Panzer Dragoon Orta – it’s a long time since we’ve had a new entry (pic: Sega)

Another trio of classic Sega franchises are rumoured to be getting the reboot treatment, but these are not at all what you would’ve expected.

After decades of neglect there’s now genuine hope that Sega’s back catalogue of arcade and console classics will at last be getting a proper modern makeover, with Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Shinobi, and Streets Of Rage all announced as having new games on the way.

We know almost nothing about any of the reboots (or sequels or whatever they’re intended to be), except that Sega has said that other franchises will be revived in a similar way.

Recent trademark listings seem to hint at the others, but a new rumour suggests three less likely suggestions: Panzer Dragoon, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Sakura Taisen.

With the possible exception of on-the-rails shooter Panzer Dragoon, none of those are likely to be the first games that come to mind when most people think of Sega, although Sakura Taisen (aka Sakura Wars) was a popular visual novel and strategy franchise in Japan.

In Japan Sakura Taisen is just as well known for its anime and manga spin-offs as it is for the games, with the last entry from 2019 being a flop worldwide. So it’s an odd franchise to be on the short list for revival, especially as it doesn’t feature any arcade style action like the others.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is an even odder choice because it’s an anime licence and the property doesn’t belong to Sega, and the only tie-ins they ever published were four Japanese-only games on the Saturn.

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We’d ignore the rumour out of hand, because it just doesn’t sound very believable, except the information comes from Insider Gaming, who are usually reliable and claim to know that around 10 classic games have been greenlit by Sega so far, including these and the officially announced ones.

They suggest the recently discovered trademarks may indeed hint at some of the others but frankly the trademark list seems like a much more interesting selection of games, as It includes OutRun, After Burner, Altered Beast, Super Monkey Ball, Alex Kidd, The House Of The Dead, Eternal Champions, and Chameleon Kid.

If Sega wasn’t prone to making odd decisions we wouldn’t be in this position in the first place though, so maybe these newly rumoured three are on the fast-track to a reboot after all.

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Another trio of classic Sega franchises are rumoured to be getting the reboot treatment, but these are not at all what you would’ve expected.