Smashboards Creates: Battle of AGES, a SEGA platform fighter

[Flyboy]

1. Confidant
2. Time Bomb
3. UFO Catcher

 

[PuyoWitch]

1. Confidant
2. UFO
3. Burglar Bag

 

[Speed Weed]

Oki doki, the results are in!!!!

Let's take a look:

Phaser: 1 points
Cane: 0 points
Menacer: 1 points
Eye: 0 points
Locomotive: 3 points
Crystal: 5 points
Woody: 0 points
Gag: 8 points
Tarot: 7 points
Wisp: 0 points
Catcher: 14 points
Bomb: 5 points
Bag: 10 points
Confidant: 18 points

And so, our item lineup is officially complete: The Confidant and UFO Catcher will be our final two items!!!!

Moving on:

Job #208: Submit a boss, one last time

That's right. We're adding one more boss in the base game. This might actually be the final "major content" job we do for base game. From here on out, it's stuff like collectables, arcade routes, reveal trailers, maybe the occasional new job that takes care of something relatively minor, but when it comes to like, big important stuff, this might be it. And so....I'm letting you all submit two bosses, just like the past jobs we've been doing. However, this boss has to be from a series that hasn't yet gotten a boss, so no bosses from Sonic, VF, NiGHTS, Phantasy Star or Gunstar Heroes. As we already have Segata Sanshiro, I'm also disallowing "general SEGA" bosses. We're doing ones from specific games. With all that said.....go off!

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

I'll be throwing in my submissions right now.

First off, with osby 's permission I'm resubmitting his Magician pitch. I think the Magician is a perfect boss pick for our game, being one of the most iconic bosses in SEGA's history. He'd make a sick playable fighter as well, but he'd be such a perfect fit for a boss.

Job 60: Magician - Type 0 (The House of the Dead)

View attachment 327209

The Magician is one of the most iconic and popular boss zombies in his series, being the final boss of the first game who then appeared in almost every game in the franchise. He's a synthetic humanoid creature with pyrokinetic and levitational powers. Originally created by Dr. Curien, he has great intelligence and proves himself to be a formidable enemy to humans.

As a boss, he's fought in Dr. Curien's Lab, which is a completely flat stage. At the beginning of the fight, he floats down from the sky ominously and teleports a few times before saying"Who are you? Nobody gives me instructions. I shall destroy everything." His boss theme is Theme of the Magician (Arrange). Upon defeat, the Magician will shake and say "You...haven't...seen...anything yet!" before succumbing to an explosion. The Magician takes increased damage from his lower right leg, upper left leg, lower right arm, and upper left arm.

Spoiler: Moveset

Move​	Description​
Fireball	While spinning, Magician throws two fireballs from either hand at the player before flying to another spot. These fireballs can be destroyed with projectiles.
Extra Fireball	Magician flies up and hurls four fireballs from both hands downward, which are difficult to shoot down with projectiles.
Teleport	Magician quickly teleports through the stage a few times, leaving afterimages behind. He deals small contact damage during this move.
Heat Claw	Magician encases his hand in flames and swipes it forward. Usually follows up Teleport.
Burning Upper	Magician burns his hands and swipes forward three times while flying. Goes a good distance and hits connect to each other.
Desperation	Magician creates a purple aura around himself before hovering down to ram at the player. He’ll only use this move once his stamina is below 50%.
Perfection	Magician does an overhead slash which creates a burning crescent in the air. This slash stays in the air for a while and then quickly moves forward, burning and knocking down Magician’s enemies.
Crematorium	Magician raises a hand and slowly creates a huge ball of fire above his head before sending it diagonally downward. This projectile deals great damage and explodes into a fiery trap upon contact with the ground. Dealing enough damage to the sphere while he’s charging will explode it prematurely and deal damage to him.
Inferno	Magician flies to the middle of the stage and projects a large group of fireballs in the air. These fireballs slowly rain down on the ground and leave burning marks on the ground.

For my second pitch.......I'm going all the way back to an idea that was thrown around a while ago but we never really came back to. Enter....

Job #208-2: O-Papa from Fantasy Zone

That's right, I'm pitching none other than O-Papa, the final boss of the original Fantasy Zone! Back when we were discussing whether to give FZ an assist, one point that was thrown around was that it'd be a bit of a shame to relegate any FZ boss to an assist, considering how much boss potential there is from there. So.....why don't we actually do it?

"So, mr. weed speed man", you may be asking, "how exactly will this boss fight distinguish itself from the others?"

Great question. Well, you see, I think it's about time we tackle a certain boss fight archetype. One that has lived on through video game history. I think what Battle of AGES really needs is a........

SUDDEN SHMUP SECTION BABYYYYYYYYYY

That's right! This boss fight will emulate the shmup gameplay of Fantasy Zone by placing the player on a floating platform that can be moved around and arming them with a Periscope item (In Opa-Opa's case, however, he'll simply fly and shoot his own lil laser things). This boss fight consists of three phases:

• The first phase is basically a remake of the original boss fight. O-Papa has these lil' snake....worm....bean things that pop out of him and start going around the stage in straightfoward directions. It's your job to shoot at each of these little things until they all die. But unlike the original boss fight.....it doesn't end there!
• In the second phase, a shield will form around O-Papa and he'll move further to the right of the arena, making way for a variety of Fantasy Zone enemies to come in. You're gonna have to spend some time shooting at them. Once that's done....
• In the third and final phase, the enemies are gone, the shield around O-Papa disappears and.....what's this? You're on the ground again? That's right, no more shmup gameplay, you're back to the standard Battle of AGES gameplay style.....and now's the time for you to BEAT HIS ASS!!!!! He's finally vulnerable and now's the time to strike.

After a while, the music stops, the screen fades to white, and......(spoilers for a not particularly story-focused game and also you can probably figure it out already but just in case) we see O-Papa again, but this time.......he has Opa-Opa's colors! He is indeed revealed to be the father of Opa-Opa, and just like in the original game, will shed a single tear. why is fantasy zone so ****ing sad

Anyway yeah Fantasy Zone is cool

 

[OrpheusTelos]

Might come up with something else later, but here’s Lucifer again. I definitely think Megaten is something that deserves a boss, and Lucifer makes the most sense as one of the most recurring figures in the whole franchise.

Job #208-2 - Lucifer (Shin Megami Tensei)

View attachment 327211

Lucifer is one of the most recurring figures in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. In Abrahamic religions, he is said to be the fallen angel who tried and failed to rebel against God. His reason for rebellion varies depending on the interpretation, though most stem from his own pride and desire to surpass God. He is often described to be the same entity as Satan, but SMT often likes to treat them as separate beings. I could go on, but this is a funny Sega smash clone thread and not a religious studies class.

In SMT, Lucifer is a recurring presence who represents the Chaos alignment. In most games, he is a bystander who encourages the protagonist to go down the path of Chaos. While usually not antagonistic towards the protagonist, he does often show up as a boss, either to test the protag’s strength or to stop anyone in the Law or Neutral alignments. His appearance varies from game to game, but for his boss fight I’m going with his SMT II appearance, as pictured above, since that’s his most common appearance. I decided to go with Lucifer because I think SMT is one of those franchises that’s big enough to warrant a boss and I can’t think of any character who would fit that role better than Lucifer. Also I just find the mental image of Sonic or Opa-Opa trying to defeat the fallen angel himself to both be the funniest and coolest **** ever.

Lucifer’s fight takes place within Kether Castle, a completely flat stage that is Lucifer’s home in SMT II. His theme is the final boss theme from SMT: Nocturne. Lucifer is often seen floating around in the foreground, but will go into the background to deliver more devastating attacks. Speaking of, here’s Lucifer’s moveset:

Maragion: Lucifer summons three large, evenly spaced pillars of fire across the stage
Bufula: Lucifer summons a projectile of ice from his hand and shoots it forward, freezing the player upon contact.
Maziodyne: Lucifer summons a row of lightning bolts to strike the player
Tentarafoo: Lucifer summons a ball of dark energy and throws it at the player, causing them to slowly take small amounts of damage for a short period of time.
Feral Claw: Lucifer swipes forward with his claws and slashes at his opponent.
Evil Shine: Lucifer fills the screen with a bright light, which temporarily blurs the screen and makes it difficult for the players to see what’s going on.
Morning Star: A powerful last-ditch attack Lucifer only uses when his health is low. Lucifer calls upon a star and sends it crashing down onto the stage, resulting in a near-fatal explosion that takes up the entire screen. Surviving this attack is close to impossible if you’ve taken a lot of damage during the fight, but it takes a while to charge up and Lucifer leaves himself completely vulnerable when charging. Make sure to knock the dark prince out before he gets to unleash his onslaught.

 

[tonygameman]

Two missions granted in one post: a re-submission and permission, both from YoshiandToad .

Job #208: New Boss - Ashra (Alex Kidd)

(Custom sprite from PrimeOp over on ScrollBoss)

The new ruler of Planet Paperock, the planet Janken the Great hails from, after Alex Kidd subsequently defeats the invading Janken and puts a permenant end to him in Miracle World.

Ashra is the main antagonist of Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle and is believed by Alex to be the man behind his father, King Sander(or Thor in this game)'s disappearance.

Ashra is rather large. Whilst no where near Perfect Chaos' size I'd say he'd tower over our current fighters with ease.
Whilst it's hard to accurately guess his size thanks to the small sprite style of Alex Kidd titles, his size in the games is comparable to Janken's size in the original games, so working backwards I'd imagine he'd be about this size:

As for what Ashra can actually do:

Ashra is capable of regrowing his limbs, which is very useful since one of his main attacks is a long range rocket punch, where his arm shoots off his body to attack you. With six arms at his disposal, all of which move rapidly around his body to defend himself.

Whilst he doesn't perform such moves in Enchanted Castle due to the games very simplistic nature, the fact he has six arms is bound to give him lots of creative holds, grabs and throws.

Lastly he is known as the greatest Janken player on a planet of Janken players, meaning he's just as proficient in Rock Paper Scissors style fighting as Alex Kidd himself(albeit without the Shellcore martial arts that allow him to grow his limbs to insane sizes). He should also be able to use all three styles of punching, palm strikes and fingers stabs simultaneously thanks to his additional limbs allowing for some devastating attacks.

Warning, this spoils the very ending of Enchanted Castle...and it's...not a great ending. Watch only up until 0:55 if you want to see JUST the boss fight with Ashra.

Theme music: Sky Castle Remix

(Sprite by PrimeOp)

You know I had to submit another Alex Kidd character.

As pointed out above, Janken is unfortunately already an assist, but his son (yes, this is Janken's son according to the Japanese manual, not really a strong family resemblance, huh?) is a perfectly good antagonist who will be able to fill in the role of a heavy-weight role whilst adding another antagonist to the roster.
Whilst Janken is straight up your typical villain dictator, conquering planets and the like, Ashra is someone who likes to try and be intimidating, but is actually pretty timid under all that bravado he uses to prop himself up, as seen when Alex defeats him at the end of Enchanted Castle.

Ashra has a few unique abilities going for him. Obviously he has six arms, allowing him to pull off grapple combinations no one else on the roster would be able to at this point as well as fantastic melee strikes, but he also had the ability to launch his arms off his body like a missile projectile before instantly growing said arms back. Naturally, he would also use Rock, Paper and Scissors as specialist attacks, something I negated to give Alex Kidd in his moveset outside the All-Star move.

Ashra is also responsible for popularising Yakyuken upon Planet Paper-Rock - a Rock, Paper, Scissors variant game which involves the loser losing an item of clothing. Due to wearing very little, it's clear he's very confident in his skills...he does have six arms after all in which to succeed.

In the Western version of Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, rather than being stripped, a huge 100t weight will fall upon the loser, crushing them flat. Ashra would likely incorporate that into his moveset. This may sound familiar to those who played Sega Superstars Tennis where it was Alex's All-Star move.

Ashra's easily a lesser known character than the majority of other suggestions here, but with his six arms, ability to regenerate limbs, rocket punch projectile fists, cartoon-like weight drops, wrestler physique and bravado personality, I think he could make for a very entertaining fighter overall.

 

[Megadoomer]

I'm going to re-re-submit Jubileus, because I really want there to be a Bayonetta boss in this line-up. The series is known for crazy, over-the-top spectacle, especially in its boss fights, and Jubileus has the craziest, most over-the-top spectacle in the series. (so far; Bayonetta 3 might top that)

Jubileus (Bayonetta)

The final boss of Bayonetta 1 (the link is to footage of the boss fight) - the Bayonetta series is known for being absolutely over-the-top in just about every way imaginable, and its bosses are no exception to that.

Jubileus towers over the fighters, the stages, and most other bosses - the stage is similar to Final Destination, taking place on a large flat rock that Jubileus occasionally summons in her later phases for the player to use as platforms. Jubileus will hover in the background of the stage, trying to punch at you - during this part of the fight, she can only be hit if you dodge her punches and counter attack, but she's not vulnerable for very long.

Occasionally, she will float further into the background, stabbing into the stage with the ribbons that adorn her body. These ribbons will fire missiles, and stay stabbed into the stage until they're attacked enough times - attacking these will damage Jubileus's health bar.

Once they've been attacked enough, the ribbon will shatter, causing Jubileus to be dragged back on-screen, stunned and woozy - at this point, she can be attacked directly for massive damage. As more ribbons are damaged, the background will change, and Jubileus's attacks will change accordingly:

-Space: where the fight starts out and finishes - Jubileus uses the above attacks (changes to Volcano after the first two ribbons are destroyed)
-Volcano: Jubileus's punches create geysers of lava on either side of them, making them harder to counter, and the ribbons shoot fireballs which move faster but don't hit as hard (changes to Blizzard after the third ribbon is destroyed)
-Blizzard: the ribbons shoot balls of ice that freeze whoever they hit, and icicles will occasionally fall from the sky (changes to Tornado after the fourth ribbon is destroyed)
-Tornado: the ribbons shoot balls of electricity which stun the player, lightning strikes the stage (indicated with yellow circles before the bolts hit), and the stage will be broken into three smaller platforms (changes back to Space after the fifth ribbon is destroyed)

Once the fight has returned to space, it's near the end, though now Jubileus will also throw galaxy-like spiraling disks at you, which move erratically and give you something else to dodge in addition to the punches. Much like Master Hand, Jubileus can only take so much damage while she's stunned before she's immune.

The final hit (after the sixth ribbon has been destroyed and her health bar has been depleted - she's permanently stunned once the sixth ribbon is destroyed, though much like Master Core, taking too long to beat her causes her to use an instant-kill attack) triggers a cutscene where Jubileus's soul is knocked out of her body and sent hurtling towards the sun, ending the fight.

I might come up with a second boss later; I'll look through Treasure's games in particular (I thought about Alien Soldier at first, but I looked it up and wasn't particularly inspired)

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

Since I got a permission to post the submission from YoshiandToad , I can resubmit Neff from Altered Beast.
(Credit to YoshiandToad )

Job #60: Neff (Altered Beast)
View attachment 327258
Neff, the Demon God of the underworld in Altered Beast, responsible for the kidnapping of Athena, prompting Zeus to revive a Roman Centurion to go get her back.

Stage 1:

When first encountering the player, Neff will appear in the above humanoid form, firing lightning from his fingers.
After taking a certain amount of damage he will laugh and transforms into his Aggar form:

Stage 2:
View attachment 327298
In his Aggar form he will rapidly rip his constantly regenerating head off throwing it at the player, who will have to deftly dodge the raining heads, to damage Aggar. Aggar isn't too difficult as it is an immobile boss. After the players defeat this initial form, causing it to explode, a giant illusion of Neff's head will appear from a light portal laughing at the player:

Stage 2.5(cut scene form):

View attachment 327312

Turns out this wasn't his true form, and was all dark magic at play...

Neff's illusion head disappears into the portal and the real Neff's body pops out.

Stage 3:

Neff shoots more lightning from his hands in one initial blast to catch the player off guard, before transforming into his Van Vander form...the one Wreck it Ralph fans are probably familiar with:

View attachment 327309
In this purple rhino like form(originally white, but Sega Heroes has adopted the purple look so I guess Sega likes it?), Neff's physical power is greatly improved. Neff acts similar to a regular fighter in this form, albeit being considerably larger than any of the fighters.
He has a charge attack that allows him to get across the stage quickly, hits like an absolute truck and has a huge pool of HP to deplete.

Occasionally, Neff will stop still and attempt to open up a portal of light under a fighter, summoning a giant Neff head to appear from within it.

If the player doesn't move before the beam of light shoots upwards, the Neff head will laugh and siphon off some of their All-Star move energy and health, similar to how Neff would steal the spirit ball energy from the Centurian after each fight. The player will be trapped in the light energy during this move, although fortunately the Van Vander Neff will not attack during this as his mind is currently transferred to the giant head form.

If the player does manage to move away from it however, the head will not drain them of either energy or life, leaving Neff's Van Vander form body vulnerable, as his mind is concentrated on transferring himself into the giant head. This allows for a good quick opening for the fighters to deal some major damage.

Neff also has an All-Star bar that will be added to as he steals the fighters All-Star Energy.
When unleashed Neff will charge forward and grab the opponent, throwing him or her into the air, as three 'Neffs' appear(actually three fakes) and transform into Octeyes, a creature that shoots eyeball projectiles into the opponent knocking them through the air, Moldy Snail, a half snail half salamander creature that shoots four energy blasts into the fighter and Crocodile Wyrm who after launching a supernova blast into the player, releases two small demons that grab the frazzled player by the arms.
We then get a shot of Neff(Van Vander form) with his clenched fists above the player character, surrounded by humanoid Neff's lightning. He brings his fists down upon the players skull, smashing them into the floor. Naturally this does a lot of damage.

Edit: I forgot to say just before he transforms into his Van Vander form he of course says "Welcome to your Doom!" Very important.

 

[YoshiandToad]

World Annihilation Front - Morte, Taupy and Kyrie (Sands of Destruction)

Who are these guys?

Okay, so these three are members of the World Annihilation Front, and the main protagonists of the RPG, Sands of Destruction.

Kyrie is a meek boy who holds the power to destroy the entire world by turning it to sand. One day his powers awaken when he's particularly stressed as he accidentally vaporises his entire town and all of the people inside it. He hates his power and doesn't want anything to do with the world's end.

Morte is the only member of the World Annihilation Front who actually wants to destroy the world, and she seeks Kyrie in order to destroy EVERYTHING. She's a skilled and dangerous fighter, and has cut down dozens of people for her cause.

Taupy is a Feral, which in the world of Sands of Destruction are the dominant species with humans as second class citizens. Taupy is a mercenary, and despite his cute looks he can...and will...absolutely demolish his opponents with his gruff voice and equally gruff attitude. Despite this, he cares deeply about Kyrie and wishes to protect the boy from harm.

The three end up on a quest together under the banner of the World Annihilation Front, but honestly Kyrie and Taupy aren't allt hat interested in destroying the world, even if they think it needs to be changed.

How does the fight work?

In Battle of Ages, you arrive on the scene just in time to witness Kyrie losing control and beginning to be surrounded by the sands of destruction.
You have 90 seconds before Kyrie loses control and starts throwing out blasts to vaporise you through his unwanted power. Whilst they can be leapt and dodged, they begin to increase in speed and number, and will instantly kill you, so it's best to knock Kyrie out prior to this.

During this time period, Kyrie will not attack you, wanting you to knock him out before he can hurt anyone.
However, whilst Kyrie doesn't attack you, you will be taken on by both Morte who wants to destroy everything and thus wants Kyrie to unleash his latent power, and Taupy who...honestly just doesn't want Kyrie to be harmed.

Morte wields her huge double bladed schmiter and carries a ton of explosives, and Taupy will attack you with his bare(or bear) fists being a close range fighter, both hit like trucks and take reduced damage from your attacks...however the goal isn't to neccesarily defeat them at this stage, just Kyrie. It's getting PAST them to knock Kyrie out that's the tricky part.

Once Kyrie is knocked out, Taupy will carry him to safety, before returning to fight you alongside Morte for harming his friend. Morte meanwhile will be angry at you ruining her chance to destroy the world and will become even more aggressive in her attacks. Defeat them both and win the battle.

• If Morte is beaten before Kyrie, Taupy will grab them both and hightail it out of there, ending the match with the player as the winner.
• If Taupy is beaten prior to Kyrie, Kyrie will remain on the battlefield during the Morte fight.
• If both Morte and Taupy are knocked out prior to Kyrie, defeating Kyrie will end the battle entirely.

 

[YoshiandToad]

Apparently I'm on a trio boss bent this round.

Let's finish the final 'major content' submissions with a shoutout to my first 'major content' submission:

Gooseka, Chokkina & Parpalin (Alex Kidd)

Who are these guys?

When you think Alex Kidd, the first thing you think of is probably Rock-Paper-Scissors.

In fact, outside the titular character, chances are the thing people will think of first are the strange Rock, Paper and Scissors headed mini bosses that work for Janken the Great...

...honestly I don't think many people ever made it to Janken. 80s games could be brutally hard.

How does the fight work?
But how do we translate the Janken battles into Battle of Ages? Outside Alex Kidd no one has access to Rock, Paper or Scissor themed attacks, right?

Well, whilst it wasn't shown in Miracle World DX, in the original release their second fights showed they had the unique ability to detatch their heads to attack Alex:

This boss battle will have you fight all three at once, with one of the Janken generals heads detaching. Use the flying head to attack the character who's weak to it and make them vulnerable.

• Gooseka (Rock) beats Chokkina (Scissors)
• Chokkina (Scissors) beats Parpalin (Paper)
• Parpalin (Paper) beats Gooseka (Rock)

Once you've hit the henchman with the head it's weak to, they'll flash red and temporarily take more damage from your regular attacks.

The trio can still be defeated more traditionally (their second battles in Miracle World are after all more traditional boss battles than their first 'fights') but it's more effective to defeat break their guards with JANKEN first. Just not completely vital.

Once one of the bosses are defeated, you'll still be able to pick up their heads as a projectile weapon to break the guard of the bosses that aren't yet defeated.

In terms of attacks for the trio:

• Gooseka will throw punches, rocks and rip stone blocks out of the ground(similar to Knuckles) to attack you. He is a mid to close range fighter.
• Chokkina will throw out boomerang like energy blasts from his body, stomp the ground with his feet and summon meteors from above to attack you. He will tend to keep his distance to attack.
• Parpalin will throw out palm strikes and body slams, as well as able to summon thunder clouds which will shoot out lightning from above at you. He is a close range fighter.

Defeating all three will cause them to turn into Rice Balls. Collect the rice balls to end the battle...and have your fighter chow down on their transformed defeated foes.

 

[Speed Weed]

aight gang boss submissions are still going cmon get your picks in

 

[osby]

Job #208-a: Death Adder (Golden Axe)

Death Adder is the main antagonist of the Golden Axe series and therefore, has plenty of material to draw from. Other than wielding his axe with tremendous strength, he also has a large shield with a dragon head that can release fireballs or lightning beams from its mouth, and absorb energy projectiles. He also has his own version of magic, allowing him to punch the ground the create moving shockwaves. Give him a dashing shield attack, and he'd be a slow, fearsome boss despite not being much taller than an average fighter (though he's still pretty big).

His boss arena would be the top of his castle, shown at the end of The Revenge of Death Adder, where the player faces him. His boss theme is Death Adder.

Job #208-b: 3rd True Dragon Nyala (7th Dragon)

Nyala is a True Dragon and one of the seven that threatens the existence of humanity. It's one of the few recurring bosses in the series and is one of the main culprits behind the poisonous Dragonsbane flowers that envelop the Earth. Arrogant and vain, he sees humans as insignificant cattle that are too weak to live in his ideal world.

Nyala is huge and covers a good portion of the stage you fight with him: Atlantis. It's a large rock clearing placed by an underwater city, surrounded by waterfalls and ancient bridges. The theme Pole of Predators plays during the fight. In battle, Nyala's attacks include:

• A standing bite
• Golden Flame: Swings a wing to send a large wave of flames forward, which burns and deals damage over time to fighters.
• True Dragon Fang: Three lunging bites that may combo into each other.
• Chaos Gaze: Nyala covers his face with his wings as the screen gets dark before he lifts them and glares with glowing eyes. If a fighter is in front of him, they will get petrified.
• True Dragon Breath: Launches a full-screen laser beam from his mouth. It deals huge damage but very little knockback.
• Killing Act: Roars and increases his attack and defense temporarily. If the player fails to deal him enough damage and "break" his armor in the meantime, he'll follow this with a screen-wide attack that will likely KO anyone whose stamina isn't high.

 

[Flyboy]

Job 208a: Neff (Altered Beast)

WELCOME TO YOUR DOOM!

Neff is the evil sorcerer and death god from Altered Beast, a man who tried to stage a civil war in the underworld and the one whom the Centurion must defeat. He has many forms, including various beasties and his commonly-used Rhino form, pictured above. I would love him to shift between all these forms to deal some serious damage, and if you want more info on Neff check out this page on the Villains Wiki.

The reason I'm submitting him is because we don't really have any Altered Beast content in the game, and to me that feels like something of a large oversight. The game is definitely more well-regarded in the US than Japan, but the fact that it was an arcade hit in both regions PLUS the original pack-in title for the Sega Genesis (and is therefore fondly remembered) is a big deal. I'll be real, I don't even think the game is that good objectively, but I DO think it's important and I DO think Neff is cool as an evil shape-shifting sorcerer. The dude even appeared in Wreck It Ralph and SEGA Heroes. He's not a nobody, and having a traditional classic villain I think would be a ton of fun to include as a boss.

Job 208b: Aletheia (Trauma Center)
With OrpheusTelos's permission I'm re-submitting the virus from Trauma Center because I think it's a really fun and interesting way to do a boss fight and since bosses don't deconfirm for DLC this means my master plan to get Derek Stiles in remains in place. Reread the post, it's super well-thought-out and I think it's cool!

Normally I don’t like resubmitting the same character so close to each other unless their name is Raidou Kuzunoha, but I already had this boss idea written down before I submitted it as a character, so screw it, here’s Aletheia again but this time as a boss.

Job #105: Aletheia (Trauma Center)

Aletheia is one of multiple strains of the neo-GUILT pathogen, which in turn was developed from the artificial disease GUILT. Unlike the original GUILT disease which was used for acts of bio-terrorism, neo-GUILT is sold by a pharmecutical company as a miracle medicine that can enhance the body. However, Neo-GUILT still attacks the body in the same ways its predecessor does, proving itself to still be a threat to peoples’ lives. Alethia specifically halts the host’s aging process and gains full control over their body once it infects them. It is the final strain of Neo-GUILT that the player has to confront and remove from the host’s body.

That’s right, in a game that features an ancient water monster and all-powerful evil nightmare wizard as bosses, my boss pitch is a mother****ing disease. Granted it’s a powerful body-altering disease, but still, not something that would usually transfer well into a fighting game boss fight. At least, so it seems. You see, Trauma Center isn’t just a normal surgery simulator, so extracting diseases isn’t as simple as it might seem. Alethia specifically can call upon other strains of GUILT to protect itself and prevent Derek Stiles from making any progress. Basically, imagine if a tumor was a Touhou boss and that’s your average Trauma Center boss fight. It’s more than capable of defending itself, so there’s plenty to pull from for a moveset. Also, one of the main things that prompted me to submit Aletheia because somebody I know put it in their fan roster as a fighter a while back, and the idea of it making its way into this project in any capacity has lived rent-free in my head ever since.

So how do you adapt this into a boss fight? First off, we’re going full Osmosis Jones with this **** and having the fight take place inside the host’s body. Basically, the setup here is you’re helping fight the disease on the inside while Dr. Stiles (or if he gets added as a fighter, one of the other surgeons from New Blood) is doing his surgery thing on the outside. The boss theme will be Severing the Chains of Fate from Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2. Aletheia is attached to the heart, and there will be a single platform under it. While this means Aletheia will remain stationary for the entire boss fight, that doesn’t mean it’ll be vulnerable the whole time. When Aletheia’s eye is closed, you won’t be able to do any damage to it. In order to expose Aletheia’s weak spot, you need to take out the other strains of GUILT that it summons. After you’ve defeated each wave of GUILT, Aletheia’s eye will open, leaving it vulnerable to attacks for a short period of time before it closes again and begins summoning more GUILT strains. Here’s a rundown of all the GUILT Aletheia can summon:

• Kyriaki - The first GUILT that Aletheia summons. Four of this strain will surround Aletheia in a diamond-shaped rotation, creating lacerations in the heart and dealing damage to anyone caught in their way. Whenever one of these is defeated, the cuts created will be stitched right back up.
• Nous - A few of this strain will surround Aletheia in a circular motion and create three tumors inside the body. These tumors must be removed in the exact order they were created before fighting the disease itself. If you attack the tumors out of order or knock out a Nous before taking care of them, the tumors will create a large explosion and deal major damage.
• Pempti - Five of these will move around Aletheia sporadically and create polyps. While they won’t deal any direct damage to you, the lasers pointing at them to remove them will hurt you. It’s best to stay out of their way if a laser is aimed towards one.
• Sige - A few of these guys will circle around Aletheia and release gas clouds that damage the player.
• Tetarti - These three go around Aletheia in a triangular motion and release a toxic mist that chips away at the player’s health.
• Bythos - A bunch of this strain will quickly circle around Aletheia, dealing damage to anyone who comes in their way. For the brief time that they’re stationary, the player will be able to freely hit them.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

Job #208-2: Michael Reynolds (Illbleed)

Michael Reynolds is the main antagonist and secret final boss of the cult-classic Dreamcast survival horror game llbleed. He is the twisted and absurdly wealthy mastermind behind the titular horror-based amusement park, of which none of its visitors made it through alive. With Reynolds offering $100 million to the first patron to survive his death trap, skeptic Eriko and her group of friends decide to investigate and see what all the hype is about. It turns out the rumors of the theme park's dangers were all true, and the gang has to survive six deadly attractions themed around different types of horror movies. Some of these threats include a vengeful baseball dad, a greedy dollar store owner who made a deal with Satan for a second chance at life, and my personal favorite, Zodick the Hellhog. You fight Reynolds himself in the secret true ending, where it's revealed that he was Eriko's father. Illbleed's a wild game, super worth looking into if you're a fan of survival horror or Sega's Dreamcast oddities in general. While Illbleed isn't the biggest thing we haven't given much major content to, I think it'd be really fun to pay homage to this cool little cult title that rarely gets any recognition.

Reynold's boss fight is split up into two phases. In his first form, he's a giant deformed head that can hit you with the giant ball on his head and shoot powerful laser beams at you. He melts into the ground and reemerges behind the player constantly, so make sure to stay on your toes and choose the right time to strike. In his second phase, he'll transform into a giant flying Lovecraftian brain monster that can shoot ghosts at you and fire green homing projectiles. He'll also try to ram his brain into you and create a giant red tornado of said ghosts around him.

 

[Deleted member]

Rahab
The terrifying final boss of the 1998 light gun aracde game the Occen Hunter. The characters will find themselves underwater in a temple like area as a being rises up. This tall being, knwkn as Poseidon, will attack from the background. It will use its fists and deadly bubbles. Once beaten, it will fall back. Only to transform into its true form, the eldritch merman creature Rahab, who will dart around and attempt to kill the fighters. He's deadly and speedy, but his eye is a weak spot.

Resubmitting Mr. X

Mr. X


The main villian of the Streets of Rage series. A powerful criminal. He acts as the major antagonist for all three original Streets of Rage games. His legacy plays a big part in the plot of the most recent game.

In Battle of Ages, he would act like a classic beat em up boss. Players would enter his arena, where he sits on his chair and laughs. He would summon enemies to attack the player. And eventually he will jump into battle himself. He is a heavy fighter, and uses his machine gun to mow down fighters.

 

[cashregister9]

Resubmitting Ryuji Goda

Job 24

Ryuji Goda

You might be saying "This is a normal sized dude" and you are right. This fight he would appear slightly larger, and jump height would be reduced for the players. The whole fight would take place in a construction zone.

In this form he would walk around slowly and taunts the players, He has powerful kicks and uses the Katana he has to attack the players as well, He can also roll around to get behind players to then attack them as well


At Half-health he drops the katana and takes out the Minigum arm from Yakuza: Dead Souls

In this form he will still use his powerful kicks, he will now incorporate punches and slams with the minigun as well. Of course he will also try to shoot the players as well

Once most of his health is gone he drops the minigun arm and takes his shirt off and just fight hand to hand, With powerful punches and kicks.

and Resubmitting Arahabaki

Job 60

Arahabaki (Sakura Wars)

The arena would resemble that of the fight in game, it is a cave with industrial and flaming parts, in the background you can also see Arahabaki's controller, Orobo.

Arahabaki would start by flying around the background and occasionally cutting into the foreground, Arahabaki's attacks look similar but have different functions

Beam: A Very tall vertical beam would be shot forward onto the stage
Beam Shield: beams of light would start circling arahabaki, touching them damages you
Homing Laser: Arahabaki shoots a laser at an opponent
Grab: Arahabaki would grab the player and crush them
Beam Volley: Many Beams would be shot forward in a row
Laser Volley: Many lasers would cut across the stage

Once you deal enough Damage to Arahabaki when it is flying it will then crash into the ground where you can deal more damage, it will then awaken and return to the flying phase.

 

[Speed Weed]

Alllllllllllrighty then - it's time to vote!!!!!

Here are our picks:

meeeeeeee: Magician Type-0, O-Papa
OrpheusTelos : Lucifer, Michael Reynolds
tonygameman : Ashra
Megadoomer : Jubileus
Tankman from Newgrounds : Neff (do also check out Flyboy 's writeup)
YoshiandToad : World Annihilation Front, Gooseka, Chokkina and Parpalin
osby : Death Adder, 3rd True Dragon Nyala
Flyboy : Aletheia
@Darkonedagger: Mr. X, Rahab
cashregister9 : Ryuji Goda, Arahabaki

Vote for your top 3 picks - keep your own submission in third place if you're going to self-vote.

1. Lucifer
2. Mr. X
3. Death Adder

I think the Seven Force does a good job of being our sorta "wildcard" boss, so I went with more foundational picks that I think would help round out our lineup nicely

 

[Deleted member]

1. Magician
2. Death Adder
3. Neff

 

[OrpheusTelos]

1. O-Papa
2. Neff
3. Mr. X

 

[cashregister9]

1. Jubileus
2. Mr. X
3. Neff

 

[YoshiandToad]

1. Ashra
2. Neff
3. Gooseka, Chokkina and Parpalin

 

[Janx_uwu]

1.O-papa
2. Jubileus
3. Mr. X

 

[Megadoomer]

1. Magician Type-0
2. Lucifer
3. Jubileus

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

1. Neff
2. Lucifer
3. Death Adder

 

[Flyboy]

1. Neff (Technically I didn't nominate him soooo)
2. Magician
3. Death Adder

 

[tonygameman]

1. Michael Reynolds
2. O-Papa
3. Neff

 

[Tankman from Newgrounds]

1. O-papa (I also had an idea based on O-papa boss fight back in 2021)
2. Death Adder
3. Neff

 

[osby]

1. Magician
2. Michael Reynolds
3. Jubileus

 

[Speed Weed]

Oooooooookay, results time!!!!!

Let's take a look:

Magician: 8 points
O-Papa: 8 points
Lucifer: 10 points
Ashra: 3 points
Jubileus: 7 points
Neff: 13 points
WAF: 0 points
G/C/P: 1 points
Adder: 5 points
Nyala: 0 points
Aletheia: 0 points
Reynolds: 5 points
Rahab: 0 points
X: 6 points
Ryuji: 0 points
Arahabaki: 0 points

So! Here's the deal! In retrospect, I think 6 "main" bosses - discounting Segata - was just a biiiiiiiit too little. In addition, our top ranked boss is Neff, and I personally don't think having 2 out of 6 main bosses be from miscellaneous franchises makes for a very well-rounded lineup. So I'm getting one more boss in, making for a total of 8 bosses counting Segata. Our last two bosses to make it in are Neff and Lucifer!!!!!

And with that......we've got all our main content down. Now we're doing smaller stuff like collectables, missions, arcade routes, reveal trailers, etc. But our basic content outline is now complete. The sorta "core" of Battle of AGES is done. So what do we think?

Discussion: Before we move on to minor content, thoughts on the main general content lineup of this project?

I feel a milestone like this is worth looking back on. How did our overall game turn out? What did we do right, what did we do wrong? I'd like to see how we feel on this.

 

[YoshiandToad]

What I think we did right:

1. Overall series representation.
   The majority of Sega's most impressive series are all present and accounted for, even if some of them had to wait until quite late to get in (Golden Axe, Shinobi, Panzer Dragoon, Virtua On). Some series didn't get a fighter, but it still feels like they got proper attention in other areas such as Neff and Gunstar Green repping their series via boss battles or our misc assists and stages. Crazy Taxi's minigame fills the void of not getting a fighter somewhat.
2. A cap on the most popular series.
   Most Sega rosters would be filled to the brim with Sonic characters. We got four. Which ya know, Sonic absolutely deserves, but it's nice that the love was more spread out amongst series.
3. Research.
   Whilst we honestly didn't get anything too wild actually make the cut for the fighters, we got a hell of a lot of interesting ideas and concepts, and it showcased some in depth research from all the regulars.
4. Good spread of genres.
   Not dominated by too many platformer stars or RPG heroes, instead the spread was relatively even amongst them and other series
5. Creative ideas all around.
   Yeah, NGL, if this was a real game I'd be all over this. A lot of the items sound insanely fun to throw around, and many of the gameplay styles for each character have been love letters to the characters.
6. Shining round.
   Seemed to be very few of us with Shining knowledge at first, but we went out our way to include a round just for it, recognising it as a big, but often overlooked, part of Sega's IP list.
7. Speed of rounds and amount of submissions.
   Perfect length rounds for the most part. Very few prompts felt like they went on too long, and there was enough passion to keep the rounds interesting with strong submissions each prompt.

What I think we coulda done better:

1. We lowballed ourselves.
   Likely to be fixed in the DLC period, but myself and some of the original posters definitely underestimated how many franchises Sega actually had their hands on. 36 characters in hindsight was a very conservative amount.
2. Not too many surprises.
   We actually did get a few unusual picks in Rikiya, Raidou and Princess Kurumi (and possibly Aigis as the second Persona pick). Outside them, Blue Dragon's probably our wildest choice. This is mostly due to the above error however as we had less wiggle room to use for weirder choices.
3. Certain franchises missed the cut.
   Again, resulting from point 1. There's dozens of additional Sega franchises that missed out. Fighting Vipers didn't really get a look in, 7th Dragon and Etrian Odyssey got nothing, the Endless franchise and Sega Sports series (Football Manager, Virtua Striker, Virtua Tennis, etc) missed out too. Samba de Amigo missing in a Sega crossover still feels a little wrong to me.
4. The Bryants
   Don't get me wrong, I love Jacky and I love Sarah, but with such a small roster I'm not sure we should have had both. Either a weirder/wilder Virtua Fighter pick or a Virtua Fighter tagent franchise like Fighting Vipers or Last Bronx feels like it would have been better.
5. Lack of Sammy representation
   This one is just one I feel we should have acknowledged. Whilst Atlus got a boatload and even Treasure got something, Sammy didn't get anything, and considering it's role in Sega I think we maybe should have given it...well something, even if it wasn't a fighter. A stage, a boss, an item maybe.
6. VMU RPG
   This one's my fault. I think the concept was more interesting in theory than what it ended up as, which is a bit of a half baked mode. Ah well!

There's probably more for each, but that's my initial two cents.

 

[Speed Weed]

Ooooookay, time to close it down!

And so begins a new era of this project, as we go back to taking care of minor content for god knows how long

Here are your next jobs:

Side Job: Submit Capsule Toys, artwork and/or VMU RPG enemies for Shenmue, NiGHTS and/or Jet Set Radio

Time for our next batch of those! As we've discussed in the past, from this point onward I'm letting yall submit however much you want to submit. You're free.

Side Job: Submit a reveal trailer for Nei

And the next character we're revealing is Nei!!! I think that after a string of rather predictable choices, hitting the audience out of nowhere with Nei would be a fun move. She is good

And lastly......let's try out something new:

Side Job: Submit an Arcade Mode route for Sonic

It's time to start taking care of Arcade Mode routes!!! We're starting off simple here and doing only one character per job for now, but we'll see how it shakes out.

How do you put together an arcade route, you might be asking? In the OP, the "Arcade Mode" in the modes section has a post linked to it that I think is rather helpful. But basically

-Two fights in a row
-A "bonus round" specifically tailored to the character
-Two more fights in a row
-A boss fight
-A "rival" battle
-In addition, there are little bits of story inbetween each fight that connect it all to make an overarching narrative

So yeah! This is your opportunity to write adventures for the Battle of AGES cast to go on! This is your opportunity to create lore for this game! Go off!!!!!

 

[tonygameman]

In my opinion, arcade mode routes would seem more like a free-time submission prompt.

VMU RPG Enemies:

• Shleep (NiGHTS)
• Mad Angels Gang Member (Shenmue)
• SWAT Officer (Jet Set Radio)

Spoiler: Shenmue Artwork

• Name: The Saga Begins
• Origin: Shenmue I & II (Cover Artwork)

• Name: Ryo and Shenhua
• Origin: Shenmue (Promotional Artwork)

• Name: The Secret of the Mirrors (originates from a Japanese trailer)
• Origin: Shenmue the Animation

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

• Arcade Route for Sonic the Hedgehog:"Gaming's Finest"
  • Battle 1: Tails and Knuckles
    • Music: Green Hill Zone
    • Stage: Green Hill Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog)
    • Sonic was having such a good day until his friends went rouge. Now he had to find out what the heck was happening
  • Battle 2: Arle Nadja and NiGHTS
    • Music: Angel Island Zone
    • Stage: Spring Valley (NiGHTS) - Sonic the Hedgehog Forme
    • After the battle, Sonic was feeling hungry so he went to the You Arcade for some chili dogs
  • Bonus Round: Collect as much food as you can in the time limit
    • Music: Casino Night Pinball
    • Stage: You Arcade (Shenmue)
    • Sonic goes to grab the last chili dog but it gets stepped on by two more villainous doppelgangers
  • Battle 3: Kazuma Kiryu and Akira Yuki
    • Music: Chemical Plant Zone
    • Stage: Amusement Park (Streets of Rage)
    • After the fight ends, Sonic hears a scream. He goes to find out that Bayonetta and Joker look alikes are letting a giant truck loose on the city!
  • Battle 4: Bayonetta and Joker
    • Music: Escape from the City
    • Stage: City Escape (Sonic the Hedgehog)
    • After having defeated Bayonetta and Joker, The Tram dissolves into water and reforms to become Perfect Chaos
  • Boss Battle: Perfect Chaos
    • As Perfect Chaos is defeated, the background glitches and reveals a futuristic lab being controlled by...
  • Rival: Dr. Eggman
    • Music:E.G.G.M.A.N.
    • Stage: Death Egg (Sonic the Hedgehog)
    • Turn's out the entire Arcade Mode was a trap to keep Sonic from meddling in his plans. But like always... he failed.
  • Credits roll over Sonic running free in Green Hill Zone with Green Hill Zone playing in the background

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

Capsule Toys:

• Reala(Classic)
  • Debut: NiGHTS into Dreams
  • System Debut: Saturn
• NT-3000
  • Debut: Jet Set Future
  • System Debut: Xbox
• Hayashi
  • Debut: Jet Set Future
  • System Debut: Xbox

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

VMU RPG Mooks:

• Alarm Eggs(NiGHTS)
• Doom Rider Member(Jet Set Radio)
• Poison Jam Member(Jet Set Radio)
• Zero Beats(Jet Set Radio)

 

[YoshiandToad]

Sonic Arcade mode:

Opening:
Sonic is relaxing in a hammock by Outrun Bay, when a Flicky flies down and lands on his shoe. Sonic smiles at it for a brief second, before Metal Sonic zips past, grabbing the Flicky and handing it over to Dr. Eggman. Sonic sits up as Eggman laughs at him. Sonic slams into Eggman's Egg Mobile, landing back witha confident grin. Eggman adjusts himself and flies off with Metal Sonic, as Sonic gives chase. A silver blur jumps from the Egg Mobile and lands in front of Sonic, knocking him back. Mecha Knuckles stands before him.

Battle 1: Vs. Knuckles (Mecha Knuckles alt)
Stage: Outrun Bay
Cutscene slide: As Sonic defeats Mecha Knuckles, he dusts himself down and sprints off, before noticing a giant robot in the form of Temjin seemingly harrassing Tails. Believing this to be another Eggman Badnik, Sonic attacks Temjin. Temjin is knocked back, but slides back, whipping out his energy sword. Sonic looks surprised but smirks and runs forward, ready to face this new foe.

Battle 2: Vs. Temjin (with Tails ally)
Stage: Green Hill Zone
Cutscene slide: Sonic smashes through Temjin and continues onwards as the cyber trooper blows up, falling to it's knees. Tails looks at Temjin curiously as Sonic speeds onwards attempting to catch up to Eggman. He manages it, this time capturing Chao. Sonic gives chase.

Bonus Round: Capture the Chao mode
Stage: Amusement Park
Sonic vs. Eggman in a Capture the Chao battle, with the pair trying to obtain and keep hold of the most Chao possible. If Eggman captures a Chao, Sonic must smash it out of his hands. If Sonic ends with the most Chao, he wins, having saved them.
Cutscene slide: Sonic saves the Chao and grins confidentally at Eggman, wagging his finger before launching himself at him once more. Eggman manages to out manuever Sonic by flying upwards and releases a corrupted Opa-Opa at him. Sonic nimbly avoids the missiles Opa-Opa fires at him, as he readies to engage in battle with the little spacecraft.

Battle 3: Vs. Opa-Opa
Stage: Millenium Tower
Cutscene slide: Sonic finishes Opa-Opa off with a homing attack, knocking him into the ground, but is immedietly attacked by Aigis who has witnessed Sonic's assault on the little spacecraft decides Sonic is a threat that must be dealt with and that she will protect the innocents as she launches a firearm barrage at the blue hedgehog.

Battle 4: Vs. Aigis
Stage: Casino of Envy
Cutscene slide: Sonic finishes Aigis off, before looking back conflicted at the defeated girl. Eggman's robots are getting more impressive for sure. He boosts off, leaving Aigis on the floor as a familiar set of tails appear, weilding a wrench step in front of Aigis. Cut back to Sonic, as he catches up to Eggman and Metal Sonic. The pair attack Sonic, only for Knuckles to appear out of nowhere and send Metal Sonic flying with an enraged punch. Sonic, surprised smirks as he and Knuckles corner Dr. Eggman. Eggman, now without his most powerful ally, unleashes Perfect Chaos, the giant water god looming over the pair. Eggman flees into the sky with the damaged Metal Sonic.

Boss Battle: Perfect Chaos (with Knuckles ally)
Stage: Perfect Chaos Boss arena
Cutscene Slide: Having defeated Chaos, Knuckles traps the spirit of Chaos back inside the Master Emerald, whilst Sonic gathers the now fallen Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles walks off with the Master Emerald, as Sonic stares up at the sky. Suddenly Tails appears with the fixed up Temjin, Opa-Opa and Aigis. Sonic and Knuckles both go to fight, but Tails jumps in the way. Realising they aren't Eggman cronies, Sonic sheepishly apologises. He looks back into the sky before looking at his former opponents and points upwards. Aigis salutes as she takes off, Sonic stands atop Opa-Opa, and Temjin throws Opa-Opa into the sky, Sonic surfing atop him. Aigis blasts a hole in the bottom of the Death Egg, allowing Sonic and Opa-Opa to get into the final stage.

Final fight: Dr. Eggman
Stage: Death Egg

Final Cutscene: Sonic freefalls from the exploding Death Egg alongside a capsule. He swims through the air, slamming the button and releasing the Flickies and Chao from the capsule, allowing them to fly to freedom. As Sonic falls he is caught by Tails who slows his descent and slowly drops him to the ground, as Knuckles catches what's left of the heavy broken capsule without any effort. Sonic fist bumps Tails, and Knuckles drops the capsule and gives a thumbs up of approval. The three then race towards the camera, before we see Eggman's Egg Mobile slam into the ground, on fire. Eggman comically falls out of it, dazed and slightly charred.

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

Artwork:

• Name: The story continues
• Origin: Shenmue III (Concept Artwork)

• Name: Rescue Mission
• Origin: Shenmue

• Name: Joy Ride
• Origin: Shenmue II

• Name: Mischievous Boy
• Origin: Jet Set Radio
  

• Name: GG's
• Origin: Sonic & All-Stars Transformed

• Name: The Future
• Origin: Jet Set Radio Future (Sega Tracks)

• Name: Dreamers
• Origin: NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams

• Name: Christmas Dreamers
• Origin: Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams

• Name: Nightmare Siblings
• Origin: NiGHTS into Dreams

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

Nei reveal trailer coming later

 

[YoshiandToad]

Nei Trailer:

We open with Nei being cut down by Neifirst. Rolf rushes over and holds Nei.

“Nei, hold on!”

“There’s no hope left for me. Please Rolf, don’t let them ever repeat the mistake they made when they made me. I hope everyone on Algo can find happiness in their new life.” Nei responds weakly, before closing her eyes and dying in Rolf’s arms. He slowly lowers Nei onto the floor, standing up tears in his eyes. He draws his sword and attacks Neifirst.

“Nei! We’ll avenge you!” we witness Rolf do battle with Neifirst before cutting her down. He cries out to Nei as he cradles her lifeless body. “The clone labs…maybe they can revive her…”

We cut to a solemn looking Rolf, holding Nei’s body in the clonelabs. The runner of the clone lab, shakes her head.

“Ah…the one called Nei? I’m sorry, but we really aren’t able to return people to life who aren’t human. It just doesn’t work.”

Suddenly we zoom out, and Tails walks on screen from behind the clone machine, wrench in hand. “All finished. I upgraded your machines, as you were running some seriously outdated tech. You should be able to revive anyone now.” The clone lab runner looks confused as Rolf walks past, slightly hopeful. A flash of light, and Nei is brought back to life immediately. Nei and Rolf embrace happily, as the clone lab runner looks utterly confused.

We cut to gameplay footage of Nei in battle upon Noah. First we show her running after Sonic, as he speeds off without her, before she turns to face Kiryu showcasing her level up ability against him. She starts off barely tickling Kiryu, but as she slashes away she levels up, doing more damage and increasing her strength and sending him flying.

We see Nei then keep up with Sonic as her speed level has greatly increased from the level up system too.

We witness Nei perform a Claw Dash becoming a whirlwind of destruction, slicing away at Knuckles and Ryo Hazuki as she does so.

We see Tails floating high above Nei, and she performs a Numan Pounce to reach his incredibly high height whilst slashing her claws to the side.

We see her face off with Sakura, both slashing away at one another. Nei takes damage from the clash, and heals herself with Res. Sakura goes to attack again, but this time Nei’s ears droop and she places her hands over her face. Sakura’s blade strikes, but Rolf appears out of no where and counters Sakura sending her flying. “Never again!” he yells.

We cut to CGI as both Nei and Rolf look around in an open field as the skies darken and the terrifying visage of Dark Falz looms over them both.
“I am haunted by nightmares every night. A young girl is battling a giant demon.” Rolf states as we cut back to gameplay and witness the Dark Falz boss on screen. Alis’ party assist is summoned by Nei. We see Alis cast her fire spell, Myau scratch, Odin slash and Lutz summoning a lightning bolt down upon the creature.

We witness Nei striking at Dark Falz in gameplay and finishing it off, before cutting back to CGI to witness Dark Falz snarling, and Dr. Eggman laughing, having unleashed the great evil…as he is known to do with unspeakable monsters. Nei looks over at the floor, with her party of Rolf, Rudo and Amy on the floor. She furrows her brow as she begins to glow.

We cut back to gameplay, this time of her All-Star Move, Nasak. She falls to her knees, sacrificing her own life force to revive her party members. Rolf speeds in and slashes Dr. Eggman and casting Nanzan. Dr. Eggman is blown into the air by the magic blast, as Rudo appears and begins to unleash a barrage of bullets at the evil doctor, whilst Amy the healer fixes Nei up with a heal spell. Rudo fires his last shot leaving Dr. Eggman spinning, when Nei seemingly teleports above him. She brings both her claws down hard on the opponent as a ghostly version of Myau appears behind her. The impact smashes Dr. Eggman into the ground with immense force, and richochets him off into the blast zone. Rolf, Rudo and Amy then take their leave, as Nei lands and finishes with a happy little hand clap taunt.

‘Battle of Ages’ title appears as we see Nei’s victory screen with her playing with some musk cat kittens whilst Rolf watches over her with a smile.

CGI stinger has us back in the clone labs, with Tails. Sonic has now joined him. A flash of light occurs as Alex Kidd is brought back to life yet again.
“Another successful revival!” Tails exclaims.
Alex sits up confused, as Sonic hands him a rice ball.

“As a sorry for Knuckles crushing you with Heavy last time” he states. Alex shrugs and chows down on the rice ball as the three exit the lab. The Clone Lab Runner is still in the background utterly bewildered by Tails altering the story of Phantasy Star 2 with his upgrade.

Reveals:
Nei (fighter)
Alis' Party (assist)
Noah (stage)
Dark Falz (Boss)


Got COVID, so this was delayed

Kept it just to the essentials this time. Originally was going to include Sakura and Arle's revival abilities to accidentally revive Nei but since they're not in their moveset I decided against it. Also Nei as a zombie revive style thing felt a little wrong so went more into the PS II route.

 

[Speed Weed]

Alright, time to take care of some stuff.

First off, YoshiandToad's Nei trailer wins by default!!!!!!

Secondly, Sonic arcade route submissions are closed!!!! Here's the poll:

Le vote - StrawPoll.com

What is your opinion? Vote now: Qwerty's route, Yoshi's route

strawpoll.com

I'm letting Shenmue/NiGHTS/JSR stuff submissions go on for longer. Reminder that you can submit any amount of content.

 

[YoshiandToad]

Jet Set Radio Capsule Toys

• Yoyo
  • First Appearance: Jet Set Radio/Jet Grind Radio (June 29, 2000 )
  • Series: Jet Set Radio
  • System Debut: Dreamcast

Yoyo is a member of the GGs, known for his silver tongue. Whilst in Jet Set Radio, Yoyo challenges the player to a race before he'll join the GGs, in Jet Set Radio Future he takes the role of Beat, becoming one of the finding members of the GGs alongside Corn and Gum. As time progresses, the Noise Tanks kidnap him, replacing him with a robotic replica to infiltrate the GGs.

• Cube
  • First Appearance: Jet Set Radio/Jet Grind Radio (June 29, 2000 )
  • Series: Jet Set Radio
  • System Debut: Dreamcast

Originally part of a different gang alongside Combo and Coin, she seeks out the GGs for help after Coin is kidnapped by the Golden Rhinos and their turf completely taken over. She defeats Gum's challenge to become a full fledged member in the hopes of getting revenge on Goji Rokkaku. In Jet Set Radio Future she is the leader of Poison Jam, a rival gang to the GGs and actively hinders the GGs progression only siding with them when strictly neccesary.

• Combo
  • First Appearance: Jet Set Radio/Jet Grind Radio (June 29, 2000 )
  • Series: Jet Set Radio
  • System Debut: Dreamcast

Originally part of a different gang alongside Cube and Coin, he seeks out the GGs for help after Coin is kidnapped by the Golden Rhinos and their turf completely taken over. Unlike Cube, he does the majority of the talking, even narrating the story at some parts. He defeats Beat's challenge to become a full fledged member of the GGs. In Sega Superstars Tennis, Combo grinds across the tennis court net, spraying Beat's opponent's side with paint. He also hands out the spray cans to the player in the Jet Set Radio missions.

• Goji Rokkaku
  • First Appearance: Jet Set Radio/Jet Grind Radio (June 29, 2000 )
  • Series: Jet Set Radio
  • System Debut: Dreamcast

The main antagonist of Jet Set Radio, Goji became obsessed with a record known as the Devil's Contract, that was said to be able to summon demons. In order to obtain this record, he created a mafia like organisation known as the Rokkaku Group and the Golden Rhinos, eventually hearing rumours of the the record being in the hands of a rudie known as Coin. He kidnaps Coin, taking over Cube and Combo's turf and sends his assassins to deal with the GGs, all in the pursuit of the Devil's Contract, wishing to use it summon demons and use their power to rule the world.

• Piranha
  • First Appearance: Jet Set Radio/Jet Grind Radio (June 29, 2000 )
  • Series: Jet Set Radio
  • System Debut: Dreamcast

The eldest female member of the GGs, Piranha will challenge the player to beat her challenges before joining the GGs. She has a minor appearance alongside Corn in Sega Superstars Tennis in which they alongside DJ Professor K watch the match unfold court side. In Jet Set Radio Future, she is going by a different nickname; Boogie, and will only join the GGs if the player can find her within the time limit.

• Garam
  • First Appearance: Jet Set Radio/Jet Grind Radio (June 29, 2000 )
  • Series: Jet Set Radio
  • System Debut: Dreamcast

The first challenger to the GGs in Jet Set Radio. In Jet Set Radio Future, Garam traps the player in a hole whilst they explore Poison Jam's hideout, but offers to help them escape as a special "30th sucker" deal providing they can impress him with their skate skills. Garam has a crush on Jazz and gets tongue tied when she is around.

 

[Speed Weed]

Oki doki, we have our first arcade route figured out, as YoshiandToad's pitch wins!!!!

Submissions for Shenmue/SC5/JSR content are still going

 

[YoshiandToad]

• Chai
  • First Appearance: Shenmue (December 29, 1999)
  • Series: Shenmue
  • System Debut: Dreamcast

A low ranking, hunchbacked but incredibly persistant member of the Chi You Men. Upon overhearing Ryo has located the Phoenix Mirror he sets about to retrieve it from Ryo and hand it over to Lan Di to gain his favour. Chai believes strength is everything, and mocks Ryo calling him weak as he assaults him in You Arcade. In Shenmue sidestories it is revealed Chai stowed away on the boat to Hong Kong. He takes a little girl hostage and challenges Ryo to fight him again in order to get the Phoenix Mirror but is defeated and kicked into the sea. He returns in Shenmue III having made his way to China to intercept Ryo once more.

• Guizhang Chen
  • First Appearance: Shenmue (December 29, 1999)
  • Series: Shenmue
  • System Debut: Dreamcast

The bodyguard and son of Yaowen Chen, Guizhang Chen is told to act briefly as Ryo's bodyguard by his father. Guizhang helps Ryo foil Chai's attempt to steal the Phoenix Mirror. A talented martial artist, Guizhang has gotten in the way of the local biker gang, the Mad Angels too many times. The gang's leader, Terry, has Nozomi kidnapped and orchestrates Ryo into fighting Guizhang in the hopes of ridding them of their obstacle. However Ryo and Guizhang team up and defeat the 70 man strong gang, with Guizhang taking down Terry in a one on one. Guizhang plans to travel with Ryo on his quest to get revenge on Lan Di, but Chai drops a steel beam onto his leg forcing him to stay in Japan.

• Joy
  • First Appearance: Shenmue II (September 6, 2001)
  • Series: Shenmue
  • System Debut: Dreamcast

A local girl who roams the streets of Aberdeen, Hong Kong on her motorbike. Joy befriends Ryo after nearly running him over and quickly becomes his guide to the local area. She seems to know the local gangs quite well, including the Heavens gang and becomes a useful informant for Ryo's quest, even finding out the location of Yuanda Zhu, the man Ryo was seeking. In Shenmue Side Stories it is revealed that Joy was once kidnapped as a child by someone wishing to ransom her rich father, but was saved by Guizhang Chen.

• Xiuying Hong
  • First Appearance: Shenmue II (September 6, 2001)
  • Series: Shenmue
  • System Debut: Dreamcast

A martial arts master also known as Lishao Tao, Ryo seeks her out to help him on his quest for revenge against Lan Di. Having seen her brother go down a very similar path to Ryo and ending up joining the Chi You Men, Hong refuses to aid Ryo, instead trying to sway him from revenge. Throughout Ryo's adventures in Hong Kong, Hong looks out for him, even saving him from a battle with the fearsome Dou Niu.

• Dou Niu
  • First Appearance: Shenmue II (September 6, 2001)
  • Series: Shenmue
  • System Debut: Dreamcast

The fearsome leader of the Yellow Heads, Dou Niu has connections with the Chi You Men, and are promised to rule Hong Kong if they hand over Yuanda Zhu to Lan Di. Dou Niu is incredibly strong but not very bright, and is constantly tricked by rival gang leader Ren Wuying. He and Ryo end up clashing when Ryo saves Yuanda Zhu from being handed over to Lan Di.

• Ren Wuying
  • First Appearance: Shenmue II (September 6, 2001)
  • Series: Shenmue
  • System Debut: Dreamcast

The cocky, charismatic and pragmatic leader of the Heavens gang. Ryo first encounters him whilst trying to get information from him about Yuanda Zhu, but is mugged by Ren instead. Unfortunately for Ren, Ryo doggedly chases him, eventually wearing him out. After discovering Ryo has a Phoenix Mirror, Ren declares he can smell treasure and offers to aid Ryo in exchange for a cut of whatever treasure they find. Although neither Ryo nor Ren fully trust one another at first, they eventually form a firm partnership with Ren aiding Ryo throughout his adventures in both Hong Kong and China.

• Niao Sun
  • First Appearance: Shenmue III (November 19, 2019)
  • Series: Shenmue
  • System Debut: PC, Playstation 4

One of the four leaders of the Chi You Men alongside Lan Di, Niao Sun is as manipulative, deadly and twisted as she is beautiful. Talented with twisting the truth and disguises, she prefers to play mind games with her opponents. The only thing about her that we know for sure is she cannot be trusted.