Why Sega were the greatest 1st Party Developer EVER

By Dan Driver

The sad realisation of the Dreamcast having been discontinued over 18 years ago is that there are fully grown adults now who would never have beheld Sega as a platform holder and witnessed them in their full glory.

Sega’s 60th Birthday art sees some modern cameos but is largely dominated by icons from its console heyday.

Sega is now, thankfully, a more stable company with a healthy roster of key franchises. And I don’t mean just Sonic, but the Football Manager, Total War, Yakuza and now the Megami Tensai Series which have proven to be steady earners in the current world.

But, Sonic aside, these are little like the Sega series of old. The swashbuckling, blue sky, arcade charm which Sega personified feels like a distant memory at times, save for the odd retro kickback which is more often than not developed by a third party developer.

Yet Sega weren’t just about arcade games and Sonic the Hedgehog. It seems at times that their heritage is oddly overlooked and their output severely underrated. Yes, Sega, the former titan of the console industry and king of the arcade scene are underrated. When looked at objectively there’s a strong argument that they are indeed the greatest first party publisher of all time.

And here’s why.

Sega went toe to toe with Nintendo way back when the SG1000 launched on the same day as the Famicom is 1983. Because the Famicom was the more advanced piece of tech and because it had the more recognisable exclusives, it beat out Sega’s maiden effort with ease. As Sega iterated on their original system with the Mark II, Mark III and eventually the Master System, Nintendo released the NES in America to great commercial success.

The SG 1000 library was small with fewer standouts but paved the way for Sega’s software focus

That success in the NES changed Nintendo. Their Nintendo seal of quality was key to why the system was so well received and its library so solid. But Nintendo quickly began to tie third party developers into restrictive licensing deals. This wasn’t uncommon of course, such deals were in existence during the Atari 2600 era, yet Nintendo were so dominant that the sheer volume of third party developers who would only make games for the NES was considerable. In retrospect Nintendo almost had a monopolistic hold on the console market.

How could Sega respond? The only conceivable way to do so was to develop their own games for the Master System. They couldn’t have Konami’s Castlevania so they developed their own Master of Darkness, they couldn’t have Enix’s Dragon Quest or Squares Final Fantasy so they developed Phantasy Star, they couldn’t have any of Capcoms Disney platformers so they developed their own.

By and large, the majority of these games were both developed and published by Sega themselves

This went further than trying to match Nintendo’s third party support for key titles. Many ports had to be done in house as well due to Nintendo’s strict licensing agreements. Ninja Gaiden had to be ported by Sega in house, so did Forgotten Worlds, so did Rampage and many, many more.
Obviously Sega had to match Nintendo’s first party support too. Alex Kidd became the systems mascot, Golden Axe Warrior was the consoles answer to Zelda, Heavyweight Champ its answer to Punchout and the various Wonderboy games which could be compared to Zelda 2 or Metroid in structure.

So not only were Sega, in these early 8 bit days, having to match Nintendo’s first and third party support, they were also churning out classic after classic in the arcade too. Space Harrier, Hang On, After Burner, E-SWAT, Thunder Blade, Altered Beast, Galaxy Force, Fantasy Zone and Out Run were all developed during the period between the launch of the SG1000 and the Mega Drive, and they were all ported to the Master System too!

It cannot be argued that Sega’s output in this era was anything short of colossal. Their development arms were almost numerous beyond count. Nintendo had forced Sega into a corner, if third parties could not port their games onto the Master System, then Sega would have to do it themselves and in doing so exceeded the output of their greatest rivals many times over.

Amusingly, when comparing first party developed content, this ad was close to the truth.

This strategy carried over to subsequent systems. Though the Mega Drive/Genesis enjoyed better third party support than its predecessor, Sega were no less prolific in their output. For example, the first party Streets of Rage games are often compared to the Capcom produced Final Fight games, the three 16 bit Phantasy Star titles are compared to the Square produced Final Fantasy games on the SNES. Where Nintendo were happy to tie third parties into exclusivity agreements, Sega simply countered with their own first party content, often matching or surpassing the equivalent titles on the rival machine, often to great success.

Once again, Sega’s first party output eclipsed Nintendo’s many times over. Nintendo developed around 20 titles for its 16 bit system internally, Sega developed over 90.

Sega’s Ultimate Genesis/Mega Drive collection contained over 40 first party titles yet still represented just a fraction of the companies output on the console

All the while Sega’s arcade arm was going from strength to strength, with the revolutionary hardware of the Model 1 and Model 2 boards bringing the industry defining titles such as Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Daytona USA, Sega Rally and Virtua Cop. They were as prolific out of the home as they were in it, with the quality being of a frankly remarkable standard.

Sega’s vast array of studio’s would be stretched somewhat thin as they attempted to support no less than six consoles in 1994, from the Master System and Game Gear to the Saturn and 32X. No platform holder in history has had to juggle that many systems at once, yet Sega managed it to a degree.

In the fourth quarter of 1994, Sega released Sonic & Knuckles on the Mega Drive with its radical lock on feature, and Ecco the Dolphin 2 got a release on the Game Gear. This was amongst the Western release of the 32X which launched with first party titles Star Wars Arcade and Virtua Racing Deluxe as well as the Japanese Saturn launch which included Virtua Fighter. Shining Force CD and Sonic Spinball released on the Mega CD and Master System respectively in early 1995. That is an insane output across six different systems, not including the deluge of content that came outside of that four-month window in 1994 and 1995.

Sonic & Knuckes was just one tent pole release for a festive period that saw 6 consoles supported including 2 that were just being launched.

While these shenanigans did Sega no favours in the public eye, it is no less impressive, and playing many of these titles today demonstrates that they still hold up. Sega at least concentrated on the Saturn from 1995 where their main competitor moved from Nintendo to Sony.

Sony’s first party content was essentially non-existent. For all intents and purposes, they were the anti-Sega. While Sega were churning out Clockwork Knight 1 & 2, Golden Axe: Duel, Bug! and Panzer Dragoon in its first year, Sony had to turn to third parties to bolster the systems library. Sony had no Virtua Fighter, they had to sign Battle Arena Toshinden as a timed exclusive. Sony had no Daytona USA, they had to enlist Namco to port Ridge Racer. Sony had no Virtua Cop, Namco would have to come to the rescue once again with Time Crisis. Sony didn’t have a Sonic or a Nights so a then third party Naughty Dog provided them with Crash Bandicoot.

And like the 16bit war with Nintendo, when Sony had a third party exclusivity agreement, Sega responded with a product they had developed themselves, such as Deep Fear standing in for Resident Evil 2, or substituting Final Fantasy VII and VIII for Shining Force 3 and Panzer Dragoon Saga.

The commercial disappointment of the Saturn did affect Sega greatly, and the impact was that, by the time the Dreamcast launched, many of its software houses had been consolidated, which aligned with the harmonising of arcade and home hardware with the advent of the Naomi arcade board. While output as a whole reduced, it was still over double that of what Xbox and Nintendo produced for their systems combined, and despite the Dreamcasts short lifespan by comparison it stood up to a Sony developed library which was padded out by nearly 70 EyeToy and SingStar titles.

Despite having a tragically short lifespan, the Dreamcast saw many 1st Party Classics which are still enjoyed today

The Dreamcast had less than three years between launch and the ceasing of its production, yet where it mattered, the games, it more than held its own against its main rival and what came after.

Even after the demise of the Dreamcast, Sega’s output as a third party publisher, it could be argued, put some platform holders to shame, out developing and out publishing them on their own consoles. Sega even had time to take Nintendo’s F-Zero franchise and craft a game that is arguably (it certainly is without question in my opinion) the series peak.

Sega’s Xbox promos were a treasure trove of a former first party software outshining Microsoft on their own console

Looked at holistically, Sega’s output is nothing short of astonishing. In terms of volume no other first party platform holder comes even close to what Sega produced. The sheer number of games they developed and published is quite simply breath taking.

Of course, it is about quality and not quantity, but Sega had that in spades as well. There are simply too many legendary titles to list, a number of which have been mentioned already, but Sega has franchises that were as legendary as any from any current platform holders for a reason. Even this year, in 2020, there’s been a new Streets of Rage game, a remake of Panzer Dragoon, the much anticipated western release of the latest in the Phantasy Star and Sakura Wars series and a VR version of Space Channel 5. All of these were originally first party games on Sega systems, so fondly remembered that they have seen modern updates, sequels or releases.

Sega of today are a different beast compared to their former selves and, indeed, many of those titles are now developed and even published by external parties, yet can any other platform holder boast this many modern updates to revered franchises this year? Sonic the Hedgehog even had a movie which became a hit in the cinemas, again, a testament to the impact Sega’s original game had.

This modern reverence all stems from Sega’s output as a crafter of videogames on their own platforms, nearly two decades from when they called time on their days as a hardware manufacturer.

They have unmatched volume, unquestionable quality and more beloved franchises than any other. The breadth, scope, depth and brilliance of their output cannot be debated. Sega were literally in a league of their own.

They were and likely forever will be the greatest first party developer of all time.