Tuesday 5 January 2010

Bayonetta Developers = Nostalgic Sega Nutters

Unless you're a Sega fan who has been sitting in a locked room with your fingers in your ears yelling "La-La-La-La!"(something many of us considered doing when it was announced that the Dreamcast was being discontinued) you'll know that Bayonetta releases today in the US and this Friday in Europe.

Minor spoilers below

Developed by Platinum Games and directed by Hideki Kamiya (of Devil May Cry fame), Bayonetta may seem like a third party game with Sega merely acting as publisher. But after thirty minutes of playing the game, one will notice a slew of Sega references. The name "Eggman" comes up and Bayonetta collects halos which look very similar to a certain Hedgehog's source of energy. Sega music also plays a major part of the game. Borrowing from Sega's rich collection of classic arcade tunes, Platinum has created some seriously sexy remixes from Fantasy Zone, Space Harrier, After Burner, Hang-On and OutRun. To accompany these remixes are impressive 3D levels inspired by these classics.




Pretty sweet, eh? You can also check out the level that goes with it here. Who says the classics are dead? Originally composed by Sega's Hiroshi Kawaguchi, tunes like Splash Wave and the theme from Space Harrier are given new life in the world of Bayonetta. It's AM2 fan service to the extreme!



The Space Harrier segment is just as wild as the Hang-On segment. Just before the gameplay kicks off, Bayonetta tells us to:

Oh, we're ready! Help Sega out and buy Bayonetta today.

6 comments:

Animated AF said...

This game is so ridiculous and confusing, but that's what I like about it. I played the demo and had no idea what was going on but loved it for some odd reason. The Sega fan service is very awesome.

Barry the Nomad said...

lol, yeah "ridiculous and confusing" are great descriptors. I played the first hour and there a quite a few "Looney Tunes" like moments. So far I'm loving it!

Lee said...

I just blogged about some of the same stuff. I am loving this game and Bayonetta's fine ass.

Pandamis said...

Where does the first screen come from?

Hairyman said...

Despite it's 7th gen graphics, this game feels like it was released in the Dreamcast era. It's so... SEGA. Probably the most SEGAry game I've played in ages.

Barry the Nomad said...

FIrst screen is actually from the Bayonetta Premium Theme on XBLA. THey feature fake arcade screens in the background with Bayonetta in an 8-bit Fantasy Zone and a 32-bit Virtua Fighter (pictured).

@Hairyman, I agree! Which is why I love it so much. I think the reasons for the Dreamcast-like feel is due to few things. The gameplay is unique and solid, the world is immersive (much like entering PSO or JSR for the first time) and the classic Sega references are everywhere (much like how nearly every Dreamcast game referenced tons of classic Sega IPs).