Six Sega classics on XBLA today @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on June 10, 2009

News: Altered Beast, Comix Zone, Gunstar Heroes, Phantasy Star II, Shinobi and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 now available.

Microsoft has announced that today's additions to the Xbox Live Arcade will be a six-pack of classic games originally published by Sega on the Master System and Sega Genesis. Developed by Backbone Entertainment, the games will be available to download individually for 400 Microsoft Points ($5) each. The full slate includes...

Altered Beast
Comix Zone
Gunstar Heroes
Phantasy Star II
Shinobi

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Aside from Gunstar Heroes, the five remaining games were all released as part of the disc-based compilation Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. This collection can routinely be found online for under $30 and includes 40 additional games. And, aside from Shinobi, all of the games are also available on the Wii's Virtual Console download service.

But if you must have the Xbox Live Arcade versions, they're now available.

For a more detailed description of all of these titles, see below:

Altered Beast
When Zeus, the legendary Greek God, brings you back to life, you set forth on a mission to rescue his daughter Athena from the underworld. Along the way, collect the Spirit Balls dropped by enemies to increase your strength and transform into a variety of mythical creatures with powerful attacks.

Comix Zone
Sketch Turner is an artist in New York City. One day Sketch is drawing, and a then there is a huge thunderstorm in the city. A bolt of lightning hits Sketch's image, and brings it to life. That image is Mortus, a megalomaniac mutant who wants to become real and to rule the earth. Mortus magically transports Sketch into the pages of his comic book so that he can end his creator's life and become real. Inside the comic book, Sketch meets General Alissa Cyan, who believes he is a superhero that came to save their post-apocalyptic world from the evil brought by Mortus' hand. Now that he's a comic book superhero, Sketch can kick some serious butt. Instantly, Sketch can fight like a one-man mercenary platoon!

Gunstar Heroes
The Gunstar 9 planet was peaceful for many years until the vicious dictator, Colonel Red, kidnapped the Gunstar twins' older brother and used mind control to make him his slave. You'll face many different enemies and bosses as you battle to stop the dictator from unleashing УGolden Silver the DestructorФ with apocalyptic consequences!

Phantasy Star II
Hailed as one of the greatest games of all-time by fans and media alike, Phantasy Star II is an RPG that features an epic storyline and turn-based battles. Play as Rolf, Nei, Rudo, or several other characters as you navigate through the Algol Star System battling the evil Dark Force. Build your characters, select the right weapons and armor, and battle the forces of evil through various missions as you find the right combination of characters to complete each objective.

Shinobi
As the ninja Shinobi (Joe Musashi) you must stop who the criminal organization called "Zeed" who has kidnapped the children of the Oboro clan. Test your ninja skills through five missions of increasing difficulty as Musashi must make his way to Zeed's headquarters and free all the hostages. Zeed's leaders, known as "Ring of Five", are determined to stop you as you'll face one at the end of each stage.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Sonic and Tails are back for another adventure as they again battle the evil Dr. Eggman (AKA Dr. Robotnik), who is desperately trying to collect all the Chaos Emeralds in order to rebuild his Death Egg. Our heroes must find the Chaos Emeralds before Dr. Eggman does, but winning the race won't be easy Ц a new adversary, Knuckles the Echidna, has arrived on the scene and will do whatever he can to keep Sonic and Tails from reaching their goal. Grab all the golden rings, find various bonus zones, and overcome Knuckles and Dr. Eggman as you rocket through the third chapter in Sonic's adventures.