I don't really play Virtual Fighter much but a sequel could work if there is enough demand. Although I think a Fighters Megamix Sequel would work much better to get the VF characters a chance to shine, and possibly get Power Instinct, Yakuza and Bayonetta in as a Cameo for the new IPs. (Hell, ask Arc System works for the Persona Assets to use)
PDS2 would be incredible but a lot of fans are still whining for either a port or remake of PDS first. I hope we get both though.
Ristar 2 would be also incredible and I read that the director wants it to happen but I would give it to Taxman amd Co as they seem to nailed what Sonic was about.
I wish they did that but Sonic Team likely said No to that given they have some strange authority over Sonic there.
Yeah both were to blame for different oversights but looking back SoA seemed to focus more on getting EA and Western support over their own games being developed which is why I think SoJ not only got jealous of SoAs success but I heard that the CEO started attacking his own teams saying "Why are you guys not as successful as the US branch?" which started the whole us vs them mentality for both sides. It certainly seems that way after SoJ shut down STI and any Western Studios SEGA supported at the time were out of contract which is why we don't get Ecco or Vectorman on the Saturn.
I am just glad that now there is some form of synergy between the two branches and I would say that ATLUS USA have contributed to some of that by taking on SoAs role and making both ATLUS and SEGA games a moderate success without hearing of being overworked (which was my concern of the Yakuza series as ATLUS USA was a small team).
I think SEGA at the time said thy looked into why ATLUS USA was well renowned for their localisation efforts and wanted to leverage that in the future which seems to have worked well for both parties.
The SoA now (the one downsized) seems best concentrating on just making Sonic the best he can be as Aaron Webber seems to have a good handle of things there (the less said about his VC3 promise the better), trying to get Team Sonic Racing the best it could be (which I think they influenced Sumo Digital to make a Sonic only game but barebones to keep costs down, which I think is why the game didn't do so well vs Crash Team Racing).
As long as SEGA and ATLUS focus on getting their games out there and market them well then I think they have a good future ahead of them!
I think Taxman and co. could do work on a new Ristar, but no reason to keep the original dev out of it if he wants in. Plus while Sonic and Ristar have some similarities, they're pretty different. What works for Sonic might not work for Ristar (and we already know what works for Ristar doesn't quite work for Sonic i.e Sonic Unleashed on Wii in the Werehog sections, grabbing the enemies like Ristar did in his game).
Team Sonic Racing just didn't seem like the best concept IMHO; it felts like a reduction from All-Stars Racing Transformed, because that game had other non-Sonic SEGA IP covered in it, like Outrun, Space Channel 5, Panzer Dragoon etc. CTR Remake just completely outclassed TSR and it was pretty embarrassing because we know kart racers like Racing Transformed are at least on par with the best Mario Kart ones (some even preferred Racing Transformed over that gen's Mario Kart offering(s)). Hopefully they go back to the broader concept of the All-Stars series with the next installment and make sure it's loaded with a good amount of variety and content.
TBH I like your idea for a Fighters Megamix fighter better than Virtua Fighter 6; I still think there's a gap in the market for a fighter between the likes of SF/Tekken and Smash Bros, a new Fighters Megamix would be a perfect fit. And like you said, they can bring in Power Instinct, Bayonetta, Space Channel 5, Monkey Ball etc. characters in it too. They need to be planning that game out right now, opportunity would be rife around start of next-gen (say a year or two in).
Overall I think SEGA is back to a good renewed
start, but they still need a breakthrough hit IMHO. Something to put them on people's lips the way we've been seeing with Capcom and Square Enix for example. They have the potential for it but all their ducks need to be lined up in a proper row to do so. If they can get that one or two big mainstream IP hits that would also help with funding smaller initiatives and reinvigorate their public image with the larger gaming scene as a whole (who still might only associate them with mediocre Sonic games and that's it).
I think we'll be able to tell if SEGA is serious about their commitments if we start seeing some of the following:
>Streets of Rage-themed game using modified Yakuza engine, in-house
>or a Streets of Rage x Golden Axe themed game in a modified Yakuza engine, in-house
>Bring Taxman and co. (Sonic Mania team) in-house as a dev under their publishing label
>Bring in M2 as a 2nd-party dev house (basically give them the platform freedom MS gives IP like Minecraft)
>Idea being that Taxman's team and M2 could be for developing smaller-scale efforts of classic IP that wouldn't command big budgets.
A new ThunderForce or Outrun game, for example.
>New next-gen AAA IP (maybe with some throwbacks to classic IP)
>Some kind of Phantasy Star x Persona/SMT crossover game done in collaboration with Atlus
Those are the big ones. Other stuff like say a follow-up to Saga, a new All-Stars/Sonic kart racer etc. are either givens or would be icing on the cake. They cold maybe give Shinobi a revival with a bit of design cues taken from the Sekiro/Ni-oh series but splicing in-between those and the Ninja Gaiden Black games.
