Retro Gaming Australia

Sonic Blast for the Sega Game Gear is set for re-release in Europe via the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console service.

Released in 1996, Sonic Blast was the last Sonic game to appear on the handheld. Players reprise the roles of Sonic and Knuckles and are tasked with collecting five Chaos Emeralds and defeating Eggman. Sonic Blast imbues Sonic with the ability to double jump to reach higher areas.

Sonic Blast releases on June 14 in Europe, so it should be available in Australia later today.

Source: Siliconera

The well-loved Shantae, a Game Boy Color classic, is planned for release on the Nintendo 3DS’s Virtual Console “soon”.

Shantae is a platformer developed by WayForward Technologies, which was released in North America in 2002. In the role of the half-genie Shantae, players journey through Sequin Land to challenge Risky Boots and his gang of pirates and thwart their evil plans. The games sequel Shantae: Risky’s Revenge was released in 2010 via DSiWare to critical acclaim – however the title was not released in Australia or New Zealand for unknown reasons.

Shantae is currently being rated by the ESRB, and upon its classification Nintendo will determine the release date for North America. There is no word on a PAL release at this stage.

Source: Nintendo World Report

In celebration of Harvest Moon’s 15 years in North America, Natsume is releasing Harvest Moon: A New Beginning for Nintendo 3DS.

North America first saw the farm simulation RPG series in June 1997 with the release of Harvest Moon for the Super Nintendo. Since then, Harvest Moon has appeared on numerous consoles and handhelds and spurred various spin-off titles such as Puzzle de Harvest Moon and the Rune Factory series.

Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, titled Harvest Moon: The Land of Origin in Japan, sees players rebuild an abandoned rural town in an effort to win back its inhabitants and return the town to its former glory. This instalment in the series features more customisation than previous Harvest Moon games, with players able to determine their character’s appearance and make changes to both their farm and town at large. There are also some new farm animals and crops to tend to, and the farmer can now go on family vacation – cute!

Expect to see Harvest Moon: A New Beginning released later this year.

Japanese trailer:

Kirby and his animal friends are headed to the 3DS Virtual Console next week, with the release of Kirby’s Dream Land 2.

Kirby’s Dream Land 2, a platformer for the Game Boy released in 1995, sees Kirby team up with Rick the Hamster, Coo the Owl and Kine the Ocean Sunfish to solve the mystery of the missing Rainbow Bridges that connect the seven Rainbow Islands, defeat evil, and save Dream Land. Kirby’s animal friends each have their own unique abilities and also alter Kirby’s powers.

Kirby’s Dream Land 2 will be available in Australia and Europe on May 17.

Master of Darkness (titled Vampire: Master of Darkness in the US), a Castlevania-style vampire hunting platformer released for the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear in the early 90s, will be re-released on the 3DS Virtual Console.

In Master of Darkness players take up the role of Dr. Social, a psychologist armed with a wide range of weapons – including knives, rapiers, axes, pistols and bombs, and fight their way through a variety of locations to defeat many enemies and eventually Dracula himself.

A date for the 3DS release is yet to be announced.

Source: Siliconera

Kirby’s Pinball Land looks set for release on the 3DS Virtual Console. The pinball game starring Kirby, originally released on the Game Boy in 1993, has been rated by the Australian Classification Board.

Kirby fans are in for quite a treat this year – with the release of both Kirby’s Pinball Land and 3D Classics: Kirby’s Adventure on the Nintendo 3DS eShop, and the upcoming Kirby collection disc for the Wii celebrating the series’ recent 20th anniversary.

Expect more details soon.

The Sword of Hope 2 has been rated by the Australian Classification Board, with Nintendo listed as the publisher.

The Sword of Hope II is a RPG developed my Kemco and released in 1996 (North America) for the Game Boy, and it looks set for release as The Sword of Hope 2 on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.

This will be the first time the title sees a release in PAL territories.

In its latest issue, Famitsu has revealed that a Nintendo 3DS remake of Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers is currently underway.

Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, a sci-fi turn-based RPG originally released only in Japan for the Sega Saturn (1997) and PlayStation (1999), is a sequel to Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner and a spin-off installment of the Megami Tensei series. The 3DS remake, developed by Atlus, will feature improved loading times, additional battle animations and full voice acting.

Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers will be released in Japan on August 30. There is no word of an English release, but here’s hoping.

Source: Siliconera

Last week, news broke that Nintendo had acquired the “supermario4.com” domain name and speculation as to meaning ensued. Shigeru Miyamoto, in an interview with Korean website Betanews overnight, has confirmed that Super Mario 4 is currently in development.

No details about the upcoming title were released, save for the announcement of its existence. It is unknown whether Super Mario 4 is the 2D Mario game for the Nintendo 3DS that was promised last year or the Wii U Super Mario title (to be shown at E3 this year). Perhaps it is something new entirely?

With Super Mario Bros. 4 deemed already in existence by many (referring to Super Mario World – subtitled Super Mario Bros. 4 in Japan), we are curious as to how this new Super Mario 4 will eventuate and keen to hear the choice of name/codename explained. Super Mario 3D Land has Super Mario Bros. 3 at its core, maybe this Super Mario 4 will have a similar relationship with Super Mario World. Only time, and Nintendo, will tell.

Miyamoto stated that more details would be revealed soon.

Capcom, Namco Bandai and Sega have revealed to Famitsu that their collaborative project is a 3DS strategy RPG called Project X Zone (pronounced Project Cross Zone).

The three way crossover features characters from some of the companies’ most well known titles, and combat will see them teaming up and fighting in pairs such as Ryu with Ken (Street Fighter), and X with Zero (Mega Man).

Twenty-five characters have been confirmed thus far (see below), with more to be announced.

Capcom

• Ryu and Ken (Street Fighter)
• X and Zero (Mega Man)
• Demitri (Darkstalkers)
• Dante (Devil May Cry)
• Chris and Jill (Resident Evil)

Namco Bandai

• Sanger Somvold (Super Robot Wars)
• Jin and Ling Xiaoyu (Tekken)
• Kos-Mos and T-elos (Xenosaga)
• Yuri and Estelle (Tales of Vesperia)
• Kaito and Black Rose (.hack)

Sega

• Shinguji Sakura and Ogami Ichiro (Sakura Wars)
• Pai and Akira (Virtua Fighter)
• Kurt and Riela (Valkyria Chronicles)
• Ulala (Space Channel 5)
• Touma (Shining Force EXA)