I'm raising a kitten in a cardboard box. I'm getting into street fights at 2 a.m., to the vexation of my live-in housekeeper. I'm playing Hang-On in the arcades to pass the time between one reckless encounter and the next and -- wait, is that Santa Claus?

This game is as clairvoyant and transportive as it is clunky and overambitious. Suzuki and co. put Shenmue's unprecedented budget to good use and made a gorgeous technological marvel, but some may find its languid pace and obvious age off-putting two decades later.

That said, there's truly nothing like it. If it hits, it will be impossible to forget.