Retro Gaming Australia

We’ve seen the evidence on the Classification Board, but Sega has finally confirmed that their 3D Classics range will be heading to the eShop in Australia, Europe and North America before the end of 2013.

The releases are being staggered over a period of four weeks:

November 28: 3D Space Harrier, 3D Super Hang-On
December 5: 3D Sonic The Hedgehog, 3D Altered Beast
December 12: 3D Ecco the Dolphin, 3D Galaxy Force II
December 19: 3D Shinobi III, 3D Streets of Rage

These games will set you back $US5.99/€4.99/£4.49 a piece. Australian prices have not been confirmed but sources expect them to be around $AU8.

Source: Vooks

Sega seems to be having a good run on the 3DS eShop, as they have announced a second round of 3D Classics for the system. Only two titles have been announced so far – Ecco the Dolphin and Galaxy Force II.

Ecco the Dolphin will be out on the Japanese eShop on June 26 – next week. It will include an extra mode, called Super Dolphin Mode, which gives players unlimited air and life, making the game significantly easier. The game will let you switch between the Japanese and Western releases – the Japanese version is apparently a bit harder.

Each game will also support save states and CRT TV emulation, and will set you back 600 yen.

For the second episode of Retro Gaming Theatre, we’re taking everybody’s favourite video game dolphin out for a 20th birthday celebration. Revel in my ineptitude at nose bashing blue bottles, along with being bored with the game’s horrible labyrinthine level design.

Ecco the Dolphin was a moderate success for Sega. They ported the original game to the Master System, Game Gear and Mega CD. It also spawned a handful of sequels in Ecco II: The Tides of Time, Ecco. Jr and Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future.

Apart from inclusions in recent Sega collections, Ecco has been absent from the public eye since the PlayStation 2 release of Defender for the Future. Will his next appearance be in a video game, or in a can of John West’s finest?

Ecco: The Tides of Time is the second game to feature Ecco the Dolphin. It picks up right where the first game left off, but it turns out that the Vortex Queen wasn’t vanished, and she’s travelled to Earth to build a new home for herself – hoping to sell Ecco to John West in the process.