Retro

Dreamcast indie game ‘Ghost Blade’ gets release date

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Indie Dreamcast developer and publisher Hucast games has finally announced the released date for their latest title Ghost Blade. The game will be officially out on September 27th and come in a variety of editions.

What the game features:

  • Beautiful, detailed High-res Graphics
  • 5 Stage with HUGE Boss Enemies
  • 3 Player ships with different gun types
  • Instant Respawn
  • Auto-bomb enabled novice mode for beginners
  • Arcade Gameplay and Addictive Scoring System
  • Incredible Soundtrack composed by Rafael Dyll
  • 2-player mode for addictive fun

Accessories supported:

  • VMU
  • RGB cable (480i)
  • VGA cable/box (480p)
  • Original Pad
  • Arcade stick

You can check out both the regular edition and limited editions (limited to 1,000 copies) of the game. Anyone looking forward to this one?

[Via Retro Collect]

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SEGA Tunes: Jamming out to the Gunstar Heroes OST

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So as most of you guys know we are celebrating ‘The Year of Developers‘, one of the focused developers this month is Treasure and since their cult classic ‘Gunstar Heroes‘ just got a re-release on the Nintendo 3DS we decided to have a look at the games soundtrack. Honestly, most people will be quick to give you hundreds of reasons why you should play the game, but almost none of them will mention the fantastic soundtrack.

Let’s look at some of my favorite tracks and then you can tell me some of your favorite tracks (or tracks you hated) in the comment section.

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Grandia II Anniversary Edition out now on Steam and GOG

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What isn’t there to like about Grandia II on the SEGA Dreamcast? Now you can relive those memories on your PC via Grandia II Anniversary Edition. Personally this is one of my favorite RPGs released during that era and for the time had a really fun combat system.

What you get: 

  • Visual upgrades to textures, lighting, and shadows
  • Original Japanese voice option
  • Additional difficulty level
  • Gamepad support
  • Steam Trading Cards
  • Steam Achievements
  • Steam Cloud Save Support
  • Selectable Video Options
  • Remapable Keyboard & Gamepad Support
  • 100 Save File Slots
  • Dreamcast VMS Save File Support

Yes, you can import your save files from the Dreamcast VMU. You can pick it up on either Steam or GOG, if you buy it right now its $14.99 (25% off) and after August 31st, it will go back up to its regular price of $19.99. I got to say, that is a damn good deal.

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Round Table: Can Shenmue 3 live up to the hype?

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Its literally been 14 years since Shenmue 2 made its debut and left many unanswered questions. Over the years the Shenmue fanbase has grown since more and more people have gotten a chance to try the franchise, it has reached some level of mysticism. Having this rabid fanbase, all with individual reasons as to why they like the Shenmue franchise waiting for the next evolutionary step can be daunting to a development team.

Can Ys NET and Yu Suzuki make a game that will live up to the hype? That’s this topic on this week’s Round Table.

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Homebrew platformer ‘Mega Cheril Perils’ coming to SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis

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Homebrew developer The Mojon Twins’ have announced that their recent homebrew title (originally released on the ZX Spectrum) will have a SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive release. Not much has been showing on the game outside of new screenshots that have been shared via RetroManiac.

I guess you can sit back and enjoy the screens released as we wait for more information, maybe the developers will explain to us why a naked girl decided to battle zombies in the nude?

[Via: Retro Collect]

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Shenmue interview from the Japanese ‘Dreamcast Express’ demo disc posted online

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Shenmue had a huge marketing budget and part of that budget was used to explain what the game was all about. Shenmue is a unique game and explaining the main draw was a big challenge. SEGA had lots of programs going to promote the game before its release, including the fan favorite ‘What’s Shenmue‘ demo disc (the also the VHS with the same name).

In Japan, SEGA had released discs called ‘Dreamcast Express‘ that were handed out to members of the Sega Partners Club, for free. These discs included demos, interviews and more. They where the Japanese equivalent to the ‘Dream On’ demo discs in UK and the Official Dreamcast Magazine demo discs in the US. The first volume included a special Shenmue interview with Yu Suzuki featuring a ton of unseen footage from the Shenmue series, as well as the main theme played by a live orchestra. Thankfully Shenmue Dojo has just uploaded this video on their YouTube channel and you can see it right above this post. Isn’t the internet great?

Its crazy watching a excited Yu Suzuki talk about working at SEGA for 15 years and then turn around and have to wait 14 years to announce the 3rd installment. It really has been that long!

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Review: 3D Streets of Rage 2 (Nintendo 3DS)

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If you owned a SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive in the early 90’s, you are well aware of what Streets of Rage series was all about, its SEGA’s answer to (the then) Nintendo console exclusive franchise Final Fight (though it did get a SEGA CD entry). Its been well over a decade since the franchise debuted on SEGA’s 16-bit hardware, which is quite a long time.

Now as an adult can the game bring back those nostalgic memories that shaped my gaming habits or is Streets of Rage 2 just one of those games that I liked as a kid but aged badly? Or even worse, a bad port? Let’s find out

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Round Table: How much did you pledge to Shenmue 3?

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It is hard to grasp that it has been over 14 years since Shenmue 2 came out and left us all with that cliffhanger in the end of the game. There has been a strong fan reaction for a third installment and Yu Suzuki stood at Playstation’s E3 stage to finally give fans what they have been asking for. Ys NET launched their Kickstarter campaign which broke funding records, cementing that fans are willing to give their hard earn cash in order to see a third installment of their favorite franchise. In this week’s Round Table we talk about how much we funded and why. You can let us know how much you funded in the comments below.

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3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 trailer in actual 3D hits online

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Sonic and his two-tailed friend Tails hit the Nintendo 3DS on Thursday over in Japan  with 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2. To celebrate the release SEGA has released the following trailer… in 3D. Yes, if you didn’t know Youtube supports 3D videos.

This 3D Sonic the Hedgehog trailer is stereoscopic 3D which means you can view with red and blue 3D glasses. We will keep you informed on the US and European release dates, but I’m hearing its coming out sometime in September.

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New 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 trailer shows off local co-op and new ‘Keep Ring Mode’ gets detailed

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While we haven’t gotten a release date in the west on the 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 release, over in Japan the game is being release in less than a week! That means that 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has been getting quite the amount of information released, like the trailer above showing off the local wireless connectivity. It will be required for both 3DSs to own a copy of the game, but if you do you will be able to have a second player control Tails through your single player adventure or you can go head to head in the versus racing mode.

Like most M2 re-releases in their SEGA 3D Classics series, this game will not only have 3D, save states and the ability to save replays; but it will also have a new mode that they are calling ‘Ring Keep’ mode. In this mode you will start a stage with 10 rings, each time you get attacked the amount of rings you lose is halved. I guess we shall see how this will work when we get to play it and how it impacts the way you play the game.

If we had to predict the release date of 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in the west, I would say expect it sometime in August!

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Seaman creator on Iwata, talks about canceled Seaman 3DS game

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We know that Seaman creator and IP right holder Yoot Saito has been trying to get a Seaman game off the ground for a long while. We know that in early 2008 he tried to revive the game on mobile devices with Gabo, where your fish is more evolved into an actual ape, this is a year after Seaman 2 released on Playstation 2 in Japan. The game never got a release. We also know that as early as 2012 that Nintendo had been thinking about reviving Seaman on the 3DS and in 2013 Nintendo even tradmarked ‘Mysterious Pet: Legend of the Fish with a Human Face’, which sounds like a game we all know and love. Yoot Saito finally spills the beans on Seaman 3DS which he admits he was working on for awhile, in his farewell post to late Satoru Iwata.

He also talks about how he first met Iwata back in 1996 and how he gave him the job of looking for different types of games for Nintendo platforms. Saito also talks about how his suggestions lead to the Wii controller’s speakers and how him and Iwata experimented with StreetPass technically back in the original Gameboy days. It is a really a fantastic read and shows you why Satoru Iwata will be sorely missed in the video game industry. He was one in a billion. Read the translated blog post after the jump!

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BlitWorks tells fans to continue asking SEGA for Shenmue and Jet Set Radio Future HD ports

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Spanish video game website GameSpek recently interviewed the Barcelona, Spain based company responsible for many ports, including SEGA fan favorite Jet Set Radio.

As we all know, before the Shenmue III E3 2015 announcement, the on again/off again Shenmue franchise was constantly surrounded in a wide array of rumors, some concerning ports or high definition remakes of the first two games having been started on, or even fully completed. These rumors never came to fruition, but now we have some official insight into the status of these Shenmue ports. Says BlitWorks:

“Then we thought it would be a good idea to showcase Sonic CD, Jet Set Radio and Shenmue working on the emulators to Sega, with the prospect of a commercial release for the consoles of that time. They showed interest in Sonic CD and Jet Set Radio“.

When asked if they had anything else to say to fans, BlitWorks said:

Thanks to you! We would like to tell SEGA games fans that they don’t cease to ask for ports of great games like Shenmue or Jet Set Radio Future, we are the first ones that would like to port these games. In change.org or similar webs there are several requests about that.

They also discuss Jet Set Radio‘s removal from iOS, and more. Check out the full interview here.

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This is how Shenmue would play if it was a 8-bit Mega Man game

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Youtuber and animator Peter Sjöstrand put together the above video combining his love for Mega Man and Shenmue into one ultimate fanboy video. The video features iconic moments and locations like the Rush turning into a forklift, QTEs and even a capsule toy machine boss fight.

As a big Mega Man fan growing up, if Ys NET ever made a retro style Shenmue game, I’d buy the crap out of it.

If you want the best possible version of Shenmue 3, don’t forget to contribute via their Kickstarter. Only 4 days left and its nearing 5 million, half the total it needs to become a ‘truly open world’.

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Developer Retrospective: From the Gridiron to the Basketball court, these are the games of SEGA’s Visual Concepts

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This month we will be celebrating the games of Visual Concepts, a western developer that is best known for the creation of the 2K Sports franchise of games. Not only did they have a long history battling EA on the Dreamcast; but they continue to battle against the EA Sports brand video games even after leaving our favorite publisher. What better month than July to focus on this largely overlooked and talented US-based development team. After the break, let’s look back at the games and history of Visual Concepts!

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Check out this SEGA Master System/Game Gear modified hybrid console

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Who hasn’t wanted to combine two consoles into one in their own Frankenstein type of experiment? I know I have. What about a Master System with SEGA’s handheld the Game Gear? That’s exactly what Sega Retro Gamers member Eric Bishop did, cramming a Game Gear into a Master System and have them both working. He posted the following video showing off his project, which he is still working on.

Below are a few photographs of his creation, what do you guys think?

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