1. Sonic X-Treme - Skeleton Staff, Impossible Deadline
This was to be the first main series Sonic game for the Saturn. It was a platformer, a 3D platformer, and from the looks of the impressive demos, one that could've rivaled Mario 64. So, what went wrong? It was never finished, due to some of the most awful changes in SEGA history. Although many terrible decisions preceded it, the beginning of the end came when the development team met with the bosses, headed by then-CEO Hayao Nakayama. They were divided into three groups. Each group met with the execs separately. The first group's demo was incredibly outdated, and Nakayama's posse were not impressed. The second group showed a demo of the boss levels, looking far more polished; Nakayama's posse were impressed. So, why bother seeing the other third of people in charge of your flagship game? Competence. Yeah, competence is a good reason. The SEGA bigwigs decided the boss levels were so awesome that they wanted the entire game to look like that, and promptly fired the first group and the third group. Unfortunately, what the third group achieved was pretty stunning in itself, but alas, those busy SEGA elders would never see it. They had left the building by the time group 3 arrived. The skeleton staff were made to work to a ridiculously tight Christmas '96 deadline with no help in sight. The only way to complete the game was if the team worked around the clock. One of the main developers, Chris Coffin, moved a bed into the office and worked continuously throughout the summer. Hard work pays off, kids! Unless, of course, you work so hard you catch pneumonia, which is what Coffin did, and that was effectively the final nail in the...casket...of what could've been brilliant. Sonic X-Treme was scrapped entirely. The Saturn never got its main series Sonic game. It died painfully.