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The Year of the Console – SEGA Dreamcast month, it’s still thinking

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In nine days, SEGA’s final console the SEGA Dreamcast turns 15 years old in the United States. The Dreamcast is a rare instance in which the US launch overshadows the Japanese launch, thanks to the memorable date of 9/9 and a stellar launch lineup. While Japan had a paltry four games, the US had nineteen which covered just about every major genre. Racing fans had the most options, with CART Flag to Flag, Hydro Thunder, Monaco Grand Prix, Pen Pen Trilcelon, TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat, Tokyo Extreme Racer, and TrickStyle. While those who prefer their speed in the skies had AeroWings and AirForce Delta.

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Retro Review: Shadow Squadron (SEGA 32X)

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Anyone who thinks the 32X was nothing more than a steaming pile of shit has never played Shadow Squadron. If they had, they’d not only know that the 32X had its share of great titles, they’d know it played host to what was quite easily the best space sim available for fourth generation consoles. It may have paled in comparison to PC sims like Wing Commander and the X-Wing series, but it beat the shit out of anything on the 16-bit consoles.

I think there’s no better way to end 32X month then with a look back at one of the platform’s best titles. Known as Stellar Assault in Europe and Japan, Shadow Squadron was one of the closest things the 32X had to a true killer app during its brief lifespan. Check below the fold as we explore what makes this hidden, forgotten gem so special.

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Classic SEGA Ads: Doom 32X helps butchers keep their mind off work

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Alright, we haven’t been too kind to SEGA’s marketing campaign for the 32X, so I thought it would be great to end things on a high note: the Doom ad. The Doom ad is fucking awesome, embodying everything that was great about SEGA marketing in those days.

Is it edgy? Yeah. Does it match the tone of the game? Hell yeah. Does it make you want to go out and buy the game? Fuck yeah. Doom was known for being a gory, violent, bloody game, and on the higher difficulties it could be a hell of a meat grinder. Placing it in a slaughter house, with lots of kid friendly gore and even an actual meat grinder? Having butchers who are surrounded by real gore every day talking about how intense the violence in Doom is? Genius. This is an ad that understood its product and knew how to sell it, easily making it the best 32X ad SEGA’s produced. It’s simple, smart and doesn’t get into any of the distracting weirdness or camera mugging of other ads. Most importantly, this ad didn’t just tell, it showed, something every other 32X ad failed to do.

So enjoy, and be sure to tune in next week, as we start taking a look back at a considerably better advertisement campaign for another, more successful SEGA platform…

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Rise From Your Grave: Spot Goes to Hollywood for the SEGA 32X

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Back in 1995, SEGA promised 50 titles for the 32X by the end of that year. Unfortunately, the onslaught of the “true” next gen systems from SEGA and Sony would take its toll on SEGA’s little mushroom, and it died a silent death with only 39 titles in its library. Numerous titles were canceled, many of them notable, including Daytona USA and Castlevania Bloodletting. Some however, were just prettier ports of Genesis titles. Today’s game is one of those titles, a never before seen version of Spot Goes to Hollywood. Dumped to a mere 35 reproduction carts earlier this year, this ROM has yet to be released to the public.

Today, SEGAbits is proud to present a first look at a game only a few hundred people have ever seen before. What is it like? What makes it unique to other versions of the game? Answers lie below the fold.

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A User’s Guide to Darxide for the SEGA 32X

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Since the day I joined SEGAbits, one of my goals has always been to shed light and draw attention to some of the more obscure games in SEGA’s history. With 32X month in full swing, it just didn’t seem right to let the month pass without writing some kind of article that sheds light on one of the rarest titles in the system’s small library: Darxide. This is a game that few people have played and even fewer people know how to play, so today I’m not only going to go over the history of the game, I’m also going to explain its mechanics so that if you do ever get to play the game, you’ll know how.

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SEGA Tunes: Kolibri’s Infestation

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Kolibri is a neat little cute-em up shooter from the Ecco development team Novotrade. It’s probably best described as a mix between Ecco the Dolphin and Fantasy Zone. In some levels the goal is to fly around a level to seek out and destroy enemies. In others, you need to solve an environmental puzzle to progress to the stage goal. Finally, some stages are just straight up, left-to-right scrolling shooter stages. It’s an interesting and unique game with a soundtrack to match.

The soundtrack was composed by Zsolt Dvornik, a Hungarian Jazz guitarist. It sounds reminiscent of Ecco’s soundtrack: atmospheric and subdued. Infestation has a very primal sound that goes extremely well with the game’s realistic art style and wilderness setting. Compared to the bombastic soundtrack of most other side scrolling shooters, Kolibri is a unique and wholly different beast.

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Round Table: SEGA’s worst decision during the 16-bit console wars

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Some people consider the 16-bit wars to be the golden age of gaming, but as much as we see the early 90’s with rose tinted glasses there where some serious mistakes made during the war (on both sides). This week we will discuss what we think SEGA’s worse decision during the 16-bit console wars was. Sit back and if you want to join in on the discussion, please do so in the comments.

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Classic SEGA Ads: SEGA Does the Math

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That awkward sexually infused ad we featured at the beginning of the month wasn’t the only 32X ad rapper Chill E.B. starred in. He also featured in this other, considerably better advertisement that focused on the math rather than the weird sexual innuendo one could infer from two consoles hooking-up.

That math is pretty sketchy though, as it often was in these ads. Much like how bits and blast processing were little more than marketing terms that oversimplified complex technology, the math here seems to have very little basis in fact. I could believe the 32X being significantly more powerful than the SNES, but I sincerely doubt that the 32X was four times more powerful than the 3D0. The console that was two and a half times more expensive at the time, and even though it was being sold for a significant profit by companies that didn’t see a dime in software profits I find it hard to believe that the 32X could have simultaneously over-powered and underpriced the competition, at least without magic. The fact that the 3D0 produced better looking games doesn’t help SEGA’s case, either.

Of course, the 32X died off so quickly we likely never got to see what the hardware was truly capable, so who knows? Either way, this ad is one of the best that the 32X got. It emphasized what the consumers cared about: graphics and games. It highlighted the right and actually demonstrated what the 32X was capable of. The math may have been bullshit, but at least the games weren’t!

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Swingin’ Report Show #69: Night Trap ReVamped with Digital Pictures Co-Founder Tom Zito

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Digital Pictures was a pioneer in the world of interactive full motion video, bringing a cinematic feel to games at a time when players were used to two dimensional sprites. Their titles, which included Night Trap, Sewer Shark, Corpse Killer, Supreme Warrior, the Make My Video series, and many more, spanned a number of genres and appeared on several platforms throughout the 90s. Now, their most famous title Night Trap is set to make a return to modern platforms with former Digital Pictures members leading the way. Director/co-designer Jim Riley, co-designer Rob Fulop, technical director Mark Klein, and executive producer Tom Zito have formed Night Trap, LLC and have established a Kickstarter initiative dubbed Night Trap ReVamped.

Tom Zito joins Barry on our latest Swingin’ Report Show to discuss the creation of Digital Pictures, the never released Control-Vision game console from Hasbro which was to use VHS tapes as cartridges (originally codenamed NEMO), Night Trap‘s releases both past and present, and his team’s plans for the Night Trap ReVamped Kickstarter. This episode is a must for retro SEGA fans and fans of innovations in the video game industry – give it a listen and be sure to check out Night Trap ReVamped!

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My Life with SEGA sees red in Mortal Kombat II for the SEGA 32X

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The ‘shroom finally blows…. out its candles with the third and final part of the 32X Anniversary Special with a very special 2-Man Scramble that’s dripping with blood. Oh yeah, it’s Mortal Kombat II.

In 1993, this critical and commercial treasure spread faster than herpes in a whore house. After having been unleashed in arcades across the planet, Mortal Kombat II soon spread to nearly every single home console/handheld available at the time. Even though SEGA’s ill-conceived 32-bit add-on went the way of the Virtual Boy in less than a year, its port of the Midway smash is still well regarded to this day….

Is this port a flawless victory? Find out with AJ, Mickey Mac, and newcomer, Erica Winter, before we open presents.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

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SEGA Channel Retro Presents Sonic Hacking Contest Special

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SEGA Channel Retro is reporting live from the Sonic Hacking Contest starting at 6PM Central. For our stream we’ll be checking out mods for Sonic Generations and Sonic Adventure DX in a three hour special.

Now available on YouTube you can check out each mod that was made for Sonic Generations and Sonic Adventure DX in a convenient playlist.

 

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SEGA Tunes: Zaxxon’s Motherbase 2000 – Stage 1

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There is nothing I love more in Genesis music than cheesy vocal samples, and the 32X shoot ’em up Zaxxon’s Motherbase 2000 is full of them. This week on Tuesday Tunes, we’re shining the spotlight on the kickass Stage 1 music from the 32X sequel to SEGA’s arcade classic Zaxxon. While the original Zaxxon was devoid of music, like many arcade space shooters of the early 80’s the game relied solely on sound effects, select home releases of the game introduced catchy stage music. The SEGA Master System’s Zaxxon 3D, a console exclusive, was the games first true sequel (Super Zaxxon was more of an upgrade to the original game) and featured a full soundtrack of exciting music. But it was the SEGA Genesis 32X exclusive Zaxxon’s Motherbase 2000 that truly brought the series’ music to – as SEGA would say – the next level. Utilizing the 32X’s enhanced sound capabilities, Zaxxon’s Motherbase 2000 features hectic, driving stage music filled with vocal samples like “GO!”, “WOO!” and unintelligible shouting. For a game as difficult as Zaxxon for the 32X, good music goes a long way in keeping the adrenaline pumping.

After the break, jam out to Stage 2’s music.

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SEGAbits Plays Episode #3: SEGA Genesis, SEGA CD, and 32X

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In our latest episode of SEGAbits Plays, Barry walks George through an assortment of SEGA Genesis, SEGA CD and 32X games. Games featured include Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Tail Spin for the Genesis, Eternal Champions for the SEGA CD, and Motocross Championship and Zaxxon’s Motherbase 2000 for the 32X. Stay tuned for our next episode as we play through the best and the worst that the SEGA 32X has to offer!

This episode was recorded after we interviewed former SEGA of America President Tom Kalinske – a man who was influential in the success of the SEGA Genesis and Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as the release of SEGA’s 32X. Listen to the full interview here.

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Round Table: Our Favorite SEGA 32X Games

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roundtablefavroties The 32x might be an add-on with only under 40 games released for the short lived unit, but it wasn’t hard for most of the staff here to pick their favorite game. Even though the library was small there was quite a few good original titles and faithful arcade ports that make all us SEGA fans mouth’s drool. Some games really showed off what the 32x was capable of, others focused more on delivering great game over graphics. Check out the games we chose after the break and you can tell us in the comments what your favorite 32x game is.

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