Monthly Archives

March 2013

Game News, Sega Retro

GDC 2013: Sonic 1 Remastered and More Headed to Mobile Devices

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UPDATE: Taxman has confirmed on our forums that he and Stealth are the ones behind this new version. He has also said that there’ll be the usual improvements and fan service like with his updated version of Sonic CD. So you can expect some good stuff from this.

Fresh from Game Developers Conference, Sega is dropping some hot news for mobile development. Namely the appearance of the original Sonic the Hedgehog on iOS and Android devices for $2.99. No release date has been revealed at this point, however it is going to be granted additional features. Not only will there be a rock solid framerate matching the widescreen display, you’re also getting Time Attack modes and a remastered soundtrack as well. Its possible that this could be rebuilt using the Retro engine as evidenced by this tweet from Taxman himself:

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There are also rumblings that Sonic 2 may also see a similar re-release. In the meantime, Sega has also announced mobile editions of Puzzle Pirates, House of the Dead: Overkill – The Lost Files and Godsrule. Puzzle Pirates is set for release within Spring of this year, while the others are To Be Decided. Be sure to check out the gallery below for a first glimpse at each of these titles.

[Source: Android Police, The Sonic Stadium, Sega-Press]

 

Community, Miscellaneous

Sonic 2 HD Team Behind iOS Game Major Magnet

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We all remember Sonic 2 HD and how it regrettably met its end not long after releasing a playable demo of Emerald Hill Zone due to internal controversy. Just because the door on that project closed though doesn’t mean that this was the end for them. Some of the team, now working under PagodaWest Games, put their talents toward a brand new IP for iOS systems called Major Magnet.

Retro Engine creator and the man behind the 2011 digital port of Sonic CD Christian “Taxman” Whitehead confirmed as much in a tweet to his followers earlier today congratulating the group on the successes the dev’s title has met, including an Editor’s Choice award from Apple itself.

While Sonic 2 HD may be resting eternally, definitely give these guys some love and pick up the game on your iOS device and hope that they can bring the game over to other platforms. Good job, PagodaWest!

Community, Humor, Podcasts

The Sonic Center Streaming Sonic Games For Charity Tomorrow

Having raised over $1800 for Child’s Play back in August, members of The Sonic Center, along with some speedrunners from Speed Demos Archive and SpeedRunsLive, are again running about 50 hours of Sonic Team games. Proceeds from this year’s marathon will benefit the American Cancer Society, and your donations can determine what you see, such as Chaos Emerald collection, fishing for Froggy, or stage selection in Sonic Shuffle.

Join in for both speedruns and casual play of all of your favourite and least-favourite games, playthroughs of other Sonic Team IPs such as NiGHTS and Burning Rangers, as well the ever-popular Tails Skypatrol, as audience play for Puyo Pop and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for Xbox 360, and- wait, what do you mean you don’t know what Puyo Pop is? We didn’t work on Sega Retro for you to ignore it!

View the stream through the main site here: http://www.soniccenter.org/stream
Or you can view via Twitch.tv directly: http://www.twitch.tv/tsc_streams

Community, Fan Works, Game News, Hacking, Music

Sonic Generations: Unleashed Project Mod Released

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We first reported on the Unleashed Project over a year ago, when Sonic Retro community members (and all-around beautiful people) Dario FF, Twilightzoney, and Chimera revealed the earliest footage of their experiments with porting stages from Sonic Unleashed into the PC version of Sonic Generations. Today, thanks to the incredible efforts of Dario and his team, they’ve released the first completed version of the project, including all eight major daytime stages from the original Unleashed ported to Generations, along with a redesigned hub world and reworked level progression.

Now you can play through all of the best parts of Unleashed without having to endure the suffering caused by Werehog fatigue and medal-hunting. Plus, you can enjoy the beautiful art direction of each stage in full 1080p at 60 frames per second (provided your computer can handle it – my Phenom II X4 cries during Jungle Joyride), and many of the game’s lower-resolution textures have been recreated in higher quality so you can get the most out of your PC’s graphics card. Of course, the stages also benefit from improvements and changes Generations made over its predecessor, such as tighter controls and the addition of customizable skills.

Be sure to check out the trailer after the break, complete with an orgasmic remix of the Unleashed final boss theme by Retro musician Falk, known for his work on fan games such as Sonic Before the Sequel and After the Sequel (and who also did the hub world remixes of the Unleashed stage themes for this project). You should also head to the project’s ModDB page, where you can find links to download the mod for yourself. Finally, a tremendous thanks to the Unleashed Project team for all the hard work they’ve put in over the past year to get this polished up and ready for release. This project is a stellar example of the kind of awesome stuff we love to see from the Retro community.

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Hardware, Podcasts, Sega Consoles, Sega Retro

Retro Livestream Today — Help Us Look for Sailors at 10PM GMT (6PM EST)


Watch live video from vidyaretro on TwitchTV

It’s been awhile since we last did a live stream. Watch us play through a random assortment of Sega Dreamcast games and maybe we’ll go hunt for some sailors while we’re at it. We’ll be starting the show later today at 10PM GMT. (Or 6PM EST if you prefer.) The stream is over, however you should be able to watch the archived version right here. Or click play on the video above.

Arcade Games, Game News, Sega Retro

Sega Seeks Western facebook ‘Likes’ and ‘Comments’ for Hatsune Miku

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Way back at last year’s E3, Sega has been testing the waters for releasing games based on the ever popular vocaloid from Japan, Hatsune Miku. At the showfloor they were demoing a quickly put together English build of the Playstation Vita version of Hatsune Miku – Project Diva – f for the press as well as releasing Miku Flick for iOS for English speakers to garner some support. Turns out that once again they’re now asking for more support, this time from the general public on their facebook page. If successful, Sega will seek to release the Playstation 3 version of Hatsune Miku – Project Diva – F instead of the Playstation Vita, possibly due to struggling sales of the handheld. (Also see if you can spot the difference in the name of both versions of the game.) If you, and your friends, want to show your support, be sure to hit up their facebook page to throw your ‘Likes’ and ‘Comments’ their way.

It may not be much longer now, considering that Miku was also one of the top requested characters for DLC characters for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, several tours have been made in the US and otherwise to raise awareness and…oh my. Their next tour is on March 11th in Austin, Texas. That’s pretty close to home. I wouldn’t be creepy if I went to go check it out for myself would it?

UPDATE: Turns out it’s just their presence at the South By Southwest Convention happening in Austin, and the 11th is their specialized panel demonstrating the tech behind the vocaloid software. Thanks to Shadix for pointing that out. Anybody got $1350 to spare for a ticket?

[Source: Sega on facebook]

 

 

Arcade Games, Game Secrets, Sega Retro

F-Zero AX Hidden within Retail Copies of F-Zero GX


F-Zero GX for the Nintendo Gamecube had an interesting feature that worked with it’s Triforce brother. By bringing your memory card to an F-Zero AX arcade machine, it allowed you to unlock additional content for use in the home version and bring your custom vehicle with you on the arcade version. However due to an extremely limited release of the arcade unit, most of the AX content was basically untouchable for many. Turns out after all these years, F-Zero AX was much closer than one thought. Coming from The Cutting Room Floor, and later reported by Retro Collect, they have turned up the entirety of the arcade game is already embedded with each home copy of F-Zero GX. More or less that is. For more information on how to play through AX on your copy of F-Zero GX, be sure to check out the Action Replay codes on either site, or watch the embedded video to see AX mode in action.

Because the games work so close together and both games were in development at the same time, this should come as to no surprise. Still a very interesting insight of the game, and sure to interest those who have never experienced the F-Zero AX arcade machine first hand.

[Source: The Cutting Room FloorRetro Collect]

Game News

Sonic Dash to Release at Midnight, Also Have Some Gameplay Footage

Turns out Pocket Gamer France was right about Sonic Dash releasing on Thursday. Hardlight said on Twitter (before removing the tweets) that the game will be released at midnight for $1.99/£1.49. Unless you live in New Zealand, then the game is already out for you.

Touch Gameplay has recorded some gameplay footage, which can be viewed above. It shows that you’ll be able to unlock Tails, Knuckles and Amy as playable characters and that it is indeed a Temple Run-style game. Though instead of having to tilt the device to move, you swipe with your finger left and right to let Sonic do a quick step. Graphically it looks pretty good, it seems to be using the Sonic Generations models for Sonic and some of the enemies. Also, microtransactions, because that’s a thing you can earn money with on iOS.

[Source: SEGADriven]

Game News

Sonic Dash Officially Announced for iOS

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SEGA has officially announced Sonic Dash for iOS. According to their press release the game will be a 3D endless runner, probably in the style of Temple Run and the like. The stage nobody at SEGA can seemingly get enough of, Seaside Hill, will be present in this game. When Pocket Gamer France reported on the game last Thursday they said that the scenery will change as you get further, so it could be that more than one zone will be represented. There will also be leaderboards that show your friends’ best times.

Pocket Gamer France also reported that the game will be released this Thursday, March 7th. It’s not unusual for an iOS game to be released shortly after its announcement. For example, Hardlight’s previous game Sonic Jump was released two weeks after it’s announcement. Sonic Dash will be released on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

[Source: SEGA Blog and Pocket Gamer France]