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This is Saturn goes cross-country with Gale Racer for SEGA Saturn

November 16, 2014 by TrackerTD

Surprise: It’s a This is Saturn double-month!
That’s right, to celebrate 20 years of the Saturn, we’re bringing you a second episode of This is Saturn for November!

Gale Racer, the Japan-exclusive port of SEGA AM2’s Rad Mobile to Saturn, has seen some bad rep over the years, with some going as far to call it outright “abysmal.” But is it really as bad as those folks suggest? Or has it earned that ‘glorious’ title?

This is Saturn is a video series created by British teenager Liam ‘TrackerTD’ Ashcroft, aiming to give an alternative and in-depth look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of SEGA Saturn gaming, all whilst maintaining a somewhat strong accent.

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Review: Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd (PS3 & PS Vita)

November 15, 2014 by Happy Cat

All screens from the PlayStation Vita version.

So, Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd is finally here. My first time playing a Project Diva game was last year when it came out on PS3 in western territories, and I’ve been hooked ever since. So many hours of my time logged into playing Project Diva F. Needless to say, I was looking forward to Project Diva F 2nd and it doesn’t disappoint, in fact, it goes beyond my expectations.

If you have played Hatsune Miku Project Diva F, you have an option of carrying over all the accessories, modules, and items you have unlocked over into F 2nd when creating a new game. Don’t worry if you haven’t unlocked everything, F 2nd gives you a way to unlock items from the first game if you haven’t unlocked them.

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TV Review: Sonic Boom – “Translate This”/”Buster”

November 15, 2014 by Barry

It has been quite a week for the Sonic Boom franchise, with the Wii U and 3DS games releasing and completing the circle of multimedia that make up Sonic Boom. Regardless of your feelings towards the games, the TV show was a welcome addition to the new franchise last week, and this weekend we have two new episodes to watch – “Translate This” and ”Buster”. How do these episodes compare to last week’s premiere? Let’s pour a bowl of Reece’s Puffs cereal, tune in and find out!

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Our new video series “Hit Reset” gives Scud: The Disposable Assassin for the SEGA Saturn a second chance

November 14, 2014 by Barry

On this first episode of Hit Reset, we take a look at a Saturn game that tends to be looked down on as one of the worst in the console’s history, Scud: The Disposable Assassin. As a fan of the comic series it’s based on, I’m going to tell you why I think this game gets an undeserved “bad rap”, and why you should check it out!

Scud: The Disposable Assassin is a run-and-gun/light gun hybrid game, based around the adventures of a robot who becomes a hitman in order to keep his original target alive, as he is programmed to explode as soon as his target dies. This game was published by Segasoft and developed by Syrox Developments in 1997.

Hit Reset is a new SEGAbits YouTube series from Gunstar, of the Gunstar YouTube Channel, which looks back on SEGA games and games for SEGA consoles disliked by fans and critics. Rather than tearing into these forgotten and reviled titles, Gunstar looks at the positive aspects of the games, seeing if there is a hidden gem to be found.

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SEGAbits & Sonic Retro present Boom Talkalaka #1: Sonic Boom Begins

November 13, 2014 by Barry

SEGAbits and Sonic Retro team up to bring you a podcast focused on SEGA’s new Sonic Boom franchise! Hosted by Barry the Nomad of SEGAbits.com and David the Lurker of SonicRetro.org, Boom Talkalaka features discussion of the many aspects of Sonic Boom – from comics and episodes of the cartoon, to the video games and toys.

Give the show a listen and in the comments tell us what you think! If you have any questions or comments you want David to read on the next episode, leave your message here with the subject line “Boom-Grams”: https://segabits.com/contact/

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My Life with SEGA celebrates twenty years of Saturn with Virtua Fighter

November 12, 2014 by AJ

The SEGA Saturn celebration continues as Andrew Rosa and Mickey Mac with special guest Erica Winter “enjoy” one of the very first games released for the SEGA Saturn…. Virtua Fighter! Stay tuned for next week’s part two as AJ, Mickey Mac, and Erica tackle another Saturn classic. We’re not going to spoil it, but here’s a hint: it rhymes with “Smirtua Spider Shoe”.

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SEGA Tunes: Battle Garegga flies you to the leaden sky

November 11, 2014 by George

Battle Garegga is a fabulous vertical arcade shooter that was ported exclusively to the SEGA Saturn in Japan. Not into the genre? Who cares, you don’t have to care how a game plays to appreciate this fabulous piece of music. That’s the thing I like about Japanese games, they usually tried to hook you right at the first stage and offer you a bombastic opening track. Battle Garegga‘s Stage 1: Valley song is no different, a great opening track that has you hooked right at the first note.

So what are you waiting for? Hit play and fly to the leaden sky.

Round Table: Our favorite SEGA Saturn imports

November 9, 2014 by Barry

It’s no secret that the SEGA Saturn did not have as strong a library as it could have had. The reason for this was that SEGA of America and SEGA Europe didn’t believe in the console like SEGA of Japan did, and thanks to a bunch onf inter-company politics, we never got to see many great titles in the West. Thankfully, the SEGA Saturn can easily play imports if you have yourself an Action Replay device – which Play Asia is conveniently having a sale on! Also, many of the Saturn’s imports are arcade titles or use minimal Japanese text, so you’re likely to find a slew of import friendly games.

Not sure where to start? Perhaps you need some ideas for additional games to add to your import library? Let the SEGAbits writers help out as we share our favorite SEGA Saturn imports!

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TV Review: Sonic Boom – “The Sidekick”/”Can an Evil Genius Crash on Your Couch for a Few Weeks?”

November 8, 2014 by Barry

Sonic Boom premiered just minutes ago on Cartoon Network! As each episode is 11 minutes long, each week two episodes will be released side by side to fill a half hour time slot. Past Sonic cartoons have premiered either with a very clear first episode (ABC’s Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic X, Sonic Underground), or with an episode that throws you right into the show with no clear feeling if it being the start of something (Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog). Sonic Boom’s first episode, “The Sidekick”, falls in between these classifications. The episode kicks off with the very same footage seen in the TV series trailer from months back as Sonic is in pursuit of Eggman, only to take on Burnbot and almost lose Tails to a plane crash. It’s a nice way to establish Sonic and Eggman’s rivalry and Sonic and Tails’ friendship.

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Classic SEGA Ads: The Saturn takes on the N64’s itty-bitty library

November 8, 2014 by Barry

If you asked me to make a list of what characteristics define the SEGA of the 90s, at the top of the list would undoubtably be “mocking the competition”. In an era where Nintendo was the family friendly choice, SEGA’s decision to be the rowdy cool kid in town who wasn’t afraid to shake things up and shit talk the competition got people’s attention. During the Genesis era, this sort of practice paid off. The Genesis made SEGA a household name in North America, and the company reigned supreme in the early 90s. However, due to unsuccessful launches of the 32X and Saturn, SEGA slipped in the market and in turn, attack ads like the one above lost much of its bite. Regardless, SEGA soldiered on with such ads, attacking the Playstation in claiming its single processor can’t handle a game like NiGHTS into Dreams and stating that the Saturn kicked Pretendo’s ass when it came to the respective console libraries.

Opinion: What Modern Sonic can learn from Classic Sonic

November 7, 2014 by Sharky

Like most long suffering Sonic the Hedgehog fans I have a love/hate relationship with the Sonic series. For every step forward Sonic takes, he takes two steps backwards or worse. I’m sure we call all agree, we’d like to see our beloved Sonic series shine again. Unfortunately we don’t all agree on how to achieve this goal. By creating various ‘generations of Sonic’ with a variety of differently play style,s SEGA have built a polarized, multifaceted fan base who all want something different from the series. From classic Sonic fans who like 2D side scrolling to Adventure fans who enjoy a varied play styles and a story driven experience and not forgetting the Rush fans that just want a good bit of fast.

Is any one group of the Sonic fan base more correct than the other? No, of course not- it takes all sorts. Though I do love the classics, I am no stranger to the modern Sonic games and I believe both have plenty to offer. I enjoy both Sonic Colours and Sonic Generations. I routinely return to Sonic Rush and it’s incredible OST. I spent an unhealthy portion of my teenage years in a stuffy dark bedroom playing the Sonic Adventure titles.

So is it possible to cater to the entire multifaceted Sonic fanbase? Probably not! But is it possible to create a Sonic game the majority of us can enjoy without it being a bloated hot mess? Maybe! Here are some of my suggestions.

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My Life with SEGA revives a dead format and plays some Video CDs on his SEGA Saturn

November 5, 2014 by AJ

The celebration of the SEGA Saturn continues as A.J. Rosa takes a look back on the Video CD format, and the VCD movie card available for SEGA’s 32-bit powerhouse.

In addition, you’ll get a brief glimpse at his VCD collection, as well as the Dreammovie VCD player for SEGA Dreamcast. If you’ve been wanting a “crash course” on the Video CD format and how it all works with our beloved Saturn, look no further.

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SEGA-Sammy’s Q1 2015 financial report detailed and explained

November 5, 2014 by Aki-at

SEGA-Sammy recently announced it’s first half results for the fiscal year and it came with mixed results. Some divisions have beaten expectations so far but the gloomy outlook for the rest of the year has effected the final net income expected by the group. During this period SEGA only released one major title but another up and coming title looks set to outdo their expectations, hit the link to find out what SEGA Sammy have been doing well and what the future holds for the group.

SEGA Tunes: Virtua Fighter 2’s Sarah and her Black Moon Cat

November 4, 2014 by George

Virtua Fighter 2 was the most popular game for the SEGA Saturn for many reasons, the most popular of those being the graphics and gameplay. But for me, I could never get over the excellent soundtrack. Virtua Fighter 2 featured one of the most impressive soundtracks that came out of the SEGA Saturn era. This week we look at Sarah’s theme ‘Black Moon Cat‘ and its various remixes including the Virtua Fighter Kids remix and more!