Review: Sonic Free Riders

As the last of his games hit shelves, so ends a big year for Sonic. 2010 brought with it some hotly anticipated Sonic titles: The SEGA Superstars returned for All-Star Racing, 2D Sonic returned to consoles and 3D Sonic has cleaned up his act. Meanwhile, off in the corner sat Sonic Free Riders.

Free Riders, the third game in the Sonic Riders series, made ripples (not waves) in the SEGA community when it was announced to be a launch title for Microsoft’s Kinect. The series itself had earned little respect in the past, and coupled with a new piece of hardware, enthusiasm for the game was mixed. But now the Kinect is here, the game is out. No more speculating, it’s reviewin’ time!

Review: Shenmue – 10 years later, there’s still been nothing else like it


[Even 10 years later, Shenmue’s still a fanbase favorite]

All throughout the life of the Dreamcast, we were teased with images and trailers for what promised to be the most amazing and cinematic game to ever grace a home console. There were certainly high expectations for Shenmue to deliver, and, well, it may not have been the game everyone was expecting. For those of us who “got” Shenmue, though, it ended up being one of the most incredible gaming experiences of our lives, and to date, surpassed only by its sequel. This is a series that every gamer should play and playing it when it was released in 2000, 10 years ago, was a journey that, like much on Sega’s awesome white console, forever changed the way I looked at video games.

Shenmue 10th Anniversary!

Yes! It is 10 whole years to the day… Erm, yesterday. But close enough right?

Shenmue was one of the most ambitious games ever made, it cost a whopping 70 million dollars in total, is the best series I’ve ever played and… Still isn’t bloody finished.

If you have yet to play Shenmue, well you may be a ‘gamer’ but you’ve still got your training wheels on, that’s for sure. Get your act together, go buy a cheap Dreamcast and enjoy a true classic.

If you have, fantastic you are a real man. Here’s to more Shenmue, sometime in the next 10 years! Come on Sega…

Until then, Shenmue City anyone?

Shenmue City is being directed by Yu Suzuki


The official site for Shenmue City has opened up, more info is trickling down. Shenmue City was thought to be a sequel to Shenmue 2, it has been revealed that is not the case. The game will take place in a parallel universe and you will start off where Shenmue 1 started.

Seems that characters exclusive to Shenmue Online (cancelled game) will be used in this title, as well as CGI from the past titles. As far as pricing, the game will be free to play, but you will have to pay for some items.

As for who is making the game, it is not SEGA, they are not developing or publishing the game. The game is being developed by YS NET, an independent studio started in November 2008. The director of this project is Yu Suzuki. Sunsoft is helping with the project.

[Thanks: STORM!]

Shining Force Central – Save our Series!

The long running Shining Force fansite known as Shining Force Central run by the biggest Shining Force fan there is ‘Moogie’ has sprung into action with a new campaign to convince Sega and/or Camelot to give us a new Shining FORCE game in the classic style for next years Shining Forces 20th anniversary.

Who better to introduce the idea then Moogie herself?

Hit the jump for what she had to say on the matter!

Sonic 4 – Lets make Episode 2 perfect

I’m not going too write a second, conventional review for Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1. We already have a good review by Barry covering the iPad version of the game. His review touches upon most what you need to know about all versions of the game and I feel I’d just be echoing most of what he has already written.

Instead I want to make a list of all of the things that, after finishing Sonic 4 (and getting almost all of the achievements) I feel could be fixed or improved for Sonic 4 Episode 2.

So, hit the jump for my Sonic 4 Episode 2 improvment rundown!

Sonic levels that should be in Sonic Anniversary


Picking out your favorite Sonic levels is like picking out your favorite child, sometimes its easy because someone failed math and other times its difficult to do, because you hate them all equally.

We have decided to take a crack at compiling a list of Sonic levels we would like to see in Sonic Anniversary (If the details turn out to be true and they seem like they will). I will only go through the main console series, way too many Sonic games to go through spin offs and handhelds.

This is our opinion, if you have some stages not mentioned, give us a comment letting us know how wrong our opinions are.

Review: Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – Episode 1 (iPhone)

After a staggering two years of waiting, 2D Sonic gameplay has finally returned to the handheld world! What? Oh, you’re probably used to the usual Sonic 4 article intro recounting the 16 year wait fans had to endure before seeing the return of a 2D Sonic to home consoles. Well, such is not the case with Sonic in the portable world. Ever since 2D Sonic left Angel Island, he had found a new home on handheld gaming devices. Between 1994 and 2010, Sonic fans have been treated to more than ten 2D adventures. It is probably due to this fact that the iPhone version of Sonic 4 hasn’t been receiving the same level of enthusiasm and attention as its big brother console versions have.

SEGAbits Monthly September 2010 issue

This September was a big month for us here at SEGAbits. Not only did we get a new site look, it was also the Dreamcast’s 11th anniversary and Tokyo Game Show. We were the first site to bring you news regarding Phantasy Star Online 2 and got mentioned by sites such as Joystiq and 1up.

September also had us posting the most stories on the front page, most users on at once (322 says phpbb, shattering the 120 people record) and of course us joining facebook. You haven’t liked us yet? You should!

Next stop? Being the best SEGA site out there… someday…

Review: Sonic Adventure (PSN)

Sonic Adventure was one of the first titles available on the Dreamcast, when it released in the United States back in 1999. Now the game is being ported over to the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

Is Sonic Adventure an old relic that should have stayed on Dreamcast or does its new outing show everyone how great the game always was?