When dealing with external companies, Traveller's Tales almost always uses filenames "TT______" or "______TT", so it's most likely a placeholder.
It's a holdover from the arcade days - pretty much all of Sega's arcade racers from the period had 3-4 stages. I seem to remember the original Ridge Racer (and Revolution?) only having one! It's usually Wipeout that gets the credit for inventing the "modern" console racing game, a.k.a. "hey guys maybe we should put some content on this £50 disc". Sega were slow to wake up, so five stages + full 3D world would have been fair for a Saturn game in late 1997. It's easy to forget that trend setters like Gran Turismo debuted after the Saturn was pretty much dead. The tracks in Sonic R are also quite beefy and varied too - the problem is that they're under-utlised and the whole game is a glorified time trial.
I know the idea of a foot racer is pretty antiquated these days but man would I love to see a Sonic R2, only with more courses and a bit more polish. Taxman and co, you guys made a pretty swell looking special stage with some nice models... want to take on the task :specialed:
I always said Sonic R controlled better if you used up and down on the analog stick as a gas throttle and just steered with L and R. Good to know that, at one time, it really did have a gas button. To give another comparison, Wipeout 2097 was released in 1997, and had 8 tracks.
This is an older discovery, but has anybody ever seen this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsfHU_uEa6k Take note of the early vocals, it's so odd listening to that song with even cringier vocals :D.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAzE9RcEFLY&t=0s So apparently he found an even earlier prototype and is working on putting a video together. Awesome stuff.
I asked the uploaded about the Sonic TT name. He told me that, and I quote So if the working title stuck, it would have been a double meaning.
His commentary is really interesting. Using a plane to save on polygons, eh? Heh, the Saturn really wasn't built for 3D, now was it.
They just couldn't name it Sonic TT, it would have caused confusion with Sonic Triple Trouble. Then again, Sonic 2006...
I'm inclined to agree with him, some of the earlier textures are nicer. I think Sonic R would have been better had they gone with a more cartoony approach given the hardware limitations. Like why does Sonic's model almost look better here than in the final? His eyes look symmetrical at least.
Sonic R is pretty clean for a 3D Saturn game - there's a lot it doesn't do, but these 3D effects, no matter how pointless they ended up being, are quite pleasant to look at all things considered. Certainly better than Robotnik's face in this game.
Ya they definitely could have worked a bit in the face department. I don't know what's up with Metal Sonic, Robotnik, Amy, and Knuckles but woof. Hell even regular Sonic. None of their faces are symmetrical even. And Knuckles shoes are wrong.
