Sega Nerds

G-Spot: Sega and the ‘Last-Gen Fiasco’

Posted by Graham. Filed under Arcade, Nintendo Wii. Tagged with Dreamcast, Exclusive, G-Spot, Super Monkey Ball.

 

 

Since the demise of the Dreamcast - personally what I (and many others) would call the most underrated system ever made- Sega have been in the press for all the wrong reasons.

Starting with the ill-fated Dreamcast, the machine was great and has some truly great games, but due to several bad moves on Sega’s part and (of course) lack of funds, Sega really couldn’t compete against the bigger wallets of Sony and Microsoft (I would argue the Game Cube was never really a big threat). The Xbox had the power, plus the money and Sony had the good name -from their previous system, along with some strong franchises. Critics would say the Dreamcast had no chance, and fans were angered by Sega’s sudden ‘collapse’ on the system front- especially when so many top titles were due for launch (Half Life, Black & White -anyone?)

But I do not want to talk about the dear old Dreamcast. I want to talk about Sega games, on all platforms from the last generation….

The Ugly.

Since the end of Sega’s run in the console business, they have been scrutinised at every turn. The Dreamcast became the butt of many a joke from other console developers and gamers, but the true Sega nerds out there (You guys rock. You really do) stuck by them.

Upon trying to get back on their feet Sega decided to start developing games for all platforms (as you all well know) with this came more bad press. Complaints issued about how Sega, initially, was only releasing old Dreamcast titles onto the platforms, such as Crazy Taxi (Cube and PS2) Ecco (PS2) Sonic Adventure + Sonic Adventure 2 (Cube), Shenmue 2 (Xbox) Skies of Arcadia (Cube) etc… The games are highly acclaimed and well loved, but that didn’t stop gamers from complaining, demanding new games, new franchises not old games from a ‘dead’ system.

The Bad.

Next Sega released a few titles unreleased on other platforms, but ones that had been set for Dreamcast, games such as Gun Valkyrie (Xbox) -Due out for the Dreamcast originally and then suddenly scrapped, only to be released on the Xbox- and turning out to have some of the worst controls ever seen in a shooter. It seemed as though Sega had lost their touch.

But luckily fortune came in the shape of Sega’s long time rival - Nintendo. More in particular, the Game Boy Advance. A system selling very well and loved by children and adults alike, Sega were able to re-create their main character Sonic. Now many will argue that the Sonic Advance games were not Sonics best, but they were fun, they were playable and they sold. Boosted by the GBAs system linkup it allowed Sega to make Sonic games with a decent multiplayer mode- similar to that of Sonic 2 on the Megadrive/Genesis, a new feature that would have surely helped boost the games sales.

Sega were also trying to help boost some of their newer franchises (seen in Arcades and the Dreamcast) by releasing several sequels, such as Jet Set/Grind Radio Future, Sega GT/ GT Online (Xbox) HeadHunter2 (PS2, Xbox) and some older franchises remade- such as Panzer Dragoon Orta (Xbox) -As you may expect, Sega did not get too many Kudos from this move. The games are good, (solid and fun). The timing wasn’t so. Games like Grand Theft Auto were hitting the shelves (or rather flying off them) Sega’s old style of ‘Arcade’ games was old hat. People wanted games with depth, where you could either kill or run, or drive, or fly or dress in women’s clothing….whatever you fancied. It seemed that if you didn’t have a racing game with massive crashes, a game where you can kill innocent people for fun or one where you get to shoot a Nazi in the face, then your game was consider average at best…….or was it?

Now For The Good.

Before Grand Theft Auto 3 was released on the PS2 there was ONE title that stuck at the top of both the multiplatform and PS2 charts. Virtua Fighter 4. Until GTA3 came out VF4 was the PS2s best selling game to date. Quite an achievement considering the console was, at that time, home to some of Sony’s best sellers like Metal Gear Solid 2.

When you think of Sega during the last generation what do you think of? Failure? Has-beens? ‘Old Hat’?
Or do you think- Innovative? Pushing boundaries? Fresh?

Many may think back at titles such as Sonic Heroes, Sonic Riders, Sonic Shuffle and think ‘Old Hat’.

I look back and think “Innovative”.

What some people fail to realise is that Sega made a ton of cracking titles in the 128-bit era of gaming. And most of these games never got the credit they were due.

Starting off with Arcade and Dreamcast titles we have games like;

Crazy Taxi - A game that was so simple, but so much fun. It was fast, it was fresh, it had a great soundtrack (if you like Offspring and Bad Religion- which I do) and though the game was short, it wasn’t short lived. The Dreamcast version had the bonus/puzzle stages which were addictive and fun plus the extra level. Crazy Taxi was a game that was easy to pick up, hard to put down and had some major comeback appeal. It also spawned off some rival Taxi games (most on the PC) But none were anywhere near as good.

      

Phantasy Star Online- The first multiplayer online RPG/Adventure. Sure it feels basic now, but at the time it was outstanding. It had some great graphics and HUGE boss battles for up to 4 players at a time, hundreds of weapons and character variations. It was a hub for all Dreamcast users to get together and meet…and it still is to some extent. PSO is still online (just) and was given a rebirth in the forms of PSOPC and PSO: Blue Burst (both PC).

       

ChuChu Rocket- another very simple game, but definitely fun- and also frustrating. Designed to help launch the DCs online multiplayer system it was originally given out free by Sega (just had to email or call them) and offered hours of entertainment. Maybe not something for lovers of GTA, but the game had appeal due to the puzzle modes and the ability to design your own puzzles and share them online.

   

Virtua Tennis - Where would the last generation be without it? Even if you aren’t a fan of tennis you can’t help but admire the game. Some would say its just an updated version of Pong. But who cares? Pong is a classic. Virtua Tennis looks good, is very smooth and the Dreamcast version offered loads of comeback appeal with the World Tour modes and bonus games. It was also well known for its fantastic 4-player mode. Still one of the best multiplayer games I have ever played.

   

   

Jet Set (Grind) Radio- Possibly one of the most original games I have played. It was famed (by some gamers/ journalists) for being the very first 3D Cel-Shaded game. People either seemed to love it or hate it (I was a lover) The game play was definitely original, the idea was unique to say the least and the game had a very Japanese ‘Wacky’ feel to it. It wasn’t an easy game either. Sure the first few levels were quite easy- but later on the difficult became very hard. The game also curiously was different in the various regions. At least the game was different in PAL to NTSC-JAP -I have played both and the PAL version seemed to have more levels an you obtained extra characters in a different order.

   

   

Ferrari 355 Challenge- A BIG game in the arcades. Called the most realistic racer of all time. F355 wasn’t a case or burning off round tracks to win, you had to actually drive! Cornering was very precise, you couldn’t be doing 300mph slow down to 100mph and take a corner and zoom off. You had to slow right down to maybe 40-50mph before you had a chance or taking the corner. Some people hated the game for this, it certainly made it suitable for hardcore gamers, but the magazines and many gamers did love it. It was a break from games like Gran Tursimo, which though offering hundreds or realistic cars, are not actually very realistic in terms of car control. The Arcade version also added extra realism by giving the gamer 3 screens- showing the front and side view of the car.

   

   

Metropolis Street Racer- Developed by Bizarre creations, but published by Sega, the game was very innovative. The developers spent years gathering realistic data from photographs and blue-prints of cities in order to recreate 3 top cities, London, San Francisco and Tokyo, down to the very last detail, including trees and bushes. The graphics were beautiful, the cars were all realistic and the game focused on precision driving rather than knocking your opponent out of the way, in the form of the Kudos system (drive badly- lose Kudos. Drive well gain the respect and unlock more tracks and cars) The game also had a radio station (made up ones mind) in each city, the Japanese one was in Japanese, the London one had British voices and the American one played country and western. Not only that, but depending on what part of the world you played the game in- it would be that time of day! Its possibly not a hard thing to program, but it had never been done before. I live near London, I play the game at 6pm of an evening, the London races will all be at sunset/ night (depending on the time of year) Should I race in Japan, it would be midmorning the next day, or race in San Francisco and it would be around lunch time. It was a great feature to have and still impresses me today. Now since then Bizarre Creations moved on and went on to make the hugely successful Project Gotham Racing titles for the Xbox and Xbox 360. They may have lost the Time Settings, but they kept the realism of the cities and cars and kept the Kudos system. But I will argue that the PGR games haven’t managed to keep the same originality and enjoyment MSR offered.

       

REZ- I have heard by many people that they consider this to be the best game they have ever played….. The game is hard to describe- its like an on-rails Shooter (like House of the Dead) But its so much more. It feels like a DDR game (because of the music)…but its not that either.  In essence the story is that you are trying to hack into a computer to save a girl called Eden trapped in the computer.  Its just so different and yet so beautiful, and very hard to find for both the Dreamcast and the PS2.

       

       

Sega Bass Fishing- Another cracking arcade title brought to your home via the Dreamcast. Though (believe it or not) fishing games had been made before, Sega Bass Fishing made them popular and fun.  Just after Sega Bass Fishing came out, several other companies tried to copy the game with fishing games being released on the PS1, PS2 and even GameBoy Color.  But none of them (just like with Crazy Taxi) managed to perfect on what Sega had created.  Sega Bass Fishing found success partly due to the unique fishing controller.  It was actually quite a basic device- but had a reel winder, to give that authentic fishing feel to the gameplay.  But even without the controller the game was fun, and for anyone who doesn’t like fishing much, the game was fast!  No longer sitting around eating your sandwiches waiting for a bite, the fish bit quickly and the tussle between man and beast was always frantic.
On a side note: The Sega Bass Fishing controller also worked with other games…try playing Crazy Taxi- it’ a challenge.

      

Billy Hatcher And the Giant Egg- Don’t laugh. I know people slate this off as a kiddie game and you would be forgiven due to its cartoony graphics and the system it was launched on. But the game is fantastic and most of all totally original. The levels were very impressive (especially at later stages) and believe it or not, the game got quite hard.

       

         

Super Monkey Ball- As it’s been said Monkey Ball became one of Sega’s fastest growing franchises, spawning off sequels and an Adventure game and has just been reborn on the Nintendo Wii.

       

       

OutRun 2- For years and years people have been wanting a truly decent sequel to the original Outrun. Yeah Sega made OutRun Turbo and the like- but they were never really proper sequels (in my book at least) -They didn’t have the variety of routes the original had for one thing- they were more like normal (basic) racers. OutRun 2 debuted on the Arcades and then quickly made its way to the Xbox- with a perfect conversion. Stupidly fast, amazing graphics and lots of different routes and (on the Xbox) lots of ‘mini’ games and Online play! Perhaps the franchise wasn’t new, but it felt like a breath of fresh air for many, with so many realistic racers on the market it was time for a fun, fast, easy to play, Arcade racer to come onto the scene.

       

       

Last, but definitely not least, I give you….. Shenmue.
The most expensive game franchise ever created, (at the time), and the most ‘realistic’. The game boasted total freedom to carry out the story, go anywhere, touch anything, talk to anyone. Unfortunately parts of it were over-exaggerated in the developing stages. This ked to some disappointment to gamers. But take it for what the game is meant to be- and its a beautiful creation.
The ‘Total Freedom’ aspect was definitely overblown- but the game did actually offer more freedom than most gamers realised. The game had literally thousands of touchable objects- For example you could go to the fridge in your house and pick out a pint of milk. Or go to the fruit bowl on the table and pick up and orange. You could talk to anybody you wanted- some were interesting, other weren’t. The game had a realistic feel- as the computer characters carried out their own lives- going to work, shopping, chatting. Go to a part of town at a different (in game) time of day and you will see a difference in the crowds.
The game had superb graphics, each character was different in appearance- unlike almost every other game to date and they all had different things to say. The detail in the game was amazing too - you could look around stalls in the market and actually see items on sale.
The storyline though was the main thing, the game(s) had a great storyline- something you don’t really see unless you play through properly.
Shenmue also offered fantastic fight scenes, either in the Virtua Fighter style of fighting or the QTE sequences- which offered a more cinematic, vivid and memorable experience.
Though the game produced a sequel, fans are still waiting for the story to finish and for Sega to release Shenmue Online -something that probably won’t happen. Which is a shame because fans so desperately want the game finished, especially after the long (yet truly outstanding) fight sequences at the end of Shenmue 2.

       

       

       

 

There you have it a quick low-down of some of Sega’s top franchises of the last generation.

It’s easy to think that Sega ‘choked’ with the last generation releases and major scrutiny from critics and gamers alike did nothing to help Sega’s reputation. Yes they made some big mistakes (mainly with the Dreamcast) but that didn’t stop them making quality games that gamers have, and will be, enjoying for many, many years.

~G~