Sega Franchises That Need to Come Back

So, the Game Awards happened recently. It sucked but that’s par for the course. Let’s be honest, nobody cares about the awards. Even the people running the Game Awards don’t care about the awards, for fucks sake they gave award recipients a time limit on their speeches. Oh yeah don’t let a developer celebrate their victory and thank everyone, we got to hurry along to the next big announcement.

Because that’s all anyone cares about with this thing, the announcements. What do you expect from Geoff Keighley. But of all the announcements one stood out most of all.

No folks, you are not hallucinating. Sega are planning to bring back some of their classic Ips with brand new instalments. Now this came as a pleasant surprise to me as I’ve been a fan of Sega ever since I was a toddler. My first game console was a Mega Drive and my earliest gaming memories are playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and getting stuck in that stupid water section in Chemical Plant Zone.

Granted I’d be lying if I said I was a die-hard Sega fan. I was a little too young to appreciate their arcade output, and I never owned a Sega console besides the Mega Drive, though I did know people with a Master System and Dreamcast, so I was able to experience those in some capacity.

I also didn’t play much of Sega’s Mega Drive output growing up. Outside of Sonic anyway. Though, thanks to compilations and rereleases, I was able to find an appreciation for their excellent back catalogue.

So, seeing Sega fully embrace that with this new initiative is exciting. It’s something I wish more companies would do with their IP’s. Looking at you Nintendo, Sega is doing what you don’t again.

The five games they’ve shown off so far look great. I’m a little cautious about the 3D Streets of Rage, especially given how good 4 was, but it looks interesting. Golden Axe looks like it could be a grand return for that, and both Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi look like good fun. And as for Shinobi, it’s a hand drawn 2D action platformer, so of course I’m excited for it because that exact combination is like coke to me, and not the cola variety.

But while it is nice to see these franchises come back, there are more Sega franchises that I would like to see return. They did tease they had more in the pipeline in the trailer, but nothing has been announced as of me writing this.

Given their large catalogue there are plenty of franchises they could bring back, and I thought it would be fun to talk about the games I personally would like to see return. Whether because I think it deserves a new chance to shine, or because there’s some interesting things you can do with them with modern gaming technology and design.

There is one franchise I am going to be taking off the table for this though, and it’s Virtua Fighter. Not because I don’t think it should come back but because there’s already been rumblings of them bringing it back. There was even a recent interview in the Washington Post where a Sega CEO said they were evaluating it. I think it’s clear it will return at some point so there’s little reason to cover it here.

Aside from that, everything is on the table. There’s a lot of games I want to talk about, so let’s just get straight into this.

#1: OutRun

Sega have a lot of great racing games in their catalogue. Hang-on, Daytona USA, Sega Rally, Virtua Racing, all great titles that could do with a new instalment. But if I had to pick one Sega racing game to come back, it would be OutRun.

A legendary arcade game, OutRun was one of the games that helped popularise Sega’s Super Scaler technology. Which was a special board for their arcades that allowed them to scale sprites to create a pseudo 3D look. It was cutting edge stuff back in the day and even today the games have such a distinctive look that they still visually hold up today.

OutRun is one of, if not the most famous titles to use this technology. As well as being one of the most recognisable arcade racers of all time. Although calling it a racing game isn’t entirely accurate. You don’t race anyone in Outrun, instead it’s just about driving from place to place, picking different routes and trying to avoid the traffic.

There is still a racing element of sorts. You do have a time limit that you need to beat, but it’s more of a driving game than a racing game and that’s what makes it so good. It’s one of the best games to just sit back and zone out to.

It’s all about the pure bliss of driving, the speed you, the cool drifts and the exotic locations you can visit. If you want a driving game that’s easy to pick up and play but has that addictive quality that has you come back to then OutRun is for you.

And of course, there’s the legendary music. Sega have a lot of great soundtracks to their name and OutRun is among the absolute best of them. it’s not a stretch to say that Outrun without the music isn’t really Outrun at all. It’s so integral to the games identity that playing it mute is no option. The music is a vital part of the experience.

OutRun would receive a few arcade follow-ups in the 80’s and 90’s, most of which were pretty decent in their own right, but it wouldn’t receive a proper follow up until 2003’s OutRun 2. Which is the greatest arcade racing game ever made.

It really isn’t even a contest. OutRun 2 is a masterpiece of game design and if you ever see it in the wild I highly recommend you play it.

Sadly, after a couple of updates of OutRun 2 with SP edition and OutRun 2006 Coast to Coast we haven’t seen a new entry in the series. OutRun 2 itself hasn’t seen a port on modern systems due to licensing Ferrari cars for use in the game.

Now I would personally just be happy with an HD port of OutRun 2, but I also think it’s time we got a new entry in the series. Mind you, racing games have come a long way since 2003.

The advent of open world racers might make OutRun’s style seem a bit outdated to modern audiences. But those people are idiots, and I think there is still room for a more arcade style racer so long as it’s released at an appropriate price.

Plus, OutRun is a game all about picking different routes which lend itself well to a rogue like structure. We haven’t seen a driving rogue like before, at least as far as I’m aware, and the OutRun formula could work well with it. Assuming it doesn’t interfere with the core appeal of the series that is.

Whatever form it takes I just want a new OutRun game. There was a Sega Ages port of the first game on Switch that was very well done, but I hope that isn’t the last we see of it.

#2: Space Harrier

Since we’ve already talked about one super scaler masterpiece, might as well cover another. While the super scaler technology is mostly known for its racing titles, it also had its fair share of shooter titles.

In fact, the first two Super Scaler games were a racing game and a shooter. The racer being Hang-On and the shooter being our next game, Space Harrier. This was a space shooter where you played as a dude flying across alien worlds, blasting at a variety of weird creatures along the way.

This is pretty much the progenitor of the modern rail shooter. It was heavily praised back in the day for its innovative graphics and still holds up well today thanks to the fast paced gameplay. If you like games like Star Fox or Panzer Dragoon but wished they would cut at a quicker pace, this is for you.

Sadly, the series never really went anywhere after the first entry. There was a sequel on Mega Drive that didn’t live up to the original, and there was a third entry that never left arcades. Which is a shame because, well just look at it.

Look at how pretty that game looks. It came out in 2000 and it still looks phenomenal today. This is why Space Harrier needs to come back, it’s a series that would thrive in the third dimension. It’s a game all about flying through fantastical worlds with bizarre creatures, it opens itself up to a ton of creative potential. The fact that they never took full advantage of that is a crying shame.

We also don’t really have a game like Space Harrier anymore. Think about it, when was the last time you saw an on rails space shooter like this? The only one that comes to mind for me is Star Fox Zero, which wasn’t exactly a stellar title. There is a gap in the market that a new Space Harrier could fill.

It’s why I would prefer Space Harrier to come back over it’s more well-known Super Scaler shooter, After Burner. As there’s already dog fighting games involving jets already out there like the Ace Combat series. Although a new After Burner would still be welcome.

Space Harrier is one of those series that never reached its full potential. A new entry could really take advantage of modern technology and give us a sequel the fans and the series truly deserves.

#3: Altered Beast

Altered Beast fascinates me. On the one hand, the original game is beloved by a lot of retro Sega fans. The arcade was visually great for its time, and the Mega Drive port was one of the important games on the platform.

See the Mega Drive was originally sold as being able to play arcade perfect ports at home. That wasn’t entirely accurate, the arcade was obviously much better, but the Mega Drive could get pretty damn close. To the point where most wouldn’t know the difference unless they had the games side by side.

Altered Beast was one of the games that showcased this. It was such an impressive port at the time that they would pack the game in with the Mega Drive. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Altered Beast helped sell the Mega Drive in the early days of the console.

It’s one of Sega’s most important games, and it fucking sucks. For all the importance it may have in Sega’s rise during the 16-bit generation, the game itself has aged like milk. Very simplistic gameplay that gets repetitive quickly, and a short length that’s only offset by its cripplingly unfair difficulty.

I do not like the game at all, and sadly it never got a follow-up that improved on it much, if at all. There was a sequel on GBA that was terrible, and the less I say about the PlayStation 2 game the happier I’ll be. It is by all metrics a bad series. Not one good game in the lot.

And yet, there is potential here. I mean the whole premise of the game is turning into different animals and that does have a lot of appeal. That’s partly why the original was a big hit at the time. It’s a cool gimmick that could be implemented in a bunch of different ways.

Imagine if the game was a Metroidvania where you used different animal forms to progress. That would work really well. In fact, I know it would work well because they did that very thing in the new Wonder Boy game, Monster Boy and The Cursed Kingdom.

Even if you don’t go that route and stick to the classic design of the series, so long as you have more variety in the levels and deeper combat mechanics it should be a fun time.

Plus, I’m always a sucker for a game based on Greek mythology. And we’ve seen that can work splendidly with games like God of War and Hades. So long as they don’t do what the PS2 game did and make it a grim dark nightmare set in modern times it should work.

Altered Beast is not a great series, but that’s also part of the reason I want it back. I’m of the opinion that the games most deserving of a reboot/remake are the ones that weren’t completely successful the first time. The games that weren’t masterpieces but had the potential to be great with more time and resources.

Altered Beast is a perfect example of this. It’s a game with a great core concept but the gameplay doesn’t quite back it up. A modern version could fix that problem.

I should mention that while I was writing this there was a leak that revealed that Altered Beasts trademark had been renewed along with other titles. Now, this happens all the time and nothing much comes of it, but it could be a sign that Altered Beast is coming back. But it wasn’t the only trademark renewal that caught my eye

#4: Eternal Champions

When people think of Sega fighting games the first thing that comes to mind is Virtua Fighter. Which is understandable considering how revolutionary that game was. But there is another Sega fighter that came out around the same time that isn’t as well known.

That game was Eternal Champions. Which can best be described as Sega’s answer to Mortal Kombat. Featuring a similar dark gritty aesthetic, albeit with a more comic book style to it, and having brutally violent finishing moves.

The game also had a larger emphasis on it’s narrative like Mortal Kombat. The premise of the game is that a cosmic being known as the Eternal Champion gathers a bunch of people from across time that would have changed the world for the better had they not been wrongfully killed. He then hosts a fighting tournament where each of them must fight one another and eventually himself for the right to live again.

It’s a cool narrative that allows them to have an eclectic roster of fighters. You’ve a caveman, a ninja chick, a 1930’s gangster, a vampire, a wizard, a merman from Atlantis, a cyborg kickboxer, all kinds of odd balls. While they may not have the best designs, at least compared to other 90’s fighting game fare, they are memorable and have interesting backstories, some of which are surprisingly depressing for a fighting game.

The game sold well and would spawn a sequel/update on the Sega CD, tie-in media such as comic books, and a handful of spin-offs. It was set to be a big franchise and a third entry was planned for the Sega Saturn.

Sadly, that never happened. The third game was cancelled due to Sega wanting to push Virtua Fighter in the west, and due to Sega of Japan taking more control from the American branch. The latter of which was the one largely responsible for Eternal Champions.

I can’t exactly say this was the wrong move. Virtua Fighter was a far more important title, it’s 3D gameplay was revolutionary, and it was pulling in big numbers in Japanese arcades. It made sense to push that over, let’s be honest, an attempt to ape Mortal Kombat’s success.

Eternal Champions also wasn’t the best playing fighting game. it had a different way of performing special moves that didn’t feel as natural as Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, and the brutal AI made learning the game hard as hell. I remember trying this on the Wii Virtual Console and I just couldn’t get into it.

That said, the Sega CD game is said to be a better game, and visually the game was very good looking for the time. With the memorable story and characters, it could have been a good fighting game had it been allowed to continue.

So I say bring it back. Plus, it would be nice to have something to rival Mortal Kombat in the ultra-violent fighting game space. Something needs to shake that series out of its current stagnation.

#5: Nights

Let’s shift gears and talk about something a bit more colourful and family friendly. Nights Into Dreams was a 1996 game released for the Sega Saturn. In it you play as Nights, a Jester who flies through various dream worlds to save it from an evil nightmare wizard.

It’s a simple game. It’s all about flying through rings while doing aerial acrobatics to pick up orbs. It can be beaten in under an hour, but the main appeal comes in its replayability. Nights is more of a score attack game where you re-do levels to try and get a better ranking. There are even two different stories to play through with their own levels adding to the replay value.

It’s a pretty fun game once you get to grips with it. The flying is some of the smoothest you’ll ever play, the music is great, and the worlds are bright, colourful and imaginative. It’s got the same childlike wonder you get from old Disney movies.

Nights was created by Yuji Naka and developed by Sonic Team. Like Sonic the Hedgehog was to the Mega Drive, Nights acted as the mascot for the Saturn. It reviewed very well and sold decently despite the Saturn’s lukewarm commercial success. It even did well enough that they made a Christmas themed demo for it which actually became a cult classic in its own right.

Nights would make several cameo appearances in other projects but wouldn’t get a full sequel until 2008’s Nights Journey into Dreams. That one wasn’t as well received as the original. The core flying gameplay was still fun, but it had a bunch of other gameplay elements like turning into vehicles and 3D on the ground sections that weren’t nearly as good.

I don’t think the idea of those alternate gameplay styles was bad, they just weren’t executed well. If they ever did a sequel, they could hopefully tune those segments up and make a truly worthy sequel. That never happened, but now’s a good chance to.

Now we obviously can’t bring Yuji Naka back to do this due to his legal issues, but I’m sure there’s some developer out there who is willing and able. And after the failure of Naka’s spiritual successor, Balan Wonderworld, now would be a good time to bring the original back to show everyone how good it was. It worked for Mega Man 11 when Mighty No. 9 crashed and burned.

#6: ESWAT

ESWAT is a pretty cool Sega series that doesn’t get enough attention. Originally an arcade game called Cyber Police ESWAT, the series is more well remembered for its Mega Drive entry, ESWAT: City Under Siege.

Despite the Mega Drive being all about arcade accurate conversions, the Mega Drive version was not an arcade port. It was a completely original game that just used a similar premise. In ESWAT you start out as a beat cop, but after a few levels you get promoted to the Cyber Police ESWAT division and get outfitted with a cybernetic suit equipped with an arm cannon and jet pack.

It very clearly took inspiration from RoboCop, though credit where it’s due it did have a jet pack before RoboCop. It’s a very enjoyable run and gun. It’s a bit more methodical than something like Contra or Metal Slug, but that gives it its own unique feel that does help it stand out.

The arcade game is pretty fun, a very Rolling Thunder inspired game that plays and looks great, but the Mega Drive game is so much better. More interesting levels, more powerups, better bosses, it took what the original arcade established and just built on it to make a much more enjoyable experience. With the only thing it lacked from the arcade being the co-op.

It’s a great early Mega Drive game that’s slowly being forgotten about. It still gets re-releases in new compilations, but as far as new entries or even just cameos and references in new games are concerned, there’s nothing.

Which is a shame for a game that is very well made. And if they do bring it back, they have a few options in how they could approach it. They could make it a 2D side scroller like the original only with more weapons and better graphics, or they could go the 3D route. ESWAT would make for a cool first or third person shooter.

Now I personally would prefer the former option, but the latter could work with the right developer and based on what we’ve seen they are willing to take the classic 2D games and make them 3D. Hell, Robocop just got a new FPS that’s been well received, so it could work for ESWAT too. I’d buy it for a dollar.

#7: Gunstar Heroes

I’m not sure if I’m cheating with this one or not. Sega did publish this series, but they didn’t develop it and I’m not entirely sure who owns the rights to it. I think it’s like the Bayonetta situation where it’s co-owned by both parties, but I’m honestly not sure. Still I’m including it anyway because Sega did publish it and it’s an awesome series that’s long overdue a return.

Gunstar Heroes was developed by Treasure, an indie studio in Japan that’s held in very high regard. They were a prominent developer during the 90’s and 2000’s, but their most famous work is the stuff they did for Sega.

Gunstar Heroes was their first game and established a lot of the elements people would associate with the studio. It may look like a traditional run and gun, but there’s a quirkiness to the characters, levels, and bosses that put it in a league all its own.

Gunstar Heroes is one of the best games on the Mega Drive. The action is fast paced, the bosses and level designs are brimming with creativity and variety, it looks fantastic with tons of great special effects, the music kicks ass, it’s challenging but also more accessible than most run and guns, and it has one of the best weapon systems in any run and gun game I’ve ever played.

You only have four weapons here, which isn’t much, but you can combine them in a bunch of different ways which gives you a ton of options. It’s fun to experiment with the different weapon combinations and see which ones are more effective for the different bosses. Well, at least when you aren’t using the homing laser and breaking the game.

The levels also have a great variety. One is a simple run and gun level but ends with you sliding down the side of an ancient temple. Another has you riding a hover platform down a mine shaft, and one has you play a board game that acts like a boss rush. This game isn’t afraid to get weird, but it doesn’t let the weirdness get in the way of the action. Which never lets up for a second.

It’s so much fun, and thankfully it’s GBA sequel, Gunstar Super Heroes, is also fantastic. Well, I say sequel, but it’s more of a reimagining of the original. It has the same level themes and bosses, but everything has been remixed with some new area’s and flourishes to make it feel like a fresh experience.

I don’t think it’s as good as the original, they lost the co-op and the weapon system isn’t as fun, but it’s still a solid title. If it weren’t for Astro Boy the Omega Factor, which was also made by Treasure, I’d call it the best action game on the system.

There hasn’t been a new Gunstar game since then, but there is a good reason for that. Treasure’s philosophy as a developer is to make games they want to make, and not ones that will necessarily be successful. They aren’t big on sequels, which is why there aren’t many in their catalogue.

I respect them for that, but I still would love to see them take another crack at Gunstar Heroes. Especially since they haven’t made anything since 2014 and it would be a good way to get themselves back into the fray.

And yes, it needs to be Treasure that makes this. I honestly can’t think of anyone else who could make this, at least not in the same way. Here’s hoping they get out of their re-release phase and like SNK start making great games again.

#8: Virtua Tennis & Virtua Striker

Sega had a lot of sports titles in the 90’s. In fact, the Mega Drive was famous for its sports games. It’s where series like Madden and FIFA got their start after all. Those were EA games, but Sega had their own line of sports games that were also decently well received.

While Sega started to falter in this department on consoles during the big shift into 3D, they had a good run in arcades thanks to the Virtua line of games. While the Virtua line is more famous for Virtua Fighter these days, but there were a number of other Virtua games back in the day like Virtua Cop, Virtua Racing and Virtual-On.

But there were 2 sports games in the line up in the form of Virtua Tennis and Virtua Striker. Virtua Tennis is the more well known of the two, probably because there aren’t many great tennis games out there, but Virtua Striker shouldn’t be ignored. Both are excellent arcade sports titles that are enjoyable even to those who aren’t fans of the sports.

Of the two I think Virtua Tennis should have a bigger priority. Not just because it’s more popular, but also because there aren’t many tennis games on the market right now. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a tennis game for sale? Mario Tennis Aces maybe? So there’s a niche in the market there waiting to be filled.

Strikers would also be a good series to bring back if only to create more competition for EA’s football offerings. Lord knows it could use it after how stagnant their sports games have become. Plus with how lame the Mario sports games have gotten, we need something to get our arcade sports fix.

#8: Alien Syndrome

Alien Syndrome is a game that wears it’s influence on its sleeve. Clearly inspired by a certain extra-terrestrial horror/action franchise, Alien Syndrome see’s you navigate a space station as you blast invading aliens and rescue hostages from being used as, hug bait let’s just say.

It’s a great top-down arcade shooter with a tense claustrophobic atmosphere you don’t really see in arcade games like this. Honestly, if you upped the atmosphere and gore, you’d have a pretty good horror game here. You could even add survival elements to it and it would still work well.

Or you could just make it a fun top-down shooter where you blast away at aliens. There are options here. Though I think the horror route would be more interesting, especially given the 2007 Wii and PSP sequel didn’t exactly set the world on fire.

 What’s funny is Sega would actually make an Alien themed game with Alien Isolation, despite them already having their own game heavily based on the film. All I’m saying Sega is if you want to give sci-fi horror another go, and you don’t want to deal with Disney’s bullshit, you have Alien Syndrome sitting right there.

#9: Alien Storm

But if you prefer your extra terrestrial blasting to be a little less horrifically serious and a bit more campy, might I suggest Alien Storm. The best way I can describe Alien Storm is that it’s the sci-fi equivalent to Golden Axe. While Golden Axe was based on pulp fantasy like Conan, Alien Storm is based more on pulp sci-fi and b-movies.

It’s a sort of beat-em-up shoot-em-up hybrid. The main gameplay is laid out like a beat-em-up, only you use an energy gun rather than your bare hands, or swords and axes in Golden Axe’s case, and in between those sections there are segments are running sections where you blast enemies, as well rail shooter sections played in first person.

It’s an interesting mix of gameplay styles and each are done well. They aren’t especially deep, but each are fun and last just enough to add variety while not overstaying their welcome. There’s depth in the variety more so than in the actual gameplay itself, which helps balance it out.

But what really sells it is the style. This game really captures the goofy style of 50’s sci-fi b-movies while adding in an element of 80’s action movies. It’s a weird mix but it works surprisingly well. I mean the game open with our heroes operating out of a hot dog stand, that’s simultaneously really dumb and also kind of cool.

Alien Storm is a very underrated arcade game that sadly never got much attention. Part of that could be because it does take a bit more cues from Golden Axe which is a much more memorable game. I mean everyone remembers the characters in Golden Axe, but no-one remembers the guys from Alien Storm. Well except the robot who blows himself up, he’s pretty cool.

But another reason could be it never got any sequels. Golden Axe got a bunch of sequels on consoles and in the arcade, but Alien Storm never got one. It got a few ports, including a great Mega Drive version, but no sequels.

Which is a shame because they could have built on it. They could have made the shooting sections more involved, improved the beat-em-up parts with new moves, or made the characters more memorable. there’s room for improvement here that never happened.

Plus, they could have really gone somewhere with the b-movie style. If you look at games like Destroy All Humans or Earth Defence Force which really lean into the goofiness of those old movies to great comedic effect, then you have a pretty good idea of what they could have done with Alien Storm.

It deserves another chance. Even if it will always remain in Golden Axe’s shadow, it still has unique qualities that are worth appreciating.

#10: Space Channel 5

Alright, enough of this blasting aliens nonsense. Why don’t we instead talk about a game where you deal with aliens another way. Through the power of dance. No, I am not making that up.

Space Channel 5 is one of the strangest games Sega ever made. It’s a rhythm game where you play as a space news reporter named Ulala who has to deal with a variety of threats by dancing her way through everything.

Did you ever play Elite Beat Agents on the DS? It’s similar to that only it came out several years before. It’s a very out there game that could of only really come out when it did. It and the sequel both released on the Dreamcast which was a period where Sega were getting very experimental with their game releases. It was this generation that gave us the nightmare fuel that was Seaman.

But it worked. Space Channel 5 has gained a cult following due to its quirky premise and fun rhythm gameplay. Even Michael Jackson got involved in it, because clearly it wasn’t weird enough.

And if Sega are going to harken back to the rebellious Dreamcast era, Space Channel 5 is the perfect game for that. I mean they’re already making a movie about it, might as well bring the game back too. I mean outside of a crappy VR game.

#11: Shining Force

These days when you think of strategy RPGs by Sega, the first title that comes to mind is Valkyria Chronicles. For good reason, it’s an excellent series, but there is another SRPG by them that I would like to see return, Shining Force.

I looked at the first Shining Force game in the past and found it to be a very enjoyable game. Developed by Camelot, the same studio currently ruining the Mario Sports games, Shining Force was an SRPG clearly inspired by the likes of Fire Emblem. Unlike Fire Emblem though it actually released in the west and would serve as an introduction to SRPG’s for a good chunk of western gamers.

I would argue that if it wasn’t for Shining Force releasing in the west then games like Fire Emblem wouldn’t be as big as they are today. It paved the way for SRPG’s to be big in the west, even if it took a few more years for that to truly happen.

Unlike Fire Emblem, there’s no weapon triangle here. It mainly focuses on each unit’s individual strengths rather than their weapons. Fighters do more damage but have weak movement, knights are tanks with great land movement but suck in other terrains, archers are only good from a distance, mages have powerful spells but weak melee attacks, you get the idea.

It has a varied cast of characters with their own strengths and weaknesses that need to be accounted for when creating a team. It’s also very eclectic, taking advantage of its fantasy setting with a cast of fantastical creatures. There are dwarves, centaurs, Pegasus centaurs, elves, samurai, ninja’s, dragons, wolfmen, an octopus, an old man in a flying machine, a frigging robot. It is a wild cast of characters and I absolutely love it.

Shining Force was a decent hit when it released on the Mega Drive. It would spawn a Mega Drive sequel, some Game Gear side stories that were later remade on the Sega CD, a third entry on the Saturn that never fully released in the west, and a DS game that was never released in the west at all.

After that the series has remained dormant. The Shining series didn’t die, it goes on to this day, but the games are all in different genres like action RPG or a traditional dungeon crawler. That’s what makes the Shining series so unique, every game is different.

So technically the Shining series isn’t dead, Shining Force has been seen since Shining Force Feather in 2009. And when you look at how successful the Fire Emblem series has become in recent years, I think it’s long overdue for a return.

#13: Comix Zone

I really want to like Comix Zone. It has one of the coolest premises I’ve ever seen in a game. You play as a comic book artist named Sketch Turner who gets sucked into his own comic after it comes to life during a thunderstorm, with the villain trying to kill you so he can become real.

Ok the plot doesn’t make a lick of sense, but it’s an interesting idea that they take full advantage of it. the entire game is about navigating through the pages of a comic. You jump from panel to panel, deal with enemies that are drawn in as you play, you can take different routes through the comic as the panels branch out, and it’s all done in that dark late 90’s comic book style that has aged somewhat but has its own unique charm.

And yet, I hate this game. I want to like it, I’ve tried to like it, and I just can’t. It has way too many things holding it back.

Comix Zone is one of those games that’s so short that they have to make it absurdly difficult to make up for it. The game is insanely hard, and I would argue in an unfair way. The game is designed more like a puzzle game, you have to playthrough the game multiple times to find the most ideal route to beat each level.

That doesn’t sound too bad, but you only get one life, and when it’s gone you get sent straight back to the beginning. The actual gameplay itself isn’t good enough to justify this either. The combat feels stiff and awkward.

There are cool special moves you can do that involve ripping the pages of the comic, which is awesome, but they cost health and when you have one life you don’t want to risk losing any. Especially since breaking boxes and barrels, something every beat-em-up lets you do no problem, costs health to do so.

It is such a cool game from a conceptual level, but it’s let down by the gameplay devolving into trial and error. There are people out there who defend Comix Zone, and I can see why. If you do gel with the gameplay there is a unique experience to be had here. But it has too many flaws for me to recommend it.

So why do I want to bring it back? Because it’s such a cool idea that deserves a second chance. If they can create a sequel or reboot that addresses a lot of the problems of the original you would have a bonafide classic.

And I know just who to make it too, Lizard Cube. Their hand drawn art style mixed with 90’s comic book aesthetics? There isn’t a price point big enough to prevent from buying that shit. Throw in other comic book style like manga and comic strips and you’d have a goddamn work of art.

And with that I’m going to bring this to a close. There are a lot of other Sega series I could have gone over, but we would be here forever if I tried to cover them all. These were just the ones I would personally love to see.

That said, while I would love to see these games come back in some way and I am glad to see Sega harkening back to their glory days, I’m trying to remain cautious with my optimism. Sega have attempted similar things like this in the past and they haven’t exactly worked out.

Even recent fare like Sonic Origins shows Sega can take something that should be a sure-fire money maker and botch it. Hopefully they actually succeed this time, and we get the Sega we all know and love back. But until we see more of the games, I will temper my excitement.

All game footage taken from:

GAME EVOLUTION: (23) GAME EVOLUTION - YouTube

U4iA: (23) U4iA - YouTube

Insert Coin: (23) Insert Coin - YouTube

Archives GAMING: (23) Archives GAMING - YouTube

NintendoComplete: (23) NintendoComplete - YouTube

World of Longplays: (24) World of Longplays - YouTube

Evolution Games: Evolution Games - YouTube

iPlaySEGA: (24) iPlaySEGA - YouTube