Sega has announced it will be rebooting five retro franchises including Shinobi, Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Streets of Rage, and Golden Axe.
The publisher revealed the move during The Game Awards 2023 alongside a brand-new action-packed trailer showcasing each franchise and their upcoming revival, much to viewers' excitement.
"New Era, New Energy! New games from Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Crazy Taxi - now in development!," claims the trailer, hinting at, well, a lot of games many of us played on Sega's venerated consoles, with Golden Axe, Streets of Rage and Shinobi being classic Mega Drive games, while Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi coming to life on the Dreamcast.
There are no official release dates for the games just yet, but Sega COO Shuji Utsumi said in an interviewwith Variety before the event that the earliest reboot will arrive “in the range of two years.”
They will each also feature all-new gameplay and will appeal to fans of the original games, as well as new audiences. You can check out the announcement trailer below.
Shinobi and Streets of Rage have movie adaptations in the works and Utsumi explained that it's Sega's goal to expand its ambitions beyond the popular Sonic movies.
"Sonic is definitely a blueprint for us," Utsumi said. "First, we really want to create the games and appeal to the gamers. The game is first. However, if we are creating the world and the characters that gamers love, that means if filmmakers love that kind of direction, [that can inspire] the movies. So, why not?”
For the games it looks like there's no solid thematic thread tying them together and is instead Sega just setting out a commitment to remaking some of their best loved worlds.
Want more news from The Game Awards? Take a look at the dystopian robot shooter Last Sentinel, or you can just go and play The Finals, which launched tonight.
