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Newly discovered unreleased Sonic arcade game? Segasonic Bros.

S

stan423321

Member
NoFaceNico said:
Since when has Sega made Sonic games that have "Sega" in the title? So far they've only done it with sports games.
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THIS IS EXACTLY HOW THE TRACKBALL GAME IS CALLED. SEGASONIC THE HEDGEHOG. FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER. ITS LOGO IS UP IN THE THREAD

GWAAAAAAAAAH

gwah
 
S

stan423321

Member
Piston Hyundai said:
why would you take a screenshot of the mode select and none of any gameplay
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If I had to guess? The game was bought without auxilliary coin inserting system, and you have to insert coins into it to start playing. They have to connect the coin part ffirst. Or dump it and emulate, if it's a standard machine and that's faster.

On the other hand there is a credit apparently inserted on the title screen so I don't know what the hell am I thinking.
 
T

TimmiT

Member
So cause there are people in here who aren't sure if this is legit, have some confirmation of it being real: https://twitter.com/okunari/status/482316164047986689

Kenjoh Kohji is a designer on a couple of Custom Robo games and Yosuke Okunari is a producer at Sega Japan. Also the tweets are from June 2014, so they were talking about it long before Shou found the game. Also a photo:

BrGH_qVCUAAuVmo.jpg:large
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RyogaMasaki from Sonic Retro translated the posts that are linked in the tweets (which are from December 2013) describing what the gameplay is like:
"A is for Arcade"
#15 'Sonic Brothers' (1992, Sega)

Mitsuji Fukio, known as MTJ and for the design of games like 'Puzzle Bobble,' 'Sylvalion,' and 'Omega Fighter,' was the director of 'Sonic Brothers.' Though he designed and developed the game, it was cancelled after the location test and was never brought to market.

I can only remember playing it a few times, but it seems there aren't many people who have written down their memories of the game, I'll attempt to describe it as I remember it. I'd be happy if any who knows the game could point out any errors:

The game was a falling-block puzzle game using 'Sonic the Hedgehog' (similar to Tetris or Puyo Puyo).

The multi-colored Sonics in round spin attack form

In a 田 shaped block, a set of 4 fall downwards. You can rotate the block, and they will pile up at the bottom, and when Sonics of the same color surround a different colord Sonic, it disappears.

This can happen by forming a ring with the same colors or by using the walls. I've drawn the possible scenarios below. This character ■ (Same color) represents the Sonics that surround × (which can be any color) which are Sonics that will disappear:

Using the bottom
□□□□□□
□■■■■□
□■××■□
□■××■□

Using bottom + one side
□□□□□□
■■■■□□
×××■□□
×××■□□

Using bottom + both sides
□□□□□□
■■■■■■
××××××
××××××

Not using the bottom (for example, making a ring) might have been allowed too, and I think you could drop one block to complete two enclosures at once, but I can't quite recall what would happen in that case (but I imagine that they disappeared in any case like that).

If you're a puzzle game lover, you can probably imagine the game was a bit frustrating and difficult. If you make just one mistake with placement, your plan will fall apart, and it's extremely difficult to start stacking over again. It's also problematic that there so many blocks, since they come down in fours.

Since the surrounded blocks can be any color, as a bit of advice, it becomes extremely important to pay attention to the color as the game progresses. It's infuriating to throw away a block when it turns out you needed it, --unsure--

Not just limited to the falling blocks, the game further adopted the concept of 'encircling.' While playing, (according to the rules) while keeping track of the situation inside and outside of the boundaries, it's necessary to follow the tracks of the boundary line. It's a difficult game where your eyes have to take in wide scope of things all at once. That concept reappeared in some later, released games.

That's about all I remember of 'Sonic Brothers.' There may also been a kind of support item that looked like the gems from 'Coumns,' but I can't recall.

I think a more polished example of the 'Sonic Brothers' idea is the Taito game 'Cleopatra's Fortune.' The encircling idea greatly resembles it, but the parts that surround and can be surrounded are different, and there's much easier to understand gameplay.

I think MTJ's forte as a designer is to start with a single catchy idea and forcing it to work as problems arise.

-- unsure --

I had only played the game a few times, and there are no materials, so the rules and such might differ from how it actually was. I'd appreciate any knowledge anyone has about it.

I think it's awful that I won't get to experience 'Sonic Brothers' once more. It might be amusing to program a game with the same structure..
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http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=35221&st=105&p=851936&#entry851936
 
J

Jaeger

Member
Dragoon En Regalia said:
Shou recently dumped a nearly-lost Taito arcade game called Vertexer, which is getting fitted for MAME playback and due to be released soon. I really doubt we have any dirt on this guy, and I'm sure SegaSonic Bros. will be distributed in one context or another.

What's the source on Mitsuki designing this? I'm talking an exact source, not just speculation.
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I've been waiting for this for years. What's the status? It has been dumped?
 
S

stan423321

Member
So, umm, what is Sonic saying on the new screen?

Also I somehow doubt it was worse than Sonic Eraser. Though both seem to have very little to do with Sonic, obviously.
 
A

Aaron Strife

Banned
MrBadger said:
Not sure I'd trust Sonic Team with six gameplay styles.
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The rumor indicated that it was more like they were all basically Sonic but with a permanent Wisp power. Could be executed terribly of course (it's Sonic Team) but seems like it'd be fun.

Segasonic Bros. being a puzzle game is a little disappointing (versus like a lost platformer or something), although it's still a neat find.
 
O

omnislayer

Member
Well it looks like it's real, at any rate. I was hoping for it to be something other than a puzzle game with a sonic skin.
 
G

Gunstar Ikari

Unconfirmed Member
Would be interesting if Sega got with Compile for the arcade Puyo Puyo as a direct result of this game doing badly in loketests.
 
MrCunningham

MrCunningham

Member
Camjo-Z said:
Isn't this literally a Tetris rip-off!?!?!
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By the look of it, it's a match three or more colours type of game. Which would not make it a direct Tetris rip off. I guess different coloured Sonics represent different coloured blocks. But I have no idea how that would work.
 
F

Fisty

Member
Maybe this is the Sonic game i heard on the X Files episode D.P.O. i watched last night lol

It featured an arcade with gameplay of VF2 i think with lots of Sonic music and background noise
 
S

stan423321

Member
TimmiT said:
No, you need to surround blocks with other blocks that are all the same color. It's more like Cleopatra Fortune.
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I have looked up Cleopatra Fortune on YouTube. The gameplay seems interesting. The eye candy though, I guess I don't wanna meet the arcade crowd.
 
C

Camjo-Z

Member
MrCunningham said:
By the look of it, it's a match three or more colours type of game. Which would not make it a direct Tetris rip off. I guess different coloured Sonics represent different coloured blocks. But I have no idea how that would work.
Click to expand...

I was just making a joke, since people apparently seem to think this game (whose mechanics were laid out in detail by through a SEGA employee's tweets a page back) is similar to totally different puzzle games.
 
R

Rlan

Member
If anything it's possibly the first game I can recall to have a consistant square block dropping? Only other game I can recall that did that was Lumines, and that only had 2 colors.
 
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