What's so great about Shenmue?
Though I heard there is Space Harrier (one of the few good SEGA games 
) within the game so Shenmue might be worth checking out
Talking about Shenmue you have to separate them between games.
What's good about 1:
- sad atmosphere. The game is about a kid dealing with his fathers murder as he tries to get revenge. He alienates his friends and family in the process. Not too many games deal with the emotion of sadness. Shenmue deals with in spades. The music reflects this heavily.
- a revenge story in a game that isn't necessarily about revenge or the glorification of revenge. This is key. Any other video game would be a vapid action fest. Say what you want about Shenmue, it is never vapid. The game makes it clear from the get go that everyone around the main character does not approve of his actions or what he is doing as he slowly gets more and more angry as the sadness and depression starts to leave and there's nothing you can do about it.
- More over, Ryo is treated like a person and not a mechanism to drive the players urges forward. You can't always be about revenge, you have to sleep in-game, you have to find leisure and entertainment, you need to gain money. This makes the player actually place themselves in the life of the character, and due to the amount of interaction the game has, makes you more in tune and attached with his character more than most game characters.
- detailed environments. You can open drawers, examine objects, cabinets interact with things, snoop around find hidden stuff in laundry basket. This makes the feel more personal.
- the game challenges you. Not in a typical game way where it's about overcoming an obstacle, although there is that in 1, but rather, the game challenges what and how you think in relation to a game. For example, often in games you always have access to the next part of the story or continuing the game or whatever. Shenmue isn't like this. If someone says to come back tomorrow, you have to wait a full day in game time. It isn't like Animal Crossing where you have the ability to just skip time or change the date. You have to actually wait. You can fill that time with however you please, but the general requirement here is patience. In Shenmue, you actually work in-game. It helps that work is interrupted by kicking ass, but still. The game does not bend to your will like other games, but rather the game bends you, and forces a level of challenge that goes into playing it beyond a typical video game challenge would be.
- fun as shit combat system.
- amazing atmosphere and music. Especially with Japanese voices. The Japanese version is incredible.
- unique gaming experience.
- best QTE's in the industry.
What's good about II:
- best storytelling in a game of this type, and some of the best examples of story telling in a game period. Not story, but story telling. If you consider it in the same genre as say GTA or whatever, Shenmue II knocks those games out of the park, even now.
- is a video game epic. When a lot of people call games epics it's pretty lol worthy. Shenmue II is an actual epic. It spans three locations in China as the player goes from destination to destination in search for revenge.
- is the best game of all time
- has a shit load to do, especially compared to modern peers. It makes a lot of modern games look like a joke. There's an insane amont of ways to make money. with a shit load of diversions of differing challenge. Like street fighting Virtua Fighter style? Why not, go at it? How about arm wrestling? Dice games like big or small? How about challenging different characters to darts to see who gets the highest score? Collecting toy figures so you can sell em for for $$$?
- even better combat system than the first game.
- takes the first game and makes it more action-packed and dramatic. If 1's central theme is sadness, 2's would definitely be anger.
- Shenmue 1 has a lot of hidden stuff. Shenmue II has a mountain of hidden stuff. Want to bet on ducks that race through the city? Why the fuck not? It's impossible to see everything on one playthrough.
There's a reason Shenmue fans have been asking for III for so long. That reason is Shenmue II and its absolute stylin on every other game. They just can't compete with Shenmue II.
