The Jeff Gerstmann Hall of Fame 011 (Patreon)

Rez (DC, 2001) | The Jeff Gerstmann Hall of Fame 011

UGA's Rez was released in Japan in 2001 and was pretty hotly anticipated... by me, anyway. And others in my field, for sure, I think most of us who saw Rez prior to its release simply couldn't wait to import a copy, Trance Vibrator and all. It felt like the culmination of Sega's stylistic efforts at the time, alongside games like Phantasy Star Online, Jet Set Radio, Cosmic Smash, and Space Channel 5. The Dreamcast might've been failing in the marketplace, but the company and its then-somewhat-independent studios were at a creative peak. By this point you know the rest of the story. The game might not've sold a zillion copies on the Dreamcast or PS5, but it managed to go on to be re-released as a downloadable game called Rez HD in the late 2000s, and then in 2017 we'd get Rez Infinite... an updated, 4K-ready version of the game that also included an all-new level and support for virtual reality headsets. What a world. Congratulations, you made it long enough to see a world in which Rez has reached its true potential. Now if we can just get a proper Rez sequel...