Sega superstar Sonic the Hedgehog is tearing across Palm OS 5 screens near you to stop the evil Dr. Robotnik. And he's broght his other Sega classic friends with him.
Last year, long-time gaming powerhouse Sega announced that they were planning to develop game titles for the Palm OS platform. Now, the company has made good on that pledge and released five of their long-time classic titles for selected ARM-based Palm devices, including Sega's mascot and lead spokesperson, "Sonic the Hedgehog."
As part of a joint release by Sega and Palm, the Sega Classic titles are currently available only for the Palm Tungsten T. The Tungsten T offers a 144 Mhz processor and 320x320 resolution screen, sufficient horsepower for Sega's library of games. The titles released so far include platform classic "Sonic the Hedgehog", multiplayer puzzle game "Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine", ninja fighting game "Shinobi", Tetris-style game "Super Columns", and role-playing strategy game "Shining Force II: The Sword of Hajya".
 | | Sonic the Hedgehog / Ill: Sega |
All five games require an ARM-based device to run, and have been tailored specifically for the Palm 5-way Navigator and PalmSource Audio API. Therefore, they will not run on Sony CLIEs. The only currently shipping device that will support them is the Palm Tungsten T, although future OS 5 models from Palm that also use the 5-way Navigator should work as well. All five games were originally developed for the Sega GameGear handheld gaming platform. Based on their interface it appears that the Palm OS versions are direct ports, possibly with an emulation layer to mimic the GameGear hardware.
All five games are available now for download from a joint Palm/Sony web site, and cost $19.95 USD each. In addition, Mobile Digital Media, a Palm-backed private company, will begin offering a PalmPak SEGA Classics Card in retail stores in May. The PalmPak card will cost $29.95 USD, and include four of the five games, "Sonic", "Shinobi", "Super Columns", and "Shining Force II".
Additional screen shots of each game are available on the following pages.
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