At Sony’s E3 2015, a bombshell was dropped with the announcement of Shenmue 3’s Kickstarter campaign, a sequel to the cult-hit Shenmue I and II released in 1999 and 2001 on Sega’s Dreamcast console. Now, Sega investigating an HD remaster of the first two titles.
“Of course we would love to release these tomorrow. Sadly, it’s not as simple as porting the games to the current platforms, as we would need to ensure that any HD remaster lived up to the quality of the original titles. And with games as immersive as Shenmue 1 and 2 there are further complications from licensed products that were included in the original games. That said, we’d love to do it and are currently investigating how to make it a reality.” – Dan Sheridan, Sega Community Manager
The licensed products in question include Coca Cola vending machines, Timex watches, and other licenses.
Shenmue has been one of my favourite games, and certainly one of the most immersive games at that time. Although games have come a long way since then, Shenmue set a new precedent on what could be achievable, and it took developers quite a while to reach the depth and breadth of Shenmue in their titles. That said, I am not fully confident that an HD re-release will meet current-gen gameplay standards, but will certainly appease the fans and serve as a refresher should Shenmue 3 arrive to shelves soon.
Source: Polygon
