(Atari Newsline. Breaking News.) On this Atari Newsline, Atari historian & authoer Kieren Hawken (“The Laird’s Lair” on YouTube) discusses new Atari Trademarks, Game IP & Future Releases! What could be up Atari’s sleeves? We read the tea leaves & discuss some of the latest Atari news, rumors & future releases Atari are working on (or could potentially work on.) On location in Los Angeles, CA. Enjoy!
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Ballistik Coffee Boy. 
Your guest is way off the mark talking about Sega Mr Nutz.
The Sega story goes along the lines of..
A sequel, titled Mr. Nutz: Hoppin’ Mad was released for the Amiga. It was planned for release on the Sega Mega Drive under the name of Mr. Nutz 2 but was ultimately scrapped despite reportedly being finished (and sent to various magazines for review). Uncompiled source code of the game was leaked in 2009 and compiled into a playable build in 2012.
Mr. Nutz 2 began life as an Amiga game called Timet the Flying Squirrel. Originally slated for an April 1993 release (with Mega Drive and Super NES versions to follow), it would have been published by German company Kaiko. however the project never made it to market. Instead, the game was picked up by Ocean Software, with the main character changed to resemble Ocean’s “Mr. Nutz” character, due to star in his own eponymous game.
Being developed by a completely separate studio in Neon Software, Mr. Nutz 2 is a much faster game than Ocean’s original game, inspired by Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario World, as opposed to the is a slower-paced adventure of Ocean’s effort. While on the Amiga, Hoppin’ Mad was not marketed as a direct sequel, the Mega Drive version was almost always referred to as Mr. Nutz 2. It is not known whether Mr. Nutz: Hoppin’ Mad or Mr. Nutz 2 would have been the game’s final name; an almost complete prototype suggests the former, but most press coverage uses Mr. Nutz 2. Despite having likely entered development first, Mr. Nutz 2s console releases were scrapped, likely because delays saw both it and Ocean’s Mr. Nutz set to be released in early 1995. Mr. Nutz 2 did, however, make it to the press for review, and Mean Machines Sega suggested it would be sold for £44.95 in the UK
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Thanks Ross. If you’d like to come on the show to discuss and show your face that may be best
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Ocean France wrote the ST and Amiga conversions of Toki for Ocean UK.
Toki oon Jaguar had a working title of Apeshit, it’s at best a semi-sequel, the true Toki 2 was an unpublished action-puzzle follow-up to Toki being made in 1992, the year TAD went under.
Ocean also had annouced Lobo for the Jaguar along with Waterworld, the latter supposedly being coded by Ocean USA.
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A breakdown of the different Mr Nutz Games on console.
SNES November 1993
Genesis 1994
Sega Channel 1995
Gameboy 1994
Gameboy Color 1999
Gameboy Advance 2001
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Your more than welcome. Whilst the Mr Nutz games were not my kind of thing (never been a huge fan of Euro-Platformer to be honest), the story behind them is a curious one, not an I. P i ever thought I would see revived.
Appearing on shows as a guest isn’t something i feel would benifit anyone, comments sections allow for polite corrections and additional information to be added.
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Oh it most certainly would help others… Esp if you feel the info by KH to be inaccurate, folks need to hear your POV. So feel free to come on, folks dont read comments, I appreciate you
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I fear I might have posted in haste this morning in particular , as we were rushing out the door, that was unkind of me, please allow me to explain my stance.
Your guests information was to be completey honest, sadly lacking the essential back story information regarding the unreleased Sega Mr Nutz title.
In 1992, a group of ex-Kaiko developers formed Neon Studios and started work on a game under the name Timet: the Flying Squirrel (if you check the images/entry on Unseen64, you’ll see a very different main character sprite for a start)..the idea was to show that the Amiga could hold its own against contemporary home consoles when it came to cutesy platform games.
A work in-progress version was shown at the European Computer Trade Show in April 1993, where Ocean Software saw it and took an interest in it, offering them a publishing contract.
Once the game had been signed, Ocean decided to change the protagonist to their squirrel character Mr. Nutz, who was slated to star in an unrelated platformer by Ocean for the SNES later that year.
Ocean released the newly redesigned game as Mr. Nutz: Hoppin’ Mad in 1994, for all models of Amiga computer.
With the Amiga version finished, Neon Studios started work bringing it to the Sega Mega Drive.
Ocean wanted to release the Mega Drive version in Europe in 1995 as Mr. Nutz 2, acting as the sequel of the console Mr. Nutz game which had already been released on the Mega Drive.
Preview material on it was sent to European and Australian Gaming Press, but Ocean decided not to publish it on the Mega Drive , as the console was in it’s twilight years and they didn’t think they would recoup the investment on it,had they done an expensive cartridge manufacturing run.
-Your guest stated nobody knew the reason why it went unreleased, this was an inaccurate statement to make.
It was also inaccurate to claim the MD version of Mr Nutz is essentially the Amiga version, it’s not. There are key differences which I believe amount to: -The level 1 Boss doesn’t look nowhere anywhere as interesting as the Amiga one, which used mode7-like effects… -There is no longer an overhead bonus level, instead it’s replaced by a shoot ’em up bonus level, also sadly missing is the and raytraced tunnel level.
Yes, there is scope for a potential Mr. Nutz collection, with the SNES, AMIGA, GB, MD and GBC games.
We here in the UK also had as part of Sky One’s Gamesworld TV show, Monday to Friday, on Thursday nights, which was the interactive phone-in game night, “Grab Your Nutz” a sort of Pac Man affair, starring Mr. Nutz… (I assume your guest wasn’t aware of this?) So yes, the character was pushed hard over here for a while.
As kind as the repeated offers to appear on your show are, it’s not something i can see myself partaking it. Whilst at the time, i very much loved my 2600,i now only appreciate the formats gorgeous artwork, i loved my 800XL, Lynx and the Jaguar just about justified my investment. The ST i do regret buying, in hindsight, I should of gone with the Amiga. My role these days is basically assisting others with their work on lost Atari games and canned systems like the Atari Panther. I don’t write books,i have no YT channel, i am not looking to establish a social media presence. I merely enjoy hearing aspects of Atari discussed, i offer additional background information and constructive criticism and corrections.
Everyone has a role to play i feel, but as someone from the UK, you’ll have to forgive me for wanting our story given an accurate account.
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A lot of the information is a little confused to be honest and doesn’t represent the true European side of things and polite corrections just add clarity to the discussion.
You say people don’t read comments, that’s a curious one, because i see a lot of discussion in YT comments, content creators always asking for people to leave feedback, ideas, extra info etc in comments section below, on channels i watch.
You have a comments section here…
My point of view is just that, a few constructive criticism style corrections, some missing background information for the community to enjoy.
I ddon’t feel i need to make an appearance as a public figure, i am absolutely nobody in the scene, but thank you,i appreciate the offer.
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Hey Ross, I appreciate your input and comments, but rather than read 9 paragraphs it’s much easier on me and my eyes (as well as personal time) if you just come on the show to discuss. Keep in mind I edited the video so some of the info you mention may have been cut due to time, as well as him having to discuss things in a quick manner so we could move on to more topics. I wouldn’t dog the man for that. Anyhow, you can come on and take as much time as you like, just let me know. Thanks for clarifying, and have a great day, I appreciate your support.
BB
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Hi,
Would it be easier just to delete all the earlier posts, just leave the most recent and most detailed, explaining the origins of Sega Mr Nutz 2 and additional Mr Nutz game not mentioned.
That gets the crux across.
I can only comment on what came up in discussion during your exchange.
All tthe best for the future,
Ross
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