Sega Forever is a service from the Japanese video game developer Sega for re-releasing past games from the company on modern platforms. The service was launched for Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

devices on June 22, 2017. By 2020, the service included over 30 games.

Background

Sega Forever is a service by Sega to re-release their previously developed

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s on Android and

-based platforms. Games included on the service are

free to play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

, although they display with

advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

that can be permanently disabled per-game by purchasing them. Game types vary between releases—while some are direct

ports A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

, others are emulated versions of the originals. While Sega stated that

mobile device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physica ...

s were the initial focus for the service, they also stated it may also expand to other platforms in the future, such as PC and

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...

s. Similar to Nintendo's strategy of using mobile games and apps to attract attention to their console games, Sega hopes to release games to not only to promote their console games, but also to monitor game usage and use it as a metric to determine which franchises to make new games with in the future as well. The end-goal is to eventually create a service similar to

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

for their games.

Games

The initial wave of games were from Sega's Genesis/Mega Drive,

Game Gear The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear pri ...

, and Master System consoles, with the service later adding games from the

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nint ...

Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan ...

, and arcade games. During the testing phases of the system, Sega Saturn and Dreamcast games did not perform satisfactorily, though Sega has on-going R&D efforts working on improving them in hopes of future release. Games such as ''

Panzer Dragoon ''Panzer Dragoon'' is a series of video games by Sega. The first three games were developed in the 1990s by Sega's Team Andromeda for the Sega Saturn. The fourth, ''Panzer Dragoon Orta'' (2002), was developed by Sega's Smilebit team for the X ...

'' have been considered for the service, but could not be successfully emulated in the testing phase, meaning that such a release would hypothetically require a lengthy porting process instead. Sega is also open to releasing games that had not previously had English localizations, such as the

Yuji Naka , credited in some games as YU2, is a Japanese video game programmer, designer and producer. He is the former head of the Sega studio Sonic Team, where he was the lead programmer of the original '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series on the Sega Mega ...

-designed game, ''

Girl's Garden is an action game developed and published by Sega for the SG-1000 console in 1985. The game follows a girl as she gathers flowers to win the love of a boy. It was the debut work of Sega programmers Yuji Naka and Hiroshi Kawaguchi. Naka went o ...

''. Games have new features added, such as leaderboards and cloud saves, and

touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is ofte ...

controls, though they also have controller support as well. Games are also playable offline without an internet connection. Five games were available at launch, with more games being added over time. In March 2018, Sega announced their intention on releasing native ports, rather than emulated, for the service. Sega also stated that while they would continue to release emulated games, the change to primarily making native ports will result in fewer new games being released overall. At the same time, Sega announced that games on the service had been downloaded more than 40 million times.

List

''† = Native ports as opposed to being emulated''

Reception

Reception at launch was mixed, with critics noting that the service had a number of technical issues, mostly regarding the frame rate. Sega later resolved most of the issues in a July 2017 update.

References

External links

* {{Sega Retro Compilations Sega video game compilations Sega emulators Online services Mobile applications Android (operating system) software IOS software 2017 software Sonic the Hedgehog Virtua Tennis Phantasy Star