This week on The Weekly Five we will be talking about our favorite moments here at SEGAbits. If you missed my last post, today is the fifth anniversary of SEGAbits so it’s fitting that we give ourselves a whole episode to discuss some of our favorite things we have done in the last half decade.
So let’s kick things off.
The 32X gets a lot of shit, and with good reason. The system stands as SEGA’s most abject failure, featuring the smallest library and shortest lifespan of any SEGA platform. It failed to live up to the promises SEGA made to its consumers and is a classic example of SEGA’s mid-90’s mismanagement.
An unfortunate side-effect of the 32X’s infamy is that the system’s better games are often ignored, or even worse, get the same shit that the 32X does. Knuckles’ Chaotix is a game that unfortunately suffers from both of these issues, and after having spent several days playing the game for 32X month, I’ve got to say that it’s a real shame. As far as I’m concerned, Knuckles’ Chaotix is a game every Sonic fan ought to play at least once, and here are five reasons why.
Before Sonic came along in 1991, SEGA had its fair share of mascots. Ask a SEGA fan in the 1980’s who SEGA’s current mascot was, and you’d likely receive a variety of answers. Some may point to the Shinobi arcade game star Joe Musashi, while others may point to the Mario-like Master System star Alex Kidd. Opa-Opa of Fantasy Zone was another of these mascots vying for the SEGA throne, and if you ask me he was the most worthy of the crown. While Opa-Opa lacked an expressive face, a drawback that some say was the reason Alex Kidd came out ahead of the sentient spaceship, I say he made up for it with a simple yet memorable design that evoked SEGA’s quirky nature at the time. Opa-Opa is both cute with his bright colors and white wings, and hardcore with his jet propulsion and firepower. He also fits in perfectly with the “blue skies” aesthetic SEGA is well known for thanks to the fact that the skies are where Opa-Opa spends a majority of his time.
Since his debut in 1986, Opa-Opa has made cameo appearances in several SEGA games, a testament to Opa-Opa’s original design. In fact, Opa-Opa’s cameo career began the very year he debuted and his cameo appearances continue through to today. In this week’s Weekly Five we’ll be highlighting some of Opa-Opa’s greatest appearances, from playable to non-playable and from obscure to blatantly obvious. Yes, Shenmue made the list, you can stop holding your breath Ryo Hazuki fans.
Today is the launch day for the Xbox One in America, and as people head to stores to pick up the latest console, the Xbox 360 officially becomes a “last gen” machine. Last week George named the five best SEGA titles to grace the Playstation 3, and seeing as how I’m the site’s Xbox guy, I thought I’d do the same for the Xbox 360. As with George’s list, these are my personal picks, so feel free to add any titles in the comments section!
Written by My Life with SEGA’s A.J. Rosa
Much has been said about SEGA’s last console add-on. Jaremy Parish of 1UP.com stated in his article ’20 Years Ago, SEGA Gave Us the SEGA CD’ that the 32X “tainted just about everything it touched.” GamesRadar was far more damning with their Top-10 List of Worst Consoles, where the “product of boneheaded short-sightedness” placed ninth. Oh, that wasn’t harsh enough. They went on to call it “an embarrassing footnote in console history, as well as an object lesson in why console makers shouldn’t split their user base with pricey add-ons.”
Obviously, the 32X has left quite an impression. That’s nothing new though. Prior to it’s release, the 32X was met with some enthusiasm; most notably, I feel, in EGM2’s July ’94 issue. In their special feature “32X Brings the Arcade Home!”, they were impressed with its technical specifications and ever widening list of third-party support, such as Activision, Atlus, Capcom, Core Design, Crystal Dynamics, GameTek, Interplay, Konami, Time Warner Interactive, Vic Tokai, Virgin Interactive, Acclaim and Sunsoft….just to name a few. Kenji Hiraoka, former president of Konami of America, is quoted “We have seen the specs on 32X, and are thoroughly impressed by how powerful it is. We can make amazing games on this platform.”
Shame they didn’t, which brings us to…. My personal Top 5 List of Cancelled 32X Titles!
In celebration of Dreamcast month, the Friday Five is back! In this installment, I thought I’d share some collecting tips for both budding, and seasoned, Dreamcast collectors. Despite the Dreamcast’s short lifespan, the console has a vast library and a number of accessories. In total, there exist around seven hundred and twenty Dreamcast games, both licensed and unlicensed. Accessories range from various controllers, to keyboards, mice, lightguns, twinsticks, arcade sticks, cameras, and more! Suffice to say, collecting for the Dreamcast is a lot of fun.
Let’s kick off the list with one of the most important things a Dreamcast collector needs to remember…
While I’ve yet to post up my iOS review for Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 2, I can say that after playing a majority of the XBLA version and half the iOS version I am enjoying the game. Not every aspect is perfect, more on that in my review, however there are a lot of things I’m liking. In this week’s Weekly Five we’ll take a look at five things found in Sonic 4 Episode II that I’ve enjoyed the most. My favorites, if you will.
Well, the hedgehog is out of the bag. Yes, there will be a Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing 2, dubbed “Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed”. Back in January 2011, following the release of the first game, I ran through five things an All-Stars Racing sequel must have. Now that the sequel has been announced, let’s take a look back at what we wished for, and what SEGA and Sumo Digital now promises to deliver. You’d be surprised by how well SEGA listened to fans on this one.
The world of independent Dreamcast games has been quiet since the release of NG:DEV.TEAM’s Fast Striker. Established indie Dreamcast games publisher RedSpotGames is looking to break that silence with the upcoming shoot ’em up Sturmwind. While Sturmwind IS another shoot ’em up aka shmup, a popular genre in the Dreamcast indie scene, don’t let that fact dissuade you from checking out the title when it releases this year. In this week’s Weekly Five we’ll run through the reasons why Sturmwind may be worth your time (and money).
Admit it. When a game gives you the option to be bad, you go for it. Unlike the stupid real world, video games have no repercussions. While game designers may not intend for you to do these bad things, or there are in-game penalties, in the end it’s just a game so you can be bad to your heart’s content, hit the reset button and return to playing the game as it was intended. In this week’s Weekly Five, we celebrate Friday the 13th with five SEGA games which allow you to be (you guessed it) bad.