Retro Arena: Dreamcast Racers

[Team Andromeda]

I loved SEGA GT, right down the rumble as the engine revs up on the loading screen. Have no idea what the issue with Code Veronica was it worked fine on my system . Virtual Athlete was a shocker, more so after the brilliant Decathlete and Winter Heat on the Saturn the looked rubbish and wasn't a patch on the Saturn versions

[dataDave]

PAL DC Code Veronica is 50hz only. I don't remember such problems with the import versions. I played the Japanese release over VGA myself.

[Leon Retro]

Just remembered I imported Sega GT as well, but it was pap as was the VMU game as well.

My memories of Sega GT are a bit of a blur, but I know I didn't like it for various reasons. So I haven't played it much.

Trickstyle!

MSR felt like a modern racer. It felt better, smoother and worked so well with the controls. And it looked amazing.

Yeah, it was a game that showcased what that generation of console hardware was all about. The physics and controls felt more advanced, the graphics were far beyond what you'd get on the PS1, and the overall package felt fresh and new.

It then got a score of 5 in Edge magazine, which is what most of the Dreamcast customers seemed to be reading at that time, a score which killed the sales of the game for us. We were left with about 280 copies of a game which had cost us about £40 per copy.

That really is bad luck.

[Dogg Thang]

By the way, Leon these threads are great! Even when I don’t post in them (usually due to not knowing the games so well) I’m really enjoying reading them.

[Leon Retro]

By the way, Leon these threads are great! Even when I don’t post in them (usually due to not knowing the games so well) I’m really enjoying reading them.

I'm glad you enjoy reading through them. I like how it stirs up debate and general conversation, so you end up learning a thing or two, and it can inspire exploration of games you haven't played, or didn't give a proper chance back in the day.

Cheers!

[Team Andromeda]

I remember thinking the graphics were nice, and it played quite well, but it didn't grab me in the same way the original had on the Saturn. I think the feel of Sega Rally gelled with me more.

Once I got over the letdown of the strange controls and the WinCE gfx and the placeholder debris dust trail and water effects. I fell in love with the 10 Championship mode and loved the extra extensions to the courses and the new courses and just thought it was some incredible course design

If the game wasn't rushed out and the game used code to the metal and none of the Win CE crap, This could have been a real system seller imo

[Neon Ignition]

Sega Rally 2 - Was okay for a short while but felt ropey and like a poor relation to the original

F355 Challenge - I can appreciate the arcade machine but this honestly always left me feeling cold

Le Mans 24 Hours - Never bothered with this one

Sega GT - This was a fairly respectable attempt from Sega, it looked lovely and was a decent enough distraction

4 Wheel Thunder - Another one where it needed to be in the arcade to hold attention

Tokyo Highway Challenge 2 - Only played it a little bit, I think I was just too distracted by all the other DC releases

Metropolis Street Racer - The king, looked great, played great and was great. Easily the best of the list.

Daytona USA 2001 - Soft spot for this as per the R|S thread though I get the irritation arcade fans had

[dvdx2]

Sega Rally 2 - decent racer, let down by a ropey frame rate, playable enough though

F355 Challenge - nice technical sim, but too hard to be fun - killer soundtrack though!

Le Mans 24 Hours - played this for a good bit; good looking game through VGA, nice lighting effects

Sega GT - thought this was going to be the dc's GT, but ultimately boring as hell - wayyy overhyped

4 Wheel Thunder - played for a very short period of time and i thought it was abit rubbish

Tokyo Highway Challenge 2 - Fantastic, atmospheric reconstruction of the shutokuo C1 ring (and more), highly addictive - rockin ost too

Metropolis Street Racer - good racer, but i remember it full of bugs - havent played this in years. Always though PGR was better

Daytona USA 2001 - the handling isnt quite right, but its a playable daytona with lots of extras

[Asura]

How much is Sega GT like the Xbox game which bore that name?

I had that one. Weirdly I think I still have a copy of it kicking around. For a while there was an Xbox offer where you got the machine with that and Jet Set Radio Future as a double-pack, and I bought that.

[Cepp]

Le Mans was amazing, iirc you can actually run a full 24 hour race MSR was mind blowing at the time and I have a soft spot for F355 Challenge. Tokyo Highway Challenge 2 is great but my favourite DC racing game is Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer. It's not exclusive but it's the one I still play to this day.

[Team Andromeda]

How much is Sega GT like the Xbox game which bore that name?

I had that one. Weirdly I think I still have a copy of it kicking around. For a while there was an Xbox offer where you got the machine with that and Jet Set Radio Future as a double-pack, and I bought that.

Nothing at all. The XBox game was started from the ground up and feels and plays completely different. Imo the XBox game was the finest racer of that gen.

[Atticus]

Yeah, 2002 was a much better game. I still have the JSRF/Sega GT 2002 split disc, fully 360 compatible too

[Leon Retro]

Once I got over the letdown of the strange controls and the WinCE gfx and the placeholder debris dust trail and water effects.

It was just too clunky for my liking. I loved Sega Rally on the Saturn, so an extension of that with nicer graphics would have made me happy.

If the game wasn't rushed out and the game used code to the metal and none of the Win CE crap, This could have been a real system seller imo

It's a shame that Virtua Fighter 3 and Sega Rally 2 weren't system sellers. At least Sonic Adventure wowed people and sold the system. The 'killer apps' during the first wave, were definitely Soul Calibur and Sonic Adventure.

F355 Challenge - I can appreciate the arcade machine but this honestly always left me feeling cold

I can see why people didn't get much fun out of F355, because it's a difficult, punishing game. But the stunning graphics drew me in and made me want to get good at it. Once I had eventually mastered the game, it was a lot of fun to play through.

F355 Challenge - nice technical sim, but too hard to be fun - killer soundtrack though!

Le Mans 24 Hours - played this for a good bit; good looking game through VGA, nice lighting effects

4 Wheel Thunder - played for a very short period of time and i thought it was abit rubbish

I like soft/hair metal, so F355's music was fun in a cheesy way. But I can see why it annoyed some people.

Le Mans has really nice lighting effects - and runs really fast, so it really felt special back in the day.

4 Wheel Thunder was a simple arcade racer. The graphics looked quite nice, and it ran well, so I got some fun out of it.

but my favourite DC racing game is Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer. It's not exclusive but it's the one I still play to this day.

Yeah, it's the best version. But as much as I like it, I always felt it wasn't enough of a technical upgrade over the N64 version. It just felt like a hi-res N64 game.



Sega should have ported the arcade version made by AM5 & LucasArts.

[Team Andromeda]

Yeah, 2002 was a much better game. I still have the JSRF/Sega GT 2002 split disc, fully 360 compatible too

Here's a nice interview with the director of SEGA GT 2002 explaining some of the differences . Have to say the Car models and lighting effects still look great and I loved the Depth of field effect on the replays

[Team Andromeda]

It was just too clunky for my liking. I loved Sega Rally on the Saturn, so an extension of that with nicer graphics would have made me happy.

It's a shame that Virtua Fighter 3 and Sega Rally 2 weren't system sellers. At least Sonic Adventure wowed people and sold the system. The 'killer apps' during the first wave, were definitely Soul Calibur and Sonic Adventure.

SEGA Rally II could have been a system seller if it wasn't rushed out and it was coded to the metal using Set 5 development kits. If DC Sega Rally II had the visuals of the Arcade version, the head to head online player of the Japanese version. It would have been a winner

VF 3TB was ace and is a brilliant fighter, but sadly the internet myth grew and grew that it wasn't Arcade perfect, when it was like 99% perfect. But the more somthing is said on the internet and repated the more people think its true