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The SEGA Five: Revisiting Green Hill Act 1

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In the Sonic universe there is nothing more iconic than the zone that started it all: Green Hill. Any and every SEGA and Sonic fan should know the look and layout of this zone, specifically the first act and even more specifically the first few moments experienced by players. I’m talking about the line of rings, followed by the platform with an item box above and a Motobug below, a Buzz Bomber enters from the right of the screen, passing a palm tree with a spring hidden inside. For many fans, this was their introduction to Sonic as a character and as a franchise. Sonic Team knew the importance of the first zone, as (according to the Sonic Jam strategy guide) it took the team six months to perfect the look and design of Green Hill. In the years that followed, the opening layout of Green Hill reappeared a number of times. In this week’s SEGA Five, I’ll look back on those times, noting the strengths, weaknesses and possible reasons for referencing the classic layout.

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My Life With SEGA takes on the whole Empire in Star Wars Arcade

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This week, AJ strikes back with an all out attack of the 32X in his review of Star Wars Arcade.

The adventure continues in Star Wars: Episode II – Rise of the 32X, where I review Star Wars Arcade. Yeah, it’s a port of the SEGA-produced arcade game from 1993. Now, SEGA has made some miraculous conversions, such as Virtua Fighter 2 for Saturn and Crazy Taxi for Dreamcast….

Should this 32X exclusive be counted among them?

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel, flyboy!

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San-ei reveals new Sonic the Hedgehog plushes

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Japanese company San-ei has revealed a new line of Sonic the Hedgehog plush dolls. They showed off 5 characters scaling from the blue blur himself to Knuckles, Amy, Tails, and SEGAbits favorite Shadow the Hedgehog.

A few years back the company put out similar plush dolls, but they say these will have improved patterns. According to the source San-ei is high quality when it comes to plush dolls. I wouldn’t know, I personally don’t own plush toys. Check out the product page here.

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New Phantasy Star Online 2 trailer shows off new content and quests

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Phantasy Star Online 2 is still getting summer updates that adds more story quests and much more items to try to collect. This will take you to the planet Lillipa which is known as the Land of the Dragons. Not only that, new outfits and a White Rappy are part of the update too.

This is in Japanese since the game won’t be coming to Europe and United States till 2013. It has been confirmed that the European and US servers will be the same, while Japan will be isolated (unlike the original Phantasy Star Online).

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What is Yuji Naka’s studio working on? Digimon Adventures

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I know most of you will give me crap for posting this on the blog, since it doesn’t have anything to do with SEGA as a publisher. But let’s be honest, I think we are all interested in what big high profile ex-SEGA developers are up to in the world. This time we look at Yuji Naka’s Prope, who will be working on the upcoming Digimon Adventure.

The game promises to cover the story of the original Digimon anime series and will be a RPG game. Yep, this will be the first RPG from Prope and oddly enough is coming out on the original PSP. So that means no one will probably play it. Find it on shelves in 2013.

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Review: Jack Lumber (iOS)

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Announced and released on the same day, Jack Lumber, was both a surprise and a curiosity. As the first SEGA Alliance title, Jack Lumber was developed by an external independent developer by the name of Owlchemy Labs and published by SEGA. Per the SEGA Alliance description, SEGA also provided marketing and production support as well as creative consultation. The end result is a fun and unique game that definitely has that SEGA spirit, despite being developed by an external developer.

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Senile Team releases a free Dreamcast game called Polyko, play it today!

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Senile Team, the folks behind Rush Rush Rally Racing, have ported an indie game by the super long name of “Polyko’s Super Jelly Bean Quest in The Sketchbook of Illusion” to the Dreamcast. How much does it cost? Nothing, it’s free! Where can you get it? Right here! The game is a simple platformer starring an artist named Polyko who has been magically transported into his sketchbook. The goal is to collect 31 jelly beans. There is no way to die, so no fear of falling into an abyss or having your head ripped off by a zombie. You can play the full game online here, or better yet burn it to a disc and play it on your Dreamcast. The cd image even contains printable covers, so it’ll fit in on your indie Dreamcast games shelf. Enjoy!

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Assassin’s Creed III director blasts Japanese storytelling, calls out Bayonetta

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Well, this quote can be put on the short list of industry opinions that have had my jaw drop.

In an interview with CvG, Assassin’s Creed III creative director Alex Hutchinson goes on what I can only describe as a rant against Japanese storytelling and journalists’ response to it: or, as he calls it, “subtle racism.”

“I think there’s a subtle racism in the business,” Hutchinson said when asked about Nintendo and their yearly franchise installments, “especially on the journalists’ side, where Japanese developers are forgiven for doing what they do. I think it’s condescending to do this.”

When prompted further, the creative director brought up Bayonetta:

“Just think about how many Japanese games are released where their stories are literally gibberish. There’s no way you could write it with a straight face, and the journalists say, ‘Oh it is brilliant.’ Then Gears of War comes out and apparently it’s the worst written narrative in a game ever. I’ll take Gears of War over Bayonetta any time.”

Do you think there’s an inherent bias in the industry press towards Japanese games? Sound off in the comments below.

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Twelve minutes of NiGHTS into Dreams… HD!

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Jeff Beckham, Digital Brand Manager at Sega of America, stopped by Gamespot’s live show to present 12 minutes of NiGHTS into Dreams… HD gameplay. Ignore the dumb host, who seems to know next to nothing about SEGA’s Saturn classic, and soak up the lovely HD visuals. Take note that the menu screen mentions “Presents” and has a few blanked out menu options. Looks like we’ll be getting Christmas NiGHTS integrated into the rerelease. Hooray! No price is set yet, but Mr. Beckham makes it sound like fans will be pleased with the price point. If it’s anything like other SEGA Heritage releases, it’ll be $10. Thanks to reader celsowm for the heads up!

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Official Sonic Monopoly board revealed

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Via the USAopoly Facebook page comes the finished board for the upcoming Sonic Monopoly game. Just standing back and looking at it, it’s a really great looking board! Graphics look nice, a ton of zones and stages are represented. And unlike the Nintendo Monopoly game, thought has been put into the properties. Seriously, the Nintendo Monopoly was garbage compared to this beauty. Players bought characters like property and built houses on them. How does that work? Gives a whole new meaning to Hotel Mario. After the break, a full listing of the properties.

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Shenmue Recreated in Sleeping Dogs (Fan Video)

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Check out this parody of Shenmue 2 recreated in the game Sleeping Dogs. It’s done rather well and at times it’s very funny. The QTE battles and chases were great and I lost it when Ryo found ‘the mirror.’

Being set in Hong Kong Sleeping Dogs shares a similar aesthetic to Shenmue and so was perfect for parodying our beloved Shenmue. This also gives us a glimpse at what Shenmue HD or even Shenmue 3 might look like. (Get on with it already Sega!)

The parody was created by the youtube user DSimphonyHD, Segabits solutes you sir!

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