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SEGA, IT'S TIME TO REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

16/4/2018

14 Comments

 
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Mini mini mini miniiii - ah-aaah-aah-ah-ah-ahhh!

Everything's getting smaller; nuclear missiles, the moral integrity of US presidents... and the games machines we grew up playing. We've had two mini Nintendo plug-and-play machines, the C64 Mini, and now it looks like we're getting a proper Mega Drive Mini. This is good. This is almost exactly what I want. 

There have been countless other machines which have tried to emulate the Mega Drive experience (for example, the Mega Drive Flashback from the makers of the Mega Drive Mini), but - to date - they've all felt a bit cheap-and-cheerful. Hopefully things will be different this time, given the precedent set by Nintendo, and that Sega will be working closely with manufacturer AtGames to ensure its integrity. 

The Mega Drive Mini wasn't the only Sega retro news to ooze out of the spout last week; a remastered Shenmue 1 & 2 package is swaggering towards the PS4, Xbox One and PC, and classic Sega games (starting with the Mega Drive, but later expanding to include Saturn and Dreamcast titles) will begin surfacing on Nintendo's Switch eStore later this year. 

Add all this to the fruity reception which embraced last year's defiantly old-school Sonic Mania, and it feels like there is, at last, enough fresh air since Sega was forced out the hardware game for people to start looking more fondly at its antediluvian "bulge".

To be honest, it's overdue.
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FANNY
I was - and to a point still am - a Nintendo fan. I slightly hesitate to call myself a "fanboy", because that implies I love everything Nintendo does without question.

I certainly don't; I became a Nintendo fan because I thought quite genuinely that the Super NES was brilliant, and Nintendo's games for it were brilliant. They were, and still are. But at the same time, there has been a lot that Nintendo has done which I felt was wrong-headed. And by "a lot" I mean "the Wii U", and, to a lesser extent - get ready for some sweeeeet heresy - the Nintendo 64. 

In political terms, I've learned recently that this perverse, free-thinking, ability to question things I generally support makes me a "centrist" - which is, apparently, the worst thing in the world that anybody can be. Remember, kids: it's really important to be utterly inflexible when it comes to whichever belief system you've decided to back! Absolutes are the new black (and white).

Furthermore, I've been gallivanting through the SNES and Mega Drive back catalogues of late, and something has struck me; the SNES has more terrible games than I remember, and the Mega Drive has more great games than I remember. 

Particularly in the latter case, a lot of those really, really great games came late in the Mega Drive's life. It appears that developers took a while to really get to grips with the hardware, and by the time they did... Sega was releasing the Mega CD and 32X, and implying that the Mega Drive was no longer fit for purpose. It's like reaching the altar on your wedding day, and trying to demonstrate to your betrothed  that you're only human by deciding suddenly to defile your underwear.

"Nnnng... I'm not perfect, you know!!! I'm.... ng-nnnggg.... I'm pooing in my pants, Linda!!"

I think my memory of those first-party SNES games, and the way Sega mishandled its consoles, specifically the Mega CD-to-32X-to-Saturn debacle - and Sega's annoying marketing of the Mega Drive as the "cool" console - coloured my feelings.

It had prejudiced me against the company, and that's a shame. I mean, it was too little too late, but I believe the Dreamcast was a genuinely wonderful system, with a bunch of genuinely great games, and I bought a Mega Drive almost as soon as it was released in the UK. I was very, very happy with it... and had no reason to question my choice... until the SNES came along. 

​But now it seems that my feelings, and those of others - including Sega's own - are changing.
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WEIRD POSITION
Sega is in a weird position these days. Whereas Nintendo and Sony - who, lest we forget, had as much to do with the downfall of Sega as Sega itself did - have managed to remain relevant, Sega might as well not exist anymore as a modern games publisher. It has been hard to get a clear handle on the identity of Sega as it exists now.

There does, however, seem to be steps from Sega towards more firmly embracing its role as a sort of "heritage" publisher. Certainly, Sega could simply continue to license out its back catalogue. However, what I'd really like to see are more games like Sonic Mania; relatively low-budget, low-risk, re-workings of classic Sega titles by developers who are fans.

You could think of it like the way Star Wars is now being made by people who grew up with it. Or the way in which Doctor Who, since it returned, has always had a showrunner drawn from its hardcore fanbase (admittedly, to diminishing creative returns). We're living in an era where people don't want the things they loved from childhood to stay in the past; we want them to be ongoing. I mean, just look at this stupid bloody site for one thing. 

Sega needs to find a way to get beyond the reality that its games are freely and easily (not to mention illegally) available via emulation. It needs to offer something extra, building on its heritage rather than merely re-releasing it un-fiddled-with.

And get this: I have a real good idea. 

IMAGINE ALL THE PEOPLE
Imagine a Streets of Rage Mania or Gunstar Heroes Mania. Heck, you could almost re-release Ristar with just a few enhancements and it'd still stand up. 

There are so many new games being released which are inspired by classic Sega games - just look at the brand new, and brilliant-looking, Mega Drive game Tanglewood - that Sega has an opportunity to work with some of the people behind them. Set them loose on new old-style games featuring its classic brands. Give them access to the original code, sound and artwork assets. Let them go to town with it.

And I'm not just talking Mega Drive games; we forget that Sega had a long history in the arcades before it moved into home gaming. Let's see some of those brought back in a way that's new, while honouring the pixellated heritage; OutRun, Power Drift, Zaxxon, Bonanza Bros...

Then release a brand new Sega console; the Super Mega Drive, or whatever, which looks similar, but not identical to the old Mega Drive. A design which builds on those weird, industrial, shapes. Perhaps it's even a handheld hybrid like the Switch (so long as it's affordable)

Make all these new-old games available for that, maybe via download only, but also available on the PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Mac and PC for those who don't want to buy new Sega hardware. It would be a completely unique proposition, appealing to those with a fondness for nostalgia, while also being something new... and - importantly - relatively low-risk. I mean, heck, crowd-fund it if you need to. Let people show you that they want it. The audience is out there. 

We're at a moment in history now where Sega has an opportunity to capitalise on its past - and help pave the way to a healthier future, and this window might not stay open forever.

​Sega deserves better than where it's at; publishing games which feel entirely at-odds with the Sega we remember it as. It has an opportunity to embrace who it is... because we've not forgotten, and we're all ready to welcome it back.
14 Comments
MENTALIST
16/4/2018 09:51:05 am

Sega, they're that PC strategy and sports management game company, aren't they?

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Andrew B
16/4/2018 10:03:10 am

Interesting idea although I think the Super Mega Drive feels a bit like the Ataribox nonsense and would probably be treat as such.

Totally with you on the software part but I don't have to imagine Streets of Rage Mania... Streets of Rage Remake already exists and probably the best Sega game that Sega never made (or something..)

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Neptunium
16/4/2018 11:08:48 am

My Sega wishes:

1. A reboot of Hang On! in an Outrun 2 stylee, complete with arcade cabinet with built in motorbike before handing the code over to Sumo for an arcade perfect home translation.
2. A new Jet Set Radio game for Switch
3. Master System Snail Maze Game Mania Maker - 300 mazes to complete along with editor and online support to download more mazes.

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Nikki
16/4/2018 11:46:02 am

My Sega/Nintendo wish: just sell us the gosh darn ROMs. Legitimise emulation by selling the ROMs.

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Neptunium
16/4/2018 12:49:09 pm

Never going to happen. There's too much money in flogging you the same games again.

At this point I've bought Super Mario Bros six times:

1x NES
1x SNES (Super Mario Collection)
1x GameCube (Animal Crossing)
1x Wii VC
1x Wii-U VC ("discounted" to "just" £2 IIRC, because I bought it on the Wii - but for some reason I felt compelled that I must be able to play it on the gamepad)
1x NES Mini

My next runner us is Ocarina of Time which, for reasons unknown, I have got twice on the GameCube so I own it 4 times (latest being the 3DS remake). Ironically, despite owning so many copies I've yet to actually complete it.

I've never owned a Mega Drive but I've bought Sonic 1 at least three times on the crappy AtGames handheld, Sonic Mega Collection and on Android.

Once they sell you the ROMzZz not only do they have to provide support to idiots on how to load them but then other idiots like me will realise that I don't need to buy the same game for an eighth time since I own a perfect binary of the original game.

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Super Space Hero
26/4/2018 03:24:21 pm

Honestly, I wish Nintendo didn't go that direction with the Virtual Console, and that it would've ended up going more in the direction of things like Steam and mobile app stores like Google Play - letting users have an account so that they could have the games across devices. If it's not compatible with that particular device, they just don't let them download it (say, with SNES games on non-New 3DSes). There will always be someone who doesn't have the game on any device who will be getting it for the first time.

At this point, though, I just don't think Super Mario Bros. is worth the $5 it is here in the States. I feel inclined to say they could get some pretty good press if they just made that one particular game free.

Biscuits
16/4/2018 01:19:25 pm

The Yakuza games are really fun. Yakuza 0 is my 3rd best game of last year (behind NieR:a and BotW, lest it seems I'm damning with faint praise)

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Meatballs-me-branch-me-do
16/4/2018 02:43:22 pm

I was a big Sega fan back in the day - I had the Genesis, Sega CD, 32X and Game Gear. For an adolescent, Sega had the image and appeal that Nintendo didn't. Nintendo had their smug censorship policy (this was at the height of the Mortal Kombat furore) and frigging Mario was being crammed into everything. This conjured images of annoying little siblings who parents force you to give console time to, just so they can run Mario repeatedly into Goombas or plunge Sonic into spikes and generally waste time. At 14, this isn't what you want: you want cutting edge graphics, violence, loud music and sexiness. You've discovered there's anime with actual tits, angry rock music, and subversive pop culture. This was going to some weird, scruffy burger bar, whereas Nintendo was like paying over the odds for a Happy Meal.

Now cringeworthy edginess and desperation aside, Sega was good - BUT a great many of the best games on Sega systems were from third parties or used licenced characters. You are very unlikely to get Jungle Strike, Rock n' Roll Racing, Robocop vs Terminator, Aladdin, General Chaos, Micro Machines 2, Rocket Knight Adventures, or Zombies Ate My Neighbours into any of these retro collections. Likewise, a lot of Sega's better stuff (as Biffo says) came near the end of its life: Ranger X, Subterrania, Vectorman... but for may of the retro collections, it's all the godawful clunky early stuff like Altered Beast (which was shit even when it first came out).

There's also the matter of a lot of CD-only titles. Sonic CD remains the best 2D Sonic game, the Terminator was a stupendous shooty platformer, and there was many excellent RPGs for the CD system that are highly sought after like Lunar.

I hate to say it, but my fondest memories of Sega games made by Sega were on the Dreamcast. They had arcade-perfect conversions and wonderful original title. Let's get those insteads!

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Spiney O'Sullivan
16/4/2018 09:15:16 pm

I can't agree on Sonic CD being the best 2D Sonic (great idea let down by shoddy execution, but with an amazing intro), but Lunar is fantastic. It's been ported to iOS as Lunar Silver Star Story Touch, and it was probably the best RPG port on the system.

It might not necessarily be a better game than some of the Dragon Quests or Final Fantasies, but Squeenix's lazy ports just lack certain quality of life things like Lunar had. Specifically: if you're making a game to be played on a phone, make save anywhere an option, and don't require a full retart from the title screen every time the game reopens...

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Meatballs-me-branch-me-do
16/4/2018 10:19:00 pm

I know, man... I struggled through Final Fantasy IV on iOS and often felt the controls were against me. I often feel that way about phone games in general. I bought the official LodeRunner port and mashing at an imprecise screen dpad is absolutely not working in a game that requires split second precision any more than it lets me steer a car in a racing game, guide planes around in a flight control game, or do pretty much any game beyond a stupid puzzle or turn based game.

Stephen Botting
17/4/2018 10:19:58 am

In a strange way I feel like the Saturn and to a lesser extent the Dreamcast were the home of so many under the radar classics that many still don't know exist.

I didn't own either console till they were nearly at deaths door (having been sold on the Sony dream playing Tekken at a friend's house) but my cousin owned both and almost all the classics that both console released.

I have almost as many fond memories of playing games such as Guardian Heroes, Dragon Force, Shining Force 3, Panzer Dragoon, Powerstone, ChuChu Rocket and the like as I do from playing the hundreds of PS1/PS2 titles I owned.

Up until my Sony teenage years I had been with Sega owning the Master System, Game Gear and Megadrive. As great as the Mega drive was (and make no mistake it was awrsome), I feel like a lot of the classics have been given overhauls time and time again (that classic collection they released and the plug in and play machines) so at this point I'd much rather see a collection of titles from the less lauded machines in Segas history.

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Craig Anderson link
17/4/2018 12:05:11 pm

I really want this to be good. Unfortunately Sega have asked AtGames to produce it.

Anyone who has played AtGames previous emulated MegaDrive releases will know how bad the sound is which, for me, is a deal breaker.

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Neptunium
17/4/2018 12:10:29 pm

The last mini mega drive they made supposedly had decent sound emulation, but massive problems with the rest of the emulation. Given that this is for the Japanese market, there is a decent chance that this new one might be half decent...

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Balaska
23/4/2018 08:54:58 am

Streets of Rage Mania? Don't tease me!

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