Welcome to our review of Aliens: Colonial Marines. See that YouTube video embedded above? It is our very first SEGAbits Video Review! We’re trying to sort out a way to get these video reviews put up for all upcoming games. Seeing as how this is our first one, there is always room to improve. So positive criticism is definitely welcomed. Let us know what you think in the comments section. After the break, an old school written review.
Released to home consoles in November of last year, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed ended up being one of the best games SEGA released in 2012. Marketing for the game was dead-on in proclaiming “It’s Not Just Racing. It’s Racing Transformed!”, as the game was both a huge step up from the previous game and a contender for the best character kart racer around. As the months went on, other versions of the game released with a Vita version in December and a PC version released just last month. The latest, and possibly final version of the game to be released, is for the 3DS. Despite being the most underpowered of the platforms, I was anxious to see how SEGA and Sumo were able to translate the console title to Nintendo’s handheld.
How could I not be excited for The Cave when SEGA was publishing, Double Fine was developing, and the man behind The Secret of Monkey Island, Ron Gilbert, was behind this title? Now that I have finished the game, was it everything that I expected it to be? Were my hopes too high? Read on and find out.
Let’s all take just a second to look back to what feels like an eternity ago: the year 2006. It was in this year that Capcom announced the closure of Clover Studio, a developer of such incredibly unique gaming experiences. It was a move that painted a rather bleak picture for the future of innovation and risk-taking from major Japanese publishers, and fans of Clover and the awesome games they created had little choice but to wait it out and see, eager to learn what, if anything, would happen to this legendary staff.
As it turned out, they needn’t have worried too much. Platinum Games was the ultimate result, and their partnership with SEGA was a surprising and exciting move for both companies. Things are a bit different today, with Anarchy Reigns representing, at least for now, the final game in Platinum’s publishing agreement with SEGA. The question is, is this online-driven beat-em-up any good?
SEGA’s rerelease of Jet Set Radio was, in my opinion, excellent. After the so-so Dreamcast Collection rereleases, the first game of the SEGA Heritage Collection was a breath of fresh air. HD visuals, widescreen support and SEGA trying their best to retain as much of the original game as they could. My hope was that this trend would continue with the next two Heritage titles. Does Sonic Adventure 2, a game that is considered one of Sonic’s best 3D outings, carry on the SEGA Heritage quality or is it a step back? Read on to find out!
About two weeks ago I found myself standing outside a movie theater, looking up at all the films listed under “Now Playing”. I had the choice to see any one of the many new movies, and yet in the end I went with “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Despite owning the film on DVD and on blu-ray, and having seen it a number of times, I still enjoyed it as much (if not more than) any new release. About a week later I found myself downloading Jet Set Radio on XBLA, and feeling the same sense of excitement as I did with “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. It wasn’t so much the game itself, I’ve already played through it about eight times on the Dreamcast. It was the promise that I was about to see a crisp, clean, widescreen, HD, enhanced port of one of my favorite games. Sure SEGA promised this with the Dreamcast Collection, but they largely failed to deliver. Games were lacking crucial content, such as soundtracks or fishing controllers, or failed to offer up widescreen support. So how does Jet Set Radio fare, does SEGA’s Heritage Collection promise a bright future for HD SEGA ports? Find out after the break in our review of Jet Set Radiooooo!
Announced and released on the same day, Jack Lumber, was both a surprise and a curiosity. As the first SEGA Alliance title, Jack Lumber was developed by an external independent developer by the name of Owlchemy Labs and published by SEGA. Per the SEGA Alliance description, SEGA also provided marketing and production support as well as creative consultation. The end result is a fun and unique game that definitely has that SEGA spirit, despite being developed by an external developer.
I think the first few seconds of the video should sum up the game pretty well. What the fuck indeed. Did someone say fuck? Must be an episode of My Life with SEGA!
“It’s a very special episode of My Life with SEGA this week. With my special guest star, Mickey Mac, we review one of the absolute worst fighting games ever released on the Sega Genesis.”
I’m really getting sick of opening articles with a rundown of Anarchy Reigns delay in the west, so I’ll keep it short: SEGA delayed the game again and again, it now looks to be coming in 2013, and it pisses me off. To add salt to the wound, Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu reviewed the game, which releases July 5th in Japan by the name of Max Anarchy. What did they rate it? Straight 9’s for both XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 versions. So it appears the game is very, very good. 9,9,9,9 good. So tell my again why SEGA continues to delay the game? Excuse me while I belt out an old chestnut from Doctor Robotnik: “DUMBOTS!!!”
Like the rest of the world, when SEGA announced Binary Domain, the new IP by Toshihiro Nagoshi, I was wondering to myself if a Japanese studio could make a great third-person shooter. At least one that could stand up against the offerings of western developers. Now that Binary Domain has released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, did Nagoshi’s team deliver in the end, or should they have stuck with the Yakuza series?
SEGA released the first Mario & Sonic Olympic crossover around Holiday 2007. It sold a ton, but reviews weren’t so positive. Now we are at the third title in the series, this one being called Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Has SEGA gotten the message and finally delivered a great game? You know what they say, 3rd time’s the charm.
House of the Dead III was originally released for the arcades back in 2002. A year later it got a port on Xbox, then one for Wii as part of a HOTD two-pack in 2008. Now we have the latest port of the game on PSN. How does this port stack up compared to the last two? Is it worth your hard earned cash? Hit the jump and find out!
Back in my original review of Sonic CD, I said that I would return to this game to review it again and see if it warranted a higher grade. While the game does have some great and wonderful improvements, there are still some slightly nagging issues that just cannot be undone. Full follow-up review inside along with a bonus!
Anybody who recognizes the Christmas season has their traditions. Some go to church, some pig out on honey-glazed ham and others have their list of “must watch” tv shows and movies. But very few have a “must play” Christmas video game. Christmas themed games are out there, but most are so horrible that they would only hurt one’s holiday mood (never ever play Elf Bowling or Dreamcast’s The Grinch). Leave it to SEGA to fill that empty void of quality Christmas games with the NiGHTS into Dreams demo Christmas NiGHTS. But is this much talked about Saturn release a holiday classic? Or is it simply an overly glorified demo disc?
The original Sonic Rush was easily one of the fastest Sonic games in history, and in a year that also brought us the likes of Shadow the Hedgehog, it also stood as a reminder of how good his games could be in the middle of increasingly dark times for the franchise. It introduced probably the best new character in ages with Blaze the Cat, and brought the blue hedgehog to the dual screened, polygon capable DS for the first time. That said, the game had its flaws. It was filled with bottomless pits, and the speed was often so intense that death by hole or suddenly appearing robot was far too common. Does Sonic Rush Adventure alleviate the flaws, or just add some new ones with its new focus on adventure?