Streets of Rage trilogy on the SEGA Genesis had a wide range of enemies, some of them are so memorable that when you go back years later all you can think about is getting in the game and punching their pixels. Here is a list of enemies we love to hate.
This just might be a first for SEGA in the Media, a SEGA inspired video game within another video game! Released last year, Saints Row IV was a tongue-in-cheek action-adventure game from Illinois based developer Volition. Given the self-referential nature of the series, it only makes sense that they’d eventually reference crazy action games of the past, and what game is more fitting to pay tribute to than SEGA’s Streets of Rage? Dubbed “Saints of Rage”, this 2D beat ’em up appears at around 75-80% of the way into Saints Row IV. In-game, “Saints of Rage” is an enemy created nightmare simulation. Kicking off with a “Winners Don’t Use Drugs” message, the player is taken to a title screen which is a direct reference to the original Streets of Rage title screen.
My Life with SEGA’s Streets of Rage three parter comes to an end in the midst of Streets of Rage week at SEGAbits! In part one we looked back on one of the best beat ’em ups to grace SEGA’s 16-bit machine. In part two, Jimmy Mac and myself tackled two player mode for a 2-Man Scramble. Now we take a look at the sequels that followed, the appropriately named Streets of Rage 2 and Streets of Rage 3. Do the sequels live up to the original, or do they fail to reach the excellence of the first game? Punch the play button to find out!
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SEGA Genesis Month continues as Darren Wall, the man behind the successfully funded and coming soon “SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works” book, returns to the Swingin’ Report Show to update Barry and George on his project’s progress! One exciting bit of news is the reveal that David Rosen, co-founder of SEGA, has been interviewed for the book. Learn what we can expect to hear from Mr. Rosen, as well as all the cool new art and articles the book will contain, in this week’s show.
Also, since it is Streets of Rage Week at SEGAbits, we spend a portion of the show talking about the game’s development including new details Darren has learned. We also share our nostalgic memories of the series, our favorite music tracks, and what we would like to see in the future from the series.
If you’re a fan of SEGA, and still think Genesis does what Nintendon’t, this is definitely the show for you.
In November of last year, Darren Wall, graphic designer and art director at Read-Only Memory, took to Kickstarter in an effort to fund a book that was to be “the ultimate retrospective of the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis”. Dubbed a “documentary art book”, Darren had the official license from SEGA, including access to the company’s archives and staff from both past and present. The only thing left to to obtain was the funds to make the project a reality.
This part was probably the easiest step of the project, as in less than 48 hours the team had met their £30,000 goal, and by the end of the campaign they earned £98,725! Prior to the end of the campaign, Darren joined George and I for a Swingin’ Report Show interview to discuss his plans for the book. It is now five months later, and Darren is nearing completion of the project with only SEGA’s approval and printing remaining. We caught up with Darren in a written interview, as well as another podcast which you can listen to tomorrow. Darren was even nice enough to give us some exclusive content from the upcoming book: design documents from the development of the original Streets of Rage!
After the break, check out the full interview as well as the cool exclusives from Read-Only Memory and SEGA.
This website was once a happy, peaceful place… until today, when an awesome SEGA franchise took over. This memorable series soon had control of our featured articles and even the Swingin’ Report Show. Welcome 16-bit brothers and sisters to Streets of Rage week at SEGAbits!
As we reach the halfway point of SEGA Genesis Month, we wanted to shine the spotlight on SEGA’s popular side-scrolling beat ’em up series of games. Streets of Rage (Bare Knuckle in Japan) was a franchise that spanned most of the lifespan of the the Genesis/Mega Drive, and like Sonic the Hedgehog, Phantasy Star, and Golden Axe, the series came to be one of the console’s defining franchises. To celebrate these titles, we have a slew of features planned this week including an interview with Darren Wall, creator of the official book “SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works”, exclusive never before seen design documents from the development of the original game, a special podcast looking back on the franchise, part three of My Life with SEGA’s Streets of Rage retrospective (watch part 1 and part 2), and more!
So put on your favorite fingerless gloves, tie on a headband, and hit the streets with us as we fight our way through Streets of Rage Week! After the break, a SEGA Retro rundown of all the games the franchise has to offer, including rereleases and cancelled titles!
Now this one is unusual! Instead of loading a commercial with loud noises and attitude, SEGA took to lampooning “As Seen on TV” ads instead. Well what can I say? It’s hilarious! I have to admit, even though it’s through a mail in rebate, this is a surprisingly good deal. These days your lucky to get a pack in game with your system, let alone a rebate that gets you a recently released triple A game completely free.
Given that Sonic 2 was one of the best-selling Genesis games of all time released in the middle of the Genesis’s most successful years on the market, I can’t help but wonder why SEGA would offer a deal like this. With consoles like Wii U and Vita struggling, maybe it’s time Nintendo and Sony took a leaf out of the Genesis playbook and offered a deal like this?
Hatsune Miku Project Diva f on the PlayStation Vita is a great game! Hatsune Miku Project Diva f PS Vita is similar to Hatsune Miku Project Diva F on the PS3. The PS Vita version came out in Japan first and the PS3 second. In the west that release order was reversed. I’m pretty busy with stuff right now so this is just a mini-review, but I had to talk about a few things and how awesome this game is.
SEGA Genesis month continues with part one of a three part Streets of Rage series of My Life with SEGA episodes!
Let’s admit it, Streets of Rage just isn’t fully experienced until you have a friend by your side in a co-op bare knuckle blast through the game. In part two of our Streets of Rage retrospective [watch Part 1 by clicking here] Mickey Mac joins me in taking down Mr. X in a 2-Man Scramble. Join us as we kick thugs in the face and enjoy some garbage can rotisserie chicken!
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SEGA Genesis month is in full swing, and Barry and George bring you our first podcast of the month which proudly features our special guest Tulio Gonçalves, president of WaterMelon Video Games! You may recognize WaterMelon as the developer of the phenomenal Genesis/Mega Drive RPG Pier Solar, released in 2010. Coming later this year is an enhanced and expanded HD release of Pier Solar, set for several platforms including Android, Linux, Mac, Ouya, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One, Wii U, and SEGA Dreamcast!
Tulio discusses WaterMelon’s early years, the creation of Pier Solar for the Genesis/Mega Drive, the upcoming Dreamcast version, and what we can expect in the future from the company. It’s a great discussion, so check it out! Also, we reveal the four winners of the SEGA and Tommo Mobile iPhone case giveaway.
Make sure to help WaterMelon to bring the game to PC by voting “YES” on their Steam Greenlight page!
[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]
See the winning photos from the SEGA Tommo Mobile iPhone case contest after the break!
Back in the 1990s SEGA made some of the most unsettling video game commercials I have ever seen. Oddly enough, this commercial makes the case that many parents groups have been making against video games for years: they corrupt our youth and rot their brains! Apparently SEGA felt that this would make a great marketing ploy!
But what really gets me about this ad is just how fast and insane everything is. This commercial embodies SEGA’s 1990s marketing messaging. There is nothing clean or neat about it. It’s obnoxious, loud, ugly, and barely shows any game play. Yet, it still makes me want to play a Genesis. Is it giving any of you the same 16 bit cravings?
It’s the year 2049. Earth, as portrayed in BlueSky Software‘s Vectorman, has become completely uninhabitable by the human race. Having left their polluted planet behind, they’ve set off through the galaxy in hopes of finding a new home, while a crew of mechanical Orbots remains in their place to clean the Earth up.
Into this scenario (one which today seems oddly reminiscent of Pixar’s Wall-E) appears Vectorman; one such Orbot with an attitude and the courage to stop Warhead, an Orbot who went rogue and took control of the planet. The adventure that ensues is a fun one with great atmospherics, an addictive scoring system, and a bit of an edge. Vectorman was a great showcase of the Genesis’ capabilities back in its day, and even today remains a must play for those who want a stylish and futuristic sidescroller.
SEGA Genesis month continues with part one of a three part Streets of Rage series of My Life with SEGA episodes!
In this first part, we take a look at the game that started it all: Streets of Rage, also known as Bare Knuckle in Japan. Created as SEGA’s answer to Capcom’s Final Fight, Streets of Rage quickly overshadowed Capcom’s brawler, bringing us three fantastic titles that appeared on the Genesis/Mega Drive, Master System, Game Gear, and on various compilation discs including the SEGA CD, Xbox 360, and PS3. Most recently, Streets of Rage appeared in the Nintendo 3DS 3D Classics series of games. But enough about modern ports, let’s look back at the cartridge that started it all (that’s your cue to press play on the video above).
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Ghostbusters for the SEGA Genesis is a game that holds a very special place in my heart. During Christmas 1991 I received my Model 1 SEGA Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog bundled in, and from that point forward I was a SEGA fan. Owning a Genesis also meant that a whole world of games opened up to me, and since the console was a little over two years old, I spent much of 1992 buying up games I had missed out on. Buying games in the early ’90’s was tough. Nowadays we have instant access to the internet, so it’s easy to spot a game on the shelf, Google search reviews, and make the decision to purchase. Back in ’92 all I had to go by was the box art and the few screenshots provided on the back. Being a huge fan of both Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters, it only made sense for me to seek out the Genesis titles those franchises provided, and boy did I strike gold.
In the early 90s SEGA was in a pretty good place. They had finally managed to break through Nintendo’s monopoly over the market, Sonic was a hit and the Genesis was on top. Even so, the Genesis’s position was still precarious. By 1992 the Genesis was four years old and its age was beginning to show. The SNES was beginning to really show off its superior graphics and sound capabilities and the incredible Mode 7 effect on display in Mario Kart was out of the Genesis’s reach (at least, until the release of Pier Solar twenty years later).
So how does SEGA respond? With awesome marketing of course! Marketing that brags about the one thing that the Genesis can do better than the Super Nintendo: speed. What makes this ad even more spectacular is how it takes Mario Kart, the SNES’s most impressive looking game at the time, and compares it to a broken down jalopy. That takes some serious balls.
Blast processing may have been bullshit, but you can’t deny the sheer effectiveness of this ad. Especially since the Genesis continued to dominate the industry in the West after 1992.