Shenmue I & II impressions: A gaming history lesson, but it feels like school
Enlarge (credit: Sega)
This week, for the first time since the early '00s, Sega's Shenmue games will be available on modern platforms. Both original games, 1999's Shenmue and 2001's Shenmue II, arrive on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Windows PC on Tuesday, August 21, as a $30 compilation.
Chances are, you never got to dive into either, owing not only to their age but also their exclusive launches on largely unpopular consoles in the West (the Dreamcast and original Xbox, respectively). This week's compilation changes the access-half of the equation (and comes to tide fans over while waiting for the crowdfunded Shenmue III). But does it deliver a must-play return to Sega's console swan song?
Not really. The team responsible for restoring this pair of games has erred on the side of authenticity. In good news, that means everything from the original games-art, dialogue, presentation-has been shined up as much as humanly possible. These are the best versions of Shenmue games in the world. But hundreds of open-world games have surpassed Yu Suzuki's classic in the days since, and none of those later games' successes have inspired Sega to fix what's broken here.
Read 18 remaining paragraphs | Comments