If, by chance, you find yourself feeling a little nostalgic on this Thusday morning, you might want to jump over to Spotify. That's because Sega just added a bunch of game soundtracks to its Spotify library, and many gamers will hold a soft spot for some of these classics. The collection of soundtracks being added spans nearly two decades of Sega games, so there's a lot to get through.
The coolest cartridge-based gaming system that I ever played back in the day was the Sega Genesis. In countries other than the US that game system was called the Sega Mega Drive. Unless you live in Brazil you might not know just how popular this retro console is in that country. Word is that the Sega Mega Drive sell about 150,000 units per day in Brazil.
Those who have been disappointed by Sonic the Hedgehog's 3D escapades may want to take a look at Sonic Utopia, a new fan-game announced today. Sonic Utopia looks to fix some of the problems 3D Sonic games have, offering players an open world to run, jump, and go fast through. If that has piqued your interest, you might like to know that there happens to be a demo you can download to try Sonic Utopia for yourself.
It's safe to say that Sonic Mania is a game that has old-school Sonic fans more excited than they've been in a long time. It's been a turbulent road for the Blue Blur ever since he made the jump to 3D, with many hoping to see a return to his 2D platforming roots. Sonic Generations got us halfway there, while Sonic Mania fully embraces the character's 16-bit past. If you've avoided gameplay videos thus far, one look at the freshly revealed collector's edition of the game is all you need to see just how much of a throwback Sonic Mania is to the 16-bit era.
If you're like me and grew up in the 16-bit era of video games, then you'll probably remember Disney's collection of platformers fondly. Those games not only showed that good movie tie-ins can exist, but also what good platformers are made of. Make no mistake: Disney definitely had a hot streak back in the mid-90s, and now through its partnership with GOG.com, we can relive a few of those memories on PC.
Nintendo recently announced plans to capitalize on nostalgia with the NES Classic Edition, and now Sega is doing something similar. Now available for order is the Sega Mega Drive, as well as a Mega Drive/Genesis handheld console, to commemorate the 25th Sonic anniversary. The console costs about $65 USD, as does the handheld version, and comes packed with 80 integrated games including Mortal Kombat 1 - 3, a handful of Sonic games, Golden Axe 1 - 3, and a bunch more.
It's hard to remember the last decent Sonic the Hedgehog game — most would agree Sega's once iconic series took a drastic turn downhill following the Sonic Adventure titles on the Dreamcast. With each disappointing games' release in the years that followed, all fans asked for was a Sonic title that played like the originals from the early '90s: 2D graphics and fast gameplay. It may have taken them over 15 years, but it looks like Sega has finally gotten the point.
As of last week, the Sega Saturn turned 21 years old, at least if you start counting from its EU release. Although it enjoyed an initial surge of popularity, the Saturn was quickly left by the wayside in the console wars that left only three companies standing. Like any old, obsolete console, the Sega Saturn has its own share of loyal fans. Now those fans can take their consoles out of storage. At long last, the Sega Saturn's DRM has finally been cracked and the console can finally load and play games off a USB stick instead of a CD.
It may (or may not) surprise you to find out that Sonic, our little blue hedgehog friend from the 1990s, turns 25 this year. Despite a number of rocky releases in recent years, the Blue Blur is still kicking and shows no signs of slowing down, as Sonic Team lead Takashi Iizuka has teased a new game to go along with the character's 25th anniversary.
The world was set ablaze with Shenmue 3 hype last year after a Kickstarter for a new sequel from creator Yu Suzuki set new funding records. Now fans of the RPG series may have something else to look forward to, as developer Sega has said that it's "currently investigating" the possibilities of HD remasters for the Dreamcast classics Shenmue and Shenmue 2. If successful, the titles, first released in 1999 and 2001, respectively, would likely be ported to current-gen consoles.
Fans of Sega's Genesis console (also known as the Mega Drive in Europe and Japan) have long been able to dive back into their library of classic 16-bit games on Steam, but starting next week, it's going to be even better. Complete with Sega's support, Steam is launching the Sega Mega Drive Classics Hub, which will include the ability to play modded versions of the games.
Call it what you will, but sometimes it just becomes necessary to give up one's hobby. That seems to be the reality one video game fan is facing, as they're selling a collection of 3,133 titles that span 20 different consoles, most of which are included, all in good to excellent condition. With games ranging from the original NES all the way to the PlayStation 3, including rarities from the Turbo GrafX 16, Atari Jaguar, and Panasonic 3DO, the full collection seems to have taken a lifetime to put together.
