Here it is! My 100th Video Game Review!! Yay!
And what better on this very special occasion than a game unlike any other.
A marketing ploy, a gimmick game, an advertisement game for a series of commercial.
The most awesome fictional character ever imagined for a marketing campaign - Segata Sanshiro!!
Half-review, semi-walkthrough, here goes, a celebration of everything SEGA SATURN!!
VGR: Segata Sanshirō Shinken Yūgi
From Ecole Software Corp./Sega
Played on Sega Saturn
Also available on /
Type Mini-game compilation
In 1997, the Sega Saturn was struggling. The Nintendo 64 and Sony's Playstation had the entire attention from the public, and the power to make their stand. The Saturn was left fare behind in the dust. Sure, it was a 2-D powerhouse, and sprite-graphics based game never looked better. But 3D was all the rage and the Saturn didn't had a lot to offer in that department.
That is, until Sega came up with their best idea to this day.
Enter Segata Sanshiro. A mascot unlike any other. A parody of the legendary judoka Sugata Sanshirō from the cult classic 1943 Akira Kurosawa film. To play this once-in-a-lifetime-role, actor Hiroshi Fujioka, at that time mostly known for his popular role in Kamen Rider (Masked Rider) series.
Segata Sanshiro ads were quite simple. Segata pops up somewhere, proclaims "You must play the Sega Saturn!!" ("Sega Satān, shiro!") which was a pun on his name, shoves a white (shiro) Sega Saturn in people's face and proceeds to kick everyone's ass until they do so. Sometimes a slight allusion to the game these ads were targeting (zombies for House of the Dead, Segata Santa for a Christmas ad,..). Segata Sanshiro even had his own theme song!!
What followed was the most epic advertisement campaign ever produced. You can find the entire ad campaign videos in this previous blog post.
About a dozen TV commercials were aired between 1997-1998. With the Sega Dreamcast coming up, Sega ended Segata's sucessful Saturn campaign with one last final video in which Segata sacrificed himself to save the launch of the new 128-bit system. And finally by releasing Segata Sanshirō Shinken Yūgi. Not another game to advert, rather a proper Segata Sanshiro-starring game.
For this review/walkthrough I will offer you some approximative translations of the various menus and mini-games. That way you can have an idea what sort of game this is or help you way through it if you have it.
Segata Sanshirō Shinken Yūgi is a compilation of 2D mini-games and puzzle games. Since the ad campaign stayed locally, it was only available in Japan. The entire game is in Japanese only, but it's quite easy to make you way through it.
At the main menu you can either decide to go right away to the mini-games themselves or watch the TV commercials.
Since this game was designed as the last Segata Sanshiro product, it's sort of an epic final tribute to everything Segata. as such you can access several obscure radio shows/advertisements (in Japanese only, sadly) on the main menu, other hidden bonuses as well as some additional stuff accessible through a CD-Rom (such as all the videos).
And last, your current ranking and scores, Shinken Yūgi will make a game save after each play.
The mini-games are based on the series of Segata Sanshiro TV commercials.
A game based around a fictional character created for a marketing campaign was no strange idea actually, CoolSpot, Fido and even Ronald McDonald all got games in the 16-bit era. But this one was unique in the sense it wasn't trying to advertise the Sega Saturn anymore, rather it was celebrating this unusual hero.
This game offers various miscellaneous quick games, sort of similar to the WarioWare series. Some are quick timed arcade exercises, other side-scrolling platformers, puzzles and even memory games. By beating their high scores you will unlock the video clip of the commercials each mini game was based on.
The menus are pretty simple to navigate through. You select one of the 10 games, you can always retry or quit them. Once unlocked the videos will be unlocked in the gallery you can find on the main menu.
There is 10 mini-games in total. Well, there's some good ones, also some less inspired.
Pose!!
The first one is a "Simon says" type of game. A series of button combinations will appear on screen, you have to repeat them in the correct order to make Segata pose.
Fun simple memory game, it's not exactly Parappa either.
Judo!!
This one is a little arcade game. Segata fights a Bomberman-like guy across a minefield. You need to button-mash to make a judo grip and mash a direction to avoid being blown up to pieces.
Christmas!!
This one's one of the most fun in the whole package. Santa Segata needs to deliver some presents into chimneys. It moves constantly and pretty fast, you have to avoid getting hit into an house and caves. Don't miss the exit window at the end!
Bricks!!
This one will remind you of the famous "Test Your Might" bonus stages from Mortal Kombat. It's a sort of quick time event-based mini-game. Try to press the button first at the top of the charge meter and then at the bottom to break the entire pile of bricks.
Count' em!!
One of the simplest games. Simply count how many Segata Sanshiro-piloted Panzer Dragoons appear on screen. It gets faster and more confusing each round.
Fire!!
My personal favorite. A run and jump sidescroller in a building on fire. It doesn't get better than that.
Family!!
Another sort of memory game. Find identical Segata Sanshiro faces amongst across several cards. You don't have a lot of time to do so and the cards are hiding behind curtains.
Icea Skatting!!
Another QTE that is quite appropriate considering action scenes in games these days. Segata is running bare foot on a frozen lake. Move foot by mashing the button in rythm, don't stay too long on one foot or Segata Sanshiro will froze instantaneously.
Karaté!!
Segata Sanshiro is training near a waterfall for the big baseball game. Karate kick objects into the nearby bin until you reach a certain amount of weight.
Puzzle!!
This one is based on those classic addictive puzzle games. It inspired by Sega's own Puyo Puyo series to be precise. Only it is played underwater and Segata is slowly drowning so keep making lines of 3 similarly colored fishes disappear to prevent his death.
Or Segata Sanshiro's death will be on you.
Overall, a cult classic character turned into a collector item for hardcore Sega and Saturn fans.
Even though the Sega Saturn was a flop in most of the world, it was a genuinely good system and gathered quite a following in Japan. It was only natural that one of the last Japanese Saturn games was this one, a tribute to the legendary Segata Sanshiro. (literally the title of this game)
Segata Sanshirō Shinken Yūgi even came with an insert advertising the Dreamcast.
Even though the Sega Saturn was a flop in most of the world, it was a genuinely good system and gathered quite a following in Japan. It was only natural that one of the last Japanese Saturn games was this one, a tribute to the legendary Segata Sanshiro. (literally the title of this game)
Segata Sanshirō Shinken Yūgi even came with an insert advertising the Dreamcast.
It's a very odd experience but also a necessary one if you deem yourself a Sega Saturn fan. For the compilation of the videos alone it is a worthwhile purchase. And even if it doesn't appear that often on ebay, it isn't one of those expensive retro titles, Sega printed a lot of copies of the game so it shouldn't be that much over 20$. And wouldn't you spend at least that much for the SEGATA SANSHIRO experience of your life?
I give it:
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