SEGA AGES Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Puyo Puyo 2 coming to western territories on February 20th

The month of February seems to be sequel month, as two hit SEGA follow ups are coming soon to the SEGA AGES series, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Puyo Puyo 2! Both releases are planned for a February 20th release date on the Nintendo Switch eShop for a price of $7.99 (and equivalent), in both North American and European territories.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the sequel to the original Sonic the Hedgehog released a year later. Like its predecessor, you take on the role of the titular Sonic as you run through different zones avoiding hazards and beating Badniks. However this time Sonic is joined by his best friend Miles Tails Prower, and has a new move called the Spin Dash that allows him to rev up and dash forward in a ball. This SEGA AGES version comes with the original game, but it also includes new features like the optional Drop Dash, ring counter like SEGA AGES Sonic the Hedgehog, and most notably Knuckles the Echidna being playable like he was when you connected a copy of Sonic 2 to Sonic & Knuckles.

Puyo Puyo 2 (aka Puyo Puyo Tsu) you once again take on the role of young mage Arle Nadja, as you are tasked with climbing up Satan’s tower by beating opponents and earning enough points to move up to the next floor. Like it’s predecessor, the main objective is to beat the opponent by dumping garbage called Nuisance Puyos onto their field, but Puyo Puyo 2 also polishes up the gameplay with new features such as offsetting, double rotation, and All Clear. With this SEGA AGES release, you also get a new mode called Endurance Mode where you must fight against every opponent in the tower, along with quality of life modifications such as the option to change the appearance of the Puyos and the ability to read up the descriptions of every character. Like its predecessor SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo, you also have the option to set up matches with people around the globe via internet.

[Source: SEGA AGES website]

Exclusive: Panzer Dragoon Remake interview with Producer Benjamin Anseaume

For over a year, we’ve been anticipating each bit of word, footage, and image of MegaPixel, Forever Entertainment, TA Publishing, and SEGA’s from the ground up remake of Panzer Dragoon. For those unfamiliar, Panzer Dragoon was an early SEGA Saturn title that gained acclaim for its unique setting, shake-ups in the rail shooter genre, and challenging gameplay. It spawned two more rail shooter sequels and a full role-playing game before being put to rest with the series finale, Panzer Dragoon Orta for the Xbox. For the nearly two decades since, fans have wanted to return to that science fiction fantasy world and see the series brought back with as much aplomb as possible.

Then, at the end of 2018, it was revealed that a little-known French-based publishing company and development house MegaPixel Studio were set to release remakes of Panzer Dragoon, and its sequel, Panzer Dragoon Zwei. Since then, we’ve seen art, we’ve seen gameplay, we’ve seen its due arrival on Switch and Steam, but we still had burning questions. To sate our (and especially my) own curiosity, I reached out to Benjamin Anseaume, producer on the remake project, to ask him several things. Learn about extra game content, the process of getting the game into the developer’s hands, and even get a glimpse at what the original creator of Panzer Dragoon, Yukio Futatsugi, thinks of the new project!

All this and more, after the jump!

Phantasy Star Online 2 will be coming to Steam

If you have a gander at the online manual for the North American release of Phantasy Star Online 2, you will notice that the PC version is listed as coming to Steam along with Microsoft Store version.

Launch PC game version

When the download is complete, you can proceed to launch the game by doing the following:

  • Steam
    • Open the Steam client and search for “Phantasy Star Online 2” under the “Library” section, then click “Play.”
    • If you opted to create a desktop shortcut, simply double click on the shortcut to launch the game.
  • Windows 10
    • Open the start menu and search for the “Phantasy Star Online 2” app shortcut.
    • If you opted to create a desktop shortcut, simply double click on the desktop shortcut.

As you already know, this weekend will be the start of the Phantasy Star Online 2 closed beta, from February 7 to the 9th only on Xbox One.

Madou Monogatari A for Game Gear gets an English fan translation

Another Madou Monogatari game has received a fan translation, this time being the game Madou Monogatari A: Doki Doki Vacation. In a slight departure from the previous Madou Monogatari titles on Game Gear, this game is based on Madou Monogatari ARS originally released on the PC-98, specifically the “A” scenario. In Madou Monogatari A, you take on the role of 4 year old Arle Nadja from Magic Kindergarten who wants to visit her grandmother on the other side of a forest. While the original PC-98 version involves Arle getting lost in the forest and get harassed by an angry Owlbear, the Game Gear version instead has a story involving Satan cutting down the Fairy Forest to build an amusement park, with Arle going into the forest to find the fairies and stop Satan’s plans. Aside from the story changes, Madou Monogatari A: Doki Doki Vacation also changes a lot of the level design, overall making the game barely like its original incarnation on the PC-98.

This patch translates the whole game into English, including the title being renamed to Sorcery Saga A: Vivacious Vacation. This means that all Madou Monogatari games on the Game Gear can now be played in English, along with Madou Monogatari I, Madou Monogatari II, and Madou Monogatari III.

[Source: ROM Hacking.net]

Phantasy Star Online 2 won’t be region locked, at least for now…

We are getting closer and closer to the release of the Phantasy Star Online 2 closed beta, which launches on February 7th. While Phantasy Star Online 2 is only officially coming out in North America (at least this Microsoft published servers), some European fans have asked if they will be blocking players from outside of the North America:


Quite frankly, I don’t see why Microsoft doesn’t just open this server to anyone that wants to play it in English. I mean, technically anyone can join the Japanese servers and is it bad to have a popular game? I think it would be good for Microsoft’s brand more than anything.

[Via: Siliconera]

Sonic Movie Rumor: Mid-Credits Cameo Revealed

I’ll admit, we’ve been pretty quiet on the Sonic movie news front lately, but today we have a juicy rumor regarding a cameo that appears during the movie’s credits sequence. You’ll note we did not spoil this in the headline, image, tags or before the “read more” bit because we want to respect those who don’t want to be spoiled.

Still want to hear the rumor? Read on!

Shin Sakura Taisen the Animation Story Trailer revealed and Sakura Taisen Blu-Ray Box Collection set for release this Spring

In the recent Sakura Wars official live stream, SEGA unveiled a brand new trailer and key visual of Shin Sakura Taisen the Animation set for release in April 2020. The Animation takes place after the events of the Shin Sakura Taisen game with the New Flower Division team being transferred to Europe by Seijuro Kamiyama, and Sakura Amamiya was appointed Deputy Commander.

Kamiyama returns home temporarily to the Flower Division who all struggle every day, but there is an unknown girl beside named Clara, who is the only survivor of the Moscow group that was destroyed after a major accident . Sakura welcomes Clara, who was commissioned by Kamiyama and transferred to the Flower Division. Meanwhile, a group that claims to be “Moscow Assault Force” suddenly appears in the Imperial City.

The trailer also reveals a new Assault Force team hailing from Moscow (Mossika Hussarge, Valerie Kaminsky, and Leila with character designs by Mika Pikazo) who will all be appearing exclusively to the anime. In addition, there will be a Blu-Ray collection of the Sakura Taisen OVA (Original Video Animation) series set to release in Japan on March 18, 2020 for 35,000 yen ($320.84). The original OVA series served as prequels and side stories to the games and is a nice collection set if you have been a fan of the series. Hit the jump to check out visuals of the animation and more!

Phantasy Star Online 2 closed beta starts February 7, 2020

If you are excited for the Western Xbox One closed beta, which starts on February 7th and goes through the 8th, then you’re in luck since we got more details about the event including ‘exclusive closed beta missions and items’. According to Microsoft you will be able to pre-load the game on February 3rd, if you want to start playing the first nano second the game goes live. You can sign up for the closed beta via the ‘Xbox Insider Hub’. 

Closed Beta Test Schedule

  • Starts: Friday, February 7th, 5 PM (PST)
  • Ends: Saturday, February 8th, 11:59 PM (PST)
  • Official Website: Opens Friday, February 7th, 10 AM (PST)

The beta will also have ‘Urgent Quests’ during the closed beta which include the following missions:

SEGA News Bits: Sonic Movie Theme Song Reaction

Usually the music is the best part of any Sonic thing, but does this hold true for the theme song for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie? On this SEGA News Bits, Barry and George reaction to Let’s Go Fast from Yiffy the Wizard, Dr. Boatz, Lil’ Flim-Flam and Yakkity Gak. I think I got that information correct, right?

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SEGA Talk Podcast #34: Seaman (1999)

The often requested episode of SEGA Talk is here! Barry and George discuss Seaman, Yoot Saito’s strange SEGA Dreamcast experiment. Learn how the idea came about, the speech recognition tech that made the game possible, what Yoot has been up to since and more!

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read at the end and more!

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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!

Yakuza 7 launch day numbers weakest in main series, 20% drop from Yakuza 6

Yakuza 7 (Yakuza: Like a Dragon in America) is changing a lot of things that were considered bread and butter for the franchise. This includes a new lead character and a change from real time action to turn base combat. Unsurprisingly this has lead to a drop in launch sales. Does this mean that this whole new direction has been a failure? Not really, it will depend on how the game sales overtime and we still have to launch it outside of Japan. Who knows, in the West, this being a soft reboot might help it.

 

Check out the tweet by Game Data Library on Twitter for a sales chart:

SEGA introduces ‘Sonic 2020 Initiative’, to announce Sonic the Hedgehog news on the 20th of every month

Guys, the year is 2020, its the future and in this future a handful of announcements aren’t enough. SEGA has officially launched the “Sonic 2020” project, a new initiative to announce various new Sonic the Hedgehog-related plans and information throughout the year.

What’s the first bit of news on January 20th? Well, of course the project itself. I bet Sonic Team are patting themselves on the back for this one. The Sonic Channel also released some art for the announcement which features social media assets and even 21 character icons. The press release for this does mention that SEGA will hold various Sonic the Hedgehog events in 2020; so keep an eye out.

I’m no Detective Conan, but don’t be shocked if we get a musical event with Tee Lopes and Crush 40, since the Sonic the Hedgehog social media has been releasing remixed tunes.

[Via: Gematsu]

Round Table: How SEGA Can Improve in 2020

We are in a brand new decade and SEGA has had a huge turn around in the last five years since they announced their last big rebuild and bought Atlus. It seems that SEGA’s Road to 2020 was a success in a lot of aspects. But like every company, there are always weak points that haven’t quite been ironed out.

On this Round Table we will discuss how SEGA can improve in 2020, if you have any ways that you think SEGA can improve in this new year, let us know in the comments below.

SEGA Europe staff members share their memories on Shinobi in this SEGA AGES Shinobi interview

SEGA Europe Staff members, Danny Russell (Mobile Community Manager), Luis De Mendonca, (IT Support Manager), Marta Camilo (Senior Website Designer), and Tom Perry (Jr. Graphic Designer) share memories on the arcade release of Shinobi, which debuted in the arcades in 1987.

They reflect on subjects like how far they could get through the game with one credit, fighting difficult bosses, and give tip advice on how to get through difficult situations.

What are your memories on the arcade release in Shinobi? please share them by leaving us a comment below. SEGA AGES Shinobi will be available purchase on the Nintendo Switch Eshop on January 23, 2020 for only $7.99.