Streets of Rage 2

It's no secret that we're big fans of the SEGA 3D re-releases on the 3DS eShop, in which a range of classics from the Mega Drive and arcade era are reproduced in a brilliant fashion; the development work is done by the porting masters at M2, of course.

The series has had a good run, with a number of releases and three more on the way this summer - 3D Streets of Rage 2, 3D Gunstar Heroes and 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2. In an interview with Famitsu, Sega Games Producer Yosuke Okunari and M2 CEO Naoki Horii have discussed the series and, in particular, Streets of Rage 2. In an early exchange it's indicated that - at present - no firm plans are in place for more of these 3D releases, but the door is open for more should sales deliver.

Yosuke Okunari (Sega Games): These games aren't the start of a new series [of re-releases; rather, they're the second wave of games within a series] so we have no plans for the future.

Naoki Horii (M2): None at all!

Okunari: These three titles were put out for download overseas simply as an extension [to the existing series]. This really is the end for the second wave [of Sega 3D Classics]. Of course we want to consider the development of a third wave based on the response to this second wave, but we have no plans at this point in time. We'll look at the big picture, that is, we'll look at the sales trends of the physical release of the Sega 3D Classics line that went on sale last year [in Japan] as well as how the upcoming three titles perform in the global market. We're happy to do this indefinitely if sales are good.

This has been the policy in the past, too, and thankfully sales have been positive enough to prompt more releases.

The whole interview is certainly worth a read, as topics are covered such as the challenges with specific games, the reasoning for Mega Drive / Genesis games being harder to port than arcade titles and more besides.

Are you a fan of the SEGA 3D classics, and do you want more to follow later in 2015 and beyond?

[source automaton.am, via gonintendo.com]