Smashboards Creates: Battle of AGES, a SEGA platform fighter

[YoshiandToad]

WONDEEEERLAAAAND~

Job 286: Cendrillion (Wonderland Wars/League of Wonderland)

What is Wonderland Wars?
Sega's answer to League of Legends, Wonderland Wars is a popular Japanese MOBA arcade title that launched in 2015 and had a competitive scene that seems to only now be dying down.

Uniquely it used a pen stylus and attack ability was linked directly to how much 'ink' the player had as well as the use of collectable cards to perform special moves. It also uses the AIME card system.

The basic premise of the title is it's a four on four with various characters from fairy tales as the protagonists. With their fairytale stories complete they're whisked off to the battlefield to compete with one another.

Characters such as Rapunzel, Peter Pan, Alice of Alice in Wonderland fame and the Monkey King from journey to the west would face off with one another on the battlefield to bust down the opposite teams castles and claim victory.

Amongst the many, many famed faces of the Fairy Tale posse, I'm nominating Ash Covered Cendrillion (or Cinderella).

Why Cendrillion?
Despite Wonderland Wars intro cutscene starting off with a sleepy Rapunzel defending her castle alongside the Tin Soldiers, Cendrillion is the very first character on the select screen, and she's used prominantly in what marketing I could find for the title. I'll be real with you all; Wonderland Wars isn't very well documented in English, and it's become even harder to look into with a boardgame, Wonderland's War making searches even harder. She also looks quite striking between her ball gown, glass boots and clock handle duel blades.

Officially Wonderland Wars never made it to the west, although we did recieve a watered down mobile version known as League of Wonderland starring the same cast members, with the hook being each duel only lasted for a mere 2 minutes. However, as is the case for nearly all of Sega's mobile offerings, the servers barely lasted a year.

However, Cendrillion is notable for being the character showcased in the announcement trailer explaining the premise with her being whisked to the Wonderland Wars battlefield after Prince Charming finds her:

Her special abiility is a freeform glass slash that launches shards of glass out of the ground as it goes, which visually looks pretty badass too. Due to the pen mechanics used in both 'Wonderland' games, this slash can be bent or angled, which I think could be a very fun mechanic for her should she make it into the game.

Fun Fact time!
This isn't the first time Sega made a MOBA game and based a character around Cinderella. Four years after Wonderland Wars arrived and about two months-ish before League of Wonderland for some reason Sega launched another fairytale themed MOBA title called Revolv8 with a very different take on Cinderella.

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

I'm not a biggest Sega expert,but i wanna to join this thread

Job 286: Pulseman

Pusleman is the eponymous protagonist from a Mega Drive game,who was developed by Game Freak,the same company who creates Pokémon,Pulseman is a half-human and half-C-life boy who is a quest to defeat a scientist called Doc Yoshiyama.

Pulseman is a very forgotten character and his game is can considered a cult classic,i also wanted to submit other Sega characters as Dynamite Headdy,Vectorman and Ristar who could be that total of moveset potencial,but i think that Pulseman deserves one more chance.

 

[darkvortex]

Leanne

What is Resonance of Fate?
Resonance of Fate is an RPG developed by Tri-Ace (known for making the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile series under Square Enix) and published by Sega in 2010. The game was developed with a Western audience in mind, and uses a fast-paced strategic combat system revolving around different types of guns. The game has three playable characters, and focuses heavily on changing combos attacks between them.

The game takes place in a steampunk future and focuses on a mercenary trio who do odd jobs to provide for their home of Basel, a land where the remnants of humanity live under a purification system that keeps them free from pollution, controlled by a mechanical core named Zenith, who also gives them pre determined social status. During their missions, they discover a plan by the city's ruling Cardinals to use Zenith's for their own gain, and discover their own connections to the these' plans.

Who is Leanne?
Leanne is one of the the three main characters of the game, alongside Zephyr and Vashyron. A young woman who was taken in by Zephyr and Vashyron, acting as a trainee recruit on their jobs. She is nown as Subject #20, being of 20 children used in an experiment to test Zenith's life-controlling capabilities, she is meant to die on her 20th birthday, though she somehow survived her fate.

She is kind and thoughtful, though is capable of snapping when provoked. She grows through her adventure

Why Leanne?
Resonance of Fate isn't the most iconic game under Sega's belt, but it was pretty popular and liked at release. It got a remaster in 2018. All three characters appeared in both Project X Zone games alongside enemies and bosses from their game. Leanne even appears in Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA 2nd as an unlockable outfit for Kagamine Rin.

The game was praised for its battle system, with some people even saying it redefined JRPG combat, with more modern games even taking influence from it. It has a cult fandom.

As for why Leanne herself. I simply think she's the most interesting option. It is worst noting that she seems to be a favourite. She is at the front on the box and seems to be the one who gets most crossover play. I also have a gimmick idea I think she works best for.

What could she do?
She would be a gun user. This does run the risk of being similar to our previously added Gunner, but I think they would work very differently. She would be able to switch between pistols and submachine guns. Pistols would be faster but weaker, machine guns would be stronger but can slow her down. She can also throw grenades. She also carried a medical kit, which she can use to heal herself and snack her opponents around with. She can change her attacks up for better speed and attack . She can do this by using Bezels, which she gains by doing specials. She will have a display next to her health that keeps track of them.

She would have another gimmick, that being summoning Zephyr and Vashyron. She would have a meter that she can build up, and she can summon one of the two or both for a combo attack. Summoning both takes more meter. Racking up these attacks gives her Bezels.

 

[ninjahmos]

Shou Amabane (Burning Rangers)

Shou Amabane is one of the two protagonists and playable characters of a SEGA Saturn action-platform game developed by Sonic Team called Burning Rangers.

It takes place in a futuristic setting, and the world's biggest danger is fire. An elite group of firefighters known as the Burning Rangers are tasked to rid the world of these fires, even at the risk of their own lives. The game is known for its voice navigation system. And its catchy soundtrack.

The main point of the game is to put out fires with your pulse gun, collect crystals, like you would collect rings in Sonic, and rescue civilians by spending crystals.

Shou is a new recruit, but he can certainly get the job done. His abilities include high jumping, flying and evasive maneuvering via his jetpack, and pulse laser and laser blast via his pulse gun.

Shou may not be very well-known, along with Burning Rangers itself, but I think he’d still make a pretty good addition to the roster.

EDIT: Nevermind, he’s already been submitted.

 

[darkvortex]

Shou Amabane (Burning Rangers)

Shou Amabane is one of the two protagonists and playable characters of a SEGA Saturn action-platform game developed by Sonic Team called Burning Rangers.

It takes place in a futuristic setting, and the world's biggest danger is fire. An elite group of firefighters known as the Burning Rangers are tasked to rid the world of these fires, even at the risk of their own lives. The game is known for its voice navigation system. And its catchy soundtrack.

The main point of the game is to put out fires with your pulse gun, collect crystals, like you would collect rings in Sonic, and rescue civilians by spending crystals.

Shou is a new recruit, but he can certainly get the job done. His abilities include high jumping, flying and evasive maneuvering via his jetpack, and pulse laser and laser blast via his pulse gun.

he has already been submitted

 

[TORNADO BUS DRIVER]

Submission 1

Ristar
I'm not gonna pretend he's the world's most important gaming icon but I think he would be a character people would ask for a lot and makes sense as a final fan pleasing character. He'd use his long arms to climb around and grab his opponents, throw them around and shoot himself forward. I think his portrayal in Crusade would be a good starting point.

Centurion
Altered Beast is not a great video game, but it is an iconic one, and one Sega reference a lot. There is already a Neff boss in this game but I don't think that stop us from including this guy. He would start out in human form but would be able to power up into his animal forms. he would have a meter to turn into wolf, dragon, bear, tiger, and golden wolf forms. He would mainly use kicks and lunches but could also fire beams and call on assists from the gods.

 

[Captain Shwampy]

Job 286 (1):

Job #252:
Alpha Trio (Dinosaur King)
View attachment 369776
PREPARE FOR TROUBLE!
MAKE IT DOUBLE!
Wait thats the wrong character. This Terrible Trio here is The Alpha trio consisting of Ursula, Zander, and Ed who work for the Alpha Gang leader Dr. Z who wants all the dinosaurs in the world so he can build his own dinosaur kingdom and become its King. Ursula is the leader of trio and she doesnt take kindly to people thinking shes an old woman. Ursula summons Terry the T-rex to fight in the games. Her two idiot lackeys Ed and Zander who are responsible for many wacky shenanigans and bad luck summon Tank the Ankylosaurus and Spiny the Spinosaurus.

Why them?View attachment 369777​

Dinosaur King is part of SEGA's long line arcade card games and is alos created by Kenji Kanno of Crazy Taxi fame. Originally made as an offshoot of Mushiking due to children in america prefering Dinosaurs over Beetles duking it out. I feel its necessary to have atleast have one of these series represented on here. SO why the Alpha trio you ask? cause I like this trope. Doronbo Gang from Yatterman originated it and they too were also playable in Tatsunoko Vs Capcom so you can imagine how silly and weird their fighting style would be. This wouldnt be the only Terrible Trio SEGA has, as Landstalker and Gunstar Heroes also have their own as well. Alice, Belial, and Nebiros from Megaten also technically count in some ways.

How would they Play?​

View attachment 369779
The big running gag is that their plans and gadgets always fail on them (Usual for this trope) so we will put that bit of info into their moveset. Their whole moveset is just goofy gags and partially summoning realistic dinosaurs which adds more to the weirdness of it all. We can adds other bits of SEGA references in it like the 16 ton weights from Fantasy Zone accidentally falling on them, a contraption that accidentally chains 4 puyos together causing an explosion, A Flicky, Rappy, Chao, or Chuchus accidentally short circuiting one of their gadgets. Their All Star move would reference the opening of the Jurassic Park Arcade game with Terry the T-rex, except he accidentally trips on a wire or something causing a chain reaction of chaos, explosions, and devastation to everyone.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

 

[Captain Shwampy]

Job 286 (2): Nigel and Friday the Treasure Hunters (LandStalker)

I was sorta against Nigel but I reviewed some of his appearance in Time Stalker on the Dreamcast and became more confidant for him. Nigel is 88 year old Elf(thats super young in Elf years) treasure Hunter that one day happens upon a sprite, a nymph like creature, called Friday running away from a terrible trio of thieves Kayla, Ink, and Wally because of her knowledge of the location of King Nole's Treasure. After many trials they finally find the treasure and defeat Gola the Dragon God and continue going on more adventures despite the infinite well they have accumulated.

Several years later, Nigel now 91 years gets sent to a colony of parallel dimensions where he meets Sword, the protagonist of Time Stalker, Pyra the mage in training from Shining the Darkness, and Lady from Lady Stalker. With masterful skills from Treasure Hunting, he can find traps laid out in dungeons, identify treasure, and has the highest charisma and luck out of all the playable characters in the game making it easy for him to find rarer items and catch monsters laid out in dungeons.

(I originally wanted the protagonist of all the Stalker games to be alt costumes but they are way to different for that to work.)

Nigel may look like an average Swordfighter but for a treasure hunter he has many supplies up his sleeve. With the sword of Gaia he can cause earthquakes, use Lightning spells, curse spells, Crossbows, and use a multitude of traps in his disposal Bomber Traps, Blizzard traps, Slash & Spear traps, Lighting traps, Gas Geyser traps, Ceiling traps, etc all come with their own effects in battle and can do violent damage if caught in one. Nigel is very much a trap setter fighter, he sets them up and trick his opponents. Now you're probably wondering what does Friday do? In the original LandStalker she would revive Nigel with fruits every time his life reaches zero (similar to the fairy mechanic in Zelda), Now obvious that wouldn't be fair, but Time Stalker did add a lot of fruits she could use such as elemental fruits, buff/debuff fruits, status effect fruit, all of which can be used in battle to help Nigel.

 

[Speed Weed]

Good submissions so far. It's not over yet, I'm just gonna do some catch-up here. Apologies to anyone I might end up bothering:

cashregister9 Janx_uwu Champion of Hyrule You guys have all mentioned wanting to do second submissions. You still planning on doing so?

 

[Janx_uwu]

Yeah, tonight I'm gonna take some time to go through the stuff you recommended on Discord and see what would be closest to the Ikaruga submission I originally planned on.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

I’ll get one done too later today. I have a thing I want to add with my submission (I can’t describe it without spoiling it lol) so I just sorta forgot to do it but I’ll submit them later today

 

[cashregister9]

I may still get another submission in, the idea I had before ended up being submitted. But I had a few other ideas that I wanted to elaborate on so I may or may not get to them.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

Serena (Guardian Heroes)

Everyone’s other favorite Treasure game published by Sega called Gu_____ Heroes. It’s Serena from Guardian Heroes. Guardian Heroes is a beat em up with RPG elements considered one of the premiere Sega Saturn exclusives, an era of the company that could always use some more representation. To this day the game’s still really fun and it’s notable for doing quite a lot of things that revitalized the beat ‘em up genre which some might feel was at it’s end during the era. It has a layered battle system where instead of the movement of a Final Fight or Streets of Rage, you have a background, middle ground and foreground you can jump between, allowing for deeper combos and fighting game-like design. There’s also branching story paths, allowing for tons of replay value and a completely different experience every time you play. There’s also a versus mode with an absolutely huge roster. Like look at this, they did everyone is here before Ultimate:

(Admittedly that was taken from the Xbox 360 port but the sheer size of the roster is still in the original. And yes that’s a Royal Mech.)

The game also has a very iconic artstyle and there’s a certain charm to the cheesy one-liners and writing of the game, especially in its vs mode victory quotes like the ever iconic “Big shoulder pads rule!”. But don’t just take my word for it…

Guardian Heroes was one of the few Treasure games (and one of only two Sega owned Treasure games) to get a sequel with Advance Guardian Heroes for the GBA and with a company as legendary as Treasure, having a game like that be so legendary is pretty impressive.

Guardian Heroes has five protagonists including Serena, but the reason I chose her specifically was because of her versatility. The other protagonists fit the fantasy archetypes of a knight, rogue, white mage and black mage, but Serena specifically uses both magic and has a big sword which makes her the best representative of the game in my opinion. She could potentially use other protagonists from the game in super moves if we feel like implementing it though, it’s completely up to us.

So overall Guardian Heroes is a game I really love even though I only experienced it recently through me playing all the Treasure games and I think it’s a cult classic game that would be a great last addition to the game. Thanks to Linkmain-maybe and Janx_uwu for providing their voices for that video I linked!

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

Final SEGA Character
Submissions:#1: Wild Woody(...)

#2: Robo Pitcher(.../ Could use original or Sega Hard Girls design)

Submitted Robo Pitcher because I feel like a peripheral fighter like ROB would be interesting to have and submitted Wild Woody for the memes and lols.

 

[Speed Weed]

Final SEGA Character Submissions:
#1: Wild Woody(...)
View attachment 383801
#2: Dreamcast(Sega Hard Girls)
View attachment 383800
Submitted Dreamcast cause I feel like the anthropomorphic version of a SEGA Console should be in a Fighter slot and submitted Wild Woody for the memes and lols.

Dreamcast's already been submitted

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

Dreamcast's already been submitted

Sorry I'll find someone else to add.

 

[Speed Weed]

Alright.

I'm thinking it's time.

We are finally going to do a vote on the final SEGA character.

Thank you all for submitting, the activity has been insane, and, well, here goes:

Myself: Bruno Delinger, Spike
tonygameman : Taro Yamada, Cenes Crawford
D darkvortex : B.D. Joe, Leanne
YoshiandToad : Horatio, Cendrillon
cashregister9 : Dreamcast
KneeOfJustice99 : Harrier, Popo and Mushiking
Janx_uwu : Shou Amabane
Flyboy : Ecco the Dolphin, Jack Cayman
Champion of Hyrule : Shadow Yamoto, Serena Corsair
DragonRobotKing26 : Pulseman
TORNADO BUS DRIVER : Ristar, Centurion
Captain Shwampy : Alpha Trio, Nigel and Friday
Qwerty UIOP : Wild Woody, Robo Pitcher

That's 23 characters submitted! One of the absolute biggest jobs we've ever had. Thanks a bunch. Now then, you each have to vote for your top 5 picks - you may vote for one of your own, but only in fifth place.

In addition.....I know I've been repeating this over and over thoughout this season, but I mean it now more than ever: consider your choices carefully. This is the last SEGA character we're adding, so there's a lot riding on this final slot, so I'd like you guys to really think about who you go for, consider how they fit in relative to the rest of the fourth pass, be open to deserving options that may fall outside of what you considered - just, really think about this. Now's not the time for whim-based heat-of-the-moment voting. Got it?

Have fun.

 

[HyperSomari64]

1. Ecco the Dolphin
2. Jack Cayman
3. B.D. Joe
4. Harrier
5. Dreamcast

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

1. Nigel
2. Jack Cayman
3. Centrillon
4. Ristar
5. Shadow Yamoto

 

[cashregister9]

1. Shou Amabane
2. Jack Cayman
3. Taro Yamada
4. Leanne
5. Horatio

 

[Janx_uwu]

1. Harrier
2. Ecco
3. Bruno
4. Taro
5. B.D. Joe

 

[darkvortex]

1. Taro Yamada (This guy just screams Sega. Like a sega version of Captain Commando. Rent A Hero seems pretty influential and important and he has a lot of moveset potential.)
2. Bruno Delinger (A lot of this guys appeal to me is that it would be funny to have Bruce Willis in the sega fighting game. But I do think he stands on his own as a great pick. Seems like a game sega reference a lot and there's some great moveset potential)
3. Ecco the Dolphin (I love Ecco. A gag character that's extremely deserving of their position. I think figuring out how to make this work would be fun in and of itself.)
4. Horatio (The pitch for this one sold me on it. Just seems like someone who would be crazy fun and we don't have a ton of western sega rep yet)
5. Jack Cayman (Jack is a character I've been pushing for since I first found this project. I do wonder if we really need another Platinum rep but he did have two appearances and Madworld is still pretty talked about)

Shout out to Harrier, Centurion, Shou, and more. This was really hard

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

Starting off... this is a devestatingly difficult round to try and vote for. There's so many fantastic submissions here.

1. Cenes Crawford. A name we've seen quite a lot through the course of this thread, and one I've personally come to believe is for good reason. The Thunder Force series is pretty much unmistakably linked to SEGA at this point - and the opportunity to represent Technosoft's work through this series is a fantastic one. Plus, the concepts tossed around for Cenes herself are fascinating - the idea of effectively having mechanics and skills that reflect the gameplay of the Thunder Force series itself is such a fun one that I think would be cool, and Cenes's own design feels more than unique enough to sell them as an interesting character on a visual and mechanical level.
2. Ecco. I think this is kind of a joke character done right in so many ways. To be honest, the moment I saw the Ocean Hunters pitch in a previous job, I was hooked on the idea - and Ecco is actually in a surprisingly good spot as this really iconic, but unexpected, character who'd make a lot of sense with a bit of retooling like that. Even if we didn't give them a mecha, just the idea of a dolphin flopping around and bashing people while doing tricks is such a fun and unique one that I'd love to see it regardless.
3. Rent-a-Hero. Another reoccuring character in this thread, but one with plenty of history and pedigree - as well as more than enough potential for a unique and slightly weird moveset. Initially, I didn't have many specific reasons for voting him beyond that he's a really cool pick with a lot of potential - but then darkvortex's idea of him being "a SEGA version of Captain Commando" just... really resonated with me. There's so much potential there, especially if you lean into the tokusatsu inspirations behind him. He'd be cool.
4. Bruno Delinger. Okay, as funny as having straight-up Bruce Willis would be, Bruno does actually make a lot of sense given how often SEGA seem to reference Dynamite Deka, and I really like the proposed idea of giving him a deliberately slightly off-kilter moveset more akin to characters like Frank West to give him some flavour compared to what might, on the face of it, be seen as "other macho white guys with guns". Plus, considering the game's popularity in Japan and decent relevance over in Western markets, it doesn't feel too crazy to actually add him as our last pick.
5. Dreamcast. While I get the argument that the SeHa Girls brand is a little old by now, I do still think this makes a lot of sense in a lot of different ways. Dreamcast is, firstly, a personification of SEGA hardware - even if she's the second one of the Dreamcast, she's still a well-liked character with a unique and recognisable design. This makes her weirdly well-suited to representing parts of SEGA's history we might not have otherwise - real-world elements, like songs featured in advertisements or old console BIOS music. Plus, it could be pretty cool to sort of represent other parts of the Dreamcast's library with her as a loose representation of what Hi-sCoool! SeHa Girls was by giving her attacks and tools from stuff like SEGA Bass Fishing and whatnot. (Imagine her whipping out the actual Dreamcast fishing rod peripheral. Yeah.)

I'd love to give shoutouts to Shou Amabane (who just got edged out, it was hella close), Serena (who I think could genuinely be pretty cool, but got edged out as well), BD Joe (a bit of personal bias, he'd be awesome to see but I couldn't really justify it), Horatio (I have to give props for the consistently high quality of this guy's submissions, I almost feel bad not voting for him), Jack Cayman (who is undeniably a very cool character), and... so many others.

 

[Captain Shwampy]

1.Bruno - Dynamite Deka is one of the best Beat em-Ups Sega ever made, why Bruno hasn't been included yet is beyond me.
2.Spike - SpikeOut is essentially just Yakuza but actually good. Game starts and immediately throws me into the combat with a high skill ceiling and unlike Yakuza where your forced to take part in useless "content" like business management or running a cabaret in order to unlock new fighting moves so you can artificially increase what would be a 20-30hr game into 60hr or more, a cancer that spreads all through out modern gaming, Spike Out is the oppisite. It is purely a fun video game where it wont waste any of you're time.
3.Serena - Guardian Heroes is one Treasure most popular titles in japan, Would love to see more of HAN's wacky character visuals, You can even have the Guardian be summoned to help out.
4.Cenes - Incredible music aside, it would be fun too see a pilot you virtually never see fighting outside the spaceship take the Starfox/F-Zero approach from Smash.
5.Nigel - Ive said all my thoughts on Nigel already, regardless a Tamaki designed character not already being a fighter is bizarre already. I have nothing against Suezen's artstyle or Bowie, but Max really should of been the actual Shining rep here.

 

[tonygameman]

1. Horatio
2. Bruno Delinger
3. Spike
4. Shou Amabane
5. Taro Yamada

 

[ninjahmos]

1. Taro Yamada
2. Shou Amabane
3. Ristar
4. Spike
5. Bruno Delinger

 

[YoshiandToad]

Being the final character on the roster kinda sucks. You're often looked at as a disappointment, people who wanted other characters bizarrely blame you for preventing their particular favourite from getting in and everyone's expecting an impressive finale that you can't possibly live upto when you have fan favourites like Sonic, Kiryu, Sakura, Joker, etc shining brightly.

So for the (Sega) finale, I've tried to think of who could potentially win over such a fickle audience. I could be totally off the mark, but here we go;

1. Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco has it all honestly;

• Fondly remembered even with casual Sega fans thanks to his Mega Drive/Genesis appearances, making him an excellent show stopper for the final Sega DLC fighter in this hypothetical game. He'd absolutely cause discussion amongst the internet.
• Face of his own franchise
• Offers a very good representative option of Sega of America, something we're a little light on currently.
• Completely unconventional fighter as a realistic dolphin meaning people would be excited to see how he plays even if only for the sheer spectacle of a dolphin kicking the absolute stuffing out of the rest of the cast.
• Ridiculous moveset potential as we'd have to think slightly out the box. Seeing what people would come up with for Ecco is pretty exciting for me.

I've submitted him myself in the past, and whilst I had more personal fish to fry along the way (Horatio my beloved), I cannot deny the appeal of Ecco as a finale. Ecco for me is a good mix of appeal for both what I think worldwide fans would like to see, casual appeal and a personal attachment for myself.

2. Harrier
A classic Sega character, I now realise how odd it is we don't have Harrier on the roster. He seems almost as glaring an omission as Amigo did on the base game at this point. Would definitely be considered a big win to a lot of Sega fans overall (or at least many would consider Harrier an acceptable ending choice) making him a worthy show stopper for classic and arcade fans and definitely feels like he belongs on the roster alongside our many other classic Sega faces.

3. Taro Yamada
Far less known in the west, I still feel like Taro's overall superhero aesthetic, and overall bombastic stylings and personality would net him a lot of fans as the finale character. He's full of personality and I feel we could translate that to his moveset well making him a very fun ending character that fans would quickly be won over by.

4. Spike
Spikeout's not particularly well known compared to the above, nor do I know if Spike is quite off the wall enough that he'd win fans over as the last hurrah like Taro Yamada could...

However, selfishly I've always liked beat em ups, and Spike has one thing over Bruno for me; the ability to amusingly fling a tiny child from his back. I have no idea why this alone is both funny and adorable to me with Spike taking his son everywhere with him and Jr copying his father's moves. It's weirdly sweet.

Spike Jr copying Spike's moves could allow for some interesting desyncing Ice Climbers style combo potentially even if Spike Jr does barely any damage.

For that alone I just think he's neat as a combatant conceptually, and I really like it as this obscure piece of arcade tech history with the connective arcade cabinets. Ideally this would get more people to acknowledge Spikeout at the very least, and I do think he'd eventually win even the most fickle people over.

5. Horatio
Endless, much like Spikeout, is not very well known.

I'd wager many of you hadn't heard of it before my initial Horatio submission. Some of the best parts of Battle of Ages has been learning about new series for me, and I've personally gone on to try and play at least the majority of the ones on the roster over the past few years.

Also, I can't blame you for not knowing Endless. It's a very modern series, long after Sega's hayday and it's from Sega of Europe. It's also somehow surprisingly obscure for a series that just had a brand new entry last year in Endless Dungeon.

I do feel however, that much like Ecco and Taro, Horatio has enough bizarre appeal with his clone army fighting style, genetic splicing, and insane levels of narcassism which would give him plenty of personality, to win over the masses as a final character eventually. Heck, between clones and stealing abilities and putting them into himself I feel his moveset potential is...well...Endless.

Special mentions:
I feel like both B.D. Joe and Centurion would also be crowd pleasing picks similar to Harrier that the majority of fans would be fine with. I ended up giving Harrier the nod over the other two mostly due to Space Harrier's larger influence and history.

Ristar and Jack Cayman also fit my 'fan favourites finale' reasoning, and you could easily make a case for them to be on the final list too. Ristar only missed out due to having a single game to his name. Jack's a solid pick I'd have felt made sense to see as the last fighter, but I just slightly preferred the others above.

Alpha Trio appealed to me for the wacky moveset potential, but fell short of the list. If we had more roster spots open I'd have loved to have thrown some weight behind characters that exude this level of fun, but I felt for the finale we should end on a protagonist.

Lastly Popo and Mushiking, who I think is a fantastic submission. Has great popularity in Japan, has some interesting history, a little on the wacky side but not over the top... Much like Alpha Trio, I'd like to have thrown my weight behind this one if this hadn't been the finale.

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

1. Ecco the Dolphin
2. Dreamcast
3. Centurion
4. Ristar
5. Robo-Pitcher

 

[ssbashworld]

1 Ecco
2 Wild Woody
3 Jack Cayman
4 Centurion
5 Robo Pitcher

 

[Flyboy]

1. Cenes Crawford - When a company buys the rights to your company's library for one series, it probably is a good sign they want to do something with that series. Now, is she as heavy a hitter as some of those other choices? No, not really, but with a unique design, moveset, and concept, as well as a ton to draw from from the Thunder Force series as a whole, I think she makes for a fascinating deeper cut that could please all kinds of fans. Makes perfect sense to a long time Sega-head and has that undeniable cool factor for newcomers too.

2. Bruno Delinger - Dynamite Cop/Die Hard Arcade is a cult classic that constantly gets referenced in Sega crossovers, and Bruno himself is a really unique, fun fighter with a lot to offer. I could see him making a big splash. And he's fun! I like him!

3. Horatio - The Endless series has history and a sizable player base and while Horatio and Endless may not be immediately recognized by a wider playerbase, he's such a unique choice with such a strong personality that I could see him being a sleeper hit. He represents a part of Sega I don't really think we've quite tapped into, at least not in such a major way, and it would be cool to see him happen.

4. Shou - Burning Rangers is such a cool game, and it has a big cult following as well. More Saturn representation is a plus, and in general I think Burning Rangers has this really cool atmosphere and mystique around it that would get people hyped up. I know we have some Burning Rangers modes involved already, but hey, some picks just feel exactly right.

5. Harrier - The only reason he's not higher is because we've had several retro picks recently and stages based on Harrier, but purely from a biased perspective I think Harrier is awesome, Space Harrier is a game that pops up absolutely everywhere whenever Sega does any kind of crossover or mini-console or game collection, and he makes a lot of sense to at least drop some points towards.

It breaks my heart not to vote for Leanne or so many other incredible picks we've brought up through the thread, and if we had just a few more maybe she could have gotten in, or Spike, or BD Joe, or--

But overall, I want to say that I'm so, so happy with this project. Yes, it had its stops and starts, but we've worked hard to create something spectacular and something special, and we've all learned a lot about Sega along the way. I know we have a few jobs after this, but really, no matter what happens, Speed Weed should feel hella proud for helping create something truly incredible. I'm looking forward to, when the dust is cleared, seeing the full list of stats and repped series' and all the other cool things that have come from this. Thank you for seeing this through; it's been an honor being part of it.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

1. Ecco
2. Taro
3. Horstio
4. Harrier
5. Serena

 

[Speed Weed]

Gamers.....it is time.

Let's see those votes:

Bruno: 23 points
Spike: 11 points
Taro: 26 points
Cenes: 12 points
Joe: 4 points
Leanne: 2 points
Horatio: 15 points
Cendrillon: 3 points
Dreamcast: 6 points
Harrier: 14 points
Popo: 0 points
Shou: 13 points
Ecco: 36 points
Cayman: 16 points
Yamoto: 1 points
Serena: 4 points
Pulseman: 0 points
Ristar: 7 points
Centurion: 5 points
Alpha: 0 points
Nigel: 6 points
Woody: 4 points
Pitcher: 2 points

And.....there we have it. The final SEGA character to join the ranks of the Battle of AGES cast, our very last character before the guest, it's the one, the only......

It's the funny dolphin.

Ecco the Dolphin is closing things out!!!!!

So....that's it. We only have the guest fighter left, and the remaining bits of content this season. This is our final SEGA character. Honestly it's not who I'd have picked, but he's been one of the most pushed and requested candidates for a long time now, so I can accept it. Not much of a win for me, but I think it's a win for others here.

I might do a few small things to celebrate, some stats and listings and whatnot, when this is all over. Until then, it is time to work on that funny dolphin's content!

Job #287: Submit a moveset for Ecco

Alright, one of the biggest points of interest with Ecco has been how we should handle his moveset, so the floor is yours to decide what to do.

Job #288: Submit an Ecco stage

I think the deep sea aesthetic means there's some fun stuff you can do here, so I also anticipate seeing what people can pull out here.

Have fun!

 

[darkvortex]

Atlantis
A stage taking place in the fabled lost city. This stage is pretty simple. There's a middle portion with two walls to the side that block the side lines. This is where the gimmick comes in. There is a time machine in the middle that will activate and send time backwards or forwards, destroying it resorting and the wall and a set of platform above the machine

 

[YoshiandToad]

Job #287: Ecco Moveset


Ecco moveset





Basic Playstyle:
As a dolphin, Ecco's movement is graceful and sleek...providing he has water in his water meter. The water stays around him, allowing him to float in the air, similar to how the Skyway appears in Ecco: The Tides of Time.

This water meter slowly ticks down over time, although certain moves such as dodging, defending and his up special will cause the water meter to drain faster.

Otherwise Ecco bounces or slides around the stage a little clumsily. He has a myriad of movement options that can be hard to predict thanks to his specials. Switch them up to throw the opponent off!

His unusual body shape means his hurt box is a little unpredictable compared to more traditional fighters.

Due to the horror elements in Ecco the Dolphin, much of his abilities should make the opponents feel trapped, fearful and possibly frustrated and helpless when being caught in Ecco's trap.

All of these abilities combine to make Ecco a confusing opponent to fight against who focuses on stunning and keep his opponents guessing what he'll do next.

Ecco, being a dolphin can not only swim in stages with water, but can also has access to his entire fighting movepool whilst within it and will not drown unless the player actively stays underwater for more than a minute of the match. He is also somewhat faster in the water than he is on land. This easily makes Ecco the best possible fighter on stages with water.

Ecco's Basic moves:
Ecco's basic moves consist of using his dolphin body to slam into opponents. Using his nose for striking attacks, his tail for heavy slams and even his flippers for weak surprising attacks.

His basic jab combo allows a flurry of rapid fire bottle nosed jabs. Enough of these can break a shield.

His running attack is a weak version of his dash attack.

Ecco's dodge animation has him loop-de-loop out the way of an enemies attack. Reduces water.

Ecco's shield is a Barrier Glyph that appears in front of him. Ecco is actually able to push his barrier forward, making him able to move whilst shielding. Note that this only protects Ecco from the front, and his back is still vulnerable. Reduces water.

Ecco has average strength basic physical attacks, high jump, high stamina, above average weight, below average speed from a stop, but above average top speed and fast falling.

Ecco's grab has him grip an opponent in his mouth. His throws consist of playfully forcing the opponent into a ball.

Up Throw: Ecco balances the opponent on his nose in a ball, punching them up into the air with his bottle nose, and following up with a flip in which he launches the opponent skywards by slamming his tail into them..

Down Throw: Ecco swims downward drilling into the opponent with his nose, before following up with a flip that has him slam his tail down forcefully into the opponent causing them to bounce up from the attack.

Forward Throw: Ecco swims around in a loop, building up speed before launching himself AND his opponent forwards in the air, before landing painfully on the floor atop. This move can be used as a suicide throw if performed off a ledge. Make sure to have some stage in front of you if you want to keep Ecco alive!

Back Throw: Ecco punts the opponent into the air, and flips backwards, smashing them with his tail. This particular move can spike, so ironically this is the one you want to use near the ledge. Do not get the forward and back throw confused!

Special attacks:
Neutral Special: Sonar
One of Ecco's most well known attacks.

The basic single button press sonar attack is the Confusion Sonar. It temporarily stuns an opponent(they're stunned for less than a second) which can allow Ecco some time to counter attack an approaching enemy.

A charged sonar will cause a longer stun, push the opponent back AND deal damage depending on how long it is held. Ecco will glow with a blue aura the longer this is held, which also adds to his water meter.

Down Special: Teleport Ring
Ecco dives into a ring on the stage, and appears elsewhere on the stage, diving into the opponent headfirst. The new teleport ring can be positioned by the player, although cannot be seen until Ecco reappears. Think like Zelda's up and B special.

Adds water to Ecco's water meter.

Side Special: Dash attack
Ecco's other most well known attack, the dash attack has Ecco launch himself at great speeds directly forwards destroying anything he smashes with his nose.

A basic Dash attack will cause Ecco to sprint forward a short distance, but a charged dash will cause Ecco to refill his water meter and travel further.

Up Special: Metasphere; Seagull

Ecco enters a Metasphere and transforms into a seagull.

Rather than a single jump, the Seagull has five 'jumps' allowing him to flap his wings and fly for a short period of time. Ecco cannot deal any damage as a seagull, and the transformation will be undone if he's hit by a projectile, an opponent or if he triggers any other special move/aerial attack whilst in this form.

This special reduces the amount of water Ecco has due to flying out of the water.

All Star Move: Time Travel
Ecco will activate the Atlanteans time travel machine, sending himself and the opponent caught in his All Star Move, onto Planet Vortex. The screen goes black and the looming face of the Vortex Queen appears before performing a strong suction attack. Ecco manages to swim away, but the hapless opponents are swallowed whole dealing insane damage and forcing Ecco and the enemy back to the present.


Misc:
Entrance animation: Dropped off by a Pteranodon

Idle animation: Ecco swims in the air and is joined by a small school of fish who appear from behind him.

Taunts:
Taunt 1: Ecco transforms using a Metasphere to become a shark. Ecco then snaps twice aggressively before transforming back. This taunt will deal high damage if it connects.
Taunt 2: Ecco pushes a clam around with his nose, which opens and spits out bubbles.
Taunt 3: Ecco is grabbed by an octopus who was camoflagued, but struggles and gets free. The octopus disappears at the end.

Victory Animations:
Victory animation 1: Ecco is joined by his friends Kitnee and Tara the Orca(from Ecco Jr now grown up), as they play together in the water, as Big Blue the blue whale floats in the background.
Victory animation 2: Ecco slides across some ice on his belly towards the camera, crashing into it.
Victory animation 3: Ecco swims between the rotating helix globes of the Asterite before vanishing, travelling through time.

Losing animation: Ecco is pulled into a maelstrom cyclone, being whipped away just like his pod.


Palettes:

Palette 1: Ecco title screen/player sprite
Palette 2; Box Art
Palette 3: Ecco Jr
Palette 4: Tara the Orca
Palette 5: Dolphin Blue's pink dolphin
Palette 6: Dolphin Blue's blue dolphin
Palette 7: Skies of Arcadia's Delphinus
Palette 8: Burning Ranger's Dolphin

 

[Speed Weed]

Gamers, we are moving on: Atlantis will be our Ecco stage!!!

Now then, the time has come for the next job, and it is......

Job #289: Submit a misc. assist who debuted on the Mega Drive

I've talked with some members here about the prospect of an Ecco assist, and it was generally agreed that it wasn't a very good fit, so I opted for something else. And as it turns out, our current lineup of assists from non-playable IP does not include a single series from the Mega Drive, Ecco's debut console. So now feels like a good time to take care of that. Any series that started on the MD and has no playable reps should be eligible, and as our roster is finished, you can also use this opportunity to sneak in some of your faves that missed the cut. So HAVE AT IT

 

[darkvortex]

Casey
From Kid Chameleon. Casey is a young gamer who goes into a virtual reality game in order to save other players who have been sucked into he game by the villain, Heavy Metal. He does this by using various themed helmets that give him different powers. Casey will skate around the stage. He will put on one of five random helmet which gives him a different thmed attack.

• Berserker, which gives him a horned helmet, can use his horns as weapons.
• EyeClops, which gives him a futuristic visor, has a ray beam which can harm enemies.
• Maniaxe, with a Jason style hockey mask, will throw axes.
• Cyclone, with a winged helmet, a superhero who can spin fast enough to turn into a cyclone.
• Red Stealth, with a samurai's helmet, who wields a katana which he will swipe downwards.

This isn't the biggest game in the world. But it often shows up in collections and recently got a trademark hinting at a possible return of the game.

 

[Flyboy]

Job 289: Battle Golfer Yui

Battle Golfer Yui is the star of the Mega Drive game of the same name. Poorly-received at the time, it's still something of a cult hit by being a golf game with a fascinatingly-offbeat sci-fi story and an infamous bittersweet finale. Yui would appear to be a ranger, lobbing arc golf ball shots at opponents from across the stage.

On a personal level, I'm nominating her because she's such an interesting piece of Sega history. It's cool how she resembles Cutie Honey or A-ko from Project A-ko, and I think her aesthetic and unique nature as a golfing zoner assist could add a lot of flavor, and she also works well with Ecco, being a cult favorite but in Japan.

 

[Speed Weed]

Submissions have been going kind of slow, so I've decided I'm putting together a quick list of potential suggestions. You don't have to follow this, mind, it's just a list of ideas.

If you want to put forward someone from the SEGA America squad, there's still series' such as Vectorman, Comix Zone and Eternal Champions to pull from, plus I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple more.

Otherwise, you still have potential choices such as:

-Rent A Hero
-Landstalker
-Beyond Oasis
-Crusader of Centy
-Ranger-X
-Pulseman
-Sword of Vermillion
-Dyna Brothers
-Alien Soldier
-Dynamite Headdy
-Ristar
-Bio-Hazard Battle
-M.U.S.H.A.
-Elemental Master
-Panic!
-Any game from the SEGA Game Toshokan service, which includes games such as Fatal Labyrinth and 16t

Again, this isn't a strict list of what's eligible, it's just some ideas you can pull from if you want

 

[tonygameman]

Job #289: Mega Drive/Genesis Assist - Taro Yamada

Taro Yamada is the main protagonist of a 1991 Japanese-exclusive action RPG game named Rent-A-Hero, which was released on SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive and used the same graphic engine as Sword of Vermillion (which got a fan translation in 2015). The game follows Taro moving to the town of Corja in Japan alongside his family (mother has a nice Opa-Opa apron) and younger sister Alisa (somehow related to Phantasy Star's protagonist by name), after his eccentric father changed jobs. During their house-warming party, he ordered pizza from 'Sensational Cafeteria' (or SECA in short) and instead received the Super Energy Combat Armor (as part of the "Rent-A-Hero" program) by accident, which gave him superhuman strength (after accidentally knocking out his father in a "Dadzilla" suit) and other gadgets. After realizing that he is required to pay a fee to rent the armor, Taro decides to become a titular part-time hero for hire, performing various odd-jobs such as delivering food or finding missing children, before ending up in intense missions involving corporate theft, counterfeit money, mafia and an ancient undead pharaoh, all while going against a fellow part-time hero and rival, Ultra Salaryman.

Instead of traditional turn-based battles, Taro faces against criminals in a similar format to 2D fighting games, which was an unusual innovation for the RPG genre at a time. The 1991 game was a self-parody of SEGA, with multiple games from their history at the time getting shout-outs (even arcade ones like OutRun, Power Drift, After Burner, G-LOC: Air Battle and Space Harrier play their memorable tunes from 08:26 to 10:41 in a description), a decade before SEGAGAGA was released (with a same-named protagonist by coincidence), alongside cultural references of Sentai, American superheroes and Japan's culture/society between the 80's and 90's (like a man injuring his leg for trying the moonwalk of Michael "Yakson").

Despite being lesser-known compared to other Genesis games worldwide, Rent-A-Hero has proven to be popular in Japan thanks to it's comical tone and self-aware humor (SEGA's known for not being afraid of poking fun at stuff as shown in titles like SEGAGAGA), having gained a modern reputation as one of SEGA's fondly-remembered cult classics. The game is one of the 42 pre-installed games on SEGA Genesis Mini's Japanese release (even making a front cover appearance for Famitsu's promotion), the Dreamcast/Xbox remake (Rent-A-Hero No. 1, which had VMU support and a cancelled English localization - a promo video was made for the latter console) with Segata Sanshiro himself as a dojo teacher (which also has beat 'em up sections akin to SpikeOut), a live stage show in Japan and a theatrical movie/film in works (though there's been no news since it was announced a few years ago). A idea of people renting hero suits was later revived by SEGA in a Nintendo 3DS game called Hero Bank.

Rent-A-Hero was referenced and the eponymous hero himself made appearances and references throughout numerous SEGA games, like Shenmue as a capsule toy (given that Yu Suzuki's AM2 team worked on both games and a Rent-A-Hero No. 1 remake being close in gameplay), a cameo in SEGAGAGA's final cutscene, a SEGA 60th anniversary icon in Sonic Colors Ultimate, a collectable in Earth UFO Catcher, a "rental hero" system in Sonic Forces, a selectable song in Samba de Amigo, a poster on Sarah & Jacky's stage in Virtua Fighter 2, container trucks with "Nomoruwa" written on them in SpikeOut Final Edition (based on Corja's president who Taro saves from assassination; the original arcade game's project codename was "Rent a Hero Returns" - at 1997), a "OKA" name entry song in Daytona USA, a puzzle in Picross S: Mega Drive/Genesis & Mark III/Master System Edition, Akira & Kage's pre-battle dialogue with Captain Commando in Project X Zone 2 and even a Egg Monster in Square Enix's Hanjuku Hero: Aa, Sekaiyo Hanjukunare...! alongside Dr. Eggman and Carbuncle. And finally, Fighters Megamix with his very own vocal theme from Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, where he fought various SEGA characters such as Virtua Fighters, Fighting Vipers and Daytona USA's famous Hornet itself. Perhaps this was where the Part-Time Hero job from Yakuza: Like a Dragon got inspiration from?

Okay, now to the gameplay function deal. When summoned, Taro will appear in a bright flash while performing a tokusatsu-esque transformation pose as he shouts "Rent-A-Hero, at your service!" and assumes his idle stance. He then runs around and tries to protect his summoner from bad guys (their opponents in this case) by performing punch and kick combos when getting close to them. Sometimes, he will even use jumping kicks and powerful techniques such as Flash Force (a energy-charged rushing fist), Sonic Cutter (a slicing crescent wave) and Dragon Thunder (a dragon-shaped blast of electricity by punching the ground).

Once the meter runs off, Taro will pose triumphantly with a hand at the sky, his visor shining and saying "Thank you very much." before teleporting away from the stage. However, if someone manages to defeat him quickly enough before that happens, Taro's Super Energy Combat Armor will disappear and revert him back to his civilian self right before he hits the ground, groaning in injury and disappearing afterwards.

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

Probably a bit of a predictable pick from me here, but I wanted to get the lay of the land before submitting. With that in mind...

Character Name: Pulseman
Character Origin: Pulseman (1994)

Pulseman is the central character of Pulseman, and is a half-human, half C-Life being capable of travelling between the real world and the digital one. As for why him... well, I think there's a few interesting reasons. Firstly, Pulseman's US release was exclusively through the Sega Channel service (notable for its part in the early history of online gaming), meaning he acts as somewhat of a representative for that - but he's also a generally well-liked character with a small but dedicated fanbase to this day, not least because of the recent boost in recognition he's gotten by his game being added to the NSO service in 2023.

In terms of function, when summoned, Pulseman would run forward to build up electricity and enter the Sparkling State. If hit while running, he'll be interrupted - but if he hits anyone while in Sparkling State, they'll take minor electricity damage. Then, a moment after entering it, he'll stop in place and activate the Volteccer ability, creating a sphere of electricity around him as he rockets upward at a 45 degree angle, bouncing off enemies, walls, obstacles, items, and so forth. (He'll also bounce off the edge of the screen so he can't simply be K.O'd.) Enemies caught by the attack are launched instead of carried, and Volteccer will last around 10 seconds before he lands, striking a victory pose, and disappears in a thunderbolt.