Introduction Hardcore Gaming 101: Sega Arcade Classics Vol. 1 When I was five years old, I received a Sega Master System from a relative, and I became a fan for life. In first grade composition class, I Editor-in-Chief: wrote an eight page story on the further adventures of Alex Kidd. Every Kurt Kalata assignment I wrote was tied to Sega in some way – there were stories aboutPenguin Land andWonder Boy, and I somehow even connected Managing Editor: Double Dragon to St. Patrick’s Day. John Szczepaniak In the twenty five-odd years since my days at elementary school, my obsession hasn’t really died down all that much, as this volume can Info Box QC: attest to. But it’s not due only to mere nostalgia – look over Sega’s Charles P. Gill arcade output during the 1980s and 1990s and you’ll find that it reads like a “best of“ compilation from the era. Many of the games are most Contributors: definitely artifacts of the time, with themes based off popular movies Alien Syndrome: likeAliens,Top Gun, andConan the Barbarian, yet that in no way Chris Rasa lessens their impact, or even their quality. This volume seeks to explore what makes these games so Golden Axe: fascinating. Games likeSpace Harrier,After Burner, andOutRun Chris Rasa pushed the boundaries of technology with Sega’s “super scaler“ technology.Shinobi andGolden Axe took ideas from other popular Aiden Monnens games – Namco’sRolling Thunder and Technos’Double Dragon, respectively – and refined them into substantially better games. OutRun: Fantasy Zone featured some of the most colorful, imaginative Brian Gazza graphics of the time, whileAltered Beast, the polar opposite on the “cute“ spectrum, begged console gamers to upgrade to Sega’s 16-bit Shinobi: Genesis system. Samuel Melzner The criteria for the games selected in this volume revolved mostly around how prolific the games were, based on how many sequels or Cover Artwork and Comic: ports they received. All of their offshoots are also covered in great Jonathan “Persona“ Kim detail, including obscure mobile releases and fan games. All of these Tumblr: were born in the arcades, with the exception ofAlex Kidd, which http://personasama.tumblr.com began on the Master System (though his arcade game was released Pixiv: shortly afterward). Obviously, this book only scratches the surface of http://www.pixiv.net/member.ph Sega’s games. There are many fantastic titles from the company that p?id=230599 will be covered in future volumes, including its earlier arcade games, its Twitter: @personasama lesser known titles and, of course, its home consoles. At any rate, thank you for purchasing this volume, and please look Screenshots and Artwork: forward to more volumes from Hardcore Gaming 101 in the future! Mobygames, Sega Retro, Arcade Museum, The Video Game Museum, SMS Power!, Handheld Kurt Kalata December 2012 Museum http://www.hardcoregaming101.net Special Thanks: Sophia Freire, Eduardo Oliden Jr., Ryuichi Nishizawa System Key 32X - Sega 32X GEN - Genesis PS3 - PlayStation 3 360 - Xbox 360 GG - Game Gear PSP - PlayStation Portable AMI - Amiga IBM - IBM PC (DOS) SCD - Sega CD / Mega CD ARC - Arcade IOS - iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch SG1 - SG-1000 AST - Atari ST MD - Mega Drive SMS - Sega Master System AT8 - Atari 400/800/XL MKIII - Sega Mark III TG16 - TurboGrafx-16 C64 - Commodore 64 MOB - Mobile WII - Wii CPC - Amstrad CPC NES - Nintendo Entertainment WIN - Windows DC - Dreamcast System WS - Wonderswan FC - Famicom MZ - Sharp MZ X1 - Sharp X1 FM7 - Fujitsu FM-7 PC88 - PC-8801 X68 - Sharp X68000 FMT - FM Towns PCE - PC Engine XB - XBox GBA - Game Boy Advance PS2 - PlayStation 2 ZX - ZX Spectrum 2 Table of Contents Space Harrier 4 Golden Axe III 78 Space Harrier 3D 8 Ax Battler: A Legend of Space Harrier II 9 Golden Axe 79 Planet Harriers 10 Golden Axe Warrior 80 Typing Space Harrier 11 Golden Axe: The Duel 81 Space Harrier in Bayonetta 11 Golden Axe: Beast Rider 83 Space Harrier Hacks 11 Golden Axe The Myth 85 OutRun 12 Fantasy Zone 86 Turbo OutRun 15 Fantasy Zone II 90 OutRun 3D 17 Fantasy Zone II DX 91 Battle OutRun 18 Fantasy Zone The Maze 93 OutRun Europa 19 Galactic Protector 94 Outrunners 20 Fantasy Zone (Gear) 95 OutRun 2019 22 Super Fantasy Zone 96 OutRun 2 23 Space Fantasy Zone 97 After Burner / After Burner II 26 Alex Kidd in Miracle World 98 G-LOC 31 Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars 101 Strike Fighter / After Burner III 33 Alex Kidd: High Tech World 103 Sega Strike Fighter 34 Alex Kidd: BMX Trial 105 Sky Target 35 Alex Kidd: Enchanted Castle 106 After Burner Climax 36 Alex Kidd in Shinobi World 107 After Burner Black Falcon 38 Wonder Boy 108 Master Burner 39 Wonder Boy in Monster Land 111 Shinobi 40 Turma da Mônica 114 Shadow Dancer (ARC) 44 Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair 115 Shadow Dancer (GEN) 46 Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Revenge of Shinobi, The (GEN) 47 Trap 117 Shinobi III 49 Wonder Boy in Monster World 120 Cyber Shinobi, The 51 Monster World IV 122 Shinobi (GG) 52 Interview - Ryuichi Nishizawa 124 Shinobi 2 (GG) 53 Quartet 128 Shinobi Legions 54 Thunder Blade 132 Revenge of Shinobi, The (GBA) 56 Galaxy Force 136 Shinobi (PS2) 57 Power Drift 140 Nightshade 59 Alien Syndrome (ARC) 142 Shinobi 2 (MOB) 61 Alien Syndrome (WII/PSP) 146 Shinobi (3DS) 62 Gain Ground 148 Altered Beast 64 Crack Down 152 Altered Beast Guardian of Cyber Police ESWAT 154 the Realms 68 Alien Storm 156 Project Altered Beast 69 Dynamite Dux 158 Golden Axe 70 Compilations / Soundtracks 160 Golden Axe II 75 Sega Games in Other Media 164 Golden Axe Revenge of Other Cameos 167 Death Adder 76 Comic - Get Ready! 168 3 Released by Sega into the arcades of plants. While you’ll usually only in 1985, and designed by the trip over bushes and rocks, legendary Yu Suzuki,Space Harrier smacking into a tree spells certain is a shoot-em-up that ditched the death (the original arcade release horizontal or vertical views of most also has a glitch where you’ll games at the time, and put the shoot right through bushes, though viewpoint right behind the player. most later ports fix this). Featuring a flight stick to emulate The trippy backgrounds are a piloting a jet fighter, players trademark ofSpace Harrier. The Space Harrier take control of the “Harrier“, a ground consists of a flat Original Release: 1985 blond guy wearing a red shirt and checkerboard which changes color Platforms: ARC, SMS, TG16, blue pants. every stage. The sky switches Through means left entirely between from bright blue to the FC, GG, IBM, AMI, AST, AT8, unexplained, the Harrier can fly yellow of dusk, to the pink ZX, X68, PC88, PC60, MZ, X1, over the landscape at incredible atmosphere of some otherworldly FM7, C64, 32X, SAT, GBA, DC, speed. Armed only with a huge planet. Across the horizons are XB, PS2, MOB, 360, PS3, WII, cannon, he rushes forward, alien buildings and landscapes WIN, 3DS destroying the bizarre, dangerous which fall and rise after the creatures of Dragon Land. It completion of each stage. A few wasn’t the first game to use this levels even feature a ceiling, giving technology –Space Harrier is a hallucinatory feeling of predated by Sega’s own 1982 3D claustrophobia. There are 18 shooterBuck Rogers: Planet of stages total. Zoom – but it’s a huge technological improvement, and Creatures of the Land manages to look extremely impressive even today. The enemies in Dragon Land are The actionis remarkably extremely creative and distinctive. simple: just fly, dodge, and shoot The Harrier fights one-eyed back. Even though there’s no mammoths, bulbous yellow squids, targeting crosshair, aiming is stone heads, and orbs that remarkably easy, as you only need resemble cybernetic peanuts. to shoot in the general vicinity of a Amidst all of the bizarre enemies foe to hit them. Bad guys also are more standard types, like jets shoot directly at the Harrier, so as and flying mecha (which are long as you keep moving and don’t basically the Doms fromMobile backtrack over your previous Suit Gundam), although even these position, you won’t get hit. All the designs are still incredibly cool while, you’ll be maneuvering the looking. But the most impressive Harrier between stone columns, foes are the dragons, usually stationary poles, and various kinds taking the role of the level boss. 4 and there are only 12 levels in total. A password function also allows players to skip to later levels. Despite running on the same hardware as the Sega Master System, the music has been rearranged. Takara portedSpace Harrier to the Famicom. While the Each of these consists of a head replicate the sense of speed found scrolling is smoother than the SMS and several segments which, in in the original. Not only that, but port, the Harrier moves incredibly motion, gives the appearance of the analog control needed to be slowly, and there’s a whole bunch long, floating Chinese dragons. ditched in favor of digital, which of flicker. Not to mention the fact Their visage is reminiscent of greatly alters the gameplay. that all of the sprites are smaller. Falkor the Luck Dragon from the The first console port was to They couldn’t even fit any of the movieTheNeverending Story. Sega’s own Master System. The voices in. The enemy arrangement Keeping control over the pace had to be stifled quite a bit is based on the Master System Harrier, all while dodging and firing for the 8-bit machine to keep up, version, so it has the additional amidst the wild colors, is the kind and the scrolling is much choppier. final boss. of glorious chaos that is Still, the huge enemies manage to NEC Avenue and Dempa representative of the best in impress. For the most part, the broughtSpace Harrier to the 1980s arcade gaming. The stages enemies and levels are comparable TurboGrafx-16. It’s smoother than Game Title have strange names like Moot, to the arcade version. Sega added the other 8-bit console ports, but Original Release: Geeza, Minia, Parm and Absymbel, an additional final boss named it still doesn’t feel quite right, and Platforms: that help create a distinctive and Haya-Oh (named after Hayao it both looks and sounds ugly. The thoroughly memorable game Nakayama, the then-president of checkerboard floor is also gone. world. There are also a few bonus Sega) and a real ending – which is Dempa also took care of the stages, where the Harrier hops on much better than the arcade computer ports in Japan. The the back of a white dragon named version, which simply showed up versions on the PC-6001 and the Uriah. Although he’s hard to a huge “The End“ sign. Also PC-8801 are the worst looking control, Uriah is invincible, and the hidden in the game is the ability to iterations out there. While the goal is simply to smash as much play as a jet fighter and a secret Harrier is a low-color sprite (as are of the landscape as possible. message that urged players to the enemies in the latter version), Space Harrier’s theme song is write to Sega giving their opinions. everything else, including the incredible, composed by famed The Game Gear port is based clouds, trees and bullets, are just Sega musician Hiroshi Kawaguchi, on the Master System release. featureless colored rectangles. and easily ranks as one of the Due to the smaller screen size And yet despite how awful it looks most memorable in gaming. It only some of the proportions had to be (or perhaps because of this), it fades out during boss fights or changed, so the Harrier is much keeps up the speed, and actually special stages, but it’s long bigger. The enemy sprites have plays more smoothly than most of enough that it never gets tiring. been altered to appear more the European computer ports. There’s also the encouraging voice organic, which at least makes this Top row:[ARC] The bonus stage with Uriah over, which yells “Welcome to the version unique. Some of the level the dragon, and the beginning of stage 10 Fantasy Zone! Get Ready!“ or names have been changed as well, Bottom row:Artwork for the Japanese Game Gear release proclaims “You’re doing great!“ after the end of each level. Even after dying, as your Harrier screams in agony and falls to the ground, a friendly message pops up that says “Many more battle scenes will soon be available!“ as he picks himself off the ground and returns to battle. Given its popularity, it’s natural thatSpace Harrier would be ported to every possible platform. Unfortunately, given the advanced hardware of Sega’s bespokeSpace Harrier arcade board, there was no home system at the time that could pull off the scaling effects necessary to 5 theSega Ages line, and is very pattern and replaces it with a nearly arcade perfect. It came out texture map, which looks pretty on a single disc in Japan, and was ugly. It also changes certain parts bundled together withOutRun and of the level so you can’t run on After Burner II for the Western them and need to fly. Additionally, release. It includes true analog there are a few extra tunnel control to mimic the original stages, where you zoom through arcade game. an enclosed tube. These would Space Harrier is also playable have been cooler had they not in bothShenmue titles for the pasted the same low-res textures Dreamcast and Xbox. It’s missing on the walls. Both the PS2 and some of the customization options the Japan-only Sonic Cafe mobile of the other ports, but if you can releases change the robots to look The Sharp MZ and X1 beat the game in one credit, you less like Doms. conversions are slight steps up, get a certificate from the arcade There is also an almost though most everything still looks owner in the firstShenmue. arcade-perfect port ofSpace like colored blotches. The Fujitsu The Game Boy Advance Harrier available on theSpace FM-7 version looks decent and version was featured as part of Harrier II Complete Collection for plays alright. The X68000 port is theSega Arcade Gallery the PS2. Since the analog stick on by far the best of these, with collection, ported by Bits Studio. the Dual Shock is much better smooth animation and almost Although it looks fine on the than the Saturn controller, this is completely faithful gameplay, outset, it’s badly programmed, the best way to go. The arcade though the checkerboard floor has and just doesn’t feel right. version is unlockable inSonic’s been removed in favor of scrolling Space Harriersaw a remake Ultimate Genesis Collection for the bars. All of these computer on the PlayStation 2 under the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but versions have slightly different but Sega Ages 2500 series. The the scaling effects are dodgy, and excellent soundtracks. entire game has been redone with the audio is too high pitched. Elite handled the home polygons, but the whole makeover In 2011, a hobbyist computer ports for Europe and looks rather cheap, with jaggy programmer named Chris Hutt North America. The version for the visuals and low resolution portedSpace Harrierto the Atari Commodore 64 is too fast and textures. The redesigned look of 8-bit computers. It’s a true work choppy, though the music is the Harrier is lousy, with his silly of art, because it’s better than the decent. The European version is goggles and spiky blond hair. The official computer ports that came slightly better, being that the floor graphics lose much of the bright out in the 1980s, with excellent has a scrolling effect, whereas it’s color that made the original so visuals, fast action, and smooth just a solid color in the American attractive, but since the objects gameplay. It is free to download. release. The ZX Spectrum version here are actual 3D objects instead In 2012, Sega announced is sluggish and hideously colored. of 2D sprites, it gives a better 3D Space Harrier for the 3DS, a The Amstrad version looks nicer, impression of depth and scale. In remake of the arcade version with though while the Harrier is a the original game, all of the boss widescreen and 3D graphics. detailed sprite, the enemies and dragons were made out of objects are simple wireframes. individual segments that scrolled The IBM PC version looks in unison, giving the illusion of a alright, but the animation is still flying beast. Here, they actually very choppy, and the speed feels look like dragons. There’s no off. The Amiga and Atari ST option for analog control, sadly. versions are the best of these, The remixed music tracks are with faithful graphics and good quite good, and the new animation which isn’t quite as announcer spouts more ridiculous smooth as the arcade version, but phrases, like “Get busy, Harrier! far more playable than its Dragon Land is screaming!“ brethren. However, due to the There’s also now a lock-on laser size, it had to be split into two similar toPanzer Dragoon, along separate games –Space Harrier with a limited-use rapid fire andSpace Harrier: Return to the button. You can also get bombs to Fantasy Zone. clear the screen, but these make It wasn’t until the 32X in the boss battles far too easy. 1992 thatSpace Harrier finally The new “Fractal Mode“ came home in nearly arcade turns off the classic checkerboard perfect form, but it only runs at 30 FPS. The Saturn version was Top left:The sit-down arcade cabinet Bottom right:[PS2] The new tunnel areas, released five years later as part of plus the revised design for the Harrier 6 Screenshot Comparisons Arcade 32X X68000 Sega Master System Game Gear TurboGrafx-16 PlayStation 2 Game Boy Advance Famicom ZX Spectrum Amstrad Commodore 64 (US) Atari 8-bit Amiga IBM PC PC-88 Sharp MZ Fujitsu FM-7 7 Space Harrier 3D is not merely a you approach them. Some of the Game Title remake ofSpace Harrier with 3D color schemes used in the later Original Release: effects, rather it’s a new title levels (especially the dark red and Platforms: created to take advantage of the pitch black) are a far cry from the Master System’s 3D shutter pastels of the original, leading to glasses. The effect is pretty an atmosphere that feels more remarkable – although nothing flies oppressive than fantastical. out of the screen, it gives the The plot is that Uriah, the playing field a sense of depth that good dragon from the first game, is incredibly cool. has been kidnapped, and it’s up to Space Harrier 3D The unfortunate tradeoff is you to save him. This accounts for Original Release: 1988 that the scrolling and movement is why the bonus stages are gone. even choppier than it was in the TheSpace Harrier main theme is Platforms: SMS, PS2 Master System version of the first back, along with a handful of new game. Since it’s harder to judge songs. The Japanese version also enemy and projectile motion, it’s supports FM synth. also far more difficult than the There is an option to turn off original, and not in a good way. the 3D functionality, although it requires that you play the game to get a high score, then enter a code Subtle Difference to enable the selection. Both the Still, it is an interesting experience, PlayStation 2 port and certain even if the fundamental gameplay emulators allow you to turn off the hasn’t changed all that much. 3D effect from the beginning, in There’s a whole new array of addition to viewing the game with monsters, including gigantic mechs the traditional red-blue glasses and ferocious flying samurai. There used in other media for years. are a few more obstacles to avoid, Although a lot of the visual impact like indestructible bouncing balls is lost, it’s the only way to really and rods that seem small at a get the experience without shelling distance but grow to full length as out for the actual hardware. 8 Space Harrier II was one of the sound effects are also a bit odd, as first titles for both the Mega Drive if the programmers hadn’t quite and Sega Genesis when released mastered the Genesis’ sound chip. in their respective territories. The Although the 16-bit hardware game was planned by Kotaro was able to replicate other arcade Hayashida (creator ofAlex Kidd) titles likeAltered Beast, the lack of rather than Yu Suzuki. any scaling meant that it still Not much has changed from wasn’t quite capable of delivering its predecessor, other than offering an arcade-like experience. The 13 new stages, along with a scrolling is definitely smoother Space Harrier II handful of new enemies. The than the 8-bit ports of the first Original Release: 1988 coolest of these are a three-headed game, and the horizon view Platforms: GEN, C64, AMI, AST, turtle, a winged tiger, and the actually changes as you move up ZX, WIN, PS2, WII, IOS penultimate foe, the Dark Harrier. and down, but it’s still choppy and Boss fights are heralded with a ultimately somewhat clumsy. darkened playing field and some When it was released, this was lightning cracks in the distance – acceptable, but with the numerous one of the few new special quality ports of its predecessor effects. You can choose your now available,Space Harrier II is starting level at the outset, really not up to par. although you still need to conquer AlthoughSpace Harrier II was all of the stages to beat it. originally released on the Mega The dragon bonus stages are Drive, it was ported to numerous gone, and are instead replaced computer platforms in Europe. The with levels where you ride on top quality of these ports is about the of a jet. It’s pretty much like a same as the ones developed for regular level (except you’re the original game. The Amstrad invincible), which is under- version has filled-in sprites but the whelming. The new main theme, speed is slower. The Atari ST and composed by Tokuhiko Uwabo, is Amiga ports are very close to the actually pretty catchy, even Mega Drive version. The music though it doesn’t quite hold a conversions by Matt Furniss are candle to the original. Some of the quite excellent. 9 In 2000 Sega resurrectedSpace never quite as trippy as the old Game Title Harrier with a completely new games, but it’s still classy. Original Release: arcade game,Planet Harriers. This Unfortunately there are only five Platforms: updateplays much more similarly stages in total. toPanzer Dragoon than any of the It also has a rather strange oldSpace Harriertitles. sense of humor, which manifests The stages are fully defined, in the playable characters. The rather than blank landscapes, new Harriers include Cory, a nurse through the scrolling is rather with a gigantic syringe; Nick, a slow. The jet-equipped main baseball player; X, a rock star with Planet Harriers character can dash and spin a guitar; and Glenn, the “normal“ Original Release: 2000 around the screen, all while aiming guy. Opa-Opa fromFantasy Zone a targeting reticule. Weapons is available as a hidden character, Platforms: ARC include both a regular shot and a and he also shows up during lock-on laser. You can earn gold to gameplay to resurrect players buy life replenishments, lock-on when continuing. The exaggerated fuel (to increase the number of running animations while on the enemies you can target at once), ground are also quite comical. barriers, and additional power It’s all rather weird, but it bombs. The game was also keeps some elements from the distributed in two-player sit-down older games, seeing as the first- cabinets. If playing with another level boss is a multi-headed person the two players can share dragon. The final boss is also energy and increase each other’s incredibly cool, as it’s composed life meter. from a series of cubes that take on different forms, similar to Seven Force inGunstar Heroes. In Untapped Potential addition to shapes like guns and Due to technical restraints the grenades, it’ll occasionally turn originalSpace Harrier was reduced into the Dreamcast logo. to checkerboard patterns. Now Planet Harriers runs on Sega’s with more powerful hardware, Hikaru board, which also ranCyber Planet Harriers expands Troopers Virtual On 4 andStar extensively on the universe. The Wars Racer Arcade. Most of the graphic designs mix futuristic sci-fi music is, unfortunately, largely landscapes with gorgeous and forgettable electronica. It’s a luscious environments, including pretty cool game which, alas, forested canyons and ice caverns. never saw a home release. There The final stage takes place in were rumors of Dreamcast and hyperspace, against the backdrop Gamecube ports, but unfortunately of several colorful galaxies. It’s nothing ever came to fruition. 10