What Year Was Sega's Best Year?

In 2020 Sega became Metacritic’s publisher of the year, a milestone achievement for the company in terms of critical reception. Many Sega titles are, in my opinion, hugely underrated by the mainstream gaming press and passed over for more fashionable titles.

That said, that 2020 victory did come with a caveat. The majority of Sega's high scoring games were re-releases or ports. The biggest contributor being Yakuza, it having had all of its remaining entries released onto Xbox and PC that year, all being well reviewed and all adding to the all important aggregated Metacritic Publisher score. The Bayonetta/Vanquish anniversary pack and ports of Persona games to PC also bolstered the score, Persona 5 Royal becoming the highest reviewed game for the company in 2020.

A vintage year then for Sega, but was it their best? I think most would agree that the Sega of today is very different to the Sega when they were in their pomp, innovating inside and outside of the arcade. As great as it was to see my favourite games company on top again, the reliance on ports of older games does put an asterisk on 2020, which compares unfavourably to years past.

So if not 2020, what year was Sega’s best? Lucky for your, dear reader, I’ve whittled it down to three which I think are in for a shout for Sega’s greatest year.

They’re in chronological order, rather that ranking from best to worst:

1992

Sega finally ripped US market share from the dominant Nintendo in 1991 thanks to a certain cool blue hedgehog, but now in order too keep growing they’d have to maintain that momentum and demonstrate that Sonic wasn’t just a one off.

How do you do that? Why, with the biggest worldwide videogame release of all time (at that point) in Sonic 2. Both a critical and commercial success, it remains a series high point and the marquee title of 1992.

But it shares top billing with one Streets of Rage 2, another legendary title that cemented the Mega Drive (or Genesis) as a much have machine.

Those two sequels alone make a strong enough case for 1992 as Sega’s greatest, but add classics such as World of Illusion, Kid Chameleon, Alisia Dragoon and Super Fantasy Zone and the the era starts looking like a vintage one.

Then you’ve got that first entries into the Shining Force and Ecco the Dolphin franchises, games that are regarded as classics and kickstarted respected franchises.

Then there’s so much more! Chiki Chiki Boys got a Sega published lease of life in the West, as did Atomic Runner, Galaxy Force II, Gynoug, Zero Wing, Hellfire and Batman.

Sega also brought more arcade experiences to the home with Super Monaco GP II and Toki, both not ports, but rather updates of arcade classics. Then there were Disney efforts like The Little Mermaid, Tailspin and World of Illusion. Taz-mania would also add to the cartoon mayhem and Home Alone gave us a competent licensed effort for that franchise.

But Sega weren’t don’t with arcade games and licensed efforts. Wonderboy In Monsterworld is a stone cold classic in my eyes and Greendog is one of my wife’s favourite games of all time, both came in 1992. Then there’s a slew of sports titles including Evander Holyfield Boxing and Joe Montana Sports Talk 93.

There were dozens more and that’s just the Mega Drive!

The Game Gear and Master System (in Europe at least) continued to receive excellent games that were either ports or adaptations of Mega Drive games, or entirely new games such as Shinobi 2 for the Game Gear.

While in the arcade, a little title called Virtua Racing changed racing games forever.

1992 really was a year where dreams came true.

1996

If 1992 was Sega’s most successful year in the West, 1996 was their most successful in Japan. Unfortunately those successes appeared to be mutually exclusive as success in one coincided with disappointment, at least commercially, in the other.

But this is all about games, and while it’s hard for many, especially those who underestimate the Saturn, to envision Sega matching or even surpassing their 1992 output in this era, I can assure you they absolutely did.

Nights into Dreams headlined a vintage year for the Saturn. Yuji Naka’s masterpiece may not have enjoyed the blockbuster success that his Hedgehog related series had, but it was a huge success critically.

And that pretty much sums up Sega’s 1996. Absolutely legendary games, but without the sales they deserved.

Arcade ports of Decathlete/Athlete Kings and Fighting Vipers were fantastic early in the year, looking fabulous on Saturn hardware and playing brilliantly. Virtua Cop 2 and (at least in Japan) Virtual On bookended another incredible year of sumptuous arcade ports from Sega.

But it wasn’t just arcade games. It’s incredible to think that the Saturn was delivering what we’re arguably the best RPGs of the year. Dragon Force is a legendary and unique title, Shining the Holy Ark is an epic set in the Shining Force universe that seems to be unfairly overlooked, Dark Savior was a Landstalker follow-up with unique gameplay and a revolutionary approach to multiple narrative paths, while in Japan Ridlordsaga 2 (the sequel to Mystaria) and Sakura Wars underpinned a blockbuster RPG year for the system.

Outside of RPGs, the Saturn was blessed with original first party content. Examples? How about Panzer Dragoon Zwei, which still feels as if it’s the greatest rail shooter ever made? How about Guardian Heroes, a game so good that it’s being mentioned in the Uncle From Another World anime? Not your thing, then surely Fighters Megamix, the game that is frequently cited as one of the best fighters of the generation will tickle your fancy.

The output doesn’t stop. Bug Too, Virtua Fighter Kids, the Sega Ages ports (OutRun in particular in Japan being a success, while the compilation in the West is outstanding). Even sports games such as Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 and World Series Baseball II were, at the time, cited as the best in their genre.

And while this article focuses on first party efforts, its worth noting two third party games of note. Sega secured publishing rights and console exclusivity for Enemy Zero. But more pointedly, secured a month of exclusivity for a little game called Tomb Raider.

Yes, financially and commercially 1996 wasn’t Sega’s greatest year, but in terms of output it almost runs away with it. Looking at those game lists I can’t help but think that a first party output of that quality deserved more.

What more did Sega have to do, software wise, to win over those fans who went to PlayStation?

2000

It was all or nothing. The Dreamcast was Sega’s final throw of the dice as they flirted with financial ruin. 1999 was a runaway success for the console in the West, but the stakes had become higher. The PS2 was on the market, the GameCube and Xbox were due next year and Sega needed market share to put themselves in a position to compete.

How did they do that? By having another of their greatest years.

When you see that one of the earliest releases for the Dreamcast in the year after Y2K was Crazy Taxi, you know you’re in for a wild ride.

And it wasn’t the only heavy hitting arcade port. Samba De Amigo came home with the outstanding maraca controllers, while heavy hitting arcade sports gems Virtua Striker and Virtua Tennis also made their glorious home debuts with games that transcended the sports themselves in terms of appeal.

Of course, Sega Sports didn’t limit themselves to arcade ports, with well received entries in their 2K sports franchises via NFL 2K1, NBA 2K1 and NHL 2K1. Beyond that we had Virtua Athlete 2K debuting on the console before it even made it to the arcade, and Sega Xtreme Sports giving DC players something a little more different, akin to a Wii Sports style compilation.

Arcade and sports games are all well and good, but what if you wanted more? Well for a start there was the beautiful Ecco the Dolphin Defender of the Future, the follow up to the blockbuster Mega Drive series. Then there’s the iconic Space Channel 5, the RPG epic Timestalkers and the even more legendary Skies of Arcadia.

Then you can add Jet Set Radio to the mix for good measure in what is an absolutely stellar line up.

Like racing games? Then Sega GT might scratch that Gran Turismo itch, or if F1 is more your thing, Sega published F1 World Grand Prix 2 as well.

But in first place is surely Metropolis Street Racer, the game from Bizarre Creations many had been eagerly anticipating since its announcement.

Speaking of racers, Toy Racer was released as a budget title. So if pennies were tight, that, Planet Ring and Sega Swirl could all be had for a few quid and a couple of magazine purchases.

For us in the West, the year was closed out with the English version of Shenmue. Having made it out in Japan a couple of days before the turn of the millennium,  its only right that such an iconic title serve to book end the Dreamcasts busiest year in software.

With Shenmue and Crazy Taxi opening and closing the year 2000, and the creamy middle of everything in between, it has to be one of Sega’s greatest years ever.

So which is the best?

As with all things “best” is subjective. Personally I find myself being fonder of the 1996 Saturn line-up, with the 2000 Dreamcast one being close behind. Both are monuments to Sega’s first party prowess, and you have to wonder what more Sega could have done, software-wise, to lure consumers away from PlayStations.

1992 is no slouch either, and was instrumental from turning Sega from underdog to superstar.

Compare these lineups to Sega’s today. Actually, compare them to the output of any first party too, and it highlights why these years were truly special.

Such times will never come again, but for us who lived them, at least we can go back to those games we loved from the company we adored and revel in the moment when they were the best in the industry at what they did.

What was your favourite Sega year?