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Retro|Spective X03: Dreamcast

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    #31
    Originally posted by S3M View Post
    Much as I loved the Dreamcast, it never felt as good as the Saturn in terms of game output. It also launched a tad too early in Japan, meaning that the hardware wasn't as powerful as it could have been against the coming systems. Partly its early launch I suspect is one reason it failed in Japan and didn't get anywhere close to Saturn sales in Japan.
    I don't think it had anything to do with going early (the Saturn was dead on its feet even in Japan) or power. Sega Japan messed up the launch with not enough units. SOJ had over 500,000 pre-orders and on its launch, could only manage to meet just over 100,000 thanks to issues with Power VR piss!ng off over 400,000 users

    If SEGA had been able to meet its 500,000 pre-orders I think it would have been very different (but not enough to save the DC) I think with the Hardware issues many in Japan just said screw SEGA, I'll stick with the PS and wait for the PS2

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      #32
      The other thing, though subjective, is that whilst I probably would agree on the Saturn having the better final line up of games I felt the SS was fairly rear loaded with its finest hours coming later in its life which the DC was always denied. To own whilst both still live and active systems I felt the DC's 18 months was a better experience as an owner than the SS's first 18 months.

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        #33
        I didn't play a Dreamcast until relatively recently (2014), when I tried it at a retro games show and they had a table with several consoles running some of their shooters like Trizeal, Ikaruga and Zero Gunner 2.

        The lovely, lovely [MENTION=7818]Malc[/MENTION] gave me his Dreamcast (this forum rocks, such generous people!) and I endeavoured to play a few games I'd always wanted to.

        Ironically, I struggled with Shenmue as the DC only has one analogue stick and constantly wanted to move the camera around.
        I played and Ace Combatesque game, but can't remember if it's Dark Skies or Air Force Delta, that was also fun, but I yearned for a 2nd stick.

        However, the shooters are sublime, especially Zero Gunner 2, which is so much fun and is basically a load of transformers boss battles.


        Need to try some others from the NTSC-UK official list of Dreamcast shmups!
        Last Hope, Gunbird and Gigawing look my bag, baby.

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          #34
          Add Sturmwind to that list QC. I'm not sure it had a lot of fans here but I thought it was brilliant, it's a real shame it's never made it to PSN, though luckily I have it on my RPi set up.

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            #35
            I agree, Sturmwind is one of the greatest shooters you can pick up on the dreamcast , the techno euro pop music aint that bad either if you like that kind of thing and you can still pick up the reprint from Pixelheart. Double bonus. Its no easy shooter either so you get your money out of it and it had a high score table that you could put your code in and see where you were in the world.

            To be fair , there is so many good indi games out on the dc and still coming out that the dream will never end.

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              #36
              Originally posted by Colin View Post
              I'm not sure it had a lot of fans here but I thought it was brilliant,
              I think it's a load of.... brilliance! A huge pile of... greatness.

              Easily my favourite shoot 'em up for the Dreamcast -- it has excellent graphics, clever design, and satisfying gameplay. Not forgetting really good music and sfx. It really shows up how bland and uninspired a lot of modern era shooters are. The developer put a lot of care and attention into crafting a shooter that easily stands proud with the genre's best.

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                #37
                Yeah, that looks cool, thanks!

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                  #38
                  I was late to the party.

                  Bought my DC pre-owned from a tiny independent the week after SEGA announced they were canning it.

                  Meant I got a hell of a deal!

                  Had a decent amount of fighters and shooters until I needed the cash and sold it all.

                  Deeply regret doing that as things like Trigger Heart Excelica I bought in Tokyo and go for even sillier money now than back then.

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                    #39
                    Loved the DC at the time. Powerstone, Ready2Rumble, Soul Calibur, Hydro Thunder, Trick Style, Metropolis Racer, Sega Bass Fishing, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5 and Jet Grind Radio were all games I bought as soon as I could. It was fantastic for "great for a quick blast" games.

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                      #40
                      Originally posted by QualityChimp View Post

                      However, the shooters are sublime, especially Zero Gunner 2, which is so much fun and is basically a load of transformers boss battles.

                      That game must have pushed the DC to its limits.

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                        #41
                        Well Joshprod is doing it again this time with Gradius on the dc due out at xmas ...



                        the dc just keeps on giving

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                          #42
                          Originally posted by QuantumLeap View Post
                          {YOUTUBE}https://youtu.be/-nwOZZZnPfc {/YOUTUBE}
                          Hi [MENTION=16833]QuantumLeap[/MENTION],
                          If you want YouTube links to work, just post the last string of numbers and letters, rather than the whole YouTube URL
                          You put the whole thing and a space at the end and the tags are really fussy, so your link should look like this, but with square brackets:
                          {YOUTUBE}-nwOZZZnPfc{/YOUTUBE}

                          The game looks great, though! Thanks for sharing!

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                            #43
                            I miss not just the Dreamcast, but the days of the Dreamcast. It was a simpler time, during A-levels, before the world turned to **** after September 11th. I wonder if that's part of why it's still so beloved. The world was more innocent. There were political scandals, like the WMDs thing, but as a world we seemed more naive to it all. You could carry bottled water on to planes. Jeez, I seem to recall you could still smoke in pubs that not that much earlier. There weren't random shootings in the US every couple of days (Columbine had happened, but it framed as an isolated incident). There was little talk of climate change. My every waking moment of that era felt like a dream.

                            The Dreamcast was the first console I bought with my own money. I worked in a meat factory for a month during the summer of 2000, packing pork chops, specifically to buy myself a big bundle in one go. I've seldom felt such excitement. A new Dreamcast, extra controller, lightgun, fishing rod, two VMUs, a rumble pack, plus Chu Chu Rocket (free), Sonic, Sega Bass Fishing, House of the Dead 2, Resident Evil Code Veronica, plus one of my all time favourite games: TOY COMMANDER. I loved that game so much. I recently replayed it, emulated in wide-screen on my HDTV, and it still holds up really well, Both graphically and in terms of gameplay. I also bought that copy of DC-UK magazine, with free demo of Action Replay on the cover, since it allowed you to play any import game. Over the coming months I'd buy new releases, sometimes on import, until Sega cancelled it.

                            It didn't matter if the games and machine were surpassed in latter years. For me it was the perfect fleeting moment. One of innocence and lots of free time and lots of pocket money saved from my part-time job.

                            Anyone wanting to emulate Toy Commander, please note there is a bad dump going around where the audio is broken, resulting in painful screetching. I found an accurate dump with correct music, but it took a while! Sadly you can't rip original discs, not unless you own some obscure optical drives, otherwise I'd rip my own.

                            I'm a bit surprised at the lack of really weird or obscure games being mentioned here. The system had some great oddities, but the only one I've seen mentioned after a brief skim of this thread was Maken X. Mainly it's been the usual suspects of classics. Here's some less discussed stuff worth looking up:

                            Armada - explore a whole galaxy taking on missions, a bit like Star Control 2.

                            Bangai-O - 2D tiny blaster from Treasure. The sequels are crap because they all stripped out the bat**** storyline. Which for me was a major reason for playing.

                            Blue Stinger - wacky survival horror. Beat-up a monster and running around his corpse as it pisses out gold coins.

                            Bomber Hehhe - unusual puzzle game where you set bombs on a building's foundations to knock it down.

                            Tokyo Bus Guide - drive a bus around Tokyo, following the rules of the road, and picking up passengers. Very soothing on a summer's day.

                            Cannon Spike - mash-up of Capcom characters, full of fan-service. A bit like Robotron but focused on boss battles. Run around a 2D arena shooting and brawling with famous Capcom set-pieces. Fantastic!

                            Carrier - bizarre survival horror set on an aircraft carrier. Great polygon facial models.

                            D2 - survival horror RPG set in the snowy wastes. Probably the best game by Kenji Eno. The random battles play like shooting galleries. Collect animal meat and cook it on a portable BBQ you drag around. Recoil in shock at some of the body horror on display. I would describe it, but you would not believe me.

                            Deep Fighter - underwater sub battles/dogfights!

                            Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern - I haven't actually played this, but it's on my shelf, so it's probably OK.

                            Elemental Gimmick Gear - localised RPG with gorgeous 2D hand drawn art for the overworld maps, but 3D for the battles. This really needs to be talked about more.

                            Illbleed - genre defying survival horror action adventure. I say it defies genres, because it's not like a traditional survival horror. You explore weird themed and trapped stages, and need to micromanage your vital stats. Riffs on a lot of horror movies. Utterly insane. Like nothing else I've played.

                            Maken X - already mentioned in this thread. An FPS sword brawler.

                            Industrial Spy Operation Espionage - a sort of tactical RPG set in the world of spying? Not like Alpha Protocol, more old school than that.



                            And now I'm tired of typing. Here's what else I was going to write about. Maybe someone else can write about the more obscure Japanese exclusive releases.

                            Other cool oddities:

                            Record of Lodoss War
                            The Ring: Terror's Realm
                            Super Magnetic Neo
                            Sword of the Berserker: Guts' Rage
                            Time Stalker
                            Zusar Vasar

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                              #44
                              I know there were ports in the following years but I'm still surprised that Power Stone never really escaped the DC sphere

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                                #45
                                Power Stone would have made for a great XBLA/PSN title but it never happened. It’s still probably my most fondly remembered DC game, with Soul Calibur and Crazy Taxi coming up right behind it.

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