Watermelon Team – Project Y Development Screen Shots

Posted by Sega Dude on January 19, 2014
Posted in: Community, Games, Genesis (North America), Mega Drive (EURO), Mega Drive (Japanese). Tagged: , , , , . 5 Comments

I feel like I’ve been very lucky when it comes to the Watermelon Team (Creators of the video game Pier Solar) thanks to Luis Martins. Luis has been doing amazing concept artwork for Watermelon Team’s upcoming Sega Genesis / Mega Drive game code named Project Y. And whenever something cool happens Luis always sends me a messages.

Very recently Luis sent me a link titled Leaked Images of Project Y. Even though there are only two screen shots I was really amazed. Check them out below:

Project Y Work In Progress Screen Shot One

**Update**
After publishing this post I got a message from Luis Martins who told me that the artwork and backgrounds you’re looking at here are from the actual Project Y video game and are 100% Watermelon Team.

Luis Martins: “Yes it is legit, all the artwork is from the actual game even the backgrounds.”

He did want me to also say that this is very much a work in progress and things may change or look different in the final game. So you can disregard my speculation as you read it below.

I don’t believe everything you see here is created by Watermelon Team (maybe?). From the videos below you’ll see that during development Watermelon team will use sprites (characters) and possibly other elements from other games in order to see what the Genesis / Mega Drive can do.

Project Y Work In Progress Screen Shot Two

I’m sure this method really helps move along game development. I imagine this enables the coders to work on the gameplay mechanics while the pixel artists work on the unique characters for the game. I do hope the background environment from the first screen shot has been created by Watermelon Team. It’s looks really excellent! I wanna go to the Blue Bar!

The fact that I entirely trust Luis Martins as a reliable source for Project Y and because you can see these same screen shots on Watermelon Teams Magical Game Factory forums and no Watermelon Team member has jumped in to say they are fake I really do believe this is a real first glimpse into Project Y. And it’s very exciting!

In the video below Fonzie from the Watermelon Team shows how he’s working on getting many large sprites on the screen at the same time while keeping the Mega Drive / Genesis CPU usage low. Leaving lots of horse power left for the rest of the game.

Did you hear that?! Fonzie hints at having 16 characters on the screen at one time. If in the end Watermelon Team gets anywhere near that it will be unbelievable.
Fonzie might have also suggested that they are trying to make the best RPG Beat’em Up ever 🙂 Outstanding.

If you still play your Mega Drive / Genesis watch for this one and buy it as soon as you can.

Project Y is going to be all up in your face!

And just for fun have a look at Watermelon Teams Mega Drive 25th Anniversary Celebration:

Mega Drive – New Addition (Kuhga Operation Code Vapor Trail)

Posted by Sega Dude on December 17, 2013
Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Genesis (North America), Mega Drive (Japanese). Tagged: , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

pick-ups-vapor-trail-banner

At last! This is some good closure for me 🙂
Since about 2001 I’ve had a mint copy of Kuhga (Vapor Trail) case and manual… but no game! I bought it from a local store for $5 knowing (hoping), that one day I will find the cart and complete this little gem. I didn’t know it would take me 12 years but the day has come.

This game is expensive. For a long time I have seen it on ebay for about $50 or more complete. I never want to spend that much on Genesis or Mega Drive games (although on occasion I have) specially when I was already sooo close to a complete copy. And I never ever saw just the cart online. I felt stuck, until recently when I found a lone cart for sale. So even though it cost me $28 after shipping I bought it. Bringing my Kuhga Operation Code Vapor Trail total cost to $33. Not a super deal but I felt good to finally complete this bugger.

The cart isn’t mint, there are some scuffs on the plastic and one nick on the top of the label but it’s good and the rest is perfect. So I’m happy to say the whole unit is in Excellent Condition.

Kuhga Gameplay by the SegaDude

The best part is that Vapor Trail is a really good game. It must have been 10 years since I played it last and I found that it’s still as fun now as it was then. This one has really stood the test of time. The graphics aren’t amazing but they are good and there is a lot of variety. The stages have layers and depth and they look very different from one to the next. Even on a single stage you’ll find a lot of environmental changes. As well, you have three fighter jets to choice from and you can even change to a different one from the continue screen. The weapons and power-ups are nicely varied and the same is true for the enemies and bosses.
And on top of it all it’s a two player game as well. And it really does shine when playing with a friend. Tons of fun.

Vapor Trail is not hard but the challenge is enough to keep you fully engaged.

I also have the Genesis version of Vapor Trail and it cost me $15 at a flea market (purchased about 1 year ago). The game is identical but as usual the Mega Drive versions art work is much nicer.

In the clip above I was playing it on Easy and it was a bit easy. I felt like a was plowing through the levels. So for my Genesis version Gameplay video below I set the difficulty to Hard (There are only two settings) to compare the difference. At first the difficultly felt about the same. Then slowly I realized that I wasn’t getting anywhere! But the Hard setting does feel like the right choice to get the best experience and value from this game. Even though I was getting smoked I was still enjoying it.

Vapor Trail Gameplay by the SegaDude

This game gets a SegaDude Nod of Approval. If you like top down shooter add this one to your retro collection.

Genesis – New Addition (Superman)

Posted by Sega Dude on November 24, 2013
Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Genesis (North America). Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

pick-ups-superman-banner

So I busted through my regular price target for this one. I couldn’t resist the condition of this title. The sellers pictures were pretty detailed and it looked so perfect. When I finally got it in my hands I was very happy to see that is was in Excellent Condition. I also really like the cover artwork. And who doesn’t love Superman?!

Genesis - Superman

Superman Gameplay by the SegaDude

The game itself is OK. It feels similar to Sunsoft’s Batman but it’s not as good. Everything falls short by comparison. The graphics are pretty close in quality but not quite, the action isn’t as solid or as fun and the music really gets clobbered by the Batman sound track. Compare the two and let me know what you think.

It could be that I just haven’t spent enough time with Superman yet. Back in the day I played the heck out of Batman and I could beat it pretty easily. It took me a bunch of tries just to past level 1 in Superman and I do look forward to giving it a more proper session sometime.
Regardless, it’s a great find even though it cost me $27 including shipping.

I already had Sunsoft’s Batman and I decided to take a picture of it too. I didn’t realize that I don’t have the manual for this one 😦

Batman Gameplay by the SegaDude

I also have the Japanese Mega Drive Batman. My original copy had the awesome chunky Sunsoft cartridge (Note: All Japanese carts only fit in a Japanese Mega Drives unless you mode your Genesis). But my more recent version is the typical Japanese Mega Drive cart. At first I thought it might be a knock-off but someone told me there were many localized version of games for Asian markets (like Hong Kong) that were in English and came in the standard cartridge case. And my Japanese/Asia Batman does apear to be in English in game while all the packaging and manual is in Japanese.

Batman Gameplay by the SegaDude

I’m stilling keeping an eye out for the Sunsoft chunky cart version. I just need the cart alone and I’m hoping it will show up someday for a nice price.
*And I’m also looking for a cart for the Japanese Mega Drive Vapor Trail. I have a mint copy!… minus the cart. 😦
Update: Found a Japanese Vapor Trail Cart for $28.

While I’m talking about Batman I’d like to give it a SegaDude Nod of Approval. It’s a really excellent game. If you enjoy platfomers you really should get Sunsoft’s Batman.

Genesis – New Addition (Sol-Deace)

Posted by Sega Dude on November 17, 2013
Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Genesis (North America), Restoration. Tagged: , , , , , . 2 Comments

I’ve often seen Sol-Deace sell for $60 and up so when I saw this sticker riddled copy for $33 plus $7 for shipping I thought I’d take a chance. It was my hope that I could remove the stickers without damaging the cart label or the manual. And if all went well I’d end up with a very good copy of a somewhat hard to find game.

Sticker Problem

Four of them…

My tools consisted of a blow dryer, WD-40, paper towels and lots of patients.

I know this isn’t news to anyone but the theory behind the blow dryer was to heat up the rental store sticker residue/glue so that when I pealed the label off it wouldn’t take any of the Genesis label with it in the process. Did it work? It really did. I was very pleased. I applied the blow dryer for about 3 minutes and shielded the Genesis label with a piece of paper as best I could. And when it came time to peel the rental store sticker away I pulled at it very slowly.

The power of the Revlon 1875 IONIC CERAMIC

No damage to the cart label.

Turns out the center sticker was the hardest to get off. It was very thick and I had a hard time getting any of the corners turned up so that I could pull at it. But in the end all three rental stickers on the cartridge came off perfectly.

There was some residue left behind but that’s where the WD-40 came in. I sprayed a small amount of WD-40 on a paper towel and gently rubbed the residue away. This also worked perfectly and now you’d never know how fanatical Michigan Video Inc. was with their game rentals!

I was also concerned with the manual which also had a small sticker on it. The paper manual is much softer than the cart label and I thought it would be much easier to tear it by accident. Again I used the same system of blow drying then slowly peeling away. Slowly really felt like the key here. If I felt like the label I was trying to remove wasn’t moving I would apply more heat and try again.

Left over residue.

WD-40 did a brilliant job!

Was it all worth it? Well, it wasn’t until I took my final picture of the game (below) that I realized the cover might be very slightly sun faded. What you’re seeing in the picture below looks more pronounced than it does it real life. So I’m not sure what to think. I’m very happy with the sticker removal but I hate sun fade… so very much.

Sol-Deace

Sol-Deace Gameplay by the Sega Dude

Here’s the real surprise… I played the first two levels of Sol-Deace and it’s not that good. It’s OK but something like Thunder Force III is soooo much better.
The graphics in Sol-Deace are kind of plain and while there are lots of large sprites and large bosses it felt kind of flat.

Despite all my fussing I still like having this game in the collection. And I’m very happy with the restoration!

Genesis – New Additions (Robocop)

Posted by Sega Dude on November 10, 2013
Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Genesis (North America). Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

I remember liking Robocop Versus the Terminator back in the day even though the game felt a bit flat. I know I was drawn to it because I loved Robocop and the Terminator. What an awesome idea to put them into the same universe! I also know that for whatever reason the Japanese Mega Drive version of Robocop Versus the Terminator is crazy expensive. So I am happy to get this Genesis version complete and in Excellent Condition for $15 including shipping. Even if the Genesis cover is pretty boring… and after all these years the game is still a bit flat.

OK, I’m trying to notch up my nerd meter. The gameplay video below was played and recorded by me from an actual Sega Genesis (my original Genesis!) and not via emulation. Emulation would likely allow for a sharper image but I like the idea of using the real stuff. Moving forward I’m going to try and do my own recordings for my new additions. Which means I have setup a YouTube channel. Maybe I’ll actually review a game someday 😛

So, you might notice a few things.
One: I’m not very good at Robocop Versus the Terminator (Cain is a tough boss!!). And two: I’m slowly trying to rebrand my blog from TheSegaCollection to Retro Megabit. Even though I’ve gotten kind of fond of the name TheSegaCollection for it’s simplicity and focus I do want to add some of my other games into the mix (NES, SNES, NEO GEO Pocket, NEO GEO X, Turbo Graphics, etc). 🙂
However, I do think the Sega Master System and Sega Genesis will still remain my primary points of interest.

So far I’ve discovered that Self hosting a blog and video editing are a lot of work! But I am enjoying messing around with them. I’m just really very slow.

Robocop Versus The Terminator

Robocop Versus The Terminator Gameplay

I had also purchase a copy of Spiderman Venom Maximum Carnage but when it arrived I found that it did not work. I plugged in the cart, turned on my Genesis and I got nothing but a black screen. It actually took me a good long while before I discovered this but I emailed the ebay seller anyways and they were great. They refunded all of my money just on my word. It felt great to be believed and trusted. All I can do in return is tell you that this very nice ebay seller is: thecabinetofwonders

Mega Drive – New Additions (Thunder Fox…)

Posted by Sega Dude on November 3, 2013
Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Mega Drive (Japanese). Tagged: , , , , . 4 Comments

I have a loose target of spending $20 per game including shipping, so it should have been obvious that I would have busted up my target price when putting in an ebay ‘best offer’ price of $20 for a game that listed $8 for shipping… but how was I suspose to know that the seller would accept a $20 offer on a game that listed for $35?!
Sometimes I bid on games that I know I just wont win.. but this time I did win. I tried to find another game or two that I might want from the seller in an effort to get the cost per game down but there was nothing else worth while. And that is why my Thunder Fox cost me $28. Even though it’s not a great game I do like the genre and it’s complete and in Excellent Condition.
It reminds me a little bit of Last Battle.

Thunder Fox

Thunder Fox Gameplay

I once bid up to $160.00 on a copy of Eliminate Down knowing full well that I would not win that auction. And I didn’t win but I wanted to be a part of that very elusive title if only in a very small way 🙂
I think it went for over $600 by the end. I don’t much like people with lots and lots of money…

Ultraman cost $19 including shipping and it’s complete and in Excellent Condition. It’s not a great game but I really like the lame cover art and Ultraman is cool all on his own. This is a fun addition to the collection.

Ultraman

Ultraman Gameplay

I played Ultraman for a while and I cannot figure out how to beat the first stage. Once you’ve beaten the monster Bemular down to zero health his meter states “finish”… and I could not figure out the correct move/attack. Even thought the person playing in the video clip had no trouble at all.
I even searched the Internet and I could not find the answer! Anyone know how?