We Didn’t Need a Poll, We Already Knew It: Mega Drive named “Best Retro Console”

Gaming site Playr2 recently polled 1,411 gamers, asking them to vote for the best retro console, and a whopping 61% chose the SEGA Mega Drive! Other SEGA consoles also made the top ten, including the Master System and the Game Gear. Unfortunately, our favorite underdog the Dreamcast did not make the list. Placing second was the Nintendo 64. If the NES and SNES were Nintendo 1 and Nintendo 2, whatever happened to Nintendo 3 through Nintendo 63? After the break, check out the full top ten and feel free to agree with me in the comments that the Mega Drive/Genesis is the best retro console of all time.

Indie Genesis/Mega Drive Game Pier Solar Back on Sale!

Back in March I recorded an unboxing and preview of the indie RPG Pier Solar for the Genesis and Mega Drive. Initially the game released in late 2010 as a limited edition cartridge and enhanced CD for use with the SEGA CD, giving a Genesis game CD quality music. When the limited edition sold out, the developers quickly created the reprint edition. The reprint edition was in a sturdy plastic clamshell case, and featured a full color manual, as well as stickers and a poster, but lacked the CD (though the CD could easily be burned using files from the developer’s website).

After the reprint sold out, nothing was available outside of ebay auctions. But now, over ten months later, the reprint edition is back on sale and what more, there is also a snazzy soundtrack available (sold separately)! If you missed the first or second time, do not miss the third time that this game has been available! It’s a fantastic indie release, and far better a game than some official Genesis RPGs. Visit their shop here, the game is $49, and the soundtrack is $25.

Sonic CD port drops vocals from music

Above is footage of the Sonic CD intro, with the missing vocals. Not only is the vocal track going to be missing from the game, but it will also be missing in the digital soundtrack download for the game. Why? According to Christian Whitehead, its probably do to legal issues.

“I know it’s a bit of a bummer that the vocals had to be left out. It’s definitely not something due to laziness or something silly. I couldn’t tell you the circumstances, but at least from my understanding there are some rights associated with the lyrics themselves.

My guess is that since Casey Rankin is no longer alive, there might be problems negotiating the use of the lyrics outside of Japan. Please, don’t take this as gospel though since I don’t work in legal” – Christian “The Taxman” Whitehead

Is this a big deal for all fans out there? It might suck we don’t get vocals on the soundtrack, but in my opinion it doesn’t ruin the game.

[Via: TSS]

Steam has complete SEGA Genesis Cassics for $9.99

If you really want to play Genesis titles on your PC and you want to give SEGA a nod that you appreciate them putting them up on Steam for sale, you can do that on the super cheap. You get over 40 games!

The package includes classics like Streets of Rage 2, Vectorman and Ristar. Cult games like Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair and Alien Solider. The package will normally run you $112.60, but $9.99 is a better price.

[Source: Steam]

Pier Solar Unboxing and Preview

The latest indie release for the… SEGA Genesis?! That’s right! We’re not talking indie Dreamcast, we’re going way back to SEGA’s 16-bit wonder! Let’s unbox and boot up the Pier Solar Reprint Edition.

After the video, make sure to check out the developers website and order yourself a copy. How often do you get a new Genesis or Mega Drive game? And it’s only $45. That’s cheaper than a Genesis game bought back in the 1990’s.

SEGA Genesis Classic Collection Gold Edition announced

SEGA has just announced SEGA Genesis Classic Collection Gold Edition, which will be released for the PC and contain 46 classic Genesis games. A full list of the games has not been announced yet, but  Sonic 2, Shining Force, Toe Jam & Earl, Sonic 3D Blast, and Virtua Fighter 2 have been confirmed.

This was announced by SEGA America, I assume SEGA Europe will stop releasing volumes and do this bigger collection as well. The collection is expected to hit store shelves on March 15th. Hit the jump for the press release (which says you can get the full list of games at SEGA.com, but at this time it’s not on there).
[Source: SEGA]

5 Annoyingly Catchy SEGA Genesis Tunes

… or Mega Drive tunes, if you’re of that persuasion. Every blue blooded SEGA fan knows the distinct sound of Genesis/Mega Drive music. Having played dozens of Genesis games throughout the 90’s, a number of game tunes stuck with me. Many great, due to the sheer genius of their composition (Sonic 2’s Chemical Plant Zone and Streets of Rage 2 Stage 1-1 come to mind). But what of those game tunes that stick with you due to them just being plain old annoyingly catchy? Today I’m going to share 5 of those tunes. I actually find myself unknowingly whistling these on a daily basis. Proof of their annoying “catchocity” (a scientific measurement of catchiness).

The Last Boss: Michael Jackson vs Stray Dogs

When I heard that the new Michael Jackson video games for Wii, DS and Kinect were going to be dance games I was hugely disappointed. “What else would you expect them to be?” you may ask, and that is a fair question. I knew it was unlikely, but a small part of me was hoping that we would see some kind of follow up to the classic Sega title Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker. That game had it all; a Michael Jackson soundtrack, scrolling beat-em-up action and some great boss fights, not least of which was the legendary Stray Dogs. Yes, there was a video game where you used Michael Jackson to kick the ever-living shit out of a bunch of dogs.

Why this game doesn’t have a sequel is beyond me…

SEGA games 25% off on STEAM

Do you like SEGA games?
Do you like PC games?
Do you like good deals?

If so, hopefully you have STEAM. If not, you will need STEAM if you want to take advantage of STEAM’s 25% off SEGA games sale. This SALE is for every SEGA game on STEAM… so buy until your heart is content!

An example of some games on sale are the Total War games, Football Manager, Mega Drive classics, THE CLUB, and SEGA All-Stars Racing.

The GagaMan Plays Through Retro SEGA Oddities

The GagaMan, creator for SEGA Memories and contributor to the SEGA Junkyard blogs, recently uploaded a series of game playthroughs* to his YouTube channel. Included in the playthroughs thus far are some pretty crazy SEGA games of the past including the SEGA CD’s Panic! (aka Switch) in two parts, the AM2 arcade game Dynamite Dux and Looney Tunes Desert Demolition for the Mega Drive. The videos are full length, no 10 minute increments here, and are fileld to the brim with the GagaMan’s usual comments. Check ’em out!

*the playthroughs are ones he had uploaded last year, however they appear here uncut and in full.

Free monthly Genesis/Mega Drive games via PC

Stop, I’m not talking about roms and emulators. I’m talking about the released that SEGA did. Would you want to get them, legally, for free? One game a month?

Well SEGA has teamed up with GamersGate, to give you, the SEGA fan, free Genesis/Mega Drive games. Isn’t that nice? Basically every Tuesday of a new month, SEGA will post a redemption code via their Facebook discussion board. Code will last 24 hours, they will put codes for 3 days. First game up is Space Harrier II. First give away starts October 5th.

For more details, check out the SEGA Europe Blog.

Review: SEGA Genesis Classics Pack 1

I know what you are saying, another compilation of Genesis games, splattering the word classic to get me thinking about great games that powered my Genesis throughout the 16-bit wars.

After releasing a ton of stand alone titles on other digital services and disc based releases, SEGA tries to bring Genesis games to Steam. This is not the first time SEGA has brought Genesis games to PC.

SEGA Mega Drive Digital Download – Series 1

Here is a trailer showing off the first batch of direct to drive downloadable Mega Drive (Genesis) titles for PC.

Games shown include Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Ecco, Gain Ground, Vectorman, CrackDown, Space Harrier 2 and my personal favourites Shinobi 3 and Comix Zone.

Each classic SEGA titles will be available from £1.99/€2.49/ AUS$3.49 which is dirt cheap and a real bargain even if you own them already.

Rumour: More Digital Dreamcast games and New Genesis Collection?

Well this is certainly interesting if true.

Fudzilla is reporting that SEGA’s recent announcement of Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure may just be the start of a cavalcade of Dreamcast games making their way to Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. They even go on to say that Jet Set Radio could be the next cab off the rank, which would be great news!

In addition to this, they also claim that another Sega Genesis/Mega Drive collection may be in the works, featuring some of the titles that were not included in the first pack. Interesting if true, so fingers crossed for some more Retro-Goodness!

SOURCE: [Fudzilla]

SEGA bringing 16-bit classics to Steam

SEGA will be bringing some of its SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive classics to a PC near you starting June 1st. SEGA’s first games released will be Golden Axe, Ecco the Dolphin, and Vectorman.

SEGA stated they will cost $2.99 per title. The games will be coming to Steam and “other platforms,” but lets be honest, we all probably use Steam.

SEGA sent out screens for Gain Ground, Altered Beast, Space Harrier, Crack Down, Sonic 3D Blast, and Shadow Dancer; assuming these games will be coming out as well. I did not upload screens of the games because we already know what they look like.

[Source: Joystiq]