I want to talk about Sonic 1. Specifically, the term “Sonic 1”.
Following the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 1992, fans began to call the first game “Sonic 1”. The name is an easy way to differentiate the original 1991 game from Sonic the Hedgehog the comic series or the junior novel or OVA or 2006 game or 2020 movie or even the character himself. Fans have even given the Master System and Game Gear Sonic the Hedgehog the name “Sonic 8-bit” to make things less confusing.
SEGA Talk goes back to 1988, as we alter our inner beasts to talk about the SEGA 16-bit “classic” Altered Beast! One thing is for sure, this game is heavy metal in a cartridge (or arcade)! Sit back and let’s talk all things Altered Beast!
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If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is set to be a remake of Monster World IV for the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive and has gotten mixed reactions from fans since it was announced but I can say this new trailer looks a lot better than the previous ones.
The game is set to come out May 28th and cost $39.99 (at least the physical versions)!
As most SEGA fans know, these new studios pop up and promise big Kickstarter retro projects but most turn into nothing. The team seems to understand this and have at least put up a proof of concept demo, which you can download here.
If you are a big SEGA fan collector, there is some really great priced physical goods given out like the $55 dollar pledge with the physical game cartridge with manual and a bunch of cool digital goodies. Check it out before its gone since some of these rewards are limited (and moving fast).
On this SEGA Talk, Barry schools George on his favorite non-Sonic Genesis platformer: Ghostbusters! Developed by SEGA and Compile, the game is a unique non-linear action adventure game. Learn about the all-star development team, the game’s unique place in canon and the discovery of demo tracks from the game’s soundtrack.
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If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!
It seems like video game industry creatives stuck at home have been spent some of that time unearthing and sharing hidden treasures from past development projects. First we had Craig Stitt sharing cool STI game concepts, and now we have former SEGA sound designer Kazuhiko Nagai sharing music demo tracks from the late 80s!
Posted to his YouTube channel, demo tracks from the Genesis/Mega Drive release of Ghostbusters, the Genesis/Mega Drive release of Rambo III and a track from the Genesis/Mega Drive game Mystic Defender have appeared in recent weeks. The tracks are labeled as rough sketches and “maybe rejected”, with Nagai providing his best guess at times for what the intention of the track was. As of writing, a new video was just uploaded (after the break) with fingers crossed for many more over the coming days.
We have been covering all the SEGA Technical Institute pitches that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 artist Craig Stitt has been posting over at the SEGA Retro Gaming group on Facebook. First he showed off his pitch for Sonic’s partner called Boomer, then he showed off Astropede and now he is showing off a pitch Craig Stitt did with programmer Dave Sanner back in SEGA’s 16-bit days. The game was set to be called ‘Spellcaster’ and was meant to be a two player combat game based around the use of magic. The gimmick would be that the game would have a musical component in that players had to press button combinations to cast a spell but each button would play a musical note.
The idea would be that players would have a easier time doing complicated button combinations if they were based around sound. According to Craig Stitt, the pitch was put together after Sonic Spinball was completed and was rejected, this is when Craig Stitt began working on his Astropede pitch. Check out some of the artwork Craig Stitt did for Spellcaster below:
On this, our milestone 50th episode of SEGA Talk, George and Barry look back on the development, release and legacy of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 for the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. We cover the game’s unique creation in America, the debut of Miles “Tails” Prower and the comics and cartoon adaptations that took place following the game’s release.
Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read at the end and more!
If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!
If you’re unfamiliar with Figma, Figma is a Japanese action figure line produced by Max Factory and distributed by Good Smile Company. Various anime, movies, video games and even the occasional celebrity have Figma figures, what what’s so cool about them is that they are all the same scale, are super articulated and can mix and match accessories. The figmaPLUS line focuses on accessories and playsets, and of interest to SEGA fans is the figmaPLUS SEGA Consoles collection, which is now available for pre-order!
On this SEGA Talk, George and Barry discuss the 1995 SEGA Genesis classic Vectorman! Enjoy this enhanced format where we now watch videos as well as give our usual analysis and development overview.
If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!
Limited Run Games have officially announced on their Twitter account that the upcoming Streets of Rage 4 will have multiple physical editions coming our way! Starting this Friday, March 20th, at 10am ET fans will be able to pre-order Standard or Classic Editions of the game for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Important to note: this is an EXTENDED PRE-ORDER WINDOW. The window is open from this coming Friday through to a week after the digital release. This means that fans will not be fighting over a limited run of stock, instead the run will be limited to what is being ordered. The Standard Edition will feature reversible cover art that gives the game a SEGA Genesis look. The Classic Edition will include the standard case, with reversible cover art, a SteelBook case (sized to PS4 or Switch, depending on your platform) as well as a custom clam shell Genesis case that fits your SteelBook and standard game case.
The SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive action classic The Revenge of Shinobi is the focus of this SEGA Talk episode. Barry and George discuss the game’s development, the difficulty, the various revisions and the impact the game made on the Shinobi series as a whole. While not available on the SEGA Genesis Mini, the game was included on the Japanese and Asian models and is available in the west via the SEGA Genesis Classics collection for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.
Note: Due to a setup error, George is speaking through his computer mic. Please forgive us for his audio quality.
Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read at the end and more!
If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!
On this SEGA Talk, we celebrate the launch of the SEGA Genesis Mini by covering a very important game included on the plug and play console: Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse. We discuss our memories of the game, the development process the many sequels and the recent remake!
Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories played at the end and more!
If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!
Information has leaked from a GameStop conference which revealed that Disney plans to release an Aladdin and The Lion King collection featuring various versions of the games including the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive titles from Virgin Interactive. The full collection includes Aladdin‘s Sega Genesis, Game Boy, and Super Game Boy versions and The Lion King‘s Sega Genesis, Super NES, Game Boy, and Super Game Boy versions. For those keeping track, this means the Capcom Aladdin is not being included. Other versions include what is being called a new “final cut” of Aladdin and a 1993 trade show version of the game.
SEGA of America’s Youtube channel released a short showcase video or the upcoming SEGA Genesis Mini, which is slated to release next month. In the video it opens with a little “blast from the past”, with 90’s Claymation Sonic from the classic Japanese commercial with the “SEGAAAA” jingle accompanying it. It follows up with a brief showing of the size difference between the original & the mini and what games are to come, including Tetris and Darius. The latter also brings it its’ first North American release, although it is an in-house port by M2 and SEGA of Japan since it was an arcade cabinet originally.
