SEGA Heroes

SEGA Heroes, also referred to as SEGA Heroes: Puzzle RPG Quest or SEGA Heroes: Match 3 RPG Game with Sonic & Crew!, is a mobile game developed and published by Sega and Demiurge Studios. The game is a role-playing puzzle game starring various characters from Sega franchises, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Shinobi, Super Monkey Ball and Golden Axe. The game will include events, a PvP arena, bosses, and a survival mode. Players will be able to upgrade their characters and "Quest through SEGA history, as you build an all-star team".

Story
An evil being named Dremagen (the master of a thousand dimensions) begins to collect heroes from across different worlds and rule them all. She does so with a clone army she made of the heroes.

In the dimension that Dremagen forced several heroes into, Amy Rose meets Ax Battler and requests his assistance to help their friends. They soon run into a clone of Joe Musashi and manage to defeat him. Afterwards, the duo meet up with AiAi and continue their quest with him. Along the way, they run into clones that are helping Dremagen's cause, such as Death Adder, Lassic, Mr. X, Shadow and Dr. Eggman. Thus Amy, Ax, and AiAi team up with more heroes to take down Dremagen.

Gameplay
SEGA Heroes is a match-3 game. By matching at least three tiles of the same color, the character assigned that color will attack. Enemies can be targeted by tapping them before a move is made, and once targeted, all attacks will be directed at that enemy. Each move is counted as a turn, and will allow the enemy's cooldown timer to decrease by one. When an enemy's timer becomes an "!", it will attack after the player makes their next move.

Matching purple Rally tiles will fill up the Rally Meter. Each Rally Level increases ally damage and healing by 0.1x (does not include status effects). Some characters gain added effects once a certain Rally Level is reached.

Matching tiles in such a way to cause more matches to happen will allow the the player's team to attack more in one turn.

Matching four tiles at once will create a Star Tile on the spot the player moved to, which, when matched, will cause the character of that color to use his/her Star Skill.

Matching five or more tiles at once will create a Super Star Tile, which will clear a 3x3 area surrounding it when activated and allow that character to use his/her Star Skill. Any Star Tiles cleared in the blast will activate, allowing those characters to also use their Star Skills. Some characters gain an added effect when their Star Skill is activated by a Super Star Tile.

Star Rally tiles and Super Star Rally tiles add five Mana to the Rally Meter.

Clearing tiles will give Mana to the appropriate color. A Mana bar is located beneath each of the player's party's portraits. Once the Mana bar is full, tapping the character's portrait will activate his/her MAX Skill. Each character has his/her own amount of Mana needed to be able to use his/her MAX skill. Matches made by the enemy team do not count towards the player's own team's Mana.

If a MAX Skill causes matches to happen, it will still be the user's turn afterwards.

The Stun Status effect will not allow that hero to attack, use MAX skills, Star Skills or gain Mana.

Silence will only prevent the MAX Skill from being used, but will allow all other moves.

When the board currently has no possible matches, it will reset to a state where matches are possible, keeping all Star Tiles.

Upgrading
Characters can be upgraded by using resources that can be collected through gameplay.

Player Level
Player Level determines the maximum level that characters can reach and increases Energy available in both campaigns. At certain levels, more features in the game become available. Experience is needed to level up and can be acquired through Daily Quests and completing Stages in the Campaign, Beyondering, and XP Rush Events. 1Daily Quest Completion Chest

Character Levels
Characters can be leveled up through Training. The maximum level characters can reach is equal to the player's current Player Level. At certain levels, Skills and the ability to upgrade them become available. Training increases Power, Health, Match Damage, and Skill Attack/Healing Power (certain percentages and number of turns are unaffected).

Promotions
Promotions require the appropriate amount of Hero Shards for that specific Hero and uses Gold. Promotion consumes the Hero Shards used for that Promotion. Promoting a character increases a character's Power, Health, Match Damage, and Skill Attack/Healing Power (percentages and number of turns are unaffected).

Enhancements
Characters can be Enhanced after every level that is a multiple of 10 and requires Spirit Stones. Enhancements increase Health, Match Damage, and Skills.

Hero Skills
Hero Skills vary for each character, but all require Reagents, Skill Stones and Gold to upgrade. It should be noted that the Max value for damage or healing skills is based on Max Skill Level, Max Star level, and Max Character level at the same time. They scale with the power of the character. Preview Next Level only considers the next Skill Level.

Rarity
The Rarity of a character predetermines their max Power, and Match Damage. Health is character specific however. It should be noted that some characters can boost their strength and health further with Passive skills.

Music
During the initial release, there were only three songs in the game. Two of them are from former games and one was the instrumental version of the song "Follow Me" by Alexandre Charles Brovelli. Since then, the song has been replaced by tunes from various Sega games, giving each world a theme.

Update history

 * Version 0.3.1 (October 2018) - Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 0.4 (October 2018) - Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 0.5 (October 2018) - Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 1.0 (November 2018) - Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 1.0.1 (November 2018) - Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 1.1 (November 2018) - The update brought the following changes:
 * Beyondering campaign released.
 * More stages added to the main campaign.
 * New enemies added to the main campaign.
 * Mega Tokens were added to the game, available to be collected in the Arena and Survival modes.
 * Version 1.2 (December 2018) - Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 1.3 (December 2018) - The update brought the following changes:
 * Crazy Taxi was implemented into the game, beginning with B.D. Joe.
 * The settings menu provides links to Sega and Demiurge Studios' social media.
 * Arena Timer is now visible at all times during battle.
 * Discounted prices added for the 10x ultimate chest.
 * Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 1.4 (January 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * Opponents are made smarter in the Arena and target the player's weakest character.
 * Suggested team power is made more accurate for the main campaign.
 * Abilities no longer generate star tiles for downed heroes.
 * Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 1.4.1 (January 2019) - Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 1.5 (February 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * Gena from Crazy Taxi is added to the game.
 * B.D. Joe is available in the Arena Shop.
 * Tyris Flare and Mr. X are available in the Survival Shop.
 * Suggested Team Power has been adjusted for more accuracy.
 * Updated Hero Roster and Set Collection screens.
 * Darkness debuff icon updated for clarity.
 * Difficulty in "The Hunt" scaled back for Daily Events.
 * Version 1.6 (February 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * Opponents from Crazy Taxi, Phantasy Star and Jet Set Radio can be fought in Survival Mode.
 * Team-Up and Unite challenges now allow entry based on hero traits.
 * The Level and rank restriction for Wanted Poster and Unite challenges were removed.
 * Adjusted difficulty for all challenges.
 * Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 1.7 (February 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * The House of the Dead is added to the game, beginning with Dr. Curien.
 * Dr. Curien is available to be fought in Survival Mode.
 * Limited time events have been added to the game.
 * Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 1.8 (March 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * A new music track has been added to the game.
 * Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 1.9 (March 2019) - Thomas Rogan is added to the game.
 * Version 2.0 (April 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * Guilds have been added to the game.
 * Players can enter the Beyondering if they have fewer than one hero of each color.
 * Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 2.1 (April 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * Valkyria Chronicles is added to the game, beginning with Alicia Melchiott.
 * Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 2.2 (May 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * Selvaria Bles is added to the game.
 * A Guild Leaderboard has been added to the game.
 * New enemies, Shock Troopers from Valkyria Chronicles, have been added to be fought in Survival Mode.
 * Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 2.3 (May 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * Welkin Gunther is added to the game.
 * Guild Leaderboards is made available for all featured events.
 * Agent G and Gus are made available in the Survival Shop.
 * Version 2.3.1 (June 2019) - Largo Potter is added to the game.
 * Version 2.4 (June 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * Shenmue is added to the game, beginning with Ryo Hazuki.
 * Guild Boss Raids are implemented into the game.
 * Version 2.4.1 (July 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * Shenhua is added to the game.
 * The "Experience" daily quest has been removed for very experienced Level 25 players.
 * Version 2.5 (July 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * New Milestone awards have been implemented into the game.
 * Tom Johnson has been added to the game.
 * Version 2.5.1 (July 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * New Hero Passes have been added to the game.
 * Game difficulty for beginner players has been adjusted.
 * Beyondering stages have been lowered to match Campaign refresh costs.
 * Version 2.5.2 (August 2019) - The update brought the following changes:
 * Altered Beast has been added to the game, beginning with Werewolf.
 * A "Quick Loot" button has been added to the game in Challenge events.
 * Ebitan has been added as a new Guild boss.

Trivia

 * This game was initially known as SEGA Legends.
 * When Amy and Ax Battler face an evil copy of Joe Musashi, she mentions having a ninja as a friend, referring to Espio the Chameleon. Similarly, a discussion between Amy and detective Blaze Fielding references fellow private eye Vector the Crocodile.
 * Ax calling Amy a rabbit (despite her appearance) may be a tongue in cheek reference to Sonic the Hedgehog's original design, where he was formerly a rabbit.
 * Froggy appears as a cameo during Big the Cat's victory animation. He is also referenced multiple times during the campaign.
 * An orca makes a cameo appearance as part of Big the Cat's "Whale!" attack.
 * Phantasy Star is the first series to have more than one Legendary character.
 * It is also the first series to have more than one Legendary in a set, the second being House of the Dead.
 * The Hermit appears as a cameo as part of Dr. Curien's "Unleash Creature" attack.
 * Shadow and Rouge are the only anti-heroes known as Scoundrels.
 * Similarly, the Crazy Taxi crew are not labeled as Virtuous or Scoundrel due to the fact that their wild, destructive nature is limited to the flavor text and the player's control.
 * Also ironically, despite the nature of the Jet Set Radio characters, Captain Onishima, whose job in the Jet Set Radio series is to keep the streets clean and safe, is a Scoundrel (albeit he cleans the streets in a very aggressive and villainous way), and Beat and Gum are considered Virtuous despite their motives in their series being to deface property for territory gain (albeit with freedom of art as the ultimate goal).
 * It is suggested early on that the real Shadow may or may not be working with Dremagen, which may explain why he is in the Scoundrel category.
 * SEGA Heroes is one of few globally released games to not refer to the House of the Dead series as just Curien Mansion, but as its proper name.
 * The special Trophy events seem to play theme music most closely resembling the theme of the event, regardless of the stage background.
 * Ebitan is the first hero to be a common enemy mook from the series it is from. Normally this role is reserved for the enemy groups the player battles (e.g. Buzz Bombers).
 * Though similarly, Dr. Eggman and Metal Sonic are the only unique enemies that are not also Heroes. Death Adder lampshades this in Campaign mode.
 * As an April Fools joke on 1 April 2019, a new enemy named Chester was offered as a free chest by Dremagen.
 * It does not have to be defeated to win the prize. It is not clear if winning or forfeiting affects the prize that the player wins.
 * This is the first time a Survival Key was offered as a reward.
 * SEGA Heroes was announced as game of the day by the Apple App Store on 18 April 2019.
 * Volatile was named "Elemental Weakness" during the soft-launch phase and was only inflicted from Lassic.
 * If the player uses the Tom Johnson's Hot Dog Vendor move when Sonic is on the same team, the hedgehog will receive a chili dog instead of a regular hot dog.
 * Werewolf and Weredragon are currently the only heroes that have different forms as well as the ability to transform during battle.
 * They are also the only characters that can change their move set.