SEGA Mega Drive

SEGA Talk #151: SEGA Controllers (1983-1998)

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On this SEGA TALK we go hands on with SEGA’s many controllers! We take a look at the base controller for each major console, pointing out the weirdest and most essential controllers and share our personal preference. Stick around until the end, because we will crown best SEGA controller of all time! On SEGA TALK!

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Gley Lancer & Gynoug Combo Pack available for pre-order from Limited Run Games

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Limited Run Games are giving you the chance to own a combo pack of the Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive Masaya Games shoot-em-up classics Advanced Busterhawk Gley-Lancer (1992) and Gynoug (1991) on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. These are the re-releases from Shinyuden and Ratalaika Games that came out on these consoles a few years ago, now collected together in physical form. Pre-orders start tomorrow, February 16th 2024, until March 17th 2024 and will cost $34.99 USD each.

These versions of both games play excellent, with special features such as button mapping, rewind, save states, some modernized control convenience options, and a surprisingly customizable CRT filter. In the case of Gley Lancer, which was originally only released in Japan, the game’s cutscenes have all their text translated to English. Beyond that, they are admittedly rather simple releases with not much else aside from the game, but they are fully playable and serve as an excellent and affordable way to play both classics.

For pre-order links, have a look past the break below.

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SEGA Talk #126: Jurassic Park (1993)

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The SEGA Talk episode 65 million years in the making, as we take a drive through Jurassic Park on the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive! Its Raptor vs Man on this adaptation of Steven Spielberg’s classic film (which in turn, was an adaptation of a book)!

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Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

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Ancient/Yuzo Koshiro’s new Genesis/Mega-Drive shooter now named “Earthion”; Video footage shown

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Since last year, retro game musician legend Yuzo Koshiro and his game development studio Ancient have been hard at work on an all new scrolling shooter for Genesis/Mega-Drive consoles, their first game for the classic 16-bit platform since Beyond Oasis (The Story of Thor outside of North America) from 1994. As of June 16th, 2023, Koshiro-san has finally revealed the decided upon title for this new game: Earthion. Along with that, he has also shared some new video footage of the game’s title screen and opening level. Looks cool, doesn’t it?

Of course, if you have been following Yuzo Koshiro on twitter like we have (And we do recommend it if you are still on twitter) you will know this is not the only sneak preview Koshiro-san has shown for Earthion throughout the months. Come see some more of them after the break.

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New Genesis/Mega-Drive indie game Mega Slow Mole coming soon; demo and beta available now

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We all love new games for Sega hardware. Well, here’s another one for ya. Mega Slow Mole is an ultra-difficult, precision platformer being developed by SlowMoleStudio for the Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive. SlowMoleStudio was formed by accomplished animator and filmmaker, Erik Rosenlund, who also animated the claymation trailer for the original NES Slow Mole game. You can see some of his animations on his YouTube page. His 12-year-old son, Linus Rosenlund, created the soundtrack and is currently working on Mega Slow Mole’s soundtrack as well.

This is the latest in their series of Slow Mole games, which started on NES with Slow Mole. Mega Slow Mole is planned to launch sometime within 2023, but SlowMoleStudio has already launched a free demo ROM on their itch.io page, where their earlier Slow Mole games are also available. The full game is already available in beta form on itch.io for $12 USD (Currently on sale at $8.40 as of this writing). Paying for the beta ROM should entitle you to any updated ROM files in the future. Future updates will include more levels and music, along with some secret screens.  A physical cartridge release is also planned, but no information is currently available on that yet.

Check out some extra screenshots after the break.

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Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack updated with Street Fighter II, Pulseman, Kid Chameleon, and Flicky

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On April 18th, 2023, Sega added Flicky, Kid Chameleon, Pulseman, and Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition to Sega Genesis – Nintendo Switch Online. This is the first update to the NSO Sega Genesis collection for 2023. Japan, of course, gets the same four games at the same time.

All four games are immediately accessible to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers following a quick patch update to the app. For more info on each game, check in after the break for a synopsis on each game.

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Steel Empire Chronicles revealed for Switch and PS4, plus Sega Genesis Steel Empire official limited reprint also launched

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Steel Empire is back again! Just announced by Strictly Limited Games, Steel Empire Chronicles was just announced for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, containing the 1992 Sega Genesis original (known as Empire of Steel on Mega-Drive in Europe), the Game Boy Advance version from 2005, the remake that was released on Nintendo 3DS back in 2014 and then on Steam in 2018, and even the NES shooter Over Horizon, developed by the same original developers of Steel Empire and released the year prior exclusively in Japan and Europe.

So far, this game is not released on the Nintendo eShop or the PlayStation store and no release date is given yet. The game is only available currently in physical form and will soon be up for pre-order at Strictly Limited’s online store. This includes a standard and collectors edition of both the Switch and PS4 versions as well as new physical cartridges of the original Steel Empire on Genesis/Mega-Drive and Over Horizon for NES, with an NTSC and PAL version of both games sold separately. All these items are in limited quantities.

Check in after the break for more information about this new release.

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SEGA Talk #111: Shining Force II (1993)

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On this episode of SEGA Talk we break the ancient seal to talk about Shining Force II, a sorta sequel to the first Shining Force game. We dive deep into development, look at characters and strategically try to say Japanese names. All this and more on SEGA TALK!

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If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

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New Genesis/Mega-Drive fighter Insane Pain releases; on sale now

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The new developments on Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive just keep on coming. This time, it’s the new cyberpunk themed 2D fighter Insane Pain, with its impressive pre-rendered 3D graphics and blood and gore effects. The Germany based developers Blast Process Games have released the game in its ROM form on their itch.io page and are preparing an online store in their website to sell physical copies of the game along with collectable trading cards and t-shirts with the game’s characters.

Make sure you check in after the break for more information.

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Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack updated with Golden Axe II, Alien Storm, Columns, and Virtua Fighter 2

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On Thursday, December 15th, Sega has added 4 more of their own Genesis classics to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack online subscription service. Alien Storm, Columns, Golden Axe II, and Virtua Fighter 2 are immediately accessible after updating the Sega Genesis – Nintendo Switch Online app to it’s latest version. Japanese players get the same four games in their own update as well, and this is despite the fact Virtua Fighter 2 Genesis did not originally release in Japan. (Although it was developed by Sega of Japan.)

Of course, these four games are all some of the usual mainstays in Sega’s many Genesis compilations, including the Sega Genesis Classics Collection also available on Switch and other consoles, (Golden Axe II is also on the recently released Sega Genesis Mini 2) so chances are many of you are already quite familiar with these games. If you still wanna hear me ramble on about what these games are, then make yourself comfy and check in after the break.

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Yuzo Koshiro/Ancient working on new shooter for Genesis/Mega-Drive

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Genesis/Mega-Drive fans are about to be eatin’ good for a while with all the lovely new games, re-releases, and other interesting projects in development for the console. It’s almost like it’s out of retirement. That’s about to  look much more true now that a longstanding developer that’s actually made games for the console in its heyday is now working on a new one for the first time in about 28 years.

Revealed in a tweet by Yuzo Koshiro, who needs no introduction among Sega fans, he and his development studio Ancient (Developers of Streets of Rage 2 and Beyond Oasis on Genesis) are now hard at work on a brand new horizontal scrolling shmup for Genesis. While we don’t know how far along in development this, as of now, untitled game is, Koshiro-san makes it clear this is being made in the spirit of actual official Genesis releases from the 90’s and 80’s and that it will be his first time composing music for a new Genesis game since Beyond Oasis from 1994. (Known as The Story of Thor outside North America).

Hear more about Koshiro-san’s intentions after the break.

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Gley Lancer official cartridge release coming from Retro-Bit; Pre-orders open now

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Retro-Bit sure is on a roll now. Hot off their recent announcement of their Valis Collection, Retro-Bit has now announced their official western cartridge debut for Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer, one of the most beloved shumup classics released exclusively on Mega-Drive in Japan only. Pre-orders are now open from several different stores in both North America and Europe until December 27th, 2022. North American Genesis fans can pre-order from Limited Run Games and Castlemania Games. European Mega-Drive fans can pre-order from Nedgame, Xtra Life, Dragonbox Shop, Spel & Sant, and Strictly Limited Games.

(They’ve also announced pre-orders for Battletoads & Double Dragon for SNES the same day, but that’s not Sega Genesis, so lets ignore that.)

Check in after the break for more information and a nifty trailer.

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Streets of Rage 2 New Era fan port updates old game with new features

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There aren’t many widely celebrated classics on Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive quite like Streets of Rage 2. The beat-em-up classic exclusive to Sega’s 16-bit juggernaut still holds up perfectly well the way it is, but some fans have set out to modernize the game in Unity 3D with some amazing new enhancements, made through reverse engineering.

Streets of Rage 2 New Era is a brand new fan-developed port of the original game for PC and Mac that builds on it with new 4-player multiplayer, widescreen, and even online co-op. It is a complete experience currently at version 2.0 at the time of this writing. The game requires you to have an original Streets of Rage 2 ROM file in order to play. This is only to get around the legal issue of making the game freely available while Sega, the rightful copyright holders, still sell Streets of Rage 2. New Era does not rely on emulation to run or enhance the game. It recommends that you buy Streets of Rage 2 on Steam where, along with every other game in the Sega Genesis Classics Collection, it comes with a freely accessible ROM file ripe for the taking in that collection’s installation files.

Check in after the break for extra info. Otherwise, head to the game’s web page to download the game.

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The Valis Collection Genesis/Mega-Drive reprints from Retro-Bit announced; pre-orders open now

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Retro-Bit have returned with a new reprint of Genesis/Mega-Drive cartridge classics. Today they have debuted the Valis Collection, a special box set of the 3 Valis games originally developed by Telenet Japan and published on the Genesis by Renovation. This collection comes officially licensed by the current rights holders to Telenet Japan and Renovation’s games, Edia. Each game can also be bought separately as well, but buying the full collection compiles each one into a special box packaged with an exclusive acrylic stand of the three heroines of Valis III. The collection is very reminiscent of Retro-Bit’s Toaplan Collection from 2020. Pre-orders are now open for North America through Castlemania Games and Limited Run Games until November 27th 2022. Pre-orders for PAL versions will open for Europe at a later date from different retailers. Check out Retro-BIt’s own page on the Valis Collection for the most up-to-date info, including pre-order links and an FAQ page.

UPDATE: Pre-orders have just opened for Europe at Strictly Limited Games, Dragonbox Shop, and Spel o Sant. Links to all three will be added below following the break.

Check past the break for info on each individual games.

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Final pre-order run of Analogue Mega SG coming on Oct. 28th

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In a brand new announcement from Analogue, the creators of FPGA consoles like the Mega SG and the Analogue Pocket, their last ever pre-order run of the Mega SG will take place on October 28th. After this, there will be no more. This will also be your last chance to order a Super NT from Analogue, which is their FPGA Super Nintendo clone. Both will be available for $199, excluding shipping, and will ship in “Q4 2023”. 

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