SEGADriven is a SEGA news and information source that focuses on SEGA's console history, retro games and new software hitting the shelves. We want to share a love of great, quirky, clever and down-right fun games - something that SEGA have always specialised in. See below for the latest news, reviews and features added to the website.
After the disappointment that Sonic Colours Ultimate left in its wake, I was a little uneasy going into Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania. It certainly looked the part, but I still had this nagging feeling that they were going to dramatically mess something up. Thankfully, my fears were for nought. Banana Mania does almost everything I could want from a remake of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe, albeit with a few small issues that impact the experience to varying degrees.
Announced back in September 2020, Shenmue the Animation will be a 13 episode animated series that adapts the events of both Shenmue 1 & 2. The series is being distributed in the West by Adult Swim and Crunchy Roll and now we finally have our first look at the series in action. Check it out via the embed below:
Shenmue the Animation will debut on Adult Swim and Crunchy Roll at some point in 2022. The series will be directed by Sakurai Chikara of Telecom Animation Film Studios and managed by Sola Entertainment.
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio have revealed that long time leads Toshihiro Nagoshi and Daisuke Sato have left the company and the studio has undergone a restructure as a result. Masayoshi Yokoyama will now take over from Nagoshi as the studio’s Director and Executive Producer.
Toshihiro Nagoshi has been a SEGA mainstay since 1989, starting as a designer and director on games like Virtua Racing, Daytona USA and Shenmue before finding fame as the lead director of the Super Monkey Ball and Yakuza franchises.
Daisuke Sato is also a long-tenured SEGA employee starting his career on field map production for 1995’s Magic Knight Rayearth on the Saturn and having designer credits on games like SEGA Super GT, Virtua Fighter 3tb and Shenmue. Sato’s career highlights also include directing duties Yakuza 3 and Binary Domain.
You can read the full story on RGG Studio’s restructure by clicking this link.
As previously reported, on the 20th of September 2021, SEGA Japan closed the doors on one of its biggest arcades in the form of the SEGA GiGO located in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. While the arcade lives on through a virtual recreation that you can explore at home, the Tokyo Lens YouTube channel has created a short documentary about the arcade and why arcades are closing Japan with increasing frequency. It also contains interviews with the venue’s actual staff and managers and it offers some fascinating insight into the Japanese arcade industry in 2021.
Click the embed below to watch Tokyo Lens’s ‘Japan’s Arcades are DISAPPEARING’ documentary:
A surprise re-release of Advanced Busterhawk Gleylancer is heading to Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S next week. This digital re-release of the Mega Drive shoot-em-up classic arrives on October 15th 2021 and is available in English for the first time ever in an official format.
The port is being handled by Ratalaika Games and boasts enhanced accessibility features and fully translated cut scenes. You can watch the game’s launch trailer by clicking the embed below:
Retro-Bit Gaming have revealed that they are officially working with SEGA on a new Mega Drive controller shaped like the original 3 button Mega Drive controller but now with 6 button functionality.
While there is currently no word on a release date and only a single production mock-up image, Retro-Bit have promised the controller will be sold in original port, USB wired, and 2.4 GHz wireless (with USB-C) variants and more details are coming soon. This should be a great alternative for those looking for a bluetooth Mega Drive controller for the upcoming Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack which adds a selection of Mega Drive games to the service. Japan are getting an official bluetooth 6 button Mega Drive controller for the Switch, but unfortunately Western Mega Drive fans have to settle with a 3 button pad if they buy from Nintendo directly.
During the most recent Nintendo Direct, Nintendo have revealed that a collection of SEGA Mega Drive games will be added to the Nintendo Switch Online service as a part of an upcoming “expansion pack”. This expansion pack will add N64 and Mega Drive games to your existing NSO subscription and will go live in October 2021. No pricing has been set at time of writing.
The full list of Mega Drive games being added are: Castlevania Bloodlines, Contra Hard Corps, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Ecco the Dolphin, Golden Axe, Gunstar Heroes, MUSHA, Phantasy Star IV, Ristar, Shining Force, Shinobi III, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Streets of Rage 2 and Strider.
Alongside this announcement, Nintendo have revealed they will also be developing and selling their own bluetooth 3 button Mega Drive controller. Nintendo Japan have also revealed they will be releasing a 6 button variant as well, but this variant is currently Japan exclusive.
The Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack launches in October 2021.
On the 20th of September 2021, SEGA Japan sadly shut the doors on the SEGA GiGO arcade in Ikebukuro, Tokyo after 28 years in business. It’s another major loss to SEGA Japan’s arcade business that has seen major casualties thanks to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Thankfully an explorable, 3D, virtual version of the arcade has been created and you can take a trip through this mammoth arcade via the comfort of your own home. This follows on from the previously released virtual version of SEGA’s Retro Game Floor in Akihabara.
SEGA streamed the events of the Ikebukuro SEGA GiGO’s final day of operation on YouTube, and the stream is archived and available to view by clicking here.
Tags: 3d, arcade, sega gigo, sega japan, virtual Posted in News | Comments Off on Explore a 3D Recreation of SEGA’s Recently Closed GiGO Arcade in Ikebukuro, Tokyo
Hidden Palace’s amazing archiving efforts with Project Deluge continue! This time we have a brand new set of 135 unreleased Dreamcast prototypes and some SEGA Xbox prototypes as well.
Some notable inclusions on the Dreamcast side of things are an unreleased English localisation of Shanghai Dynasty, an early build of 4 Wheel Thunder called Offroad Thunder, an early prototype of Deep Fighter and a prototype of SEGA GT that features a track called “sonygt2” and features Luigi (see above). This one was clearly not made for public distribution!
On the Xbox side of things we also have prototypes of Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller, ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth and Gunvalkyrie.
The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is now 30 years old and along with this monumental anniversary comes a brand new port of Sonic Colours to PS4, Xbox One, Switch and PC called Sonic Colours Ultimate. Both Tracker and Sonic Yoda have played the PS4 and Xbox One versions and have put together an extensive, bumper review of both versions for you to read. Is Sonic Colours Ultimate really the ultimate version of Sonic Colours? Find out by clicking below!
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