History VideoGame / Shenmue

* ChrisCarterEffect: Potential fans may have been turned off when hearing the first Shenmue game consisted of the first of what was expected to be SIXTEEN chapters. It turned out that Suzuki-san didn't intend to do sixteen separate games; ''Shenmue II'' covers Chapter 2 through 5 (the boat ride, Hong Kong, Kowloon and Guilin, the chapters in the series divided based on location), and Chapter 2 took place entirely off-screen.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: After the snowy night of Christmas, Ryo goes to the Sakuragaoka's Park and finds Nozomi crying, Ryo sits down with her and after talking a little bit, Nozomi warms herself by cuddling up on him, ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBmN-pLSc4I Heartwarming!]]''
-->'''Nozomi:''' ''Please... just for a while... stay with me...''\\
(Ryo sits down alongside her)\\
'''Nozomi:''' ''Christmas is already over...''\\
'''Ryo:''' ''... Yeah.''\\
'''Nozomi:''' ''We didn't get to celebrate together...''\\
'''Ryo:''' ''... Yeah.''\\
'''Nozomi:''' ''I so wanted to spend Christmas Eve with you...''\\
'''Ryo:''' ''... Nozomi?''\\
(Nozomi cuddles up on him)\\
'''Nozomi:''' ''Stay with me... for a while...''\\
'''Ryo:''' ''... Yeah.''\\
'''Nozomi:''' ''I wish time... would just stay still.''
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The entire soundtrack of the game, composed of beautiful, gorgeous and precious pieces of orchestra scores with traditional Asian instruments.
** Just a sample: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0oeP5t9fE4&hd=1 Guilin Forest]] from the second game.
* CultClassic: Even to this day there is a large community engaging in requests like asking for the 3rd sequel of the series, asking for the closure of the story arc, asking for the transfer of the series license from {{Sega}} to {{Yu Suzuki}}, and asking to put Ryo Hazuki back as a playable character in [[SegaSuperstars Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed]] like in the predecessor.

* [[SegaSuperstars Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing]]: Our hero Ryo returns after 9 years in the limbo, appearing in this 2010 kart-racing game to drive his badass motorbike and his awesome forklift, like in ''Shenmue''!
** Too bad he was dumped in the 2012 sequel, ''Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed''. However, the developers of ''Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed'' requested the fans to do a series of signature lists, where the top 3 most chosen characters (if they happened to beat the 1000 votes mark) would be ''considered'' as oncoming downloadable playable characters. Ryo Hazuki outrageously won the 1st prize with ''3295 votes'' beating Hatsune Miku from {{Vocaloid}} ''(3161 votes)'', and {{Segata Sanshiro}} ''(2605 votes)!'' Now all it takes is to sit down and wait to see if he will be included as a downloadable content.

* TooGoodToLast: ''Shenmue'' suffered the same fate as many other good {{Sega}} games from the era, like JetSetRadio and CrazyTaxi, that happened to been born at the same time {{Sega}} was retiring from the console scene and going third party, and ultimately ended forgotten in a limbo, as new conservative bosses took command of the company.

* TrueArt: The first ''Shenmue'' won the ''Excellence Prize'' for ''Interactive Art'' at the ''2000 Japan Media Arts Festival''. Very few people know this, so not many people realize how important this game is. To put it on perspective, that same year {{Vagabond}} won the prize for the best {{Manga}} in that festival!

* {{Aborted Arc}}: We still have 11 or so chapters to go... anyone?? (Tumbleweed rolls by)

* BeatEmUp: You live in TheEighties, know martial arts, and have {{Bar Brawl}}s and fights against gang members, doing things like going to the streets and kick 7 asses all by yourself. ''Shenmue'' could as well be an affectionate homage to Sega's BeatEmUp games, like StreetsOfRage and GoldenAxe.

->'''Nozomi:''' ''Please... just for a while... stay with me...''\\

''Shenmue'' was a videogame series created by Creator/YuSuzuki (the father of hits like ''{{Hang-On}}'', ''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier'', ''{{Daytona USA}}'' and ''{{VirtuaFighter}}'', among others) in his {{Sega}}'s development team, [=AM2=]. It was one of the last [=IPs=] developed by {{Sega}} before their retirement from the hardware scene, and would be one of the last ones from Creator/{{Yu Suzuki}}, who afterwards would be harshly conditioned by new Creator/{{Sega}}'s heads and won't be able to get approved in many of his ideas. ''Shenmue'' was originally meant to be a 16-chapters epic story told in 4-7 titles, yet due to insufficient sales, {{Sega}}'s withdrawal from the console market in March 2001, and the high production costs needed to make ''Shenmue'' games, the series development stopped after the second game and fans got stuck with an unconcluded {{cliffhanger}} to this day.

The game put you in the place of Ryo Hazuki, a 18 years old Japanese male teenager living in the small city of Yokosuka, [[TheEighties in 1986]]. Ryo Hazuki could walk through Yokosuka with full freedom, in one of the truly earliest examples of the modern {{Wide Open Sandbox}} genre, if not the first ever. He could wander through the streets and neighborhoods, go shopping on grocery stores, [[GameWithinAGame play some games in the local arcade]], drive a pair of vehicles later in the game, and even pick items with his hands and examine them. Such a level of detail and depth was outrageously shiny new at the time on {{Adventure Games}}. Moreover, Ryo Hazuki could interact with the [=NPCs=] (each one with a unique design), which had their own lives too; in many other games characters would simply walk in a certain pattern or stand there all day, while in ''Shenmue'' people came out of their houses around 9am, went shopping, chatted with their friends, headed to the bar at night and then walked home. If it was raining they had raincoats, and add to this that the characters had more than one stock phrase all voiced in English! (in the first game; the second game had Japanese voice overs and English subs - until the {{Xbox}} port). This was crucial to do [[AmateurSleuth the detective work]] in the game, as [=NPCs=] would give clues and inform of facts that in turn would trigger events, moving on the plot.

The series made use of a weather system which as the name implies would change the weather; some days it'll rain, others it'll snow, or it'll be bright and sunny or cloudy and overcast. This weather system accurately replayed the {{Real Life}} weather of Yokosuka in 1986 and 1987, as Creator/YuSuzuki sent his team to collect data from weather reports from the era. Also, the days would pass and the seasons would change; if the player really wanted to, he could wait until spring (the game starts towards the end of November 1986, so fall is slowly ending and winter is slowly coming). It even had rare and special cutscenes depending of the date and place, like for example Ryo and [[TheCutie Nozomi]] cuddling up on the park at the snowy night of Christmas Eve.

The game probably also popularized the ragingly popular [[PressXToNotDie Quick Time Event]]. ''Shenmue'' [[TropeCodifier made it big]] (''VideoGame/DragonsLair'' [[TropeMaker did it first]]), and on top of that, in most [=QTEs=] if you didn't press the button in time, the story would keep going just slightly differently, as these QTE unlike many of today examples, were pretty simple and not intrusive on gameplay. There were also random encounters with people, conversations, fights, and the like, so no people ever played the same game. Also, the player could play [[EmbeddedPrecursor Yu Suzuki's earlier games in a video game]], could collect little toys, and he could even look after a small kitten... basically anything the player wanted to do within the world. In the second game, where Ryo finds him in a truly massive sprawling city to explore, he could gamble, take part in fights, and get part time jobs to get money.

Of course, ''Shenmue'' wasn't all about walking around asking people about the day the snow turned to rain and if they had seen a black car; there was fighting too. Based of the ''VirtuaFighter'' engine developed by Creator/YuSuzuki himself, Ryo would enter a free fight where he would either fight a group of people or one worthy opponent. You could learn new moves, and practice them to become more powerful, in a truly case of {{Role Playing Game}} elements. For example, Ryo could practice some moves with his friend Fuku-san at the dojo or in any of the empty lots in the game (such as a parking lot or an empty warehouse) and learn new ones buying ancient scrolls in the antiquery shop or by mere showing from some [=NPCs=] (this one required the player to follow step by step the movements, aided by the SegaDreamcast VMU controller). This and the [=QTEs=] added a spice for an {{Action Game}}.

Originally ''Shenmue'' started development in 1996 and in its early stages was some sort of a spinoff of {{Yu Suzuki}}'s other hit, {{Virtua Fighter}}. Akira, protagonist of the FightingGame was meant to be the hero in a kind of [[RolePlayingGame RPG styled adventure]]. However, {{Yu Suzuki}}, who at that point only did simple, little depth, ''arcade-style'' games, began to create this new work based on music scores, and slowly realized he was in a completely new game within a new world with new characters and a deep storyline. ''Shenmue'' was originally programed for the SegaSaturn and was meant to be a kind of KillerApp to save the system, which was struggling in the ConsoleWars against the PlayStation and the {{Nintendo 64}}. However, [[DevelopmentHell programming in the console was a hell]] and when {{Sega}} announced they would stop the SegaSaturn, development of ''Shenmue'' halted. The beta version of ''Shenmue'' for the SegaSaturn pushed the system to the limits and had one of the best graphics and presentation the black console ever got, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foZUcPQAMvg you can see some of the results here]].

* ConsoleWars: ''Shenmue'' series tragic fate corresponds to the defeat of {{Sega}} by the {{PlayStation 2}} and its consequent withdrawal of the console scene, readjusting the company.

* JapaneseDelinquents: There are a couple of guys in black coats that hassle Ryo and Nozomi throughout the game, and ther are several QTEs and fights against them.
* KillerApp: Of the {{Sega Dreamcast}}. In fact it was the 4th best selling game in the white console, just after ''{{Sonic Adventure}}'', ''{{SoulCalibur}}'', and ''{{Crazy Taxi}}''. Back in those days, playing ''Shenmue'' was one of the reasons alone to go and buy a {{Sega Dreamcast}}.

* SegaDreamcast: ''Shenmue'' is closely related to the history and ultimate fate of the Dreamcast, as this is where its series got released.
* SegaSaturn: Early stages of ''Shenmue'', from 1996 to 1997, were developed here. To commemorate it, the little SegaSaturn in Ryo's room is placed.

* StalkingMission: To find [[BigBad Lan Di]], you've got to first find some sailors, then find a guy named Charlie, then find another one named Terry, and so on.

* DevelopmentHell: After failing to make its release on the SegaSaturn due to a really difficult development on the project, which itself was started in 1996, ''Shenmue'' saw the light of day through the {{Sega Dreamcast}} in October 1999.

* FinalBattle: Both games have a fight towards the end, first one against Chai, second one against Dou Niu.

* KillerApp: Of the {{Sega Dreamcast}}. In fact it was the 4th best selling game in the white console, just after ''{{Sonic Adventure}}'', ''{{SoulCalibur}}'', and ''{{Crazy Taxi}}''. Playing ''Shenmue'' was one of the reasons alone to go and buy a {{Sega Dreamcast}}.

* NewMediaAreEvil: Upon interviews with {{Yu Suzuki}}, he explained that back in [[TheEighties the early 80s]], video games were seen in UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} as the ''worst mother´s enemies'', taking place in dark, gritty rooms frequented by anti-social teens. So He came with the idea of broadening the video game public, bringing games from dark places to brighter places, and developing innovative, fresh games that would appeal to a more massive audience. Thus he created hardware like the riding motorbike in {{Hang-On}} or the 360° rotating cabinet in {{AfterBurner}}, and thus expanding games interface from the typical ''coffee-top tables'' seen until that moment. And so, that ''dark, gritty'' atmosphere is the one you get when you enter the ''You Arcade'' place on Dobuita street, as a mirror of how the videogames scene looked like back then, until he released his arcade hits.

** When the Harbor starts to be painted by the snowflakes falling, it acquires an impressive and stark personality.

** Many fighting moves are strikingly similar to those from the {{Virtua Fighter}} series.

* SegaDreamcast: ''Shenmue'' is closely related to the history and ultimately fate of the Dreamcast, where its series got released.
* SegaSaturn: Early stages of ''Shenmue'' were developed here. To commemorate it, the little SegaSaturn in Ryo's room is placed.

* TooGoodToLast: ''Shenmue'' suffered the same fate as many other good {{Sega}} games from the era, like JetSetRadio and CrazyTaxi, that happened to been born at the same time {{Sega}} was retiring from the console scene and going third party, and ultimately ending forgotten, as new conservative bosses took business of the corporation.

* TrueArt: The first ''Shenmue'' won the ''Excellence Prize'' for ''Interactive Art'' at the ''2000 Japan Media Arts Festival''. Very few people know it, so not many people realize how important this game is. To put it on perspective, that same year {{Vagabond}} won the prize for the best {{Manga}} in that festival.

* WorkingClassHero: When Ryo gets a job at the Harbor working with forklifts, he defends his fellow workmates against the abusive Mad Angels gang members, fights against the gang, and loses his job, but ultimately frees his mates from their yoke and defeats the gang.

The first game was released in October 28, 1999 for the {{Sega Dreamcast}} (worldwide release happened within the following year). The sequel, ''Shenmue II'', was later released in September 6, 2001 also for the Dreamcast, and the following year for the {{Xbox}}. At the time of its release, {{Sega}} was immersed in a kind of shiny creativeness and bright innovation that would mark the {{Sega Dreamcast}} era and the final years of the corporation as a console maker, with ''Shenmue'' joining the crowd of other fresh titles on the white console, like ''{{Sonic Adventure}}'', ''{{Crazy Taxi}}'', ''{{Jet Set Radio}}'', ''{{Virtua Tennis}}'', ''{{Samba De Amigo}}'', ''{{NFL2K}}'', ''{{Space Channel 5}}'', ''{{Toy Commander}}'' and ''{{Segagaga}}''.

Luckily, development of ''Shenmue'' resumed a little bit afterwards, when the company started to put on the way the ''Katana'' project ('''codename: SegaDreamcast'''). In this new, easier to program architecture, YuSuzuki managed to achieve much better in less time, and the ''Project Berkley'' (as the game was codenamed) came to life. Some of the game sequences were used to showcase the SegaDreamcast capabilities on conventions and the such. This is important, as YuSuzuki asked to bring professionals from the Japanese film industry to create the game. ''Shenmue'' was released in Japan in October 1999 (world-wide release would be an year later), winning many prizes and accolades and even winning the ''Excellence Prize'' for ''Interactive Art'' at the ''[[TrueArt 2000 Japan Media Arts Festival]]''. {{Sega}} would broke up and abandon the hardware scene in 2001, ''Shenmue II'' would be released on September of that year (and the following year for the {{Xbox}}), and suddenly the series stopped to never see the light again.

* DevelopmentHell: After failing to make its release on the SegaSaturn due to a really difficult development, ''Shenmue'' saw the light of day through the {{Sega Dreamcast}}.

Originally ''Shenmue'' started development in 2006 and in its early stages was some sort of a spinoff of {{Yu Suzuki}}'s other hit, {{Virtua Fighter}}. Akira, protagonist of the FightingGame was meant to be the hero in a kind of [[RolePlayingGame RPG styled adventure]]. However, {{Yu Suzuki}}, who at that point only did simple, little depth, ''arcade-style'' games, began to create this new work based on music scores, and slowly realized he was in a completely new game within a new world with new characters and a deep storyline. ''Shenmue'' was originally programed for the SegaSaturn and was meant to be a kind of KillerApp to save the system, which was struggling in the ConsoleWars against the PlayStation and the {{Nintendo 64}}. However, [[DevelopmentHell programming in the console was a hell]] and when {{Sega}} announced they would stop the SegaSaturn, development of ''Shenmue'' halted. The beta version of ''Shenmue'' for the SegaSaturn pushed the system to the limits and had one of the best graphics and presentation the black console ever got, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foZUcPQAMvg you can see some of the results here]].

[[caption-width-right:350:European box cover of ''Shenmue II''. [[NoExportForYou An US Dreamcast version was cancelled]], but notwithstanding an {{Xbox}} version was released in USA in 2002.]]

The game's story begins when Iwao Hazuki is killed by the [[BigBad Lan Di]] after refusing to give up the location of the Dragon Mirror (a mysterious jade engraved item). Ryo, Iwao's son and the player's character, goes out on a quest to get revenge on Lan Di. As it turns out Lan Di is part of a [[TheMafia very powerful crime organization]], the Chiyoumen, and has connections with the Mad Angels, a group of bikers that hang around in the docks of Yokozuka. Ryo meets up with Master Chen who then reveals there is a second mirror which Lan Di is also looking for, the Phoenix Mirror, which just happens to be hidden under the dojo in Ryo's house. After finding the mirror, Ryo then proceeds to beat up the Mad Angels and learns that Lan Di headed towards Hong Kong. The first game ends with Ryo getting on a boat to Hong Kong.

Originally ''Shenmue'' in its early stages started as some sort of a spinoff of {{Yu Suzuki}}'s other hit, {{Virtua Fighter}}. Akira, protagonist of the FightingGame was meant to be the hero in a kind of [[RolePlayingGame RPG styled adventure]]. However, {{Yu Suzuki}}, who at that point only did simple, little depth, ''arcade-style'' games, began to create this new work based on music scores, and slowly realized he was in a completely new game within a new world with new characters and a deep storyline. ''Shenmue'' was originally programed for the SegaSaturn and was meant to be a kind of KillerApp to save the system, which was struggling in the ConsoleWars against the PlayStation and the {{Nintendo 64}}. However, [[DevelopmentHell programming in the console was a hell]] and when {{Sega}} announced they would stop the SegaSaturn, development of ''Shenmue'' halted. The beta version of ''Shenmue'' for the SegaSaturn pushed the system to the limits and had one of the best graphics and presentation the black console ever got, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foZUcPQAMvg you can see some of the results here]].

'''Story:'''

** Too bad he was dumped in the 2012 sequel, ''Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed''. However, the developers of ''Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed'' requested the fans to do a series of signature lists, where the top 3 most chosen characters (if they happened to beat the 1000 votes mark) would be ''considered'' as oncoming downloadable playable characters. Ryo Hazuki outrageously won the 1st prize with 3295 votes, beating Hatsune Miku from {{Vocaloid}} (3161 votes), and {{Segata Sanshiro}} (2605 votes). Now all it takes is to sit down and wait to see if he will be included as a downloadable content.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shenmue2-02.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:330:''"Great, superb, remarkable, extraordinary, wonderful, monumental..."''--[[http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/11/04/shenmue IGN's review of Shenmue in 2000]].]]

''Shenmue'' was a videogame series created by Creator/YuSuzuki (the father of hits like ''{{Hang-On}}'', ''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier'', ''{{Daytona USA}}'' and ''{{VirtuaFighter}}'', among others) in his {{Sega}}'s development team, [=AM2=]. It was one of the last [=IPs=] developed by {{Sega}} before their retirement from the hardware scene, and would be one of the last ones from Creator/{{Yu Suzuki}}, who afterwards would be harshly conditioned by new Creator/{{Sega}}'s heads and couldn't fulfill his creative needs. ''Shenmue'' was originally meant to be a 16-chapters epic story told in 4-7 titles, yet due to insufficient sales, {{Sega}}'s withdrawal from the console market in March 2001, and the high production costs needed to make ''Shenmue'' games, the series development stopped after the second game and fans got stuck with an unconcluded {{cliffhanger}} to this day.

The game put you in the place of Ryo Hazuki, a 18 years old Japanese teenager living in the small city of Yokosuka, in [[TheEighties 1986]]. Ryo Hazuki could walk through Yokosuka with full freedom, in one of the truly earliest examples of the modern {{Wide Open Sandbox}} genre, if not the first ever. He could wander through the streets and neighborhoods, go shopping on grocery stores, [[GameWithinAGame play some games in the local arcade]], drive a pair of vehicles later in the game, and even pick items with his hands and examine them. Such a level of detail and depth was outrageously shiny new at the time in the {{Adventure Games}}. Moreover, Ryo Hazuki could interact with the [=NPCs=] (each one with a unique design), which had their own lives too; in many other games characters would simply walk in a certain pattern or stand there all day, while in ''Shenmue'' people came out of their houses around 9am, went shopping, chatted with their friends, headed to the bar at night and then walked home. If it was raining they had raincoats, and add to this that the characters had more than one stock phrase all voiced in English! (in the first game; the second game had Japanese voice overs and English subs - until the {{Xbox}} port). This was crucial to do [[AmateurSleuth the detective work]] in the game, as [=NPCs=] would give clues and inform of facts that in turn would trigger events, moving on the plot.

Originally ''Shenmue'' in its early stages started as some sort of a spinoff of {{Yu Suzuki}}'s other hit, {{Virtua Fighter}}. Akira, protagonist of the FightingGame was meant to be the hero in a kind of [[RolePlayingGame RPG styled adventure]]. However, {{Yu Suzuki}}, who at that point only did simple, little depth, ''arcade-style'' games, began to create this new work based on music scores, and slowly realized he was in a completely new game within a new world with new characters and a deep storyline. ''Shenmue'' was originally programed for the SegaSaturn and was meant to be a kind of KillerApp to save the system, which was struggling in the ConsoleWars against the PlayStation and the {{Nintendo64}}. However, [[DevelopmentHell programming in the console was a hell]] and when {{Sega}} announced they would stop the SegaSaturn, development of ''Shenmue'' halted. The beta version of ''Shenmue'' for the SegaSaturn pushed the system to the limits and had one of the best graphics and presentation the black console ever got, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foZUcPQAMvg you can see some of the results here]].

* ConsoleWars: ''Shenmue'' series tragic fate corresponds to the defeat of {{Sega}} by the {{PlayStation2}} and its consequent withdrawal of the console scene, readjusting the company.

** One of the most epic fights happens in the first game when [[BackToBackBadasses you and Gui Zhang alone]] fight in a 70 man battle against the entire Mad Angels gang.

* Fan Communities: Shenmue was enough of a charismatic game to lead to the creation of some, like [[http://www.shenmuedojo.net/ Shenmue Dojo]].

* FinalBattle: Both games have a fight towards the end, against ''the game bosses''.

** The epic [[TheEighties 80s style]] {{Heavy Metal}} instrumental tune that plays when you're in a motorbike rushing to the Harbor to save Nozomi, is in fact a synthesized remix of one of the songs from {{F355 Challenge}}, ''"Scarlatto"''.[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrKcjcbJgfw This is the original one, with a singer]].

* NewMediaAreEvil: Upon interviews with {{Yu Suzuki}}, he explained that back in [[TheEighties the early 80s]], video games were seen in UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} as the ''worst mother´s enemies'', taking place in dark, gritty rooms frequented by anti-social teens. So He came with the idea of broadening the video game public, bringing games from dark places to brighter places, and developing innovative, fresh games that would appeal to a more massive audience. Thus he created hardware like the playable motorbike in {{Hang-On}} or the 360° rotating cabinet in {{AfterBurner}}, and thus expanding games interface from the typical ''coffee-top tables'' seen until that moment. That ''dark, gritty'' atmosphere is the one you get when you enter the ''You Arcade'' place on Dobuita street, as a mirror of how the videogames scene looked like back then, until he released his arcade hits.

* PressXToNotDie: One of the earliest to make use of the [=QTEs=], and a good user on that.
* RealPlaceBackground: Yokosuka is filled with the memories YuSuzuki had when he was living there, and you cannot resist their lovely charms.
* RooftopConfrontation: The second game {{Final Battle}} happens here.
* RunDontWalk

* PressXToNotDie: Godfather of the mid cutscene QTE.

* RealLife: {{YuSuzuki}} did an amazing job recreating the {{Real Life}} Yokosuka and how daily life looked in {{The Eighties}}, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9F0RsbJLn4 you just have to look how the real Dobuita street looks like to truly appreciate his work in the game]].
* Revenge: What ignites Ryo's motivations and what starts his adventure.

* [[SegaSuperstars Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing]]: In this kart-racing game, Ryo appears to drive a touring bike and a forklift as in ''Shenmue''.
** Too bad he was dumped in the sequel, ''Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed''. The kart-racing game developers asked the fans to do a signature lists where the top 3 most chosen characters (if they happen to beat the 1000 mark) would be ''considered'' as oncoming downloadable playable characters. Ryo Hazuki outrageously won the 1st prize with 3295 votes, beating Hatsune Miku from {{Vocaloid}} (3161 votes), and {{Segata Sanshiro}} (2605). Now it takes to sit and wait to see if he will be included as a downloadable content.
* StalkingMission: To find [[BigBad Lan Di]], you've got to first find some sailors, then find a guy named Charlie, then find another named Terry, and so on.

* TalkToEveryone: The game cannot further emphasize the importance of interacting with the world, in this game the [=NPCs=] have a lot of things to say, and these things themselves change as the plot moves on, too. Plus, some characters like Tom the hot dog stand vendor and Nozomi are quite pleasant to chat!

* TheEighties: {{Yu Suzuki}} really wants to recreate how Yokosuka and Hong Kong looked like in 1986 and 1987, in addition to the changes the places were experimenting.

* TheStoic: Ryo is a hard-ass stoic teenager who happens to live in a perpetual stoic life full of harm and he doesn't seem to change a little by the environment.
** NotSoStoic: Ryo cries out loud in the intro when he hears his father's last words spoken to him.

** Full voiced [=NPCs=], with their one designs too.

** Bringing people from the film industry to develop the game.

* WorkingClassHero: When Ryo gets a job at the Harbor working with forklifts, he defends his fellow workmates against the abusive Mad Angels gang members, fighting against them, and loses his job, but ultimately frees them from their abusive yoke.
* WouldHitAGirl: Some evil, menacing teenage girls wearing school uniforms get the crap beaten out of them by Ryo in the Harbor in the first game.

* Flashback: Scenes when Ryo was a kid and he was talking to his father can be seen, ''some of them even teach you new fighting moves!''

* GameWithinAGame: ''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier'' and ''{{Hang-On}}'' in the first; the second had those two with ''VideoGame/AfterBurner II'' and ''VideoGame/OutRun''.

* Samurai: You could call Ryo's a ''modern-era Samurai'', being the distant and tough kind of boy He is.

The first game was released in October 28, 1999 for the {{Sega Dreamcast}}. The sequel, ''Shenmue II'', was later released in September 6, 2001 also for the Dreamcast, and the following year for the {{Xbox}}. At the time of its release, {{Sega}} was immersed in a kind of shiny creativeness and bright innovation that would mark the {{Sega Dreamcast}} era and the final years of the corporation as a console maker, together with other fresh titles on the white console like ''{{Sonic Adventure}}'', ''{{Crazy Taxi}}'', ''{{Jet Set Radio}}'', ''{{Virtua Tennis}}'', ''{{Samba De Amigo}}'', ''{{NFL2K}}'', ''{{Space Channel 5}}'', ''{{Toy Commander}}'' and ''{{Segagaga}}''.

The game put you in the place of Ryo Hazuki, a 18 years old Japanese teenager living in the small city of Yokosuka, in [[TheEighties 1986]]. Ryo Hazuki could walk through Yokosuka with full freedom, in one of the truly earliest examples of the modern {{WideOpenSandbox}} genre, if not the first. He could wander through the streets and neighborhoods, go shopping on grocery stores, [[GameWithinAGame play some games in the local arcade]], drive a pair of vehicles later in the game, and even pick items with his hands and examine them. Such a level of detail and depth was outrageously shiny new at the time of the {{Adventure Games}}. Moreover, Ryo Hazuki could interact with the [=NPCs=] (each one with a unique design), which had their own lives too; in many other games characters would simply walk in a certain pattern or stand there all day, while in ''Shenmue'' people came out of their houses around 9am, went shopping, chatted with their friends, headed to the bar at night and then walked home. If it was raining they had raincoats, and add to this that the characters had more than one stock phrase all voiced in English! (in the first game; the second game had Japanese voice overs and English subs - until the {{Xbox}} port). This was crucial to do [[AmateurSleuth the detective work]] in the game, as [=NPCs=] would give clues and inform of facts that in turn would trigger events, moving on the plot.

Luckily, development of ''Shenmue'' resumed a little bit afterwards, when the company started to put on the way the ''Katana'' project ('''codename: SegaDreamcast'''). In this new, easier to program architecture, YuSuzuki managed to achieve much better in less time, and the ''Project Berkley'' (as it was codenamed) came to life. Some of the game sequences were used to showcase the SegaDreamcast capabilities on conventions and the such. This is important, as YuSuzuki asked to bring professionals from the Japanese film industry to create the game. ''Shenmue'' was released in Japan in October 1999 (world-wide release would be an year later), winning many prizes and accolades and even winning the ''Excellence Prize'' for ''Interactive Art'' at the ''[[TrueArt 2000 Japan Media Arts Festival]]''. {{Sega}} would broke up and abandon the hardware scene in 2001, ''Shenmue II'' would be released on September of that year (and the following year for the {{Xbox}}), and suddenly the series stopped to never see the light again.

Much of the problem comes from the large sums of money it would theorically take to make a third installment, though some people challenge that view pointing that [[TurnOfTheMillennium along this decade]] software evolved from what ''Shenmue'' had to face in its time, and so now it would be easier, faster and cheaper to develop more games for the series. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocuHKHKlFBs Yu Suzuki himself revealed that SEGA might let him do Shenmue III]], though it's a matter of budget and a matter of the license (it belongs to {{Sega}}, so fans petitioned to give the license to {{Yu Suzuki}}). At least two spinoffs relationed with ''Shenmue'' have been in production since: a (cancelled) 2006 MMORPG named ''Shenmue Online'', and a 2010 smartphones game named ''Shenmue City''. [[HeroProtagonist Ryo Hazuki]]'s appearence in [[SegaSuperstars Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing]] seriously re-ignited [[TheDeterminator fans hope]] on a third sequel in the series, and since then, they have been doing a lot of online petitions and signature lists to show {{Sega}} the everlasting passion and determination of ''Shenmue'' fanbase.

* BarBrawl: One of the most epic scenes in the series happens to be one of these, with nice [=QTEs=] included. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pL_ACUHYVY You can see it here, in all its QTE glory]]. Too bad that scene marks the end of Ryo's quest for sailors.

* DevelopmentHell: After failing to make its release on the SegaSaturn do to a really difficult development, ''Shenmue'' saw the light of day through the {{SegaDreamcast}}.
** A new installment on the series that would move the story on has been in this ''pending state'' for more than 10 years.

** One of the most epic fights happens in the first game when [[BackToBackBadasses you and Gui Zhang]] fight a 70 man battle against the entire Mad Angels gang.

** Probably put as a mean to tell the players to start looking for the little, beautiful things the game has to offer, and thus a little, beautiful kitten is the best way to start it.

* KillerApp: Of the SegaDreamcast. In fact it was the 4th best selling game in the white console, just after ''{{Sonic Adventure}}'', ''{{SoulCalibur}}'', and ''{{Crazy Taxi}}''. Playing ''Shenmue'' was one of the reasons alone to go and buy a Dreamcast.

* NewMediaAreEvil: Upon interviews with {{Yu Suzuki}}, he explained that back in [[TheEighties the early 80s]], video games were seen in UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} as the ''worst mother´s enemies'', taking place in dark, gritty rooms frequented by anti-social teens. So He came with the idea of broadening the video game public, bringing games from dark places to brighter places, and developing innovative, fresh games that would appeal to a more massive audience. Thus he created hardware like the playable motorbike in {{Hang-On}} or the 360° rotating cabinet in {{AfterBurner}}, and thus expanding games interface from the typical ''coffee-top tables'' seen until that moment. That ''dark, gritty'' atmosphere is the one you get when you enter the ''You Arcade'' place on Dobuita street, as a mirror of how the videogames scene looked like back then.

** {{Word Of God}} says that Ryo's bloodthirsty quest for revenge would slowly be put aside as the series continued, and that other features from life, like inner feelings, relationships between people, and personality traits, would be explored.

* SceneryPorn: The entire series is an ode to the beautifulness of life and its settings, from the crowded street of Dobuita to the magical forest of Guilin. The level of detail and depth just adds to its charm. In fact it sorts of [[DefiedTrope defies the trope]] in the traditional meaning that it wants to make gorgeous urban settings too, not just ''countryside'' or ''rural'' settings.

** When Megumi finds the little orphaned kitten at the start of the game, she begs ''"[[SarutobiSasuke to her Sasuke, so she'll grow up big and strong like a ninja]]"''.
** [[CocaPepsiInc Drinking machines colored red]].

* TalkToEveryone: The game cannot further emphasize the importance of interacting with the world, even the [=NPCs=] have a lot of things to say, which themselves are even changing as the plot moves on.

* TheDeterminator: He has seen his father being killed in front of him, he has been wounded by a strong beat, and yet just a little days later, he recovers and sents out to avenge his father and kick the hell out of the murderer. You've got to be as determined, patient and cool as Ryo is.

* TooGoodToLast: ''Shenmue'' suffered the same fate as many other good {{Sega}} games from the era, like JetSetRadio and CrazyTaxi, that happened to been born at the same time {{Sega}} was retiring from the console scene and going third party, ending forgotten as new bosses took business of the corporation.

* WorkingClassHero: When Ryo gets a job at the Harbor working with forklifts, he defends his fellow workmates fighting against the abusive Mad Angels gang members, and loses his job, but ultimately frees them from their yoke.

->''I was hanging 'round lookin' cool\\
Some dude just [[YouKilledMyFather killed my pops]]\\
And he beat me up, too\\
My jaw and balls just dropped\\
Now I gotta [[PointlessBandAid wear a band-aid]]\\
Which is cool 'cause it makes me look tough\\
Now he's [[{{Macguffin}} looking for a mirror]]\\
I guess he really loves shiny stuff''
-->-- "Lookin' For Sailors"

''Shenmue'' is a game developed by Sega-[=AM2=], released in 1999 for the {{Sega Dreamcast}}. A sequel, ''Shenmue II'', was later released in 2001 also for the Dreamcast and then later for the {{Xbox}}. ''Shenmue'' was originally meant to have more titles ranging from 4-7 over which the complicated story would be told, yet due to disappointing sales, {{Sega}}'s withdrawal from the console market and the high production costs needed to make Shenmue games fans had to make do with only two games.

Essentially a [=3D=] adventure game, the first installment placed the protagonist in a rather small town with complete freedom, and the second had him in a truly massive sprawling city to explore. The series made use of a weather system which as the name implies would change the weather; some days it'll rain, others it'll snow, or it'll be bright and sunny or cloudy and overcast. The days would pass and the seasons would change; if the player really wanted to, he could wait until spring (the game is set during winter). All the [=NPCs=] (each with a unique design) had their own lives too; in many other games characters would simply walk in a certain pattern or stand there all day, while in ''Shenmue'' people came out of their houses around 9am, went shopping, chatted with their friends, headed to the bar at night and then walked home. If it was raining they had raincoats, and add to this that the characters had more than one stock phrase all voiced in English! (in the first game; the second game had Japanese voice overs and English subs - until the Xbox port).

The game probably also popularized the [[PressXToNotDie Quick Time Event]]. ''Shenmue'' [[TropeCodifier made it big]] (''VideoGame/DragonsLair'' [[TropeMaker did it first]]), and on top of that, in most [=QTEs=] if you didn't press the button in time, the story would keep going just slightly differently. There were also random encounters with people, conversations, fights, and the like, so no people ever played the same game. Also, the player could play [[EmbeddedPrecursor Yu Suzuki's earlier games in a video game]], could collect little toys, and he could even look after a small kitten... basically anything the player wanted to do within the world. In the second game, Ryo could gamble, take part in fights, and get part time jobs to get money.

Of course, ''Shenmue'' wasn't all about walking around asking people about the day the snow turned to rain and if they had seen a black car; there was fighting too. Based of the ''VirtuaFighter'' engine, Ryo would enter a free fight where he would either fight a group of people or one worthy opponent. You could learn new moves, and practice them to become more powerful.

[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocuHKHKlFBs Yu Suzuki himself revealed that SEGA might let him do Shenmue III]].

* BadassBiker

* BettingMiniGame: Would you like to play a game of Lucky Hit?!

* CosmicKeystone
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0oeP5t9fE4&hd=1 Guilin Forest]] from the second game.
* CycleOfRevenge
* {{Determinator}}

* EverythingsCuterWithKittens: Very famously, the first game lets you help raise an abandoned kitten.

* KillerApp: For the Dreamcast, tied with the first ''SoulCalibur''.

* RealPlaceBackground

* PresentDayPast

* StalkingMission
* StockYuck: Young Ryu doesn't like carrots.

* TalkToEveryone

-->''I'm trying to locate some sailors...''
----

Some dude just [[YouKilledmyfather killed my pops]]\\

Essentially a [=3D=] adventure game, the first installment placed the protagonist in a rather small town with complete freedom, and the second had him in a truly massive sprawling city to explore. The series made use of a weather system which as the name implies would change the weather; some days it'll rain, others it'll snow, or it'll be bright and sunny or cloudy and overcast. The days would pass and the seasons would change; if the player really wanted to, he could wait until spring (the game is set during winter). All the [=NPCs=] (each with a unique desgin) had their own lives too; in many other games characters would simply walk in a certain pattern or stand there all day, while in ''Shenmue'' people came out of their houses around 9am, went shopping, chatted with their friends, headed to the bar at night and then walked home. If it was raining they had raincoats, and add to this that the characters had more than one stock phrase all voiced in English! (in the first game; the second game had Japanese voice overs and English subs - until the Xbox port).

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0oeP5t9fE4&hd=1 Guilin Forest]] from the second game

* LadyOfWar: Xiuying could be a poster girl for this trope. She effortlessly avoids Ryo's attacks, then puts him in his place with a bare minimum of force...all while wearing a stunningly elegant ChineseDress.

* NonLethalKO: Ryo has yet to definitvely kill any of his opponents, and the only way for him to die in the first game is via the NonStandardGameOver mentioned below. There are, however, several [=QTEs=] and one free battle in Shenmue II that can indeed be fatal to Ryo even if [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist the game just lets you take as many Mulligans as you have to]].

* PressXToNotDie: Godfather of the mid cutscene QTE
** And yet, in Shenmue II, it managed to sneak in a subversion; when learning the Wude principle of Dan, [[spoiler: DO NOT press A.]]

* AcclaimedFlop: Hugely popular, but the sales were too weak to cover development costs, leading to the above. The fact that the two episodes came out on the quickly-dead {{Dreamcast}} didn't help.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shenmue2-02.jpg

* ShallowParody: Compare the number of smartass jokes "about that day" and "looking for sailors," to the percentage of the game that revolves around either of those things.
* SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer: [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2000/11/15/ "I am Ryo Hazuki. I will avenge my father's death... Right after I play with this kitten! And drink this soda! And play with these toys!"]]
* StockYuck: Young Ryu doesn't like carrots.

* GameWithinAGame: ''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier'' and ''{{Hang-On}}'' in the first; the second had those two with ''AfterBurner II'' and ''OutRun''.

The game probably also popularized the [[PressXToNotDie Quick Time Event]]. ''Shenmue'' [[TropeCodifier made it big]] (''[=~Dragon's Lair~=]'' [[TropeMaker did it first]]), and on top of that, in most [=QTEs=] if you didn't press the button in time, the story would keep going just slightly differently. There were also random encounters with people, conversations, fights, and the like, so no people ever played the same game. Also, the player could play [[EmbeddedPrecursor Yu Suzuki's earlier games in a video game]], could collect little toys, and he could even look after a small kitten... basically anything the player wanted to do within the world. In the second game, Ryo could gamble, take part in fights, and get part time jobs to get money.

* [=~She's a Man in Japan~=] (Yuan in ''Shenmue II'')

The gameplay was really original. The first game placed you in a rather small town with complete freedom, and the second had you in a truly massive sprawling area to explore. The game made use of a weather system which as the name implies would change the weather; some days it'll rain, others it'll snow, or it'll be bright and sunny or cloudy and overcast. The days would pass and the seasons would change; if you really wanted to you could wait until spring (the game is set during winter). All the [=NPCs=] had their own lives too; in many other games characters would simply walk in a certain pattern or stand there all day, while in ''Shenmue'' people came out of their houses around 9am, went shopping, chatted with their friends, headed to the bar at night and then walked home. If it was raining they had raincoats, and add to this that the characters had more than one stock phrase all voiced in English! (in the first game; the second game had Japanese voice overs and English subs - until the Xbox port).

The game probably also popularized the [[PressXToNotDie Quick Time Event]]. ''Shenmue'' [[TropeCodifier made it big]] (''[=~Dragon's Lair~=]'' [[TropeMaker did it first]]), and on top of that, in most [=QTEs=] if you didn't press the button in time, the story would keep going just slightly differently. There were also random encounters with people, conversations, fights, and the like, so no people ever played the same game. Also, you had [[EmbeddedPrecursor mini-games based off Sega arcades]], you could collect little toys, and you could even look after a small kitten... basically anything you wanted to do within the world. In the second game, Ryo could gamble, take part in fights, and get part time jobs to get money.

Of course, ''Shenmue'' wasn't all about walking around asking people about the day the snow turned to rain and if they had seen a black car; there was fighting too. Based of the ''VirtuaFighter'' games, Ryo would enter a free fight where he would either fight a group of people or one worthy opponent. You could learn new moves, and practice them to become more powerful.

The story is a simple one. Ryo's father was killed by the BigBad Lan Di after he refused to give up the location of the Dragon Mirror (a mysterious jade engraved item). So Ryo goes out on a quest to get revenge on Lan Di. As it turns out Lan Di is part of a [[TheMafia very powerful crime organization]], the Chiyoumen, and has connections with the Mad Angels, a group of bikers that hang around in the docks. He meets up with Master Chen who then reveals there is a second mirror which Lan Di is also looking for, the Phoenix Mirror, which just happens to be hidden under the dojo in Ryo's house. After finding the mirror Ryo then proceeds to beat up 70 bikers and learns that Lan Di headed towards Hong Kong. The first game ends with Ryo getting on a boat to Hong Kong.

The second game attempted to cram much more of the story in, clear in the knowledge they wouldn't release as many games as planned. Ryo ends up in Hong Kong and searches for Master Lishao Tao, the only link left to Lan Di. On his search he meets and befriends gang leader Ren and sexy martial arts expert Xiuying. He learns that the Chiyoumen have connections in Kowloon with the crime organization Yellowheads. After defeating the massive army of the gang and fighting his way all the way to the top of their headquarters (with help from Ren), he defeats TheDragon, Dou Niu, just in time to see Lan Di fly off in a helicopter. The last section of the game takes place in Guilin where Ryo meets the very important character Ling Shenhua who leads Ryo the place where the jade for the mirrors was mined. The second and currently last game leaves us with many unanswered questions and a cliffhanger.

[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocuHKHKlFBs Yu Suzuki himself revealed that SEGA might let him do Shenmue 3]].

* ChrisCarterEffect: Potential fans may have been turned off when hearing the first Shenmue game consisted of the first of what was expected to be SIXTEEN chapters.
** It turned out that Suzuki-san didn't intend to do sixteen separate games; ''Shenmue II'' covers chapters 2 through 5 (The Boat Ride, Hong Kong, Kowloon and Guilin, the chapters in the series divided based on location), and chapter 2 took place entirely offscreen.