SEGA Genesis

Swingin’ Report Show #58: Streets of Rage Special with Darren Wall

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SEGA Genesis Month continues as Darren Wall, the man behind the successfully funded and coming soon “SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works” book, returns to the Swingin’ Report Show to update Barry and George on his project’s progress! One exciting bit of news is the reveal that David Rosen, co-founder of SEGA, has been interviewed for the book. Learn what we can expect to hear from Mr. Rosen, as well as all the cool new art and articles the book will contain, in this week’s show.

Also, since it is Streets of Rage Week at SEGAbits, we spend a portion of the show talking about the game’s development including new details Darren has learned. We also share our nostalgic memories of the series, our favorite music tracks, and what we would like to see in the future from the series.

If you’re a fan of SEGA, and still think Genesis does what Nintendon’t, this is definitely the show for you.

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Interview with “Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works” creator Darren Wall

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In November of last year, Darren Wall, graphic designer and art director at Read-Only Memory, took to Kickstarter in an effort to fund a book that was to be “the ultimate retrospective of the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis”. Dubbed a “documentary art book”, Darren had the official license from SEGA, including access to the company’s archives and staff from both past and present. The only thing left to to obtain was the funds to make the project a reality.

This part was probably the easiest step of the project, as in less than 48 hours the team had met their £30,000 goal, and by the end of the campaign they earned £98,725! Prior to the end of the campaign, Darren joined George and I for a Swingin’ Report Show interview to discuss his plans for the book. It is now five months later, and Darren is nearing completion of the project with only SEGA’s approval and printing remaining. We caught up with Darren in a written interview, as well as another podcast which you can listen to tomorrow. Darren was even nice enough to give us some exclusive content from the upcoming book: design documents from the development of the original Streets of Rage!

After the break, check out the full interview as well as the cool exclusives from Read-Only Memory and SEGA.

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Cracked: 4 Social Criticisms Hidden in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Games

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Imagine if this whole time you played Sonic the Hedgehog, you weren’t winning, you where falling for Eggman’s plans the whole time? Well, the grown ass men over at Cracked.com have posted a new video detailing four social criticisms that are present in Sonic the Hedgehog.

Now if you’d excuse me, my mind has been blown. Just leave me in this Hedgehog wonderland created by Robotnik.

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Retro Review: Hard Drivin’

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People don’t often think of the Genesis as a polygon pusher…mostly because it wasn’t. That didn’t stop some developers from trying to turn it into one though! Enter Hard Drivin’, a port of Atari’s 1988 3D polygon racing game. Ported to the Genesis in 1991, this game was one of the earliest examples of 3D graphics on a home console and given the limitations of the hardware, is surprisingly not a complete and utter disaster. That is not to say the game is good, though. Far from it in fact.

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My Life with SEGA takes on Mr. X in a 2-Man Scramble of Streets of Rage – Part 2

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SEGA Genesis month continues with part one of a three part Streets of Rage series of My Life with SEGA episodes!

Let’s admit it, Streets of Rage just isn’t fully experienced until you have a friend by your side in a co-op bare knuckle blast through the game. In part two of our Streets of Rage retrospective [watch Part 1 by clicking here] Mickey Mac joins me in taking down Mr. X in a 2-Man Scramble. Join us as we kick thugs in the face and enjoy some garbage can rotisserie chicken!

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Classic SEGA Ads: Genesis drives once innocent teenager to madness

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Back in the 1990s SEGA made some of the most unsettling video game commercials I have ever seen. Oddly enough, this commercial makes the case that many parents groups have been making against video games for years: they corrupt our youth and rot their brains! Apparently SEGA felt that this would make a great marketing ploy!

But what really gets me about this ad is just how fast and insane everything is. This commercial embodies SEGA’s 1990s marketing messaging. There is nothing clean or neat about it. It’s obnoxious, loud, ugly, and barely shows any game play. Yet, it still makes me want to play a Genesis. Is it giving any of you the same 16 bit cravings?

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My Life with SEGA bares his knuckles in Streets of Rage – Part 1

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SEGA Genesis month continues with part one of a three part Streets of Rage series of My Life with SEGA episodes!

In this first part, we take a look at the game that started it all: Streets of Rage, also known as Bare Knuckle in Japan. Created as SEGA’s answer to Capcom’s Final Fight, Streets of Rage quickly overshadowed Capcom’s brawler, bringing us three fantastic titles that appeared on the Genesis/Mega Drive, Master System, Game Gear, and on various compilation discs including the SEGA CD, Xbox 360, and PS3. Most recently, Streets of Rage appeared in the Nintendo 3DS 3D Classics series of games. But enough about modern ports, let’s look back at the cartridge that started it all (that’s your cue to press play on the video above).

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SEGA Tunes: Ghostbusters Main Theme and Ending Theme for the SEGA Genesis

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Ghostbusters for the SEGA Genesis is a game that holds a very special place in my heart. During Christmas 1991 I received my Model 1 SEGA Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog bundled in, and from that point forward I was a SEGA fan. Owning a Genesis also meant that a whole world of games opened up to me, and since the console was a little over two years old, I spent much of 1992 buying up games I had missed out on. Buying games in the early ’90’s was tough. Nowadays we have instant access to the internet, so it’s easy to spot a game on the shelf, Google search reviews, and make the decision to purchase. Back in ’92 all I had to go by was the box art and the few screenshots provided on the back. Being a huge fan of both Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters, it only made sense for me to seek out the Genesis titles those franchises provided, and boy did I strike gold.

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Sega Genesis/Mega Drive shooter Steel Empire slated to release on the Japanese 3DS eShop this month

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Via Polygon comes news that the SEGA Genesis shooter Steel Empire, also known as Empire of Steel in Europe and Koutetsu Teikoku (鋼鉄帝国) in Japan, is set for a Nintendo 3DS release later this month. Members from the original development team, HOT-B, reformed to create Starfish which will be publishing the 3DS remake. Mebuis is in charge of remaking the game. Steel Empire is expected to release at the end of the month as a 2,940 yen eShop download.

Yoshinori Satake, former Hot-B lead game designer, is currently working on a sequel to the original game, entitled Burning Steel.

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The Year of the SEGA Console – Genesis month begins NOW!

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In mid-January we made the announcement that all year long we’d be celebrating five famous (and infamous) pieces of SEGA hardware hitting milestone anniversaries in what we dubbed 2014: The Year of the SEGA Console. While the 32X, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Pico are slated for month long celebrations later this year, all of March will be focused on SEGA’s 16-bit underdog the SEGA Genesis.

As an American who grew up in the late 80’s and early 90’s, the Genesis is a console that is near and dear to my heart. The Genesis was my introduction to the world of SEGA games, as well as the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. I know I’m not alone, as that period from 1989 to the mid ’90’s is filled with nostalgic memories for many SEGA fans of the era. As time went on, I became more savvy of SEGA’s impact on other territories, leading to the realization that the Genesis was actually the Mega Drive to everywhere else but America. Still, to me it was the Genesis, not the Mega Drive, that shaped my SEGA fandom and played a major part of defining my childhood.

To honor the Genesis, we plan to feature exciting content both here at SEGAbits and at the SEGAbits YouTube Channel. Expect to see another SEGAbits Franchise Week – this time dedicated to a certain bare knuckle brawler – as well as retro reviews, interviews, round tables, special edition podcasts, and a few surprises. So plug in your controller of choice, clean off those cartridges, and power on for SEGA GENESIS MONTH!

Learn more about the SEGA Genesis at our SEGA Retro wiki

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Shinji Mikami agrees: Aladdin on the Genesis is better than SNES

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When I was a kid there was much debate between my friends on which version of Aladdin was better, the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive version by SEGA or the SNES version by Capcom. Its hard to pick, considering I was gifted the SNES one as a child while my cousin got it on the SEGA Genesis. I have played it growing up on both consoles and I will state that the SEGA Genesis version is superior. What about Shinji Mikami  (Resident Evil, Vanquish), he worked on the game, does he agree? I guess so.

“If I didn’t actually make [the SNES game], I would probably buy the Genesis one. Animation-wise, I think the Genesis version’s better. The Genesis version had a sword, actually. I wanted to have a sword.” – Shinji Mikami tells Polygon

So, what about you SEGA gamers? Which one is your favorite version of Aladdin?

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SEGA Genesis RPG Pier Solar HD coming to the Nintendo 3DS? [Update: Game delayed to April]

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We already know the guys behind the remake of the SEGA Genesis RPG from 2010, Pier Solar, want to bring the title to many platforms including the Dreamcast and the Wii U this Spring. According to the developer Watermelon, they could end up putting it on the Nintendo 3DS as well.

“On Wii U, we’re definitely putting the second screen to good use, a feature that will be exclusive of that platform. Well, maybe not for long if we end up making it to the 3DS, but that’s for later.” – Watermelon Presiden Tulio Goncalves

Pier Solar HD is also coming out for PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Android, Ouya and lastly the SEGA Dreamcast. Yeah, its going to be hard to miss!

It should also be noted that a recent tweet from the team confirmed that the game has been delayed from a March release to April.

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My Life with SEGA kills some time on the SEGA Genesis with “Time Killers”

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Introduction by A.J. Rosa: When Strata’s weapon-based fighter Time Killers hit arcades in 1992, my brother and I soon monopolized the cabinet. It was funny, violent, gory and ridiculously entertaining. Being SEGA boys, we were itchin’ to see this bloody whore ported to the Genesis, or even better, the SEGA CD. Hey, that was our new toy, and we thought it was AWESOME!

By the time it landed on our favorite 16-bit hero, 4 years had passed. SEGA Saturn, Sony’s PlayStation and the Nintendo 64 were already duking it out. On top of that, Time Killers had been surpassed by other fighters. Unlike its contemporaries, such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, it didn’t receive an annual sequel to keep the franchise alive.

So, was this port worth the wait? Lauren and I will share our feelings with you as we try to hack each other into pieces. Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

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2014: The Year of the SEGA Console – join us as we celebrate SEGA hardware all year long!

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Twenty-five years ago, the SEGA Genesis graced American shores, where it would come to dominate the console market for years and make SEGA a household name. Twenty years ago, the Saturn was released in Japan and went on to become SEGA’s biggest success in their home country, though success that would unfortunately not be repeated abroad. That same year, the SEGA Pico and 32X left some US gamers scratching their heads as they introduced weird concepts of what gaming hardware could be. Finally, fifteen years ago on 9.9.99, SEGA released their swan song, the Dreamcast.

We at SEGAbits love a good anniversary, and 2014 is full of them. Throughout 2014, we intend to honor these core pillars of SEGA’s hardware legacy with 2014: The Year of the SEGA Console. We’ll be devoting entire weeks to certain games, entire months to certain consoles, and we have several special guests planned for the SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show. We’ll write about the Genesis and how it introduced many of us to SEGA. We’ll look back at SEGA’s quirky art house console, the Saturn, and the many ups and downs the console experienced. We’ll remember the Dreamcast for the good times and unique and innovative experiences it delivered in the twilight years of SEGA’s time as a platform maker. We’ll give the 32x some overdue respect. Finally, we’ll all get SEGA Picos so that we can tell you about games like Tails and the Music Maker and The Great Counting Caper With the 3 Blind Mice!

Hope you’re looking forward to 2014 as much as we are, it’s gonna be a blast!

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