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Feature: 2D is the greatest D I've ever known
The first time my friend showed me a blue hedgehog whizzing across the screen from left-to-right, I knew I had to get a Mega Drive. It didn’t stop there, though: I had to read the comics, watch the cartoon, get the toys. Sonic The Hedgehog became a pivotal figure in my life as soon as I laid eyes on him.And then he let me down.
It might've taken eight years for Phantasy Star Online 2 to make it to the West, but fortunately, the jump from the Windows Store to Steam only took the Japanese MMO a mere couple of months. Sonic Team's free-to-play anime romp has finally found a place on Valve's shelves, making it easier than ever to hop in and bash a load of goblins in a…
Feature: A memorable birthday celebration
Sonic Adventure 2 is more of a footnote in the Sonic series history these days, but back in 2001 it was an event. Sega wanted to make a big deal out of the fact their hedgehog had reached 10 years old. There was a demo CD bundled with Phantasy Star Online. Sonic Adventure 2 even had a worldwide release - a rarity in the early…
After eight years, Phantasy Star Online 2 arrives on western PCs next month
Lasting just shy of a decade in the MMORPG space is no small feat. Launching afresh after you've been running steady for so many years? That ain't no walk in the park, either. After making it big in Japan following its 2012 launch, Sega's sci-fi action-RPG Phantasy Star Online 2 finally makes its western PC debut in May. For North Americans. Sort of.
Phantasy Star Online 2 comes to America (but not Europe) in spring 2020
Bordering on a miracle, Sega have confirmed an English version of Phantasy Star Online 2 after seven years of their teaser site saying it was coming soon. Sonic Team's free-to-play action RPG has been a Japanese online gaming staple for yonks, but the publisher have been deathly silent about an English release for years. Announced to much surprise during the Microsoft E3 presser, it's headed…
Today's launch of Puyo Puyo Champions makes more sense when you know its Japanese title - Puyo Puyo eSports. This is Sega's attempt to push the cute puzzler into the competitive sphere. Initially similar to last year's (on PC at least) Puyo Puyo Tetris, this game offers a smaller range of modes and features, but at a fittingly reduced price and a laser-focus on online…
Feature: The sun rises
After spending much of this decade catching up with the rest of the world, the Japanese games industry is truly back, and PC gamers have been reaping the rewards of this renaissance. It’s taken time for Japanese developers and publishers to get on board, especially with consoles and smartphones remaining the dominant gaming platforms in their native country. But as classic console franchises finally make…
Feature: New Testaments
New Testaments is a monthly column in which Amr Al-Aaser presents an overlooked modern game and explicates its best ideas. After several years trapped in a Tetris licensing hell, Puyo Puyo Tetris finally appeared on PC earlier this year. Developed by Sonic Team, the game is a reflection of the long histories of both franchises. Each game began quietly as a PC title, evolving through…
Feature: Two great flavours
Sega may have their roots in console manufacture, but they've come a long way as a PC games publisher, with fewer and fewer titles being left console-exclusive. The latest to make the hop over is Puyo Puyo Tetris, Sega's well-regarded fusion puzzle game. The PC release, available now on Steam and Humble, is budget-priced compared to its retail console debut last year.Sega sent us a…
Well, that wasn't much of a tease. Yesterday, Sega flooded the Steam news pages for a dozen or so games with ASCII pictures of Tetris blocks and Puyo-slimes. It wasn't much of a leap to assume that Sega's excellent Puyo Puyo Tetris was PC-bound.What is a pleasant surprise is that Sega have fully announced the game less than a day later, and it's only a few weeks…
Against all odds, Sega have released a decent Sonic game. Can they do the impossible and follow Sonic Mania up with another? We'll find out in two months, as Sega today announced Sonic Forces [official site] will launch on November 7th. While Mania is an olde schoole stylee 2De Sonice revisiting paste gamese, Forces is one of them there newfangled modern Sonics with 3D levels…
Your own Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic characters will soon be able to actually go on adventures with Sonic. Sega have announced that the upcoming Sonic Forces [official site] will support custom characters, letting you design your own wicked rad animal pal. If you want to run and jump as a pink dog with a sailor hat and a padlock necklace, you absolutely can. I can't…
Sega are rolling doublehogged at the moment, with new retro hogging coming in 2D remix-o-rama Sonic Mania and 3D modern hogging ('modhogging') in Sonic Forces [official site]. Like Sonic Generations before it, Forces will combine side-scrolling hogging sections with bits in that modern 3D rollercoaster style. After showing some Sonic Forces rollercoastering last month, now Sega are showing off how Forces' side-hogging will look in…
Sonic the Hedgehog celebrates going fast but what if he simply left sooner, yeah? Here he is, expecting to be treated as a celebrity, lauded as a cool dude, and showered with chili dogs because he was only ten minutes late for work despite oversleeping after being up all night watching YouTube in bed on his phone. Today Sega finally shared an in-game peek at…
Sonic Mania Remixing Classic 2D Games; New 3D Sonic Coming Too
In the same way that ageing rockers prove they've still got 'it' by collaborating with hip young pop musicmen, Sonic the Hedgehog is getting re-re-remixed. As part of his 25th birthday celebrations, Sega have announced Sonic Mania, a new 2D platformer with a 16-bit style and zones inspired by ye olde Sonic games from the Mega Drive. It looks pretty interesting!To prove that Sonic's new…
I didn't mention on Monday that Sonic Lost World [official site] had just arrived on PC because, well, even enthusiastic impressions seem to boil the 2013 hedgehog 'em up down to being competent or good for a modern Sonic game - damning with faint praise, that. But! I know The Blue Blur (I do still laugh at Sega using that nickname seriously) means a lot…
Feature: Two Blue
In Sonic Generations, the unnatural hedgehog meets his younger, pot-bellied self as Sega attempts to show that it can recapture its old magic, while proving that there’s a place for its blue mascot in the modern world. As the slowest creature on two legs, who dreams nightly of great athletic feats, I am the ideal choice to tell you wot I think of the blue…
