Author Archives: Barry

Android and iOS: Sonic the Hedgehog remastered video surfaces, as well as date and price

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Android Police have posted gameplay video of the remastered Sonic the Hedgehog game, which is releasing soon to Android and iOS platforms. How soon? According to Android Police, the game is set to hit this month and will retail for $2.99, the same price as the existing app on iOS (which SEGA has said will update to the remastered version).

It appears that the video above has been edited to remove the menu screen, which has been noted in past previews. Perhaps there were a few surprises that SEGA didn’t want spoiled just yet? Also, oddly, there is little to no sound in the above video. Hopefully SEGA releases a proper trailer soon so we get more of an idea of how the game will look and sound.

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Preview the Sonic and Mega Man crossover “Worlds Collide: Part One”

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Courtesy of Comic Book Resources comes an exclusive five page preview of the Sonic and Mega Man crossover event, Worlds Collide: Part One, which kicks off this month in the pages of the Archie Comics series Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Universe, and Mega Man. The crossover event, which will span twelve issues from three different series, concludes in August. In November, Archie plans to release the first of three trade paperback books, Sonic / Mega Man World Collide Vol. 1: Kindred Spirits, which will collect the first four issues and will undoubtably include extra goodies like pencil sketches and varient covers.

Check out the full preview over at Comic Book Resources

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SEGA Tunes SEGAbits community spotlight: Brian Corey’s cover of Splash Garden

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This week we’re bringing you a special Tuesday Tunes, as we’re featuring the music of a SEGAbits community member! Ungibbed, aka Brian Corey, put together this cover of the NiGHTS into Dreams tune Splash Garden from memory. Pretty impressive if you ask us! Of course, we don’t blame him for getting the tune stuck in his head, as Splash Garden is a stage that Saturn fans have surely played again and again.

Great job, Brian, on this awesome cover! We look forward to hearing more tunes from you in the future. Share your comments for Brian below, or in our dedicated topic in the SEGAbits forums.

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Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse digital boxart leaks

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XBLA watchdog Lifelower has tweeted a leaked image of the digital cover art for Disney’s Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse. Castle of Illusion’s rerelease has been known of since early March, when the game was rated by a Brazilian ratings board. Interestingly, the digital cover art is brand new. Could we expect a remastering of the classic SEGA game? Or did Disney and SEGA simply opt for swanky new art for the original game? Given the recent DuckTales announcement from Capcom, it isn’t crazy to speculate the former. Castle of Illusion is expected to release to Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii U, and Playstation Vita. Release date is unknown at this time.

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Sonic Generations Lost CG Intro – now with clean footage!

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Back in January of 2012, I shared a video I had put together which featured all the existing Sonic Generations CG footage. As many Sonic fans know, the game lacked a proper post-title screen CG intro, instead only offering up the same modern and classic Sonic footage seen in the initial teaser trailer for the game. By sifting through various trailers, commercials and promotional event videos I put together the most complete collection of CG Sonic Generations clips. Following the Marza Animation Planet story posted yesterday, I checked out the Marza website and discovered a cool thirty second clip featuring both Sonics running through City Escape and Rooftop Run. Unlike past videos, the clip was crisp and uncut, so I worked the improved footage into my old compilation video and present the revised version to you. Enjoy!

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My Life with SEGA celebrates Kenji Eno with D for SEGA Saturn

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In honor of Kenji Eno, I’m reviewing the survival horror/puzzle classic; D for SEGA Saturn. This game was his first major success and helped pave the way for Enemy Zero, the SEGA Saturn exclusive, and D2 for Dreamcast. D has been subjected to a great deal of mockery and derision due in large part to it’s heavy use of FMV and slow pace….

Is it deserving of such ridicule, or has it been treated unfairly? Turn out the lights and see for yourself.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel! My Life with SEGA will be taking a short break, but will return on May 2nd with two zombie classics. Continue reading to check out the awesome teaser video!

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SEGAbits to partner with Sonic Retro and SEGA Retro, creating the ultimate SEGA and Sonic fan resource

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No fooling! SEGAbits, Sonic Retro, and SEGA Retro welcome you the next level of SEGA fansites.

We’re excited to announce that SEGAbits will be partnering with Sonic Retro and SEGA Retro! Yes, we know, it’s April Fools day, but we are not joking. Administrators from both SEGAbits and Sonic Retro have made the decision to join forces to create the ultimate SEGA fan resource. Let’s get the big questions out of the way:

Will SEGAbits be drastically changed? No. SEGAbits will continue to bring readers news, reviews, original content and more. No design changes will be made, aside from our usual improvements as well as some additions mentioned below.

Will communities remain separate? Yes. We realize that both Sonic Retro and SEGAbits have their own communities and we do not want to merge either one into the other. SEGAbits.com and SonicRetro.org will remain.

What are the plans for Sonic Retro? Sonic Retro will continue be the Internet’s ultimate Sonic the Hedgehog resource. The Sonic Retro forums will still be home to the vast Sonic Retro community. As for the home page, SEGAbits and Sonic Retro staffs are hard at work on redefining Sonic Retro’s home page goals and once we have a plan set, you can expect it to be a change for the better.

So what’s the big deal? For starters, the plan is to integrate the expansive and informative SEGA Retro wiki into SEGAbits. We don’t want to give too much away, but expect to see SEGA Retro content improving and expanding on SEGAbits content. For example, a SEGAbits review of a game will be greatly enhanced with the integration of SEGA Retro information.

With the integration of SEGA Retro, SEGAbits will offer news, reviews, original content, a forum for SEGA fans to interact in, as well as a hugely informative wiki packed with SEGA information. Have more questions about the partnership? Comment below or visit our dedicated forum topic. We can’t wait to see where this new future for SEGAbits and Sonic Retro leads – we assume to blue, blue skies.

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Sonic Dash now free and massively updated!

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SEGA has released an update today that drastically changes the iOS game Sonic Dash. First off, the game is now free to play. Great news for those who have yet to buy the game, though it is a bit of a kick in the leg to fans who paid for the game initially. However, the game has been improved across the board. For starters, performance is much better on iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4 devices. I’ve noted much smoother gameplay on my own iPhone 4. Another big improvement is the tweaking of object placement. Before, players might run up a hill, only to reach the top and run right into a barrier with little time to react. Now, SEGA promises that players will encounter this far less. A major complaint lodged at the game was that it was very difficult to earn red rings, and there was a finite amount. Red rings allow players to buy additional playable characters.

Now, thanks to daily play challenges, players are tasked with collecting four puzzle pieces a day, which in turn can be redeemed for a daily prize. Day one gives 100 rings, day two gives two head start power-ups, day three gives five respawns, day four gives two red star rings. Day five is the big prize, as you have the chance to win five red rings, ten respawns, 200 rings, five head starts, or a new playable character (in the case of this week, it is Tails).

Do these changes make Sonic Dash a better game? Sound off in the comments section! Also, after the break a detailed list of what the update contains.

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Announcing the SEGAbits Third Anniversary Contest winners!

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On February 1st we announced a contest to celebrate our third anniversary. Since then, we’ve received several awesome entries, and while we loved each and every submission, in the end we had to select three winners. As per the announcement article, third place wins a copy of the official “SEGAbits Presents My Life with SEGA” DVD – and third place goes to: nikibaby19! nikibaby19 sent two awesome pieces of fan art, which we’d love to share now, but instead we plan to post them in their own dedicated “Fan Made” article on April 10th. The second place winner will receive AJ’s copy of Outlander for the SEGA Genesis as well as a copy of the official “SEGAbits Presents My Life with SEGA” DVD. And second place goes to: Nicholas C. for his written review of Zombies Ate My Neighbors. We’ll be posting Nicholas’s review on April 17th. Finally, first prize, which includes AJ’s personal copy of Technocop for the Genesis, a Genesis model 2 and a copy of the official “SEGAbits Presents My Life with SEGA” DVD goes to: TrackerTD for his video review of the SEGA Power Base Converter. TrackerTD’s entry will be posted on April 24th.

Again, a big thanks to all who entered. We loved reading and watching what you had to say, it’s great to see so many passionate SEGA fans out there. Stay tuned to SEGAbits for more contests, as well as our usual SEGA-centric content!

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More features revealed for Sonic the Hedgehog remastered – Spin dash confirmed!

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As GDC 2013 continues, more details regarding the upcoming rerelease of Sonic the Hedgehog are rolling in. Pocket Gamer reports that on-screen controls will retain the virtual d-pad and single button layout, however new features include a cartridge art gallery and the ability to use Sonic’s spin dash attack, which can be turned on and off in the game’s menu. As most Sonic fans know, the spin dash made its debut in the sequel, while the first game has only featured the addition of the move in Sonic Jam and various ROM hacks.

Meanwhile, Slide to Play expanded on the on-screen controls, noting that “the large, visible buttons of the Genesis controller have been replaced by one tiny jump button in the corner. The joystick is now a virtual stick that feels much more natural and suitable for touchscreen gaming.”. Slide to Play also noted that a SEGA executive indicated that future Genesis games on digital marketplaces would receive the remastering treatment, by casually stating “that was the plan.” If true, SEGA could eventually update existing games like Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Shining Force, and Gunstar Heroes, as well as release titles not yet seen on mobile devices.

Thanks to SSMB member Shadzter for the info!

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My Life with SEGA enters the Last Battle

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The 2-Man Scramble 2-Part Special comes to an end with Last Battle. Yes, I know; how appropriate. My final penance for Wirehead, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Universal Soldier may have been a 16-bit insult to both gamers and the 1992 film it was supposedly based on, but Last Battle is a laughably bad adventure title that never should have seen the light of day….

What, you don’t believe me? Watch this video and tell me I’m exaggerating.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

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The Dreamcast Junkyard fills us in on the Dreamcast games of 2013

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SEGA Network partner The Dreamcast Junkyard has released a new video, courtesy of DCJY contributor The Gagaman, which both revives the YouTube channel with a brand new look as well as gives us a handy rundown of the Dreamcast games slated for 2013. Check out the video above and make sure to stay tuned to The Dreamcast Junkyard this year. All hail the undead console and all hail The Dreamcast Junkyard!

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GDC 2013: Take a tour of SEGA’s history exhibit

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Courtesy of GameSparkChannel is a walkthrough of SEGA’s history exhibit at GDC 2013. SEGA set aside a sizable exhibit filled with a variety of SEGA items including arcade games, consoles, and collectables. In the video above you can see old store displays for SEGA consoles, rare SEGA consoles like the JVC X’Eye, promotional posters, and more!

After the break, check out another walkthrough courtesy of The Inquirer.

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GDC 2013: The House of the Dead Overkill, Puzzle Pirates, and House of the Dead coming to iOS and Android

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Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2 remastered weren’t the only games on show at GDC 2013. SEGA has also revealed information and screens pertaining to a few existing and new mobile titles. First off is Puzzle Pirates from SEGA-owned developer Three Rings. Puzzle Pirates is a puzzle-based MMO with quite a history. Released back in 2003, this Java based browser game is considered by many to be one of the earliest free-to-play successes. Now, with SEGA in ownership of the developer Three Rings and the franchise, they’re setting their sights on an iOS and Android tablet release complete with touch screen optimization and the ability to play with the existing Mac, PC and Linux versions of the game. Also on show was SEGA’s other free-to-play browser game Godsrule: War of Mortals, which has iOS and Android versions planned for release this year and will support cross-platform play.

Finally, saving the best for last, SEGA has revealed an iOS and Android version of The House of the Dead: Overkill dubbed The House of the Dead Overkill: The Lost Reels. The game will not be a straight port, but rather a remix, repurposing characters and levels to suit mobile play. As for controls, SEGA has stated that the game will allow players to choose between a virtual joystick or the accelerometer, with tap to shoot being unlocked only after beating the game. Perhaps the developers found tap to play to be too easy? No price or date has been given, but if SEGA’s past mobile titles are any indication, we should expect a release very soon following this reveal. As for price, The House of the Dead Overkill: The Lost Reels will likely be priced between $2.99 and $4.99.

After the break, a gallery of images from the three mobile titles.

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UPDATED – GDC 2013: Sonic the Hedgehog remastered releasing to iOS and Android in Spring 2013

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SEGA has revealed, at GDC 2013, that the original Sonic classic Sonic the Hedgehog will be releasing to iOS and Android this Spring for $2.99. While SEGA is only commenting on Sonic the Hedgehog at the moment, AndroidPolice.com is reporting that the sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is also set for a remastered release. Thus far, iOS and Android are the only platforms announced, but if Sonic CD’s rerelease is anything to go by, we’ll see console ports as well. Speaking of Sonic CD’s rerelease, Christian “Taxman” Whitehead is likely behind the Sonic 1 & 2 rereleases if his recent tweet is anything to go by: “Those feels, I’m preparing a build for GDC and I won’t even be there.”

Now I hear you saying “but Sonic 1 & 2 are already on digital marketplaces! I don’t want to buy it again!”. Well SEGA has a few new features to entice you to buy the classic again. SEGA promises widescreen support, 60fps, a remastered soundtrack, and an added time attack mode. As soon as we learn more details, we’ll be sure to share! In the meanwhile, check out the gallery below.

UPDATE: Over on the Sonic Retro forums, Christian “Taxman” Whitehead has confirmed that he is behind the project, and that iOS users who already bought the past release of the game will receive the remastering as a free update. Also, in regards to the soundtrack, Whitehead promises that “The arrangements are identical to the originals, using FM synthesis. But they have been put together in a DAW environment and given an actual mix as opposed to simply recording the existing music. The Drum samples are sourced from the original synthesiser so they’re super clean and crisp too.”

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