Second series of SEGA 3D Classics in development for Japan!

[parallaxscroll]

James Booth
‏@LinearLoveStory
@okunari Thanks Okunari-san for yours and M2's hard work on these 3D classics! Really hope you are working on more, including Outrun 3D!!




Yosuke Okunari /奥成洋輔 ‏@okunari 8h
@LinearLoveStory Thank you. We develop the 2nd series for Japan. If this overseas release succeeds, it may release these in the world.


https://twitter.com/LinearLoveStory/statuses/406710593635115009



Man oh man I really really want 3D After Burner II, 3D Thunder Blade and 3D Outrun. All based on the super-scaler arcades, of course.

I would especially appreciate seeing Thunder Blade getting made, because that game has never been officially, legally brought home in arcade-quality form, not counting emus. The only really good official, legal home version of Thunder Blade was made by Sharp SPS for the X68000 computer in Japan, yet even that version as close to the arcade as it was, didn't use true hardware scaling.



Reminder: release date schedule & prices for the first set of SEGA 3D Classics for the western world:

http://blogs.sega.com/2013/10/30/announcing-prices-and-release-dates-for-sega-3d-classics-on-nintendo-3ds/


Each of these titles will be priced at $5.99/€4.99/£4.49 and available for download in the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS. Release dates for the titles are as follows:

3D Space Harrier, 3D Super Hang-On – 11/28/2013
3D Sonic The Hedgehog, 3D Altered Beast – 12/5/2013
3D Ecco the Dolphin™, 3D Galaxy Force II – 12/12/2013
3D Shinobi III, 3D Streets of Rage – 12/19/2013

[Leo_A]

Excellent suggestions although I'd also love to see Turbo Outrun and Enduro Racer be included. I hope at least one racer makes the cut for round 2.

If they ever look a bit further back, they also have a few early 80's classics that haven't been touched that I'd love to see like Turbo and Buck Rogers Planet of Zoom. Unlike Sega's Star Trek, that game itself has nothing to do with the license so it would be easy to work around the license by calling it Planet of Zoom or if that's still an issue, the official alternate name of Zoom 909 that it was released under in Japan.

This will be the first release for Galaxy Force II in North America in original arcade form. A game that was represented even worse on the Genesis than Thunder Blade was. It did see a decent Saturn port and a perfect PS2 conversion that included an enhanced mode (The PS2 project is presumably the basis for the 3DS download since both are from M2). But they were Japanese exclusives so most of us in the West never were able to enjoy them.

[parallaxscroll]

Cannot wait for Galaxy Force II, day 1 for me.

[PreZZ]

I was interested in space harrier 3d, as anyone tried it? when I looked the video on eshop, I didnt see any 3d effect with the switch on , same thing with hang on. So is the 3d neat in those games or just meh?

[parallaxscroll]

I picked up both 3D Space Harrier and 3D Super Hang-On.

I have not spent all that much time with Space Harrier. From what I played of it, it's great. The 3D effect is very good. The game moves back & forth to simulate the full motion arcade cabinet version. Runs at 60fps. I like it a lot.

However, I just cannot seem to stop playing Super Hang-On. Amazing! The 3D effect is so awesome, and well, I do like Super Hang-On more than Space Harrier in general, so, I'm already a bit biased toward this game to begin with. Anyone with a 3DS should purchase both games & download them from the eShop especially if you love classic SEGA super-scaler arcade games.

If you're really on a tight budget, at least get 3D Super Hang-On, that game is something else. I've decided to buy all the 3D games in the first series, as they get released. I feel the support is deserved. I hope at least most of you guys will buy all of them too, as I really wanna see the second series M2 is developing, whatever the games might be, released in the western world.


Now here are two outstanding in-depth interviews, originally from the Game Watch and Impress Japanese website, on 3D Space Harrier and 3D Super Hang-On featuring both Yosuke Okunari from Sega of Japan and Naoki Horii from the developer M2. They are both very much worth reading from beginning to end.

3D Space Harrier interview (http://blogs.sega.com/2013/11/25/sega-3d-classics-space-harrier-3d-interview-with-developer-m2/)

3D Super Hang-On interview (http://blogs.sega.com/2013/11/27/sega-3d-classics-–-3d-super-hang-on-interview-with-developer-m2/)

Alternative link (http://www.siliconera.com/2013/11/25/making-3d-space-harrier-segas-new-3d-classics-series/) for The Making Of 3D Space Harrier.
Alternative link (http://www.siliconera.com/2013/11/27/3d-super-hang-uses-gyro-controls-recreate-arcade-experience/#QL2kPOAZJD5rKBB8.99) for How 3D Super Hang-on Uses Gyro Controls To Recreate The Arcade Experience.

[ccovell]

3-D Space Harrier plays and looks great -- no complaints here. The controls of the 3DS let it down big time, though. The analogue pad is more accessible with my thumb, but there is auto-centering in-game, like the arcade (Harrier goes back to the centre of the screen when you let go of the pad.) The digital pad, though, doesn't have said centering, so it is much easier to control. However, with the tiny D-pad on the 3DS being so stiff and placed poorly, my fingers cramp up after only 5 minutes of use. Oh, well... :-(

[SpaceHarrier]

Interview with M2 discussing the surprising difficulties in creating Sonic the Hedgehog 3D
http://blogs.sega.com/2013/12/03/sega-3d-classics-%E2%80%93-3d-sonic-the-hedgehog-interview-with-developer-m2/?6866309=1

Interesting quote in the lower part of the article from M2's President Naoki Horii: "Maybe in a couple of years, we can get Power Drift running on it and put that out. (grins) That’d be cool."

hhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggghhhhhhhh!!!

[parallaxscroll]

Interview with M2 discussing the surprising difficulties in creating Sonic the Hedgehog 3D
http://blogs.sega.com/2013/12/03/sega-3d-classics-%E2%80%93-3d-sonic-the-hedgehog-interview-with-developer-m2/?6866309=1

Interesting quote in the lower part of the article from M2's President Naoki Horii: "Maybe in a couple of years, we can get Power Drift running on it and put that out. (grins) That’d be cool."

hhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggghhhhhhhh!!!

I don't really understand why he would say that about Power Drift.

Arcade Power Drift used the exact same Sega super-scaler technology that Galaxy Force II ran on, Sega's Y Board hardware: http://system16.com/hardware.php?id=699

Galaxy Force II pushed that arcade board every bit as much as Power Drift did, perhaps more so, and both games came out the same year, in 1988.

My point is, since M2 has already made 3D Galaxy Force II, it's already out in Japan and will be released this month here, there's no reason why Power Drift would take years to do in 3D. The arcade versions used the same hardware.

Now although YouTube does not display videos at 60fps, the Japanese version of 3D Galaxy Force II looks smooth to me. I am not saying it is 60fps, we'll have to see what it's like when our 3DS eShops get it. Here's the Japanese version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lHbHT6kWrc

I can say that the Sega Ages versions of both Galaxy Force II and Power Drift on Saturn, released in 1998, ran at 30fps, and GFII had framerate drops below 30fps. The 1988 arcade versions were 60fps. The Saturn versions were done by some crap port team, not the same one that handled Saturn Space Harrier, Outrun and After Burner II. Those were handled by Rutubo Games.

[Leo_A]

I wish that they weren't investing time into console conversions when they could be working on arcade material. There are already two excellent ways to enjoy Sonic the Hedgehog on the go thanks to Sega Genesis Collection on the PSP/Vita and the Sonic compilation on the DS/3DS. Especially since it's not even running in 16:9 like Sonic CD HD does on the 360 & PS3.

Sad to hear that Thunder Blade was on the list initially but didn't make the cut. :(

[Az]

Arcade Power Drift used the exact same Sega super-scaler technology that Galaxy Force II ran on, Sega's Y Board hardware: http://system16.com/hardware.php?id=699

Have they actually said anywhere that Galaxy Force II is straight-up emulation and not just a painstakingly accurate but original creation like 3D Space Harrier was?

[Leo_A]

Have they actually said anywhere that Galaxy Force II is straight-up emulation and not just a painstakingly accurate but original creation like 3D Space Harrier was?

I imagine it's safe to say that it's based on their Sega Ages PS2 release that M2 was responsible for. And that seemed like a port rather than an emulation since there were enhancements that could be enabled with a special mode that could be selected.

[Leo_A]

I sure hope that they keep Turbo Outrun in mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azdofC423Oo

I can't see in 3D but I bet that this one would look amazing in 3D. Plus, it's a favorite classic Sega franchise for many and a game that has never been done justice at home in the West.

[parallaxscroll]

Goodness gracious great balls of fire! The first game in the second wave of SEGA 3D Classics is already about to burn up the skies over Japan.







.









.












.












BTW I gave you all some really obvious clues.










,











,









,
















.






As if you haven't already guessed, yeah it is indeed






http://i.imgur.com/TBGfJYm.jpg http://i.imgur.com/JwYCh7R.gif



http://archives.sega.jp/3d/ab2/

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/12/10/3d-burner-ii-fires-nintendo-3ds-eshop-japan/



3D After Burner II Fires Up For Nintendo 3DS eShop In Japan

Sega recently released 3D Space Harrier and 3D Super Hang-On in North America and Europe, as part of their first set of 3D Classics, but it looks like they won’t be cooling their jets anytime soon—3D After Burner II is headed to the Nintendo 3DS eShop in Japan.

After Burner II was originally released in 1987 as a jet cockpit sit-down cabinet arcade title, where you played as a F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, and gunned down enemies while dodging incoming enemy fire.

As a way to emulate the original arcade game and its cabinet that moved according to the motion of the jet, 3D After Burner II features a “Moving Cabinet Mode,” which shows a similar effect that moves according to your maneuvers.

Additionally, Sega will be implementing a “Special Mode,” that features a “lock-on shooting” system, which introduces a different way to test your skills in dogfights against enemies. 3D After Burner II will cost 800 yen on the Nintendo 3DS eShop.



3D After Burner II will be coming out on December 18, for Nintendo 3DS in Japan.



Please please, SEGA & M2, pleeeease do 3D Super Monaco GP next--I actually want that much more than I want you to do 3D Power Drift.

[Leo_A]

Assuming we're talking about the arcade game rather than the Genesis port, I second your suggestion for Super Monaco GP. I'd still be up for a handheld version of the Genesis game though, but it's the arcade original that I really want to see.

While Power Drift is nice, I'd rather them focus on material that can't easily be obtained in good form for an earlier console or at all. Lots of Saturn and Dreamcast fans are into the import scene and nice versions of Power Drift can be found on both.

Two that would look great in 3D for Golden Age releases that haven't been mentioned are Subroc 3D and Tac/Scan (The tunnel sequence would be great). I suspect that control issues would keep Tac/Scan with its rotary controls away though.


Goodness gracious great balls of fire! The first game in the second wave of SEGA 3D Classics is already about to burn up the skies over Japan.

Beat me to it. :)

[parallaxscroll]

Assuming we're talking about the arcade game rather than the Genesis port, I second your suggestion for Super Monaco GP. I'd still be up for a handheld version of the Genesis game though, but it's the arcade original that I really want to see.




When I mentioned Super Monaco GP, I did indeed mean the 1989 arcade version powered by the same super-scaler hardware as After Burner II, Sega's X Board. Not the graphically watered-down 1990 MD/Genesis translation.


Japanese and EU arcade flyers:

http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/flyers_video/sega/16191801.jpg

http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/flyers_video/sega/16191802.jpg

http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/flyers_video/sega/16306103.jpg

http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/flyers_video/sega/16306104.jpg

http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/flyers_video/sega/16306105.jpg

http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/flyers_video/sega/16191701.jpg

http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/flyers_video/sega/16191702.jpg

[parallaxscroll]

Oh and BTW:

The GENESIS DOES print ad from 1990 for After Burner II and Super Monaco GP, on those two TVs, used a shot of Genesis AB II but an arcade shot for Super Monaco GP:

http://i.imgur.com/SL4T6uU.jpg

.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. MD/Genesis Super Monaco GP certainly did not have all that^ detail.

[Tanooki]

Damn I still hate those old Nintendon't lie ads. :P

Anyway I like what I am seeing out of Sega on these and I really don't think they're asking too much considering the tweaks for the 3DS. I don't see for myself much utility in Altered Beast or old played out Sonic. I'm kind of up in the air with Space Harrier.

Galaxy Force 2 and Afterburner 2 I'm totally game for and while I never was hugely into it Hang-On looks badass and it even emphasizes having tilt control to mimic the feel of the sit down bike arcade cab which is a nice nod to their past.

[Leo_A]

Fantasy Zone has been announced as the next release in this series.

[WCP]

I wish they had a 3 minute demo of these games, so I could try them out before buying. Of all these 3D remakes on the 3DS, which one is the best so far ?

I'll probably buy the Sonic game I think...

[MrRoboto19XX]

I'd say the Space Harrier port is the best so far. I'm personally hoping for an Outrun port, M2 always knows what they're doing.

[Rickstilwell1]

That would be really funny one day if:

3-D Sonic 3D Blast

cause the original wasn't really 3D. lol

[Tanooki]

WCP

I have Streets of Rage and Galaxy Force.

Both are excellent and the options they tossed in are nice too from the menu, but if you're asking from a strictly visual stand point, Galaxy Force by far is the most stand out of the two and in general seeing the games online w/out 3D I still think it's probably tops. It's just the way the obstacles (size/look/scaling) and the walls look in that one that it pops like crazy.

Streets of Rage is very 3D minimalist where it just has like 3 subtle layers and you choose to have it feel like it's popping in or out of the screen but still feels relatively flat, like looking at blocks inside of an open shoebox.


I suspect that Fantasy Zone will fall into that category that SoR and Sonic lands since it's a flat game to start with lacking even fake scaled depth, while the upcoming Afterburner 3D will end up like Galaxy Force and be a visual treat.

[WCP]

It would be cool if they offered a bundle pack, where you could get a bunch of these for a slightly reduced price.

[Leo_A]

I'd rather see them slap all of these onto a single 3DS cartridge eventually once this program has ended and standalone sales start to diminish for what they've released.

A lot of their fans will willingly double dip for a hard copy.

[Tanooki]

Yes if they did that I'd double up on the couple I have so far. I'll always take a permanent copy over a digital long term rental I don't.

[parallaxscroll]

I'm personally hoping for an Outrun port, M2 always knows what they're doing.

OutRun is next, it's coming:

http://archives.sega.jp/3d/fz/




3D OutRun Racing To Nintendo 3DS
By Spencer . March 23, 2014 . 9:47pm


Sega has been releasing the second wave of 3D Ages remakes in Japan. 3D Afterburner and 3D Fantasy Zone are out now. What’s next?

3D OutRun. A logo for Yu Suzuki’s arcade classic popped up on the 3D Ages site. No further details are available other than that 3D OutRun is in the works for Nintendo 3DS.



http://www.siliconera.com/2014/03/23/3d-run-racing-nintendo-3ds/

[Tanooki]

I still wish they'd get Afterburner out here, but Outrun if that shows up it's definitely a purchase as I really liked it right up there with Rad Racer. Plus since it's a game with the same general engine that Galaxy Force and Afterburner uses it's clear that the visuals on it will really get a lot of depth if one wants to slide the 3D option up to max.

[parallaxscroll]

Really hope Sega feels sales of the first series were good enough in NA/EU to bring After Burner II and Out Run here.

[Leo_A]

Great news about Outrun. :)

I hope the focus on arcade material continues for what I assume will be another 5 releases after this (Wave 1 was 8 games).


Really hope Sega feels sales of the first series were good enough in NA/EU to bring After Burner II and Out Run here.

Don't forget about Fantasy Zone.

If they follow a similar pattern for Western releases, they're going to wait until all of round 2 are out and then release them late this year.

[Leo_A]

Continuing the focus on arcade material (In a roundabout way with this latest release), Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa has been announced as the next title in Sega's 3D Classics lineup.

http://www.joystiq.com/2014/07/09/fantasy-zone-2-is-next-for-sega-3d-classics/

It appears to be based off M2's version that they programmed for the Sega System 16 arcade hardware rather than the Master System original, which should please many fans.

The quick followup with another Fantasy Zone is making me hope that maybe Turbo Outrun isn't far away. It also runs on the same hardware as the original Outrun, just like how these two Fantasy Zones releases share common hardware between them. I don't quite have a grasp on exactly how M2 develops these things, but that common element surely has to help its chances a bit.

[Leo_A]

Everyone by now knows the good news that the second series of 3D Classics has been confirmed for North America.

But the sad bit to this is the continued silence on a third series for Japan. Last year, wave 1 ended in August of 2013. After a several month hiatus, the second series commenced releasing in December and continued through August of this year. Yet we're closing in on December and there's no word in Japan of anything new. Hopefully we're in for some good news in the coming days since it would be a shame to see this program end.

I really hope that Sega continues this and brings additional classics, hopefully arcade based, to the 3DS in 2015. I'm pulling for Turbo Outun to make the cut. How about you?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azdofC423Oo

And I wish that they'd bring these to the big screen. I don't see why something like Outrun couldn't be a successful download on consoles. Or better yet, as the highlights of a new compilation. Imagine an expanded Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection with more of their free and clear 8 bit and Genesis library, along with these arcade conversions.

[Tanooki]

THey may be done with it, or the second run didn't sell as nicely as the first? They are after all in Japan only (stupid) placing both waves on one legit 3DS card for retail purchase. That makes me think they could be finished with it and that's the compilation package. The only way I could think of them going further would be more long term planned for 2 more waves for a volume 2 on a card. Maybe the shift from 3DS to New3DS is screwing with their plans.

[Leo_A]

The compilation is just a selection of wave 1 and wave 2 releases, not the entire deal. 6 of the 13 current releases will still be digital exclusives with another compilation likely being eyed.

There's still hope though, since it doesn't look like the last group was announced until December, about 10 days before Afterburner's release on the eShop. Assuming a similar timetable holds, there's still time.

[parallaxscroll]

3D After Burner II should be released on the North American and European eShops on January 15th.

Price: £4.49 / €4.99 £4.49 / $5.99

http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/news/a619476/3d-after-burner-ii-release-date-confirmed-for-nintendo-3ds.html#~p0xXbKhg3Y1EjF

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/01/3d_after_burner_ii_set_to_jet_into_europe_on_15th_ january

http://images.nintendolife.com/news/2015/01/3d_after_burner_ii_set_to_jet_into_europe_on_15th_ january/attachment/0/original.jpg

[Tanooki]

Oooh a reason to give Sega (and Nintendo) some money -- it has been awhile. I really wish they'd just release that mix up on a real card though.

[Az]

The 3D SMS games included in the JP cartridge release, are those exclusive to the cart or do they exist as e-shop titles in Japan?

[Leo_A]

Exclusive to the collection at this time.

Afterburner II should be out sometime this month, with the European date recently confirmed for January. I imagine our North American release date will be similar.

[parallaxscroll]

Footage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhXwP3JPR0Q




SEGA 3D Classics – 3D Afterbunner II – A Classic Reborn – Part 1

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7579/16028723468_73552dd6cb.jpg

This week we continue our series of translated interviews from Game Watch & Impress about the SEGA 3D Classics. These interviews detail the amazing amount of work that developer M2 has done to deliver the best possible versions of our classic SEGA titles on the Nintendo 3DS. These new interviews are much longer than our last batch, so we’ve opted to split them up a bit leading into the release of 3D After Burner II later this week.

Thanks again to Game Watch and Impress, Okunari-san, and Horii-san for their involvement in making these interviews available to our western audience. Special thanks to our producer Sam for translating these interviews for everyone’s enjoyment.

A Little about the Arcade Version of After Burner II
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7488/16214358301_667f50cc17.jpg

Following up on our previous installments, we’ve gone to visit M2, the developer of SEGA’s 3D Remaster Project. We will be speaking with the president, Naoki Horii, and the SEGA producer, Yosuke Okunari. We’ve also invited M2’s sound director, Manabu Namiki, to join this time.

After Burner was the first title to be released on SEGA’s “X-BOARD” arcade board, which made its debut in 1987. While it consisted of the same dual MC68000 and single Z80 processor set up as Space Harrier’s “Harrier Board,” it ran at a different clock speed. It featured sprites with enlargement capability, and it could display up to 256 sprites on the screen at the same time. It also was equipped with an YM2515 and PCM sound source.

The game had a number of arcade cabinet variations, starting with the “Double Cradle” (moved both forward/backward and left/right) and the “Single Cradle” (moved left/right). More variations were released later, including “Sit-down” and “Upright” variations.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7574/15593834574_4784064a27.jpg


The initial release of After Burner featured 18 stages. Two months later, the ROM was swapped out with After Burner II, which featured 23 stages. The first edition had its control stick (with buttons for firing) positioned in the center of the cabinet and lacked the throttle lever. For After Burner II, a new throttle lever was put in on the left side of the seat to allow you to control the speed of your plane.

For weaponry, the plane had an unlimited number of bullets for its vulcan cannon, and a limited stock of missiles. Players would lock-on to incoming enemy planes to fire missiles, which would then home in on their targets. This was a primarily differentiating factor from Space Harrier’s gameplay. Generally speaking, the stage layouts themselves were similar to that of Space Harrier, with both normal and bonus stages, but there were additional cutscenes where your plane would get resupplied with missiles either mid-flight or on the ground. Another differentiating aspect from Space Harrier was the fact that enemy planes and missiles would approach from behind and chase your plane, and the player could then operate the throttle to speed away or allow them to fly past. Additionally, you could also swing left/right on the control stick to send your plane into a barrel roll.

The game’s soundtrack is known for its PCM-based distorted guitars and drumbeats. While some songs were notable for their lack of melody, such as Stage 1’s “Final Take Off” and Stage 4’s “After Burner,” these songs saw melodies added into them with the later release of “After Burner SEGA GAME MUSIC Vol. 3.” The melody versions went on to be used in the PC Engine (TurboGrafx 16) version of the game.

A number of home consoles also saw releases of one or both of After Burner and After Burner II, including the Mark III (Master System), Famicom, FM-TOWNS, X68000, Mega Drive, PC Engine, SEGA Saturn, and 32X. But despite M2’s extensive porting background with SEGA, 3D After Burner II is the first time they have had an opportunity to work on the title.

As a special favor for this interview, Okunari-san has provided us with photos and movies of the After Burner II cabinet in SEGA’s permanent storage warehouse to help us remember what this machine was like. Before you play 3D Afterburner II, you should take some time to familiarize yourself with the original version. And for those who have played it in the past, we think you’ll enjoy this little trip down memory lane.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7465/16215436792_291b8dd77a.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7536/16215436532_59c6a2319b.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7532/15596384673_175047677f.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8597/16028877550_54411bef34.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7531/16215436102_4506e77642.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8601/16030411167_bc8cb2ae79.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7514/16028724578_e65bdc3764.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8677/16215435682_cffff0f8e1.jpg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McMw9-A98ss

Taking all the know-how built up until now to deliver a new After Burner II

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7478/16190352316_e8f7f636c1.jpg
The re-release of After Burner II, which was the first title for the high-end X-BOARD

- So the 2nd round of the 3D Remaster Project begins with After Burner II. What was the porting work for this title like?

Yosuke Okunari (below YO): The arcade version of After Burner II was the first game for the X-BOARD. It was a more powerful piece of hardware that built on top of previous games like Space Harrier and Outrun. This was the first hurdle we had to overcome to make 3D After Burner II a reality. It was a predecessor to the Y-BOARD, which was what Galaxy Force used. As it turns out, we’d previously done quite a bit of study and analysis of the Y-BOARD when we ported Galaxy Force II to PlayStation 2. Despite that, we had a pretty tough time when we were converting all that work to 3DS. But since we had taken the work we did on the PlayStation 2 version of Galaxy Force II and previously brought that to the 3DS, bringing the X-BOARD to the 3DS actually went relatively smoothly.

Naoki Horii (below NH): You could say that it just slid right in. We didn’t need to bother you so much on this one, did we now?

YO: Not so much, I guess.

NH: That’s what I like to hear. (Everyone laughs.) I told him, “Hey! We got After Burner running! Even though you never asked us to work on it.” To which Okunari-san said, “What? The Mega Drive version?” I couldn’t help but feel a little hurt that he’d think we’d aim so low!

YO: Well, we were right in the middle of choosing the Mega Drive titles.

NH: Well, I laughed at the time, but I’m pretty sure doing a 3D conversion of the Mega Drive version would be no easy task. Not that we’ve tried (laughs).
Incidentally, I think the hardest one to port would be the SEGA Mark III version. Everything is a single background layer, so there’s no way we could make that into 3D.

- (laughs)

YO: And with that, let’s just set aside Horii-san’s digression, and get back to the fact that our successes in the first batch were bearing fruit, and there we were starting development on 3D After Burner II. But just like everything else, simply running on the hardware isn’t good enough. So there we were finishing up 3D Super Hang-On and starting to turn our attention to 3D Galaxy Force II, and M2 had After Burner II running as a test. It was still really far from being a final product, by any measure, but I recall you guys had it to a point where it had 3D, right?

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7572/15593833674_3e1cb33143.jpg
The movement of the original “Double Cradle” arcade cabinet is faithfully recreated. The attack alert lights even flash, just like their original respective cabinets!

NH: Yes, that was around when we first showed it to you.

YO: But when I went to play it, I wasn’t able to lock-on to anything. Nothing at all. By putting in 3D, the game got much more difficult. This was the first gameplay hurdle with After Burner II. Let me explain things in the context of Space Harrier to help understand what the issue was. In Space Harrier, your character, which is in the foreground, is shooting bullets that track to enemies in the background. So you end up spending a lot of time focused on your character in the foreground. But in After Burner II, you also have to manually acquire lock-ons to enemies who are near the horizon line, so you need to constantly look at both the foreground and the background. Even though the games seem similar, it turns out the eye movements required of the players are quite different.

NH: It’s basically a game of “whack-a-mole” where you are having to keep two things lined up.

YO: “Bash the moles as soon as they appear. Avoid attacks from the moles you let slide through.” That’s the basics behind this game. But the act of locking onto things by lining up something in the foreground to these enemies that exist in the background becomes quite difficult once you put this into 3D. If you just turn down the 3D effect, you can play just like you would normally, but with it on, the enemies are far away and hard to lock onto. That was my impression of that initial test version. I couldn’t understand why it was so much harder, despite being the same game.

This was the first time I noted that while putting in 3D makes everything pretty and have depth, you’re going to have to make some adjustments for ease-of-play.

NH: Those “Adjustments for ease-of-play”… There are some situations that take a fair amount of work to correct, and there are ones that work out far easier than you’d think. After Burner II was a case where we had to do a fair amount of work. Including dealing with the issues caused by the 3D implementation.

- OK, wait. Can you go into a bit more about detail about the fact that the difficulty went up because the enemies appear farther away?

YO: So basically, when you play the game in 2D, your eyes can track your character in the foreground and the enemies in the background because everything is on the same plane.

NH: It’s like looking at something on a piece of paper. You just move your character to where the enemies are and lock on.

YO: But when you put depth into that, you’re not going to be able to focus on both your character and the enemies. Your brain knows, “This is depth inside the screen,” and so things don’t line up.

- So for example, and I don’t know if this is an adequate one or not, but let’s say you are looking at a game through a camera lens. When you are using a deep field of focus, it’s like playing in 2D. And when it’s a shallow field of focus, that’s 3D. Basically when you focus on a single thing, everything else becomes blurry.

NH: Your eyes move around quite a bit, even when you are just looking at a single screen.

YO: We put a number of adjustments into 3D Galaxy Force II to compensate for this, but I saw this test version of After Burner II before we finished Galaxy Force II. It got me thinking, “Man, this is something that’s going to need a lot of work.” As a result, due to M2’s work on 3D Galaxy Force II’s final stage and other parts that had a lot of depth, we built a pretty decent knowledge base on how to handle these issues. At this point, we’ve gotten the game to a point where you can play the game by looking at both the foreground and the background, just like if you were playing in 2D.

NH: We did make a lot of adjustments to make it easier to play, but there may still be some players who will find it hard to lock on to targets. If that happens, go ahead and reduce the difficulty level all the way down to one star. The lock-on area widens, and you’ll have the enemy dropping like flies.


- To me, the distance of things in the games feels very different when compared to just the other “move into the background” titles, like 3D Space Harrier, 3D Super Hang-On, and 3D Galaxy Force II.

YO: Well, for starters, the Y-BOARD had a 2D screen, of course, but it was capable of performing finer depth calculations than previous iterations.

- Well, in addition to that, Space Harrier had a floor and ceiling (depending on the stage), Super Hang-On had only the floor, and Galaxy Force II had basically nothing and instead had sprites flying around you. So that leads one to think that stages basically differ based on “how you build the box.” Judging from the responses from the web, I got the impression that people wanted to see some depth applied to the floor and ceiling in Space Harrier, in the same way that Galaxy Force II had. Though I understand it depends on a number of factors, such as how you go about applying the visual separation, how the 3D feels, as well as people’s own personal preferences.

YO: When you take photos in 3D, you have to put something in your foreground or you won’t get a sense of the 3D effect. It’s just like that. The more things you have at each depth level, the more you can feel the 3D. So in the case of Galaxy Force II, there are a lot of objects available, so that’s probably why people thought it was easy to get a sense for the 3D.

- That, and the game’s scroll speed is actually pretty different. Sorry, I probably walked into this without thinking about it too much, but it’s gotten me thinking about how it’s the various differences in the games that makes them feel different.

YO: And the Y-BOARD actually was handling Z-axis calculations internally.

NH: Yes, it makes a pretty big difference when you start off with Z values so your peaks are in 3D.

- You never have to fake it. Even if it’s a sprite, it has a precisely calculated depth value associated with it. That must have helped in the transition to 3D.

YO: After Burner II’s X-BOARD still had a number of those little “fake outs” in it, similar to Space Harrier, but After Burner II still made advances over Space Harrier because the 3D effect is being built from these multiple layers of objects. The improvement in the way the game screens were originally being expressed still comes through when put into 3D. And then there’s M2’s know-how when it comes to putting in depth, which has also made advances.

NH: There’s a broad horizon line that goes right back deep into the screen, and it has a lot of objects placed leading back to it. I really think we got it to a place where you think, “Aaah, I’m really flying through the air.”

YO: So for 3D After Burner II, more so than 3D Space Harrier, I really think you’ll get that sense of depth, similar to 3D Galaxy Force II.

NH: When it comes to adding depth to things, we took a rather conservative stance when we were working on 3D Space Harrier. It was the first one, after all. But now that we have this established framework, we’re much more flexible when it comes to adjusting and tweaking things.

This concludes part 1 of our 3D After Burner interview. Check back tomorrow for part 2 as we learn more about the audio in the 3D Classics and information on the new mode added to 3D After Burner II.


Article with all the images
http://blogs.sega.com/2015/01/12/sega-3d-classics-3d-afterbunner-ii-%E2%80%93-a-classic-reborn-part-1/

[parallaxscroll]

Part 2 is now up: http://blogs.sega.com/2015/01/13/sega-3d-classics-3d-afterbunner-ii-%E2%80%93-a-classic-reborn-part-2/

[Leo_A]

Looking forward to their Outrun interview.

[Tanooki]

That's a pretty cool read there so far on part 1 and wow to the fact they after all these years never touched an afterburner port until this one.

[parallaxscroll]

After Burner II plays really well with the Circle Pro stick for throttle.

[FieryReign]

Afterburner is such a blah game, they shouldn't of even wasted time on it. Not to mention the uselessness of Altered Beast, Streets of Rage, and Echo. Give me Outrun, ThunderBlade, and Fantasy Zone already. How about Rad Mobile?

[Leo_A]

Afterburner II, while not up there with something like Outrun in my eyes, is still a well done classic.

Happily, wave 2's lineup skipped the Genesis entirely. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Genesis titles from wave 1 were done as an easy way to pad the lineup while they learned the hardware.

Thankfully, they got their sea legs, listened to their customers, and focused on the most interesting material for the next round. Too bad that it sadly looks to be the last (No Turbo Outrun :().

[Tanooki]

That almost felt like a troll post there. :D

The only ones I want are Afterburner and Outrun. I'll probably wait for both to drop and snap them up the same time so I can switch between the two.

[Az]

Afterburner is such a blah game, they shouldn't of even wasted time on it.

While this is an amazing port just like all of M2's other efforts I still just don't "get" Afterburner. Every time I play I end up dying after just a few enemies and just can't seem to grasp the gameplay mechanics. There's no slow approaching or stationary objects so you can't play it like Galaxy Force II, and the enemies don't fly up and hang around in your face like Space Harrier's does. It seems like the enemy jets come at you kamikaze-style at a hundred miles an hour and fire their missiles as soon as they appear as a tiny mass of pixels.

The jet seems like it moves just a bit too fast on the screen to control well, and due to how the enemies appear and attack I often find myself wishing it was just a crosshair or a clear wireframe rather than a rear-view sprite. Seems like I end up taking a lot of hits due to the enemies or missiles being obscured from view due to being directly in front of my jet, which is a complaint I never had about Galaxy Force II or Space Harrier.

This is a truly awesome port with all the bells and whistles found in the other arcade games in the 3D Classics series. However if you didn't care too much for Afterburner on the Genesis/32x/SMS this isn't going to change your mind.

[parallaxscroll]

3D Fantasy Zone developer interview:

Part 1 (http://blogs.sega.com/2015/02/09/sega-3d-classics-%E2%80%93-3d-fantasy-zone-opa-opa-brothers-%E2%80%93-developer-interview-part-1/)
Part 2 (http://blogs.sega.com/2015/02/10/sega-3d-classics-3d-fantasy-zone-opa-opa-brothers-part-2/)

Releases on Feb 12th in NA and EU.

Next month will be 3D OutRun followed by 3D Fantasy Zone II (System-16 arcade remake) in April and Thunder Blade in May.

[Leo_A]

Any word yet on a 3rd series for Japan?

[Tanooki]

Excellent I saw that piece on Fantasy Zone a few days ago or so, but I guess I missed the list showing Outrun for next month. That I would buy most definitely.

[parallaxscroll]

Any word yet on a 3rd series for Japan?

Nope.

[Tanooki]

In all sad fairness this may be the last of it. Remember Sega just decided to more or less close up shop on doing non-tablet/phone/web based games. They closed up some places, fired a good many people and talked up how tablet/phone gaming was so great and things for them. Sega is more or less dead, a tablet touchy feely gaming husk with a good name attached to it and little else.

[parallaxscroll]

Wait, spoke too soon, it may not be the end afterall, just saw this on NeoGAF:


3D Streets of Rage 2 rated by ACB

A little strange as this title, as far as I know, hasn't been announced for Japan. And it is rated PG like the 3D original and is developed by M2 according to this listing. Also strange that the rest of Wave 2 hasn't been rated yet.


http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=990302

http://i.imgur.com/VT0iwEH.jpg?1

source (http://www.classification.gov.au/Pages/View.aspx?sid=jfLhcx1jRwlHbTjmigk4iQ%253d%253d&ncdctx=SqME4rtewGzPZlf7s1m4TMfM0TEqXSOxlGDbpSSE4R% 252ftGndNXVvxKpSlj9wUGFA6)

[parallaxscroll]

http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2015/02/11/3d-streets-of-rage-2-rated-by-australian-classification-board/134308/


3D Streets of Rage 2 Rated by Australian Classification Board

It seems like the Australian Classification Board has outed a major addition to the SEGA 3D Classics lineup on the Nintendo 3DS (eShop). While it hasn’t been officially announced yet (not even in Japan), it looks like brawler classic Streets of Rage 2 will be getting a 3D Classics treatment, joining its prequel in what has been an impressive lineup of stereoscopic 3D remasters.

You can check out the entry for Streets of Rage 2 on the Australian Classification Board website, and it has been rated PG.

[Leo_A]

Great :)

While I hope the arcade trend continues, I'm not about to complain since this seems to all but assure that a 3rd wave is underway. I had hoped this would be the case, with the compilation and its bonuses that Japan received recently just delaying things a bit.

Please, please, convert Turbo Outrun over. While the original is definitely the better of the two games, this title is one of several Sega racers from the 1985-1990 period that they've focused on so far that deserves a proper home conversion at long last (The rare FM Towns port notwithstanding). And it runs on the Outrun hardware to boot, certainly a benefit to its chances after their past conversion of the original.

[davidbrit2]

Great :)

While I hope the arcade trend continues, I'm not about to complain since this seems to all but assure that a 3rd wave is underway. I had hoped this would be the case, with the compilation and its bonuses that Japan received recently just delaying things a bit.

Please, please, convert Turbo Outrun over. While the original is definitely the better of the two games, this title is one of several Sega racers from the 1985-1990 period that they've focused on so far that deserves a proper home conversion at long last (The rare FM Towns port notwithstanding). And it runs on the Outrun hardware to boot, certainly a benefit to its chances after their past conversion of the original.

Personally, I think Outrunners is a much better game than Turbo Outrun, but it didn't sound like running System 32 Multi games on the 3DS would be feasible (I bugged one of the M2 guys about it on Twitter a while back). Turbo Outrun does have the best music in the series, though. I probably wouldn't turn down 3DS Turbo Outrun, in any case.

I'd also like to see them do more of the air combat games, like G-LOC and Strike Fighter. After Burner II is cool, but that game is brutal even with a good flight stick setup; the 3DS circle pad is just ridiculous.

[Leo_A]

This is sort of applicable to this thread, but their return to the Genesis/Megadrive with Streets of Rage 2 reminded me of something I want to see Sega do. And that's a new Sonic Mega Collection at retail.

Sonic, Sonic 2, and Sonic CD have all been recreated in 16:9 HD for mobile devices. That material, along with Sonic 3 & Knuckles which hopefully is in the pipeline as we speak, deserves a console port and a disc release (So far, only Sonic CD HD is available on the 360 & PS3 and is a digital exclusive).


Personally, I think Outrunners is a much better game than Turbo Outrun, but it didn't sound like running System 32 Multi games on the 3DS would be feasible (I bugged one of the M2 guys about it on Twitter a while back). Turbo Outrun does have the best music in the series, though. I probably wouldn't turn down 3DS Turbo Outrun, in any case.

While Outrunners is a fine game (Although I'd much rather see Turbo Outrun get some love), I wasn't even considering it. As you said, it seems out of reach with how they develop these.

Short of porting something over and leaving emulation entirely behind (Or perhaps going 2D only and 30 fps), approximately 1990 seems to be the cut off date where feasibility is concerned within the constraints of the standard 3DS hardware.

The New 3DS hardware might give them a fighting chance with later 2D sprite scalers like Outrunners, but I don't see why Sega would ever want to cut out the vast majority of the 3DS install base.


I'd also like to see them do more of the air combat games, like G-LOC and Strike Fighter.

G-LOC and Strike Fighter are both games I'm keeping my fingers crossed for. They're right on the edge of that cut-off, but both games run on Sega's System Y arcade hardware just like Galaxy Force.

[Tanooki]

I'd like to see some of their platformers done in this style because Streets of Rage is excellent. I've only picked up 3D Streets of Rage and Galaxy Force II along with now Afterburner. It would be great if Shinobi got the treatment and I think the throwing star bonus stage would be awesome with it (and be even cooler if they in the menus allowed just a fun play of that alone.) I could see buying that Streets of Rage sequel too.

[Leo_A]

I hope they focus on sprite scaling arcade material, rather than console titles.

If not, Shadow Dancer would be neat to see and is the only material in the franchise that remains exclusive to the arcade since the Genesis game is essentially an entirely different game. Thanks to arcade Shinobi making several appearances on last generation game consoles, that one is already taken care of.

Their Genesis efforts have been somewhat underwhelming. They're 4:3 only and haven't seemed to receive the same level of attention as the arcade content (For instance, no alternate CD musical tracks for Ecco the Dolphin, a rare example where M2 let me down). And it's all material that they've rereleased numerous times in the 2000's,

If they must do a console conversion, selecting something that they themselves haven't touched since back in the day like Outrun 2019 or Super Monaco GP, would be much more interesting from a 16 bit perspective than content that appeared on the Virtual Console, XBLA, PSN, Sonic Mega Collection, Sega Genesis Collection, Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, etc.

That said, I lack a handheld version of Streets of Rage 2, I'm a fan of the game to a certain degree (Brawlers are fun, but I don't love the genre like many do), and will certainly support them (I did skip several of their earlier Genesis efforts, just never had the money to waste on Altered Beast just to support M2 and I only bought Ecco in the hope of the CD soundtrack and Streets of Rage since it's absent on Sega Genesis Collection for the PSP).

[parallaxscroll]

I hope they focus on sprite scaling arcade material, rather than console titles.



I agree ^

The next sprite scaling game, and the one that's at the very top of my list is this one:


http://i.imgur.com/XrHGYVN.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vpGfDxX.jpg

Plus it shouldn't be difficult for M2 to get it running on 3DS because it ran on the exact same board as After Burner II and Thunder Blade.

I want Super Monaco GP more than say, Power Drift, since SMGP never once got an arcade perfect home port, not even in Japan. Whereas Power Drift did (Yu Suzuki Game Works Vol. 1 on Dreamcast).

[Leo_A]

Yeah, that one is also high on my list.

There's a bit there that they'd have to eliminate or edit though. The Monaco name itself should be fine, but there's a shot of a McLaren from back in the day with just a slightly edited Marlboro logo on the rear wing that looks like it was changed to Marlbai or Marlboi. Might be too close for comfort these days with the anti tobacco crowd.

Plus, the victory lane celebration backdrop clearly shows Mobil logos and partially obscured Formula 1 World Championship logos. Mobil probably would be easily clearable if they wanted to instead of substituting something else, but the F1 bit would have to go.

Nothing that wouldn't be extremely easy for M2 to accomplish though. Even without original source code, M2 could handle the necessary edits with ease.

[parallaxscroll]

Hopefully, we'll get a release date for 3D OutRun this week.

[parallaxscroll]

...And we got it, March 12th.

http://i.imgur.com/sAmwNB3.jpg?1

http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/_bWHWKaS-6YSsubE9A2yTR1feg_q-Qch

[Tanooki]

Wooo, they said March, so might as well shove it in the middle it appears. Very nice. Sign me up for some red car driving happy fun time. Afterburner and Outrun are my two old arcade favorites in those style of games/cabinet of theirs. Galaxy Force fits as well (which I did download too) but that came later due to the Genesis game amusing me so it was kind of new at that point.

[parallaxscroll]

Part 1 of the OutRun interview with M2

http://blogs.sega.com/2015/03/05/sega-3d-classics-3d-out-run-part-1/

[Leo_A]

Thanks for posting that :)

Wish we didn't have to wait for the rest. And March 12th can't get here quick enough.

[parallaxscroll]

Part 2 is up (http://blogs.sega.com/2015/03/06/sega-3d-classics-3d-out-run-part-2/)

[Sailorneorune]

Yay Outrun!

Dada da dada da dada da

Dada da dada da dadada :guitar:

Magical Sound Shower <3

[parallaxscroll]

Here's Part 3 (http://blogs.sega.com/2015/03/09/sega-3d-classics-3d-out-run-part-3/)

The 4th and final part of the OutRun interview goes up tomorrow.

[Leo_A]

Been anything more about Streets of Rage 2?

Sure hope that more arcade releases are in the works. Definitely plenty of nice sprite scaling Sega classics left that would be perfect for this program.

[parallaxscroll]

3D Fantasy Zone II should be out next week in the EU (and presumably in NA too) though haven't seen official confirmation yet.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/40063/nintendo-newsletter-dolls-and-guys



Not to be left out, a bunch of European eShop releases have been announced for next week. The headliners are Elliot Quest for Wii U and 3D Classics Fantasy Zone II, but Natsume’s A-Train 3D: City Simulator for 3DS, Tabletop Gallery for Wii U, Heart Beaten for 3DS, and Word Search by POWG on both will also be on the menu.

[parallaxscroll]

Releases on Thursday for EU/NA.


3D Fantasy Zone II interview - Part 1 (http://blogs.sega.com/2015/04/13/sega-3d-classics-3d-fantasy-zone-ii-interview-part-1/)

[parallaxscroll]

Part 2 (http://blogs.sega.com/2015/04/14/sega-3d-classics-3d-fantasy-zone-ii-part-2/)


There's more good news, after Thunder Blade next month there's 3 more coming this summer!

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8794/16953901709_3061a4b64b.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8825/17140089065_8cbdaf6744.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7686/17138515422_952bd2b2c2.jpg


SEGA’s 3D Classics Return this Summer with SEGA Genesis Games for Nintendo 3DS

Three more titles are incoming to the second batch of the SEGA 3D Classics exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS. Featuring some of the most iconic games from SEGA’s Genesis console, The SEGA 3D Classics Series will let fans relive SEGA’s legendary console era and take them on a 3D ride through gaming’s golden age with 3D Streets of Rage 2 in July, 3D Gunstar Heroes in August, and 3D Sonic The Hedgehog 2 in September 2015. These games will follow the releases of 3D Fantasy Zone II (April 16, 2015) and 3D Thunder Blade (May 14, 2015).

Just like the previously released arcade classics, each game in the series delivers a full-fledged re-mastered vintage experience, stunning 3D visuals and optimized for the platform. All games in the series will include brand new modes and features, letting you play the game how you remember it but also in an entirely new way.
All games will be priced at MSRP $5.99/€4.99/£4.49 and will be available for download in the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS.

http://blogs.sega.com/2015/04/14/segas-3d-classics-return-this-summer-with-sega-genesis-games-for-nintendo-3ds/

[Tanooki]

I'd grab that Streets of Rage 2 for sure. I imagine a lot would froth over Gunstar Heroes (but I never liked it much.)

[Leo_A]

Not much of a shock to see Sonic 2 joining Streets of Rage 2 (I suspect that Tides of Time will be next), and Gunstar Heroes is a nice surprise.

But I'm sad to see that while the program apparently is continuing, they apparently don't have the budget anymore to do arcade games. I'm afraid that I'm not particularly interested in Genesis ports, especially when it's stuff that has already been rereleased on modern platforms (Something like Outrun 2019 would be more up my alley).

I may buy a few to plug holes in what Sonic Classics Collection DS and Sega Genesis Collection for the PSP offers, while supporting M2 and this concept. But I'm much less enthusiastic about this than I am at seeing sprite scaling arcade classics from Sega's history being converted.

I hope this is just a warm up for something like Turbo Outrun or Super Monaco GP.


Three more titles are incoming to the second batch of the SEGA 3D Classics exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.

2nd batch of Sega 3D Classics? Someone needs to check up on things, since this clearly marks a 3rd wave of releases as I see it. I also hope that they sneak in those 3D Master System bonuses from the Japanese compilation as part of this 3rd wave of releases.

I'd actually be more interested in Outrun 3D, than these 16 bit ports that I already own in numerous forms including digital (Assuming that Outrun 3D correctly switches to its original optional 2D mode, when 3D is disabled).

Perhaps port the remaining four 3D Master System games, and offer a mini 3DS compilation of 3D Master System titles to bump the value proposition up a bit to justify the same asking price that they want for something like 3D Galaxy Force II.

[Emperor Megas]

3D Fantasy Zone II should be out next week in the EU (and presumably in NA too) though haven't seen official confirmation yet.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/40063/nintendo-newsletter-dolls-and-guysIt's weird but Fantasy Zone II might be my all time favorite video game. If not the #1, it's certainly tied with some others at the top.

I haven't read this topic from the beginning. These are games being released for the 3DS right? If so, I'd actually consider purchasing one just for these games.