Sega Offers Free Games On Steam For Limited Time To Commemorate 60th Anniversary

In commemoration of Sega’s 60th anniversary, the company is giving away a bunch of free games for a limited time on Steam.

Earlier this week, it was announced that popular Sega mascot Sonic the Hedgehog’s second video gaming foray, “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” is being given away for free on Steam until Oct. 19. Sega has since announced a few more titles that would be available for free on the platform.

One of the titles combines elements of a classic beat ‘em up sidescroller with a modern action-adventure role-playing game. In “Streets of Kamurocho,” old school gameplay from the 16-bit gaming days as seen in “Streets of Rage” is crossed with the gang-driven story of “Yakuza: Like a Dragon.”

Players can choose to play as either Kiryu Kazuma or Majima Goro, two characters familiar to fans of the “Yakuza” series that began in 2005. It definitely has that “Streets of Rage” feel as the characters roam the streets and hand bad guy beatings left and right.

In “Golden Axed,” players get a glimpse of what might have been had the “Golden Axe: Reborn” project pushed through approximately a decade ago. Polygon said that this was one of several 2.5D remakes, along with “Altered Beast” and “Streets of Rage,” that Sega Studios Australia was working on before it was canceled.

Up to four players can play this canceled update of Sega Genesis classic “Golden Axe.” Still set in a mystical world where magic and dragons are real, barbarians, elves, and their lot are among the playable characters who battle to meet the final boss in Death Adder.

“Streets of Kamurocho” is free to download and keep from Oct. 17 to 19 while “Golden Axed” is free only on Oct. 18. Meanwhile, from Oct. 16 to 19, Sega is also giving away “Endless Zone,” a mashup of Sega arcade classic “Fantasy Zone” and Amplitude Studios’ “Endless Universe”

From Oct. 15 to 19, multiplayer tank battle “Armor of Heroes” is also a free offering. An adaptation of the “Company of Heroes” series, there are nine game types set in four maps in this game. “Nights into Dreams” is also free on Steam over the next 60 days for users who link their accounts to their email address through Sega’s official celebration page.

It’s a pretty impressive list, especially as freebies, and it’s a small tribute to the amazing legacy that Sega has built for six decades and counting. The company may no longer be making consoles, but the games in its back catalog are sure to trigger good memories for a generation of gamers who grew up on Sega video games.