A couple of weeks ago, we brought word about SEGA’s plan to remove some of their games from the App Store. The company didn’t specify which ones, but reading between the lines made it look like the company’s Genesis games were among the strongest contenders. Well, they finally did the deed, and SEGA’s list of titles is suddenly looking awfully bare. Some of the ones that didn’t get pulled are quite surprising in a way, but I imagine it all came down to which ones were still selling healthy amounts. Keep in mind, if you had already bought them, the games are still available to re-download. They just won’t be updated anymore.
Here are the pulled titles:
- Streets Of Rage
- Streets Of Rage 3
- Phantasy Star 2
- Afterburner Climax
- Super Monkey Ball
- Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition
- Golden Axe
- Golden Axe 2
- Golden Axe 3
- Virtua Fighter 2
- Space Harrier 2
- Altered Beast
- Ecco The Dolphin
- Columns Deluxe
It’s not surprising that the majority of that list is composed of Genesis ports. The emulator wasn’t that hot to begin with, giving the games a bad reputation, and I imagine the sales on most of those games were pretty poor these days. Afterburner Climax almost certainly went down because of licensing, just as it did on other gaming platforms. I suppose I’m a little surprised to see the Monkey Ball games gone. That said, it’s more surprising what they didn’t cut. Of the remaining titles, I thought for sure that Sonic Spinball ($0.99), ChuChu Rocket ($0.99), Gunstar Heroes (Free), and Shinobi 3 ($2.99) would be goners, but there they are. I’m also relieved to see Shining Force ($0.99) made the cut. It helps somewhat to salve the wound from Phantasy Star 2‘s departure.
Of course, this may not be the last we see of those games. SEGA did say that they could come back in some form in the future, after all. Personally, I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one, but you never know. To be fair, there are a lot of games on that list that didn’t work too well for one reason or another on iOS, and a few of them are genuine stinkers no matter where or how you play them, but it’s always sad to see games disappear whatever the reasons.
