'Vectorman's' Unreleased PS2 Title Found and Preserved!

Video Games

Jan 30

Remember Vectorman? This environmentally conscious post-apocalyptic 16-bit Genesis duology is well regarded by SEGA fans. It is best remembered for its pre-rendered 3D visuals, fluid animation, and solid gameplay. Unfortunately, our green robot never left the Genesis, with the two Genesis titles forever being staples of SEGA’s retro compilations. However, this was not due to a lack of trying, as BlueSky Software, the original developer of the Vectorman titles, had plans for a sequel on SEGA’s ill-fated Saturn console, and other developers even had ideas for a title on the Dreamcast and beyond. All of these plans fell through, but the one that came the closest was Pseudo Interactive’s Vectorman for the PlayStation 2.

SEGA announced the game in April of 2003, intending to release it the following year. The game even had a strong reception at that year’s E3. However, the game was canceled, with news of its demise coming in November of 2003. Vectorman was an unfortunate casualty of the SEGA-Sammy merger, with then-CEO Peter Moore preparing to leave the company as well. Though the game was never released to the public, recently, 11 prototype builds were found in addition to other development documents.

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The builds were preserved by Comby Laurent on his website Sega Dreamcast Info Games Preservation. The game was set to be a 3rd person shooter, with several builds being described as “Halo-like.” However, one build seems to be closer to the more cartoony style of the original two games, and that build is 3.14. This was the one that went over best with playtesters and the press, as it was much more faithful to the Genesis titles. The game was designed with two-player co-op in mind and made to stand out amongst the other shooters of its day. This was made after the “Halo-like” builds and is one that not many people have seen before. Whether or not this would have been good or not is unknown, but it is interesting to imagine what it would have been like.

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