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Archive for the ‘Sega Saturn’ Category

To celebrate the wonderful 15th Anniversary of NiGHTS…the folks over at OCR have released a wonderful fan album!

“NiGHTS: Lucid Dreaming is the 26th album published by OverClocked ReMix and arranges music from the Sega Saturn game NiGHTS into dreams…, released in 1996. It features twenty-seven tracks arranged by thirty artists in a variety of styles and genres. This album was made as a tribute to SEGA’s cult classic and its amazing music by Tomoko Sasaki, Naofumi Hataya, and Fumie Kumatani. It was made by fans, for fans.”

I won’t waste a lot of your time with words – just download it from: here.

The upcoming return of Radiant Silvergun is no quick and dirty port by any measure. The game will feature a full HD update to the graphics as well as a Lo-Res mode that emulates the SEGA Saturn original.

According to Treasure’s CEO, Masato Maegawa, to get the game running in a way that emulated the older console took over a year and half! There were some effects on the Saturn that were hard to get running on the Xbox 360. This is largely to due to the fact that Saturn could never really handle transparencies that well and used meshed-or-screen-door-style textures to achieve the effect.

As a result of some hard coding work, players will now have the ability to select the level of transparencies in the game opting for a retro look or a modern style. However, Treasure isn’t working on emulating the Saturn but they are also including online co-op play and the “Ikaruga” mode which will bring chain combos rules into the title. To access this mode, you’ll need to have unlocked at least one achievement in the Xbox Live Arcade version of Ikaruga.

Hit the jump for some screens of the title in action:  Read the rest of this entry »

Kellie from the SEGA blogs has heard the pleas from the community for further clarity on what is going on with the updated visuals in Guardian Heroes. Here is the list of points – you can also peek at the pictures above or at the SEGA Blogs to see the difference between the two modes.

HD Upgrade:

• Characters – upgraded to HD quality
• Visual Effects – newly created in HD
• Fonts – newly created in HD
• Gauges – newly created in HD
• Close-ups of Characters (in the character select screen) – newly created in HD

Same as Saturn:

• Backgrounds
• Music
• Story mode

Changes:

• Voices – some are from the Saturn version, some are newly created
• Arcade mode – paths are the same as the Saturn version, but AI’s are new
• Versus mode – improved from Saturn version with additional rules and a more polished game balance)
• Extra modes – newly created for XBLA version
• Saturn Mode: All visuals are the same as the Saturn version except for the font and screen aspect ratio

Now, all they need to make is a Saturn styled controller for the Xbox 360.

_{[Source: SEGA]}

I can still remember picking up and playing Guardian Heroes on the Saturn while everyone else was playing the N64. The game was a bright injection color and controlled madness. The only thing that was off about the title was the terrible North American box art…thankfully SEGA isn’t bringing that back XBLA remake!

The fantastic Treasure beat-em-up has been announced for this fall/late summer and is priced at a very nice $10 or 800 MS points. SEGA of JAPAN has formally announced the title as well and the crafted a teaser for the game with screens and information: here.

In classic Treasure style the game can get hectic. Big sprites and tons enemies can fill the screen. There are 5 characters to use in the story mode and 45 characters in the brawl/versus mode. The game is pledging support for up 12 players online.  Read the rest of this entry »

I am still in a hangover of happiness over the announcement of Treasure’s classic Guardian Heroes coming the Xbox 360. This in addition to Radiant Silvergun means that two underserved classics will get a wider audience. The fine folks at Siliconera have confirmed the original creators will be tapped to remaster the original:

_{“Here’s another tidbit about the Xbox 360 release –we confirmed with a representative that Treasure, the original creators, are working on the remastered version of Guardian Heroes.”}

If you are a Saturn fan…this is one to support. And yes, SEGASHIRO will be playing this online with any that care to join. We have the full press release after the jump and some screens. We hope to have the trailer up this evening!

Read the rest of this entry »

If you are like me you are always, always looking for a gaming pad that replicates that pure grace of the Sega Saturn pad. This controller has just come into my view, the Hori Fight Commander III looks to mimic the best aspects of the Saturn pad. The six button layout is classic Saturn but the team has opted for SNES style D-pad.

The PS3 controller is a wired by USB and it seems playable by gamers that want to use their thumbs or tap with their fingers. The buttons look nice and large and the pause button seems to be well out of the way of mash tactics.  Read the rest of this entry »

If you are an old school gamer you might remember Konami’s Target Earth on the Genesis or Cybernator on the SNES. The games were epic Mecha blasters with jump boots and a variety of weapons. A Classic for sure!

Heck, if you visit this site you might remember the sequel on the SEGA Saturn that used every scaling 2D trick imaginable. It still is pretty glorious to behold.

The series is know being remembered with a wonderful kit nearly 20 years later. The kit is being crafted by Plum who are releasing this  1/53 scale plamo of the AS-5E3 assault suit. It is available for pre-order and will drop in April. The kit runs about US$63.  Read the rest of this entry »