Shenmue 2 is such a masterpiece.

Shenmue 2 is the greatest game of all time for me. It even drove me to want to visit Guilin, China which 18 years after playing the game, I was finally able to do. It was an experience unlike any other.

I gotta be honest, DF Retro is the only reason I stay subscribed here. I love all of the Benchmark and Performance tests, but I feel like DF has focused almost entirely on hardware analysis rather than comparisons. Not to mention the... *_comments_* on those videos Anyways keep up DF Retro John! These videos are always the highlight of my day

The Sega that made Nights, Panzer Dragoon and Shenmue is so sorely missed. They always managed to capture the imagination and take you on amazing journeys that left you with such beautiful memories. Very few game developers have managed to create this kind of awe since, in my humble opinion. Just hearing the soundtrack playing in this video was enough to bring back a rush of emotions. Great job, DF!

I miss this era of gaming so much! No DLC, no season passes, no pre-order skins, no multi-gigabyte day one patches, full games at launch on a disc, games had a wow factor still etc.

I remember getting the DC version a few days early, from a guy at EB. He said I was the only person to enquire about the game and that he was a fan too, so he went 'round the back and got me a copy =D Shenmue fans unite!

If you go in room 222 of the Yellow Head Building you'll find the Hang On machine. It's a really nice touch that they have old SEGA games hidden throughout.

Oh my! I just started watching and I have to leave a comment. Shenmue and Shenmue II are two of my favorite games of all-time. I've been waiting for Shenmue III since 2002 and I'm so happy with where the game is, so far. I backed a copy for PC and PS4. Yu Suzuki is one of the most trusted and reliable developers in the business and I know we'll be getting the best for Shenmue III (for what was spent on the Kickstarter).

O hope we get a re-release for Shenmue 1 and 2 before 3 comes out

I played this on the Dreamcast at the time, and one of my most intense memories of all time as a gamer is THAT fourth disc. After the mayhem of Kowloon, strolling through rural China was just pure contemplation in what was the most astonishing graphics of that era. My jaw literally dropped, and it stayed there during the whole trip. I remember repeating to myself aloud "Holy shit. This looks unreal. My God. This is so fucking awesome." as I kept walking beside Shenhua, taking it the incredible scenery. Recalling it as I'm typing this right now brings tears to my eyes. Please don't suck, Shenmue 3. I beg of you. Don't suck.

That was... one of the best things I have ever watched on KZfaq. Thank you DF, Thank you Jon.

Man i love this game so much that i cry by only hearing its theme song.

This video is GOLD!! Shenmue 1/2 & Virtua Fighter 4 are in my TOP 10 videogames of all times! Thank You for this!!

Those old shenmue songs overflow me with nostalgia and make my eyes all watery.

Still have my Dreamcast hooked up and using the vga adapter makes these games still look crisp and clean. Finished part 1 but i never completed part 2. Time to fire this game up! Great video

Shenmue and shenmue 2 will always be my most favorite games of all time. So much thought has been put into each of these games. Can't wait for shenmue 3

I just remember playing shenmue 2 for the first time on dreamcast and experienced nothing like it before. The world was huge and open to explore. I remember getting lost in those Hong Kong streets and just finding random stores that you could explore. Am2 did so much to make it feel realistic

My god. I barely noticed this video is 30 minutes long. One of the best DF retro videos for sure.

I'll never forget working my backside off as a forklift truck driver in the original, in preparation for my trip to Hong Kong. Fire up the second game, save file recognised, mugged! Lol, genius.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you guys so much for doing this video. It was an outstanding analysis. I even got misty eyed at one point. You guys wonderfully highlighted why Shenmue was special and way ahead of its time. Thank you.

WOW This still looks amazing!

DF retro is one the best parts of Sunday.

Just popped by to quickly like this, I've got no doubt about its quality, look forward to watching later.

I like this kinda series DF :) and the game look even still fantastic in 2016 which is 17 years ago since release

The sharp look of the Dreamcast is awesome. I always loved the shimmering. I really don't like the color and bloom look on the Xbox. However, the water is certainly better.

Rockstar should learn from shenmue's room interior system and should implement this in gta 6

Never played Shenmue, but I love learning about these games. Great video yet again.

Thank you so much for making this. As a lifetime fan of Shenmue I appreciated watching such an informative piece. I still have to pinch myself when I think about playing Shenmue 3 in the next year (or two)!

In a time when video game cut scenes made into a movie was practically unheard of Shenmue 2 was way ahead of it's time.

What a nice era of games, unique art styles instead of the run for most realistic graphics and sameness.

what a fantastic episode. 33 minutes of pure joy, with not a seconds' worth of filler or wasted space. excellent video!!!

John, hearing you talk about those games with such honest passion and distanced knowledge at the same time is a real pleasure.

This series is marvelous, John. Keep up the great work.

The greatest games ever made

So yesterday I started playing Shenmue II, and it’s an honestly incredible experience so far. Everything feels so much more real & alive than the first game. It’s also incredible looking. The thing that has truly amazed me the most is how incredibly lost I’ve been. In the first game, I kinda learned my way around Sakuragoaka, and I kinda figured out the layout of Dobuita, but I never really learned where anything was. If I walked down one road and couldn’t see the place I wanted, I’d turn off onto another road instead, eventfully forming a loop and finding things, but I was still getting temporarily lost constantly. But in Shenmue II, it’s a different story entirely, I’ve been lost basically constantly, unable to learn where everything is. I mean sure, I’m not very good at navigation, but the environments are so massive, and crowded, even just down in Wan Chai and the Worker’s Pier, and it’s just overwhelming! It’s crazy! Really awesome though, I absolutely love it. I just really hope the game doesn’t expect me to learn my way around Hong Kong, as it just isn’t happening.

Going through rural China with Shenhua made me cry when I first played this game as an HD version. Underrated masterpiece in my opinion

It looks DAMN good for such an old game

What a classic! Way ahead of its time. I'm happy I got to play these. Can't wait for part 3!

I can't stop admiring all the love and effort you put in your videos! Thank you!

It sounds ridiculous, but I teared up at the announcement of Shenmue 3. It was simply an unbelievable moment, one that I truly never expected to see happen. The search for Lan-Di in that first game was all too real of an experience and an emotional investment for me at age 12; as was the heartbreak of realizing 3 would 'never' happen.... The game still has a ways to come before it hits and, god willing, we still have the HD ports of 1 & 2 to look forward to as well; but here's to patience.

That was soon damn and 33 minutes? Blessed John! This game is amazing!!!

Awesome work John! This was probably my favorite DF Retro so far. I love Shenmue!

I dont know why more people havent discovered DF Retro its such a high Quality series.

John, this was really fun to watch. I had to come back to this video again just as I heard about the releases of Shenmue 1 and 2 on Steam. I can't wait to play them both again this August. I never really pre-order games, but I went ahead and pulled the trigger.

20:05 I can hear the Dreamcast sounding like an old washing machine

Music is just too good. God damn! It almost made me cry at the PS confrence moment at the end and weird thing is that I haven't even heard about the game till now. Lol music can do wonders. God damn!

What's amazing, is that I never have played, nor care about a lot of the games showcased in DF retro, but the analysis and benchmarks are so interesting to watch and learn. Great job! :D

DF Retro is AWESOME, I humbly hope you find the resources to continue the series. I love the modern analysis applied to retro games. The episode where you showed how the quadratic surfaces are split and rendered on Saturn's Tomb Raider was incredible. Thank you so much for your effort. I subscribed to Digital Foundry only because of DF Retro!

I swear people weren't ready for how good the Dreamcast was, that's why it failed. It was too revolutionary for its own good. I played my first online game, PSO on it. People probably thought playing online was a gimmick back in 2000. Titles like Shenmue were so advanced peoples minds were blown so they couldn't handle it. The Dreamcast died an unjust death.

Man was I one pissed off little guy when I found out Shenmue 2 was being released on Xbox instead of the dreamcast back in 2001 here in the US. I got a Xbox 360 and was able to play Shenmue 2 finally in 2008.

It was a tradition for me to play this game through and through once a year around this time. I don't have my dreamcast or Xbox 360 anymore, but the timing of this video gave me so much nostalgia. Love it guys! Thank you!

This is by far my favorite videos on this channel, keep up the good work John!

The Shenmue games are definitely one of, if not my favourite game series. Shenmue 2 on Dreamcast is certainly helped by the original Japanese dialogue, the English dub in the first game was always a little ropey. Playing the original game in Japanese is certainly on my list of things to do. I was happy to see that Shenmue 3 would go into production, and unlike others I saw the added help from Sony as a positive. I think crowd funding was the only way it ever had a shot of being made, the 14yrs between Shenmue 2 release & Shenmue 3 announcement certainly backs up that assumption. Sure it has a loyal fanbase, but with no way of knowing whether that would translate into sales, and with the ip tied to shell of its former self Sega, it was dormant for 14 years. To me Sony's help will make it more likely of actually get a release, a game getting funded doesn't necessarily mean it will be finished. Fingers crossed. "But why didn't Sony fully fund it?", the way I see it the kickstarter was to show proof of actual demand for the title, with Sony helping with distribution etc. if/when it was funded. Its also possible that if Sony had outright funded the project, that could have woke the Sega legal team and made it more trouble than it was worth.

DF retro deserves its own channel

Such a great return to a groundbreaking game series for its time. Thank you so much for creating an amazing DF series, John. This is one amazing way to preserve and continue to praise the games of yesterday. I can't wait for more episodes to come. :)

Great video. Shenmue will always have a special place in my heart - I had and played Shenmue on my Dreamcast at an important time in my life (getting ready to leave high school) and remember being drawn in to the games world. I supported the kickstarter for Shenmue 3 and can not wait to experience whatever it has to offer.

Happily donated $300 for Shenmue 3. Best money I ever spent :)

This is DF' best video yet! Thank you for this review!

My favorite game of all time. I’m in America, but I imported it when it first released on Dreamcast and I had to use a boot disk to run it. I think the boot disk combined with the game being on 4 discs and playing it multiple times was the reason I went through 5 Dreamcasts. Totally worth it and I’m about to start the PS4 remaster today.

Awesome video, really brought back some good memories with this game. Please keep this going i really enjoy watching these blast from the past.

I really love DF retro, thanks for making these great videos!

man this "_DF retro_" series is soo good that you could upload on to your main channel!

This is why I love John's videos. He takes his time, makes them very detailed, leaves no stone un-turned and always give the best options possible for your experience. Keep up the great work! Oh and for some recommendations, I wouldn't mind seeing a comparison between the original Diablo (for PS1 and for PC) and a comparison of any GTA III Series game, considering there are so many versions/ports of those nowadays.

This is the best retrospective I have ever watched. It's absolutely brilliant. This has every single thing I want when I'm looking into playing an old game; the history, context for its era, port differences and best ways to emulate. This is a high bar to pass.

Shenmue... Easily one of my favorite game franchises of all time. Can't wait for 3.

I hope Shenmue 3 isn't too different from the old ones, obviously there are going to be huge improvements but it has to feel the same..please. Don't do what so many others have done with sequels.

Awesome video, please continue the series, DF Retro is some of the best content created by you guys. :)

An absolutely beautiful episode of DF Retro. Keep it up!

Thanks for that great episode!

This game has had soo much influence on my life.

Great video! DF Retro episodes should be as long as this one!!! I'm enjoying watching this long and detailed analysis! Great job as always!!! Maybe some day it will be Metal Gear Solid DF Retro episode...

Played these on my dreamcast when they first came out, In a time when Fps and Shimmering didn't bother me! Watching this back makes me realise how much I loved sega and their consoles. Keep up the good work John!

DF Retro on Jet Set Radio and JSRF! And what's the song at 25:25?

Great as always, I look forward to these every week! As for potential future videos, any chance of doing Ninja Gaiden on the original Xbox? There was nothing that looked or ran that good on consoles at the time, would be curious to see what made it tick.

DF Retro is absolutely amazing, extremely enjoyable and informative videos, hope it'll continue to run for many years!

This video was John's magnum opus. Amazing work as always!

Great video analysis. Thanks Richard.

I played both versions when released and preferred the dreamcast. It just felt like it had more of the 'sega look' the visual clarity of the dreamcast was better

John, thank you for these videos, I always enjoy them and look forward to the next ones. This show let's me experience fraction of and what these games were at launch, thank you for making that happen :).

Amazing work ! Keep on doing such a passionate work

Something thats hard to say, but not in this case, but you did this game justice in your video :D Perfect information, detail and top notch quality as always! Shenmue and Half Life are my number one games on any console system. Seeing this brought all the memories back! Keep doing what you are doing, I watch every show :D Thank you mate :D

Yakuza + Shenmue = Life!!!

Masterpiece indeed. Love this game in my heart strong. My childhood an now it still goes on with much mew games shennue 3 an a new one to come. Also a anime an so much more. Thanks for Shenmue

Great video! A year ago I bought a Dreamcast to revive that feeling of best console ever again, but few months later I had to sell it due its quality on modern tvs, once I didn't want to buy a VGA adapter. Luckily I saw rhis video and heard about the Demul. I am going to download it right away. Thank you for that!

Sega just couldn't catch a break. The failures of the Sega CD, Saturn and upcoming release of the PS2, Xbox and GameCube was the final nail in the coffin for Sega. But I'm at least happy I got to play the game when they came out. If they had ported the game to the PS2, maybe we could already have Shenmue 3 now. But early one in the PS2 life cycle Sega was a bit hurt by the PS2. But ended up becoming on the best supporters of the PS2.

You forgot to mention VMU save functionality between shenmue 1&2 on dreamcast, something impossible on XBOX. Amazing video non the less.

Excellent video with good comparisons between versions. Shenmue I & II have a very special place in my life, more than any other games I believe and you covered them well. Thank you and best wishes.

Thank you for putting this video together, John. Whenever DF Retro uploads a new vid I know it's gonna be really good. Also, with The Last Guardian coming out just around the corner, may I suggest you look at Shadow of the Colossus in a future DF Retro vid?

We need OGXbox emulation on Xbox One ASAP.

Yes best game ever

AWESOME VIDEO ! Amazing details, artistry and engine for the time.

Why John why! Now I have to spend the rest of the night rewatching all the Shemue 3 reacts. Keep up this great series!

My absolute favorite game of ALL time

still have my dreamcast with shenmue 1&2 my favorite game of all time all still work too

Thanks for all your work, John

Love Shenmue. My favorite games ever and looking forward to Shenmue 3

DigitalFoundry has excellent taste in games :)

Shenmue is First open world game First QTE game First Motion capture game

Absolutely amazing video - sent my nostalgia into overdrive! Thank you so much!

Can't wait for Yakuza! Currently playing through the first one on PCSX2, it's fantastic