SEGA has released new information about the upcoming Sonic Mania by way of a new trailer showing off the special stages, bonus stage and time attack mode. Special stages see the players chasing down enemy UFOs to obtain those precious Chaos Emeralds. As revealed at Comic Con, the spheres give the players an added speed boost.
Via Sonic Paradise comes news (that we’re labeling as rumor for now simply because it has not been officially announced) that Sonic Forces will have a Day One edition featuring avatar costume DLC. The information comes from Amazon.es and XtraLife listings. The avatar accessories consist of wearables from SEGA franchises which include Jet Set Radio, NiGHTS into Dreams, Super Monkey Ball and Puyo-Puyo Tetris. The pre-order notes that there are six items, but only lists four franchises, so my guess is that some franchises have more accessories than others in order to pull off the desired costume. Super Monkey Ball, for example, might just be Aiai’s shirt. The Day One edition also appears to include four postcards with concept art from the game.
DLC from other SEGA franchises is not new to the Sonic series, as Sonic Lost World included NiGHTS DLC when it first released. More info as we hear it!
Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film Ready Player One, based on the novel by Ernest Cline, had a new trailer released for Comic Con and man does it try to outdo Roger Rabbit and Wreck-It Ralph in the cameo department. While the scale of cameos isn’t huge, they sure are all over the map. Viewers have spotted The Iron Giant, Deadpool, Harley Quinn, Gandalf, the DeLorean time machine and other pop culture easter eggs (with many news sites inaccurately reporting it’s all 80s pop culture nostalgia). Being a SEGA fan site, I frame-by-framed the trailer and found a SEGA reference so that SEGA in the Media may live on!
At the 1:40 mark a futuristic red motorcycle appears sporting several stickers including the Atari and Taito logos as well as Hello Kitty and the SEGA logo. Who knows what other references to SEGA the movie will have, but this is a good sign that there could be more. After the break, check out a screengrab of the SEGA sticker.
Penguin Random House continues to announce books today with the reveal of an adult coloring book titled SEGA: The Official Coloring Book. The description reads as follows: “Altered Beast, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Sonic the Hedgehog, and more—all intricately illustrated in this adult coloring book packed with original Sega art. With stunning pages to color, plus all the best action from the classic gaming system, this retro-themed adult coloring book is perfect for any creative gaming fan. Filled with 96 pages of original designs, it will be like you’re playing Altered Beast for the very first time. Power up!”
Sounds great, but you know what is REALLY awesome? All the art is from longtime Archie Sonic the Hedgehog artist Patrick Spaziante. As you can see from the cover, the art is first rate and will surely be a lot of fun to color. Or keep untouched on your shelf, if you are a collector like me. The book is now available to pre-order and is set to release October 17, 2017.
I’ve long had a soft spot for the Sonic the Hedgehog kids books of the 90s, from the look and finds to the junior novelizations. Penguin Random House have just announced three new Sonic books and all three are now available to pre-order! All three books are due out March 6, 2018. After the break, check out full descriptions of the books. I’m especially interested in the junior novelization featuring short stories and color illustrations.
If there are two things I love, it’s weird food promotions and Sonic the Hedgehog. So when those two combine, I’m a very happy man (hey, I even made a YouTube series dedicated to such things). Jones Soda, creator of delicious and decidedly weird sodas, has teamed with SEGA to release Sonic, Tails and Knuckles inspired beverages to promote Sonic Mania. TheLimited Edition Sonic Mania Jones Soda bottles are currently exclusive to Comic Con, but comments on their Facebook demanding a wide release have been met with Jones Soda replying “stay tuned”. It is worth noting that Jones Soda has a robust online store, so perhaps an online exclusive is in the works? As for the flavors themselves, we have Sonic Blue Bubblegum Soda, Tails Orange Cream Soda and Knuckles Strawberry Lime Soda. If you are attending Comic Con, swing by the Futurism Pavilion at the Omni for a chance to win some.
Too bad Jones Soda didn’t release an Eggman Scrambled Eggs Soda. Hey, the company has already made Robin’s Egg Lemonade soda and Egg Nog soda!
Nintendo news on a SEGA website!? Don’t worry, it’s SEGA related. Today Nintendo’s long overdue Bayonetta amiibo release as part of their Super Smash Bros. line, featuring the beloved witch in two styles: the Player 1 Bayonetta 2 design and the Player 2 Bayonetta design. The player 2 design is a Best Buy exclusive, and is likely to be the more popular of the two. The player 1 design can be found anywhere amiibo are sold (such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart) and both designs retail for $12.99.
The Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube account has released a new trailer for Sonic Forces showcasing some cutscenes featuring the new villain Infinite. Worth pointing out, that we also get a glimpse of additional stages from the game. All the previously revealed villains make appearances as well in Park Avenue, which lines up with past reveals. So we will likely see all the villains right after the first stage. What are your thought on the trailer, sound off in the comments!
Data Discs have announced that their Sonic Mania vinyl will be available to pre-order this coming Saturday, July 22nd, from their website. The album will be available in three editions: 180g Clear with Blue, Red, Orange & Yellow Splatter (Limited Edition), 180g Translucent Blue, and 180g Classic Black. The LP features 16 new tracks by composer Tee Lopes, as well as new gatefold art featuring Sonic, Tails and Knuckles in Green Hill Zone Act 2.
The limited edition is exclusive to the Data Discs site and will only be available to pre-order for a set amount of time. The sale will begin at 8:00am (BST) on Saturday 22nd July and finish at 12:00pm (BST) on Monday 24th July. Anyone ordering during this period will be guaranteed a copy. Once this period is over, they will not accept any further orders of the limited edition. However, the other two editions will remain available.
Data Discs also mentioned that their Streets of Rage 1 and 2 vinyls will be reissued and will be available for pre-order July 22nd with an August ship date.
Fastest Food Alive takes a look at a modern promotional item advertising something classic: SEGA Forever Gold Rings cereal! Made to resemble a box of cereal, complete with actual cereal and a toy surprise, SEGA Forever Gold Rings was released to spread the word of the SEGA Forever classic games collection. The collection will bring games from the SG-1000 through to the Dreamcast to mobile devices in a free to play or $1.99 each to remove ads format.
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We’re back! SEGA Talk turns its high beams on and takes a closer look at SEGA AM3’s classic arcade and Dreamcast game Crazy Taxi. Despite its seemingly simplistic premise, Crazy Taxi offered up a lot of depth and has seen a long and successful history as a franchise with games still being released as of 2017. What are our memories of the game? What was the development history? How do the in-game cabbies compare to real life cab drivers? All this and more is talked about on SEGA Talk!
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Virtua Tennis Challenge, originally released to mobile devices in 2012, has been given the SEGA Forever upgrade and is now free to play or $1.99 to remove ads. Users who originally downloaded the game before the update can restore their purchase and remove the ads. Virtua Tennis Challenge was teased in our SEGA Forever interview, in which mobile games community manager Danny Russell confirmed that SEGA Forever would see existing titles brought into the service. This is great news, as Virtua Tennis Challenge was one of those games badly needing a 64-bit support update.
The game is available to download now on the App Store and Google Play.
On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry discuss the answers SEGA gave to our questions about the SEGA Forever retro gaming collection. SEGA Forever is an initiative from SEGA Networks to bring games from the SG-1000 through to the Dreamcast to mobile devices and beyond! What future games can we expect? How will the Genesis/Mega Drive emulation improve? How will light gun games play?
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Via Sonic Stadium comes news that a Sonic the Hedgehog augmented reality experience is debuting at San Diego Comic Con. The AR experience was revealed on the event’s official site, and is said to take place in the Omni San Diego Hotel Grand Ballroom between Wednesday, July 19th and Sunday, July 23rd. Also planned is a Tuesday evening concert from Shota Nakama, creator of the Video Game Orchestra, and a dome takeover on Friday.
Sega is presenting an AR Sonic experience and a special concert with the awesome Shota Nakama on Thursday evening, and dome takeover on Friday!
WHERE: Omni San Diego Hotel, Grand Ballroom, 4th Floor
WHEN: Wed., 7/19: Developer & Public Preview, 6:00–9:00 PM • Thu.–Sat., 7/20-7/22: 9:30 AM–7:00 PM • Sun., 7/23: 9:30 AM–5:00 PM
Once more is revealed, we’ll be sure to share!
[Source: San Diego Comic Con]
On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry fist bump their way through the recently revealed main theme to Sonic Forces. The track, titled “Fist Bump”, features vocals and lyrics by Douglas Robb of Hoobastank and is composed and arranged by Tomoya Ohtani. How does the tune compare to past title tracks? What do we think of the lyrics? Who… bastank?
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