DreamingOn (Updated 18/01) - BlueStinger

[Welrain]

Only one had damage of any kind which was quite a surprise

[jamesy]

...the last level awaits ? The Final Egg.

Did you finish this then? I've still to do Amy's and Big's levels. Then it's time for the Super Sonic level.

[Welrain]

The Final Egg beckons and what fun it is. The level is much larger in scope and is actually a little challenging in places. It’s soon time to face the final boss – the Egg Viper. It seemed very hard at first but after a few lives lost the pattern of attack was clear to see. However the ultimate crime is committed when Eggmans final attack leads to instant death if you aren’t quick enough – fortunately I dodged that particular gaming joy.

With all characters complete the true finale of the game is unlocked – Super Sonic! After some lengthy plot explanation it turns out Chaos is still out there and finally manages to obtain all the chaos emeralds. Now fully powered Chaos is turned into a huge monster who lays waste to the city. Sonic also absorbs the power of the emeralds and transforms into the fearsome super sonic..on with the show.

The Super Sonic levels involves Sonic charging at speed towards Chaos…who looks like a giant jelly! Sonic, while in the possession of rings, has the ability to run on water and to defeat Chaos you must be running at top speed. All the while Chaos is firing missiles at you to slow you down and your supply of rings slowly depletes towards 0 (life lost!) although you can collect more. Unfortunately the explanation of what’s going on took longer to type that the level lasts as Chaos the jelly monster is a sissy. With Chaos returned to the side of good the game ends with lots of back patting although all seem to neglect what I assume were the thousands killed during Chaos’s attack on the city at large…oops.

Against all odds I actually really enjoyed Sonic Adventure and found the variety of different characters and hence game mechanics very refreshing. It also offers plenty of playtime (my play-through was 10hrs) as each level can be played up to 3 times with different goals each time (although I haven’t done this often) and mini-games are unlocked for direct play from the main menu. The biggest downside was that it was simply too easy and rarely presented any challenge what-so-ever. Shame.

[Welrain]

Curiously this is what many considered a must have title at the time of release but is a game I don't recall playing at all, primarily as I've never been a huge fan of  these type of racing games.  I always steered well clear of any games with wheels and gear sticks in the arcade and have never played a racing game of any sort using the manual gear option.

I've now played this several times and can't get past the second race on Normal difficulty and on Easy I've several seconds deficient of finishing the fourth and final race. My main difficulty being that I just can't get a grip of the handling, my poor co-driver spends a large amount of the race announcing "Oh No" as I slide of the track into the barriers and hedgerows.  Suffice to say when the race track becomes snow bound in one of the later tracks it's not a pretty sight at all.

However I do refuse to be beaten and will continue to practice until I can at least get round all the normal tracks after which I will dip my toes into the championship mode and see where that takes me.

[Welrain]

Dreamingon.net News:

I’m now nearly two months into the Dreaming On project and I’m enjoying it immensely. Apart from playing games lots of things have been happening in the background so here’s a quick update:

My Collection : updated to include recent purchases. I now have 137 games out of the 217 on the PAL release list!

My Video : the DreamcastRevisited channel now contains 50 videos with many more updates planned in the coming weeks.

The Dreamcast Database : As i’m collecting and posting a vast amount of information about the Dreamcast I thought it would be useful to organise this for quick reference – and the DC Database was born. At the moment there are two sections:

Games : The PAL Release List with direct links to the games information post. This will be updated as each title is referenced in Dreaming On.

Demo : The content of all the Dream On discs documented.

[Pinguliten]

Kind of funny that you guys mention the horrid camera in Blue Stinger.

I have both the Japanese version and the European and while the Japanese has the old bio hazard/resident evil type fixed cameras they apparently changed it to that annoying following camera in the European (and American?) release.

And yeah, never finished it myself, I think I'm close to the end but I sort of ended up playing Carrier instead which also sucked. Then I went back to Deep Fear on the Saturn where all people that likes SEGA aquatic horrors games should go!

[Welrain]

I really am awful at this game. I’ve played it a fare few times and can still only make it to the third race in normal difficulty. The third race is also the snow level and is utterly hideous and sees me skating about all over the place and failing to meet the checkpoints by miles and miles.



Eliot G. Ballade has been found alive and well and is keen to investigate the mystery of Dinosaur Island once more. Time is the best healer and after having a little break from the frustration I’m ready to continue, although in all lightly hood I will live to regret it.

I left Eliot struggling to return the power to the Dinosaur Island complex after spending hours collecting key cards to open the many locked doors, endlessly hacking respawning enemies to death and fighting with the hideous camera while being deafened by horrible in-game music.

Fortunately by being a bit more cautious in but a few moments then power was restored, a boss was defeated (with a magically spawning bazooka no less) and the quest was once more underway. Lured into a false sense of security by some straight forward adventuring fun I was then met with one of the top ten “most ludicrous moments in gaming”. Apart from the fact that my companion Dogs ends up dressed as Santa Claus, they somehow strike upon the idea that taking a bath is a good thing to do on a monster infested island. Cue pointless cutscene.

A few more moments of key carding action later sees poor Eliot fall sick with some terrible disease (He’s gone all purple and blotchy) as he has unfortunately swallowed something that disagrees with him (fnarr). Sadly the evening is brought to a predictable end when Eliot is quickly killed by a barely seen monster on entering a new room.




I picked up this up today from Waterstones for a bargain £10 (RRP £20). Here’s the blurb:

“In fewer than fifty years video games have become one of the most popular forms of entertainment. But which are the best games, the ones you must play? Tony Mott, editor of popular gaming magazine Edge, presents 1001 of the best video games from around the world from Donkey Kong to Doom, and from Frogger to Final Fantasy. Covering everything from old favourites to those breaking new ground, these are the games that should not be missed.”

Given the limited format it lacks depth but is a good coffee table book none the less. In the 1001 there are quite a few Dreamcast titles. All the major titles are present and correct (i.e Sonic Adventure, Space Channel 5, Shenmue, Jet Set Radio and more) plus a few less predictable entries (Typing of the Dead, Bangai-o).

[BigDeadFreak]

I got that book too. I've really enjoyed some of it and there were a few pleasant surprises (Fire Pro Wrestling Returns) but other strange choices. I know you can't please everyone with a book like this but when I looked up Codemasters there was Colin McRae Dirt 1 and 2 but no Dizzy. Also, did it really need every Mario Kart? And no Streets of Rage 2!!! or Golden Axe!!!???!!?!?!

[Welrain]

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[tokyochojin]

Sad to hear that mate, but good luck with the project! It was interesting in re-living the DC with your comments.

[Strider]

I've put the book on my Christmas list. I better ****ing get it.

[speedlolita]

The 1001 video game book?

I skimmed through in Waterstones and it had stuff like Policenauts and DoDonPachi in it so it seems pretty decent.

[Welrain]

its really quite an annoying book to read, my arms get tired as it's so heavy!

[Welrain]

I've been very quiet of late and that's not only because of the holiday session. It all linked to the appearance of a brand new website named Retro Collect:



Instead of populating my own Dreamcast Database like I have previously discussed I've joined up with Retro Collect and intend to contribute to their database and more. In the future many of the articles that would have appeared here will now appear on Retro Collect instead (Don't worry I will be bringing such things to your attention). Already you can find the Dreaming On : UK.Games.Video.Dreamcast (Sept / Oct 1999) article on Retro Collect plus Dreaming On : The Dreamcast in Print a brand new article detailing the various Dreamcast magazines. In the future expect to see retrospectives on every game that I play, more delving into the depths of UGVD, a flick through the pages of DC-UK and more, much more.

However this does not signify the end of Dreaming On. The project will continue and I will continue to write about my experiences here - with only 6 games played so far there is plenty life in the Dreaming On project.

[Welrain]

Blue Stinger



The saga continues. It’s repeat a puzzle time – poison gas has flooded the corridors and you must use a rapidly depleting oxygen supply to navigate the corridors. Yes it is almost exact copy of the freezer / heater puzzle from earlier on in the game. Puzzle solved and poor Eliot is now mutating into something well..purple. To proceed further Eliot must pass a blood test to activate the elevator. Now Dogs, a perfectly healthy companion, has been following you around all this time, but using his blood doesn’t seem to cross Eliot’s simple mind, so the quest begins. OH NO! the doors are locked and there is no way out, could this be the end for Eliot and Dogs…..

Well no, fortunately Eliot the mutant has developed the amazing ability to climb up walls! Apart from the constant fight with an irritating camera the blood and means with which to defrost it is found easily. Elevator activated and the adventure continues. Eliot hilariously then takes the time to relieve himself of a pretty luminous stream of urine before being attacked by some sort of dinosaur beast. I fully admit that I panicked here and exited the room post haste – straight into the arms of a waiting monster. Or I assume at least the monster was there as I couldn’t see it because of the bloody camera. I die. I switch off in anger

Collection Update:

My Dreamcast Collection now stands at a massive 161 titles! My most recent additions being:



In the image are : 18 Wheeler, Cannon Spike, Capcom vs SNK, Fighting Vipers 2, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Le Mans 24 Hour, Maken X, Marvel vs Capcom, Plasma Sword, Project Justice Rival Schools 2, Rez, Street Fighter III Double Impact, Street Fighter Alpha 3,Sword of the Berserk Guts Rage, Timestalkers, Tech Romancer

There are quite a few of the rarer more expensive items - Rez being the stand out - but the price I was offered was just to good to refuse.  I've added this recent purchase to the My Purchases page.  This documents every last penny I have spent on my collection but as yet doesn't take into account the 60 odd games I have to resell on ebay at some point.

RetroCollect

I've added my first review - Millennium Soldier Expendable. Visit Retrocollect.com to check it out