‘Project Judge’ Will Feature Playable Sega Arcade Games

Earlier this month, we reported on the new game coming from the Yakuza team at Ryu Ga Gotoku studios, the mysterious detective game Project Judge. It's got a lot of potential when it comes to storytelling and fighting, and promises to be its boldest project to date -- a confident statement considering how good Yakuza 6 is.

But little did we realize that the team would be throwing in some arcade gaming bliss for good measure. Just as Shenmue did years ago with playable versions of Super Hang-On and Space Harrier, Project Judge will have at least two classic games that you can stop by and play while you're in the midst of solving mysteries.

The news comes from Famitsu, which reports that both Fighting Vipers and Motor Raid will be available via "play spots" within the game. That means you'll be able to stop by these locations, drop a token or quarter (or yen, maybe) and enjoy a few go-arounds before you get back on the case.

Fighting Vipers is a name that Sega fighting fans should be very familiar with. It made its debut in arcades back in 1995, and has since seen ports on Sega Saturn, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, featuring fighters in "breakaway" armor and enclosed arenas, where combos, counters and striking moves are the name of the game. You can see footage of the game below.

But what's more interesting is Motor Raid. We've talked about this game in the past, and it'll be the first time we've seen it on a home console. Yep, it's been out since 1997 and it's never seen a home port, not even on the Sega Dreamcast. As odd as that is, at least it's playable in Project Judge and intends to be a lot of fun, especially if it's got gameplay that's on par with what the fast-paced arcade machine offered. Footage of the game can be seen below.

Sega may announce even more games coming to Project Judge in the future. But, for now, this is pretty promising, and provides a little more to do within its gaming world. Still, if they can find room for it, we would totally play a virtual crane game for a while. Just because we need to collect all the things!

Project Judge will release in December 2019 in Japan for PlayStation 4. A Western release is expected to follow in 2019, though an exact date hasn't been provided just yet.