The SEGA Shrine

Outside Puyo Puyo, I've kinda been into the Phantasy Star series on and off. Especially the Online and Universe portions. I find those games to be quite good.

I played my brother's copy of Universe first, and I enjoyed what I played. A few years later, I got a PSP and played Phantasy Star Portable 1 and 2. Also fun games.

That very same brother actually got me Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II fof Gamecube as a graduation present. I was not disappointed, because that was probably the best graduation present that wasn't cash. Highly recommended.

Now, I say "on an off" because I haven't played Phantasy Star Online 2, nor do I have an effective method of doing so. It looks pretty rad, but I wish it had an offline mode.
 
Speaking of Phantasy Star, PS2 has some really awesome music. It kinda gets repetitive after a while, but its still great music : p

I have that and Phantasy Star Online for Dreamcast, and I love PSO a bunch. Its a ton of fun. Alot of level grinding though, in fact thats pretty much the whole game : p Im still in the lava caves right now after the first boss in the forest area. I havent played the game in a while, though. But one day Id like to beat it.

It would have been amazing if they could have had a local multiplayer function in the game, Id love to actually play it with someone one day.
 
I'm quite fond of the first few Super Monkey Ball games though I'm a bit less familiar with some of the later games.
 
I'm quite fond of the first few Super Monkey Ball games though I'm a bit less familiar with some of the later games.


Ah, Monkey Ball...what the hell ever became of that series? My brother and I played the first two and then I never saw it again.

Huh...apparently it's been chuggin along though, it had an iOS game a few years ago (which kinda makes sense)
 
Kind of sad that it's been rather dormant for most of this current decade. Still, I don't think this would classify as a forgotten series just yet.
 
Kind of sad that it's been rather dormant for most of this current decade. Still, I don't think this would classify as a forgotten series just yet.

Nah...teetering on the edge, perhaps. One good solid release would put it safely back in public consciousness. And hell why not, it was fun from what I remember
 
Sega does still seems to consider him one of their "Superstars" or "All-stars" or whatever though they haven't made one of those games in a while.
 
Although I haven't played this game yet and I'd want too in the future a definite mention is Burning Rangers. Aside from having such a great soundtrack the idea of you having to patrol and saving civilians from fires in a TPS is a unique concept that I hope Sega if at all revisits in the future.

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Now I'm sure a lot of people are familar with this arcade classic
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Oh yes, Outrun, the classic arcade driving game where you're driving across various routes as fast as you can and avoiding traffic with your GF
on a Ferrari Testarossa

But do you know that there's a sequel that's just as good as the original IMO
But isn't as well known?

Now Outrun as we all know, was a massive arcade sucess
And like any successful IP, Outrun has gotten mutiple sequels (Despite the most recent game being called "Outrun 2")

Some are generally pretty good like Turbo Outrun

Whereas others are.......

Yeah....not so good.

However, there's one sequel amoung them that not only captures what made the original Outrun game fun
But improves on it

That game is
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Outrunners
This to me is how a sequel to Outrun should be done as it not only captures what made the original game so great (Unlike previous attempts)
But builds on it in several ways

Let's start with the one of the things that makes Outrunners unique

Mutliplayer

Yes, unlike the original Outrun, this one is more focused on Mutliplayer (Hence the Outrunners title)
And in this case, you're racing your rivals to the goals at the end of the various routes and to get the best overall time.
And the winner will be the one who makes it to the end first (Oh yeah and it's eight players on top of that.)

Now of course, you can't have a Mutliplayer racer without various characters
Which Outrunners certainly has
From a couple that's merely traveling to a pair of criminals to a pair that belongs in the fifites
Outrunners has 8 pairs to choose from, all with a unique car that has different stats that will drastically change how you play
from handling to speed to acceration, each car feels very different from each other and allows for a ton of replayablity (And yes, there is a red car that acts just like the one from Outrun)

Now of course, you don't have to play it in Muliplayer as Outrunners can be played Single Player as well
And the overall gameplay is practically the same idea as the original Outrun, get to the various goals in time and avoid the traffic and the obstacles on the way.

However, there's some things that Outrunners builds upon

For example, the Radio
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Now one of the defining features that made Outrun stand out at the time
was the ability to change your track before a game, from the peaceful Passing Breeze to the rocking Splash Wave
The 3 tracks in Outrun are definitely gaming classics, and Outrunners takes this feature a step further.
By allowing you to change your track during the gameplay

And that little aspect changes everything, no longer are you stuck with one tune throughout
Now you're free to choose whatever track you want, from the 3 classic tunes all remixed to all new tracks
like Adventure to Blow your Cool, Outrunners is filled with a lot of amazing tracks with very few eh ones
And alongside the tracks is also a realistic radio feature where the track can change depending on your location

And speaking of location

Another defining aspect of Outrun is the ablitiy to choose your path to wherever you want to go
And this gave Outrun a ton of replayabity as always a bit different each time you play it depending on the routes you choose.

Now the last Outrun sequel before Outrunners, Turbo Outrun had it where your trekking through America and the various states
So it makes sense that Outrunners builds from that by making it a worldwide race

Yes, you're not traveling across beaches or US states, but the world

From sunny San Francisco
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To Japan
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to Spain
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And various other countries around Europe and Asia
Outrunner is a worldwide trek that like the original Outrun
has different pathways, so it's always a bit different every time

Not only that but it's been expanded upon as unlike the original Outrun where you start from one and it branches off from there
Outrunners has you start at 2 pathways before branching off
East and West

And depending on the path you chosen, you will be taken to various different countries on different routes
With some being only available on certain routes, this along with the different cars and the ability to change the station during the drive as opposed to before, gives Outrunners a shit ton of replayablity that's not seen in the original Outrun

And obivously from the above, this game looks amazing
Using the power of the Sega System 32 board, this game is a amazing piece of work, using a mixture of sprites and early 3D Graphics
With every country having a distinct look and feel to it.

Even today, this game still looks incredible to look at and it plays beautifully

And as far as overall presentation goes, unlike the darker tone of Turbo Outrun
This game goes back to the more lighthearted feel of the original Outrun, from the return of the various silly ending's
to the laugh track that plays when you crash to the silly animations that play during it, this game not only goes back to the roots of the original game
But embraces it fully.

Now if this game built upon so much from Outrun
Why is it less known then Outrun

I think a lot of it's obscurity comes from the fact that Sega hasn't released it on anything like they have with Outrun
Seriously, if you want to play Outrunners, the only way you could do it is either via Emulation, playing the actual arcade cabinet or by playing the Genesis version

Yes there was a Genesis version, and while it's not the worst thing ever and it's admittedly a pretty faithful port all around, It just pales by comparsion.

Just watch the original arcade version

And compare the above to the Genesis version


Now if you have a Genesis or if you're curious or whatever, then I would certainly check it out as it is a faithful port of the arcade version
even if the overall expereince is inferior in my opinion

It does suck though that the above three are the only ways you can play Outrunners
as I would love to buy a proper port of this game on my 3DS via the 3D Classics line or something like that, but *sigh* that's just how it goes sometimes.
But really if you ever see an arcade cabient around your area or you don't mind emulation and if you're a fan of the original Outrun.

Then definitely check it out as it's IMO one of Sega's underrated gems

And if you have played it at one point, then what do you think of this game?
 
While there's certainly better versions on the market in this day and age (The Saturn and the 3DS versions being the definite versions of Outrun IMO)
I agree that the Genesis version of Outrun is definitely a great port of the game and it was actually my first exposure to Outrun. (Never played the PC Engine version though, so I'll take your word on that version.)

Oh and Step on Beat is a great track as well and one that I wished was used more often in the Outfun series as it's a very catchy track.
 
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My Super Monkey Ball experiences were not the most glamorous of starting spots. My first game in the series was Super Monkey Ball Adventure.

It was an adventure game...with Super Monkey Ball characters. It might have worked...if they didn't force you to use Super Monkey Ball mechanics and controls in levels that were clearly not designed with them in mind. Okay, maybe some bits here and there, but overall, it seriously feels like they were designed for a whole other game entirely.

You could hit walls or overshoot it and fall into a death pit. These are Super Monkey Ball controls in levels designed for a platformer, and in some cases, they really, really seem to want me to do these precise things with these controls.

There are actually mini levels that are more reminicient of the other Super Monkey Ball games. And they're the best part of the game for the simple fact that tacked on or not, the levels were actually made with these mechanics in mind.

My second one was Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz for the Wii. A little better...but the forced motion controls still kinda kill it. It was release at or not very far after the launch of the Wii, and it showed. Here, it feels like the game was made with a traditional controller in mind, and yet they weren't allowed to use that despite the existence of the Classic Controller.

I did play the original games with my cousins, and they were good fun from what I remember, but I do not own those game, so sadly, I'm still stuck with memories of an experience that wasn't exactly the greaest. Maybe someday, though.
 
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