Sega Classics for the GBA!

[OB1]

From Ign Pocket

January 07, 2003 - Over the holiday break, THQ announced that it will be bringing a compilation of four classic Sega arcade games to the Game Boy Advance. Sega Arcade Gallery features conversions of classics from Sega designer Yu Suzuki: Out Run, Space Harrier, Super Hang On, and Afterburner.
Out Run features a fast-paced race across the country in a Ferarri, with players weaving through busy traffic in order to beat the clock. Super Hang On is a speedier version of the classic motorcycle racing game that appeared in Sega's Shen Mue adventure on the Dreamcast. Space Harrier is one of the first 3D shooters to market, putting players in the role of a hovering action-type dude who blasts through different fantasy areas. And Afterburner is Top Gun-style action where players must blast their way through enemy territory in their F-14, avoiding incoming enemy fire with barrel rolls and maximum throttle.

The game was originally scheduled to ship this spring, but THQ recently pushed the release date way later in the year; this game won't hit the market until at least October 2003. That's a long time to wait for some great arcade action on the Game Boy Advance. While you sit tight, hit the link below to take a look at how great the games look on the GBA hardware.

-- Craig Harris

Awesome. Here are some screens:

[Weltall]

Wow. You know, they could port over some of the Genesis' greatest games, like Kid Chameleon or the Sonic Games, but no, instead they're going to charge us $30 for a collection of Shenmue minigames. Fucking pathetic.

[Dark Jaguar]

Haha, good point. They are games I already own. Big deal if they are portable, since I didn't really enjoy them when they were games I could only play at home.

Bringing Sonic games out? Nah, I'd rather see new Sonic games, like Sonic Advance 2. Kid Chameleon? Yeah, I'd like to see this game out again. I never played it (though the title DOES remind me of a game I played for NES where you played as a Chameleon with all sorts of glyph powers, also an action platformer, and multiplayer, but I can't recall the name at all).

[Private Hudson]

Pfft... Darts was the only Shenmue mini-game worth playing anyways.

:)

[OB1]

You're crazy. Outrun and Space Harrier are still great games.

I'd love to see a Sonic compilation for the GBA. And maybe they could include a sort of stripped down version of Sonic CD.

[Weltall]

Originally posted by OB1
You're crazy. Outrun and Space Harrier are still great games.

I'd love to see a Sonic compilation for the GBA. And maybe they could include a sort of stripped down version of Sonic CD.

They're emulation fodder. They certainly are NOT worth a full GBA game price. Like I said, they could fit games on there that would be worth the price, yet they fill it with old arcade games. When is Sega gonna get on the goddamn ball and start porting some worthwhile Genesis games?

[OB1]

I agree with you that they really should start porting over some Genesis games, but I wouldn't brush off these classics simply because they're old. Who gives a crap about emulation? I want to play them on my GBA, damnit!

[Dark Jaguar]

They aren't just old, they also aren't really full games. Those are classic arcade games, like Donkey Kong. They last for a few levels and just end. That's not good enough. I refuse to pay $30 for a direct port of Pacman alone for instance. Include 100 extra levels and a whole adventure, THEN you raised it to being worth the money. They did that with Donkey Kong for GB, because they knew that it would be plain retarded to expect people to buy a single screen game consisting of 4 levels for full price.

[Weltall]

You know, a GBA cartridge can hold as much as 32 MB. Those games combined can't even be half a meg. If they put, say, 15 or 20 games in the collection, then it would be worth the money. But putting only four is a waste of space, and remember that most of the cost of a GBA game covers the cartridge.

[Dark Jaguar]

I heard they can hold up to 64 Mb, but that's b, not B, which means that it's 1/8 of 64MB. That's still more than enough to hold all sorts of Genesis, SNES, and NES games though.

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah, GBA carts go up to 54Mb. That's 8MB. Still, thats a lot bigger than your average SNES/Genesis game... but big enough for 15-20 of them? No way. 4 or 5 well might fill up a cart, once you consider you also need a interface, and the fact that the port probably grows the program in size...
As for the games, I do agree that that selection is somewhat bland... I mean, those are OK games, but worth $30 for? No, probably not...

[OB1]

There are four great games with a few updates to them. I don't think that's too shabby at all.

[Weltall]

Originally posted by OB1
There are four great games with a few updates to them. I don't think that's too shabby at all.

Those are four ancient and short games. They owe it to us to include more.

[OB1]

Two of them are racing games, so there's lots of replay value. I think it's a lot better than those Namco Museum titles. But yeah, they should add a few more titles. But they won't.