Sister Sonic

Sister Sonic is a cancelled role-playing video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series.^[1] Sega was to partner with Falcom, developer of the game Popful Mail, to rework characters from the Sonic franchise into Popful Mail.^[2] The game was to star Sonic the Hedgehog's long lost sister.^[3][4] However, the game was ultimately cancelled in favor of releasing simply an English translation of Popful Mail in 1995.^[5][6]

History

In 1993, Electronic Gaming Monthly reported on Sega working on an RPG in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, titled Sister Sonic, and that it would be revealed at the Toy Fair in June 1993.^[7] However, it was later reported that, despite expectations, the game did not debut at the Toy Fair.^[8] It was eventually revealed that the game was actually a reworking of the game Popful Mail, where characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog universe would be substituted in for the game's original characters, with the title referencing the fact that the main character would actually be Sonic's sister.^[9] The end result would have been similar to how Nintendo took the game Doki Doki Panic, and added elements of the Super Mario series to it for its English language release, which resulted in Super Mario Bros. 2.

However, upon hearing such reports, a large fan campaign was launched, where letters were sent to Sega, urging them to release the game in its original, Japanese state.^[10] Due to the negative feedback, the project was then delayed^[11] and eventually cancelled.^[12][13][14] Instead, an English version of Popful Mail was eventually released for the Sega CD in early 1995.^[15]

Legacy

Electronic Gaming Monthly stated that the whole scenario was a great example of the power of consumer's ability to directly influence a video game company's decisions.^[16] Due to the game's cancellation, the Sonic franchise would not feature a role-playing video game until 2008, when Sega contracted Bioware to develop Sonic Chronicles.^[17]

References