SEGA has launched their new mobile title, SEGA Forever, for iOS and Android. The app is meant to feature multiple games from SEGA’s entire library, meaning that players will have a chance to play whatever SEGA game they want to eventually.
The trailer for SEGA Forever, which can be found on the SEGA Forever official YouTube channel, shows a mad scientist zapping a mobile phone with older SEGA games and franchises, such as one of their most popular franchises Sonic The Hedgehog.
From the trailer, SEGA Forever will be available for free, there will be games from every SEGA console era, a worldwide leaderboard for its games, and wireless Bluetooth controller support. “Welcome to the next level” flashes on the screen, indication SEGA’s move to start remaking their games for mobile.
New games will be released for SEGA Forever each month. The current games that have been released for SEGA Forever’s launch are Sonic The Hedgehog (released in 1991), Altered Beast (released in 1988), Phantasy Star II (released in 1989 in Japan, 1990 in America), Kid Chameleon (released in 1992) and Comix Zone (released in 1995). All of these games were released for the SEGA Genesis, a console that was released in 1989 and discontinued in 1997. During its time, the SEGA Genesis sold around 29 million units according to IGN.
Along with the features shown off in the trailer, players will also be able to save their game progress and play offline according to the SEGA Forever official website. The next game that will be coming to SEGA Forever is Virtua Tennis Challenge which was released for iOS and Android in 2012.
It seems that SEGA is also open to game suggestions, telling players to go to the SEGA Forever official Facebook page to let them know. Players can directly message SEGA Forever from a link in the About section, and have the slogan “We’re listening.”
SEGA began teasing the release of SEGA Forever on the SEGA Forever official Twitter account. On June 13, the account tweeted “Test one, two… #SEGAForever” with the pixelated SEGA logo.
On their Facebook page, SEGA Forever a comic strip posted which says “The Bowery, New York City. Tonight. The studio apartment of artist Sketch Turner, the creator of…”. Sketch Turner is the main protagonist of Comix Zone, which was released in the first batch of SEGA games on SEGA Forever.
The official SEGA Forever Instagram page also hinted at Comix Zone being one of the games available with a photo of Sketch Turner coming out of a comic book page.
The SEGA Forever Twitter account was created in November of last year, possibly hinting at the app’s launch. Also, along with the SEGA Forever Twitter account, SEGA has created dedicated Twitter accounts to some of the characters from the five games a part of the SEGA Forever launch.
This includes and a Caterkiller from Sonic The Hedgehog, Sketch Turner and Alissa Cyan from Comix Zone, Shir Gold and a Spitkill from Phantasy Star II, a Chicken Stinger from Altered Beast and Kid Chameleon from Kid Chameleon. These accounts can be found in the “People followed by SEGA Forever” page on Twitter.
In recent months, SEGA has been focusing more on mobile gaming along with a PC port of Bayonetta, upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog games Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces, and the releases of Total War: Warhammer and the Japanese release of Yakuza 6. SEGA Forever is a big step for SEGA to please fans of their older games and franchises who aren’t fans of their recent releases.
SEGA Forever launched June 22 for iOS and Android and is free to download. More information about SEGA Forever can be found on its official website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channel (where the trailer can also be found in French, Spanish, German and Portuguese).
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons.
