The Saturn Early Launch in North America - Help Me Understand...

[Gryson]

It was in another Kalinske interview: https://lukezapart.com/tom-kalinske-interview

I'd forgotten why Kalinske said it was moved, so maybe it wouldn't have worked in any event. But if resources hadn't been diverted to the 32X, maybe Knuckles could have been the Saturn's mascot. I would have enjoyed seeing that anyway.

That's not accurate. Remember, Kalinske wasn't really involved much with software. I all but guarantee you he's confusing Sonic X-Treme with Knuckles Chaotix. It doesn't help that the question was a leading question with inaccurate information. But yes, this is a good example of how Kalinske will give a confident answer even when he's giving inaccurate information.

The development history of Knuckles Chaotix is well documented. It started as a Mega Drive game called Sonic Crackers. It was developed in Japan (which is one reason I was skeptical that Kalinske knew anything about it).

You can read more here: http://info.sonicretro.org/Chaotix/Development

One of the developers, Kazuyuki Hoshino, was interviewed in MD Collected Works:

Q: With Chaotix, the series moved to the 32X. How did the new technology affect your design plans?

H: The team that worked with me on Chaotix was assembled from young members of staff who had worked on Sonic CD. From my perspective, the Super 32X was very clearly a piece of hardware born out of the transitional period between console cycles. It was simply meant to be “a faster version of the Mega Drive” for the North American market. At that time we were completely absorbed with the far superior ability of expression offered by the Sega Saturn.

Q: How did the development period for Chaotix compare to that of Sonic CD?

H: I had to leave the team in the middle of Chaotix – at the time provisionally titled “Sonic Crackers” – in order to start on the NiGHTS into dreams… project, so I didn’t learn all the details of what happened until after I left. Nevertheless, I know that everyone worked very hard every day from early in the morning until late at night. We used to all jump in the car in the middle of the night and go eat ramen together. Back then, the CS development department was based in the middle of nowhere – next to Ota Market, a gigantic fruit and vegetable market – and since the last bus left before 10 p.m., we often had to stay at the office overnight.

The developers wanted to be working on the Saturn but got stuck on the 32X...

Takayuki Kawagoe, the guy in Japan who was producing all of the 32X titles, said that Chaotix, Tempo, and Cosmic Carnage were originally Mega Drive titles that they just shifted to the 32X.

[axel]

The reason Mario is so beloved from multiple generations of people isn't that people like to impersonate middle aged slighly overweight plumbers, is that the games he starred in are always fun for all ages and Nintendo put the utmost care to preserve the goodwill around the character (and since the character is the face of the Company, they assure the goodwill around the Company)..

In general I agree with you, but that hasn't always been the case for Mario. SMB2j isn't exactly friendly to newer players and games like Mario 64 or Sunshine had steeper learning curves than more recent entries e.g. 3D World. The games aren't bad but they weren't designed for casuals.

That's not accurate. Remember, Kalinske wasn't really involved much with software. I all but guarantee you he's confusing Sonic X-Treme with Knuckles Chaotix. It doesn't help that the question was a leading question with inaccurate information. But yes, this is a good example of how Kalinske will give a confident answer even when he's giving inaccurate information.

The development history of Knuckles Chaotix is well documented. It started as a Mega Drive game called Sonic Crackers. It was developed in Japan (which is one reason I was skeptical that Kalinske knew anything about it).

Thanks, that makes sense. I was surprised to hear him say that since the history of Sonic Crackers is well known. What did he mean though when he said "the decision was made to cut it into parts and introduce it quickly on 32X"? Is Kalinske simply mistaken or did any aspect of X-treme make its way into Chaotix, maybe the 3D bonus levels?

[Gryson]

What did he mean though when he said "the decision was made to cut it into parts and introduce it quickly on 32X"? Is Kalinske simply mistaken or did any aspect of X-treme make its way into Chaotix, maybe the 3D bonus levels?

I wouldn't overthink it. "cut it into parts" is most likely a reference to Sonic 3. The memories are jumbled together.

I don't know why people ask Kalinske specific questions about games. He really was not involved with them and most of what he says is not accurate.

[axel]

I wouldn't overthink it. "cut it into parts" is most likely a reference to Sonic 3. The memories are jumbled together.

I don't know why people ask Kalinske specific questions about games. He really was not involved with them and most of what he says is not accurate.

Right, that makes sense.