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IGN Japan have published their top 10 Sega games of all time. Do you agree?

I realise I'm slightly LTTP with this as this was published a few weeks ago now but couldn't see any threads on it and was interested to get NeoGAF's thoughts. IGN Japan's top 10 Sega games of all time:
  1. Shenmue
  2. Yakuza 0
  3. Virtua Fighter 4
  4. Nights into Dreams
  5. Sonic Adventure
  6. Valkyria Chronicles
  7. Jet Set Radio
  8. Sakura Wars 4
  9. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA
  10. Out Run
Notes on the selection:
  • Eligibility: any game ever developed or published by SEGA, regardless of platform.
  • Factors considered included historical impact, innovation and quality.
  • In the case of a game series, only one title from the series could be selected.
  • Titles by Atlus, a subsidiary of SEGA, were excluded.

No.1 is going to be the most controversial I feel since Shenmue is so divisive. I personally think the first two games are both masterpieces but 1 is much more of a flawed masterpiece. 2 is the real pinnacle of the series. It's unfortunate that so few people have played Shenmue 2 and most people think exclusively of the first game or the third game when they think of the franchise. Sonic Adventure ahead of all the Mega Drive Sonics and Sonic Mania is a bit of weird choice for their Sonic game as well. I'm personally not a fan of either of the Sonic Adventure games even though I completed both of them as a kid several times but I think the second one is the better of the two.

A bit dissapointed not to see any Panzer Dragoon games in the list either as there are 3 games in that series- Zwei, Saga and Orta- that can all lay a reasonable claim to being amongst the best games of all time in their respective genres (rail shooters and JRPGs respectively). Then again I suppose it is a fairly niche series so it's not unexpected. The lack of Streets of Rage, Shinobi or Golden Axe will probably come as a bigger surprise to Western readers given how huge those games were over here and how much Sega has been hammering their legacy with all those Genesis compilation re-releases.

Overall, I feel that they seem to have weighted historical impact and innovation more heavily than quality. There's a lot of games here which are the first in their respective series but were superseded by superior sequels (Shenmue, Sonic Adventure, Jet Set Radio, Outrun). My own list is much more geared towards raw quality. Do you have a personal top 10? Here's mine (limiting myself to Sega developed games only):

1) Panzer Dragoon Saga
2) Shenmue II
3) Yakuza 0
4) Jet Set Radio Future
5) Panzer Dragoon Orta
6) Sonic 3 & Knuckles
7) Outrun 2/2006/Coast to Coast
8) Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution
9) Nights into Dreams
10) Streets of Rage 2
 

Hudo

Member
While I'm happy that Valkyria Chronicles is in there, they've put the wrong Sonic game in (Should've been Sonic 2, Sonic 3 or even Sonic Mania) but no Panzer Dragoon (Saga?), no Streets of Rage II, no Galaxy Force II, no Phantasy Star IV (not even Phantasy Star Online?), no Shining Force II, no Super Hang-On... really weird list.
 
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Mmnow

Member
I'd put Sonic Adventure higher than Yakuza, but Shenmue should stay where it is.

THAT level of Sonic Adventure was my first 'graphics don't get better than this' moment. Shenmue was a masterpiece. It suffers from the Seinfeld Effect so much, it should be renamed the Shenmue Effect, but people playing it now have no idea what it felt like to play it then.

Whatever else people say about it, that world was so real. We've had bigger games, but very few that match its detail.
 

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
giphy.gif
 

Soodanim

Member
Very surprising to see this list without Bare Knuckle 2, it's such an obvious choice for 9/10 lists. It's not even a modern leaning list with Shenmue at the top, but it lacks their most notable console, the Mega Drive, in a big way.
 

Manji Uzuki

Member
I don't agree with the list. For instance, having sonic adventure but not the original Sonic or Sonic 2 in terms of quality and impact doesn't make any sense. In fact plenty of Mega Drive games missing there. Quite happy to see Yakuza 0 so high on the list though. That game is really brilliant

I've only played Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, and Judgement so far. Is it a common opinion that Yakuza 0 is the best one?

I haven't played 5 and 6 yet, but in my opinion 0 is the best by far. The new engine makes the game run really good, it has good gameplay with two interesting characters, good minigames, etc Also the Japan 80s setting is really cool
 
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Hudo

Member
Maybe I really should try Ristar at some point. I've always seen it mentioned at one point when people talk about 2D platformers but I never quite understood why. It seemed to me like it's "too slow"? But maybe it doesn't feel that way when you actually play it.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Your list and there list is good with me...

1. Shen Mue
2. Shining Force 3
3. Guardian Heroes
4. Panzer Dragoon Saga
5. Streets of Rage 2
6. Sonic games
7. Jet Set Radio
8. Virtual Fighter
9. Phantasy Star 4 & Online
10. Yakuza - Shinobi series

Id put in there Crazy taxi
Valkyrie Chronicles
Sakura Wars

Theres so many good classics from Sega Like Toe Jam n Earl and Gunstar Heroes On the megadrive.
To games like Skies of Arcadia, tons of shooters, Virtual Tennis, House of the Dead And Virtual Cop.

Sega really had an impressive 1st party in the days of Megadrive and Dreamcast. There 2nd party love with JRPG for the saturn was awesome too.

Saturn Probably had the Strongest lineup of JRPG’s outside PSX and Snes
 

LarknThe4th

Member
Sonic Adventure shouldn't get a sniff in a Sega top ten!

1. Sonic 2
2. Outrun 2
3. Virtua Fighter 5
4. Streets of Rage 2
5. Daytona USA
6. Jet set radio
7. Shenmue
8. Panzer Dragoon Saga
9. Crazy Taxi
10. Sega Rally(the new one, love that game)
 

RetroAV

Member
It hurts to leave out so many, but here are mine:

Streets of Rage 4
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Phantasy Star Online
ESPN NFL 2K5
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Sonic Mania
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
NiGHTS into dreams...
Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram
Virtua Fighter 3
 

Miles708

Member
I realise I'm slightly LTTP with this as this was published a few weeks ago now but couldn't see any threads on it and was interested to get NeoGAF's thoughts. IGN Japan's top 10 Sega games of all time:
  1. Shenmue
  2. Yakuza 0
  3. Virtua Fighter 4
  4. Nights into Dreams
  5. Sonic Adventure
  6. Valkyria Chronicles
  7. Jet Set Radio
  8. Sakura Wars 4
  9. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA
  10. Out Run

That's.... a good list?
A great list, actually.

Sega's output is simply too broad to make any 10-point list have any pretence of completeness, but still i'd say the only weird entry is Hatsune Miku (which should be replaced by Panzer Dragoon, probably Panzer Dragoon Zwei), and Jet Set Radio instead of Jet Set Radio Future.

Everything else, spot on really.
 
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nowhat

Member
I've only played Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, and Judgement so far. Is it a common opinion that Yakuza 0 is the best one?
I've played through 0 to 6 + Judgement - while I love all of the games (some like Kiwami to a lesser extent though), IMHO it's best. Two really interesting main characters, four fighting styles for both, awesome soundtrack, surprisingly coherent (for Yakuza, anyway) and touching story.

And then there's that one guy rocking it out while wearing nothing but an adult diaper.
 

Miles708

Member
I've played through 0 to 6 + Judgement - while I love all of the games (some like Kiwami to a lesser extent though), IMHO it's best. Two really interesting main characters, four fighting styles for both, awesome soundtrack, surprisingly coherent (for Yakuza, anyway) and touching story.

And then there's that one guy rocking it out while wearing nothing but an adult diaper.

I'll always think that Yakuza 6 is the series' maximum point. Coincidentally, it's also where it (finally?) becomes much closer to Shenmue's philosophy.
Yakuza 0 is still a solid entry.
 
  1. Shenmue
  2. Yakuza 0
  3. Virtua Fighter 4
  4. Nights into Dreams
  5. Sonic Adventure
  6. Valkyria Chronicles
  7. Jet Set Radio
  8. Sakura Wars 4
  9. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA
  10. Out Run
Not played Shenmue so cannot comment there but Miku???? MIKU!?!? She isn't even a legit SEGA IP but a license!!

Prefer Outrun 2 over 1 but 1 is a classic.

Surprised to see Sonic Adventure on there. Was expecting no Sonic games on there and replaced with Puyo Puyo Tsu.

Sakura Wars 4? Not 1 or 2?

Overall a good list but really odd Choices.

I would have Streets of Rage 2, 7th Dragon 3 and Binary Domain in there replacing Miku, Sonic and Sakura Wars 4.

Eh...I will do mine in no order.

Virtual On (with Twin Stick)
Valkyria Chronicles
Binary Domain
7th Dragon 3
Streets of Rage 2
Outrun 2 Online
Fantasy Zone
Sonic Mania (only just over the classics)
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Shining Force 2
 
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Deft Beck

Member
Diva is on there because it represents the huge net culture impact of Vocaloid and Miku as a result. People forget that SEGA's main development studio spends a lot of time and money on the Diva franchise.

Classic SEGA fans rebuff that, of course.
 

teezzy

Banned
Shenmue is fucking trash-tier. Sonic Adventure over Sonic 2? Project Diva garbage over like... Space Channel 5? No Phantasy Star of any sort?!!

List sucks ass.
 

Bolivar687

Banned
Too many new games to really be a top 10 of Sega. S&K3 and Shining Force (I recently played them and for some strange reason prefer 1 right now) gotta be up there.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
I think S3K, SoR 2 should be on that list. Sonic Adventure 1 is trash, imo. SA2 I have a soft spot for, but would not be top 10 material either.

And if there needs to be a Sakura Wars, isn't 3 (or 2) considered to be the pinnacle. Its only one I had and it seemed to be solid. And as for JSR, well, I prefer Future.

PDZ should be on there as well, probably. And Daytona for the impact it had in Arcades. A top 25 would be better considering their pedigree.
 
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Sonic 2 is better. I don't even know what Sonic Adventure is. I stopped playing after Sonic & Knuckles because it seemed like they were trying too hard to make Sonic cool.

Probably needs Ecco the Dolphin on that list.
 

Saber

Gold Member
Hm...I would ranked Valkyrie Chronicles higher and Sonic Adventure lower. Its really an outstanding game for its time.
Also no mention of Sonic 3 Knuckles and Shinning Force 3?
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
It's Japan so it's going to be Japanese/anime heavy games.

I don't think I really played many Sega games at all since the 16 bit days.

NFL 94 and Streets of Rage 2 are probably my fav off the top of my head. World Series 95 is good too. And best arcade game ever Daytona USA. Forgot, NFL 2k4 and 2k5 were awesome.

Never played them, but I'm pretty sure those PC Total Rome games get good scores and have a following.
 
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Goro Majima

Kitty Genovese Member
Leaving off anything by Relic, Creative Assembly, or stuff like Obsidian's Alpha Protocol:

1. Yakuza 0
2. Skies of Arcadia Legends
3. Binary Domain
4. Bayonetta
5. Sakura Wars (Reboot)
6. Streets of Rage 2
7. Sword of Vermilion
8. Phantasy Star Online (Xbox version)
9. ESPN NFL 2K5
10. Judgment (cheating here but I'm running out of franchises and it's a whole different cast)

Past that I'm a lot less enthusiastic about Sega's offerings. I had a Genesis as a kid but Sonic never really "clicked" for me and I think I enjoyed it about as much as Bubsy. Sonic Spinball was probably my favorite Sonic game on the Genesis.

I like a lot of their "arcade style" games but not enough to play them for hours on end or anything. Crazy Taxi for instance is one of those 15-30 minute session type things.
 
  1. Shenmue
  2. Yakuza 0
  3. Virtua Fighter 4
  4. Nights into Dreams
  5. Sonic Adventure
  6. Valkyria Chronicles
  7. Jet Set Radio
  8. Sakura Wars 4
  9. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA
  10. Out Run

I don't know if this list was done based on cultural/industry impact or if they felt these were the best in terms of game design/gameplay whatever, but there's some here I'd definitely cut off from my own. For example while I know Outrun is very influential, I actually much prefer playing Outrunners. And not having Daytona USA in there is criminal. Actually in terms of just being favorites I'd put Out Run 2 in the list over the first game, too.

VF4 deserves a spot for sure, it seems to be more or less the best VF all things considered (particularly VF4: EVO). Sonic Adventure may've had big impact at release but it's far from the best Sonic game; like OP said Sonic 2 or Sonic 3 & Knuckles beat it in that regard. I don't see how they leave of Phantasy Star Online or Phantasy Star 4 for that matter, same with Skies of Arcadia.

Guess this is kind of the issue with doing a list of best SEGA games; their output has been by far the most varied of any company in the industry and a lot of it is pretty top-quality stuff and very fun to play. But they all just have such different styles, it's hard to objectively say among some of them which are better or worst because it would always come down to personal taste.

Many games from post-Dreamcast era in that list. Even after becoming third party Sega's still got it where it counts. ❤

The whole thing about SEGA's quality dropping after going 3rd-party is just an edgy meme. Now, Sonic's quality suffered after going 3rd-party (even then there's been moments of greatness like with Colors, Generations, All Stars Racing Transformed and more recently Sonic Mania), but some of SEGA's most creative and even some of their best games came out after going 3rd-party when you look at the totality of their releases.

6th-gen in particular, their 3rd-party output was very strong. VF4, Gunvalkyrie, Shinobi/Nightshade, Super Monkey Ball...and that carried on in a lot of 7th-gen games too like VF5, MadWorld, Generations etc. I think the unevenness of Sonic output makes a lot of people picture SEGA's output as a whole being weaker than it really is, since for those people the only thing they know SEGA for is Sonic.
 
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Petopia

Banned
  1. Shenmue
  2. Yakuza 0
  3. Virtua Fighter 4
  4. Nights into Dreams
  5. Sonic Adventure
  6. Valkyria Chronicles
  7. Jet Set Radio
  8. Sakura Wars 4
  9. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA
  10. Out Run

I don't know if this list was done based on cultural/industry impact or if they felt these were the best in terms of game design/gameplay whatever, but there's some here I'd definitely cut off from my own. For example while I know Outrun is very influential, I actually much prefer playing Outrunners. And not having Daytona USA in there is criminal. Actually in terms of just being favorites I'd put Out Run 2 in the list over the first game, too.

VF4 deserves a spot for sure, it seems to be more or less the best VF all things considered (particularly VF4: EVO). Sonic Adventure may've had big impact at release but it's far from the best Sonic game; like OP said Sonic 2 or Sonic 3 & Knuckles beat it in that regard. I don't see how they leave of Phantasy Star Online or Phantasy Star 4 for that matter, same with Skies of Arcadia.

Guess this is kind of the issue with doing a list of best SEGA games; their output has been by far the most varied of any company in the industry and a lot of it is pretty top-quality stuff and very fun to play. But they all just have such different styles, it's hard to objectively say among some of them which are better or worst because it would always come down to personal taste.



The whole thing about SEGA's quality dropping after going 3rd-party is just an edgy meme. Now, Sonic's quality suffered after going 3rd-party (even then there's been moments of greatness like with Colors, Generations, All Stars Racing Transformed and more recently Sonic Mania), but some of SEGA's most creative and even some of their best games came out after going 3rd-party when you look at the totality of their releases.

6th-gen in particular, their 3rd-party output was very strong. VF4, Gunvalkyrie, Shinobi/Nightshade, Super Monkey Ball...and that carried on in a lot of 7th-gen games too like VF5, MadWorld, Generations etc. I think the unevenness of Sonic output makes a lot of people picture SEGA's output as a whole being weaker than it really is, since for those people the only thing they know SEGA for is Sonic.
Yakuza 0 have u not played all of them?
 
1. Sonic 2
2. SOR2
3. Panzer Dragoon
4. Virtua Fighter 2
5. Daytona Racing
6. Shadow Dancer
7. Phantasy Star
8. Kenseiden
9. Shining Force 2
10. Outrun

sorry, kids. It's not like Yakuza isn't any good, it's just that Sega post-Saturn is not match for 16-bits and arcade Sega
 
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