David Kudrev
(Edited by Jen Beauchamp)
Sonic the Hedgehog is turning 25 in June 2016. In recent years, the series has lost esteem among many dedicated fans, with the exception of Sonic Generations (which was great). Since the 2006 release of Sonic the Hedgehog, the franchise has lost momentum and popularity. To mark 25 years of the iconic blue hedgehog, SEGA is planning to throw a range of celebrations this year.
Sonic Generations (2011)
SEGA have been very quiet about exactly they will do for Sonic’s milestone this year – but there is news of a Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Reports indicate that the film will contain both live action and animation, and is currently set for release in 2018 by SEGA Sammy and Sony Pictures. SEGA-Sammy CEO Hajime Saitomi recently announced the film news in an interview, but questions regarding rebuilding the SEGA brand, and requests for other 25th anniversary details remained unanswered.
It can be assumed that SEGA is taking 2016 seriously and have plans to renew their reputation as a cult brand again among gamers.
source: segabits
On the topic of the speedy blue SEGA icon, other news sources have reported that a ROM for an unreleased Sonic game has recently been discovered. The ROM is a prototype game called SEGASonic Bros. which was intended to be released in the arcades as a puzzle game. Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine came out a couple of years later, and was basically a rebranded Puyo Puyo game.
The SEGA Sonic Bros. game was reportedly similar to Puyo Puyo, Columns or Tetris – in the sense that blocks come down, match coloured bricks, and disappear. The game doesn’t feature Sonic except for its coloured variants as the bricks in-game, and the title screen that features two other Sonics in colours identical to Tails & Knuckles – perhaps an indication of the origins of each character’s colour. There is some debate as to whether Sonic 2 was made during or before this game, but it’s safe to assume the former.
image and story source: sonicstadium
If you’ve been searching for Amiga CD32 games recently on sites such as eBay, you’ll find that it’s quite slim pickings – if not the range, then the high prices. If you are lucky enough to own a CD32 then you’re after ISOs of games, and one source that I’ve been frequently mentioning is unofficial-cd32-ports. There is also another site containing various releases in ISO format, CD32Covers.
At present the latest release on the site is the Bubble Bobble ‘trilogy’. It can be argued that Bubble Bobble 2 should not be included as part of the trilogy, due to being released only on Famicom, NES and Game Boy. This particular trilogy for CD32 features Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands and Parasol Stars which are great games.
The ISO file is quite small (around 5MB), so go for it!
source: indieretronews
This week’s final item of news is about a crowdfunded campaign for a new retro-inspired Indie game that fuses together two unexpected genres. RPGolf combines a top down 16bit-inspired adventure game (similar to Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past) with golf.
The game will be an open world golf game featuring 9 to 18 courses and (since it’s an RPG!) the aim is to defeat the monsters on the course so that you can improve your stats, and get your ball to the hole without their interference. There are powerups to pick up, spells and treasures to find, and the option to upgrade your clubs at various workshops scattered around the entire golf course.
Should the campaign succeed, RPGolf will be released on iOS, Android, OSX and Windows with a forecasted release of October this year. For more information on this game and progress, head over to the Indiegogo page and maybe make a pledge.