UK Charts: Week Ending 20/06/09

Today is Monday, the new home of the UK Charts. From now on I will post today rather than on a Tuesday due to most other blogs shifting to Monday, rendering my charts ancient history (by internet standards).

Anyway, to the games. Virtua Tennis 2009 is continuing its rise up the charts, climbing two places to #9. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, which has been falling quite rapidly in recent weeks, has remained at #22.

Football Manager 2009 has dropped three places to #29, and Sega Superstars Tennis has fallen four places to #32.

Not a particularly eventful week, although I am surprised that Mario and Sonic is finally falling down the charts. It was almost permanently in the Top 10, and now it's at a measly #22. Surely everyone has a copy by now?

More charts next week. See last week's here.

Sonic appeared in Saturn Tamagotchi game

A while ago I posted information on a Sega Toys-produced virtual pet toy. Recently I discovered that Sonic himself appeared in a Tamagotchi game, published by Bandai in 1998.

The game, entitled Sega Saturn de Hakken!! Tamagotchi Park ("de Hakken" meaning "discovered in"), had some hidden Sega characters that your pet could turn into, among them Sonic and Alex Kidd. "Sonikkutchi" could be fed, played with and given medicine, and would sleep in a ball at night. Awww.


Sonicology says that Sonikkutchi was the best character, a spot usually filled by Mametchi and Mimitchi (yes, I'm a Tamagotchi freak). I'm not sure how good of a character Arekutchi (Alex Kidd) was, however.


Sonic has certainly appeared in some weird places. It's a shame how often he cameos with Mario nowadays, though. It would have been unthinkable back in the Nineties!

[Source: Random Japanese Sonic Site and Act Select]

Sonic characters' name etymologies are interesting

Probably not where Robotnik's name came from...

An interesting blog called "Back of the Cereal Box" has posted a history of game characters' name etymologies. It includes explanations of names in the Zelda, Mario and Street Fighter series, as well as the Sonic series.

Most of the etymologies are fairly well-known in the Sonic community, but make an interesting read nonetheless:

"Robotnik happens to mean worker in Polish and peasant in Czech. Robotnik was even the name of the newspaper of the Polish Socialist Party. Is Sonic, then, crusading against socialism? Probably not. Robotnik comes from the same origins as the word robot, and the Sonic villain should be known for robot creation if nothing else. Today, Robotnik goes by the far less cool name Doctor Eggman, in apparent reference to his rotund physique. By the way, on the subject of the character’s appearance, his looks — including his trademark moustache — were inspired by Teddy Roosevelt.

Similarly, Sonic’s sidekick Tails has two names as well — the one everyone knows and his “real” name, Miles Prower. It might seem like a useless footnote, but it brings the added benefit of being a pun on the phrase miles per hour. (Ha.) It should probably be noted that joke would make a lot more sense if Tails was known for his ability to run quickly instead of uselessly flying about with an anatomically anomalous helicopter tail.

The majority of Sonic characters aren’t of much use for this article as their names are straightforward. (Knuckles the Echidna, for example, is an echidna who has pointy knuckles. Brilliant.) There are, however, two characters that time has essentially forgotten, Ray the Flying Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo, that I think deserve a mention. Both debuted in an arcade game, SegaSonic the Hedgehog, that allowed players to control Sonic, Ray and Mighty with a trackball and a single jump button. The three moved identically.

Despite what their names might imply, Ray could not fly and Mighty was not especially powerful. Lame, I know. And I think Sega did too, as Ray never appeared again and Mighty appeared only once more. However, latter-day Sonic games such as Sonic Heroes frequently feature characters grouped into threes — one that can move fast, one that can fly, and one especially that is strong. If you think about it, these three attributes are reflected in the names of the leads in SegaSonic the Hedgehog. In the sense of sunlight, a ray is an airborne thing, while the associations with the word mighty are obvious. In this sense, SegaSonic the Hedgehog’s take on the three-man team could be seen as a precursor to what appeared in these later games.

Two other quick ones: A few Sonic games feature a ninja chameleon named Espio and I only recently realized that the reference to the word espionage makes the name the most appropriate one ever for a ninja chameleon.

Sega jumped on the fighting game craze in 1996 with Sonic the Fighters, which had the various Sonic characters kicking the crap out of each other for no apparent reason. The cast included a character whose name bucks the pattern of “name + the + animal species” — a bomb-tossing duck saddled with the baffler Bean the Dynamite. The odd name references the lesser known Sega title Dynamite Düx, which starred ducks named Bin and Pin who also specialized in explosive devices."

I never realised that Espio was short for "espionage", and that Sonic Heroes may have been based on SegaSonic the Hedgehog. Weird. Anyway, aside from Sonic, there is an entry on Golden Axe:

"Ax Battler is one of the three playable characters in Sega’s sword-slinging beat-’em-up Golden Axe, the other two being Red Sonja rip-off Tyris Flare and feisty dwarf Gillius Thunderhead, the latter of which himself has a pretty terrific name. Upon hearing the name Ax Battler, you might think the name is actually a description of the character. It’s not. You might also think he’d be the one of the three characters who fights with an axe — if not the very axe referenced in the game’s title. Nope again. Mr. Battler carries a sword; it’s Mr. Thunderhead who carries the axe. Finally, there’s the strangeness in the fact that the game officially spells the character’s name Ax — that is, without the “E” at the end. Now ax is an acceptable spelling of the word more commonly represented as axe, but the fact that both would feature in the game so prominently is just stupid. Even worse: a later spin-off that focused specifically on Ax at the exclusion of Tyris and Gillius awkwardly included both spellings in the same title: Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe. Fortunately, this title is now remembered as little more than a rip-off of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, even down to the structure of the title. Sequels Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder and Golden Axe III replace Ax with clones with equally awkward names: Stern Blade and Kain Grinder, respectively."

Ax Battler is almost as cool as Captain Ace Gunn and Major Rock Hardy from Xybots. Why aren't characters named so ridiculously now?

[Source: Back of the Cereal Box via Kotaku]

Arcade version of Golden Axe to be released on Virtual Console

Next week, the arcade version of the Sega classic Golden Axe will be released on the Japanese Virtual Console. The game will retail for 800 Wii Points, the same price as the Mega Drive version.

There are some differences between the Mega Drive and the arcade version, which may make you consider buying both. The arcade version features a higher colour palette, better animation and sound, parallax scrolling and generally more detail. The Mega Drive version, due to technical limitations, has less colour and detail but makes up for it with two extra levels and two extra modes ("Beginner" and "Duel").

All of the Mega Drive versions of Golden Axe are available on the Virtual Console, including Golden Axe III which was never released in cartridge form outside of Japan. They are also available on Mega Drive Ultimate Collection.

There has been no mention of a North American or European release yet.

[Source: Nintendo Life]

Alien Soldier gets Genesis'd

"Bratwurst" over on Sega-16 has created a Genesis version of the classic Treasure shooter Alien Soldier, box and all. The game, originally released in 1995, never saw a Genesis release, making it only to Japan and Europe on the Mega Drive.

Other well-known Treasure games on the Mega Drive include Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Headdy, both of which were released in all regions. The only way to play Alien Soldier in North America was through the Sega Channel service, a cable equivalent of today's PSN and XBLA.

Games such as Pulseman, Golden Axe III and Mega Man: The Wily Wars were only released on the Channel, with some since being "Genesis'd" by Bratwurst. These cartridge versions are sometimes available for purchase.

You can of course buy Alien Soldier on the Virtual Console, but why would you want that when you could have the physical version?

[Source: Kotaku]

Master Systems do not make good Tap boxes

Picos aren't much good either.

Sega of America employees have been competing in a Let's Tap Tap-Off, each using a specialist "box" of their choice. Let's Tap requires the Wii remote to be placed on tappable surface in order to pick up the vibrations which control the game.

Choices of weapon included an Xbox 360, a NiGHTS magazine cover, a PS3 box and a Wii box. By far the best (yet least effective) boxes were the Sega Pico box and the Master System.


Whilst the Pico box faired okay, the Master System proved unsuccessful. Here's what the Tapper said:

"Let me just say that this was a mistake. I completely failed the third round because the poor Master System wasn't picking up the vibrations, and I didn't have the heart to hit it hard.

Don't try this one at home, folks."

In future just stick to cardboard. Take it from Sega: don't risk destroying your beautiful old consoles!

[Source: Sega of America Flickr]

More Sonic 18th Birthday tat

Last week I reported how Sega Japan are giving away prizes in celebration of Sonic's 18th Birthday. Well, the competition is still open, but you can also download some free stuff for your phone!


Birthday-themed wallpaper is available for download, which unfortunately has a large watermark on. You'll have to go on the WAP site to download them properly, where I would personally opt for Sonic holding the doughnut cake with Iced Gems around it.


Perhaps not in celebration of Sonic's birthday on Tuesday, but still good anyway, is this newly-released Sonic raincoat. The coat has a nice varsity-style Sonic print on it, front and back. It will cost you ¥4,935 (about £30), which is actually quite good in comparison to the outrageously-priced Enterbrain Sega products.


Other items available, which are made by Cospa, include a "Stay Sonic" t-shirt (¥3,045/£20), those indie cushions (¥2,625/£16.55) and bandanas (¥1,260/£8) I mentioned a few months ago, a reversible Sonic/Werehog top (¥4,200/£26), and various other Sonic t-shirts for ¥3,045 each.

If only I lived in Japan - the amount of Sega-themed tat I would own!

[Source: Sonic Channel]

UK Charts: Week Ending 13/06/09

Virtua Tennis 2009 is again this week's highest Sega charter, taking over the role from Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. It has dropped two places to #11, with Mario and Sonic falling one place to #22.

Football Manager 2009 keeps a steady position at #26, up three from last week. Sega Superstars Tennis has risen as well, up five places to #28.

Mega Drive Ultimate Collection has failed to get back in the Top 40, after falling out last week. Oh well.

In the future I may start posting the UK Charts on a Monday, as other blogs seem to be doing this as well making mine outdated. At least I use a different chart to most other blogs!

More charts next week. See last week's here.

Arcade version of Space Harrier released on Virtual Console

Space Harrier is one of the many arcade titles coming to the Virtual Console this year. Today it was released on the North American store, with the European store receiving it on the 29th May. Japan got it back in March when the games were first announced.

It was originally thought that the arcade titles would cost 500 Wii Points, 300 Points cheaper than their Mega Drive counterparts. It turns out that they too will cost 800 Points.

Nintendo Life gave the arcade version just 5/10, whereas the Master System version got one point more. I would rate the game higher than that just to watch the mesmerising chequerboard floor!

[Source: Nintendo Life]

Sega-esque logo spotted in music video

Yes, this is positively ancient news (in internet terms) to some people, but watching the amazing video of Justice's "DVNO", I noticed a logo that looked remarkably familiar.

The 2008 video is based on the Scanimate logos utilised by TV channels and production studios in the 1970s and 1980s. Some are faithful reproductions, whilst others reference to other companies.


The Sega-esque logo pops up with the lyric "make the girls sweat", with "sweat" being in the classic Sega logo font. Beads of liquid drip down the metallic letters with glowy purple shapes in the background.

I based my Christmas SEGAtastic logo on the Scanimate and airbrush style:


The video as a whole is absolutely brilliant - I love anything shiny, so seeing logos based on analogue video technology was very pleasing. Digital technology simply cannot recreate light with as much realism and flare as the old Scanimate machines, but this video comes close.

You can view the video below:



[Source: The FontFeed]