Much as is the case in any other industry, there are some companies that you just can't get away from. SEGA, for example, is as close to a mainstay in the gaming sandbox as it could possibly get. As we prepare the groundwork for our list of best SEGA games on PC, you too may come to agree with our assessment that, as of 2021, SEGA is quite possibly at its strongest as a game publisher.

That might sound like a strange idea, considering their passé hedgehog obsession, but chances are that you've got loads of SEGA titles in your game library already. Or, alternatively, that you may be looking for a good deal on some of them. We're talking huge franchises, such as Yakuza, Total War, and Company of Heroes - just to name a few. Now, of course, we'll talk about our favorite SEGA releases a bit later on, but before we get to that, we've got another item on our docket!

Namely, we'd like to take a broad, sweeping look at the history of SEGA. Where the company started and how it got to where it's currently at. If you're a gaming history buff, you'll love this section! If not, though, and if you only really care about the games, just scroll on ahead for a grand old time!

Check out the full SEGA repertoire of games - right here at 2Game.

A Short History of SEGA

As many of you probably already know, SEGA is pretty old at this point. Originally founded in 1960, the company started its life via the asset acquisition of its direct predecessor - Service Games of Japan. To that effect, the company's name is a bit of a portmanteau of the 'Service Games' moniker.

Much like many other companies of that time, SEGA, too, began their gaming career with a coin-operated game. Launched in 1966, Periscope was essentially a submarine combat game. Players needed to sink a number of enemy warships using the titular periscope to fire torpedoes at them. Neat, to be sure, but it was merely a stepping stone for SEGA's growing gaming empire. By the early '80s, the arcade boom was pretty much good and done for, and SEGA saw the writing on the wall, moving their R&D towards home console production.

Their SG-1000 and Master System lineups were reasonably solid kits, but SEGA still struggled compared to their immediate competitor, Nintendo. Remember, NES was having a romp at the turn of the decade, and there was no beating it at the time.

It wasn't until 1988 that the follow-up system came out - SEGA Genesis - though it, too, failed to garner a substantial enough audience to truly make waves. Make no mistake - Genesis was a competent console, and it did outsell Nintendo's SNES in the US - thanks to Sonic the Hedgehog. It's just that the likes of Nintendo had the process down to a pat at that point, and an audience of loyalists to boot. Naturally, this was a troublesome revelation for SEGA.

SEGA Consoles: A Tragedy in Three Parts

Now, it's worth pointing out that while SEGA couldn't exactly parry Nintendo at any stage during their proverbial sorties, it wasn't until after the Genesis that they hit a bad streak. Namely, SEGA met commercial failure with all three of their follow-up releases: 32X, Saturn, and Dreamcast. Again, all three of these were reasonably competent machines,  but that alone wasn't enough to warrant enough interest for the company to persevere in this niche.

Instead, by 2001, the company had realized that consoles had lost their luster, and turned specifically to game publishing and production, rather than the hardware itself. As you can probably imagine, this was the way to go in the long run, but hindsight is 20/20. Who knows: perhaps SEGA would've struck gold with a hypothetical subsequent release. But maybe not - Nintendo did corner the market for a long while, and Microsoft and Sony took over the mainstream audience with their Xbox and PlayStation machines in the coming years.

After they stopped competing directly in the console arena, SEGA got acquired by the Japanese-owned Sammy Corporation. This was pretty much the turning point for the company, as they slowly began to re-establish themselves as a game publisher.

What makes SEGA Important Today?

As unlucky as SEGA may have been over the years with their consoles, the same lack of push-and-nudge was, happily, not present when it comes to games. It would've been all too easy for them to rest on their laurels with the Blue Hedgehog, wouldn't it? Thankfully, SEGA was smart, and they invested in all the right developers and franchises over the past two decades.

Sure, SEGA is still a very prominent player in the arcade gaming scene, but when it comes to home consoles and PC gaming, the mind immediately goes to one of the following:

Granted, Sonic hasn't had a good streak in quite a long while now - Mania excluded - but Total War and Yakuza are stronger than ever before in 2021. On top of that, SEGA often funds smaller-scale projects, such as Two Point Hospital and Endless Legend. Two amazing games that have little in the way of competition, all things considered.

With all of that in mind, SEGA in 2021 might not be the same SEGA we know and love from our childhoods, but they've evolved - for the better. Even if we only consider their immediate output, SEGA has been one of the very few high-profile publishers to fund proper AAA strategy games of recent years. With Company of Heroes 3 on the way and all of Creative Assembly's continuous work, that's going to continue for some time.

Best SEGA Games on PC - Top Picks

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II

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There's a constant back-and-forth between WH40K fans on whether Dawn of War I or Dawn of War II is the superior game, but in our book, the decision is simple. DoWII added a wealth of RPG mechanics and features to classic real-time strategy gameplay. Better still, the game focused more heavily on squad-based combat, paving the way for something other than megalomaniacal micromanagement of the battlefield. Combat is tight and deeply satisfying, and the game has a genuinely interesting narrative. Stellar work all around - DLCs included.

Total War: Warhammer III

What could be said about Total War games that hasn't already been said a million times over? They're awesome, and arguably, the very best of them is none other than Warhammer (III). What's particularly interesting about TW:W is that it's an integrated package. Now that Warhammer III is out, players who own the previous two games can move all content from previous games into the latest installment, so that it meshes everything together into one massive super-campaign. Hell of a thing, we feel.

Alien: Isolation

Easily the best Alien(s) game ever created - Alien: Isolation is a heart-stopping first-person survival horror where Amanda Ripley's daughter needs to escape from a stealthy, lumbering Drone Xenomorph abroad the Sevastopol space station. Impeccable visuals and sense of atmosphere that are topped only by the ridiculously creepy AI-driven Xenomorph. Not for the faint of heart!

Sonic Mania

What would a list of best SEGA games be without at least one Sonic game? We weren't keen on lingering too much on this particular franchise, so the choice was obvious - Sonic Mania. This is the Sonic game to play in 2021. Impeccable platforming, nostalgic visuals, and an incredibly inspired take on everyone's favorite speedy blue hedgehog make Mania the greatest Sonic game ever. At least, that's what we think! Just so happens that we're not alone in that assessment.

Endless Legend

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Amplitude Studios' attempt to create a sci-fi/fantasy 4X civilization-building game is truly special. Featuring over a dozen unique civilizations vying for control over the dying planet of Auriga, Endless Legend is straight-up awesome. There's a veritable wealth of innovation on display here. From granular combat scenarios all the way to unique civilization-specific features and mechanics, Endless Legend is very clearly a labor of love. A must-play for 4X fans.

Two Point Hospital

For a long, long while, there was no hospital management sim on the market whatsoever. Two Point Hospital not only changed that in the best way possible, but it also kickstarted a "franchise" of sorts - Two Point games. The lovely team who created Two Point Hospital and its insanely amusing expansions is now working on Two Point Campus - a university management sim. From the looks of it, we're in for a Two Point world in due time. All of it neatly wrapped up in the classic Wallace & Gromit brand of humor!

Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Choosing just one Yakuza game to feature on this list was hard. Virtually all of them are unique and amazing in their own right, and ideally, you'd play them all. If we had to pick just one though, it would be Like a Dragon. It not only gives fresh players all-new mythology and a new protagonist to work with, but it also introduces a strangely enticing turn-based combat system. It's a first for the series in many ways, and most of them hit the mark. Best of all, though, is that it's very much true to classic Yakuza tropes. You'll be singing karaoke in no time, we're telling you.

New SEGA Games to Look Out For

Like a Dragon: Ishin! - February 21, 2023 Release

With just about every other Like a Dragon / Yakuza game already available on PC, perhaps it was just a matter of time before this curious offshoot got its time in the sun, too. Like a Dragon: Ishin! is an 1860s rendition of the franchise's standard grey morality crime drama. Take up arms as the era-appropriate incarnation of Kiryu himself and explore late 19th century Kyoto like never before!

Final Thoughts

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That about covers what we think matters the most about SEGA! This decades-old company has certainly had its fair share of ups and downs, but we can't help but think that they're slowly rising back to the top. And yes, Sonic the Hedgehog might no longer be quite as emblematic of the company as it once was, but even that particular mascot still has a place as a cultural icon.

Make no mistake about SEGA - they're a proper powerhouse of a game publisher. Total War, Yakuza, Persona? We're only barely scratching the surface here, but you get the gist. One thing we're extremely thrilled about is that - unlike a certain former rival of theirs - SEGA isn't intent on ignoring PC. Quite the opposite! Virtually every recent SEGA title is available on our favorite gaming platform at any given time, and that's pretty darn amazing.

We hope you learned something new about this keystone member of the industry in this article. If you're interested in reading similar content we had previously prepared, check out some of our other articles in the series:

Expect the next entry in this series soon, too! In the meantime, have a great weekend, and happy gaming.

Much as is the case in any other industry, there are some companies that you just can’t get away from. SEGA, for example, is as close to a mainstay in the gaming sandbox as it could possibly get. As we prepare the groundwork for our list of best SEGA games on PC, you too may […]