Shenmue Passport Tutorials (1999-2000, Sega/AM2)
2I stayed up to 3 AM getting all this Shenmue stuff ready for today! I hope you enjoy!
Lessons provided:
Sha Hua - Prologue
Ryo - Battle System
Nozomi - Minigames
Oishi - Magic Weather and Time
Mark - Money
Xiu Ying - Game System
Chai - QTE (Quick Time Events)
They funded Shenmue 3! The Kickstarter ends today and they met a ton of stretch goals to expand the game beyond the 2m dollar game that it originally was to be! Mind you, the original game was 70 million! The second being much less than that but still in the millions. Hopefully we can get some good bang for our buck :)
I trust in Yu Suzuki though. The man knows how to make good games.
Today is Shenmue Day!
Shenmue (シェンムー 一章 横須賀 Shenmū Isshō: Yokosuka, lit. "Shenmue Chapter 1: Yokosuka") is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Sega AM2, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki and published by Sega for the Dreamcast in 1999. It covers the first chapter of the Shenmue series.
Shenmue consists of open-world 3D environments interspersed with brawler battles and quick time events. It includes elements of role-playing and life simulation games, such as a day-and-night system, variable weather effects, non-player characters with their own daily schedules, and interactive elements such as vending machines, arcades, and minigames. The story follows the teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki as he sets out in revenge for the murder of his father in 1980s Yokosuka, Japan.
After developing several successful Sega arcade games, including Hang-On, Out Run and Virtua Fighter, Suzuki wanted to create a longer game experience. His team began work on an RPG for the Sega Saturn set in the Virtua Fighter world. In 1997, development moved to the Dreamcast, the game was named Shenmue and the Virtua Fighter connection was dropped. It became the most expensive video game ever developed at the time, with an estimated production and marketing cost of $47 to $70 million USD, though some of the development also covered Shenmue II (2001).
Shenmue received mostly positive reviews; critics praised its graphics, soundtrack, realism and ambition, but criticized its slow pace and voice acting. It attracted a cult following, appearing in several "greatest video games of all time" lists. Despite sales of 1.2 million copies, Shenmue did not recoup its development cost and is considered a commercial failure. After the release of Shenmue II, Sega cancelled development of further games in the series. In June 2015, Suzuki announced a crowdfunding campaign to develop Shenmue III for PlayStation 4 and PC.
Plot Summary:
In 1986 Yokosuka, Japan, teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki returns to his family dojo to witness a confrontation between his father Iwao and a Chinese man, Lan Di. Ryo intervenes, but is easily incapacitated. Lan Di demands Iwao give him the dragon mirror, a mysterious stone artifact. When he threatens to kill Ryo, Iwao tells him the mirror is buried under the cherry blossom tree outside. As Lan Di's men dig up the mirror, Lan Di mentions Zhao Sunming, whom Iwao allegedly killed in Mengcun, China. Lan Di delivers a finishing blow and Iwao dies in Ryo's embrace.
Ryo swears revenge on Lan Di. He begins his investigation by interviewing people about what they witnessed. Just as he is about to run out of leads, a letter addressed to Ryo's father arrives from a man named Zhu Yuanda suggesting he seek the aid of a Master Chen, who works at Yokosuka harbor. Through Chen and his son Chen Guizhang, Ryo learns that a local harbor gang, the Mad Angels, is connected to Lan Di's criminal organization, the Chi You Men. He also learns that the dragon mirror taken by Lan Di is one of two mirrors. He locates the second, the phoenix mirror, in a basement hidden beneath his father's dojo.
To investigate the Mad Angels, Ryo takes a job at the harbor as a forklift driver. After he causes trouble, the Mad Angels kidnap his schoolfriend Nozomi. Ryo rescues her, but makes a deal with the Mad Angel leader, Terry Ryan, to beat up Guizhang in exchange for a meeting with Lan Di. Ryo realizes the deal is a trap and teams up with Guizhang to defeat the gang. Terry reveals that Lan Di has left Japan for Hong Kong.
With the aid of the Chen family, Ryo arranges to take a boat to Hong Kong with Guizhang. On the day of departure, Ryo is attacked by Chai, a low-ranking Chi You Men member who plots to steal the phoenix mirror to gain favor with Lan Di. Ryo defeats Chai, but Guizhang is injured in the fight and urges Ryo to go without him, saying he will meet him in China later. Master Chen advises Ryo to seek the help of a martial artist in Wan Chai named Tao Lishao. Ryo boards the boat and sets off to Hong Kong.