Reviews

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance Review – A Ninja Legend Reforged

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The Shinobi legacy returns with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, a modern reimagining of SEGA’s iconic ninja action series. Released earlier this year, the game slices its way onto PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC, bringing a mix of stylish combat, retro-inspired flair, and fresh design sensibilities. Behind the project is Lizardcube, the Paris-based studio best known for revitalizing another SEGA classic with Streets of Rage 4. Having earned widespread praise for blending hand-drawn artistry with tight, old-school gameplay, Lizardcube now turns its attention to one of SEGA’s most enduring heroes, aiming to reintroduce Shinobi to a new generation while respecting the series’ stealth-and-slash roots.

But will their trademark flair fit seamlessly with the iconic Shinobi franchise? I spent time with Art of Vengeance, and in this review, we’ll talk about what works, what doesn’t, and whether this revival lives up to its legendary name.

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Earthion Review – Ancient Returns to the SEGA Genesis

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Where does the time go? It only feels like yesterday that I reported on the one and only Yuzo Koshiro being hard at work on his first new Genesis/Mega-Drive game since 1995’s Beyond Oasis, which we later heard would be named Earthion. Now, before I even knew it, Earthion had released on Steam and just came out for modern consoles earlier this month. Limited Run Games also started pre-orders for physical copies of the game on those modern platforms until September 28th, as well, but have yet to open pre-orders on cartridges for your old Genesis consoles. (Sorry for not letting you know sooner.)

Yuzo Koshiro’s studio Ancient has been kind enough to offer us a review code for Earthion on Steam, and I have run the game through its paces many a times. Now that the wait to experience this modern Genesis classic is finally over, it’s time for me to report on how this shooter turned out. Suffice it to say, the game pushes the Genesis to limits never thought possible, but is the game fun to play? Find out now after the break.

(Neither Ancient nor Limited Run Games have influenced this review or seen it before it has gone live.)

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Two Point Hospital Review: Laughter (And Good Gameplay) Is the Best Medicine (PC/Steam)

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Over the past few months, I’ve been digging in to my backlog of games that I have purchased in the past and never got around to them. Doing so, I’m glad that I did as it expands my game knowledge and peaks interest in other genres I’ve never even considered. One of those games was Two Point Hospital, which if you asked me a few years ago if I was ever going to play it, I would have said probably not. Unfortunately, I wrote it off as generic and since it was focused as a PC resource management sim, I never really gave it any attention. Come to January of 2024 and I played a small indie game called dotAGE and it was about taking care of a village of people and preparing them for future doom and disaster events. It was the only full game I’ve had played in the genre and it let me open up the flood gates for more games in similar fashion. Having played the Sims in the past, TPH may be thought of as a clone or ripoff of it and that can’t be further from the truth. In my opinion, it was if you combined the RM system from dotAGE and other games like it and the customization of your world/home in the Sims. And what you get is an amazing, hilarious, and fun game for hours on end building hospitals to your liking and style.

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Review: Parking Garage Rally Circuit (Walaber)

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If you yearn to revisit the glorious need for speed that Sega provided you with stellar 90’s arcade racers like Daytona USA, Sega Rally Championship, or Manx TT Superbike, you’re not the only one. A few developers have begun taking a crack at recapturing that spirit with some brand new games. Today, we’re putting a spotlight on one of the newest games of that bunch: Parking Garage Rally Circuit. Developed by Walaber, whom we’ve had the pleasure of speaking to about this game before, PGRC aims to be the Sega Saturn racing hit that never was. A frantic time trial racer that aims to emulate the look of 90’s 3D console racers to an extreme degree, a lot of passion for that unforgettable time in gaming history is as clear as the blue, blue skies the game graces you with, but does that passion equal a game that’s as worthy of your time as most any racer Sega had developed during that decade? Find a cozy parking spot to sit back, relax, and read through our review of Parking Garage Rally Circuit after the break.

(A Steam copy of the game was provided by Walaber for the purpose of this review. They have not influenced the review in any other way and have not read it before it went online.)

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Prime Video Like a Dragon: Yakuza – Review

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Thanks to Amazon Prime Video, we had the chance to preview the first three episodes of Like a Dragon: Yakuza. Based on SEGA’s global hit video game series, this crime-suspense-action adaptation spans two decades—1995 and 2005—following the lives of childhood friends and exploring the lasting consequences of Kazuma Kiryu’s choices. Kiryu, a feared Yakuza warrior, is renowned for his combat skills and strong sense of justice, duty, and humanity.

But does this adaptation live up to the video game’s reputation for fans, and is it worth watching for newcomers to the series? Check out our review in the next section of the article.

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Experience Review: CAMP Meet & Greet with Sonic the Hedgehog

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With Sonic X Shadow Generations just days away, SEGA has gone all out in the lead up to the game with cafes, concerts and touring motorcycles. One such event that should not be missed is the Sonic the Hedgehog meet and greet at Camp stores across the United States!

Taking place in Atlanta, Dallas and Chicago, this limited time event allows young fans and families to meet Sonic himself for a digital and printed photo, take part in a Sonic music dance party, put on some Sonic and friends temporary tattoos, color Sonic coloring sheets and decorate your own frame to hold your photo with Sonic. Thanks to our friends at SEGA, we were able to attend the local Camp store and experience the meet and greet for ourselves!

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Cosmic Smash VRS Review (Meta Quest 2) – A Smashing Triumph!

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RapidEyeMovers and Wolf & Wood have joined forces to bring back the nostalgia of SEGA Russo’s cult classic, Cosmic Smash, in a stunning virtual reality experience. Now available on Meta Quest 2, 3, Pro + Pico 4, and PlayStation VR2, with a non-VR version for PS5 slated for later this summer, Cosmic Smash VRS catapults players into an intergalactic adventure like never before.

We were lucky enough to receive a review copy of the game for Meta Quest 2 to share our thoughts on the game. Does the virtual reality version of SEGA Russo’s cult classic fair up to the original? Find out in our review of Cosmic Smash VRS!

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Review: Retro-Bit SEGA Genesis BIG6 Arcade Pad (Wired Console & 2.4 GHz Wireless versions)

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Thanks to the folks at Retro-Bit, I was able to get my hands on their newest SEGA controller offerings: The BIG6 line of SEGA Genesis arcade pads. If you’ve followed retro gaming news you’d know that in the past ten years there has been great advancements in technology to improve the quality of life for fans of classic games. We’ve seen everything from flash cartridges to full on modern rebuilds of classic hardware, and on the controller end we’ve seen various companies and fan funded initiatives set out to improve button mapping, battery life, wireless efficiency or just create crazy controller hybrids. With the BIG6 line of controllers from Retro-Bit, the company has done all these things and in turn created a product I never knew I wanted and one I now cannot live without.

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Sonic Frontiers Review – The Modern Sonic Adventure Sequel

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Sonic Frontiers promises to be the biggest, longest and most open Sonic adventure to date and we here at SEGAbits have been playing the game for a few weeks. Here is our full Sonic Frontiers review, did Sonic Team really nail the open world design or is this just another experiment gone wrong? Find out!

If you enjoy our SEGA reviews and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

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Review: MobyFox SEGA Genesis Smartwatch Band and Digital Faces

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Let’s take a look at the latest SEGA smartwatch band from MobyFox which also includes a sizable library of digital faces. In the unboxing and review video above we showcase the 3D designs that mimic the look of the original hardware as well as some of the cool little touches MobyFox added. Like what you see? You can pick up a smartwatch band for yourself on their shop starting today!

After the break, you can also watch our unboxing and review of the MobyFox line of Sonic the Hedgehog smartwatch bands.

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The House of the Dead: Remake Review – A Decent, Yet Deadly Fun Remake (Nintendo Switch)

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The House of the Dead series has been regarded as one of SEGA’s successful arcade franchises over the years with the first title debuting in arcades worldwide in 1997. What makes this series so special to many of us SEGA fans are the following things: Horror elements with blood & gore, fast paced action, and of course, its cheesy voice acting; most notably, The House of the Dead 2 being the most popular titles in this long running franchise. Many of The House of the Dead titles have seen near arcade perfect ports on multiple consoles from Dreamcast to PlayStation 3 with the exception of the original game that started it all, which was only ported to the SEGA Saturn and Windows PC in 1998. 

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Lost Judgment Review – Our Favorite Detective is Back and Better Than Ever (PlayStation 4)

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SEGA’s RGG Studio has really made a name for themselves as the premier triple A studio within SEGA. What’s more impressive than the quality of the games, which have all been pretty great, is how many games the studio seems to be able to release. This year the studio has brought us a sequel to Judgment, which is a spin-off to the Yakuza franchise, where instead of playing a Yakuza, you play as Takayuki Yagami, as you can tell from his cool wallet chain, tight jeans, shaggy hair, and leather jacket, this guy doesn’t play by the rules. He’s a Ex-Lawyer, Turned Detective for Hire that just happens to be well versed in Kung Fu. The first Judgment was a enjoyable experience, but it did come off as a bit janky towards the end. Did Lost Judgement fix these issues? Let’s find out!

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Sonic Colors: Ultimate Review – Reach for the Stars in HD (PlayStation 4)

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For a thorough review of Sonic Colors, check out our write-up of the original Wii release from 2010. Much of our original reviewer’s thoughts reflect my own. The review you are about to read is from a review copy provided by SEGA.

For over ten years, the Wii exclusive Sonic Colors remained exclusively on the console. When you take in the Sonic “main series” games, Colors was an anomaly amongst a library of titles that often saw re-releases, remasters and compilations. Even the derided Wii U exclusive Sonic Lost World saw a PC release! So, FINALLY, after over ten years the critically acclaimed and fan favorite 3D Sonic game Sonic Colors sees a remaster with upgraded visuals, music and a few new surprises. But does Ultimate live up to its name? Of course it does. It’s great. What, you expected me to say otherwise?

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Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 Review – Solid Yet Conflicting (Nintendo Switch)

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Review code provided by SEGA

Puzzle games! They’re fun! They’re varied! They’re kind of strange to talk about, too, they’re very weird and specific in that way. Why do you play them? I play them because I want something fun and simple that puts my brain to work, or to put my brain against some other person’s brain and see who can work their brain better, or something. And that’s awesome! I love these games!

But there’s a lot of them. Puyo Puyo and Tetris are two of the biggest puzzle games on the planet, they have such long, storied histories, they play in such similar yet contrasting ways, it’s fascinating playing a game that has them both in one package. But it’s also not the only time they’ve been in one package. When I previewed this game, I mentioned how it was comforting how little had changed between games, because it meant I was gonna have a good time regardless of which one I booted up. But now that it’s out, I gotta ask myself: does that comfort hold up after a few weeks of playing?

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