My Life with SEGA riddles us this in Batman Forever: The Arcade Game for SEGA Saturn

After the misfire that was Batman Forever on SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive, Acclaim tried to make amends with this arcade beat-’em-up developed by Iguana Entertainment of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter fame. That’s right, no platforming nonsense or Mortal Kombat theatrics. Just good old-fashioned ass whoopin’ in black rubber…. Wow! That sounds about as wrong as nipples on the bat suit, doesn’t it?

In any case, I’m here to help you solve the greatest riddle of all. The mother of all riddles: “Is Batman Forever: The Arcade Game worth playing?”

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SEGA Tunes: Alien Front Online’s Alien and Army themes

SEGA’s WOW Entertainment has a very eclectic resume, featuring games like the simulation-style racer SEGA GT, the dating sim Candy Stripe, the mutants teaching typing game The Typing of the Dead (co-developed with Smilebit), and today’s Tuesday Tunes spotlighted title, the online aliens versus army game Alien Front Online.

Initially released worldwide to arcades as Alien FrontAlien Front Online was soon released to the Dreamcast. Despite being Japanese developed, Alien Front Online was made to strongly connect with Western audiences. The game was simple, featuring online combat with voice communication allowing players to take on opposing sides of an army versus aliens war. Unfortunately, the game’s release was poorly planned out as Alien Front Online was released to North America six months after SEGA made the announcement that they were discontinuing the Dreamcast. The game ended up not releasing to other territories, and to make matters worse, shortly after release SEGA shifted to a pay to play model for their online games. I recall renting Alien Front Online when it released, and even through the game was just a few weeks old, the online community was incredibly small.

Swingin’ Report Show #75: Interview with Lisle Wilkerson – Shenmue II, Virtua Fighter and Crazy Taxi voice actress

We celebrate 75 episodes in style on this week’s Swingin’ Report Show podcast! Joining us for an interview is Lisle Wilkerson, best known to SEGA fans for her voice work on Shenmue II, Virtua Fighter and Crazy Taxi. Learn what it’s like growing up in Japan and recording for some of SEGA’s greatest Dreamcast and arcade titles. Lisle also tells us about her correspondence work and her acting work on Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation with Bill Murray.

Then, George and Barry discuss the recent news of SEGA of America’s restructuring, dissecting SEGA Sammy’s official document to figure out what exactly we can expect in the future from SEGA. So what are you doing still reading this? We have a special guest and big SEGA news! Click play and enjoy our 75th show!

Don’t forget to follow Lisle Wilkerson on Twitter and Facebook!

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My Life with SEGA looks back on the SEGA CD – Sherlock Holmes, Sol-Feace, Rock Paintings, & More!

This week on My Life with SEGA, Andrew Rosa takes a request from YouTube viewer Darius Truxton and looks back on the North American SEGA CD pack-in bundle from 1992. This includes the side-scrolling space shooter Sol-Feace, SEGA Classics Arcade Collection, Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective and Rock Paintings (CD+G disc).

Yes, we got a lot of software back in the day. Six games and an audio CD that contains graphics! That sounds pretty sweet, right? We’re lucky if we get ONE game with our consoles these days. I can’t imagine how much a similar package would cost now. Now join me in 1992 when my brother blew $300 on a CD add-on that GamePro magazine listed as the “7th-worst selling video game console of all time”….

Yeah, who cares what GamePro thinks anyway. It’s not even a magazine anymore.

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This is Saturn celebrates AM2 Month with Fighting Vipers for SEGA Saturn

Kicking off 2015 in style, This is Saturn celebrates SEGA AM2 month on SEGABits with a look at Fighting Vipers!

One of the very first episodes of This is Saturn covered Fighters Megamix, a crossover between Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighting Vipers; however, the original release of Fighting Vipers actually has some considerable differences to its representation in Fighters Megamix, and so it’s time for Liam to head back to Armstone City to punch some more people in the face, all whilst discovering the true significance of… Pepsi?

And what’s this about a sequel?

So, an overlooked classic, or a poor attempt to recreate the success of Virtua Fighter? Find out, in this episode of This is Saturn!

This is Saturn is a video series created by British teenager Liam ‘TrackerTD’ Ashcroft, aiming to give an alternative and in-depth look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of SEGA Saturn gaming, all whilst maintaining a somewhat strong accent.

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SEGAbits at Weston Super Sonic 2015: The Write Up

WSS

It was that time again, this morning of January 17th 2015; to go on another 3 hour drive for a Sonic convention! Perfectly fine by me of course… but then, I wasn’t the one driving. This time, I was heading down to Weston Super Mare, a town right next to the British coast; and I was right next to the British coast, as today at the Grand Pier, Sonic fans arrived for one awesome convention; Weston Super Sonic ’15!

And don’t worry folks, my convention photography is still pants! 

As I arrived at the venue and greeted a few friends, I found myself already caught up in an event for the day; watching the first round of the quiz! For those unaware, JonoD of VGMAwesome and Jamie Eggeman of the Sonic Show (yes, Eggeman!) have had a long running rivalry in Sonic trivia quizzes; such led to the unfortunate destruction of a First4Figures Knuckles statue, somehow. Anywho, the questions got more challenging than I thought they would; particularly when “what corner of the box is the barcode for Sonic 1 in?” was asked. Fun times overall; that said, since I was a bit late the first round was soon over.

Once that was over, I bought my first piece of merchandise; an A4 print from Duncan Gutteridge, the incredible artist that produced artwork for some of the Sonic Adventure Gamebooks in the 90’s, as well as the Sonic 1993 calendar; the print I bought was from the book “Metal City Mayhem,” and is easily one of my favourite pieces of Sonic artwork; I’ll need a frame ASAP! I later returned to Gutteridge to buy an A3 print; both prints were signed, to boot!

My Life with SEGA gets his groove back with Groove on Fight for the Saturn

SEGA and Atlus have had a long history together. Before SEGA bought the company in 2013, the companies collaborated on various titles which appeared on home console and arcade hardware. 1997’s Groove On Fight: Gouketsuji Ichizoku 3 was one of these titles, the third in Atlus’ Gouketsuji Ichizoku/Power Instinct series of fighting games.

In this week’s My Life with SEGA, AJ and Mickey Mac put Groove on Fight to the test! Is this really one of the best SEGA Saturn games you’ve never played?

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This is Saturn gets festive with Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams for SEGA Saturn

Jingle Bells, Sonic smells, Saturn all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in Opa Opa today…

Terrible rhyming aside, it was recently Christmas, and this calls for This is Saturn to get festive with the much-loved NiGHTS demo, Christmas NiGHTS! But are those who love it just looking through frosty, but rosy-tinted nostalgia lenses? Or is this demo really more than meets the eye? Find out, on this special Festivus episode of This is Saturn!

This is Saturn is a video series created by British teenager Liam ‘TrackerTD’ Ashcroft, aiming to give an alternative and in-depth look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of SEGA Saturn gaming, all whilst maintaining a somewhat strong accent.

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SEGAbits & Sonic Retro present Boom Talkalaka #2: The Boom, the Bad and the Ugly

SEGAbits and Sonic Retro team up to bring you a podcast focused on SEGA’s new Sonic Boom franchise! Hosted by Barry the Nomad of SEGAbits.com and David the Lurker of SonicRetro.org, Boom Talkalaka features discussion of the many aspects of Sonic Boom – from comics and episodes of the cartoon, to the video games and toys.

In the second episode, Barry and David review the latest episodes of the TV show through to “Eggheads”, 2014’s final episode, discuss the direction the comic book is taking, and Barry shares his thoughts on the 3DS and Wii U games.

Give the show a listen and in the comments tell us what you think! If you have any questions or comments you want David to read on the next episode, leave your message here with the subject line “Boom-Grams”: http://segabits.com/contact/

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SEGAbits Plays Episode #5: SEGA Dreamcast Holiday Classics

SEGAbits Plays gets into the festive mood as Barry and George play Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch and the Official Dreamcast Magazine demo disc Volume 10 for the SEGA Dreamcast. Join us as we destroy Whoville, fly about as a little toy Santa in Toy Commander‘s Christmas missions, and explore various demo disc oddities. Wait, was that an anti-smoking advert?

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LIVE: SEGAbits’ presents Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam 2014

Welcome to the Fan Jam Zone! Kori here bringing you our first fan convention and the first SEGA related fan event in the US live featuring Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd, and Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax.

We’ll be streaming several events during Fan Jam such as fan films, classic SEGA franchises, tournaments, cosplay, and interviews with Tracy Yardley of Archie Comics and Matt the owner of Tails Channel. The stream will begin from 9AM to 6PM EST. Don’t miss it!