The SEGA TEST mock exam: prepare to be humbled

Have you heard about the SEGA TEST? It's one of many initiatives planned to commemorate Sega's 60th anniversary, and it's fairly self-explanatory: during the weekend of January 23, you'll have three opportunities to partake in a 60-minute, 60-question timed exam on the broad history of the house of Sonic — there are some mostly-random and fairly modest prizes on offer, but it's primarily just an fun excuse for people to test and compare their knowledge of all things Sega.

(You'd be forgiven for missing the news — it's not really a global event so much as a Japanese initiative that also accommodates English-speaking participants — but if you've seen any of the recent, English-subbed "Sega Seminar" videos, in which members of Sega's staff give lecture-style presentations on some of the more inside parts of Sega's history, you probably won't be surprised to learn they were produced in conjunction with this exam.)

As a primer for the full exam, Sega of Japan invited several Japanese games media outlets to sit a 20-minute, 20-question mock test in order to demonstrate the specific structure of the exam and provide examples of the sorts of questions and topics that are planned for the real deal... and, put simply, they struggled: IGN Japan's four participants scored 8, 9, 10 and 4(!) out of 20, respectively, and even 4gamer's participant, a seasoned '90s/'00s-era Sega beat reporter, only managed to answer 10 questions correctly.

The consensus from those participants was that, more than the wording of the questions or even the 60-seconds-per-question timer, it was the breadth of assumed knowledge that made the mock exam so challenging. When they say they're testing people on 60 years of Sega history, they mean everything: not just games, hardware or arcades but all of Sega's many products affiliated companies, some of which exist outside of the realm of gaming, with questions that go so specific as to ask for physical addresses for company buildings, or reference statements from the interviews and other material published as promotion for this very exam.

Now, I am obviously not a member of the Japanese games media, but I am a Sega diehard stuck in quarantine, so with a little digging, I've not only managed to procure the 20-question mock exam but I've also translated the questions so that people can get a taste of just what's in store for them next week. Most of the questions require you to choose from one of four answers, but some are multiple-choice; they're also openly ranked in terms of difficulty, from E right up to S, but I'd say anything above a D is probably going to stump a lot of people. (For what it's worth, I also only managed to get 10 questions right, and the ones I didn't know, I really didn't know.)

As for the answers... well, allowing people to answer based on the honor system with no time limit isn't necessarily going to be all that helpful, but I figure people might genuinely want to test their knowledge, so I'm going to give people the weekend to answer the questions in the comments below, and I'll return on Monday to share the answers. Good luck! (Monday Update: answers in bold! How'd ya do?)

(By the way, you will need to pre-register for next week's full exam, and you'll need a Facebook or Twitter account to participate, so don't be caught slippin'.)

QUESTION 1: (DIFFICULTY RANK: C)

What is the current address of SEGA's headquarters in Nishishinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo?

  1.  1-1-1
  2.  1-2-3
  3.  1-11-1
  4.  1-12-34

QUESTION 2: (DIFFICULTY RANK: S)

Select all the games that contain motifs of real-world SEGA and/or SEGA company locations:

  1.  SEGAGAGA
  2.  ROOMMANIA#203
  3.  Rent-A-Hero
  4.  Virtua Cop

QUESTION 3: (DIFFICULTY RANK: C)

Choose the game released by Atlus after joining the SEGA Group in November 2013:

  1.  Persona 2 Punishment (PSP)
  2.  Shin Megami Tensei IV
  3.  Dragon's Crown
  4.  Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

QUESTION 4: (DIFFICULTY RANK: D)

Select the correct button layout for the Fighting Pad 6B, a controller released for the SEGA Mega Drive in 1993:

  1.  (top row, left-to-right) A B C; (bottom row, left-to-right) X Y Z
  2.  (top row, left-to-right) C B A; (bottom row, left-to-right) Z Y X
  3.  (top row, left-to-right) X Y Z; (bottom row, left-to-right) A B C
  4.  (top row, left-to-right) Z Y X; (bottom row, left-to-right) C B A

QUESTION 5: (DIFFICULTY RANK: C)

The SEGA Game Gear handheld was the first Japanese game console to feature a color LCD. What was the size of the liquid crystal display?

  1.  3.5 inches
  2.  4 inches
  3.  4.5 inches
  4.  5 inches

QUESTION 6: (DIFFICULTY RANK: C)

In an interview published on SEGA's "Sega, Shirou" 60th anniversary commemorative website in June 2020, what did chief creative officer Toshihiro Nagoshi nominate as SEGA's greatest broad achievement in the gaming/amusement space over the last 60 years?

  1.  "History of emotionally-moving experiences"
  2.  'History of challenges"
  3.  "History of creation"
  4.  "History of Japan"

QUESTION 7: (DIFFICULTY: RANK: C)

What was the official color of the SEGA Dreamcast controller bundled with the online action-puzzle game Chu Chu Rocket?

  1.  "Skeleton Orange"
  2.  "Shine Orange"
  3.  "Clear Orange"
  4.  "Bright Orange"

QUESTION 8: (DIFFICULTY RANK: C)

What is the hometown of Sakura Revolution's primary heroine, Shino Sakura?

  1.  Hachijou-jima
  2.  Aogashima
  3.  Ookamishima
  4.  Saku-jima

QUESTION 9: (DIFFICULTY RANK: A)

SEGA is a world-leading amusement company. Which of the following trademarks is owned by SEGA? (select all that apply)

  1. "Ge-sen"
  2. "Prizes"
  3. "Puri-kura"
  4. "UFO Catcher"

QUESTION 10: (DIFFICULTY RANK: A)

The arcade game Hot Rod began operation in 1988; which of the following suggestions is not a characteristic of the game?

  1.  Simultaneous four-player multiplayer
  2.  The player vehicle can be upgraded
  3.  You can use the brake to drive in reverse
  4.  Fantasy Zone BGM can be heard

QUESTION 11: (DIFFICULTY RANK: A)

Which of the following sports were represented in the arcade version of Winter Heat? (select all that apply)

  1.  Cross-Country
  2.  Speed Skiing
  3.  Bobsleigh
  4.  Skeleton

QUESTION 12: (DIFFICULTY RANK: C)

Founded in 1960, which company was the point of origin for Sega's 60th anniversary?

  1.  Sega Enterprises Inc.
  2.  Esco Boueki
  3.  Nihon Goraku Bussan
  4.  Rosen Enterprises Inc.

QUESTION 13: (DIFFICULTY RANK: A)

Select the name of the latest darts machine, released in 2018, by DARTSLIVE:

  1.  DARTSLIVE2
  2.  DARTSLIVE3
  3.  DARTSLIVE4
  4.  DARTSLIVE0

QUESTION 14: (DIFFICULTY RANK: C)

Which of these properties has never been produced by TMS Entertainment, SEGA Group's animation production studio?

  1.  Lupin the III
  2.  Soreike! Anpanman
  3.  Detective Conan
  4.  Zillion

QUESTION 15: (DIFFICULTY RANK: A)

Oasis Park, the recreational freshwater aquarium & barbecue restaurant facility owned and managed by the SEGA Group company of the same name, is located in which Japanese prefecture?

  1.  Mie
  2.  Wakayama
  3.  Fukushima
  4.  Gifu

QUESTION 16: (DIFFICULTY RANK: C)

What is the name of the boxing-themed arcade game released in 1976 and remade in 1987?

  1.  Heavyweight Champ
  2.  Appoooh
  3.  Champion Boxing
  4.  KO Punch

QUESTION 17: (DIFFICULTY RANK: C)

SEGA's ball-pitching toy Robo Pitcher, released in 1984, came with 10 balls; how many of those balls were irregularly-shaped curve-balls?

  1.  2
  2.  3
  3.  4
  4.  5

QUESTION 18: (DIFFICULTY RANK: E)

What is the location of SEGA Europe's headquarters in London, England?

  1.  West side
  2.  North side
  3.  South side
  4.  East side

QUESTION 19: (DIFFICULTY RANK: E)

Select all the effects that occur when Sonic the Hedgehog collects all seven Chaos Emeralds:

  1.  His body turns gold
  2.  His eyes become rainbow-colored
  3.  He can fly
  4.  He's impervious to damage

QUESTION 20: (DIFFICULTY RANK: C)

On which of these dates did the SEGA Ikebukuro GiGO arcade facility begin operation?

  1.  July 1990
  2.  July 1993
  3.  July 1996
  4.  July 1999