SEGA Tunes: Rhythm Thief & The Emperor’s Treasure: The Musical!

Today, the first original SEGA rhythm game since the days of Space Channel 5 and Samba de Amigo, makes it’s debut. Rhythm Thief, available exclusively for the 3DS, is part rhythm gam and part Professor Layton-esque puzzle game, with a healthy amount of inspiration from SEGA’s classic rhythm games sprinkled throughout. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, since the game is directed by Samba de Amigo director and Sonic Team alumni Shun Nakamura.

To mark the occasion, the good people over at Random Encounter Entertainment have put together a little musical based around the game’s characters and plot. It’s a funny little musical number that does a pretty good job of actually explaining what the game is about. Big thanks goes to the people of Random Encounter for putting together this little tribute to a game that will probably go ignored when it is released today, and to Aaron Webber for both co-producing this and sending it in to us!

The Weekly Five: Things Sega is doing right

 

Things look a bit bleak over at Sega. There’s been a lot of restructuring that’s been occurring as of late. Several titles have been cancelled or delayed to focus on more AAA games. The European and Australian offices have been closed down. Jun Sunoe had to sell his guitar for cash and is now using an old ukulele and poor Takashi Iizuka had to change his toothpaste from Crest: Ultra Whitening to store brand!

Okay, those last two are lies, but the Sega outside of Japan has been in dire straits as of late. However, things are not as bad as they seem. Some recent decisions have actually been very beneficial to the company. Read on to see why those dark clouds may be breaking up into blue skies.

My Life with SEGA reviews one of the worst fighting games on Genesis, Slaughter Sport

I think the first few seconds of the video should sum up the game pretty well. What the fuck indeed. Did someone say fuck? Must be an episode of My Life with SEGA!

“It’s a very special episode of My Life with SEGA this week. With my special guest star, Mickey Mac, we review one of the absolute worst fighting games ever released on the Sega Genesis.”

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SEGA Tunes: Rhythm Thief Month, “Claire de Luna”

Welcome to the first installment of a month long Tuesday Tunes Feature: Rhythm Thief Month! It’s been years since we’ve had a new SEGA rhythm game, so Tuesday Tunes is going to mark the occasion with over a month’s worth of the game’s awesome soundtrack!

Featuring this weak is the game’s official music video for the game’s J-pop theme, “Claire de Luna” by Japanese singer/song writer miwa. While not representative of the game’s in-game tracks, which features a wide range of genres, it’s a pretty awesome J-pop track accompanied by a well put together selection of animated scenes from the game’s numerous animated cut scenes.

Rhythm Thief looks like it will be a very special game, something I hope all of our readers will pick up, especially in light of SEGA’s recent troubles. The game has a spectacular track. This is going to be a very fun month! Two more tracks including the Rhythm Thief Main Theme and It’s Show Time are below the fold.

The Weekly Five: Reasons why Sega is failing in the western markets

 

It’s sad to see how bad Sega is doing these days. With the whole restructuring and with many offices closing it’s hard not to worry about our favorite game company’s future. Heck, if I were Kellie, Ken or the rest of the community staff, I’d be dusting off my resume’s right about now. But I feel many of us kinda saw this coming. We promoted and championed our favorite new Sega games (and still do) only to see them poorly marketed and handled like garbage with little promotion outside of Sega’s own website. So why is Sega doing so badly as of late? What are they doing wrong? Read on to see my own personal feelings on the matter. Just remember folks, this is an opinion article.

Hands-on with Rhythm Thief: Find out why this should be on your radar

There’s no doubt about it; there are many games out there, all of them vying for your money and attention in a competitive marketplace. At a time when the industry’s favoring, by and large, a play-it-safe approach to development, it’s always a breath of fresh air when a game surfaces that feels like something truly unique. Judging by its latest demo (now available on the 3DS’ North American eShop) Rhythm Thief and the Emperor’s Treasure is one such game.

SEGA Tunes: Sonic Rush’s What U Need

Hideki Naganuma has a very distinct style that is very difficult to miss, often mixing Japanese techno with hip-hop and funk. He’s probably one of the most notable composers to ever work with SEGA, having contributed a number of songs to games like Jet Set Radio, Jet Set Radio Future, and Ollie King. His work set the tone for these games, and meshed very well with the off beat Japanese style of these games.

Needless to say, his work on Sonic Rush is similarly revered. It’s composed of some of the most eclectic, energetic and unique songs you’ll hear in a Sonic soundtrack, such as the above song. Fans of Naganuma will also be happy to hear that as of today, the Sonic Rush soundtrack is now available on iTunes for everyone to download!

SEGA Memories: Sonic Adventure 2 Commercials

http://youtu.be/btocx2o5gZQ

Of all the things I remember about the Dreamcast days, the Sonic Adventure 2 commercial is about the only ad that actually sticks in my mind. Why? Well, for one, it was the only Dreamcast ad I ever actually saw on television. Thanks to Youtube I know that the Dreamcast had the sort of ads that console makers never even bother with these days. I don’t know what Master Chief and Marcus Fenix are doing in my Xbox, but I know exactly what Sonic and other Dreamcast stars are doing in my little white box: having a never ending dance party!

5 things Sonic can do now that he is 21

Tomorrow marks Sonic’s 21st birthday! While not a milestone like the 20th anniversary, Sonic’s 21st is a big deal in regards to the perks that come with being a 21 year-old, at least in the United States. In a very special Weekly Five, we’ll take a look at five things Sonic will be doing tomorrow. Some good, but mostly bad. Okay, mostly bad. Do you really think we’d be all cheery and PC when it comes to Sonic?

My Life with SEGA reviews the Master System

Take a nostalgia trip this week with My Life with SEGA. This time around A.J. reviews the SEGA Master System. He also looks at some Master System games like After Burner, Alien Syndrome and Ghost House.

If you like it, what are you waiting for? Subscribe to our YouTube channel and get all the latest SEGAbits media right on your feed. As always, feedback is welcomed. What would you like to see in a future My Life with SEGA episode?

SEGA Tunes: Crush 40’s In His World

Five years ago, I was really into Sonic music. It had the great beats and cheesy lyrics that I absolutely love. When Sonic 2k6 turned out to be an utter disappointment, I was able to take solace in one thing: its soundtrack was pretty good.

Though the one song I didn’t care for was Sonic’s theme “In His World” by Zebrahead. I loved the violins and the beat, but I didn’t care for the vocalist, whom couldn’t really match up to Crush40. The beat of the song was also a bit too slow for a Sonic song. The Crush40 version fixed all that, by speeding up the song and of course, using a vocalist whom I prefer. This version feels more like a Sonic song.

E3 Preview: The Cave

Welcome. Don’t let my sultry and mysterious voice startle you. For hundreds…nay, thousands….nay, nay, nay…..TENS of thousands of years, people have come to me in search of what they desire most. Few find what they are looking for…even fewer ever leave. Welcome to…the cave. That’s me, the cave. Yes, I’m a talking cave. Don’t laugh, it makes dating hell.

Thus begins the start of Ron Gilbert’s new adventure game “The Cave” from Double fine studios. An adventure game in the same vein of other 2-D adventure titles like Lost Vikings or one of Gilbert’s previous games, Maniac Mansion. Much like that game, it is full of character and dark humor. Not to mention some mind-bending but fun logic puzzles. Keep reading to get a little sample of what the game is all about and see if it’s to your “heart’s desire”.

My Life with SEGA – Batman

This week on My Life with SEGA we are having a classic episode. This week A.J. looks at Batman the video game on the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive.

“The Dark Knight Rises will be hitting theatres July 20th. It seems only fitting that we take a look back at Batman: The Video Game for SEGA Genesis….”

If you like the video subscribe and never miss an episode. If you have suggestions for other retro games you want to see reviewed, leave those in the comments.