Video: The First Sega AGES Trailers Have Arrived For Sonic And Thunder Force IV

Man, Thunderforce is day one for me! So much SEGA goodness. Nomnomnom.

I'll be interested in whichever games aren't included in the Sega Genesis Classics collection coming later this year. Phantasy Star, with the addition of that Etrian Odyssey-style map system, will be one for sure.

Finally! Somewhere that I can buy Sonic the Hedgehog!!!

Lol, sorry, sorry! Neither of these are for me, but I'm sure there will be some other classic games coming soon that I'll love. Definitely some Saturn era games I'll be looking forward to.

Why couldn't they just use the Christian Whitehead remake of Sonic 1 instead? It's in widescreen, has the spin dash, has Tails and Knuckles as unlockable characters, and could easily have the drop dash added as well.

Something about using Thunder Force III ship in the game? Is that why that last segment, I noticed, has a different font than the rest for some reason?

I don't think I'll be picking these up since we have the Genesis Collection releasing soon(ish). However, if Sonic 3 & Knuckles gets the Ages treatment then that will be a Day 1 buy for me. Still can't fathom why that game's been left out of the collection, it's probably the best classic Sonic game ever made.

Does it have English option if I get from japan eshop?

+1 for being a lot disapointed that this is not the Christian Whitehead remake.

16/9 is such a great addition to Sonic 1&2.

No interest

@Drac_Mazoku I don't recall people saying the emulation on the collection was bad...

For some reason i remember Thunder Force IV looking and sounding more impressive than what the trailer showed.

I would love for M2 to do all of the Thunder Force games, Musha, Truxton, and a few others that escape me right now. The Switch is the first console that I've really been able to put in the time to improve my shoot-em-up skills, and I would love to further master all of the abovementioned games.

was thunderforce done by the same shop that did darius?

similarities are striking.

Can we remove the borders though? And if not does the Genesis/Mega Drive collection have that option?

EDIT - Turns out you can stretch the game to 16:9, change the border image or just have black edges, yay

I may or may not get Thunder Force IV. The only one of these announced games I'm absolutely getting is Phantasy Star. And the Genesis Collection, of course.

@immensechicken - English is a supported language according to the Japanese eShop listing.

Thunderforce for sure. Phantasy Star too, but that's probably it as I plan on getting collection. Needs mah Shining Force, Bonanza bros, and VF2.

@Drac_Mazoku good to know. Mega drive was my only console ever until switch so I really want a collection but that can be a big issue

Nah, I'm good. Ill just wait for the Genesis collection in December.

Why is he spindashing? I'm confused.

@Stu13 Added feature for Sega Ages

Which versions are these? Sonic for the arcades, and Thunder Force for the Mega Drive?

Some of the titles are exclusive to Sega Ages, so let's buy them this way and get the compilation if we want. Just that.

@PhilKenSebben Now...an M2 conversion of the VF2 arcade and I would go nuts!

@Sinton Sonic has the Megadrive and arcade version with some improvements like added spin dash. Thunderforce IV is the Megadrive version with the extra shiip from the Saturn version.

@GrailUK Your voice to M2's ears!

@Drac_Mazoku Id suggest M2 are not perfect either, Sonic on 3DS still makes the wrong sound when you pass the post, though overall its really good emulation. The megadrive collection is pretty good for the price, its not anywhere near SEGA smash pack on Dreamcast, or Sonic on DS levels of bad (at least on PS4 where Ive played it). I also really like the CRT filters on the PS4 collection. For Sonic, Id say the mobile version by Christian Whitehead is the best.

@OorWullie Thanks!

I didn't realize Thunderforce IV looked that good. That's my kind of shmup!

Thunderforce IV looks awesome and I'm loving the sound FX and music too. Can't understand why I haven't played it before.

May get Sonic as well just because you can do the spin dash move which you couldn't do in the original. Do have it on 3DS but will be better on the big screen with my SNES style 8 Bit Do controller.

@ilikeike I've never understood why they don't allow the lock-on feature for the Sonic games to be combined with Sonic & Knuckles. Would buy Sonic & Knuckles 3 day one if it was released. For now I have to use Sonic Mega Collection on the Gamecube but the controller isn't so good for 2D platformers.

@ilikeike When they released Mega Drive Ultimate Collection almost 10 years ago it included Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Separated. But included both. However, they didn't include nor Sonic 2 & Knuckles nor Sonic 3 & Knuckles. According to them, it would have taken up the space of the extra unlockable games and videos.

@KingMike That's what they're calling the Styx mode. You can see "Styx" in the text in the video. Apparently, it is a mode to play TF4 with the ship and weapons from TF3 as it looked to be from the video.

Sega just needs to rerelease the Megadrive Arcade Power Stick! I still use my imported one but a rerelease for modern connections will probably never happen, so sad 😞

Here is a video that shows off all the settings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7mDIFmLfhA

You can turn off the wallpapers and zoom in to 4:3 or 16:9 fullscreen.

Definitely getting Thunderforce IV, Sonic will eventually come with the Genesis Classic Collection anyways.

Thunderforce IV immediately!! Genesis Collection too!! Outrun hopefully this year!!

@sword_9mm Darius was done by Taito. FYI a Darius collection is coming to Switch! 😊

I bought Sonic and TFIV off the JP eShop. They both have menus in English, but the page for the manual is only a test page.

It’s weird that Sega seems to be in a “gives a sh**” mood right now.

@Sinton There is no arcade version of this Sonic game (nor for any of the sequels on the Genesis and Sega CD).

@wazlon The lock-on features were also available on the Wii Virtual Console versions of the games for those who bought them when they had the chance.

@BulbasaurusRex I’m not too familiar with the different versions of Sonic (I do know that the Master System and Mega Drive games are different), but I noticed in the video that there was something about «mega arcade» and «insert coin»?

@FX102A
I downloaded it from the JP eShop, and i have to say it looks a lot better then what i expected from the trailers and footage i've seen.
Maybe it's because the games default visual option is the one with boarders around the screen instead of the zoomed 4:3 option.

Of course, in the end this IS just a very good looking Genesis game, after playing a lot of stuff from the Neo Geo and other more advanced arcade hardware it may look less impressive then back when it was cutting edge in it's console environment.

@BulbasaurusRex Yeah, I'm beginning to regret not buying them on the Wii virtual console. They actually took it off the virtual console games list a while before the service was cut off entirely.

@BulbasaurusRex I do remember when I was a kid there was an arcade with Sonic the Hedgehog (first game) where you would pay to play.

@Sinton That's Mega-Play/Mega-Tech, Sega's version of Nintendo's Vs. System and PlayChoice-10 (not sure which was which between Play and Tech), arcade variations of the home console hardware.