SEGA Says "Happy 20th Sonic" with All-Stars Racing iOS!

 First off: Happy 20th Birthday Sonic! I had to say it.

Secondly, SEGA said "happy birthday" in their own way by offering up a new iOS Sonic game. Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing has released for all iOS devices and is at a reduced birthday price of $1.99! After the festivities die down, the app will be $4.99. I downloaded the game this morning, and to my delight it plays on the first generation iPod Touch, meaning every iOS device will be able to play the game!

The game kicks off with the full CG intro as seen in the console version of the game. From there, you're presented with a slick menu featuring high quality menu music as heard in the console versions. So no downgraded Nintendo DS music to be found. Very nice. Menu options include: single player, multiplayer, shopping, achievements, leaderboards, OpenFeint (a mobile social gaming network that tracks scores, achievements and saves ones game to "the cloud"), licence and options. Single player features grand prix, single race, time trial and missions. So expect to see every single player mode from the console versions in this mobile version.

That isn't to say that the game is 1:1 with the console versions. Tracks and characters are derived from the Nintendo DS version of the game, however graphics have been improved and sounds match those from the home console versions. The character roster has been cut down to ten: Sonic, Tails, Eggman, Aiai, Billy, Amigo, Beat, the Chu Chus, B.D. Joe and Ryo. While I was sad to see certain characters not appearing in the game, it's still a rather solid cast and great for a $2 game. At least Ryo is still there!

 Tracks have also been trimmed, with only twelve appearing. Sonic's casino tracks are absent, as are a number of other tracks. However, considering many tracks in SASASR are in similar environments, there isn't much lost in that regard. You sill see the curian mansion, Amigo's crazy world, Billy's hot and cold environments, the GG's turf and Eggman's fleet. You just won't see any casino track.

 The game controls well for an iOS title. Players are given the choice of tilting the device like a wheel or controlling the left and right steering with a slider. I've yet to master the controls, but I have gone from placing last to placing third within 15 minutes so there is hope for me yet.

I'll hold off on saying more, as I'd like to officially review the title next week, but suffice to say things are looking very very good for the title and it is a must download for Sonic fans, racing fans and plain ol' SEGA fans. I mean, it's only $2!

Again, Happy Birthday Sonic!

Post-E3: SEGA's Handheld Releases

Another E3, another great assortment of portable SEGA games! On display, but not the most talked about game at SEGA's booth, was Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing for iOS devices. From live coverage, I gathered that the game will be available for all iOS devices (here's hoping it even plays on the first gen iPod Touch), it will release sometime in the summer and it will be a cool $4.99. The game looks to be an enhanced port of the Nintendo DS release, however the game will only contain 10 of the 20 racers found in the original release of the game. Still, for the price I can live with having only half the roster. At least Ryo made the cut



While I don't typically cover DS or 3DS games, I should mention Sonic Generations and Shinobi. Both games were available to demo at E3, and in my opinion both are looking great! Sonic Generations is getting some slack for not being as graphically amazing as it could be, however the game is still a ways off so things could improve. Also, one has to wonder if development shifted from the DS to the 3DS as the HD versions of Generations started development in 2008. Well before the 3DS existed. As long as the game is fun, I look forward to giving it a spin.

Shinobi 3DS is definitly a game to watch. Being the first new title in the series since 2002, Shinobi (the fourth game to share this title) brings back the 2D gameplay of the original Genesis games, infuses a bit of the PS2 visual style and has a look of its own. The game is a prequel to the first Shinobi, starring Joe's father Jiro Musashi. I'm loving this bit, as Jiro is both a new character but also has a firm connection to Joe himself. We've already played as Joe's son Hayate, so why not play as his dad? Early impressions have been positive, and the game is said to have a load of bonus content. Expect Shinobi to release Sepetember, 2011.

Finally we've got the big new handheld from Sony, and I have to admit, as much as I am not a fan of the PSP, I really do like the look of the Vita. Good control layout, cool functions, backwards compatibility and great price. I probably won't be getting one this year, but between this and the 3DS, I'm leaning towards the Vita. If only it had a better name...

Too Many Games Convention 2011

THE NOMAD ON-THE-GO

Over the weekend I had a chance to attend the Too Many Games convention in Oaks, PA. The convention touted guests including the ScrewAttack guys, the Angry Video Game Nerd and even that woman who played Rom's wife Leeta on Star Trek DS9. The convention was also said to be filled with vendor tables, selling more used games and hardware than one would usually see in one place. So, having been to the convention, how did it go? Read on to find out!

Hey look! ScrewAttack guys in the upper right.

I reached the convention at 3pm on Saturday, having brought along two friends of mine. We all had our missions for the day. My one friend was dead set of finding The Misadventures of Tron Bonne for the Playstation. His girlfriend was intent on finding a used Dreamcast and a few games (good for her!). I, meanwhile, had a laundry list of SEGA games to find.

I swear I saw this same cabinet two years ago.

James Rolfe (aka the Angry Video Game Nerd) had just started his AVGN episode screening as we arrived. While there were seats, it was a choice between sitting for the next 2 hours or shopping. I had the itch to buy games, so I went with shopping. Thankfully, with the AVGN screening going on, the vendor area was quite empty. About half the room was made up of used game tables, and half of those were quite impressive. One vendor offered up only sealed games, and he had a large amount of Dreamcast titles. However, a good portion of the games were quite common and there were multiple copies of each. So, want Phantasy Star Online? He has twenty of them!

The tables I spent most of my time at were the ones with piles of Saturn, SEGA CD and Dreamcast games. I've nearly given up on buying Genesis, Game Gear and Master System games, due to the fact that the cases take up so much space (with the exception of Game Gear games) and that I can emulate any title perfectly on my GP2X Caanoo handheld. Currently, the Saturn and SEGA CD are my focus as there are a number of great and bizzare games that I've yet to own for those systems. I still am on the hunt for Dreamcast games, however there are only around thirty that I really want and out of those, most are rare and expensive. So the chances of finding them in a bargain bin are next to none.

Having just bought a Wii, I was excited to find both House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return and Ghost Squad for $10 each. Funny, I feel no need to buy Super Mario Galaxy and yet a SEGA lightgun game will get my heart racing. I also found a SEGA CD 32X game titled Corpse Killer. Corpse Killer was one of those awful fmv games that had an enhanced release for those who had both the SEGA CD and the 32X. As I have both successfully hooked up, I figured "what the hell" and bought a near mint copy of the game for $4. The way I see it, if you have a working SEGA CD and 32X and were able to hook the thing up, Corpse Killer is your reward. Now I just need to get my hands on Night Trap.

Oh yeah, I bought a VMU too. Can never have enough of those!

At the same vendor table, I found Virtual On for the Saturn and picked that up for $8. Finally, I hit the ScrewAttack table and picked up all four volumes of AVGN for $50, a great deal! Usually these go for $20 each online. Whatever the price, I'm happy to support James and his work. I'm really looking forward to his AVGN movie.

James assisting a cameraman

Before leaving to get some dinner, we walked past the massive autograph line for James. Since the line was way too long, we decided to walk ahead and catch a glimpse of James. It looked like he was about to be filmed for something, and had to use his camera skills to assist the cameraman. Cool to see him in person and pick up his DVDs, maybe I'll get an autograph at some point in the future.

Overall it was a brief, but fun afternoon! Picked up a bunch of great games (all SEGA, I'm such a fanboy) and saw some internet celebs. My friend found Tron Bonne, but it was going for $80 (ouch!), so he passed on it. His girlfriend fared much better. She found a used Dreamcast, controller and memory card for $20 plus picked up Jet Grind Radio (after I begged her to pick it up) and Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2. I told her that it would be quite boring offline, but she seemed to not care. Oh well, as long as she had fun.

Oh yeah, and we met a demon:

SEGA App News Roundup!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Boy what a crazy week it has been. Royal wedding and bin Laden's death! But that's not the focus of this blog. No, dear readers, today I'm here to round up some SEGA App Store news! Let's begin.

Streets of Rage 3 Kicks the Crap Out of iOS

SEGA completes the Streets of Rage trilogy on the iOS platform with the release of Streets of Rage 3, now available at the iTunes Store for $2.99. As stated many times before on this blog, the SEGA Genesis emulator isn't the best, however the slower moving the game, the better the results. So RPGs like Shining Force are great, while fast paced games like Sonic 2 are not too good. The Streets of Rage games fall inbetween these, and thus is a good but not amazing port of the game. Still, reviews are reasonable and it sounds as though the game is fully playable and fun. What more, there is bluetooth peer-to-peer multiplayer support. So you can kick ass wirelessly with a friend.

Sonic Marches to the Beat of a Different Drummer

SEGA has teamed up with Namco to release a Sonic download pack for the tapping drum game Taiko no Tatsujin Plus. The app and the pack is Japan only, and features Sonic characters from Sonic 4 Episode 1 marching across the screen as players tap along with tunes from Sonic 4. Sounds very... odd. Which is just what I'd expect from a Japanese game.

[Source: SEGASHIRO]

Fast Striker Strikes the iOS

Indie Dreamcast shmup Fast Striker, released late 2010, has arrived on iOS devices thanks to NG:DEV.TEAM. The port looks to contain everything found in the Dreamcast version, along with updates including a portrait screen mode, online rankings, direct controls (I assume moving your finger about the screen to guide the ship, a very effective control method in my opinion) and a visable player hitzone. Check out the trailer below:

Take to the streets with Streets of Rage II for the iPhone

Hey kids, I'm back! After a busy few weeks I have returned to the Nomad Junkyard to report on iPhone ports and post the occastional SEGA Nomad related post. In iPhone news, Streets of Rage II has arrived on the iPhone for $2.99. I've yet to buy it myself, and probably won't unless a 99 cent sale rolls around. Gaming news website GamesRadar makes mention of audio problems, specifically distortion. Hopefully SEGA patches this ASAP.

In other news, there is a strong chance that I will film part 2 of my Pier Solar video tomorrow. Part 1 can be seen in the post below, and if you watch until the end, part 2 is said to feature the game being played on the SEGA Nomad. Ooooh!

Pier Solar Reprint Edition for the SEGA Genesis Unboxing

The Nomad Junkyard Youtube channel rises from the dead with an unboxing of the brand new indie release for the Genesis (and Nomad), Pier Solar!

SEGA Handheld Happenings - Racing and Game Gear go mobile!

Quite a lot has happened in the past week when it comes to SEGA handheld games. Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing has been announced for iOS devices. Here's hoping my old first gen iPod Touch can play it. Also, is has been announced that the 3DS will have Game Gear titles available to purchase over the Virtual Console service. Pretty cool, though I'd prefer a Sonic Game Gear compilation. The titles available will be: Sonic Triple Trouble, Sonic Drift 2, Shinobi, Dragon Castle and Columns. Here's hoping for a solid framerate and while they're at it, why not a little 3D effect? It is a 3D device, after all.

Rumblings have started about a Sonic Anniversary title coming to the 3DS. So far, rumors have proven to be false, but one never knows what SEGA has up their sleeves...

I'm calling it now: Sonic Anniversary announced next week for the SEGA Nomad.

SEGA in the Media: Game Gear in the Bronx

While most SEGA fans don’t have to go far for a glimpse of something SEGA (just look over at your game shelf or under your tv), spotting something SEGA on television or in a movie is far more difficult. In the past we’ve spotted Virtua Tennis 2009 on the Inbetweeners and a MadWorld poster on Weeds. Today we’re heading to the Bronx, where a certain Jackie Chan had quite the rumble. I think the movie was called The Spy Next Door. No wait, it was Rumble in the Bronx.

Click here to read more!

Check It Out! SEGASHIRO PODCAST - 3DS and NGP Round Table Edition!

Fellow SEGA Network website SEGASHIRO recently released a great podcast focusing on modern SEGA handheld gaming. The SEGASHIRO writers talk about everything from SEGA's upcoming handheld titles for the PSP2 and 3DS to their SEGA handheld game dream releases. it's a great listen, so CHECK IT OUT here.

Until the next gen handhelds release, I'll be playing Snatcher on my Caanoo. Heck, I'll even be playing it after they release.

Shinobi III and Virtua Fighter 2 Genesis release on iOS

I think it should be assumed by now that SEGA will be continually releasing Genesis games to iOS devices from here on out, It seems we're getting one or two a month. Think of it as the "Genesis Game of the Month Club". The latest two games to hit the device are Shinobi III and Virtua Fighter 2 Genesis, priced at $2.99 and $1.99 respectively. Early reviews cite spotty controls, TouchArcade goes into detail as to why the controls for Shinobi III are so difficult:

Like other Sega iOS releases running in their emulator, there is both a full screen and a windowed view. The fullscreen mode, with its larger image, is the most desirable play mode, I would say, but it suffers from the fixed arrangement of the onscreen D-pad and three action buttons; very often a thumb on either completely obscures your character, making gameplay highly awkward. This can be avoided by using the windowed view which renders the game at it's native resolution (fullscreen is a scale-up, not the other way around) with D-pad and buttons below, but on a screen with a pixel density as high as any iPhone or iPod touch device, it's a strain to behold. It's possible that an option to reposition the touch points would help matters but, frankly, I can't imagine an arrangement that would be truly acceptable. As is, the gameplay will leave you longing for your old Genesis.

At this point, I think SEGA should stick to releasing RPGs and slower paced games to the Genesis emulator. Shining Force was extremely fun on my iPod Touch, running smoothly and retaining the graphics and sounds of the console versions. Meanwhile, faster games like Sonic 2 have trouble on the emulator and suffer from imprecise touch controls. Here's hoping the complete Phantasy Star and Shining Force series make it to iOS before faster paced action games hurt SEGA's App Store cred.

Aaron Webber: Say My Name, Say My Name

To thank those who bought multiple versions of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1, Ken Balough (Digital Brand Manager, Sonic 4) and Aaron Webber (Community Manager, Sonic 4) issued a little thank you video. As a nice surprise, they revealed that the public thanking would not be limited to those who bought three or more versions of the game. Instead, they would thank every single person who put their name into True Blue initiative. At 1:35 you’ll see and hear Aaron Webber saying my name as he looks deeply into the camera. No doubt hoping that I heard his thanks. Well Aaron, your thanks has been heard. And in return I say: thank you too!

I know Aaron and Ken got some (okay, a LOT) of flack from the community for asking fans to buy more than one copy, but c’mon guys, do you really blame them for telling people to buy a product produced by a company that they work for? How dare they! On top of that, the whole thing was optional and was effortless to get in on. It only took a forum post. Considering I had already planned to get the iPhone and 360 versions, putting my name in was no trouble at all.

Indie game Pier Solar offers up a white SEGA Nomad

Pier Solar, and indie RPG developed for the Genesis and Mega Drive, is offering up a unique prize in their photo contest: a custom white SEGA Nomad! Owners of the game are encouraged to photograph their copy of the game, as well as any of the included goodies (stickers, poster, etc) in the craziest situation and location that they can think of. My ideal crazy location: Miyamoto playing the game (while crying) sitting atop the Great Pyramid of Giza.

You can order the game, necessary to enter the contest, as well as view the contest details at the official Pier Solar website.

Another Sonic Title Joins the iOS Family

Sadly, it ain't Sonic CD, Sonic 3 or Sonic and Knuckles. Rather, SEGA has released Sonic Spinball for iOS devices. If I sound unenthusiastic about it, I apologize. It's just that I would much rather see the aforementioned Sonic games be released first and that I recently got into the handheld emulation scene via the Caanoo and see no point in spending $2.99 on a game when I can play a superior version for free.

Despite this, I should point out two cool aspects to Sonic Spinball for the iPhone: The app icon is pretty sweet, featuring artwork from the Japanese Mega Drive box, and that the game offers up two soundtracks: the US version and the slightly different Japanese version. Pretty cool! Also, SEGA has released Altered Beast for $2.99. If you have fond memories of Toxic Caves and and rising from graves, check these out.

Waahoo! The Caanoo!

 

Back in 2009, South Korean company Game Park Holdings released the awesome GP2X Wiz handheld video game console. The Wiz was awesome for a number of reasons, but the cheif reason was that it was an open-source device, meaning anybody could develop just about anything for it. While the system does have a number of original developed games, such as the great Wind & Water Puzzle Battles (also available on the SEGA Dreamcast), there is also a massive scene of console emulators that make the device a home entertainemnet system on-the-go. Imagine having everything from the earliest home computers through to the SEGA CD and 32X on one handheld, and then imagine just about every handheld through to the GBA as well. Awesome.



In August of this year, Game Park Holdings returned with an upgrade to the Wiz, the Caanoo. The Caanoo offered a larger, better touch screen, an improved control pad, increased RAM and Wi-fi support. Even better, the Caanoo was priced the same as the Wiz. So after months of waiting, Christmas has finally arrived (almost) and I caved and bought myself a Caanoo! While I don't have it yet, I look forward to adding it to the Nomad Junkyard family of handhelds (which also includes the Game Gear, iPod Touch, GBA and obviously the Nomad). Maybe I'll even review it?

SEGA drops prices on all iOS games permanently

From the SEGA of America blogs comes a cool piece of news: SEGA has decided to have the prices of their iOS games drop permanently! This is great for those who missed out on the past few sales and were waiting for the next one to come around. Now it's like there's a sale all the time! Check out all the deals:

• ChuChu Rocket: Now: $2.99 (was: $4.99)
• ChuChu Rocket HD: Now: $4.99 (was: $6.99)
• Ecco the Dolphin: Now: $0.99 (was: $2.99)
• Football Manager 2010: Now: $4.99 (was: $7.99)
• Golden Axe: Now: $0.99 (was: $2.99)
• Gunstar Heroes: Now: $2.99 (was: $4.99)
• Phantasy Star II: Now: $2.99 (was: $4.99)
• Shining Force: Now: $0.99 (was: $2.99)
• Super Monkey Ball 2: Now: $2.99 (was: $5.99)
• Super Monkey Ball 2 Sakura Edition: Now: $4.99 (was: $7.99)
• Sonic The Hedgehog 1: Now: $4.99 (was: $5.99)
• Sonic The Hedgehog 2: Now: $4.99 (was: $5.99)
• Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode 1: Now: $6.99 (was: $9.99)
• Streets of Rage: Now: $0.99 (was: $2.99)

I personally have to recommend ChuChu Rocket, Shining Force and Sonic 4. Three great games for $11!