clickbliss

Gimme some of that blast processing

By: RJ (@rga_02)

Growing up, I knew next to no one with SEGA hardware. To this day, I only know a couple of people who still swear by company like it was the early 90s again (clickbliss’ very own Editor-In-Chief being one of them). I’ve always viewed them as some secondary gaming company due to my little exposure to them. Some of their games looked interesting, but they were never on my radar. I’d only play them if I was at a friend’s house who owned SEGA games or if they were gifted to me. Looking back however, I’ve had a lot of memories with that “secondary company”.

As I said earlier, while growing up I knew next to no one with SEGA hardware. The only one I knew really well who enjoyed SEGA consoles and their games was my cousin. Whenever he would visit, he would bring his SEGA Saturn (later he would bring his Dreamcast). SEGA consoles were always a novelty to me. “You mean there are other videogame companies than Sony and Nintendo?” One game in particular that I would enjoy whenever he would bring over his Dreamcast would be Crazy Taxi. “HEY IT’S TIME TO MAKE SOME CUHRAYZEEE MONEY, HERE WE GO” I can’t tell you how many times I heard that phrase. My cousin and I would rotate every round trying to see who would get the most costumers and money. Crazy Taxi was one game that wanted me to own a Dreamcast. So much so that I recall asking my mom for one for Christmas. She ended up getting me a GameCube and a PlayStation 2. Crazy Taxi later landed on those platforms and I played the heck out of them.

Around the time when the GameBoy Advance SP released my father took me out to get some games. One of them being Crazy Taxi of course, and the other one was a puzzle game called Puyo Pop. I still don’t know why I chose to get that game. Probably because the box was colorful or something. Regardless though, I am glad I picked it up. I remember there was some strange story mode. There was some brown haired girl who was in some competition against some generic anime looking characters and a talking fish. Whatever happened in the story mode was none of my concern at the time since the gameplay is what got me hooked. It was just so addicting and it was such a cheerful little game.

I don’t recall playing any other noteworthy SEGA games during that console generation and just like that, they were just another “secondary gaming company” to me. Then came Valkryia Chronicles. It was 2008 and I was eagerly awaiting for the release of Final Fantasy XIII for the PS3. FFXIII was being delayed over and over again so I had to fill that jRPG void. I first saw of  Valkryia Chronicles at a blockbuster. Cover looked interesting, so why not? I rented it only to be frustrated at it. I forgot my original frustration at the game. Probably due to something stupid, but I recall returning the game the following day. FFXIII eventually released in 2010 and after I had gotten the Platinum trophy for the game I yearned for another jRPG to play. I gave Valkryia Chronicles another shot and I absolutely loved it this time around. The story can be absolutely predictable, but the cast of characters will suck you right in. (I think I know how my mom feels when she is watching her telenovelas) you just become engrossed in their words that you feel like you belong to Squad 7. The gameplay is also pretty good. It mixes elements from third person shooters with sRPGs to form a very fun and deep combat system. I ended up sinking 50+ hours into this game on the PS3. As of this writing, I’m currently replaying the game on steam with Valkryia Chronicles 3 next in line to play.

I may poke fun at SEGA or dismiss them at times, but I really can’t hate on them for some of the finest videogames they have brought to the medium. It’s not only Valkryia Chronicles or Crazy Taxi. Its gems such as Gunstar Heroes, After Burner and Space Harrier that shines bright. A part of me wonders what it would of have been like if I grew up on their hardware. (I probably would of have ended up as a more cynical person after they have left the console market). Regardless if I did or didn’t grow up with them I can always experience their wonderful IPs that they have crafted over the years. I’m currently in the process of exploring what they have released over the past twenty years. I’m liking what I’ve experienced so far. I played Skies of Arcadia and Samba de Amigo recently and they were pretty fun. If this positive experience I am having with them keeps going on I too would probably wish to see their logo on a dedicated game machine once again like many others. Power of the cloud? Nah, gimmie some of that blast processing I’ve been hearing about so much - from that “secondary gaming company” no less.