Shenmue I & II was announced to be re-released on current generation consoles and PC this year and the date has been revealed. The two original games, first released on the Sega Dreamcast, were pretty innovative for its time by giving players free reign in an immersive world with many interactions to be had, plus these games were the ones that popularised the use of quick-time events, for better or for worse.
The two games’ ports are handled by d3t which will feature updated HD graphics, modern controls implementation where you can now control protagonist Ryo with the analog stick as well as keyboard and mouse support and both Japanese and English audio. All the in-game mini-games will also be playable.
In the games’ FAQ, it was also clarified that Shenmue II will be based on the original Xbox rather than the Dreamcast, which means additional features seen in that version of the game will be available.
However, both games are locked to 30fps due to many game codes are made to only work on 30fps.
Still, if you need to understand why people went crazy when Shenmue III was announced, this is your chance. The game is both available for pre-orders on Steam for PC and PS Store Asia for PS4, both priced at RM115.20 right now (10% off from retail price of RM128). It is also available on Xbox One.
Note that on PS4, it will be out on August 22nd for Asia rather than August 21st.