I had the strangest dream. Sonic and friends went on an adventure inside my iPhone and… oh wait, it’s real! Sonic Dream Team was announced and on SEGA News Bits Live, Barry takes a look at all the details revealed about the Apple Arcade exclusive game.
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SEGA’s Hardlight studio, most well known for the Sonic Dash series of endless runners, has a new game coming December 5th to Apple Arcade titled Sonic Dream Team. Unlike their previous Sonic offerings, the game appears to be less mobile game based and more like Sonic’s console offerings as it is described as a 3D platformer. From SEGA’s description:
SEGA’s animation studio, Marza Animation Planet, has been teasing something relating to the ghost girl and her two ghostly admirers throughout the year and we finally know what that is!
As a Halloween treat, Marza Animation Planet released “Ghost Tale”, an animated short featuring the ghosts from 2008’s “Sonic Unleashed: Night of the Werehog” animated short. While Sonic does not feature, there is a visual of the werehog on a poster in the background. It’s great seeing these fan favorite characters return, and here’s hoping the appear in more animated shorts or other media in the future!
Energy drink company G FUEL has unveiled their latest Sonic the Hedgehog drink flavor, this time celebrating Amy Rose who turns 30 years old this year with her 1993 debut in Sonic CD. The drink is pink, obviously, and the flavor is strawberry shortcake. You can pick it up as an individual powder canister or a collector’s box with a canister and a pink shaker featuring Amy’s name and likeness! If you’d like to show SEGAbits some support, use promo code “SEGABITS” to save 20% on your purchase. The product is expected to ship in November, perfect timing for Thanksgiving dinner!
This comes as a shock as Hyenas was just demoed at Gamescom only last month and in a recent closed PC beta just this month, along with a few all newtrailers getting released. The developers even seemed rather enthusiastic about the game’s reception, in spite of any challenges with development, as referenced in an interview Eurogamer did with representatives of Creative Assembly at that very same Gamescom event. It truly goes to show that you can never be too certain what will happen behind closed doors in the world of game development. I can only hope the staff being let go have little trouble finding new jobs and supporting themselves and their families.
Are you sad to see Hyenas canned? I know I am, especially cause I never even got to participate in any of the betas. Maybe any of you who did can tell us about your experiences in the comments below? I’d especially appreciate it.
Remember Sega Forever, and how that started out in 2017 as Sega Europe’s initiative to bring classic Sega games to mobile app stores as free, ad-supported games? Well, Sega Forever is now “Sega For-never,” as more than half of the games released through Sega Forever have now been delisted from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store without so much as an official announcement. On top of that, the games now display an “End of Service” message like the one shown above saying that the games will remain playable, but will lose their online features, which amounted to save states being stored online, leaderboards, and offering you the option to pay $1.99 USD to play without ads. It also has a “More Info” button to show you where else the games available through Sega Forever can be played, but it only currently leads to Sega’s home page. (The above message comes from the Space Harrier II Classic app. I have not been able to confirm if the non-Genesis games display a message like this.)
Check in past the break to see what the remaining games are, as well as some more unsettling news…
SEGA has released Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, this opening movie really shows a contrast to Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth, which is more upbeat story trailers featuring the main cast on an adventure; Like a Dragon Gaiden shows Kazuma Kiryu on the other hand living in the shadows.
What is Kazuma Kiryu doing? What he does best, hanging out at bars and smoking cigarettes.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth might be breaking my hype meter, I was on the fence when SEGA revealed that Yakuza: Like a Dragon would take the game from action gameplay to turn-base and not only that replace our favorite hero Kazuma Kiryu. But after playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the new combat system, characters and story have become my favorite in the franchise. I did feel like one of the only things holding it back was a more fleshed out combat system and it looks like the team is working overtime to deliver not just making our hero Ichiban a fish out of water in Hawaii, the first time the series has visited America, but also improving a lot of the gameplay. Like the ability to move your characters and actually refocusing on how the characters use items in their paths being shown so far. While the trailer has also shown brand new jobs, I think an issue with the previous title was that only a few jobs where viable in the long run. While new jobs are great, I hope they are all good enough to play in their own way and it isn’t like the previous game where only a few really viable to play high level.
OH AND SEGA BASS FISHING AND SPIKEOUT ARE AVIALBLE TO PLAY IN ARCADES! WE WILL ALSO FIND OUT ABOUT ICHIBAN’S MOM! HYPE METER TO 100%!
You can also check out the ten minute story trailer after the jump, this story trailer shows the first American celebrity to be featured in a Yakuza/Like a Dragon game, Machete himself Danny Trejo!:
One thing that I have loved about the recent classic Sonic the Hedgehog games have been the animated shorts they’ve been releasing, starting with Sonic Mania Adventures! This time, Sonic Superstars gives us this really nicely animated “Trio of Trouble” short. Sadly, when I say short, I mean too short. I could really go for a classic Sonic, silent cartoon. I love it. Obviously the animated short’s name is a reference Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble, the Game Gear exclusive game that was the first time Fang (or Nack) was introduced! We even did a SEGA Talk discussing the game, which you can listen to!
Sonic Superstars is getting closer to release date as October 17th will be here faster than you can say “Does Fang have a Nack for treasure hunting?” .
In a recent issue of Famitsu, it has been confirmed that classic arcade titles, Daytona USA 2 (now renamed SEGA Racing Classic 2) and Fighting Vipers 2 will be fully playable as minigames in Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. For the first time ever, arcade goers can now play Daytona USA 2 at home and Fighting Vipers 2 can now be played worldwide as the original home ports were only available for Europe and Japan territories.
In addition, SEGA Master System titles will also make an appearance again as playable games since Lost Judgment such as Flicky, Galaxy Force, and many more. It amazes me to see more arcade titles ported to RGG games from Yu Suzuki’s classics, Model 2, and now Model 3 games. If this keeps up, I wonder what rare classic SEGA games will appear in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth?
Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name will be available for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC (Steam) on November 9.
I recently took a trip to Canada and was surprised to learn that a key filming location for the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie was just eight minutes off our main route! Located in Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada, this location was home to much of the Green Hills scenes in the sequel including the town hall, main street and Mean Bean coffee storefront. Enjoy this walk through cinema history!
Sonic Frontiers third content update has been revealed, with the subtitle “The Final Horizon” and a release date of September 28th. The update adds new story content, new challenges and the ability to play as Tails, Amy and Knuckles. The teaser trailer showcases a brand new boss and the return of Sage as she and Eggman appear to be working with Sonic and friends.
Sonic Frontiers is available now across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Steam.
As gamescom 2023 kicks off, news has dropped on the upcoming Sonic Superstars! 2D classic Sonic is returning to all modern platforms, and he is bringing Tails, Knuckles and Amy Rose with him on a brand new adventure. While the game will have a single player mode, there is also a focus on 2-4 player gameplay and the latest trailer details that element. Local co-op and Battle Mode will allow up to four players to drop in and out of a local game, or battle up to seven other players online or four players locally in a Battle Mode. Most exciting for longtime Sonic fans is the appearance of metal doppelgängers including the long lost Metal Knuckles! These robot duplicates can be build in a new mecha building mode where players can mix and match parts to create new or classic mecha robots.
Also detailed was the Digital Deluxe Edition, which is priced at $69.99 and includes the base game, a Sonic Rabbit Skin (straight from the early Sonic Team concept art), a LEGO fun pack, Mecha Sonic (from Sonic 2) parts, bonus menu wallpapers, a digital artbook and mini-OST and a LEGO Sonic skin.
Sonic Superstars is launching October 17, 2023, and is available for pre-order physically and digitally for PS5 and PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, the Nintendo Switch systems and PC starting at $59.99 USD.
Out of nowhere, SEGA has dropped a demo of Samba de Amigo: Party Central for the Nintendo Switch. Usually these things get press releases or some fanfare from SEGA, but instead it’s just there. So head on over to the Nintendo eShop listing and check out the demo for yourself!
The demo will finally allow players to try the game for themselves to see if SEGA has finally perfected what was the perfect control scheme in the arcade original. The game was ported to the SEGA Dreamcast, with some excellent controls but sadly the dedicated controller cost a lot. The game then released to Wii, and the less said about the controls on that one the better. What are your thoughts on the demo? Sound off below!
Today, SEGA has launched the new Fast. Friends. Forever. campaign for Sonic the Hedgehog fans to show the importance of friendship, teamwork, inspiration, and loyalty. The initiative focuses on how Sonic and his friends demonstrate these values both in and out of the games.
The Fast. Friends. Forever. campaign will also continue throughout the year with variety of events and activations including:
A four-panel digital comic series by Sonic’s community of friends featuring talented artists from around the world. The first release drops August 9, followed by 14 more issues in the upcoming months.
The Sonic Symphony World Tour featuring Sonic and friends alongside popular music from the games. Tour stops include Los Angeles, London, Paris, Dusseldorf and more! Details HERE: https://www.sonicsymphonytour.com/
Season two of TailsTube starring Sonic’s best friend and sidekick, Tails. Get ready for a bunch of new stories that are fun and educational!
A dedicated website showcasing all of Fast. Friends. Forever. activities, as well as character bios, spotlights, digital comics, and more! Details HERE: https://www.sonicthehedgehog.com
LEGOLAND is also offering a FREE kid’s ticket, with purchase of an adult ticket, good at any LEGOLAND Theme Park or LEGOLAND Discovery Center in North America through the end of the year. Terms and conditions apply. For more information, go to LEGOLAND.com/SonicSuperstars
