Tracker_TD

The fact they say they'll still be working on emulated titles makes me think this probably won't be a port - I imagine they'll reserve porting for stuff like Dreamcast or even Saturn titles.

Horii-san of M2 has actually commented directly on a no-slowdown mode for TF4 on Twitter - they’re considering it, but it would take a fair amount of extra work as Technosoft actually tuned a few gameplay elements (such a bosses) to work in conjunction with the slowdown. Apparently Gain Ground was prototyped on Switch before the AGES Project was even greenlit - they just reeeeally wanted to get it running in Tate Mode, haha

I'm wary to call the Drop Dash confirmed - since Phenix Rie is working on these, it could just be she felt like updating her old graphics work a bit. She mentions a similar sentiment with Phantasy Star in the interview. On the other hand, they do say they plan to add more features to Sonic 1 than those we already know... perhaps the interview was conducted before the feature was added, or it's being semi-hidden as a surprise? Also something I missed from the interview - the collection partially came about because Hideki Kamiya (PlatinumGames, Bayonetta) and Masahiro Sakurai (Sora, Super Smash Bros) really wanted the 3D Classics on a console. That's pretty great.

There’s a new screenshot of Sonic 1’s port from Famitsu, showing the Spin Dash in action. What interesting though is it shows the ‘launch’ dust effect... which wasn’t actually in M2’s previous version of Sonic 1. Hopefully this means they’ve been back and tweaked the Spin Dash code so now you don’t take damage when charging. ...or y’know, they could just throw the Drop Dash in there.

New M2 interview by Famitsu. There’s a Twitter thread there, but I’ll summarise some key points: • Rieko Kodama (Phenix Rie) is now involved with the series! One of SEGA’s most important figures - a graphic designer on many early SEGA titles (including Sonic) and a producer on later games. • A key goal of the project is global releases - many of the 3D Classics were either delayed in the West, or didn’t get released at all. • Now There Are No Limits on what consoles and stuff they can do, since the Switch is more powerful - but because of budget and schedule, it made more sense to cover titles they have experience with first. • The games won’t necessarily be released in the order they were revealed. Thunder Force IV was playable at SEGA Fes, but the new mode was ported from the Saturn version by eyeballing it, which ain’t easy. • Alex Kidd made a bunch of cameos in the 3D classics games, but then the line ended before they could actually do Miracle World. So he’s here from the get-go this time! • As already mentioned, Phantasy Star is based on the PS2 collection version - so walk speed adjustments, a difficulty select, FM/PSG toggle etc are all accounted for. • Sonic 1 retains the 3D Classics feature set (Spin Dash, Stage Select toggle) as well as adding the Mega Play arcade version. They’d like to add more features if they can! • Gain Ground was worked on before the project was even greenlit - the arcade version’s vertical playing field can be accurately portrayed on a Tate Mode Switch (turned on its side). They’re also trying to find the location test version of the game, which supported 3 players. • They plan to compensate for the lack of stereoscopic 3D by including more extra features than the 3D classics line. • They want to do far more than just 15 games, and move onto new hardware, but the initial set of games has to sell first.

Reminder that originally, M2 intended to make *7* 3D Classics titles, spanning Arcade and Mega Drive By the end of the 3D Classics Project, they’d done about *29* titles, spanning Arcade, Mega Drive, Master System, and SG-1000 - all because the titles did so dang well. Plus as time went on, they dipped into the libraries of Treasure, and then straight up bought all of Technosoft’s IP and brought Thunder Force III to 3DS With the Switch being more powerful, I genuinely believe they ain’t bluffing here. I now hope even moreso that these do well.

Yakuza, Virtua Fighter and, yes, Sonic costumes announced: http://www.segadriven.com/2018/04/yakuza-virtua-fighter-and-sonic-costumes-announced-for-persona-3-dancing-moon-night-and-persona-5-dancing-star-night/

http://www.segadriven.com/2018/04/alex-kidd-in-miracle-world-and-gain-ground-join-sega-ages-for-switch-line-up/ Alex Kidd in Miracle World (SMS) and Gain Ground (Arcade) confirmed. Also announced - Sonic 1 will include the rare Mega Play arcade version! Phantasy Star is based on the PS2 collection release, meaning it adds walk/run speed options, an FM/PSG toggle, a difficulty setting, and more.

When "3D" is literally in the name and one of main gimmicks of the console, it's not exactly hard to see why they went for that. That and given they provided both Mega Drive 1 and Mega Drive 2 specific sound options, it's not like no thought was spared towards getting it sounding right (I haven't even noticed much of an issue with the sound, unless there's something major I'm missing here). I don't expect huge enhancements, but I appreciate the edge being given over regular ports. Again, I'm not focused on Sonic here, because I fully admit that the Sonic 1/2 ports were the weakest. But I can also play Sonic on a million systems just fine if M2's really doesn't suffice anyway. The likes of Space Harrier, and the arcade titles in general really, have never been done as well as M2 does, and that's what I come to these ports for. That's why I'm annoyed to see M2 brushed off - just because Sonic was naff, suddenly the rest of their efforts are irrelevant.

The only way the re-releases billed themselves as enhanced was the 3D moniker - which is true, as they were all converted to 3D. In fact, that's where a bulk of the effort in converting the games went, as can be gleaned from the interviews. Making stuff like the additional content and options in Space Harrier, OutRun, Fantasy Zone and the like more impressive. Makes me wonder if we'll see additional stuff now that focus is gone. Yeah, Japan only sadly

For what it's worth, Puyo Tsu was later released as standalone with an additional mode that let you play through matches with every single foe in the game. Same with Power Drift - the standalone release of that added a SEGA All Stars Racing mode.

The 3D ports were $5.99 a piece. I actually prefer it this way, since the ports are upgraded over a bog standard collection, and I can choose the games I want. That, and this has more than just Mega Drive games. It’ll be a fair expense in the long run - but you pay for the extra work that goes into these versions. There’s a significant difference between plonking 40 games in an all-purpose emulator and a series of re-release where each game has specific new features coded into it, sometimes from scratch (Out Run).

...M2’s port of Out Run (as an example) literally adds widescreen and 60fps support (with an unlockable toggle for the original frame rate), plus a slew of unlockable car parts that change how the car handles, increasing the replay value. This is what I was talking about by judging M2’s entire output based on Sonic. Shit, in Fantasy Zone II’s case they literally remade the entire game for arcade hardware (as opposed to the Master System original)! And then they threw in an all new score attack mode with its own unlockable characters for the 3DS port!

Thunder Force IV is playable at the event - we now know it adds the Styx mode from the SEGA Saturn Gold Pack 2 version of the game, meaning you can play as the ship from Thunder Force III! This is nice since the mode was previously Saturn exclusive. Sam Mullen from SEGA’s also confirmed arcade games will be part of the new AGES series, and every game will “have something new”. Space Harrier on Switch is... such a beautiful thought. Also to clarify bc OP doesn’t make it clear - this isn’t a collection. The games will be separately released like the 3DS ports were. Also also - while I’d also prefer the Sonic 1/2 Taxman ports, I can see they’re going for consistency by having M2 just handle everything. I’m kind of sad this news is being characterised solely as “lol sonic 1” after everything M2 put into the 3DS range...