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Buy it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 50 / 56
Date: June 07, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Shenmue is without questin one of the best games I have ever played. I am a diehard rpg fan and this game has enough rpg elements to keep any fan happy for quite some time. Not only that, it also has many different attributes for those looking for an action game. You fight with many people in real time and it never gets boring or repetitive. But the control is intuitive and easy to pick up. One of the greatest things about this game is the depth of storyline and overall gameplay. There are so many small things you can do to make you feel like you are an integral part of this virtual world. the storyline is also great although I won't reveal the twists to those of you who havn't played the game. That would spoil some of the fun wouldn't it? But thats not to say that this game doesn't have excellent replay value. You can do it over and over again and never get bored. It has kept me up into the early hours of the morning more than several times and all but depleted my supply of coffee. One last thing is the graphics. they are some of the most beautifal I have ever seen. You will start to question whether going through the glass screen on your t.v will be leaving the real world or going into it. They are just downwright amazing. The Bottom line is buy this game no matter what Genre your a fan of. This is truly a game that defies classification. Even if you dont have a dreamcast you can buy one of those as well. But whatever you have to do GET THIS GAME. You will find that this alone is enough reason to own a dreamcast.

The first chapter of something great

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 30 / 31
Date: November 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I'm not an RPG fan. I'm not even an adventure game fan. I bought Shenmue completely over the pressure of my friends. I've owned the game for the past five days, and i've allready lost 30 hours of my life to it. Let's put it this way..It is very rare that a game does that to me. Extremely rare.

Shenmue's perfect in a lot of ways. It's storyline, avenging your father's death, may seem generic, but Shenmue manages to transform it into an epic and involving tale. Going through the game, interacting with it's enviroments and characters, it's all just the unique experince that *is* Shenmue.

The game's music is incredible, most of the time flawless. The graphics are unbeleivable and the level of detail is just scary. Once you finish the game, you will indeed be on the edge of your seat of the sequels to come, but I think Shenmue has been introduced to us, and in perfect form. I dont give the game five stars just on the hype. I give the game five stars because it's just that good.

Shenmue breaks new ground

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 27 / 29
Date: November 16, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have to hand it to Yu Suzuki and Sega. Their games may not be immediate classics, but they are clearly groundbreaking, and players will look back at them and say "wow, I can't believe this game was that inventive".

I've played Shenmue for only a few days, and I have to say it's one of the best games I've ever played. The quality and attention to graphic detail is stunning. Clearly, when you're looking at some characters' face it's hard to imagine that they are made up of polygons.

Twitch gamers will not be happy. If you're in for a quick, visceral fix you'll be disappointed. But if you like exploring, like seeing what's behind the corner or underneath that tricycle or even what's in someone's desktop drawer, you will be estatic.

Shenmue is just one of those games you can sit down and play. Play and play. Even without following the plotline to the tee, you can still do a million things.

If you have a Dreamcast buy Shenmue. If you don't have a Dreamcast, do yourself a favor and get one. This game, and many others (hint, hint, NFL2K1, hint) are definitely worth it.

A unique experience

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 33 / 42
Date: October 07, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Yet another game that shows the talent that Sega has over Sony. PS2 has no games like this, rather rehashes of yester-generation games. AM2's Shenmue represents another new change in 3-D gaming, just like the change The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time had over previous adventure games. It also shows that Sega is just as creative in making new kinds of games as Nintendo.

Shenmue is the brainchild of Yu Suzuki, who has created the most expensive game ever and a new type of gameplay he calls FREE. Of course, it follows a storyline, but the world of Shenmue is to explore the city of Yokosuka to get to where you want and when you need to. It's a complete living world. It has days and nights and the city is complete with your everyday usual stuff. Not since Super Mario 64 have I played a game that gives a new experience.

The reason why I gave this game four stars is because the game is not one game, it's only the beginning, therefore once you beat it, you'll have to wait (and wonder) what's going to be in Chapter 2. Also, the game is too realistic here and there; for example, to call someone you'll have to individually press the digits on the phone pad, and as for the day and night feaure, the time is always consistant. You can't skip to the next day when you want to.

Though with these flaws, there is no way Shenmue can be overlooked. It's a new type of game, and the majority of gamers won't care about its flaws too much because of all the possible things to do (when Super Mario 64 debuted, no one cared about its flaws like the annoying camera control, because, as stated, it was a new type of game and experience). Get a copy and enjoy.

Ladies And Gentlemen, Let The Ranting Begin...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 22 / 27
Date: December 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Unlike some ignorant gamers, my opinion is 100% fair and unbiased. I have no favorite between Nintendo, Sega and Sony, and I never will. I'm a hardcore gamer--I play games to play games, that's all. The only reason I mention this is because everybody seems to be throwing that "fanboy" word around at anyone who shares their opinion on a game, Shenmue particularly (just look at some of these reviews). With that said, onto my review: If you're a gamer, you've already heard it all about Shenmue--some love it, some hate it. EVERY gamer has an opinion on this game now... And I just so happen to love it. First things first: Shenmue is NOT the best game ever like it was hyped up to be, it's not the best 3D game ever like Next Generation thinks it is, it's not the best Dreamcast game so far, and it's not even the game of the year. What Shenmue is, however, is Yu Suzuki's new groundbreaking masterpiece that could have been at the top of all those best of lists if it wasn't crippled with numerous minor problems. This game is pretty flawed... so much so, I don't even know where to begin. I guess my biggest complaint would be the control. It definitely takes awhile to get used to, as it's not very accurate or precise, it's a bit on the sluggish side, and sometimes it's overly responsive. The control isn't the worst ever, and I've played games that are worst (Parasite Eve just sprang to mind...), but it could have been so much better, too. My second biggest complaint would be the voice acting. In one word--horrible! If you thought Resident Evil was bad, you haven't heard nothing yet. Goro's line of "What's groovin', bro?" is the single dumbest line in video game history. But despite the voice acting being awful, it also has that it's-so-bad-it's-addicting quality to it that Resident Evil does. There's the option of just reading the text, yet, I never used it. The voice acting is so bad that it kept me wanting more. I wouldn't say that it's so bad it's good, because it isn't. Instead it's just hilarious. It's like those classic kung fu flicks. Don't get me wrong, I wish the voice acting was done by real professionals, but at least there's humor in the game. The music would be my next complaint. I've never really been a huge fan of video game music, and Shenmue reminds me as to why I probably never will be. Most of it is snooze material, while the rest isn't enough to be classified as music. Falling somewhere between the stuff you hear in an elevator and *shudder* J-Pop, Shenmue is a prime example of just why video game music won't--and, for the love of all things musical, shouldn't--ever appeal to that outside of its game realm. What makes this even sadder is the fact that you can buy cassette tapes in the game and then hear the .... My favorite part of the game was fighting. Sadly, there weren't as many fights as you'd think there would be. Also, and while this won't apply to some, I found the game easy. Clue A leads directly to clue B which points right at clue C and so on. And if all that isn't bad enough, I didn't see anything in the way of replay value either. Now, I can overlook all that stuff, IF the game itself is that good. And, let me tell you, it sure is. The story goes a little something like this: Arriving at his home, Ryo Hazuki realizes that something's not right as he looks around at the entrance. The doors are wide open, a sign is smashed, and there's a mysterious black car as well. As he goes in, he finds his friends have been beat up. When he walks into the dojo, his father, Iwao, and a mysterious man are at odds. The man is asking for a mirror that Iwao keeps refusing to hand over. Iwao and the man fight and Iwao is knocked down. As Ryo tries to interfere, the man uses Ryo's life as a trade for the mirror. After he is told where the mirror is, Ryo is free, and then the man and Iwao fight again, this time Iwao was dealt a devastating blow that kills him. And as the game says: "And thus, the saga begins..." Original? No; nobody is these days, but effective and enthralling? Very. The first thing you'll notice about this game is the freedom you have. You can search through drawers, turn off lights, train in the dojo, play classic Yu Suzuki games in your living room (Hang On and Space Harrier, to be specific), take pictures off the walls, and even use the telephone... and to think, that's just the stuff you can do at Ryo's house! Wait until you get outside. You can interact with anyone, go to the arcade (darts and QTE Title were my favorites), feed a cat, shop 'til you drop (you can buy everything from little toys to a bag of chips), drink soft drinks or coffee, and you even get a job! Actually, forget what I said earlier, the first thing you'll notice isn't the freedom, but the graphics. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if Yu Suzuki came out and said he hired a small third world company to work on the graphics alone for this game. The graphics are by far and away the best of any console game yet. PS2 doesn't have anything this good looking on its system, and it will be awhile before it does, too. Graphics certainly don't make or break a game, but they are a nice bonus, and even those jaded gamers who sneer will be drooling like a dog after seeing the eye candy this game has in store. Simply put--anyone who tries to tell you the graphics aren't impressive is a fool and/or liar. My favorite aspect to the game is the fighting system, or more specifically, the fights. The fighting system is surprisingly deep, with a lot of moves to learn and master. You have your standard punch, kick and throw moves, but it goes beyond that in depth. You can uncover moves by practicing, having them taught to you, or by buying them. But when it comes down to fighting itself, there's nothing like it. The fighting system is like Tekken or Virtua Fighter, but completely free roaming; you can run behid someone if you want. You more often than not fight numerous opponents, and this also makes things tricky as you could be fighting more than one person at the same time. Then there's the Dragon's Lair-esque parts of the game, or as they're called here, QTE (Quick Timer Events). For those that never played Dragon's Lair, the point of the game was to quickly press certain buttons at a certain time of event. For instance, when you're about to get hit, the A button may flash in the middle of your screen for you to push. If you don't do it quickly enough, well, you get hit. Simple as that. This happens quite often, and it's pretty fun, actually. Later in the game, you even get a job at the harbor moving crates. Riding around on your forklift is funner than you think, especially since you're work is often interrupted by a certain gang... And while I didn't love all the characters, I did like some a lot. Ryo, of course, and Master Chen's son (yeah, I forgot his name, sue me). Hype has a way of destroying a game. Just look at Metal Gear Solid (read: very overrated). And Shenmue is a flawed game. It's not perfect. It's short, and the ending just leaves it open to its second chapter, but it's a groundbreaking masterpiece that every gamer must play nonetheless.

The peak of gaming.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: November 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

4 years ago, I saw tons of ads for Shenmue. I had never read anything about the game, or knew what it was about, as the ads simply said "SHENMUE" and its release date. I started to get hyped up about it, because they made it seem like this was the biggest game to come out since Super Mario Bros. 3. When it finally did come out, I managed to get it at Target for an incredibly sick low price. Upon taking it home and starting it up, I had a new standard for what makes a game good. I couldn't even believe this was a game when I saw Ryo Hazuki in action, running through an almost photo realistic Japan in the 1980's. It was beauty in motion. But this is more than a pretty game, much more.

What exactly is Shenmue? Is it an rpg, adventure, action, or fighter? It's really all of those. If you don't know by now, it was originally slated to be an rpg with Virtua Fighter characters, which sounds pretty cool. Later on though, everything was changed into something completely original. You play as Ryo Hazuki, a Japanese teenager who arrives home to see a black car parked near his home. Entering through the gates, he finds the housekeeper on the ground, probably beaten up. She tells him that his father's in the dojo and the men in the car are with him. Making his way to the dojo, an "adopted" family member gets thrown out and is unconscious. Finally, Ryo enters to see a Chinese man in a silk robe asking for a mirror. Ryo's dad, Iwao, doesn't tell them, and they begin to fight. Iwao is no match though, as Lan-Di dodges every move without effort and takes him out with a simple kick. Saying that he won't tell him again, Lan-Di threatens to kill Ryo. Iwao has no choice, and tells him that it's buried under the cherry tree outside. But it's too late, and Lan-Di tells Iwao to get up and die with honor. He kills him right in front of Ryo, and leaves with the mirror. The scene is very dramatic and the music addes even more to an already emotional scene. From that point on, it's up to Ryo to track down Lan-Di and avenge his father. Unfortunately for him though, it won't be easy. A lot of time will be spent asking questions around town to get more details on where to go next. This part of the game tends to bore some ignorant people, but it isn't as bad as they make it out. If you actually follow directions, things will be very simple. Sometimes, the people you try to get answers out of take offense, and immediately start a fight. Trust me, the fights in Shenmue are sweet and I was always pumped to get in one. The music, moves, and danger of it all renders all other fights in games obsolete. It took me a long time to get back to turn-based fights in rpgs after playing this.

As serious as it may sound, you can still have fun in Shenmue. Remember, this takes place in Japan in the 80's, so it's a very new world to many people. It's also as realistic as you can get. The designers took the actual weather reports and forecasts from that time period and put them into the game's actual calendar. If it was raining on a friday in December in real life, it's doing the same thing here in the game. If you don't want to wait around until a store opens to talk to the owner, buy some capsule toys of classic Sega characters (ranging from Sonic to NiGHTS to Sega executives), or go to the arcade and play classic games like Hang-On or Space Harrier. Time flies when playing those gems. You can also try out darts, a boxing simulator, and a QTE arcade machine to win capsule toys of said machines. QTEs are pretty cool. During a scene, sometimes a button or direction will flash on the screen, and you have to press it quickly in order to move on. An example is when some bikers attack (well, try to if you're good) Ryo at the harbor. If you manage to hit all the buttons correctly at the right time, Ryo will knock a biker off his motorcycle, causing him to fall into the sea. Even now, four years later, these excite me. Shenmue also has a vast variety of characters- Ryo's potential love interest: Nozomi the flower girl, Tom the hot dog vendor, Goro the street-wise punk with a heart of gold, Mark who supervises Ryo when he gets a job (oh yes, you get to work, and it's nothing but fun) driving forklifts, and many more characters. You can also practice your fighting moves in the dojo or even a parking lot. And you'll want to if you don't want to get beaten up in the many fights. Go out and buy some new move scrolls at the antique shop, or look around the Hazuki house. There's just so much to do here, that I could bore you even more with a second review just to go through it all. And by the time you're even 2 hours into the game, you will actually feel like you -are- Ryo Hazuki. The character attention is worthy of 5 stars in its own.

For the time it was released, nothing could compare to Shenmue. Character models all have nothing but the best detail. Wrinkles in their skin, articles of clothing where you can see each individual stitch, and actual facial expressions. Not just heads that had moving mouths, but real expressions. You can see the anger and determination in Ryo's eyes when confronting members of gangs in the area, shock when Tom demonstrates a new move later on, and grace in the final scene. But the developers didn't just stop with the main characters like so many others do, each individual character has their own unique look to distinguish them from anyone else. Just look at some of the workers at the harbor, or the resturant workers who look the part. On the Shenmue passport disc, there are almost FMV quality graphics in some of the characters that talk to you about the Shenmue world and explain various things. They're so close to being of Final Fantasy X FMV quality. Even today after the likes of the Xbox and GC have set the bar, those graphics look great. If there's anything to degrade in the graphics at all, it's that there's slowdown when walking through crowded streets. It never bothered me, but it does get to some people. Fortunately, this doesn't occur during the incredible fights. The 70 man battle in particular.

There's nothing bad to say about the music. The game's theme will automatically be stuck in your head once you hear it for the first time. And when the Chinese fiddle version is heard, it makes the theme even more memorable. It's epic, plain and simple. The theme is heard a lot throughout the game, but used differently and with variations. There's even a christmas version once December rolls around. Through the game, you can also buy cassette tapes if you want to hear something different. My favorite would probably be Hang-On, which can be won at the Tomato store as a prize. And the music that kicks in during fights, nothing short of dynamic. It's a shame it wasn't carried over to the sequel. That theme alone was worth playing for. And like the graphics, there's one tiny thing I didn't like- some of the voice acting. A lot of the voices are pretty good, but some of the extras just didn't try. If you have the chance, import the Japanese version to get the better voices.

Shenmue remains my favorite game even after the Panzer Dragoon Ortas and Blinxes and even Bust-A-Moves that I've played recently. Please buy this game and show support so the saga can continue. Right now the series is kind of in a rut, and its future isn't looking too good. As long as its finished in some way (even if the official comic manages to get more attention), I'll be happy. Shenmue isn't for everyone, but for those that pick it up and can appreciate it, they'll be hooked. Thank you for making this experience Mr. Suzuki. Here's hoping to more in the future *raises glass of cranberry apple raspberry juice*.

-:~*Amazing*~:-

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 19
Date: November 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I recently wrote a review for Shenmue and I realize that my judgment was completely premature. I hadn't completed the game yet. In fact, I wasn't very far. Anyway, this game, though frustrating at times (trying to find people, etc.) is amazing. The graphics are crystal clear, control is great, fights are awesome, and the realism is unparalleled.

People exist in Shenmue as they do in the real world. You have friends, enemies, and strangers that go about their lives and aren't concerned with yours.

My personal favorite parts of the game include the following:

1.) Your job at the harbor. Driving a forklift is so cool! Plus, you race with your co-workers everyday before you begin your work. You are supposed to move crates around to different warehouses. It's pretty fun really...
2.) Real-time battles. I think there should be a Shemue fighting game because I loved these battles. There's nothing quite like getting in a fight with six people and using your moves you've learned from friends to beat the ... out of all of them.
3.) The instantaneous judgment situations. At certain parts of the game, a button will flash on the screen, and if you don't press the button you will (for example) get punched in the face.

So, in conclusion, kudos to Yu Suzuki and everyone at Sega of America, inc. You've done a great job!

Where Do I Start

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 22
Date: November 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Shenmu is an absolutely astonishing game. The graphics are the best i have ever seen on the dreamcast, so if this is a starter for things to come then they have made me well happy. The game has loads of detail in it from the proper sized shadow to the sky changing depending on the time of day and the real time factor. There are plenty different ways to go and there are plenty of people there to help you as you go along, but there also people who wont be happy with you for asking them questions. The fight sequences are one of the best parts of the game, and learning moves as you go along was also one of my favourite parts. I also enjoyed the added touch that sega had added with the arcade games i loved playing some of the old classics. This is the game that no dreamcast should be without.

Shenmue the best game ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 23 / 33
Date: March 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Shenmue is just one of those games that personofies a system. Shenmue brings the greatest graphics ever to be released on any system. After I purchased a import copy. I couldn't take my hand of it. The gameplay is just as amazing as the control. In all I would have to say it's the best game ever

Don't get sucked in by the hype!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 33 / 55
Date: November 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is not the be-all end-all of adventure games. The "amazing" immersion propaganda spewed by countless fanboys is overblown. This game has many problems:

1. Terrible, bland translation - Instead of making the English text and speech sound like real-life, we get an awkward literal translation of the Japanese version. Ie: For the first few hours or so, Ryo goes around asking people about "...that day, you know, that day it snowed. Do you remember anything special about that day?" He asks around 10 people this exact question. How do they know what he's talking about? Does everyone's life revolve around Ryo and his tragedy?

2. Voice acting - Ranges from decent to absolutely horrible. Decent: The old lady that lives with Ryo. She does her inflections and pauses just right. .... Ooh, there are so many people who can talk to you. Big deal. 75% of them are no-name people on the street who take a half a minute just to say different kinds of "I'm busy." And good old Ryo. The voice actor sounds like Greg Brady: very sterile and wooden(which describes the majority of voice acting in the game). Do you want to listen to Greg Brady for 20+ hours in the "greatest game ever"?

3. The control - Whoever decided to use the D-pad instead of the analog pad to move Ryo needs to be slapped repeatedly. This is a 3-D game with curving roads and different objects and people all around you. This kind of game screams for analog control! It's very difficult to move when you're facing a wall or corner. You can't turn slightly to the right or left quickly, like analog control would allow. You have to press "down" on the D-pad and turn around completely, throwing off your sense of direction. This is especially annoying when you're trying to catch someone walking down the street. For some odd reason, the analog pad is used to look around the environment without moving Ryo. You can already do this by holding down the R-trigger and pressing the D-pad. What a waste. You can't even customize the controls to your liking; the only things you can change are the L and R trigger functions.

4. The pace - BORING. I'm pretty much an RPG/adventure-only gamer, and this made even me bored. This is the general gist of the game: You go around, ask people about a certain person, they tell you where to go, you have to wait until a certain time on the game's clock(play at the arcade, shop, practice martial arts - this gets tiring after 10 minutes), you meet this certain person, they tell you to go meet some other person, you wait some more, blah-blah-blah. In between, you get the occasional street-fight with thugs, and cut-scenes that leads to nothing important. You'll do this for most of the first two discs. The game only really gets in gear in the last disc(Chrono Cross for PSX was slightly guilty of this, but at least it wasn't a snooze-fest.)

Come on, people! Don't buy into the hype! So many Shenmue fanboys are acting like Final Fantasy VII fanboys. You say the game is anything less than a masterpiece and they blow up on you. People need to feel justified in their purchase of a game or system, so they try to make themselves think it's the best thing ever. This is the exact case here. Sega fanboys want their own Metal Gear Solid(which wasn't perfect in itself), so they see a magazine or website call Shenmue "the best game ever" and they go crazy. Shenmue does have a few good points, like the detailed, slick graphics, some of the music, and the Dragon's Lair-type sequences, but it's not perfect in any sense.

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