The seventh console generation was SEGA’s big test as a 3rd party publisher, while they were still a 3rd party during most of the sixth generation, the seventh was the first time they didn’t have home console hardware to sell from the very start. Who knows how game history will see the once big console manufacture turned 3rd party during this time and while not all the games they released that generation were considered great, they did release quite a bit of overlooked gems that fans think deserve second chances. Like always this is a personal opinion list of games, if one of your favorite SEGA published games on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 didn’t make the list, let us know in the comments below.

Note: We didn’t include the Nintendo Wii games that deserve PC ports because the Wii was a really unique console, but we might have a list dedicated just for the Nintendo Wii in the near future. Also titles that already had PC releases but got delisted aren’t included (aka OutRun 2). 

After Burner Climax 

You probably have heard comments where people say that SEGA isn’t fit to make follow-up games to classic franchises, but SEGA-AM2 really proved they still had it by releasing not only a sequel to Out Run but also a new entry in the After Burner franchise. After Burner Climax released in the arcades in 2006 and finally got a home release on XBLA and PSN in early 2010. The game would also later get a mobile port on both iOS and Android, because why not? The game had beautiful graphics andfun old school dog shooting After Burner fun. Games like After Burner Climax the type of game I usually associate SEGA with and giving it another chance to attract a new audience on PC would be a good idea. I mean, that is if you cared about your internal brands…

Chances of happening: I would say 0%. Sadly the game has been delisted (meaning no longer on sale) on Xbox Live and PSN services since December 16, 2015 and was removed from mobile stores on May 18, 2015. This is sad, but this just how the new head hanchos care about SEGA AM2’s legacy titles. They don’t care, they just care about what makes money fast and easy. While the main reason to why SEGA delisted the games from online stores hasn’t been confirmed, it could be SEGA not wanting to renew licenses for using a aircraft found in-game. This is the same reason SEGA has delisted the Out Run 2 games, which is the best SEGA in-house developed game since they went 3rd party. Its a shame that he company wouldn’t find a way to put them on sale even without licensed vehicles… I mean I don’t think we play After Burner or Out Run due to the licenses involved.

Vanquish

Vanquish was a pretty innovative shooter that seemed very ‘cookie cutter’ from a glance, but had score mechanics that really made it stand out from all the Gears of War clones of the seventh generation. It was one of the SEGA and Plantinum Games partnership titles, this one being directed by the famous Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil series) and was well received by fans, including your boys here at SEGAbits. When the game came out in 2010 it didn’t sell as well as SEGA would have wanted, even though the game was critically acclaimed people seemed to have overlooked the game when it came out. I think this is one of the titles that will really do good on Steam and seems to be one of the higher requested games by fans.

Chances of happening: I would say 90%. Rumors about the type of PC Ports that SEGA wants to bring over have suggested that Vanquish is high on that list. Recently Platinum Games’ Inaba teased that they would love to port the game to the PC. Seeing this and the fact that SEGA of Europe have confirmed that more SEGA PC Port titles are coming in the near future, don’t be surprised to see Vanquish get another chance to suit up on Steam.

Yakuza Series

Do you enjoy manly games that have soft drama centers? You might be a Yakuza fan. The Yakuza series by SEGA has been around since late 2005 when it debuted on the PlayStation 2. Since this list is about seventh generation consoles what we are asking for is at least PC ports of either Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4 and/or Yakuza 5. While it might be a bit scary to release a high numbered game without the prior installments, I think most of these games do a good enough job with wrapping up prior story elements that new comers could just enjoy the games by starting with one of the later titles. Sure, I feel like they will enjoy the characters more if they play all the games, but I don’t think SEGA will localize Yakuza 1&2 HD just for a PC re-release.

Chances of happening: I would say 25%. I love this series of games but if you haven’t noticed, about 95% of releases are on Sony consoles or handhelds. Seriously, the only titles that weren’t exclusive to Sony happen to be Yakuza 1&2 HD that got a Wii U port (bombed) and the short lived Yakuza Mobile title. While SEGA has never came out and said it, I think the reason the Yakuza series enjoys Sony exclusivity is because they get free advertisement by the console manufacturer (again this is an opinion) but according to series producer Toshihiro Nagoshi its more about loyalty to Sony for believing in the idea behind the game but also confirms they ‘work together’:

“At the beginning of the project we spoke to all the platform holders including Sony and Microsoft. Every platform holder was negative about this prospect, but we kept on pushing because we believed in the potential, and as we kept going one platform holder that showed interest and saw the prospects of this title was Sony. That’s how we started working with them, and that’s probably not going to change.” – Toshihiro Nagoshi, Yakuza series producer

But lets pretend that SEGA and Sony have no contracts keeping these titles exclusive, there is also the fact that every non-Sony title has bombed in sales (yes, even if it was only mobile and Wii U) plus the fact that none of the Yakuza titles have sold amazingly well in the West and PC being a prominent western skewed platform, I just don’t see SEGA taking the risk sadly. I wish they did though, imagine all the mods.

Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown

While SEGA’s Virtua Fighter series mostly enjoyed its massive popularity in Japan, the brand did have a high point in America during the release of Virtua Fighter 4 which sold a little over 780,000 units in North America. Sadly that success didn’t continue with Virtua Fighter 5 which was criminally overlooked during the start of the seventh generation for a lot of reasons, which I won’t get into in this article. SEGA would later re-release the game digitally in 2012 as ‘Virtua Fighter: Final Showdown’ having, at the time, the latest arcade version on console with a budget price. SEGA tried to promote it the best they could, holding SEGA Cup tournaments but the momentum for the title died out. Now Virtua Fighter has been stagnant without a new entry for over a decade, the longest we have been without a entry in this franchise. I think doing a PC port, with all the cosmetic items and cut content from Virtua Fighter 5: R as a SEGA PC port will be a good way to engage and test the market. Facts are that during the initial release of Virtua Fighter 5, the fighting game market wasn’t looking so hot, but now with FGC tournaments are becoming huge deal I think SEGA should give the franchise another shot.

Chances of happening: I would say 75%. This was included in a rumored short list of games that SEGA Europe was thinking of porting over, plus was one of the headlined titles used by the SEGA PC Ports petition of games that SEGA said they listened were aware of.  I would say the chances of Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown having some sort of port announcements might be pretty good or maybe its just me really wanting to have a port on PC. I mean, why wouldn’t I? This franchise needs to stay relevant and right now its looking rather grim.

Bayonetta Series

You probably read the top that says ‘Bayonetta series‘ and got ready to write a long complaint that Bayonetta 2 is a Nintendo game or some shit, you can just stop. You are correct, Nintendo paid for the development and exclusivity of Bayonetta 2 on consoles and while I don’t know the specifics in the contract about PC, even if they can’t use the work by Platinum Games they can always remake the engine from scratch which seems pretty unlikely. But it has been done in the past, one publisher that is known to do this to overcome a exclusivity contract was Tecmo by basically remaking the Xbox 360 exclusive Ninja Gaiden II for the PlayStation 3 as Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (they also did it for the first title). While seeing a Bayonetta 2 SEGA PC Port seems less likely, we would 100% settle for a SEGA PC Port of the original Bayonetta. Who knows, if the game makes a ton of cash, SEGA can think of investing money on in a Bayonetta 2 remake for all current generations consoles and PC. Come on Nintendo fans, if you really are ‘huge’ Bayonetta fans you would want to share the awesome gameplay with everyone else, right?

Chances of happening: For the original Bayonetta about 90%. This is one of the titles that SEGA fans has been demanding the most from the seventh console generation and SEGA themselves know fans really want to see the witch without the constraints of console hardware. As for Bayonetta 2, I give that about a 10% chance of it coming out to the PC. While it has demand from fans, all these contracts they stupidly signed with Nintendo is tying their hands from doing a straight port. I guess that is what happens when you make stupid decisions, maybe SEGA should have funded Bayonetta 2 as a SEGA published title on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Wii u. Everyone wins… right?

Other SEGAbits articles you might enjoy: 

• The SEGA Five: Best SEGA games on Playstation 3

• The SEGA Five: Best SEGA games on the Xbox 360

• The SEGA Five: Last gen SEGA games that I want to see return next generation

• The SEGA Five: Best “Post-Dreamcast” Games

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