Shenmue and Shenmue 2 have both secured impressive positions in Retro Gamer Presents: The Greatest Retro Games of All Time: First Edition, with the original game breaking into the Top 10.
The special edition brings together Retro Gamer’s 100 greatest retro games, with the selections based on votes and input from the magazine’s team, contributors and readers.
For Shenmue fans, the results make for particularly good reading.
Shenmue 2 takes the #19 position, while the original Shenmue places at an incredible #9 overall making it the highest-ranked SEGA game on the entire list.
Shenmue 2 #19
Shenmue II receives its own entry at number 19, immediately following fellow Yu Suzuki classic Out Run at #18 and finishing ahead of the original Tomb Raider at #20.
Retro Gamer praises Shenmue 2 for successfully expanding on the technological ambition of the original while creating a very different adventure. Whereas Ryo’s journey began amid the relatively familiar and comfortable surroundings of Yokosuka, Shenmue 2 throws him into the sprawling streets of Hong Kong, where he encounters gangs, gambling, underground fighting and characters whose motives aren’t always immediately clear.
It also highlights the change in balance between the two games. Shenmue 2 places a greater emphasis on action and large set pieces while retaining the quieter, more reflective elements that defined the original, with Ryo and Shenhua’s lengthy journey together highlighted as one example.
The result is described as an adventure that expands considerably on the first game without losing the qualities that made Shenmue distinctive.
And #19 puts Shenmue 2 ahead of some extraordinary company. Tomb Raider (#20), Donkey Kong (#21), Halo: Combat Evolved (#23), Grand Theft Auto 3 (#24), Resident Evil 4 (#26), Resident Evil (#27), Super Metroid (#29), Final Fantasy 7 (#34) and World of Warcraft (#36) all appear further down the ranking.
Shenmue #9
Even more impressive is the original Shenmue, which enters the list at #9.
Retro Gamer notes that while revenge stories involving martial artists were hardly new, Shenmue distinguished itself through its cinematic ambitions and extraordinarily detailed simulation of everyday life.
Yokosuka is singled out as one of the earliest videogame environments that genuinely felt like a functioning town. The relatively quiet setting, its inhabitants and Shenmue’s deliberately measured pace all contribute to the sense of place while players remain free to pursue Ryo’s investigation or simply spend time in the arcade. The sheer impact of Yu Suzuki’s creation and how few games have matched its original sense of spectacle is noted throughout and is something we agree with, even today.
The feature traces the project’s remarkable development with input from Yu Suzuki himself, from its origins as a Virtua Fighter RPG through Project Berkley, its early Sega Saturn incarnation and the eventual move to Dreamcast. It examines Suzuki’s desire to create a game combining multiple concepts rather than following the conventions of a traditional RPG an approach that ultimately resulted in Shenmue’s mixture of exploration, martial arts, cinematic sequences, Quick Time Events and everyday simulation.
Particular attention is paid to the systems that made Shenmue’s world feel alive: the passage of time, changing weather, characters following schedules, shops opening and closing and the many distractions available to Ryo. The feature even explores the technology developed during production, including tools that allowed the team to quickly generate interiors and environments as development moved into Shenmue 2. Retro Gamer also follows the series beyond Shenmue 2, covering the long wait for a continuation, Shenmue Online, Ryo’s various cameos and ultimately the record-breaking announcement and crowdfunding of Shenmue 3.
Keeping Some Very Impressive Company
Shenmue’s position becomes even more striking when looking at the games below it.
At #9, Shenmue places ahead of Super Mario World (#10), The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (#11), Space Invaders (#12), Sonic the Hedgehog (#13), GoldenEye 007 (#14), Half-Life (#15), Super Mario Kart (#16), Metal Gear Solid (#17) and Out Run (#18).
Super Mario World is especially noteworthy, having previously topped one of Retro Gamer’s earlier greatest-games polls. Shenmue therefore not only makes the Top 10, but finishes above a previous Retro Gamer number one.
Only eight games rank above it:
Tetris, Doom, Super Mario 64, Street Fighter II, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Pac-Man, Elite and Super Mario Bros.
Not bad company at all.
Yu Suzuki’s Legacy Throughout the Top 100
Shenmue isn’t Yu Suzuki’s only work represented either.
Several games created by or closely associated with Suzuki appear throughout the Top 100:
- #9 – Shenmue
- #18 – Out Run
- #19 – Shenmue II
- #40 – Space Harrier
- #49 – Out Run 2
- #80 – Virtua Fighter
That means three Yu Suzuki-associated titles appear inside the Top 20 alone, with Shenmue, Out Run and Shenmue II sitting within just eleven positions of one another.
Perhaps most impressively for Shenmue fans, the original game also finishes as the highest-placed SEGA title in the entire Top 100, ahead of Sonic the Hedgehog at #13, Out Run at #18 and every other SEGA classic represented.
More than 25 years after Ryo first stepped out onto the snowy streets of Yokosuka, it’s another strong reminder of the lasting impression Shenmue, and Yu Suzuki’s wider body of work continues to have on videogame history.
