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Post by Anthaemia. on Jun 3, 2018 16:41:29 GMT
Now that I've seen it again, I knew I'd once seen a blister pack variation of CK2 somewhere!
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jun 2, 2018 12:40:11 GMT
I really wish I could help, but information regarding those blister pack variations is scarce beyond us having an incomplete list of examples. My understanding is that the actual game boxes contained within these were no different to their standard counterparts, though I agree that it would be useful to have better quality images of them. As for whether Clockwork Knight 2 received a similar treatment, I definitely wouldn't rule out such a thing - especially since this was also released during the period when Sega had yet to switch to fully plastic cases, where I can imagine this extra protection being more a luxury than a necessity!
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Post by Anthaemia. on May 24, 2018 17:22:10 GMT
Where the Sonic 3D Director's Cut saw a few minor features changed and some bugs fixed, I think a lot of people want to see new courses made for Sonic R, but that would surely require texture work and polygonal modelling, not to mention bespoke collision programming (along with presumably fresh music from Richard Jacques, which is highly unlikely).
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Post by Anthaemia. on May 24, 2018 16:24:24 GMT
I was hoping that Jon would finally get around to tackling this subject - beyond requests for a "Director's Cut" of Sonic R similar to his recent Sonic 3D effort (which I suspect would be too difficult for just one professional to make in their limited spare time), a video about how Traveller's Tales managed to generate transparent effects on a console supposedly incapable has been highly demanded in the comments to his other uploads. Now if only he could find more from that abandoned F1 game beyond a single car model...
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Post by Anthaemia. on May 19, 2018 16:51:42 GMT
This also happened to me once after completing Zwei, though I've no idea of any specific conditions that could allow it to be repeated. Considering that PDZ is technically a prequel to the first game, maybe it's unlocked if you follow a certain storyline as Team Andromeda's way of showing how the intended plot continues? For example, is there a particular dragon type you can end with that might be more canon than others?
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Post by Anthaemia. on Apr 29, 2018 18:34:22 GMT
I've put countless hours into Densha de Go! EX without ever feeling that my experience suffered because I didn't have the dedicated controller, so I'd recommend giving it a try with the standard pad - once you're comfortable with the setup, it's actually quite enjoyable!
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Post by Anthaemia. on Mar 24, 2018 19:01:18 GMT
what wasn't finished about burning rangers? Sonic Team had originally planned to include a co-operative mode, which could be seen in some of the earliest preview builds (along with a handful of leftover audio files on the game disc that confirm the existence of such a feature), but then development was restarted after months of work had already been put in. My understanding is that Sega gave a deadline to all remaining software producers, meaning that no new games would be released for the Saturn in Europe after mid-1998. Not wanting such a high profile title to remain import-only, it's claimed that the end product was somewhat rushed - as was The House Of The Dead - to arrive before the cut-off point, meaning that a lot of the intended content wasn't able to be implemented. I've long since forgotten the source for this, but I'm sure it was also mentioned somewhere that there were supposed to be a lot more than just the four levels we ultimately got, with the randomly generating stage idea something that was added later to provide desperately-needed longevity. Ideally, it would have made a lot more sense for Burning Rangers to join Sonic Adventure in being carried over to the Dreamcast, though I'm not sure Sonic Team might have wanted to concentrate on finishing this over their mascot's long-awaited comeback, even if it could have done with the additional graphical power Sega's 128-bit console offered. Saying that, wasn't the Hikaru board created purely because the standard Dreamcast-based NAOMI platform had issues drawing realistic fire and water effects? I seem to recall it being suggested that despite providing massive improvements in most departments, fill rate on the Dreamcast still wasn't ideal for transparencies, which may explain why certain glass-filled areas in Shenmue II are prone to huge amounts of slowdown...
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Post by Anthaemia. on Mar 21, 2018 19:17:54 GMT
I'd love to see a remastering specialist like Bluepoint Games have a crack at the original Panzer Dragoon trilogy, Burning Rangers or the complete Shining Force III, but it's clear that Sega has little interest in revisiting these games (all from the later part of the Saturn's life, curiously enough), presumably because of the effort they'd require to update for a modern audience - just how many times they can keep repackaging the same handful of Mega Drive titles remains to be seen...
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jan 3, 2018 17:14:53 GMT
As much as I normally enjoy Digital Foundry's work (which probably comes from Rich Leadbetter being the former mastermind behind much of SSM's run along with the short-lived MAXIMUM), their DF Retro piece on Tomb Raider was hardly the definitive statement it quite easily could - and should - have been. For example, I don't recall them mentioning anything about how the Saturn version was so rushed that it lacked the ability for Lara to perform a handstand, even though this is really just another minor cosmetic difference with no real effect beyond giving PlayStation and PC owners further reason to consider their editions superior. As for any marginal yet perceptible improvements to overall performance or bug fixes, we're still due a proper comparison using both the standard Japanese and later Satakore pressings rather than just one. Unlike the situation with Doom, I suspect there's a lot more left to be uncovered with this game...
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Post by Anthaemia. on Nov 12, 2017 17:44:54 GMT
Someone posted videos on YouTube just yesterday showing two early casing prototypes for the Saturn, including one that I can vividly remember being featured in quite a few old magazine articles. Unfortunately, they're both in poor condition and would really benefit from a proper restoration. Here are the all-important links to the footage of these historical items:
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Post by Anthaemia. on Nov 12, 2017 17:40:18 GMT
Virtua Racing on the Saturn is indeed region free, and I've never had a problem with my PAL copy saving or loading from the cartridge in all the years I've owned this. However, both Theme Park and the (already-documented) Preview Vol. 1 demo disc have previously wiped saves on my official Backup Memory, so I play these without the device inserted...
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Post by Anthaemia. on Nov 8, 2017 15:39:26 GMT
I have a review for Cyber Speedway coming out soon. But in a nutshell, it was probably a big deal back in its day considering it came out months before the first Wipeout game but there is a reason why Wipeout spawned numerous sequels and we heard nothing after this game was released. I found the whole game to be pretty meh. I don't recall anyone ever mentioning this detail back in the day, but Cyber Speedway (or Gran Chaser, as it was known in Japan) is actually a sequel to the PC title CyberRace, which shares many of the same elements, including ships designed by Syd Mead along with a plot that follows the career of a second generation racer named Shaw, not to mention both games are partly set on Terra. For what it's worth, I love the alternate soundtrack offered in the US version of Cyber Speedway - as the only group known to have ever signed to the Sega Music Group, it's a shame we didn't get to hear more from the Bygone Dogs outside their contributions to the soundtrack of Ghen War, since I actually liked the direction they took. Saying that, the WipEout series embraced the very different rave culture for its overall style and never looked back, though I must confess to preferring the work of Tim "CoLD SToRAGE" Wright over the licensed music heard in PlayStation editions.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Oct 22, 2017 18:04:57 GMT
I've always enjoyed playing Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on the Saturn, but MK Trilogy was clearly just more of the same with the difficulty ramped up and no effort made to balance out the expanded character roster. You're really best off saving your money and sticking with the earlier game, even if it has less content!
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Post by Anthaemia. on Sept 17, 2017 20:06:44 GMT
I'm willing to bet the Japanese version of Scorcher is virtually identical to the US and PAL editions, only with some translation or mention of its different publisher... If there were significant differences, surely we'd know about these by now? Then again, it took long enough for "the Doom myth" to be shattered!
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Post by Anthaemia. on Sept 7, 2017 20:48:04 GMT
I was just about to mention that. If only there was a way to turn that particular vocal off. I wish Sych I wish. That is literally my only complaint with Sky Target. Other than that I find it so solid and really enjoy. But that guy annoys me sooooooo fast. That would be David Leytze, who I consider one of the great unsung heroes of Sega's in-house musical talent pool during the mid-1990s. I've long hoped for a reunion between Leytze, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi and Koichi Namiki under the B-univ group name, even if it's just for a long overdue live show celebrating their work on the original Virtua Fighter and Daytona USA vocal soundtrack albums, which come highly recommended...
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