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[Lindsay]

Got smoked on the third level of Puyo Puyo 2. Like Mean Bean Machine, the difficulty "curve" is more like a straight spike up. Or I'm just bad at these games. Or both.

 

[Slermy]

I seem to recal the difficulty being more "stair stepped". Like, every few levels the gameplay gets noticeably harder, and then plateaus at that for the next few, then repeats.

 

[Jotamide]

It just dawned on me that Fantasy Zone II is included, not I (which is the only 3D classic I own). Fuck, I might have to pick this up eventually for that, Galaxy Force II, Sonic, and Puyo Puyo 2.

Thanks doe, but I'm actually GAF's 3ds-HB thread-starter, doe, and afaik this and Theatrhythmn Dragon Quest don't work (and possibly RT+ Megamix?).

I forgot the collection doesn't work and you might be the thread creator but both DQ Theatrhythm and RT The Best+ work.

Source: I own them and play them. :V

 

[@MUWANdo]

It just dawned on me that Fantasy Zone II is included, not I (which is the only 3D classic I own). Fuck, I might have to pick this up eventually for that, Galaxy Force II, Sonic, and Puyo Puyo 2.

It has the SMS versions of Fantasy Zone 1 & 2 plus Fantasy Zone 2 DX, M2's arcade reimagining of FZ2. If you like Fantasy Zone you'll be well-served by this compilation.

(FZ1's on the other compilation, of course.)

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Got smoked on the third level of Puyo Puyo 2. Like Mean Bean Machine, the difficulty "curve" is more like a straight spike up. Or I'm just bad at these games. Or both.

I seem to recal the difficulty being more "stair stepped". Like, every few levels the gameplay gets noticeably harder, and then plateaus at that for the next few, then repeats.

The killer part about Puyo Puyo 2 is that the game starts using all 5 colors simultaneously once you advance a few levels through the tower. Before then (and in standard multiplayer matches), you're only dealt 4 colors at once.

I've played a lot of Puyo, and even though I don't really have long chains down that well, I can consistently get 5-chains against most human opponents. The 1P mode of this game just throws too much at me too quickly to keep up without at least a little bit of luck, though.

 

[oneida]

I suck at Puyo Puyo

Gave the stickers a home

 

[AmyS]

It just dawned on me that Fantasy Zone II is included, not I (which is the only 3D classic I own). Fuck, I might have to pick this up eventually for that, Galaxy Force II, Sonic, and Puyo Puyo 2.

It has the SMS versions of Fantasy Zone 1 & 2 plus Fantasy Zone 2 DX, M2's arcade reimagining of FZ2. If you like Fantasy Zone you'll be well-served by this compilation.

(FZ1's on the other compilation, of course.)

Yes, and just to show that M2's arcade reimagining of FZ2 really was running on an actual modified System-16 board (with more work RAM than the System-16B) and not just only a software emulator on PS2, check this out.

M2 went even further for the 3DS version.

Read the 3D FZII W interview, in its entirety here:

http://blogs.sega.com/2015/04/13/sega-3d-classics-3d-fantasy-zone-ii-interview-part-1/
http://blogs.sega.com/2015/04/14/sega-3d-classics-3d-fantasy-zone-ii-part-2/

 

[ArtHands]

I didn't know this game is already released. I should buy it later then

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

Anyone had any luck buying this game in Canada? The VG+ I went to on launch day didn't have any, and Best Buy seemed to have it online only. Online isn't a dealbreaker but I just thought it was surprising that the stores didn't have it on hand. Must be a limited print run here?

 

[oneida]

Anyone had any luck buying this game in Canada? The VG+ I went to on launch day didn't have any, and Best Buy seemed to have it online only. Online isn't a dealbreaker but I just thought it was surprising that the stores didn't have it on hand. Must be a limited print run here?

first best buy i checked didnt have any, second had like five or six

 

[Het_Nkik]

I have a question! Actually two questions. I have two questions.

For anyone playing on a regular 3DS, do you have time to read the things the bunny says when you load up a game? I have to try to speed read that ish on my New 3DS and I'm wondering if it's because the New version is loading stuff faster.

Question 2! Where is that bunny from? He looks familiar but I can't quite place him.

 

[AmyS]

I have a question! Actually two questions. I have two questions.

For anyone playing on a regular 3DS, do you have time to read the things the bunny says when you load up a game? I have to try to speed read that ish on my New 3DS and I'm wondering if it's because the New version is loading stuff faster.

Question 2! Where is that bunny from? He looks familiar but I can't quite place him.

Those are good questions but I don't have the answers you're looking for. I traded in my OG 3DS last summer when GameStop was offering $100 in-store credit towards a New 3DS XL, so I can't test it on and old 3DS.

The screen that always comes up with the bunny would be a good place to hide load times, possibly. It brings to mind another question -- what is faster, 3DS Game Card, or internal storage for those that downloaded it.?

 

[ReBurn]

I have a question! Actually two questions. I have two questions.

For anyone playing on a regular 3DS, do you have time to read the things the bunny says when you load up a game? I have to try to speed read that ish on my New 3DS and I'm wondering if it's because the New version is loading stuff faster.

Question 2! Where is that bunny from? He looks familiar but I can't quite place him.

I have a 3DSXL and I don't have any trouble reading the bunny screens. They stay up for 30 seconds or more. I don't know where it's from.

 

[Voliko]

I have a question! Actually two questions. I have two questions.

For anyone playing on a regular 3DS, do you have time to read the things the bunny says when you load up a game? I have to try to speed read that ish on my New 3DS and I'm wondering if it's because the New version is loading stuff faster.

Question 2! Where is that bunny from? He looks familiar but I can't quite place him.

Bunny - http://www.segaretro.org/Professor_Asobin

 

[Het_Nkik]

Awesome, thanks guys. I probably came across Asobin while reading up on the Mark III or Segagaga in the past. And 30+ seconds is long! That's a pretty significant improvement for N3DS systems.

 

[EloNoolah]

Is this worth a purchase for someone who already owns Sonic, Altered Beast, and Galaxy Force separately?

 

[AmyS]

Is this worth a purchase for someone who already owns Sonic, Altered Beast, and Galaxy Force separately?

Yes because you'll be getting Power Drift and Thunder Blade. It's the real Thunder Blade of course, nothing like Super Thunder Blade on Genesis, that was terrible and not directly based on the 1987 coin-op arcade game. M2 added a lot to Thunder Blade, an extra level and end boss, gyro controls and more options for how movement works, not to mention great ending credits.

 

[epmode]

Yes because you'll be getting Power Drift and Thunder Blade. It's the arcade Thunder Blade of course, nothing Thunder Blade on Genesis/MD which was terrible and not directly based on the 1987 coin-op game.

Thunder Blade was already released. The only new games in the collection are Power Drift and Puyo Puyo.

edit: Oh, I guess you're recommending it because it wasn't on his list.

 

[Saoshyant]

Is this worth a purchase for someone who already owns Sonic, Altered Beast, and Galaxy Force separately?

Do you even Puyo, bro? Seriously, though, Power Drift, Puyo Puyo, and Fantasy Zone are all worth your time and money.

 

[AmyS]

Thunder Blade was already released. The only new games in the collection are Power Drift and Puyo Puyo.

edit: Oh, I guess you're recommending it because it wasn't on his list.

Yep.

Edit: Thunder Blade promotional material / flyers from 1987.

Playing SEGA's Thunder Blade at Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, IL

Another video of the moving Thunder Blade coin-op machine.

Review

Thunder Blade is so F'ing kewl because, unlike any of the others, you control the scaling

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Do you even Puyo, bro? Seriously, though, Power Drift, Puyo Puyo, and Fantasy Zone are all worth your time and money.

Man I'd get so much more use out of Puyo if it at least had single-cartridge local play.

 

[@MUWANdo]

Man I'd get so much more use out of Puyo if it at least had single-cartridge local play.

I believe the Game Gear version that's on the VC (Mean Bean Machine) has download play.

 

[epmode]

Man I'd get so much more use out of Puyo if it at least had single-cartridge local play.

Yeah, same. There's no chance that I'm going to be in the same room with someone that owns this game. And single-player Puyo Puyo is pretty awful.

At least Power Drift is good. And Thunder Blade is good! And Fantasy Zone 2 is great!

This is a weird compilation, BTW. Why on earth would they skip Outrun?

 

[@MUWANdo]

This is a weird compilation, BTW. Why on earth would they skip Outrun?

I think one of the producers said they picked this compilation because it had more games that weren't on the eShop.

I think they should have released the other compilation first--that one has Outrun, Space Harrier, Shinobi 3, Streets of Rage, Ecco the Dolphin and Fantasy Zone plus the "3D" Master System versions of Space Harrier & Outrun--but as long as both come out eventually, I'll be fine.

EDIT: no Afterburner, oops

 

[Miker]

Puyo Puyo 2 is brutal. Not just because the AI keeps on chaining like crazy, but the drop speed is too much for me to handle. I'm outright struggling to rotate my Puyos into place before they drop down in a bad position, much less putting them in places where they'd be useful.

Also, as someone who's never played the series before, this is the first I'm hearing that 4 color Puyos is the default multiplayer setting. I thought that it would be 5 because single player goes up to 5.

 

[Beer Monkey]

When I launched Puyo Puyo 2 I was like OH SHIT THIS IS THE EXACT SAME GAME I HAD FOR SUPER FAMICOM IN THE 90s.

Then I started playing and I was like oh, shit.

I remember how hard this is.

 

[Het_Nkik]

I think one of the producers said they picked this compilation because it had more games that weren't on the eShop.

I think they should have released the other compilation first--that one has Outrun, Afterburner, Shinobi 3, Streets of Rage, Ecco the Dolphin and Fantasy Zone plus the "3D" Master System versions of Space Harrier & Outrun--but as long as both come out eventually, I'll be fine.

But it's still weird since Japan got a release that included both compilations in one. We should have just got that!

I already imported the first compilation so I'm covered but it sucks having to pull out my Japanese 3DS to play it.

 

[@MUWANdo]

But it's still weird since Japan got a release that included both compilations in one. We should have just got that!

I already imported the first compilation so I'm covered but it sucks having to pull out my Japanese 3DS to play it.

That release is just a double-pack that includes both games at a slight discount, complete with separate cases/cartridges, so that wasn't really an option in NA.

The choice of games mostly annoys me because I worry the compilation won't sell and it'll mean they won't bring over the other one... and if that's the case then it's like, no shit it didn't sell, you skipped the compilation with the games people know for the one with games people don't.

If they ever release these compilations in Europe (and they really should, wtf) they'd better just dump everything on one cartridge to compensate.

 

[Het_Nkik]

Ah, I didn't know they weren't on a single cartridge. I just saw it listed on hmv.co.jp as a double pack and thought it was a two-in-one cartridge deal.

Anyway, they're great compilations and it really is dumb they didn't bring over the first when the iron was hot.

 

[AmyS]

Totally forgot that in addition to the two physical releases, Japan also got a double pack.
IIRC, the first one had Out Run and Space Harrier, but no After Burner II (could be wrong).

 

[Parham]

Got the collection last week and will finally have the chance to give to a whirl tonight. What game would you guys recommend I play first? I have never touched any of these with the exception of the first third of Sonic.

 

[Het_Nkik]

Got the collection last week and will finally have the chance to give to a whirl tonight. What game would you guys recommend I play first? I have never touched any of these with the exception of the first third of Sonic.

Let your heart take you where it wants. I did the Master System version of Fantasy Zone 1 first (which is unlocked by tapping the bottom left part of the touch screen in the Extras menu.)

Just remember to abuse save states if any game gets too hard.

 

[AmyS]

Let your heart take you where it wants. I did the Master System version of Fantasy Zone 1 first (which is unlocked by tapping the bottom left part of the touch screen in the Extras menu.)

Just remember to abuse save states if any game gets too hard.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[obeythed1734]

Hot damn do I wish I could just download Puyo Puyo 2 on its own. Already own most of these games but I just want to be able to rage multiplayer Puyos with my brother.

 

[AmyS]

Sega 3D Classics Collection Developer’s Interview Part 2

Below is the portion of Part 2 that's about Power Drift..

Power Drift –Yu Suzuki’s Finest 2D Game, Recreated with Detailed Care

Power Drift was released by SEGA into the arcades in 1988. Developed by what would eventually become AM2, the famous Yu Suzuki was involved with its creation. The arcade cabinet’s Deluxe Version seat would move in response to the way you handled it, with a standard style Sit-Down Version and a local multiplayer version being released later, dubbed the Twin-Cab Version.
The game revolves around selecting your driver and starting course and blazing through 5 courses with a total of 12 buggies while trying to place within the top 3. The break-neck up and down of the tracks running at 60 FPS earned the reputation of being a roller-coaster racing game.

In addition to the arcade version, it saw ports for the PC Engine (Turbo Grafx-16) in 1990, the Sega Saturn in 1998, and a Dreamcast version as part of the 2001 Yu Suzuki Gameworks Vol. 1. We’re back with Part 2 of the interview!

– So for Power Drift, there was a Twin Cabinet Version that supported network-versus. What did you do with that?

NH: This is a port of the Deluxe Cab, which is the nicest of them, so not the Twin this time. If we added the Twin, we’d have to make it support network play, which is a totally different beast.

YO: Besides, the Twin doesn’t just change the cabinet; it’s a fundamental rework of the game itself.

I don’t know this first hand, but from what I imagine, when Power Drift was released, Final Lap (1987) had started this Twin Cab boom around thattime. So they must have thought SEGA should release a twin cabinet too. Power Drift filled that need.

But Power Drift wasn’t originally made to be played against other players. It had limitations like it being too fast or courses not being built for multiplayer. So I believe that was why the Twin Version has slower speed and the crazy courses were cut from the game and made into more normal courses.

That’s what the Twin is, so when we had to pick a version of Power Drift to do, you can imagine our hesitation.

NH: Of course, there are people who like it, and being that these are ‘archive’ projects, we would’ve liked to put both of it in. But if we did that, we would have to re-look at the schedule and use extra energy for that netplay. It would have required more memory too. It’d have been very difficult when you think about it.

– The game itself had large differences, and internally it was completely different, so it would have been like a totally new project.

NH: One of the biggest reasons was that from a coding perspective, it was a completely different game. It wasn’t that everything was different, but it was to the point that it wasn’t the same game. We would like to someday port the Twin as well, but it wasn’t possible this time. I mean, like we said, look where we were as of September. (wry smile)

– You spoke earlier about the source code. Galaxy Force II was created by the group later known as SEGA AM1, while Power Drift was create by the team later known as SEGA AM2, so it’s one of Yu Suzuki’s titles, correct? Even though it was the same Y-Board, I’d imagine there were differences in how it worked.

NH: Hmm, I wonder. Regardless, we pull the code the pieces, analyze it, and reconstruct it.

YO: Actually, we never provided the source for Power Drift to M2. We handed over the source for Thunder Blade though….

Oh, I remember now! When we made 3D Out Run, we were looking for the source and materials for Out Run and we found the source for Yu Suzuki Game Works* on the Dreamcast. We found Power Drift in there.

NH: Oh that’s right! I think it was the SH-4 version. *

YO: We handed that to Horii-san, and asked if he could use it to port Out Run. I remember him saying, “This may make Power Drift a reality…” (laugh)

– He was so enamored by the Power Drift (laugh).

NH: I do vaguely recall that!

* SH-4: A CPU architecture that was employed in the Sega Dreamcast and NAOMI Arcade boards.

*Suzuki Yu Game Works Vol. 1 – Released 2001. A book that compiled materials of works by game creator Mr. Yu Suzuki, with the extra disk having five “physical experience’ games that Yu Suzuki worked on including Hang-On, Space Harrier, Out Run, After Burner II, Power Drift available to play on the Dreamcast.

YO: The Power Drift from the Yu Suzuki Game Works was different than the other games that appeared in Shenmue. The sound was streamed, and I’m sure who worked on that bit was different from the rest. Out Run most likely was created on the same line as the Sega Saturn version while Power Drift was newly created. While build them, I’m sure there were many changes and tricks done to make it work on the Dreamcast. Those probably became the foundation for the work Saito-san was doing on the project.

NH: He probably got all excited when he realized that they were doing it this way or that way because of the SH-4.

YO: But the source I gave them wasn’t the final version. (laughs)

NH: The source is never the final version. It’s usually the one before the submission master, or one slightly better than that. Looking at the one past the final is really nice. It’s a learning experience as you can see things like, “Oh they regretted that so they went back and fixed it,” or , “Why would they take time to go back and fix THAT?!”

– They make it so that if they have the time to, they can switch it out with an even better build.

NH: It does happen.

– For Galaxy Force II, you have previously mentioned that the Y-Board had its L/R channels reversed. So for the SEGA AGES 2500 series, you fixed it when you recorded the stream data. Was it the same for the Power Drift’s system board?

NH: It was mostly the same, and I believe the L/R channel was reversed just like Galaxy Force II. However, I believe they used to create the Y-Board along with the cabinets so it may be that the L/R channels were fixed in the latter lots.

YO: Most likely, the arcade development for Galaxy Force and Power Drift were done concurrently.

NH: I actually had a chance to talk with Yu Suzuki a while ago, and we chatted about Power Drift. I commented that it was an amazing time back then. SEGA used to build all the boards themselves and still made money back on them. He replied nonchalantly, “Crazy right? But, I think they were able to make all that back with just one of my games.” He’s so cool. (laughs)

A tremendous amount of sprites at 60fps, a title worthy of being called one of the best Sega “physical experience” games of the 2D graphics era.

– As for the porting process, did you make sure Power Drift worked in its 2D state first before starting to make it 3D? Or did you do that process simultaneously?

NH: I believe we worked on the porting and stereoscopy process simultaneously. For Power Drift, you were able to change the camera-view with the start button, so even though it was really rough, we put in depth with the 3D at a rather early stage. We’ve mentioned before how hard it is to add in widescreen back when we discussed Out Run, After Burner II, and Space Harrier, so naturally we had trouble there.

– I see. The Y-Board has z-axis (depth) values for the sprites as well, correct?

NH: The Yu Suzuki Works games do. The z-axis has always been there. So we build off of those for stereoscopic 3D.

YO: Additionally, we have to decide on where’s the center point, where’s the horizon point, those sorts of things. We got a built-up knowledge base for that sort of thing, so we didn’t lose any time figuring that out before dropping in the 3D.

NH: We’ve become pretty used to the 3D stereoscopy process, so we want to tackle new challenges too. Taking an example from Galaxy Force II that we tried and failed, it’s a game where you move forward into the screen, so you know how objects should appear really deep in the screen, right? If we were able to double the limit of how many things we could show, it would look even better. We hope to be able to do that in the future.

– I see. One of the huge aspects of stereoscopic 3D is that the way you view it changes, so it sounds like the feel of it would change a lot as well.

By the way, in Power Drift, the cars move up and down, and the sharp turns cause the course and cars to swing hard left and right. I mean, the things being drawn on screen change drastically, right? Did that all work out in the end?

NH: You have to make sure you can make it over the parts where the load is the heaviest, and man, Power Drift has some really heavy parts! There’s no leeway at all! As we said before, it was enough that we considered splitting framerate targets between normal and New 3DS.

What also made the process difficult was mostly the fact that we didn’t have anything to work off of. We didn’t have the original arcade source code, so we would have to pull data out of the ROM, analyze it, rinse, repeat to finally get a basic source image. Sort of what we for Galaxy Force II too.

– You said that since Galaxy Force II had recreated for the ported to PS2, that helped when building it for 3DS. But you didn’t have [that groundwork] for Power Drift.

NH: Right, we had that for Galaxy Force II. So in that sense, Power Drift was a completely new port for us.

YO: Huh? Didn’t we hand over the source for Galaxy Force II? Though, it was an 8-inch floppy disk so maybe you couldn’t even read it in the first place.

NH: Oh I was readable, but we couldn’t use it in the end. So we had to analyze it by hand. It was quite difficult, actually. (laughs)

Power Drift – The 3D stereoscopy makes the game better! Detailed Painstaking reproduction of how the cabinet handled and the way it sounds!

Playing the Power Drift. Switching into the cabinet mode lets players can enjoy how the arcade version felt back then!

– OK I’m going to give Power Drift a shot… Wow, the background in cabinet mode has Space Harrier and Thunder Blade. There’re posters for for Galaxy Force II and Fantasy Zone too. So much detail.

YO: The placement for it kept changing up until the final version. It seems like they kept reconsidering things, like the placement for Thunder Blade is a little too this, or a little too that. We would take photos of the screen for PR purposes, but they kept changing it. So we would shake our heads and re-take it, but then it would change again. (laughs)

– But it’s the small details that make it fun. Even though it sounds like hard work. By the way, how did you record the environmental sounds this time around?

YO: SEGA doesn’t have the cabinets for ones after Power Drift. So we had to go to the MIKADO game center in Takadanobaba after-hours and record the cabinet noise in the middle of the night. But there were some mistakes and whatnot, so we had have two recording sessions. Other than the sound, the cabinet at the MIKADO is missing the emblem in the center of the steering wheel so we had to go to the ROBOT arcade center in Fukaya in Saitama to make sure we had it right.

– Sounds like you had to travel around a it. Oh, and I’m seeing four gear types in this version, including an AT setting. What is this?

YO: The arcade didn’t have AT, so that’s a new feature. For the ‘Switch’, ‘Toggle’ and ‘Hold’ settings, you can use them to make L/R buttons have the same function, or you can make it the same as how the Dreamcast version had it.

Different people have different play styles based around when to drift or changing gears. You’ll get a variety of gear styles, just like 3D Out Run. You can really feel the attention to detail to make sure the game is easy to play.

YO: There was a lot of attention here. Power Drift hasn’t really seen a proper console port before.. There were ones for PC Engine (Turbo Grafx 16), Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast, and the Dreamcast one was mixed in with others in the Yu Suzuki Game Works, as we’ve mentioned. I don’t think there were a lot of people back then who had the chance to really play Power Drift. Those who did probably did it through the arcade.

That’s why the advice Professor Asobin gives when loading the game are things useful to clearing the game.

Kubota-san, who joined M2 mid-project, was a player of the arcade version, so he taught us all these tricks about the game. This game has lots of ways to slow down before turning a corner, so memorizing those tricks is a real good idea.

NH: Kubota played Fantasy Zone quite a lot, but he also played Power Drift quite heavily too. For example, during the debug process when we had to finish all courses in 1st place, Kubota just blew through it. He was a huge help.

– How did you go about really getting the sensation of steering right, which is very tactile? Were you able to smoothly apply the steering’s analog input resolution to the 3DS slide pad?

NH: There was enough resolution so we could map it directly. However, if we kept it totally same, there would be a noticeable difference due to the difference in how the controls work. So we would play the cabinet at MIKADO, and try to match that sensation with the 3DS. You know, just try to get it right that way.

At the end of the day though, we owe a lot to some guys who let us borrow an arcade board, to which we connected a Dreamcast steering wheel controller and played that. We would make the final adjustments on the 3DS by comparing it to the way the MIKADO cabinet and Dreamcast steering wheel controller felt.

YO: We really put a lot of thought into how this felt, but we are ultimately waiting on feedback from the players as to whether or not it feels just like the arcade or feels completely different. It’s really quite subjective.

NH: Recreating the feeling of the actual machine was really difficult, but by the time Kubota joined the team, it was basically done. Kubota said he didn’t feel anything wrong with it. We think it’s easier to play than the Dreamcast version.

YO: Incidentally, Power Drift has sort of adjusts our position on the track, which makes it easier to drive, but there’s an option to toggle that on or off.

– Since the tactile feel of the game has a direct impact on the gameplay, it’s good to know you’ve adjusted it as needed. So next, I wanted to focus on the 3D itself. This is pretty amazing! Though, there might be some who get sort of nauseous from it…

NH: Well, you are running over a pretty bumpy road, after all.

– You really feel the depth of this screen you are driving into. The stereoscopic 3D goes pretty far into the screen. It feels like this might even have the deepest parallax to date.

YO: Power Drift is a rollercoaster game, so there’s parts where you’re driving high up, and then drop really fast. Thanks to the stereoscopic 3D, you really get that feeling of falling.

– The stereoscopic 3D really delivers a unique charm here. In the other games, the 3D is applies in a similar fashion, but for this game, you can really see how the sprites make up the course, and it makes it easier to play.

YO: Another way we’ve made it easier to play is that while we’ve ported all same difficulties levels that exist in the arcade versions of Power Drift and Puyo Puyo 2, we’ve also add in a lower difficulty that’s lower than what originally existed.

Power Drift is a hard game. Personally, I think when you first play it, you should play it at the easiest difficulty. The collision detection is much looser. You can learn how it’s supposed to feel.

– I get it. I gotta say though, I really feel nothing out of place with the controls, and the 3D really stands out (no put intended). In the original arcade, when you crash, there were just things all over the screen so it was hard to understand what was happening. But seeing it in stereoscopic 3D makes it easy to see the placement and distance between everything.

NH: Well, that’s because it’s a Yu Suzuki game (because z-axis is there from the get-go). It’s all well-thought out. It really is.

– It seems you can switch between the Japanese version and overseas version. What are the differences?

YO: The game itself shouldn’t change. There are a lot of Japanese messages in this game, and all this changes is the messages into English.

– And is it true that the replay fast forward speed is quicker on the New 3DS than the regular one?

NH: Yes, that’s right.

YO: It’s just a matter of the processor not being able to keep up during fast-forward. You can really see the difference in the specs here.

– I see. And you can adjust the BGM and SE controls for arcade games is in as well. You guys started adding that feature in halfway through the SEGA 3D Remaster Project, but it’s basically a tried-and-true standard now. But it’s not actually that easy to put in, is it?

NH: We add interrupt request numbers for all of the sounds, which let’s us change them. We’ve done this before, so since we know how to do it, we sort of leave it until the end to work it in. But does start to pile up, and creates a rather exhausting amount of stuff to do.

The four types are: The original 4:3 style; Widescreen style, which fits the 3DS; Full Screen, which just stretches it to fill the screen; and Cabinet View, which puts you in the actual arcade cabinet! And when you turn the Moving HUD on, it enables the “2D” screen mode, which makes it so only the cabinet and background are in 3D.

– Is my understanding correct that you didn’t add any additional features or modes outside what was in the original game?

NH: No, we didn’t. Our main focus was getting widescreen and stereoscopic 3D.

YO: As you know, we typically add in new and additional content into games in the 3D Remaster Project, which we affectionately call a “Grantanoff”*. For this project, the Grantanoff wasn’t new content, but just simply MORE content.

For example, we added a whole new stage and a boss for Thunder Blade, so we basically added more game. So in that respect, you could say half of the content itself is a Grantanoff.

Putting in an whole new title is a Grantanoff, so you don’t get a Grantanoff in a Grantanoff. Sorry!

*Grantanoff: In the second wave of the SEGA 3D Classics series, this term is used for ‘ a new feature not found in the original’. It comes from the name of a boss specific to the Mark-III version that they tried to add into 3D After Burner II.

NH: We might have been able to do a ‘Grantanoff within a Grantanoff’ if we only had Power Drift to deal with, but there was just a lot going on this time.

It might not mean much to the players out there, but having the Power Drift running on 3DS is a miracle itself. We were even able to recreate the sound so it was a miracle of a miracle. I hope everyone can appreciate and enjoy that.

The rest of Part 2 is mainly about Puyo Puyo 2 and the collection in general.

Part 2 in full with all the pictures: http://blogs.sega.com/2016/05/17/sega-3d-classics-collection-developers-interview-part-2/

 

[randomkid]

I love these interviews and I love this collection. Everything about it makes me happy.

 

[AmyS]

Honestly by now, I kinda doubted we'd see Part 2 in English.

 

[Het_Nkik]

Sorry for the bump but I was looking through the game's digital manual after beating Maze Walker to see if there was a reason I was a dude in terraformed mazes in space (I couldn't find one) and I noticed one of the manual sections said "Internet Questionnaire" that had a URL to visit.

http://games.sega.com/3dclassics/collectionsurvey

Asks you basic stuff like why you bought the game and what you think of it and so on.

But the very last question asks, if you could choose ONE classic Sega game to be remastered in 3D, which would it be. So if there's anyone clamoring for a certain game still that hasn't been worked on yet, this seems like a good chance to let Sega hear your suggestion.

 

[@MUWANdo]

Yeah, those sorts of surveys are common in Japan and developers do actually read them. Power Drift was the most-requested game by people who bought the first compilation and that played a big part in it being on the second compilation, as an example.

By the way, most of the "other" Sega 3D Classics (the ones that aren't on the compilation) are on sale again on the NA eShop, $3.99 each.

 

[Zero-Crescent]

But the very last question asks, if you could choose ONE classic Sega game to be remastered in 3D, which would it be. So if there's anyone clamoring for a certain game still that hasn't been worked on yet, this seems like a good chance to let Sega hear your suggestion.

I had a tough time choosing between Phantasy Star IV and Monster World IV, but I'm happy with what I finally went with.

 

[retroman]

Sorry for the bump but I was looking through the game's digital manual after beating Maze Walker to see if there was a reason I was a dude in terraformed mazes in space (I couldn't find one) and I noticed one of the manual sections said "Internet Questionnaire" that had a URL to visit.

http://games.sega.com/3dclassics/collectionsurvey

Asks you basic stuff like why you bought the game and what you think of it and so on.

But the very last question asks, if you could choose ONE classic Sega game to be remastered in 3D, which would it be. So if there's anyone clamoring for a certain game still that hasn't been worked on yet, this seems like a good chance to let Sega hear your suggestion.

Thanks!

I couldn't pick just one game, so I mentioned OutRunners, Golden Axe: The Revenge Of Death Adder, Turbo Out Run, Enduro Racer, Rad Mobile, SegaSonic The Hedgehog and A.B. Cop

 

[Spiral Insanity]

I still feel slighted, I bought every seperate release on day 1. And now they won't let me get Puyo Puyo and Power Drift seperately? Bullshit.

 

[brett2]

I picked this up on Amazon for $21 - at that price a no brainer. Power Drift is definitely a trip and the 3d looks excellent. If you are a fan of arcade racers and especially the classic Sega super scaler arcade games then it's probably worth it for this game alone. I've played all of the rest of the games on their original systems besides Galaxy Force 2 so not much new for me there. I'll give Galaxy Force 2 a play later to see how good it is. Still a nice collection and I'm glad I finally got to play Power Drift after all these years! It's probably time to get a New 3DS XL so I can get better use out of the 3D too.

 

[jbueno]

I bought this back when it launched in April, play it daily. At the reduced price you can get it now, it´s a no brainer. Hope they localize the first one.

 

[AmyS]

This was posted on June 28th:

Sega 3D Classics Collection rated in Australia
Australian and European release looking likely.

The Australian Classification board has rated Sega 3D Classics Collection for 3DS.

Sega has yet to confirm a release outside of the Americas. But like Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X before it, which was also rated in Austrlia, it is likely Sega is planning to release the title in both Australia and Europe.

http://gematsu.com/2016/06/sega-3d-classics-collection-rated-australia

AU, UK, and Euro Sega fans should have a reason to feel hopeful now.

 

[Tizoc]

This was posted on June 28th:





http://gematsu.com/2016/06/sega-3d-classics-collection-rated-australia

AU, UK, and Euro Sega fans should have a reason to feel hopeful now.

Pretty sure they confirmed it coming to EU weeks ago.

 

[AmyS]

Pretty sure they confirmed it coming to EU weeks ago.

Okay good, I missed that news.

 

[@MUWANdo]

Pretty sure they confirmed it coming to EU weeks ago.

They did, but it was a limp "we literally haven't prepared anything beyond this confirmation" confirmation, so it's good to see they're not flaking on us.