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Revolutionary

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: November 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Shenmue is an incredible game that lets you do whatever you want. The contro is fantastic. The world is so expansive. You can do anything you can do in real life. It perfectly displays why sega owns sony. Great game design. I guess I have to also comment on the graphics. I never play a game just because of the graphics. For instance I still prefere Quake 1 over Q3A (gameplay over graphics). The graphics are amazing. They look like Blizzard quality movies in gameplay. All the things that you can do in the world is a little overwhelming at first but you soon get used to it. For instance I had to wait until eleven at night before I could go somewhere in the game. So what did I do. I went and played Space Harrier of course. The fighting engine for the free battles is perfect. It is alot like Virtua Fighter. Which is great because it gives you the most control over Ryo. Sure this is only chapter one but it is an amazing game that deserves to be played by even the most casual gamer. On a side note alot of my older friends (in there fortys and fiftys are buying a dreamcast just for the game after playing my copy.) It is really that good.

Watch the movie

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: November 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Half of the time you run around trying to find the next clue. The rest of the time you spend watching people talk. You drive a forklift for most of the game just to fight once. Fighting rarely happens. Don't get me wrong graphics are great and the story is good, .... Not my type of game. Too realistic for a video game. Fun gets thrown out for realism.

Shenmue!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: May 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Shenmue takes place in Japan circa 1986. Lan Di, a warrior comes to Ryo's father's dojo in search of a mirror. Ryo's father refuses to give Lan Di the mirror, while Ryo finds out his father killed someone in battle a long time ago. Since he didn't give Lan Di the mirror he killed his father. Ryo sets off in an adventure to avenge revenge on Lan Di. Awesome game! Superb graphics, high detail. My only con about Shenmue is you have to walk around too much. A great mix of fighting, adventure, and RPG. Great job Sega! Lets hope Shenmue 2 is just as good!~

If you like PLAYING games, skip it.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 10
Date: December 03, 2000
Author: Amazon User

There's always going to be a group of people who love products simply because of the hype. Spice Girls, The Macarena, NSYNC, Shenmue...

This game reminds me of those rotten FMV "movie games" that were threatening to take over (and ruin) PC gaming a few year's back. 'Non-games' like Myst, etc. Personally, I play games to PLAY. I have a life, so petting a cat, going to sleep, and standing around waiting for a store to open in a game do not interest me. The main character, Ryo, is a stiff dope. There's a park scene with the mousey flower girl (his love dis-interest) that was pathetic. He could at least have tried to ... (he's a male teenager for God's sake!).

Every once in awhile you get to push a few buttons - the gameplay could have been done on the Atari 2600. It's sad when you keep going to the You Arcade (in the game) to play Space Harrier because it's more fun than the main "game".

I played for hours and I finally got to drive a forklift - Whoo Hoo! My real job is a lot more interesting than Ryo's. I guess if you are a shut-in, have no friends and need to live vicariously through a stiff friendless geek's life, this 'game' is for you. On the other hand, if game playing is part of an interesting life you are leading in the real world, pick up Jet Grind Radio, or one of several excellent Dreamcast games. I wanted Shenmue to be good, but it's just not much of a game. Maybe it would have been a decent anime (if they removed the poor voice acting, stiff characters and boring plot)...

I should have seen it coming when the "FREE: Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment" scrolled by onscreen. Talk about s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g for a cool acronym. Everything in this game is a stretch - in the wrong direction.

Don't Believe the Hype

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 10
Date: April 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Shen Mue has received rave reviews from almost every on-line site and magazine that I have come across. But interestingly enough, almost every reader board I have seen on-line has expressed a very different opinion: This game was terribly disappointing. I'm an RPG fan, so I'm used to running around towns and talking to people, but when you're FORCED to do this for HOURS on end without any action, it gets tedious...and more tedious...and frustrating...and finally, you want to throw your Dreamcast out the window! I honestly think that the only reason this game received such great reviews was simply because it was one of the first RPGs on Dreamcast. Now that Grandia II, Phantasy Star, and Skies of Arcadia have been released, RPG-lovers have a MUCH better selection to choose from. Pick up one of those great games instead, and don't even bother with Shen Mue. From start to finish, it's just one big disappointment after another...

...any minute now this game will start being fun...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: January 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Play Shenmue for five minutes and you'll be overwhelmed by the intensity of the graphic detail. You can take the pictures off the wall, you can lift the frying pan - hell, you can even look at Ryu's socks in the sock drawer.

But that's about where the fun starts and stops. You see -- I have a sock drawer of my own, and I've never found it much fun to look in (frightening at times, maybe, but never fun.) Does doing it virtually make it fun? I don't think so.

I played through this entire game with a feeling that at any moment things would start to be fun. Most of the game involves walking from character to character. "I should go ask so and so for advice." I won't spoil the ending except to say, don't expect any sort of satisfying resolution.

In terms of play control this game feels a bit more like steering a tank around than a human character. You'll constantly be standing up against a wall wishing you could strafe instead of having to back it up and come at the wall again. "I want to look at the sign! The sign! Look at the sign, Ryu!"

Throughout the game there are scenes where you must quickly press a particular button for Ryu to act fast in the way he's supposed to (catching a soccerball, dodging a truck, etc.) As inane as the whole idea seems, "When I say press d-pad left you press d-pad left! D-PAD LEFT!" You'll actually find yourself longing for these scenes as they introduce a rare moment of actual plot.

With regards to the combat system: If you're looking for a combat game, Shenmue is not it. Only by the third disk do you start to get into any fights that are in any way difficult. Think of Shenmue more as a simulated kitten feeding game with a splash of racism ("Hello Chinese man, are you involved in the Chinese Mafia?") and an undercurrent of repressed homosexuality (Am I too far out on a limb here? Consider how repulsed he is by the female love interest or "I should look for sailors in bars.")

A quick comment on sound design: They had the good sense to let you purchase (within the game of course) tapes that contain all the music from the game. Ryu has a tape deck on which to play the tapes back. Swell. But why must Ryu stare at the tape deck while it plays!? Wouldn't it have been nice if they'd let you walk around and play the game with the music selection of your choice!?

Try this little experiment: Play the game. Then go out and find a nice patch of grass and watch the way the edges are smoothly anti-aliased, the shadows perfectly shaded, and the light effects realistic over the coarse of a week. Is Shenmue more fun then watching grass grow? I doubt it.

As Good as it Gets

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 11
Date: November 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is so realalistic that once you turn it off you think your still playing. The graphics are awesome and the gameplay is awesome. The QTE is unique and the free battle is cool. The only complaint is that it is too short. It only took me 4 days to beet it with no guide. But other than that the game is prefect in every aspect.

Not for the impatient, or those with short attention spans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

For those not in the know, this is the Dreamcast's hype equivalent of, say, Metal Gear Solid. The one game that is supposed to pick you up and knock your socks clean off. And it does that, but not with constant action, fighting, or gun-blazing battle scenes.

This is an exploration game, very much in the vein of the old Sierra games like King's Quest, Police Quest, and Space Quest. It is less of a "beat em up" than a "talk and walk." Because that is basically what you do: talk to person A, get a hint as to who person B is and where to find them, then take a walk to find person B. There are little diversions along the way, such as taking care of a kitten, buying everything from canned soda to little toy trinkets, interacting with the largest set of characters ever seen in a video game, and more.

The action comes in 2 forms: either TQE scenes, which are twitch reaction events that demand you hurry and press a button that appears on screen, and the other is the actual fighting sequences, where you use various moves to battle differing amounts of enemies. The action is fairly few and far between, and you will spend most of your time walking and talking. There is training time, but since it is not normally against an opponent, the action there is minimal.

What made this game so jaw-dropping for me was the scope of it all. You roam from city to city, meeting dozens of different people, all with their own personalities, visiting dozens of buildings and shops, each with its own flavor and purpose, and manipulating dozens of objects. I give the game's creator (and all-around Sega mastermind) Yu Suzuki a world's worth of credit because coordinating all of the aspects of this game must have been a nightmare! And to think this is only part 1 of 4!

Complaints? Well, compared to Metal Gear Solid, the voice acting in Shenmue is... well... laughably bad. It could have really made you feel like you were living a fantastic movie, but the absolute wooden stiffness that the lines are delivered with along with their interminable slowness ("Hi...Ryo... how...are...you...today?") really ruin the awesome sense of realism that remains otherwise intact.

The only other complaint from me is the stubborn control. In most games such as this, up always walks you forward. In Shenmue, whichever way you point the digital pad is the way you move. This makes for some maddeningly uneven & unpredictable movements. Luckily, due to the slow, exploratory pace of the game, the only place where the molasses control becomes truly infuriating is during the scant battle sequences.

But, control and translation issues aside, this game addicted me like no illegal narcotic ever could. You don't ever want to put it down. Every event leads to another event, with more areas to explore and people to interact with. The game is fairly easy to beat, but a game like this is meant to be an enlightening exploration experience, not a frustrating "do the same board 20 times just to get it right" kinda thing. It really took me back to an era of simpler games, with epic storylines, and expansive worlds to explore. I had more fun with this than with almost any other game in recent memory (all the way back to Metal Gear Solid on PSX.) A landmark achievement that will most likely be one day crowned "Best Dreamcast Title Ever."

I shake my head in amazement and just say "WHOA"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

And God stretched his hand and said, let their be the perfect game, and it shall be called Shenmue. And with a bright flash a Dreamcast game was created and what the lord said came true. They should really put that in the bible. Okay, let me just tell you this before I blow up with excitement. THIS GAME IS AWESOME. THis game is everything a videogamer dreamed of. Perfect storyline. Perfect graphics. Perfect sound, perfect, perfect, PERFECT. I pity the soul who does not have this game, but light will definately shed on those who have it or is getting it. The game opens up with Ryo Seeing his father murdered by a mysterious man. After they leave with a special mirror, Ryo goes to his father and swears revenge for his death. See, the perfect storyline. It's been done, but they take this to a whole new level. Then you set off for information. It's a neat game because it's an action adventure game, but much better than all the rest. You also have to do other things, like feed an orphan kitty, win contests, or get a job at a harbor. It's all in this game.

Pros:Good graphics Good storyline Perfect Battle strategy

Cons: Costs to much Hope this review was helpful

Whatever you do get this game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Here's my review on this phenomenal game! I heard this game was good and had no idea of how tremendously excellent it is! Shenmue is unlike anything you've experienced before in a video game.

This is more like an interactive movie, in which you become immersed with all that is around you. The visual effects are stunning and breathtaking. The characters are deep and real. The musical score is poetic. If this was a movie, it would no doubt be nominated and receive Oscars. This so-called video game is of cinematic proportions!

I was totally blown away by playing this game and felt as if I took part in it. My life intertwined with the story and became immersed within Ryo's life, by finishing the game with the four discs that it comes with. Three of the discs are for the game itself and the fourth "Passport" disc is an explanation of the game, characters, and cinematic clips from your adventures stored on your VMU. It also has Internet capabilities as well.

You play the role of Ryo Hazuki a senior in high school who avenges the death of his father, who was a master karate mentor. Ryo can travel within three street areas within the city of Yokosuka and can interact with many objects and people.

Ryo lives with his ever worrying surrogate grandmother and a live-in martial arts student who acts more like he is Ryo's younger brother. Ryo acquaints himself with the lovely Nozomi Harasaki who is in love with him, though he doesn't act as if he is with her. Nozomi and Ryo have known one another since junior high school. She works and lives in a flower shop in town with her grandmother. He has a best friend named Tom. He is American of a Jamaican decent who runs a hot dog stand in town and down by the harbor. There are many supported cast members in this game/film which would take too long to mention.

There are however very subtle flaws within it though, but nothing to detract one from thoroughly enjoying this adventure. Some camera angles are off during fighting sequences and Ryo has somewhat of a robotic walk. Though not a flaw just an annoyance, the Dobuita Tomato Convenience Store and the Bob's Pizzeria songs are "bubble gumishly" repetitive that you will never get them out of your head!

It has so much within it, that cannot be categorized as an RPG, nor can it be an action/adventure game. It is in fact a hybrid of the two with fighting and simulation thrown in as well.

I only rented Shenmue but will now go out and purchase this "genesis" (pardon the pun) of a game. This game is the shape of things to come, and demonstrates how realistic video games are becoming.

Shenmue is the first chapter of a planned (count them) sixteen to be released! I cannot believe that, but SEGA is counting their chickens before their hatched with this one! Whether or not they come out with all of them is yet to be seen. I am however very angry and upset that we will not be seeing the next version here in the States.

It's a damn shame that SEGA has abandoned the Dreamcast console! Dreamcast owners have been put out to pasture by SEGA's actions to produce only for newer game systems.

Nevertheless, they have come up with an absolute winner with Shenmue, and I only wish that the next chapter to begin my journeys with Ryo would come again!

Whatever you do get this one...you won't be sorry that you did!

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