The story of Shenmue begins in 1986 and centers around Ryo Hazuki, a young man who's father has been murderer. You play as Ryo and now must find the killers and avenge your father's death.

Gameplay in Shenmue is diverse; while most of the game is spent walking around the atmospheric, life-like Japanese locations in a third-person 'chase cam' mode (talking to people, searching for things, solving puzzles, and so forth), it is interspersed with many 'mini-games', including forklift and motorcycle races, bar fights, chases down crowded alleys, full versions of Sega arcade games Space Harrier and Hang-On (both originally programmed by Shenmue creator and director, Yu Suzuki), dart games, and 'free fighting' sequences. Release Date: 1999