Fast becoming one of the most important resources for digital archiving of prototype software, Hidden Palace have released another slew of prototype versions of various Sonic the Hedgehog titles. These new dumps of late development builds of Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Spinball and Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine showcase some fascinating insight into their development and feature a slew of differences from their final builds.
Sonic Adventure 2 features many grammatical errors that would be corrected for the final build, Metal Harbor and the final Sonic and Shadow battle are considerably more difficult and the driving stages feature different collision results when driving into other vehicles. The full list of differences can be read on the Hidden Palace entry for this release.
All of these dumps can be downloaded and played through emulation or on real hardware from the Hidden Palace entries linked above. Hidden Palace will be streaming and revealing their “last present from under the tree” tonight (31/12/2020) at 10pm GMT on Twitch, so if you’re excited to see more prototypes from their team then be sure to tune in.
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is a bit of an odd one to review, at a glance. The moment the game was announced, there was confusion as to how exactly you could make a worthwhile sequel to a concept as basic as “Puyo Puyo, and also Tetris.” Indeed, besides the brand new storyline in the game’s adventure mode, this game certainly boils down to more of Puyo Puyo Tetris. The additions seen here, many of them subtle, add up to create what is, on paper, a far more definitive package for both Puyo and Tetris fans, but it’s also one that also fails to address the most egregious flaws those fans found with the original game.
The final set of games to be announced for the Astro City Mini have now been revealed, via Famitsu Live. They are as follows:
Arabian Fight
Ninja Princess
Stack Columns
Sonic Boom
Scramble Spirits
Flicky
Puyo Puyo Tsu
Quartet 2
Thunder Force AC
Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars
Rad Mobile
My Hero
Space Harrier
An Astro City Arcade Stick was also announced alongside the final batch of games, which will be released for for 12,800 JPY (£90)… which is practically the price of the Astro City Mini itself. This joins the huge amount of other accessories announced for it, such as the Game Centre Style Kit. The other games on the unit are (after the jump): (more…)
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
The latest Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase has announced Puyo Puyo Tetris 2: The Ultimate Puzzle Match. It’ll be coming to a slew of consoles: Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
The game is a direct sequel to the first Puyo Puyo Tetris, and will include a brand new Adventure Mode with a new Story, as well as new characters.
As well as the standard Puyo (and Tetris) fare, there’ll also be new modes, such as “Skill Battle” (which actually originated in Puyo Puyo Chronicle on 3DS). This mode will involve ‘Skill Cards’ – you can get some skill cards as a pre-order bonus for the game, including some based on Sonic the Hedgehog.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
The next 13 games have been announced for the SEGA Astro City Mini, coming to us via the latest Dengeki stream.
The games are as follows:
Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams
Shinobi
Shadow Dancer
Cyber Police ESWAT (ESWAT – City Under Siege)
Crack Down
Gain Ground
Puyo Puyo
Columns
Bonanza Bros
Ichidant-R
Wonder Boy
Wonder Boy in Monster Land
Wonder Boy III – Monster Lair
This puts the announced game total at 23 titles, with 36 confirmed to be on the microconsole. The next set of titles will be announced on September 3rd during a Famitsu stream.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
For SEGA’s 60th anniversary, the company have revealed a new novelty micro console in the form of the Game Gear Micro.
Currently only scheduled for a Japanese launch on October 6th 2020, the console will be available in 4 colour variants, each bundled with its own compilation of 4 Game Gear titles. Each system will launch for ¥4,980. A special edition bundle is also available which includes all 4 console variants, a set of replica game cases for each of the included titles and a working SEGA Big Window (aka the Super Wide Gear) which allows you to magnify the screen. This will set you back ¥29,980.
The Game Gear Micro will measure 80mm wide, 43mm tall and 20mm deep and include a 1.15″ display. It also includes a single mono speaker, a headphone jack and is powered by 2 AAA batteries. Supposedly you can power the system for a longer period of time with a separately sold USB cable.
The full list of included titles on each of the Game Gear Micro variants now follows:
Black Game Gear Micro
Out Run, Puyo Puyo Tsu, Royal Stone and Sonic the Hedgehog
Blue Game Gear Micro
Baku Baku Animal: Sekai Shiikugakari Senshuken, Gunstar Heroes, Sonic & Tails and Sylvan Tale
Yellow Game Gear Micro
Nazo Puyo: Arle no Roux, Shining Force, Shining Force II and Shining Force: Final Conflict
Red Game Gear Micro
Columns, The G.G. Shinobi, Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible and Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special
The Madō Monogatari series has long been a Japanese exclusive franchise, but that changes today as the Mega Drive remake of the first 3 games is now available in English for the very first time.
Western gamers will recognise the characters of Madō Monogatari from their later appearances in the Puyo Puyo franchise, but they actually debuted here. The action of Madō Monogatari is largely a traditional JRPG which is why an English language patch is so essential to play it. With this patch the game becomes Sorcery Saga I in English.
SEGA has finally announced when Western players will be able to get their hands on the SEGA AGES series’ Virtua Racing and Wonder Boy ports for Nintendo Switch. The titles will both be out June 27th in the West, for $7.99 each. If the other AGES titles are to go by, they’ll likely be £5.99 each on the European eShop.
This is where things get puzzling though – Western players are now missing a game! SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo, which launched in Japan before either of these titles and was previously confirmed to be on the way to Western shores, is nowhere to be found. It’s a very peculiar turn of events, as the game is fully localised (downloading it from the Japan store to an English system gives you the localised version, as with all of the AGES ports). All we can think of is that perhaps they didn’t want to launch the port so close to the recent Puyo Puyo Champions, but it’s unfortunate given AGES Puyo marks the first time the game’s English translation has ever been officially rereleased.
Either way, it’s good to see more titles from this series making their way westward, and Virtua Racing in particular is a fantastic port. We’ll let you know if anymore details come in on Puyo’s whereabouts.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
The previously Eastern-exclusive Puyo Puyo eSports will launch in the West on May 7th 2019 as Puyo Puyo Champions, for PS4, Xbox One, Switch and PC.
This title is built heavily on the Puyo Puyo Tetris engine and focus heavily on both local and online multiplayer. You can check out the reveal trailer below:
Puyo Puyo Champions will release for £7.99 as a digital-only release.
After a hefty delay, SEGA has confirmed the Nintendo Switch port of Puyo Puyo’s original arcade version, part of M2’s SEGA AGES series, will launch on March 28th in Japan.
As well as including the original Japanese arcade version of the game, for the first time ever the AGES release will include the English localisation of the title, previously speculated to be a bootleg. It’s… an interesting take on the game, to say the least. Above all else, the game also supports online play, so you can have those Mean Bean Machine matches with foes half the world away!
There’s no word on a Western release date yet but fortunately SEGA’s Western divisions are catching up, as both Gain Ground and Alex Kidd in Miracle World, the most recent games in the AGES series, will be released over here on the same day Puyo hits Japan, March 28th.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
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