On April 17, Sega acquired Rovio for $772m dollars, claiming its intention is to “strengthen its position” in the worldwide mobile gaming market. While Rovio can certainly be using that money to be pad its pockets, hopefully it intends to pad ours with some fresh new mobile games, or even some classics.
Sega has an incredible backlog of franchises that it has published over the years, with some having already been ported onto the mobile platform with Sega Forever. The purchase of Rovio and its mobile gaming platform Beacon will certainly pave the way for some more of Sega’s titles to make their way back into the spotlight, just on a much smaller screen. Here are 6 Sega titles that will hopefully make a comeback with Rovio.
Turbo
Racing titles have proven to be successful on the mobile platform with games like the Asphalt series, so why not bring back one of the originals? Turbo brought all of the thrills of high-speed racing while using forced perspective to demonstrate your speed and position in the race. This style of racer is ideal for a small-screen mobile port because it shouldn’t push any modern phones to their limits, and is great to just sit down for a few races.
Not only did Turbo serve to revolutionize the genre of racing games with the gameplay, but it led further into the development of Sega’s later titles like Buck Rodgers — Planet of Zoom. Both the simplicity of the game and its influence on later games make it deserving of a mobile title, because it would find its own success and would also help pave the way for other racing games from the period to make their way onto the platform.
Action Fighter
Along similar lines as Turbo, Action Fighter brought high-speed thrills to the arcade cabinet, but this time from the top down. The camera angle and pacing make it a great choice for a mobile game, either in a portrait view or in landscape. The game’s versatility and perspective make for a perfect port to mobile, while also leaving room to expand.
In Action Fighter, you race as a motorcycle, sports car (with wings), Jet Ski, F1 car and a helicopter, all of which bring their own environment and gameplay. Rovio could potentially launch different, smaller games featuring and expanding on these individual vehicles, with challenges like time trials or combat missions. The possibilities feel endless now that Sega can utilize everything Rovio brings to the mobile platform.
Sonic The Hedgehog
Easily one of Sega’s most recognizable franchises, the spinning, blue ball of spines is the obvious choice for expansion with Rovio’s mobile platform. Sega Forever already features multiple installments from the franchise, but now that Sonic and the Angry Birds are on the same level, its only a matter of time until the two will cross over.
A Sonic the Hedgehog branded Angry Birds game would fit perfectly among the rest of the different Angry Birds titles. Instead of launching the regular birds, you could be launching birds themed after Sonic and his friends, and instead of trying to gather eggs you would be gathering Chaos Emeralds. Just imagine getting to launch Tails through the air before watching him lay waste to presumably robotic pigs! I, for one, can’t wait.
On top of potential Sonic X Angry Birds content, it could be possible to see Sonic in some of Rovio’s other styles of adventure. Rovio also publishes the mobile role-playing game Darkfire Heroes, and if Sonic and company don’t find themselves there as characters, it might not be out of the picture to see a Sonic the Hedgehog-themed mobile RPG in the future.
Ecco the Dolphin
A side-scrolling, alien-fighting feeding frenzy, Ecco the Dolphin would make a great mobile title now that Sega has acquired Rovio. The game serves as a challenge for those willing to put in the time, and with the ability to update the controls and refine the gameplay, it would likely be a hit for a lot of nostalgic mobile players.
Not only is the first installment in the series a contender for a mobile game, but later installments or different graphical updates could keep Ecco echoing through players’ pockets for years to come. Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future switched to a third-person camera and allowed for more undersea exploration, so there could be plenty more to dive into in future games that are more tailored to the mobile platform.
After Burner
Hear me out on this one. I know what you’re thinking: “How could you port an arcade game that had a moving pilot’s seat and analog throttle stick to a mobile game?” The answer: Tilt controls. Games have come incredibly far since 1987, and Sega’s arcade machines for Afterburner were so immersive, it almost wouldn’t do the game justice to bring it to mobile.
Almost. While Sega Forever had already ported the 2006 After Burner: Climax onto the mobile platform, it has since been removed from the market, leaving room for some past-paced flight games on Sega’s roster. The original Afterburner’s hectic and chaotic action was largely the result of how immersive the arcade machine itself was so it doesn’t feel right to try to use a joystick and buttons to control it. Instead, utilizing tilt controls would keep the spirit of the original game alive, just in a much smaller form factor.
The snappy, jolted movements and fast pace of the game might find themselves to be more manageable on a mobile device than with a joystick and buttons, but there would still be no replacement for climbing into the cockpit of the original.
Yakuza (Like a Dragon)
When thinking about Sega franchises, Yakuza may not have been the first on the list, but it is no less deserving than any other franchise I’ve mentioned. The series is heavily story-driven and open world, making it the kind of game that players would generally sit down to play on a console, but Sega’s acquisition of Rovio means they could decide to move the series to the small screen.
There are numerous remakes and spinoffs of the Yakuza games, and while it might seem far-fetched to imagine them on mobile, consider the competition. Grand Theft Auto III, San Andreas and Vice City are all on the platform, meaning that there is certainly room for long-form games that might have previously been unreasonable to port to mobile.
Even if Sega decides not to port the full Yakuza games, there might still be hope to see some of the franchise on the smaller screen. There are plenty of side activities to play throughout the games like darts, bowling and combat challenges, which would fit nicely as a smaller game or series of games themed around the franchise.
The world of mobile gaming is changing rapidly, and Sega’s acquisition of Rovio is going to continue to push that change forward. While we might not receive ports to mobile for all of the games I’ve listed, it is likely to see some more of Sega’s publications make their way down to players’ pockets in one way or another.
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