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Atari Jaguar game in development since 1993 releasing this month on Dreamcast

TheSonicRetardTheSonicRetard Registered User regular
edited April 2013 in Games and Technology
This is pretty neat - one of the more infamous Atari Jaguar projects that has been under development since 1993, and heavy development for the last 7 years, will release later this month for the Sega Dreamcast.

NnNRKO0.jpg

Originally known as Native, this was one of the earliest games announced for the Atari Jaguar, beginning production in 1993 by a german coder known as Duranik. One of the more visually impressive Atari Jaguar projects, the game was a 2D R-Type clone that showed quite a bit of promise. By late 1997, a full year after the Jaguar had officially "died," Duranik announced his project as cancelled. In truth, he kept working on the project, choosing instead to embrace the then-underground but surprisingly active Atari Jaguar homebrew scene. By the time 1998's Battlesphere Gold was released for the Jaguar, when Hasbro officially declared the system open and free from all licensing fees, Duranik had made impressive progress on the game, reaching a playable 1-level state.

In the mid 2000's, Duranik explained that the platform for the game had shifted to the Dreamcast, and released his source code for the original Jaguar version along with a mastered 1-level version of the game which was sold through publisher Songbird games (first as a pack-in with the Bootjack Loader to run homebrew, then again as a pack-in with Protector SE):

KtYAfiL.jpg

I actually picked this game up last year and it's pretty good for a work-in-progress build. The game features no sound effects, and no powerups work, but the collision detection is good, and the level design, particularly the visuals, is great. As is SOP for Atari Jaguar games, it features a pretty bitching techno-industrial soundtrack. One project on-going to chronicle every Jaguar project out there has footage of a full run of the first level (with cheats enabled so the player doesn't die):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C75isKIgfUQ

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Atari Jaguar, along with the start of development of this game. On april 24th, the game will finally relaunch on the Sega Dreamcast under a new title:

QTiB63A.jpg

Those who have REALLY been paying attention will recognize the creature on the above image. It was the original boss shown off in 1993 when the Jaguar was unveiled at CES in 1993. Here is a 4 second clip from the original unveiling of the Jaguar showing off that boss:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmKCOMWmfWg

Sturmwind will be published by RGCD and will receive a similar run to other post-death dreamcast releases. The game now features a mix of 2D and 3D graphics, and a newer techno-industrial soundtrack. These sorts of Jaguar games always had such incredible soundtracks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsqu6x40ys0

Additionally, given that this is the 20th anniversary of the Jaguar, there have been hints that a group which has been working on finishing the original version of the game since 2004 on the system will also release the Jaguar version of the game this year as well. No new footage of this updated version of Native has been shown off yet.

Do the math!

TheSonicRetard on

Posts

  • DusT_HounDDusT_HounD Registered User regular
    I'm pretty stoked for Sturmwind- although i guess a lot of people are skeptical over whether or not it will REALLY be released this time, given the somewhat monumental delays. That said, i paid a long time ago, and i'm keeping the faith strong! Since the publisher, RedSpot Games sent out that mail earlier, giving a (hopefully) solid confirmation of the April 24th release date, this could finally be it! Roll on the 24th- looking forward to my limited edition...

  • GaslightGaslight Registered User regular
    edited April 2013
    Thread title is the most gloriously absurd headline I have read in a long time. I marvel at its beauty. In complete sincerity without a trace of irony or sarcasm: Fuck yes, retro/homebrew gaming community.

    Gaslight on
  • VothVoth Registered User regular
    I always hoped this project would get completed and plan on supporting it.

    reverbnation -- last.fm -- facebook -- twitter -- bandcamp --youtube -- PSN: audapostrophe -- XBL: audapostrophe -- NNID: audapostrophe -- Myspace
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