Scent Blaster: Miles High Fresh Air Freshener Review

Earlier this year Epic Scents, the world’s foremost video game scent creator, announced their plan to produce products based on SEGA’s expansive line-up of characters. So far they have created air fresheners for both Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles ‘Tails’ Prower – SEGA’s two mascot characters from 1992. Under the label Scent Blasters ™, Sonic is available in Sonic Breeze, which smells of Green Hill Zone after Sonic has run through it, and Tails is available in Miles High Fresh, a fragrance that smells of the fresh air and clouds that Tails flies through.

[Sonic and Tails’ bodies are ready.]

Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed review (All versions)

Date Released: Winter 2012 for most versions
Date Reviewed: February 17, 2013
Genre: 3D Party Racer
Players: 1-4 players locally (up to 5 on Wii U), 10 online
Length: 3-30 minutes per event, 12-25 hours to unlock all content
Replayability: High

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Introduction

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is the sequel to 2010’s crossover party racer Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. Not simply a basic sequel, the game focuses around the concept of vehicles that change during the race to traverse over land, water and the sky with a few courses that even head through lava or outer space. Presented as kid-friendly but designed to be enjoyable for all ages, Transformed is a quality racer for fans of SEGA and the genre. Difficult but not unfair, the game succeeds in making a unique and fun game for groups online or off, but somewhat sloppy direction and awkward marketing attempts keep it from becoming a true classic.

Model 2 Digital Collection Review

AM2 continues their high quality digital remasters with a set based on SEGA’s revolutionary Model 2 arcade hardware. Yu Suzuki, the head of SEGA’s AM2 studio helped create the platform in the early 1990s using incredibly sophisticated military technology. This allowed for not just higher quality visuals through 3D models and textures, but more effective controls and artificial intelligence to a scale thought completely improbable for the time.

As iconic and important the hardware was to video games, each game released in this digital Model 2 collection has only ever seen improper ports due to the power of home platforms at the time being far below what the games required, such as the SEGA Saturn. This current set of releases features the legendary Virtua Fighter 2, the wacky Fighting Vipers and Sonic the Fighters, one of the most obscure Sonic the Hedgehog games of all time.

Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers, and Sonic the Fighters now available on XBLA and PSN

The first three games in SEGA’s collection of Model 2 arcade games is available now on the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. The three games available now are:

• Virtua Fighter 2
• Fighting Vipers
• Sonic the Fighters

Each game is developed by the iconic AM2 studio and as these titles imply, they are all in the fighting game genre. All games are hardware-perfect ports of the originals, but all include features spanning new secret characters, the ability to select updated or downgraded arcade releases, and of course online play. Unlike their original announcements, each game is priced at $5 USD (400 Microsoft Points on XBLA).

The games will also become available on the European PSN on December 5th, while Virtual-On and Virtua Striker, which are also part of this collection, will be released early next year.

Included after the break is the trailer for all of the released and upcoming games in the Model 2 collection.

Sonic Jump now available for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad

Sonic Jump, the latest entry in SEGA’s long-running Sonic the Hedgehog series and the first to be developed specifically for the mobile platform, is now available for purchase on several Apple devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Developed by Hardlight, SEGA’s newly formed digital studio based out of the United Kingdom, Sonic Jump is a platformer based around ascension through vertically scaled levels full of various types of enemies and hazards. Though somewhat atypical from the style of gameplay seen in other titles in the series, the core structure and mechanics of Sonic Jump remain largely the same, with the titular mammal collecting many rings and power-ups as he progresses through multiple levels, all of which feature a boss fight at the very end. The core game is mission-based, with the player being tasked with completing several challenges in each area, while the leaderboard focused content, dubbed Infinite Arcade mode, has the player trying to ascend a level as quickly as possible, with the best heights and times being posted on the game’s leaderboard, which can be shared among contacts and friends.

Sonic Jump can be found on the iTunes App Store for the price of $1.99 USD, AUD $1.99, £1.49, and €1.59. If interested, the game’s launch trailer can be viewed after the break.

Source: Apple Store

Five SEGA Model 2 arcade games announced for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network

Five classic arcade titles have all been announced at the same time for the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network download platforms. They include:

-Virtua Fighter 2
-Fighting Vipers
-Sonic the Fighters
-Virtua Striker
-Cyber Troopers: Virtual-On

All five of these games were created on the revolutionary SEGA Model 2 arcade hardware that was first released to the public in 1993 with Daytona USA, which was released to both download platforms late last year. Each one of these games is also developed by SEGA AM2 with the exception of Virtual-On, which was by SEGA AM3. The only game in the lineup that is not a fighting game is Virtua Striker, which is a soccer game.

Although each release will include new features — such as online play — every game is intended to play exactly like their arcade counterpart, which is especially notable for Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighting Vipers, as they have only ever been converted into similar products. Even more surprising, the highly obscure Sonic the Fighters will include Metal Sonic, Dr Robotnik and Honey the Cat (an animal version of Honey/Candy from Fighting Vipers) as playable characters that were not previously accessible without hacking.

The first three games listed will be made available for download this fall. Each will be 10 USD (800 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360), but a deal across both consoles will allow players to purchase all three titles together for 15 USD (1200 Microsoft Points). Virtua Striker and Virtual-On will be released some time next year.

Included after the break is the reveal trailer and official Japanese website.

NiGHTS into Dreams, Sonic Adventure 2 available for download this week on XBLA and PSN

Sonic Team’s NiGHTS into Dreams… and Sonic Adventure 2 will both be available for download on the Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Network on PlayStation 3 this week with PC versions for both titles being released at an unknown future date. Across all platforms, both games will cost 10 USD (800 Microsoft Points).

Originally released on the SEGA Saturn, NiGHTS into Dreams… was a flagship release on the platform and received critical acclaim for it’s unique take on the platforming genre and the amount of replay value it offered based on it’s scoring mechanics. This modern version of the game is based on the obscure PlayStation 2 port, which was only released in Japan. It features some of the extra content from the demonstrative Christmas NiGHTS and includes newly created higher resolution models and textures.

Sonic Adventure 2 was one of the last major releases on the Dreamcast and was ported to GameCube as Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, one of SEGA’s earliest games on a Nintendo platform. Additional purchasable content for multiplayer will also be available for the game, but it is unknown if that will be playable online.

SEGA E3 2012 Roundup

SEGA had a fairly muted showing at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, but it was still rich with unique and diverse titles across every major platform, like fans of the company can always expect. SEGA also had some very unexpected surprise reveals and announcements, some received better than others.

Anarchy Reigns and Rhythm Thief are especially notable for not having a proper slot at SEGA’s booth this year. I suggested previously that these games are likely canceled in North America, but SEGA has hinted that this may not be the case.

After the break we have included each game SEGA of America focused on during the event. as well as other titles related to the company. We have read hundreds of articles and compressed it all into a basic read.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II Review

Date Released: April 15, 2012
Date Reviewed: June 3, 2012
Genre: 2D Platformer
Players: 1-2 Players, Locally and Online
Length: 50+ Minutes
Replayability: Fair

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Introduction

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II is the latest main-series release in the Sonic franchise, but a continuation of it’s original 2D style of gameplay. Conceptualized in ways to reclaim former glory and fans who have left or shunned the franchise ever since it’s transition into a 3D play space, Episode II is much of what was expected from a Sonic game in the early 1990s, but does not limit itself based on tried-and-true mechanics and concepts from the past. Created by Sonic Team, tooled by DIMPS and developed by SEGA Shanghai, Episode II is an improvement over it’s predecessor in all ways, but still fails to compare to the original series.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II available for download this week

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II, the latest main-line Sonic the Hedgehog game and direct sequel to 2010’s Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I will be released today on Steamworks for PC and the PlayStation Store for PlayStation 3. The Xbox 360’s Xbox Live Arcade service will update early tomorrow morning with the game. Mobile versions of the game (iOS, Android, Windows Phone) will be available for purchase on their respective platform’s markets in the upcoming weeks.

The game can be purchased for 15 USD (1200 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360) and features minor extra content for those who also own the first episode on the same platform. Pricing on the mobile versions has not yet been discussed, but is expected to be cheaper.

We have included the launch trailer for the title after the break.