''Sega Force'' was an early 1990s publication that covered the

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

console range (

Sega Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan as ...

Mega-CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Jap ...

, Master System and

Game Gear The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, ...

History

''Sega Force'', along with ''Nintendo Force'', was initially announced in mid-1991 by

Newsfield Newsfield Publications Ltd (also known as Newsfield) was a British magazine publisher during the 1980s and early 1990s. Newsfield Publications Ltd was founded by Roger Kean, Franco Frey and Oliver Frey in 1983. Based in Ludlow, Shropshire, News ...

. However, the liquidation of the publisher resulted in the magazine being significantly delayed. It was eventually launched by Europress Impact in December 1991. The magazine featured artwork created by Oliver Frey that was inspired by Japanese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

, such as '' Akira''. Frey often introduced a horror element into his artwork. His artwork for a

Lemmings A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...

cover replaced the rodents with humans, depicting their horrified faces as they fell to the ground. The title also featured work by Stuart Wynne, Phil King, Steve Shields, Adrian Pitt and Matt Yeo. The magazine occasionally featured novellas based on console games. Staff writer, Matt Yeo worked in conjunction with Acclaim software to publish a novella based on ''Super

Smash TV ''Smash TV'' is a 1990 arcade video game created by Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell for Williams Electronics Games. It is a dual-stick shooter (one for moving and the other for firing) in the same vein as 1982's ''Robotron: 2084'' (co-created b ...

''. The narrative followed the plot of the computer game closely and at the end of each chapter offered readers hints and tips on how to complete the game. The narrative style was in keeping with the brash violent cartoons used within the title itself - and bore striking similarities to

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

's '' The Running Man''. ''Sega Forces move into computer game fiction is considered to be a response to its rival ''

Sega Power ''Sega Power'', initially known as ''S: The Sega Magazine'', was a Future publication aimed at the Sega range of consoles, including the Master System, Mega Drive, Game Gear and later on the Mega-CD, 32X and Saturn. The magazine was later re ...

'', which had already had success with several books based on computer games. In 1993, Impact Magazines made the decision to separate the ''Sega Force'' and ''N-Force'' titles. ''Sega Force'' was split into ''Sega Force Mega'' (covering the

Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan a ...

and

) and ''Sega Master Force'' (covering the Master System). Both titles featured a

G-Force The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measure ...

section that covered the

Sega Game Gear The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, ...

''Sega Master Force''

''Sega Master Force'' was aimed at the younger market, though it remained readable for older Sega fans. The magazine was edited by Nick Roberts and retained the visual appearance of ''Sega Force''. Six issues of ''Sega Master Force'' were published, each featuring 68 pages.

''Sega Force Mega''

''Sega Force Mega'' was marketed as a ''grown-up'' games publication that would better compete with Future's ''

MEGA Mega or MEGA may refer to: Science * mega-, a metric prefix denoting 106 * Mega (number), a certain very large integer in Steinhaus–Moser notation * "mega-" a prefix meaning "large" that is used in taxonomy * Gravity assist, for ''Moon-Eart ...

'' magazine. The first issues were produced at Europress Impact, but later the magazine was outsourced to a company located in

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the Sou ...

, while Impact staff moved on to a new magazine, ''Mega Machines''. Each issue of ''Sega Force Mega'' featured 100 pages, consisting of news features, reviews, G-Force and a buyers guide. Six issues were published along with a 'special' seventh issue that included past reviews and news.

''Sega Force'' Special

The seventh, and what would turn out to be the final, issue of ''Sega Force Mega'' was dubbed a ''"Sega Force Special"''. The 132-page magazine featured reprints of reviews that had appeared in the previous six issues of ''Sega Force Mega'' and ''Sega Master Force''. The preview of Sonic Chaos for the Master System was updated to provide a game rating. In the editorial, Nick Roberts indicated that ''Sega Force Mega'' would be 'back to normal' in the following month, but did not mention ''Sega Master Force''. However, issue 8 failed to appear and it was learned that all of Impact's magazines were closed.

References

{{reflist

External links

Archived Sega Force Mega magazines on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...