Retro|Spective 193: The Final Tour of Dreamcast

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, it's one of those few instances where all Sega had to do with a sequel was to refine it a little and create a new city setting or two but instead they messed with the formula. I kind of prefer CT3 over 2 though, whilst the original is king I find the NY setting of CT2 to be the blandest of the three.


Tuesdays Line Up:



Draconus: Cult of the Wyam
Made by Treyarch, this hack and slash title covering fifteen stages of action where the emphasis is placed on defense and blocking. Completion of the level sometimes lets you choose which level to tackle next as you level up throughout the campaign. It scored fairly well on release in reviews.





DUX
Released years after the end of the systems life, DUX is a horizontal shooter where the emphasis is on tactical play. Whilst a revised version was released there also exists a remake released for multiple systems including the Dreamcast that came out five years later.




El Dorado Gate
A Japanese only RPG that was ambitious in its release model despite the host system it was launching on. A new installment was released every other month with the game spanning a total of seven entries. The game saw players following twelve protagonists as the journeyed to find each other in a turn based adventure.





Elemental Gimmick Gear
Otherwise referred to as EGG. This is an action RPG with a traditional perspective that switches to 3D for battles with a tale spanning three areas.





Where you ever EGG'd on into playing any of these?

[Yakumo]

D2 was awesome. Love that game. Played and completed the Japanese version 4 times. The texture work is also remarkable for a 1st gen Dreamcast title.

[Neon Ignition]

Mid-week offerings:


Floigan Bros.
A late release on the system, this game has two brothers star where the player controls one of them. Players solve puzzles to find parts that are lost in their junkyard. The game was very short which hurt its sales chances and given its late release it died but the intent was for it to have simple DLC on a regular basis and new installments released with new scenarios on a regular basis, this was the only one to launch and was never ported elsewhere.





Frame Gride
A system exclusive via FROMSOFTWARE, this was a mech fighting game that supported single player, two player and online and was well received but the servers were shut down as soon as the system exited the market.






Godzilla Generations
One of the systems launch titles, this set the players to task on destroying a city as one of five monsters from the famed franchise. Amid limited options the game performed well enough to get an expanded follow up on the system.





Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes
A first person action title, players take the POV of the cockpit of a mech and also command two squadmates, this entry into the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise was also intended to host multiple titles but the systems demise ended the sub-franchise.





Did you enjoy games like Gundam or did the four above just make you think damn?

[QualityChimp]

I laughed at the DC for having a bunch of lame-o launch titles like a ropey Godzilla game or glorified Gundam demo.

I'd bloody love these or a Pen-Pen Tri-icelon at the moment as there's still nothing new and exclusive on the current gen beasts since they launched last November!

[monel]

Floigan bros. was pretty bad I think and over very quickly. Gundam Side Story was good at the time and recommended by many people. Havent seen how it is in years.

[samanosuke]

Godzilla Generations

…the game performed well enough…

You’re taking the p*ss, mate.

[Asura]

Frame Gride
A system exclusive via FROMSOFTWARE, this was a mech fighting game that supported single player, two player and online and was well received but the servers were shut down as soon as the system exited the market.

Anyone play this? I always wanted to try it, but it was an expensive import.

Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes
A first person action title, players take the POV of the cockpit of a mech and also command two squadmates, this entry into the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise was also intended to host multiple titles but the systems demise ended the sub-franchise.

This game I loved, and still do when I get the chance to play it, for the simple reason that it's the only Gundam game which really made an effort to do this that got translated into English, i.e. give you a proper cockpit view. Nearly all Gundam games are third-person, or if they're first-person, they just give you a very generic nose-cam which doesn't show all the cockpit stuff, but I found this game really immersive. I loved also how you had team-mates and to play it effectively you had to work as a team.

[Neon Ignition]

Friday Feeling with:


Illbleed
Spread across six stages this survival horror game saw players trying to survive traps and enemies whilst saving and recruiting other characters they could then play as. The game wasn't well received but its janky b-movie stylings eventually saw it attract a small following.




L.O.L: Lack of Love
Taking on the role of a creature on an alien world, players tackle a non-linear game where they are tasked with communicating wither other creatures in order to help the creature evolve. The game has little in the way of a language barrier but still never made it outside of Japan.




The Lost Golem
A puzzle game where players guide a King to safety, only 500 copies were ever made making this one of the rarest titles on the system.

[Tobal]

You missed Fire Pro Wrestling D, in the 'F's. Also one the few dreamcast games to have extensive DLC in 37+ download moves and then have the fanbase make new moves until years later the next sequel comes out of the blue as Returns on the PS2.

[Neon Ignition]

Oddly that one doesn't come up on the list I'm referring to, possible it's connected to another title as I've noticed expansions/sequels etc seem not to get their own entry sometimes.


Monday means more!


Metropolis Street Racer
No longer talked about in the same way it once was due to how the following PGR entries took over the conversation, this original game is unmistakenly part of the same series with its cities and Kudos earning racing providing a racing experience that was exceptional and a high bar on Sega's console.




Mortal Kombat Gold
In a way this release is a bit of a stretch as Mortal Kombat 4 was available on other formats, however this Gold edition remains locked to the Dreamcast and offers one of the better ports of the game (though still with issues) with added stages and fighters.





Nanatsu no Hikan: Senritsu no Bisho
A sequel to a PS1/Saturn title, this survival horror game was fairly typical of the genre but only released in Japan after a western release was cancelled. The game is notable mostly for an early attempt at including a multiplayer option.





Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream
Released only in Japan, a fan translation patch was released two years ago allowing western players to properly experience this 2.5D title developed by a female led team. Players explore a 3D hub and complete levels and bosses in this platformer.




What are your memories of this latest line up?

[dvdx2]

Some nice Japanese games that I really enjoyed - which a lot of people haven’t played

Vermillion Desert
Zusar Vaser
Power jet racing 2001
Panzer front

[Yakumo]

Anyone play this? I always wanted to try it, but it was an expensive import.

Played this a lot back in the day. Its a very nice looking game with plenty of custom options however the game is very stiff compared to Virtual On. I just couldn't get on with how it controlled and in From Software tradition, it's bloody hard.
I'm very surprised to hear it is expensive in the West. In Japan it has always been one of the cheaper games. I also own a sample version which has a few different features due to it being a beta release.

[Yakumo]

Oddly that one doesn't come up on the list I'm referring to, possible it's connected to another title as I've noticed expansions/sequels etc seem not to get their own entry sometimes.


Monday means more!


Metropolis Street Racer
No longer talked about in the same way it once was due to how the following PGR entries took over the conversation, this original game is unmistakenly part of the same series with its cities and Kudos earning racing providing a racing experience that was exceptional and a high bar on Sega's console.]

at the time this was being worked on, I would have often visit Bizarre Creations studio. This game was originally called Project Gothem but had a name change. I remember seeing early work on the title and also being involved in a discussion for a game which became that FPS they made. Man, that was so cool. Their main programmer was a guy called Walter. I remember him studying Outrun on my Saturn to see how the 60fps feature worked.

[Asura]

at the time this was being worked on, I would have often visit Bizarre Creations studio. This game was originally called Project Gothem but had a name change. I remember seeing early work on the title and also being involved in a discussion for a game which became that FPS they made. Man, that was so cool. Their main programmer was a guy called Walter. I remember him studying Outrun on my Saturn to see how the 60fps feature worked.

That's weird. I knew the guys at Bizarre too and I heard a different story.

I was told that Metropolis Street Racer was so-called because the name kinda made sense, but PGR was so-called because, during development, they used the codename "Project Gotham" because it was the follow-up to "Project Metropolis", and by the time they got a fair way into development the name had kinda stuck.

But I was talking to someone in PR, so that story may have been revisionist, i.e. meant to be something people re-printed in magazines as a curio, rather than actually true.

Played this a lot back in the day. Its a very nice looking game with plenty of custom options however the game is very stiff compared to Virtual On. I just couldn't get on with how it controlled and in From Software tradition, it's bloody hard.
I'm very surprised to hear it is expensive in the West. In Japan it has always been one of the cheaper games. I also own a sample version which has a few different features due to it being a beta release.

It's probably not expensive now; just it was at the time. Then again nearly all the DC games were expensive at my local importers, as it was pretty new.

[Neon Ignition]

The name Project Gotham has always been a weird one, I get for Xbox the name became well known in previews etc but it was always a terrible and meaningless title for MS to have stuck with. That being said, it remains utterly criminal that MS allowed the franchise to slip away. Despite how great Horizon is I'd still happily accept a Project Gotham Racing 5 today.