Popful Mail X Sonic CD
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You would be forgiven for thinking that Nihon Falcom's action RPG Popful Mail was a series. In fact, the game underwent so many reimaginings following its release on the PC-8801 in 1991 that you might find a drastically different experience playing it on one console compared to another.

These differences range from additional music and levels to complete graphical overhauls, though perhaps the most interesting change is one that was only ever planned and never saw the light of day: the game was to become part of the Sonic series in its Mega CD form.

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Popful Mail would be remade as 'Sister Sonic', with the main character, Mail, taking on the role of one of Sonic's female relatives (not necessarily his sister, confusingly). This would be a remake of Popful Mail for Western audiences (though it was also planned for a Japanese release) with the added pull of Sonic as a recognisable name for those who had not come across the Japanese RPG before.

YouTube channel DidYouKnowGaming covered this planned reimagining in a video last month, pointing out that there are no official screenshots or footage from the game's transformation into a Sonic RPG. The game was definitely in development — as confirmed by the Sega-Falcom director in a November 1992 issue of the Japanese magazine Beep Megadrive — but it appears to have been swiftly cancelled. The channel claims that this was down to backlash in Japan, with fans demanding that a more faithful remake be brought to the Mega CD, however, it appears that this does not explain the project's full cancellation.

As revealed in a new investigation by our sister site Time Extension, it turns out that the fan complaints only had an effect on the planned Japanese release of the Sister Sonic game. In an interview with Diehard GameFan magazine from 1993 Sega-Falcom director Kazutaka Yano noted that the company was still pressing on with releasing Sister Sonic in America, while Japan would receive the regular Popful Mail on Mega CD.

You can find the director's quote to Diehard GameFan (via Time Extension) below.

Our plan is to change Popful Mail's character to Sister Sonic and release it for the foreign market. Sega of America has OK'd the use of this character and many consumers are looking forward to playing an entirely new game based on this character. So we decided to consider them as two different concepts.

The real mystery, then, is why the game never ended up coming in its Sonic form to the West. Unfortunately, this is a mystery that still hasn't been solved. Time Extension spoke to Victor Ireland of Working Designs, who was able to confirm that the game was planned for release outside of Japan, but even he didn't know why the West ended up with a faithful remake instead.

So yes, Popful Mail did end up coming to the Mega CD outside of Japan, though it was far closer to the original game than the strange Sonic spin-off that was initially announced. It's a shame really, we have rather a soft spot for the DS' Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood so we like the thought of there being more Sonic RPGs out there somewhere.

Whether Popful Mail could have filled that hole, who knows? We never saw any official art of Sister Sonic so your guess of what the red-headed protagonist would have looked like in hedgehog form is as good as ours. Of course, that hasn't stopped some talented artists from imagining the character for us (perhaps with some help from the Sonic Underground cartoon in which Sonic had an actual sister, Sonia), so let's finish with a look at what Sister Sonic could have been.

For more information on Popful Mail's different console variations and the rise of Sister Sonic, be sure to check out Time Extension's full investigation here.

Would you have wanted to see Popful Mail get reimagined as a Sonic spin-off? Let us know in the comments.

[source timeextension.com]