Blue Skies and the World Adventure
Originally uploaded March 3rd, 2025.
I see it, I see it now.
A few days ago, I got into a discussion regarding SEGA, SEGA AM2 and the brand of games they released. Regardless of the various genres or ideas they ventured into, there would always be a reoccurring hallmark that you’d be able to notice from just a glance.
A bold, bright blue sky.
It’s not like this is a new concept or anything. The color blue is synonymous with the company (008dd0 and 0060a8 to be precise). Name a SEGA game you’ve played off the top of your head – there’s probably some kind of skybox, or background layer, or whatever, that has a blue sky. It’s not like they invented the concept of it in video games, either. Lots of games aim to be bright and colorful to grab your attention, to help hook you into the worlds they’re selling. But it’s not that simple – they just feel different.
I was very intentional in mentioning AM2, because it is a staple in almost all of the games they’ve released. It’s almost always paired with a feeling of speed, power, finesse. A feeling that requests you to get out of your seat and stop wasting your time. Go do something. It’s a feeling of freedom, and it paired nicely with SEGA’s philosophy in the arcades back then.
Even games like Shenmue, an artistic, messy masterpiece, exemplify this philosophy, somehow. The company subdivision almost feels a little doujin to a degree, because they consisted of a group of people who adamantly believed in a dream from start to finish. Those are my favorite kind of developers. It’s why I admire Treasure so much… and they honestly feel a little similar, in some regard.
I would have gone on and on about AM2, the significance of the sky in that set of games, and more metaphorical talk, but…
What was originally going to be an article on SEGA AM2 and the legacy was quickly hijacked by a blue rat.
Sonic Unleashed. Man oh man, Sonic Unleashed.
Certain developments over the last few weeks lead me back to another playthrough. It’s a personal favorite of mine, and I recently played through all of the PS2 version a few months ago, around the time I tried Klonoa 2.
But man. It definitely hits different.
Talking about Sonic on the internet at a point was rough. It still is kind of rough, but it was miserable in the mid-2000s. To the point where SEGA tried to roll with the punches, to feel a little “meta” in the way they approached the char to fit in with those laughing at their shortcomings. The budget for Sonic games definitely dropped to a point after this specific release, because things just weren’t viable for the company.
But Sonic Unleashed…
Before, I would have said Daytona USA or Outrun were picturesque examples of the “SEGA blue sky” concept. Images of exhilaration and freedom. Control over yourself, your surroundings, to push past everything and take life by the horns, encouraging others to do the same.
But Unleashed is the golden child of this concept.
It’s a game that doesn’t feel real, at times. Daytime stage chaos is reigned in by precise control, and you’re rewarded with a blur of speed that makes you say “That’s right. There is NOTHING that can stop me.”
Years and years of people saying “the game is only half good…” and maybe they had a point, back on the 360/PS3 days. The werehog was a pointless button masher that meanders through pointless puzzles and couldn’t even fathom of getting to the highs of the hack and slash counterparts it drew influence from.
But it was then I realized something, playing through Rooftop Run – Night.
This guy has tech. Really fun tech, too. The kind that feels similar to that of the daytime stages, the kind that rewards finesse. The kind that reigns in chaos. The kind that exemplifies freedom. Not only was it then I found the guy very very fun soon after, trying to move as swift as a stretchy beast of burden could, but I realized something else.
This was it. This was it.
SEGA is a company that fumbles. A lot. But every now and then they bring something to the table that makes me want to go back to one of their outings as opposed to something Nintendo would provide. They’re the grunge game developer, always with a little bit of edge as opposed to polish. The blue is intentional – it always was.
And Unleashed, despite it’s shortcomings (there are a lot) feels like a game that could only be born from a team that knew that it would fumble.
But no matter how hard you fumble, that blue sky is going to be there. And it’s ever-present, in every single area in the game. Even as the world is shattered, that sky isn’t going anywhere.
Even in the middle of its darkest era, that bright, blue sky shone through, like a diamond in the rough.
And I couldn’t be any happier.
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