Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (lost build of cancelled iOS port of Sega Genesis platformers; 2014): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:19, 2 October 2019

A still from Christian Whitehead's proof-of-concept video.

Status: Lost

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is a Sega Genesis title released in 1994, that became a hit with fans and critics alike. Unfortunately, due to cartridge storage limitations and time constraints, almost half the content had to be cut from the final product. The removed content would later be re-purposed into Sonic & Knuckles, which could "lock on" and give extra content to the player when connected to Sonic 3. This created Sonic 3 & Knuckles, which is the complete and intended way to play through both of these games.

Background

In 2011, Christian Whitehead (a prominent figure in the Sonic fan community, going by the name "The Taxman" online, who was best known prior for creating the fan game Retro Sonic) was hired by Sega to make an iOS port of Sonic CD using his handcrafted Retro Engine which flawlessly recreated the physics of the original Genesis games. When it was released, it became a hit with fans and critics, later being ported to Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Steam.

Two years later in 2013, Christian was hired once again by Sega to port both Sonic 1 & 2 to iOS, this time joined by Simon Thomley (another well-respected member of the Sonic fan community, going by the name "Stealth" online, best known prior for the fangames Sonic Megamix, Sonic the Hedgehog GBA and Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog). Both the Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 ports did really well, helped by all of the new content added to the game by Christian and Simon.

Sega, hoping to follow up on this trail of success, commissioned them to port Sonic 3 & Knuckles to iOS. However, when the port's development began, legal issues arose with one of the composers, Brad Buxer, who did not want his work to be used. This hindered the project from continuing.

Availability

As of now, neither files from the game have or the IPA file itself has resurfaced or leaked. Neither Christian Whitehead nor Sega have given any word on the port's potential cancellation. The only known footage from the iOS port comes from a 2:44 video from Christian and Simon released in October 2014 on YouTube, showing the proof of concept in action.

Footage from the proof of concept

Sources

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-''Sonic The Hedgehog 3'' is a Sega Genesis title released in 1994, that became a hit with fans and critics alike. Unfortunately, due to cartridge storage limitations, some content had to be cut from the final product. The removed content would later be re-purposed into ''Sonic & Knuckles'', which could "lock on" and give extra content to the player when connected to ''Sonic 3''.
+''Sonic The Hedgehog 3'' is a Sega Genesis title released in 1994, that became a hit with fans and critics alike. Unfortunately, due to cartridge storage limitations and time constraints, almost half the content had to be cut from the final product. The removed content would later be re-purposed into ''Sonic & Knuckles'', which could "lock on" and give extra content to the player when connected to ''Sonic 3''. This created ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'', which is the complete and intended way to play through both of these games.
 ==Background==
-In 2011, Christian Whitehead (a prominent figure in the Sonic fan community) was hired by Sega to make an iOS port of ''Sonic CD'' using his handcrafted Retro Engine. When it was released, it became a hit with fans and critics. Two years later in 2013, Christian was hired once again by Sega to port both ''Sonic 1 & 2'' to iOS, which both became successes. Sega, hoping to follow up on this trail of success, commissioned him to '''port ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'' to iOS'''. However, when the port's development began, legal issues arose with one of the composers, Brad Buxer, who did not want his work to be used. This hindered the project's from continuing.
+In 2011, Christian Whitehead (a prominent figure in the Sonic fan community, going by the name "The Taxman" online, who was best known prior for creating the fan game ''Retro Sonic'') was hired by Sega to make an iOS port of ''Sonic CD'' using his handcrafted Retro Engine which flawlessly recreated the physics of the original Genesis games. When it was released, it became a hit with fans and critics, later being ported to Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Steam.
+Two years later in 2013, Christian was hired once again by Sega to port both ''Sonic 1 & 2'' to iOS, this time joined by Simon Thomley (another well-respected member of the Sonic fan community, going by the name "Stealth" online, best known prior for the fangames ''Sonic Megamix'', ''Sonic the Hedgehog GBA'' and ''Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog''). Both the Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 ports did really well, helped by all of the new content added to the game by Christian and Simon.
+Sega, hoping to follow up on this trail of success, commissioned them to '''port ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'' to iOS'''. However, when the port's development began, legal issues arose with one of the composers, Brad Buxer, who did not want his work to be used. This hindered the project from continuing.
 ==Availability==
-As of now, neither files from the game have or the IPA file itself has resurfaced. Neither Christian Whitehead nor Sega has given any word on the port's potential cancellation.
+As of now, neither files from the game have or the IPA file itself has resurfaced or leaked. Neither Christian Whitehead nor Sega have given any word on the port's potential cancellation. The only known footage from the iOS port comes from a 2:44 video from Christian and Simon released in October 2014 on YouTube, showing the proof of concept in action.
+[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAp0oImSczQ Footage from the proof of concept]
+==Sources==
+* http://info.sonicretro.org/Stealth
+* https://info.sonicretro.org/The_Taxman
+* https://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_CD_(2011)
+* https://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(2013_game)
+* https://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_2_(2013)
+* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAp0oImSczQ
+* https://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_3_%26_Knuckles
 [[Category:Lost video games]]