This is how Sega should bring its classics into a new era

As we know, Sega announced a few years ago that they intend to once again become the Japanese giant that so many of us grew up with. Since then, we have seen them deliver sky-high quality games at a rapid pace, while the company's attitude is slowly beginning to return.

I grew up with a mixture of fear and respect for Sega in middle and high school, as they delivered far cooler games than I had for the NES and later the Super Nintendo. Ironically, it was only with Dreamcast that I really got the chance to immerse myself in Sega's crazy ideas, unique games, and willingness to always go their own way, all marinated in a feeling of Japanese arcades with gameplay at the forefront.

The games weren't always the biggest, best, or most beautiful... but they were the most original and created memories for life. Since then, I've loved Sega and tried to catch up on their history, collecting mainly Mega Drive games. As we know, they've already released the Shinobi comeback Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, and they got it just right.

But will they do it again next time? I don't know, but here's how I hope Sega will tackle some of my favourite series that are confirmed to be getting a new lease on life.

Crazy Taxi

This is one of Sega's biggest successes ever and it brought in huge sums of money in arcades. The Dreamcast game also sold very well, and it felt obvious that it would be one of the titles to be brought back to life. The thing is, Crazy Taxi was basically a very simple arcade game. You could accelerate and brake, perform super starts, and drift, and that was about it. In the sequels, Sega tried to add more gameplay refinements, which ruined the formula more than it added to it (I still shudder at the jumping taxis).

It's precisely this brilliant loop that Sega needs to find its way back to. There is no need for more gameplay refinements, but fewer if anything. However, the world can advantageously be large, open, and alive. There, you have to fight for customers with other drivers, and you can imagine that it's important to be first on the scene for important clients. To keep the race going, bonus items are needed, perhaps the opportunity to deliver food and surprises of various kinds. Then you have to be able to get something for driving with cash, such as the opportunity to buy new vehicles, unique graphic decorations, new drivers, who can get different skins, and so on, so that you are constantly encouraged to play more and better. I also think Sega has a delightful title that can be enjoyed in portions, perfectly suited to today's gamers who may have 15-30 minutes to spend on a game on a weekday evening.

Ecco the Dolphin

There were several things that made Ecco unique at the time, not least the fact that it was set entirely underwater, had a realistic dolphin in the lead role, and was fairly free of hectic action. All of this is something that Sega should build on. In short, make Ecco look like a dolphin - albeit in three dimensions now, of course - let puzzles and mystery permeate the atmosphere, and include a really interesting ocean for a good story.

We should be able to swim around freely in all directions, communicate with other animals, and have a speed that, at its fastest moments, brings to mind flight games. Of course, there must also be dangerous animals, perhaps with the occasional escape scene. This requires a living seabed with ancient mysteries to tackle, and there must also be traces of humanity's destruction beneath the surface.

Ecco the Dolphin for Mega Drive was stunning, and we obviously need impressive graphics here too, with bioluminescent caves, deep ravines, and colourful coral cities pulsating in time with the ocean currents. All while the light refracts realistically through the water's surface, lending an almost spiritual tone. Allowing co-op would also be a good idea, so that two people can swim through this mighty adventure together.

Golden Axe

This was a brutal arcade beat 'em up with market-leading graphics at the time, and it's obviously something fans want a direct sequel to. But a simple beat 'em up designed in this way would have been prohibitively expensive to develop. The genre doesn't allow for particularly long games, and it's not overly popular anymore either.

What Sega should do instead is take a look at Castle Crashers in particular, but also Towerborne, and make a slightly more role-playing-inspired beat 'em up. That said, I don't think they should go for a cartoonish style; many games in the genre today feel a bit too Flash-designed, which often comes across as cheap. I think that authentic 80s-inspired rawness from Golden Axe comes across best with a more lavish look, which can be slightly zoomed out so that four people can play at the same time, while also saving a little money on the graphics (whether you can see the pores on the skin or not doesn't matter if you move the camera back). Then it's just a matter of throwing in fantasy monsters to slay, fun mounts, and spectacular bosses, and continuously expanding with DLC.

Add to that the ability to design your warrior and have armour and other items that are actually visible while you play, and we have a spiritual successor to both Golden Axe and Castle Crashers that is sure to become an instant modern classic.

Jet Set Radio

This one is a little trickier, but perhaps not for the reason you think. Jet Set Radio was very much ahead of its time in so many ways, not least the ability to create your own tags and even download others'. Added to this was a delightfully stressful gameplay loop and perhaps the most distinctive soundtrack in gaming history (I still have several songs on my playlist). But it wasn't all peace and joy. The game controls were simply not what they should have been. This was before Halo, and the concept of controlling the camera with the right analogue stick was not standard, and was made even more difficult by the fact that the Dreamcast didn't have one.

What is needed in the case of Jet Set Radio is in many ways much simpler than for other Sega games. Namely, it needs a proper remake. Everything that makes for a really good game is already there, except for the controls. It's simply time for cel-shading 2.0 (Jet Set Radio is usually credited with making this popular) and then delivering a heavily updated version of the original, perhaps complemented with a new character and a few levels, adding a couple of newly written songs from Hideki Naganuma, and then Sega will have a full house to spoil us with.

Panzer Dragoon

One of my all-time favourite games is Panzer Dragoon Orta. I absolutely loved the epic action sequences, the obscenely beautiful graphics, all the lovely spiritual mumbo jumbo and the Japanese fantasy premise. And there are few things I dream of more than reliving something like that today.

But... I hope Sega doesn't. It would be fun, but it would also be the death of Panzer Dragoon. The series has never sold well before and wouldn't do so today either. Rail shooters are simply too niche. And I don't think we should be able to fly freely or anything like that either. Instead, the recipe is to take a cue from the spin-off Panzer Dragoon Saga. Japanese role-playing games are hotter today than they have been in 25 years, perhaps even hotter than ever before, and they have a completely delightful fantasy world with lots of history at their disposal, filled with dragons and brutality. This is the beginning of something big, so make a lavish and stylish role-playing game in the traditional Japanese style, preferably with expertise from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. Great Success!

Streets of Rage

I was a little surprised when Sega announced that Streets of Rage was among the games that would be given new life. The fact is that a new Streets of Rage was released as recently as 2020 from Lizardcube (who recently made Shinobi: Art of Vengeance). But... maybe that's also a clue as to what Sega has in mind? Streets of Rage 4 was a slightly cheaper project, and since they want to revive the series, I interpret it as meaning that they want to do something new with the brand.

Beating people up together with others is always fun, and perhaps this Sega classic could have the same setup as the Yakuza series had before Ichiban Kasuga twisted it into a turn-based adventure. Although I prefer the latter, I know that many people miss the action part, and having a large world to explore with a well-written story and people to beat up on classic Yakuza premises together with Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding would have been golden. Of course, with co-op support so that you and at least one other person (but preferably three) can visit the same city and fight your way through.