Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: Sega Arcade Classics Vol. 1 (Revised Edition) (Sega Classics) Kindle Edition

Unlike Nintendo, Sega has tragically too few books about their works, especially in English - and while the recently-released History of Sonic is likewise excellent, franchises such as that and Phantasy Star have (rightfully) been the subject of many forum posts, episodes of Retronauts & so on.Hardcore Gaming 101 chose instead to focus on the Yu Suzuki arcade classics, and a handful of other titles/series - a great mix of popular & niche/cult classics. The meat of it is exactly what you come to expect from H101: while each entry might see only a few pages, it's jam-packed with all manner of history, from development details, port comparisons (including formats I was barely aware of), and really cool stuff like betas/unreleased titles, as well as relevant ROM hacks. The Sega fan community has its share of top-notch sites, but I don't think anyone other than H101 would've been nearly as thorough.Those looking for an art book would likely have better luck with the few Japanese ones on Ebay, as the layout largely allocates its space for comparison shots, moreso than concept art - I was most appreciative of this personally, as it's fascinating watching several generations of console hardware struggle to replicate something AM2 accomplished with coin-ops back in 1985, for example. Likewise, a priority was clearly made to delve into every spin-off of any series discussed, revealing installments of both Alex Kidd & Shinobi I was previously unaware of.Again, I applaud Kurt & co's decisions here, as this likely would've sold more copies as just another Sonic book, but instead I was able to finally have the mystery of Wonder Boy/Adventure Island/Monster World series etc explained (accomplished by a candid interview with the series creator), and learn about oddities like Typing Space Harrier....I can't believe we never got OutRun 3D over here. Anyway.My only regret was reading it while traveling, as it's now falling apart on me - however, due to the overall quality (and low price) of the book, I was happy to order another copy upon my return...right after hunting down a copy of Super Fantasy Zone. Again, if you grew up with Sega, or are simply a fan of good games (arcade especially), do not pass on this.

This is a very good book. It's full of full color photos and well-researched information about Sega's Golden Age of arcade gaming. There are lots of tidbits about all the ports and spin-offs of each arcade title. It's not all-inclusive, however: here's to hoping Volume 2 covers the blind spots: Hot Rod, Monaco GP, Hang On, Enduro Racer, Alien Storm, Wrestle War, Rad Mobile, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, Spider-Man, and the many others I'm no doubt forgetting.....as well as the transition into the polygonal era.

The first thing i think of when i see the name SEGA is ofcourse OutRun, for others it might be Golden Axe, Space Harrier, Shinobi, Wonderboy, Afterburner and so on.  All of them Arcade classics/smash hits.This book is about many of SEGA’s smash hits, way more than i knew about actually. SEGA ARCADE CLASSICS VOLUME 1 , 170 pages filled to the brim with info about SEGA and its games.This site is not about books really, but the other book articles have been very popular so i decided to do another book article. The book is from 2012 but i just recently aquired it. The book is about many of the SEGA games over the last 30+ years,  a few interviews and other tidbits can be found inside too.The first thing that struck me with the book was how awful the binding was, it was too stiff and a nightmare to read. Everytime you flipped a page they just went back, and the further into the book you got, the more annoying this problem got.To solve this problem was to bend the binding, and press the pages the whole time, after a few pages it all started to look bad.  It is a book so when you read it you should be able to do so without bending and pressing the paper all the time.This book will not last long before the pages will fall out for sure.What the hell were they thinking?Huge review, pictures and so much more located on my blog.Check the rest here:[...]

This is a wonderful title that is filled to the brim with information on some of Sega's greatest triumphs at the arcade. Each franchise covered is followed to even the rarest obscurity. It is wonderful reading about classic games such as Outrun and all of it's sequels that never made it to American shores. The side by side screen shot comparisons are golden, giving a glimpse at how the various machines tried replicating that arcade magic in varying degrees of success (sometimes outright failures).If you have ever enjoyed an article on Hardcore Gaming 101's website, then this is an instant buy. If you have ever loved arcade games, you need this in your collection. I only wish it were longer...

Even if you've never heard of the Hardcore Gaming 101 retrospective website, you have to appreciate the quality that went into this book. Even the most ancient and obscure Sega titles presented within are given the utmost respect and coverage, detailing various game versions and ports, control schemes, breakdown of their history and development and more. The organization of the transposed articles is even better in publication format than they are on the actual site, making finding information and cross referencing quite easy. The quality of the book itself is excellent, especially considering the price: Well-bound, full-color pages, lots of good screenshots for every game featured, and an excellent cover that gives respect to all of Sega's past triumphs.

I am a regular visitor to their website and have been seeing there books on there for a while and finally decide to take a risk and see how they are. As a Sega fan, this book is amazing. The amount of information on each game is mind blowing and the layout is easy to follow and looks good. My only gripes are that I wish each game had a header at the start instead of the small text at the top of the page, and that it came as a hard cover.

Great book. If you're into retro video games or was a child of the 'golden age' of video games and arcades (e.g. late 70s, 80s & 90s) this is a must have. It's obvious a lot of thought, time and effort has gone into creating and publishing the Hardcore Gaming 101 books. I for one will be buying each release when they become available.

Great book, really detailed and packed with screenshots- I learnt a ton about different and new versions of games- fantastic

Very interesting read it goes into a far about of detail on each game and their sequels and spin-off's. The only thing I find lacking is pictures of the arcade machines themselves. I would recommend this book and would love to see a volume 2

Can't fault the content. However the magazine style formatting on a standard Kindle device makes it fiddly to read.

Good book. Excellent.