is a game in the ''Shenmue'' series released for

smartphones A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which ...

in Japan. The game was conceived as a way of relaunching the game franchise by series creator

Yu Suzuki is a Japanese game designer, producer, programmer, and engineer, who headed Sega's AM2 team for 18 years. Considered one of the first auteurs of video games, he has been responsible for a number of Sega's arcade hits, including three-dimensional ...

. It was announced in late 2010 for cell phones and also for PCs, but only a cell phone version was released. The game was discontinued in late 2011.

Gameplay

Players control one of the residents of Yokosuka, which was the setting for ''

Shenmue is an action-adventure game series created, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. '' Shenmue'' (1999) and ''Shenmue II'' (2001) were developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for Dreamcast. '' Shenmue III,'' developed by Suzuki's company Y ...

''. There were also plans to let players travel to other Shenmue locations such as

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in content updates.

Plot

The main character is a follower of Ryo Hazuki and is guided by him to explore, attempt quests, and grow strong through battle. Characters from other ''Shenmue'' games make appearances, and much of the original ''Shenmue'' plot is retold.

Development

''Shenmue City'' was conceived when

noted the popularity of ''

Mafia Wars ''Mafia Wars'' is a defunct freemium Massively multiplayer online game, multiplayer social network game created by Zynga. In ''Mafia Wars,'' the players assume the roles of gangsters while building their own Criminal organization, Mafia-type org ...

'', a social game designed for mobile phones. Suzuki formed a plan that if the game was a success, its popularity could be used to make a game to conclude the ''Shenmue'' series. Suzuki stated in an interview with ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' that he wanted to explore the series without very expensive graphics or sound elements like the original game. The games beta began on September 21, 2010 on the Yahoo! Japan and Japanese phone carrier DeNA's Yahoo! Mobage network. On October 7, 2010, ''Shenmue City'' was also announced for the PC as a browser-based game with a winter 2010 release date, but was never released. The game shut down on December 26, 2011.

References

External links

Official ''Shenmue series'' website Facebook page
{{Shenmue 2010 video games Free-to-play video games Mobile games Shenmue Video games designed by Yu Suzuki Japan-exclusive video games Video games developed in Japan