This year’s Summer of Sonic convention will be focussing greater on fan interaction after the announcement of several features which will be appearing at the July 7th event.
First of all, the Showcase feature makes a return. This means fans can get on stage to display their various talents, whether it be fan art, music, fiction or anything else! The Artist Alley also returns which will showcase artwork from a range of different contributors. Fan animations and shorts are also expected to be shown throughout the day.
Also returning is the annual cosplay contest which has seen an ever-growing popularity each year. I’ve personally seen plenty of Shadows, Sonics, Rouges, Sallys and even a Wes Weasley at past events!
The Club Sonic segment will also make a return after its’ successful appearance last year. This section of the show relies heavily on audience participation to a nonstop megamix of Sonic tunes.
Finally, Sonic the Comic Online will be appearing at the event to showcase the latest work on the online continuation of Fleetway’s Sonic the Comic series.
More information on the newly announced sequel to Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing is slowly seeping in.
The game will feature a total of 27 playable characters. The characters will be unlocked in a single player adventure/story mode which is also new to the series. Characters can also earn XP and level up which allows the characters to use their all-star moves.
Sumo Digital’s development team has been expanded to include members of past racing studios such as Gareth Wilson from Bizarre Creations as well as members of Black Rock.
There will also be new weapons like a small, remote controlled Sonic vehicle (complete with transformations) which can be remotely driven into enemies and detonated like a bomb. Also announced is a giant catchers mitt which can be used to catch enemy projectiles and use them to your advantage.
A sequel to Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing has been confirmed. The next game in the series is named Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (note the exclusion of ‘SEGA’ from the title) and it will be released on X-Box 360. No other word on release platforms is available at this time but Playstation 3 will likely be considered seeing how the first one was also released on that platform.
New features confirmed for the game are:
Gliding and water-based racing
Terrain that changes as the race goes on
Panzer Dragoon and Super Monkey Ball themed courses
Richard Jacques has contributed to the soundtrack
New characters include Vyse from Skies of Arcadia and Gilius Thunderhead from Golden Axe
In what is possibly the most bizarre in-game bonus we’ve ever seen, SEGA has revealed an ‘adult map’ for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz on PS Vita.
The map is based around Yuki Kawamura; a Japanese glamour model which obviously means you can use her breasts as ramps. Yes, you read that right. See below for the hard evidence (no pun intended):
This map is only available to those who pre-order the first print run of the game in Japan and will unlikely be making an appearance on Western shores.
Here’s an additional trailer that also features Yuki Kawamura promoting the game:
Binary Domain will be getting a PC release very soon. Digital copies will launch on April 27th while boxed copies will launch on May 18th.
Pre-order from Steam and you’ll also receive the Multiplayer Pack which includes a Ninja class , Outside High-rise map and extra sniper rifle and handgun weapon types. This will set you back £30.
Hopefully the game gets a second wind with this PC release as the console release failed to set the world alight even though it received positive reviews from most major game-sites.
Project X Zone, the upcoming SEGA, Capcom and Namco Bandai joint RPG venture now has screenshots. Among the SEGA characters now confirmed are Ulala from Space Channel 5, Space Harrier from, well… Space Harrier and Opa-Opa from Fantasy Zone (yes!). Check out the screens below courtesy of Sonic Wrecks and gaze at some amazing sprite-work:
The collaborative game that SEGA, Capcom and Namco Bandai have been working on for the 3DS is called Project X Zone and it will be a strategic RPG.
The characters in the game fight in pairs. A list of characters from each company has also been revealed by Weekly Famitsu:
Capcom
Ryu and Ken (Street Fighter), X and Zero (Mega Man), Demitri and Dante (Darkstalkers and Devil May Cry), Chris and Jill (Resident Evil).
SEGA
Shinguji Sakura and Ogami Ichiro (Sakura Wars), Pai and Akira (Virtua Fighter), Kurt and Riela (Valkyria Chronicles), Ulala and Touma (Space Channel 5 and Shining Force EXA).
Namco Bandai
Sanger Somvold (Super Robot Wars), Jin and Ling Xiaoyu (Tekken), Kos-Mos and T-elos (Xenosaga), Yurie and Estel (Tales of Vesperia), Kaito and Black Rose (.hack).
The project is being lead by Namco Bandai’s own Kensuke Tsukanaka. There is no news of a Western release at this time but the game is due for a Japanese release later this year.
Dreamcast top-down racer Rush Rush Rally Racing will be getting a WiiWare release on the 19th of April in the EU. The game will set you back 900 points.
No release date has been set for US Wii owners at this time but Senile Team have assured fans that they’re ‘doing the best we can to get one as soon as possible’.
SEGA is to cancel certain titles and cut jobs in an attempt to “streamline” its’ focus.
SEGA have reported a significant loss for the financial year ending 31st of March 2012 and will go under a “structural reform” effective immediately. Reasons for the loss are said to be “challenging economic climate and significant changes in the home video game software market”.
The games that SEGA have cancelled have not been named at this time but the Sonic, Alien, Total War and Football Manager franchises are uneffected.
The European 3DS eShop has been updated to include the 3 Game Gear titles. The titles in question are Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble, Shinobi and Dragon Crystal. Dragon Crystal is priced at £2.70, Shinobi at £3.60 and Sonic at £4.50. The full press release now follows:
“We are pleased to announce that three original Game Gear games are making a welcome return to handheld gaming. Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble, Shinobi and Dragon Crystal are all now available on the 3DS eshop worldwide giving you the chance to overcome past adversities.
Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble was originally released in November 1994, as a sequel to Sonic Chaos. The platform-oriented game gives players the choice of playing as Sonic or Tails. Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble introduces players to Nack the Weasel for the first time.
Sonic and Tails are tasked with retrieving the Chaos Emeralds which have been scattered across planet Mobius during an experiment, by Dr. Robotnik and his team testing the ‘Atomic Destroyer’ which goes wrong. In the meantime Dr. Robotnik runs into Knuckles and convinces him Sonic and Tails are out to steal the emeralds. Nack the Weasel takes advantage of the confusion to collect the emeralds for himself.
Shinobi, known in Japan as The G.G. Shinobi, was developed and published by SEGA exclusively for the SEGA Game Gear. It was released in 1991 as part of the Shinobi series of games. The music in the game was composed by Yūzō Koshiro.
As Joe Musashi, student of the ‘The Master of Oboro’, you are sent to Ninja Valley which has been submerged by an air of terror and destruction as a dark force has established a base within Neo City. You must use the art of Ninjutsu to free your fellow shinobi, and continue your adventure by mastering their skills.
Dragon Crystal is an RPG which was originally released on the SEGA Master System and ported to the Game Gear in 1991 making it one the Game Gear’s earliest Role Playing Games.
In Dragon Crystal, you must navigate your way through 30 randomly generated, dangerous labyrinths, collecting weapons, armour, magic books along the way. Gameplay combat is turn-based, players positioning during battles is paramount to their success.”
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