It’s time to once again roam the streets of Kamurocho and experience the tale of redemption as a Japanese gangster learns that there’s more to life than just beating the crap out of people. Ok, so beating people up whilst wearing a $2,000 suit may be fun once in a while, but there’s certainly more to life than just that. As if a new Yakuza game wasn’t good enough already, Sega has announced that they’re bringing both Yakuza 1 & 2 to the PS3 in the form of a HD upgrade title.
Announced in Famitsu earlier this week, Yakuza 1 & 2 HD Edition finally has a trailer and it certainly looks amazing. The Yakuza 1 & 2 HD Edition may not have the same visual appeal as the newer Yakuza games, but knowing that we can once again play the start of the series on the PS3 with the added bonus of Trophies (yay for Trophy whores) is where the real enjoyment of everything comes from.
Given some of the shoddy HD ports we’ve received this generation (I’m looking at you Capcom and Ubisoft), some gamers may be skeptical as to how much effort Sega is actually putting into this project. If the new trailer didn’t convince you enough then you can take a gander at the image below which compares a screen from Yakuza on the PS2 and the HD version of the game. All around the HD version of Yakuza 1 looks considerably sharper and thankfully devoid of any noticeable jaggies – a think that gamers still get annoyed at even today.
Of course the one issue as of now is that Sega hasn’t announced any plans to localize Yakuza 1 & 2 HD Edition for the Western market. Considering how much of a struggle it was to receive a Western release for the original Yakuza game during the PS2 era I’m kind of wondering if we’re going to be left in a similar position, perhaps made that more difficult due to the financial dilemma and corporate reshuffling Sega finds itself in currently. So if you don’t know a single word of Japanese and actually want to play the game then I suggest you be as vocal as you can on the usual places like the Facebook and Twitter pages for Sega.
Yakuza 1 & 2 HD Edition will be released in Japan later this year and I’m sure the fine folks over at Red Sun Gamer will provide an in-depth livestream showing us whether or not the game lives up to expectations or is a shoddy port.
