Sega had a pretty crazy decade. The craziest moment in their business portfolio was in 2013. That’s when they bought Atlus. Even though they still operate almost independently from Sega, as they still use the name, Sega does indeed own the rights to their most popular franchises now like Persona. We bring this up as both an interesting fact about Sega and because we wanted to make it clear that we will not be tackling any Atlus games.
This list instead will be made up of internally made or published Sega games. In this way, we made a list more pure to see how a certain section of the company did. We should also mention this is based on console and handheld games only. With all of those details out of the way, let’s see how Sega’s output was for the decade.
10 Alien: Isolation (79)
It’s hard to believe Alien: Isolation came out near the start of this generation, was successful, but never received a sequel. It just got ported to Switch, so maybe that will signal Sega to greenlight another game.
Anyway, this is without a doubt the best adaptation of the license for a video game. It nails the look and sense of terror when coming across the Xenomorphs. The only real downside is that they were perhaps too smart, making parts of the game frustrating.
9 Renegade Ops (81)
Despite the high review, Renegade Ops is one of Sega’s most forgettable games of the past decade. That is not to say it is bad. It was a digital release only on PS3 and Xbox 360.
While it is on PC, it remains trapped on those consoles. Notably, it was developed by Avalanche Studios just after their success with Just Cause 2. It’s a fun, albeit simple car combat shooter.
8 Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed (82)
There have been many clones trying to take the throne away from Mario Kart, and most of them failed. Crash Team Racing on PS1 was the first true worthy adversary until years later this came along.
Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed is incredibly fun and inventive for the cartoon kart racing genre. Going from car to boat to aircraft was always a thrill. Plus it celebrates not just Sonic, but many of Sega’s other franchises. It was a celebration of pure awesomeness.
7 Puyo Puyo Tetris (83)
This is a crossover between both series. It’s notable for other reasons as well, like the fact that this was the first Puyo Puyo game to release outside of Japan in fourteen years. The last entry the West got was Puyo Puyo Fever on GameCube.
Thankfully the wait was worth it because this crossover is puzzle heaven. It may not be as good as Tetris 99, or Tetris Effect, but it is still a great hybrid of an entry.
6 Vanquish (84)
Vanquish is actually one of the first Sega games to kick off the decade way back in 2010. It has unfortunately remained there, trapped on last-gen consoles, for the entire decade, unless one wants to count backwards compatibility.
The point is the new decade will be rung in with it again via a remastered version packaged with Bayonetta next year. It may not be a sequel, which desperately needs to happen for Sega and PlatinumGames, but it is a start.
5 Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone (84)
There are actually two Hatsune Miku games with an 84. This is a Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue situation where Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone - Future Sound is like the parallel version of Colorful Tone.
Both are about interacting with the popular cast of performers, but each game has a few different features. Whatever version one chooses, fans are in for the pop simulation of a lifetime.
4 Valkyria Chronicles 4 (84)
After Valkyria Chronicles 3 failed to launch in the West and on top of the dud that was Azure Revolution, a more action-oriented spinoff, Valkyria Chronicles 4 was a nice return to form for the series. It was everything fans wanted and more.
The combination of real-time strategy mixed with shooters made it one heck of an RPG, and there is nothing quite like it. Even though it reviewed well enough, the sales did not reflect this. Hopefully, that doesn’t mean this series is over.
3 Yakuza 0 (85)
This list could have been comprised almost solely on Yakuza games as their scores are all relatively close to Yakuza 0’s 85. That said, this game can be thanked for getting more Western fans on board. It wasn’t a reboot, but it acted like one as it was a prequel.
Playing catch up to the series could have been daunting at the time, which is why going back to the beginning was seen as more appealing for those new to the series. Plus, who doesn’t like the 80s?
2 Sonic Mania (86)
Past the Sega Genesis entries and maybe a few of the early 3D games, Sonic’s day in the sun has been gloomy for over a decade now. Leave it to the fans to create something worthy of the name though.
That’s right; Sega hired some notable fan artists and hackers that were huge into Sonic all so they could make their dream come true with the opportunity to make an official entry. It definitely paid off for both parties.
1 Bayonetta (90)
And the very best Sega game of the decade goes to the original Bayonetta. Funnily enough Sega both helped launch a new series this decade and lost it. Now Nintendo is all over it as an exclusive Switch franchise. That’s only true for the second and third game, which will hopefully be unveiled any day now.
Sega still has the ability to re-release the original as we mentioned earlier with that Vanquish collection. Like we said, the arrangement for the series is weird, but logistics aside, this hair witch still kicks butt.