Whose life is it, anyway?
Players assume the life... err... role of Ryo Hazuki, a young man from Yokosuka, Japan. Ryo's father, Iwao, who owns the local martial-arts dojo, is a very well respected man. Ryo's life, thus far, has been rich with fatherly guidance, love and martial arts training. Until a very mysterious and frightening man with a pallid countenance and a lethal kung fu style kills Iwao before Ryo's very eyes.
A Golden Harvest Production
It is at this very moment that players are thrust into Yu Suzuki's creation, which can best be described as a fully interactive kung fu film. It is now up to the player to determine whether or not Ryo will be able to unravel the mystery surrounding his father's murder, and, as in all good kung fu movies, have his revenge. The main difference in Shenmue is the fact that this experience moves along at the player's pace. There's no pressure to progress the quest if the gamer wants to simply take a stroll through town, pet a cat, buy some candy or toys or just practice some martial arts skills. This is just one of the major differences between Shenmue and other titles: players have free will.
The graphics of Shenmue's world are on par with the best the Dreamcast has to offer. AM2, the development team behind Shenmue, actually hired professional Japanese architect Manabu Takimoto to bring Yokosuka (circa 1986) to life within Sega's tiny machine. They succeeded. Whereas most games make a conscious effort to whack players over the head with their visual splendor, Shenmue delivers the goods in the form of subtleties that just haven't been present in a game before, rendered completely in real time. Hair sways in the wind, lips move in synch with the words coming out of them (the only detail that's not like a kung fu movie) and reflections can be seen in people's eyes.
Everyone knows the neighborhood they grew up in by heart; all of the streets around one's home are ingrained in the brain forever. Now try to imagine what it would be like to have to draw that entire neighborhood within a half-mile radius from home, and the point will be clear. Nearly every object in the game can be inspected, opened, closed, picked up, taken or pushed. All of the residential doors in town can be knocked on, and sometimes a person will actually answer the door. Feel like calling a friend? Pick up the phone at home or go down to the pay phone on the corner. Want to check out the arcade? Go into town and enjoy classics such as Hang On and Space Harrier or just play some darts while an old favorite plays on the jukebox. If you want to go a little further into town, there's also a small casino.
There are over 300 lives being lived in Ryo's immediate vicinity, each with its own thoughts, opinions, problems and agendas. All you have to do is spend some time talking to everyone you can find to realize how deep this title is. Go out in the rain, and everyone's carrying umbrellas. Enter town after 7:00, and you'll meet rougher characters. Talk to old friends; they'll tell you their problems. Shopkeepers try to sell you stuff. Hookers tell you to go away because you're too young -- and this is all before lunch.
"Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?"
There is one "rule" in Shenmue that most people will be able to relate to. Ryo has an 11:00 curfew. One second of real time is about one minute of Shenmue time, so after Ryo gets out of bed around 8:00, it can be really easy to waste the day away. With all of the lateral things that can be done in Shenmue's world, gamers are going to have to actually fit investigating Iwao's murder into their schedules.
"You talkin' to me?"
Just as in real life, sooner or later you're going to rub someone the wrong way. Keeping in the spirit of the kung fu genre, players are going have to help Ryo defend himself. The game's combat sequences come in two forms: QTE and free battle. The QTE (Quick Timer Event) is a Dragon's Lair brand of control, which makes for really detailed, flying-camera-style fighting. The free battle system is a light version of the Virtua Fighter engine (motion-captured with real Judo experts) and really is a joy to master. Whether Ryo is traversing the neighborhood or bashing heads together, the controls are always intuitive. Certain aspects of inspecting items require a "lock-on" with the main character's eyes, which may take a bit of practice. Also, patience with other people really does pay off, as a good deed is usually rewarded with a new kung fu move to master and use. There are very few things that beat deflecting an opponent's blow and then knocking his teeth in with a few strategically placed round kicks.
"I can't believe my frickin' ears!"
The sound is deep, accurate and, though it is truly horrifying to note, "in your face." It ranges from the subtle to the severe, from the hum of the Hazuki refrigerator (which gets louder and softer depending on your distance from it), to the wince-inducing smacks and smashes of kung fu fighting. Wind, rain, background voices and noise are all represented aurally, just as they would be in reality. The music is exceptionally well scored and orchestral.
"So when's the release date of the sequel?"
Like all adventure or RPG titles, the game does have an ending. How many days it takes Ryo to reach the end of his quest is, of course, dependent upon the gamer's skill and determination. As far as replay value goes, most are definitely going to want to play through the adventure several times. There's no possible way to experience everything Shenmue has to offer in one playthrough. Certain events only happen at certain times in certain places, so it's a good idea to be diverse on future plays. The game's story begins in late November and progresses in time with the actual calendar dates. What if the quest is not completed by Christmas? Can Ryo celebrate the holidays with friends? These are the kind of questions that will be creeping into the minds of players for a long time to come.
Bottom Line: Shenmue is an instant classic. It's going to be described with words like brilliant, unbelievable, masterpiece and, in the words of Daily Radar's Sega staff writer Garrett Kenyon, "the bombdiggyizznomb." Follow Fuku-San's lead and bust open your piggybanks; you won't regret it for a one-second minute.
