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Sonic Extreme

Interview

Interview: Arvin Bautista, former Backbone artist – Sonic ExtReme (GBA)

Those of you with a good memory may remember that several months ago, Arvin Bautista, formerly of Backbone Entertainment, revealed on Twitter that at one point a pitch was being worked on for a GBA racing game that seemed, at the very least, heavily inspired by the Sonic Riders series. Providing a work-in-progress title screen, Arvin certainly set a few imaginations running wild and so we thought at the very least, we should ask a few questions regarding the project. Hit the jump to read the full interview!

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Game News

Sonic Extreme To Be Playable At Portland Retro Gaming Expo

Right off, this is not “Xtreme”, the canceled Sega Saturn game, but something else.

You may remember a few months back we posted video of a previously unknown Sonic game found on the hard drive of an XDK Developmental Xbox called Sonic Extreme, featuring Sonic and Shadow on hover boards doing kickflips, 50/50 grinds and going vert off ramps in a Green Hill/Seaside Hill hybrid similar to Tony Hawk Pro Skater.

I promise never to do skateboard talk again.

For those of you craving a little more than videos and want to play this title, and you happen to be near Portland, Ore., the Game Trader booth at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo will feature the game for the public to play.

The game was determined to be an extremely early pitch demo for a Sonic skateboarding game that, after some cleaning up and changes in gameplay, would later become the first Sonic Riders title for the PlayStation 2, Gamecube, Xbox, and PC. The earliest rumors of the game’s existence back in the mythical year of 2005 also had it named “Sonic Extreme” and “Sonic R-2.” The “Extreme” part of the name still lives on in-game in the form of the hover boards, “Extreme Gear.”

For more about the history of Sonic Extreme, just check out its page on our wiki. The Retro Gaming Expo is set to start on Sept. 24.

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Game News, Site News

Monday Links: Yep, Koei Still Sucks Edition

Filling in for Slingerland this week, as he is too busy partying with a chicken or something. Sometimes, I don’t know about that man.

Sonic Retro News

  • There’s been a series of updates on Sonic Extreme, with commentary from the owner and the original company who developed the demo. Additional footage is also inside. [ Sonic Extreme: Yes, with an E ]
  • Progress is coming slowly but surely with Sonic & Knuckles Collection; this time, MainMemory has released a new sound effect replacement tool. [ SKCsnd ]
  • Ranger, one of the guys behind Sonic 2 XL, is back with a Mother 3-styled RPG fangame. Preliminary screenshots are up , but still waiting on a demo. [ Sonic and the Rings of Order ]
  • DMAshura has announced his open-source Python Sonic engine, Porcupyne. If you’re interested, feel free to jump on the project. [ Porcupyne ]

Sonic/SEGA News

  • NG.DevTeam, the studio behind Last Hope and Fast Strikers, have put out their first shots of the upcoming game Gun Lord for the Neo-Geo and Sega Dreamcast. Good to see indie developers still supporting the system more than a decade later. [ Gun Lord ]
  • SEGABits is in the middle of Yakuza Week, meant to boost awareness of the new PlayStation 3 game Yakuza 4. Follow along and retweet their articles once a day for a chance to win some of the awesome prizes they’re giving away. [ Yakuza Week ]
  • Sega’s upcoming team shooter Binary Domain has been delayed until 2012. To tide you over in the meanwhile, they’ve released a trailer of the game, set in 2080 Tokyo. [ Binary Domain ]
  • Sega of Japan have set up a special Twitter feed for Sonic’s 20th anniversary. There have been some pretty interesting tidbits over there so far, including the possibility that Sonic Generations may be getting another title before the game ships. [ @sonic20th ]
  • Reservations for this year’s Summer of Sonic are already closed after just 10 hours! Good thing I’m getting in on my dashing looks and charm alone. [ Summer of Sonic 2011 ]

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Game News, Game Secrets

Unreleased Xbox “Sonic Extreme” Game Footage Released

So, I heard some of you are a fan of this one game, Sonic Adventure 2. It’s a pretty great game, I must admit. Most people who have played are familiar with the very first stage, City Escape. The very first part has this little part where you do a bit of downhill “skateboarding.” Pretty fun, right?

Now imagine a game based on that, because that’s precisely what Sonic Team was working on at one point in time.

Sonic Extreme is a game recently discovered on a development unit for the original Xbox console that appears to be based off the Sonic Adventure 2 engine, possibly between the time of SA2 and Sonic Heroes, and features Sonic skateboarding around in an area reminiscent of Heroes‘s Seaside Hill. Additionally, there appears to be a battle mode with Sonic and Shadow built in the same split-screen style as Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. More videos after the cut.
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