Why Sega’s $70 Million Flop Is the Best Game of All Time
In late 1999, after spending $70 million developing what was then the most expensive game ever made, SEGA released Shenmue for the Dreamcast. Even though the world was a better place for him, the game didn’t recoup its development costs nor did it get the audience it deserved.
I’ll be the first to admit that “best game ever” seems hyperbolic and highly subjective, but I’m going to make my point anyway.
Shenmue It was a revolution
Shenmue is an action-adventure game set in the 1980s from legendary Japanese designer Yu Suzuki, who has already earned his reputation with hits like Virtual fighter, Out of raceAnd Space Harrier. The game initially took the form of a Virtual fighter spin-off role-playing game for the SEGA Saturn, before development moved to the Dreamcast and established its own strong identity.
The game was released in Japan on December 29, 1999, and took just under a year to arrive on North American and European shores in November of the following year (with a full English translation). The game received overwhelmingly positive reception, with many critics praising the game for pushing the medium as a whole forward.
A sequel arrived in late 2001 for the Japanese and European markets, with the American version being removed due to the Dreamcast’s waning popularity. Despite this, many American fans engaged with the franchise and were able to play imported PAL copies with the necessary workarounds. Shenmue II was later released in the United States on the original Xbox console the following year.
The figure of 70 million dollars which is often associated ShenmueThe development of incorporates much of the technology and assets used in the sequel.. Shenmue II is little more than a continuation of the first game, making small tweaks but ultimately just continuing the story. Shenmue II cut costs by reducing the size of the story and shipping it without an English translation (although this was later added in the Xbox version).
Despite its exorbitant costs and the fact that the game was a commercial failure, Shenmue was yet another landmark moment in the world of video games. This is a game of firsts and innovations, showcasing an open world that feels lived in, populated by characters with jobs, homes and daily routines, who you can talk to at any time. For better or worse, the game sticks to a rigid day-night cycle (with no ability to skip time).
It even gives a purpose to downtime, which is why the game is filled with so many seemingly unnecessary distractions. It was the first game to repackage entire arcade games like Space Harrier and allow you to play it via an in-game arcade (with a handful of original titles). You’ll receive a modest daily allowance to spend here and on other “useless” collectibles like capsule toys, cassette tapes, and lighters. Shenmue really wants you to feel part of his world.
The game is also notable for how it straddles genres, at a time when most games stuck rigidly to one thing. Not only is it an epic narrative adventure set in an immersive open world, but it’s also a casual life sim, a beat’em up with mechanics taken straight from the Virtua Fighterand sometimes incorporates elements of puzzle solving, stealth, detective work, and driving.
It also happens to be the first game to introduce the Quick Timer Event (QTE) mechanic, in which you must respond to actions during cutscenes by pressing a button (or combination). While the QTEs may not have aged as well as they could have, I don’t “blame” Shenmue for that. Yu Suzuki and the team used these moments sparingly and wisely. They managed to transform passive cutscenes into interactive sequences that bring story moments to memorable crescendos. QTY in Shenmue providing a change of pace when the game needs it most.
The day the snow turned to rain
Shenmue wastes no time with a slow build, meaning the game manages to hook you from the opening cutscene. Minutes after you sit down to play, player character Ryo Hazuki witnesses the murder of his father at the hands of a shadowy figure known only as Lan Di. The game begins on November 29, 1986, during a snowstorm, then drops you right into the action just days after your father’s death.
From there, you are gradually introduced to the world. First, you explore the family residence before you can venture out and explore the small village that suits you. These opening areas serve as a soft tutorial, introducing you to the socializing, discarding, and spending where you will spend much of your time. The game’s drip feed provides information to keep you invested, as the story unfolds over roughly 20 hours for the opening game and another 20 in the sequel (not accounting for time spent playing). After the burner).
Although the story is grounded in realism, it also touches on mysticism and Eastern prophecies. Groundbreaking discoveries are offset by setbacks that force you to take new paths, enter new areas, and return to old areas to explore further. All the while, there’s room for personal development and checking out how in-game events affect the characters around you.
To keep you on track, you have a notebook that automatically fills with the clues and information you have learned. You will rarely feel “stuck” Shenmue aside from the odd difficult combat sequence or QTE that repeats until you succeed. The biggest obstacle you’ll encounter is messing up your timing and finding yourself with a few (in-game) hours to kill.
A Masterclass in Ambiance
What made me spend so much time playing Shenmue it’s the mood of the game. At the heart of the game’s genius is a swelling orchestral score that accelerates and punctuates some of the most important story moments. It’s a soundtrack that easily ranks among the best the medium has to offer, thanks to an incredibly talented pool of composers.
Although I fell in love with the main music, it’s not the orchestra that keeps me coming back all these years later. Each establishment in the first game has its own original music, and there’s something utterly fascinating about these playful backing tracks that encapsulate Shenmuepersonality so good. Call me weird, but I listen to this all the timeI even have local copies.
Intricate classical music highlights restaurants and antique shops. This is what you hear when you visit Ajiichi Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant:
Cheesy J-pop irritates when you buy cassettes and milk at the Tomato Convenience Store or waste money on slot machines. This one is basically a meme at this point:
And the smoky jazz that punctuates the bars and lounges constitutes one of the best music in the games:
There’s a sense of cohesion between these pieces, and I’m not ashamed to admit that when I first fell in love with Shenmue that I would spend time traveling the world just to listen to them (these days we have better ways of binging video game soundtracks).
This music is all the more fascinating because many of these establishments serve no purpose in the game; they are only a flavor for the world. In the second game, the significantly expanded scope of the world sees some tracks reused within common establishments, but each area has its own background music, many of which have night and day versions.
Again, these compositions absorb and reflect the feeling of the world around you. Rundown areas like South Carmain Qr come with a moody drone:
Compare that to the background music of an electrical store that you could complete the game without ever setting foot in:
This is where the budget went. Such absurd attention to detail and commitment to building a world in which you can buy a bag of chips, pick up a vase and move it, or down a can of soda in about 15 seconds just to see the animation, is what makes Shenmue so fascinating beyond its technical and narrative achievements.
Should you play Shenmue?
I’m not going to pretend that much of my love for this game isn’t based in cold, hard nostalgia. I was 14 when I first played it, and at the time everything from the visuals to the gameplay was revolutionary. I’ve happily neglected some of the harder aspects of the game, and I’m still unapologetically more tolerant of some of them than someone who’s never touched the game before.
The English dub has its moments. I like Ryo’s goofy attitude, but you’ll hear him say things like “Is that true?” and walk headfirst into unintentional comedy several times during your playthrough. Other characters are downright grating, though there are plenty of strong performances from key adversaries and more important links in the chain that you’ll discover along the way.
Then there is the time aspect. While modern games let you avoid waiting, Shenmue doesn’t give you that luxury. If you have to meet someone at 10 a.m. and you miss them, you have to wait. You can play arcade games or stay in the corner of your room until the game lets you fall asleep, but there is no time advance mechanism.
There is also the small problem of the fence. The game is still not finished, and even after making a surprise return for the fan-supported game Shenmue IIIyou won’t see the conclusion of Ryo’s story yet. Fans are yearning for a fourth entry, but considering how difficult it is to get a third game, I’m not holding my breath. Even the anime was canceled.
These alone are not reasons to avoid Shenmueand the first two games are highly accessible thanks to the Shenmue I and II collection (available on Steam, PS4 and PS5 and Xbox consoles). This remaster updates the UI and graphics scaling, and gives you the option to play in Japanese and English.
Just like fans of classics love Super Metroid, Final Fantasy VIIOr Chrono trigger I would categorically tell you to try these games even now, I will say the same thing about Shenmue.
It’s an important piece of video game history, helping refine the open-world formula and introducing many concepts that are alive and well today in games like Yakuza (Like a dragon).
