---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ S E G A F A N S W E E K L Y ~ ~ ISSUE #3 - Feb 26 2006 ~ copyright 2006 segafans.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A Message from benstylus ~ Page 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Another week, another SegaFans Weekly! This issue we've got an in-depth look at Sega's newest Sonic the Hedgehog game, Sonic Riders! We're not forgetting our heritage, though, and have included a special Genesis double-feature for our game of the week. Once you see which two games they are, you'll know why we put them together! We also received some emails last week, and you can read my response to them in the mailbag section. On the other hand, it was a pretty uneventful week in the forums, so we're replacing that section this week with a review of a Sega music CD. Stay tuned! Next week you can expect some coverage of the newest Dreamcast release, Radirgy. Any time a new Dreamcast game hits, it's big news to us Sega Fans, so be prepared for a full report. Also, do you know anyone who might like to receive this newsletter? Let them know about it! Sega World Weekly had over 40,000 subscribers when it ended in 2003. We're still a very long way off from that mark, so I know there are still a lot of Sega Fans out there that may not be getting their recommended weekly allotment of Sega... Help me get the word out! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents ~ Page 2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 - A Message from benstylus 2 - Table of Contents 3 - Top Story - Riding the Wind 4 - Weekly News Roundup 5 - Sounds of Sega - Sega Piano Nocturne 6 - Mailbag 7 - New and Upcoming 8 - Game of the Week - Beauty & the Beast Genesis Double Feature 9 - Links 10- Credits / Contact Information ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Top Story - Riding the Wind ~ Page 3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- People have been down on Sonic ever since the Saturn. When Sonic Jam was released, people complained that it was just a compilation. When Sonic R was released, people complained it wasn't a real Sonic game. People complained about the adventure stages of Sonic Adventure. Sonic Advance, Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog... all pretty much universally whined about. The biggest complaints about the newer games in the Sonic universe were that people wanted more speed, and less of the goofy side stuff like fishing with Big the Cat or collecting Chao. Sega's finally listened to the world's collective please, and has now put out a Sonic game that focuses on what Sonic does best - speed. But, as has too often been the case with Sega, the victory comes at a price. Sonic fans who were looking for more of the action found in the Sonic and Shadow stages of Sonic Adventure 2 may be disappointed that the latest entry into the Sonic series is not an action game, but another racing game - this time called Sonic Riders. Take heart, it isn't nearly as limited as Sonic R. First off, instead of five tracks, Sonic Riders has a total of fourteen. To be fair, however, six of them are remodels of existing tracks. They play differently and there are some alternate routes you have to take, but you'll easily recognize them. Interestingly enough, there is not one pinball or casino type track, somewhat of a staple in previous Sonic games. Secondly, instead of the somewhat bare-bones gameplay in Sonic R, Sonic Riders provides quite a few distinct ways to play. For standard races, there are modes for single races, time trials, and a GP mode. Sega has done an excellent job balancing the gameplay. You need to be careful about boosting a lot, because if you run out of air power you're going to have to foot it to a pit station to refill. If you collect enough rings, you'll be rewarded with a larger boost meter. The longer you hold the jump button before a ramp, the better your tricks will be, but it slows you down a bit on your approach. Just like any racing game, the better you know the tracks, the better you'll race them. If you know there's a ramp coming up, let off a boost or two so you have something to refill. Likewise if you know a rail to grind is up ahead, you may want to position yourself to catch it instead of boosting right past it. Each track also has a small "breather" section where you don't control your character - but if you rotate the thumbstick during these sections, you can increase your air power. A few racing games take wind resistance into account, where you can go quite a bit faster if you correctly position yourself behind someone. Sonic Riders takes this to a bit of an extreme with its turbulence system. Often the lead player will leave a wake of turbulence behind him. Any other player can ride this turbulence at high speed without spending any air power. It's a neat idea, and certainly helps to keep races close. One of the other interesting things about Sonic Riders is that it pulls a few gameplay elements from previous Sonic games. Sonic Heroes introduced teams of characters with attributes of Speed, Power, and Fly. Sonic Riders takes this and idea and implements it quite a bit better. Pick a Speed character, and you can grind on rails. Pick a flying character, and you can fly through loops that jet you forward. Pick a power character and you can smash through obstacles and gain speed instead of losing it. Sonic Rush implemented a boost meter and a trick system. Tricks are ranked depending on their complexity. They are ranked in order from C (a failed trick), B, A, AA, S, SS, and X (A fantastic trick with a perfect landing). Performing superb tricks off of long jumps is the best way to increase your air power. An X trick for example will recover quite a good chunk of your air power. In addition to just racing, the game offers a story mode and a mission mode. The story mode is mostly racing with cutscenes in between. The mission mode, however, is completely different. It gives you various objectives to complete on each course - such as perform six successful grinds, destroy at least 8 cars, etc. The mission mode really adds a lot to the game and to attain a gold rank requires quite a bit of skill. There are also a few modes designed specifically for multiplayer. The Tag Race pairs people up and gives them a shared power meter. The closer the players are in the race, the faster their power meter recharges. If they ever get too far apart, the player in the lead is zapped and brought to a standstill to give his partner a little time to catch up. Of course this also gives a little time to your opponents to get ahead of you. Cooperation is extremely important. There's also survival race, where you try to grab a chaos emerald and bring it through a certain number of gates. If you have the emerald, everyone else is trying to steal it from you. To make things a little more fair, the people trying to get the emerald have unlimited air power. Not content to stop there, Sonic Riders also features a survival battle, which dumps the players into a large arena to battle it out until only one remains standing. There are powerups for speed, air power, attack and guard, and you can carry up to two at a time. There's also a ton of unlockables in the game - from more playable characters (including Cream the Rabbit), to new gear with different abilities (such as a board that lets anyone use the Fly skill). With the exception of Sonic Adventure (which is a personal favorite of mine), I'd say that Sonic Riders may just be the best Sonic game since the Genesis. And yes, you can turn the announcer off. -benstylus ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly News Roundup ~ Page 4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a pretty slow week for Sega news, but there was one big item... Sega has confirmed that their popular title "Ryu Ga Gotoku" will indeed be coming to the US and Europe, retitled as "Yakuza." Here's hoping they keep the cool box art. - http://www.gamesindustry.biz/press_release.php?aid=14928 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sounds of Sega - Sega Piano Nocturne ~ Page 5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In the lobby of an upscale hotel or inside a fancy restaurant, you may find live music being played. Sometimes it will be a group of performers, other times it may be a solo pianist. The piano melodies on Sega Piano Nocturne provide a quiet and relaxing ambience and sound similar to what you might hear one of those lobby pianists playing. Of course, if a lobby pianist did play one of these songs, I'm sure many a Sega Fan's ears would perk up as they recognized where the music came from. For Sega Piano Nocturne, Kiminori Atsuta takes eight of Sega's more memorable songs and arranges them into excellent piano pieces. Atsuta also performs all the piano arrangements on the CD. In addition to the piano renditions, the original versions of each song are included as bonus tracks. As the piano tracks are the main attraction, I'm going to review only them, and just gloss over the original songs. Atsuta starts the album appropriately with Shenhua's quietly majestic theme from Shenmue, which leads well into the rolling "Mirai Voyage" from Sakura Taisen 3. The song achieves a marvelous balance between timidity about the unknown and the excitement of exploration. The tone drops back delicately as "Can still see the light" from Phantasy Star Online is played. While it doesn't quite attain the same level of emotion found in the original version sung by Loren, it still manages to impress. I found the next track to be a bit of an odd choice, but it made me smile nonetheless. Atsuta manages to perform "Passing Breeze" from Outrun admirably, but the song is really not meant to be ambient music, and it shows. The main theme from Space Harrier, however, makes the transition surprisingly well, with the exception of a few rough spots. It's played slower and more deliberate than the original, but the upbeat nature of the song still shows through on occasion. "I Just Smile" from Burning Rangers returns to the high level of quality of the first three tracks. Again, since the original song was rather serene, Atsuta doesn't have to fight with the music in the arrangement, and it really glows. I have no idea why anyone would choose "System Down" from SDI to arrange as a piano nocturne. It's a brash, loud, irritating song, and is by far the worst arrangement on the CD. In fact, it's the only truly bad arrangement. It's even more abrasive than the original version. Thankfully, Atsuta finished the album on a high note, with a heartfelt performance of "Dreams Dreams" from NiGHTS. It's quite an arrangement, and the song really fits well. With the exception of "System Down," the album is a pretty decent package, and its budget price of 2000 yen makes it even more attractive. It's a great way to listen to Sega music without feeling like it's just video game songs. - benstylus ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mailbag ~ Page 6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---===>>>From: Spardacus Youfve just brought back some of my fondest childhood memories just by talking about one of my favourite cartoons of all time. I remember when I was young and I first watched Sonic the fastest thing alive. I used to tape it and I based my love life on the show at the time (very very young then) and it was the time to be alive since you had no idea of what was going on in the world at that age. My question, do you know if the cartoon of Sonic the fastest thing alive has been put on DVD? <<<===--- As far as I know, the only Sonic stuff released so far on DVD are Sonic Underground (from 1999), Sonic the Hedgehog The Movie (also from 1999), and Sonic X (from 2003). The original Sonic the Animated Series so far does not have a DVD release. - benstylus ---===>>>From: spyda I have in my possession a cd+plus for saturn....its a cartridge but what is it? please I have noone to answer this question? thx for any help <<<===---- Well, I hate to break it to you, but the CD+Plus was not for the Saturn at all, but actually was an unofficial product made for the Sega CD / Mega CD. I don't have one myself, but the CD+Plus cartridge supposedly allows any hardware and software combination. So if you've got a US Genesis and Sega CD, this cartridge should let you play European and Japanese games as well as the American ones. - benstylus ---===>>>From: xmen2000x Can you tell more abut the super mega drive 3 by Tec Toy in Brazil. And how I can by onefrom the US? <<<===---- Well what do you want to know about the machine? There are several models available - with anywhere from 10 to 71 games built in. It comes with two 6 button game pads so you can play by yourself or with a friend. Additionally, there's a cartridge port if you want to play Mega Drive games that aren't built into the system. The price for all this is 399 Brazil Reals. That's roughly $175.00 USD. As for where you can buy one in the US - try finding an online shop in Brazil (usually ends with .com.br) that's willing to ship here. You'll likely need to know a bit of Portugese though. Anyway, here's the official site for it (and for the cheaper versions with fewer games) - you can find out the details on the rest of them there. - http://asp.tectoy.com.br/videogame/mega/index_versoes.asp - benstylus ---------------------------------------------------------------------- New and Upcoming ~ Page 7 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's a list of Sega's upcoming releases (within 2 weeks of this newsletter) as well as recent games in case you accidentally missed any of them. This list covers games developed by Sega, published by Sega, or on Sega systems. These dates are direct from Sega, but sometimes they change em. So this should be considered a "rough estimate" rather than hard facts. RECENTLY RELEASED - USA ----------------------- Rome: Total War Gold Edition PC 02/14/06 Full Auto 360 02/15/06 Sonic Riders GC PS2 XB 02/21/06 Super Monkey Ball: Touch & Roll DS 02/21/06 UPCOMING GAMES - USA -------------------- None :( RECENTLY RELEASED - EUROPE -------------------------- Super Monkey Ball: Touch & Roll DS 02/17/06 UPCOMING GAMES - EUROPE ----------------------- None :( RECENTLY RELEASED - JAPAN ------------------------- Radirgy DREAMCAST! 02/16/06 Initial D Street Stage PSP 02/23/06 Sega Ages #22: Advanced Daisenryaku PS2 02/23/06 Sega Ages #25: Gunstar Heroes Treasure Box PS2 02/23/06 Sonic Riders GC PS2 XB 02/23/06 UPCOMING GAMES - JAPAN ---------------------- Doraemon Nobita no Kyouryuu DS 03/02/06 Tenkabit PS2 03/02/06 Sakura Taisen 1 & 2 PSP 03/09/06 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Game of the Week - Beauty & the Beast Genesis Double Feature ~ Page 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Disney games have always had a certain charm that's hard to replicate. You've got familiar characters, excellent art direction and animation, and there's a gentle difficulty curve so that the game can be fun for both kids and adults. And with Sega at the wheel, you end up with classics like Castle of Illusion and Quackshot. When Beauty and the Beast debuted in theaters, it was a phenomenal success. But there really wasn't a whole lot that would seem to translate well to video game material. Nevertheless, Sunsoft contracted with Disney to make not one, but fully two Beauty and the Beast games for Genesis, ostensibly to appeal to both the male and female gaming audience. One was subtitled "Belle's Quest," and the other, "Roar of the Beast." Perhaps if Sunsoft had focused their efforts on a single game, we might have received something memorable. Instead, we got one game that's mediocre and one that's just plain awful. To be fair, there are hints of excellence in both games - but they are marred by so many flaws its hard not to notice them. Belle's Quest starts off innocently enough. A familiar tune from the movie plays as you guide Belle through the town. You have to duck under a bird or two or you'll take some damage, but it's fairly easy. As you walk, you can stop to talk to villagers or just keep moving. Eventually you'll run into a boulder that blocks your path, so you need to go back and ask Gaston for help. Once Gaston clears the boulder, you head home and receive some helpful advice about the next stage. The game sort of reminds me a bit of a point-and-click adventure game, but with platform game mechanics thrown in. So far, I could see how this could appeal to girls who liked the movie, it was nothing terrible difficult, and it was non-violent (keeping with the perception that girls don't play REAL video games). The graphics were nice, but there really wasn't anything to grab onto gameplaywise. Not wanting to judge a book by its cover, I continued to play in order to see how the game panned out. The next stage has Belle lost in the forest, and if you had paid attention to what you were told, it's a fairly easy task to get through. A little bit of jumping over obstacles and you're good to go. When Belle finally makes it to the Beast's castle and takes her father's place, she decides to go exploring in the forbidden West Wing. This is the point where the game pretty much falls apart. Here, the object is to navigate through a maze of locked doors, trying to find enough keys to open them. Of course, there are bats and rats trying to impede your progress, and Belle's only option is to try and avoid them. There are a couple rooms that will send you back to the beginning of the level if you enter them, which makes things all the more frustrating. After a lot of trial and error, I finally made it through and got the magic mirror, which tells you to backtrack to almost the beginning of the level and get a big key which opens yet another door back near where I had found the mirror. I kind of felt cheated. Sunsoft was just trying to extend the game's length through mindless backtracking and trial-and-error puzzles, and that just wasn't at all fun for me. It was at this moment in time that I decided to make this article a double feature instead of a single Game of the Week, and to talk about the other Beauty and the Beast game. There is a classic sequence that has often been put on film (both live action and animated) wherein a short guy loses his temper and starts swinging his fists wildly at his rival - always a much larger individual with much longer arms. Perhaps you already know what I'm talking about, perhaps not - I'll elaborate a bit more. The larger person extends his arm out and puts his hand against the short guy's head, holding him back. Unable to advance, the short guy continues to swing and swing, but he can't ever reach the larger guy's body. How long this sequence lasts varies - sometimes it's quite brief, sometimes it's a little longer, and sometimes the filmmaker chooses to end the scene with it. Suppose the filmmaker decided to do an entire full-length feature consisting of nothing but that scene for two hours, and you're cast as the smaller guy. You might get a feeling for how Roar of the Beast plays. As a kid, my video game skills weren't as good as they are today. I'm not the greatest player in the world, but I'm certainly better than I was fifteen years ago. Many games that I swore off as impossible in my youth are now only moderate challenges. So you can imagine my surprise when, preparing for this article, the very first level of Roar of the Beast spanked me and sent home without supper. Yes, even with 5 lives, I had not been able to pass the first room of the first level. Something was not right - maybe I had not learned the controls fully, or maybe I just got unlucky or something, but surely I was beyond the phase where I can't even beat the first level of a Disney game. So I tried again, and again had my rear end handed to me on a silver platter. After three more tries with no success, I gave up. Again, as a kid, such situations would infuriate me to the point where I would throw controllers and punch the TV and yell all sorts of things about how the game cheats, and whatnot. As I grew older, I decided that going into a rage was definitely not the best way to handle things. Frustration is one thing, but when I start to genuinely get angry at a game, that's when I know it's time to shut it off. Sometime later, I had to decide what to do - I wanted to do a Beauty and the Beast Game of the Week entry, but I couldn't very well talk about the game in detail if I couldn't pass the first level. My Game Genie leered at me from its spot on the shelf. "I can help you pass the first level." I did not respond. "That's why I was invented - to put unfair games in their place." Still, I remained silent. "You'll get your video, I'll get some use - we'll both be happy." Its offer was tempting. Finally, I responded, "The day I have to use you to beat the first level of any game is the day I give up video games." It sneered at me as only a Game Genie can and said, "I'll hold you to that, Stylus. I'll hold you to that." With renewed resolve, I started again. Again, I was struck down. Again, and again, and again I failed. I finally began to realize that it was not due to my poor playing skills, but more due to bad game design. You're playing as the Beast, the fiercest creature around, yet four hits from a bat or a rat and you're toast. But bats and rats aren't the only things being thrown at you - you've also got to deal with snakes and angry dogs. As you progress through this first level, it becomes apparent that you're simply not going to get through without taking some damage. When they throw two dogs at you with a bat flying above, you have the choice of being bitten by the dogs or hit by the bat. True to the game's namesake, the Beast can also roar, which temporarily freezes all enemies on screen. You're limited to three roars per life, and there are far more impossible situations than you're given roars. This is a constant barrage of enemies lasting for fully two and a half minutes, and there is one healing item halfway through. Finally I caught a lucky break and somehow managed to get to the end of the first room. I was surrounded by dogs, but I had one roar left. I used it and high-tailed it out of there, and met up with the first boss - a goofy looking bear with murder on his mind. The bear has a longer reach than the Beast, can take about four times as many hits, and his attacks come without warning. Needless to say, he beat me pretty bad, and as it was my last life, I was sent back to the beginning of the whole level to try again. After one more failed attempt to get through, I decided to see how well I could do if I simply tried to speed through the whole level, pouncing on any enemies in the way so that I didn't have to stop to attack. I soon discovered by accident that the game can only track a certain number of enemies at once. Eventually I had three bats and two dogs chasing me, but since they moved at the same speed as the Beast, none of them could catch up. I merrily jaunted through the rest of the first room, and I turned and gave a smug look to my Game Genie. I'd still need to beat the boss, though, and managed to do it in just two lives. Turns out he was just a mini-boss, however, and the level continued. The next room was filled with wolves and more bats. The wolves are a lot faster than the dogs or the rats from the previous room, so I wondered how well my "running away" strategy would work. As it turns out, it worked pretty well - every time I heard a wolf coming I would jump out of the way just in time. The real boss of the stage is a giant boar who takes only about 4 hits to kill, gives an easy opening and is not particularly difficult at all. I had done it - I had passed the first level. It was time to move on to the next one. The next level takes place outside in the forest. The bats outside are more aggressive than the bats in the Beast's castle - they will dive at you. In addition to the bats, there are bears that take about four punches to kill, and icicles which fall off trees to hurt you. Well, I never did get past the second level. The running tactic didn't work thanks to the hilly terrain and aggressive bats, and when the game over screen came up, I was more than happy to turn it off. To all you out there, I say stick to watching the movie. It's much more enjoyable than either of these Genesis games. If you're still interested in the games, I've gone ahead and made a video for you. - http://www.segafans.com/gotw/gen_beauty_&_the_beast.wmv -benstylus ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Links ~ Page 9 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SegaFans: Covering the past present and future of everything Sega - http://www.segafans.com Sega of America - http://www.sega.com Sega Europe - http://www.sega-europe.com Sega of Japan - http://www.sega.jp Cuddly Gamers: A forum where gamers are nice to each other - http://www.cuddlygamers.com Game Tribute: Provides ad free hosting to quality game fan sites - http://www.gametribute.com Whip Ass Gaming: A very hip gaming site run by BelPowerslave - http://www.whipassgaming.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Credits / Legal / Contact Information ~ Page 10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- All original content copyright 2006 segafans.com. segafans.com is not affiliated in any way with Sega. 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