Several Sega Forever mobile games unceremoniously delisted + End of Service announcement

Remember Sega Forever, and how that started out in 2017 as Sega Europe’s initiative to bring classic Sega games to mobile app stores as free, ad-supported games? Well, Sega Forever is now “Sega For-never,” as more than half of the games released through Sega Forever have now been delisted from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store without so much as an official announcement. On top of that, the games now display an “End of Service” message like the one shown above saying that the games will remain playable, but will lose their online features, which amounted to save states being stored online, leaderboards, and offering you the option to pay $1.99 USD to play without ads. It also has a “More Info” button to show you where else the games available through Sega Forever can be played, but it only currently leads to Sega’s home page. (The above message comes from the Space Harrier II Classic app. I have not been able to confirm if the non-Genesis games display a message like this.)

Check in past the break to see what the remaining games are, as well as some more unsettling news…

SEGA Forever releases Virtua Fighter retrospective video – narrated by Sarah Bryant herself!

SEGA Forever has released another in their retrospective videos, this time focusing on Virtua Fighter. This is, of course, because the remake of Virtua Fighter 5 dubbed Ultimate Showdown is hitting next week. A special bonus sees Sarah Bryant herself, voiced by friend of the site Lisle Wilkerson, narrating the video. Follow SEGA Forever on Twitter for more retro history like this!

Check it out for yourself and don’t forget to download Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown next week!

SEGA Forever Bares its Knuckles in New Streets of Rage Retrospective Video

SEGA Forever, SEGA’s nostalgic social media machine, has dropped another retrospective pop-up video, this time focusing on the Streets of Rage series. Streets of Rage has seen a trilogy of great beat ’em ups on the Genesis/Mega Drive, and most recently on modern consoles with Streets of Rage 4. Check out the video above and be on the lookout for more SEGA Forever retrospectives!

SEGA Forever Commissions New “Sonic R” Art by Sonic The Comic’s Rich Elson

Click here to see the high resolution artwork!

SEGA Forever, SEGA’s nostalgic social media machine, has shared cool new art by Sonic The Comic’s Rich Elson depicting Sonic and his friends in the classic SEGA Saturn/PC game Sonic R. Elson is probably the most well-known artist from the British Sonic the Hedgehog comics, so this is sure to delight our European readers.

It has been noted to us that this is the first time Rich has drawn some characters like Sonic R‘s Metal Knuckles and Tails Doll. It’s great to see Rich creating new Sonic art, and who knows… if fans make enough noise maybe we can see more new art or reprints of Rich’s classic content.

For more content like this, make sure to follow SEGA Forever on all major social media platforms.

SEGA Forever Enters THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD with Pop-Up Knowledge on the Series

The SEGA Forever social channels enters into the territory of THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD series as part SEGA 60th Anniversary celebration with tons of interesting trivia on the classic arcade light gun shooter including console ports, plot points, and easter egg appearances in other SEGA titles. Check out the video above and be on the lookout for more SEGA Forever retrospectives!

SEGA Forever Pop-Up Facts Video Reveals Early “NiGHTS into dreams…” Box Art

To celebrate the anniversary weekend of NiGHTS into dreams…, SEGA has reduced the price of the Steam release by 85%, making it just $1.19! We here at SEGAbits love the original Saturn classic, as well as the holiday themed demo disc Christmas NiGHTS (so much so, we reviewed and rated it an A+.)

In addition to the sale, the SEGA Forever YouTube channel shared a cool pop-up trivia video which reveals an early design of NiGHTS in some mocked-up concept cover art. In our opinion, it’s kind of creepy, but still a very cool find. By the way, if you like clean high res art from SEGA classics, we highly recommend following SEGA Forever on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Recent posts include some great promotional renders for NiGHTS, Gain Ground art and very blocky Virtua Racing renders.

SEGA Forever Social Media Channels to Celebrate SEGA 60th Anniversary by sharing history, artwork, and more

 

SEGA’s official retro channel, ­SEGA Forever, will be celebrating SEGA’s rich history, the company’s 60th anniversary, and all their retro-related releases with shared artwork, history, and many more to come.

What would you like to see them post on their social channels? Let us know in the comments below, I personally would like to see concept art of SEGA’s classic arcade titles and more interviews with developers.

Follow SEGA Forever social channels

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

After Burner Climax is coming to SEGA Forever


One of the most underrated mid-00s SEGA-AM 2 arcade game After Burner Climax will get one more chance to soar very soon thanks to the recent announcement at SXSW 2019 made by SEGA confirming that its the next title in SEGA Forever.

Like always SEGA Forever titles are free to play with ads or ad-free for a few dollars. This is actually a re-release of After Burner Climax on mobile since it originally came out in 2013, but its nice that its getting another re-release with (hopefully) some fixes. Can we get another re-release on PSN and finally bring it to PC?

Streets of Rage 2 joins the SEGA Forever mobile lineup

SEGA Forever has announced that the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive classic Streets of Rage 2 has joined the mobile lineup. The game is free (ad-supported) on iOS and Android. Streets of Rage 2 was one of the many SEGA sequels to outdo the original, with improved gameplay and memorable music.

Give the game a download and don’t forget that Streets of Rage 4 is on the horizon for home consoles, meaning now is the perfect time to brush up on baring your knuckles.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II joins the SEGA Forever mobile lineup

Remember Sonic 4 Episode II? It’s back, in SEGA Forever form!

Revealed today, the 2012 console and mobile game Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II has joined the SEGA Forever mobile lineup. The updated release makes the game free to play, with ads, or $1.99 to remove ads. The Episode Metal DLC, once only unlocked if you owned both Sonic 4 episodes on the same platform, is now unlocked from the start.

Prior to its original release, fans were cautious of Sonic 4 Episode II following the release of Sonic 4 Episode I. But upon playing it, the second episode was seen as a marked improvement over the first episode. Physics were more in line with what was expected from a 2D Sonic game, stages and bosses were more creative, bosses were better and the addition of Metal Sonic (and tie-in to the recently rereleased Taxman and Stealth version of Sonic CD) was fun.

If you want to play the SEGA Forever version of the game, simply check the stores for your iOS and Android devices!

VectorMan joins the SEGA Forever mobile lineup

The SEGA Forever mobile lineup has expanded today with the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive classic VectorMan. As with past SEGA Forever releases, you can play for free (ad-supported) on iOS and Android, or go ad-free for $1.99/€2.29/£1.99. As a bonus the SEGA Forever blog has added a special interview with Rich Karpp, the creator, coder, and designer of VectorMan! It’s a great read and here’s hoping these interviews continue as its always great to learn more about classic games from the people who made them.

Also worth noting, this week marks the one year anniversary of SEGA Forever. Since launch the lineup has hit 50 million downloads. We’re looking forward to seeing what is to come!

Super Monkey Ball: Sakura Edition joins the SEGA Forever lineup

The SEGA Forever lineup has expanded with the inclusion of the previously released Super Monkey Ball: Sakura Edition for iOS and Android. Released back in 2010, Super Monkey Ball: Sakura Edition utilizes the gyro sensor allowing players to tilt their device and roll monkeys through 6 unique worlds and four bonus mini games with local multiplayer.

As with previous SEGA Forever releases, the game is free to download and play with ads. $1.99 removes the ads.