Sega Nerds

Sega Nerds editors pick Sega’s Games of the Year

by Chris on January 3rd, 2007

Now that we’ve looked ahead at what Sega plans to do this upcoming year, let’s look in the rear-view mirror for a second and reminisce on how Sega did last year.

In this article, each Sega Nerds editor picks their top Sega games of last year.

Read on to find out.

Chris’ Picks
4) Condemned: Criminal Origins

Okay, I’m cheating a bit here. Condemned was originally released in 2005 on the Xbox 360, but it was released in April 2006 on the PC. Without a doubt, this is the scariest game I’ve ever played.

3) Phantasy Star Universe

Phantasy Star Universe has its fair share of problems, but it still has that magical online environment that keeps people hooked for hundreds and hundreds of hours.

2) Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz

I’ve never played a Super Monkey Ball game before, and I’m glad because Banana Blitz just feels so right on the Nintendo Wii.

1) Sega Genesis Collection

I’m going on record that Sega Genesis Collection is the greatest compilation to ever be released. Ever. And it’s my pick for the Sega Game of the Year. Sure, there are some Genesis games Sega could have included to spice it up like Shining Force or Streets of Rage, but overall, this is a tremendous game.

Warren’s Picks
5) Sega Genesis Collection
This collection is pure gaming gold. Sonic, Phantasy Star, Bonanza Brothers, Ristar, Ecco, Altered Beast … the list goes on. The collection has about one or two filler games, but hey, for $20, this is a can’t miss collection. 28 games are featured in the collection, so it’s like your paying around .75 cents for each game. Seventy-five cents for Phantasy Star 2. If I didn’t have my Genesis hooked up I would have made this higher on my list, but I play a lot of these games frequently to this day. I guess that just commends the quality of the games in the collection.

4) Full Auto
I’m a huge fan of Full Auto. It’s a pure arcade styled game, that’s not a bad thing. I’m not sure at what specific point arcade-styled games became bad, but I missed that memo. Yeah, the cars slide a lot; they are also exploding and rewinding time, like that’s realistic or something. It’s a really great game for the 360, and it held me over about half a year until Dead Rising came out. I remember people called the original Outrun “shallow” too, we all know how right they were about that. Which leads me to my next pick …

3) Outrun 2006 - Coast 2 Coast
It’s not really a full sequel, since the core game is the same, but it has more new content then any version of Madden has had. Outrun 2006 being “just an expansion” of Outrun 2 automatically makes it better then 90 percent of other games. 2006 has new tracks, cars, music and modes. Nothing beats the feeling of a half a mile long drift in an Enzo with a cute blonde in the seat next to you … then you realize you forgot to take the garbage out and the dog peed in the hallway. Oh well, I’m a rich stud for that one moment, Thanks Sega!

2) Phantasy Star Universe
PSU is Sega’s biggest game this year. It’s full of improvements to the previous game in almost every aspect. I can’t speak for the online component, but Sega was nice enough to include two Offline modes for folks like me with a crappy internet connection. The storyline and character archetypes are pretty cliched, but it works for me. Come on, man, any one that doesn’t dig the Vol Brothers needs to hang up the controller and take a walk, that’s as good as it gets.

1) Sonic the Hedgehog
I’ve heard others call Sonic the Hedgehog “broken” and “a total disaster.” I call it Sega Game of the Year 2006 and the best Sonic game since the original Sonic Adventure. Sonic 360 feels more like Sonic Adventure then the actual Sonic Adventure 2 did. The Adventure zone, where you follow a storyline to get clues and uncover new action stages is back, but this time side missions are added into the mix.

The game also has a ton of playable characters again. I can see how other people can be frustrated by the “trial and error” type gameplay of learning each new stage, while dying … a lot, but it feels like classic Sonic to me. Sure, some times you’ll miss a rail or fall to your death for absolutely no reason, but any game that brings me back to 9/9/99, and I see that Orca chase Sonic down the pier; That game … that’s a damn good game.

Nathan’s Picks
3) Sega Genesis Collection
This is one of the best classic game compilations ever. The emulation is fantastic, it supports progressive scan output, features save states and contains a slew of worthy unlockables. The best part is the PS2 version is only $20, so there’s no excuse to not buy this if you’re a Sega Nerd.

2) Yakuza
Very ambitious title with some great production values and an interesting story. Fun beat-’em-up style gameplay too.

1) Phantasy Star Universe
My most-played game of the year. PSU took all of PSO’s problems and fixed them, and made all of PSO’s strong points even stronger. Of course, the game wouldn’t be fun at all without a group of cool people to play with, so I have my friends to thank for making Phantasy Star Universe my favorite Sega game of 2006.

Conclusion
It looks like the big winner here is Sega Genesis Collection, as it was picked as one of the best games in each editor’s list. However, it’s clear that Sega still has “it,” despite what many naysayers claim. And now that 2006 is over and done with, I’m looking forward to an even better year for Sega in 2007.

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POSTED IN: Chris, Nathan, News