Written by Brian Lelas  on July 21, 2011

Specials: Our epic retrospective on Yu Suzuki, legendary game designer responsible for Shenmue, Virtua Fighter and so much more.

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Sega had initially agreed to let Yu Suzuki make a staggering sixteen parts to Shenmue. The first game was called Yokosuka, only part one of sixteen. The prospect of having fifteen sequels was obviously never going to happen, especially if part one had been the most expensive video game ever produced. So, Yu Suzuki resolved to deliver Shenmue II as a set of chapters together. In Japan and Europe, Shenmue II was released in 2001 on Dreamcast, but North American fans were outraged to hear that the game would not make its way to their shores until a new version was published on Microsoft's Xbox console a full year later.

Shenmue II addressed the small criticisms of the first game and improved what had already been great about the original. More characters were introduced and even better graphics were shown off to the amazement of the gaming world. The Dreamcast version of Shenmue II was the most imported game in the history of video games in America, despite its relatively small release in Europe. Demand for the game in the US was through the roof, but fans refused to wait a year for the Xbox version. This was the nail in Shenmue's coffin. Ironically, it's immense popularity resulted in it not selling very well at all upon its eventual Xbox release in America.

Sega and Microsoft took the news very badly when Shenmue II essentially flopped in the US market. Fans were screaming about the huge cost of the Xbox and the game itself on the new system. Yu Suzuki himself was heartbroken over the way Sega had handled the game's distribution and when the poor sales meant that Shenmue III was cancelled, he took a step back from his role in the firm and refused to direct any further titles.



Yu Suzuki's work on Shenmue II was his finest. He'd taken a truly unique and revolutionary game and improved upon every tiny aspect of it. The personal investment he'd made in the writing and directing of the series was his life's work. Players had taken Ryo Hazuki to within inches of catching Lan Di to deliver that insatiable hunger for revenge, but had not been quick enough. Shenmue II delivered chapters 2-6 of the sixteen part story. Yu Suzuki had promised all remaining parts would be included in Shenmue III, a project cruelly shelved indefinitely.

Clearly unhappy, Yu Suzuki struggled on at Sega through a few years of more sequels to Virtua Fighter. The series remained hugely popular, even against high profile offerings from Namco and Capcom like the various Tekken, Soul Calibur and Street Fighter games released during the time. Yu-san was tired of remaking his arcade classic, and didn't work on Virtua Fighter 5. Sega asked him to produce Out Run 2, a successful modern reboot of his early arcade hit, which he did to the best of his ability. The game was more popular on home consoles than in the waning arcade market and it was when this realisation dawned that Yu Suzuki had decided that the arcade market was finished for him. He stuck with it though and tried to bring creativity and innovation to arcade games in the form of Psy-Phi, an inspired take on one on one combat in a first person perspective with touch screen controls. Unfortunately, Sega decided not to publish the finished game and even recalled copies of the machine that had already been shipped.

Now frustrated with what was happening, Yu-san put together a fun arcade racing title called Sega Race TV, an OTT throwback to his glory days in the late С80s when he owned the arcade. The game was a big hit with arcade goers, but sadly, the market was nearly extinct when the game released in 2008.

Ever since the word that Shenmue III would not be happening, Yu Suzuki fans had plagued the man with answers to an unending supply of questions about what happens to Ryo Hazuki and if he ever gets his revenge. As recently as the Games Developer's Conference in March 2011, Yu Suzuki has still been clinging on to the hope that Sega will let him make Shenmue III. Although no official announcement has been made, it has been widely speculated that the game has actually been in production on and off for many years, with no firm commitment to publishing the title holding it back from going into full development.



The news that Yu Suzuki is making Shenmue City, a Mafia Wars style social networking game for Japanese site Yahoo Mobage Service, has sparked internet rumours that this is all viral content to promote an eventual Shenmue III, but Yu-san's recent announcement that he is officially leaving Sega has all but ended talk of his masterpiece ever being finished. Shenmue III is one of the most sought-after sequels in gaming legend. Akin to the likes of Panzer Dragoon Saga 2 and Final Fantasy VII-2, it is most likely a game that will never see the light of day.

It is a mournful thought to think that a great video game designer of such immense calibre could have his prized creation left to be forever unfinished, but one must consider that Yu Suzuki is not simply going to be remembered for Shenmue. Space Harrier, Out Run, Super Hang-On and After Burner are all among the greatest arcade games ever made and in the case of Virtua Fighter 2 and Ferrari F355 Challenge, he has made two of gaming's greatest ever achievements. The vast majority of Yu Suzuki's work was ported to home console from arcades, a testament to the fact that his designs were always considered to be strong enough to hold the attention of home players for the long term, despite being originally intended for short-burst gaming.

When you next think of the greatest games creators of all time, and you think of Hideo Kojima, Shigeru Miyamoto, Hironobu Sakaguchi and Shinji Mikami, remember that there is another legendary Japanese designer who has probably done as much for gaming technology and innovation as all of them, and that man is Yu Suzuki.