Guess who finally got his hands on a Sega Master System this weekend after 27 years? Me! In this video featuring my fat, bearded mug, I’m gonna show you my first experience with the Master System itself (outside of a Genesis converter)along with 4 games. Snail Maze, Outrun, Space Harrier and Lord of the Sword.
Go to the comments section for a very cool Master system video I found on youtube.
The official Nintendo Magazine has revealed that SEGA’s digital rerelease of Space Harrier, dubbed 3D Space Harrier, will be shown off at the Nintendo Unleashed tour which makes its first stop at May 24th’s MCM London Comic Con. This is the first sign we’ve had that the game will be released outside of Japan. The 3D Classics series also includes 3D Hang-On and the recently revealed and released 3D Sonic the Hedgehog (no relation to Sonic the Hedgehog remastered).
Yesterday, the Australian Classification Board issued a rating of “G” for the 3DS rerelease of Space Harrier. This pretty much confirms that the game will be releasing to Australia and eventually (hopefully) Europe and North America. Released last month in Japan, 3D Space Harrier looks to be an awesome rerelease of the game, with a ton of features including 3D visuals and a simulated arcade cabinet. When we learn more of the English release of the game, we’ll be sure to share it. In the meantime, celebrate by listening to this week’s Tuesday Tune.
Even when I first played it on Shenmue in 2001, Space Harrier was an incredibly unique game. Trippy, animated and hard as fuck, Space Harrier was one of my favorite past times in Shenmue…aside from forklift racing, of course. What really made the game experience, and what helped keep me coming back to spend my hard earned money that I should really have been saving up for Hong Kong, was the kick ass sound track.
The Space Harrier theme remains an all-time classic in SEGA’s library, and one that I hope continues to be revisited in future SEGA games. You can expect us to revisit the track plenty of times via official and fan remixes!
SEGA’s recently launched Archives site reveals more details of the 3D rerelease of Space Harrier, including release date, price, features and more. The game is set to release on December 26th in Japan, for 600 yen (about $7). According to a translation of the site, features include: the ability to put in credits to increase your playtime, stage select screens, the ability to save the game at any time, the ability to save and watch replays, control with either the circle pad or the d-pad or the touchscreen, change difficulty, change the number of lives you start out with, change rate of fire, a time trial mode, change the range of movement, an enhanced sound test and a variety of screen sizes (seen below).
Perhaps the most interesting feature is, what appears to be, a mode which simulates the arcade experience: “When ON, the game screen is tilted up, down, left and right according to the movement of the player.” Environmental sounds also play, which are said to simulate the various sounds that were heard from the arcade machine based on the movement of the player. For an idea of what that might feel like, check out a YouTube video of the arcade machine in action after the break.
No details have been given on a Western release, but when we hear something from SEGA we’ll be sure to share it! This is looking to be a truly awesome rerelease of a SEGA arcade classic.
http://youtu.be/TuU_6NpHPkY
This track acts as the perfect book end for a near perfect SEGA tribute. Much like After Burner, Space Harrier is an arcade classic with an awesome soundtrack. Are you feeling down today? Do you need a little pick me up? No worries, because I’ve brought an extended version of this song today. If you’re feeling blue, just sit back for 15 minutes and let this little tune wisk you away to a far off place with dragons and giant floating heads and some blonde dude inexplicably floating in mid-air with a giant laser gun.
So as to not get the hopes of anyone who hasn’t beaten the game yet up, Space Harrier is not in this game. Just the soundtrack, which plays on a track I don’t intend to spoil.
Speaking of spoilers, though, you’d best have beaten the game by next Tuesday. For the last three weeks I’ve been sitting on music for a course that Sumo kept under wraps so as to not spoil the surprise. Next week I’m spilling the beans. So you’d best have beaten Career Mode by then!
Still want more music from the fantasy zone? Check below the fold for a remixed vocal version of the Fantasy Zone theme from the 1996 SEGA AGES release! Its pretty sick.
According to Spong, via Japanese site Gamer via NeoGAF, a 3D rerelease of the original Space Harrier will soon be hitting the Japanese Nintendo 3DS eShop. Nintendo has done a fair share of 3D rereleases for their own games, but this would be SEGA’s first 3D rerelease on the 3DS. Images show that this will indeed be the arcade version, and not the 3D Master System version of the game. No mention of a Western release, but it would probably happen eventually. After the break, two screens of the supposed rerelease.
Yu Suzuki attended the Toulouse Game Show 2011 and here is an absolutely fantastic interview with Yu Suzuki from the event, possibly the best I’ve ever seen! Yu Suzuki is maybe the most iconic person to have ever worked at Sega, Suzuki is the man behind some of Segas most beloved classics such as OutRun, After Burner, Space Harrier, Hang-On, Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter and of course the ill-fated Shenmue saga.
In this interview by videoxoc.com Yu Suzuki answers some of the most important questions any Sega or Shenmue fan cold pose and they are met with some great replies from Suzuki.
Hit the jump for highlights:
Are you a fan of Yu Suzuki? Of course you are! Well this video is for you.
This is the GDC career retrospective of Yu Suzuki and it’s translated into English. Full of great information regarding Suzuki’s long career with Sega and the ground breaking, revolutionary games he has created over the years including OutRun, Virtua Fighter and Shenmue amongst others.
I’m sure you’ll agree, this man is a legend.