SoulStar (SegaCD)

[Alevamltd]

It just blows my mind that this game looks better than alot of SNES games despite the fact the Sega CD only utilizes a 9-bit palette of 512 colors, where as the SNES uses a 15-bit palette of 32,768 colors.

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!

[SuperHighTechGamer]

Core was a great developer. This game shows the Sega CD could of done Galaxy Force or Outrun if it wanted to.

[mikekenpo233]

i always thought starfox sucked it was never very fun just cool technology at the time this game blows starfox away

[ClassicGamer81]

After watching your review on this game, I bought this on ebay. Excellent game and the graphics are just fantastic. If there had been more games with this level of graphics I really think the sega cd would have been a lot more successful.

[metallicarules33]

Much more appealing than starfox. Sprites are easier to look at than polygons.

[pacmaninvaders]

Honestly, to me, this looks better than Star Fox. Awesome gameplay man.....thanks.

[Tinhh]

Sprites stand the test of time better than polygons.

[iggienator]

nothing against starfox but i really love it when they use the older technology but use it perfectly!

[SegaMan32X]

The music sounds very good too!!!!

[Squadalha]

The music sounds awsome.

[TheCuster58]

Wow, thanks for sharing. This game looks awesome.

[TWSVIDEO93]

I might pick this up for my Sega CD it looks intresting :)

[Zito773]

to be honest my inner dork goes with starfox

[MN12BIRD]

@Zito773 Because you like the way it looks better or because it's more fun?

[boltorano]

I do love 2D sprite based games, but some things about this one just don't get me too excited. 1) It seems like your own ship is blocking your view a bit too much. 2) Something really bothers me about the way that objects approach you, and then just vanish before it seems like you've actually passed them. It just feels disjointed to me and disrupts the sense of illusion. Just my personal observations.

[SomedaysDreamersBC]

Damn didn't have this on Sega CD back in the days.. Wish did looks crispy...

[guitaristdude0]

I really never got into these types of games but I know there are so many good ones and want to now. What would you suggest as a beginner to this genre? Star Fox perhaps? 64 goes for pretty cheap I could probably pick it up at Play n Trade.

[MN12BIRD]

@guitaristdude0 Star Fox 64 is fun but I do prefer the original Star Fox on SNES if you have a Super Nintendo it's a must have too.

[xxcrysad3000xx]

@MN12BIRD Don't forget Star Fox 2, nearly completed development but shelved by the big N to create more hype for Star Fox 64.

[MN12BIRD]

@xxcrysad3000xx Yeah I played a ROM of Star Fox 2 a few years ago. It used the faster clocked Super FX2 chip right?

[ghettoflyer]

Those Graphics are amazing!!! If more games like that had been made for sega they would have had a chance

[RazorKnuckles1]

Damn sprites just kicked polygons ass!

[Pusyfer]

This would've looked better on the SNES, no add on required... And with colors :)

[MN12BIRD]

@Pusyfer I've played almost every mode 7 SNES game there is and I honestly don't think the SNES could do anything better. If it can/has than feel free to show me. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head with similar levels is the Super Star Wars games. Hovering over the planet or flying through the tunnels in the Death Star. But that's a much lower resolution. I think the SNES "might" be able to pull off something similar but nothing better.

[xxcrysad3000xx]

I remember the rotating tower level from Mickey Mania and wasn't aware it was released on the Genesis. That I attribute to very savvy programmers who knew the Genesis hardware, yet I really don't think the Genesis was near capable of the effects which CORE was able to create in games like SoulStar for the segaCD.

[Terryracoon]

@xxcrysad3000xx Not just that, the mega drive version had a 3D chase scene which, to my knowledge, was NOT in the SNES port (it was originally a MD game) (check out youtu (dot) be/2gy47RABjog and skip to 3:06 to see that)

And.... Well, the genesis lacked support for hardware scaling (Mode7) but you can always do software scaling, except that om-nom-noms processing power.... But you are right: SoulStar would be virtually impossible on stock MD hardware....

[xxcrysad3000xx]

@Terryracoon Oh yeah, that Moose scene, i remember that too. Never played much of Mega Turrican although I've heard it's an excellent game.

[Terryracoon]

@xxcrysad3000xx (Just correcting myself) turns out the moose chase scene IS on snes, but it's A LOT slower(!)

[steveazusa]

Dungeon explorer 2 review!!!

[SteveBenway]

It's such a shame so few developers took full advantage of the Mega CD's capabilities. The best games on it are excellent.

[gramblor1]

Your old intro (that you use in this video) is probably the only Youtube intro that I've ever liked. In fact, I not only liked the intro, but looked forward to it and enjoyed seeing it expand as you added more consoles to your collection.

[xxcrysad3000xx]

This game was a helluva lot better than BC Racers, I had them both and whereas I was always jealous of my SNES friend who had Mario Kart, he always came to my house to play SoulStar. CORE designs really had a mastery of the hardware, these are at least Jaguar quality graphics and like you said, on par with 3DO.

[P5ychoFox]

Thanks for showing this. A beautifully crafted game for sure.

[xxcrysad3000xx]

Ahh the Sega CD v2 Bios is still my favorite of your openings, despite your sincere and actually quite good effort on that one track.

[thebonefish]

If you like this then you'll love Total Eclipse or even Off-World Interceptor on 3do

[MN12BIRD]

@thebonefish Yeah I've played both. They are impressive when you remember this is flat and those games have hills and stuff like that.

[thebonefish]

@MN12BIRD Yeah, I know. I figured they're a logical evolution of this long forgotten genre :-( besides Starfox anyway.

[dreamcast65]

nice vid! do you think that you will ever do a gameplay of a power rangers game?

[phreakindee]

This, Silpheed, Robo Aleste and Android Assault alone pretty much make the Sega CD worth owning if you're a shooter fan! Always liked the scaling and everything on this one, just an awesome game.

Thanks for the video, reminded me I need to track down a complete copy of this! What's a Sega CD game without that tall box and manual? A bare CD that's half as fun, that's what :)

[maiki60fps]

I am pretty sure this kind of game could be done on Genesis itself without any add ons like Sega CD... even I you had to prerender some the backgounds...

[xxcrysad3000xx]

@maiki60fps I'm pretty sure the scaling and rotation effects were exclusive to the sega-cd hardware. I can't think of a single Mega-Drive game that showed similar Mode-7esque effects.

[Terryracoon]

@xxcrysad3000xx 2 words: Mickey mania.... (Also, mega turrican had some scaling)

[Snotnarok]

@xxcrysad3000xx Look up Ranger X, it has scaling and rotation. One of the best looking and sounding Genesis/Mega Drive titles

[justinjedi007]

great video. still lovin that old intro of yours.

[JerryTerrifying]

Holy crap man, his game looks outstanding. I need to track it down and give it a shot. This might be one of the best looking SCD games I've ever seen.

[kingstonlj]

Very much like Total Eclipse on the 3DO - with elements of Star Fox, too.... I think the problem with the SegaCD.. is it couldn't do polygon games; it was geared towards sprite scaling, which is cool now.. but back then... polygons were seen as modern and exciting..... SoulStar is a really cool retro experience.

[KieranD212]

i think the sega cd game has a certain charm over the 32x version if youve ever seen the videos on youtube

great game but hard as nails, core design make awesome mega cd games

not to mention the music in soulstar is fantastic

[MarbleZoneGames]

I really enjoy your videos. I am a big fan of all things Sega so I hope you keep sharing some of these more rare titles. Keep up the good work!

[TheDevilBurning]

awesome review man! I didn't know about the Jaguar CD or the 32x prototypes.

[ChillblaineFilms]

You should also try Silpheed, another Mega CD game that did interesting things with the technology.

My all-time favourite game on the system though is Snatcher.

[MN12BIRD]

@ChillblaineFilms I've played both but it's been awhile since I played Slipheed.

[shaurz]

I got this game on Monday :-)

[xan1242]

OMG!SEGA CD MUSIC INTRO IS BAQ!!!(nah just kidding)

I just hate Sega and probably a ton of others not utilizing the full Sega CD's potential.

[dedalus22]

cool vid:)



[lukemorse1]

Awesome stuff there J, this looks great! I am totally diggin the look of this. The scaling for sure looks fantastic!

[bobopatchigglerrulez]

space harrier bitch

[Snestastic]

Great vid Jake, this looks really cool, i'll have to get this imported. What other sega cd games would you recommend?

[MN12BIRD]

@Snestastic Well I really like point and click adventures so I love games like Rise of the Dragon and The Adventures Willy Beamish. But if you want some shooters like this check out Silpheed, Robo Aleste and Android Assault.

[Snestastic]

@MN12BIRD Thanks Jake, I really need to pick up some sega cd games as I only have 3 so far :)

[pubesz]

Great vid!

[thetylife]

This looks sweet... Hmm ..I thought you said that you hate schmups...maybe this is an exception or you just like 3D shooters. I like your enthusiasm for this game.

[MN12BIRD]

@thetylife Yeah I hate most 2D space shooters but I loved Star Fox when it came out.

[MES082]

This game and Galaxy Force 2 show what sprites could do for rail shooters if used right. I'd have this game over Star Fox any day.

[Adam060756]

Only one thing wrong with this game and that is that you can't score any points in it. You were shooting spaceship after spaceship and there was no score system being continuelly tallied.

Wouldd've been more fun if they added a score gauge.

[ash81b4u]

A very impressive game. As you said, Core Design did push machines to their limits including a lot of amiga titles. Maybe because Commodore had gone bust by then, this game didn't see a release on a higher spec amiga or CD32?

[revolutionactiondk]

this is the kind of games I'd like to had seen more of on the PS1

[cuttock]

Hey dude, cool game, thanks for giving this game a chance. No one ever gave the poor guy a chance. I hear SoulStar is now selling shoes at some crappy mall in North Dakota now.

Seriously, I love these "rail shooters". Sega CD was loaded with these beauts. Isn't it a nice, tight, sweet looking game?

[BJCHESTER]

Damn, a Sega CD game that actually looks worth playing!

[cuttock]

@BJCHESTER

C'mon, bro...many more are sweet. I hate that the Sega Cd had a poor rep because of some real stinkers =(

[TheUnbiasedGamer]

I have to look out for his game! It looks good!

[Sypran]

Oh wow! it really does look good! the animation of changing the ship's perspective is really smooth. That is good use of the extra storage on a CD

[TheBladeJunker]

I put it in my top 10 best Sega CD games but that isn't saying much. ^_^ I bought one when it was new and what was the pack in, Sewer Shark. T_T I complain but in a lot of ways the Sega CD faired better than 3DO, CDI, and especially better than the the Jaguar CD. A great game and an awesome review. :)

[THELEGENDARYK2]

Great Video!

I had no idea about this game; looks absolutely rad. I am hereby adding Soulstar to my list of 'want' for the SEGA CD along with all the other space shooters for the system.

[wulfman15]

Nice! Looks pretty good, been looking for other games like Silpheed, and this fits the bill.

[TheronInc]

Impressive game, the soundtrack sounds pretty good as well! =)

[MaximumRD]

Very cool! Good looking game for SegaCD.

[jose5080007]

Dude this game looks pretty cool, were did you buy the jvc xeye

[MN12BIRD]

@jose5080007 Got the JVC X'Eye at a local flea market that has a game booth inside.

[De5con]

reminds of the first time I played Zero Tolerance

[cefiro355]

Great review man! I gotta get me a copy of this, I've never heard of it.

[superman1234393]

That one looks pretty cool dude.

[gmw565]

just got my first commodore 64 looking for a disk drive in e bay in my collection i have a nes sens n64 cube and wii and sega mastersyston sega gen seg sat and dream cast ps1 ps2 ps2 and a vader 2600 not as good as you but it will grow