Mega Drive

Game Freak’s Pulseman illustration video now Western friendly with English subtitles

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If you’re a regular visitor to our little SEGA corner of the internet, you probably like to revisit some titles that you might have missed in the 90s and it seems that Game Freak’s Pulseman was pretty slept on in the 90s.

The video above has Pulseman director Ken Sugimori drawing Pulseman as he gives details into the character’s creation, what inspired him and why they made him as a direct opposition to Sonic the Hedgehog‘s design. Kind of funny that Ken Sugimori says that Sonic the Hedgehog had a ‘western look’ when I felt like Sonic the Hedgehog was a mix of classic Mickey/Felix the Cat mixed with a Japanese twist. But I guess Ken is right, its quite obvious that Sonic was inspired by early American mascot cartoons.

Love Ken Sugimori’s Mega Drive jacket. Very cool.

[Source: Siliconera]

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Analogue Mega SG to Include Unreleased Title Ultracore from Battlefield Developers

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Analogue’s FPGA Mega Drive/Genesis console, the Mega Sg is giving would be owners an additional bonus built into the console. A pack in title! Hardcore, a side-scrolling shooter in the vein of other European shooters such as the Turrican series, was developed by Digital Illusions who have since changed their name to DICE. (Who went on to become famous for the Battlefield series.) Due to the impending arrival of disc based consoles in 1994, the publisher of the game, Psygnosis decided to cancel the title despite being slated for release on Amiga, Mega Drive, Genesis and SEGA CD, with the Mega Drive/Genesis version being nearly ready for shipment. However due to legal issues, Analogue states on their website the game will be renamed to Ultracore. The game content will remain the same.

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SEGA’s Hideki Sato talks about creating the Mega Drive to beat Nintendo

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It seems that SEGA Japan’s former President (2001-2003) and hardware designer Hideki Sato is getting quite a bit of attention from the media lately. A few months ago he discussed what it was like going against Sony and the PlayStation brand, now he is talking about the creation of the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis, which he reveals was created to beat Nintendo (no, duh?). If you didn’t know Hideki Sato was behind the creation of the SEGA SG-1000, SEGA Master System, SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis, SEGA Saturn, and the SEGA Dreamcast.

The Famitsu interview seems to be exclusive to its magazine but Siliconera translated some important bits where he discusses the SEGA SG-1000’s rough launch and how it helped the Mega Drive’s early development.

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SEGA Genesis Classics hits Nintendo Switch on December 7

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It looks like the Nintendo Switch version of the SEGA Genesis Classics compilation will hit the console hybrid portable this December 7, 2018. Looks like they really wanted to hit that holiday period. The collection will feature over 50 SEGA Genesis era titles.

Hot on the heels of the Sega Ages titles announced last week and set to launch during the Tokyo Gaming Show, SEGA continues a winter of bringing great classics to the portable Switch. Retro fans can now finally play the Genesis / Mega Drive collection on their way to school or work, in their lunch break or basically anywhere on the go! Sega Genesis Classics / Sega Mega Drive Classics has over 50 retro favorites to experience across every genre: arcade action, shooters, beat’m ups, puzzlers and hidden gems, with a raft of modern features. Exclusively for the Nintendo Switch players can now compete in same-screen local coop mode and use each Joy-Con individually if desired. Familiar features like online multiplayer, achievements, mirror modes, rewind and save states are all part of the collection for everyone to revisit and enjoy.
You can check out the list of games included after the break.

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Swingin’ Report Show #93: Tanglewood Creator Matt Phillips – Indie SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive Game

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On this SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show podcast Barry is joined by Aki-At, developer of indie game Brock Crocodile, site contributor and one of the original three Swingin’ Report Show hosts, to interview Matt Phillips the creator of the Mega Drive/Genesis indie game Tanglewood. Matt’s past experience includes work at Traveller’s Tales, Crytek and Deep Silver Dambuster Studios. Learn how Tanglewood came about and how one goes about making a new game on 30 year old hardware.

Learn more about Tanglewood and purchase the game for Steam and SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive.

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

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SEGA News Bits: SEGA Kicks AtGames Off The Mega Drive / Genesis Mini

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It was just announced the other day that the SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive Mini will be delayed into 2019 as SEGA shifts the development in-house instead of using AtGames. On this episode we discuss the news, what it we think of the revelations and discuss what games should be on the SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive when it finally comes out. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

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Tanglewood Review – A Retro Revival (SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis, PC)

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It’s not every day that we get a brand new game coming out for the SEGA Mega Drive but Tanglewood by Big Evil Corporation is just that. Joining a very exclusive club of games released long after the console was discontinued, we got to try out and review this new release for the iconic 16 bit console. Staying true to the limitations of 90s game development and being built from the ground up, is Tanglewood a game worthy of reviving your Mega Drive for one more spin, or is it better left in the cupboard, read on to find out!

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Retro-Bit reveals first wave of officially licensed SEGA controllers

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Back in January, the company Retro-Bit revealed a lineup of officially licensed SEGA controllers for the Genesis/Mega Drive, Saturn and Dreamcast. Now, they’re ready to reveal what they are calling the first wave. The full lineup, seen after the break, includes Genesis, Mega Drive and Saturn controllers. Absent are the Dreamcast controllers, leading me to think that the VMU might be the reason they have not been revealed yet. I can’t imagine a VMU saving out over wireless, but I’m sure they’ll figure it out.

In the meantime, the first wave gives SEGA fans original port, USB and wireless Bluetooth controllers. Genesis/Mega Drive will be black in all versions, and there will be a clear blue version for original port and USB. The Saturn will be available in black for all versions, and a slate grey version will also be available for the original port and USB versions. No sign of the white pad, which is a shame as I know several white Saturn owners who would love to get their hands on a second pad at a fair price. Fingers crossed we see that in a second wave.

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What do you think should be the future of the Phantasy Star franchise?

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These past few weeks we have been talking quite a bit about Idola Phantasy Star on SEGAbits. The game seems to been met with a lot of negativity and it isn’t just from a whiny SEGA fan like yours truly. I think one of the more shocking things about the mobile game is that the director basically came out and said that Idola Phantasy Star Saga will be the future of the franchise and they want it to replace Phantasy Star Online 2. That means that they want Idola Phantasy Star Saga to be out for at least half a decade, considering that Phantasy Star Online 2 came out way back in 2012. I’ve seen a lot of people reach out to us on Twitter and tell us how they wished SEGA handled the Phantasy Star brand.


But here at SEGAbits want to hear from YOU, the reader. How do you wish SEGA would handle the Phantasy Star brand moving forward?

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SEGA AGES debuts on Nintendo Switch with Sonic the Hedgehog & Thunder Force IV next month

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It was a surprise to a lot of SEGA fans when SEGA announced that they wouldn’t be porting the SEGA Genesis/Megadrive Collection to Nintendo Switch. Instead SEGA Japan would be bringing its downloadable titles by reviving their SEGA AGES brand. We finally got the first details including the debut games, release date and pricing.

According to the latest Weekly Famitsu magazine where they confirmed that the first two debut titles will be Sonic the Hedgehog and Thunder Force IV! Each title will cost you 925 yen (£6.30 / $8.20) and will release in August. Just like the SEGA 3D Classics, Sonic the Hedgehog will include the added Spin Dash, Drop Dash and the Mega Play arcade version. While Thunder Force IV will introduce online leaderboards and the Styx Mode from the SEGA Saturn version!

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SEGA shows off what they have in store for SEGA Fes 2018

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SEGA will hold a big event, partly to celebrate its history as a gaming company and another part to show off what they have in store for the future. SEGA Fes 2018 is mean’t to run from April 14 to 15 in Tokyo. One of the big events they will be holding is allowing vistors to play SEGA Mega Drive classics on a big Mega Drive controller. The big Mega Drive controller play will take place on the first day of the event.

April 14 games playable:

  • 10:00-13:00 JP time: Sonic the Hedgehog
  • 13:15-16:00 JP time: Puyo Puyo
  • 16:15-19:00 JP time: Bare Knuckle II (aka Streets of Rage 2)

On April 15, you will be able to replay these games on the big Mega Drive controller, but they will start in backwards (Streets of Rage 2 at 10, ending with Sonic the Hedgehog at 18:00). But that isn’t all, this is just one floor, the next floor they have is the ‘SEGA logo monument floor’.

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SEGA Games CEO talks to CNBC about demand for retro SEGA consoles

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SEGACEORetroConsoles
CNBC had a interview with SEGA Games young CEO Haruki Satomi where he discussed what SEGA was up to in modern times and talked about fan demand for SEGA retro consoles. According to Satomi, he specifically gets a lot of demand for the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. We know the company just announced SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive Classics for PS4, Xbox One and PC. When pressed by the interviewer if SEGA had plans for a retro console, he said:

“Depending on fans request… if we hear more request and its a reasonable business for us then it might happen in the future.” – Haruki Satomi, CEO of SEGA Games

A really cool part of the interview is Haruki Satomi discussing what ‘Nintendo has done right with AR, like Pokemon Go’ (which is weird because Pokemon Go isn’t created by Nintendo), then Satomi goes into talking about SEGA doing VR first back in the mid-90s. While its cool to see CNBC do a interview with Haruki Satomi, I would have loved if they had someone that knows more about SEGA interview him. You know, like us?

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How Castle of Illusion influenced Cuphead’s ‘Simple Mode’

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CastleoftheCupHead

[Art by thegreatrouge]

Its no secret that Cuphead is highly influenced by a large number of games that were popular in the 90s. This weekend at EGLX, the heads of Studio MDHR, brothers Chad Moldenhauer and Maja Moldenhauer spoke about their popular game. One part of the event was a live Q&A, where someone asked about the decision of keeping bosses out of ‘Simple Mode’. For those not in the know, if you play Cuphead in easy mode or in this game called simple mode, you won’t get to play all the boss levels. Forcing players to switch to normal mode to get the full experience.

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Commodore 64 game Barbarian releasing to the Dreamcast and Genesis/Mega Drive

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The classic 8-bit Commodore 64 Epyx game Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior, which was later ported to several systems including the BBC Micro and Atari ST, is set to receive a SEGA Dreamcast port. The upcoming port is being handled by Retro Games Ltd, who have acquired the Epyx catalog, so it’s official!

Given the game has seen so many ports, you’re probably wondering which one the Dreamcast is getting. The answer is all of them, as you will be able to switch between the various versions with the press of a button. There will also be a new Dreamcast version with enhanced visuals. The game is also heading to the NES, Atari Jaguar and Genesis/Mega Drive.

Expect a physical Dreamcast release later this year, and in the meantime you can keep up on the project by following the Epyx Facebook page.

[Source: The Dreamcast Junkyard]

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