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Game News

Japan-Only Sonic Adventure 2 Trailer Builds Hype, Shows Oddities

In less than a week, the seas part and Sonic Adventure 2 arrives on XBLA and PSN to save the series from the current complaint of the time period. Since its reveal at Sonic Boom 2012 in July, very little has been seen of the game, aside from a one-level demo for PAX Prime attendees.

While this trailer hasn’t made its way to Western shores just yet, we can grab our first substantive looks of gameplay, as well as a few oddities. Off the bat, some will notice that some scenes are depicted in 16:9 display and others in regular 4:3, black bars and all. We’re not exactly sure what’s up with the inconsistency, but it may be a sign that work was still in progress or some cutscenes cannot be modified without camera clipping issues cropping up, or in the case of CGI scenes, being re-rendered entirely.

Otherwise, the trailer offers little new in details. Expanded multiplayer and Chao Karate will be added in through separate Battle DLC, and while the game has some improved texture work in places, it also gives it a strange diluted look to it. Overall, this is Sonic Adventure 2 as you truly imagined it.

Miscellaneous

More Sonic Themed Avatar Items Now on Xbox Live

To promote the upcoming release of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II, SEGA has released a bunch of new avatar items. These include apparel your avatar can wear, like a full body Tails suit that’ll either make you look cool or creepy (320 MSP), a couple of hoodies in Sonic and Tails variants (240 MSP), a T-shirt with just the Sonic 4 Episode II logo on it (80 MSP) and last but not least, a Metal Sonic helmet.

But as the image above suggests, that’s not all of the new things available. There are a bunch of new props that would actually be pretty neat in real life your avatar can play with as well. These include a remote controlled Metal Sonic toy (240 MSP), a Drawstring Tails Plushie (240 MSP), a couple of toys based on two new badniks from Episode II (240 MSP), a Capsule toy complete with small animals (240 MSP), a game cartridge of Sonic 4 Episode II complete with a SEGA Genesis hooked up to an item monitor (240 MSP) and a half-pipe from the special stage (240 MSP). While to me this is all useless crap that costs way too much, there is actually some cool stuff in there if you’re into dressing up your Avatar. All of these items are now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Below are more pictures of most of the new Avatar items mentioned here.

[Via SEGA Blog

Game News

OXM Shows Direct-Feed Sonic 4: Episode 2 Gameplay

While we have had lots of cam recorded footage of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 already, we haven’t seen any clean footage longer than 2 seconds so far. However, the Official Xbox Magazine got their hands on some for their interview with the brand manager Ken Balough, who reveals even more new details on the game. Press the image that looks like an embedded video because I can’t figure out how to actually embed it below to visit the page with the actual video:

Here Ken talks a bit more about the game’s story, like how it will have an excuse for why everything in the first episode was taken from the previous games. The upcoming Sonic Super Special #3 will also contain a small comic which explains what happens between the first and second episodes. An exclusive feature for those with both the Windows Phone 7 and Xbox 360 has also been announced. The versions will support cloud saving, so if you play the game on the WP7 and save it to the cloud you’ll be able to continue the game on the Xbox 360.

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Game News

Lots of New Sonic 4: Episode 2 Stuff

I don’t know what the deal is between the press and Sonic games at events. For some reason they are terrible at playing them on camera, with Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 being no exception. Most videos released so far of people playing the game either have them not knowing what they’re supposed to do or falling into bottomless pits, so it’s nice to have a full playthrough of the first act of White Park Zone where the player actually knows how to play a videogame:

Last week SEGA held an event where they showcased all of their upcoming digital releases. From this came some new screenshots showing more of the game’s boss battles and a few interviews with Takashi Iizuka with quite a bit of new information on Episode 2 and Sonic’s future. All of this can be seen after the jump.

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Game News

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 Achievements Revealed and More Screenshots

Just as we thought we wouldn’t see any more Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 info or media for a while, the achievements for the game suddenly pop out of nowhere. Around the same time Sega of Europe has uploaded seven more screenshots on their official website, showing a returning object from the more recent titles in the Sonic franchise:

As you can see, the Red Star Rings from Sonic Colours and Sonic Generations are back. In previous games they unlocked Game Land stages or extras and skills respectively, so the question is what they unlock this time around. Go after the jump to see the rest of the screenshots and the achievements, beware that these do have some pretty big spoilers.

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Game News, Sega Retro

Jet Set Radio Skating Towards XBLA and PSN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfDlHdERxrE

Turns out the new Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 trailer (more on that later) may not be the most important Sega-related reveal today. A teaser trailer for the re-release of Jet Set Radio, a favorite of all Dreamcast fans, has just been released on Youtube. While there’s no release date announced, we do know that it will be released on Xbox Live Arcade and Sony Entertainment Network.

It seems like fans don’t need to worry much about Sega having lost the licensing to the music like with the digital release of Crazy Taxi, considering Funky Radio can be heard in the video above. Now let’s just hope it gets a better treatment than the other Dreamcast ports released so far as well.

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Game News

SEGA Holds a Sonic CD Fan Art Contest

With Sonic CD getting a re-release done by The Taxman next month, SEGA has started a fan-art contest with 50 prizes being given away in North America, Mexico and the United Kingdom each, so that makes 150 winners in total. The five best winners in each territory will get a copy of Sonic CD on XBLA, PSN or Steam and a copy of the Japanese soundtrack signed by Takashi Iizuka, Jun Senoue, Naofumi Hataya and Kazuyuki Hoshino, something any fan would appreciate. All the other winners will get the same except the soundtrack isn’t signed.

There are a few things you need to know before entering the contest: your submission needs to be related to Sonic CD. If it isn’t, your entry will not count and you’ve done all that work for nothing. It needs to be original, created by you and it can’t have appeared anywhere else, so it can’t be something you’ve already put on websites like DeviantArt or on forums, and you can’t show it off before the contest ends. You also need to be 13 years or older to take part in the contest. The deadline is 10:00 AM PT/18:00 GMT November 29th, 2011.

To find out how you can enter the contest and for more information regarding the rules go to the SEGA Blog.

Game News

Second Sonic CD Trailer Commands Changing The Future

With Sonic Generations dropping in less than two weeks, sights are beginning to move to the next point for Sonic as he hits the Past signpost and revisits a more simple time where Time Stones, Metal Sonic and Rosie the Rascal where some of his bigger headaches.

Sega released a new trailer for Sonic CD, powered by Christian “The Taxman” Whitehead’s Retro Engine, showing off how the game looks in its new wide screen perspective as Quartz Quadrant’s International Present music jams on in the background under a random announcer. Not much more to say outside of it’s Sonic CD as you truly remember it, only with a wider perspective and a different soundtrack for the U.S. folks.

Before jumping the gun on the Sonic 4 mention, please remember that Sega’s own Sonic Digital Brand Manager Ken Balough clarified that Sonic CD‘s story will be a pivotal point in Sonic 4: Episode II, especially given the Metal Sonic nod after completing Episode I with all seven Chaos Emeralds in tow.

Sonic CD is scheduled to boom onto Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, PC Download services, and the iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7 app stores later this year.

Game News, Miscellaneous

PAX Show Floor Hands-On Preview of Sonic CD on Xbox Live Arcade

Sega’s latest classic title up for download services proves to be an important stepping stone for the company. Not only is it a port of a rare Mega/Sega CD title, the collaboration behind the project showcases the 10+ year old game running with optimizations and slight changes that help solidify Sonic CD’s place among the previous games. Not since Street Fighter has a game seen this level of work, both for those who prefer games to stay as true to the original as possible as well as please those who are looking for optimizations to solidify the functionality between the Sonic games. What was shown off in the PAX demo was the entirety of Palmtree Panic, with two special stages that would be randomly chosen for each playthrough for the sake of the demonstration. Honorable mention goes to our good buddy Ken Balough who was also there at the Xbox Live Arcade booth to help fill in the gaps of what to expect.

No doubt the most promising feature is the ability to change between two different spindash types for the game. However, the demo available only allowed for players to utilize the Sonic 2 & 3 Spindash feature. While the sound effects were still similar to the original version of the game, the spindash execution itself was much more streamlined compared to the original Sonic CD. You still have to charge up Sonic before he goes blasting off, but it is much easier to access places that would normally be more difficult to reach because of this optimization. Because of the new spindash feature, the screen does not pan in front of the player as it did in the original. In the final game, the screen will pan if the legacy spindash feature is turned on.

The gameplay otherwise feels exactly as it did in the original game. Load times are quicker for sure, enemies move as you expect, the stage gimmicks, such as Sonic going through the giant 360 degree loop, are also in place. Some additions including the 16:9 widescreen presentation that properly fills the screen in both regular and special stages help with the viewing area even without the camera panning in front of Sonic. The only real oddity I came across was the stage boss in Act 3; during the part where Eggman falls from the sky, the player can still damage the boss before he begins his attack movement.

The special stages in this version take advantage of the modern hardware, well, as modern as a flat “Mode 7-like” plane with UFOs flying around can get. The 3D plane turns much more smoothly as the UFOs scale properly in the 3D space. Item UFOs are much easier to identify; Light blue represents ones with shoes, and the darker bluer ones represent rings. Of course, the time bonus UFOs are still the same light blue with red bars and will appear when 20 seconds are left on the clock. The smoothness of which Sonic runs around, (or if he gets bounced around,) makes it easier to tell Sonic’s trajectory as he travels. Despite the upgrade in presentation, control is still fully digital, (i.e. no analog,) when turning Sonic left and right.

Another feature unique to this version is a filter effect for the graphics that blur the pixels for a more smoothed, anti-aliased look. Similar to Super 2xSai or Super Eagle filters that work on all the objects on screen. The filter works by applying them per object, however the effect seemed a bit blurry, and the smaller details of some sprites became a bit tough to make out. Ken did state that the feature was still being worked out as it was thrown in shortly before the PAX showing. For purists, players can easily turn the filter off and enjoy the original look of the game. In the demo the filter feature’s switch was mapped to the Left and Right Bumper buttons of the Xbox controller, which are likely to change into a menu function in the final build.

Despite the low volume of the TV, one could determine that the music was without a doubt the Japanese soundtrack. Unfortunately, Ken confirmed that the US soundtrack would sadly not be available in the final version. (Sidebar from me: You can use the Xbox 360’s built in music player to blare your rare Sonic Boom! Music CDs.) What Ken stated on the matter is that they are still working to see what would need to happen on the legal side of things to get the US soundtrack in the final game. While DLC is a possibility, he’d much rather try to include the music for free, whether they can get it in the final or added in through a patch.

While the game was being shown on the 360, Ken did state that the game is coming out on a host of platforms including PS3, Android, iOS devices and on the PC through Steam. A WiiWare version is currently not planned. The game is on track for a release later this year, and already looks very promising. Alas, no disc based version of the game will go on sale.

Finally, on a side note. Those of you who are at PAX make sure to go check out the booth. Last few times I checked over at Microsofts booth, Sonic CD was literally untouched. Go be a bro, check it out and say ‘hi’ to Ken. I bet he’s quite lonely!

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