5 franchises Sega should revive

If gaming were our planet then Sega would be my home nation. Since very little I became a fan of the company that brought us Sonic the Hedgehog and haven't stopped been one ever since. So been things as they are today you must imagine how excited I am about Sega's mysterious "new identity" and the barrage of good games that they have either released or announced in the last months. Seen how part of that "new identity" is to revive some of their old franchises, today we will see 5 of them that Sega could and should put into their revival machine soon.

1) Astal 

Why: Gorgeous side scrolling platformers to the likes of Astal have been successful ever since the indie scene brought us Braid.

How: Best bet is digital only on all platforms.

Astal was one of those games back then that showed us how powerful the Sega Saturn was when handling 2D graphics. It was fun, beautiful and had a cool story and soundtrack. It featured a lot of surreal stages that kept us on our toes with all types of side scrolling challenges while the story unfolded and at the same time having bosses were also well designed, ranging from simple to gigantic. The game also featured anime videos on it and nicely narrated/spoken cutscenes. It was a complete game that is a great memory for any Sega fan out there and a good opportunity for bringing some of the younger gamers in.

2) Burning Rangers

Why: It had a good and original action-adventure style of game play coupled with an anime direction that rivals any popular series out there.

How: This can go anyway from physical to digital since Sega seems to consider it one of its classics. Maybe they could release an anime series first and see how it goes.

Burning Rangers was a game that was seen as strange at the time. You controlled one of two futuristic fire fighters in a story where fire and conspiracy were your enemies. The stages were interesting to explore, each having their own story with a good amount of action and puzzle elements that made the game really fun while the story unfolded in beautiful anime cutscenes. This would be one of those games that nowadays would spark the curiosity of gamers and otakus alike, both old and new.

3) Shinning Force

Why: The series has been dormant ever since the Shinning Force 3 trilogy was released and deserves a new one following the classic format, but modernized for a new generation of gamers as there is little that can go wrong with a tactic rpg of that magnitude.

How: Maybe release a bundle having the three scenarios of Shinning Force 3 (because scenarios 2 and 3 were never released in the west) to test things out,  then if successful they can finally make Shinning Force 4.

Shinning Force is one of the top tactic rpg franchises of all time and it was really cut short when the Saturn faded away (Shinning Force 3 been one of the last games in the console). The best way I can describe this series is epic, with awesome tactical battles, great stories about conquest, mysticism and conspiracy and great heroes to use in each battle. In order to clean up the mess that happened with the latest Valkyria Chronicles game, Shinning Force makes a good candidate for Sega's redemption on this genre.

4) Blue Stinger

Why: It was a good survival horror that felt different and mixed characteristics of many genres into one. It had the vibe that Deadly Premonition has and that one has a cult following, so... Why not?

How: Somehow get the rights to do it and make it a reality, full release.

Blue Stinger was one of the games that was released close to the console's 9/9/99 launch date. It was one of those titles that was advertised as survival horror, but in the long run felt like a lot more. The exploration was spot on with lots of places to gun and run through, each with their own puzzles and sticky situations all with the kind of atmosphere that while it looked a little too colorful for a survival horror game, was really interesting because it kept the intrigue going. I know that if anybody plays this now they will see the game as dated and buggy, but picture how a well designed adventure like this would be with updated visuals, controls and overall gameplay while keeping the original vision intact. The game's creator may not be with us anymore, but I am sure somebody could carry out his vision and make that sequel that was cancelled when he passed.

5) Skies of Arcadia

Why: Its one of the best rpgs of the whole Dreamcast/PS2 era.

How: Full release in both physical and digital as the colorfulness and vibe of the game would speak for itself for both fans and newcomers alike.

When this was released on Dreamcast back in October 5, 2000, it was like a dream come true. We had played JRPGs before on Dreamcast at the time, but at the moment we only had Grandia 2 (released August 2000) as the AAA Japanese RPG of choice on Sega's young console. So where Grandia 2 excelled with its gritty end of the world-ish story and game world, Skies of Arcadia did on a more lighthearted environment that was closer to what we could find on a Final Fantasy game. It not only had a turn based battle system that felt different, but it also had awesome airship battles and lots of places to find and explore, all wrapped up in a really cool story about pirates and nations in the sky (floating islands).

Wrapping things up
Sega has been doing the right thing since very early this year and as the trend continues they should give some attention to the previously mentioned franchises as they would most likely make it all even better.

15 Cool Things Sega Could Do Even On Hard Times

Right now we all know what is happening to Sega. They recently reported a loss in profits and for all of us long time fans, the phrase "lost profits" spells certain doom to our favorite Sega franchises. Surprisingly, even with the hardships they are going through they decided to make some good things like localizing the new Yakuza game to the west, and coming with remakes of some of their classic games for the Nintendo 3DS. This is all good, but there are some things that Sega could take advantage from especially now that they decided to focus on the digital market rather than the retail one.

Note: There are links in some of the items on this list so you can see what the mentioned games/concepts are about.

1) Include Phantasy Star IV in the 3DS remakes: The 3DS is good with JRPGs and if Bravely Default is to be taken as definite proof of that, then it means that the classic JRPG style thrives on this handheld. This is the reason why releasing a completely remade version of Phantasy Star IV is a good choice for them since it is the most popular one of the whole classic rpg wing of the Phantasy Star series.

2) Remaster all 3 Shinning Force 3 Scenarios and release them as digital only: The original Shinning Force formula ended with the 3 scenarios that composed Shinning Force 3, so releasing a digital only remastered edition of all 3 in one would be a good seller not only for Sega fans, but tactic rpg fans everywhere in the world as 2 of those 3 scenarios never made it out of Japan.

3) The return of Shenmue: Be it on any of the 3 home consoles and with the current trend that favors open world games, Shenmue can make a good comeback if they spice up the formula a bit and give it a little more hand to hand combat action and more stuff to do in the cities Ryo visits.

4) Astal 2 made by an indie studio: Astal was quite a good platformer in its day and seen how some indie developers have made beautiful games like Braid and Dust: An Elysian Tale, Astal can also shine again and become even better if one of these talented studios takes the project.

5) The release of good arcade game ports into this generation of home consoles: Catering once again to the digital only market, some arcade games like Border Break, Initial D Arcade Stage 8 Infinity or Shinning Force Cross Raid can become addictive online experiences for any western player.

6) "Greatest hits" bundles of Sega Saturn/Dreamcast games: Storage media now permits it and because of this, some of the best games for both of these systems (Saturn and Dreamcast) can come back packaged in bundles sort of like they did with the Genesis games not long ago. Packages like these can find a home on any of this generation consoles or even on PC.

7) Skies of Arcadia 2: This one can be pretty much a long shot, but why not? Skies of Arcadia is one of the best JRPG games that Sega has ever made and it could be a hit, considering that the JRPG market has been starving for good epic titles for current-gen home consoles in the west.

8) Sonic Adventure 3: This is not a matter of nostalgia, but a matter of the Sonic Adventure series been the most acclaimed Sonic games since the franchise took a plunge into 3D. It doesn't have to be a AAA production, just make it as good as the previous too and it will be ready to go. I know that there is Sonic Boom to take account of, but this kind of endeavor would be something separate and quite capable of healing Sonic the Hedgehog's reputation as a franchise which would in fact help Sonic Boom.

9) Reboot of The Immortal: The Immortal was one of those hard and gruesome rpg games that captivated Sega Genesis owners in the early 90's and it could make a comeback as an alternative to Dark Souls. The game was dark, challenging and interesting and that is something many rpg gamers appreciate nowadays. Just turn it into an action rpg and it could be a hit. The only hard part here is convincing Electronic Arts to take that franchise out of its grave, but hey... It can happen!

10) Reboot of Eternal Champions: Gore has been in style again for a while now and Eternal Champions provided just that to fighting game fans in the past, even rivaling the all time favorite Mortal Kombat. A reboot of this once great fighting game could be released as a digital only game with an emphasis on competitive play. Give a short single player mode in order to show the character's storylines and let gamers destroy themselves online with all the gruesome moves and fatalities that this franchise can offer.

11) An Anime Series for any of their RPG game series: Going away from gaming a little and getting into anime, a good anime series can be possible with many of Sega's franchises and could even serve to promote a game. Phantasy Star is a very good candidate, but there could be others like Climax Landers, Legend of the Oasis, Skies of Arcadia and Panzer Dragoon Saga. Why a series from an RPG game? Because their stories are richer and would make for quite an interesting anime experience if done right. Sega worked as a publisher for Bleach so it is safe to say that they would know what to do.

12) Bring remastered versions of obscure titles of their popular franchises: When we think about obscure Sega games that most people haven't seen, it means games like Virtual-On Marz and Project Altered Beast which were PS2 games that were... You guessed it, only in Japan. Virtual-On Marz featured a deeper storyline which was a contrast when we compare it to its arcade style only predecessors and Project Altered Beast was a mix between adventure and survival horror that gave it a sci-fi twist to the franchise.

13) Their own game portal: This is an alternative to #7 and can be even better in some ways. If there is one thing that we can't deny is that Sega as a company has a lot of first party games, even surpassing Nintendo in this endeavor. Because of this, a cool thing for them to do is to make a PC game portal, sort of like Steam and pour all of their forgotten games there while letting people play online multiplayer with them. A place where you could find and play all the first and second party Sega games from the Master System to the Dreamcast and even games that appeared on other consoles. They could sell them separately or make it a pay per month service, it doesn't matter as this could become a big hit for them anyways.

14) Get a spokesperson character again: This is something that they tried in the past and had success because of it, so they need to stop been so silent and go make some noise in the industry. A good personality that can move an effective passive-aggressive marketing campaign can make all the difference in the world. If you don't believe me ask Nintendo how well Reggie has worked for them. Just to give you a short trip to the past, back when the Saturn was going head to head against the PS One, Sega managed to keep their console alive and kicking in Japan mostly because of their spokesperson character, which was an exaggerated version of a karate master that was called Segata Sanshiro.

15) Give some love to the west: No matter which of the previous 14 things in this list Sega makes, if it is stuck in Japan it wont serve them. Their current "stay in Japan and sometimes Europe" strategy has proven to be a failure and their financial reports are proof of this. Whatever they do next, they must include the west in it because it is a market that is slowly going old school again, so after its long absence, Sega could return and once again earn the prestige that they used to have. They just need to try and for once hear the fans out, yes those fans that have been left in the dark since the Dreamcast went down.

Wrapping it up:
The bottom line is that even though Sega is having a hard time right now, this doesn't mean that they can't make an effort to bounce from that. This list features some of the cool things they could do that could mend their torn reputation and even though some of them look difficult or even idealistic, they are possible and sometimes it just takes a fair amount of risk taking in order to make it big as real visionaries are a step ahead of everybody all the time. Most gamers have Sega strands on their gamer's DNA so they just have to look for a way to unleash all the hidden potential, especially from the fans.

What is your favorite item of the list? What other cool things you think that Sega could do? If you have any ideas share them with us in the comment section below.

The Moment That Sega Perfected Sonic, Then Blew it afterwards.

After seen a couple of videos about Sonic Boom (which is not bad, but not great either) I was left to wonder as an all time Sonic fan, what was the time when Sega managed to evolve their famous mascot into its best form. Many say that Sonic stopped been cool after the original Sega Genesis games, but if I had to choose one of the forms in which Sega has chosen to portray their blue hedgehog, it would be the Sega Dreamcast era that included the 2 Sonic Adventure games. Why was this the closest that Sega has ever been to perfecting Sonic? Just continue to find out.

This is where it all started.

We all remember the classic sonic games on the Genesis. At a time when all we knew was Super Mario Brothers, Sonic came as a radical and cooler alternative. The games were fast, stages were interesting and the story was simple but appealing. Sonic itself not only looked different than everything we had seen at the time, but he looked cool and hip, sort of rebellious if you ask me. This gave the blue hedgehog an edge over the Italian plumber that lasted a while and helped Sega to establish themselves as a gaming powerhouse at the time.

The game that could had saved the Saturn.

After that, Sega went through a heavy streak of mistakes and one of those was abandoning Sonic. This caused their next big console which was the Sega Saturn, to lack a definitive Sonic title and all we got was Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic R which were kind of O.K, but not what we were hoping for. After that came project Katana which turned into the Sega Dreamcast and at that time we saw their mascot making a comeback in the form of Sonic Adventure which at the time was the most awesome thing around.

This iconic image from the game made many people to become early Dreamcast adopters.

Not only had Sonic jumped into the 3D graphics era, but the game looked great, the action was fast and the story was once again simple and appealing, just like they did with the classic Sonic games. This time you also had a little more freedom, as you could explore some stages at will, find secrets, do speed runs and find different ways to survive until the end. Sonic itself was not lacking any attitude either. He was know accompanied by some nice alternative rock music (played by Crush 40) and had a cool voice to express himself. He was cocky, confident and easy going even in the worse of situations so most fans fell in love with this version of the Sega mascot as soon as we saw it.

Multi characters for high replay value. Something brilliant at the time.

He was also accompanied by other characters that you could play as such as Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Big the Cat and E-102 Gamma (which was made by Dr. Robotnik). Everybody had something different for the player with Sonic handling the fast paced stages, Tails focusing on his gadgets, Knuckles floating around looking for pieces of the master esmerald, Amy going through alternative versions of Sonic stages using her hammer for a more action oriented approach, Big the cat with his fishing stages and E-102 Gamma with his story about how he escaped from Dr. Robotnik and became one of the good guys. The really cool thing about them is that each of them had their own angle on the main story, so it this wasn't about repeating the same stages with different characters.

Shadow was a nice surprise back then, he is still awesome.

After that came Sonic Adventure 2. This game introduced a couple of villains like Shadow the hedgehog and Rouge the bat with the inclusion of Dr. Robotnik as a playable character. This time the whole thing was to be able to play as both the good side and the bad side as the story progressed. The game looked even better than the original and featured very imaginative stages following a storyline that was both cool and heartwarming at the same time. The greatest thing about both Sonic Adventure games was that their storylines included a little bit or everything from adventurous, funny and cute moments, to confrontations, peril and even tragedy. This may have to do with the fact that the anime series called Sonic X was been transmitted at the time and as we all know, anime can pack quite a punch in story telling terms.

The "Shadow with a gun" thing was kind of weird.

These two great Sonic games came and went, and after the Dreamcast met its demise and Sega became a third party company, the almost perfect Sonic the hedgehog we enjoyed on Sega's last machine was replaced with a couple of experiments that went from so-so to mediocre. At first they made Sonic heroes which was nice and kind of a throwback to the old games with the inclusion of the 3 hero party mechanic that served to solve puzzles and get through the stages in a more strategical way. Other game was Shadow the Hedgehog in which they tried to mix up both speed and action with Shadow using guns and everything.

Pound for pound the weirdest Sonic moment ever.

Then after the next generation in line was about to start (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii), somebody had the "brilliant" idea to bring Sonic as closest to reality as possible and this is where it got ugly. When the Sonic the Hedgehog "next gen" game came to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, what we found was an adulterated version of what we used to love. Not only the game had technical issues like very long loading times, it tried so hard to be a "realistic epic" that it failed miserably at what mattered the most and that was gameplay. Sure, the free roaming aspect was still there, but it felt bland and generic with stages that tried to give that Sonic Adventure vibe, but ended been a lot slower and tedious.

Slow and clunky werewolf.

After that, a whole number of Sonic games began to enter the market, having the blue hedgehog in many different situations that weren't that good. On one of them he could turn into a slow werewolf (Sonic Unleashed), on other he was sort of a knight (Sonic and the Black Knight) and there even was a Wii version of Sonic called Sonic and the Secret Rings which was just an "on rails" game that was kind of fun at first, but after a couple of stages it felt like a hassle. On all of these games the storyline aspect was severely degraded, lacking the passion that the Sonic Adventures games had. Couple that with bad gameplay experiments and then you will know why Sonic isn't as popular on this day and age.

It doesn't look that bad except for Knuckles, I will never get over that.

Wrapping it up:
Sonic Boom is not a bad angle to the blue hedgehog's universe (except for what they did with knuckles which was horrible), but the last Sonic games that were made with real passion and imagination lie on those fateful years after 9/9/99. At that time like the title implies, Sega managed to get Sonic to a near perfect state only to dump it all later when they began making uninspired games just for the sake of making them. I wonder if anybody in Sega has ever found him/herself on a meeting saying, "hey, let's go back to the Sonic Adventure style" only to be ignored or something like it.