Smashboards Creates: Battle of AGES, a SEGA platform fighter

[tonygameman]

Job #66: NiGHTS Assist - Jackle (NiGHTS into Dreams...)

Jackle is a second-level Nightmaren (supposedly a failed first-level), who appeared in NiGHTS into Dreams as one of the bosses, facing against NiGHTS and Claris Sinclair in Soft Museum after they managed to collect all the Ideyas in the level. He also made an appearance in the Archie comic, Sonic Pinball Party's Soft Museum table and the Nightmare Zone DLC of Sonic Lost World.

As an assist character, when summoned by the player, Jackle will do his trademark maniacal laugh and fly around, throwing his razor-sharp card projectiles at opponents, slowing them down on-contact. When a card projectile hits the ground, it will create a blue energy orb which travels across it and damages whoever touches it. To defeat Jackle, the fighter has to evade his projectiles and then attack him with enough hits to remove his cloak/cape, which makes him vulnerable. However, he will fly around faster without it in attempt to escape fighters from defeating him, despite being unable to attack.

 

[Speed Weed]

Alright, guys, sorry for slacking on this one: voting on the NiGHTS assist has begun!

Here's what we got:

Puffy ( Tankman from Newgrounds )
Owl ( osby )
Jackle ( tonygameman )

Here's the poll:

Le vote | StrawPoll

What is your opinion? Vote now: Puffy, Owl, Jackle

strawpoll.com

---------------------------------------------------------

On another note, however....

I was honestly thinking we could do a bit of a reform with the stage addition process - namely, I'm considering the possibility of us shifting tracklists to their own separate round after we add the stage in question.

For a few reasons. One of these is that I feel like having them both in the same job can end up being too much extra steps for someone who just had a stage idea but then also has to make a tracklist, and vice-versa. Now, I have let people make tracklists for others' submissions, but then we still have another problem, in that in our current system, the tracklist that comes with a person's submission is the one that stage gets, end of. The thing is, I don't feel like this is very fair. The way this is set up feels to me like it ends up tying the stage and tracklist together a bit too much. Do you like the idea of a given stage, but aren't a fan of its proposed tracklist? Well tough luck, that's the one you're getting if that stage wins! I feel like making tracklists a separate round would somewhat help us in making smarter choices when it comes to the soundtrack of this project, considering a wider variety of music and truly figuring out what would be the best fit. I imagine SEGA music is a big deal to most people here, myself included, and as such, I believe it deserves a more organized addition process than it currently has. As I mentioned, doing things this way would also remove the pressure on people who might have a cool stage idea, but can't come up with a tracklist for their own sake. The downside here is that it'll make things a bit lengthier, but I think the pros outweigh the cons.

Though I don't want to immediately jump to doing this of course. I'll be testing this new format out when we get to the Bayo stage, and provided it goes well and everyone's cool with it, it'll most likely become the approach we take from now on.

Alright, now go vote on the NiGHTS assist or else I'll break your kneecaps

 

[Speed Weed]

The votes are in: Owl will be our NiGHTS assist!

Now then, here's another more uh.....complicated job.

Job #67: What third thing will our shop sell?

Alright, so context:

This game has a shop. It has been established that it sells music tracks and extra alt costumes. However, I don't think this is enough, and we did also establish that they'd also sell a Third Unknown Thing. So what will that thing be?

So yeah, this job is just for us to submit something that'll round out our in-game shop's offerings. I think this kinda speaks for itself, so I'll simply say something else: try not to go too crazy with your submissions. I'm moreso just looking for Something Neat! Hell, it can even be something we've already technically added

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

Job #67:
Support Power-ups for start.

When they appear at shop, you can buy them to Equip items at start of Battle like for example:
Buying a Periscope Power-Up would allow you to start with Periscope at start of Battle.

That would be cool if we had Weapons already in the Game at start of intensive match.

 

[osby]

Job #67: Artworks

These would be decorative items that can be purchased from the shops and can be viewed from the Photo Album. Rather than promotional art created for this game or in-game photos, these would be artwork from various games represented by fighters and else. Playable fighters usually have their renders from their origin games but it's also possible to find game covers and other illustrations.

 

[cashregister9]

Job 67

Demos

These would be demos of most of the game represented, Think Masterpieces from Smash without a time limit but instead of the time limit it ends after a certain point or limits you in some way. Some demo examples could be
-Spring Valley from NiGHTS
-Stage 1 from Streets Of Rage
-Akira's Arcade mode from Virtua Fighter
-The opening part of Persona 5 Royal
-1 song from Persona 4 Dancing all Night
-A Majima Encounter from Yakuza Kiwami 1

 

[Speed Weed]

Forgive me for slacking once again, but voting is now open!

So here's what we have:

Support Power-Ups ( Tankman from Newgrounds )
Artwork ( osby )
Demos ( cashregister9 )

And here's the poll:

Le vote | StrawPoll

What is your opinion? Vote now: Support Power-Ups, Artwork, Demos

strawpoll.com

 

[Speed Weed]

And voting is done and over with: artwork is being added to our game and will be available for sale at the shop!

Now with this in mind, I've decided to set something up:

Free submissions for pieces of artwork - similarly to Capsule Toys and VMU RPG mooks - are now open!

Just like these, however, make sure to keep it to a limit of 3 per post.

As for how to submit them, just include the following things:

-The image in question
-A name for the image
-The IP it comes from
-Its origin

It also has to be a piece of official artwork. So no fanart.

With that outta the way, how about we take another breather before we get to Bayo?

Discussion Period #4: What characters or franchises do you feel are necessary to include in this roster?

So yeah, how about we just chill and talk about **** again?

You may think we've already gone over this, but that was about what characters you wanted - this is about what characters you feel are necessary inclusions or should be included. I'm frankly just interested in seeing what everyone's perspective of what the Important Inclusions left are is. So uhhhhhhhhhhh yeah. Go off.

 

[cashregister9]

I have 3 Artworks from Sakura Wars

Tokyo Combat Revue

Paris Combat Revue

New York Combat Revue

All 3 pieces of Art are from a Gigantic CD box released for the series.

Discussion 4

In terms of series that I think are necessary, I think we could use a rep from Shin Megami Tensei and Phantasy Star

 

[OrpheusTelos]

Starting off, I just wanna say that so far we’re doing a really good job covering our bases. We have a decent amount of the really big hitters out of the way and there’s a ton of diversity in terms of playstyles/genres/eras of Sega history represented. That being said, here’s some of the inclusions I think would really bring the roster together:

• Phantasy Star is probably the biggest omission on our roster right now. It’s Sega’s flagship JRPG franchise and is one of their longest-running active franchises, with Phantasy Star Online 2 maintaining an active playerbase and keeping the series relevant. There’s a few great choices to pull from, Alis being a good choice to represent the series’ beginnings, but I’m a huge supporter of Nei just from her design, potential moveset, and popularity
• Puyo Puyo is another franchise that we should totally add as soon as we get the opportunity. It’s one of Sega’s bigger modern hits and has been seeing consistent releases for the past 30 years. Based on what I know about Puyo Puyo, Arle is the best character to represent the series.
• Speaking of franchises seeing recent releases, how about that Super Monkey Ball? It’s one of Sega’s biggest non-Sonic franchises and is still very much active, so its absence would definitely be felt. I can’t really think of a character that would fit the role of playable rep better than Aiai.
• To round out our Dreamcast representation, I feel like Ryo and Beat are musts. Sega loves using Jet Set Radio in crossovers too much for us to ignore Beat, plus it’d be a crime if Jet Set Radio music never made it in. And Shenmue is just one of the most influencial and important video games Sega has ever developed, so we gotta have it if we wanna represent as much of Sega’s important franchises as possible.
• You know I’m gonna be the person to bring this up, but we really need some Shin Megami Tensei in this ****. I know Persona already falls under the Megaten umbrella and is generally more popular, but mainline really needs some love as Atlus’ big flagship franchise and the series that put them on the map. I think Demi-Fiend would be an excellent addition, but I’ve also become partial to the idea of Raidou Kuzunoha for a lot of the same reasons as Nei. He’s cool, popular, and would offer a really fun moveset.
• Lastly, House of the Dead should really get something. I’m not super familiar with the series outside of playing it at arcades a few times when I got the chance, but it’s a pretty big ****ing deal and this game could use some of that horror aesthetic. Which is something we’re probably not gonna get if we skip over HotD unless we end up adding, like, a Xenomorph or Ripley as our guest fighter (btw we should totally have an Alien rep as our guest fighter, but that’s neither here nor there). Speed Weed has really sold me on the idea of Rikiya Busujima, but honestly anyone from the series would be fun.

Those are all of the big omissions I can think of right now. There are also a few lower-priority picks that, while not quite as essential as what I just listed, it would be kind of weird if we left them out.

• Football Manager is low-key one of Sega’s biggest money-makers right now and deserves some kind of recognition, but isn’t as much of a priority to me as, say, Puyo Puyo or Monkey Ball. Still, I think he’d do a good job filling the niche of our odd-ball pick and should definitely be considered more seriously once we get the big bois out of the way.
• Crazy Taxi is another pretty big franchise that would help round out our Dreamcast rep, but I can’t really think of a good moveset for B.D. Joe or whoever else (there’s probably something there, I’m just having trouble seeing it lol). I think a stage would be really fun, but the only stipulation I can think of is if the licensed music would be too much of an issue. I also have similar feelings towards Samba de Amigo to a lesser extent in terms of thinking a stage would be nice but having trouble coming up with a tracklist consisting of original music. As much as I’d love to have Kiryu and Bayonetta beat the **** out of each other to Livin’ La Vida Loca or All I Want, idk what our stance on licensed music is. This would probably be a good thing to clarify soon, especially because we’re gonna be doing Bayonetta’s tracklist pretty soon and you’re probably gonna get questions about if Fly Me to the Moon and Moon River are eligible.
• If we ever end up adding a R.O.B. equivalent in terms of “not technically a game character but still important to Sega’s history”, it should totally be Segata Sanshiro. I wouldn’t prioritize him over any of the actual popular game characters, but he’s too big to not at least have a cameo somewhere
• This is more of a personal nitpick than anything, but I really hope we get a non-Persona 5 Persona stage and tracklist at some point. I get Joker’s content is naturally gonna skew more towards P5 content, but it’s gonna feel very empty if we only have Rise’s assist as our P4 representation and virtually nothing for 1-3. Not a huge priority compared to anything else here, but whenever we get around to second stages, Persona should be one of the big priorities.

That’s pretty much everything for me. I probably forgot someone here, but I feel like I covered most of my bases here.

 

[Deleted member]

Discussion 4
Ok so far we are doing really good on our sega history in terms of the roster

I personally fell more of the Sega all-stars should show up, but i want to variety as well. So here are my ideas for franchise.

Super Monkey Ball
Valkyria Chronicles
Jet set Radio
Puyo puyo / Madō Monogatari
Shin Mugemi Tensin
Phantasy Star
Billy Hatcher
Samba de Amigo
Golden Axe
Shinobi
Fighting Vipers
Vectorman
Ristar

Ones that are on the middle as they aren't really necessary ... but would be neat to have.
House of the Dead
Chu Chu rocket
Shining Force
Resonance of Fate
Shenmue
Nightsade

An honorable old-school mention to Astal.... noone remembers astal.

 

[osby]

I think we did a pretty good job at adding SEGA's big guns so far. If we're talking about "necessities", there are still a few ones:

• Golden Axe, Jet Set Radio, and Shenmue: They all feel like popular series in SEGA's active fanbase and their characters are very well-known. Shenmue got an edge for getting a revival but all of them can bring fresh fighters.
• House of the Dead: I've yet to go to an arcade and not see a House of the Dead machine. It's a very successful and very much active light gun series. It's harder to pick a suitable fighter from but I think it's worth the effort.
• Shinobi: Ninjas should be self-explanatory but this is a classic series with almost all protagonists having their unique spin on the cool gameplay foundation.
• Super Monkey Ball, Puyo Puyo, Valkyria Chronicles, Phantasy Star: They are all ongoing, big SEGA series. I don't see a reason not to include them in any way, shape or form. Helps that they all have very unique aesthetics that are pretty unique from anyone we added so far.
• Megami Tensei: It's another acquired ATLUS property but it's big enough to justify another one, even though I'd be content with only Joker. A Shin Megami Tensei character would make a lot of sense, but we can also look into Devil Summoner for other unique options.
• Project DIVA: Miku is a third party but this series is owned by SEGA so I guess it kinda counts?

Honorable mentions: Total War and Shining series. Both of them feel big enough to warrant a fighter but I'm not sure who we might add.

 

[YoshiandToad]

These series are the ones I feel are most needed. These aren't neccesarily who I most want either, but these are large omissions to me.

Sega All Stars:
Characters with series that are also Sega staples. Yes, even Jet Set Radio is technically a series with it's five releases.
Beat (Jet Set Radio), AiAi (Super Monkey Ball), Ryo Hazuki (Shenmue), Gilius Thunderhead (Golden Axe) and Joe Musashi (Shinobi).
It should be noted that whilst I think these characters series should be included, there's other characters from the series I'd be fine seeing over them.
Except Ryo, as he's kind of the only playable character in his title and no one else really makes more sense than him for Shenmue.

Phantasy Star:
An absolutely huge franchise that is far more influential than it's given credit for.
Nei, Alis Landale, Rico Tyrell, Wren
There are absolutely more options, I've just picked a small selection here of varied individuals.

House of the Dead:
One of the biggest titles in the arcade, and one of the two Sega franchises that really popularised the light gun.
Dr. Curien, Zobiko, Zobio, Agent G, Rikiya Busujima
There's lots of other options too(Thomas Rogan being an obvious one), but for me these ones work best from a style point of view.
A lot of the nightmarish horror creations don't work as an appealing looking fighter IMO, but Dr. Curien can summon his creatures to include the monsters of the series, Zobio and Zobiko(who are far cuter than normal HotD zombies) work as a tag team leaning heavier into the wackier side of the series, Agent G is a firm fan favourite that tows the line between serious and silly depending on the House of the Dead title he's starring in, and Rikiya Busujima can cause explosions with his punches, which is pretty damn badass.

Valkyria Chronicles:
A modern Sega success story still getting releases today, combines surprisingly grounded moments with ridiculous fantasy elements.
Kurt Irving, Imca, Alicia Melchiott, Selvaria Bles, Riela Marcellis, Welkin Gunther, Claude Wallace
These are some of(but not all) the main cast from the series, each with a solid reason to be included. There are other characters too I've missed of importance no doubt, but I feel this series needs someone.

Wonder Boy
A classic Sega franchise with a slightly confusing licensing history, the series has seen a revival with many modern remakes allowing new fans to experience these titles in all their glory.
Tom-Tom (sometimes known as simply 'Boy'), Asha, Jin, Book, Shion
Every single one of the main heroes have a great reason for their inclusion. Jin and Book both have the ability to change into animal forms, Tom-Tom is the original Wonder Boy and has a very unique caveman aesthetic, Shion is a firm favourite and has a plethora of useful magical abilities and Asha has a helper pet in Pepelogoo, and is just plain adorable. I've left out Leo and Purapril here, but they could easily also be chosen for this position. Wonder Boy has some really good picks.

Honourable mentions to Puyo Puyo, Crazy Taxi, Panzer Dragoon which are all huge series but for whatever reason I'm not sold on needing a playable fighter.

Extra honourable mention to Shining which is a huge deal but I'm not familiar with and couldn't even take a shot in the dark as to who should be included.

Edit: Adding in two other series I think need inclusion but forgot to do this morning: The House of the Dead and Wonder Boy.

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

Discussion:
Space Harrier: Well, the franchise and its character could be represented as Assist character instead of being playable, since we have Shooter rep like Opa-Opa.
Vectorman: He would be cool for Game, since it would be like Playable Sukapon of Sega: Battle of Ages.
Panzer Dragoon: Having a Mount ride Fighter would be very unique and very interesting pick for this game.
Bonanza Bros: Do I need to say anything? They will be like Ice Climbers, which is type of Duo Fighter that could be also Interesting pick.
Sega Allstars (AIAI, GILLIUS, SHINOBI, PUYO PUYO, ETC.): Cool and popular picks that would be cool.
Others: Well, I have mixed opinions about random characters like Thunder Force ship being as Capsule Toy than playable.

 

[tonygameman]

Most of the obvious series are already in a roster, but there's lots of SEGA's franchises that do deserve representation in my opinion (can be quite lengthy, as you guys already know my passion on retro IPs).

• Most of the SEGA All-Stars (Jet Set Radio, Super Monkey Ball, Shenmue, Shinobi and Golden Axe)
• Samba de Amigo (being honest, a proper/traditional rhythm rep would greatly differ from Ulala with possibly a unique gimmick and I'll highly appreciate it, even with stage and song choices)
• Phantasy Star (even though I know more about the classic quadrilogy than Online)
• The House of the Dead (Busujima, an agent with a one-letter name, a zombie couple or not, this series deserves an appearance here)
• Virtual-On (recently became a fan of this series and it seems like it can easily be adapted to a 2D platform fighter, plus very awesome music tracks. Many fan-favorites such as Temjin, Raiden, Fei-Yen and Angelan all has vast moveset possibilities, considering their variants throughout the series' history)
• Space Harrier (I do believe he'll work as a fighter with his zoner/flight-based playstyle and thanks to his game being an all-time classic. Also, Yoshi's stage would make up for more representation of this series. Bet some stage tracklists can share songs?)
• Daytona USA (Hornet would make a funny joke character with moves from both the original game & Fighters Megamix and bring up lots of content such as Mitsuyoshi's iconic songs)
• Ristar (another obscure, yet underrated fan-favorite game created by Sonic Team. Can I say more? Also, a possible long-range grappler who doesn't originate from a fighting game)
• Saturn games (Astal, Clockwork Knight and the one & only WILD WOODY!)
• Any Treasure-developed game (Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, Dynamite Headdy, etc.)
• Ninja Princess/SEGA Ninja (besides the early arcade era, Kurumi would also represent the SG-1000 console and original female video game protagonists before Samus' debut)
• Wonder Boy (pretty much our 2D platformer Zelda, with many fighter choices such as Book with his animal transformations, a fan-favorite Shion and Asha with her companion Pepelogoo)
• Rent-A-Hero (I actually found this series interesting. Thanks once again for revitalizing my view on it, Speedy!)

Honorable Mentions:

• Fighting Vipers (I support Robotto on this idea. This is pretty much Fighters Megamix 2, but with more prominent SEGA IPs and a Smash-like gameplay)
• Spikeout (Yoshi gets a medal for another "Rent-A-Hero"-like thought)
• Altered Beast (a idea of Centurion transforming for some of his moves sounds satisfying)
• ChuChu Rocket! (seems like it would go somewhere on non-fighter content or something, but creativity with a moveset is around Olimar's level)
• Columns (I guess Puyo Puyo will be chosen over this, but SEGA's actual puzzle creation needs representation in some sort like a stage)
• Beyond Oasis/The Story of Thor (I don't think anyone brought this up)
• Panzer Dragoon (got nothing to say, but a series seems plausible to me on it's idea alone)
• After Burner (deserves a stage, because like Suzuki's other arcade classics, it got big bangers!)
• Pulseman (a SEGA Genesis-exclusive and was developed by a Pokemon company, with Rotom taking inspiration from him. Even Smash's Pikachu a bit, hence it's Final Smash move from Volteceer)

 

[Flyboy]

They've been said but to me the biggest missing franchises right now are Phantasy Star and Puyo Puyo. I get why we haven't added a PS rep or Arle yet, just bad timing, but they're huge holes in the roster as it stands.

There are tons of other franchises I feel are necessary, but those are my top two. The others I think HAVE to be in are Football Manager (Sega's largest IP right now but goes under the radar - the newest game is going to be day one on GamePass which was a big deal), Project Diva (Guest character? Sure. But you cannot understate this IP's reach), Valkyria Chronicles (As has been said, a modern Sega success story), a second Persona character (and it should be Aigis with the Velvet Room stage. Like, 100%. There's no better option here to be an accurate and important representation for the series), a Shin Megami Tensei character, Space Harrier, Shinobi, House of the Dead, and a few others.

That isn't to say there aren't other franchises that I think would e amazing to have on this roster. I'm just going by the musts. Most of the others that are just as good but below my Needs have been mentioned, but as for my Wants I really want some more obscure, smaller ideas for both characters and assists - Gunstar Heroes, Vectorman, Comix Zone, The Ooze, Altered Beast, Ninja Princess, Afterburner, Pengo, Mr. Bones, Clockwork Knight, the Bonanza Bros., Alien Syndrome, Columns...too many to count, really!

 

[Speed Weed]

idk what our stance on licensed music is. This would probably be a good thing to clarify soon

Oh yeah, this is uh.......complicated.

See, the truth is, we've technically already added a couple of licensed tracks - namely, Mexican Flyer and Teddy Boy Blues. I think it's worth noting that SEGA seem to be generally pretty accepting of licensed music as part of some of their IP's identity, so I don't think having a few licensed tracks would be the least realistic thing. Two examples of this that come to mind include:

-In the first All-Stars Racing, they didn't just stick to the original music from Samba de Amigo, they actually went ahead and threw some licensed tracks (like Samba de Janeiro) in there
-Last year, they did another big music album to celebrate their 60th, and looking at the tracklist, it does include some licensed tracks! Not just the two we already included in this game, but others like Popcorn (which was used in Pengo) and Rydeen (which was used in Super Locomotive). So we have precedent for SEGA making the effort to include some of the licensed music they've used in their games as recently as 2020.

So basically, there is precedent for SEGA using some of the licensed music they've used over the years in pieces of media that are celebratory of their IP - therefore it wouldn't be the most farfetched thing to have them here. So ultimately my answer is......yeahhhhhhhh I guess so?????

I dunno, it's a bit of a case-by-case basis. I would say it depends on how iconic said track is to the IP in question. Mexican Flyer is iconic to Space Channel 5. Samba de Janeiro is iconic to Samba de Amigo. The music of The Offspring and Bad Religion is iconic to Crazy Taxi. For some of these old arcade games that used licensed music, it's the only form of musical representation we can give them. So the question here is....do we feel like these two tracks are iconic enough to Bayonetta to justify inclusion? I'm no Bayo expert, so I feel like I'll frankly have to turn to yall for your opinions on the matter.

With that out of the way.....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's what I'd say about the IP I think Should Be Included. I shared this list on the Discord before, but I'll give some more insight on my picks:

-Monkey Ball
-Jet Set Radio
-Puyo Puyo
-Phantasy Star
-Shenmue
-House of the Dead
-Golden Axe
-Shinobi
-Valkyria Chronicles
-Shin Megami Tensei
-Shining
-Wonder Boy
-Virtual-ON

Monkey Ball and JSR are two very popular IP with a lot of crossover cred - I don't like putting too much stock on the "this character has been in crossovers before so they should be in" mentality, but I think these two have earned it. Phantasy Star and Puyo are two absolutely huge franchises we need to include. Shenmue is a very historic, influential and beloved series I think is too important to leave out. House of the Dead is another big one - I see a lot of rosters just give it a stage or whatever cause it's a bit hard to decide who should rep it, but I think we should make an effort to figure it out. Golden Axe and Shinobi are two very very popular old-school properties, and Valkyria Chronicles is a big modern thing I believe warrants inclusion. SMT is another big one that feels too important to leave out, Shining is a long-runner with loooootsa different casts to pull from, and Wonder Boy and Virtual-ON are two pretty big classic IP that I feel are criminally underused in fan rosters.

And now here are some Honorable Mentions:

Samba de Amigo I think would be fun, but it's just not quite as much of a priority to me as the others. I'd put it pretty high up there after these, and again, I'd like to see it, buuuuuuut i just wouldn't say it's something I think Has to be included.

In a similar vein, Fighting Vipers is another one that I'd like to see included, and I probably would include it depending on how many series are included, buuuuuuuut again, I just wouldn't put it quite up there with the others I mentioned.

Three others I think are worth mentioning are Crazy Taxi, Panzer Dragoon and Thunder Force. The former two are very popular series and the latter is easily the most notable thing to have come out of SEGA's acquisition of Technosoft's IP, so I believe they're all worth giving a shoutout here, but I have them as honorable mentions cause I don't think they have to have a playable character. They all have potential for one, but I think it's fine so long as they get some representation.

Oh yeah and we should add Segata Sanshiro.

So yeah! Of course, there's an absolute ****load of other IP I think would be fun and worthwhile inclusions - believe me when I say I could go on and on - but I think these are a good baseline. SEGA really just have an amazing lineup of series, and I think our roster will most likely turn out pretty good either way.

As long as we don't add Billy Hatcher. If we add Billy Hatcher I'm closing this project effective immediately

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

Umm, Speed Weed?
Are Capsule Toys based on Consoles are Allowed?
Because I'm trying to submit a Capsule Toy based on Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis console.


-SEGA Mega Drive (PAL & JPN)/ SEGA Genesis (America)
- Series: Sega Consoles
- First Appearance: Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis (October 29, 1988)

Description: This Legendary memento from SEGA's Past was appearing in Markets in 90's, where the Current SEGA's Mascot Sonic appeared on it, giving this consoles popularity, along with other games who were released on it like Altered Beast or Super Fantasy Zone who also got their popularity on it's console. That Console was SEGA's most popular console ever made, that became our Memory of Past 90's. It even included Sega 32X and Sega CD as Additional devices to link into this Console to play games on CDs or even 32-bit games if they were put in the Consoles Additions.

 

[Speed Weed]

Umm, Speed Weed?
Are Capsule Toys based on Consoles are Allowed?
Because I'm trying to submit a Capsule Toy based on Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis console.


-SEGA Mega Drive (PAL & JPN)/ SEGA Genesis (America)
- Series: Sega Consoles
- First Appearance: Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis (October 29, 1988)

Description: This Legendary memento from SEGA's Past was appearing in Markets in 90's, where the Current SEGA's Mascot Sonic appeared on it, giving this consoles popularity, along with other games who were released on it like Altered Beast or Super Fantasy Zone who also got their popularity on it's console. That Console was SEGA's most popular console ever made, that became our Memory of Past 90's. It even included Sega 32X and Sega CD as Additional devices to link into this Console to play games on CDs or even 32-bit games if they were put in the Consoles Additions.

Yeah sure it's fine

 

[Megadoomer]

So the question here is....do we feel like these two tracks are iconic enough to Bayonetta to justify inclusion? I'm no Bayo expert, so I feel like I'll frankly have to turn to yall for your opinions on the matter.

If there are already licensed tracks in here, then I don't see why they can't be nominated, at the very least.

 

[Flyboy]

Fly Me To The Moon is arguably THE most iconic Bayonetta track. It's a phenomenal cover, as is Moon River. I agree - I think that since Sega is cool with licensed music and often licensed songs are part of a game's identity, it would be silly to limit ourselves in our own anything-goes fan project and it's not unrealistic to think that if it were real Sega wouldn't spring for some of this stuff.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

Oh yeah, this is uh.......complicated.

See, the truth is, we've technically already added a couple of licensed tracks - namely, Mexican Flyer and Teddy Boy Blues. I think it's worth noting that SEGA seem to be generally pretty accepting of licensed music as part of some of their IP's identity, so I don't think having a few licensed tracks would be the least realistic thing. Two examples of this that come to mind include:

-In the first All-Stars Racing, they didn't just stick to the original music from Samba de Amigo, they actually went ahead and threw some licensed tracks (like Samba de Janeiro) in there
-Last year, they did another big music album to celebrate their 60th, and looking at the tracklist, it does include some licensed tracks! Not just the two we already included in this game, but others like Popcorn (which was used in Pengo) and Rydeen (which was used in Super Locomotive). So we have precedent for SEGA making the effort to include some of the licensed music they've used in their games as recently as 2020.

So basically, there is precedent for SEGA using some of the licensed music they've used over the years in pieces of media that are celebratory of their IP - therefore it wouldn't be the most farfetched thing to have them here. So ultimately my answer is......yeahhhhhhhh I guess so?????

I dunno, it's a bit of a case-by-case basis. I would say it depends on how iconic said track is to the IP in question. Mexican Flyer is iconic to Space Channel 5. Samba de Janeiro is iconic to Samba de Amigo. The music of The Offspring and Bad Religion is iconic to Crazy Taxi. For some of these old arcade games that used licensed music, it's the only form of musical representation we can give them. So the question here is....do we feel like these two tracks are iconic enough to Bayonetta to justify inclusion? I'm no Bayo expert, so I feel like I'll frankly have to turn to yall for your opinions on the matter.

With that out of the way.....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's what I'd say about the IP I think Should Be Included. I shared this list on the Discord before, but I'll give some more insight on my picks:

-Monkey Ball
-Jet Set Radio
-Puyo Puyo
-Phantasy Star
-Shenmue
-House of the Dead
-Golden Axe
-Shinobi
-Valkyria Chronicles
-Shin Megami Tensei
-Shining
-Wonder Boy
-Virtual-ON

Monkey Ball and JSR are two very popular IP with a lot of crossover cred - I don't like putting too much stock on the "this character has been in crossovers before so they should be in" mentality, but I think these two have earned it. Phantasy Star and Puyo are two absolutely huge franchises we need to include. Shenmue is a very historic, influential and beloved series I think is too important to leave out. House of the Dead is another big one - I see a lot of rosters just give it a stage or whatever cause it's a bit hard to decide who should rep it, but I think we should make an effort to figure it out. Golden Axe and Shinobi are two very very popular old-school properties, and Valkyria Chronicles is a big modern thing I believe warrants inclusion. SMT is another big one that feels too important to leave out, Shining is a long-runner with loooootsa different casts to pull from, and Wonder Boy and Virtual-ON are two pretty big classic IP that I feel are criminally underused in fan rosters.

And now here are some Honorable Mentions:

Samba de Amigo I think would be fun, but it's just not quite as much of a priority to me as the others. I'd put it pretty high up there after these, and again, I'd like to see it, buuuuuuut i just wouldn't say it's something I think Has to be included.

In a similar vein, Fighting Vipers is another one that I'd like to see included, and I probably would include it depending on how many series are included, buuuuuuuut again, I just wouldn't put it quite up there with the others I mentioned.

Three others I think are worth mentioning are Crazy Taxi, Panzer Dragoon and Thunder Force. The former two are very popular series and the latter is easily the most notable thing to have come out of SEGA's acquisition of Technosoft's IP, so I believe they're all worth giving a shoutout here, but I have them as honorable mentions cause I don't think they have to have a playable character. They all have potential for one, but I think it's fine so long as they get some representation.

Oh yeah and we should add Segata Sanshiro.

So yeah! Of course, there's an absolute ****load of other IP I think would be fun and worthwhile inclusions - believe me when I say I could go on and on - but I think these are a good baseline. SEGA really just have an amazing lineup of series, and I think our roster will most likely turn out pretty good either way.

As long as we don't add Billy Hatcher. If we add Billy Hatcher I'm closing this project effective immediately

Thanks for clearing that up. I figured licensed music was okay for series that don’t have much original music, but it’s nice to have that cleared up. I definitely think the two Bayo songs are iconic enough to the series to warrant inclusion, but it’s ultimately up to whoever makes the tracklist on whether or not they make the cut.

Also kicking myself for forgetting Valkyria Chronicles in my own post. That’s a pretty big one that we should definitely add.

While I’m here, I have some artwork that I would like to submit. And what better place to start than with Sega’s mascot himself, Sonic?

Sonic Concert

Sonic running late for work

Sonic at Joypolis

This art was officially released through a program called Sonic the Hedgehog the Screensaver in 1996, which is exactly what it sounds like: a collection of screensavers featuring various Sonic artwork. It was released as a standalone program in Japan and was bundled in with the PC release of the Sonic & Knuckles Collection in North America and Europe. Prior to its inclusion in this program, this art was originally made for print, appearing in calendars and Sega’s internal business magazine, Sega Harmony. This artwork was also featured in Sonic Jam.

Sonic the Screensaver has a lot of great art, so it was hard to narrow my submissions down to just three. I just picked some of my personal favorite pieces for now. I’m not a classic Sonic purist at all, but there’s something about the aesthetic of classic Japanese Sonic art that just can’t be beat for me. Also really like some of the fun Sega references in some of these images, especially the concert piece, which features references to the Pico and Virtua Fighter. I just love the vibes of these pieces and while I’m definitely gonna submit a wider variety of franchises the next time I submit art, I might sprinkle in another Sonic screensaver piece once in a while. There’s so much cool art here and I’d highly recommend anyone here to look at them if you haven’t already.

 

[Speed Weed]

Alright, gang, thanks for the feedback! I'll allow people to include these two songs in their Bayo tracklists then

 

[Flyboy]

Fun fact, I actually had the PC Sonic & Knuckles Collection and it's how I played Sonic 3 & Knuckles for the first time! A friend had a Genesis so I had played S&K before. It had TONS of amazing art included, and enough icons and cursors for me to make an entire Windows 95 desktop theme based on all the content included. These pieces are really nostalgic.

Loving the addition of art, by the way. Perhaps each piece when "bought in-game" could come with a little developer note or fun fact related to it such as OrpheusTelos's piece about the Sonic Screensaver? The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles does something like that with its concept art section, featuring the artist commenting on the design evolution. I think that could make them special.

(Yes, I know, this is all for a hypothetical nonexistent game but dammit I want to be indulgent! What good is a fan project if you don't get to make up lore about things that are Totally In This Game?)

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

Speed Weed?
Does BATTLE of AGES has Wavedashing and other Smash Melee techniques?

 

[Speed Weed]

Speed Weed?
Does BATTLE of AGES has Wavedashing and other Smash Melee techniques?

Uhhhhhhh

We do have air dashing but that's not really a Melee thing, is it

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

Ah OK. Thanks for the answer.

 

[Speed Weed]

Alright, I think enough time has gone on now - we had some pretty good discussion!

Moving on:

Job #68: Submit a moveset for Bayonetta

And now, we begin to cover Bayo! So yeah, same as usual when it comes to movesets - I will once again remind you of the Sacred Moveset Format:

-playstyle overview
-notable normal attacks
-specials and All-Star Move
-misc. info, such as taunts and palette swaps and such

Bayo may already have a Smash-styled moveset by virtue of, well, being in Smash, but she still has plenty of other things to pull from

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

Another Capsule Toy based on Consoles is ready to be submitted:

- SEGA SATURN
- Series: SEGA Consoles
- First Appearance: Sega Saturn (November 22, 1994)

Description: Another Memento from this SEGA's Past. That's Sega Saturn, which is a Console that introduced NiGHTS and other SEGA franchises from mid-late 90's like Bug! and others. Well, this console was poorly saled comparing to legendary Mega Drive from 1988. While it was marketing in Markets, it was worst at rivalry with other Consoles while being in 90's. That Mementos was Mega Drive's less-popular Descendant, but it had power of Pseudo-Modern Nostalgia for Retro Players and Modern Players.

 

[Speed Weed]

Another Capsule Toy based on Consoles is ready to be submitted:

- SEGA SATURN
- Series: SEGA Consoles
- First Appearance: Sega Saturn (November 22, 1994)

Description: Another Memento from this SEGA's Past. That's Sega Saturn, which is a Console that introduced NiGHTS and other SEGA franchises from mid-late 90's like Bug! and others. Well, this console was poorly saled comparing to legendary Mega Drive from 1988. While it was marketing in Markets, it was worst at rivalry with other Consoles while being in 90's. That Mementos was Mega Drive's less-popular Descendant, but it had power of Pseudo-Modern Nostalgia for Retro Players and Modern Players.

Y'know what, **** it, I'm just going to add Capsule Toys of all the major systems

 

[osby]

Job #68: Bayonetta

Moveset:

General playstyle: Bayonetta is a slow character with deceptively quick and large attacks that focuses on extended air combos. To compensate, her attacks are usually weak on their own and require a bit of precise timing to combo into each other. She excels at closing the distance she has with her opponents, as well as punishing their mistakes. However, she has one of the lowest stamina amounts in the entire roster, meaning that her mistakes are just as likely to cost her dearly as well. She’s an absolute powerhouse at the hands of experts as an effective glass canon.

Her unique abilities are Bat Within, which transforms into a swarm of bats when she dodges at the last second. This allows her to escape the attack, pushes the enemies around away slightly, and can activate Witch Time.

Notable normal attacks: Bayonetta’s attacks are mostly the same as her Smash counterpart, as in they almost exclusively use her four guns, Scarborough Fair, to hit opponents at close range, while also being able to shoot them for extending her attack strings. The biggest diversion is how her smash attacks work, as merely tapping them and charging them will change the properties of the attacks.

When tapped her smashes are as following:
Forward: a wide, diagonal slash with Shubara, the demonic katana
Up: an upward lash that only hits forward with Kulshedra, the draconic whip
Down: a crouching double slash with Durga, divine twin claws
Charging them at least halfway through will make her use Madame Butterfly’s limbs, which are stronger and has more range but also slower and deal less pressure to shields.

Specials moves:

Neutral Special: Charge Bullet/Bullet Climax. Bayonetta charges energy to fire several rapid-fire shots with her equipped gun. If this input is rapidly tapped instead of held, she’ll instead use Bullet Climax, creating a magic circle in front of her and shooting with two guns diagonally.

Side Special: Heel Slide/After Burner Kick. Bayonetta performs a sliding kick on the ground and a flying kick in the air, which sends enemies upward to start combos. Heel Slide can be followed up with an upward kick while After Burner Kick can be angled.

Up Special: Witch Twist/Crow Within. Bayonetta jumps directly upward while twisting around herself, hitting her enemies multiple times. As long as she jumps afterward, she can use this move twice in the air without going into freefall. If the button is tapped twice then held in the air, she’ll cast Crow Within and transform into a bird to fly freely for a short while. This allows her to travel in the air much faster while also shooting feathers with the regular attack button. However, it will send her into freefall when it ends.

Down Special: Witch Time. Bayonetta backflips and enters into a counter state to slow down anyone who attempts to damage her. Its duration depends on the amount of damage the enemy has, the strength of the attack, and whether or not the move was spammed.

All-Star Move: Infernal Climax. Bayonetta enters Witch Time slows down the entire battlefield by which she can attack foes to fill up her magic gauge. If she fills the gauge, she enters a cutscene summons the demon Gomorrah, Devourer of Divine, who attacks opponents by chewing them aggressively. Mashing the attack button increases Gomorrah's damage.

Other:

Aesthetics: Bayonetta’s model largely looks like her appearances from Smash, therefore her hair always covers most of her body, even when summoning demons. However, her proportions are a little closer to her own games. Her jumping, landing, double jumping, crouching, different idle poses, sidestep, and getting damaged animations are directly taken from her games. Her glasses glint when she scores a KO, taunts, or gets a victory.

She creates a magic circle for her shield and she briefly turns into her crow form for her air dashes. Hellena Taylor voices her in western regions, while she’s voiced by her and Atsuko Tanaka, depending on the selected costume, in other regions.

Entrance animation: Bayonetta emerges from her Bat Within form while surrounded by the Umbra Witches' symbol, then proceeds to wield her guns.

Taunts:
Taunt 1: Twirls around to move both arms around her in a graceful manner, then strikes a pose with both arms over her head, saying, "If you need to learn how to talk to a lady, ask your mum." If Opa-Opa is in the match, she may say "Welcome to my Fantasy Zone!"
Taunt 2: Open her legs, crosses her arms behind her head, and says “Bring it!”
Taunt 3: Strikes a number of poses while flourishing her guns before looking away and then looking forward, while her glasses briefly emit a light purple glint upon concluding.

Victory Theme: Verse Result Jingle + Chapter Clear

Victory Animations:
Victory 1: Bayonetta performs a pirouette before making a pose with aiming her guns in front of herself, saying, "That all you got?" "You're making it easy."

Victory 2: Bayonetta performs Break Dance and then crouches while saying "Dreadful." or "Don't make me beg."

Victory 3: Bayonetta makes a small dance while turning away from the screen and then looking over her shoulder, saying "Miss me, baby?" or “In these heels?”

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

Y'know what, **** it, I'm just going to add Capsule Toys of all the major systems

Great, now we're gonna represent all Consoles in this game.
No matter if we have more ideas for Sequel, we can waste that concept for Consoles as Capsule Toys.

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

Another "Other" Category submittions are ready 2 go!

- Hornet (Daytona USA)
- Series: Daytona USA
- System debut: Arcade
- First Appearance: Daytona USA (March 1994)

Description: Hornet is a vehicle included in Daytona USA on Arcades. This car is the most recognizable racing vehicle amongst the series and it's fans that they take place in Daytona. Even this Hornet appeared as Fighter in Fighters Megamix as secret joke character. Perhaps that car has purpose for being popular vehicle in his series. There is a mystery who drives this Hornet? Perhaps someone, who has Driver's License.

- Pulseman (Pulseman) (If he wasn't a playable fighter)
- System Debut: Sega Mega Drive
- Series: Pulseman
- First Appearance: Pulseman (22 July, 1994)

Description: This hero known as Pulseman is the Main protagonist of his game that takes place in 21st Century. He attacks with his signature attack, that is very sparky towards his enemies and others, who don't want to be "Pulsed". He is half-boy half-machine, who was powered by C-Life AI, which was made by Doc Yoshiyama that he became villain later on. Pulseman needs to defeat the Doc to make him good like before his Corruption. Sadly that he had only one game and he was never see again after his game....

 

[Speed Weed]

Another "Other" Category submittions are ready 2 go!

- Hornet (Daytona USA)
- Series: Daytona USA
- System debut: Arcade
- First Appearance: Daytona USA (March 1994)

Description: Hornet is a vehicle included in Daytona USA on Arcades. This car is the most recognizable racing vehicle amongst the series and it's fans that they take place in Daytona. Even this Hornet appeared as Fighter in Fighters Megamix as secret joke character. Perhaps that car has purpose for being popular vehicle in his series. There is a mystery who drives this Hornet? Perhaps someone, who has Driver's License.

- Pulseman (Pulseman) (If he wasn't a playable fighter)
- System Debut: Sega Mega Drive
- Series: Pulseman
- First Appearance: Pulseman (22 July, 1994)

Description: This hero known as Pulseman is the Main protagonist of his game that takes place in 21st Century. He attacks with his signature attack, that is very sparky towards his enemies and others, who don't want to be "Pulsed". He is half-boy half-machine, who was powered by C-Life AI, which was made by Doc Yoshiyama that he became villain later on. Pulseman needs to defeat the Doc to make him good like before his Corruption. Sadly that he had only one game and he was never see again after his game....

Oh yeah, as far as I know, SEGA don't own Pulseman. I'll go ahead and add Hornet tho

 

[Speed Weed]

Alright, the usual time has passed, and as such, osby's moveset wins by default!

Moving on:

Job #69nice: Submit a Bayonetta stage

Logically, this would be what we do next. Not much to say here, other than one thing:

We'll be testing out the "do the stage first and tracklist later" format with this job, and as such, I'll have to ask you to not include a tracklist with your submissions, cause we'll try out doing it separately. Alright, that should be it!

 

[cashregister9]

Job 69

Fimbulventr

The stage starts at the bottom where it is a layout like Eldin then a portion of the platform lifts up and flies upwards, This Platform has Loki and Balder on it. the platform is then flung through the mountain, seeing several stages and demons seen throughout the mountain. Temperantia, Resentment and a few other Bayonetta 2 bosses appear.

Once the building reaches the top, Aesir is seen at the top, he then performs an attack resetting the stage.

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

Job 69:
Umbra Clock Tower (Bayonetta)

It acts same as in Smash (which it falls down), but there is change: now in Background, you can see Angels from Bayonetta series and Cereza in lower background.
Tracks: (All Bayonetta's songs and remixes from Smash)

 

[osby]

Job #69: Paradiso

Paradiso is an ethereally beautiful stage, surrounded a heavenly golden glow, glimmers of light and the feathers of Angels. The main platform is a flat, aged stone avenue with an archaic cog mechanism in its center and large statues and fences looming over it. The stage is closed on the sides at first, but as it slowly rotates, the open areas between the statues occasionally allow fighters to be knocked out from the sides. Various enemies such as Affinities, Dear & Decorations, Enchants and Inspired ones can be seen flying in the background but if the fight continues for long enough, a Kinship may appear and fire its cannons to the players or Beloved may cleave the stage with its axe.

 

[Flyboy]

Before I begin, I just want to say that the Umbra Clock Tower stage in Smash is one of the most absolutely genius stages that came with DLC. It's such a cool, exciting moment to adapt. Of course, visually it can be hard on the eyes for some, but conceptually I absolutely adore it. That said, I'm sure we can find another awesome stage to consider...

Job #69: The Gates of Hell

The Gates of Hell is a combination bar and weapons shop located in the US and run by Rodin, a major character in the series. Bayonetta gets her weapon upgrades here and it is hinted at being a hive of scum and villainy. I'm submitting this because it's awesome. You could have a bar fight in this game complete with cameos from Enzo, Rodin (if he isn't playable), Luka, and plenty more.

Fun fact, an advertisement for this bar appears in another Platinum-designed Sega game, MadWorld, and that's something that Rodin references in Bayonetta by making a sly comment about the main character of that game's chainsaw arm.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

The Funny Number: Vigrid Highway

Vigrid Highway is the setting of Bayonetta’s 8th chapter, Route 666. This section involves Bayonetta fighting angels on top of moving vehicles and speeding through the highway on her motorcycle. Even if a lot of people consider this one of the most frustrating levels in the game, I just think it’s an awesome action setpiece that would make for a great and energetic stage. You’ve gotta have at least one Smash-like stage taking place on top of a moving vehicle.

The stage takes place on top of a moving truck speeding through the highway. If the player falls into the road, there’s a good chance they’ll be hit by oncoming traffic or fall off the stage. There will also be a few cars that players can land on. All the while, a group of Affinity will try attacking the players by shooting blasts of energy at them. This is a very frantic and fast-paced stage that keeps the players on their toes at all times.