Alternate History: Sega doesn't drop the ball in the 4th to 5th gen transition

[The_Liquid_Laser]

PAOerfulone said:

The_Liquid_Laser said:

I don't think the Saturn's fortunes change too much in this scenario.  The main problem the system had was a lack of good games, especially first party games.  The Saturn actually had a killer app in Japan early on which was Virtua Fighter.  Consequently, the Saturn did fairly well in Japan.  It didn't do well in the rest of the world, because they didn't have a game that other regions considered a killer app.  What they really needed was a great Sonic game.  A more interesting alternate reality would be if Sonic Mania was released on the Saturn back in the day.  In that scenario, I think the Saturn has a fighting chance.

The only problem with that is at the time every franchise was making the jump to 3D. After Super Mario 64 marked Mario's 3D debut, and basically revolutionized the industry and helped set the standard for 3D gaming, everyone was naturally expecting Sonic to make the jump. Because the Sonic vs. Mario rivalry was still very much in full effect at this time (Sega does what Nintendon't). And that's where Sega floundered and struggled because it took them longer than they could afford to make the proper transition. By the time Sonic Adventure finally dropped on the Dreamcast, they were already past the point of no return. All it ultimately did was provide more life support for their already dying console business. If they had developed a proper 3D Sonic game for the Saturn instead and got it right, I think that would have benefited them MUCH more than if Sonic Mania was on the Saturn. If they had done that latter, Mania still would've been the great game that it is now, but it wouldn't have been received with nearly the amount of praise and acclaim. In fact, it might have been viewed as a disappointment because Sega opted to play it safe and make another 2D game instead of shooting back with their own "Sonic 64" like game.

Obviously, Sega's attempt at 3D Sonic was a big mistake, because that is what actually did happen.  One reason I think they should have made a 2D Sonic game is that they clearly had the skill at the time to make a really good 2D Sonic game, and they did not have the skill to make a really good 3D Sonic game.  I.e. I was picturing an alternate reality where their management made better decisions but not necessarily also gaining game making know-how that they never seemed to have.

But let's ignore that and assume they could have made a 3D Sonic game that was about as well received as Mario 64.  Would this be a better move than making a really good 2D Sonic game?  Even then, I believe making a really good 2D Sonic is still a better move.  The fact that all 3 consoles of Generation 5 were heading toward 3D means that a large segment of the gaming population was left out.  I say this from personal experience.  I bought a PS1 in Generation 5, because I saw RPGs getting better but action games getting worse.  Mario 64 did not feel like a "real" Mario game.  I don't think I am alone in this either.  Most people agree that all of the Mario games on the Wii were well made, both 3D and 2D.  But 2D Mario totally blows away 3D Mario in sales.  We can expect Sonic would have been in the same situation.  Even if Sega had "gotten it right" with 3D Sonic, 2D Sonic would have been more popular.  Add in the fact that Saturn would have been considered the only 2D console at at time when 2D was still fresh in everyone's minds, and I think the Saturn would have been very successful.  It might not have been #1, but it probably would have beaten the N64 just by sticking with 2D, especially with Sonic.

You'll never get ahead by following everyone else.  Sega's biggest mistake was trying to follow the trends and be marginally better than their competitors.  Sega's biggest asset back in the day was in not edgy marketing but in making really great arcade games or home games with arcade controls like Sonic.  Most of these games were 2D.  Once they went 3D, they left most of their strengths behind, and then they failed pretty hard.  On top of that all the consoles left behind a bunch of gamers that still wanted 2D action games.  It was probably smart for Sony to do this, but Sega and Nintendo missed a big opportunity.