With the exception of perhaps only Nintendo, Sega has one of the strongest back library of games of any major publisher. Numerous classics like Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast, and third-party games like Road Rash arrived first to Sega’s consoles, but a new generation of gamers may have missed out on the chance to play these games. That will soon change with Sega Forever, a new collection of free classic Sega games on mobile devices.
Beginning on June 22, Sega Forever will offer iOS and Android users additional games every two weeks, with the first five being Genesis classics Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast, Phantasy Star II, Comix Zone, and Kid Chameleon. All five will also launch with custom iMessage sticker packs, so you can remind your friends that you’re playing Sega games at all hours of they day or night.
Each game will be available to play completely free, with advertisements supporting them. If players wish to purchase any of the individual games so they can play without any ads, they’ll be available for $2 each.
All games included in Sega Forever will be playable completely offline and will include support for cloud saves if you wish to play them across multiple devices. Leaderboards will also be supported, as will Bluetooth controllers so you can play the games as they were meant to be played.
“As the Sega Forever collection expands through months and years, it will include games that pan all Sega console eras, each adapted specifically for mobile devices while remaining faithful to the original games,” Sega said in the official announcement.
Most of the games shown in the official teaser trailer, which you can watch above, are from the Genesis library, but Dreamcast fans should get plenty of their favorites through the program as well. Games like Jet Grind Radio are still beautiful and exciting even more than a decade after their release. Others, like Crazy Taxi, are actually already available on the App Store for free with in-app purchases, but the ability to play the game without being asked to fork over real money could be a big selling (or non-selling) point.
