Shenmue for Dreamcast Review

The Story

You play Ryo, a novice martial artist teenager who has witnessed the death of his father by Lan Di, a man searching for a green disc. Ryo’s father has one piece and now Lan Di goes in search of the second piece. But Ryo has one thought on his mind: find Lan Di. You’ll travel to different towns and cities seeking clues to find him.

The Gameplay

The basic flow goes like this: roam Ryo through towns and neighborhoods looking for clues. Find a clue, then move onto the next clue. Throw in some fighting, with moves you can learn as you go, and ‘Action Events’ and you have yourself a game.

Action Events are events where you have to press a certain button/direction or a sequence of buttons/directions. Hit them successfully and you pass. Miss one and you fail. For example, you chase a kid who might have some information through town. As you make your way through the streets you have to avoid obstacles. When the time comes, what you have to press will flash on the screen and you have a couple seconds to respond. If you make it, then you’ll jump over a barrel. If you incorrectly hit the buttons, then you trip over the barrel. In most Action Events, you have 3-6 sequences to make it through.

One other unique feature in Shenmue is the real-time effects. Really, I call it pseudo real-time. In the corner of your screen is a clock and it’s constantly running. Ten minutes on the game clock equals roughly one minute. Everything is based on the clock: the sun sets and rises, people go to work in the morning, people aren’t home in the day, businesses close and you have to be home by a certain time. The buses run on schedule, you have to show up for work on time and people will want to meet you at certain times. Now that’s innovation.

The Graphics

Shenmue’s graphics are pretty good. The cities are laid out realistically and detailed and backgrounds are animated and very interactive. One of the best parts of the graphics are the facial expressions. What the Xbox 360 is doing now, the Dreamcast was already doing, albeit in rudimentary form. In Shenmue, you can see grins, angry eyes and even dimples. Some of the speaking is a little stiff, but with the great ‘Kung Fu’ voice acting you don’t notice.

The Controls

Moving through the Shenmue world is awkward at times. The digital pad is used for moving and turning around. When you lock onto an object you can interact with, you can use the analog stick to look around. Switching between the two was uncomfortable at first, but an hour with the game is all you need.

Fighting is pretty intuitive. You have your basic moves: punch, kick and throw. Any combination of the D-pad, punch, and kick buttons elicits combinations. There is also a block button which you will definitely need to become familiar with.

Thompson’s Two Cents

A fine action-adventure/RPG game. A deep, deep story with a fine fighting system that you learn as your character learns it. You’ll empathize with Ryo and root for him as he falls in love. Oh, he does fall in love. What teenager with revenge angst who has a destiny with an ancient world wouldn’t fall in love? No teenager I know, especially one in Shenmue.