Features

My Life with SEGA battles it out in Marvel Super Heroes for the SEGA Saturn

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Marvel Super Heroes was Capcom’s follow-up to their equally successful X-Men: Children of the Atom fighting game.

Like its predecessor, Marvel Super Heroes shares much in common with Capcom’s prolific Street Fighter series with over-the-top anime-style action, combo system and so on. While the arcade game was first released in 1995, console gamers wouldn’t receive a home port until late 1997 on Sony PlayStation and, of course, SEGA Saturn.

The Saturn version is fantastic. The animation is like an explosion of color that’s very faithful to the arcade original, with an energetic soundtrack and kick-ass sound effects. Now that Lauren’s joined the League of Extraordinary Dorks, I feel it’s high-time I make her suffer for NHL ’94.

FUN FACT: The American version is the one and only game outside of Japan that supports the RAM cartridge. To learn more about this delightful peripheral, check out the episode of My Life with SEGA dedicated to it!

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SEGA Tunes: Ristar’s Planet Freon – Ring Rink

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As we near Christmas day, I knew a festive Tuesday Tunes was in order. The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is filled with great wintery tunes, but I felt Sonic has been covered far too much on Tuesday Tunes (and for a good reason, Sonic music is awesome!). Christmas NiGHTS would be perfect, but it’s too obvious. Shenmue‘s Christmas tunes would be perfect, but we’ve aleady covered them. And that’s when it hit me, Sonic Team’s Ristar has an excellent winter tune. The game’s fifth stage, Planet Freon, is a planet made entirely of ice and snow. But you won’t find Imperial Walkers and Wampas on this ice planet, instead you’ll find downhill skiing and a bizarre alien enemy chucking snowballs. The music for the first portion of the stage begins almost as if you’re about to hear Jingle Bells, but what follows is a catchy tune with solid drum beats and a peppy tune perfectly suitable for a winter wonderland. So as the sun goes down on this Christmas eve, why not revisit this SEGA Genesis classic? It’s the best present you can give yourself.

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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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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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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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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 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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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.

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My Life with SEGA proves that white men can’t jump in Jammit on SEGA Genesis

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It’s another sport’s edition featuring Lauren Buckler. This time, she’s going head-to-head with A.J. Rosa in GTE Entertainment’s Jammit; an arcade-style one-on-one street basketball game developed by GTE Vantage.

Will her winning streak continue after trouncing A.J. Rosa’s sorry ass last week with NHL Hockey ’94?

This episode also includes a teaser for No Limits: My Life with SEGA, the thrilling sequel to The Next Level! Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

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Round Table: What’s next for Sonic after Lost World?

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Whenever I complete the latest Sonic game, the first thing I think about is “what’s next?”. Following Sonic Colors, it seemed like for the first time since the Sonic Adventure titles, speculation was an exciting experience. Would they expand on the Wisp power-ups? Would SEGA continue with some form of boost, or would the slow things down? Sonic Generations answered these questions with a “greatest hits” game featuring modern Sonic gameplay that felt like a mix of the best elements found in both Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors. Following Sonic Generations, Sonic Team promised us something new and unique, and that something was Sonic Lost World. We’ve all played and, and we all have varying opinions on it. Some enjoyed it and some… well, we’re sure to have an editorial soon.

With another Sonic game behind us, the SEGAbits writers and myself are once again asking that question of “what’s next?”. Join us in our super Sonic speculation in the return of the SEGAbits Round Table!

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The SEGA Five: Best SEGA games on the Xbox 360

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Today is the launch day for the Xbox One in America, and as people head to stores to pick up the latest console, the Xbox 360 officially becomes a “last gen” machine. Last week George named the five best SEGA titles to grace the Playstation 3, and seeing as how I’m the site’s Xbox guy, I thought I’d do the same for the Xbox 360. As with George’s list, these are my personal picks, so feel free to add any titles in the comments section!

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Review: Sonic Lost World (Wii U)

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I’ll forego the Sonic franchise history lesson that typically kicks off a Sonic review. As SEGA fans, we know where the franchise has been. Sonic Lost World, a Wii U exclusive title, answers the question: where is the Sonic franchise headed? Unlike the series spanning celebration that was Sonic Generations, Sonic Lost World introduces several new gameplay elements and shakes up the familiar 2008-2011 Sonic formula. Some may take this as a breath of fresh air, as the series has finally moved away from boost mechanics. Others, content with the direction the series was headed and the refinements Sonic Generations made to the formula, may find Sonic Lost World to be too much of a reinvention. Did Sonic Team’s shake-up pay off? Read on as we enter Sonic Lost World!

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My Life with SEGA loses some teeth playing NHL Hockey ’94

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SEGA’s Mega Drive is now twenty-five years old, and hockey season’s in full swing. What better way to celebrate both than playing NHL Hockey ’94? None!

Now, I’m not much of sports fan, so I own very few sports related titles. However, I have NHL ’94. Why? Well, my brother and I used to play it. A lot. He wasn’t much of a hockey fan either, yet we loved this game….

This week, I share that love with my sister-from-another-mister, Lauren Buckler. Mickey Mac will return. I promise. Until then, it’s the girl’s time to shine.

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SEGA Retro Spotlight: Happy 25th anniversary to the SEGA Mega Drive

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Twenty-five years ago today, SEGA released what was arguably their most beloved and popular console: the SEGA Mega Drive.

Since April 1st of this year, SEGAbits has been teamed with Sonic Retro, the internet’s best resource for all things Sonic the Hedgehog. But the folks at Sonic Retro didn’t want to limit themselves to just Sonic, and so the SEGA Retro wiki was born. SEGA Retro covers anything and everything SEGA, from hardware to games to arcade titles. Despite being less than four years old, the wiki has amassed nearly seven thousand articles and continues to grow. The SEGA Retro wiki has been just a click away from SEGAbits, by selecting “Info” from our navigation bar, but we wanted to go one step further and highlight the many excellent wiki entries in a new SEGAbits feature entitled “SEGA Retro Spotlight”.

Given the significance today has for SEGA history, we’re going to highlight SEGA Retro’s entry on the SEGA Mega Drive.

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