Dreamcast

SEGA Import Guide: Cool Cool Toon (SEGA Dreamcast)

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More than eight years since the death of SEGA’s final console, SEGA fans have been left digging deeper and deeper into their console’s libraries, looking for new games to play. Though impressions, reviews and videos for SEGA’s English language releases are typically easy to find, information on their console’s Japanese exclusive selection of games can be quite elusive. That is why we at SEGAbits are launching a new feature focused on the quality and playability of SEGA console regional exclusives. Today, we will be looking at an obscure rhythm game released by SNK exclusively for the Dreamcast in mid-2000: Cool Cool Toon. I’d like to give a special shout out to my niece for getting me this for my birthday!

Cool Cool Toon is a unique game in SNK’s Dreamcast library. A rhythm game made from the ground up for the Dreamcast, it was neither a fighting game nor an arcade port. It is so far removed from what SNK did for the system that it doesn’t even look like an SNK game at first glance. It does share one common thread with other SNK games though: it is very easy to pick up and play.

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Upcoming Sonic soundtrack album “Passion & Pride: Anthems with Attitude from the Sonic Adventure Era” tracklist and cover art revealed

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As we previously reported, a new Sonic soundtrack album, “Passion & Pride: Anthems with Attitude from the Sonic Adventure Era” is on the way, due for September. Today we’ve gotten a plethora of new information on the release, including the rather awesome cover art, seen above, and a full tracklist.

The new information comes from the album’s official listing on the Japanese Sonic the Hedgehog website, Sonic Channel, and the tracklist, containing songs from Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, is as follows:

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SEGA Tunes: Propeller Arena’s Shaving Your Life

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I thought it would be best to start out the month with something many of you may have never heard, at least not in a SEGA game. The above track is a little gem from the canceled (and subsequently leaked) SEGA Dreamcast game, Propeller Arena. We’ll be covering the game in more detail later this month, but for now I’d like to talk about the game’s soundtrack.

Propeller Arena’s soundtrack is filled to the brim of punk rock, including nine tracks from five different guest bands. I have to admit that I don’t really care for a lot of it (including many of the AM2 produced tracks), but there are definitely some gems in it that I absolutely love. The above track was composed by a “Mad Caddies”, a band I definitely intend to check out after this. Whenever I’m blasting through the game I usually try to keep it on this and one or two other tracks because it does a great job getting your blood pumping while you’re dogfighting seven other planes over cityscapes, volcanic islands and castle.

Below I’ve included another track that I discovered when I downloaded the game’s OST. I suspect it’s something I need to unlock since I can’t currently find it in the game’s options menu. I also can’t find any info of it online, so I have no idea who made it. Should I ever find out I’ll be sure to give it its own Tuesday Tune, since it is my favorite track in the OST bar none.

Please check out “Welcome to the Promised Land” below the fold.

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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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SEGA reveals Hi☆sCoool! SEGA Hard Girls Anime

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A few months ago, SEGA has announced that they were green-liting a new anime project based on SEGA Hard Girls, a group of female humanoid consoles based on SEGA’s hardware consoles. Now, a brand new preview of the anime has been released titled Hi☆sCoool! セハガール (SEGA Hard Girls) produced by TMS Entertainment, known for their work on other SEGA related anime adaptations such as Virtua Fighter, Sonic X, & Hero Bank.

The plot centers around the SEGA Hard Girls (MegaDrive, Saturn, & Dreamcast) who all are enrolled in the Tokyo Haneda and Torii to “Sehagaga Gakuen” as they are issued a challenge for graduation credits from dubious teacher. To clear the problem, they must enter the game world of SEGA featuring tons of cameos. But can they graduate successfully?

The anime is set to air on ANIMAX on October 8th, 2014 every Wednesday and Saturday. Nico Nico Channel and pre-orders for Blu-Ray/DVD will be announced on a later date. Hope to expect translations soon.

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SEGA is Finally Improving the Dreamcast Collection on Steam

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While it’s been possible for a while to get Sonic Adventure DX, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5: Part 2 and SEGA Bass Fishing on Steam, they’re not necessarily the best versions of the game to get. Sonic Adventure DX especially has problems like there being borders around the game and it having a low screen resolution. Which might have something to do with it being a port of the XBLA version, which was a port of the previous PC version, which was a port of the Gamecube version, which was a port of the Dreamcast version. So yeah, it could do with some improvements.

And it might finally get them, as SEGA announced today in a Steam forum post that they’re working on improving these versions over the next few months three years after they’ve been released. Among these improvements are added achievements, which can already be seen on the store pages of the games. Hopes up that this also means that they’ll finally add the Bad Religion back into Crazy Taxi.

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Dreamcast gets HDD support thanks to modders

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This up coming September will mark the 15 year anniversary of the Dreamcast and fans are still supporting the console with homebrew, independent games and now added modifications like a hard drive!

The hard drive support will allow users to boot GDI rips from the hard drive on actual Dreamcast hardware. The only issue is that booting some games as images won’t work (Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur) and other times it has glitches. Honestly, I’m more interested in getting a working HDD for my Dreamcast so I can store save data, DLC and Jet Set Radio tags.

After the break, check out the images to learn how it was done. It’s still thinking…

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New Sonic soundtrack revealed: “Passion & Pride: Anthems with Attitude from the Sonic Adventure Era”

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A listing has popped up on Amazon Japan, revealing a new Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack is to be released September 10th 2014.

According to the listing, “Passion & Pride: Anthems with Attitude from the Sonic Adventure Era,” is a commemorative release set to mark the 15th anniversary of Sonic Adventure for the SEGA Dreamcast.

As translated by Miles Wolf of Sonic Reikai, the album’s description reads:

In commemoration of the 15th anniversary of Sonic Adventure’s launch on North America, we have made an album with the character songs of this series. Because of all the request we received, it will include the instrumental versions of the themes. It’s a disc that any Sonic fan can’t miss.

This is pretty awesome news, as whilst Sonic Adventure 2’s character themes got instrumental releases as part of the Sonic Adventure 2: Cuts Unleashed soundtrack, Sonic Adventure’s vocal themes have never seen an official instrumental release.

The soundtrack comes on 2 discs, and costs ¥3,240, roughly $32 or £19. Currently, there is next to no other information, but we’ll be sure to update if any more information comes to light such as track listing. 

Are you going to pick up the soundtrack? Let us know!

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Elysian Shadow developers tease stretch goals

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The guys behind the upcoming Dreamcast indie developed Elysian Shadows RPG have now teased their stretched goals for their upcoming game. We had a chance to talk to them on our podcast and I can tell you these guys are passionate about this project. Definitely a game I’m awaiting release.

Of course the game is also coming out on other platforms like: PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and Ouya have been confirmed. But don’t worry, other consoles have now been added via their stretch goals. Their Kickstarter is set to kick off on August 1st. 

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Pier Solar HD gets delayed again due to failing Microsoft’s certification process

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Its hard to believe that games actually go through a certification process before you buy said product. I want to know who approved games like Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, but that isn’t what we are here to talk about. It seems Pier Solar HD has hit another bump in the road when they missed their certification from Microsoft.

“Microsoft already evaluated Pier Solar as well but we failed some internal requirements on the certification and we’re correcting them for the next submission. This also impacts Wii U and PlayStation(s) submissions since we want to send it as clean as possible so that we don’t get another failed certification. Luckily, the process doesn’t take as long as we thought, so the perspectives to getting a release date gets better. As soon as we’re certified on all platforms we’ll announce the date and put it on the street.”

Solar Pier HD is headed to Linux, Mac, Windows,  Ouya, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Wii U, and of course the Dreamcast. It seems only consoles will be affected by the delay.

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Visual Memories: Digging through Sonic Adventure & Sonic Adventure 2’s DLC

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We’ve said it time and time again here at SEGAbits: the Dreamcast was an incredibly innovative console! Back in the late 90’s, Dreamcast owners could hop online via their console to surf the web and download various things to their VMU including free DLC. That’s right, not only did SEGA offer DLC in the late 90’s, it was free! Continuing our Sonic 23rd birthday celebrations, Liam aka TrackerTD of our This Is Saturn YouTube series put together this great showcase of most of the DLC offered in Sonic Adventure & Sonic Adventure 2. Celebrate New Years, the Dreamcast launch, Halloween, and more in the many fun additions made to these memorable Sonic titles.

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SEGA Channel Retro: Sonic Birthday Celebration

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Come join our live SEGA Channel Retro stream as we celebrate Sonic’s birthday the only way we know how! Come check out Sonic games and more on stream.

Now that the stream has concluded, jump to any point you’d like from our initial stream, and be sure to stay tuned this week for more Sonic games streamed live on SEGA Channel Retro. Videos are up on YouTube and on Twitch.

Uncut Stream [Twitch]

Sonic Jam (With Sonic 3 Easy Mode) [YouTube] [Twitch]

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Retro Engine [YouTube] [Twitch]

Sonic Adventure (Sonic’s Story) [YouTube] [Twitch]

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Swingin’ Report Show #63: Indie SEGA Dreamcast interview with the Elysian Shadows Team

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Had a chance to  chat with the developers behind the upcoming indie Dreamcast title Elysian Shadows. Lots of exclusive bits of information dropped including characters that will be in the game, differences between versions and much more. If you have been wanting to know more about this game, this is definitely the podcast to listen to. Don’t forget that August 1st will be the start of the Kickstarter!  With Elysian Shadows hitting the Dreamcast before any other platform, its easy to continue saying “It’s still thinking”.

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

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Elysian Shadows developers release video update on project

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We already posted about how Elysian Shadows is being published (Dreamcast version) by the wonderful guys over at Watermelon Games. That isn’t all it seems, the team recently got private investors so some of the developers can work full time on the game.

The Kickstarter will still be happening on August 1st. Have a question for the team? We will be having the developers on the Swingin’ Report Show tomorrow, so drop any questions you might have.

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