Sega Ages

Last Friday I picked up the Sega Ages: Virtua Racing release on Nintendo Switch. If you haven’t seen the games in this series, you really ought to check them out! So far, Sega has given us…

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Lightening Force
• Phantasy Star
• Out Run
• Gain Ground
• Alex Kidd in Miracle World
• Virtua Racing
• Wonder Boy in Monster Land
  

They’ve also released Space Harrier and Puyo Puyo (Arcade) in Japan. Expect Space Harrier soon over here as well. Every one of these I’ve purchased so far has been a gem. They are given the best possible treatment by M2, a Japanese company that’s spent a lot of time remastering games from Sega’s (and other companies’) catalog. It’s emulation or porting on a level you just don’t get much outside of Japan.

All of them have leaderboards and enhancements while still retaining the original experience. For example, Phantasy Star has an automapping function you can use in the dungeons and it also has altered encounter rates and loot drops to speed it up a bit. The tinkering in most of the games is minimal, but just enough to make the games feel that much better in 2019.

I’d already purchased Sonic, Lightening Force, Phantasy Star, and Out Run before Friday and now I’ve added Virtua Racing. At $7.99, this is a fantastic way to bring that arcade game home. It looks better than it ever has and it plays well on the Switch. It does point out that my Pro Controller is a little shaky in the analog stick department these days, but beyond that quibble with hardware, it really couldn’t be better. It supports leaderboards and online play against another opponent but even just pounding around the three circuits shooting for better completion times has eaten up a couple hours for me already. It’s a game I loved in arcades and it still holds up really well today thanks to Sega’s developers testing the hell out of it to make the experience tight.

If $7.99 seems like a lot, they’ve been putting these games on sale for $5.99 occasionally too. I used those sales for a couple on my list and will eventually pick up the others I’m missing at the next opportunity. These are all classics from their catalog that sit nicely next to the Arcade Archives series that’s been bringing Neo Geo and other arcade favorites to Switch for quite awhile now. The Sega Ages releases are highly recommended for quick bursts of arcade or old school console gameplay that feels totally timeless both at home and on the go. They really go the extra mile to respectfully celebrate some of Sega’s amazing history.