SEGA 3D Classics

[Dcubed]

Do you mean more titles for this compilation, or more in general? If the latter, GoNintendo posted the following:

 

 

 

This needs to be true. If @Grazza sees there's a possibility of Landstalker and it doesn't happen... he might never recover.

 

I'd assume that it's more from the ones already released. As much as I'd like to see Landstalker 3D (good lord it could do with the 3D!) I bet that those are just games that they tested on their Gigadrive emulator.

[Ike]

Why would Gunstar Heroes reference other games? Weird.

 

Isn't there some sort of licensing issue with ToeJam & Earl (or did they sort that)?

 

Really want a Phantasy Star 3D though.

Edited September 8, 2015 by Ike

[Grazza]

Do you mean more titles for this compilation, or more in general? If the latter, GoNintendo posted the following:

 

 

Someone has supposedly been poking around the data tucked away in 3D Gunstar Heroes and found something interesting. According to the data they pulled, the following titles are mentioned.

 

Puyo Puyo Tsu

Golden Axe

Comix Zone

Landstalker

Sonic Spinball

M.U.S.H.A.

ToeJam & Earl

Shining Force

Poseidon Wars 3D

Missile Defense 3D

Columns

Maze Hunter

Zaxxon 3D

Blade Eagle 3D

Streets of Rage 3

Line of Fire

 

 

This needs to be true. If @Grazza sees there's a possibility of Landstalker and it doesn't happen... he might never recover.

 

They must, must release these! Golden Axe should be the arcade version and Streets of Rage 3 should have the true Bare Knuckle III on it as well, but they've got to do it! I play Bare Knuckle II almost every night (no jokes please)!

[Glen-i]

I play Bare Knuckle II almost every night (no jokes please)!

 

Awww... You're no fun.

[S.C.G]

Really want a Phantasy Star 3D though.

 

This... so much!

 

I would play it so much, better still though remake the whole of the original game series - I, II, III & IV - and then make a brand new entry based on existing fan projects and input built up over the past couple of decades since the last game release on the Mega Drive.

 

It'll never happen though but we can still dream. : peace:

[Hero-of-Time]

From Gaf.

 

Welp.

 

Famitsu scans are out, these are in the collection is seems, but they are real, and that list must at least be partially true for PP2, PD wasn't in it so that means the list isn't all we're getting.

 

Edit: Maze Walker and Fantasy Zone II (Master System) are also in it seems.

Last edited by Hero of Legend; Today at 04:52 PM.

 

Power Drift, baby!!!

[Dcubed]

PUYO!!! (An odd choice to 3Dify, but hey! A chance to get another western release of Puyo Tsu!)

 

I wonder if it'll have online play like the Japanese Wii VC release of the arcade version did? (I have that BTW ) I mean, they've already done it once before...

 

I expected Power Drift to turn up eventually if they got round to making more; was the obvious next Super Scalar game to be done.

 

So that list might turn out to be more accurate than I had thought... Landstalker would be a fantastic choice! That game needs S3D so badly it hurts!

Edited September 9, 2015 by Dcubed

[mr_bogus]

Power Drift is probably the main one I'm waiting for right now.

[Ike]

The US is getting Sonic 2 on the 8th October so we should get it next week hopefully, it was meant to be out last month.

[Dcubed]

Speaking of Sonic 2 3D, the accompanying M2 interview is out now!

 

http://blogs.sega.com/2015/10/06/3d-sonic-the-hedgehog-2-included-in-the-sega-3d-classics/

 

Some choice excerpts...

 

– I understand that the normal stages were a challenge in terms of volume, but I assume the special stages were a challenge development wise.

 

 

 

YO: The deciding factor for starting this project depended on whether or not it was even possible to convert these special stages. We were still in the development stage of SEGA 3D Fukkoku Archives when we wanted to start this project. We knew it would be hard, but we really wanted to make it work, so we kept bouncing technical ideas off each other to find the most feasible method.

 

 

 

While discussing with M2, one method we both agreed that we didn’t want to employ was the way the mobile version of Sonic 2 does it. That version doesn’t use emulation and is a totally different approach than we use. That version actually uses polygons to render out the Special Stages and it would have turned out to be a completely different product.

 

 

 

If we were talking about an HD version and making a totally different game, then it would’ve been acceptable, but this project was anchored around this “Remastering” concept. It needed to be authentic. We wanted it so if we turn off the 3D stereoscopic switch, it would look exactly the same as seen on a Mega Drive screen. We could have taken the way the mobile version of Sonic 2 does it and converted that, but we requested M2 to find another way.

 

– How did you go about implementing the Versus Mode, your other major issue?

 

YO: Toward the beginning of this project, we weren’t sure if we could even include the Versus Mode. It was such a major hurdle to clear at the time that going with a risk-free method would’ve delayed the development process by six months.

 

 

 

With Gunstar Heroes and Streets of Rage 2 scheduled to release in the summer, we couldn’t allow only Sonic 2 to be released in the winter, so we agreed to drop the Versus Mode.

 

 

 

However, not too long after the project started, M2 told us, “It seems doable, so can we try and include it,” to which I responded, “Of course, as long as you can stay within schedule. We leave this matter to you.”

 

 

 

NH: I knew they wouldn’t say no to efforts enhancing the game.

 

NH: I agree. Sonic 2 includes numerous stages where the water level rises up and down and uses some kind of Z-version parallax scrolling where the colors change whenever the raster switches. We didn’t really look into it, but I believe Sonic 2 is able to use 61 different colors for the water level change. The Mega Drive as a whole has 64 colors, and it changes colors with every increase and decrease. You can really see they put a lot of effort into making this, like hiding the noise that occurs during color changes by displaying many sprites. But no one has to worry about this kind thing these days.

 

 

 

YO: Yeah, but you don’t need those sorts of skills anymore, either. It’s a lost art. Since this project focused heavily on replicating the Mega Drive experience, our biggest bottleneck was to match every little details like they were in the original game because we won’t let ourselves do things that the original Mega Drive wouldn’t do. If this was a simple remake, the Special Stage could’ve been reproduced with actual polygons instead of pre-rendering, and we could have probably had a high framerate that would have been more or less like the original.

 

 

 

-This is all because the concept of this project is about ‘remastering’, correct?

 

 

 

NH: Back then, there were many who would develop these kinds of technical improvements, but the general focus has shifted. Things change completely based on differences between using a frame buffer or a line buffer. And if I can say it this way, some people just had a knack for it.

 

 

 

– So you can say Sonic 2 is a compilation of all these advancements.

 

 

 

YO: We were able to make Sonic 2 happen BECAUSE it was the 16th title in the lineup.

 

– Is there a title you wish you could have converted?

 

 

 

YO: That would have to be the arcade version of Virtual Racing for me. It hasn’t ever been faithfully ported. There’re four ports to date: Mega Drive, 32X, SEGA Saturn, and Playstation, but none of them stayed true to the original.

 

 

 

The Mega Drive and 32X versions were amazing at the time, but I wish more attention went to Virtual Racing rather than Virtual Fighter. I wasn’t too impressed with Winning Run (racing game developed by Namco at the time), which was released earlier, but Virtual Racing really caught my attention. The 30 FPS framerate gave it a smoother effect compared to other games like Hard Driving and Winning Run.

 

 

 

There was also a Grand Prix mode, where people could play 15 rounds for 200 yen when popularity started to die. I remember having so much fun playing with three other people and figuring out when to replace the worn out tires at the pits. I do feel that I want to re-experience that some day. Many have told me that there’s no reason to bring it back when there’s so many amazing racing games out there, but I’ve got a lot of great memories associated with that game, so I’d love to bring it back if I had the chance.

 

 

 

NH: I got to say, I agree. I’d say Virtual Racing since I like to work on those primitive era games.

 

I hope that this isn't the end! I'd love to see them tackle more arcade titles and maybe some earlier 3D games; especially now that they have the New3DS to work with. A 3D version of the original NiGHTS would be amazing!

[Ike]

I hope that this isn't the end!

 

Pretty sure there's a running joke by now, they've been saying it's the end since the first wave.

[Dcubed]

Pretty sure there's a running joke by now, they've been saying it's the end since the first wave.

 

Heh, of course. They actually make a point about that in this interview too

[Grazza]

I'm surprised they even thought about Virtua Racing - jumping straight from 16-bit games to Model 1 (especially as they've mentioned that some of those were a challenge to emulate). Oi, Sega, please don't miss out System 32!

 

Seriously, decent emulation (restoration?) of Sega's classics is something that should go on and on, 3D or not.

 

I was bored last night so I completed Streets of Rage on "Hardest" (the most difficult setting in the original). Afterwards, I had a go of Streets of Rage 2 on "Mania", but that's crazy so I put it down to "Hardest"!

[S.C.G]

To anyone who has the day off today, enjoy playing 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2!

 

I'll get straight on downloading it after work, can't wait! : peace:

[Grazza]

To anyone who has the day off today, enjoy playing 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2!

 

I'll get straight on downloading it after work, can't wait! : peace:

 

I want to play this, but could never get all the Chaos Emeralds. Could you let me know if it has a level select so I can gather them all before I start, please?

[Dcubed]

I want to play this, but could never get all the Chaos Emeralds. Could you let me know if it has a level select so I can gather them all before I start, please?

 

It does. In fact, it actually has a special option that boots the game straight into the level select screen

[Ike]

I want to play this, but could never get all the Chaos Emeralds. Could you let me know if it has a level select so I can gather them all before I start, please?

 

Use these maps, there are loads of checkpoints in the levels so you have plenty of chances.

 

Plus you can save mid-game. :p

[Grazza]

It does. In fact, it actually has a special option that boots the game straight into the level select screen

 

Use these maps, there are loads of checkpoints in the levels so you have plenty of chances.

 

Plus you can save mid-game. :p

 

OK, thanks. I always found that mini-game so difficult. Might have to save every time I successful clear a portion of it!

[Dcubed]

The special stages are super cool!! They look great in 3D as the rings fly in your face!

[Ike]

Hm, this version is a bit glitchy. Went through some walls that I shouldn't have.

 

What's the differences between the Japanese and International versions?

[Dcubed]

Hm, this version is a bit glitchy. Went through some walls that I shouldn't have.

 

Sonic 2 has always been kinda glitchy. Especially the two player mode and anything to do with Super Sonic (he was literally chucked into the game in the last two weeks of development and it shows!)

 

What's the differences between the Japanese and International versions?

 

Don't think that there's anything really different other than changing Tales' name to Miles.

[S.C.G]

Annnnnnd finished!

 

Somewhat amusingly this is the first game to make me run out of miiverse posts for the day - though I was playing past midnight and I expected the limit to reset yet it didn't - so no completion proof picture though I have saved it to my screenshot album.

 

What else is there to say aside from I enjoyed every second of playing through Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 3D and it still ranks as one of my favourite games of all time if not the very best, this version just improves upon it even more if that;s even possible.

 

M2 have done a sterling job here, such fine work which cannot be allowed to end at this point in time, for it must continue until at the very least we have the remaining Sonic titles and the last Streets of Rage game plus the rest of the confirmed releases still to come; this is game preservation for the modern age of the highest quality and I absolutely adore it! : peace:

[Ike]

Sonic 2 has always been kinda glitchy. Especially the two player mode and anything to do with Super Sonic (he was literally chucked into the game in the last two weeks of development and it shows!)

 

I'm aware the original was glitchy but I've never ran into these glitches before. One of the springs hanging on a wall in Emerald Hill I couldn't hit because I kept going through the wall instead of bouncing off it.

 

While running through a loop-de-loop in Chemical Plant I somehow went through the ceiling and then dropped straight down.

 

There were some other instances while I was Super Sonic but I was probably hitting areas I shouldn't have.

 

I think Super Sonic actually makes some of the later stages a bit hard and he kinda breaks Wing Fortress.

 

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You unlock Super Sonic Mode after clearing the game (after collecting all 7 emeralds?) which starts you off with 50 rings and all 7 emeralds which is pretty much what I had always wanted when I was younger.

 

[Grazza]

M2 have done a sterling job here, such fine work which cannot be allowed to end at this point in time, for it must continue until at the very least we have the remaining Sonic titles and the last Streets of Rage game plus the rest of the confirmed releases still to come; this is game preservation for the modern age of the highest quality and I absolutely adore it! : peace:

 

Yes, I think not having Sonic 3 + Knuckles (as one game) and Streets of Rage 3 (Westerners have never had the proper Bare Knuckle III) would be particularly amiss.

 

I'm looking forward to playing Sonic 2, but in the meantime I gave the original another spin:

 

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Such crisp graphics to this day. A genuine classic.

 

So, I read the full interview and it got me thinking about the titles M2 have released:

 

Arcade

Space Harrier

Super Hang-On

Galaxy Force II

After Burner II

Fantasy Zone

Out Run

Fantasy Zone II

Thunder Blade

 

I can see the logic with most of these, as the main appeal was a) sprite-scaling in stereoscopic 3D and b) seeing the little arcade cabinet icons! However, I must say Fantasy Zone I and II are curious choices. For me, Enduro Racer and Super Monaco GP are the big ones missing when it comes to sprite scaling and, if we're talking System 16, I would say Golden Axe is the main one missing.

 

Mega Drive

Altered Beast

Sonic the Hedgehog

Ecco the Dolphin

Shinobi III

Streets of Rage

Streets of Rage 2

Gunstar Heroes

Sonic 2

 

A good list, although I would rather Altered Beast had been the arcade (System 16) version. There are loads of other great Mega Drive games but, delving into the details, I'm not certain Sega has the 100% rights to them. I'd say they have the "Early" and "Peak" eras there, but we still need "Mature"! As I say, I love what they've done, but after a scientific study I'd say the three titles missing from their love letter to the 16-bit era are Golden Axe, Streets of Rage 3 and Sonic 3 + Knuckles. I'm only moaning because I love what they've done and don't want it to end yet!

[Dcubed]

I can see the logic with most of these, as the main appeal was a) sprite-scaling in stereoscopic 3D and b) seeing the little arcade cabinet icons! However, I must say Fantasy Zone I and II are curious choices. For me, Enduro Racer and Super Monaco GP are the big ones missing when it comes to sprite scaling and, if we're talking System 16, I would say Golden Axe is the main one missing.

 

They actually mention this in one of the M2 interviews. They picked them because M2 had already done a big chunk of the work when they re-released them on PS2 in Japan as part of their SEGA AGES collections. They were already familiar with them (plus the System 16 version of Fantasy Zone 2 was actually developed from scratch by M2 originally, so you know, it's a point of pride for them. It's their own game they they were remastering )

 

A good list, although I would rather Altered Beast had been the arcade (System 16) version.

 

They picked the MD version because the arcade version had little to no parallax scrolling, making a 3D remaster pointless.

 

There are loads of other great Mega Drive games but, delving into the details, I'm not certain Sega has the 100% rights to them. I'd say they have the "Early" and "Peak" eras there, but we still need "Mature"! As I say, I love what they've done, but after a scientific study I'd say the three titles missing from their love letter to the 16-bit era are Golden Axe, Streets of Rage 3 and Sonic 3 + Knuckles. I'm only moaning because I love what they've done and don't want it to end yet!

 

Agreed! Still so much more that could be done! Even from the list of Wii VC MD releases (which they obviously must have most of the rights to), there's so many other great potential choices like MUSHA, Alien Soldier and Ristar!