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Lego Sega Classic Arcade Machines – Vote Now

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LegoSegaArcade_TITLEWhen you stumble upon an awesome idea you must let everyone know about it. My good friend Raj informed me of a Lego Ideas campaign created by SpacySmoke which proposes the creation of classic Lego Sega arcade machines.

The idea campaign is still gathering support, so if you would like Lego to take note, then please throw your support behind this great idea by voting now – who wouldn’t like a Thunder Blade or Yu Suzuki classics like Space Harrier and Out Run replica Lego machines in their home? I have cast my vote, so should you!

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LegoSegaArcade_figuressource: SpacySmoke on Lego Ideas

SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History

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We know we said no more backing of Kickstarter campaigns, but when Read-Only Memory are involved, we make an exception. If you need convincing as to why they are one of the best gaming-related book publishers, then check out the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works, Britsoft: An Oral History and The Bitmap Brothers: Universe to name just a few.

The latest Read-Only Memory tome ‘Sega Arcade: Pop-Up History‘ has definitely excited us and tickled our nostalgic fancy. This will be a book of pop-up sculptures of SEGA’s greatest arcade cabinets: Hang-On, Space Harrier, Thunder Blade, After Burner, and Out Run! If this doesn’t excite you, then we have no idea what will. One thing is for certain, the quality and content will be top notch!

Check out the Kickstarter campaign now and make sure you get a piece of this awesome Sega arcade history!

image source: SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History

 

SEGA 3D Classics Collection

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RELIVE YOUR FAVOURITE SEGA MOMENTS WITH SEGA 3D CLASSICS COLLECTION!
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Let’s start this review by saying that we prefer our games on physical media! Nothing beats holding something tangible in your hands. We already downloaded some of the games from the SEGA 3D CLASSICS COLLECTION, but having all games bundled on the one cart, some that had never been released outside of Japan, was a temptation too great to pass.

This highly anticipated COLLECTION is available now at all good gaming stores around Australia. The compilation consists of nine classic SEGA titles, all beautifully remastered in stereoscopic 3D with some extra bells and whistles (features) thrown in for good measure.

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The CLASSICS COLLECTION hosts SEGA favourites like Sonic The Hedgehog, Thunder Blade, Galaxy Force II, Altered Beast and never-before-released Nintendo 3DS games including Puyo Puyo 2, Power Drift, Maze Walker and Fantasy Zone II (W and The Tears of Opa-Opa).

The big question now is, how do these SEGA classics play on Nintendo’s 3DS? Well, let’s just say that SEGA has not disappointed. With pretty much every genre covered, from driving, platforming, shoot’em up, to side-scrolling beat’em ups, maze crawlers and head-to-head puzzle games, there is something for everyone. You may have heard or read that Altered Beast and Thunder Blade are the weakest of the 3D remastered SEGA games, but let us assure you, they are faithful arcade conversions, that play, look and sound even better than their arcade counterparts! You’ll be hard pressed to find a weak game in the lineup, with your only problem being, what to play first. With that said, the stand out game of the COLLECTION for us is Power Drift! It is as close to having the real arcade driving experience without having the bulky machine in your living room – and you can play it on the go!

With 9 classic games remastered in 3D, multiplayer (local 2-player) mode on Puyo Puyo 2 and Altered Beast, pack art design by Ken Sugimori (Pokemon Art Director), plus Power Drift (and Puyo Puyo 2) making their Western debuts, there is only one logical conclusion, the SEGA 3D CLASSICS COLLECTION is a must get for your Nintendo 3DS!


source: SEGA Europe

Review copy supplied by Five Star Games.

 

The Magic Of Sega: 3D Arcade Classics For Your 3DS

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Sega3D_AllBefore Yu Suzuki embarked on the Shenmue saga, he created some of the most technically impressive and enduring games for Sega. During that golden age of arcade machines in the 80s, you would have been hard pressed not to have played on at least one Sega arcade machine – there was the into the screen blaster, Space Harrier, the Top Gun dog-fighter After Burner II, the superb Super Hang-On, the Blue Thunder channeling Thunder Blade, the rail shooter Galaxy Force II (Deluxe Edition), and of course, the sublime driving game with that awesome radio with cool tunes, Out Run.

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The conversions of these arcade games on our beloved 8 and 16-bit systems weren’t much chop, I mean, they were ok, but let’s face it, there was a vast chasm between the technically superior arcade hardware and the less-refined home based systems of yesteryear. Fast forward 30 odd years and you have home systems more powerful than a cabinet ten times the size! Imagine if someone told you in 1989 that you would have an arcade perfect version (Ed: actually, even better than the arcade!) of Space Harrier, After Burner II or even Out Run in the palm of your hands? Surely you would have had them committed. Well, before you call the psych ward, that day has come – If you are yearning for some vintage Sega arcade gaming nostalgia on your Nintendo 3DS handheld (Ed: Who would have thought that we would ever say Sega and Nintendo in the one sentence!), then rack up some Nintendo eShop credits and have yourself a blast!

Get some Out Run into ya!
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Have some Sega fun on your Nintendo!
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source: SEGA Blog

Sharp Metal Blades

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TB_flyerBoS_Flyer

‘Thunder Blade’ or ‘Blades of Steel’ – what’s in a name? Hang on; are we talking about helicopter gunships, ice hockey or a samurai sword fighting game here? Don’t you just love mysterious titles?

Of course you know these games have nothing more in common than the reference to ‘Blade’ in their titles.

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‘Thunder Blade’, possibly borrowing from the movie, Blue Thunder (Ed: not confirmed!), is about a high-tech attack helicopter trying to save mankind from some evil-doers. Sega’s 1987 arcade shooter was housed in two arcade guises: a stand-up cabinet with a force feedback joystick; and the awesomely cool sit-down cockpit version with the seat moving in tandem with joystick movements. The conversions sadly lacked this aspect. On the other hand, Konami’s 1987 ice-hockey game, ‘Blades of Steel’ is about dudes trying to play a game of ice hockey while breaking out into a bare-knuckle interlude (or should that be the other way around?). The arcade controls were unique for this game – a back-lit optical trackball to control players and three buttons, one dedicated for punching! Apart from both games being released in 1987, they could not be any more different from one another.

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So there you have it, confusion clarified (Ed: really?) – Two very different games with very similar titles. You are more than welcome. Now go and play some video games!