Arise, acolytes of Shadow! For it is the year of our edgy hedgehog overlord! To commence our pilgrimage of praise, let us dissect this magnum opus and potential Pulitzer Prize nominee in video game design. Let us dive deep into the ultimate lifeform known as Shadow the Hedgehog!
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Ahoy! On this SEGA Talk, George and Barry take to the skies to discuss the SEGA Dreamcast JRPG Skies of Arcadia! Known as Eternal Arcadia in Japan, the game is often cited as one of the best RPGs on the Dreamcast, and an underrated GameCube port has since helped its legacy. Learn about the early character designs, the game’s many innovations and the game’s legacy.
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If you haven’t been following the YouTube channel PtoPOnline run by Andrew Borman, you’re missing out on a channel that shows games that were cancelled, in-development or purely conceptual. As is the case for a video recently uploaded showcasing Climax’s development of a Crazy Taxi game, Crazy Taxi Twenty Four – Seven. The purpose of the video isn’t fully known nor how far the deal between Climax and SEGA proceeded, however the video was likely a demonstration to be shown to SEGA that outlines the general workflow of the game’s development had they decided to proceed with the project. Climax, now known as Climax Studios who are into VR development these days, are more famous for titles such as Sudeki on the original Xbox as well as the developer behind Silent Hill titles such as Silent Hill: Origins and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.
Sonic the Hedgehog launched in glorious 3D back on the Dreamcast (at least officially, there where other attempts prior) and since 1998 it seems that the blue blur has had some trouble really defining what a 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game should be. We have went from the Adventure style games to the boost gameplay that we know now.
But what is the best 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game?
To me this is hard to answer, like the retro Sonic the Hedgehog games that first came out all had a feel and flow to them, but the 3D ones seem to be all over the place. Even Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 are completely different in tone. For me, it has to be Sonic Adventure and that probably has to do with nostalgia, the fact that I preferred the flow of the game compared to Adventure 2 (letting you pick who you wanted to play instead of forcing you to switch between characters). Is Sonic Adventure perfect? Nah, but no game is. I will also like to give a special shout out to Sonic Generations, which I enjoyed quite a bit. What about you?
If you have been waiting to replay Sonic Adventure but have been too lazy to hook up either your Dreamcast, GameCube or Xbox 360; you’re in luck since its now fully playable on the Xbox One thanks to the latest backwards compatibility update. As you can tell by the photograph above, the XBLA version of Sonic Adventure uses assets from the GameCube version and sticks with its original 4:3 image.
While I have plenty of not so great things to say about how Xbox One brand has been handled, one thing I do think is very ambitious is how Microsoft is setting up the console to be the only Xbox console you would need to own thanks to its focus on backwards compatibility. I find it to be a great solution and a lot better than ‘streaming’ your last generation games like on PlayStation 4. How many of you guys are giving Sonic Adventure another go on Xbox One?
Sonic Retro user Morph and several others have gone through Sonic Adventure DX and created a mod that restores the lighting effects that were previously seen in the original Sonic Adventure into the PC version. The difference gives off more vibrant colors in the environment that also reacts to objects and characters. You can download the mod from the discussion thread in Sonic Retro’s forums.
Lighting can be used to set a specific tone or mood in an environment. But why is it such a difficult thing to remain consistent when converting this to other game platforms? The game featured an artistic shift that occurred when the game was converted to other platforms. A combination of technical hurdles and creative liberties can dampen the original artistic intent, and Sonic Adventure is no exception. The original Dreamcast version featured a “Lantern” engine which provided impressive looking lighting effects using palettes on SEGA’s then cutting edge game console. However the dozens of ports of the game left out these lighting effects in favor of using drop shadows instead, until now. Check out additional videos, comparison screenshots and an interview with Morph on the mod after the jump!
Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th anniversary officially kicked off on June 23rd, which was of course the release date of the eponymous game that started it all. In this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry look back on 25 years of Sonic by spin dashing through all the main series Sonic Team developed console games. There are quite a few to get through, so consider this more of a SEGA News Smörgåsbord. Why are you still reading this? Click play and enjoy!
What are your favorite Sonic games? Let us know the comments below and like always thanks for watching! If you like our SEGA News Bits videos, make sure to subscribe to us on our YouTube channel.
As we hit the halfway point of the Year of the SEGA Developers, we turn our attention to a favorite of ours: Amusement Vision. Okay, so being a SEGA fan site, every SEGA developer is our favorite. But just look at Amusement Vision’s portfolio: imaginative new games like Monkey Ball and Ollie King , follow-ups to classic franchises including Space Harrier’s Planet Harriers, Daytona USA 2001, and Spikeout and Virtua Striker sequels. Amusement Vision also holds the distinction of being the first SEGA developer to take on a Nintendo franchise with the much loved F-Zero GX and F-Zero AX.
As is customary for a developer month kick-off article, join us as we look back on how Amusement Vision came to be, their library of games, and where the staff are now!
Nearly ten years ago, Skies of Arcadia completely changed the way I viewed video games. What I once saw as a passive medium, where I followed a trail of bread crumbs from point to point to see what the developers had in store for me, I now saw something greater.
Arcadia drew me into its world in a way no game has before or since with colorful characters, beautiful locales, and a sense of adventure that the game not only emphasizes, but cherishes. Even today, when I come back to the game after having experienced the likes of Oblivion, Mass Effect, and Skyrim, I still get a feeling of adventure that no other game seems able to provide in quite the same way. Naturally, there are some spoilers ahead, so if you’d prefer to go into this game ignorant, don’t read any further!
Hey everyone welcome to another episode of The Weekly Five, I’m your host George and today we will be talking about my favorite moment of Skies of Arcadia. The game originally came out in 2000 on the SEGA Dreamcast.
The game later got 2002 re-release in Japan and 2003 in the West on the Gamecube, which included better graphics, less random battles, extra content, and more. Regardless of what version of the game play, both are fantastic experiences. Some disliked the game due to its constant random battles but I think it more than makes it up with its charming characters, light hearted humor and sense of exploration.
Great games have great moments and Skies of Arcadia is full of them, so if I don’t mention a moment you loved, share it with us in the comment section. Let’s get this list started.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Last week when we kicked off Overworks and WOW Entertainment month, we took a look back at how SEGA organized their many internal development teams over the years. Among those teams were Overworks and WOW Entertainment, two separate teams that released games from 2000 through to 2004 when they were merged and became SEGA WOW. This week, we will be taking a look back at the games released by Overworks. While the Overworks softography is small, especially compared to giants like SEGA AM2, in the span of four years Overworks released some truly classic titles.
Skies of Arcadia is a special game that had just the right amount of charm to win me over. Skies of Arcadia is just one of those games where you really like the bright colorful world and cheery character personalities, despite its random battle encounters and parts in the game that lead to frustration. Not only that, the game had an epic soundtrack that gives you a sense of adventure. Listen to the main theme above and tell me this doesn’t make you want to go exploring some caverns or travel in exotic locations?
This week on Tuesday Tunes we will be listening to some of my personal favorite tracks in Skies of Arcadia. Hit the jump and set your volume to an appropriate volume.
It’s Dreamcast month here at Segabits, so being a Sonic podcast, we’ve decided to look back at the Sonic Adventure series. Me. Nuckles87, GX Echidna and special guest Evil Dr. Reef look back at the Adventure series from its Dreamcast beginnings up to Sonic Adventure DX on the GameCube. Which in the series is our favorite? What were the best parts? What were the worst parts (besides big the Cat obviously)? Does either game hold up today? Do we want a Sonic adventure 3? We answer all these question and more in a heavy 2 & 1/2 hour discussion that’s one of our best episodes yet!
NOTE: If you wonder why GX seems to be hogging the conversation for about 20 minutes after the 58 minute mark, it’s because Nuckles87’s audio went off for a short period of time. (Also, GX tends to naturally hog up a conversation anyway.) Luckily, my awesome editing skills saved the day and it’s barely noticeable.
On January 4th 2006, I submitted to Gamefaqs a review for Shadow the Hedgehog , a game which at the time I boldly declared “the worst SEGA game I’ve ever played.” To date, the 2/10 score I gave it is the lowest I’ve scored a game in any context, on any site I’ve reviewed for, and nothing I’ve played either before or since has inspired a similar score. My outlook on SEGA at the time was incredibly bleak; it was a game that really tore down my confidence in the company and where it was headed, and for those reasons I’ve left this review, for the most part, as is, as a piece of history for how I viewed SEGA at the time, and where I feared the company was headed. Though I’ve edited it a little for form and trimmed it down, the message remains intact. Read on for my thoughts on Shadow the Hedgehog, directly from 2006, as I sat down to review what was (and still is) the worst game I had ever played.
First lets talk about why F-Zero GX news is posted on a SEGA blog, if you didn’t already know the game was developed by Amusement Vision (SEGA AM4) the guys that did games like Super Monkey Ball and later Yakuza series. Did you also know that F-Zero GX used the Super Monkey Ball engine?
F-Zero AX is the name of the arcade version of the game, which was developed along side F-Zero GX for GameCube. Well, it happens that the full arcade version was hidden away on the Gamecube disc of F-Zero GX and if you have an Action Reply or Gameshark, you could online the game. You have to check out the Retro Collection lists of codes, that will get you started. Though as pointed out by some YouTube comments, there are subtle differences from the arcade version. Probably never completed and was scrapped as an unlockable?