It may not quite be about blast processing 32 years later… but Sega still makes a certain throwback to a console war that pre-dates PlayStation vs Xbox.
Ahead of the September 25 launch of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Sega has brought back an iconic piece of the Genesis vs SNES console wars as part of promotional material for the upcoming Sonic title. Without calling the Switch 2 launch game Mario Kart World by name, the Sonic Racing commercial made its pitch being the superior kart racing experience:
In a nutshell, the commercial makes a comparison between Sonic Racing’s next-level high speed racing action vs the unseen (pixelated) game’s leisurely roam on the open road. The promotion ends with the iconic 90s “SEGA!” sound byte.
This nostalgic throwback recreates a 1993 Sega Genesis commercial comparing the “blast processing” of Sega games like Sonic The Hedgehog to the slower-scrolling speed of the Super Nintendo’s Super Mario Kart. In the early 90s, blast processing mainly referred to the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive’s faster CPU compared to the SNES’s processor. However, blast processing may actually be more complicated than this simplified explanation, as detailed further by Eurogamer.
It’s ironic that Sega has reawakened their old gaming rivalry with Nintendo in this way, considering Sega no longer makes game consoles and that Sonic games are now also on Nintendo platforms. The latter would certainly sound blasphemous to die-hard Sega fans back in the day. Regardless, Sega leaves the choice up to the fans whether to accept their next-level racing experience.
However, this isn’t the only nostalgic throwback to the 90s made this year. Nintendo in last week’s Direct dropped a surprise announcement of upcoming accessories for gamers to play re-released Virtual Boy games on the Switch 2. The Virtual Boy was Nintendo’s attempt to bring early VR games to the home 30 years ago, and this iteration is set to release early next year.
Additionally, actor Paul Rudd teamed up with Nintendo once again for the launch of the Switch 2 earlier this summer. This time, Rudd helped promote the Switch 2 through a recreation of a 1991 Super NES commercial, complete with the hair style of his younger self.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is set to release on all current consoles and PC, with no early unlocks available for the Nintendo Switch port.
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