SEGA Tunes: Sky Sanctuary

So, I thought I’d give us all a break from orchestrations this week, to post up an oldie but a goodie: Sky Sanctuary Zone. I loved this song back in the day, and it’s still the classic Sonic theme I best remember. I still remember when I first loaded up Sky Sanctuary and was greeted with this tune. It was so…different from anything else I had ever heard in a Sonic game before, and it instantly gave Sky Sanctuary this huge breathtaking feel that went perfectly together with it’s scope. This theme is one of the primary reasons why I wanted the level to be included in Generations.

Speaking of which, I am including two very awesome remixes of this song below the fold, one put together by Kanjika and the other from Sonic Generations. I HIGHLY encourage you listen to both. It’s really surprising what Kanjika is able to do with this.

This is how Samurai & Dragons plays on Vita

Above is Japanese footage for the Playstation Vita title called Samurai & Dragons. Taking up development for the title is Masayoshi Kikuchi, one of the masterminds behind the Yakuza franchise. Game mixes Western and Japanese by allowing you to be a knight, samurai or many of the other playable classes.

The game mixes RTS and dungeon crawling. Basically to get resources a user goes into a dungeon crawling level then build up their empire via the RTS sections. Yeah, reminds me a lot of the free game they launched on the iPhone last year called Kingdom Conquest.  No news if the game is coming West.

Virtua Fighter’s Akira Yuki Playable in Dead or Alive 5

Akira Yuki of Virtua Fighter has been announced to be a guest character in Dead or Alive 5. Could this be an early sign of Virtua Fighter X DOA? Akira’s addition marks the first time that the Dead or Alive franchise has added a character from another fighting game to their roster. studio head of Team NINJA Yosuke Hayashi said, “Gamers will have an opportunity to enjoy an unforgettable battle with an esteemed competitor in Akira Yuki set in the Dead or Alive environment. This year will prove to be an amazing one for our loyal fighting fans as we are delivering a fantastic fighting game that can only been experienced in Dead or Alive 5.”

This SEGA fanboy says: Hayashi failed to note that an even more fantastic fighting game known as Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown is set for release this year.

Expect DOA5 to release this year to the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3. Once you buy VF5: Final Showdown, you are allowed to purchase DOA5.

Total War Series Goes Mobile

Real time strategy series Total War will enter the mobile world with Total War Battles. The game will be handled by Total War Digital, a new Creative Assembly team. Total War Battles lead designer Renaud Charpentier says that the game “isn’t the traditional Total War you might expect, we are working on a title that is specifically tailored to the play styles and control methods of mobile platforms. We want to deliver a game that plays to the strengths of handheld RTS mechanics, and perfectly adapts to a host of different platforms.” Platforms have yet to be announced, however iOS and Android are a given. The question is, will the title also see a release to the Vita and 3DS?

Sonic Generations for Steam Now $10 on Amazon

Is there anyone reading Segabits that hasn’t picked up Sonic Geneations yet? If so, why? It’s the best Sonic game in years and a damn good platformer. If you are still on the fence then you’re in luck, Amazon.com is offering a pretty hot deal on the Steam (PC) version. Get your digital copy of Sonic Generations right now for only $10.19.

That’s a steal folks, not to mention the PC version is the best version and controls great with a USB Xbox360 controller.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE DEAL!

Jet Set Radio gets first gameplay trailer


The boys and girls over at Game Radar got an exclusive Jet Set Radio HD trailer, sadly the trailer isn’t running in high defenintion. Game Radar is showing giving this exclusive video the 2008 era YouTube quality love.

For what it seems, looks like the Jet Set Radio we all know and love. Doesn’t answer the questions we really want to know like if they are going to use the second joystick on controllers to move the camera or if they are going to be taking off tracks from the soundtrack.

Five Things You May Not Have Known About Jet Set Radio

While I may write about Sonic a lot, my favorite SEGA franchise is actually Jet Set Radio. Ever since playing the original game in 2000, my perception of games has never been the same. Jet Set Radio was more than just a fun game, it was an experience. It introduced me to a world that oozed with color, funky music and over the top characters and settings. Unlike Sonic, however, the Jet Set Radio franchise is insanely small. All fans really have to soak up are two great games, a fun handheld title and the upcoming port. Articles about the series are rare, and the amount of Jet Set Radio merchandise produced could easily fill a small shelf. As a tribute to my favorite SEGA game, I thought I’d increase the web article count by one with five things about Jet Set Radio that the regular SEGA fan may not know about. If, after reading this weekly five, you have learned nothing then consider yourself a Jet Set Radio super fan!

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Sonic 4 Episode 2 American and European Website Gets Huge Update!

When I criticized the SEGA West Sonic 4 website, I didn’t think SEGA would answer my complaints! Okay, so it wasn’t actually my article that brought about the update, but it’s great to see SEGA bringing a bit more epicness and unity to the Sonic 4 site. When visiting the site you’ll find that the world map as seen in Episode 1 has expanded to the right to include Episode 2. Could this mean the maps connect when you have both games on your device? SEGA also gives a little backstory and attempts to connect the two episodes. Apparently Eggman was searching for something in Lost Labyrinth, and Mad Gear was built to do something for some purpose beyond just being an homage to Metropolis Zone. And yes, Sonic CD fans, the ominous planet floating above the Episode 2 screens IS Little Planet. Head on over to the site and click around!

Does Sega have a new game coming?…Hell Yeah!

Today, Sega announces “Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit” a new downloadable game from Arkedo Studios, the developers behind Big Bang Mini and Nervous Brickdown. The game looks to be a heavily (but comically) violent 2-D action game set in the depths of hell. Drag your mouse over to read more about this game and see an ultra violent trailer. “The rabbit is coming! You better start running!”

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Toshihiro Nagoshi Becomes Sega’s Chief Creative Officer on April 1st – No Foolin’!

Starting April 1st, theres a new CCO in town: Toshihiro Nagoshi. SEGA Sammy has announced that starting in April a bit of corporate reshuffling will go into effect, due to the retirement of some of SEGA’s higher ups. Naoya Tsurumi takes over the President and Chief Operating Officer role from the retiring Okitane Usu. Toshihiro Nagoshi, creator of Yakuza and producer of the recently released Binary Domain, will fill a newly formed Chief Creative Officer position. All I can say is that this is some great news! I know nothing about Naoya Tsurumi, but Nagoshi in a CCO role? Very cool. Always a good thing to see a talented person in a high level creative position. Check out the full report here in PDF form.

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Enter to win a chance for 40,000 MS points just for watching a Binary Domain trailer.

That’s a lot of points!

For those worried about the promotional campaign on Binary Domain, check out your Xbox Live dashboard. Over in “games” there should be a small trailer ad for Binary Domain. Click on that, and you’ll be taken to a promotional page. Here, you can watch videos, checkout some screenshots or go to the Binary Domain marketplace to download the demo and maybe some future DLC. However, there’s one special trailer you can watch and register to win up to 40,000 MS points! That can buy a lot of games. Check it out on your Xbox 360 and enter to win. This may be an American promotion only. I’m not sure.

See? There’s at least SOME Binary Domain advertising promotions going on.

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R.I.P. Grind: Jet SET Radio Coming this Summer in Widescreen!

Courtesy of the SEGA Blog comes some very exciting bits of info regarding the recently hinted at Dreamcast rerelease. For starters, the game being released is Jet Set Radio (as if there was any doubt). The second confirmation is that the game will be known as Jet Set Radio, so say goodbye to the original US title “Jet Grind Radio” (and good riddance!). Thirdly, the game will be in beautiful widescreen as seen in the screen shot above and after the break. Fourthly, the game is coming to XBLA, PSN, and Windows PC Digital Download this summer! SEGA has also announced a contest where fans can get there art in the game and win prizes for doing so. Reminds me of when the game originally released, I recall SEGA having a similar contest.

A Friendly Robot Reminder: Binary Domain in Stores NOW!

BEGIN COMMUNICATION Greetings carbon based lifeforms, SEGAbits-bot here. SEGA and Yakuza Studio’s newest game Binary Domain is now available to purchase and play in most human territories. I would direct you to a site that aggregates reviews for the game, but my subprocessors tell me that humans prefer the opinions of their peers. In the case of Binary Domain, it is advised to head on over to our forums to read the positive views expressed by SEGA fans who have already bought and played the game:

“I finished the game last night on survival difficulty – this is my favorite third person shooter campaign EVER.

Great and satisfying shooting mechanics, great and unique AI for the enemies, huge variety of enemies with really good designs…. and above all that one of the best boss battles in all time and i mean it! the bosses in this game is beyond incredible!”

-Suzuki Yu

“Very impressive for the team’s first third person shooter, I hope this does indeed become a series for SEGA!”

-Aki-at

For more information about the game, please allow me to direct you to our interview with the game’s producer. A happy release day and enjoy the game. END COMMUNICATION

Another Sonic 4 Video, Another Release Date

Another, longer, higher quality Sonic 4 video, this one with a presentation from a SEGA rep. Not much new information in this video, except for one piece of info: the game is still coming out in May. This flies in the face of what Phandroid reported earlier with their video, though it does pretty much lock down a Spring release window for the game. The SEGA rep also confirms that the game is launching on Tegra powered devices a few weeks before it’s released on other consoles.

First Hands-On Video of Sonic 4 Episode 2 PLUS a Tentative Release Date

This has turned into the day for Sonic 4 news, hasn’t it? SEGA and NVIDIA surprised visitors to the Mobile World Congress 2012 with the first ever public demo of Sonic 4 Episode 2! While the dude playing the game is pretty bad at it (don’t all early demo videos feature inept players?), it does show off a good two minutes of gameplay footage. I’m sure Sonic fans will be pouring over this little clip for the next month. Is a video not enough for you? Well SEGA has let slip a tentative release date, and it’s not May as XBOX Marketplace had originally suggested.

The game wasn’t perfectly smooth being mirrored on an HD television but Sega urged us to note that the build they were showing wasn’t at all final. When can you expect that final build, you ask? The wait won’t be too long – Sega tells us mid-April will be their target.