Mega Drive

Japanese SEGA Mega Drive ‘Star Cruiser’ gets fan translation

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The Japanese exclusive Mega Drive space gameStar Cruiser has now been translated to English thanks to dedication from fans in the retro scene. The guys over at RetroCollect.com describe Star Cruiser as a hybrid between Star Fox, Elite and Phantasy Star. While we are talking about the Mega Drive version, Star Cruiser has been ported to the NEC PC-88, NEC PC-98, Sharp X1 and the Sharp X68000. Star Cruiser was suppose to be released in North America way back in 1994 and was going to be published by Namco, but game’s localization was cancelled for unknown reasons.

This game features four solar systems and over thirty planets for the players to get through, players are tasked with the goal of traversing the galaxy to get rid of a evil militaristic nation. By looking at the video you will notice that most of the game’s action is played through space dog fights featuring some really meh Super FX polygon visuals and the story elements are done through anime style cutscenes.

The Star Cruiser translation is in the form of a .IPS patch, so you will need to have a Japanese Star Cruiser ROM as well to apply the patch with LunarIPS. According to the person working on the patch, there are still plans to fix a few things but you can try it right now, since it seems playable.

DOWNLOAD HERE

[Source: RetroCollect]

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Cospa’s SEGA merchandise up for pre-order before Tokyo Game Show 2016

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COSPASEGAMerch1Cospa is a Japanese licensed merchandising company, just recently they updated their site with all the merchandise they will be premiering at this year’s Tokyo Game Show 2016. The line-up included other licenses like SNK, IDOLM@STER and of course our true blue SEGA. The company announced that the SEGA Merchandise was focusing on the SEGA Mega Drive (SEGA Genesis in America), Sonic the Hedgehog and oddly enough NiGHTS into Dreams..

So lets break down all the SEGA merchandise from Japan that will be shown off by Cospa at this year’s Tokyo Game Show and that you can pre-order RIGHT NOW (yes, we included import friendly shop links):

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Disney Re-Releases Aladdin, The Lion King and The Jungle Book on GOG.com

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Leave it to digital distribution to as a means to keep the older classics alive, although your mileage may vary if it may not quite be as you remember it. As is the case with today’s offering on GOG.com that sees the return of three Disney platformers from the 16-bit era.

As part of their joint effort with Disney to re-release games from past decades, GOG.com has re-released Aladdin, The Lion King and The Jungle Book on their digital service. Because GOG.com specializes in releasing PC titles in their original format without DRM, these titles are the DOS versions running in the DOSBOX emulator. Aladdin and Jungle Book are the significant highlights for SEGA fans as these ports are based on their respective Mega Drive and Genesis versions. The accuracy between versions may vary, but in the case of titles such as Aladdin, you still get to experience the highly animated characters and detailed backgrounds of the original game with the music recreated in MOD format.

As of this publication, they’re running an introductory sale where you can get each title for 10% off or all three together in a bundle. Lets hope we get to see more in the future along with Maui Mallard and maybe even Mickey Mania. Though for the true SEGA diehard, maybe we’ll see re-releases of titles such as Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Quackshot one day soon.

[Source: GOG.com]

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SEGA Tunes: How Thunder Force III’s OST made the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive shine

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SEGATunesTHUNDERFORCEIIIOn this entry of our ongoing SEGA Tunes series, we will be looking at how Thunder Force III‘s fantastic soundtrack cemented the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive as a musical powerhouse. The SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive’s sound usually gets negative responses from gamers due to some big games having bad sound, thus they assume its the system’s fault. If you know some gamers that have that opinion about the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive, pop in Thunder Force III. If they don’t change their minds, find new friends. Of course, there are many other SEGA games that had fantastic sound on the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive, but today we will be looking at Thunder Force III.

Let’s look at some of my favorite Thunder Force III tracks:

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What SEGA can learn from Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition

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NintendoMini

You are reading the title, dumbfounded that a SEGA fanboy like myself would tell the glamorous SEGA to take notes from Nintendo. You might be more confused after I made a jab at the NES Classic Edition on twitter the other day. While personally, I don’t care about a replica box that only plays a set amount of emulated games, I know there is a huge market for it in the states. These things are the Tiger Electronic toys of our time (maybe that’s too harsh)! But Nintendo has announced a few things with this project that I think SEGA should seriously take a closer look at, especially if they will be taking this whole ‘plug-in-play’ market a bit more seriously. 

So let’s talk about the SEGA’s emulated machines, the NES Classic Edition and what SEGA can do to capitalize on the attention that these devices will receive because Nintendo joined the ranks. 

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Cave Story being ported to SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive

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If you haven’t played the 2004 indie game ‘Cave Story‘ then you are really missing out on a classic PC game. But don’t worry a retro developer is ‘demaking’ the classic for release on the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. The game will scale down the graphics to run on the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive 16-bit hardware (I think it still looks pretty damn close though) and will have the full soundtrack (remade for Yamaha YM262 sound).

Not only that, the developer has already released a playable demo of his Cave Story demake. You can download it here. The Cave Story demo is limited to the first few areas of the game. You can also see gameplay of Cave Story running on SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive hardware above.

Download Demo Here

[Source: Retro Collect]

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SEGA News Bits: Sonic the Hedgehog turns 25 years old

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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.

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Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle launches with exclusive shirt

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HumbleBundleSonicHumble Bundle has just launched its Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle which will include a wide arrange of Sonic games for PC including retro and more recent titles.

This is what you get in the Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle.

Pay $1 or more:

  • Sonic the Hedgehog (SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive)
  • Sonic Adventure DX 
  • Sonic 3D Blast
  • Sonic CD

Beat the average (right now $9.00) also unlocks: 

  • Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – Episode I
  • Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive)
  • Sonic Adventure 2 + Battle DLC 
  • More games coming soon

Pay $10 dollars and also get: 

  • Sonic Lost World
  • Sonic Generations + Casino NiGHTS DLC
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – Episode 2
  • Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Plus Metal Sonic & Outrun and Ryo DLC)

Pay $35 bucks and get: 

  • Exclusive Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle Shirt

If you have never used Humble Bundle, the way it works is that its all tiers. So if you pay the $35 dollars for the exclusive Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle shirt, you also get all the games in the package. All games redeem on Steam.

What are your guys thoughts on this Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle? What tier is everyone picking up? Let us know in the comments below.

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D4 and EGG Project release new Madou Monogatari collection

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madoumonogatari

After the success of the first collection with Madou Monogatari 1-2-3 and Madou Monogatari ARS, a new compilation has been released for Windows in Japan regarding to the Madou Monogatari series called Madou Monogatari yu~ Kyoku Taizen-Tsu MD & DS by companies D4 and EGG Project. In this collection contains the Mega Drive version of Madou Monogatari I and varies DiscStation titles, along with the original cover from the Mega Drive Madou Monogatari I and an OST. In addition, the first collection that contains Madou Monogatari 1-2-3 and Madou Monogatari ARS is receiving a reprint until September 2016.

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SEGA Game Tester documentary from 1996 emerges online

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This video was uploaded online a few days ago, titled ‘This is SEGA TEST’ a titled “trainumentary” created by the SEGA test department in 1995-1996. The video was shot on location at Sega of America in Redwood City, CA. The SEGA Game Tester documentary talks about what SEGA is looking for in a game tester, but gives you a interesting inside look at the company during that era and the people that worked as testers.

Tom Kalinske, President of SEGA of America at the time is in the video talking about the processes of selecting a SEGA game tester. We had a chance to interview him in our podcast, if you haven’t listened. Its a great little documentary, especially for retro SEGA game fans. Watch it and let us know what you guys think in the comments below and tell us how many of you wanted to be a SEGA game tester during the mid-90s.

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SEGA Europe announces free Mega Drive Classics Hub for Steam, releasing April 28

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The latest episode of SEGA Central, SEGA Europe’s video series covering SEGA happenings in Europe, have just revealed SEGA Mega Drive Classics Hub, a free Steam digital hub which allows for an updated way to view and access SEGA Mega Drive games available for the service. The hub is a digital recreation of a 90s kid’s bedroom, complete with an old TV, Mega Drive console, shelf of games and various SEGA collectibles. It also appears this European kid clearly was not a Fleetway fan and decided to import the Archie series instead. The hub also features various settings for both Mega Drive games and and the room itself. The hub is free and releases April 28th to Steam. No word on if the hub is a European exclusive or not, or if it will be retitled to Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Classics Hub if it ends up releasing to the Americas.

Also worth noting, SEGA Europe now has their own news page at www.sega.co.uk/news. Meanwhile, US news will continue to be posted at the SEGA Blog which will remain more US-centric. The division makes sense, given SEGA of America and SEGA Europe don’t always release the same products or have the same promotions.

After the break, check out the trailer for SEGA Mega Drive Classics Hub.

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SEGA Retrospective: From Wonder Boy to Monster World to Adventure Island and beyond

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Over the years, video game franchises have come in many styles. Platforming, fighting, puzzle, shooting, the list is never ending. But one thing many franchises have in common is that they have to start somewhere, setting up the foundation for future titles to follow up and improve on. However, on occasion, something happens down the line that causes the franchise to become twisted, causing things to become complicated. Copyright issues might make the prospect of new titles impossible so spiritual successors might be necessary (For example Bayonetta being the successor to Devil May Cry), or the franchise suffers from an identity crisis when localized like with Puyo Puyo, or games having inconsistent releases cause confusion like the infamous Final Fantasy I to VI problem.

By far one of the most curious cases is with a franchise called Wonder Boy (Aka Monster World).

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SEGA News Bits: Shining series turns 25 years old

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25 years ago today, on March 29th 1991, Shining in the Darkness released to the Japanese Mega Drive. While the original game did not light the world on fire, the later Shining Force games would become some of the best strategy RPGs ever produced. The series is still going strong, at least in Japan, with Blade Arcus from Shining EX releasing just last year.

Whatever you may think about the recent installments, most fans agree that the Shining Force games were legendary and the original Shining in the Darkness is to thank for starting the franchise. Join us on this SEGA News Bits as we share our Shining memories and talk about the possible future of the series, and don’t forget to brush up on all the SEGA anniversaries hitting this year!

If you enjoy the SEGA News Bits video formats make sure to like, share and subscribe to our YouTube for more.

 

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SEGA News Bits: Fantasy Zone turns 30 years old

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2016 is filled with milestone SEGA anniversaries, and one of the most anticipated by us – for obvious reasons – was Fantasy Zone! Join us on this SEGA News Bits as we discuss our thoughts on the franchise’s past, present and future.

Released to arcades on March 28, 1986, the Fantasy Zone franchise has released a surprising amount of games in its 30 year history. Despite the many titles, the story often remains the same: the sentient spaceship Opa Opa traverses the Fantasy Zone, sometimes joined by his brother Upa Upa, battling bizarre bosses and upping his arsenal thanks to a floating Parts Shop. Outside the franchise, Opa Opa has made appearances in both All-Stars Racing games as well as Amusement Visions’ Planet Harriers, a 3D installment in the Space Harrier franchise which also takes place in Opa Opa’s Fantasy Zone.

If you enjoy the SEGA News Bits video formats make sure to like, share and subscribe to our YouTube for more.

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