Sega Rally Online Arcade

So with the Saturn celebrating 16 glorious years since it first lightened up the lives of videogamers and Sega-heads everywhere, what better time than now to bring us back a piece of unparalleled Saturn driving glory?

Now, for a mere pittance of 800 microsoft points, you can re-live the magic of the original '95 Saturn Sega Rally Desert stage, only with the beautiful graphic quality of 2007's Sega Rally Revo and the sublime bouncy arcade car physics of Sega Rally 3!

This really is a Saturn fan's wet dream. At the moment the only cars you can race the Desert stage with are the Toyota Celica ST205 or the Lancia Super Delta HF Integrale, with no sign of Sandro Munari's Lancia Stratos HF so far. Whether this, as well as the Forest and Mountain stages from the original will eventually be downloadable or unlockable remains to be seen.

As for now, the joy of this blast of admittedly limited nostalgia is satisfying enough; with the addition of online leaderboards showing the best times worldwide, as well as the ability to race on the famed '95 Desert Stage against online opponents through xbox live - there is some longevity to be had here.

I've played it to death! My best time on the track so far is 2:31.79 with the Toyota Celica (automatic gears.) The handling is superb, plus the right noises and commentary on the soundtrack to really get those Saturn juices flowing!

If you haven't got a 360, it'll be out soon on PS3. Failing that, get your Saturn out and play the original! Despite the pixelllated visuals, the gameplay and handling are as good as ever!

Happy 16th Birthday SEGA Saturn!

16 years ago today the beloved SEGA Saturn hit US stores following the announcement by SEGA of America President Tom Kalinske at E3 that the Saturn was now available in select retailers. While this move was one of SEGA's biggest mistakes ever, we'll not get into that. Instead, we'll celebrate the day as being the day the Saturn entered American homes!

To celebrate this event, SEGA Network partner SEGAbits is spending the entire month (and the week of June leading up to E3) to talk about all things Saturn! Expect to see Saturn-centric weekly features, reviews, videos, podcasts and more. I even plan on featuring some classic Saturn Junkyard articles. Sounds like fun, eh? Check out the Saturn theme I helped apply to SEGAbits:

Expect to see some exciting articles here at the Saturn Junkyard as well! It's a month you won't want to miss.

Guardian Heroes HD Heading to XBLA!

 
Looks like the Saturn is finally getting some rerelease love! The Saturn classic Guardian Heroes is heading to XBOX Live Arcade courtesy of SEGA (and perhaps Treasure?). Check out the press release:

SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd. today announced the upcoming re-release of Guardian Heroes™, a classic Action-RPG Brawler by celebrated developers Treasure. Originally released for the SEGA Saturn™ in 1996, Guardian Heroes has been re-mastered with enhanced graphics, online co-op and battle modes, all-new modes of play, and more. The game will be available via Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft this fall.

“Ever since we began to make SEGA’s classic Dreamcast and the Mega Drive titles available for modern systems, the fan response has been overwhelming – and the demand for their favorite games has been pouring in,” said Haruki Satomi, VP of Digital Business at SEGA. “Players have been clamoring for this treasured favorite from the Saturn days, and we cannot wait to show them what we have got for them.”

Guardian Heroes brings the Saturn favorite to life with new HD graphics, presenting Treasure’s iconic fast-paced gameplay on a new generation of hardware, with all of the convenience of purchase via instant download. The game also features:

• Action-RPG Brawling: Choose one of five heroes to level up and guide along a branching storyline with five different endings 

• Friends, Foes, and Fighters: Play the game’s Story Mode alone or with a second player, or challenge Versus Mode with up to 12 players at once
  

• Extended Gameplay: Time Attack Mode, Arcade Mode, Arrange Mode and more allow players to explore every nuance of 45 different fighters 

• Fully Re-Mastered: All-new graphics and visual effects bring the classic to life in a completely high-definition, widescreen presentation

Sounds fantastic! And it certainly will be less expensive than what the Saturn version goes for on ebay.

UPDATE: Head on over to SEGAbits to see Gamespot's preview and interview. Gameplay footage awaits, in both Saturn graphics and HD graphics!

[Source: NeoGAF and SEGAbits]