Join me every Saturday live on Twitch as I revisit Sega Dreamcast’s most ambitious game – the absolute belter that is Shenmue.
It’s not very often that I’m excited for a new release for a game that isn’t already a sequel to something, but in the winter of 1999 while browsing the pages of a Sega Dreamcast magazine while sat in art class at school, I came across a huge article for this upcoming game with lots of interesting screen shots. It was open-world, it had weather patterns, you could visit the arcade, play pool at the bar, go shopping! All while playing along with the main story in 1980’s Japan. I’d played a few of the typical titles for the Dreamcast at the time such as Sonic, Blue Stinger, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Crazy Taxi, Chu Chu Rocket etc. But Shenmue seemed like a game changer and thankfully I got it for Christmas that year.
So what’s it about? Shenmue follows the story of martial artist Ryo Hazuki. After his father is killed he begins an investigation into his killer seeking revenge. His journey takes him from his local town to working at the harbour and eventually departing for China.
Most the game has you asking people for information and gathering up clues to progress the story along, but theres a lot of fun to be had along the way. Aside from the exploration you can engage in battles and learn new moves along the way (at one point engaging in a 70 person battle!), you can get a job at the harbour driving a forklift truck, collect Sega capsule toys, buy a can of pop, engage in pioneering Quick Time Events (QTE), and of course you can hang out at the arcade playing darts, Space Harrier, Hang On etc.
Needless to say Shenmue is one of my all time favourites and you can join me revisiting it on Twitch every Saturday evening.