SEGA IS MORE THAN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG AND SHOULD USE MORE OF ITS BACK CATALOGUE.

Sega’s current mascot grabs the headlines, but what about the publisher’s other games?

Oscar, put your hands over your ears: I’m bored of Sonic The Hedgehog. Sonic Mania was fantastic but with the publisher marking its 60th anniversary and a new PlayStation generation around the corner, it’s time Sega embraced more of its fantastic back catalogue.

If you grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, or playing Shenmue, then you’ll love Sega for its arcade hits as much as its peppy blue console mascot. The smoky, sticky arcades were places where our dreams could run wild, powerdrifitng along palm-lined beach roads in OutRun, enjoying the freedom a loin cloth allows in Golden Axe, and mastering the intricacies of martial arts in Virtua Fighter. Sega took us to new, colourful places, and it’s time we had now- and next-gen iterations of these classics. OutRun running in 4K at 60fps, caked in raytraced light and reflections, with every curb-close drift rumbling through our DualSense, would be fantastic.

SEGA POWER

The focus on bringing more Sonic games to console has meant Sega’s suffered from an identity crisis on PS4.

Pivoting between more Blue Blur and Yakuza releases, Sega has narrowed its brand and its appeal to anyone who doesn’t realise the wealth of games the 60-year-old publisher used to champion.

The success of Streets Of Rage 4, developed by an indie dev and publishing team, has proven Sega’s older franchises have a place in the modern era. Now’s the time to dip in and give us remakes and new franchises. I’d love to see more Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, and Comix Zone (it has its haters, but the idea of playing inside a comic has never been bettered) but let’s not forget Sega was the publisher that took risks on PS3 when others found the going difficult. We had Binary Domain, The Club, Bayonetta, Vanquish, and the phenomenal Alien Isolation, one of PlayStation’s greatest horror games. Sega has already shown it has the talent to deliver remakes that matter, and experimental experiences, and the willingness to back talented developers.

If Sega can get out of

Sonic’s slipstream and embrace its heritage and experiment, it could be a leader on PlayStation 5.