Internet User Unearths a Cancelled SEGA Saturn Resident Evil Game
Of all the 90s SEGA systems, the Saturn is probably the one that drew the shortest straw. No, we’re not counting nonsense like the 32X and the Nomad, because really, we knew those were stinkers out of the gate. Sorry, all those Nomad fans out there. All two of you (we meet on Sundays).
But unlike those, the Saturn had promise; more bits and blast processing than ever before, and a projected library consisting of several heavy hitters like Sonic and exciting new IPs like NiGHTS. Sadly, as most retro gamers know, it became a victim of being in the wrong decade, against the wrong monopolising media conglomerates, at the wrong time. Despite a promising sputter of life on its Japanese debut, the poor thing stumbled into the American market and was royally decimated by the Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation not long after.
Soon, the system was discontinued, multiple planned titles for it were put on ice, and SEGA’s focus quietly turned towards the beckoning Dreamcast. That has pretty much become the Saturn’s legacy – a failure, a mere footnote of a stopgap attempt between the 16 and 64-bit eras. Personally, I think that’s a bit ‘arsh, but who am I if not a tiny drop in the wind of popular opinion?
Equally associated with the console, though, is its myriad of canned software. Many folks are aware of titles like Sonic Xtreme, a platformer which promised to bring the mascot into a topsy-turvy, nausea-inducing environment, spinning round tubes and up vertical inclines. For the sake of all our stomachs, perhaps it was best it was called off; the core physics-bending concept would later be incorporated (far more gracefully) into 2013’s Sonic Lost World. Yeah, that’s right. I said it. Lost World was good. You all just didn’t know how to play it.
What we didn’t know until now, however, is that another studio who had projects cancelled due to the Saturn’s poor returns was Capcom. They’re pretty renowned these days for Monster Hunter and Ace Attorney, to name a couple. As GameRant reports, a user on the Internet Archive (essentially an online dumping ground for digital miscellany) uploaded a scan from Saturn Fan, a Japanese magazine dedicated to – what else – the Saturn. Basic comprehension here, lads.
The image is of great interest to purveyors of lost media, as well as those partial to mucking about in zombie-infested townhouses, as it lists a number of cancelled third-party Saturn games – including an entry in the Resident Evil series. Have a gander at the scan, and the Tweet which revealed it, below:
“At the moment, it is unclear whether the games’ cancellations were due to declining support for the system, or the Saturn’s complex hardware design,” states the report, which is often “cited as the reason it did not receive as much third-party support as the PlayStation.” It’s pretty easy to see how having such franchises as Biohazard on the Saturn would have generated more support for the dwindling console, but alas it was not to be.
It’s also not apparent precisely what form this Resident Evil title would have taken. Who knows, though? We could have been in store for something wholly original; something that may have become a firm fan favourite. Anything’s possible.
Ultimately, it seems “Capcom likely decided it would not be worth it” to pursue releasing their software on the doomed Saturn, and so that, as they say, was that. A wise fiscal decision? Probably. The decision SEGA higher-ups of the day wanted to hear? I doubt it very much.
Would these games have salvaged the chances of the Saturn? It’s tough to say, but one thing’s for sure – we’ve another load of cancelled titles to toss on the ever-growing pile of rubble that’s weighing down its coffin. Surely someday its fortunes will turn around… Sonic Xtreme HD, perhaps?
What do you make of these findings? Do any of these cancelled titles strike you as interesting? Did you own a Saturn, or have any memories with it? Let us know!
Via, GameRant.
