Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road is a fixed angle racing game where you can see the entire circuit without scrolling. When it made its way to the Mega Drive in 1992, the game lost the Ivan Stewart endorsement and it’s 3 player multiplayer. But is it still worth playing? Let’s find out together!
In an interview composed with Brad Buxer back in May, Brad Buxer confirms that the majority of the music composed for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was actually done by him and not Michael Jackson.
Buxer confirms that Michael Jackson had signed on to compose music for the soundtrack, but the actual writing duties fell to Buxer as he was Jackson’s main songwriting collaborator at the time. Buxer confirms he wrote 41 audio cues for Sonic 3 and Jackson only had input on one of them. He does not specify which song Jackson had input on and he does not specify which of the 41 audio cues ended up in the final game. We know for a fact that Ice Cap Zone was written by Brad Buxer because the melodies line-up with Buxer’s own song Hard Times that he recorded with the band The Jetzons.
Buxer also confirms that writing for the song Stranger in Moscow also came from the same sessions that produced the 41 audio cues for Sonic 3. Stranger in Moscow is often compared to the Sonic 3 credits theme as the songs share a similar chord progression. As this song was written separately from the Sonic 3 audio cues, it is more likely a coincidence that the songs sound similar.
5 other composers are credited for Sonic 3’s music: Bobby Brooks, Darryl Ross, Geoff Grace, Doug Grigsby III and C. Cirocco Jones. This means it is highly unlikely that all of Buxer’s 41 audio cues were used in the final game. You can watch an isolated segment of Brad Buxer’s May 2022 interview with Abbey Road Institute Paris below:
Despite being a very late-era Mega Drive release, Comix Zone also got a port to the PC in November 1995. In our latest YouTube video, we take a look at the PC version of Comix Zone and see how it compares to the Mega Drive original. Click the embed below to watch:
SEGA Japan have revealed the Mega Drive 2 Mini which expands the focus of the original Mega Drive Mini with the inclusion of “Mega CD games, arcade ports, unreleased games and a mysterious new game” according to GSK. 11 games have been revealed so far. See below for the full list:
– Silpheed (Mega-CD)
– Shining Force CD (Mega-CD)
– Sonic CD (Mega-CD)
– Yumemi Mystery Mansion (Mega-CD)
– Popful Mail (Mega-CD)
– Virtua Racing (Mega Drive)
– Bonanza Bros (Mega Drive)
– Shining in the Darkness (Mega Drive)
– Thunder Force IV (Mega Drive)
– Magical Tarurūto-kun (Mega Drive)
– Fantasy Zone (New Mega Drive Port)
The final release is promising 50 games in total and is due to release in Japan on October 27th 2022. The mini console is bundled with a 6 button controller. Also revealed during the stream is an entirely cosmetic Mega-CD 2 for the Mega Drive 2 Mini to lock onto, as well as a miniature Sonic CD CD-ROM and a Virtua Racing cart to pop into the cartridge slot. The Mega Drive Tower Mini 2 even has an expander so you can use it with the original Mega Drive Mini and a spacer for the 32X mini included in the original Mega Drive Tower Mini. Both are entirely non functional.
There is currently no word of a Western release for the new mini console.
Indie developer Lizardrive has released a brand new paint application for the Mega Drive called Lizardpaint. Lizardpaint also has support for the SEGA Mouse and we’ve taken a detailed look at the latest version in the below video. Click the embed to watch and hear our thoughts:
In our latest YouTube video, we explore one of Digital Eclipse’s first retro compilations and what might just be the very first Midway arcade collection! Join us as we take a look at every game included in Midway Presents Arcade’s Greatest Hits. Click the embed below to start the video:
Mega Drive FPS Zero Tolerance is back in a brand new collection for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Switch called Zero Tolerance Collection.
Zero Tolerance Collection includes the original Mega Drive game alongside the unreleased sequel Zero Tolerance Underground. Completing both games also unlocks the unreleased Zero Tolerance Beyond demo.
The games will be available with 4 different screen filters and each game has up to 5 save game slots. You can check out the reveal trailer by clicking the embed below:
Zero Tolerance Collection is being developed by QUByte Interactive under license from infamous IP hoarders Piko Interactive. The collection will be available digitally and physically via Strictly Limited Games who will offer a standard boxed edition and a ‘special limited edition’ that includes posters, stickers and a soundtrack CD. Pre-orders are currently not available but should be appearing soon. There is currently no word on a release date.
While not directly related to SEGA, our readers will be pleased to hear that during the most recent State of Play event from Sony, Konami have revealed a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles retro compilation that includes the 2 Mega Drive entries in the series. Both Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist and the Mega Drive version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters will be getting re-released via the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection from Konami. You can check out the reveal trailer below:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection will also include every single 8 and 16 bit TMNT game that featured on the NES, Game Boy, Mega Drive, SNES and arcade for a total of 13 games. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection will release on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch and PC via Steam at some point in 2022.
ININ have revealed they will be publishing a Wonder Boy Collection for PS4 and Switch. The announcement trailer features the Master System versions of Wonder Boy and Wonder Boy in Monster Land, alongside the Mega Drive versions of Wonder Boy in Monster World and Monster World IV.
Development duties on the collection is being handled by BlissBrain. What’s strange is that the information on the BlissBrain site and ININ site actually pictures the arcade versions of Wonder Boy and Wonder Boy in Monster Land, so it is currently not clear if the collection features the Master System versions, the arcade versions or both.
The Wonder Boy Collection will be published digitally by BlissBrain and ININ and physically by Strictly Limited Games. Pre-orders for the collection from Strictly Limited games will go live “soon”. There is currently no word on a firm release date for the collection. All titles in the collection are officially under license from SEGA. ININ had previously published the Monster World IV remake Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World.
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