Video game fans don’t exactly have a reputation as the calmest group of individuals on the planet. Today they’ve got a particularly fierce bee in their bonnet as BAFTA has officially named the most influential game of all time, decided after a global public poll. 2r5n10

There are a lot of potential candidates. DOOM comes to mind for popularizing the now-ubiquitous first-person shooter genre, Grand Theft Auto III brought the crime caper megafranchise into 3D for the first time, PUBG ushered in a wave of battle royales, and heck, what about the ur-games of yore like Pong, Space Invaders, and Pac-Man?

Well, the winner was none of the above. Judging by some of the baffled responses, it’s a game that many modern gamers didn’t even know existed. Top of the charts in what they it is a “surprise number one” is Yu Suzuki’s 1999 Dreamcast cult classic Shenmue.

The Most Influential Video Game Of All Time is… Shenmue

Yu Suzuki's tale of revenge topped our global poll What's your favourite memory of the Shenmue series?

View the full Top 21 list nowhttps://t.co/AVUTJePeEg#BAFTAGamesAwards pic.twitter.com/C3VQwqAmMt

— BAFTA Games (@BAFTAGames) April 2, 2025

BAFTA’s rationale is that the game is in many ways “the original blueprint” for a “living, breathing” virtual world. They have a point, Shenmue painstakingly recreates Yokosuka’s Dobuita Street and the surrounding neighborhoods, delivering a simulated world packed with civilians doing their own thing and presenting an absurdly granular level of detail for the time. Want to peek inside a random drawer? You can!

Sadly, relatively few did want to look inside random drawers. What was, at the time, the most expensive game ever made failed to make any money for Sega, though ittedly being a Dreamcast exclusive reportedly meant every console owner would have had to buy two copies for it to break even.

For Shenmue fans, this is a red letter day, with their fave triumphing over the high-profile likes of Super Mario Bros, Half-Life, Ocarina of Time, and Minecraft. For those bewildered by this creaky curiosity, not so much:

BAFTA have Shenmue as most influential video game ever. So influential I’ve never heard of it.

— Ser Ron of the Blackwater (@Ronald0) April 3, 2025

And other widespread confusion, possibly from younger gamers who have no idea what a “Shenmue” is.

I'm sorry, Shenmue??? What about Persona?? What about Yakuza?? What on earth is this #1 game LOL https://t.co/E9ZpXaGnud

— Junch (@junchgaming) April 3, 2025

Growing up in the 80's through early 2000's, I was a huge Nintendo nerd and played hundreds of games for NES, SNES, and N64, and I dabbled in Genesis, PlayStation, and arcade games as well. I'm embarrassed to it that I have no idea who this character is!

— SaneMJfan (@sanemjfan) April 3, 2025

But I’m with the many cheering fans celebrating this franchise getting a moment in the sun. Last time I visited Japan, I got the train out to Yokosuka and walked around the real-life Dobuita Street, which will be eerily familiar to anyone who’s ever played the game and cements how successfully Yu Suzuki nailed a sense of time and place better than almost any other ’90s developer.

If you’re curious about Shenmue, it’s readily available on most modern platforms, including Steam, PlayStation and Xbox, coming in a retro bundle with its sequel Shenmue II. Don’t go into it expecting a white-knuckle ride, but if you vibe with its chill atmosphere, relaxed pace, and unique gameplay you’ll be a fan for life. And if you need to know where the sailors hang out, drop me a line.

On last night’s premiere episode of season 20 of The Bachelorette, Charity Lawson welcomed her suitors to the Bachelor — er — Bachelorette pad, where one of them just might have revealed himself to be an infamous Batman villain.

When Aaron B. (no, the “B” does not stand for “Batman”) stepped out of the limo and into Charity’s heart (possibly), no one expected him to resort to questionable methods of decision-making right off the, um, bat. Yet there he was, a mere moment into making his first impression, informing Charity that he’d decided to flip a coin to determine whether he stays or goes. The song by The Clash danced into some viewer’s heads while Aaron explained that if the coin toss resulted in heads, the two will get engaged, but if it came up tails, he’d take his tail out of there.

Well, nothing like showing the woman you’re interested in that your decision-making skills are rock-solid! While Aaron flipped the coin, one wondered whether Charity was flipping out on the inside. How did she envision her future with Aaron B.? Did “indecisive mess” come to mind? Would he decide how many children he wants by coin toss? Finally, the coin landed, and it was heads. Aaron B. stayed, though maybe Charity was hoping for tails.

Yet the night was still young, so once again, Aaron B. flipped a coin — this time, to decide whether he should kiss this merry woman. He helpfully announced that if the coin turned up heads, he would kiss her, otherwise his lips were off limits.

As he flipped the coin, America wondered (or perhaps just I did) whether this guy might be the real-life version of Batman nemesis Two-Face. For those unfamiliar, Two-Face makes all of his decisions by flipping a coin. Suddenly, it dawned on America (or, again, perhaps just me) that Charity might be Batgirl! And in this exciting scenario, considering the coin again came up heads, Two-Face lip-smacked Batgirl, and she (seemingly) liked it.

It’s a good thing that Jerome Bettis and Phil Luckett were absent in helping call the coin toss, because Aaron B. would not have been so lucky. …But was it really luck?

Fans of the groundbreaking video game series known as Shenmue will recall the character of Wuying Ren, also known as Ren of Heavens. In Shenmue II, Ren made countless decisions between himself and the main character, Ryo, by flipping a coin. He let Ryo call heads or tails and, since you were Ryo, you decided. Problem was, you always lost.

The toss always favored Ren, who later, when it came time for the two enemies-turned-friends to part ways, revealed that he possessed one coin on which both sides are heads, and another coin on which both sides are tails. If Ryo called heads, Ren would reach into his back pocket and flip his two-tailed coin. If Ryo called tails, Ren employed the two-headed coin.

Surely, Aaron B. has a similarly two-headed coin. Charity might be just playing along, but what happens when she decides to playfully offer to call the toss herself, and then call tails? Aaron likely doesn’t have a two-tailed coin, so how will he handle such a plot twist? Regardless, most people believe that the coin-trickster is something of a front-runner… or maybe they should say that he’s heads and tails above the rest.

Maybe Chairty should start flipping coins to decide who gets a rose. That would give the show added entertainment!

In the meantime, Aaron should just give his coin to Charity, regardless of how many heads it has.

More cast have been announced for Crunchyroll and Adult Swim’s Shenmue the Animation. The 13 episode co-production, directed by Chikara Sakurai (One Punch Man season two) at Telecom Animation Film, will debut in February with both English subtitles and audio options.

While Crunchyroll announced the English cast last month, we now know three more Japanese voice actors ing Masaya Matsukaze and Takahiro Sakurai as they reprise their original roles as Ryo Hazuki and Lan Di in the 1999 Sega Dreamcast RPG. The original game’s director, Yu Suzuki, is also ing the production as an executive producer. 

Haruka Terui reprises the role of the mysterious Shenhua Ling, whom she voiced in 2019’s Shenmue III. In her first named role, Haruka Fushimi will voice Ryo’s friend and classmate Nozomi Harasaki. And Ryuuichi Kijima (Boruto, God Eater) as the businessman and martial artist Guizhang Chen. That leaves Chai, Wong, Joy, Xiuying Hong, Rin, and Doi Niu to be announced on the Japanese cast.

The show’s official Twitter announced the casting this morning. 

In English, Shenhua is voiced by Natalie Rial (My Hero Academia), Nozomi is voiced by Cat Thomas (Food Wars), and Guizhang is voiced by Jeremy Gee (Haikyuu!!)/ Leads Ryo and Lan Di are voiced by Austin Tindle (Black Clover) and Scott Gibbs (Parasyte), respectively. 

We also learned on Twitter that Japanese rock band Narudora will debut a new song, “Sympathy,” as the series’ ending theme. 

Shenmue the Animation premieres Saturday, Feb. 5 at 9:30pm PST on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim. Adult Swim will air the English dub in North America during the channel’s Toonami block, while Crunchyroll will stream the sub in international markets outside of Japan and China.

The series will air on Japanese TV at a later date, a new trend emerging as streaming takes a stronger footing in the domestic anime market. 

Full disclosure: The original Shenmue rocked my tiny mind and my beloved Dreamcast way back in the year that was 2000, ultimately prompting my slow descent into the world of entertainment “journalism” and pushing me toward a career in writing. Once I’d committed hours to the game after a shift at work, I’d spend another hour writing about the experience on a website I’d created to help sharpen my skills as an amateur wordsmith. And while Shenmue II didn’t have quite the impact that I’d hoped, I still loved the game. However, I’d come to the realization that I would more than likely never see the conclusion to a game that kickstarted my current career and helped reintroduce me to the power and imagination of video games. In other words, Shenmue III had huge shoes to fill. Herein lies the problem. I am attempting to take a very critical approach to Shenmue III, but I’m having a difficult time separating myself, Shenmue fanboy, from my other role as an unbiased video game “critic.” As a fan, Shenmue III feels like something crafted in an alternative reality where the developers were allowed to continue their story without much restraint, then plucked from said reality and delivered to us nearly 18 years later. It feels like a relic of a different era, and despite some quality-of-life improvements here and there, those who don’t follow the dramatic story of the Shenmue franchise’s rise and fall might think this is some kind of remaster of an older game. No, Shenmue III is very much a new game, and that is precisely what makes it so difficult to review. To start, and most importantly I will say that Shenmue III provided yours truly with exactly the sort of experience I’d dreamed the game would deliver. For better and for worse, it feels like something ripped from a different world and dropped into the laps of those who would appreciate it most: the fans who’d hoped for ages that the story would continue and that our hero, Ryo Hazuki, would finally lock horns with the villainous bastard who murdered his father. Without giving too much away, I will say that I expected something a bit more concrete in of a conclusion, and I worry that Shenmue IV will never come to . Despite that slight disappointment, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Shenmue III, to the point where I am able to overlook the technical hiccups, dated gameplay, and the repetitive nature of the package as a whole. It’s Shenmue through and through, which will make a lot of people wonder what all the fuss is about. And that’s going to be a huge barrier for Shenmue III: Finding new fans. Because Shenmue III feels dated and strange, even to someone who played the hell out of the previous entries in the series. Simply put, you walk around, talk to people, learn something, talk to someone else, maybe fight someone or do a quick-time event, buy some junk, do a mini-game or two, and then repeat the process until either the scenery changes or the game ends. That’s it. If you’re looking for a full-on action-packed experience, then you’ll end up deeply disappointed by Shenmue’s reliance on conversations — stilted conversations at that. However, if you want a straightforward adventure game, you’ll likely get turned off by the simplistic martial arts sequences and the overall lack of puzzles — unless you count figuring out who to talk to next as a puzzle. Most people don’t, of course, which will quickly become a huge issue for some. Games have changed a lot since Shenmue’s arrival back in 1999, and some would argue that the game laid the groundwork for quite a few popular franchises. In fact, the Yakuza series — a stack of games that I love with almost every ounce of my being — probably wouldn’t exist if not for the eventual demise of the Shenmue brand. And all the games influenced by Shenmue grew and changed over the years, growing and changing with industry trends and gamer demands. Shenmue III apparently leapfrogged all of these advancements and landed in 2019 like some sort of goofy character from a time-travel movie. If you’re expecting something as slick and polished as modern-day AAA or even AA games, you’re in for a serious shock to the proverbial system. Shenmue III thumbs its nose at convention. But, strangely, that almost works in the game’s favor. By not making the game slicker and more modern, it feels like a true successor to Shenmue II. And while it definitely looks fantastic and sports an incredible amount of detail — especially for those of us who feel strangely compelled to open and examine every single drawer and cabinet in the game — it doesn’t come close to matching its modern-day contemporaries. The controls feel stiff, and action sequences aren’t very kinetic, and it just feels as though the developers didn’t have quite enough money to smooth over a lot of the rougher edges before its release date. And here’s the thing: Were this any other game, I’d probably shake my fist in anger while lazily writing a handful of sentences that dripped with snarky disappointment and misguided outrage. But I can’t do that with Shenmue III. As a critic, I am ashamed. As a fan, however, I will take up that charge. Naturally, this is where being a Shenmue fan begins to infiltrate my ability to give the third installment a proper critique. Despite these glaring issues, some of which will immediately turn off old-school Shenmue fans looking for an updated experience or those tuning in to see what all the fuss is about, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the last installment. Yes, the dialogue feels like something written by an individual who’s never had a real conversation with another human being in their entire lives, and yes, the character designs often resemble creatures deleted from an independent developer’s unreleased horror game, but damn it, that’s the charm of Shenmue III. It’s often a janky, odd, and frequently unpleasant video game, though not quite in the same league as Deadly Premonition, Phantasmagoria, or The Harvester. No, all of its quirky shortcomings make the story and gameplay gel in ways that, in theory, shouldn’t work. Shenmue III, despite all of the things I’ve mentioned, charmed me. I spent hours playing Lucky Hit, catching fish to win T-shirts and jackets, going to fortune-tellers so I can rip off the local “bookies,” playing QTE games in the local arcades, talking to the same people over and over and over again, and raising Ryo’s rank at the local dojo. Oh yeah, and when I had some time to spare, I looked through drawers and tried to unravel the mysteries behind some ancient mirrors so I can find the man who murdered my father. And although I spotted every cut corner and rolled my eyes when Ryo had yet another nonsensical conversation, I still loved Shenmue III. You have to embrace this thing as a whole; taking it apart and looking at the components individually will drive you crazy and make you question how you spend your free time. For Shenmue fans, it feels like coming home after years away — it still looks, sounds, and smells the same, and you wouldn’t change a thing about it.

This review is based on the PlayStation 4 version of the game. A copy was provided to us by Deep Silver.

Yes, I’m one of those highly obnoxious individuals who loved to tell you how absolutely wonderful developer Yu Suzuki’s game-changing action-adventure Shenmue was for the Sega Dreamcast. It didn’t matter if you couldn’t find the console in your area or you didn’t want to spend the money to track down a used copy of the game, I’d bend your ear to the breaking point about how this title changed the way I play video games. And I’d also implore you to find a copy of the sequel for the original Xbox, which would mean you’d have to invest in an entirely different console and find yet another used copy based on the recommendation of a die-hard fanboy. Thankfully, I no longer have to engage in any of those socially awkward activities, though it certainly took long enough for that to happen. Thanks, Sega. After years of begging from fans who simply wouldn’t let this series die, Shenmue I & II are now available for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, giving you absolutely zero reasons not to check this series out for yourself. But here’s the problem: After recommending this title for as long as I have, I’m worried that the experience might not live up to expectations, which myself and countless others have built to lofty (and possibly unattainable) heights. After all, the game feels pretty dated, and some younger gamers might feel that the crazy old guy who still plays video games in his forties has lost his edge. Don’t get me wrong — it still looks fantastic for a 20-year-old title, but the hard truth is that Shenmue and its sequel are pretty basic adventure games when compared to other, like-minded titles from his generation and the last. Still, that shouldn’t dissuade you from checking out a game many still consider the best of its kind. Over the span of two epic adventures, players assume the role of Ryo Hazuki, a young man (with a mysterious Band-Aid on his face, no less) who is on a mission to locate the evil stranger responsible for murdering his father. Although this setup might sound like a recipe for non-stop action and thrills, in reality, the journey is a bit more chill, laid back, and ponderous. It takes a very long time for Ryo to discover who murdered his father, and he spends a lot of that time wandering through a small Japanese town picking the brains of his friends and neighbors, some of whom seem deeply and weirdly oblivious to the inner workings of their surroundings. In a place with less than a dozen streets, how can you not know your town has two different barber shops? The mind boggles, especially when this ignorance spreads to other areas. With that in mind, if you’re going into Shenmue thinking you’ll get a quasi pre-Yakuza experience full of quirky side missions and random encounters with local thugs and delinquents, now is the time to temper those expectations. Yes, there are side stories, but they’re of the “buy a can of tuna to feed a homeless kitten” variety. And the few skirmishes you’ll find yourself involved in aren’t nearly as engaging as the Yakuza franchise. What’s more, a lot of these encounters unfold as quick-time events (QTEs), which you’ll either enjoy or dread with every ounce of your soul. I’m of the belief that the hatred for QTEs is a little misplaced (I never minded them, at least), especially when they’re handled carefully. There are several QTEs spread throughout Shenmue, though most of them do a great job of creating a cinematic situation the developers simply couldn’t achieve otherwise. Are they overused? Possibly, but they’re not overly difficult or show-stoppingly annoying. What may turn off most people about Shenmue I & II is the games’ deliberate snail-like pacing. It takes a very long time for things to really start moving in the story, and a lot of that space in-between plot points involves literally waiting for time to so you can trigger an event that will move the journey forward. Thankfully, you can hang out in arcades and burn some time with throwback video games or blindly toss away your limited funds in the local casino. If you prefer a little more interaction, you can wander around town and talk to the countless residents so can get their perspective on your current quest objective — which usually boils down to them telling you they have no idea what you’re talking about. And if you really need something to keep you busy during your downtime, stalk the NPCs to see what they’re up to and where they live; the schedules they keep are actually kind of surprising. And as you follow them throughout every corner of the town, your mind will shatter when they don’t know where certain shops are — even though they often walk right by them! In fact, prospective gamers should prepare themselves for plenty of mundane moments when they sit down with Shenmue I & II. While the sequel amps things up a little (but not much), the first installment has a tendency to focus on the humdrum aspects of Ryo’s daily life. Sure, feeding the stray cat and collecting cassette tapes can arguably fill your day with some form of entertainment, working at the docks and driving a forklift — and having to maintain a quota while continuing your murder investigation — will make you question why you’re bothering with this game in the first place. That said, there’s something about the experience as a whole that hooks you, even after your pay gets docked because you suck at driving a forklift. It sounds silly, but that’s the charm of Shenmue. It’s these smaller moments that deepen this ittedly generic revenge story. If we didn’t get to know Ryo and his pals, this experience wouldn’t be nearly as engaging. While I have very fond memories of the first game — it’s actually the title that inspired me to start writing about video games back in the day — Shenmue II doesn’t hold up nearly as well, and it somehow feels more dated than the original. In fact, there were moments during my rushed playthrough that I just wanted the experience to end, mostly because I was growing tired of dealing with the first game’s tired formula without the oddball charm of Shenmue’s small-town life. There’s still a pretty good story tucked inside the sequel, but it doesn’t have the same allure as the original. It’s bigger in scope and ambition, but it feels somewhat hollow when compared to Ryo’s original adventure. Maybe it’s the story, or perhaps the first game’s locale was a character the developers simply couldn’t recreate in the follow-up. Whatever the case, it didn’t snag me, but I’m still beyond grateful that Sega has finally given the game a new life on other platforms. Emphasis on finally. If you decide that Shenmue I & II deserves your attention, please keep in mind that the game is older than most Fortnite players. In other words, it’s suffering from some age-related problems. While some of the clunkiness and mechanics might seem a little silly and beyond dated to newcomers, Sega was breaking new ground when this extremely expensive adventure arrived on the Dreamcast many, many years ago. Gamers who didn’t experience Shenmue I & II during their original releases should frame these games in that context, and it’s important to take this into consideration before firing it up. People like me have been singing this franchise’s praises forever, and now you have the chance to check it out. Sure, it’s got a shiny new HD remaster and a handful of quality-of-life enhancements, but it’s largely the same game Dreamcast fanatics couldn’t stop hyping. For me, I still love Shenmue I & II as much as I did when I first discovered them, though Shenmue remains my favorite of the two. This collection isn’t a perfect experience, but its quirks, charms, weirdness, and idiosyncrasies definitely outweigh the dated mechanics. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I can finally retire my Dreamcast and shut up about it.

This review is based on the PC version of the game. A review copy was provided to us by Sega.

Remastered versions of the original Shenmue and its sequel Shenmue II will be released as part of a two-game bundle, Rice Digital reports. According to a “trusted source” close to Atlus USA, both games will be released together at some point this year, although no specific date or platforms are mentioned. SEGA, who still owns the publishing rights to the two open-world titles, has never officially confirmed the existence of such re-releases or, for that matter, if it has even committed any development time to them, but Rice Digital’s report seems to previous murmurs suggesting the same eventuality. Last year, in an episode of SEGA Central, the company said that if such a thing were to happen, it would “need to ensure that any HD remaster lived up to the quality of the original titles, adding that it was “currently investigating how to make it a reality.” Not so much as a whisper has been heard on the matter since, although it emerged earlier this year that various domain names pertaining to Shenmue remasters had been ed by SEGA over the course of several months. To date, none of these sites appear to be active, so it’s unknown whether SEGA plans to use them for the above purpose or simply as a method of protecting the property from being misused. Without official confirmation of such, we can’t say for certain that Shenmue remasters are coming, but with series creator Yu Suzuki hard at work on the Kickstarter-funded Shenmue III, now couldn’t be a better time for them to be announced. Assuming Shenmue III is still on course for a release at the end of 2017, giving fans the opportunity to replay the originals would be the perfect marketing tool. If any updates come to the fore, we’ll be sure to let you know. Stay tuned.

The original Shenmue and its sequel Shenmue II could well be on the receiving end of some high definition TLC in the near future if new domains ed by SEGA are anything to go by. As reported by TSSZ News (via Destructoid), a collection of different domain names pertaining to the series have been ed by SEGA Europe, including one labeled Shenmuehd.com. ShenmueRemastered.com has also been nabbed, along with Shemnuegame.com (the typo isn’t a mistake on our part), all three of which were ed back in September of last year. While nothing is ever set in stone, this is the clearest indication yet that SEGA intends to release remasters of the original Dreamcast games at some point in the future. Last year, SEGA Europe’s head of marketing John Rooke confirmed that it still held the rights to both titles, adding that one of the company’s key aims going forward was to “go back to what the brand used to stand for…the buzz around Shenmue 3 shows that people love our legacy.” If such re-releases truly are on the cards, we can only imagine that they’ll be made available before – rather than after – the release of this year’s Shenmue III. Assuming series creator Yu Suzuki and the team at Ys Net stick to their plan of a late 2017 launch, SEGA has plenty of time to get the remasters out the door in order to capitalize on the series’ resurgence in popularity. Yu Suzuki made a surprise appearance during Sony’s E3 keynote conference in 2015 in order to announce a Kickstarter campaign for Shenmue III, which proved to be extremely successful. While no gameplay footage has been shown since then, Suzuki has provided several updates for the project, having just recently released a series of screenshots for the long-awaited sequel which you can see up above.

SEGA is exploring ways in which they can release a remaster of the original Shenmue and Shenmue II in the future, but cites complications relating to licensing as a major hurdle in doing so. The question over whether such a thing could be a reality was posed to the developer in the most recent episode of SEGA Central and, while the studio says they “would love to” release both games tomorrow, actually doing as such isn’t so simple. The question is addressed at around the 1:55 mark of the video, but you can see below to get the gist of the current situation.

Sadly it’s not as simple as porting the games to the current platforms as we will need to ensure that any HD remaster lived up to the quality of the original titles. And with games as immersive as Shenmue 1 and 2 there are further complications from licensed products that were included in the original games. That said, we’d love to do it, and are currently investigating how to make it a reality.

Considering the hype surrounding the scheduled release of Shenmue III in 2017 (which broke all sorts of Kickstarter records), SEGA will undoubtedly want to capitalize on the excitement by bringing the original games to modern audiences, and we can only hope that they’re able to find a way through the licensing issues currently holding them back. Series creator Yu Suzuki launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to get Shenmue III funded at last year’s E3, and has since released several updates on the state of the project, including screenshots and tech demos. It’s still early days yet, but from what we’ve seen, it’s certainly looking promising.