Release dates announced for Sega's 3D Classics lineup for the 3DS eShop

[Atariboy]

Thunder Force 3 for the Sega Genesis was announced as the next game at the Tokyo Game Show this evening.

Two more titles remain to be announced. Hoping they're arcade games.

[Atariboy]

Rest of the lineup has been unveiled. Here's the full roster of games for Sega 3D Classics Volume 3: Final Stage, which is releasing in japan this December and so far remains unannounced for a western release.

-Afterburner II (Arcade)
-Alien Syndrome (Arcade)
-Columns (Arcade?)
-Gunstar Heroes (Genesis)
-Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)
-Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)
-Super Hang-On (Arcade)
-Thunder Force III (Genesis)
-Turbo Outrun (Arcade)

The final two additions were Columns and Alien Syndrome. Not a very interesting pair in my eyes. Unsure what version of Columns that they're featuring, but either way I'll likely never even fire it up if this collection makes it out over here. And the arcade version of Alien Syndrome is already on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the PS3/360 and thus isn't the most exciting addition in the world.

I'd of personally preferred to have seen further additions like Turbo Outrun that haven't been done justice on home consoles and handhelds through the years.

[Rookie1]

Sonic 2 and SoR 2 would be really cool with a 3D perspective.

[snakeboy]

The addition of Columns is definitely a head scratcher. First of all, where is the appeal of giving this game a 3D makeover? I really don't think it's going to somehow make falling blocks look spectacular. And secondly, hasn't Columns already appeared on practically every Sega collection ever made? It's a pretty good game and all but not exactly an exciting addition.

Oh well - I'll probably never play this collection anyway...

[VideoGameCritic]

The question is, will any of these be available on physical media?

[Atariboy]

Yes, we're actually talking a physical compilation here.



It's titled Sega 3D Classics Collection Volume 3: Final Stage and is the sequel to what you reviewed on the 3DS earlier this year. That one, despite just being rebranded as Sega 3D Classics Collection for us westerners, was actually volume 2 over in Japan. We never got the original release which featured Outrun as its highlight.

The catch here though is that no release in the west has been confirmed and the 3DS is sadly region locked, so we're left to hope that something happens next year for this. Hopefully volume 2 did well and it will convince Sega to not only release this one here, but bring over volume 1 as well.

All the Genesis and arcade games in volume 1 have long been available in our eShop as standalone downloads (Along with 5 of the 9 games in this latest collection), but these two collections deserve a physical release.