A motorcycle against the clock, a fighter jet with missiles to spare, and a stock car heading for the next bend. Sega had plenty of ways to persuade you that one more credit was a perfectly sensible idea. Here are six stops through that corner of the Retro Replay archive, from the games to the people and preservation work around them.

The Complete History of Sega’s Arcade Empire: Yu Suzuki, OutRun and the 3D Revolution

Start with The Complete History of Sega’s Arcade Empire: Yu Suzuki, OutRun and the 3D Revolution for the noisy, expensive business behind those cabinets. The story follows Sega from its amusement roots through Yu Suzuki’s machines and the polygon racers that made a trip to the arcade hard to resist. There is room for the composers and rival teams too, because those famous games were never the work of one person.

Hang-On

The checkpoint is coming, the timer is nearly gone, and there is still another rider in your way. Hang-On turns that little emergency into a whole game, asking you to judge bends and traffic without wasting the seconds you need for the next stretch. It is a good place to begin if you prefer your arcade racing stripped down to the chase.

Space Harrier

Trade the motorcycle for a cannon and a landscape charging straight at you. Space Harrier takes the rush of Sega’s arcade shooters into a much stranger fantasy, with airborne enemies and obstacles competing for your attention. Our database entry sits under Amiga, so keep that home-conversion context in mind when browsing the review.

After Burner

After Burner swaps the fantasy scenery for a jet fighter and a screen full of incoming trouble. Locking on, firing missiles and steering through the next wave leave very little room for a quiet moment. Put it beside Space Harrier and you can see two very different fantasies built around the pleasure of hurtling forward.

Daytona USA

If all that flying has you missing the road, Daytona USA brings the checkpoint chase back to racing. The database review also discusses the home conversions, while the Sega history feature supplies the wider arcade story. Between them, there is plenty to revisit before deciding whether that next corner really needs quite so much speed.

MAME

The cabinets will not last forever, which is where MAME enters the conversation. Our profile covers the project’s preservation goals, its history, and the practical steps involved in getting started with your own legally obtained game files. It is a useful next read after the Sega feature, rather than a promise that every machine behaves identically in emulation.

Which Sega arcade game would you put at the start of this trail, and would you choose the original cabinet or a favourite home conversion?