Great!!!I look forward to the next update!:rock::rock::rock::love:Quote:
Originally Posted by Gryson
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Great!!!I look forward to the next update!:rock::rock::rock::love:Quote:
Originally Posted by Gryson
Fantastic articles! I love this kind of stuff. Another thing I'd love to learn more about is the factories used for the production of the units. Or accounts of people who worked for Sega. Does anyone know if we have Sega 16 members who were former Sega America staffers?
fantastic working that you are doing guys. thanks alot
I owned this one.Quote:
Originally Posted by LinkueiBR
With a super cool light gun.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrossBow
New article up about Osomatsu-kun!
Osomatsu-kun: The Bizarre Story of the Mega Drive's Most Infamous Game
https://mdshock.com/wp-content/uploa...atsukun-02.jpg
I was on an extended vacation, but I'm back now and will be getting to the next translation soon.
Excellent article! It was quite amusing to read that ashtray story. And Hideki Sato's complaints about the earlier games, what an intrigue!
His comments about how Japanese kids just stay indoors playing video games and masturbating made me laugh. I was thinking "Erm, that's not just a Japanese thing. British kids do that too." :p
I was interested in how much Sato trashed Altered Beast - I looked at reviews in Japan and it wasn't well received at all. It's surprising it was made a pack-in title abroad.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zebbe
Later on in that interview, he starts talking about how American video games are so violent and cause children to become violent. It was like hearing every stereotype of video games from someone of my father's generation. The funny thing is that kind of criticism also gets leveled at the slapstick comedy manga that Akatsuka was known for. You'd think he'd be a bit more sympathetic.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mega Drive Bowlsey
Not to mention the ashtray…
New translation:
Kan Naito on Game Design, Part 1
https://mdshock.com/wp-content/uploads/Cover-image.png
This is from a monthly column that ran for about a year. As it progresses, it gets more in depth on the development process. Part 2 features Hiroyuki Takahashi discussing the specifics of what the producer does, and part 3 has Naito talking about the work of a programmer.
I thought it was a great column, not only because it gives details of the development process for Shining in the Darkness, but also because it documents 16-bit game development in Japan from the perspective of a small company.
Nice job there. Quote of the article: Space Harrier II - It's perfect.
Awesome article! I love Shining in the Darkness, so reading about it is very interesting to me. I notice on the screenshot it says they named the main character Max, later used for the protagonist in Shining Force. Also, which were kept in the Japanese version but changed in the Western release, were the names Bilbo and Malin. They were called Milo and Pyra in the Western version. I guess the former was changed to avoid getting sued by The Tolkien Estate...
What a coincidence my current school group has a guy called Max and a girl called Malin in it (though no Bilbo - then again, I bear the last name of Milo in the west, Brax).
You're right about Max - I never noticed that. I checked the Japanese manual for SitD and the screenshots there also have the name as Max (although the manual does not give a name for the main character).Quote:
Originally Posted by Zebbe
I like in this article that Kan Naito says you need four programmers to make an RPG, yet I believe he was the only programmer on SitD.
I love reading these articles Gryson - keep 'em coming! :D I can tell you're putting a lot of work into each translation.
Thanks!
Part 2 of the Game Design series, this time on the role of the producer:
https://mdshock.com/2018/10/07/mega-...design-part-2/
https://mdshock.com/wp-content/uploa...er-image-2.png
Excelent work!!!:rock:
Very interesting article. I always wondered why the SegaSonic name.
Just found out about that site, very interesting stuff. I'll have to read more of it later. I read the Osomatsu-kun article first - I didn't know the game was infamous or anything. I played it for a bit and thought it was pretty decent, even though the level structure was so weird. Now that I know it's only got 3 levels, I might actually go back and finish it. I don't mind maze-like levels at all. Surprised (and kind of annoyed) by Sato's negativity, too. Altered Beast isn't bad at all, I actually prefer the Genesis version to the arcade original. It's true that most of the best early Genesis titles came out after Thunder Force II, though not Phantasy Star II. Whenever I come across something about "Kusoge" it always seems like Japanese gamers are super harsh towards any game that might be rough in any kind of way.
That said, Sword of Sodan as worst Genesis game of all time is a respectable choice. That thing should have never been released.
Altered Beast wasn't received very well in Japan, but I think Sato's perspective is more on the technical qualities of the game (I don't think I've ever heard him mention that he plays games). He knew it could have showcased the MD's strengths if a larger ROM size was used. There was no way that was going to happen, though, since Sega was so focused on keeping costs down.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jules Walter
As for Sword of Sodan, that's the other 'infamous' game in Japan and is the butt of many jokes even today. Unfortunately, it became associated with the general quality of Western-developed games at the time. However, that changed from 1994 with the release of games like Aladdin, which were widely acclaimed.
To be fair Altered Beast feels pretty meh as a game. It did provide a pretty good comparison point against the NES tho, which is what Sega actually needed at the time.
Also I nominate the Mega Drive port of Time Killers as the worst game on the console (・<・) Shaq Fu is a masterpiece in comparison (then again Shaq Fu is just mediocre, not outright awful).
There's a 4-megabit (same as original) hack floating around the internet that inserts arcade voice samples into the Genesis ROM. It's just the "Rise from your grave", "Power Up", "Welcome to your doom" and the laugh. Those by themselves make the presentation a lot cooler, and would have especially in 1989. A larger ROM would have allowed more sound effects and graphics more faithful to the arcade. Still, Sega could have done better with the space they had.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gryson
This is my go to version since obtaining a Mega Everdrive.Quote:
Originally Posted by derFunkenstein
I'm confused. Those voice samples you mention were already in the Mega Drive port of Altered Beast. Am I missing something?Quote:
Originally Posted by derFunkenstein
It inserts the higher quality coin-op samples for arcade authenticity.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mega Drive Bowlsey
I just discovered it last weekend. I'd used the Smokemonster EverDrive builder script to go through the GoodGen 3.21 set and re-built my ROM card. It's pretty cool.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gentlegamer
Sword of Sodan I can almost overlook because, well, "Electronic Arts."Quote:
Originally Posted by Sik
But it makes you wonder how the hell Sega could let a game like Time Killers on the system. Granted, it did come out way into 1996. But all I can think is, "Didn't we learn that lesson with Atari?" I just imagine some producer thinking, "Blood... dismemberment... Who cares how bad the game is?! It's gonna sell millions!" The usual old problem where a focus on short-term marketability or saleability comes back to damage the brand image.
Is it worse than X-Perts?
Your website is awesome, Gryson. Keep it up!
I didn't realize that Time Killers ever shipped. I remembered (I thought) reading in GameFan or EGM back in The Day that it had been delayed to the point of being canceled. But no, it does appear to have shipped. Yikes. I thought I was just playing the finished unreleased ROM, which is truly truly awful.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gryson
X-Perts is not much fun, but at least it has very detailed animations.
Ah ok, gotcha.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gentlegamer
X-Perts, Sword of Sodan, Time Killers... I think it's fair to say that the very worst Genesis games (though this probably applies to the SNES as well) were made in the West. Good thing there were also games like Road Rash, ToeJam & Earl and Shadowrun to balance that, though I don't know whether those were ever released in Japan.
Gryson - You're probably right about Sato's comments being based on technical aspects. Even his praise of Thunder Force 2 is based on a technical point.
Altered Beast on Mega Drive does indeed feel rushed in a few aspects but it's still the best home port available which says a lot!
@Gryson: I had time to read several of your translations, great work! Some interesting infos such as how memory shortage prevented the Mega Drive from being more successful in Japan than it should have been (among other reasons).
Looking forward to read more so keep it up! Awesome contribution there.
At least the first two were. I think the sequels got JP releases too, not 100% sure about RR3 and Urban Strike but I think those probably didn't make it over.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jules Walter
And no, I don't think Time Killers is worse than X-perts. not by a long shot. And if we're talking worst MD games, the Dark Castle port must be up for consideration. It's worse than Sword of Sodan at any rate.
One thing about Sword of Sodan is that it doesn't look too bad from screenshots, with its big, detailed sprites and all. And it was an early title. I remember thinking how cool the box art looked at the time:
https://segaretro.org/images/archive..._MD_US_Box.jpg
The Japanese cover design looks cool as well:
https://segaretro.org/images/thumb/2..._MD_JP_Box.jpg
The game just plays terribly and really misses the point of fun.
I was very much looking forward to Sword of Sodan, which appeared to have impossibly good graphics. Although the visuals turned out to be janky, there was still some nice parts mixed in and it made me optimistic about the potential for coloring/shading/detail of sprites in Genesis games.
But part way through the first level I wondered how it was ever allowed to ship as-is.
I'm mystified as to why anyone would want to play the Genesis port of Altered Beast now that MAME makes the arcade original so accessible. It's so much more fluid and polished... the quality jump is way more than just the arcade voice samples IMO.
The same can be said for any port. But I think you'll find that for a lot of people, there is some value or 'authenticity' in playing a game the way they used to play it back in the day. Assuming you have a setup capable of playing MAME on your TV (which not all people do), there's still something that feels off about playing an arcade game on a TV with a controller and not in a cab.Quote:
Originally Posted by retronostalgia
The Genesis version is faster-paced and doesn't overwhelm you with enemies, so it has more forward momentum. I really enjoy it more.
Gryson - That's generally true, but there are a few games that were better in port due to rebalancing and gameplay tweaks; The Combatribes is frustrating to the point of being barely playable in single-player in the arcades, and you literally never get the chance to use the cooler moves (like smashing heads against the pavement), whereas the SNES port is much more reasonable. I don't even care that the levels were truncated; it's fun VS not fun. Sunset Riders on SNES also plays a bit more smoothly, as does Splatterhouse on TG16. TMNT IV: Turtles in Time has some really weak sound effect for hits, so it's more satisfying on SNES.
Another thing for me is that finite lives and continues are more motivating than having infinite credits via MAME. I use MAME for arcade exclusives, or games I really just far prefer on arcade (Final Fight, Capcom's The Punisher, most VS fighters), and I set myself credit limits to finish them so it doesn't get boring, but there are times when I do feel the port is better.