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.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz is available now on PlayStation Vita. A continuation of the frantic titling puzzle action and party game collection franchise, players take control of AiAi and friends as they try to escape from several toy-themed worlds. Potential players have the option to purchase the game as a retail or downloadable release in North America, Europe and Australian regions, while other territories are expected to have it made available before the end of the month. A demo of the Banana Splitz is also available on the PlayStation Network, for those uncertain if they should buy the full experience.
The latest title in the Super Monkey Ball series of games, several levels and features from past games have returned, but with a new setting and art style. Fans will also be glad to hear that PlayStation Vita specific control options such as analog, touch screen, touch pad and tilting are included, but all optional.
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.
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.
Last week, news from SEGA of America broke that saw numerous members of staff fired, games canceled and a general downsizing of the entire branch of SEGA of America. Initially, rumors ran rampant and confused a large amount of fans across the globe, the worst of which was that the entire United States branch of SEGA had completely shut down, which of course is not the case.
Immediate reconstruction has taken place going into their new fiscal year. They expect a net loss of ¥7.1 billion ($86.4 million) as part of the reform and news of this dropped their entire company’s stock 4%. However, the day after their stock rose 5% and is showing signs of continual growth.
After the break I discuss the potential cancellations, their effects, observe the negatives and positives of the change and attempt to discover if SEGA truly is in trouble or if the downsizing is the start of a brilliant strategy. The rest of the post should be taken as speculation from a dedicated fan of the company and game industry as a whole and not as a financial advisor.
Out of respect of those whom lost their jobs, any subjects around them will not be mentioned at all.
SEGA had the largest lineup or show floor of any publisher at Tokyo Game Show 2011. As such, they have received the most amount of people view their titles and had the longest press and fan events. They also had an extensive library of games by Electronic Arts that they demonstrated as they will be distributing a large amount of their games in Japan in the upcoming years.
We have collected info from hundreds of previews, interviews and presentations then summed it all up in a simple read after the break.
A new release in the Super Monkey Ball series of puzzle platformer games has been revealed with no developer mentioned for Sony’s upcoming PlayStation Vita format, the successor of the PlayStation Portable. The game will feature the standard tilt-based maze and puzzle format, collectible bananas and party mini-games for multiple players. The game will also feature PlayStation Vita-exclusive features including dual analog stick controls, motion tilt, use of the Vita’s very unique backside touchpad and extra features through online interactions.
The game is scheduled to be released sometime in 2012, likely around the launch of the PlayStation Vita outside of Japan. After the jump is the teaser trailer which hints at day and night gameplay features.
Super Monkey Ball 3D, the latest release in SEGA’s very popular puzzle and minigame franchise is out today in North America, just in time for the launch of Nintendo’s 3DS handheld platform. It will be available for purchase in other regions the Nintendo 3DS is available in, but after the launch of the platform.
I made this video back in 2007 or so, when I was first learning how to use video editing tools, and that is a little more than obvious. However, I feel my passion for the company and their games is very apparent and overrides most major complaints I have with it. I put a lot of love into this for no real reason other than a thank you to the thousands – Perhaps millions of great games SEGA has made that so much of us all over the world have loved through the years.
The song is “Don’t Stop Me Now” by the band Queen. After the jump is the list of games included in the video, along with the format they were recorded on in their correct order.
SEGA released a lot of brilliant games in 2010 full of fun and sexy times. It was a great year to be a fan of the company, and what better way to get excited for the new year than to look back and see just how much they accomplished within just 365 days? We have compiled a montage of just a handful of them, and we hope you enjoy!
The music is a remix of the OutRun song Splash Wave from what is arguably SEGA’s best game from 2010, Bayonetta.
The next installment to the popular Super Monkey Ball franchise was officially announced today by SEGA. Previously it was only mentioned in Nintendo’s list of games coming to their new Nintendo 3DS platform. The first set of screenshots reveal that the original cast of AiAi, MeeMee and Baby will all be playable with levels based on Monkey Island, an Arabian setting and one in the future.
In the link provided here, the creator of the series, Toshihiro Nagoshi (otherwise known for making Daytona USA and Yakuza) reveals that this is his favorite Super Monkey Ball experience to date with it’s optional 3D features, wireless multiplayer features, motion controls or normal analog controls. Also revealed is a smaller set of minigames than previous games to focus on bringing up the quality of ones such as Monkey Fight and Monkey Target. It is unknown if this will have any story at all as the past few games have started to avoid this.
Super Monkey Ball for Nintendo 3DS is set to be released sometime in 2011, and with a different title.
The SEGA Source 