Shenmue

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Shenmue
System(s): Sega Dreamcast
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega AM2, Scarab (programming, motion design)
Peripherals supported: Dreamcast VGA Box, Visual Memory Unit
Genre: F.R.E.E.
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
ESRB Sega ELSPA USK SELL Tectoy

Shenmue, called Shenmue: Ichishou Yokosuka (シェンムー 一章 横須賀) in Japan (i.e. "Chapter I: Yokosuka") , is an adventure game produced and directed by Yu Suzuki and developed by Sega AM2. It was published by Sega for the Sega Dreamcast in late 1999.

Shenmue stands as one of the most significant video games ever published by Sega, at the time being the most expensive game ever produced, and having unparalleled interactivity and freedom, real-time day/night and weather systems, fully voiced non-playable characters and cutting edge graphics. Borrowing from many genres of video games, Suzuki coined a new genre name, "F.R.E.E." (Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment) to describe it.

As the Japanese name suggests, Shenmue consists of the first chapter in what is currently an unfinished story.

Story

The fictional story of Shenmue begins on November 29, 1986, in the perspective of the protagonist Ryo Hazuki (芭月 涼 Hazuki Ryō) returning home to his family dojo to witness his father, Iwao Hazuki battling with a man named Lan Di, dressed in Chinese attire, who demands he hand over an item known as the "Dragon Mirror". Ryo intervenes in battle after his father is felled, but is injured by a blow from Lan Di. As his father refuses to reveal the location of the mirror, Lan Di lifts Ryo from the ground and threatens to kill him with a final blow, which prompts Iwao to reveal its location underneath the Cherry blossom tree.

After Lan Di's henchmen recover the mirror, he asks Iwao if he knows of a man called "Sunming Zhao" and then kills him after forcibly asking him to stand as a warrior to face his end. As Ryo lies injured on the floor of the dojo, Lan Di and his men leave the Hazuki household. After Ryo has partially recovered he feels that he must dutifully gain revenge for the murder of his father, and begins to instigate inquiries into the incident with the local people of his hometown, Sakuragaoka.

Ryo's first clue is a car that some of his neighbours saw on the day of the murder. Though his leads are few and far between, Ryo slowly makes progress in his investigation by interviewing people all over Yokosuka. Just as he is about to run out of leads, a letter from a man named Yuanda Zhu suggests that he seek the aid of a certain Master Chen, who works at the harbour. Through Chen and his son Guizhang, Ryo learns that a local wharf gang known as the Mad Angels is connected to Lan Di's crime organization, the Chiyoumen. Ryo also learns that "the mirror" stolen by Lan Di is part of a set of two mirrors. After much investigation, he locates the second mirror underneath his father's dojo. This mirror is decorated with a Phoenix.

Ryo takes a job on the waterfront in order to learn more about the Mad Angels gang, and eventually he causes them enough trouble that the gang kidnaps his friend (and principal love interest) Nozomi Harasaki. To rescue Nozomi, Ryo must first fight Guizhang, then team up with Guizhang to defeat all seventy members of the Mad Angels gang. Upon defeat, the gang's leader reveals to Ryo that Lan Di has left Japan for Hong Kong. With the aid of the Chen family as well as his family and friends, Ryo boards a boat to Hong Kong. Before the close of the first chapter (and subsequent end of the game itself), he is instructed by Master Chen to seek out the help of a master of the Chinese martial arts located in Wan Chai named Lishao Tao.

Concluding the first chapter of Shenmue, Ryo boards a boat and travels to Hong Kong in pursuit of Lan Di.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Shenmue is diverse; while most of the game is spent walking around the atmospheric, life-like Japanese locations in a third-person 'chase cam' mode (talking to people, searching for things, solving puzzles, and so forth), it is interspersed with many 'mini-games', including forklift and motorcycle races, bar fights, chases down crowded alleys, full versions of Sega arcade games Space Harrier and Hang-On (both originally programmed by Shenmue creator and director, Yu Suzuki), dart games, and 'free fighting' sequences.

Most of the action occurs in quick-time event (QTE) sequences, in which cutscenes differ in outcome depending on your accuracy in hitting buttons in a timely fashion.

History

Development

Shenmue stands as being the single biggest project ever undertaken by Sega, with an end budget of reportedly $70 million USD. From an early stage, the game was tagged as being an RPG featuring characters from the Virtua Fighter universe, with Ryo, the protagonist originally being Virtua Fighter's Akira. As development progressed the game became a stand-alone title with its own cast of characters.

It was also planned to be a "killer app" for the Sega Saturn, which at this point was doing very successfully in Japan but struggling in the west. Videos of the Saturn version exist, showing a game that appears to be pushing the console to its absolute limits. Yu Suzuki has claimed that working on the Saturn was a very difficult task, but he was proud of what his team had achieved on the 32-bit system.

However, as focus within Sega moved onto the Sega Dreamcast, the Saturn version of the project was scrapped. Production of Shenmue was brought to the Sega Dreamcast (then under its codename "Katana"). Katana-branded cigarettes are available throughout the game as a reference to this period. At this point the project was codenamed Project Berkeley, and a special preview disc was distributed along with the 1998 Dreamcast release of Virtua Fighter 3tb in Japan.

Shenmue employed various techniques that up until this point had only been seen in movie production. Every character, no matter how minor, was animated via clay models and was given a voice (both in Japanese and English), and the game was given a cinematic musical score performed by an ochestra headed by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi.

Release

Shenmue saw wide critical acclaim after release due to the many revolutionary features it brought to the world of video games. However, despite the praise, Shenmue struggled to sell. Some critics believed the game was far too slow and self indulgent. Though easy to sell to Japanese audiences, Western consumers found the game's themes unappealing.

The game sold at a massive loss, and it is predicted that every Dreamcast owner would have needed to buy the game twice in order for it to turn a profit. Initial plans were to create a trilogy of Shenmue games, and although Shenmue II saw a release (with a much smaller budget), Shenmue III has been in development hell for nearly a decade.

The game includes both Japanese and English speech/subtitles in the West. However in Japan, only Japanese was an option. For unknown reasons Sega would later release U.S. Shenmue in Japan - exactly the same game but with the English dub.

Sonic Cameo

Various Sonic the Hedgehog characters (and Sonic Team characters, such as NiGHTS.) appear as UFO Figurines collected through Gumball machines. They feature models based off Sonic the Fighters.

Production Credits

Producer/Director/Game Story: Yu Suzuki
Screenplay: Masahiro Yoshimoto
Game Director: Keiji Okayasu
Scenario Director: Takao Yotsuji
Planning Director: Eigo Kasahara
Program Director: Keiji Okayasu
Design Director: Masanori Ohe
Sound Director: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Motion Capture Unit Director: Hiroaki Jinno
Voice Recording Director: Susumu Tashiro
Promotion Director: Shigeru Ueda
Production Manager: Hiroshi Aso
Sound Production Manager: Tatsutoshi Narita
Scenario Supervisor: Yu Yamamoto
Game Adviser: Hiroaki Takeuchi
Battle System Supervisor: Takayuki Haneda
Interior Coordinator: Manabu Takimoto
Location Manager & Adviser: Kazunari Uchida
Action Item Supervisor: Kunio Sasayama
Hakkyuku Ken Motions Supervisor: Master Gorenshi

Scenario

Director: Takao Yotsuji
Main Scenario: Masahiro Yoshimoto
Free Scenario Plotters: Katsuo Naruse, Junichi Yagi, Tow Ubukata, Akira Okeya
Free Scenario Management: Junichi Yoshida, Yoshijiroh Muramatsu, Kouichi Mizuide, Atsushi Komine
Free Scenario Writers: Makoto Goya, Masatoshi Kurakata, Yasushi Ohtake, Kiyono Yoshioka, Yasuo Yamabe, Kiyomi Mizushima, Hideyo Ikeda
Free Scenario Checkers: Katsuyuki Sugano, Yoshiaki Wakino
Free Scenario Character Data Management: Takeshi Kagawa, Shigeyoshi Kumagai
Chief Scenario Flow Editor: Tsuyoshi Murakami
Scenario Flow Editors: Masanobu Fukazawa, Kenji Takei, Daisuke Tazaki, Tsutomu Uchiyama, Takahiro Iwami, Fumito Suzuki
Main Script Writers: Takumi Hagiwara, Masayuki Hiramatu
Script Writers: Eiichirou Tano, Yuuki Tone, Ryo Ono, Tatsuya Ohmachi, Koichiro Kurosawa, Kazuaki Ichinohe, Kouki Anbo, Masayoshi Takatori, Kenji Ishikawa
Main Dialogue Editors: Toshirou Sasaki, Masayuki Ishikawa
Dialogue Editors: Izumi Saito, Yasuyo Kudo, Yasushi Funakoshi, Kaori Uegaki, Miyuki Yamaguchi, Masaru Oowada

Planning

Director: Eigo Kasahara
Chief System Planner: Hideo Choumabayashi
System Planners: Akihito Ohta, Hideaki Takuno, Ken Odanaga
Chief Event Planner & Manager: Misako Hamada
Event Planners: Yoshihiro Okabayashi, Takeshi Gotou, Shin Ishikawa, Akitaka Ito, Isao Murayama, Masayuki Kinoshita, Yousuke Komada, Shirou Jibiki, Shinsaku Tanaka, Hiroaki Suzuki, Toshihiko Gondo
Battle System Supervisor: Takayuki Haneda
Battle System Planners: Kouji Kudou, Hiroshi Ando, Toshiaki Motozawa
Periodical Motion Data Supervisor: Makoto Osaki
Periodical Motion Data Management: Dai Mizuguchi, Tomotaka Shirono
Periodical Motion Data Production: Atsushi Ogata, Yoh Nakano, Tomoya Kouda, Tomoyuki Hirabayashi, Kentaro Arakawa, Yohsuke Kawano, Hitoshi Kagawa
Chief Map & Property Layout Planner: Kataru Uchimura
Map & Property Layout Planners: Koumei Akazawa, Chie Ishigaki
Map & Property Layout Properties Planner: Kouichi Konita
Chief Motion Camera Director: Katsunori Yamaji
Motion Camera Directors: Kazuhiro Fushimi, Tomokuni Nishimine, Masataka Saito
Assistant AVID Editors: Naonori Watanabe, Akihito Kadota
Chief Game Coordinator: Shinichi Yoshino
Assistant Game Coordinator: Shigeki Terajima
Minutes: Kunio Sasayama, Mikio Mineyoshi, Yoshiyuki Akune
Planning Section Assistants: Takashi Hirai, Takayuki Kanno, Kenichi Oguchi, Kazuaki Kunii

Software

Director: Keiji Okayasu
Main System Programmers: Takeshi Hirai, Shigenobu Iga
Assistant Main System Programmers: Makoto Wada, Kazunori Masuda, Sumito Aso
System Programmers: Nobuyuki Sugano, Takayuki Iida, Masashi Hayashida, Hajime Ikebe, Satoru Sugisaki, Toshihiko Gouya, Hirohisa Kitamura, Satoshi Inoue, Takeshi Ubukata, Takashi Suwa, Satoru Takeshima, Toshiyuki Kita, Takao Yajima, Shoji Mimura, Yoshio Kakei, Tomonori Nagatani, Muneyuki Hirose, Toshio Arai, Yoshinori Koiwa, Shingo Tsuda, Takayui Maehara, Hiroomi Hatano, Mayumi Ito
Main Event System Programmers: Yuzo Iwai, Kouji Hanaoka, Takeshi Hisajima, Takeshi Machida
Event System Programmers: Matsuhide Mizoguchi, Masakazu Nishii, Takatoshi Tatsumi, Hideaki Miyagushi, Shinichi Kawamoto, Toshiya Satoh, Kaichi Oda, Hidetomo Hara, Masahiro Ito, Tomohiro Tsuchiya, Toshiyuki Kurooka, Hiroto Matsuura, Katsuhiro Sanjyo, Takashi Yamaguchi, Yoshikazu Nagasawa, Hirohiko Yoneda, Kennosuke Koga, Masanori Nakamura, Sin Kuroiwa, Shingo Miyawaki, Tetsuya Takenaka, Yasushi Ebizuka, Muneyuki Hattori, Noritsugu Nitta, Shinichirou Mukaigashira, Masatoshi Hashimoto
Chief 3D Library & Effect Programmer: Takeyuki Ogura
3D Library & Effect Programmers: Keiichi Yamamoto, Junichi Komori, Takehiro Shimizu, Hiroyuki Fukuchi, Kenji Ootomo
Chief View Mode Programmer: Manabu Matsumoto
View Mode Programmers: Yoichi Ugajin, Nobuyuki Hakiri, Ryo Ikawa, Yoshinari Yamada, Arata Hanashima
Chief Battle System Programmer: Hiroaki Shoji
Battle System Programmers: Norihiro Sekine, Kenji Kawabata, Yasutaka Igarashi
Data Management: Daisuke Hirai, Katsuyuki Sato, Yoshito Kyoso, Yusuke Matsuyama, Tooru Katou, Junichi Sakurai, Seikou Hokama
Software Section Assistant: Naoko Kikuchi

Graphics Design

Director: Masanori Ohe
2D Graphics Design Supervisor & 2D Graphics Character Designer: Kenji Miyawaki
2D Graphics Assistant Character Designer: Masaya Saida
2D Graphics Designers: Hiroshi Kandou, Erika Aihara
Main 3D Character Designers: Tetsunari Iwasaki, Hideki Kawabata
3D Character Designers: Takashi Doi, Takeshi Itou, Nobuyuki Suzuki, Chisa Yamada, Yumiko Sonoyama, Kumiko Tamaki, Hiroki Koike, Mio Saitou, Takashi Yamaguchi, Chizuka Tamehira, Eiko Takahashi, Atsushi Miyazono, Yumiko Dobashi, Ringo Manabe, Kentaro Nishimura, Keita Yoshino, Daisuke Saito
Main 3D Back Ground Designers: Takehiko Mikami, Nobuyuki Matsuda, Takumi Matsui
Assistant Main 3D Back Ground Designers: Masato Nishimura, Hiroshi Sengoku, Masahiko Yagi, Yasushi Kameda, Hiromitsu Sasaki
3D Back Ground Designers: Shinya Inoue, Mitsugu Tsuchida, Nobuaki Mitake, Hiroshi Yamada, Takehiro Izumo, Shigeo Kusaba, Hiroyasu Tamura, Teruya Suzuki, Mami Abe, Makoto Onuma, Rie Wada, Yoshinari Ito, Tatsuya Wakabayashi, Haruhiko Miwa, Chigusa Hosoda, Akiko Saitou, Tsukasa Shiroma, Ayako Kujirai, Takashi Saito, Masaaki Hirano, Tadatoshi Hara, Hiroki Hamashima, So Nakamura
Main Motion Designers: Takeo Iwata, Hiroshi Yamaguchi
Motion Designers: Mieko Ajima, Masaya Kusunose, Kiyoshi Ishimaru, Yoshiyuki Tanaka, Takahito Minei, Toshiaki Yamada, Naoki Ito, Shigemi Ohmori, Hideaki Fukai, Fumiyo Tanaka, Yasuhiro Sumimoto, Kousuke Wakamatsu, Daisuke Tachibana, Masatoshi Murakami, Taro Takemoto, Mari Watanabe, Koichi Okada, Satoko Sato
Chief Battle Motion Designer: Hiroshi Kawasaki
Battle Motion Designers Yasuyuki Fujii, Takehisa Yoshimura, Kenji Asari
Motion Camera & Animations Supervisor: Hideyuki Ohi
Motion Camera & Animations Coordinators: Hiroshi Noguchi, Katsuo Saitoh
Motion Camera & Animations Designers: Kazuyoshi Asami, Shungo Seki, Hiroya Eguchi, Yuichi Uchida, Makiko Ishikawa, Takeya Sekiguchi, Koji Tsuchida
Design Section Assistants: Tomotaka Shiroichi, Tohru Murayama, Nozomi Watanabe

Motion Capture Unit

Director: Hiroaki Jinno
Action Director: Sho Tagaya
Assistant Directors: Kazuhiro Tsuboy, Rei Kato, Genichirou Suzuki, Hitoshi Tawada, Chidori Hirano, Takuya Tsukamoto, Lumi Umehara, Yufu Shiomi, Kunihiko Matsunaga
Research and Development: Hans Van Veenendaal
System Operator & Manager: Yaekko Okadaya
Unit Assistants: Akihiko Nagao, Tomoko Morikawa, Takeyuki Izumi, Satoru Yanagai
Hiroaki Jinno's Secretary: Tomoko Ieiri
Casting Directors: Kenichi Kuramochi, Toshie Tabata
Cast: Hiroshi Fujioka (Iwao Hazuki), Masaya Matsukaze (Ryo Hazuki), Haduki Ishigaki (Shenhua Rei)
Motion Actors & Actresses: Seiji Matano, Yoshie Yamamoto, Shinmei Tsuji, Jinta Tsuboi, Ei Kawakami, Indy Takahashi, Aya Kosaka, Taiki Itou, Nobuyuki Hikichi, Yuuki Fujikura, Miduki Tsuruoka, Kensaku Maeda, Takafumi Ohwa, Yuki Shiina, Junji Oshima, Tetsuhiro Ikeda, Yuki Imahira, Yousuke Sakaki, Mayumi Sato, Takeshi Takimoto, Takakazu Tsukamoto, Chiyo Tsukamoto, Takashige Tsuda, Ryouhei Nakamura, Takashi Hashimoto, Tomonari Mizuno, Yubie Mitsuse, Wataru Murakami, Yumiko Watanabe
Stunt Actors: Yuuichi Aida, Masanori Tomita, Hiromi Shinjyo, Kazuyuki Nakamoto, Hiromi Shinjyo, Kazuyuki Nakamoto, Kouji Hatta, Ryosuke Shiba
Hakkyoku Ken Actor: Tetsuya Hattori

Sound & Music

Director: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Assistant Director: Yasuhiro Takagi
Music Composers: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Yuzo Koshiro, Ryuji Iuchi, Takeshi Yanagawa, Satoshi Miyashita, Osamu Murata
BGM Conversion Supervisor: Taro Hara
BGM Conversion: Hiroyuki Hamada, Hideaki Miyamoto, Ryuji Iuchi
Erhu Performed By: Jia Peng-Fang, Yuiran Oyama, Zhang Yong
Sound Effects Supervisor: Seiichi Hamada
Sound Effects Editors: Shizuo Kurahashi, Yasushi Matsuki, Shinji Otsuka, Masataka Nitta
Orchestra Arranged By: Hayto Matsuo, Toshiyuki Watanabe
Orchestra Album Production: Hiroki Horio, Hideyuki Fujii
Conducted By: Hiroshi Kumagai
Music Performed By: Kanagawa Philharmony Orchestra
Clipper Tool Supervisor: Takashi Nozawa
Clipper Tool Programmer: Masao Oshimi
Sound Production Manager: Tatsutoshi Narita

Song of Shenhua

Performed By: Ioli
Written By: Yumi Asada
Composed By: Ryuji Iuchi
Orchestra Arranged By: Hayato Matsuo

Wish...

Performed By: Yumiko Yamamoto
Written By: Yumi Asada
Composed By: Ryuji Iuchi
Arranged By: Nobuhiko Kashihara
Directed By: Kaori Takai
Executive Producer: Junji Fujita

Overseas Version Voice & Sound

Manager: Tatsutoshi Narita
Chief Voice Recording Editor: Osamu Murata
Voice Editors: Akihiko Onda, Ryohei Kohno, Megumi Takano
Voice Recording Executive Producer: Shuichi Kakesu
Voice Recording Producer: Koji Kobayashi
Voice Recording Director: Hirotaka Tashiro
Voice Recording Project Manager: Sohtarou Maeda
Voice Recording Scripter: Shieko Tanakadatu
Voice Recording Production Coordination: Kei Kimura, Megumi Igei, Kei Miura
Voice Recording Assistant Manager: Emi Wakamatsu
Voice Recording Production Account: Yuriko Mameshiro
Translation Coordinator: Mayumi Sakazaki
Translation Project Manager: Pako Hanaoka
Translation Localize Engineer: Akiho Tazukuri
Translation Chief Editor: Sid Lloyd
Cast: Corey Marshall, Debora Rabbai, Ruth Hollyman, Paul Lucas, Robert Jefferson, Terry Osada, Eric Kelso, Dennis Falt, Ryan Drees, Jerry Ledbetter, Alex Hayns, Rob Croker, Eric Jacobson, Gregg Ladd, Anne Slater, Terry Osada, Guy Perryman, Lenne Hardt, Brian Matt-Uhl, Claire O'Connor, Cara Jones, William M. Sullivan, Lynn M. Harris, Dario Toda, Patrick De Volpi, Julia Yermakov, Jeff Manning, Jerri Sorels, Chris Wells, Colleen Lanki, Mireille Watanabe, Jeff Gedert, Kurt Common, Patrick Harlan, Robert Belgrade, Amanda Satchell
Other Cast: Tom Clark, John Ogelvee, Bianca Allen, Walter Roberts, Brit Ofstedal, Carlos Teuscher, Mark Hagan, Kezia Tobin, Mike Thro, Kimberly Forsythe, Michael Naishtut, Clark Bowdoin, Miki Sato, Greg Irwin, Mona Alawdeen, Jun Shimoda, Monica Taylor Horgan, Scott McCulloch, Monika Hudgins, Douglas J. Kirl, Yuho Yamaguchi, Takashi Yamaguchi, Rumiko Varnes, David Chester, Ross Mihara, David Schaufele, Lonnie Hirsch, Dennis Gunn, Donna Burke
Voice Talent Coordination: Voice Talent Coordination, New York Imagic Inc.

Development Support

R&D Dept. #4 Supervisors: Toshihiro Nagoshi, Tetsuya Kaku
R&D Dept. #4 Designers: Kazuhiro Izaki, Junichi Yamada
R&D Dept. #4 Programmer: Hisashi Endo
R&D Dept. #2 Supervisors: Makoto Osaki, Hiroshi Kataoka
R&D Dept. #2 Programmers: Takashi Fujimura, Masayuki Sumi, Hideki Tanaka, Tetsuya Sugimoto, Takeshi Iwasaki, Hiroshi Masui, Masaki Katoh, Dai Matsuzaki, Masaru Moriguchi, Junnichiro Matsuura, Takayuki Muramatsu, Takuji Masuda, Shigeru Yoshida
R&D Dept. #2 Designers: Naotake Nishimura, Makio Kida, Yoshiyuki Iwai, Yukitoshi Katsuyama, Takashi Matsuda, Tomoaki Inoue, Makoto Ando, Masakazu Takizawa, Munekazu Makino, Shinichiro Shimano, Toshiya Inoue
R&D Dept. #2 Technical Research System Library Unit: Masafumi Fujita, Takayuki Ohta, Mamoru Tashiro, Katsuyuki Matsubara, Kazuya Fujishima, Yohsuke Takeda, Norimasa Yoshizawa
R&D Dept. #2 Technical Research System Tools Unit: Kanji Omatsu, Shigenobu Nakamura, Takeharu Tanimura, Toshinobu Sakurai, Akira Kudo, Daigo Iwatani, Kazuo Ishii, Toshihiro Hatanaka
R&D Dept. #2 Technical Research Motion Capture System: Hans Van Veenendaal
R&D Dept. #2 Technical Research Network Unit: Tohru Kobayashi, Keishi Suzuki, Yoshitaka Higashiyama, Yasuyuki Komiya, Tetsuo Takahashi, Haruki Kubota, Yuji Miyata, Atsutoshi Igarashi, Sayaka Watanabe, Ryousuke Ishihara

Shenmue Passport

Director: Eigo Kasahara
Chief Scenario Writer: Takao Yotsuji
Chief Programmer: Masayuki Sumi
Chief 2D Graphics Designer: Kenji Miyawaki
Supervisor: Tadahiro Kawamura
Writers: Junichi Yoshida, Yoshijiroh Muramatsu, Yasushi Ohtake, Makoto Goya, Kiyono Yoshioka, Kiyomi Mizushima, Hideyo Ikeda, Tetsuya Hattori
Planners: Shigeki Terajima, Yasumichi Takase, Akihito Ohta, Mitsuaki Suzuki, Hideo Choumabayashi, Takashi Hirai, Kenichi Oguchi
Programmers: Takayuki Ohta, Takeshi Ogawa, Hiroyuki Tsuzuki, Kazuo Ishii, Tomohiro Tsuchiya, Mamoru Tashiro, Katsuyuki Matsubara, Normiasa Yoshizawa
2D Graphics Designers: Hiroshi Kandou, Masaya Saida, Erika Aihara, Manabu Sato, Taku Kihara
3D Graphics Designers: Takehiko Mikami, Yumiko Sonoyama, Takumi Matsui, Takashi Ito, Masahiko Yagi, Hiroshi Sengoku, Yoshinari Ito, Haruhiko Miwa, Makoto Onuma, Chigusa Hosoda, Hiroyasu Tamura, Nobuaki Mitake
Motion Designers: Takeo Iwata, Mieko Ajima, Hiroshi Kawasaki, Yasuyuki Fujii, Takehisa Yoshimura, Kenji Asari
Sound & Music: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Hideaki Miyamoto
Server Management: Tohru Kobayashi, Tetsuo Takahashi, Yasuyuki Komiya, Masaya Takeshige
Special Thanks: Makoto Wada, Hideyuki Ohi, Katsuo Saitoh, Kataru Uchimura, Chie Ishigaki, Koumei Akazawa, Keita Yoshino, Chisa Yamada, Katsunori Yamaji, Takeshi Gotou, Masataka Saito, Hideki Kawabata, Masaya Kusunose, Daisuke Tachibana, Mami Abe, Tatsuya Wakabayashi, Tohru Murayama, Nozomi Watanabe

Overseas Version

Director: Eigo Kasahara
Chief Localization: Isao Murayama
Localization Staff: Junichi Kobayashi, Shu Hiratou
Main Programmer: Makoto Wada
Translation Supervisor: Monika Hudgins
Overseas Coordinator: Shinobu Shindo
Chinese Advisor: Qi Ning
Chief Shenmue Passport Localization: Shigeki Terajima
Main Shenmue Passport Programmer: Takayuki Ohta
Shenmue Passport Programmer: Noriaki Yoshizawa

Sega of America Dreamcast, Inc.

U.S. Executive in Charge: Shinobu Toyoda
Localization Coordination: Jin Shimazaki, Osamu Shibamiya
Producer: Jason Kuo
Dialogue Editors: Jason Kuo, Christopher Lucich
Director Promotions: Heather Kashner
Product Manager: Robert Alvarez
Product Marketing Specialist: Dennis Lee
Director Product Marketing: John Golden
Public Relations: Heather Hawkins
Director Event Planning: Kathleen Joyce
Creative Services: Angela Santos
Lead Tester: Michael Rhinehart

Sega Europe Ltd.

Product Director: Naohiko Hoshino
Executive Localization Producer: Kats Sato
Localization Producer: David Nulty
Assistant Localization Producer: Kuniyo Matsumoto
Product Marketing Manager: Jim Pride, Mathew Quaeck
Public Relations for UK: Stuart Turner
Public Relations for France: Anne Roppe
Public Relations for Germany: Tina Sakowsky
Public Relations for Spain: Esther Barral
Text Translator (France): Dave Thompson
Text Translator (Germany): Angelika Michitsch
Text Translator (Spain): Roberto Parraga
Testing Manager: Jason Cumberbatch
Lead Tester: Peter O'Brien
Special Thanks: Kenji Miyawaki, Masaya Saida, Hiroshi Kandou, Erika Aihara, Hiroshi Sengoku, Shigenobu Iga, Toshirou Sasaki, Izumi Saito, Yasuyo Kudo, Tatsuya Ohmachi, Masayoshi Takatori, Shinji Otsuka

Debugging

Director: Shinichi Yoshino
Assistant Director: Shigeki Terajima
Debug Management: Takayuki Suzuki, Yutaka Kawasaki, Masaki Harada, Kenji Yamane, Shinichiro Inoue, Masaaki Somaki, Motokazu Tsubono, Masaichi Taira
Debug Foremen: Kenichiro Suizu, Yuji Nakamura, Yousuke Ito, Masaki Takahashi, Hirokazu Toyoshima
Debuggers: Seiichi Kawasaki, Kazutaka Otsuka, Atsushi Miyamoto, Daisuke Hosogi, Youichi Maruta, Junji Enomoto, Kazuya Sakamoto, Takuma Sato, Hidetoshi Oota, Hitoshi Nishimura, Takayuki Hirano, Shinya Fujita, Hiroshi Matsui, Takayuki Yanagishita, Ken Kaneko, Mayuko Mizomoto, Masahiro Ito, Hiromi Miura, Yusuke Matsui, Makiko Arii, Kazunari Tajima, Masaki Sakamoto, Teruhito Uchida, Akiko Nishida, Taiji Ochiai, Masashi Yamakawa, Naoyuki Harada, Makoto Sakuma, Masaaki Motohashi, Kazumi Kikawa, Takeshi Yokoyama, Masayuki Baba, Noriaki Tanaka, Satoshi Yamagata, Hisanaga Toriumi, Koichiro Mizutani, Makoto Tanaka, Seiji Hirasawa, Akihiko Chatani, Kyouichi Hashimoto, Naoto Numata, Rie Yokohama, Kazuhiro Aida, Daisuke Saito, Takuma Akiba, Kiyokazu Arai, Takashi Yuki, Hiroaki Muguchi, Yukihiro Kawakami, Ryo Kobayashi, Hideaki Koike, Ken Sato, Kyouji Yokomichi, Shinpei Fukasawa, Yuji Nagatomo, Tatsuya Suzuki, Toshiro Nemoto, Yutaka Watai, Masashi Wakabayashi, Yasuhiro Ide, Yusuke Suzuki, Tatsuya Fukumura, Yusuke Baba, Tmoya Nakamura, Yoshitaki Ito, Gouma Enomoto, Tomohiro Hata, Hiryu Aoki, Kazuhiro Agata, Tatsuaki Tsujimoto, Takumi Murai, Yoshikazu Nagai, Kim Chun Gun, Isamu Kimura, Junichi Mitsuma, Takeya Kojima, Shinichi Naito, Rie Onozeki, Koichi Hagiwara, Wataru Taguchi, Takayuki Ishii, Yuichi Yonetani, Yuuta Sasaki, Syuichi Takeuci, Yusuke Utsunomiya, Tomoaki Abe, Noritugu Hironaka, Gen Tonotsuka, Kenta Tsuruoka, Shin Nakazawa, Satoru Morita, Tsunenori Ushiama, Hiroyuki Ono, Daisuke Orio, Noritaka Kumagai, Ryosuke Itabashi, Akira Nakamura, Shinichi Nishiyama, Kentarou Mine, Hiroyuki Kondoh, Shunsuke Satoh, Jin Suganami, Taishi Tsukiji, Katsuhiko Morihiro, Fumio Yusa, Keisuke Yoda, Satoshi Asakawa, Hideyuki Okano, Nobuaki Ihara, Satoshi Kamekawa, Kazuya Kojima, Kengo Tominaga, Mitsuhiro Haneishi, Hiroaki Yukawa, Tomoya Kubo, Toshiaki Kurihara, Kenji Akagi, Tomoko Koyama, Benjie Galvez, Lindsi Kimizuka, Chris Meyer, Paulita Escalona, Ed Brady, Rick Ribble, Gabrielle Brown, Steve Peck, Joe Gora, Todd Slepian, Keehwan Her, Benjamin Daniels, Joshua Schaaf, Anita Wisniewski, Nicholas J. Schaaf

Promotion & Publicity

Director: Shigeru Ueda
Promotion Coordinator: Yasushi Nakajima
Publicity Section Manager: Ai Kotani
Publicity Staff: Akemi Shimizutani, Chiaki Yagi, Utako Okukawa
Publicity Designers: Akira Yamanaka, Kazunori Oh, Mayumi Horisawa
Assistant Designers: Kanae Saitoh, Ryouko Raita, Hideyuki Kurose, Taku Kihara
Video Recording: Motoyuki Okus
Marketing Producer: Kunihisa Ueno
Marketing Manager: Kenichi Sato
Marketing Director: Seijiro Sannabe
Marketing Coordinator: Toyohisa Hiwatari
Executive Marketing Producer: Hideki Okamura

Special Thanks To

Main Scenario: Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Soichi Ueda
Free Scenario: Shunsuke Ozawa, Retsu Iwakata, Takashi Tsuzuki, Kenichi Tomizawa, Kotaro Iizuka, Etsuo Hashimoto, Masaru Takeuchi, Tikashi Nakajima, Nobuyuki Kato, Atsushi Kameo, Ryuji Arai, Midoro Ito, Hideki Inaba
Script Writers: Takashi Nagasaki, Katsuyoshi Ogawa, Junji Suzuki, Shinji Miyagi, Satoshi Suzuki, Hidenori Aizawa, Tadashi Mitsuya, Hideyuki Shimoyama, Kouichi Kuriyama
Planners: Hiroaki Kubo, Myonho Kin, Hisatomo Tanaka, Masato Izumi, Tetsuya Kawabata, Youichi Shibuya, Manabu Tsukamoto, Nobukatsu Hiranoya, Hideyuki Togashi, Gaku Inada, Daisuke Sugihara, Tsuyoshi Tsugami, Goro Motohashi, Yuji Watanabe, Yukinobu Arikawa, Takashi Ishii
System Programmers: Satoshi Mifune, Takashi Amani, Kentaro Fujita, Yuichiro Mine, Hiroshi Yamada, Akimasa Tako, Mahito Kida, Tomoharu Yanase, Masaru Hatsuyama, Toshiyuki Kuwabara, Tsuyoshi Kogata, Nariya Takemura, Takuya Nagami, Hiroyuki Oda, Shinya Sato, Tsutomu Kondou, Shinya Yamada, Hiroki Matsui
Event System Programmers: Shojiro Aoki, Hiroshi Takahashi, Hiroshi Mizuochi, Daisuke Iwata, Kenichi Yokoo, Kei Takashima, Hajime Sawada, Masato Hagishita, Mario Ikeda, Takeshi Kurosawa, Shuntaro Takazawa, Yoshiaki Tanaka
Image Board Designers: Koichi Ohata, Jin Fukuchi, Akiyoshi Harada, Masaki Koizumi
Character Designer: Mika Tamura
Assistant 2D Graphics Designer: Shuma Fujiwara
3D Character Designers: Jyunko Kawamura, Yukiko Tsuzuki, Hajime Matsubara, Yusuke Takagi, Katsuo Sano, Jeffery Buchanan
3D Back Ground Designers: Mika Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Okahisa, Makoto Kawatori, Keisuke Miyauchi, Hiroko Mano, Jun Satake, Hiroyuki Kabuto, Katsuhumi Yoshimori, Tetsuji Hayakawa, Masafumi Hatanaka, Keisuke Shimizu, Takayuki Ebata, Jyunichi Kashiwagi
Motion Designers: Hiroyuki Nakagomi, Kiyohiko Yamashita, Makoto Wada, Kouji Ootsuka, Yuuri Ohtake, Chien-Sen Peng, Kouji Shinozaki, Michiko Osaki, Masashige Hiranuma, Kazuhiko Takeshita, Kazuaki Arai, Naoaki Tasaka
Motion Camera & Animations: Eugene P. Lynch, Mike Bendele, Hiroaki Ohta
Motion Camera Supervisor: Kazuya Konaka
Motion Capture Director: Ryu Kaneda
Motion Capture Staff: Kouzo Tamura, Takeshi Suzuki, Kazuo Kawasaki, Takashi Sasaki, Fumiko Yoshida, Yukihisa Saito, Hiroshi Ichimaru, Ayako Akitaya, Chieko Muto, Takahiro Suzuki, Takuma Hatori, Koki Yamamoto, Yu Inatuki, Yoshimi Aikawa, Isao Iwakuma
Sound & Music: Akiko Hashimoto, Ryoko Okada, Shingo Murakami, Tadahiro Nitta, Yayoi Okumura, Naoto Nagai, Fumio Ito, Shinichirou Miki, Yasuhide Takeuchi
Publicity Section: Jun Kasahara
Technical Research Section: Yoshifusa Hayama
Material Support: Qi Ning, Shunichi J. Watanabe
Production Assistants: Yaeko Ichikawa, Yasuko Ohtani, Chizuru Ohtani, Miwako Watanabe, Akiko Wada, Kinya Ishikawa
Production Managers: Junichi Tsuchiya
Assistant Production Managers: Sadako Hattori, Takami Shibasaki

Promotional Material Production

JAY FILM Producer: Shuichi Kakesu
JAY FILM Assistant Producer: Soutaro Maeda
JAY FILM Editor: Tsuyoshi Imai
JAY FILM Assistant Editors: Yayoi Otake, Youko Kobayashi, Shigeo Miyagi, Junichi Ito
JAY FILM Supervisor: Masahiko Nagasawa
Digital Design Studio Producer: Mitsunori Kabashima
Digital Design Studio Designers: Yujiro Hato, Hiroki Ogino, Chihiro Miyagawa, Takeshi Nakayama
Think Inc. Producer: Hiroaki Takeuchi
Think Inc. Staff: Mika Sato, Hajime Yoshida, Yasunori Inoue, Emiko Fujiki, Shinya Kobayashi, Katsuichiro Ishikawa
81 Entertainment Executive Promotion Producer: Yasushi Akimoto
81 Entertainment Promotion Managers: Masatoshi Kawaguchi, Mitsuru Takahashi
81 Entertainment Promotion Coordinator: Shunichi Kobayashi
Dentsu Promotion Coordinators: Hiroyuki Kurihara, Seikichi Ueda
Dentsu Creative Director: Yuya Furukawa
Dentsu Promotion Planner: Kazunori Kase
Dentsu Event Planner: Daigorou Nishimura
Dentsu Tec Event Directors: Hiromitsu Watanabe, Chikanori Higurashi

The Producer Wish To Thank The Following

Promotion: AOI Studio Co. Ltd., Digital Media Lab, Inc., Digital System, Libero, NHK Enterprises 21, Inc., Polydor K.K, Sega Music Network Co. Ltd., Studio 4?, Tsutaya, Minoru Takahashi Design Room, Tetorapdtransthorty
Acotors/Actresses & Extra: AC Factary, Phoenix, Toho Gakuen, Wild Stunt Team, Animex Company, Central Children's Talent Co. Ltd., Himitsukiti, Kaimonkensya, Mantle Pudding Theater, Tokyo Orange
Costumes & Properties: Nouveie Vague, Toho E-B Co. Ltd., From Up, Mindoll
Voice: 81 Produce, Artsvision, Haikyo, Half Hp Studio Co. Ltd, Magic Capsule Co. Ltd, MBA Corporation, Motoko Inagawa Office, Office Chk, Osawa Office, Production Baobab, Ezaki Production
Production: 2D6G, Advanced Technology & Information, Ancient, ASCII Corporation, Aspect, Avant Inc., Biox Co. Ltd, Compozila, Creek & River Co. Ltd, CSK Research Institute Corp., DigitalScape Co. Ltd, Eathly Production Inc., Elseware Ltd., H.I.C. Co. Ltd., I.T.L Corporation, I4 Corporation, Intelligence Ltd., Itec, Media Desgin & Art Ltd., Media Entertainment, Microcabin Corp., MRM, Muse The Staff, NeverLand Co. Ltd., Nextech Corporation, Office C.A Planning, One World, Phant, Receuit Staffing Co. Ltd., Scarab, Sims Co. Ltd., Succeed, System Sacom Corporation, Taki Design Laboratory, Thunderztone Japan Ltd., Toshiba Emi, T's Music, Westone, Arc System Works Co. Ltd., Dreams Co. Ltd., EPL Production Inc., Fukushina Sound Corporation, Garguyle Mechanics Inc., Highway Star Co. Ltd., Media Junge Corp, Ouinet Co. Ltd., Rutubo Game, Sound Box, Ternpdaff Co. Ltd.
Development Tools: Avid Japan K.K, Hitachi, Ltd, Nec Corporation, Sgi Japan Ltd., Sielectronics Ltd., Softimage Inc., Yamaha Corporation, ADX, MPEG Sofdec, ROFS
The Up With: Timex, Case Logic, Sumitomo Bank, Coca-Cola
Created By: Sega AM2
Presented by: Sega

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Promotional Material

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Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Consoles + (FR) 91 №97, p78/79/80/81 №107, p72/73/74 Computer & Video Games (UK) 100 №230, p84/85/86/87 Edge (UK) 80 №92, p86/87

	90
Based on 3 reviews

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 576 Konzol (HU) 100 Ação Games (BR) 90 Bonus (YU) NTSC-J 96 Click! (PL) 80 Consoles + (FR) NTSC-J 91 Consoles + (FR) PAL 91 Computer & Video Games (UK) 100 Dreamcast Monthly (UK) PAL 100 DC-UK (UK) PAL 100 Dreamcast Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 93 Dreamcast Magazine (UK) 85 Dorimaga (JP) NTSC-J 88 Dreamzone (FR) NTSC-J 98 Edge (UK) 80 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 87 Entsiklopediya igr dlya Dreamcast (RU) 81 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 83 Fun Generation (DE) PAL 91 GameFan (US) NTSC-U 75 GamePlay RPG (FR) PAL 97 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 88 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 56 Gamers' Republic (US) NTSC-U 67 Hyper (AU) 94 Joypad (IT) NTSC-J 90 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 90 Man!ak (PL) 90 Neo Plus (PL) 90 Next Generation (US) NTSC-U 100 Official Dreamcast Magazine (UK) PAL 100 Official Dreamcast Magazine (US) NTSC-U 100 Playbox (FR) 96 Play (PL) 92 PSX Extreme (PL) 93 Power Unlimited (NL) 78 Strana Igr (RU) 100 Strana Igr (RU) 100 Video Games (DE) PAL 84

	90
Based on 38 reviews

Shenmue

Dreamcast, US
Cover
Disc 1 Disc 2 Disc 3 Disc 4 Inlay

Dreamcast, US (Limited Edition)
Cover
Inlay

Dreamcast, EU (cover)
Cover

Dreamcast, EU (Discs 1 & 2)
Cover
Disc 1 Disc 2

Dreamcast, EU (Discs 3 & 4)
Cover
Disc 3 Disc 4

Dreamcast, JP

Dreamcast, JP (Limited Edition)
Cover
Disc 1 Disc 2 Disc 3 Disc 4 Jewel Case Soundtrack CD

Dreamcast, JP (US Shenmue)
Cover

Dreamcast, BR