/Playstation 2, Sega, _Action

Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 21: SDI & Quartet

I’m impressed with Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 21: SDI & Quartet before I get anywhere near the disc. The Sega Ages Series may have ditched the double sided info-cards intended to be stored within the small plastic folder that came with the first volume a few volumes back, but SDI & Quartet proves they’re still keen on including physical extras wherever possible. The bonus this time is found in the back half of the game’s thick manual, which if read from the back cover inwards is a recreation of Game Flash Vol.1, an extensive 14 page promotional brochure for the arcade version of the game that’s so fully featured it even includes its own short manga.

Flip through the manual in the other direction and you’re treated to a pamphlet that’s as much an enthusiastic history lesson as it is concerned with dishing out practical tips on memory card handling and menu navigation. The contents page features an eye-catching boxout right in the middle emphasising just how long-lived and important the System-16 hardware this pair of games were made for was (if you need a quick refresher: this was the hardware responsible for Fantasy Zone and Golden Axe, to name a few), and if you turn to the next page you won’t find the usual diagram of a PlayStation 2 with “controller goes here” style information but a double page spread written by Gamest magazine’s old editor in chief Ishii Zenji, providing further historical context and personal passion for the games contained in this volume. Keep on reading and you’ll eventually run into a five page “Special Column” filled with messages from SDI and Quartet’s key staff members, as well as several other relevant people too. Whether you’re a seasoned fan of these games or hadn’t heard of them before you placed your hands on this box, this pack already feels like a special event.

This warm blanket of care and attention continues through into the disc itself, which once again possesses a wealth of extras for every version of each included game. The now expected yet always impressively generous sound tests and art galleries make a welcome return, both as interesting as ever and as before ensuring there’s a new (as it was at the time) and easily accessed home for these decades-old advertising flyers and other physically fragile and rarely distributed ephemera. Being able to casually flip through the included scans of the arcade machine artwork gave me a new appreciation of not just how pretty they are but how well they condense both eye-catching advertising and practical help into just a few pictures and the smallest amount of text possible—that sort of work takes real skill. OK so that’s not exactly an exciting revelation to share with you, but it’s one I wouldn’t have had without the extras on this disc.

A super play video for SDI (but not Quartet) is also included, so you can see how someone who really understands this unusual game can play. For those as inexperienced with SDI as I am: each stage is split into two distinct halves, offensive and defensive. The first plays almost like a side-scrolling shooter, although the difference here is that every satellite un-shot, every missile let through, every base left untouched, has a direct impact on the difficulty of the second half, which is basically Missile Command: Sega Edition. In this closing part of the level you have to shoot down incoming hazards to protect the city below. I’m no good at it, but it is an intriguing concept and I do wish I was better at it.

SDI contains no less than four variants of its arcade ROM alone; three originals and a new arrange mode (Quartet features the arcade game as well as the Japanese and US Master System ports). A pop-up explains broadly what the differences are, saving you from scurrying away to the internet for clues as to their differences: the first is the game’s initial arcade release, the second variant is the same but a touch easier, and the third and final original ROM changes the rules slightly so failing the defensive half of the game knocks a life off your total and continues to the next stage, rather than dishing out a game over. The new arrange version plays the same as the third, but tones down the flashing screen effects of the latter (the game outright warns you about them if you do select Version C, and to be fair they are bad enough to warrant it)—this is also the default version of the game.

Unfortunately one thing that isn’t—can’t, really—be accurate to the original SDI experience is the control scheme. In arcades SDI had an odd joystick/trackball combo and there’s no easy substitute for that at home on any format, not even one as well supported by outlandish peripherals as the PlayStation 2. So what this port does instead is make a practical compromise: by default the d-pad is used to move your ship, with the right stick serving as an analogue aiming device. It’s not authentic but it does work and after a short period of adjustment it becomes second nature.

If that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea you’ll be pleased to know the Sega Ages 2500 version of SDI supports USB mice, and thanks to the PlayStation 2’s forward-thinking design you can just stick any plain old one straight into the console and get on with playing the game. The game even had a unique one to call its own, as the special “Super DX Pack” bundle included amongst other treasures a custom USB mouse in its own special tin. Yes, I do bitterly regret passing on this wonder every time I remember it exists (“Be sensible” she said “You already have a mouse” she said [grumblegrumble]).

The arcade version of Quartet contained on this disc defaults to two player mode, but there’s nothing stopping you from enjoying a full four player game beyond access to a standard PS2 multitap and enough controllers/willing friends to occupy the additional character slots. I’ll admit I hadn’t spent much time with the game before this collection—it just happened to be one of those “Maybe next time” games for me—but I was immediately impressed by it, even though it hails from the dark and distant past of 1986. The characters have an impressive degree of manoeuvrability, able to easily crawl-shoot through low spaces, fire vertically on ladders, and generally make an agile nuisance of themselves—they can even equip jet packs and fly around. It’s easy to see how the Gauntlet-like competitive-cooperative nature of the power-up grabbing brings multiplayer to life, and the impulse to be the first to snatch everything and reach the exit is not only real but also sneakily encouraged by the post-stage scoreboard.

The Master System game Double Target—sensibly renamed at the time to better suit the game’s smaller number of characters—is also included (as is SDI’s 8-bit console port), and different to the arcade game it’s based in the way all the best home reimaginings are. The raw concept remains the same, but its been extensively reworked into something that suits its new home better than a more blindly authentic transfer ever could. It just feels a little bit more… platform-y? Like a game designed to be tackled alone at a more methodical pace. One of the joys of this and many other of these later Sega Ages 2500 releases is how easy it is to flip back and forth between the various ports and really get a first-hand feel for all of their changes and creative compromises.

These “lesser” and more frequently overlooked System 16 games are the perfect candidates for the Sega Ages 2500 treatment: focused releases like this give them the chance to shine in a way their inclusion in a broader grab-bag of classic Sega hits would not. They’re the main event; games worth emulating, games worth scouring Sega’s archives for fresh material to share, games worth spending some of your precious time getting to know better. Why play the same old games over and over again when we could play something fun and come away from the experience with a deeper and more rounded knowledge of Sega’s past instead?

As an added bonus the official Sega Ages 2500 website for Vol. 21 is happily still up and just like everything else is stuffed with fun material, which in this case means interesting info, cool wallpapers, and brilliant secrets too, such as how to play SDI’s hidden Flicky mode. Clicking around these extras for your extras feels like a real treat, and they’re also further proof—as if there was any doubt at this point—of the Sega Ages 2500 series infectious enthusiasm for its subject matter.

Further reading:

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Published by

Kimimi