Author Archives: Barry

Are we ever going to get tired of writing “Hell Yeah!” headlines? Hell no!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uP6QpUWs_I

A new gameplay trailer has arrived for SEGA and Arkedo Studio’s Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit. The trailer reveals a bit of the game’s plot, which I won’t spoil. You’ll have to see it in the trailer. It is – ahem – quite odd. The art style is definitely influenced by Rayman Origins and Splosion Man, complete with wacky over the top environments and lots of meat flying about. Gameplay looks very fun, it’s like if General Grievous of Star Wars went on a rampage on his wheel bike. The game is set for a summer release to XBLA, PSN and Steam.

Thanks to SEGAbits forum member max_cady for the heads up!

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All-Stars Racing Transformed gameplay footage appears on PS Access

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The UK PSN exclusive show Playstation Access showcased snippets of new footage from Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. The footage is exclusive to UK PSN users on their consoles. But hey, at least if you don’t have a PS3 and don’t live in the UK, you can now see the footage! If you do live in the UK and have access to PSN, make sure to turn on your PS3 and check the footage out. You can definitely see the influence Bizarre Creations racing game Blur had on All-Stars Racing Transformed in the neon boosters and weapons. Transformations appear seamless and the final shot of the dragons is awesome.

Thanks to The Sonic Stadium’s Ashthedragon and Rawrdom for uploading the footage.

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Knuckles, Shadow, a new track and more join All-Stars Racing iOS in a big new update!

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Perfectly timed to coincide with All-Stars Racing Transformed debut comes a massive update to SEGA’s Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing for the iOS. The game has often been cited as being a big success, making a number of critics’ best games lists and it even made it into a iPod Touch commercial. So it only makes sense that SEGA and Sumo Digital would continue to update it. The update adds: Knuckles and Shadow as playable racers, a new track – Samba de Amigo’s mountainside Sun Fair track, a new home screen icon, Airplay-out mode, HDMI-out mode, iCloud saving, character faces on the minimap (originally racers were shown as anonymous red dots, now you’ll see that Beat is trailing you), Game Center profile pics on the minimap in multiplayer and many other improvements and bug fixes. I’ve explored the game some and found another unmentioned update, the ability to buy SEGA miles via in-app purchases. Very clever way to get a bit of money out of customers, SEGA. It should be noted that Knuckles, Shadow and the new track need to be purchased with SEGA miles. They are not unlocked once you update the app.

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Weekly Five Rewind: Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing 2 Predictions

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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.

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Check out some All-Stars Racing Transformed concept art!

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Yesterday it was the announcement, preview and podcast. Today: concept art! Thanks to French gaming site console-toi.fr comes a collection of artworks from the Panzer Dragoon and Monkey Ball tracks. They also released a few new screens including a look at the back of B.D. Joe’s vehicle in flight. Fun fact: some screens have a “ASN” label. This refers to the game’s internal name “All-Stars Next”. Check out the concept art, and new screens, after the break!

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Take a peek at Archie’s Sonic 4 Episode 2 comic adaptation

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I’ve really enjoyed Archie’s video game adaptations as of recent, if only because they don’t try to adapt the Archieverse into the story. Sure they’re short and are mainly meant to be ads for the games, but they’re the closest to what I consider to be the ideal Sonic comic book series (this comment is that of Barry the Nomad and not the opinion of SEGAbits). The upcoming Sonic Super Special Magazine #3 will include a special tie-in comic that will take place between Sonic 4 Episode 1 and Episode 2. Courtesy of IGN comes the first two pages of the Sonic 4 Episode 2 story, which kicks off at the end of Episode 1. After the break, check out the pages!

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SEGA Tunes: Anarchy Reigns spins the Blacker Baron theme song

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=a3-rAeBL-io

While SEGA West remains silent on Anarchy Reigns, the game continues to get recognition in Japan. Ripped from the latest episode of Platinum Games TV and released to YouTube, the tune is reportedly the theme song for the character Blacker Baron. The tune is titled “Days of Old” by VStylez and is hopefully the first of many awesome tunes. For more information on Anarchy Reigns, hit up Platinum Games official site.

 

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Sonic Free Riders and Virtual-On Force go platinum in Japan

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Takashi Iizuka: A Platinum Collection release of Sonic Free Riders? (laughs) …Yes!

Yes, believe it or not, the often criticized Sonic Free Riders will receive a Platinum Collection release in Japan tomorrow. Perhaps the game was actually pretty enjoyable and warranted the sales, and most of the vitriol came from those who just love to hate on games they never actually played? Or maybe the Japanese just like to support titles from Japanese developers when it comes to XBOX releases in Japan. For those who don’t know, Platinum Collection titles are games considered by Microsoft to have sold considerable units since release. These select titles are given new packaging and are sold at a lower price. So kudos to SEGA for not one, but TWO Platinum Collection releases. The second game to be released tomorrow is Virtual-On Force, which will receive a cute upgrade to the game’s cover. Check that out after the break.

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Why Dreamcast fans should be hyped for Sturmwind

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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).

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Arts and Crafts: Make your own Sonic 4 Episode 2 Genesis box, manual and cartridge!

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With only a month until the game’s digital release, I thought it would be fun to once again create a retro Genesis box design for Sonic 4’s next episode. The first time I designed a fake Genesis box was for Sonic 4 Episode 1, which I shared over at my personal blog The Nomad Junkyard [Update: Here is the new Sonic 4 Episode 1 download link]. I used the original Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis box design as inspiration for Episode 1, so I thought it would be fitting to use Sonic 2’s original Genesis box as my inspiration for Episode 2. After the break, a download link, instructions and a photo gallery for those too lazy to make it themselves.

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SEGA Five: Bein’ bad – SEGA style

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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.

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Sit on a Master System while you play a Master System

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From gameblog.fr comes this crazy piece of fan art. French video game blogger Subby-kun and his wife Subbinette converted a couch into a Master System, complete with controller pillows. I’d make an Xzibit Yo Dawg meme image for this, but you can pretty much imagine how it would go. This isn’t their first piece of video game hardware furniture either, they’ve also created an NES bed. No clue what their next project is, but I’d love to see a Dreamcast futon. After the break, check out more images of this crazy couch!

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Sonic 4’s Episode Metal game length revealed?

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Sonic 4 rep and on-again-off-again moustache wearer Ken Balough has possibly revealed Episode Metal’s length. Ken spoke of Episode Metal in an interview and stated the following: “You’re going to unlock about 25% more game”. This percentage is interesting. Does Ken mean that Episode Metal is 25% the size of Episode 1? Episode 1 consisted of 17 acts. 25% of 17 is 4.25 acts. Episode Metal’s teaser promised “Four Exclusive Levels”. So with this in mind, Episode Metal might actually end up being shorter than a typical Sonic 4 episode. It could consist of four reworked acts/levels, each act taking place within a different zone. Either the four zones found in Episode 1, or three Episode 1 zones and Stardust Speedway or an Episode 2 zone. Fans disappointed in this news may be happy to hear that Ken also revealed “there’s more cutscenes in Episode Metal than all of Episode 2”. So while Episode Metal may be short, it will have a good deal of story. Also, it’s basically free so don’t complain!

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Japanese Sonic 4 site updates – reveals Oil Desert Zone and more

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SEGA of Japan’s Sonic the Hedgehog 4 site has updated to reflect yesterday’s news, however there are a few new additions. For one thing, the unnamed desert stage will be known as Oil Desert Zone. Simple, but it fits. The site has also added twelve new screens of the zone, showing off new gimmicks and badniks. The site also has a cleaned up version of yesterday’s trailer, in true HD and without the Gamestop watermark. Other additions to the site include the confirmation of the $15 price tag, unchanged from the first episode. Also, there are badnik profiles and a story tab that shows Little Planet approaching Earth. The story text is in Japanese, so any readers who know the language, if you can translate it that would be “boss” of you.

Update: Added nine more images, courtesy of Andriasang.com, the images include more Oil Desert screens, high res “box art” and screens from Episode Metal.

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