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Am I the only one who hated the Sega Scream, and when Sega went silly?


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I have always loved Alex Kidd. I don't think he was that Mario-like. He wasn't even human, and was a boy. He didn't stomp either if I recall. :)

At the time I played only at a friend's home, so I could't see much of it. Today I can see a difference, but as a kid, it felt like a poor man version of Mario. It's like Sega did'nt tried too much, or they wanted to keep it kid friendly?

I mean, Sonic is awesome, and, if Mega Man had been on the Master system then Mégadrive, the fight would have been so much tighter :D

Also it may be me only, but it's one reason I don't like Zelda games that much. Because the hero is a KID.

 

Who wants, when being a kid, playing a 8 years old? It doesn't make any sense? If you're below 8, you're what? 6, 7? It feels too close! And when you're mroe that 8, it feels like going backward, it's not selling!

Even today, I don't feel like involved with the Link character, except for the 16 years old Link from Twilight Princess.

 

Same thing went with Alex Kidd. Who wants that? It doesn't feel involving at all.

Edited by CatPix
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At the time I played only at a friend's home, so I could't see much of it. Today I can see a difference, but as a kid, it felt like a poor man version of Mario. It's like Sega did'nt tried too much, or they wanted to keep it kid friendly?

I mean, Sonic is awesome, and, if Mega Man had been on the Master system then Mégadrive, the fight would have been so much tighter :D

Also it may be me only, but it's one reason I don't like Zelda games that much. Because the hero is a KID.

 

Who wants, when being a kid, playing a 8 years old? It doesn't make any sense? If you're below 8, you're what? 6, 7? It feels too close! And when you're mroe that 8, it feels like going backward, it's not selling!

Even today, I don't feel like involved with the Link character, except for the 16 years old Link from Twilight Princess.

 

Same thing went with Alex Kidd. Who wants that? It doesn't feel involving at all.

I'm going to have to strongly (but respectfully) disagree on pretty much everything you said. I don't think Sonic is awesome at all, I think he is annoying and deserves a slap. He doesn't hold a candle to the Kidd. I also feel Alex is about 11 or 12, but that's besides the point. To me his age is irrelevant. He rules, and is my favorite mascot of all-time on any system. In my opinion, the original Miracle World game is far superior to the original Super Mario Bros, and it's a top 5 game of all-time. Sega's fault was drifting away too much with the sequels, which unfortunately they did with a lot of their games (Phantasy Star, Zillion, etc.). However, they redeemed themselves with the Genesis version.

 

As for Zelda, there's not much I can say. It's my favorite series of games ever. 2015 will be pure Zelda Wii U. No new games that year will even come remotely close to me. For the record, Link was 16 in 1988's Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Pretty funny, because that was the only time he was ever older than me. But once again, age doesn't make a difference to me. His games are fantastic.

 

So you have problems playing games where you control a kid, but have no problems where you control a blue animal with attitude that's not even human. Pretty ironic if you ask me.

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I also think Alex Kidd, as a character, is much better than Sonic. While Alex Kidd's games didn't make as good a showing as Sonic in its era, Alex Kidd is a character like Mario, where he can be dropped into different genres and game styles and it works. You can't argue with Sonic's influence in Sega's success, but if they had kept developing Alex Kidd, I think they could have had another "all ages" character that worked in multiple genres. The proof of this: one cannot imagine Sonic in Kid Chameleon, but Alex Kidd would fit almost perfectly.

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I always thought the kidd was a "me too" decision by management (um we need a colorful side scrolling game to compete with mario to pack in, this will do) and your boss fights are based on a dice roll, what is that nonsense?

 

as far as the genesis goes its not a time of marketing for me, its when they stopped caring, some of those later games with the god awful sound, grainy graphics and stiff as a brick controls are just crap, this would be about the time near 32x and saturn... too many irons in the fire.

 

As far as kids in games, I dont care as long as I dont have to listen to them talk (tails im looking at you)

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Wasn't a huge fan of that ad campaign, but it did wonders for Sega and even inspired a copycat campaign from Nintendo (ie Play it Loud, Get N or Get Out). What really irritated me were the later Saturn ads that only made the system less appealing to gamers. Come on, The Theater of the Mind? A bald guy in silver paint growling? They were trying to pique peoples' interest with mystery but it just made them say "What the hell is Sega even offering? Oh well, back to Playstation for me!"

 

I think Sega would have done a lot better with Japan's Segata Sanshiro ads. They worked really hard to distance themselves from the home office in Japan around that time, so that was never gonna happen, but those commercials are legendary, even fifteen years later.

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To me his age is irrelevant.

 

As for Zelda, there's not much I can say. It's my favorite series of games ever. 2015 will be pure Zelda Wii U.

 

So you have problems playing games where you control a kid, but have no problems where you control a blue animal with attitude that's not even human. Pretty ironic if you ask me.

I mentionned that that's how I felt when I was, well, 8 to 12 years old. Today I do'nt mind playing a 8 yours old Link or a 11 years old Alex Kidd, but my point was that, when I was a kid, I would have NEVER asked a Sega console to my parents becaus I dodn't feel connected with Alex Kidd.

On the other hand, Sonic, a you said, isn't human; so you can't draw parallel with him. He's not younger or older tan you, and his abilities aren't magical, they just are.

And if you wonder, Except for SMB2, I never felt much attracted to Mario games. I liek them, but I much prefer Zelda!

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I mentionned that that's how I felt when I was, well, 8 to 12 years old. Today I do'nt mind playing a 8 yours old Link or a 11 years old Alex Kidd, but my point was that, when I was a kid, I would have NEVER asked a Sega console to my parents becaus I dodn't feel connected with Alex Kidd.

On the other hand, Sonic, a you said, isn't human; so you can't draw parallel with him. He's not younger or older tan you, and his abilities aren't magical, they just are.

And if you wonder, Except for SMB2, I never felt much attracted to Mario games. I liek them, but I much prefer Zelda!

At 8-12 you should have liked it more, rather than the opposite. Wouldn't playing as someone your own age be fun for most kids?

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At 8-12 you should have liked it more, rather than the opposite. Wouldn't playing as someone your own age be fun for most kids?

Well, no, not for me, even in stories; I had a lot of book for kids, an I never felt like being one. Especially if they were happening in the "real world" and I could draw parallels easily, and I was "what, since when parents let their 10 years old kids going out unwatched for 3 days or something, and when they get home, they just get scolded? They didn't called the cops and all?"

 

The only exception was a very sad book, "Bob and Bobby" whis was about a grand father and his grand son; the grand father had a stroke and the grandson can just watch him, and kinda help his grandfather to react to the world again by playing with his toys, talking to him,etc... And this was realistic.

Other stuff, was not.

But maybe it's because I was reading alot; especially a lot of books that were involving teenagers; and those were much focused on the problems of having to live and adventure while having to deal with parents and school; so after this, watching Alexx Kid punching rocks or Zelda wandering alone with a blade and nobody cares... okay...

Maybe I lacked imagination as a kid.

Edited by CatPix
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Sega's marketing may have sucked, but some of their better games were in the Genesis era.

 

I find it interesting that Segata Sanshiro did an ad for the Famicom version of Fantasy Zone II, a weak port of the SMS version with odd graphics.

Edited by BrianC
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  • 1 year later...

Sega's marketing may have sucked, but some of their better games were in the Genesis era.

 

I find it interesting that Segata Sanshiro did an ad for the Famicom version of Fantasy Zone II, a weak port of the SMS version with odd graphics.

Yeah, that version was weak to say the least. I always wished Super Fantasy Zone would have gotten a US release.

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Here, the Sega ads and catchphrase for the Megadrive was "Sega, c'est plus fort que toi"

These were great ads. The punk dude out of Mad Max came to challenge "Master Sega", an AI hidden in a dilapited warehouse. And gets his ass kicked.

 

I should add that comparative advertisement was (is?) banned in France so the ads in the middle of the console wars were quite different. In the mid 90s I went to the US, and I remember reading an issue of EGM and thinking "wow these guys are rather mean to the competition".

Edited by Newsdee
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Pre-Sonic, they were a very serious company that catered to more hard-core, older gamers, with very little humor. Post-Sonic, they always tried to be funny. I never liked their style of humor, and the turning point was the Sega Scream.

 

This is not a "Sega bashing" thread by any means. I am a big fan of the original serious Sega. I just strongly prefer "The Challenge Will Always Be There" Sega. To me their real mascot will always be Alex Kidd or Opa-Opa, not Sonic and his brand of humor with a hint of trouble.

 

I'm honestly just confused here- I really don't know how 'different' early Sega was (I wasn't paying attention then)- but I fail to see how something like Fantasy Zone translates to humorless, serious gameplay for older folk. My (admittedly limited) experience with the Master System has left me feeling like it was far more kid-friendly.

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Yep, the SMS have both fun and serious/hardcore titles.

The SMS version of Ghost's Gobliins for example is one of the most forgiving versions with armors popping every second or so, making progressing through the game much easier than the NES version or the arcade.

Master of Darkness is an excellent but much easier take on Castlevania.

Even Alex Kidd is a colourful and happy-looking title, with Alex Kidd eating rice/burgers at the end being a rather "fun" detail.

 

To me the most "serious" period of Sega is the early Megadrive release, so 1989-1995. Before that well I don't recall the adverts because I wasn't there :D but as the Saturn arrived Sega turned into a kind of parody of themselves, going excentric and pompous rather than fun and a bit cocky.

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Segata Sanshiro relied on allusions and punning that wouldn't really work for their American audience (who knows of Sanshiro Sugata anyway, and I think "Segata Sanshiro, Segata Sanshiro, Sega Satān shiro" would go over Americans' heads).

Iirc, the Segata Sanshiro ads ended up getting a cult following amongst sega fans in the late 90s. Who's to say that campaign wouldn't have worked?

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I'm honestly just confused here- I really don't know how 'different' early Sega was (I wasn't paying attention then)- but I fail to see how something like Fantasy Zone translates to humorless, serious gameplay for older folk. My (admittedly limited) experience with the Master System has left me feeling like it was far more kid-friendly.

Fantasy Zone was more cute than silly. However, I was mostly referring to their advertising.

 

This is the Sega I know and love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-5oT1HbdIs

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