Features

Classic SEGA Magazine Corner: Xbox Nation’s “Chasing the Dragon”, an inside look at Panzer Dragoon Orta

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When SEGA announced that they were discontinuing the Dreamcast in 2001, like many SEGA fans I was in a daze. What competitor console would I buy to continue to enjoy SEGA games? How could I keep up on SEGA news with the cancellation of the fantastic Official SEGA Dreamcast Magazine? With the knowledge that certain internal development teams would be shifting focus to specific consoles, fans had to decide if they were to become a Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo owner (or all three if you were one of those spoiled kids). As a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog and Jet Set Radio, the decision was clear. I was to become an Xbox owner. SEGA told fans that Sonic would be multi-platform, despite Sonic Team’s Nintendo leanings, and that Smilebit would be releasing games to the Xbox. These were deciding factors for sure, but what really tipped me over the edge into pledging allegiance to the Xbox was Xbox Nation, the independent Xbox magazine.

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Unboxing a brand new SEGA Menacer from 1992

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You don’t find boxed hardware from the early 90s all that often, and when you do they usually sell for an arm and a leg. Thankfully, last week I found a boxed SEGA Menacer light gun from 1992 still sealed with baggies and all for a cool $40. I really wanted to free it from its packaging as soon as I got home, but I abstained until I had the time to do a proper unboxing. Check out what a boxed Menacer looks like and join me as we play a few of the bundled games!

Some background on the Menacer: Revealed to the public at 1992’s CES in Chicago, the Menacer was SEGA’s answer to the Nintendo’s Super Scope. The Menacer project was spearheaded by SEGA producer Mac Senour, who worked on the light gun and the bundled six-game pack. Notable to Toejam & Earl fans, one of the six games was a mini-game from Greg Johnson and Mark Voorsanger. Other SEGA licenses were proposed, but ultimately abandoned in favor of shooting mini-games. You can learn more about the Toejam & Earl mini-game in our recent interview with Greg Johnson.

While SEGA did not release additional first-party Menacer titles, there is a small library of games compatible with the light gun. Most notably, T2: The Arcade Game, both Mad Dog McCree games, and Corpse Killer. Call me a SEGA fanboy, but I much prefer the look and feel of the Menacer to Nintendo’s Super Scope.

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Swingin’ Report Show #77: Interview with Greg Johnson, co-creator of Toejam and Earl

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Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove is a Kickstarter campaign from Greg Johnson, video game designer and co-founder of ToeJam & Earl Productions. On this week’s Swingin’ Report Show podcast, Greg joins us to talk about how he plans to bring the funky aliens back in a new game, and how he and Mark Voorsanger pitched and developed the original three games of the series for SEGA.

Learn how Toejam and Earl made the transition from Greg’s subconscious to video games, what it was like working with SEGA throughout the 90s, his thoughts on the sequels Panic on Funkotron and Mission to Earth, and how Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove is set to reimagine and build upon the famous first game. If you’re a game developer, or simply want to know more about how games are made, this episode is a must listen!

Show your support for Greg and his team, check out the Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove Kickstarter today!

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2-Man Scramble put the dynamic duo to the test in Batman Forever: The Arcade Game for the SEGA Saturn

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After having suffered through the 16-bit catastrophe that was Batman Forever on SEGA Genesis, A.J. and Mickey must tackle the 32-bit arcade translation, Batman Forever: The Arcade Game for SEGA Saturn. No riddles, no more platform hopping; just plain ass-beating!

Want a more in-depth review of this surprisingly enjoyable brawler? Check out My Life with SEGA: Batman Forever: The Arcade Game!

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Swingin’ Report Show #76: Interview with Stealth, co-developer of Sonic the Hedgehog 1&2 Remastered

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On this week’s SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show podcast, we’re joined by Stealth, who worked on the official recent remasterings of Sonic The Hedgehog CD, Sonic The Hedgehog, and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 alongside fellow developer The Taxman.

Stealth talks to us about how the remasters began development, the process of remaking classic Sonic titles, the much talked about the remastered Sonic The Hedgehog 3 proof of concept, and what fans can do to try and make Sonic 3 remastered a reality. Also featured is discussion of Sonic The Hedgehog 4 and the recent decisions SEGA has made with the franchise. If you love classic Sonic games and behind-the-scenes stories of game development, this is the show for you!

Also, Barry and George discuss the recently revealed ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove Kickstarter by Greg Johnson (who will be joining us next week) and Sonic Team’s mobile release Sonic Runners, which soft launched yesterday.

Support the Sonic 3 Remastered campaign: http://sonic3remastered.com/


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Hit Reset: Why Sonic 3D Blast deserves another chance

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Everyone tends to think that Sonic has been dead for an undisclosed amount of time, and generally seem to miss out on or dismiss a lot of interesting games along the way. One of the first games to start the march of “Sonic hasn’t been good since…” was Sonic 3D Blast. So, on this episode of Hit Reset, will take a look at why this game was not the beginning of all our problems, and why you may actually be missing out on something pretty cool.

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

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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

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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 Front, Alien 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.

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MAGFest 13 Interview: DJ Cutman talks to us about his new album “Spindash”

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At MAGFest, one of our colleagues Gunstar had a chance to talk with DJ Cutman about the new “Spindash” album, a 16-track remix tribute album to the Sonic series, recently put out through Cutman’s own label, Gamechops. We took the time to discuss song selection, how it helps both video game remix artists and Sega, and the goals of the label itself.

If you’d like to check out the album, you can check out the entire album through Gamechops’s youtube channel, and many other awesome video game remixes.

You can also pick up the album through Loudr or any other major music site.

Finally, you can check out the Gamechops website to see all the albums and remixes they’ve done, as well as find all their social media outlets.

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

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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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2-Man Scramble plays Batman Forever for the SEGA Genesis – Holy co-op, Batman!

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Andrew Rosa and Mickey Mac must team up to beat one of the worst movie-licensed video games ever produced; Batman Forever on SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive.

Before this foul-mouth duo can take fight the puzzling Riddler and maniacal Two-Face, they must first overcome a seemingly endless onslaught of jackasses like “Blood Fire”, “Anti-Freeze” and “Charlie”, as well as some tough platform jumping.

For an in-depth review, watch Andrew go it alone in My Life with SEGA.

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Classic SEGA Ads: Take a peek above deck at these Japanese Skies of Arcadia commercials

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When it comes to Japanese games being localized for the West, I tend to like it when they stick as closely to the original release as possible. I like to hear the original Japanese dialogue, have the names of characters and locations retained, see the original cover art used, and I hate it when they change the game’s title (hey, I just noticed that Jet Grind Radio broke all of these rules!). Skies of Arcadia, however, is a rare exception. When it was revealed in the pages of The Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine that Eternal Arcadia was to be retitled Skies of Arcadia, I was not only okay with this, I actually much preferred it.

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My Life with SEGA riddles his way through Batman Forever for Genesis/Mega Drive

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Batman Forever (1995) is often viewed as being one and the same with Schumacher’s second go with the dynamic duo, Batman & Robin (1997), but I feel this is unfair. Batman Forever retains a heartfelt core and dark edge, though it’s all masked with neon, subpar computer generated graphics and nipples. Still, it led to Batman & Robin. Sad face.

Batman Forever, like its prequels, was given a whole slew of merchandise to wrap their capes around, including video games! Enter Batman Forever for SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. By this point, SEGA fans had already experienced Batman: The Video Game and Batman Returns on Genesis and SEGA CD. Neither game reinvented the genre, but they were reasonably solid and largely enjoyable. How does Batman Forever stack up?

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

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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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