Grazza Posted November 3, 2014 Posted November 3, 2014 My nostalgic "pretend I'm in an '80s arcade" nights are about be become more fleshed-out!
RedShell Posted November 3, 2014 Posted November 3, 2014 CONFIRMED!!! http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=924406 WOOHOO!!! Bring em on!! Awesome stuff. 3D Out Run time!
f00had Posted November 3, 2014 Posted November 3, 2014 I think I'll pick up Outrun but I dunno about the other games.
Grazza Posted November 3, 2014 Posted November 3, 2014 OutRun and Afterburner for me, although there are loads I want that they haven't done yet.
Agent Gibbs Posted November 3, 2014 Posted November 3, 2014 Awwwwww yeah! now i just need 3D Sonic 2 , 3 & Knuckles
Dcubed Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 http://www.gonintendo.com/s/244604-3d-afterburner-2-coming-to-the-eu-nintendo-3ds-eshop-on-january-15 It begins! 3D Afterburner 2 hits the EU eShop on Jan 15!
RedShell Posted January 5, 2015 Posted January 5, 2015 http://www.gonintendo.com/s/244604-3d-afterburner-2-coming-to-the-eu-nintendo-3ds-eshop-on-january-15 It begins! 3D Afterburner 2 hits the EU eShop on Jan 15! Sweet! Come on Out Run...
Ike Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 Physical copy arrived. I'm going to be honest and I say I thought the whole collection was on there, but I didn't read anything up on it before hand. :p What seems slightly odd to me is that the collection is available on the eShop. I guess it works out cheaper, maybe?
S.C.G Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 That's a nice physical copy @Ike. I know it will probably never happen but, I'm in the process of playing Phantasy Star IV again on my Retron 5 and it struck me that it would be amazing if Sega were to recreate Phantasy Star Collection again... except this time properly - the GBA collection is supposed to be mixed at best - with added 3D; naturally as a physical boxed product in addition to being on the eShop. Alas though... this is probably but a dream, I have to wonder though if Sega have anything like that planned, especially being that we don't have either Sega Megadrive or TurboGrafx games on either of the 3DS or Wii U Virtual Consoles. We can only hope that something will be announced soon, especially if Nintendo intend to keep the Wii U and 3DS going for a few more years yet which I assume they do, for now though these Sega 3D Classics are still pretty amazing even if we are having to wait Ages for them.
Ike Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 That's a nice physical copy @Ike. I know it will probably never happen but, I'm in the process of playing Phantasy Star IV again on my Retron 5 and it struck me that it would be amazing if Sega were to recreate Phantasy Star Collection again... except this time properly - the GBA collection is supposed to be mixed at best - with added 3D; naturally as a physical boxed product in addition to being on the eShop. Alas though... this is probably but a dream, I have to wonder though if Sega have anything like that planned, especially being that we don't have either Sega Megadrive or TurboGrafx games on either of the 3DS or Wii U Virtual Consoles. We can only hope that something will be announced soon, especially if Nintendo intend to keep the Wii U and 3DS going for a few more years yet which I assume they do, for now though these Sega 3D Classics are still pretty amazing even if we are having to wait Ages for them. 3D classics PSI would be The Greatest Thing Ever with those dungeons. I picked up the Phantasy Star Complete Collection (has the English translation on "disk") which was conveniently on sale recently. They added a ton of options such as changing the game speed and exp and Mesta rewards (if I remember correctly, not 100% sure on the last two). Need to sit and play though that at some point.
mr_bogus Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 Physical copy arrived. I'm going to be honest and I say I thought the whole collection was on there, but I didn't read anything up on it before hand. :p Didn't realise there was a physical version out in JP! That looks ace
Dcubed Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 (edited) So with the SEGA 3D Classics series making a return this week with Afterburner 2, so too does the accompanying behind the scenes M2 interview series! http://blogs.sega.com/2015/01/12/sega-3d-classics-3d-afterbunner-ii-–-a-classic-reborn-part-1/ An excerpt... YO: And with that, let’s just set aside Horii-san’s digression, and get back to the fact that our successes in the first batch were bearing fruit, and there we were starting development on 3D After Burner II. But just like everything else, simply running on the hardware isn’t good enough. So there we were finishing up 3D Super Hang-On and starting to turn our attention to 3D Galaxy Force II, and M2 had After Burner II running as a test. It was still really far from being a final product, by any measure, but I recall you guys had it to a point where it had 3D, right? NH: Yes, that was around when we first showed it to you. YO: But when I went to play it, I wasn’t able to lock-on to anything. Nothing at all. By putting in 3D, the game got much more difficult. This was the first gameplay hurdle with After Burner II. Let me explain things in the context of Space Harrier to help understand what the issue was. In Space Harrier, your character, which is in the foreground, is shooting bullets that track to enemies in the background. So you end up spending a lot of time focused on your character in the foreground. But in After Burner II, you also have to manually acquire lock-ons to enemies who are near the horizon line, so you need to constantly look at both the foreground and the background. Even though the games seem similar, it turns out the eye movements required of the players are quite different. NH: It’s basically a game of “whack-a-mole” where you are having to keep two things lined up. YO: “Bash the moles as soon as they appear. Avoid attacks from the moles you let slide through.” That’s the basics behind this game. But the act of locking onto things by lining up something in the foreground to these enemies that exist in the background becomes quite difficult once you put this into 3D. If you just turn down the 3D effect, you can play just like you would normally, but with it on, the enemies are far away and hard to lock onto. That was my impression of that initial test version. I couldn’t understand why it was so much harder, despite being the same game. This was the first time I noted that while putting in 3D makes everything pretty and have depth, you’re going to have to make some adjustments for ease-of-play. If nothing else, they'll definitely help scratch that Iwata Asks itch Edited January 13, 2015 by Dcubed
Dcubed Posted January 15, 2015 Posted January 15, 2015 Part 2 of the Afterburner 2 M2 interview is out now
Grazza Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 So, Afterburner II! To fully understand the appeal of Afterburner, you have to go back to the '80s. Sega had developed its Super Scaler series of arcade boards, which offered the most advanced sprite-scaling around. And there was nothing quaint or whimsical about these - they succeeded in simulating 3D as well as it could possibly be done at the time. Many of the Super Scaler games offered a high degree of wish fulfilment - ride a sports bike in Super Hang-On, drive a Ferrari in OutRun or (in the case of Afterburner) fly an F-14 Tomcat, the coolest fighter plane at the time. When I encountered Afterburner in the arcades, it wasn't just a game - it was role play! I wanted to be good at it! I wanted my friends to see me as a fighter pilot! On a technical note, Sega made several "sequels" to these, which were really just improvements. Safe to say, Afterburner II is the definitive version of Afterburner, with nothing significant missing from its previous incarnation. Part of the appeal of the Sega 3D Classics range is pretending you have your own arcade - enhanced by the rotating coin-ops used as the games' icons. Here I have a very small nitpick - this game uses the deluxe sit-in cabinet as its icon, whereas I actually preferred the medium-sized ride-on unit. That said, many will prefer the largest unit (the one depicted), so I can't complain about that. I'll just have to "trade it in" when I see a fellow arcade owner with the medium unit. From the rotating spheres on the title screen, Afterburner II is a glorious nostalgia trip. The blistering music sounds brilliant through headphones, and the game is full of the nicest colour schemes this side of Wind Waker. It's also home to some of the most impressive sprite-scaling ever seen, with enemy planes re-scaling around you. Nostalgia only gets you so far though, so what of the gameplay? Well, like Super Hang-On, it's actually a good game. Although it may seem similar to Space Harrier, there are several improvements. The lock-on allows you to concentrate in dodging after you've fired. Speed is also adjustable, with heat-seeking missiles needing to be outrun, and tight, canyon sections requiring you to slow down. There are just enough additions to add variety without ever making it too complex, and perhaps this is why Afterburner still stands as the best of its type. Maybe I'm stuck in the past, but part of me remains in the '80s and '90s, when Sega was pushing its System 16, Super Scaler and System 32 arcade boards. After that, polygons took over and there was no going back. Although I appreciate the amazing game experiences polygons have allowed, to me, there was just so much artistry involved with using sprites. Thanks to M2, we can download these 3D Classics, hop in our F-14s and blast back to a different, superbly recreated time. :awesome: You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse
Dcubed Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 (edited) Yeah, these games were (and still are!) a real marvel of engineering and design and likewise, so too is the effort put into the 3D treatment on M2's part. I played Galaxy Force 2 for the first time when it came out on 3DS and I was blown away! I can't believe how convincing an experience it offers with nothing more than sprite scaling! (and that's not even getting into the actual 3D effect, which is just as amazingly crafted!) And to think it was released in 1988! Incredible! (It's also a really fun game in its own right too! A real thrill ride experience! ). It was so ludicrously ahead of its time that not even the mighty "2D powerhouse", the SEGA Saturn, was able to do it justice! (It ran at half the framerate of the original Arcade version) A console released roughly 6 years after the original arcade game! Just a shame that I have no money for Afterburner 2 right now (so that stays on the backburner till next month unfortunately) Edited January 18, 2015 by Dcubed
Grazza Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 I played Galaxy Force 2 for the first time when it came out on 3DS and I was blown away! I can't believe how convincing an experience it offers with nothing more than sprite scaling! (and that's not even getting into the actual 3D effect, which is just as amazingly crafted!) Am I being unadventurous for not buying Galaxy Force II and Thunder Blade? Part of me would like all the coin-op 3D Classics. So far, though, I've only bought the ones I have nostalgia for. And to think it was released in 1988! Incredible! (It's also a really fun game in its own right too! A real thrill ride experience! ). It was so ludicrously ahead of its time that not even the mighty "2D powerhouse", the SEGA Saturn, was able to do it justice! (It ran at half the framerate of the original Arcade version) A console released roughly 6 years after the original arcade game! Really? That is interesting. I always thought it was a shame that the Saturn didn't play host to all Sega's System 32 games - one of the most underappreciated arcade boards of all time! (Strange when you think how famous Sega were.)
Dcubed Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 (edited) Am I being unadventurous for not buying Galaxy Force II and Thunder Blade? Part of me would like all the coin-op 3D Classics. So far, though, I've only bought the ones I have nostalgia for. Never played Thunder Blade, but Galaxy Force 2 is legitimately a good game and a mindblowing "ride" for its time! If nothing else, you'll definitely appreciate the technical and design artistry that went into it! (not to mention the amazing S3D effect that this 3DS version offers!) I say go for it, they're all cheap anyway (and this is also the first time that Thunder Blade has ever been given a home release anywhere to boot!) Really? That is interesting. I always thought it was a shame that the Saturn didn't play host to all Sega's System 32 games - one of the most underappreciated arcade boards of all time! (Strange when you think how famous Sega were.) Yup, real tragedy that it never saw a home release. Was hoping that the advent of the Virtual Console Arcade would finally allow SEGA to give them the home release they so badly need, but alas Edited January 18, 2015 by Dcubed
dazzybee Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 Haven't got any of these but tempted by them all. Which would be a good starting one? Tempted by afterburner 2 or space harrier. It'd be outrun but who knows when that's coming.
Dcubed Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 Haven't got any of these but tempted by them all. Which would be a good starting one? Tempted by afterburner 2 or space harrier. It'd be outrun but who knows when that's coming. Space Harrier 3D is probably a good one to start off with. Good fun, simple gameplay and a great showcase for the 3D effect! (It was also the first of the SEGA 3D Classics to be released, so why not start from the beginning?)
mr_bogus Posted January 19, 2015 Posted January 19, 2015 Playing these games in 3D makes me both excited to finally be able to see the perspective decently beyond the blocks sprites, and it also makes me feel fortunate to be old enough to have experienced these in the arcades, before everything went polygonal (and then grainy and realistic and less colourful). I have specific memories of seeing each of these games for the first time - Outrun (in an arcade while on a school trip), Afterburner (at the shopping centre where I'd go to the cinema with friends on weekends or during holidays), Powerdrift (at a different cinema complex, somebody was actually once playing it wearing his motorcycle helmet! Couldn't ridicule him because he was brilliant at the game tho), Space Harrier (far out of town resort that I sometimes went with my friend's family maybe once every year or 2), etc. It's a pity that those type of associative memories are mostly lost now with playing everything on home PCs/consoles.
Dcubed Posted January 19, 2015 Posted January 19, 2015 (edited) I miss arcades in general. The feel of just walking around and being bombarded with attract videos (it was often fun to just look around and watch all the machines in action!), people enjoying themselves and lots of noise. Not to mention that in the 80s-mid 90s, the arcades were like looking into the future as they were so far ahead of their time! (and also offered crazy interfaces that you just couldn't get at home - ahh, Panic Park... How I want a cabinet so badly... Even if you got a home release, it wouldn't feel quite the same...) That being said, ultimately it's the games themselves that are the most important thing to be preserved (and it is nice to be able to play them at home and appreciate them in ways you couldn't at an arcade, I mean, you can actually hear the games properly at home for starters ), but it's a shame that the social side can't really be re-captured outside of a few select places that remain open (and even then, it's only really the hardcore fans who will go there, so it's only a certain type of people who you will see there). Edited January 19, 2015 by Dcubed
yesteryeargames Posted January 19, 2015 Posted January 19, 2015 Do you think the nixed retail one will see a release here ?
Dcubed Posted January 19, 2015 Posted January 19, 2015 Do you think the nixed retail one will see a release here ? Highly doubt it. SEGA have by and large pulled out of retail releases in the west almost completely (outside of Sonic, Aliens, Total War and Football Manager - Miku has been a really unlikely exception though!)
Dcubed Posted February 9, 2015 Posted February 9, 2015 Great review! : peace: They really went above and beyond with this one!
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