SEGA recently presented their “Road to 2020” business plan which contained a lot of information about the direction of the company. Most interesting to us as nerds, however, was a bullet point that simply stated, “Revival of major IPs.”
Uhhhh hell yes please, SEGA!
Knowing that the company behind so many of our favorite gaming memories is interested in reviving them, we’ve compiled our list of franchises we implore, nay, demand SEGA bestow an extra life upon.
Super Monkey Ball
Super Monkey Ball had a good run back in the early to mid 2000s but it’s been years since we’ve helped Ai-Ai and the rest of his monkey pals navigate their befuddling labyrinthine world. Instead of simply making a sequel, SEGA should explore new territory in the physics puzzler space.
Jet Set Radio
Jet Set Radio is such an amazingly fun game that it almost made inline skating cool for a second. Racing around the fictionalized, cel-shaded Tokyo-To, doing sweet tricks, and tagging every wall in sight was the highlight of the ill-fated SEGA Dreamcast console. It’s time for Beat, Tab, Gum, and the rest of the crew to tear it up again.
Toejam and Earl
Toejam and Earl is egregiously 90s, and let’s be honest, it’s goofy as all hell. This adventure of two rap loving aliens may be a cringe-steak at times, but it’s perfectly cooked, and well seasoned. The world of hip hop has evolved greatly since these funky aliens were bouncing around the islands in the early 90s. It’d be cool to see Toejam and Earl in a more contemporary setting and with a modern sound. But keep those hypnotic hula dancers.
Phantasy Star
SEGA’s premiere RPG series in Japan, Phantasy Star has never quite found its audience in the US. But with the success of console MMOs like Final Fantasy XIV, and SEGA’s success publishing Persona 5, maybe they’re ready to jump back into this ambitious sci-fi epic. Although we wouldn’t mind a non-online version too.
Panzer Dragoon
There are a lot of game series that were so good that it boggles the mind that they’ve disappeared, and Panzer Dragoon is really high up there on that list. It’s one of the finest rail shooters around, plus it had dragons in it instead of spaceships, or anime girls who turn into sexy planes, or any of the other weirdness that comes with shmups and other shooters. At the very least Panzer Dragoon seems ripe for a VR refresh like Rez got.
We limited our list to a top 5, but honestly, there are so many SEGA IPs that have been sorely missing for decades. Interestingly, SEGA polled gamers last year and specifically asked them which franchises they’d like to see rebooted. Check out their answers:
- Sakura Wars
- Jet Set Radio
- Virtual On
- Shenmue
- Virtua Fighter
- Panzer Dragoon
- Shining Force
- Skies of Arcadia
- Streets of Rage
- NiGHTS into dreams…
- Space Channel 5
- Shinobi
- Sangokushi Taisen Trading Cards
- Burning Rangers
- Fashionable Witches Love & Berry
- Alex Kidd
- Outrun
- Dreamcast
- Daytona USA
- Answer X Answer