Download these four games on Steam before they vanish
In the West, Sega is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a slate of free games that are probably best summed up as “for the fans.” There’s a Yakuza 2D beat-’em-up, a canceled reboot of Golden Axe, a mash-up of Fantasy Zone and Endless Space, and a tank battle game inspired by Company of Heroes.
These wacky anniversary games will be available on Steam for a limited time, and I do mean limited.
- Armor of Heroes (October 15-19)
- Endless Zone (October 16-19)
- Streets of Kamurocho (October 17-19)
- Golden Axed (October 18-19)
“Once they’re taken down from Steam, they’re gone forever,” according to Sega.
During this celebration, Sega is also giving out the Steam edition of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 until October 19, and – for people who share their email with Sega – Nights into Dreams until December 13, 2020.
My favorite bit, though? These retro-inspired game covers.
On the Sega 60th anniversary website, you can find Genesis, Mega Drive, Master System, Saturn, and Dreamcast cover art for dozens of modern Sega games. Some of them, like Puyo Puyo, really do fit.
Sega says the site will be “updated regularly with new content and information.” Happy 6-0!
[Update: Sega has come under fire for the way it handled the Golden Axed prototype game, including a line on the Steam listing about the title being “janky,” “buggy,” and an “artifact of its time.”
One of the original developers, Tim Dawson, shared his experience working on the canceled Golden Axe project – the basis for this week’s free game – in 2012 “under crunch conditions.” In a statement to Eurogamer, Sega said it “didn’t mean to dredge up painful memories” with the public prototype and it “removed the line from the Steam copy that could have been taken as a slur on the development.”]