Shinobi looks lovely, but the new Streets of Rage looks like dogshit - it has no business being a clunky 3D fighter with plasticy, horrible models. Streets of Rage 4 was amazing! But alas, like Sonic Mania, after indie devs successfully revive a classic IP, Sega step in and say "we'll take it from here" and make a balls-up of it like with Superstars. "Well ACCtually, they were in talks with Christian and the Mania devs to--" don't bother!
For me it's Shinobi that's the letdown visually. Looks like the typical modern 2D game that looks like it belongs on a Flash mobile game.
Don't really know how illustration style graphics equate to Flash and crappy mobile games now when those are more likely to use 3D modelling these days anyway. I think the style is beautiful and gives me Hollow Knight vibes. I've never been a SEGA kid outside of Sonic, but I'm intrigued in Shinobi by the artstyle alone. I'd say the one that looks weakest to me right now is Golden Axe, but the trailer does state it's all early development stuff, so hopefully every single one of these titles gets the polish it needs for release and then maybe SEGA can start bringing that energy to Sonic too.
The Shinobi game is clearly the next LizardCube project. Is Sega actually going to publish this one themselves this time unlike SoR4 and the Dragon's Trap remake? I honestly don't see how anyone can look at that 2D art style and summarize it as flash game/mobile game. Of all the games shown I think that one has the closest shot at being an absolute banger judging by their previous revivals. I'm gonna nickname the new Crazy Taxi game as "Crazy Taxi: A Cab Chase". This one looks to be a online multiplayer thing, at least in the mode they showed, with playable police cars? Ok, fair enough, that's quite different but I'm willing it give it a shot. Hoping and praying it's not a GaaS that will last a year then vanish from the world. I hope those Streets of Rage and Golden Axe games are SUPER early builds because they look kinda rough. Like perfectly acceptable Xbox Live Arcade games on the 360 or something. At first I thought the Jet Set Radio game was a straight up remake as it has some areas from the original game, but the layouts are slightly different. The art style is gonna take some getting used to. Beat doesn't really look like a straggly teen punk to me, he looks too...hello fellow kids?? It's hard to describe. The new look for Professor K is great though.
I hope it goes better than the mid to late 2000s refresh of the old IPs, PS2 Shinobi, PS2 Altered Beast, Golden Axe Beast Rider, Toe Jam & Earl 3. You don't get many people reminiscing about those!
God I yelled out at this announcement! Sega stole the show for me. Sooooo excited for shinobi and SoR. My wishlist now is to get some of the Saturn era games some love, panzer dragoon, nights, burning rangers etc.
Watching SEGA continuing to slowly realize the value of their IP after all this time is hilarious. Like, hey SEGA! Welcome to the party! We've been here the whole time waiting for you all to finally show up. Anyways... Is it weird that I'm kinda hoping the new JSR is a remake/reimagining of the first game? I don't want a 1:1 remake, just something that hits the same plot points, characters, locations, and iconography while also expanding the scope, world, and mechanics with new stuff. You know, I'm talking more like Final Fantasy VII Remake as opposed to the new Super Mario RPG Remake. If the game does well and they make a sequel, then I'd love to see them go off the rails and do something totally new at that point, but right now I kinda wanna see them stick to the basics and nail the execution.
I am giving an update to say this is the most joyful I've been about video games in like 15-20 years. I feel so full of mirth and happiness LOL. We're back!
Took long enough. Want to be far more excited than I am but if there's one thing Sega tends to be good at, its failing to properly execute a potentially great idea (not that I want that to be the case here). Jet Set visually looks good if kinda empty feeling, though I imagine more environmental detail will come with time, nothing to say about the gameplay because it looks like normal JSR. Streets of Rage looks neat, beat-em-up with more fighting game influence than normal perhaps? Not much was shown but I'm interested (plus I like Alex's Terry Bogard cosplay). Shinobi looks absolutely beautiful, I want to play it just to see it in motion. The world needs more 2D action platformers about ninjas. Golden Axe exists, not a fan of that series really so I can't say much. It's probably the weakest one here visually but I don't think Golden Axe games look good in general, so no big deal. Crazy Taxi being some kind of VS game is an idea I think can work and be hyper chaotic fun but I feel like it might be the one most liable to be a disaster. My hopes for "AND MORE" are NiGHTS, Thunder Force, and Panzer Dragoon (or a spiritual successor of some kind because i think that series is officially completed) joke hope: they should make Seaman 3
JSR and Crazy Taxi really shouldn't come as a shock to anyone after being heavily leaked and rumoured over the past couple years. I see untrustworthy noises being made about how they look already, but it's not a case of 'all the talent that first made them is no longer involved' - the big rumoured two especially have several original key designers and directors on board at Sega still. The idea of another Golden Axe reboot has been knocking around for some time too, partly thanks to the AM1 veterans still there at Sega of China (in fact, Sega Amusements allegedly planned to do something with it, but their sales team shot it down). The others were more of a nice surprise, though I did kind of think everything else might well be wheeled out at once, TGS 2005-style. Plus, for those that have been paying attention, they have all been getting those consistent conspicuous namechecks by the 'IP Utilization' spiel that prominently appears in SegaSammy's IRs from time to time. Others that have popped up in it are Altered Beast, Nights, Space Channel 5, Rez, After Burner, Panzer Dragoon and OutRun... so make of that what you will. Shinobi looks fine from my perspective too, and it does seem pretty likely that LizardCube are doing it. I would personally very much trust them with the series after SOR4. Interesting that this new game for the latter appears to be not made by them, and is making the sizable jump to 3D though - that's the only one I'm not really sure on myself, partly because there's no real creative authority on it at Sega. Hopefully whoever's making it are using Fighting Force as an ultimate reference for what not to do?
Maybe Ian Flynn will finally get his chance to write a Skies of Arcadia game if these revivals do well.
Who keeps pool balls in a bowl on their coffee table? Too early to really say much about most of these - if they're being farmed off to third-parties, the quality could be all over the place. The only exception is that Shinobi game, as while still clearly early... I mean it looks like Streets of Rage 4, and that turned out alright. Interesting thought: there's meant to be a Panzer Dragoon Zwei remake on its way, but it's not been mentioned in years. This seemed like a perfect opportunity for an update - is it dead?
Rewatching it a few more times gave me a sense of them saying, "This is us" and I love it. Some petty nitpicking: Shinobi: It looks kinda flat compared to, let's say, Revenge of the Shinobi, but still has something going for it. *thumbs up* Golden Axe: Anti-Zelda *thumbs up* Streets of Rage: Proper 3D *thumbs up* Jet Set Radio: Makes Persona 5 look like a spin-off RPG *thumbs up* Crazy Taxi: Crazy Taxi doesn't look like an over-the-top taxi simulator anymore. I am not sure whether I find this good or bad. *thumb sideways*
