What the heck has SEGA been up to lately, anyway? A few years ago they were tossing out mobile games left and right, but recently there hasn’t been much outside of a sequel to Sonic Dash based on the tepid Sonic Boom TV show. Well, it turns out that’s really only the case outside of Japan. Inside Japan, SEGA’s kept both arms in the mobile trough. Their line-up at this year’s Tokyo Game Show included some long-running favorites and a couple of new titles, and all of them have one thing in common: we’re probably not going to be seeing them in English.
In total, SEGA had seven games at the show, though few of them were playable. The mobile version of their somewhat popular baseball simulation, Yakyu Tsuku: Let’s Make a Pro Baseball Team! has been out for about a year now, but with the baseball season more than halfway through, it’s not surprising SEGA wants to remind people it’s around. Net Mahjong MJ, a multiplayer take on a Japanese favorite, is another perennial hit for SEGA, and it also had a presence.
For the last while, SEGA’s bread and butter titles on mobile have been Chain Chronicle and Puyo Puyo!! Quest. While the former had a short-lived English version, the latter, like just about every Puyo Puyo game, has stayed in Japan. SEGA was showing off a new game mode for Puyo Puyo!! Quest, while Chain Chronicle spin-off World Chain was representing the franchise with a new update adding extra scenarios and events.
Rounding out the TGS line-up were card battler Ange Vierge, social RPG Monster Gear Burst, and rhythm game Yumeiro Cast. The first two have been strong performers for SEGA, while the latter is getting a bit long in the teeth and seems to be dropping off. All in all, it really is remarkable comparing SEGA’s mobile output in Japan to the rest of the world. They’re quite prolific in their home market and seem to be doing very well, and the prominence of their mobile titles, even among such important upcoming console releases as Yakuza 6 and Valkyria: Azure Revolution certainly speaks to that. It’s too bad the rest of the world doesn’t get to share in the fun.
