Treasure’s Dynamite Headdy joins the SEGA Forever lineup

The SEGA Forever lineup expanded today, with the release of Treasure’s Mega Drive classic Dynamite Headdy. The game is free to play on iOS and Android now! Released in 1994, Dynamite Headdy is best known for its Mega Drive release (which is what you will find in the SEGA Forever version), however it was also released to the SEGA Game Gear and brought to the Master System in Brazil. A 32X port was planned but cancelled.

In other SEGA Forever news, Golden Axe and Altered Beast will be receiving local multiplayer updates today. This feature works on both free and paid versions.

SEGA News Bits: SEGA Forever Focusing On High Quality Ports

SEGA Forever is seeing a change in 2018 and beyond, and it’s good news: high quality ports are the future! On this SEGA News Bits we look at this change and what games to expect in the future. What are your thoughts on the new direction? Let us know in the comments below.

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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]

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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!

Bare your knuckles as Streets of Rage joins the SEGA Forever lineup

The SEGA Forever free-to-play mobile lineup expanded today, with the classic SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis beat ’em up Streets of Rage joining the fight. Released in 1991, Streets of Rage (Bare Knuckle in Japan) was SEGA’s answer to Final Fight and Double Dragon. Players take control of Adam, Axel or Blaze in a bare knuckle battle to take down a criminal syndicate led by Mr. X. This version of the game has local multiplayer over Wi-Fi, so you and a friend can play together. We here at SEGAbits love Streets of Rage, and we know SEGA fans do too as it made #44 on our Top 100 SEGA Games list.

Streets of Rage is available now on the Google Play store and App Store. You can follow @SEGAForever on Twitter and share your thoughts on the lineup using the hashtag #SEGAForever.

After the break, give our SEGA Talk podcast a listen as we discuss the history of Streets of Rage!

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 remastered joins the SEGA Forever lineup – Happy Sonic 2sday!

Happy Sonic 2sday! The beloved sequel to SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog turns 25 years old today. To celebrate, the 2013 remastered version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 from Taxman and Stealth (of Sonic Mania fame) is now free-to-play (ad-supported) on iOS and Android devices. Of course, if you already own the game, you can restore your purchase and wipe away those pesky ads.

This version of the game is excellent, we even named it our favorite SEGA game of 2013, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is so beloved that it made the top of our Top 100 SEGA Games list. So if you haven’t tried it yet, now is the perfect time to do so!

SEGA Forever adds ESWAT: City Under Siege to the lineup

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Another SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive classic has been added to the SEGA Forever free-to-play smart device gaming lineup. Based on the System 16 arcade game Cyber Police ESWAT, ESWAT: City Under Siege is a rather faithful arcade port. A run n’ gun, ESWAT stars a police officer (given the name Duke Oda in Japanese versions) who makes his way through the crime-ridden Liberty City, taking down lawbreakers. Promoted to the police department’s top unit, the ESWAT (Enhanced Special Weapons and Tactics), Oda is given a powerful exoskeleton and is tasked with taking down the super computer E.Y.E.

A little SEGA trivia: Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle started development under the working title of D-SWAT were the D stood for Dragon, making it sort of a sequel/spin-off to the ESWAT series. It later became its own thing, but an interesting factoid.

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SEGA Forever loses its head and adds Decap Attack to the mobile lineup

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The latest SEGA Forever title has been revealed, releasing later today, and it is none other than the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive classic Decap Attack. A westernized version of the Japanese Mega Drive game Magical Hat no Buttobi Tabo! Daibōken, Decap Attack is arguably the better game if only because it stars a decapitated mummy named Chuck D. Head. As with previous SAEGA Forever titles, they are available on smart devices and are free-to-play. Expect Decap Attack to roll out later today!

Beyond Oasis joins the SEGA Forever mobile lineup

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The SEGA Forever lineup expands today as the classic SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive action RPG Beyond Oasis (The Story of Thor: A Successor of the Light in Europe) becomes the latest free-to-play mobile release. Developed by Ancient, with music by Yuzo Koshiro and released in 1994, Beyond Oasis stars Prince Ali in his quest for the Gold Armlet to save Oasis. Beyond Oasis is best played with the six-button pad, and SEGA has not forgotten this as a six-button arrangement is how the mobile port is played. Players can also utilize a rewind feature, which jumps back 15 seconds (at the cost of watching an ad).

Beyond Oasis will release to the App Store and Google Play store later this afternoon.

Return to the Fantasy Zone as “Space Harrier II” joins the SEGA Forever lineup

The SEGA Forever lineup of classic console games on mobile devices has slowly been expanding since the service was announced two months ago. So far, we’ve mainly seen SEGA Genesis games and pre-existing mobile games based on Dreamcast titles, and while the latest addition doesn’t break this trend it is a cool game. 1988’s Space Harrier II was a launch title for the SEGA Mega Drive in Japan, and was special as it was a console-exclusive sequel to an arcade classic. While fans debate whether Space Harrier II was a worthy sequel, most fans of the franchise can agree that the sequel does not see a lot of love when it comes to rereleases. So with that in mind, it’s great to see it joining the SEGA Forever lineup.

Since launching the service, SEGA has been updating the emulator and added some additional visual options for graphics and controls. As an iPhone 7 owner, I’ve seen an increase in quality, but I can’t speak for all devices and operating systems. Check it out for yourself, as it’s free-to-play.

Golden Axe joins the SEGA Forever mobile lineup

The SEGA Forever lineup expanded today with the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive version of Golden Axe, available free-to-play now on iOS and Android devices. Like Ristar, this release features improved emulation, new screen modes, customizable controls and controller support. As an iPhone 7 owner, the game plays much better than the first wave of SEGA Forever titles. No doubt helped by the improvements to the emulator. It’s a shame this isn’t the superior arcade version, as I would love to eventually see the excellent Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder.

The Revenge of Shinobi joins SEGA Forever

The Revenge of Shinobi comes to SEGA Forever’s mobile line-up. This is a new “censored version” that has been around since the SEGA Vintage Collection era, which changes Joe Musashi’s face in the title screen due to the face basically resembling Sonny Chiba. Some hardcore fans take issue with this change because the original ‘Sonny Chiba copied face’ seems angry and bold while the edited version of Joe Musashi looks rather sad. Its also funny to note that the SEGA Forever trailer above even makes a joke about it being changed.  You can see bothf faces below (Left original, right the new one):

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The Revenge of Shinobi isn’t new to censorship, considering that the game has been heavily changed in the past due to copyright infringement on popular IPs such as Godzillia, Spiderman and even Batman. The Revenge of Shinobi is considered to be one of the best sequels of all time, adding much more depth than the original arcade Shinobi ever had. The Revenge of Shinobi also featured a critically acclaimed soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage series) which should be enough to download and try it. The only thing is, have they fixed the audio in the emulation? Like all SEGA Forever titles, the game is free to play with ads and $1.99 to keep ad-free forever.

[Google Play | iTunes]

Fastest Food Alive: Unboxing SEGA Forever Sonic the Hedgehog Gold Rings Cereal

Fastest Food Alive takes a look at a modern promotional item advertising something classic: SEGA Forever Gold Rings cereal! Made to resemble a box of cereal, complete with actual cereal and a toy surprise, SEGA Forever Gold Rings was released to spread the word of the SEGA Forever classic games collection. The collection will bring games from the SG-1000 through to the Dreamcast to mobile devices in a free to play or $1.99 each to remove ads format.

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Virtua Tennis Challenge joins SEGA Forever mobile collection

Virtua Tennis Challenge, originally released to mobile devices in 2012, has been given the SEGA Forever upgrade and is now free to play or $1.99 to remove ads. Users who originally downloaded the game before the update can restore their purchase and remove the ads. Virtua Tennis Challenge was teased in our SEGA Forever interview, in which mobile games community manager Danny Russell confirmed that SEGA Forever would see existing titles brought into the service. This is great news, as Virtua Tennis Challenge was one of those games badly needing a 64-bit support update.

The game is available to download now on the App Store and Google Play.

SEGA News Bits: SEGA Answers Our SEGA Forever Questions

On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry discuss the answers SEGA gave to our questions about the SEGA Forever retro gaming collection. SEGA Forever is an initiative from SEGA Networks to bring games from the SG-1000 through to the Dreamcast to mobile devices and beyond! What future games can we expect? How will the Genesis/Mega Drive emulation improve? How will light gun games play?

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