ISSUE 04 / MAY 2022
master system
Game Gear
mega drive
mega cd
32x
saturn
dreamcast
contents issue 4 / May 2022 15
24
54
58
features 15 panzer dragoon
One of the best early titles for the Saturn that remained in many people’s top 10 best Saturn games for many years after the console’s life ended. A true SEGA classic.
24 dominik diamond
He was the host of GamesMaster and then he buggered off to Canada to host a fancy radio show. With a new GamesMaster book out very soon, as well as a recently launched podcast/ column, we thought it was time to get Dominik in for a chat.
54 group therapy
We all crowd around a console and play multiplayer games, but are you missing out on the odd gem or two? In this feature we bring you the very best multiplayer games you might’ve missed.
04 / S E G A P O W E R E D
58 antstream
Very little to do with ants and water-based nonsense, but quite a lot to do with the streaming of retro gaming. With a whole range of Mega Drive games on the platform and new ones being added regularly, we sent Paul off with a magnifying glass to find out more.
60 blast from the past: Steve merrett
Back ‘in the day’ the shelves of WHSmith were weighed down to a significant degree by the staggering number of gaming mags you could buy. Everyone had their favourites, but the best-selling SEGA magazine of the ’90s was Mean Machines. The editor of the magazine during its peak was Steve Merrett, and our interview with him starts on page 60.
www.segapowered.com
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regulars 06 power play
Bits of news, the odd feature or two and the occasional strange bit – all revolving around the world we call ‘SEGA’.
29 the gamers’ guide to: role-playing games
Take two experts of a particular genre and see what they believe to be its shiniest of shining examples. This month: 80-hour games ahoy, it’s the turn of the RPG.
63 special brew
There’s way more games still being developed across the range of SEGA consoles, and these are the three pages where, every month, we showcase the very best ones we can find.
reviews/RE-REVIEWS 34 postal (dc)
Hard to believe that there’s a brand-new version of this iconic twin-stick shooter, and it’s on Dreamcast! Find out if the game matches up to the hype on page 34.
36 layer section & galactic attack s-tribute (switch)
Two games in one? Well, not quite. Neil’s our shmup expert and his review explains all.
38 panzer dragoon (saturn)
They don’t come more epic than this! It’s time to dig out a true SEGA classic to see if it’s still a high flyer.
42 gunstar heroes (md) Undoubtedly one of the best games to ever slip into a Mega Drive.
44 the story of thor 2 (saturn)
No, not that Thor – although we would pay good money to see that!
May 2022
46 batman returns (mcd)
One bit’s good and one bit’s not so good. Which is better? There’s only one way to find out: FIGHT!
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48 theme park (MD)
Who else but massive Theme Park fan Marc could possibly review this? No one. Mainly because no-one else wants to, obviously.
50 dragon’s fury (MD) One of the most addictive things ever to appear on a console. Seriously, give it a go. You’ll see. You’ll ruddy see.
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the hardline
Based on the old Hardline from Sega Power, this is a breakdown of the games we think you should own. Disagree? Write in and let us know.
retro shows
Events going on around the UK, including conventions, fairs and anything else with ‘Retro’ and ‘Gaming’ in the title.
counter intelligence
Where we randomly drop in a gaming shop somewhere in the country and ask to be shown their selection of wares – usually in the accent of a Victorian gentleman.
52 chuchu rocket! (dc) If you had a Dreamcast then you had this game – it’s that simple.
53 hang-on (Ms)
The Master System proved time and time again that it could deliver stunning arcade experiences in only eight of your Earth bits. Here’s another one.
S E G A P O W E R E D / 05
T-Shirt (Unisex) £18.99
Snapback Cap £14.99
Clobber that’s all the Rage
N
umskull Designs have done it again, and this time they’re bringing some official Streets of Rage merchandise to SEGA’s online store. Now you can be seen in a burgundy T-shirt showing off the Streets of Rage logo alongside the original characters Axel, Blaze and Adam. T-shirts are available in sizes S-2XL and are made from 100% cotton. While there, we suggest checking out the snapback baseball cap in black, complete with the SoR logo.
Mug £12.99 Now it won’t seem so strange when you’re decked out in these and humming the SoR soundtrack while you’re walking down the street. Or maybe that’s just me. [It’s just you. Definitely just you – Dean] Finally, if clothing isn’t your thing then may we point you in the direction of this SoR mug, which features the main characters as well as the character select screen? All these items are available to pre-order now from www.segashop. co.uk and are expected to ship in July.
SEGA confirm Streets of Rage movie
F
ilm tie-ins based on videogames are usually average at best but things certainly improved with the two Sonic The Hedgehog movies. Now SEGA is looking to its other major franchises for its next cinematic conversion, and recently gave the green light for Streets of Rage to hit the big screen. With the writer of John Wick and Nobody, Derek Kolstad, penning the story for the film we should be in for some hard-hitting action. Producers dj2 Entertainment are behind the adaptation of this following on from Sonic 2’s success. When Streets of Rage 4 was released in 2020 it proved there’s still a lot of love out there for Axel and the gang, so hopefully the film hits the right spot to deliver a knockout blow! There’s no date when filming will begin or any casting yet, but let the speculation commence! Whenever we do find out more though, you’ll be sure to read it in SEGA Powered.
10 / S E G A P O W E R E D
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NEWS
Gam ames es Goat Polymega to offer Dreamcast support?
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he makers of the Polymega, the multi-console gaming system that was launched in September 2021, have been recently discussing how they would like to see Dreamcast compatibly added in the future. The Polymega comes with a built-in disc drive that enables it to play Saturn, Mega-CD, PlayStation, Neo Geo CD and TurboGrafix-16 games, while additional modules can be purchased that allow you to play Mega Drive, NES and SNES titles, too. Reported on the Mega Visions (www.megavisions.net) site, Bryan Bernal, one of the creators of the Polymega, said: “Lots of people want Dreamcast. We’re working on that. The media is completely different, and there were specialised drives that were made for the Dreamcast. We’re always thinking outside the box.” The Polymega base unit costs £365 (approximately) , while the additional modules will set you back around £65 each. For more information on Polymega, head to www.polymega.com.
A whole new Retro World
T
he fantastic Retro World team are back in Derby and better than ever. The shop started off in the Eagle Market, hopped over to another market for a while, but now they have their own standalone store complete with arcade. Rob and Jane Tiochta have been a familiar fixture in Derby for over 20 years and are delighted to be back with a physical presence. The store reopened on May 7, and Jane told SEGA Powered: “We are really looking forward to expanding the business with an even wider range of games and retro goodies in our biggest-ever city centre location”. You can find Retro World Derby in their new premises at 20 Osmaston Road, Derby, DE1 2HR or if you are not local then you can find them at www.retro-world.co.uk.
May 2022
He’s the King of Clishmaclaver
Christ, Sonic Origins. What is this bullshit?! Reading it gave me proper sand up there. I mean, there can’t be anyone who hasn’t got some version of Sonic, right? Even if you think you haven’t, you probably have. It’s been re-released more times than Danny Trejo. You can even get it on a Commie 64 now. But the goddamn DLC. Man, how much more confusing could SEGA make it? Pro tip: if you need a fucking spreadsheet to explain your content, you’re in the wrong game. It could easily have gone into two panels. Or in the bin. Devolver Digital’s piss-takey tweet (see for yourself) was fully deserved. So here we are with SEGA’s fumbling, ham-fisted, bet-spreading approach to what should have been a single, all-star release. Ready? Pre-order the Standard or Digital Deluxe Pack, and get some free DLC via the Start Dash Pack: Coins (no idea what they’re worth; smells of micro transactions) plus letterbox and mirror mode, the latter of which needs unlocking – how? What if I don’t want to pre-order – can I get it later? Is it free? If not, how much? Why isn’t it just included in the base game? You still with me? Good. There’s more. Classic Music Pack. BGM from other Sonic games. I can see the argument for that. Then there’s the Premium Fun Pack, an insulting mix including ‘camera controls over the main menu islands’ and ‘character animation in the main menu’. WTF is that? I had enough of that with DVDs trying to convince me ‘chapter select’ was a ‘special feature’. Seriously, who pays for throwaway crap like that? Adding ‘Hard Levels’ won’t swing it, either. Tellingly, its bargain-basement value is pretty much confirmed, as both packs are included in the Digital Deluxe Edition. Price difference from the Standard Edition? Five poxy bucks. That’s four Great British Pounds Sterling in the correct money. Whatever your currency, if the sum total of three lots of DLC is a measly four quid, the whole damn lot should have just been thrown in under one price. Whatever. It’s needless fudging of content to cover up yet another compilation of Sonic games we all either own in triplicate have played to death, or hated to begin with. Most of the DLC – and I’m getting mighty sick of that word – looks like swill too, so you’ll forgive me if I remain resolutely underwhelmed, not to mention unsurprised by SEGA’s innate ability to fuck things up. They’re like Artie Piscano in Casino. With luck, their toss price structure will drop down dead of a coronary, too. Still, we’re probably not the target audience. Maybe there’s a sixyear-old Amish kid somewhere who escaped the community, and just discovered Sonic. I’m sure he’s gagging for those letterbox backgrounds.
S E G A P O W E R E D / 11
[game paused]
stateofmind ...all the feels, all the SEGA
“
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SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE, May 1998, and
there, on the cover, the entire first disc from epic RPG, Panzer Dragoon Saga. Did a demo disc ever hold more promise?
32 / S E G A P O W E R E D
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reviews intro
reviews
plucking only the daintiest flowers from the sega garden
reviews
38
34 Postal (dc) 36 layer section & galactic attack s-tribute (switch)
re-Reviews 38 panzer dragoon (saturn) 42 gunstar heroes (md) 44 the story of thor 2 (saturn) 46 batman returns (mcd) 48 theme park (MD) 50 dragon’s fury (MD)
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52 chuchu rocket! (dc) 53 hang-on (Ms)
34 50
The sega Powered guide to reviewing
May 2022
Our Reviews section is split into two parts…
scored seven or above can be regarded as a hit in our book.
REVIEWS
RE-REVIEWS
New games, basically. Either official SEGA titles, third-party licensed ones or Indie gems. Scores are out of 10, and anything
Here’s where we take a look at older titles with fresh eyes. Aged badly? Improved over time? We’ll let you know.
S E G A P O W E R E D / 33
panzer dragoon
REVIEWED ON
A perfectly timed launch, Panzer Dragoon was a game that showed exactly what the Saturn was capable of. Dean boots it up once again to find out, after 27 years, is there still enough substance behind that gorgeous style
INFO
T
Release Date
August 30, 1995
Publisher SEGA
Developer
Team Andromeda
Expect to pay £35
Other Versions PC, PS2
here are many positive aspects to working on a videogames magazine, but as a gamer, one of the best ones is that you get to play a lot of games. And I mean, a lot of games. We used to get all the official PAL releases obviously, but we’d also get as many import titles as we could convince our publisher to sign off on. The point to this rambling intro is to explain that we were literally spoilt for choice, and when the Saturn was released in Japan seven months before the official European launch, we got one for the office and a fine selection of games to play on it. Virtua Fighter was clearly the standout title, but Daytona USA looked amazing (no really, it did back in 1995) and had that ‘feel’ of the arcade original that SEGA would perfect at the end of that year with Sega Rally Championship,
but most of the other games, while certainly original and interesting (yeah, I’m talking to you, Clockwork Knight) didn’t scream next generation to us. We wanted to be completely blown away with a game that gave us the tiniest hint of what this brand-new uber-console was capable of. Luckily for us (and SEGA) we didn’t have to wait long.
My first time There are few games I clearly remember playing my first game on, but Panzer Dragoon was one of them. We’d seen the pics – which we’d scanned from our copies of Famitsu magazine – and we had a rough idea of what to expect. There were certainly positive mutterings echoing around it, but when the import copy was delivered to the Sega Power office and we slipped it into our Japanese Saturn, we weren’t expecting to be bowled over.
Just lock on to a group of targets and let the missiles fly 38 / S E G A P O W E R E D
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re-review
© Clinton Felker
May 2022
S E G A P O W E R E D / 39
IT’S SHOWTIME! On April 9-10, the Norfolk Showground Arena opened its doors to one of the biggest retro gaming events this country has seen for many a moon: OLL ’22 (One Life Left). The weekend hosted numerous panels, challenges and high score competitions, and the good and the great of the gaming community were there in force. Due to three of the four of us being on holiday that week, sadly we were unable to attend, but we’ll definitely be there when OLL ’22 becomes OLL ’23. Keep an eye out on the OLL site (www.ollgames.co.uk) or their socials to find out more
70 / S E G A P O W E R E D
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retro shows
THE MAIN EVENT(S) Unfortunately the Leeds Retro Games Fair in August has been cancelled, but we do know the organisers are looking to fix another date ASAP. We’re also expecting to find out dates for the next Doncaster market very soon, as well as hopefully an event in Nottingham, too
JUNE
Leeds Anime & Gaming Con Saturday/Sunday, June 18/19 Leeds Marriott Hotel
RETCON
Saturday, June 18 – 10am 170 Oldfield Lane South, Greenford UB6 9JS
JULY
London Gaming Market Sunday, July 3 – 11am-4pm Royal National Hotel, London
NERG
Saturday/Sunday, July 16/17 Gateshead International Stadium
OCTOBER
PLAY Expo Blackpool Sunday, October 2 Norbreck Castle Hotel FY2 9AA
Oxford Gaming Market Saturday, October 8
NOVEMBER
London Gaming Market Sunday, November 13 – 11am-4pm Royal National Hotel, London
May 2022
S E G A P O W E R E D / 71
POWER down
Join us!
Aanndd that’s yer lot. Sorry to end quite so abruptly, but we do hope it’s given you a flavour of what you can expect from the full version of the magazine.
If you’re new to SEGA Powered then hello, it’s lovely to meet you – albeit virtually. As you’re reading this then you clearly have excellent taste in magazines, so I suspect we’d get along swimmingly. SEGA Powered is a professional magazine created by independent writers with industry backgrounds. We’re proud to have worked on some of the biggest games magazines in the UK, and hopefully you’ll see some of that experience leaking out onto the pages.
SEGA Powered is a monthly magazine, and goes on sale towards the end of the month. You can find out more about the magazine by following us on Facebook (HERE) or Twitter (HERE), or feel free to pop by our Discord server (HERE). Finally, you can head to our website (HERE), where you can pick up a copy of the magazine in either digital or print formats. Thanks again for reading. Dean Mortlock – Editor