New Sega Superstars and Sonic Mega Collection + pictures

[Dash]

There are also some nice clear screenshots of Superstars right here at Sega of America's website. They just, you know, have Americans in them.


Anyway, I'm actually looking forward to Sega Superstars now as they seem to be doing a lot more with the technology than I thought they would(and it has a kickass opening video to boot^_^(but since when did Billy get so fast?:P)). I'm a little surprised there isn't a Jet Set Radio game in it though. The whole graffiti aspect could work really well with the Eyetoy.

Mega Collection + is shaping up to be a better package than the original, but currently it's still not enough to warrant a purchase(well a purchase from ME anyway. Where's Sonic CD? Or Fighters(with Dynamite Dux)? Or Chaotix? or even(to a lesser extent) Segasonic Arcade? Make this collection a little more "Mega" I say.).

Really excited about the Heroes concept art/"Making of" videos though. I hope we finally get to see some of Uekawa's sketches of Espio, Vector, and Charmy.

Knuckles Chaotix is one of the secret games. It's clearly visible.

Sorry, but I think that's Ristar you're seeing(correct me if I'm wrong though).

[Green Gibbon!]

I'm a little surprised there isn't a Jet Set Radio game in it though.

Jet Set Radio isn't a marketable license. A more apt title for the game, I think, would've been: "Sega SuperStars that we're Still Making Money From Now."

I hope we finally get to see some of Uekawa's sketches of Espio, Vector, and Charmy.

I don't think Uekawa was involved with Heroes at all, or certainly not as a character designer. I don't remember, was his name even in the credits?

[aso]

That's a good point 'bout Nintendo, but how many of those franchises do they actually do justice towards? SSBM seems to be just about universally respected, but all of their other series revamps have met with some criticism... some more than others. (Star Fox Adventures? Was just a new slap of paint on an N64 game with Fox in the lead...)

And if Sonic Team does eventually meet its demise, one can only wonder what would happen to Sonic...

Vectorman PS2 was cancelled a while back, somewhat thankfully, but... a movie? What the hell? I had no idea the games were popular enough for there to be some kind of movie. I know they had that big contest and all with the first game, but still...

Altered Beast sucked. It was certainly something when I played it as a kid - namely, it was boring, looked dull, and not as colorful as Sonic. Guess which game I decided to wean off of!

And if Sega is going to dig around any further in its coffer for a cheap and quick attempt at cash, then they need to do Streets of Rage something.

[Zeta]

SSBM seems to be just about universally respected, but all of their other series revamps have met with some criticism... some more than others. (Star Fox Adventures? Was just a new slap of paint on an N64 game with Fox in the lead...)

People were worried about Sunshine because of the new gameplay gimmick, but it turned out pretty damn great.

Wind Waker was met with a lot of controversy, and the game actually wasn't up to snuff (in my opinion). It was good, but not great. Mostly 'cause of the new sailing gimmick that slowed the whole thing down. But with the next GC game, it looks like they're going back to a more detailed, and less wet hyrule.

Donkey Kong's games, while having gotten gimmicky in the past few years (King of Swing, Donkey Konga) have all been met with mostly praise.

Kirby's games have always been decent to good. Kirby and the Magic Mirror is pretty damn amazing, graphics and gameplay-wise.

F-Zero's GC was met with lukewarm reviews, but it's one of Nintendo's more minor franchises.

Metroid's seeing more action now in the past 3 years, than it has EVER. Zero Mission, Prime, Prime 2, Echos et all have all been great.

The Pokemon games are still very good.

Fire Emblem's damn good, from what I've heard.

Pikmin 2 is a blast.

So to answer your question, yeah - the only current major Nintendo franchise that seems to be headed towards an actual slump IS StarFox. But when you've got about 10 different major and critically acclaimed franchises running your company, it doesn't hurt THAT much if one slips slightly in quality. And StarFox adventures really shouldn't even be considered a StarFox game.

If only someone would revive Earthbound!

[Segaholic2]

I want Mother1+2 here in the US, NOW!

[aso]

I haven't been able to follow too much, myself, on most Nintendo franchises, lacking a GC and all, but it does seem that Nintendo is being very diverse in what they offer. It helps, given that they're ordinarily hurting for third party companies!

Also... there have been plans for a Mother 3! And this is not in reference to the cancelled N64 title, either, but an all new game.

It's just that they're likely not going to come to any fruition, and if they do, the odds that it'll come to the US are along the lines of a stateside release of GBA Mother 1 + 2.

That is to say, nil.

[Green Gibbon!]

And if Sega is going to dig around any further in its coffer for a cheap and quick attempt at cash, then they need to do Streets of Rage something.

They were doing that, too, at the beginning of the Dreamcast era. It never even made it off the drawing board, though.

People were worried about Sunshine because of the new gameplay gimmick, but it turned out pretty damn great.

I disagree with that. It was a good game and it had its moments of brilliance, but ultimately it lacked the inspiration and creativity of Mario 64. Plus the quality of level design was extremely uneven. A good portion of the challenges just outright sucked.

There hasn't been a good Donkey Kong game since that 99-level one on the black & white Game Boy years ago. There hasn't been a good Kirby game since the SNES. Pokémon is fine if you like the same game released over and over again 80 different times.

The problem with the Nintendo franchises is that they don't seem to know where else to go with them, and they're pulling out gimmicks to keep them in the public eye. It's part of the company's downfall, and one of the many, many reasons why, within 5 or 6 years, Nintendo as it exists now will be gone.

A friend of mine who was a Nintendo kid in much the same way I was a Sega kid recently pointed out that their fall is going to be even worse than Sega's, because Sega at least openly admitted it. Nintendo, until the very bloody end, will be like: "Everything's fine, we're doing it the way we've always been doing it. Shutup and buy this new Game Boy."

It's over. Sega's done and Nintendo's next.

[Guest]

I disagree.

Why??? As simple as it goes, if Nintendo's new franchise games were THAT bad, nobody had bought them. As simple as it goes, problem was the first titles for GC (Luigi's Mansion, SMSS, and Kirby) were made just too damn fast and, unfortunantly, the results were subpar.

But not anymore. Something bad with Sega was that theyreleased a BAD Sonic game, and didn't tried to fix it (G Sonic anyone?)... Nintendo is doing all they can to fix the problems with it's games.

Want a grown up Link??? The next Zelda has it. Want really NEW gameplay??? Mario 128 will have it. Want real Star Foxisms??? Star Fox Armada (I think) will have it.

Plus, Metroid was a balst, and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, will be too.

F-Zero was a complete hit, so I don't think they are complains on that side.

Donkey Kong??? I dunno...

But, just in case, you forgot some franchises... REALLY minor ones, BTW: Eternal Darkness, Excitebike, and Killer Instinct. When will they return??? I just dunno.

[Segaholic2]

And if Sega is going to dig around any further in its coffer for a cheap and quick attempt at cash, then they need to do Streets of Rage something.

They were doing that, too, at the beginning of the Dreamcast era. It never even made it off the drawing board, though.

Actually, there were five very very very early demo videos of it released on the internet a year ago or maybe longer. It wasn't any actual real engine or gameplay, but more of just a visual sketch of how it would maybe look or work to sell the idea to the business guys. It didn't pass, apparently.

But, just in case, you forgot some franchises... REALLY minor ones, BTW: Eternal Darkness, Excitebike, and Killer Instinct. When will they return??? I just dunno.

Yeah, those are great franchises. Silicon Knights isn't a Nintendo 2nd-party anymore, Excitebike hasn't had a game since when?, and RareWare is Microsoft's now.

[Rlan]

Since Excitebike 64.

http://www.excitebike64.com/

[Titan]

I don't think Uekawa was involved with Heroes at all, or certainly not as a character designer. I don't remember, was his name even in the credits?

Someone must have done sketches of them though

[Zeta]

Maybe they killed him afterwards?



And burned the sketches with his body?

[Guest]

But, just in case, you forgot some franchises... REALLY minor ones, BTW: Eternal Darkness, Excitebike, and Killer Instinct. When will they return??? I just dunno.

Yeah, those are great franchises. Silicon Knights isn't a Nintendo 2nd-party anymore, Excitebike hasn't had a game since when?, and RareWare is Microsoft's now.

Yeah, but remember Nintendo produced all of those games. Therefore, the rights are theirs. THEREFORE, if they hire anotehr team to do the games, they will.

... Although, to tell ya' the truth, this was just something I heard... I dunno... maybe somebody can tell me if it's true???

[G.Silver]

Actually, there were five very very very early demo videos of it released on the internet a year ago or maybe longer. It wasn't any actual real engine or gameplay, but more of just a visual sketch of how it would maybe look or work to sell the idea to the business guys. It didn't pass, apparently.

I saw that demo, <a href="http://www.tokyopia.com/articles.asp?ar ... 38">here's a link</a> to an article about it but the movies seem to be gone. Personally, if I were a business exec with no imagination whatsoever I would have canned it too, the videos just looked terrible. I don't know if demos like that are/were commonly used to pitch games, but I would think this one was pretty weak.

[Dash]

I don't think Uekawa was involved with Heroes at all, or certainly not as a character designer. I don't remember, was his name even in the credits?

I must have been sick or something, because I decided to play Sonic Heroes today:P Took a close look at the credits and Uekawa isn't under "Character Designer", but he is under both "Menu Artists" and "Product Support".

In fact, there wasn't even a position called "Character Designer" in Heroes, but there was a "Player Designer" (Nobuhiko Honda) if that counts.

It's hard to think that Uekawa didn't make those redesigns, or at least make the clean-up sketches, as they all seem to have that spark his designs have.

[Crazy Penguin]

I believe Hoshino was enemy designer once again, and I recall that it was confirmed in an interview for some magazine before Heroes' release that "Metal Sonic's original designer" (Hoshino) designed his Heroes revamp.

[Green Gibbon!]

That I believe. His "mid" design between regular Metal Sonic and the giant tentacle thing was awesome.

[Dash]

Indeed it was GG!, indeed it was. Too bad we never got to see him kick any ass in it(could have been so easy to fit into the finale too...*sigh*oh well).

By the way....

Jet Set Radio isn't a marketable license. A more apt title for the game, I think, would've been: "Sega SuperStars that we're Still Making Money From Now."

They're still making money off of NiGHTS? Hell, then tell me where I can buy it!:P

[Crazy Penguin]

Indeed it was GG!, indeed it was. Too bad we never got to see him kick any ass in it(could have been so easy to fit into the finale too...*sigh*oh well).

By the way....

Jet Set Radio isn't a marketable license. A more apt title for the game, I think, would've been: "Sega SuperStars that we're Still Making Money From Now."

They're still making money off of NiGHTS? Hell, then tell me where I can buy it!:P

It's some kind of rule that NiGHTS has to be included in all of Sonic Team's games in some form.