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Sega’s long-running Like a Dragon/Yakuza game series is also secretly a robust retro game treasure trove.
Nearly every game in the franchise contains multiple ports of classic Sega titles, freshened up and ready to play on more modern platforms. The company has a long and cool history of making excellent arcade and home games, and I love that they’ve been tucking well-emulated versions of some of their hits into corners of the Yakuza series for years.
In a neat touch, these retro games also help to flesh out the open worlds of the series, as they reside as physical machines inside in-game arcades designed to mimic the look of the era that the particular Like a Dragon game is set in.
Over time, these emulated titles have grown more elaborate in both scope and number — and this year’s Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii goes all in with a huge number of console and arcade games to try. Firstly, it has a large collection of titles from Sega’s old Master System home console, unlocked just a few minutes into the game once you reach the first hideout. A cute little virtual Master System is hooked up to a TV in all of Pirate Yakuza’s save hub bedrooms, and you can click on it to try out several games. You can buy new games from the…
