Original Content

SEGA Cinema Holiday Special: Sonic Christmas Blast

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Welcome to the third SEGA Cinema! In celebration of the holiday season, Barry the Nomad and Sonic Retro staff members David the Lurker and Bartman settle in around the fireplace, sip eggmanog, and enjoy two episodes of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. The first is the holiday special “Sonic Christmas Blast”, which released three years after the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog aired. The special was planned to be titled “An X-Tremely Sonic Christmas” to tie in with Sonic X-treme. But when X-treme was scrapped, the title was changed to tie in with Sonic 3D Blast.

The second bonus episode is entitled “Sno Problem”, a wintery themed adventure that sees Sonic and Tails taking on Robotnik who has unleashed his Ultra Freeze-O-Matic on mobius. His grand scheme? Watch and find out!

We’ve also added a few surprises, so sit back and enjoy! Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

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Arcade Review: After Burner Climax

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After Burner Climax Header

As a SEGA fan, my loyalty has been tested to the breaking point at times. Let’s face it, SEGA has had to make some tough decisions and has made some terrible games over the years, especially over the last fifteen. In 2007 SEGA had lost much of my loyalty after turning out a rash of bad games including the infamously awful Sonic the Hedgehog. Then one day, I walked into a local arcade, played After Burner Climax for the first time and all was well.

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SEGA Tunes: Panzer Dragoon Orta’s Eternal Glacies

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The goal of any good video game soundtrack is to compliment the atmosphere and improve the immersion. As far as I’m concerned, few soundtracks accomplish this better then Panzer Dragoon Orta’s. Given that it’s Christmas time, it seems only fitting that we feature a track from a snow level, Orta’s lonely, beautiful Eternal Glacies. Much like the level itself, the track is beautiful, subdued and majestic.

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SEGA Memories: Fred Durst pimps the Dreamcast

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In an act of sheer epic randomness, one of my buds recently reminded me of one of SEGA’s most unlikely of past sponsors. It was back during the Dreamcast era, as many of their publicity stunts were. SEGA was trying hard to get their online service, SegaNet, to gain traction. To do so, they enlisted the help of none other than a certain popular band… one who had just made it ridiculously big with a song called Nookie.

Yes, I’m talking about Limp Bizkit. Believe it or not, they’re actually still around today, but there was a time when they were at the top of the music industry, and that time coincided with the final months of the Dreamcast.

With their album, Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water, set to release in October of 2000, Limp Bizkit was preparing to embark on a major tour. SEGA, seeing their golden opportunity, chose to serve as one of the tour’s sponsors. It might seem ridiculous now, but at the time this was actually a huge snag for them, as Limp Bizkit and their form of rap metal was on the edge of releasing what would become the fastest-selling rock album on record; an honor that it, amazingly, still holds to this day.

For more, including a quote from SEGA from back then, read on.

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Round Table: What’s next for the Fantasy Zone franchise?

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We wrap up Fantasy Zone week with a special SEGAbits Round Table in which we look to the future of the Fantasy Zone franchise. As this week has taught us, Fantasy Zone is a small, but highly imaginative franchise with fantastic music, difficult yet addicting gameplay, and an enduring protagonist. But what about the future of the franchise? Does Fantasy Zone‘s simplistic arcade-style gameplay have a place in 2013 and beyond?

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SEGA in the Media: Opa-Opa & Zillion

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Before Sonic, before ToeJam & Earl , before Joe Musashi and even a few months before Alex Kidd, SEGA’s mascot was a sentient little spaceship called Opa-Opa, hero of the Fantasy Zone. Though there’s some debate regarding who was the “true” mascot before Sonic came around, I personally put myself in Opa-Opa’s camp. Why? Well, aside from cameoing in a bunch of SEGA games from the ‘80s, a few of which you can read about here, Opa-Opa was also a supporting character in an anime SEGA partially funded, Zillion.

Zillion is a 1987 sci-fi anime from Tatsunoku Productions. It centers around White Knight J.J. and his fellow White Knights Apple and Champ as they defend the earth colony Maris from the evil Nozas, an alien race intent on wiping humans off the face of the planet. The White Knights battle the forces of evil with their signature weapon, the Zillion Weapon System, a Master System light gun (literally, complete with the cord) capable of destroying the Nozas, who are otherwise invulnerable to human weaponry.

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The SEGA Five: Opa-Opa’s greatest cameo appearances

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Before Sonic came along in 1991, SEGA had its fair share of mascots. Ask a SEGA fan in the 1980’s who SEGA’s current mascot was, and you’d likely receive a variety of answers. Some may point to the Shinobi arcade game star Joe Musashi, while others may point to the Mario-like Master System star Alex Kidd. Opa-Opa of Fantasy Zone was another of these mascots vying for the SEGA throne, and if you ask me he was the most worthy of the crown. While Opa-Opa lacked an expressive face, a drawback that some say was the reason Alex Kidd came out ahead of the sentient spaceship, I say he made up for it with a simple yet memorable design that evoked SEGA’s quirky nature at the time. Opa-Opa is both cute with his bright colors and white wings, and hardcore with his jet propulsion and firepower. He also fits in perfectly with the “blue skies” aesthetic SEGA is well known for thanks to the fact that the skies are where Opa-Opa spends a majority of his time.

Since his debut in 1986, Opa-Opa has made cameo appearances in several SEGA games, a testament to Opa-Opa’s original design. In fact, Opa-Opa’s cameo career began the very year he debuted and his cameo appearances continue through to today. In this week’s Weekly Five we’ll be highlighting some of Opa-Opa’s greatest appearances, from playable to non-playable and from obscure to blatantly obvious. Yes, Shenmue made the list, you can stop holding your breath Ryo Hazuki fans.

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My Life with SEGA tackles the ultimate cute ’em up: Fantasy Zone

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This week on My Life with SEGA, we’ll be exploring Opa-Opa’s very first adventure in the Fantasy Zone.

Fantasy Zone is one of many titles brother insisted on buying for the Master System. It was so strange and other-worldly. Fantasy Zone was unlike any other he shooter he had seen before. While the gameplay is similar to something like Defender, that game was nowhere near as colorful and cheerful. I can’t remember ever seeing this fucker in the arcades, so I thought this was a Master System original for many years….

Playing it again after two decades, let’s see if it’s just as good – and frustrating – as I remember it being. Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

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SEGA Tunes: Super Fantasy Zone’s Water Melody

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Praising SEGA arcade games for their spectacular music is kind of like applauding a cat for being furry: it’s just something you come to expect. So really, the superb quality of Fantasy Zone’s soundtrack should not shock anybody. It’s happy, laid back and a joy to listen to.

The definitive Fantasy Zone soundtrack is probably the music from Super Fantasy Zone, the obscure Genesis-only sequel to the series. A lot of people tend to insult the Mega Drive’s sound capabilities, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the machine was capable of some sick tunes, SFZ being a prime example. Though not technically an arcade game, SFZ’s soundtrack has all the trappings of a classic SEGA arcade OST, making it worth a listen to any SEGA music connoisseur.

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SEGA Retrospective: Welcome to Fantasy Zone Week, get ready!

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Welcome to Fantasy Zone Week, a week in which all our features and original content will be dedicated to SEGA’s side-scrolling shoot-’em-up franchise Fantasy Zone! It’s no surprise that the franchise is near and dear to our hearts, as Opa-Opa himself is our official site mascot, always seen flying over the SEGAbits logo. Between 1986 and 2008, the original game has been released to a multitude of platforms, from the arcade and SEGA Master System to mobile phones and the Wii virtual console. This week we’ll be celebrating the music, the gameplay, the rich and diverse history of the franchise, and even look ahead to the future. But before we look ahead, let’s look back. After the jump, we shine the SEGA Retro spotlight on the many games from the Fantasy Zone franchise.

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Retro Community Day for PC Version of Sonic Transformed Today

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Watch live video from VidyaRetro on TwitchTV

Watch the aftermath of what we did instead of watching the VGX. It involves Yogscast, Sonic Adventure DLC, bad Sonic rap and more for six hours.

Its free weekend for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed on Steam once again and its Saturday night, which means its time for another Retro Community Day. We’ll be kicking off at 5 PM central with the return of the pre-game show the hour before. You can expect Yogscast DLC characters to appear. Of course its either this or Pewdiepie on VGX. It’s your choice really.

Start sending in your friend requests to VidyaRetro on Steam now! We’ll periodically send out requests to join a two round game for each person added to the friends list. See you there!

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[Updated] Christopher Evan Welch did not voice Tails in “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog”

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Update: a friend of the family replied to my inquiry stating “I believe this is a miscredit”, and I was directed to his agents who could potentially give me a solid answer. At the moment, it looks like Christopher Evan Welch did not voice Tails.

UPDATE 2: I have reached out to Christopher Evan Welch’s talent agency Paradigm in New York and the credit of Tails attributed to Christopher Evan Welch is “not accurate”. Thank you to Courtney of Paradigm for her help.

UPDATE 3: Another confirmation, this time from Christopher Evan Welch himself. A friend of his contacted me and told me “I asked Chris about it a couple of years ago and he said it was a mistake.” Also the voice of Coconuts, Ian James Corlett, informed us that the recording for the show took place in British Columbia, meaning Christopher Welch was likely a young boy from that area much like his 1996 replacement.

UPDATE 4: Ian James Corlett tweeted some more information to us, stating that the voice of Tails was from Seattle, which is quite a coincidence as that is the city where Christopher Evan Welch was working. While Christopher (not Evan) Welch was close to Vancouver, it’s possible he recorded his lines in Los Angeles. Jaleel White recorded in Los Angeles, and given the chemistry needed between Sonic and Tails, it is possible Christopher Welch recorded in LA.

This means that the voice actor for Tails, Christopher Welch, is a different person entirely and may still be out there.

Since the news broke that the voice actor for Tails in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog had passed away, 90’s era Sonic fans such as myself were heartbroken to learn that we lost another actor from the iconic show. However, as I spoke with Sonic fans in various forums and instant message conversations, several red flags went up regarding Christopher Evan Welch’s participation in the cartoon series. For starters, there was the age. Christopher Evan Welch was 48 at the time of his passing, which means he was 28 in 1993. Several sources back this age up, including friends and family on Chris’s Facebook memorial page, comments on Variety.com’s story, and a photo on The Seattle Times which shows Christopher Evan Welch in 1993. He was definitely not an 11 year old in 1993.

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Our newest YouTube series, This is Saturn, takes a Rolling Staaaaaaaaaaart!

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Presenting a new SEGAbits YouTube channel original series dedicated to SEGA’s 2D and Arcade powerhouse, the SEGA Saturn. Our new series, entitled “This is Saturn”, is created by the latest member of the SEGAbits team, Liam ‘Tracker’ Ashcroft. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Tracker was the winner of our third anniversary contest back in February. It ended up being sort of a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory situation, where he not only won the prizes, but was also invited on staff. We just refused to also house his family, and we have no chocolate to share.

In this premiere episode, Tracker looks at the arcade hit Daytona USA’s conversion to the Saturn. Take it away, Tracker:

Daytona USA is a game I have fond memories of in terms of the arcade – both the original and the also fantastic sequel (which is crying out for a home port) have eaten many £1 pieces out of my wallet over the years, and the HD re-release on PSN was great!. As a result, the game was the first thing I bought for my Saturn – and it only set me back 50p!

So, is it still an arcade classic? Or is it just a polygonal pile of shit? Let’s find out, in a review certainly not ripped from my personal channel. Not in the slightest.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

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The SEGA Five: Shenmue’s craziest moments

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It was a day of deathly quiet as Ryo hurried up the path to the Hazuki dojo, well aware that something was amiss. Minutes later, he would witness the murder of his father at the hands of Lan Di, an event that would forever alter the course of his existence.

Shenmue was a series that began dramatically, but quietly. Iwao’s death was one showcased with a degree of style, but the next few hours of the game saw the Hazuki dojo grieving, with Ryo searching through town for the most mundane of clues. It was a deliberately-paced start that may have mislead some into believing that they’d began a subtle and realistic experience; and to an extent, they wouldn’t be wrong. But Shenmue is, at heart, a Kung Fu epic.  And like in almost any of those, it doesn’t take long at all for the adventure to fly off the rails. In a good way.

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SEGABits Gaming Community NiGHTS featuring MODEL 2 Collection

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Featured in our next gaming community night on SEGABits is AM2’s finest arcade fighters supported by the SEGA MODEL 2 hardware. We will hosting each game on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on XBLA this week after Thanksgiving. During the event, we will be posting references of each game including Fighters Megamix on Twitter. Just add “KoriSX15” on Xbox Live and I will be sure to add you. Want to suggest some more SEGA titles to play in our next Gaming Community NiGHTS? Be sure to comment below or visit our forums. Hit the jump for the schedule.

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