Following our unveiling of 23 never-before-seen pieces of Shenmue artwork earlier this week, Push Square have published their own story about this exciting revelation.
Having covered many news stories about Shenmue over the years (including the now-confirmed-fake Shenmue IV trailer) the popular gaming news site have the article displayed loud and proud on their homepage. Here’s a snippet of what writer Sammy Barker has to say:
… while we wait to replay Ryo’s third adventure, the ever-industrious Shenmue Dojo has managed to get its hands on a bunch of never-before-seen artwork, dating back to the franchise’s Virtua Fighter RPG days.
(Long time fans will know legend Yu Suzuki was originally developing this game for the SEGA Saturn, as a story-based spin-off for his hit 3D fighting franchise.)
The artwork includes various characters who’d feature in the final Dreamcast releases of Shenmue and Shenmue 2, as well as some who may have been scrapped or cut from the final games.
We’re absolutely delighted to see a mainstream gaming news site reporting on the latest batch of artwork, as it will hopefully bring these stunning pieces of Shenmue history to an even greater number of fans and people interested in game design.
Thanks to Sammy Barker for sharing the story and the kind words. Read the full article here, and see all of the artworks for yourself here.

