Shenmue Released

Welcome all, if you are an avid importer than you have already played Shenmue and reveled in all its glory. Now it's time for US gamers to have their fun as well, Shenmue hit stores this week with a Limited Edition version that contained a music cd. Well, the Limited Editions are sold out at most retailers and deman for the game has been very high, mainly due inpart to word of mouth and Sega's advertising campaign for the title (which actually shows more than three seconds of gameplay).

So if you don't know what Shenmue is and are wondering why gamers are loving it so much, here's a rundown for you: You play Ryo, a teenage boy who lives in Japan in the 1980s, you come home to see your father being murdered and this is where your journey begins. You have fantastic environments that you can move about in with a real-time weathering system, meaning that if the cloud start to get dark then it will start to rain, and also an in-game clock. Once your watch hits 11pm Ryo heads home for bed to rest up and regain health. During your adventures you will also learn new martial arts moves to combat enemies in quicktime events, these events are played out in a semi-slowmotion form requiring you to hit the right buttons at the right time. While going through towns you may talk to hundreds of npc's and explore all the back alley ways and supermarkets that the towns offer. You may also play some of Yu Suzukis older creations such as Hang-On and Space Harrier in the local arcade. The game is broken up into episodes and the second episode is in development now and each title will take Ryo on even larger and more dangerous adventures. This is merely an introduction into the world of Shenmue and it's only going to get better.

The great thing, as mentioned earlier, is Sega's commercials for the game. Instead of showing a few seconds or making a very obscure commercial (see: Jet Grind Radio), they really show how the game is played out and just how beautiful it is. Whoever says that the PlayStation2 has the Dreamcast beat hands down (see: Gamespot TV) looks stupid after such a great display. Be warned that Shenmue isn't a generic RPG and it's not an Adventure title either, Suzuki is calling it FREE, so go in with something new in mind. There have been many sites that love the game, but there are also a select few who bash it, but this seems more along the lines of them trying to go against the grain and look unique instead of recognizing a great game ..(that or Sega didn't pay them off).. either way, if you have a Dreamcast, then Shenmue should be a definite title that you check out..

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