# Sega Axes Jobs & Games



## Hadrian (Mar 30, 2012)

Not really much of a surprise, they are hardly churning out the hits are they? 



> Sega Sammy has warned investors that earnings and profits for the year ending March 31 will be hit by its underperforming games business, and is to cancel games and streamline its operations as a result.
> 
> The company expects net sales revenue for the fiscal year to be ¥46,000 lower than previously predicted. Overall net income, or profit, will be ¥20 billion (£153m), almost half the ¥40 billion it previously forecast.
> 
> ...



http://www.edge-online.com/news/sega-restructure-loss-making-games-business


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## AlanJohn (Mar 30, 2012)

"Sega is still making money"


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## RchUncleSkeleton (Mar 30, 2012)

Freaking aye, Sega! That's not the way you turn a profit, just start releasing better IP's and you'll be fine.


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## prowler (Mar 30, 2012)

Whatever SEGA, IDGAF, just release PSO2 outside Japan.


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## Foxi4 (Mar 30, 2012)

They expect a net income of 20 billion yen - net income, meaning that all expenses are already subtracted. This is hardly a bad score in this economy, they're doing just fine.


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## FAST6191 (Mar 30, 2012)

46K yen.... isn't that around £350 or 550 USD. Typo I imagine but amusing none the less.

Anyhow "more reliable, long-running IPs including Sonic The Hedgehog, Football Manager, Total War and Aliens"

Oh dear?


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## chartube12 (Mar 30, 2012)

I would laugh so hard if Nintendo would buy them out or if they went to making games for mobile devices only.


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## Saddamsdevil (Mar 30, 2012)

Make Sonic Adventure 3, problem solved.


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## Guild McCommunist (Mar 30, 2012)

Saddamsdevil said:


> Make Sonic Adventure 3, problem solved.



You mean Sonic Colors?

Sega kinda hasn't been pumping out the money makers really. I mean almost every big name publisher has something that gives them big bucks, and if you don't, you're falling behind. Activision has Call of Duty, Nintendo has Nintendo games, Sony has Sony games, Microsoft has Halo and Gears of War, so on and so forth. Sega has published a lot of fantastic games that are pretty off the beaten track. Unfortunately, it looks like it's backfiring on them, which is a shame.

At this point, taking ventures with Valkyria Chronicles III and PSO2, as everyone would like, probably isn't the wisest decision. They need something that'll draw in some major cash before they can start taking leaps of faith, mostly with localizing Japanese titles that don't have a broad audience over here.


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## Ultymoo (Mar 30, 2012)

Oi. What the hell IS football manager? Of what was listed, the only things that remotely have my interest are Sonic and Aliens, and even the latter is a stretch. I swear though, I better eventually see a copy of PSO2 running on my computer.


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## Carnivean (Mar 30, 2012)

Ultymoo said:


> Oi. What the hell IS football manager? Of what was listed, the only things that remotely have my interest are Sonic and Aliens, and even the latter is a stretch. I swear though, I better eventually see a copy of PSO2 running on my computer.


One of the most bought and played games on steam.


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## Foxi4 (Mar 30, 2012)

Saddamsdevil said:


> Make Sonic Adventure 3, problem solved.


The problem with Sonic Adventure 3 is that 1 and 2 were so well-recieved that anything sub-par will push the fans into a state of complete amok and frenzy. London Riots would be nothing in comparison to what would happen to Sega HQ if they'd bucher it


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## MelodieOctavia (Mar 30, 2012)

They need to release those naughty Sammy games here in the US. That would turn a profit.


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## Hadrian (Mar 30, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> Saddamsdevil said:
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> 
> > Make Sonic Adventure 3, problem solved.
> ...


Those games were sub-par.


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## Foxi4 (Mar 30, 2012)

Hadrian said:


> Foxi4 said:
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> > Saddamsdevil said:
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Either you like'em or you don't. Those games are legendary.


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## Smuff (Mar 30, 2012)

Remake Nights into Dreams, Burning Rangers and Panzer Dragoon Saga.

It's not the answer to your company's problems. It's more like the answer to my prayers - to get all the above before you fuck up for real and disappear forever.


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## FAST6191 (Mar 30, 2012)

Sonic adventures... legendary.... about the nicest thing I can say is at best they were forgettable and given just five years earlier they made sonic and knuckles that is a serious slip.

I reckon they could do well but short of more handheld/phone rereleases a proper shining or phantasy star sequel (do not get me wrong PSO caused some serious phone bills back when but I have no desire to bust it back out any time soon. Phantasy star 4 on the other hand gets replayed about every 8 months) will probably cost a bit too much money. Equally seeing the disappointment that was golden axe beast rider and shinobi before it I reckon I should know better than to even suggest streets of rage.

Thinking about it they do have a decent back catalogue and could do some serious damage if they leveraged it correctly. Probably not enough to make COD money but not just eking out an existence.


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## Valwin (Mar 30, 2012)

i think they should just stop making Sonic games  the thing is pretty much a death franchise  that die back in 2002


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## MelodieOctavia (Mar 30, 2012)

Valwin said:


> i think they should just stop making Sonic games  the thing is pretty much a death franchise  that die back in 2002



It's like they all got knocked in the head and forgot completely about what makes a Sonic game great.


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## Foxi4 (Mar 30, 2012)

TwinRetro said:


> Valwin said:
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> 
> > i think they should just stop making Sonic games  the thing is pretty much a death franchise  that die back in 2002
> ...


*Cough* Generations *cough cough* Colours *cough* They're on the right track now. I do admit that every single release for the Wii was rather unpleasant, with Unleashed as their saving grace minus the night time levels. Don't get me started on 2006... I... don't want to talk about it. That game makes me physically ill.


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## Hyro-Sama (Mar 30, 2012)

Sonic Colours is not even close to a Sonic Adventure 3.

Anyway, why does Sega have to foucs on Sonic? What about Shenmue? The cliffhanger is so annoying. Just make the last damn game and give the story a proper conclusion.


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## Hadrian (Mar 30, 2012)

TwinRetro said:


> Valwin said:
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> 
> > i think they should just stop making Sonic games  the thing is pretty much a death franchise  that die back in 2002
> ...


Well the main people of Sonic Team are no longer in Sonic Team, that and Sega Techinical Institute did a lot of work on Sonic 2-Sonic CD.

As much as I enjoyed Colours and Generations, they were still "press one direction and jump a bit".  Episode 2 from what I've seen looks to revisit some of the gameplay from Sonic 3/ Sonic & Knuckles though.




Hyro-Sama said:


> Sonic Colours is not even close to a Sonic Adventure 3.
> 
> Anyway, why does Sega have to foucs on Sonic? What about Shenmue? The cliffhanger is so annoying. Just make the last damn game and give the story a proper conclusion.


Sonic sells, Shenmue doesn't. Also Shenmue requires a lot more money to be developed. a 3rd game would need to be bigger, prettier and all that and Sega could not possibly make any profit on it unless they downsize it massively.


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## prowler (Mar 30, 2012)

Hyro-Sama said:


> Anyway, why does Sega have to foucs on Sonic? What about Shenmue? The cliffhanger is so annoying. Just make the last damn game and give the story a proper conclusion.


I'm going to take a wild guess and say SEGA does not want a Mass Effect 3.


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## Hyro-Sama (Mar 30, 2012)

Hadrian said:


> Hyro-Sama said:
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> > Sonic Colours is not even close to a Sonic Adventure 3.
> ...



I guess. Something should be done so that the series and the fans can have some type of closure though.


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## Foxi4 (Mar 30, 2012)

Hyro-Sama said:


> Hadrian said:
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We already know the ending to the series.

[yt]Ar0KojxIvmQ[/yt]

On a serious note though, starting a game series by establishing that there are supposed to be 16 parts to it was unrealistic and silly in the first place.


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## Gahars (Mar 31, 2012)

RchUncleSkeleton said:


> Freaking aye, Sega! That's not the way you turn a profit, just start releasing better IP's and you'll be fine.



Because it's just that simple.

Oh, Sega. Whatever happened to the days of "Sega does what Nintendon't"?


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## MelodieOctavia (Mar 31, 2012)

Gahars said:


> RchUncleSkeleton said:
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> 
> > Freaking aye, Sega! That's not the way you turn a profit, just start releasing better IP's and you'll be fine.
> ...



Still living up to it, yeah?

Bowing out of the console game
Making games for other systems


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## finkmac (Mar 31, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> TwinRetro said:
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> > Valwin said:
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It seems most people on these forums are looking at the SEGA from 3-4 years ago…


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## Foxi4 (Mar 31, 2012)

finkmac said:


> Foxi4 said:
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When you get a "good" name, it's all dandy. When you get a "bad" name though for multiple screw-up's, it follows you around.


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## MelodieOctavia (Mar 31, 2012)

finkmac said:


> Foxi4 said:
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> > TwinRetro said:
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The only reason people tout Generations and colors as good games, is because compared to everything else after Adventures 2, it DOES look like a good game.  In reality, when standing by themselves, they're not shit, but they're still pretty mediocre games.


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## Foxi4 (Mar 31, 2012)

TwinRetro said:


> The only reason people tout Generations and colors as good games, is because compared to everything else after Adventures 2, it DOES look like a good game.  In reality, when standing by themselves, they're not shit, but they're still pretty mediocre games.


1. Adventures 2 is my *favourite* 3D Sonic game, especially the Battle edition.
2. Colours are genuinely good, even for non-fans.


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## MelodieOctavia (Mar 31, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> TwinRetro said:
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> 
> > The only reason people tout Generations and colors as good games, is because compared to everything else after Adventures 2, it DOES look like a good game.  In reality, when standing by themselves, they're not shit, but they're still pretty mediocre games.
> ...



Mine, too. I'm still waiting for a game to step up to Adventure 2's level.


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## Foxi4 (Mar 31, 2012)

TwinRetro said:


> Foxi4 said:
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They really had a pleasant and interesting story to tell with numerous plot twists, but the moment they killed Shadow, they killed all possible extensions to the story. Reviving and cloning him over and over is just obnoxious and annoying, they should make up their mind... and for god's sake, they should stop with the angst already - he wasn't originally like that, he was a really likable character and a worthy oponent for Sonic. Now he's a whiny brat.


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## Heran Bago (Mar 31, 2012)

Shenmue 3!!!


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## yuyuyup (Mar 31, 2012)

None of yall know what you're talking about, sega just needs to drizop a Billy Hatcher sequel


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## MelodieOctavia (Mar 31, 2012)

yuyuyup said:


> None of yall know what you're talking about, sega just needs to drizop a Billy Hatcher sequel



Good god, I completely forgot about this game. This was a classic!


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## triassic911 (Mar 31, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> TwinRetro said:
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I agree. If they killed him off, it should have stayed like that, or at least make a better plot twist out of it. Cloning him again & again made the plot they have built dwindle down.


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## Zekrom_cool (Mar 31, 2012)

This is like a domino effect happening. GAME, SEGA! What else can happen???????????


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## Hadrian (Mar 31, 2012)

This is worrying:

"any currently announced game that isn't included on the Sonic, Football Manager, Total War, and Aliens franchises will not be published by SEGA"

I guess Anarchy Reigns will need a new publisher.

Seems really stupid, its not like Sega had a loss last year...it just didn't make as much as it thought it would. If anything they should be try to get some new developers.

http://gonintendo.co...story&id=174699


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## xwatchmanx (Mar 31, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Saddamsdevil said:
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> > Make Sonic Adventure 3, problem solved.
> ...


Eh. I personally wouldn't consider any of the post-SA2 games to be true SA sequels... not that none of them were good, but there was a certain gameplay and story progression to the SA titles that future titles just didn't have (actually playing individually as Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and at least a few other characters, for starters).


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## prowler (Mar 31, 2012)

Hadrian said:


> This is worrying:
> 
> "any currently announced game that isn't included on the Sonic, Football Manager, Total War, and Aliens franchises will not be published by SEGA"
> 
> ...


That isn't confirmed by SEGA though.


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## Guild McCommunist (Mar 31, 2012)

Zekrom_cool said:


> This is like a domino effect happening. GAME, SEGA! What else can happen???????????



Well GAME is a distributor, Sega is a publisher. Not really a domino effect when the two things are pretty different.



Foxi4 said:


> They really had a pleasant and interesting story to tell with numerous plot twists, but the moment they killed Shadow, they killed all possible extensions to the story. Reviving and cloning him over and over is just obnoxious and annoying, they should make up their mind... and for god's sake, they should stop with the angst already - he wasn't originally like that, he was a really likable character and a worthy oponent for Sonic. Now he's a whiny brat.



>Sonic
>Interesting story


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## DSGamer64 (Mar 31, 2012)

Sonic Adventure 2 Battle was great, the Tiny Chao Garden also gave it some extra game play and was kinda fun too.

I think though it's back to basics for Sega. They need to bring back some of their really old IP's from the Genesis days, either with remakes or Virtual Console/eShop/XBLA/PSN releases. Vectorman, X-Men, ToeJam & Earl, Streets of Rage, Seaman, Golden Axe and Altered Beast


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## Foxi4 (Mar 31, 2012)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Zekrom_cool said:
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> 
> > This is like a domino effect happening. GAME, SEGA! What else can happen???????????
> ...


You don't have to agree but at least play the game from start to finish before you judge it.


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## FAST6191 (Mar 31, 2012)

I am still finding quite shocking there is this much love for the sonic adventure series.

@DSGamer64 I do not suggest you play it (there are at least ten better action games for the consoles) but 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMuaXkwN6Bo

Re Game/gamestation- are you seriously telling us you will miss them?


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## omegasoul6 (Mar 31, 2012)

I miss the Toejam & Earl series.


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## Hells Malice (Mar 31, 2012)

If they stop releasing shit games and start actually bringing awesome ones like VC3, maybe they'd do a bit better. But like Bamco they seem terrified of making money.


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## Guild McCommunist (Apr 1, 2012)

Hells Malice said:


> If they stop releasing shit games and start actually bringing awesome ones like VC3, maybe they'd do a bit better. But like Bamco they seem terrified of making money.



Well they did release VC3... Just in Japan.

In all seriousness though, how much money do you think a localized Japanese PSP game would bring in the US? Yeah, companies like Atlus do localize these "niche" games but they don't do it on a scale like Sega does.

I would think it'd be a good business decision though to give it a digital only-release so they can cut out a ton of production costs and still have it appeal to new Vita owners.


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## Hadrian (Apr 1, 2012)

FAST6191 said:


> I am still finding quite shocking there is this much love for the sonic adventure series.


I used to love the two games but I played them again just over 5 years ago and realised how utterly atrocious most parts of them were, its like they released the beta versions and polished up the looks and sounds.  I'd hate to play the likes of Sonic Heroes or Shadow the Hedgehog to see how badly those have aged, can't see how they could be any worse.


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## xwatchmanx (Apr 1, 2012)

shadow the hedgehog was actually one of my favorites. it had actual replay value, plus, like sonic heroes it was rather bug-free compared to most other sonic games.


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## Gahars (Apr 1, 2012)

xwatchmanx said:


> _shadow the damn hedgehog_ was actually one of my favorites. it had actual replay value, plus, like sonic heroes it was rather bug-free compared to most other sonic games.



Hold on, fixed the title for you.


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## xwatchmanx (Apr 1, 2012)

Gahars said:


> Hold on, fixed the title for you.


ROFL. Nice


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## FAST6191 (Apr 1, 2012)

I remember the guy I got my dreamcast tossed in Sonic adventure with it so during one of the boredom spells with Skies of Arcadia (the disc loading massively before battles and lack of and my wasting the upgrade points/seeds/stones on temp characters*) and it pretty much felt exactly like what you described for your second playthrough.

*others had done it but Skies of Arcadia mastered it and was one of the many RPG tropes skies of arcadia forwent to good effect.

I would not have minded but at this point I had gone through the last couple of years playing through the megadrive (still- obviously I played them (actually aside from the saturn) but I kind of missed the 32 bit CD consoles when they were still current) and some N64 so had fairly recently played Sonic 3d (good but somewhat portent of the sonic in name only/sonic as written by a stereotypical (comedy sketch sendup stereotype?) game to film adaptation writer that the series descended into) and obviously the great N64 3d platformers as well as DC controller*.

*actually screw that- I got on well with jet set radio and that amounted to a fiddly high and low speed 3d platformer.

Speaking of bad platformers and I should not misbehave with this many admins around but toejam and earl.... it has technically not even been ten years
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFTv0m19geQ


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## Hadrian (Apr 2, 2012)

FAST6191 said:


>



Still a pretty game but a reminder to why its not always good for Sega to bring back old franchises...that and 3D versions of Shinobi, Altered Beast (though the original of that was always bad for me), Golden Axe etc etc. In fact I can only think of Panzer Dragoon & House of the Dead that haven't been tainted by bad games.

All in all people don't cry too hard that they'll probably never be a Shenmue III, as for an ending well nothing will ever satisfy you so just go with the one in your head.


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## FAST6191 (Apr 2, 2012)

Actually although most of the failures to bring back old franchises have been mentioned I think a single list/post/wall of shame with them is in order.

Ignoring sonic and any less than stellar emulated/"HD" touchups for downloadable services and handhelds (although such things are somewhat free money done right) as well as those titles that appeared in the quick DC/PS2/xbox port stuff mainly as they were mostly arcade titles to begin with or close enough that it did not really matter. Equally not quite sure if it should mention Out Run and hang on and harping on about old phantasy star vs new phantasy star (I will argue they are entirely different games with a few names and minor mythos details shared) and maybe old shining vs new shining (although I quite liked shining soul) is probably bad form. I will accuse modern virtua fighter if not of being bad then not keeping up with the times and being far outstripped and Wii NiGHTS.... aside from the controls which is probably just the wii remote being crap for most things I can stand by this so I will let it slide.

I have to wonder if some of those are more casualties of the PS2 era making terrible 3d platformers a whole lot (prince of persia aside my next nice memories of platforming which I will have must be games that I can still play to this day give or take burnout with a given game as part of that are games with light platforming (stuff like Gun Valkyrie and splinter cell) and I reckon some of the mario games.

Words over for the most part
Format will be classic title(s) on the left and later versions on the right.

Golden Axe
If you are around 16 and wondering why many of the older types around here clamour for a good local co-op title this and other sega title streets of rage (that given the entries to come most people are secretly thankful has not been brought back) is probably the main reason.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CNCf9VqYfA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMuaXkwN6Bo

Shinobi
Could have been what Ninja Gaiden became if done properly. For the second it is the start of the game so might want to skip a few minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epdselGCXkI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MSJkkQLgGM

Altered Beast (I actually forgot about the new one and can not say I ever saw it but will say the original (along with Primal Rage although people now seem to have forgone their fondness for it) was very much not on my favourite games list). Slightly mixing up the format to arcade (I am ignoring arcade for the most part), megadrive/genesis, PS2
Arcade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RswiLl7_v6E
Megadrive/genesis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJx-qIqWRuo
PS2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUvWCGlcB_U

Toejam and Earl
Strictly speaking I do think this is a sega property but I might be wrong and I am far too lazy to see who does own the rights at this point in time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vloYvK2sK1g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFTv0m19geQ


Rent-A-Hero
Granted it was Japanese only and never really got translated ( http://www.romhacking.net/translations/74/ is about as close as it gets) but it was none the less a classic sega title. I do not know if I would say what if Sega made Earthbound but I would not accuse it of being completely wrong (definitely a twisted sense of humour was at work on the later title).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3zWbi-f3JI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5UknRcvX7A
Will have to see if I can get something on the xbox (supposedly there was some English somewhere).

Beyond Oasis/legend of Oasis (also known as the story of thor).
Perhaps not as legendary as some of these and being in the megadrive and saturn is not quite as big a shock/difference but people still talk about Alundra so it is here as it was something of an answer/competitor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa68m7WPTxc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGqIo4G39K0

Ecco the dolphin.
If I have not already added a round to my tab at the next GBAtemp meetup so far making people remember this probably will.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It_eOIPgCdE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8OILh9gAY8

Screw it I am doing phantasy star
Phantasy Star 4 (I would go so far as to say it beats final fantasy 5 (or indeed 6 if you like that more) in terms of top notch classic RPG) and Phantasy Star online (can I lump universe in with it? Also I ignoring 3 just to be nice and blue burst was PC only so that loses too).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_-b9b6GIBQ

Not entirely related but two shooter panzer dragoon titles because I can (also too much in the way of distilled bad memories to make this post). For reasons unknown I have never really done much with the saturn and this includes the RPG.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=170eyPKa9aE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y7xiTvO3MA


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