Sunday, November 17, 2019

Shenmue!

The third game in Yu Suzuki's epic adventure is finally upon us and so, of course, I scanned what magazine coverage I've got on the first two games. It's been 19 years since the first game released for the North American Dreamcast and 20 years since it debuted in Japan. Then, while the rest of the world played the sequel on the Dreamcast in 2001, U.S. fans had to wait until 2002 to continue Ryo's journey on Xbox. These are two of my favorite games as I enjoy the settings, characters, and story, plus the combat is fun though the quick-timer events can be hit or miss, literally. I really want to give the first two another go before the new part but I simply cannot find the time so I'm likely going to jump into the third one this week. From what I've read Shenmue III doesn't complete the story -- let's hope we get a Shenmue IV!

If you are a Shenmue fan and missed my coverage for the North American Dreamcast's 20th anniversary you might want to check this article (scroll way down) to see some Shenmue press materials (flyer, press release, trading cards, t-shirt). There is also a post about the Dreamcast magazine here that has a couple pages of Shenmue information with a Yu Suzuki interview. The scans below are from a few different magazines with the first game's coverage being from the Official Dreamcast Magazine (ODM) and Next Generation. For Shenmue II I scanned articles from ODM, Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), GamePro, and Xbox Nation (XBN). Also, I spotted a glaring error in a Next Generation preview crediting Sonic Team as the developer (it's AM2) and a couple spots where Ryo Hazuki's name is incorrect (EGM refers to him as Hazaki and ODM calls him Ryu). Something else you may notice are screenshots of Shenmue II in a Shenmue preview. I'd have to assume it wasn't known at the time if or where the story would be split between multiple games.

SHENMUE

Pre-Release
ODM #2
ODM #5

ODM #5
ODM #5

ODM #11

Next Generation - April 1999
Next Generation - March 1999
Next Generation - March 1999


Next Generation - October 1999

Next Generation - October 1999
Next Generation - October 1999

Next Generation - October 1999
Next Generation - October 1999

Reviews
ODM #8

ODM #8
ODM #8

Next Generation - December 2000


SHENMUE II

Pre-Release
ODM #10: Shenmue II is coming
out in 2001! Isn't it, Peter Moore? 
GamePro #159


GamePro #160: Shenmue II
canceled on U.S. Dreamcast.
GamePro #161: Peter Moore
apologizes.
EGM #159















Reviews
EGM #161
XBN #5

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