Rage was released in the mid-90's. If you've never played the game let me sum up. It was a fighting game featuring giant monsters.

That hardly sounds like a description worth anything. Especially since I'm bringing up old games. Let me try and set the stage and put the game in context. After 1992, following the release of Street Fighter II, fighting games were en vogue. Every studio on the face of the Earth was scrambling to release a fighter of their own.

Countless crappy clones came out. Some were decent but the majority sucked. It seemed that while any studio could put together a fighter, they lacked what it took to make it great. The animations were choppy, collision detection was sloppy, the designs rubbish and the balance nonexistent. In the USA it seemed that while we lacked the polish of Funamizo and Okamoto's Street Fighter games, we made up for it with violence. None of the western fighting games as unique or violent as Primal Rage.

The story for Primal Rage was great sci-fi. A meteor crash destroys civilization and unleashes ancient gods from suspended animation. Tribes of men follow around these gods and worship them from the onset.

The art direction in the game is superb. The levels are all over-the-top designs for Earth gone savage. Cities lay in ruin, oceans have shifted and volcanos erupt in the background. Some levels are set around lush jungles while others in a frozen wasteland. All of the levels use bright colors, weather effects and dramatic lighting to achieve an original look and feel.

The main characters, mostly dinosaurs are very memorable. Many arcade gamers think that Atari came up with the look and feel of the characters all by themselves. Those that read comics know that the designs and color schemes were directly lifted from Ricardo Delgado's Age of Reptiles. Anybody that reads this blog, is into great art and comics should think about getting both Age of Reptiles trade paperbacks if you haven't already.

These creatures and the whole game are memorable because it marks the first time stop-motion clay figures were used in a videogame. The Neverhood claymation videogame was released a year or so after Primal Rage. Prior to that most fighting characters were hand drawn sprites as the 3D polygons in Virtua Fighter were crude by comparison. There is a certain charm to seeing actual, physical objects used as sprites. While many were awed by the CGI and polygon models in future games one could still appreciate the detail that went into the creation of actual clay figures for the game.

Atari released multiple updates for the game while it was in the arcade. The game was loose, unbalanced, choppy and subject to many glitches. Aside from that it was a fun experience. Fun in the sense that the controls were unique. There were four attack buttons and a joystick. Rather than inputting the commands like you would in Street Fighter II, players had to hold and release the buttons while moving the joystick. This completely changed the pace of the typical fighter and allowed for players to learn new strategies.

It is possibly the violence that everyone remembers most from the game. Mortal Kombat has already set the standard for shock in the arcade with the advent of the Fatality. Once the bar had been set there was nothing short of a Hellraiser game that could shock the average arcade player. Primal Rage was as close as we'd ever get to topping Mortal Kombat.

For many Primal Rage had crossed the line and set a new standard in depravity. Some fatalities had the main characters eating the flesh off of the opponent. Blizzard, a giant ape would pound his opponents into the ground and then punch the brain right out of their skull. Chaos, a different ape had ranged attacks consisting of projectile vomit and toxic gas farts. One of his fatalities was the "Golden Shower." Chaos would lift his leg and pee acid on the fallen opponent... I'm not making this stuff up people!

The spectrum of fighting games would shift over the next few years. Rare created Killer Instinct, whose fancy SGi sprites, brutal fatalities and massive combos won the average arcade gamer over. I wasn't that impressed with the title since it had all been done before in Primal Rage. The concept of juggling and opponent and setting off obscene combos I first saw in Primal Rage. One of my friends could easily top 77 hit combos in the game. That was impressive for the time.

Games like Killer Instinct feature automatic and cheap combos that you can pull on an opponent. The "vs" titles from Capcom feature hundred hit combos that can keep an opponent perpetually suspended until they die. This type of combo pornography has pretty much killed the fighting game. At least for me anyhow.

Primal Rage was just too far ahead of its time. Fighting characters that weren't human, unique control, a solid plot and fully realized world. In concept and execution it was a great title. The home console versions were decent but simply couldn't match the sound and detail of the arcade.

There was even a Primal Rage II in the works. Due to the cost associated with the fighter it was scrapped. Ask anybody that's played the majority of fighters in the arcade if they would like to have seen a Primal Rage II. Most would say yes. It would be a welcome change of pace from another damn Mortal Kombat.

Maybe one day the rights will get picked up and somebody will bring Primal Rage back from the dead. Hey, if new life was breathed into titles like Prince of Persia and Ghouls and Ghosts then there might still be a chance.

EDIT: Proof that Primal Rage characters can make any game more fun. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!