When Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released, it was an instant success. Kids all around couldn’t stop talking about the game, nor could they stop talking about the newest character added to the Sonic mythos – Miles “Tails” Prower. His popularity raised just as quickly as Sonic’s did, and it wasn’t long before he was spun off into a handful of his own games. Tails and the Music Maker, Tails’ Skypatrol, and Tails Adventures all put the two-tailed fox in the forefront. SEGA had faith in Sonic’s sidekick, and for good reason.

However, those weren’t the only games that had been pitched as stand alone titles for Tails. Earlier today, Craig Stitt, known to Sonic fans as an artist on both Sonic 2 and Sonic Spinball, shared a handful of still images he created for Treasure Tails, a game that was pitched all the way back in February of 1993.

Conceived by game designer Bill Dunn, the game was meant to be an “isometric platform puzzle/adventure game” for the Sega Mega Drive. To help with the presentation, Bill asked Craig to mock up some screenshots, which you can see above and below. As to how it was meant to play, we unfortunately don’t have more than what is here, as Craig admitted he “had totally forgotten about it myself until recently rewatching a VHS resume I had put together in 1995.” While it’s unlikely that it ever reached a playable state, it is still amazing to see these screens and imagine what could have been.

This hasn’t been the only content Craig has been releasing to the public. Back in 2001, an interview with Craig had him mention that, during the early development of Sonic 2, he had pitched a character named “Boomer the Turtle” to serve as Sonic’s sidekick. However, no art of the character had been seen, until now. Included in the concept sketches are also descriptions of how Boomer could have interacted with Sonic, which would have made for a very different playing experience.

Also uploaded over the last few days was footage footage of an unreleased STI game Craig Stitt had pitched. Entitled Astropede, it starred a centipede who could run at Sonic-like speeds, with the ability to shoot. In fact, Craig hoped that the game could exist in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe. For more on that, be sure to check out the write-ups over at SEGAbits.

In Craig’s original post, he also asked that if anyone remembered anything about Tails Treasure, to contact him and help fill in the gaps. So if anyone who worked at the Sega Technical Institute back in the 90’s has anything to add, don’t hesitate to get in contact with Craig!

Sources:
[RetroFaith]
[SEGAbits]