In a truly surprising announcement, SEGA decided to showcase the renaissance of their golden era with a trailer at The Game Awards that confirms the development of new games in the Crazy Taxi, Streets of Rage, Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe, and Shinobi franchises.
SEGA may have lost the iconic console wars of the 90s against Nintendo, but there is no denying that their best years were during that decade and even early into the 21st century.
They developed some titles during that time which went on to become cult classics, such as Streets of Rage or Jet Set Radio, and even more obscure ones, all making their return in what their dubbing as a new era for the company.
In the trailer, gameplay footage for new versions of Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Crazy Taxi can be seen, confirming that SEGA is actively developing all these titles. Whether they are entirely new games or remakes remains to be seen.
Naturally, very little information was shared outside the simple fact that fans of these franchises can rest assured SEGA will deliver the goods eventually. Towards the last few seconds of the teaser, however, it's implied that more classic SEGA games are also being worked on.
A few big profile franchises were noticeably absent from this announcement and could possibly be currently under development as well. Maybe we'll see a Virtua Fighter reveal later in 2024? Only time will tell.
It's also worth pointing out that these IPs haven't been completely abandoned. Streets of Rage 4 came out in 2020 to raving reviews. This new version seen in the trailer completely ditched the 2D aesthetics in favour of full 3D renders.
We'll have to see what SEGA is cooking next but all signs point towards a, hopefully, much-needed revival of an iconic gaming company that helped shape the gaming industry.