Big news, everyone!  I just got a new job working for SEGA.  I’m going to be one of the heads of creative development for a new studio they’re opening up called Flicky Tails Studio.  I’ve got big plans to revive some of SEGA’s forgotten characters in great new games, so I’ll be really busy and you may not hear much from me here anymore.  But before I go for good, I thought I’d give you guys a sneak peek of what I’ll be working on over the next couple of years.

Ristar & Comette

Yup, one of the first things I’ll be doing is a sequel to the great Genesis 2-D platformer, Ristar.  The sequel will play pretty much like the first game, and even be sprite-based.  You’ll visit some familiar areas, like the Planet Flora and the land made out of musical instruments.  But there’ll be new levels, too, like a theme park planet and another planet made entirely out of food!  But the big new addition is it’ll have two-player simultaneous play, and the second player controls Ristar’s little sister Comette.  Comette has all of Ristar’s abilities, but instead of a yellow star face, hers is a pink heart.  And she has a long pink ponytail trailing behind her like a comet, hence her name.  Both characters will have the same skills and stretchy arms for grabbing onto enemies and climbing walls and ceilings.

Tails’ Adventure 2

Tails is so awesome, he deserves his own game.  Well, actually he’s already had two on the Game Gear.  One was called Tails’ Sky Patrol and it was a 2-D shooter that wasn’t very good.  But his other game, Tails’ Adventure, was actually a fairly decent 2-D platformer, so we’re making a sequel to that.  His new game will be a 3-D platformer, since you don’t see too many colorful 3-D romps anymore like you used to.  In the game, Dr. Robotnik has kidnapped all of Tails’ friends, even Sonic!  Robotnik didn’t bother kidnapping Tails, since he’s just a kid and didn’t seem like a threat.  But Robotnik knew Tails was good with machines, so he blew up Tails’ workshop.  So now Tails must search high and low and find the missing parts to his machines so he can rescue his friends and thwart the doctor’s evil plans.  Since Tails can fly for a short while, this game will be more about exploration than speed.  Once Tails finishes building one of his many machines, like his biplane, mech, or other cool tools, he’ll face off with Robotnik in a boss fight.  Afterwards, Tails will rescue one of his kidnapped friends, who will help him out on his quest to save Sonic and defeat Eggman.  Yeah, don’t tell the bosses at SEGA, but I think Tails is way cooler than Sonic.

Bonanza Bros. Heist Hijinks

One of SEGA’s little-known arcade and Genesis classics is Bonanza Bros.  In this 2-D action game, you played as one of two robbers and had to sneak into houses and other buildings and steal valuables while avoiding police and other traps.  I loved this game in arcades, so we’re bringing it back with a 3-D sequel.  It’ll play a bit like the Payday games, except it’ll be more family friendly.  It’ll have the stylized, cartoony graphics of the original, and the guns and weapons you shoot just spit out large pellets that knock out other players with dizzy stars above their head.  So nobody dies or really gets hurt.  There will be an extensive multiplayer mode where one side is the thieves and the other team will be the police.  So it’ll play out like a childhood game of cops ‘n robbers.

Space Channel 5: Ulala’s Groovy Scoops

Have you ever played Rhythm Thief?  It was a 3DS music and rhythm game by SEGA and it was actually really good.  So we’re making a similar game on the 3DS with Ulala and her futuristic, groovy world.  The game will have more variety in the music games than just your standard “up, down, up, down, chu, chu, chu.”  Plus there will be multiple difficulty levels so players of all music skills can enjoy it.  I was tempted to put myself in the game, because, well, you know.  But I resisted temptation.

Fantasy Zone Collection

A long time ago in arcades, SEGA made a cutesy 2-D shooter called Fantasy Zone, and it starred a cute little spaceship with wings and feet named Opa-Opa.  Before Sonic came along, Opa-Opa was actually one of SEGA’s first mascots.  Anyway, this collection will have all of Opa-Opa’s arcade exploits, as well as the 3-D remake on SEGA Ages.  Plus it’ll have the Master System game Fantasy Zone: The Maze, which was one of my favorites because it combined a shooter with Pac-Man.  And since Space Harrier takes place in the same world as Fantasy Zone, we’ll have all the Space Harrier games on this collection, too.  Including the 3-D arcade game Planet Harriers that came out in the late 90’s.  There was actually a Turbo CD game planned that combined Fantasy Zone with Space Harrier called Space Fantasy Zone, but I don’t know if it was ever finished.  But for this collection, we’re going to try and finish it and add it to the game, too.  If this collection does well, I’m hoping we can do other SEGA arcade collections.  Like a Zaxxon one that has arcade Zaxxon and Super Zaxxon, as well as home versions like the 32X Zaxxon Motherbase.  I also would like to do a Pengo collection, with the arcade game, SEGA channel only Genesis update, and the four player Pengo game that recently came out in Japanese arcades!

SEGA Pico Collection

Back when SEGA was toying around with new consoles like the SEGA CD, 32X, and Saturn, they actually had another console called the SEGA Pico.  It was geared toward preschool kids, and had a touch screen and book-like cartridges.  Because it’s similar to the Wii U, and Flicky Tails Studios is going to specialize in family games, we’re going to make a collection of Pico games for the Wii U.  And also for Sonic fans who want to play EVERY Sonic game ever made!  We may update a few things from the original Pico so it doesn’t seem quite as outdated, but the collection will include titles like Sonic’s Gameworld, Tails and the Music Maker, and Ecco Jr.  We may even make brand new titles that parents can download like Ristar and Our Solar System, and Jet Set Radio Jr.: Colors and Shapes.

Streets of Rage 4

Even though Flicky Tails Studios is doing mostly family friendly games using classic SEGA franchises, we will make one slightly more mature title.  I know that a few years ago, some folks made an indie Streets of Rage 4 and SEGA shut them down.  I hate it that SEGA did that, but at the same time, you have to keep things legal when you’re working with copyrighted material.  I don’t know if we’ll have some of those same people work on this one or not, but this Streets of Rage 4 will have all the classic characters, sprite-based graphics, and a soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro!  Yay!

Streets of Craze 2 1/2

I loved Double Dragon Neon because it was so silly, but some didn’t like the less serious take on the franchise.  But we’re going to have the best of both worlds here.  If you want a more serious Streets of Rage, try our Streets of Rage 4.  But if you want something sillier, we’re also making a spoof called Streets of Craze 2 1/2. You’ll be able to pick all your favorite Streets of Rage characters, like Axel, Blaze, Skate, and even the kangaroo.  But we’ll also have playable characters from other SEGA franchises like Tyris Flare, Sarah Bryant, Knuckles, and Ulala.  You have to be careful which foods you pick up off the ground and eat in this one, because if you eat too many sweets, your character will get temporarily fat and slow down.  Move around and you’ll go back to normal.  But on the flipside, if you pick up nutritious foods like vitamins and cans of spinach, your character will get super-buff and have stronger attacks for a while.  There will be standard city slum stages, as well as sillier levels like one made entirely out of clay, and a medieval Golden Axe nightclub stage.  And one of the bosses will be the giant mac truck from the City Escape level of Sonic Adventure 2!

See You Next Game!

And that’s what I’ll be working on!  As you can tell, I’ll be really busy so this’ll be the last you’ll hear from me.  Plus my personal life has been busy, too.  I just got married to a lovely lady who is a professional power lifter and owns a bait and tackle fishing supply store by the nearby lake.  We just had twins, too.  The stork brought them over today.  Two baby boys: one with a red cap and one with a green cap.  If you were wondering which house the stork in Yoshi’s New Island was supposed to go to, well, now you know.  So…see you all later!

APRIL FOOLS!

Yeah I know I’m not supposed to reveal the joke in my own blog, but I just wanted to fool you all for a little bit, not lie to you outright.  Plus, I purposely make these April Fools blogs so gradually ridiculous that there’s no way you could believe it by the end.  Not to mention I’ve done one of these April Fools blogs every year for so long that most of you just expect it.  I thought this would be a fun and creative way for me to write a blog about some games I wish SEGA would make.  One of these game ideas, Ristar and Comette, actually came to me in a dream I had a few years ago!  I can’t believe my brain thought of all that while I was sleeping!  Anyway, in the comments section, tell me what kinds of SEGA games you’d like for me to make at “Flicky Tails Studios.”  Later!  --Cary