The Warp Pipe - 19/10/08
By Matt K - Sun Oct 19, 2008 8:57am
This week, The Warp Pipe will continue its Sega Mega Drive 20th anniversary celebration with a look at the machine’s fall from grace.
Twenty Years of the Sega Mega Drive – Part Two
| It was 1994 when the dream run of the Mega Drive started to draw to a close. The early months of the year were strong, with good catalogue sales of their 1993 titles like Aladdin and NHL 94, and successful launches of Sonic 3 and NBA Jam. Nintendo was showing much increased technical prowess on the back of its new Super FX chip, which debuted the previous year with Star Fox. Feeling threatened by Nintendo’s technological superiority, Sega began work on its own cartridge based booster chip, the SVP, but the chip proved to be prohibitively expensive and had heat issues, and thus was only used in one title – Virtua Racing. Both companies were facing rising costs associated with increased cartridge size, and had no choice but to pass the costs onto the consumer. Most games were being released in the $119.95 to $149.95 range, with some games almost hitting $200 (the SVP enabled Virtua Racing, followed closely by Super Street Fighter II, the largest Mega Drive cart at 40 megabits). Sega then turned its focus to preparing the Mega Drive’s successor. Sega Japan wanted a 32-bit cartridge-based console in stores by Christmas 1994, and engineers from Japan and America collaborated on the project. It was originally intended to be a souped up Mega Drive, with a 32-bit processor and a greater colour palette. The team of American engineers pushed for a more powerful add-on unit, which would have two 32-bit processors and greater 3D graphics abilities. Sega of America’s executive team supported the move, thinking that the market would not accept a more powerful Mega Drive, and envisioned the 32X as a console that could bridge the gap between the Mega Drive and the upcoming Saturn. The 32X was a disaster. Sega Japan had devoted minimal resources to the project – the sad state of the Mega Drive in Japan had basically resulted in them pushing ahead with the Saturn, leading America to work on a doomed project. It was difficult to get the system to work, and many of the early games on the system were watered down ports, or simply unimpressive. Early demand for the add-on was quite healthy, but Sega was never able to supply enough hardware. Sega’s third party allies like EA were reluctant to support the add-on, given their previous difficulties with and lack of success with the previous Mega CD expansion, and the Saturn launch on the horizon. A post-launch absence of quality software stifled demand and interest in the machine, forcing Sega to slash the price aggressively to get rid of excess stock. All internal development, both software and hardware (including Project Neptune, which combined the Mega Drive and 32X into a single unit), was ceased. The Mega Drive business continued to be successful through the latter half of 1994, despite the trouble with the 32X and Japan’s focus on the Saturn. Sonic & Knuckles led the charge, and was backed up by quality releases such as Probotector (Contra Hard Corps), Earthworm Jim and Streets of Rage 3. However, Nintendo was making moves to give the Super Nintendo a second wind. They eased up on their rigid family friendly policies, leading to a more even sales split for Mortal Kombat II, and released more aggressively priced bundles, which included a cart combining Super Mario All Stars and Super Mario World. Nintendo also had a trump card – Donkey Kong Country. The game’s unmatched visual splendour shocked and awed, leading to Nintendo’s first decisive Christmas victory in years. Nintendo continued its success in 1995 with strong catalogue sales of Donkey Kong Country, and more impressive Super FX driven games, including a port of the impressive (but shallow) arcade fighting game Killer Instinct. Sega was not far behind, with strong sales of its own productions and support from its third party partners. Sega of Japan saw the situation differently to the rest of the world. The Saturn, which had launched domestically in the previous November, was Sega of Japan’s first success, even though it was rushed to market in order to beat the Sony PlayStation, and lacked software as a result. They saw the Mega Drive, which was dead in Japan, as stealing resources from their more successful console. After the launch of the Saturn in America and Europe, Hayao Nakamura sent down the order for Mega Drive production to be halted in North America. The move did little to please Sega of America and Europe, who had healthy software line ups for the 1995 holiday season. Sega’s licensees were not happy either; they too had games ready for the holidays, and they were not informed of the surprise early launch of the Saturn in the US in May. While the PlayStation and Saturn were available in all regions for the 1995 Christmas shopping season, it was Nintendo who dominated with a lower priced SNES and quality software in Donkey Kong Country 2, Yoshi’s Island andKiller Instinct. As the next generation of consoles took over, price cuts to clear Mega Drive hardware and software inventory kept it alive, but the machine was largely irrelevant by the end of 1996. Sega of Europe discontinued their support of the Mega Drive in 1997. The Mega Drive managed to live on for some time after that – Sega of America licensed the Mega Drive to Majesco, which began to sell the machine in bundles with previously unsold software at a budget price. When the enterprise proved lucrative, Majesco manufactured its own variant of the Mega Drive, and published new game, including Frogger, which was the final release for the system to be licensed by Sega of America. Tec Toy, the Brazilian distributor of all things Sega, was also experiencing success with the Mega Drive, and published many of its own games, including a cut-down port of Duke Nukem 3D. The Mega Drive still lives on in many ways, even 20 years after its release. Many companies, including Tec Toy and Radica have licensed the technology and games of the system for use in joypads which plug straight into the TV and handheld devices with several built-in games.. Many of the console’s games are available for purchase on Nintendo’s Virtual Console service, with a handful also appearing on Xbox Live Arcade. Some have even taken it upon themselves to release new Mega Drive games (Super Fighter Team’s translation of Beggar Prince) – Tec Toy has even started porting some of EA’s mobile games to run on the Mega Drive hardware contained in their standalone devices. Perhaps it is all owing to its Motorola 68000 CPU, which remains in use today, nearly 30 years after release. | ) One happy family |
) The 32X’s software just wasn’t up to scratch | |
) Nintendo fought back in 1994, and eventually won | |
) The Mega Drive lives on in many forms | |
) Could Alien Soldier be considered a precursor to Shadow of the Colossus? |
The Best Bits 1994-1998
| The Japanese division of Sega may have pulled the rug out from beneath everyone in 1995, but there were still some mighty fine releases in the latter half of the Mega Drive’s life. We don’t have time to go through every one of the Mega Drive’s good games, so here’s a list of a few of my favourites from the Mega Drive’s twilight years. Aerobiz Supersonic (Koei, 1994) Few people have the desire to run their own airline, but Aerobiz Supersonic is a surprisingly enjoyable business sim which lets you do exactly that. Start in any region of the world, focusing on domestic flights before expanding overseas and competing directly against your rivals’ routes. Special events such as the Olympics and natural disasters will help or hinder your operation’s success. Worth a look for those who get a kick out of games like Theme Park and Transport Tycoon. Alien Soldier (Treasure, 1995) Treasure continued their awesome run and gun action game streak with Alien Soldier. It’s a little bit different to your usual 2D action game in that it focuses largely on boss fights rather than merely getting to the end of a level. Alien Soldier has great graphics and a terrific soundtrack on top of the fantastic fights and level design, making for an excellent all-round package. Australian Rugby League (EA, 1995) EA had a good run with Rugby World Cup 1995, and decided to team up with some Australians to produce a game based on the “other” rugby game. It’s visually and functionally similar to the union game, but much more forgiving in its on-field play. All 20 (including the short lived Crushers and Reds) of the teams from the 1995 ARL season are represented (albeit with made-up players), along with the British clubs, international teams and the State of Origin squads. It can be a bit easy, but it’s still a fine example of the sport. Contra Hard Corps/Probotector (Konami, 1994) The first Contra game to debut on a Sega console is also the hardest in the series, and the last to bear the Probotector moniker in the PAL market. The game takes the standard run & gun formula of Contra, and adds multiple paths, bigger, badder bosses and some genuinely crazy action sequences. While the PAL version is just as good from a gameplay perspective, the story was altered dramatically, and thus makes even less sense. Earthworm Jim (Shiny, 1994) The first game from post-Virgin Dave Perry and his team from Shiny Entertainment was a run and gun platformer starring an unlikely hero named Jim, who had been struck by a power suit that had fallen to earth. The suit, originally intended for Queen Slug-for-a-Butt, gives Jim super powers and a modicum of intelligence. He sets off to rescue Princess What’s-Her-Name, who has been detained by the Queen for being prettier than her. Earthworm Jim’s amazing animation was unmatched, but it also had some excellent platforming action and a bizarre sense of humour to give it more substance. Madden NFL 95 (EA, 1994) One could probably argue all day about which version of 16-bit Madden is the best. The 1995 game was the first to feature both the NFL and NFLPA licenses, granting access to the real NFL players. It took the best stuff from Madden NFL 94, but improved the visuals, added proper injury reports and introduced the more realistic window-less passing. Micro Machines: Turbo Tournament 96 (Codemasters, 1995) Codemasters’ first two miniature racing games were certainly classics in their own right, but Turbo Tournament outshines them both (as well as any sequels). It’s a multiplayer focused racing sim with a stack of different play modes and more tracks than you can poke a stick at. It also has a track editor, so you can make your own unique courses. The beauty of the later two Micro Machines games is that they shipped on Codemasters’ custom J-Carts, which had an extra two controller ports in the top of the cart, allowing four players (eight in party mode with pad sharing)to race without the need for a four player adaptor. NBA Live 95 (EA, 1994) EA Sports had one major weakness throughout most of the Mega Drive’s life: basketball. The NBA Playoffs series ran on a pretty rigid 2D engine, and played like a sick, aged dog. In 1994, they scrapped the old engine, and completely redesigned the game, employing a new graphics engine, an isometric perspective, and taking a few subtle hints from NBA Jam in the gameplay department. It also offered the first fully featured basketball season mode, including full player trading options. The result was one of the best simulation basketball games of the era. It’s a pity future iterations (even in the modern day) just weren’t as good. Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millennium (Sega, 1994) The Mega Drive wasn’t big on J-RPGs (perhaps due to the lack of domestic success), but Sega’s Phantasy Star series had everything you could possibly want; an awesome futuristic sci-fi setting, fantastic characters and visual design, a stellar story and deep combat. The fourth game ups the ante in every category, making it one of the best RPGs of all time. Rock ‘n’ Roll Racing (Blizzard, 1994) Blizzard’s isometric racing game combines destructive racing action with the rock tunes of Black Sabbath, Steppenwolf and Deep Purple. Four racers compete across a number of hazard-filled courses, and are encouraged to take each other out with vehicle mounted weapons for cash incentives. The game is best played in league mode, where money earned during races can be spent upgrading your vehicle, or purchasing new ones. An excellent two player split-screen mode basically seals the deal. Shane Warne Cricket 96 (Codemasters, 1995) The spin king puts his name to the long running Audiogenic developed series of cricket games. It plays pretty much the same as predecessor Brian Lara Cricket, but updates the player names, adds state teams, fixes a few bugs, expands the statistics tracking, gives players access to full test and domestic seasons, and ensures the CPU team actually drops the occasional catch. It’s a game that should appeal more to those prefer a slightly more realistic approach to their cricket. Shining Force II (Sega, 1994) Sega’s second entry in this S-RPG series is arguably the strongest (that is fully translated, at least), featuring a more compelling plot, better play mechanics and notably improved visuals when compared to its immediate predecessor. Takes a few hints from Nintendo’s Fire Emblem series in its setup, but is much more forgiving. Skitchin’ (EA, 1994) Often mistakenly written off as “Road Rash on skates”, Skitchin’ is a mighty fine action/racing game that has you grabbing the back of cars, bikes and buses in order to build up speed to make it to the finish line. Like Road Rash, the game is particularly violent, often requiring (and rewarding) players to beat the snot out of their fellow racers with a variety of weapons. Money made from races (though placing or performing stunts) is used to help you upgrade your equipment, pay for any doctor’s visits, and enter future races. Particularly good when played with a friend. Soleil (Nextech, 1994) Soleil is the second closest thing you’ll get to The Legend of Zelda on a Sega console (the first being Golden Axe Warrior). The game focuses on the journey of a young boy, who receives a sword at his coming of age ceremony, just in time for an appearance by an evil race of monsters. After a certain point, our hero becomes able to speak to animals (while losing the ability to speak to people), who help him through his way. It can be derivative at times, but there’s not really much else like it on the Mega Drive. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles (Sega, 1994) They were designed as two halves of the one whole, and shall ever exist that way in my mind. The combination of the two games (released six months apart) is quite simply the most epic adventure Sonic the Hedgehog is likely to have. It’s the last of the Sonic games that focused on real platforming, with just a hint of speed. The graphics are better, the levels are bigger, and the game just plays like a dream. It’s not quite as tightly paced as the second game, but it’s certainly holds its own. | ) Hard Corps has got to be the hardest game on the system |
) Prepare for launch! | |
) Micro Machines is more fun than it looks | |
) Blizzard has always had “it” | |
) The lack of a dirty SMS mini-game holds it back | |
) Nothing says fun like a punch to the face |
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