Is this truly a classic, or a game meant to stay in the past? Check out my review of the Dreamcast hit, Shenmue.
Shenmue is a mash up of different types of genre's that come together to create something unique and special. As one of the most expensive games to be made, it captivated those who played it, including me. In my opinion, it truly is a classic.
The plot for Shenmue starts out basic enough. Your Father is killed by a man named Lan Di, and Ryo Hazuki decides to track him down and avenge his father's death. Finding Lan Di won't be easy, and you'll need some information. Make that a LOT of information. The game allows you to interact with almost every person you come across, so find info shouldn't be too hard, but it will take a while. Most people in the game will try to help you out, while others may not have a clue, but they all speak and have something to say.
Gameplay consists of lots of traversing areas and asking the people for help, fighting when you have no choice but to, and plenty of side quests and mini games to play while you wait for the next chain of events to occur. Say for instance a man might know something to help you, but he might want something in return or ask you to wait and meet him somewhere later. So in the mean time, you can go to the arcade, do odd jobs for money, or ask more people for help. This may sound kinda boring and unoriginal, but at the time of it's release, Shenmue had more content than many games out there.
The fighting when it happened was a lot of fun too, and this may be because the Virtua fighter team developed the game. After completing Shenmue, you even get a cool little mode where you can take on 100 men in an all out battle, which was always a lot of fun.
Another great aspect of the game was just it's atmosphere. You feel like you're in a living breathing city, and the great sound effects and music helped at to the immersion.
Shenmue is a great game, and the game that truly showed off what the Dreamcast could do. 4.5/5
+ Great Game Now, Truly Amazing when it first released
+ Incredible Atmosphere, Soundtrack, and Visuals
+ Solid Fighting Engine and Story
- Lots of Waiting at times for the next event to occur
- More Adventuring then Action for Some
This Should Be: An Xbox Live Arcade game!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
