Summer of Dreamcast

[JSR]

I really love the Dreamcast, but most of it's software lineup has been cannibalised and the better games ported to other formats (bar the original Shenmue, Soul Calibur, VF3tb etc.).

True, but if you allow that argument, all consoles pre-XBOX 360 would be pretty worthless, as all the highly regarded games have been ported or made available as digital donwloads on newer consoles. I prefer playing games on their original consoles (except the rare case where new version has some crazy FPS boost), so to me the Dreamcast has just as great game selection today, as it did ten years ago.

[sj33]

I actually slight edited my post just at the same time as you quoted from it! But yeah, that's a good point.

[nakamura]

For the record, Jet Set Radio and Capcom vs SNK are among my most treasured gaming memories.

[Neon Ignition]

From a stand point of today I guess it comes down to the experience. For me I'm not bothered about needing the original controller and hardware which is why I don't own a Snes, Megadrive, Nes or Saturn anymore and will be whittling my collection down further (partly due to practical reasons too).

[saturn-gamer]

DC controller was terrible, way too edgy finishing touch on it. Hurt my hands and got me blisters during my first weeks with it. Saturn Nights pad was superior, although I didn't really like the analogue stick on that one. And removing 2 face buttons is something I can understand. 4 is easier to comprehend for a lot of people.

But the DC sees the same fate as my Neo Geo, you don't really need to own it anymore for the games in particular. Its been whored out. Although the likes of D2, CT2, Shenmue 1... they're still exclusive. Soul Calibur was technically ported to XBLA, in downsized state mind you, and JSR will hit the current consoles soon.

[Sam The Man]

It all comes down to the fact that id rather my 5 best DC games to my 5 best PS2 games. I had way more fun with the DC than the PS2 or most other consoles iv ever owned.

[Kit]

Never really thought of it like that. My top five DC games would probably be (in no particular order):

Shenmue
Shenmue II
Jet Set Radio
Resident Evil Code Veronica
Marvel vs Capcom 2

Compared with my PS2 favourites:

Gran Turismo 3
MGS 3
Pro Evolution - still the best football game ever in my eyes.
GTA Vice City
Tekken Tag

Close call!

I cannot understand why Shenmue uses the D-pad. The whole game is 3 steps forward 5 steps back.

In seriousness though, I found the d-pad to be ok for fighters strangely but the triggers were rubbish for 6 button games.

I definitely appreciate the DC triggers more after using the PS3 ones; they are far too loose.

[nakamura]

DC triggers were good, just needed L and R buttons too.

[sj33]

I remember reading at the time that Sega were trying to go for the minimalist approach to appeal to non-gamers, though that caused a situation where the D-Pad had to double up as buttons in many cases. I don't buy the idea that 6 face buttons is too many, but if it is, you need a second lot of shoulder buttons.

[Sam The Man]

If they had released it a few years later it would of been much better but Sega had put themselves in a crap situation due to the Mega CD/32X/Saturn failure so they had to release a 128 bit system early. I'm sure if released later the pad would of had a 2nd analogue and a 2nd set of shoulder buttons. If they had got their 32 bit system right and it had lasted longer and sold more they could of launched their 128 bit system around the time of the Gamecube. based on the 98 DC setup, a 2001 system release probably would of looked something like this:

Hitachi SH5 processor with an operating frequency of 400MHz 720 MIPS/2.8 GFLOPS
ST Microelectronics Power VR3 based on the KYRO STG4500 GPU
48 - 64MB Ram
DVD format with DVD movie playback and backward compatibility with Sega's previous systems games (assuming the system was a bigger success)

They could of omitted the dial up modem and launched at ?299.99 and released a broadband modem at a later date. Of course all of this is assuming they had released a decent setup 32 bit machine and they had got more 3rd party support and split the market with Sony's PS.

[averybluemonkey]

Hard to pick just a top 5, I'd have to go for in no particular order:

1. Zero Gunner 2
2. Shenmue
3. Outtrigger
4. Virtua Fighter 3tb
5. Resident Evil: Code Veronica

Such a fantastic, varied system.

[sj33]

Difficult to pick a top 5 for the system. This is in no particular order.

1. Shenmue / Shenmue 2
2. Resident Evil: Code Veronica Complete
3. Skies of Arcadia
4. Sonic Adventure 2
5. Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2

I don't really like separating Shenmue and Shenmue 2, and I really like them both for different reasons. They're very contrasting experiences, which was the whole point. I preferred the Dreamcast version of Skies of Arcadia, the Gamecube version has inferior music quality. And while Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast has been made obsolete by Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst on the PC (which can still be played today for free on the SCHTHACK servers), the Dreamcast is where it all started.

[Kit]

Hard to pick just a top 5, I'd have to go for in no particular order:

1. Zero Gunner 2
2. Shenmue
3. Outtrigger
4. Virtua Fighter 3tb
5. Resident Evil: Code Veronica

Only picked up Virtua Fighter 3tb recently. It was interesting as a big Shenmue fan seeing the bits they cherry picked from 3TB - like the dodge move. I imagine all the clothes physics (like hats and masks falling off during combat) were incredible at the time. Also liked how you could fight on different levels of terrain like the wooden raft, and your character would adjust his stance.

3. Skies of Arcadia

I really need to check out Skies of Arcadia but I recall the game doesn't run in VGA mode. :/

Can it be forced like Dino Crisis?

[sj33]

Skies of Arcadia doesn't work in VGA even if you force it, I'm afraid. But this only effects the PAL version, the NTSC game works fine I believe. The PAL version is 50Hz-only too.

Virtua Fighter 3tb is actually my favourite in the series, though that might be because the game developed a near-messiah-like image for Sega fans during the Saturn days. The port gets slagged off for not being arcade perfect, but you really need to compare them side-by-side to see the difference.

[averybluemonkey]

Only picked up Virtua Fighter 3tb recently. It was interesting as a big Shenmue fan seeing the bits they cherry picked from 3TB - like the dodge move. I imagine all the clothes physics (like hats and masks falling off during combat) were incredible at the time. Also liked how you could fight on different levels of terrain like the wooden raft, and your character would adjust his stance.

Yeah I loved the way it affected damage output and blocking abilities too, plus the way you could only be ringed out on certain sides. When the DC first came out I went the Soul Calibur route and didn't pick this up until much later, found it unplayable and put aside for a couple of months until I got an arcade stick and then was glued to it for months. Was really disappointed when later entries in the franchise did away with the 3d environments, it added so much more depth and I liked the slower pace, had so much more strategy and tactics than Soul Calibur did. I loved the environments too, so atmospheric.