Wednesday, March 27, 2013

SEGA announces a slew of mobile titles at GDC 2013


As seen in part 1 and part 2 of my GDC 2013 report over at SEGAbits, SEGA has showcased a number of new titles. Well, not exactly new, as all the titles are pre-existing games. However, each game has been built especially for iOS and Android devices. Could the days of crappy packaged ROMs be over? First up are two SEGA Genesis classics: Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for iOS and Android devices.  Now before you get all bent out of shape over another release of these games, be aware that Christian "Taxman" Whitehead is behind the port, and as such we can expect the same sort of goodness that we got with Sonic CD's rerelease: 60fps, widescreen support, bonuses like time attack mode, and more goodies. SEGA has yet to reveal anything pertaining to Sonic 2, but we'll likely see something soon.


Also on show was a mobile port of The House of the Dead Overkill, dubbed "The Lost Reels". The game is said to be a retooling of the original game for mobile devices, so stages and characters may differ from the console versions. Also, I very much doubt all the F-bombs will remain intact. Oddly enough, tap to shoot will not be a control scheme until you complete the game, so players have to be ready to use either a virtual joystick or the accelerometer for their first playthrough.


Finally, SEGA has also announced that two free-to-play titles, Puzzle Pirates from developer Three Rings and Godsrule: War of Mortals from developer Gogogic, are heading to mobile devices soon. Both games have built up a sizable community on the browser versions of the games, and eventually players will be able to continue their gameplay on-the-go via touch enabled versions of the games.