The fucking Dreamcast

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By popular demand, a Dreamcast thread appears. All things Dreamcast here. I always wanted one, never got one. I hired one from Blockbuster for the weekend and thought it was the shit. I keep getting tempted  to pick one up on ebay, but from what i've read the CD drives can be a bit hit and miss. Would really like to play the first Shenmue though, loved the sequel.

So, Sega's swansong, a decent bit of kit, decent games, ahead of its time, a commercial failure. DISCUSS.

[HappyTree]

He was blond, he was Swedish, he was living in France. He had a Dreamcast and showed me his collection. The rest is a blur. But I got flashbacks to these moments of ecstasy when playing Shenmue II on the Xbox. I await the 3rd installment. I believe, I believe!

[wasp_f15ting]

He was blond, he was Swedish, he was living in France. He had a Dreamcast and showed me his collection. The rest is a blur. But I got flashbacks to these moments of ecstasy when playing Shenmue II on the Xbox. I await the 3rd installment. I believe, I believe!

Oh fuck I got chills reading this.. yes! on the dreamcast when you arrive at the wall city of Kowloon.. nothing has hit my like that.. as the bus drives up the hill and you enter the gates.. all those NPCs each with something to say. Then there is that bit when you chase Shenhua around.. The music.. the characters the over the top design is all so amazing.

If you have never watched the "Welcome to Kowloon" look at this.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=iFBDHAeu-kA#t=86

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This video has some nice stuff on Shenmue, and I laughed at the sketch at the end.

[hedgehog90]

I have good memories of playing my brother's Dreamcast.
I'd sneak into his room in the early morning while he was still asleep and try and play Shenmue without waking him up, but when you turned it on it did this long beep and the fan was SO LOUD... so wake him up I did, every time.
I fucking loved Shenmue.
Me and my brother would repeat classic bits of dialogue to each other like "mm hmm", "oh this one again" and "do you know where I can find any sailors?"
I played it again a few months ago and it's still pretty great. The dialogue is hilariously bad, but the rest of it still holds up.
It runs just fine on an emulator, although it did crash a couple times...
In summation, play Shenmue 1. Its way better than Shenmue 2.

Sonic adventures 1 and 2 were good... Crazy Taxi was alright if you can put up with Sum 41 played on repeat. Can't think of anything else worth bothering with tbh.

I have good memories of the Dreamcast but compared to the PS2 It it was pretty shite wasn't it?

[Guy]

Get out.

[hedgehog90]

You know I'm right.

Shite.

[Guy]

"yeah I remember having a lot of fun with this can't remember any of the games though it was shit"

[samadriel]

Skies of Arcadia remains my favourite JRPG to this day.  Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Street Fighter 3 Third Strike were great fun also.  I never got to play Chu Chu Rocket, which is a shame because I loved the ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga62uiXbEjI  Neko wa kowai!

[Jerzy Bondov]

The Dreamcast was the golden age of quotable bad dialogue. There was Shenmue of course, and I quite frequently repeat lines from Crazy Taxi when driving ('wow, I didn't expect to get here so fast!', 'you suck, look at the time!', and obviously 'HEY HEY IT'S TIME TO MAKE SOME CRAZY MONEY, ARE YA READY?! HERE WE GO!!'), but the king is and always will be The House of the Dead 2. Suffer like G did?

[Phil_A]

The Dreamcast was the golden age of quotable bad dialogue. There was Shenmue of course, and I quite frequently repeat lines from Crazy Taxi when driving ('wow, I didn't expect to get here so fast!', 'you suck, look at the time!', and obviously 'HEY HEY IT'S TIME TO MAKE SOME CRAZY MONEY, ARE YA READY?! HERE WE GO!!'), but the king is and always will be The House of the Dead 2. Suffer like G did?

Oh yes. Goldman from HOTD2 has to be one on the strangest attempts at mimicking actual human speech I've ever heard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAWxw0wmeNQ

I only got around to finishing the first Shenmue recently. I think my favourite supporting character has to be Goro, the comedy greaseball that gets you the job at the harbour. He even has his own wacky theme music!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_hOvaseByc

"WHAAAAT'S HAAAAAAAAPPENING BROOOOOOOOO?"

[madhair60]

The only controller ever to draw actual blood from my hands.

The startup sequence gives me a huge nostalgic erection. Power Stone.

[Benevolent Despot]

I think the Dreamcast is my favourite physical object.

To this end I regularly check up on http://www.thedreamcastjunkyard.co.uk for DC updates and retrospection.

I have also come across other committed individuals like the proprietor of Shenmue Dojo http://www.shenmuedojo.net/ who does such nice things as rip every single piece of music from the game and uploading it for us poor nostalgic fools.

He also creates mind-bogginly mad uploads like this video of nearly 5 hours of Ryo's dialogue from Shenmue. You should listen only if you wish to induce madness and/or hilarity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJO_GhntI58

I'd sneak into his room in the early morning while he was still asleep and try and play Shenmue without waking him up, but when you turned it on it did this long beep and the fan was SO LOUD... so wake him up I did, every time.

Replace the VMU battery you fool.

[Consignia]

I absolutely loved it as a console. It was full of top notch arcade games thanks to it using a similar architecture to Sega's Naomi arcade platform. I've frequently said how Crazy Taxi is one of my favourite games of all time. Four player sessions of Powerstone 2 are unmatchable in terms of fun. I actually enjoyed tennis thanks to Virtua Tennis. Mavis Becon had nothing on Typing of the Dead.

Lot's of brill beat 'em-ups on it as well. Marvel Vs. Capcom series, Soul Calibur, Dead or Alive 2, Capcom Vs. Snk. Monster.

The VMUs were bit useless though, weren't they? It took 127 of I think 200 memory blocks to have any of their portable games in them, and the batteries never lasted long. Nice concept, and they did attempt to make is standard unlike the PocketStation.

I could go on for ages, but I'll stop. I'm in danger of pulling my old system out and crashing on nostalgia.

[NoSleep]

The DC is very good for emulation. A bit of a learning curve getting the CDs on my computer to work in the DC (especially as I use a Mac; much more support and options for PC owners), but I can now play MAME, SNES & NES games on it.

There's also the ongoing project to bypass the CD drive (at some point this may be the weak link in the chain) via an external SD card - Dreamshell. Some people seem to have got this working, but I've yet to have any joy (although my CD drives - I have two DCs - are still going strong).

It's still possible to browse the web with a DC. It comes equipped with a dial-up modem, but broadband adapters are available on the s/h market, although they maintain a high value, due to their relative rarity.

Why would you need to connect to the internet? Well, for one, some clever bods have reverse engineered the Phantasy Star Online server software and set up their own, although this news is somewhat overshadowed by the new PSO2 game (when it finally arrives in the west - already going strong in the far east).

[wasp_f15ting]

Oh god.. this thread. I am going to one a drunken night end up buying a dreamcast and mint copies of Shenmue.

Soul Calibur was so deep compared to other shotters.. does anyone else remember the resi evil clone blue-stinger.

I need to find a 4:3 monitor to play this on..

[Hangthebuggers]

God yeah - Shenmue I and II were great games and as mentioned the soul calibur game.

That's it. A lot of other dreamcast games were poo.

[Guy]

I quite frequently repeat lines from Crazy Taxi when driving ('wow, I didn't expect to get here so fast!', 'you suck, look at the time!', and obviously 'HEY HEY IT'S TIME TO MAKE SOME CRAZY MONEY, ARE YA READY?! HERE WE GO!!')

The best dialogue couplet from Crazy Taxi:

- "I need to get to the hospital"
- "It's party time!!"

[The Masked Unit]

My first experience of using the web at home was via the Dreamcast so for that reason it'll always have a special place in my heart. Absolutely revolutionised my wanking.

Oh yeah, loved Soul Reaver as well when I could get my dick soft enough to play it.

[eggbabysupremacy]

My first experience of using the web at home was via the Dreamcast so for that reason it'll always have a special place in my heart. Absolutely revolutionised my wanking.

Likewise. Even the onanism element. Chu Chu Rocket must have the been the first game I ever played online. I can't quite remember the specifics but it had to do with turning a lot of arrows around to some end. Lovely console.

[Consignia]

Chu Chu Rocket must have the been the first game I ever played online. I can't quite remember the specifics but it had to do with turning a lot of arrows around to some end.

I think it was used to encourage online gameplay, that's why it was free. However, it's was a brilliant local multiplayer game as well. "Ah you bastard, you got sent that bloody cat into my rocket again."  I think the Dreamcast was my favourite system for local multiplayer.

There's also tons of nice oddities on the system as well. Did anyone have a bash at Seaman?



Probably not that great to actually play, but looked interesting to say the least.

[Thursday]

My first experience of using the web at home was via the Dreamcast so for that reason it'll always have a special place in my heart. Absolutely revolutionised my wanking.

Oh yeah, loved Soul Reaver as well when I could get my dick soft enough to play it.

Considering Soul Reaver was a PS1 game, it was ridiculously ambitious for it's day.There's a long post here about just how much had to be cut - mainly because of deadlines - if you're interested. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=488564

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Just ahead of its time and underappreciated.

I was so annoyed at it being shunned at the time, but sadly making a great machine that can do new things doesnt help when you have no industry support, no money, and your audience are a bunch of pitiful cretins still buying games for a console that came out in 1995.

Yeah I'm bitter what of it! I'll twat you.

[lazyhour]

Jet Set Radio
Samba De Amigo
Rayman 2
Mr Driller
Virtua Tennis
Resident Evil Code Veronica
Sonic Adventure 1 & 2
Capcom vs SNK
Crazy Taxi
Shenmue
The Typing of the Dead
Soul Calibur
Rez
Quake III Arena
The House of the Dead 2
Marvel vs Capcom
Space Channel 5

...yes, I would say the Dreamcast was pretty effing good and criminally underrated. When in Japan I managed to pick up the Typing of the Dead keyboard, Samba de Amigo maracas and House of the Dead gun. Also the Pop n' Music game and controller, but that was a bit shit.

[NoSleep]

I originally bought a DC just to play the Shenmue games and it was the right time to get more games and accessories very cheaply and easily as Game and/or Electronics Boutique were still providing shelf space for the platform, despite its demise. So ended up with a bunch of games, keyboard & mouse (to play Quake3), controllers and VMs. It was on the DC that I first ventured online at home.

One of the games I tried out was Sega Bass Fishing, which has turned out to be a favourite, but I don't see anyone else having the same fascination in this game; there's little written about it online, no walkthroughs or game tips, etc.

I thought I'd mention this as this thread has inspired me to finally purchase the DC Fishing Rod.

"There's a big one close by!"

"That's HUGE!!!"

[Benevolent Despot]

I had the keyboard and indulged in some of my first trolling as I chased girls around in the Phantasy Star Online lobbies being rude to them.

I have downloaded this intriguing game from the Dreamcast ISO zone and hope to play it soon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pARffij0KaA

[lazarou]

This thread inspired me to get my third Dreamcast (lost one to a move and another to drive failure), so cheers for that. Firing it up again, I'm genuinely glad I did. It perfectly marks that sweet spot where we finally got an "Arcade at home" experience, just before things spun off in another direction entirely.

I keep getting tempted  to pick one up on ebay, but from what i've read the CD drives can be a bit hit and miss.

They're not so bad, but it's definitely worth spending the 10-20 quid extra to get one in a decent condition. Besides the CD drives, they tend to yellow badly much like SNESes do. There are ways to fix that, but it's a lot less hassle to spend more upfront and get something that doesn't look and act like it's been used as an ashtray for the last ten years. PS1s and 2s are actually worse for Drive failures in my experience, as people played the hell out of them for their entire generation and the used market is full of systems that are absolutely fucked.

One of the games I tried out was Sega Bass Fishing, which has turned out to be a favourite, but I don't see anyone else having the same fascination in this game; there's little written about it online, no walkthroughs or game tips, etc.

I thought I'd mention this as this thread has inspired me to finally purchase the DC Fishing Rod.

"There's a big one close by!"

"That's HUGE!!!"

I got the two Sega fishing games and a rod thrown in with the bundle I got, having never played them before. I have to agree, they're tremendous fun. Sega Marine Fishing is probably the one to get, as it's got vastly more content and an excellent mini-game/unlocking system to keep your attention while teaching you the ropes.

A couple of lesser-known titles that are worth a look:

Dynamite Cop 2 - Sequel to the excellent Die Hard Arcade, one of the best 3d scrolling beat 'em ups, with an endearing sense of weaponised daftness where you beat your opponents around the head with anything from fish to nukes. Short-lived and not quite as good as the original, but still worth a shot. I think if someone tried to release a thirty quid game you could finish in an hour these days, people would probably have them lynched.

Cannon Spike - Ground-based multi-directional blaster with an odd character roster (Cammy? Arthur from Ghoul and Ghosts?) and the kind of moderately shocking pricetag the remaining DC exclusives command these days. You'll miss a twin stick option, but it plays well regardless.

Confidential Mission - Essentially a Virtua Cop sequel with a James Bond makeover, and one of the best lightgun shooters ever made. As with most old gun games, it won't work with non-CRT TVs, booo :(

I-Spy: Operation Espionage - A turn-based spy game that doesn't come together as well as it could, but does some interesting stuff nonetheless. Probably more interesting from a wanky design standpoint, as it's the kind of thing someone's eventually going to nail completely and make an amazing game out of, if they can file off the clunkier edges.

Maken-X - Stylish sci-fi first-person swordfighting that's well worth a punt.

And they've been mentioned before, but Jet Set Radio and especially Space Channel 5 are an absolute joy.

[madhair60]

I have the third-person PS2 remake of Maken X, "Maken Shao: The Demon Sword".  It's not very good.

Edit: Also, I have a complete PAL copy of Cannon Spike.  Am I rich now?

[lazarou]

I have the third-person PS2 remake of Maken X, "Maken Shao: The Demon Sword".  It's not very good.

Yeah, I had that too on PS2, didn't get on with that version at all. The half-assed third person switch hobbles it quite badly. The original's not a masterpiece by any stretch, but it's at least a fair bit better than that.

Edit: Also, I have a complete PAL copy of Cannon Spike.  Am I rich now?

Well, richer than you'd be with an old copy of Sega Rally 2 or something at least. Decent NTSC copies go for around $80-100-ish last I checked. PAL prices might be different though.

[Jerzy Bondov]

Yeah look here's some German lad selling complete PAL Cannon Spike for a hundred knicker. Well done madhair.

Some shit took my Shenmue II and still has it. I'm waiting for a Shenmue HD Collection, what the fuck is going on. I'd cry if they put that out.

In conclusion, Grandia II owned.