SEGA Mega Drive Mini II Finally Gets A Europe Edition, Pre-Orders Open

Ever since SEGA Japan announced the Mega Drive Mini II, we have been eagerly awaiting news of a Western version of the new microconsole. The US got theirs – the Genesis Mini II – and now finally fans in Europe can get their nostalgia fix with a region-specific branded version of the console that just… reminds us of simpler days, you know?

Continue reading SEGA Mega Drive Mini II Finally Gets A Europe Edition, Pre-Orders Open
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Classic Villains Return in IDW’s Scrapnik Island Mini-Series & Tails’ 30th Anniversary Special

If you’re looking for some October spookytimes, IDW will be introducing a new Sonic 4-issue mini-series from Daniel Barnes, Jack Lawrence, and Nathalie Fourdraine. As reported by ComicBook.com, Scrapnik Island is set to “tell a really creepy and atmospheric story with a vibe that Sonic fans aren’t normally used to,” describes Barnes.

Among the classic enemies Sonic and Tails will scrap with is Mecha Knuckles, the silver, hex-eyed doppelganger from Sonic Advance, this time sporting Knuckles’ iconic treasure hunting hat.

Meanwhile, classic Tails and a truly classic baddie return (as do Ian Flynn, Aaron Hammerstrom, and Reggie Graham) for Tails’ 30th Anniversary Special this November. The special will pit Tails against the forces of Wendy Witchcart, the main boss of the Japanese Game Gear’s Tails’ Sky Patrol. An obscure character indeed, but not the first time she’s shown up in comics (she had a brief place in late-era Archie). The placeholder cover art seems to suggest the adventure will take Tails and his far less relevant buddy back to Flicky Island (which isn’t an especially Tails-heavy game, but I’m all in favor of revisionist history).

Thanks to Josiahblaze for the tip over on Discord!

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SEGA Genesis Mini 2 Announced for North America (Sort Of?)

What do you call a product that you can ONLY import, and can’t actually buy domestically?

Continue reading SEGA Genesis Mini 2 Announced for North America (Sort Of?)
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Sonic Game Speedruns Are Back For Summer Games Done Quick 2021 Online

For the second year in a row, Summer Games Done Quick is going to be an online-only event. But, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t going to be any speed-runs. And for Sonic fans, you’ll be able to see some speed-runs of 5 different Sonic games this year.

Continue reading Sonic Game Speedruns Are Back For Summer Games Done Quick 2021 Online
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Steam & Humble Bundle Offer Sonic Fans Superb Savings With Week-long Sales

To celebrate the release of the Sonic movie, both Steam and Humble Bundle are offering Sonic games at a steep discount through the next week.

Steam is offering a “Sonic the Hedgehog Ultimate Bundle” an over $250 value, at less than $60, or 76 percent off. The bundle includes the following games:

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
Sonic 3D Blast
Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
Sonic Spinball
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II
Sonic CD
Sonic Adventure 2 (plus Battle DLC)
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Sonic Lost World
Sonic Generations with Casino Night DLC
Sonic Mania with Encore DLC
Sonic Forces
Team Sonic Racing

The games can also be bought individually. For their individual prices, check out the bundle’s page on Steam.

If you just want deals on the newer games, and if you want some of your money to go to charity, you can check out Humble Bundle, which is having a Sonic week right now. Check it out here!

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EVEN MORE Sonic 3D Blast Demo Music – This Time From “Green Alley”

Jon Burton continues his uploads of tracks from the Sonic 3D demo music casette with “Green Alley” Zone Act 1!

Continue reading EVEN MORE Sonic 3D Blast Demo Music – This Time From “Green Alley”

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Unused 3D Blast Demo Music Reveals Shocking Connection to Sonic Adventure

Remember those cool music samples from Sonic 3D Blast? Well, Jon Burton has uploaded another lost demo track onto his GameHut YouTube channel, and fans of Sonic Adventure for the SEGA Dreamcast might find it to be quite familiar!

Continue reading Unused 3D Blast Demo Music Reveals Shocking Connection to Sonic Adventure

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Never Before Heard Demo Music (3D) Blasts Onto The Internet!

Hang onto your blast processing chips! In the interest of game development preservation, Jon Burton, founder of Traveller’s Tales and GameHut has released some demo tracks for Sonic 3D Blast for the SEGA Mega Drive, composed by Jun Senoue way back in the early 90’s. It’s music that’s been hidden from us for decades, and now we have access to it!

Continue reading Never Before Heard Demo Music (3D) Blasts Onto The Internet!

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Sega Genesis Classics announced for Switch

Just two days before the Sega Ages games start rolling out in Japan, Sega in the west have announced the d3t-developed Sega Genesis Classics (Sega Mega Drive Classics in EU) for Switch. This was released earlier this year for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Continue reading Sega Genesis Classics announced for Switch

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Sonic 3D Blast: Director’s Cut Released onto Steam Workshop

Just in time for Christmas, Sonic 3D Blast: Director’s Cut has been put onto the Steam Workshop for everyone to play.

While it may seem like it ought to be another run-of-the-mill mod, there’s one factor that makes this project stand out; this was done by Jon Burton, founder of Traveller’s Tales and programmer on the original Sonic 3D Blast itself way back in 1996!

Over the past year, Burton (via his Youtube channel Gamehut) has been revealing coding secrets and tricks on Sonic 3D Blast and other classic TT games many would recognise, and as part of that he took it on himself to do some tweaks to the game to make it an overall better experience. Here’s a list of some of the modifications that this contains;

  • Super Sonic implemented into regular gameplay.
  • A time attack mode.
  • A level editor.
  • A “new” enemy (actually one that was always in the code but left unused in the final game).
  • A save game password system.
  • An overworld map screen for getting level to level.
  • Improved controls.
  • Bug Fixes.
  • Other miscellaneous gameplay changes, including alterations to the Flicky indicators and the behaviour of the Flickies themselves.

This game is a patch for the mod-friendly SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics, so make sure you own that before trying it out if you’re interested. The patch can be downloaded here on the Steam Workshop for free.

If you’ve ever been curious as to how a developer would improve their work in hindsight, or just fancy playing Sonic 3D Blast in a way you never have before, this is something you might want to try out for yourself!

Source: Jon Burton (Twitter)

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Original Sonic 3D Developer to Produce ‘Director’s Cut’ Patch

Jon Burton, the founder of Travellers’ Tales (aka TT Games) and one of the original developers of Sonic 3D: Flickies’ Island, has announced that he is working on a ‘Director’s Cut’ version of the action platformer first released in 1996. Continue reading Original Sonic 3D Developer to Produce ‘Director’s Cut’ Patch

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The SEGA Mega Drive Classics Bundle on Steam is on Sale for 66% off this Week Only

In April, SEGA released the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis Classics Hub for Steam, which created a wide-spanning virtual hub that encompasses all retro releases from the company, complete with Steam Workshop support for modders to play around with. The hub became available for free to any Steam user with a Mega Drive game in their library, from Alex Kidd all the way to Wonder Boy, including all of Sonic’s 16-bit outings.

In fact, those who wish to complete their collection can do so for a cheap price this week only, as the all-encompassing SEGA Mega Drive Classics Bundle is now on sale for 66% off the usual price. Internationally, we’re speaking $21.07 USD ($61.99 USD), £16.31 (£47.99), and €20.05 (€58.99). The full list of games is as follows:

Continue reading The SEGA Mega Drive Classics Bundle on Steam is on Sale for 66% off this Week Only

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Mash-Up Monday: Beastie Boys Tribute

A little over a month ago, another music legend has passed.

MCA (aka Adam Yauch), a member the renowned hip hop trio known as the Beastie Boys, lost his life to cancer on May 4th. He died at the age of 47.

You might recall Alien/Renegade, one of many musicians who contributed to The Sonic Stadium Music Album. For Mash-Up Monday, he has prepared a trio of mixes consisting of music from the Beastie Boys, all of which being featured here today.

We present to you “An Open Letter to Rusty Ruins”, “Wacky Body Movin”, and “Here’s a Little Final Haunt for Ya”. Enjoy!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CB0kUXLf5E

Continue reading Mash-Up Monday: Beastie Boys Tribute

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Sonic Generations Now Available to Pre-order on Steam

PC gamers can now pre-order their digital download copy of Sonic Generations on the Steam service at a much cheaper price than its console counterparts. The game costs £19.99 in the UK and $29.99 in the US. As free pre-order bonuses, you’ll also get Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic 3D: Flickies’ Island/Sonic 3D Blast.

The game will be available to download worldwide November 4th.

Thanks to Kazozza, fluttersoard, Alex and Notification Guy for the heads up!

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Marathon Monday: Speed Demos Archive running Sonic games for Japan

Thursday 7th April – Monday 11th April at speeddemosarchive.com

I’m sure some of you remember when my good friends at Speed Demos Archive raised over $52k for charity at their live speedrunning marathon back in January. Not least, a beast known only as Stanski tore up Sonic 2 on the Sega Genesis in one take.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”265″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBZMEJtRrRk#t=4m35s[/youtube]

Normally, SDA isn’t one to do marathons all the time – they usually only have one a year and put everything into it – but last month some place called Japan had its east coast wiped out by a wave reaching 23 metres high, leaving over 10,000 people dead and another half a million without a home.

So, towards the end of March, and with marathoning for Japan seemingly de rigueur right now, SDA decided to join the bandwagon and plan a top marathon in two weeks. Unlike their usual efforts, this one will be done online from the gamers’ homes, and yours truly will also be joining the party.

Japan Relief Done Quick: April 7-10 2011

This time Japan Relief Done Quick will be raising funds for Doctors Without Borders, the American branch of the international medical aid group Médecins Sans Frontières. A Nobel Peace Prize recipient, MSF has operations in over 60 countries, and is in Japan right now providing medical treatment to those affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

Now, January’s marathon was a bit disappointing from a Sonic point of view, but that’s not the case this time. Early Friday morning in the UK, there’s a solid four-hour slot where five Sonic games will be played through:

  • First up is the original Mega Drive title, Sonic the Hedgehog, played by MilesSMB on Genesis.
  • That’s followed by Sonic 3D on Saturn, played by Zyre who recently had a speedrun of another Sega classic, Skies of Arcadia Legends, published on SDA.
  • Next Venick will hammer his way through Amy’s story on the original Sonic Adventure on Dreamcast.
  • The greatest Sonic game ever made is next – Sonic 2006 on Xbox 360. Depending on donations, either Venick or Parax will go through one character’s story. If you’re planning on donating, personally I recommend Silver because some of the tricks will blow your mind.
  • Finally, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 will be seeing a full game run. The runner is Parax, the top single-level speedrunner for Sonic 4 in the world right now. If you’re on 360, check the leaderboards and then check your calendar.
  • This marathon starts at 9PM in the UK on Thursday, and is set to run into Monday. You can see the full schedule at the JRDQ site, though if you’re planning on watching a certain game, bear in mind times can change pretty easily.

    Be there, if only to laugh at me when I die in-game during my slot…

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    Sonic 3D Blast & Other MD Titles Coming To PC Download

    SEGA have today announced yet another collection of their 16 Bit library, this time in the form of SEGA Mega Drive Classics. This collection is a part of their recently announced focus on digital distribution and will be released for the PC Download market via online store Steam among others. Eleven games are currently known to be on the way with all of them releasing June 1st 2010 priced at £1.99/€2.49/ AUS$3.49, check out the list and their product pages below:
    Sonic 3D Blast
    Ecco the Dolphin
    Golden Axe
    Comix Zone
    VectorMan
    Gain Ground
    Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
    Crack Down
    Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
    Altered Beast
    Space Harrier II

    Press release

    LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO (May 21st, 2010) –SEGA® Europe Ltd. and SEGA® of America, Inc. are proud to announce that a wide selection of evergreen games from the legendary SEGA Mega Drive™ platform are making their way on to PC via digital distribution.

    The initial group of titles being made available consists of fan favourites such as Golden Axe™, Ecco the Dolphin™, Comix Zone™ and VectorMan™. All these classic SEGA titles will be available from £1.99/€2.49/ AUS$3.49, but for a full list of all available titles and features, please visit www.sega.com.

    “It’s exciting to be able to offer these classic games to a new audience” said Nick Pili, Network Business Director at SEGA Europe. “Delivered via our digital partners, every PC owner can now enjoy these timeless masterpieces whenever they want!”

    The first set of SEGA Mega Drive games for PC are set to release 1st June on STEAM and other digital distribution networks.

    Source: SEGA Europe

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    BlueTube: TIIIIGEEERRRR ATTAAAACCCK

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afa4REQENrk[/youtube]

    I think that it’s hilarious that somebody tried to sell Sonic 3D Blast on a Tiger LCD handheld.  That fact is funnier than the commercial itself.  Not to mention all the false hope the ad provides.  Compare how many times you see the Genesis version of 3D Blast to the Tiger handheld version and laugh.

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    Fanatics: Rockin’ Rusty Ruin

    rustyruinPlug plug plug.

    My main man Hunter Bridges just dropped a sick Sonic remix over at the Sonic Nexus blog, dudes.  This new remix is a part of the second soundtrack of the game, the “Retro Remixes,” which consist of taking classic Sonic songs and remixing them into the style of the Nexus zone.  The 8th zone, Wicked Works, is very groove heavy with guitars chugging along, so the Retro Remix had to follow suit.  Hunter remixed Rusty Ruin from the Genesis version of Sonic 3D Blast and well…just listen to it.

    It’s in the media player at the top of the Nexus page.  It’s track #11.

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    Play Sonic 3D Blast Flicky-Free

    Sik, over at Sonic Retro, has completed his hack of Sonic 3D Blast that removes the Flickies from the game, leaving you to run around and play the game as if it were a true, isometric version of a Sonic game (where the goal is to simply make it to the end without dying). I must say that I enjoy 3D Blast one-hundred times more than I did (I didn’t really like it, so that’s a huge improvement). Who knew that taking out the entire crux of a game could make it more entertaining?

    In this hack, Flickies will still appear, but you will no longer be able to collect them.  The big rings will always let you proceed to the next area and any areas (like the tube in Panic Puppet) that prohibit your advance due to your Flicky count will allow you to go anyway.

    With all this fun to be had, however, it must be said that now that the lost, core mechanic of the gameplay makes the game much easier. It was designed around Flicky collection and now you can just blow through every stage without a need to explore every corner of the isometric worlds.  Still, I hate Flicky collection, so it does not bother me that much. I have never been arsed to play this game all the way through, so here’s to Sik for making a mediocre game interesting.

    Head on over to Sonic Retro to download the hack!

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    SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection for 360/PS3 Announced

    Because you simply cannot own enough copies of Sonic the Hedgehog on the Mega Drive, SEGA have announced today they are developing the SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection for the XBox 360 and PS3 consoles. Looks like our original rumour story wasn’t that far off the mark.

    As well as being the first opportunity for players to have a go on Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic 3D Blast on current generation consoles, this compilation will also include other kick-arse titles from SEGA’s extensive 16-bit catalogue, including Streets of Rage 1, 2 & 3, Alien Storm, Golden Axe 1, 2 & 3, Ristar and Ecco the Dolphin. Not only that, there will be a whole host of unlockable 8-bit Master System titles as bonus material too!

    Some fans will be a bit miffed that they have already shelled-out a few hundred Microsoft points for these games already, but I think that will probably be drowned out by the fact there are well over 40 titles to play; that’s a lot of gaming for your pennies! Plus, there will also be a set of achievements for XBox owners to collect – always another incentive to play through those classics once more!

    The collection is due out early 2009, check out the Official Website for more info.

    Me? I’m thrilled they’re putting Dynamite Headdy on there! YEEEEAAS!!!

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    TSS REVIEW: Sonic 3D Flickies’ Island

    Here’s the final Sonic game released on the Mega Drive, before the blue blur moved on to the Sega Saturn. On a similar note, but on a different whistle, this game marks Sonic’s debut on Sega’s 32-bit powerhouse. A totally new ploy has been devised by Eggman, involving Flickies. These strange birds live in another dimension and can warp anywhere via large rings. Continue reading TSS REVIEW: Sonic 3D Flickies’ Island

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