Saturn

SEGA News Bits: Shining series turns 25 years old

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25 years ago today, on March 29th 1991, Shining in the Darkness released to the Japanese Mega Drive. While the original game did not light the world on fire, the later Shining Force games would become some of the best strategy RPGs ever produced. The series is still going strong, at least in Japan, with Blade Arcus from Shining EX releasing just last year.

Whatever you may think about the recent installments, most fans agree that the Shining Force games were legendary and the original Shining in the Darkness is to thank for starting the franchise. Join us on this SEGA News Bits as we share our Shining memories and talk about the possible future of the series, and don’t forget to brush up on all the SEGA anniversaries hitting this year!

If you enjoy the SEGA News Bits video formats make sure to like, share and subscribe to our YouTube for more.

 

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Developer Retrospective: The winning combination of SEGA and Compile

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As summer winds down, we thought it would be the ideal time to shift the focus of our Year of the Developers feature to third party Japanese developers who have worked with SEGA in the past to bring us countless classics. We are, of course, referring to the legendary developers Compile, Treasure and Westone. While these three developers existed on their own outside of SEGA, their collaborations with our favorite company utilizing beloved SEGA home console and arcade hardware went a long way in cementing their statuses as some of the best third party developers of the 80s and 90s.

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Presenting “My Life with SEGA: Nothing Else Matters ”, a short film by A.J. Rosa

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Andrew Rosa and Mickey Mac team up once again to take on a new threat. Their new flagship, SEGA Saturn, must ward off an army of palette swapped goons loyal to the Sony Empire in this high-octane geek-fest that DOES what Ninten-WON’T.

Starring Mike Bean (Getting it ‘N’), Mickey Mac (2-Man Scramble), Erica Winter (Raven Heights Radio Podcast) and Alex Gonzales. Written, Edited and Directed by Andrew Rosa.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel! After the break, check out a collection of outtakes from the production of the short film.

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The Future of Panzer Dragoon

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It’s hard to believe Panzer Dragoon Orta is more than 12 years old. Looking back, Orta has aged incredibly well. Its visuals are still gorgeous and its gameplay still feels just as smooth and polished as it did in 2003. In an age where all sorts of obscure games are seeing digital re-releases and all sorts of franchises and genres are finding new life in the realm of digital, I think it’s a missed opportunity that Panzer Dragoon hasn’t received any sort of new release while digital gaming has been booming.

So today I thought I’d write up an article exploring the many ways Panzer Dragoon could (and should) fit into SEGA’s renewed focus on digital and mobile gaming.

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First 4 Figures teases their upcoming NiGHTS figure

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First 4 Figures has teased this image on their Facebook, giving their fans a small taste of whats to come. If you haven’t heard of First 4 Figures, they make high quality video game figures in limited quantities. They dabble in Nintendo, Capcom and of course SEGA figures. I think my personally favorites are their Skies of Arcadia Vyse figure, Beat from Jet Set Radio, Akria from Virtua Fighter 5, and of course Ryo from Shenmue.

Not only are First 4 Figures known for their quality, but they are also known for their high price tags. Don’t be surprised if this figure goes on sale for over $200 dollars.

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Celebrating 20 years of the amazing world of Panzer Dragoon

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Although few gamers nowadays have heard of it, the original Panzer Dragoon trilogy has an almost legendary status among Sega fans, particularly among those that owned a Sega Saturn. What was it, though, that made the Panzer Dragoon games so special? There were many things that the Panzer Dragoon games did right at the time. The game’s 3D graphics were amongst the best seen on the system at the time, and the first two games raised the bar for the on-rail shooter genre. Similarly, Panzer Dragoon Saga’s story, voice acting and battle system were ahead of their time.

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2-Man Scramble put the dynamic duo to the test in Batman Forever: The Arcade Game for the SEGA Saturn

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After having suffered through the 16-bit catastrophe that was Batman Forever on SEGA Genesis, A.J. and Mickey must tackle the 32-bit arcade translation, Batman Forever: The Arcade Game for SEGA Saturn. No riddles, no more platform hopping; just plain ass-beating!

Want a more in-depth review of this surprisingly enjoyable brawler? Check out My Life with SEGA: Batman Forever: The Arcade Game!

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel.

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SEGA Tunes: Panzer Dragoon’s OST is a beautiful masterpiece

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Panzer Dragoon is an artistic and beautiful game, sure it might be ‘ugly’ now since games can do better graphically. But there is just something about the art assets used that really strike me as beautiful. Like most SEGA games, the soundtrack matched the presented game and no other game delivered as well as Panzer Dragoon series. This week we will be looking through the first game’s soundtrack.

The above song attached is the main theme that really sets the game’s epic scoop. Its a beautiful piece that for some reason reminds me of the 1989 animated film ‘Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland‘. Fun fact: French artist Jean “Moebius” Giraud was actually involved in both Panzer Dragoon (mostly influence and did the Japanese cover) and the Little Nemo movie.

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Playable build of Sonic X-Treme now available

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We all know the story. 19 years ago, everyone was getting super excited about the upcoming release of Sonic X-treme, which would mark Sonic’s first fully three dimensional adventure. Long story short, the game was never released, and the Sega Saturn always had a hole in its library, no main Sonic title ever being released.

While bits and pieces of what the game would have been have leaked/been released over the the years, last November JollyRodger showed up with a plethora of material from defunct gaming studio Point Of View, including the source code for a variety of Sonic X-treme builds on both the Saturn and the PC. Being as the code could only run natively on hardware very few people have access to, Jolly took it upon himself to begin the process of porting the code to modern PC’s. Earlier tonight, the first public release of this labor of love was been released, “version 037” of X-treme now fully operational.

Download links and more after the jump.

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SEGA Japan releases Saturn and Master System themes for 3DS

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While in the USA we only have a free Sonic Boom theme from SEGA to apply to our handhelds, SEGA of Japan is really using the theme service and giving older SEGA console gamers the goods. Above is the video of the SEGA Saturn theme that was recently revealed. The song playing the in back is from Sonic R.

Below is the video of the SEGA Mark III (aka Master System in the West) which features the always delightful Alex Kidd (including its music). Will these themes hit the American or European eShop? I really do hope so, with these and the awesome SEGA 3D Classics; the Nintendo 3DS is becoming a nice nostalgic gaming machine.

The themes are now out in the Japanese eShop and retail for 200 yen each (a little over $1.50).

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My Life with SEGA gets his groove back with Groove on Fight for the Saturn

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SEGA and Atlus have had a long history together. Before SEGA bought the company in 2013, the companies collaborated on various titles which appeared on home console and arcade hardware. 1997’s Groove On Fight: Gouketsuji Ichizoku 3 was one of these titles, the third in Atlus’ Gouketsuji Ichizoku/Power Instinct series of fighting games.

In this week’s My Life with SEGA, AJ and Mickey Mac put Groove on Fight to the test! Is this really one of the best SEGA Saturn games you’ve never played?

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My Life with SEGA runs and guns his way through Metal Slug for the Saturn

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This week on My Life with SEGA, Andrew and Mickey Mac dive into the trenches with a run-and-gun arcade classic from SNK, Metal Slug.

While the game is both addictive and exciting as a single player experience, it’s best enjoyed with a friend. Sadly, we’re getting these two jackasses that aren’t even capable of taking on the Empire without wanting to kill each other.

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Round Table: Our favorite SEGA developed Saturn games

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We are coming to a close in our SEGA Saturn Month here at SEGAbits, so we decided to go out in a bang by telling you guys our favorite SEGA in-house developed game. SEGA had a power house of developers during the 90’s and most of them really hit their strides during the Saturn, we know its hard to pick just one game, so we will also be listing three more titles as honorable mentions.

Like always, if you guys want to let us know your favorite SEGA developed Saturn titles, you can do so in the comments section.

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SEGA Tunes: Shining Force III’s Sanctity & The Dragon’s Graveyard

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Shining Force III Scenerio 2 & 3 never made it to America, which is too bad because the games where all fantastic. This track is from the 1st Scenario of the game, called “Sanctity”, which is one of the most epic tracks that I have ever heard in a game. I love the way it starts out simplistic enough and just adds layers throughout making it a very pleasant listen. Moving from epic, to haunting and back to absolutely beautiful.

No one quite does it like Motoi Sakuraba, who has worked on music for the first two Star Ocean games, Valkyrie Profile, Golden Sun series, and many more. The soundtrack to Shining Force III is so great, that I’ll embed another song after the break. For FREE, that’s right, 100% off! How’s that for a Black Friday deal?

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