Sega 3D Classics Developer Handling Secret of Mana Switch Collection, and Why That’s a Big Deal
Fellow Sega fans and “retro-heads” (as we call ourselves), will be pleased to hear that M2 (the game developer well-known for their Sega 3D Classics Collection series on 3DS) will be handling the Switch’s Secret of Mana Switch Collection, Seiken Densetsu Collection.
Naoki Horii, the President of M2, recently revealed on Twitter that he’s heading up the Secret of Mana Switch Collection project. He also had some kind words to share about the Switch after playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
あ、あと許可出てたみたいなので、告知ですがSwitchの聖剣伝説を担当させて頂いております。色々なシーンで快適にゼルダを遊んでいると、愛でたくなるハード感たかまりますな。
— ほりい なおき (@hor11) March 29, 2017
Oh, and I’m now allowed to announce that I will be in charge of Seiken Densetsu on Switch. I thought this hardware had a lot of potential while I was playing through various, pleasant scenes in the new Zelda. (Rice Translation)
The Sega 3D Classics Collection, or Sega 3D Fukkoku Archives, included re-release ports of many Sega games from various platforms, including the arcade, Mega Drive, Master System, and more. In total they worked on over 20 ports as part of the series, with stand-out titles such as the first two Sonic games, Out Run, Shinobi 3, Streets of Rage, and a whole heap more.
While the Sega 3D Classics Collection did add 3D depth to the games, utilising the 3DS’ unique feature, it wasn’t the only reason fans loved them. They’re just really good ports of the games that run super well on the 3DS, and for most of the games in the series are probably the definitive modern ports.
When it comes to re-releases, especially retro titles, there are some developers that just get it, and some that don’t. It should also be noted that the 3D implementation in the games was also really good, perhaps surpassing Nintendo’s Nintendo 3D Classics (developed by Akira, these ports were also pretty good, though only a pitiful 6 were released — 5 NES games and 1 Arcade game — through the mid 2011 to early 2012 period).
M2 have been around since 1993. A large portion of their work has been spent tooling up various re-releases for a host of different systems. Whether it’s a significant chunk of the Sega Ages 2500 Series on PS2, Namco and Konami classic collections for DS, the 360’s wonderful Sega Vintage Collections (almost entirely back compatible on Xbox One), or NEOGEO and Capcom collections for PS3. They even worked on the Japanese Arcade port of Skullgirls 2nd Encore, and have also been responsible for some of the Wii U’s Game Boy Advance Virtual Console ports. They’re a company that’s retro through and through, with ports that always stand above the rest as being luxurious and full of love for the originals, which seems to be from them being true fans themselves.
Basically this all means I’m going to be EVEN MORE furious now if the Seiken Densetsu Collection doesn’t come to Switch in the west. Like, properly angry. I understand that Seiken Densetsu 3 didn’t come out over here originally, and that there’s no official localisation. But I don’t care. Sort it out. Hopefully at the very least this may open the door to M2 working on some more ports for Switch. I’m desperately grasping on to any hope I can while Nintendo still steadfastly refuse to mention anything more about a Switch Virtual Console.
Seiken Densetsu Collection releases for Nintendo Switch 1st June 2017 in Japan.
