Bo Bayles (aka @memoryfallen), resident Saturn reverse engineer extraordinaire and author of the Rings of Saturn blog, has just recently unearthed yet another amazing hidden feature in Sonic Team’s Burning Rangers.
According to Bayles, it seems the dolphin NPC is actually compatible with the player controls…
Bo points out that, according to the Japanese Burning Rangers strategy guide, “Although the Burning Rangers’ equipment is designed for rescue operations under all conditions, it cannot match dolphins in terms of underwater maneuverability.”
Bayles reached out the level designer, Satoshi Okano, and according to his memory, the player character was supposed to be able to swim with the dolphins. No official word on whether or not a playable mission using the dolphins was ever intended…
We look forward to reading more about this trick works in a future blog post. In the meantime, it’s crazy to think that such secrets still remain to be uncovered in these nearly 30 year old games!
Be sure to follow Bo Bayles on social media for other amazing and delightful discoveries, such as controlling multiple NiGHTS character’s with a single controller!
A massive Saturn fan since Christmas ’96, Dave is enthusiastic about growing the community and spreading Saturn love and knowledge to fans old and new. Co-founding the SEGA SATURN, SHIRO! podcast back in 2017 and creating the SHIRO! SHOW in 2020, he seeks to create interesting and engaging Saturn-related content for the community. Dave’s interests circle around game preservation, and he is a huge fan of game magazines and developer interviews.
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