Rez

10. Outtrigger アウトトリガー (Arcade, DC)

Outtrigger was released in the arcades in 1999 on the Sega NAOMI arcade board and the Sega Dreamcast in 2001. The game wasn’t that bad though neither was it particularly good, especially if you were a seasoned FPS PC gamer (unlike myself). Having said that it was released when they’d finally sorted out the Dreamcast’s online network (1 billion gamers indeed), which allowed up to six players to battle it out online or via the four-player split-screen mode.

It was also surprising in that many people thought Japanese gamers didn’t like First Person Shooters, yet here Sega were again attempting to be original by embracing western concepts for their home market. The reason it’s on the list is mainly due to its interface and presentation which, while obviously an arcade port, was kinda funky.

9. After Burner Series アフターバーナー (Arcade, MS, MD, Amiga, Multi)

Perhaps the only game on the list that’s been included because of something other than the game itself – the arcade ‘peripheral’. After Burner was typical of an age where the sale of arcade cabinets was on par with buying a new home, or in this case a mansion with private jet. The After Burner cabinet truly made the game special and became one of those things where even if the graphics looked worse over time, the cabinet was back with another round of botox to liven things up. Yu Suzuki (of the Shenmue and Virtua Fighter series – both almost making the list) was the man behind this one.

Did the After Burner unit in Terminator 2: Judgement Day make even Edward Furlong look cool? Hell yes!

8. Shinobi Series 忍 -SHINOBI- (Arcade, MS, MD, NES, Multi)

Anything that has to do with robots and ninjas is cool! This is the ninja game that started it all off way back in 1987 (though I could be wrong here for no-one has compiled a history of ninja games so there’s a thought). Without Shinobi we wouldn’t have Kage Maru, Rikimaru or even Ryu Hayabusa, who was himself a product of the sword-waving lunatic Tomonobu Itagaki, bless him.

Shinobi is a very cool series simply because it’s something we can never be ourselves and because nunchuks were illegal, there was nothing else better to copy. In case you were wondering, here in the UK you couldn’t so much as see a pair of nunchuks in action let alone lick one. It goes some way in explaining why in a martial arts movie you’d see someone like Bruce Lee turn around after being confronted by six men, and the next thing you know everyone around him is wallowing in pain.

Ninjas FTW.

7. Virtual-On Series 電脳戦機バーチャロン (Arcade, DC, XBLA)

With the recent announcement that VO:Force is set for imminent release, there’s no escaping from the lock-on effect this game has on players (sorry). Each virtuaroid has their own history, capabilities and personality – you get the story as with every other fighting game out there they do it for either money or revenge. I mean who is sad enough to actually study character histories and backgrounds anyway:

“This robot is called KP4PA4eva and she is 1 year 3months 11 days and 1hr old. She wants revenge against her master for the design of the upper abdomen and thorax which hinders her night time performance. SyNTHol55 is another huge robot and he is only 1 year 2 1/2 months though is prone to breaking do……” You fallen asleep yet?

The game is about robots. Robots=cool plus Fei-Yen has a pink frilly dress.

6. Phantasy Star Online ファンタシース ターオンライン (DC, GC, Xbox, PC, Multi)

PSO on the Dreamcast changed a lot of things in console gaming for the better (or worse in many respects as you will find out). It was not only the first game to take full advantage of the Dreamcast’s online play, but it did so with very few hiccups. Over in the US they had broadband and 56k modems as standard whilst here in Europe we had to make do with dial-up and 33.6k modems for god’s sake – yet the game still played well.

PSO introduced many console owners to mmogs and online play which had only previously been the reserve of PC gamers, and it did this so well that you would forget that you were playing online. Lie. Well, that was until someone would instantly kill you and could conjure up a health bar the size of the Great Wall itself. Retards.

5. Cosmic Smash コズミックスマッシュ (Arcade, DC)

Now I absolutely loved Cosmic Smash when it first came out in 2001 (for the NAOMI and Dreamcast), though the majority of other people unfortunately didn’t see things the same way. It wasn’t a bad game if that’s what you’re thinking, though it was rather shallow and *surprise surprise* more or less a straight arcade port with the exception that you could now upload your high scores.

Think Breakout meets Virtua Tennis meets squash meets Intelligent Qube. The look and presentation was on-par with Rez and the music/sound was also very cool, even if at times it sounded as if you were at an airport lounge. What I truly loved was the mix of English and Japanese dialogue which was an awesome touch for both western and Japanese audiences. In all a very cool game indeed.

4. Panzer Dragoon Saga アゼル パンツァードラグーンRPG (Saturn)

The last game created by highly imaginative Team Andromeda. PDS was and still is a great game. The Saturn didn’t do particularly well when it came to RPG epics – compared to the Playstation anyway – but Saga changed all that. Borrowing from their previous two games, PDS was cool in its own particular way. It may not seem as apparent today (because the graphics are bad by modern standards) but believe me when I say that the game’s spirit lives on, and rightly deserves either a remake or a proper RPG-led sequel of similar epic proportion. PD:Orta? Give me a break!

3. Sonic The Hedgehog ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ (Multi)

What can I say? There is no doubt that Sonic deserves his place here amongst the coolest games to come out of Sega’s R&D department. This was in part due to the cool advertising that went into promoting the Mega Drive/Genesis, remembering Sega Ages, Pirate TV etc. Sonic was very much the face of an era and will forever be cool because of that … even if Sega continued to cock-up big time forever after.

Yuji Naka (of Phantasy Star, NiGHTs and Chu Chu Rocket fame) was the man behind these little gems – exception being Sonic Adventure which wasn’t a gem but a pair of pants.

2. Rez/Rez HD (DC, PS2, XBLA)

Rez was of course created by the man behind Sega Rally and Space Channel 5 (which almost made it onto the list). Sega do in fact own the rights to Rez as it was created by UGA, a former first and second party developer for Sega; Tetsuya Mizuguchi having to obtain the rights from Sega for it to be converted onto the 360 as Rez HD (even though he had created the game).

It was a tough choice between Rez and the number one game on the list for they’re both some of the coolest games ever made.

1. Jet Set Radio (JGR)/JSR Future ジェットセットラジオ (DC, Xbox, XBLA)

Known as Jet Grind Radio in N.America, the two main games within the series are without a doubt the coolest to come out of Sega in many years. Not only did it have trendy characters and music (from established bands), it was the pioneer of cel-shading graphics – the dark outlines creating a kind of 3D comic-book look. It was also great to play and is fondly remembered as one of Sega’s best ever games.

Free love’s too tame for him do dah!