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Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop Announced for April 2024 Release Through Apple Arcade

Tuesday, March 12th, 2024

SEGA are continuing their run of Apple Arcade exclusive titles with a brand new Puyo Puyo game that will release on April 4th 2024. Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop will be Apple Arcade exclusive and playable in both single player and multiplayer. You can check out the reveal trailer below:

The game is boasting 24 characters that will also introduce some brand new characters to the franchise. The game will also feature a brand new story and fully voiced characters. The overworld and characters are rendered in true 3D, whereas previous Puyo Puyo games have favoured a 2D art style.

Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop launches on April 4th 2024 exclusively for Apple Arcade.

New Expanded Version of Shin Megami Tensei V Announced With New Story Line

Wednesday, February 21st, 2024

A newly expanded version of Shin Megami Tensei V has been announced called Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. This new version of the JRPG will launch on June 21st 2024 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch. The game is being developed in-house at Atlus. You can check out the reveal trailer by clicking the embed below:

The original version of Shin Megami Tensei V launched back in November 2021. The new story line included in Vengeance is boasting new locations, demons and choices to make. The game is being published by both Atlus and SEGA.

Unicorn Overlord Demo Now Available Alongside New Trailer

Wednesday, February 21st, 2024

Vanillaware’s upcoming tactical RPG Unicorn Overlord now has a free downloadable demo for the Nintendo Switch. The full game will release on March 8th 2024, but any progress made in the free demo can be transferred to the main game once it releases. You can check out a brand new trailer for the game below:

Unicorn Overlord is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch. The game is being published by Atlus and SEGA and developed by Vanillaware.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble Announced, First Entirely New Monkey Ball Game in 10 Years

Wednesday, February 21st, 2024

SEGA have revealed the first entirely new Super Monkey Ball game in over 10 years. Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is coming exclusively to Switch on June 25th 2024. The game is boasting 200 brand new stages and a new spin dash technique that works similarly to the Sonic the Hedgehog games. This means you can give yourself a burst of speed and open up new ways to progress through the stages. You can check out the game’s reveal trailer below:

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is also boasting 4 player multiplayer in the game’s adventure mode, as well as some exclusive multiplayer variants that support up to 16 players. You can also customise your character with over 300 items. Alongside the digital release of the game, a ‘legendary banana edition’ physical version is also available to pre-order which contains a reversible cover, bonus in-game banana suit for your character a 40 page ‘adventure book’.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is a first party SEGA title and is being developed in-house. The game launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch on June 25th 2024.

Sonic X Shadow Generations Announced, Enhanced Port of Sonic Generations With New Shadow Campaign

Wednesday, January 31st, 2024

Sonic Generations is getting a new port to PS4, PS5, PC, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S with additional stages and Shadow as a playable character. This new version will be called Sonic X Shadow Generations and its launching in Autumn 2024. You can check out the reveal trailer by clicking the embed below:

The new Shadow content appears to draw from several games that Shadow has featured in, including Sonic Adventure 2 and the eponymous Shadow the Hedgehog. We even see a return of Black Doom and the Biolizard. SEGA’s official word is that Shadow will have his own unique story campaign to play through in this new port, which is also boasting new bonus content alongside an enhanced port of the original Sonic Generations.

Rare Japanese SEGA AI Computer Discovered and Emulated in MAME Alongside Wide Range of Software

Wednesday, January 31st, 2024

The SEGA AI Computer is one of the rarest SEGA systems ever created, what with it being largely made for Japanese audiences. This 1986 computer was sold to as an educational device for children and used in schools. In 2014, the team at SMS Power managed to source a unit and some software from a Yahoo Japan auction. Since then, the team have worked effortlessly to source as much software as possible for the system and get it all dumped and working under emulation, which you can now do via MAME.

Click here to be taken to SMS Power’s article on the SEGA AI Computer which includes detailed information on the computer itself, its specs, how to emulate it and see a full list of the software the team has managed to source and archive. SMS Power have managed to dump 26 My Cards and 14 cassette tapes containing SEGA AI Computer software, so there’s a lot to explore here.

SEGADriven would like to congratulate and thank the team at SMS Power for archiving another piece of rare SEGA history and finally allowing a wider audience to experience this previously Japan-only system that was largely sold to schools.

Rocket Knight Adventures and Sparkster Getting Re-Released As a Part of New Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked Collection

Thursday, January 11th, 2024

All 3 Sparkster titles are being re-released as a part of a new Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked collection that comes with a reprint of the entire 6 part Sparkster series from Sonic the Comic. This new compilation is being handled by Limited Run Games using their proprietary Carbon Engine and is being released on PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch.

The 3 titles included are Rocket Knight Adventures for the Mega Drive, Sparkster for Mega Drive and Sparkster for SNES which is actually quite different when compared to its Mega Drive counterpart. The mini comic that features the entire ‘Last of the Rocket Knights’ story also marks the first time any material from Sonic the Comic has been republished since the comic ceased publication in 2002.

Pre-orders for Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked will open on January 19th 2024 and finish on February 18th 2024. All pre-orders placed during this window will be honored. You can browse the various editions of the game on the Limited Run Games store by clicking here, but don’t feel like you’re missing out if you don’t want to place an order for an expensive collector’s edition, as even the standard edition comes with a reversible cover and the comic.

11 Builds of Unreleased PS2 Vectorman Game Dumped

Saturday, December 30th, 2023

The wonderful people at SEGA Dreamcast Info have managed to source and dump 11 different builds of the unreleased PS2 Vectorman game that was infamously revealed at E3 2003.

This 3D take on Vectorman would see the game transition into a 3rd person shooter. The project was being lead by a new development studio called Pseudo Interactive. You can watch footage of the prototype builds in action via the embed below:

A detailed article along with concept artwork, game design documentation and screenshots can be read on the SEGA Dreamcast Info website by clicking here.

[Source: SEGA Dreamcast Info on X]

Lost Zones from Sonic 2 Discovered in Ex-STI Artist Portfolios

Wednesday, December 13th, 2023

The development of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 continues to be one of the most well documented stories in gaming history. The Video Game History Foundation have now preserved artwork from 2 ex-SEGA Technical Institute artists and discover a whole host of content from the game’s early development that we’ve never seen before. See below for a full list of the discoveries that they’ve made:

– Dark Empire was a cancelled STI Mega Drive game that was shelved due to Sonic 2 getting green-lit
– Maps of the concept stage Genocide/Cyber City by Tom Payne have been scanned that give us a better understanding of what this stage might have looked like
– A working demo of Genocide/Cyber City has been produced with Hez of Sonic the Hedgehog Classic fame, who has also been working on his own preservation of Wood/Secret Jungle Zone
– All of Tom Payne’s artwork has been made available to browse on Archive.org by clicking here
– The Sand Shower mock-up screen is actually animated and viewable on Brenda Cook’s VHS portfolio alongside a Wood/Secret Jungle Zone mock-up
– Brenda Cook’s VHS portfolio also reveals a completely unseen Winter-themed zone which is a palette swap of Sand Shower that now features snow and Christmas trees
– Brenda Cook’s VHS portfolio has been entirely preserved on YouTube and is available to watch by clicking here. It also contains artwork for a deleted Sonic Spinball stage

You can watch the entire video on all of these discoveries from The Video Game History Foundation via the embed below:

SEGA Reveal New Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi and Streets of Rage Games at The Game Awards 2023

Friday, December 8th, 2023

SEGA have revived 5 of their classic franchises for new games. In a reveal video at The Game Awards 2023, the publisher has announced that new entries in the Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi and Streets of Rage franchises are currently in development and showcased some brief gameplay of each title.

The new Jet Set Radio carries forward the cel-shaded graphical style of its previous 2 entries and appears to add new traversal capabilities.

Shinobi stays in the 2nd dimension for a fast-paced game that looks like it plays similarly to Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master. However, it is now sporting a hand-drawn art style that isn’t too far removed from Streets of Rage 4.

Golden Axe is once again going for a 3D action game style similar to its last entry Golden Axe: Beast Rider, but appears to have more playable characters and a return to a lot of the franchise’s key iconography.

Crazy Taxi is probably the game that has decided on the most realistic presentation, but it’s still a colourful continuation of its open-world driving hijinks.

And finally we have a new Streets of Rage game that has interestingly ditched its 2D belt-scrolling gameplay for a full 3D interpretation. It’s actually not a million miles off the presentation of the leaked Streets of Rage game that was being pitched by Ruffian Games back in 2012.

You can watch the full reveal video for these games via the embed below:

There are currently no details on when these games will release, for what systems or even what their final titles will be. At the time of writing SEGA have only revealed that the titles are in development alongside a promise that even more games from dormant SEGA franchises are also on the way.

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