Okay, ready? [Ben and Peter
in harmony] SEGA. Nailed it. Yes, it’s time. We’ve ranked Sony franchises.
We’ve ranked Nintendo franchises. We’ve even ranked the franchises of a company that
doesn’t have any franchises. Sega is the next logical step, and it’s a fascinating one,
spanning just about every era of gaming history. That’s probably something we should address up
front, as we do mean “every era.” Moreso than any of the other companies we’ve ranked so far, Sega
had a massive arcade presence. Any retrospective that does not focus on the astronomical influence
it had during that era is bound to be incomplete. We admit that. Unfortunately, due to the
lack of contemporary reviews of arcade games, we can’t really rank them by the same metrics.
Many of those games did get home ports, and we will discuss those in turn, but they were almost
never as important or beloved as the originals. Of course, Sega wasn’t just an arcade developer,
so there is plenty to cover here, from their years in the console market to their current role as a
third-party developer and publisher. And we are even covering franchises that Sega has acquired
over the years, most notably those made by Atlus. After all, those franchises are some of the
reasons that Sega is still relevant today. Otherwise, the rules are simple: We are ranking
every Sega franchise from worst to best, based on average critical reception. In most cases, review
averages come from Metacritic. In a few cases, we’ve had to look back at GameRankings. And
in even fewer but far-more-unfortunate cases, we had to look at Gamefaqs. Don’t worry; we
washed our hands and our eyes afterwards. Also, after much deliberation, we decided not
to include the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games…games, as we’ve already covered
them in our Nintendo list, and there isn’t much point in retreading the same ground.
As usual, we will not be counting mobile games, because there are far too many of them and I’m
not allowed to use profanity in these lists. Also as usual, no licensed sports games, because
we’re already struggling to find enough to say about the sports games that aren’t licensed.
Once again we are only considering series with three or more entries. If there are only two
games, it’s not a franchise; it’s a game and a sequel. Tattoo that on your chest so you don’t
forget it. And, finally, we are only considering the first home release of each game. No later
ports, no enhanced editions, no collections. With all of that out of the way
and each of you cracking your knuckles (ha ha) in anticipation of complaining
in the comments about where Sonic ended up, let’s begin.
Let’s rank ‘em. I’m Benand I’m Peter from TripleJump, and this is
Every Sega Franchise Ranked From Worst to Best. Ben 59-45
Peter 44-30 Ben 29-22
Peter 21-14 Ben 13-8
Peter 7-1 #59:Devil Children – 39.39% I promise we didn’t choose to include
Atlusfranchises on this list just so we could pick on them. We quite like a lot
of Atlus games. Devil Children, however, was not received well by critics and is far from
the most memorable Shin MegamiTenseisubseries. The name “Devil Children” refers to the
series’protagonists, who are half-child, half-demon. So, they’re normal kids then, eh?!
Further supporting the youthward focus of the series was its similarity to Pokémon,
both in terms of visual presentation and its release strategy, with multiple
games being released at once. Unlike Pokémon, the companion games had unique stories,
but that was small comfort to critics, as it just meant they had to endure
more games that they didn’t enjoy. Perhaps Devil Children is indeed a
great series for kids. We wouldn’t know; only two of the games came to the West, retitled
DemiKids: Light Version and DemiKids: Dark Version. They actually performed the best with
critics, earning 62.4% and 65.7% respectively. At the bottom of the list is Devil Children 2 -
Koori no Sho with 22%, and no other game in the series broke the 40% barrier. I hope kids enjoyed
these games, because adults certainly didn’t. #58: Last Bible – 46.36% Okay, once again, we didn’t include
Atlusfranchises on this list just so we could pick on them. We’re not the ones who reviewed
these games. We can’t even read most of them! Like Devil Children, Last Bible is a series aimed
at kids, because if we know anything about kids it’s that they love their Bibles! Also like
that series, the hundreds of demons in the main Shin MegamiTensei games were scaled back
to remove the gorier and sexual ones. Which leaves about five or six, I think.
The first game, MegamiTenseiGaiden: Last Bible, was the only one to come west,
doing so on the Game Boy Color as Revelations: The Demon Slayer. Fans will knowthat this wasn’t
the only time a Shin MegamiTensei subseries came to the west under the Revelations banner…
Last Bible reviewed better than Devil Children, but slightly lower than stubbing your toe. The
first game was the high-water mark with 59.8%, but its immediate sequel
was its low point with 35%. Intriguingly, MegamiTenseiGaiden: Last Bible
Special was developed and published by Sega. It’s interesting to see that Sega was working
so closely with Atlus as far back as 1995. #57: Sonic Boom – 47% I don’t want to single out Sonic as being the only
example of a studio mishandling its own mascot, but usually those mishandlings come early in a
franchise’s life, when companies are still working out what its characters should and should not be
doing. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, however, came out in 2014, proving that Sega still wasn’t sure
what to do with Sonic 23 years after his debut. Rise of Lyric was lambasted by critics, and
understandably so. IGN tried to be charitable by saying “Rise of Lyric isn’t fundamentally
broken,” which would be the faintest possible praise even if it were true.It earned only 32% on
Metacritic, and the game’s reception tarnished the Sonic Boom TV series, which was actuallyalright.
Shattered Crystal followed, and they got the first four letters right, at least. It scored better
with 47%, but some critics felt that it was even worse than its appalling predecessor. Fire &
Icewas surprisingly competent, and it scored the highest with 62%, but the fact that it took three
games to reach “competence”probably says it all. #56: Altered Beast – 54.56% By the time the Mega Drive released in 1989,
Sega had more than 100 arcade games it could have ported for a pack-in title. In fact, the
system launched alongside Ghouls ‘N Ghosts, Space Harrier II, and The Revenge of Shinobi, any of
which would have made for appealing pack-ins. And yet Mega Drive early adopters got Altered Beast,
and at least briefly wondered if they should have asked father christmasfor an NES instead.
The original arcade game has its place in history – its place being in this very sentence and
nowhere else – but the Mega Drive port is far from required playing. It earned 50.2% on GameRankings,
and we feel even that is a bit generous. The highlight of the series, in terms of
critical reception, is the Game Boy Advance game, Guardian of the Realms. This scored 63%,
likely because it didn’t come with the hardware and therefore critics didn’t have to own it.
In 2005, likely to punish Sony for driving them out of the console market, Sega released Altered
Beast for the PS2. This game removed everything that made the first game even remotely interesting
and replaced it with as generic an experience as possible. Critics hated it even more than
they did the original, so well done, there. #55: The Typing of the Dead – 57.6% Now here is a controversial ranking. It’s so
controversial, in fact, that not a single person here at TripleJump Towers agrees with it. Rules
are rules, though, and while there is somebody who could probably sort this out, I don’t have
time for a 40-minute phone call right now. The Typing of the Dead is a The House of the
Deadspinoff, with firing rate and accuracy dependent upon the player’s ability to type words
and phrases. Critics and fans loved its quirky, irreverent spin on edutainment, and it still
stands as one of Sega’s most playful experiments. It scored a well-deserved 83% on Metacritic.
2013 saw the release of The Typing of the Dead: Overkill, which combined elements of The House of
the Dead: Overkill with quick brown foxes jumping over the lazy dog. Critics gave it 71%.
So why is the series ranked so low? Well, that’s due to The Typing of the Dead 2. We’re
stuck with the GameFaqs reviews for that one, which are shockingly low: 18.8%. If you don’t
like the placement of The Typing of the Dead on this list, submit your own review on GameFaqs,
so we can bump it up a few places when we revisit this topic, which will certainly happen after
we rank everything else that has ever existed. #54:Golden Axe – 58% The Golden Axe arcade gamewas great, especially
for 1989. Its same-year port to the Mega Drive even added content, which you’d think would
make it a must-have. Critics, however, felt that the port only managed to reveal
how shallow it was, and they even stopped laughing at the name Gilius Thunderhead.
Golden Axe II and Golden Axe III both slipped even further in the eyes of
reviewers, but it was Beast Rider, 2008’s attempt at resurrecting the series, that
really sinks the average. Probably because they tried to resurrect the series by cutting off its
head and stuffing its mouth with garlic.Critics gave it 44.5%, with the consensus being
something along the lines of, “Please, tell us what we need to do as a species in
order to prevent you from doing this again.” Was the game truly that bad? Yes. Even
so, some outlets gave it glowing reviews, such as Play Magazine’s notorious 9 out
of 10, which said: “Buy two for yourself and one for everyone you know as Christmas
presents, whether they have a console or not, to assure we get another.” That’s grammatically
corrupt, and maybe not only grammatically. #53: Alex Kidd – 60.75% Like Altered Beast’s role as the Mega Drive’s
pack-in title, Alex Kidd’s role as Sega’s mascot basically amounted to keeping the
seat warm until Sonic showed up. That’s not to say his games are terrible.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World, his first game, which was built into several editions of the
Master System, earned 74.4%, with his final game, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, being close behind
at 73%. Critics tended to enjoy his games well enough, as they were decent early platformers.
His lowest-scoring game is actually his sole outing outside of the Master System: Alex
Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, with 47.6%. Sega had hopes that Alex Kidd would do for the
Master System what Mario was doing for the NES, but even fans of the series would have
to admit that he was inferior to both his direct competition and to his own successor. He
starred in five games in as many years – we aren’t counting the cycling-themed spinoff, and he should
feel damned grateful for that – but since 1990, he’s been relegated to cameos and a single
remake. There’s no reason he can’t have a latter-day resurgence, but we also can’t imagine
too many people are holding their breath. #52: Space Harrier – 62.66% Space Harrier was the celebrated sequel to
Space Harry, and the predecessor to Space Harriest. I’m taking the mick, of course; that
was a joke based on a progression from adjective to comparative to superlative, and I hope
you enjoyed it. Really, I have no idea what to make of the title, as it implies the
interstellar journey of something like this. Nevertheless, nice game! Space Harrier was
a technological showcase in the arcade, with a hydraulic motion simulator that ensured
nobody went home with the contents of their stomach. Designer Yu Suzuki even created
an aim-assist feature for the game, which was never advertised but which made Space Harrier
feel more fair than other 3D shooters of the era. It was less impressive on consoles, but that
was to be expected. The first port, to Sega’s own Master System, scored a mediocre 66.4%. Two
sequels followed, both in 1988. Space Harrier II scored only 54.37%, but Space Harrier 3-D fared
a bit better than the original, with 67.2%. As its title suggests, the game was in actual
3D and required Sega’s 3D Glasses to play. What if you didn’t have those? That’s okay! You
could unlock a standard version of the game by first…beating it in 3D. Good luck doing
that while your screen looks like this. #51: Phantasy Star Universe – 65.56% Phantasy Star Universe is a spinoff series of
Phantasy Star Online, with the developers trying to place more of an emphasis on the offline
experience. That’s a good impulse. I just wish they’d also had the impulse to make a better
game. Reviewers saw the experience as mediocre, with most of the criticism going towards its
presentation – which was at home on the PS2 version but not on the Xbox 360 or PC – as well
as its repetitive gameplay and environments. Its two sequels – Phantasy Star Portable and
Phantasy Star Portable 2 – were better received, but not by much. All three games scored
between 63.67% and 69%, meaning that even when this subseries was at its best, it was
overshadowed by better action RPGs on the market. Despite the subseries’ willingness to
provide robust single-player campaigns, online features were significant enough that large
chunks of the games are no longer playable. That obviously didn’t affect reviews at the time
– and therefore does not affect its placement on this list – but it is a reminder of how
ephemeral games can be, with even big titles slipping through our grasp if we aren’t careful.
Wow, sorry. I didn’t mean to bring the mood down until we got to the Sonic
the Hedgehog entry. Moving on. #50: Zaxxon– 66.2% Released in Japanese arcades at the tail end
of 1981 and in the west the following year, Zaxxon was an impressive game. The isometric
graphics, the smooth scrolling, the obstacles that needed to be avoided at different heights…it
was ahead of its time, and a huge success. Sega even invested $150,000 into television advertswith
CGI that looked worse than the actual game did. The Atari 2600 port wasless impressive, but
it wasn’t terrible. As a score-attack game, fans could do much worse. In fact, the Zaxxon
series would indeed allow them to do much worse! Zaxxon 3-D for the Master System is the
critical low point, earning only 60%, perhaps due to the fact that the game is far
blander and less engaging than the original. Zaxxon’sMotherbase 2000 for the 32X wasn’t
far behind – or ahead, I suppose – with 60.6%. It was only released as a Zaxxon game in the
United States – it was Motherbase in Europe and Parasquad in Japan – but we’re counting it
on the grounds that it at least looks more like Zaxxon than Zaxxon 3-D did. I mean, it looks
like crap, yes, but it still looks like Zaxxon. #49: After Burner – 67.3% Whatever Sega may have become, it’s impossible
to deny the importance and brilliance of their arcade years. Case in point, After Burner, which
still looks great and was positively mind-blowing in 1987. It was urgently addictive and stood
out among other games at the time which simply couldn’t compete with the level of pure
excitement that it offered. In Japan and the UK, it was the top-grossing arcade game of the year,
and it hit the top five in the U.S. Impressive! Less impressive was its lone home port
for the Master System, which scored 61.4%. Unlike most of the franchises on this list
that originated in arcades, the After Burner series continued to climb higher in critical
reception after shifting to consoles. In fact, the highest-rated game in the series is After
Burner: Black Falcon for the PSP, with 73%. Critics appreciated that each of the
three pilots had their own stories, which was a good way of making the
game feel like it offered more value. Not a bad way to end things. In fact,
we’re not sure why it ended at all. Digital distribution services seem like a
perfect home for After Burner in bite-sized downloadable form. Unless that happens, though,
we’re just glad the series went out on a high. #48: DokiDoki Penguin Land – 67.87% 2005’s March of the Penguins made clear to the
world just how dangerous it is for penguins to procreate and protect their young. The world
must not have been paying attention in 1985, then, when Sega made the same thing clear with
DokiDoki Penguin Land. This puzzle platformer for the SG-1000 involved rolling an egg towards
the goal, and it had an on-screen indicator that showed you how and where your egg could
fall safely. That’s a neat little feature. The game received a sequel in the form
of Penguin Land on the Master System, which upped both the challenge and variety.
And then, released only because I happened to pronounce too many words in this
entry correctly, we got Ikasuze! Koi no DokiDoki Penguin Land MD for the Mega Drive.
It was pretty similar to the previous games in a mechanical sense, no doubt intended
to artistically reflect the ongoing, cyclical struggles of real-life flightless
aquatic birds. Or maybe it’s just because there’s only so much you can do with a penguin
rolling an egg around. We’ll never know for sure. #47: Tempo – 68.33% The “first-ever video game” is a label that
keeps shifting backwards as we learn more about the history of computing. For years, it was
thought that 1962’s Spacewar! held the title. Then 1958’sTennis for Two held the title. Now, it seems
that 1952’sOXOmight be the earliest. Regardless of what the first-ever video game actually was, that
moment represented a turning point, as the world was – consciously or not – counting down the
days until someone made a platformer starring a rapping grasshopper. Sega was that someone,
and 1995 was the blessed year of its birth. Tempo, which we’d love to hold accountable for
the failure of the 32X and the downfall of Sega as a whole, was basically the dream you’d
have after drinking expired cough syrup. It earned 68%, which puts it just a bit
ahead of its Game Gear sequel, Tempo Jr., at 63.6%. Tempo Jr. is a bit easier than its
predecessor and also quite a bit less impressive, reusing many of the same elements of the first
game. On the bright side, it represents the only time we in Europe ever had to put up with Tempo.
The series high was Super Tempowith 73.4%. This one elevated the animation quality to new levels,
looking quite lovely to be honest, but it never left Japan. Maybe one day we’ll see Tempo again.
I mean, I hope and pray that we don’t, but maybe. #46: Hang-On – 68.63% Speed has always been a part of Sega’s DNA,
even before ol’ needlemouse sped onto the scene, into our hearts, and then kept going
straight through mediocrity. Hang-On, the company’s 1985 hit motorcycle game is just one
example of that. The game dominated arcades and was among the first to utilize motion controls,
with certain versions of the cabinet featuring a motorcycle that players could tilt in
order to control the action on screen. Hang-On is also an example of why a list
such as this one is bound to be misleading; Sega was an arcade juggernaut, but so many of
its most popular, famous, and influential games must be judged by inferior home ports. Hang-On
was never going to bring the tactile thrill of the arcade game into the home, nor would it
as effectively trick you into thinking that you might be able to pilot a real motorcycle
for more than about 20 seconds before dying. The lowest-reviewed title was the Master
System port of the first arcade game, with only 64%. Hang-On II for the SG-1000
actually performed the best with critics, with an average of 72.6%. Not bad, but when this
substantial step down from the arcade experience represents the absolute peak of Hang-On’s
critical standing, you know something is amiss. #45: MegamiTensei– 68.74% Right, we know that this is a placement
nobody will agree with, including the critics who gave MegamiTensei this
placement in the first place. Those who rated the early games low will think the average
is far too high, and those who rated the more recent games favorably will think the average
is far too low. And, hey, they’re both right. MegamiTensei has always been an interesting
series, full of fascinating philosophies and ethical dilemmas, but the execution hasn’t
always been as strong. Early games were obtuse and punishing beyond reason, with difficulty
resulting from randomization rather than challenge. As the series has evolved it’s also
gotten better, which in turn has exposed it to a wider, more appreciative audience that is more
willing to engage with its strange concepts, brutal combat, and demons made of wilsons.
The games nearly always have individual continuities, but certaincharacters and themes
do recur, and there is usually a focus on the automation of demon summoning, which gets out
of hand just as quickly as you expect it would. The games tend also to alter the outcomes
depending on the player’s choices. Of course, the games are about apocalypses so there’s rarely
a truly “good” ending, but you do get to see how your own decisions influence the precise flavor
of mankind’s downfall. That’s…nice?What can I say; they’re dark games. If you prefer smiling
to frowning, maybe stick with Persona. #44: Columns – 68.8% What do you get when you combine Tetris
with… Actually, let me start again: What do you get when you remove just about
everything from Tetris? Why, you get Columns, the puzzle game that inspired countless players
to say, “Maybe I don’t like puzzle games.” We’re being harsh, certainly, but there’s so
little to say about Columns that it’s hard not to focus on…well…how little there is to say about
Columns. The game presents you with endless stacks of gems, and it’s your job to not fall asleep. The
fact that Columns involves color matching – which Tetris did not – helped the Game Gear port
to show off the main advantage of that system over the Game Boy. And the fact that Columns
wasn’t very fun helped the Game Boy to show off its main advantage over the Game Gear.
The first home console version – for the Mega Drive –earned a lukewarm rating of 56.3%, with
every other sequel occupying the space between Revenge of Columns at 51.5% and HanagumiTaisen
Columns 2 at 76.6%. There is one strange exception, however: Columns GB: Tezuka Osamu
Characters, for the Game Boy Color, with 81%. It’s…well, Columns, only this time characters
designed by Tezuka Osamu stare directly into your soul while you play it. Evidently
that’s worth a few points on its own. #43: Super Monkey Ball – 69.59% Debuting in 2001 as an arcade game with a
joystick you probably didn’t want anyone to catch you using, Super Monkey Ball
quickly made its way to consoles, serving as a launch game for Nintendo’s
GameCube. It also represented the first time anyone had put the words Super,
Monkey, and Ball together in that order. The game was…okay, look, I could try to find
something profound to say about Super Monkey Ball, or we can both just agree that it’s fun
to roll monkeys around, Labyrinth-style, gobbling up bananas along the way. It
immediately found a fanbase because…come on, look at it! What more could you possibly want?!
It also had an exceptionally high skill ceiling, granting it a more enduring appeal than
Sega probably expected. Yes, I said appeal. And thattechnically qualifies as a pun!
That game and its immediate sequel earned 87% on Metacritic, which made history again as the
highest-rated debut for any fictional simian encased in a translucent sphere. Sadly, those
games would remain the high points of the series. Fans stuck around, but reviewers grew tired
of knocking their Monkey Balls around. Super Monkey Ball Adventure only hit 53%, which
might be expected due to its shift in gameplay, but the more-traditional Super Monkey
Ball 3D is not far behind with 55%. #42: Majin Tensei– 70.33% If you’ve played the Devil Survivor games,
you might wonder why Shin MegamiTensei didn’t dip into the tactics well more
often. Both of them are excellent, and the wide range of monsters and abilities lend
themselves well to the genre. In truth, however, those games were preceded by an entire trilogy
of tactics games that remain exclusive to Japan. Majin Tensei for the Super Famicom
earned a following for its dark tone, excellent in-battle graphics, and stellar
soundtrack. So, it was a MegamiTensei game, basically. Its sequel, Spiral Nemesis, improved
the narrative and characterization, earning it a higher average: 73.6% as compared to 70.6%.
The third game was Ronde, which was released for the Saturn and stars characters called
Asuka, Satoshi, Keita, Sakurako, and Charlie. No points for guessing which of those I
pronounced correctly. Evidently there was backlash to an early demo of the game that was so
severe, it caused massive numbers of preorders to be cancelled, makingAtlus reluctant to continue
producing games of this type. I say “evidently” because I’ve found a lot of claims in English,
but no English-language sources to back it up. Regardless, the game has a negative legacy and
certainly does look like a fan game that got out of hand. It scored 66.8%, which is far from
terrible, but it drags the average right down. #41: Shinobi – 70.35% While you were partying, I studied the blade. And
by that I mean I played Shinobi. What? Don’t make that face at me. The games are really hard. I
have to assume I’m a fully qualified ninja now. Shinobi is a beloved series – in many ways Sega’s
version of NES hit Ninja Gaiden – but it seems that critics never really got on with it. Exactly
one game in the series scored higher than 80% – it was Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, for
the record – while five of them scored below 70%. The lowest-scoring game was The Revenge of
Shinobi for the Game Boy Advance with 51%, but The Cyber Shinobi with 52.2% tried
really hard to claim that title for itself. Perhaps reviewers were turned off by the
difficulty. Perhaps they were comparing them unfavorably to the arcade games. Perhaps
real-life ninjas drove over their dogs and didn’t even have the courtesy to pull over
and apologize. It’s impossible to know. But I will say that the games are worth taking
the time to discover. They’re not flawless, but spend enough time perfecting the levels and
there are few games more rewarding to master. #40: Power Instinct / GōketsujiIchizoku– 70.4% Couldn’t have just called this one “Power
Instinct,” could you, script writer? You just had to stick GōketsujiIchizoku in there? I suppose
that’s fair, actually; only two of the games we’re counting were localized as “Power Instinct,”
with the other two remaining in Japan with their Japanese names. But I’ve got my eye on you.
Power Instinct started life in arcades when Atlus asked itself a question: What if someone
made a fighting game so unmemorable, people would forget about it while they were still
playing? The mediocre game was ported to the Mega Drive in Japan and to the SNES in the West.
The game’s sequel received a port to the PlayStation, so that an even wider audience could
ignore it. It did have a pretty great soundtrack, though. Speaking of music, Groove on Fight:
GōketsujiIchizoku 3 has the word “groove” in the title. No, I’m not reaching for things
to say about this series; why would you think that? It features tag-team battles, which are
genuinely well executed, and the animations look great. Finally, there’s Shin GouketsujiIchizoku:
Toukon: Matrimeleefor the Neo Geo and, once again, it’s not bad but isn’t memorable for
any reason. Such is the series overall. #39: Virtual-On – 70.46% Let me tell you everything I know about the
Virtual-On series. [a beat] Now that that’s out of the way, Virtual-On appears to be a
series in which giant robots beat seven shades of [Billy Ray Cyrus noise] out of each other.
And if that sounds like I’m being dismissive, I assure you that I mean it as a great compliment.
Western audiences have not gotten official releases of most Virtual-On media, but it has
a sturdy fanbase, and the games that have come westward have been well received. Critics and
fans were enamored by the selection of robots and the surprising depth of the combat, especially
when compared to traditional robot fighting games. The lowest-rated game in the series is Cyber
Troopers Virtual-On: Marz for the PlayStation 2, with 54%, while the highest-rated is DennouSenki
Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram M.S.B.S. Ver. 5.2, with 79.88%. At least, it had better be. If I
find out that the writer of this script made me say that entire title for no reason, I will look
for him, I will find him, and I will kill him. Finally, there was DennouSenki Virtual-On x
ToaruMajutsu no Index: ToaruMajutsu no Virtual-On which…which…hang on, there’s nothing else written
here. He did just make me read that for no reason. Let me just make a quick note
to myself…kill Philip. Right. #38: Sonic the Hedgehog – 71.13% How the Mighty the Armadillo have fallen. Believe
me, I take no pleasure in the fact that Sega’s mascot, its flagship franchise, and its most
significant contribution to popular culture is this far down the list. It’s embarrassing, and far
from wanting to kick the series while it’s down, I sort of just want to hold it and promise
it that everything will be alright…even though I know full well that it won’t be.
Of the nearly 40 Sonic games we are considering in this list, only seven
have earned a score of 85% or higher. Those are Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the
Hedgehog 2 in their 16-bit incarnations, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic
Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Mania. To put things into perspective, more of his games
have scored below 60%. It would have done even worse if Sonic Boom hadn’t constituted a trilogy,
allowing us to chop it off like a gangrenous limb. Nearly all of his gameschart the critical distance
between the mid-60s and mid-70s, with the bottom of the barrel being relentlessly scraped by
Sonic Labyrinth with 44%. Sonic the Hedgehog 2006’s 46% offers stiff competition, however.
When we did our Nintendo list, we broke Mario’s 3D and 2D games into two different entries.
We did that, however, because each of those represents a distinct design philosophy on the
part of Nintendo. To cut a long explanation short, each type of Mario game really
is a type of Mario game. With Sonic, every installment, 2D or 3D, represents
an aimless flailing on the part of Sega, a company that seems to only wish to prove that
it never knew what made Sonic’s own games good to begin with. And so we’re combining all of them
into a single entry here. We might as well. If Sega can’t decide what Sonic is, we’re certainly
not going to try to sort it out ourselves. Who knows? Maybe Sonic Rangers will be good.
Then again, how many times have we said that now? #37: Fantasy Zone – 71.62% Fantasy Zone thrived in the arcade environment
due to its engaging visuals, great soundtrack, and simple gameplay. You pilot a sentient
space ship around and blast the processing out of everything you see. It’s adorable! It’s
also a fairly shallow experience, relying almost exclusively on its presentation to set it apart.
Still, though…itis a darned fine presentation. Its console ports never quite lived up to
the original, but for fans of the colorful cute-‘em-up, they did the job. And there were
enough fans to justify huge numbers of ports, including to Sega’s arch
nemesis Nintendo. Two of them. With the exception of a Pac-Man-like spinoff,
which we are not counting, the series remained rather similar throughout its sequels, which may
be why we haven’t gotten a new game since 1992. Even so, the scores vary quite a bit. Super
Fantasy Zone for the Mega Drive is rated the highest, at 76.67%, with the Game Gear
installment, The Adventures of Opa-Opa Jr., scoring only 62%. Possibly because its title made
reviewers think about a space ship having a child. #36: Wonder Boy – 71.63% Wonder Boy is not the easiest series to
keep straight. The original arcade game got a direct port in Japan for the SG-1000, but
the West knows it better as Adventure Island, which spawned a series of its own. In Brazil,
three Wonder Boy games were modified to star characters from the comic strip Monica’s
Gang, spawning yet another series. Things get more confusing from there; none of them are
called “Wonder Boy II,” but two games are called “Wonder Boy III.” It would be confusing enough if
the sixth release were called “Wonder Boy IV,” but instead it was “Monster World IV,” leaving fans
to search in vain for other “Monster World” games. And, believe it or not, we’ve only scratched
the surface of Wonder Boy’s tangled titles. The games themselvesvary in quality and
critical reception, which is understandable. Surprisingly, though, they also vary
quite a bit in their gameplay. They run the gamut from punishing platformers to light
metroidvanias to adventures with RPG elements. The lowest-rated game is Wonder Boy
III: Monster Lair, scoring only 26.67%. The highest-rated game is also called Wonder
Boy III, this time subtitled The Dragon’s Trap. It earned 86.7% from critics and
received a well-regarded remake in 2017. This actually spawned a remake of Monster World
IV and even a brand-new game in 2018, called Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, just to
keep up the tradition of confusing titles. #35: Thunder Force – 71.66% NOT THAT ONE. Seriously, that one has a far
worse Metacritic average. This Thunder Force also started off pretty bad, but got much better
quickly. The original game had nothing to do with Sega, and wasn’t even released for Sega platforms.
Details are sketchy, but its earliest release seems to have been for the Sharp X1. It’s…not
good, with a critical average of only 56%, but it was popular enough to spawn a series.
Thunder Force II was released for the Sharp X68000 in 1988, but was exposed to a wider audience
the following year with its Mega Drive port. The sequel retained the overhead perspective
of the first game but placed a greater emphasis on side-scrolling stages, which would
define the series from that point forward, offering simple but addictive bullet
hell action. Actually, the games aren’t too difficult. Maybe it’s more bullet heck.
Either way, the critical peak of the series came with Thunder Force IV, which was released in the
U.S. as Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar, possibly because Sega didn’t think the Thunder
Force name was strong enough in that market and definitely because they didn’t think
Americans knew how to spell “lightning.” #34: Sega Bass Fishing – 71.73% I, personally, believe Sega Bass Fishing should
rank much higher than this. Because you know I’m all about that bass, ‘bout that bass, no tarpon.
Anyway, now that the video editor has had his fun, I need to somehow fill time pretending I
have anything to say about a fishing game. Most of the Sega Bass Fishing titles
were originally released in arcades, which would be the last place I would ever
wish to play a fishing game, to be honest. The home ports were decently received, however,
with the first game’s Dreamcast port selling well enough to earn the Sega All Stars label. And, yes,
when your bass fishing game sells well enough to become an “all star,” you indeed know that your
time in the console business is nearing its end. The highest-rated game is Sega Marine Fishing
which, despite the name, is considered to be part of the same series. And which also, despite
the name, does not involve fishing for marines. It earned an average of 79%. The lowest-rated
is Sega Bass Fishing for the Wii. It earned only 59% and is the last of the Sega Bass Fishing
games to date. As you can tell, I’m heartbroken. #33: Monaco GP – 71.95% It’s far from Sega’s best-remembered or
most-beloved racing series, but Monaco GP…existed. Okay, that might not be entirely fair.
In 1979 this represented a perfectly good racer, albeit one in which you didn’t
actually race. You just drove endlessly until you eventually exploded. Which,
incidentally, is how I’d like to go out. The game got a home console release in 1983.
The series shifted into high gear with Super Monaco GP, which more closely resembles modern
racing games. It got two distinct console releases: a 16-bit version for the Mega Drive and
an 8-bit version for the Master System, which also made it to the Game Gear. The Mega Drive version
was far superior, in the sense that it was a game that reasonable human beings might want to play.
The series got one true final entry with Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco GP II, named for and endorsed
by the six-time winner of the real-life Monaco Grand Prix. This game has never been rereleased,
and it’s likely to stay that way asSenna passed away at age 34, only two years after the
game released. It’s also the highest-rated title in the series at 77.6%, serving as an
unintentional salute to a career cut short. #32: OutRun– 72.06% The original OutRun arcade game was developed
because Yu Suzuki had a single, brilliant idea: What if you didn’t have to be good at
racing games to look good playing them? OutRun’s flashy cars, glamorous locales,
and bikini babes all contributed to a sense that you weren’t a guy playing a video
game; you were a god on wheels. Also, no matter how poorly you played; you could keep
driving as long as your timer didn’t run down. OutRun was an immediate hit, and it is still
considered one of the most influential racing games ever. It even inspired an entire genre
of music. Yes, you can thank OutRun for both the existence of synthwave and for the fact
that all of its album covers look like this. The home ports, though, failed to
capture the feel of the arcade games, which was understandable. The series did
end up getting better as hardware improved, peaking with 86.6% for OutRunners on the Mega
Drive. Sega can take some solace in the fact that they didn’t develop its lowest-scoring game,
OutRun Europa. Instead, that was the work of Probe Software and worldwide poo merchants U.S. Gold.
You’d think this might have taught Sega an early lesson about greenlighting low-quality cash-in
games, but…like, you’ve heard of Sega, right? #31: Space Channel 5 – 72.07% Space Channel 5 was the Dreamcast
in a nutshell: strange, unique, and unforgettable…but with zero chance of
mainstream appeal. The game saw interstellar news reporter Ulalacovering the story of
an alien invasion while defeating baddies through the power of dance. It earned an overall
ranking of 84.22%. Its sequel, Space Channel 5: Part 2 earned an average of 78%, but fans
tend to agree that it’s the superior game. Space Channel 5 is weird enough in concept and
execution that it’s worth experiencing at least once. The series even featured Michael Jackson
as Space Michael, which will either inspire you to finally seek out the games or to keep avoiding
them, and either way I’m not going to judge you. Aside from some ports to the PS2 and Game
Boy Advance, though, this was about as far as Space Channel 5 went. At least it was, until
Space Channel 5 VR Kinda Funky News Flash! was released in 2020 for PS4 VR. Aaaaand…well, we
can’t unrelease it. Critics were disappointed by the brief VR experience, which suffered from
responsiveness issues and had you doing little more than standing still and moving your arms.
Not quite the rebirth fans were hoping for. #30: Persona Dancing – 73.67% We can all agree Persona 3, 4, and 5 were good
games. I think we can further agree that, whenever the characters weren’t dancing, we were asking
ourselves, “Why aren’t the characters dancing?” Thank the Lord for the Persona Dancing
games, which address that massive oversight. Persona 4: Dancing All Night earned 76%
on Metacritic, which is not bad for what could have been a disposable tie-in. It was
praised for its song selection, great remixes, and accessible rhythm mechanics. Critics were
split on its story mode, which even fans of the original game had to admit dragged a bit.
The Dancing treatment was eventually given to Persona 3 and 5 as well, though it didn’t fit
quite as well with those moodier games. At least one reviewer also bemoaned the lack of the ability
to play as a dancing shibainu in Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, making him the most
correct game critic on the entire internet. The Persona Dancing series is much
better than might have been expected, which is the case with most Persona spinoffs.
If you don’t already enjoy rhythm games, these won’t change your mind. But if
you’re dying to spend just a little more time with your favorite group of school-age
saviors, these are welcome ways to reconnect. #29: The House of the Dead – 74.06% The House of the Dead is rail-shooter
royalty. It debuted in 1996, the same year as Resident Evil. They both took very different
approaches to zombie hordes. In Resident Evil, you methodically explored a mansion in the hopes
of unravelling the mystery of what happened before you arrived. In The House of the Dead, you
showered everyone around you in burnt meat. It’s far from an intelligent experience,
but that makes sense; zombies eat brains, so there probably aren’t any left. What remains
is a gory shooting gallery with b-movie flair, and it’s no wonder that it caught on.
The series is at its best in arcades, where you get to hold a light gun and scream obscenities
in front of strangers and their families, but it made a successful jump to consoles. All
five games received average scores in the 70s. The lowest-rated game was the Saturn port of
the first, with 70.54%, and the highest-rated is the most recent: Overkill for the Wii with
78%.I’m not sure the time is right for a return of the series – it would probably be too easily
disregarded as “yet another zombie shooter” – but the time is right for a remastered collection
of all five games. So give me that, Sega. #28: Shining – 74.61% Sega’s sprawling RPG series is not the easiest to
untangle, and changes made in localization don’t help matters. Sometimes the story of one game
will lead into another with a separate subtitle and completely different gameplay. Characters
appear in different games under different names, and characters with the same names will actually
be entirely different characters. In addition, relationships between characters were
also changed during localization, and even these localizations would differ, with
some changes being reverted in later ports. Suffice it to say, we’re tossing all of the
Shining games into one basket. Whether it’s Shining Force, Shining Tears, Shining Blade, or
Shining the Holy Ark, which is what I used to call…erm…the point is, they’re all together in
this entry, which is sure to please everybody. That’s a joke, of course, but “pleasing everybody”
is more or less what the series did on the whole, often scoring between 75% and 85% on average.
The games were lauded for their art styles, soundtracks, and stories. Overall the series
tried many different approaches through the years, sometimes concurrently. Traditional
turn-based combat, tactical role playing, action RPG…basically, if you enjoy any aspect
of JRPGs, there’s likely to be something here that you will love. You just may have to
dig through a fair few games to find it. #27: Devil Summoner – 75% It’s nice to see Shin MegamiTensei higher
on this list, but I have to admit that I’m baffled by Atlus’s decision to group these four
games into their own Devil Summoner series. The first two games were released for the Saturn
and were exclusive to Japan, though the second one did eventually get a western port on the
3DS. They each follow demon-summing shenanigans in different cities with different sets of
characters, and there’s little narrative overlap. Then there were a pair of prequels for the
PS2. These take place far in the past and have little in the way of connective tissue
to the others either in terms of story or gameplay. They also introduced a new protagonist,
RaidouKuzunoha, and take place in a fictionalized version of 1930s Japan. Where, surprise
surprise, penis monsters are going bananas. The RaidouKuzunoha games were well received and
would have made sense as a series of their own, but as of now they remain an odd couple of
prequels to games that most fans haven’t had an opportunity to play. Here’s hoping Atlus
sees fit to remaster those two at least, as they’d make for a neat little duology. Or they
could be very generous and localize the first Devil Summoner game as well. We want to give you
money, Atlus. We’re just asking you to take it. #26: PuyoPuyo– 76.42% Columns may have been Sega’s
intended answer to Tetris, but PuyoPuyo is by far the stronger
contender to that throne. It’s even been granted the honor of officially crossing
over with Tetris not just once, but twice. The game requires players to match
multicolored blobs and…well, okay, usually that’s all that happens in these games,
but it’s both addictive and satisfying to watch the little jellybois explode in a massive shower
of jam. I mean, that’s probably actually their blood and flesh, but I think we’re all
better off the less we think about it. The series is known for its adorable visuals
and excellent soundtracks, both of which belie extremely deep potential for strategizing. The
games are easy to play, but difficult to master. That’s a phrase we hear often, but rarely about
games starring little slime creatures with googly eyes. From a critical perspective, the series
peaked at 86.2% for PuyoPuyo~n, forcing me to pronounce the clearly unpronounceable. Its low
point of 62.6% for NazoPuyo 2 isn’t all that low, either, and most of its games scored in the
75%-85% range. It’s not a series that has evolved much – excellent Tetris hybrids aside
– but it’s one we’re glad is sticking around. #25: Ecco the Dolphin – 76.43% Depending upon how one chooses to measure
intellect, dolphins can be considered nearly as intelligent as humans. Personally, I’d
say they’re more intelligent than humans, for the simple fact that I’ve never
seen one of them play Ecco the Dolphin. Admittedly, the first game was a hit in
its day and reviewers gave it high marks, but that’s probably because they were too
embarrassed to admit that they couldn’t get very far in a game about a time-traveling dolphin. It
was brutally frustrating and confusingly designed, though it certainly looks nice. It scored 75.7%.
Its sequel, The Tides of Time, decided that fighting aliens and traveling through history
weren’t enough for dolphin-kind, so it introduces dimension hopping, physical transformation,
and even flight. Yes, they fly now. With this progression of scientific dolphin
achievement, one might expect the third game, Defender of the Future, to involve the dolphins
developing a Unified Theory of Everything, colonizing Pluto, and even convincing Amazon to
stop literally working its employees to death. You know, true hard sci-fi. Ecco’s 3D
debut doesn’t get quite that outlandish, but it does look great and has its own
share of impossible dolphin accomplishments, earning the series its highest score with 84%. #24: Sonic Racing – 76.45% It’s not surprising that Sega would want a
slice of that sweet Mario Kart pie. A pie, it should be noted, in which money is both the
filling and the crust. What is surprising is that, against all odds, the games werequite good.
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing turned out to be a welcome journey through Sega’s past. Where,
let’s be honest now, most of the good Sega stuff is. Though Sonic got the focus in the game’s title
and marketing, tracks and characters were drawn from all manner of Sega properties, from Space
Channel 5 to Crazy Taxi to The House of the Dead. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed expanded
the scope even further, bringing aboard other classic Sega characters, such as Danica
Patrick. This is also the game with the best critical reception, hitting a respectable 80.67%.
It was followed, sadly, by the lowest-rated game in the series, Team Sonic Racing.Critics took
issue with the game’s presentation and lack of innovation as opposed to anything it actively
did wrong. As of now it’s unlikely that the series will ever truly hit the heights of Mario
Kart, but for an also-ran, it ain’t half bad. #23: Initial D – 77.52% Initial D is…erm…okay, listen, I have
no flipping clue what Initial D is. The only initial D I know is followed by ick
which is subsequently followed by Mycinko. It seems to be a coming-of-age driving-themed
anime slash manga slash live-action film slash video-game series, and though it started
in 1995 it didn’t get any kind of official English-language release until 2013. As
such, its impact in the west has been pretty minimal. I won’t pretend to understand it
any better than I actually do – which is to say, I only know it for the meme song and I am
sorry – but we can focus on the games at least. Of the 25 Initial D games, five make up the
core console series, which involve“driving” and “being an anime man.” The critical low-point
of the series was the Saturn original, Initial D: Koudou Saisoku Densetsu, with 63.6%. The high
point was the very next game for the PS2, Initial D: Special Stage, which I at least
know I am pronouncing correctly, with 82.6%. The most recent game that qualifies for our list
is Initial D: Perfect Shift Online for the 3DS, with an admirable 79.2%. To all of the things
that I don’t understand about this series, add that I don’t understand how
they resisted calling it Initial 3D. #22: Sakura Wars – 78.63% As we’ve seen many times on this list, Sega
has always been open to experimentation. Maybetoo open, but on the whole, it’s a good
thing. Sometimes the company is so open to experimentation that they’re not even sure what
to call the result. Sakura Wars is a sort of steampunk dating-sim visual-novel RPG, which the
company decided belonged to a brand-new genre called “dramatic adventure.” I admit, that’s
a bit catchier than how I just described it. And that “dramatic” doesn’t just describe
the tone. Drama is a theme in the series, with the games’ magical girl squad using a theater
as their cover. Wait, did I mention the magical girl squad? I probably didn’t need to. You already
guessed that there was a magical girl squad. Sakura Wars has been largely exclusive to Japan,
likely because it began life on the Saturn and then moved to the Dreamcast, two systems
that didn’t sell well in the west. Weirdly, the west did get the final game in the original
continuity, So Long My Love. Sega discontinued the series after that, only finally bringing it back
in 2019 with a reboot. This also marks the series’ critical low point, but at 73% we certainly
can’t say that it’s been received poorly. #21: Phantasy Star – 78.75% Phantasy Star is one of Sega’s most expansive
franchises, with various spinoffs and subseries that span different gameplay styles,
narratives, and levels of critical appreciation. The four games that make up its core series
are no different in that last regard, with scores ranging from 68.14% for Generations
of Doom to 87.06% for The End of the Millennium. Reviewers may not be convinced by it, but for
Sega fans, Phantasy Star represents one of the company’s earliest must-have titles.
Released for the Master System in 1987, the game was a fun adventure through a world
inspired as much by science fiction as it was by fantasy. To modern eyes it may not look like
much – and, indeed, anyone digging it up for the first time today might wonder what all
the fuss was about – but it was a bigger and more impressive narrative experience than most
anything else available for consoles at the time. The series continued on the Mega Drive, with
each game developing the formula in its own way, from richer characterization to more
complex storylines to branching narratives. It never achieved the staying power of some of
its contemporaries, but Phantasy Star is still held in high regard today. As is a certain
successor series…which brings us nicely to… #20: Phantasy Star Online – 79% Sega deserves credit for correctly foreseeing
that online gaming would become commonplace, but rather than being content with predicting
the future, they attempted to bring it about far sooner than the technology would allow. The Sega
Channel and Mega Net in the mid-90s were two early examples, and the company kept pushing for it
right through their final console, the Dreamcast. This is the specific reason Phantasy Star Online
was created. Convinced that online play would save the company’s fortunes, Sega set about developing
games that would take advantage of it. This gave rise to Chu Chu Rocket and holiday-themed add-ons
for Sonic Adventure, but the flagship title was Phantasy Star Online, a rich and compelling
RPG that would give gamers an experience they could only have on a Dreamcast. Sadly, internet
connectivitywas both expensive and unreliable, and per-minute connection fees were still commonplace,
so even if you could count on Phantasy Star Online working properly, you would slowly drain your
bank account every time you logged on to play it. The game was well received, however,
earning an 89% average, and fans stuck with the series after it made the leap to other
consoles. The Dreamcast had a lot of potential, and it did so many things right. It just also
failed to do those things at the right time. #19: 7th Dragon – 79.1% 7th Dragon, until its most recent game, was
exclusive to Japan. The first installment, on the DS, was praised for its music,
visuals, and animations, as well as its flexibility in terms of character and party
customization. The game had a story, of course, but it was the story of the world around
you…a world in which either dragons or humans were destined to be exterminated.
Your own characters were blank slates, experiencing their own journeys
however you chose to let them play out. It was followed by two PSP sequels, 7th Dragon
2020 and 7th Dragon 2020-II which moved the action from a fantasy-tinged past to the futuristic year
of…2020. Granted, I wasn’t paying much attention in 2020, but was Tokyo actually attacked
by dragons? It was a busy year; I’m sure I missed at least a few major news stories.
The fourth game was the only one to come to the west. 7th Dragon III Code: VFD for the
3DS may seem like a strange place to start – we typically don’t begin a novel by reading
its final chapter – but the games are largely self-contained. It’s worth picking up if
you’re curious about the series as a whole. Unless Sega decides to localize the rest,
it’s not like you have many other options… #18: Sega Rally – 79.22% As you’ve seen, Sega has a lot to be proud of
when it comes to racing games. AndSega Rally isn’t even the highest rated of them. You can
probably guess what the remaining series is, and it’s safe to say that it was aiming for a
different audience entirely. For the audience that prefers their racing games to feature…racers,
and race tracks, andracing, Sega Rally is as good as it ever got. It relies less on gimmicky
and attention-grabbing flashiness and more on providing a sturdy, rewarding racing experience.
Sega Rally Championship earned 90% on the Saturn, making it not just the highest-rated game in
the series but one of the highest-rated games on the Saturn overall. It wasn’t enough to turn
the fortunes of that console around, and its sequel also failed to do so for the Dreamcast.
That sequel did score 81.77% on average, though, so it certainly wasn’t for want of trying.
The low point of the series came with its final proper entry, Sega Rally Online
Arcade, which released for the Xbox 360 and then for the PlayStation 3. It hit
only 70%, likely because by that point there were a wealth of other competent racers on
consoles, and Sega Rally didn’t offer much else. #17: Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA – 79.32% Hatsune Miku is a vocaloid character slash
voicebank who dresses like an adorable assassination robot from the future. And for
all anyone knows, that’s exactly what she is. In keeping with the DIY nature of the Miku
software, the games have varying levels of customization, from outfits to characters to music
videos. As far as gameplay goes…well, I think it’s pretty clear that I got rhythm, I got music, I got
my man, but I’m far from an authority on rhythm games. These ones seem to be pretty standard
in terms of gameplay, with their appeal coming mainly from their ties to popular vocaloids.
And, well…that’s okay. That’s a good thing, in fact. A rhythm game catering to an audience’s
taste in music is a pretty good idea. I can’t pretend that it’s my taste in music, but if all of
the characters and songs were replaced with Hootie and/or The Blowfish, I’m sure I’d be in heaven.
Critics gave the games favorable reviews, enjoying their visuals and song selections, with
Project DIVA 2nd topping the charts at 85.4%, and VR Future Live…erm…bottoming the charts
with 61%, perhaps because nobody is keen on being trapped in virtual reality with an
assassination robot from the future. No, I’m not going to let that go. You’ll find out soon
enough. And then I’ll just say, “I told you so.” #16: NiGHTS– 79.39% Bursting with unique charm, promising huge
potential, and guaranteed to end far too soon, Nights into Dreams is unquestionably one
of the most beloved titles from the Saturn, and it reminded a fair few gamers
why they fell in love with Sega in the first place. Even Shigeru Miyamoto was
a fan, asking creator Yuji Naka about a sequel, back when Sega and Nintendo were still rivals.
Critics awarded it an average of 88.56%, which is great, yet feels just a hair too low.
And that was it until well after Sega exited the console market. Mr. Miyamoto
eventually got his wish for a sequel, and he got it on his own console, as well. Nights:
Journey of Dreams released on the Wii to…an underwhelming response. Critics gave it only 69%
on average, claiming that it didn’t measure up to the charm and wonder of the original. Even the
most jaded reviewer had to admit that it was nice to see the character again, though, mainly
because it meant that the series might continue. But it didn’t. Which means it doesn’t technically
qualify for our list, does it? Well, such is the warmth and charm of NiGHTS that we bent the rules
just a bit:We’re including Christmas Nights into Dreams. Yes, it was a demo made to sell the first
game, but it was released separately, it had original content, and it even got reviewed. Well
reviewed, I might add, with an average of 80.6%. The character and franchise are far
from Sega’s most important ones, or profitable ones, and yet leaving NiGHTS
off of this list felt like an injustice. It represents a crucial
part of Sega’s creative DNA, as well as the last project Yuji Naka ever worked
on. You hear me? NIGHTS WAS HIS LAST PROJECT. #15: Trauma Center– 79.75% While “surgery on cartoon characters” sounds like
one of those apps your niece or nephew downloaded and their parents should probably be told about,
Trauma Center is actually a really good series. It made its home on Nintendo’s DS and Wii
consoles, where they took excellent advantage of Nintendo’s innovative control methods. It
was basically Cooking Mama with human innards. The Trauma Center games built their
entire experience around these controls, and they did so brilliantly, making you as a
player feel more responsible for the outcomes of surgical procedures than you would if you
were just pressing buttons in response to on-screen prompts. It was your talent and
experience on which your patients relied, and that went a long way toward
keeping the games tense and engaging. What truly elevated the series, however, were
the characters and the writing. Not surprising, as the Trauma Center games were directed by
Katsura Hashino, who had his hands in Persona and Shin MegamiTensei, among other series. (Here’s
hoping he washed those hands before surgery.) Even though Nintendo has since released three
more systems with motion and/or touch controls, we’ve yet to see more games. I’m hoping for a
collection at some point. I’ve been in the mood to perform surgery all year and James keeps saying
no.So much for being a team player, eh, Jenkins? #14: Etrian Odyssey – 79.83% All dungeoncrawlers expect you to explore the
map. Etrian Odyssey stood out by asking you to make the map as well. In perhaps one of the
cleverest genre twists in recent memory, the game turns the map into a gameplay element
itself, tasking players with drawing it and keeping it updated, on top of battling enemies,
gathering resources, and screaming filthy words because they died and hadn’t saved in two hours.
Etrian Odyssey was punishing in its difficulty, which explains why reviewers saddled it with the
series-low score of 75%. Later games weren’t much more forgiving, but by that point critics realized
that the tough-as-nails experience was a feature and not a bug. Etrian Odyssey made you earn
every square of the map that you…erm…mapped. In most dungeon crawlers, players feel empowered
when they defeat a boss or discover a new area. In Etrian Odyssey, the empowerment came from a
simple understanding of your own environment. It was, it probably goes without saying, a perfect
match for Nintendo’s DS and 3DS handhelds. With two screens and a stylus, the map could be drawn
during exploration rather than on a pause screen. Unfortunately, the lack of a
second screen on Nintendo’s Switch means we may have seen the last of Etrian
Odyssey for a while. It may come back, but without the real-time integration of the
mapmaking system, it wouldn’t be the same. #13: Crazy Taxi – 80.4% Crazy Taxi was one of those rare arcade games
that felt impossible to stop playing. Until you ran out of change, at least. Considering the
fact that the game lasted only as long as you kept playing well, there was always a teeth-grinding
determination topump more money in and do better. It was an instant classic, and it lent itself
extraordinarily well to a must-have home port on the Dreamcast. It was lauded by critics, and
rightly so, earning an overall rating of 90.19%. It provides more content than the arcade
version, without suffering even slightly in terms of performance. Its sequel wasn’t quite
as impressive, but still earned an admirable 82%. Then came Sega’s post-console years, and the
series floundered. High Roller, for the Xbox, scored 69%, which is as disappointing as
it is nice. It was followed by ports for the PlayStation Portable – scoring 64% – and the
Game Boy Advance – scoring 48%. We aren’t counting those in our average, but they’re emblematic of
just how far the series had fallen so quickly. What’s become of it since? Well, what
becomes of any franchise without direction? It moved to mobile phones, where the games
had little in common with the series overall, dying a slow and embarrassing public death.
Still, those first two games, eh? #12: Yakuza – 80.5% It’s not easy to summarize Yakuza, what with
its brutality and sense of humor sharing the same space, as well as its frequent diversions
into karaoke sequences and seduction minigames. It’s a weird and wonderful series that
sees its global profile grow with each new installment and remaster…which isn’t
half bad for something that so directly aims to capture a specifically Japanese landscape.
Each of the games lovingly recreates a real-life city in Japan, and then fictionalizes it to
better suit the over-the-top mayhem of the games. The result – for Westerners in particular – is a
sort of travelogue in video-game form, in which day-to-day Japan shares space with absurdist
comedy, the mundane is interrupted by massive street brawls, and seriousness and silliness
bump each other out of the spotlight in turns. What’s more, Yakuza also finds itself
growing in the estimations of critics. It never scored poorly, but whereas the
earlier games earned averages of around 75%, more recent games are closer to 85%.
Is this because the series got better or because critics gradually came around
to its unique charms? It’s tough to say, but it’s great to see one of Sega’s
biggest latter-day gambles paying off. #11: Virtua Tennis – 81.19% Virtua Tennis is…tennis. I mean, it’s
pretty good tennis, by all accounts. I won’t pretend that I know the difference between
pretty good tennis and pretty naff tennis, but going by the reviews, people who understand
tennis seemed to enjoy Virtua Tennis. And I am very, profoundly happy for them.
The first console game in the series, released for the Dreamcast, earned 92% on
Metacritic, and Virtua Tennis 2 was not far behind with 90%. According to critics, the game
really shined in four-player mode, which was probably a great feature for tennis fans who had
three friends who were also tennis fans. Or just people who had three friends. I…wouldn’t know.
The series continued to perform well until Virtua Tennis 2009, released in…ah, man, I had
it a moment ago. Let me…I just…I wrote it down somewhere, I’m sure of it…right, got it. Ahem:
2009. Except for Japan, where it was released in 2010 for what I’m sure was an extremely
good reason. It scored a career low of 71%, but was outdone soon afterward with 68.33% for
Virtua Tennis 4. Will the series ever return? If it does, will it rise again to the
giddy heights of its debut titles? I don’t know. The only thing I can say for sure
is that I am not the guy you should be asking. #10: Shenmue – 81.78% Shenmue is a bit like Marmite. You either love
it, or you are Ben Potter. In truth, it is a profoundly divisive series, and that’s clearly
by design. Yu Suzuki’s masterpieces and / or mad ravings clearly come from a place of love.
The series begins with young hero Ryo witnessing the death of his father at the hands of an
assassin. Ryo sets out to find and defeat the murderer, which is the kind of story most
games manage to tell easily enough. Shenmue, however, has unfolded over the course of three
games and is still, according to Suzuki himself, only around 40% complete. Good news for
fans, who may have another four games to look forward to. Bad news for Ben, who may
have another four games to look forward to. Players looking to reach plot point after plot
point won’t enjoy the journey, but those who are interested in exploring small environments,
engaging repeatedly with NPCs who have their own routines, investigating every object, and
essentially living in the world rather than playing through it, are likely to fall in love.
The first game is still the best-received of the series, with a score of 89.34%. The
second game is close behind, with 88%. It’s Shenmue III, perhaps obviously, that
drags down the overall rating with its 68%. #9: Streets of Rage – 82% Why is it so entertaining to walk endlessly down
the street, punching everybody to death? I don’t know, but I can at least say that I enjoy doing
it in video games as well! Oh ho ho. Anyway, Streets of Rage was birthed from the same
primordial beat-‘em-up broth that gave us Renegade, Double Dragon, and Final Fight. But
Streets of Rage had an important difference: This time, the profits would go to Sega.
Streets of Rage may not represent Sega’s most original concept, but it does represent some
of the company’s most careful and best-honed game design. Every element of Streets of Rage, from
its gritty visuals to its crunchy sound effects to its incredible soundtrack make it easy
to forget that anyone else got there first; Sega absolutely got there best.
The series even has a retro revival done exactly right. Streets of Rage 4 released
in 2020 to rightful acclaim. While a few stodgier critics complained that the game felt like a
modern-day product of the 1990s, other reviewers understood that that was…y’know…exactly the point.
Streets of Rage 4 gave fans a formula they loved, but with a modern feel that updated the
experience without undermining it. Streets of Rage is a classic series, and it’s one that any
developer would be proud to have in their top 10. #8: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – 82.67% Warhammer 40,000 is, I am told, the best-selling
tabletop wargame in the world. Then again, my knowledge of tabletop wargames is even
smaller than my knowledge of quantum physics, so you could tell me literally anything is the
best-selling tabletop wargame in the world and I will nod politely in hopes that the topic
of conversation will change soon. Fortunately the Dawn of War video games are pretty
famous, too, and I can talk about those. The first Dawn of War was developed and published
without Sega. It’s a real-time strategy game with an emphasis on establishing and holding control
points. Critics praised its visual presentation, voice acting, and story. Sega stepped in to
publish the direct sequel, which downplayed the base-building aspects in favor of enhancing
combat. It averaged just one point lower in its critical reception, with reviewers conceding
that even if they didn’t approve of the changes, the game was still pretty great.
The consensus on Dawn of War III was that it tried to do too much without
taking the time to do any of it well, resulting in a game that felt unbalanced and
disposable. Critics likely weren’t alone in that assessment; developer Relic Entertainment
abandoned support of the game about 10 months after release, whereas previous Dawn of War
games received long-term support in the form of patches and expansions. Not the best way
to go out, but it was fun while it lasted. #7: Sonic Advance – 83% See? Things aren’t all bad for Sonic. They’re
just mainly bad. Like, appallingly so. But we’ve been through all that; let’s focus on a trio
of games that were actually very good overall. Sonic Advance landed in late 2001 with some
of the best reviews the blue blur has gotten in the post-Mega Drive years. It reached 87% on
Metacritic, marking a return to form for Sonic. One we now know to be temporary, but, hey, still.
It was lauded for its graphics and animations, as well as its music, which some critics believed
eclipsed the soundtracks of the original games. Those critics were wrong, obviously, but still.
Sonic Advance 2 scored 83%. Sonic Advance 3 brought up the rear with 79%, though reviewers
enjoyed the partner system, which added a bit more variety to a single playthrough. It
was a great but short series. Not perfect, but it showed that Sonic could still be a
welcome presence in gaming moving forward. He wouldn’t be, but he could be.
There’s also something of an irony to the fact that Sonic’s highest-rated subseries
was released exclusively on a handheld from the company Sonic was created to kill…but
we’ve been hard enough on the guy already. #6: Football Manager – 83.15% Football. Soccer. The beautiful game. A…erm…sport.
Whatever you call it, it does exist. I can confirm that much. Beyond that, details get a little hazy.
I know there are a number of players involved. Let’s say…fifty of them. They run up the pitch and
down the pitch at different times for different reasons. And, depending upon what the players
do with the ball, the audience will either cheer or beat each other up. Or sometimes both.
I don’t understand it in the slightest. Which means, I’m sure we can all agree, that I am
the perfect person to talk about Football Manager. It…well, it looks like a lot of fun for people
who enjoy tabbing through spreadsheets. I don’t mean that as an insult; some of my best
friends tab through spreadsheets and they do it remarkably well. But it does mean
that literally any given frame of footage of these games both confuses and frightens me.
Anyway, as you can tell from the overall average, these games do have an appreciative audience.
What’s more, they don’t vary much in score from game to game. Football Manager 2008
should be ashamed of itself for its measly 76.79% average, but Football Manager 2010
should do a victory dance in honor of its 87%. All of the other games fall between those two
and should experience varying degrees of shame or do varying degrees of dance depending upon
their individual proximity to either extreme. Thank you for listening to me speak about Football
Manager for the only time in my entire life. #5: Panzer Dragoon – 83.34% Whatever else one could say about the Saturn –
four-letter words, mainly – there’s no question that its graphical capabilities were impressive
for the time. What it really needed was a game that could show it off. Hence the birth of Panzer
Dragoon, which could have been a glorified tech demo but instead became one of the system’s
defining titles, one of Sega’s most beloved series, and spawned a legion of fans who have
been waiting nearly 20 years for another game. Panzer Dragoon is a rail shooter, and we’ve seen
plenty of those on this list. What sets it apart is its world and its atmosphere, both of which
are deeper than strictly necessary for the genre. This paid off handsomely with its
highest-rated game, Panzer Dragoon Saga, which shifts the emphasis to an RPG experience.
We debated whether or not to classify this one as a spinoff, but since Sega doesn’t refer to
it as one and because it often comes up in discussions of the greatest games of all time,
we decided to include it. It scored 92.46%, and is one of three games in the five-game series
to score 90% or above. By far its lowest-rated game is Panzer Dragoon Mini, which neither
I nor anyone else will ever mention again. #4: Virtua Fighter – 83.7% For many years, fighting games were dominated
by pixels. Then Sega came along with a whole new angle: angles. Virtua Fighter was born. We’re
simplifying, of course, but the fact is that Sega realized that polygons could animate more
smoothly, easily, and believably than pixel art could, and the result was a game that neither
looked nor felt like anything else at the time. Virtua Fighter became one of the most successful
fighting games on the market, and its various home ports were received enthusiastically. Four of
the seven games we’re counting scored 85% or more, with Virtua Fighter 4 being the critical highlight
at 94%. The series has been largely dormant since Virtua Fighter 5 in 2006, but an enhanced remake
of the game was released in 2021 for the PS4, so it may not quite be down for the count.
Also, they don’t qualify for this list, but the CD Portrait Seriesreleases are worth a note,
simply because of how strange they are. There were 10 volumes of discs for the Saturn, with an 11th
available by mail only to those who purchased the other 10. They consist entirely of images of
the fighters presented over music, without any gameplay. I have no idea what the appeal of these
discs was meant to be. No idea whatsoever… Filth. #3: Persona –83.8% One of Sega’s most popular series – via Atlus,
of course –Persona has gone from strength to strength. It had humble beginnings on the PS1,
but the first game’s unnerving atmosphere, sense of mystery, and roster of compelling
characters all made clear that this was a series to keep an eye on. It was followed
by a pair of Persona 2 games: Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment. Eternal Punishment
reviewed 10 points higher, with a score of 83%, and things only got better from there.
Persona 3 marks the beginning of what we could call modern Persona games, reworking the art style
and cementing the template of social links and time management. It featured a banging soundtrack,
too, even if I can’t make out a single word that anybody is singing. It scored 86% on Metacritic,
which was soon eclipsed by Persona 4’s 90%. Persona 4 lightened the mood, if not the subject
matter. It also introduced what might still be the series’ strongest cast of characters and voice
actors, and it wove a genuinely unforgettable coming-of-age story through a small-town murder
mystery in a way that’s impossible to duplicate. Persona 5 is the critical highlight of the series,
reaching a remarkable 93% on Metacritic, making it the second-highest-rated game on this entire list.
(Virtua Fighter 4 beats it by a single point.) With the extraordinary commercial and critical
success of the series, there’s no doubt we’ll get Persona 6 at some point. It’s just a question of
whether or not we’ll live long enough to see it. #2: Total War – 84.07% For more than 20 years, Total War has
been at the forefront of innovation, design, and critical reception of the RTS genre.
That’s right; 20 years. If you played Shogun: Total War upon release, you should probably be
in bed by now, grandpa. OR GRANDMA. Developed by Creative Assembly, Sega acquired the
publishing rights to the series in 2005, and it was a wise investment on their part.
Total War continues to provide fans with…war. In its totality. And I have it on
good authority that that is what fans are looking for… sing it again, come on now…
Sega, also wisely, seems to have taken a hands-off approach to the franchise, allowing Creative
Assembly to produce the games as they see fit, under the assumption that the
developers know what’s best. This is good, as it spares us from ever having
to endure Total War Boom: Rise of Lyric. In the two decades of the series’ history, eight
games have scored 85% or above on Metacritic, and only two of them have fallen to 75%,
which is an impressively high series low. Recurring criticisms focus on the fact that
entries can sometimes feel like the same game with a different coat of historical paint,
but that’s a superficial concern – quite literally – and it never really detracts from
the fact that the series does continue to evolve, refining its existing mechanics and adding new
ones only when they will benefit the experience. It’s not for everyone, but Total War is an example
of how to do a long-running series exactly right. And yet there’s one other war-related
franchise that manages to outdo it… #1: Valkyria Chronicles – 84.55% Valkyria Chronicles should have been a mess.
It marries cutesy anime tropes to a horrific war drama spanning many years. It takes
larger-than-life cartoon characters and places them in a deadly serious situation. It
retells real-world history through the warped lens of alternate-reality fiction. And it
meshes gameplay from tactics games, RPGs, third-person shooters, and visual novels. Valkyria
Chronicles does so much that it’s a miracle that it comes together as well as it does.
In fact, everything works so smoothly that it’s impossible not to be impressed. It’s
funny, tense, upsetting, and uplifting in turn, with a roster of identifiable characters rather
than nameless squadmates. Your goal isn’t only to win each battle, but to bring as many of these
human beings home alive as possible. It’s like a game of Risk, only you’re responsible for making
every shot during every turn, and you do so with the knowledge that you’re jeopardizing the
lives of your fellow soldiers if you don’t. In the most general possible way, Valkyria
Chronicles is a retelling of World War II…something the games industry has done more
than often enough. But its particular approach, presentation, and tone give the series a
rich identity far beyond what most games based around this particular historical
conflict have managed to achieve.All four of the main games scored between 83% and
86%, representing an impressively consistent run. And that’s a great thing, because Valkyria
Chronicles deserves its lofty placement. Is it likely to be anybody’s favorite Sega franchise?
Maybe not, but it’s indeed pretty clear that it’s the one with the clearest vision of what it is,
the strongest sense of how to achieve its goals, and the fewest stumbles along the way.
Valkyria Chronicles, I salute you. Yes, that’s the pun that all of this has been building
towards. It was a long list. We’re tired.
