Team Sonic Racing mobile release revealed

When Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed released, it hit nearly every platform under the sun. The upcoming Team Sonic Racing, meanwhile, was seemingly holding back as the team at Sumo Digital focused on one version of the game. However a recent Facebook ad that several fans have encountered, including Twitter user Radiant Emerald who we’re citing, features screenshots of a mobile version of Team Sonic Racing. Little is revealed outside of three screens and an app icon.

It makes sense that SEGA would want a mobile version of the game, as it has been the norm with the previous All-Stars Racing games as well as Sonic Forces which saw a Sonic Dash style game. The question is, will this mobile version be a direct port of the game right down to all the tracks and racers? Or could we be seeing a stripped down version, potentially on rails like Sonic Dash? We should know more, potentially during the Sonic panel at SXSW which will be held on March 16, 2019.

Bayonetta crosses over into Shin Megami Tensei: Dx2 Liberation

Bayonetta coming to Shin Megami Tensei: Dx2 Liberation was first teased at this year’s Tokyo Game Show but it has now been officially shown off on the 1st year anniversary stream.

While I get why some people are a bit put off with anything that has to do with mobile games, since they are so different compared to traditional games, I think this crossover makes sense and I hope we see more SEGA own IPs make cameos in Dx2.

[Via: Persona Central]

SEGA trademarks ‘Humankind’ in Japan

The guys over at Gematsu posted up more company trademarks, as you know previously SEGA trademarked ‘Romance: Seven-Colored Adventure Story and now they are trademarking “Humankind”. Gematsu did make a note that Take-Two is going to debut a new game called Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey at The Game Awards 2018 in a few days. We know SEGA has a history of working with Take-Two in publishing and pushing their games in Japanese market. Who knows.

Sadly all these trademarks are vague without a description on what sort of platform they will be used on. At this point SEGA is so diverse it can be a Pachinko, Mobile or Console game. What do you want to see from this new trademark? What do you think it is? Let us know in the comments below.

SEGA trademarks ‘Romance: Seven-Colored Adventure Story’

Looks like SEGA has some new IPs to show off in 2019 considering they just filed for a trademark in Japan for “Romance: Nanatsu Iro no Boukendan” which roughly translates to “Romance: Seven-Colored Adventure Story” While this news has brought some jokes that SEGA is finally making a Sonic the Hedgehog dating sim, I actually think this might be a cutesy mobile or arcade game aimed at the Japanese market. Its nothing new for SEGA since they have been at it since Oshare Majo: Love and Berry.

But maybe I’m wrong and this is a larger, more mainstream project. I guess we will find out soon since we don’t really know much more about the project outside of its name.

[Via: Gematsu]

 

Idola Phantasy Star Saga launches November 27th in Japan

If you are excited about the upcoming Idola Phantasy Star Saga mobile game on iOS and Android, I have good news for you. You can begin playing it on November 27, 2018 in Japan (or in Japanese, if you know how to download it outside of Japan). As for my opinions on this title, you can read those here.

If you are a Phantasy Star fan hoping for a lot of cute references to some of your favorite past games, you might want to skip out since SEGA already confirmed this entry takes place in a completely different universe from the past games. They are basing the game on a two faction system of Law and/or Chaos. You can look at some of the gameplay in the video above and see if this is the sort of mobile game you want to spend your time on.

So, what do you guys think about Idola Phantasy Star Saga now that its a few days away from launch?

SEGA teases new real-time strategy game Revolve8 with all-star development team including Castlevania’s Koji Igarashi

SEGA announced today that they are working on a real-time strategy game for mobile devices called Revolve8: Episodic Dueling which will have an all-star Japanese staff behind the title. The staff includes Koji Igarashi (Castlevania series producer, Bloodstained) working on character designs, Masayoshi Kikuchi (Yakuza series, Dx2 Shin Megami Tensei Liberation) as senior producer,  and Ryota-H (Fate/Grand Order and Lord of Vermilion) as character artist.

On the other side the game’s sound team will include Shunsuke Tsuchiya (Another Eden and Stella Glow) along with Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono series, Xeno series). The games teaser page is already up in both English and Japanese. So, yeah this game is going to be SEGA’s next big release considering the staff has some pretty big names. I first reported this game as a mobile game but made a mistake since there isn’t platforms announced. We will find out more information on October 10th!

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II joins the SEGA Forever mobile lineup

Remember Sonic 4 Episode II? It’s back, in SEGA Forever form!

Revealed today, the 2012 console and mobile game Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II has joined the SEGA Forever mobile lineup. The updated release makes the game free to play, with ads, or $1.99 to remove ads. The Episode Metal DLC, once only unlocked if you owned both Sonic 4 episodes on the same platform, is now unlocked from the start.

Prior to its original release, fans were cautious of Sonic 4 Episode II following the release of Sonic 4 Episode I. But upon playing it, the second episode was seen as a marked improvement over the first episode. Physics were more in line with what was expected from a 2D Sonic game, stages and bosses were more creative, bosses were better and the addition of Metal Sonic (and tie-in to the recently rereleased Taxman and Stealth version of Sonic CD) was fun.

If you want to play the SEGA Forever version of the game, simply check the stores for your iOS and Android devices!

Idola Phantasy Star Saga Producer and Director talks changed setting, link to past games


As you guys already know, I wrote a long whiny post on why I wasn’t too into Idola Phantasy Star Saga mobile game and now we get some more clarification from the Director and Producer on the changes in setting. Gathered by Siliconera, according to the change in setting:

“The reason why Idola has a different setting and worldview from Phantasy Star Online 2 and Phantasy Star Online 2 es, is because it could become a hurdle for people who don’t play PSO2 if it were directly related. Although the game has been made to be easy to get into even for those new to the series, the common elements in the series still remain. Idola is also meant to bring back those who stopped playing PSO2 and PSO2 es, as something “Phantasy Star-like”. That said, there may be some smaller connections to the world of Oracle from PSO2.”

As for having some connection to the past games, considering this game is a 30th Anniversary title, they said:

Why I think Idola Phantasy Star Saga looks terrible

The other day SEGA announced their new mobile game Idola Phantasy Star Saga, in which I did a write up on the news where I said the game looked terrible. It seemed some people didn’t like the idea of me having a ‘hot take’ on a newly released trailer. Some people thought I was judging the game too early, but the issue is I’m not. When I said that Idola Phantasy Star Saga looked terrible, I meant that what we have seen so far has looked terrible. Of course, you don’t have to agree with my opinion and I’m always open to listening to people that disagree, but this is the long version of why I think Idola Phantasy Star Saga looks terrible.

But let’s get into it:

SEGA announces Idola Phantasy Star Saga for mobile, looks terrible

The trailer is the new debut trailer for the brand new Idola Phantasy Star Saga, which is mean’t to celebrate the franchieses 30th birthday. The only issue here is that they stripped out almost everything that made ‘Phantasy Star‘ a Phantasy Star game and made it a cheap,  generic JRPG mobile cash grab. Instead of having cool characters, art from the franchises history they just turned everyone into waifus because it sells. The good news is that the game has Producer, script writer and world builder Shuntaro Tanaka (Valkyria Chronicles, Sakura Wars, Phantasy Star Online 2), Tomomasa Chin (Valkyria Chronicles 2, Phantasy Star Online 2 )as director, and Sho Mutsuura (Phantasy Star Online 2) as art director.

Going to be honest, its a bit sad state of affairs being a Phantasy Star fan right now. First we got screwed from a Western Phantasy Star Online 2 release and now SEGA has this planned for the franchise. SEGA West hasn’t talked about bringing the title over to Western mobile, I personally wouldn’t bother. The game is set to come out later this year. Hit the jump for more info on the characters and their backstories:

Phantasy Star mobile countdown website launched, celebrates franchises 30th Anniversary

SEGA has launched the following Phantasy Star website, according to the site this upcoming announcement will be part of the Phantasy Star 30th Anniversary. The first Phantasy Star launched in Japan way back in 1988 on the SEGA Mark III (Master System outside of Japan).

According to the website this announcement is slated for iOS and Android mobile users. According to the site this will be a RPG, no idea if this means that they will go back to the franchises roots or if this is just another mobile cash grab. I will say I’m digging the Phantasy Star 30th Anniversary logo, looks like they included a silhouette of Myau from the orginal Phantasy Star.

SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI Liberation D×2up for per-registration on the American Play Store

The upcoming mobile game, Shin Megami Tensei Liberation Dx2, is a big game for the working relationship between SEGA and Atlus. This is the first Shin Megami Tensei title being developed by SEGA since they purchased Atlus back in 2013. The game now has a Google Play Store page that lets you pre-register for the game. This means that when the game does finally release, you will be alerted with a notification.

Shin Megami Tensei Liberation Dx2 (what a mouthful) is a Pokemon Go style AR game that allows you to capture up to 160 different demons and contains anime storytelling elements.The game is also set to launch with a competitive PVP mode. According to the Play Store page, the game will be fully in Japanese with English subtitles.

What to expect from SEGA Forever in 2018 – Changes are coming!

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SEGA Forever, SEGA’s mobile initiative to bring classic SEGA games to smart devices, has updated the SEGA Mobile blog with details of what we can expect from the collection in 2018. Over the past 8 months, 18 titles have been released under the SEGA Forever banner, including emulated titles and native ports. Interestingly, it is noted in the post that the native ports (Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD, Crazy Taxi, and Virtua Tennis Challenge) have been the most played.

As such, SEGA has decided to make changes to SEGA Forever to appeal to gamers most interested in that aspect of the project. While emulated titles will still release, including some surprises, the main plan will be to release more native ports. As such, the amount of titles regularly released will reduce (no doubt due to the amount of work a native port requires when compared to emulation) however the next titles in the lineup will release soon. The post also notes that over the course of 8 months, there have been over 40 million downloads. Impressive!

You can follow SEGA Forever on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and check out their official website.

Read the full post here, and in the comments below let us know your thoughts on this shift in focus!

[Source: SEGA Mobile Blog]

SEGA Slots mobile released worldwide featuring classic SEGA IPs

SEGASlotsImages

SEGA has now launched their mobile app SEGA Slots world wide. This lets you play ‘some of the fastest, most addictive slots machines around!’ according to their product description. These addictive slots machines just happen to have some of our favorite SEGA IPs attached to them. While its cool to see our favorite characters being represented, its a tad sad that they are stuck in a casino style mobile gambling game.

Product Pages: Play Store iTunes 

Regardless SEGA Slots, as of launch, has the following Classic SEGA IPs represented: 

Gunstar Heroes joins the SEGA Forever mobile lineup

The Treasure classic Gunstar Heroes has been added to the SEGA Forever mobile lineup, available to download now on Google Play and the App Store. If Gunstar Heroes on iOS sounds familiar, it’s because the game released to that platform 7 years ago. Those who have previously downloaded the iOS version of the game will be able to restore their purchase for the premium SEGA Forever version. A new addition to the mobile version is cross-platform local multiplayer over Wi-Fi. You can interact with the SEGA Forever team on Twitter at twitter.com/segaforever and follow them if you’re so inclined, as they post some pretty cool stuff.

We’re a bit late in newsing this, as the game released to around the busy holidays, but better late than never!