Reboots are always a popular thing.  They are almost guaranteed sales.  They are also under much more scrutiny than a fresh launch.  Retro gaming fans sometimes tend to have quite high requirements for the level of quality of a reboot.  Multiply that statement a few times if it is a beloved fan favorite.  Capcom has discovered this with their continued efforts to keep the Street Fighter series alive, the guys behind Mighty No. 9 are discovering fans can be quite vocal critics as well.  That is how it should be though- fans pay for these games and want quality.  Not doing reboots of classic franchises is just missing out on not only sales but giving back to fans.  Here are seven Sega Genesis and Sega CD game reboots I think need to happen.  I am leaving off the obvious Sonic the Hedgehog and Streets of Rage franchises.  Everyone bitches about those too much as it is.

Eternal Champions by Sega is one of those games that started off rough but with a little more work in the development stage turned it all around.  How?  Sega actually listened to people saying the controls sucked and reworked them when they ported Eternal Champions over to the Sega CD platform.  Now, why the hell did Sega leave this fighting game series in the 16-Bit era is beyond me.  I could easily see this series having evolved to include just about any and every movie character homage making an appearance.  I know, the game is not about movie characters but it would have been an easy way to keep it alive.  Imagine having a guy that starts off with full skin but as the rounds continue, or his damage increases, he loses skin and reveals a robotic skeleton.  With modern platforms they could have easily added Downloadable Content (DLC) that changed his skinned appearance, or added new characters and levels.  Come on Sega, get on this.

Ah, here is a title that just had a birthday, Kid Chameleon by Sega for the Sega Genesis.  It is another 16-Bit era title that inexplicably was left behind in the days of yore.  Again, this makes no sense as the game sold well, is very well remembered by fans and was completely and utterly misused by Sega.  A reboot today would surely have to involve some form of the Bug! style engine that allowed “into” the level, 2.5D style side scrolling.  Oh yea, they could even make use of DLC for new masks and levels (the original consisted of over 100 levels).

Kids today think that online multiplayer begins and ends with their first person shooter (FPS) games.  Back in my day, multiplayer was controlled by a little game known as Bomberman.  This is one the rare titles that reached all three major 16-Bit platforms back in the early 90’s.  Imagine being able to play with people across the globe rather than just in your living room.  I can see it now, achievements could include blowing up a player on each continent or 10+ enemies in the color groups (red, yellow, blue, etc).  This needs to happen.

Role playing games are still quite popular today, just ask anyone that is still willing to produce them.  Sure, sales are lower than compared to the popular stuff like Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty.  Seriously, what else sells as well as those games?  Anyhow, imagine if we got a reboot of Phantasy Star.  Particularly in the style of Phantasy Star IV– comic style cut scenes, quests out the wazoo and drama that is hard to come by.  Come on Sega- you could even make use of DLC to offer additional “bounty hunter” style quests to those that wish to beef up their characters more.  Money printing game right here.

Shining Force was a turn based strategy game series set squarely in a Tolkien-esque world.  It was also all but vehemently forgotten when the Genesis died.  Sure, we did get a Shining Force game on the Sega CD which brought over the third Game Gear game with updated graphics but the love affair ended there.  I know, we got Volume 1 of 3 of Shining Force III on the Sega Saturn but it was too little too late for many former supporters.  Reboot this series on modern platforms with modern pixel based graphics (none of that rendered stuff).

Action games were all the rage in the 16-Bit days.  When you ask a die-hard Sega fan what is their Top 5, more often than not Gunstar Heroes will be on there.  This was action on top of action on top of action and it just kept coming.  Treasure knew what they were doing and they did it quite well.  2.5D side scrolling action that puts Konami’s last, sad, licensed out to unknown developers’ version of Contra to shame.

Finally, with the popularity of comic books has gotten me to missing a game based around that print medium.  Comix Zone was pretty much an action comic book.  Now imagine, Sega re-releases Comix Zone for modern platforms, even if it is simply a digital release it is better than nothing.  Throw in some current comic book DLC from major publishers and their characters and watch as gamers lap it up.  I mean, if all of those music instrument “playing” games can get bands that hate each other to license their music to the same company, surely Sega can work out a deal with DC and Marvel.  They did it years ago already so drop the chips on the shoulders.

Okay, let me hear your list of Sega games that need a reboot!  I kept this to Sega Genesis/Sega CD otherwise it would have been 100+ entries.

Carl Williams

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