Though they might not be quite the ‘tude-ified household name they were in the 90s, our favourite lads at SEGA certainly ain’t no slouches. You can count on them to reliably pump out a steady stream of games from their treasure trove of IPs, including the evergreen (everblue?) Sonic the Hedgehog and the fiscal footie fabricator, Football Manager. Year after year, these lucrative names crop up on the Steam front page, inviting gamers to part with their hard earned cash. However, such a focus on only a handful of franchises has led many of the company’s retro fans to cry out in disdain, wondering where the newest entry in, say, Jet Set Radio or Crazy Taxi. Persona could also do with a bit of love these days; I’d never see a port coming.
Any port in a storm
Luckily, as ComicBook.com reports, some of these long-dormant series could be making a glorious comeback, a la Super Monkey Ball‘s recent outing. (Playing it was like, if you’ll pardon the pun, having a sphere). “Disclosed in a recent financial presentation,” states the report, SEGA outlined what it has planned for the coming fiscal year, which lasts until March 2023. In doing so, it was stated that SEGA is planning to release new games that would be qualified as remakes, remasters, or spin-offs of other franchises.” OK, but how about a remastered remake of a spin-off? There’s no depths they won’t plumb.
The company also said that “it is planning to release multiple titles of this nature, which means that we can expect a number of different games in this style outside of simply Sonic Origins.” Sonic Origins, you may recall, is the millionth compilation of the classic Sonic Genesis titles, just in case you somehow don’t already own five copies. More collections in this vein would be neat; imagine a Jet Set Radio one, or even a spruced-up port of an undersung, undersold title like Rhythm Thief. A guy can (pipe) dream.
Whether or not “these new games would end up releasing in the coming fiscal year is something that we don’t currently know,” concludes the responsibility-dodging report, “especially since development on these reboots seems to be early on.” In other words, anything could happen – so is that Seaman Dreamcast remaster still on the table?
What would you like to see from SEGA following this announcement? Any IPs that you’re betting will see the light of day again? Let us know!
Via, ComicBook.com.
