I had never played it until a few months ago. I bought a box of old broken down consoles to fix up and sell, a Dreamcast among them. It had a copy of Soul Calibur with it that had the data layer scratched so I had to buy another game to test it. Virtua Tennis was the cheapest thing for the system at my local retro game store. Once I got it fixed, I ended up playing the hell out of that game. I really didn't expect to. I wasn't buying either thing to play for myself. But I tore it up. I don't even care about tennis at all.
I was so excited by the prospect of playing Dreamcast games on the Steam Deck. HOWEVER, I get artifacts, both in flycast and redream. These artifacts do not crop up anywhere else but dreamcast emulation. I have a Ryzen 2500U laptop and I tried SteamOS on that one as well, but it doesn't exhibit any artifacts.
like! I really wish I had a Sega dreamcast at its height. I was too young to afford one but I remember hearing stories about how awesome it was! Great information and awesome video content SLX!
I think you gave some solid advice here. There are a few titles that fall under your Don’ts categories that are still decent but not many. I think you should cover racing games in your next video. Some of those can be hit and miss on Dreamcast as well.
The Dreamcast is an amazing system to own and collect for. I began collecting for it 10years after it was gone from the market. I was 20years old i think. Point is i had no nostalgia at all. All i saw of it was shenmue demo and Sonic adventure at a gamestore window. But i still had some of the best gaming i ever had on this platform. If you have a lot of cash then i would recommend getting an HDMI mod and an gd emu. When having a big collection it's nice to not having to get a disc each time you wanna play.
Good video, took me back to the good days. I have to say regarding UT Tournament and Q3 arena, yeah if you were playing on a controller it was a very neutered experience from the PC version. However I was fortunate enough to have the keyboard and mouse peripheral and that was pretty spot on to an average PC at the time and the only way I'd recommend play them. This would only apply on original hardware, but if you wanted to play PS1 games and you had a Dreamcast then Bleemcast was honestly tranformative for so many titles. Increased resolution hardware anti-aliasing and texture filtering it was incredibly how good it was on a lot of titles. Nowadays there are many better alternatives but it was something back then.
This may be the best video I’ve ever seen on the Dreamcast. I absolutely agree with everyone of your points. And got a laugh out of your Soul Calibur comment. But since we gotta nitpick in the comments - the two THPS PlayStation ports are absolutely worth getting.
Built in 4player in 99 is highly overlooked option that the DC had. I still think if Sega could get a DVD player in the DC it would have lasted way longer.
They could have but decided not to... They did a lot of stupid things that hurt them, Like telling a company that made the N64 graphics chip to go to Nintendo instead of using it themselves in the Saturn.
I'll go to bat for Jedi Power Battles! That game was really fun and my college buddies and I loved playing through it unlocking all the characters. We weren't even real young! We were around 20-21. EDIT: Do - Play Jet Grind Radio no matter what!
The only one that I disagree is with Donald's Goin Quackers, yeah I know that the game is basically the same game that N64 and PS1, and it doesn't add anything new, but is visually the best version on consoles and it looks exactly than the PC version, it doesn't use the console potential, but compare with future versions of this game, the Dreamcast and PC one is my favorite of them all, aside all that this guide is pretty good for recommendations about the DC library.
The crazy thing about the sports games, I recall, is that they also launched cheaper than the average game, so you were getting high quality sports titles for a much cheaper cost.
Skies of Arcadia is an amazing RPG. It still baffles me SEGA hasn't ported it to modern Consoles yet. Best we got was the GameCube port. But that was in the same generation.
The DC has some good wrestling games that never made it here to the states. Anyone wanting to get there pro wrestling fix on the DC. I highly recommend importing TOKON RETSUDEN 4. The game is just as good as any of the wrestling games you'd find on PS1 or N64. Fire pro wrestling ( D ) is also definitely worth checking out. It's a bit unconventional, being a 2d wrestling game but the gameplay is very solid and blast to play. It also has almost an unlimited amount of replay value there's so much to do here it's almost overwhelming
You are right about the sega Dreamcast. I have a few games that just awesome and some that suck. I collect for sega and it’s a hit or miss. Great video man
I have to agree with you on the MK release. I’m an MK fanboy and I really woyld’ve liked to see more than Gold. It’s a very ok game. I can still enjoy it, but I cable ignore its flaws. A port of UMK3 would’ve been nice.
I have one: · Don't put a cell battery in your VMU (memory card) those things die super quick! Your Sonic Adventure 2 Chao creature, will probably die if you try to tamagotchi them on the VMU lol and you'll waste money on many cell batteries. It'll still have basic visual functions when plugged into the controller though. As for library, I guess Sonic Adventure 1 & 2, Resident Evil Code Veronica, Crazy Taxi 2, the classics. There's also some good PS1 ports like Alone in the dark: The new nightmare, Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 2 & 3, these horror greats will have higher polygon character models. Also Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.
I bought my Dreamcast at launch and loved it, however I was disappointed at all the companies who tried to cash in with miserable ports . Tomb Raider Revelations sticks out so bad to me. I remember seeing the box hands and poor graphics , and thinking, really, this is the best this dev could do? Legacy of Kain was a exception, as far as a port I enjoyed, and bumped visuals
Anything Street Fighter/SNK etc on the Dreamcast was worse in my mind due to the controller... the side buttons required a full press in to do anything vs a quick tap on the PS2.
I agree with all "do's", but i don't agree with the most of "don'ts") I realy like most of PC and PS ports on Dreamcast) And come on... SW Jedi Power Battles, Star Wars Demolition, SW Racer are "Don'ts"?! And IMHO Headhunter, Sega GT, Tokyo Extreme Racer 2 and Shadowman are perfect "Do's", that not every Sega fan knows.
The Star Wars games were unimpressive ports. There are better games to get on the DC. And I didn't say anything about Headhunter, Sega GT or Tokyo Extreme Racer 2.
I would rank it top 5 consoles of all time...I used to rank Dreamcast #2 all time behind Xbox 360 only, but then my love for PS4 increased over time. And PS5 is pretty fucking awesome so far.
@@johncook9392 I would agree with you except that I have never owned the newer ones but did play the ps4 so other than that I agree. And for when it came out and what not the xbox 360 is my all time favorite with the Sega Genesis #2
Shame many missed out on it bitd... if more had given it their attention during its shelf life then maybe we would have seen even better results and even a true Sega console successor 🤠
Welcome to what I believe is one of the greatest console of all time. I find myself playing on it every other day, mainly because it has such an amazing abundance of easy pickup 'n play arcade titles. :) It's been 23 years since I bought it and it is still soldiering on as one of my favorite consoles
When the dreamcast came out there truly was nothing like it. The things modern gamers take for granted like online play and fully realised 3d worlds. Shenmue, jet set radio, crazy taxi, powerstone, soul calibur, doa 2 and sooooo much more. Man the dreamcast was truly ahead of its time. There was and never will be anything quite like it.
While the 32 bit era had great 2D games those 3D polygons have aged terribly. N64 was mostly kiddie games and could not give us anything like Final Fantasy VII. PC gaming completely dominated. Until Dreamcast came out I wasn't all that impressed for a long time. It was the last console that I was interested in.
from a historical perspective Quake III is still a wonderful technical curiosity. Sure, you can play it better on PC today. But I find it fascinating how well the game looks-, and runs on the Dreamcast. (Much thanks to Raster Productions who utilized the hardware effectively) I remember owning a Riva TNT on my PC back then (140$ for the card alone in 1998), but the Dreamcast held up really well against it. The game showcases support of "fog effects", "multi-texturing" for things like metal surfaces, as well as "lightmaps" for baked shadows and dynamic lights... Many techniques which are actually still used in games today. Sure the game ran at a solid 30fps unlike many of Sega's own 60fps titles. But it doesn't make it less impressive. The tech at display was actually VERY impressive AND demanding for its time. With online-, and split-screen support together with PC-like performance, I can understand why people bought a mouse and keyboard for this game alone as a gateway into the world of premium PC gaming. :)
@@KrazyKupo That's true! And it also offered unique levels as well (Although these weren't very good). They were optimized for split-screen play (even four players). I think this is why the game has to be considered more than just a "port". It's a unique version of Quake III Arena, and Raster Productions basically rebuilt the engine to support native dreamcast features (without Windows CE or common tools at the time). adapting arenas for the different game modes, as well as textures for the insane hardware texture compression that Dreamcast offered (if used correctly the Dreamcast's 8MB VRAM could theoretically offer 64MB worth of texture memory)
Quake 3 DC is fun in the same way an NES arcade port (Double Dragon for example) was fun, even though the original version would be the definitive way to play
@@gc3k absolutely! I mean, I could just remove it from my GDEMU, but I still appreciate this version and play it from time to time (mostly out of an inherit technical curiosity) :)
There's at least one exception to the avoid-Acclaim-on-Dreamcast rule: Acclaim distributed the home version of one of the best racing games on Dreamcast, F355 Challenge, but that one was actually developed by Sega AM2. Sega had to make a home distribution deal with Acclaim to be able to afford the expensive Ferrari license. Vanishing Point is also alright.
Acclaim did alright with Bust A Move 4 (Puzzle Bobble 4) as well, which I know is mostly a PS1 port, but the visuals have been given a nice hi res upgrade, without breaking the games fundementals, plus the game is downright fun. In some cases, sometimes games even got backported to the PS1 (Capcom Vs SNK Pro and Puyo Puyo~n), those 2 I have in my collection as I don't own a DC, but they are still fun regardless.
Usually Acclaim is a no go but I will never forget that they also released the first Burnout games for the PS2. Therefore I saw the logo so many times as a child.
Vanishing Point is a good game on the PlayStation. This is one game that was made worse with the higher framerate of the Dreamcast. The game is not perfect either, but the physics model makes sense on the PS, on the Dreamcast it makes the game too twitchy and floaty to control
Along with it's sequel it's by far one of my greatest experiences in gaming. And I didn't get to play it until it came out on Steam and was supposibly very dated. And I have been an avid gamer for over 40 years now starting with Atari 2600. Shenmue was the ultimate experience.
Its not an RPG, The genre called FREE (Full reactive Eyes Environment) by Yu Suzuki himself if I remember it correctly (there is no Open World genre back in the day AFAIK). CMIIW.
I'm so glad I was born when SEGA was around, this is gaming in its purest form. Mindless fun, nothing else. SEGA didn't care for the cinematic experience as the competitors (mainly Sony) and took more risks than Nintendo. SEGA games had this pick up and play magic, maybe because they had arcade roots? Doing games like this is a dying art that only Nintendo and a few others still care for, even SEGA has mostly forgotten how to do them.
@@etenby699dude even going back to Panzer Dragoon, Zwei and Saga; they were all SUPER cinematic, especially with the way they incorporated their orchestral scores into the experience.
Same ,. cept me it was for OG xbox stuff. i had such a huge DC library of games too. a few years back a friend sold me his black sports DC and a few sports games he had with it , but a couple months after i got it a power surge during a storm killed the deck.
I only sold mine a couple years ago, a brand new Saturn and stacks of games for both! I sold em cheap as too, I charged em $10 a game and gave em the consoles for free!!! What an idiot!?
My biggest problem with the Dreamcast is the rose colored glasses people have for it, its nowhere near as good as a PS2 or even a GameCube, not because it's life was cut short either.
Just to tag on to the Capcom DO point: SNK was another company with good ports to the system, mostly fighting games. If you're a fan of Capcom's fighting game ports to the console, you will probably also enjoy most of SNK's offerings like the KOFs entries that made it to the system (including most fans' favorite entry in the series, KOF 98', whose best port may have been the Dreamcast version), I believe it got a Samurai showdown as well as some Metal Slug ports, and then there's SNK's finest ever offering, Garou Mark of the Wolves, one of the greatest 2D fighting games of all times and its port to the Dreamcast is maybe the best version of the game. Seriously, don't sleep on SNK games for the dreamcast
No Sam Sho's or Metal Slugs made it to DC, but if you go the DC route for SNK games, make sure to get the Japanese versions. The US versions of Last Blade 2 or Garou Mark of the Wolves were either censored (white blood in LB2's case), or made the motor in your DC run super loud, and in MotW's case, the US version uses Terry's voice clips from the Real Bout series, while the Japanese version uses the proper voice clips from MotW. Last Blade 2's Japanese version has the blood, instead of the white milk seen in the US release. KoF 98, aka 99 Dream Match isn't all that hot (98 UM years later is the best port of 98 to have), but KoF 99 (aka Evolution), 00, 01, and 02 are fine on the DC, and were good enough in fact to be directly ported to the PS2 in Japan for KoF Nests Hen compilation, aka Nests Saga, which ports 99 Evolution, 00 and 01 onto 1 disc, along with their AES counterparts on the same disc. As far as I know, only 6 SNK games made it to the DC, though recently some of SNK's Atomiswave arcade games have been fanported to the DC, without the extras found in the PS2 console versions.
@@Bloodreign1 I always hated garou on the Dreamcast because of the voice clips making a lot of noise accessing the disc all the time. Are you saying the japanese release doesn’t have this issue?
personally here's my DO's and DONT's about the Dreamcast Library: DO take your time and enjoy the games DONT be afraid to play games from genres that you may not be a fan of DO try them all DONT feel too sad that you missed out for so long ok, that last one may have been a bit much, but i think everyone gets what i'm trying to say. XD
This is your best video in a while. Highly recommended. Although Soul Reaver was a PSX port that was vastly superior on DC, and the Dreamcast version of Dino Crisis was crisp and far nicer than the dodgy PC version. Also the DC SW:Racer was fantastic. Ok just an upscale N64 game but the N64 version was great so to have less frame dips and higher res was amazing! Great work!
Clear, concise, and correct. Even if someone disagrees with your opinions on particular details, they’re presented fairly. This video is a good idea that is well-executed.
I remember being absolutely blown away by NFL2K when it came out. Me & my friends played it all the time! It was by far the best football game that had ever came out at the time.
Talking about the Dreamcast always makes me so amazingly nostalgic. It wasn't a perfect console nor one that was really allowed to truly spread its wings, but for the short time it got, it had incredible library and much like the Saturn had an absolutely fantastic extended run in Japan. The Dreamcast will live on forever as one of the greatest short-lived consoles that ever was.
Unfortunately, the Dreamcast’s age is catching up to it. The GD-ROM drive is very vulnerable to breakdowns. The controller board has a design flaw in one of its resistors that will make using controllers impossible until you fix it. The power supply is very sensitive to clean connectors. Do your research before getting a DC. Fortunately, many of the DC’s problems are easy to fix. The GD-ROM can be replaced with a MODE (Multiple Optical Disk Emulator), which is better than the original GD-ROM anyway. The resistor is quite easy to replace even for novice repairs. The power supply problem is easy to fix with q-tips and alcohol. These simple problems can net you great deals if you know how to restore game consoles. I once got a “broken” DC, 2 controllers, 2 “non-working” VMU’s, and 5 Sega Sports games for only $30. The problem was simply replacing the controller board resistor. I got $100 worth of supposed junk for dirt cheap!
I would have loved it if the Dreamcast had a full lifespan and we started to see remasters of Sega's arcade Saturn ports to the Dreamcast all cleaned up.
Plus other arcade compilations and more previous 1st/2nd party sega games. Especially sonic gems collections, Capcom, and midway arcade treasure series and ect. Since sega robbed us from a solid run with the saturn due to poor management and marketing. The dreamcast lifespand will become longer. I wish sega would've port there compilations to the Xbox instead of snubbing them completely.
Can you imagine a Panzer Dragoon Saga 2? A Shenmue II release in america, and a Shenmue III striking while the iron was still hot? We would have had so many more excellent shoot-em-ups, racing games, fighting games (IMO this was the genre's peak period), and even lightgun games would have been a really viable genre to explore more. Games were wildly creative at that time too, not settled into just a few tropes! There was even talk that someone was developing a first person sword fighting game using the fishing rod controller... imagine that!
The unfortunate image of both Saturn and Dreamcast is that they're Arcade Consoles with gratuitous amounts of shooters and fighters and very, very little else. Which just doesn't appeal to many gamers who prefer action, adventure and/or RPG titles. I however disagree and think the Saturn is a "thinking man's" console while Dreamcast has many interesting titles on it's own as well. Not always the greatest, but Lunacy on Saturn for example, or 7th Cross on Dreamcast. The latter of which was just SO painfully weird and obscure that I thoroughly enjoyed every janky moment of it. What good consoles. Damn...
Saturn had a ton of great rpg titles: Panzer Dragoon Saga,Sakura Taisen 1-2,Dragon Force 1-2,Shining Force III trilogy,Grandia,Lunar 1-2,two Devil Summoner, Tengai Makyou 4th apocalypse. That was one of the reasons the system was a success in Japan...and why Dreamcast failed there as well .
@@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526 Yup, exactly. Dreamcast had some in Japan too, but not that many, and they were really minor in comparison it would seem. Apparently, it had tons of VNs though. Nothing beats PSP (and, probably, Switch) in that category though, as far as consoles go.
LJN/Acclaim/THQ have a really interesting history, which when you look into can explain a lot of the weird things in the games. For example, back to the future couldn't secure the music rights so they sped it up to an unrecognizable degree. It doesn't make the games any better it does make you laugh at the things you got frustrated with back in the day.
As a Sega fanboy and collector myself, I'm thankful for videos like this. I've had the opportunity in the past couple years to acquire a Saturn and Dreamcast. Videos like this help me with discovering good games for these consoles, especially since I never got the opportunity to play them when I was growing up. Thank you for all you do for the gaming community. Your videos are quite a bit of help with collecting for different pieces of hardware, namely the Saturn and Dreamcast.
Since the start of the pandemic, I've been gradually building up my retro library and like you, got myself a Saturn and Dreamcast (first time in my life). Pretty damn good consoles, though I modded them both to avoid the hassle of paying for expensive copies of games.
@@ultraspinalki11 ya don't even have to mod a dreamcast with iso files but I don't know if its very healthy for it!? I've never had any problems but my first dc died and I only ever did the right thing!?
@@pauldutton1082 if you look up retrorgb, he gives a list of trustworthy modders from around the globe. If you're lucky, there might be one near you that you can pay to do the job for you.
@@rosskwolfe That's true but Dreamcast version has a bonus circuit, is easier to play today ( no Windows xp and above, not that easy to "emulate") and gamepad support work pretty great
@@zanrek5021 Re-Volt is easy to get running on modern PCs thanks to RVGL. It runs smooth as butter and looks better than ever, and as a bonus it also includes the Dreamcast-exclusive track and cars.
Brother, you are right on the money with the more "awkward" releases. Chu Chu Rocket, Samba de Amigo (the maracas are a must), Space Chanel 5, and Rez were so much fun when they released and hold up so well today.
Quake III Arena on Dreamcast is a good buy IMO, for some good old fashioned split screen multiplayer. On PC you had to play remotely online or LAN up, which wasn't always feasible. I had lots of fun with the Dreamcast port.
It forced sega to release the dreamcast too early due to losing a lot of money during the end of the early to mid 90s. Which cause the saturn to fail in the west and Europe by sega bad decisions.
@@maroon9273 Saturn unfortunately had already failed in the west. SEGA wanted to release the Dreamcast before the PS2. But the damage had already been done. People were brain washed with the PlayStation brand name so much that they compared the PS1 to the Dreamcast.
@@majimamike4097 Since the saturn failed two holidays years in 96 and 97 due to sega horrible marketing and management. It lead to Bernie stating the saturn is not the future and the dreamcast was born. I guaranteed had sega did the right marketing it would've sold more than the n64 (34 million) and even twice with a powerful cleaner hardware. The ps1 did not stop the n64 having a successful run in the west and Europe. 33 million consoles sold and the mario 64 (11.9 million) outselling ps1 grand turismo (10.9). Had n64 used optical disc, it would've sold more units.
@@maroon9273 I agree. Marketing is everything. You can sell literally nothing by using good marketing. SEGA could have saved its hardware part by showing it off more to the customers. The twin-cpu obstacle would have driven developers away but still Saturn had some of the best games of its genre.
@@majimamike4097 dual processing and difficult dsp limit the console reaching its performance during its lifespand. Similar thing happened with previous hardware that were underpowered against the saturn including sega cd, 32x/32x cd add-ons and the atari jaguar. At least n64, ps2 and ps3 hardware were pushed to its limits nearing the end of its lifespand. Had sega cared about the marketing the saturn well in na/eu. We would've seen developers push it to its limits during the end of 90s and to the Yes, especially 3D based games. We would've seen 3D games being pushed to its limits during end of the 90s and the 00s if sega marketing was better during its earlier days. At least the n64, ps2, ps3 were able to push their hardware to its limits nearing the end of their systems lifespand. Same thing with the genesis. Genesis had a slump during 1993 to 1994 due western developers creating low quality engines instead utilizing dma channel on the gpu. Which is difficult to access due to the genesis exapansion unfriendly limited hardware. It took 9 years for the genesis to use software scaler scaling sprites (jurrasic park lost world) with sega cd add-on. Also, other games that pushed the system to display 32-bit like graphics in the mid 90s without the 32x add-on.
Always going to like and comment on a Dreamcast video. I got into the Dreamcast at exactly the right time from a collector's point of view. I picked mine up at Game Stop in early 2002 for around $20. games that sell for well over $100 today, like MvC2, Power Stone 2, Shenmue, and Ikaruga were mine for $5-10, complete in box. The Dreamcast was done in 2002, but still current gen.
I played those demo discs so dang much lol. I think most of the games I bought were ones I liked from them. Played the crap out of Rush 2049, Virtua Tennis, and Tony Hawk. The Toy Commander Christmas demo was sooo good too. My real Toy Commander disc stopped working for some reason not long after buying it. Was pretty bummed out. Around that time I figured out discjuggler (2002 ish) so I just sailed the seven seas for Toy Commander lol. Damn takes me back. Crazy memories.
Regarding Acclaim I do agree except for a few games. The games were Re-Volt. It's a great game developed by them. And still one of my favourite games to this day on the Dreamcast. As well as Shadow man. And Trickstyle.
Revolt needs to be on PC. I believe the custom level community is alive and active. Even the lego editor is decent. One of my favorite games of all time. The fact that you could even edit the corse graphics maps was a blast.
Yeah, it was almost like Soul Reaver and Rayman 2 were developed for the Dreamcast first, then ported to everything else. At least, that's what the quality feels like :D
Totally agree. From 20fps on ps1 to 60 on dc. This guy didn’t do his homework enough. I bought the PS one version later and I was like oh my god this is hideous
I really like this kind of videos. Not only does it give good advices for newcomers on the system, it also spreads nostalgic vibes to the old fans of the machine. I realize there are some titles that I forgot about and still would like to check out, so this video was a good reminder.
Once again Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes gets snubbed. While Capcom's Federation vs Zeon is a fast-paced third person shooter with arcade rules, Rise from the Ashes is a deliberately slow, first person mech sim that fans of Battletech/Wechwarrior will appreciate.
Both SW Episode 1 Racer and Nightmare Creatures are fun games that look and run far better than their PSone / N64 versions. In fact Episode 1 Racer was a favorite on the Dreamcast for most DC owners back then.
Really have to disagree with what you said about Star Wars Episode 1: Pod Racer. It's a great racer and the Dreamcast version was by far the best at the time! Sharper visuals, smoother framerates and it had the music throughout the races (the N64 version, for example, only had music play on the last laps). I know it's since been released on Switch, Xbox and PS4/5. But if I were to buy a version for a retro system, it'd be the Dreamcast version.
26:27 don't help "collectors." The prices are already absurd with some going on borderline insane. People who loved them and played them, and may have been looking to owning (or replacing their originals) are priced out or forced to contribute with this artificial inflation.
I appreciate this video. Not everybody will have the fortune to have been retro-collecting before the pandemic caused prices to skyrocket so it's a good idea what to skip and to focus on.
I hated there was never a follow-up to GunGriffon on the Dreamcast. It was only natural it seemed. You mentioned during the FPS section that games shine when made specifically with the Dreamcast in mind; I think a GunGriffon game built from the ground up would have been fantastic. Would have been a little awkward with two freaking fewer buttons, no shoulder buttons, and [still] one analog stick, but I would have ate it up
Rayman 2 and Soulreaver for example were not basic ports from other consoles, specifically PSX, they were properly developed for the Dreamcast. So if you own them on PSX or N64 then maybe consider trying the DC versions.not only are they beautiful but also come with additional features not seen or heard elsewhere.
Rayman 2 is one of my all-time favorite platformers. It ran super smooth, had gorgeous art, controlled well (even better than Sonic), a nice story and length, memorable music and sound, and... look, if you like adventure or platformer games at all, you just need to play this.
Great video as always! I disagree with some things for example, some ports from the ps1 were much better on the dreamcast, Dave mirra bmx was a master piece and didn't deserve to be on the list of bad games, other ps1 port that was better was Tony hawk 1 and 2, tomb raider last revelation, soul reaver, Dino crisis, alone in the dark new nightmare, urban chaos, even that there are barely no new things on the ports, the performance and resolution were much better and the experience was outstanding, I had all of ps1 ports to the dreamcast back then and I still played them these days, well, it's just my opinion and don't take it the wrong way, I love your content and never miss any videos, keep up the amazing work and greetings from Portugal
Those games are how they would look as ps1 games with the 3dfx graphics card on pc! They don't have any extra detail or anything in the 3d models, under the textures. He's not saying they are all crap but the were half arsed ports, they didn't do anything and that's a shame. Most of them are OK but they're pretty primitive compared to the real dreamcast stuff. I don't wanna disrespect the great Dave Mirras legacy, but that and urban chaos were stinkers. Soul reaver, Tony hawk etc were all awesome on ps1, and that's how it worked. They didn't have to change up the games but they could have least changed the models to what dc could do. Look at soul calibre!? Its a million times better than the arcade version, forget about the ps version! That was mind blowing at the time.
Ahh, just hearing the Skies of Arcadia music playing when you discussed the RPG's was soothing. What a wonderful game. Those simple cartoony visuals have aged surprisingly well over time. I need to finish my emulated playthrough. Sadly my Dreamcast gave up the ghost and it's the only way I can play it reliably.
As a game I still play to this day, I was a little sad to see Episode I Racer lead off on the Star Wars segment, but it really was the only Star Wars game even worth considering. If nothing else, you can just throw the disc in a Dreamcast and it'll work as intended, which isn't so much the case with the PC version these days.
Yeah, I was surprised Sega Lord X bagged on it so much. The poly count was higher and framerate was better on the DC than N64, and it was actually an upgrade for me versus the PC version.
I like it too. Its got more to it, if you really get into it and its sorta relaxing because of the way you don't really have brakes, or use them. Ya just get in the zone and its peaceful.
Wwf attitude is garbage now but when it came out I couldn’t believe my luck . My friend and I waited the whole summer holidays for it to arrive in the post and it came the morning we had to go back to school after 6 weeks off. We couldn’t learn that day lol
I convinced my older non gamer boss back in 2001 to get a Dreamcast, and he bought one with Rayman 2. I often wonder if it was the only game he ever played, or if he ever beat it.
Skies of Arcadia is, hands down, the single BEST game in the entire Dreamcast library. And that's a hill I'll die on. By far one of the most unique and fun RPGs ever made, for all intents and purposes, you can make the argument that it's two games in one with boots on the ground combat and airship battles.
I have such fond memories of skies of Arcadia. I just started it again and it is more wonky than I remember and the battles definitely come a little too often. Still a great game though.
“They sucked ass far more than not” As someone who has been gaming since 85, that quote fits Acclaim’s track record to a T. The DC was both my first system I purchased with my own money and my first import system. Power stone kept me entertained for days. Great system. Great memories.
Even though I was around back then I will admit by the time the Dreamcast came out I had pretty much already given up on Sega. I did play it back then but only at friends houses. I didn't own my own untill 2020. I found it to be very expensive to try and collect for. The the games I want are the pricier ones. I HIGHLY recommend if you're just getting into Dreamcast do what I ended up doing. Get an original model with a 1 or 0 on it then get a GDEMU and a fully loaded SD card. I had to but my card off of eBay because I do not own a computer to make my own, but now I own EVERY game for it and am still on original hardware. Kinda spendy the way I did it but in the long run it was way cheaper than trying to buy all the disc I wanted.
@@costumeninja1914 you can only get a clone now. That's what I got. Your Dreamcast has to be an original one with a 0 or a 1 on the bottom. The GDEMU was only $45. I do not own a computer so I bought a fully loaded sd card and that was $145. And a single resistor to take the load off the power supply was just a couple of bucks. That all you need to get going. So $200 all in if you already own the Dreamcast, and then you'll have every game.. I also bought a 3D printed tray to hold GDEMU down and hold the SD card.that was only $15.
I went from my ps1 to the Dreamcast and it blew my mind. Seeing Skies of Arcadia for the first time was amazing I love and miss my Dreamcast since it died few years back.
With so few being sold and so many ways to resurrect them I am equally sad and curious as to what became of it? Optical Disc drive emulators and even modern upgrades available for the power board and fan means so long as the mother board is good, all is not lost.
Why then don’t you get another Dreamcast? Seems the obvious thing to do. I got one this year skies of Arcadia is cool but it seems to take a while to get into, I’m just at the first pirate sky island ‘windmill island’ or somthing. The Dreamcast I got is region free, modded for better specs and has changeable LED lights in the controller ports via Bluetooth, it’s dope.
Some additional advice: *DO* get a GD-EMU for your system, because that GD-ROM inside is probably not long for this world. *DO* play the Atomiswave games recently ported to the system. They play best from a GD-EMU. *DON'T* play Toy Commander without cheat codes. Trust me, you'll want that extra help.
Their latest Sonic origins collection on PC gonna have Denuvo anti tamper... please sega dont do that, why you're so keen with denuvo will pissed some of your customer off on PC. Its the remaster of 30 years old game, denuvo is unnecessary in this case
Virtual Tennis is amazing on Dreamcast. Even if you don’t like Tennis, it’s a real awesome game
Lunchtime matches were a staple round mine for the boys
I had never played it until a few months ago. I bought a box of old broken down consoles to fix up and sell, a Dreamcast among them. It had a copy of Soul Calibur with it that had the data layer scratched so I had to buy another game to test it. Virtua Tennis was the cheapest thing for the system at my local retro game store. Once I got it fixed, I ended up playing the hell out of that game. I really didn't expect to. I wasn't buying either thing to play for myself. But I tore it up. I don't even care about tennis at all.
My thoughts exactly. When a friend brought it over, I was wary. But it ended up being an awesome game.
Played the demo with my buddy and immediately headed out to buy it the same day.
Virtua Tennis is up there with Mario Tennis for best tennis game, period.
honestly an episode like this for saturn would be stellar! i hope you consider it!
I LOVE IT when you do Dreamcast videos. It's how and why I found the page. I had a genesis growing up, and a Dreamcast now. I love the Dreamcast.
I grew up a die hard saturn fan, so I was counting the days till I got my dreamcast. I still play both on my retroid pocket.
Just got my steam deck a few days ago I'm about to throw a Dreamcast emulator on that bad boy so this video hit just in time
I was so excited by the prospect of playing Dreamcast games on the Steam Deck. HOWEVER, I get artifacts, both in flycast and redream. These artifacts do not crop up anywhere else but dreamcast emulation. I have a Ryzen 2500U laptop and I tried SteamOS on that one as well, but it doesn't exhibit any artifacts.
@@PixelShade sigh so far this thing is so so. I wanna see it a year from now tbh.
like! I really wish I had a Sega dreamcast at its height. I was too young to afford one but I remember hearing stories about how awesome it was! Great information and awesome video content SLX!
I think you gave some solid advice here. There are a few titles that fall under your Don’ts categories that are still decent but not many. I think you should cover racing games in your next video. Some of those can be hit and miss on Dreamcast as well.
Another one: DO check out the homebrew scene way after the Dreamcast was supposedly pronounced dead.
The Dreamcast is an amazing system to own and collect for.
I began collecting for it 10years after it was gone from the market.
I was 20years old i think. Point is i had no nostalgia at all.
All i saw of it was shenmue demo and Sonic adventure at a gamestore window.
But i still had some of the
best gaming i ever had on this platform.
If you have a lot of cash then i would recommend getting an HDMI mod and an gd emu.
When having a big collection it's nice to not having to get a disc each time you wanna play.
The Dreamcast is my favorite console of all time. Got one hooked up to a CRT via VGA Box right now.
Good video, took me back to the good days. I have to say regarding UT Tournament and Q3 arena, yeah if you were playing on a controller it was a very neutered experience from the PC version. However I was fortunate enough to have the keyboard and mouse peripheral and that was pretty spot on to an average PC at the time and the only way I'd recommend play them.
This would only apply on original hardware, but if you wanted to play PS1 games and you had a Dreamcast then Bleemcast was honestly tranformative for so many titles. Increased resolution hardware anti-aliasing and texture filtering it was incredibly how good it was on a lot of titles. Nowadays there are many better alternatives but it was something back then.
This may be the best video I’ve ever seen on the Dreamcast. I absolutely agree with everyone of your points. And got a laugh out of your Soul Calibur comment. But since we gotta nitpick in the comments - the two THPS PlayStation ports are absolutely worth getting.
It makes me feel old knowing there was people now who didn't grow up with Dreamcast 😪
Built in 4player in 99 is highly overlooked option that the DC had. I still think if Sega could get a DVD player in the DC it would have lasted way longer.
They could have but decided not to... They did a lot of stupid things that hurt them, Like telling a company that made the N64 graphics chip to go to Nintendo instead of using it themselves in the Saturn.
Powerstone, What a great game. The most fun I've ever had with my clothes on.
On PC ports. Dell ultra-sharp 4:3 monitor, vga box, DC keyboard and mouse is all you need 😎
I'll go to bat for Jedi Power Battles! That game was really fun and my college buddies and I loved playing through it unlocking all the characters. We weren't even real young! We were around 20-21.
EDIT: Do - Play Jet Grind Radio no matter what!
I would like to see you cover the Sakura Wars series!
You really wouldn't. I don't care for it.
The only one that I disagree is with Donald's Goin Quackers, yeah I know that the game is basically the same game that N64 and PS1, and it doesn't add anything new, but is visually the best version on consoles and it looks exactly than the PC version, it doesn't use the console potential, but compare with future versions of this game, the Dreamcast and PC one is my favorite of them all, aside all that this guide is pretty good for recommendations about the DC library.
15:25 That game was the last one released by Acclaim under AVGN's worst nightmare,LJN
The crazy thing about the sports games, I recall, is that they also launched cheaper than the average game, so you were getting high quality sports titles for a much cheaper cost.
Skies of Arcadia is an amazing RPG. It still baffles me SEGA hasn't ported it to modern Consoles yet. Best we got was the GameCube port. But that was in the same generation.
The DC has some good wrestling games that never made it here to the states. Anyone wanting to get there pro wrestling fix on the DC. I highly recommend importing TOKON RETSUDEN 4. The game is just as good as any of the wrestling games you'd find on PS1 or N64.
Fire pro wrestling ( D ) is also definitely worth checking out. It's a bit unconventional, being a 2d wrestling game but the gameplay is very solid and blast to play. It also has almost an unlimited amount of replay value there's so much to do here it's almost overwhelming
If you had the Dreamcast keyboard and mouse Quake 3 was awesome, as were a number of other games.
Nice buyers guide to an amazing Sega console.
You are right about the sega Dreamcast. I have a few games that just awesome and some that suck. I collect for sega and it’s a hit or miss. Great video man
Illbleed mentioned!!! let's gooooo
I have to agree with you on the MK release. I’m an MK fanboy and I really woyld’ve liked to see more than Gold. It’s a very ok game. I can still enjoy it, but I cable ignore its flaws. A port of UMK3 would’ve been nice.
What you think about Ferrari F355, Ready to Rumble Boxing 2 and Outtrigger? Do or don‘t? Great Video👍🏼
The Dreamcast price increase is insane. I remember I could get one for $40 at retro game store. Now the cheapest you can get it is $150
I have one:
· Don't put a cell battery in your VMU (memory card) those things die super quick! Your Sonic Adventure 2 Chao creature, will probably die if you try to tamagotchi them on the VMU lol and you'll waste money on many cell batteries. It'll still have basic visual functions when plugged into the controller though.
As for library, I guess Sonic Adventure 1 & 2, Resident Evil Code Veronica, Crazy Taxi 2, the classics. There's also some good PS1 ports like Alone in the dark: The new nightmare, Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 2 & 3, these horror greats will have higher polygon character models. Also Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.
I'm sorry, but Dreamcast Quake3 was a total blast to play (with keyboard and mouse). Absolutely brilliant!
It’s still nowhere near the PC version in any category.
@@SegaLordX True but this and UT was really fun on Dreamcast with Mouse and Keyboard and cheaper then a capable PC back then. Also it had online play.
I bought my Dreamcast at launch and loved it, however I was disappointed at all the companies who tried to cash in with miserable ports . Tomb Raider Revelations sticks out so bad to me. I remember seeing the box hands and poor graphics , and thinking, really, this is the best this dev could do? Legacy of Kain was a exception, as far as a port I enjoyed, and bumped visuals
Anything Street Fighter/SNK etc on the Dreamcast was worse in my mind due to the controller... the side buttons required a full press in to do anything vs a quick tap on the PS2.
Arcade sticks were mandatory on DC.
MvC games were great on dreamcast.
Shenmue
Blue stinger
Sonic adventure
House of the dead
Power stone
Nfl2k
Nba2k
I still think Dreamcast era Capcom is peak Capcom
I agree with all "do's", but i don't agree with the most of "don'ts") I realy like most of PC and PS ports on Dreamcast) And come on... SW Jedi Power Battles, Star Wars Demolition, SW Racer are "Don'ts"?! And IMHO Headhunter, Sega GT, Tokyo Extreme Racer 2 and Shadowman are perfect "Do's", that not every Sega fan knows.
The Star Wars games were unimpressive ports. There are better games to get on the DC. And I didn't say anything about Headhunter, Sega GT or Tokyo Extreme Racer 2.
Great tips!
The dreamcast was and still is a great console
I would rank it top 5 consoles of all time...I used to rank Dreamcast #2 all time behind Xbox 360 only, but then my love for PS4 increased over time. And PS5 is pretty fucking awesome so far.
@@johncook9392 I would agree with you except that I have never owned the newer ones but did play the ps4 so other than that I agree. And for when it came out and what not the xbox 360 is my all time favorite with the Sega Genesis #2
@@hoseahosanna6700 Yeah I rank Genesis very high also, definitely one of the best systems of all time!
Shame many missed out on it bitd... if more had given it their attention during its shelf life then maybe we would have seen even better results and even a true Sega console successor 🤠
Yes it is , like bought mine on the intial release and the games I have play and still look great.
I just bought a Dreamcast recently, so this definitely helps
Yup. Folks like you were my primary target for this video.
My hidden gem recommendation is Jedi Power Battles.
The playstation version is really bad, but the Dreamcast version is amazing.
Welcome to what I believe is one of the greatest console of all time. I find myself playing on it every other day, mainly because it has such an amazing abundance of easy pickup 'n play arcade titles. :) It's been 23 years since I bought it and it is still soldiering on as one of my favorite consoles
Get Shenmue.
Gonna get a GDEMU?
When the dreamcast came out there truly was nothing like it. The things modern gamers take for granted like online play and fully realised 3d worlds. Shenmue, jet set radio, crazy taxi, powerstone, soul calibur, doa 2 and sooooo much more. Man the dreamcast was truly ahead of its time. There was and never will be anything quite like it.
Sucks that it was Sega's swansong, and they wouldn't go on to make more consoles. I loved Sega consoles and games.
While the 32 bit era had great 2D games those 3D polygons have aged terribly. N64 was mostly kiddie games and could not give us anything like Final Fantasy VII. PC gaming completely dominated. Until Dreamcast came out I wasn't all that impressed for a long time. It was the last console that I was interested in.
@@AngryCalvin 32 bit era polygons have their charm though ; some games still look great
I bought one due to the ps2 being sold out, way better in my opinion and it still functions perfectly today
The Xbox is it’s spiritual successor
from a historical perspective Quake III is still a wonderful technical curiosity. Sure, you can play it better on PC today. But I find it fascinating how well the game looks-, and runs on the Dreamcast. (Much thanks to Raster Productions who utilized the hardware effectively) I remember owning a Riva TNT on my PC back then (140$ for the card alone in 1998), but the Dreamcast held up really well against it. The game showcases support of "fog effects", "multi-texturing" for things like metal surfaces, as well as "lightmaps" for baked shadows and dynamic lights... Many techniques which are actually still used in games today. Sure the game ran at a solid 30fps unlike many of Sega's own 60fps titles. But it doesn't make it less impressive. The tech at display was actually VERY impressive AND demanding for its time. With online-, and split-screen support together with PC-like performance, I can understand why people bought a mouse and keyboard for this game alone as a gateway into the world of premium PC gaming. :)
Also it had a unique soundtrack unlike the PC version which I always quite liked.
@@KrazyKupo That's true! And it also offered unique levels as well (Although these weren't very good). They were optimized for split-screen play (even four players). I think this is why the game has to be considered more than just a "port". It's a unique version of Quake III Arena, and Raster Productions basically rebuilt the engine to support native dreamcast features (without Windows CE or common tools at the time). adapting arenas for the different game modes, as well as textures for the insane hardware texture compression that Dreamcast offered (if used correctly the Dreamcast's 8MB VRAM could theoretically offer 64MB worth of texture memory)
The new OST on dreamcast was great.
Quake 3 DC is fun in the same way an NES arcade port (Double Dragon for example) was fun, even though the original version would be the definitive way to play
@@gc3k absolutely! I mean, I could just remove it from my GDEMU, but I still appreciate this version and play it from time to time (mostly out of an inherit technical curiosity) :)
There's at least one exception to the avoid-Acclaim-on-Dreamcast rule: Acclaim distributed the home version of one of the best racing games on Dreamcast, F355 Challenge, but that one was actually developed by Sega AM2. Sega had to make a home distribution deal with Acclaim to be able to afford the expensive Ferrari license.
Vanishing Point is also alright.
avoid acclaim in general rule
Acclaim did alright with Bust A Move 4 (Puzzle Bobble 4) as well, which I know is mostly a PS1 port, but the visuals have been given a nice hi res upgrade, without breaking the games fundementals, plus the game is downright fun. In some cases, sometimes games even got backported to the PS1 (Capcom Vs SNK Pro and Puyo Puyo~n), those 2 I have in my collection as I don't own a DC, but they are still fun regardless.
Usually Acclaim is a no go but I will never forget that they also released the first Burnout games for the PS2. Therefore I saw the logo so many times as a child.
Vanishing Point is a good game on the PlayStation. This is one game that was made worse with the higher framerate of the Dreamcast. The game is not perfect either, but the physics model makes sense on the PS, on the Dreamcast it makes the game too twitchy and floaty to control
Did they not release trickstyle? That was a great game
Shenmue stands apart from all the other RPGs. Shenmue is to the Dreamcast was Zelda was to the NES. It's a groundbreaking adventure by Yu Suzuki.
Along with it's sequel it's by far one of my greatest experiences in gaming. And I didn't get to play it until it came out on Steam and was supposibly very dated. And I have been an avid gamer for over 40 years now starting with Atari 2600. Shenmue was the ultimate experience.
Its not an RPG, The genre called FREE (Full reactive Eyes Environment) by Yu Suzuki himself if I remember it correctly (there is no Open World genre back in the day AFAIK). CMIIW.
Playing Shenmue as a 13 year old was a magical experience. I will never forget it.
Shenmue 2 is so much better than the first game. I’ll say shenmue 2 is a top 25 game of all time
Playing 1&2 first time right now, absolutely deserves the legendary status and glad it can continue
I'm so glad I was born when SEGA was around, this is gaming in its purest form.
Mindless fun, nothing else. SEGA didn't care for the cinematic experience as the competitors (mainly Sony) and took more risks than Nintendo.
SEGA games had this pick up and play magic, maybe because they had arcade roots?
Doing games like this is a dying art that only Nintendo and a few others still care for, even SEGA has mostly forgotten how to do them.
Sega dead
"SEGA didn't care about the cinematic experience"
*Shenmue, D2, Space Channel 5, Sonic Adventure 1-2, Skies Of Arcadia have entered the chat*
@@etenby699 Six games out of how many?
@@etenby699dude even going back to Panzer Dragoon, Zwei and Saga; they were all SUPER cinematic, especially with the way they incorporated their orchestral scores into the experience.
My biggest console regret was selling my dreamcast back in the day when i upgraded to the PS2. The dreamcast was a amazing console
Same ,. cept me it was for OG xbox stuff. i had such a huge DC library of games too. a few years back a friend sold me his black sports DC and a few sports games he had with it , but a couple months after i got it a power surge during a storm killed the deck.
I only sold mine a couple years ago, a brand new Saturn and stacks of games for both! I sold em cheap as too, I charged em $10 a game and gave em the consoles for free!!! What an idiot!?
I never sold a console, but it was my big brother's. My first own console was the PS2 and I still regret not getting a Dreamcast as well.
My biggest problem with the Dreamcast is the rose colored glasses people have for it, its nowhere near as good as a PS2 or even a GameCube, not because it's life was cut short either.
Just to tag on to the Capcom DO point: SNK was another company with good ports to the system, mostly fighting games. If you're a fan of Capcom's fighting game ports to the console, you will probably also enjoy most of SNK's offerings like the KOFs entries that made it to the system (including most fans' favorite entry in the series, KOF 98', whose best port may have been the Dreamcast version), I believe it got a Samurai showdown as well as some Metal Slug ports, and then there's SNK's finest ever offering, Garou Mark of the Wolves, one of the greatest 2D fighting games of all times and its port to the Dreamcast is maybe the best version of the game.
Seriously, don't sleep on SNK games for the dreamcast
Tons of emulation snk options on the caster of dreams too
No Sam Sho's or Metal Slugs made it to DC, but if you go the DC route for SNK games, make sure to get the Japanese versions. The US versions of Last Blade 2 or Garou Mark of the Wolves were either censored (white blood in LB2's case), or made the motor in your DC run super loud, and in MotW's case, the US version uses Terry's voice clips from the Real Bout series, while the Japanese version uses the proper voice clips from MotW. Last Blade 2's Japanese version has the blood, instead of the white milk seen in the US release. KoF 98, aka 99 Dream Match isn't all that hot (98 UM years later is the best port of 98 to have), but KoF 99 (aka Evolution), 00, 01, and 02 are fine on the DC, and were good enough in fact to be directly ported to the PS2 in Japan for KoF Nests Hen compilation, aka Nests Saga, which ports 99 Evolution, 00 and 01 onto 1 disc, along with their AES counterparts on the same disc. As far as I know, only 6 SNK games made it to the DC, though recently some of SNK's Atomiswave arcade games have been fanported to the DC, without the extras found in the PS2 console versions.
@@Bloodreign1 actually there are but you have to burn the discs yourself
@@Bloodreign1 I always hated garou on the Dreamcast because of the voice clips making a lot of noise accessing the disc all the time. Are you saying the japanese release doesn’t have this issue?
@@Bloodreign1 technically atomiswave ports of samsho 6 and metal slug 6 run on the Dreamcast
personally here's my DO's and DONT's about the Dreamcast Library:
DO take your time and enjoy the games
DONT be afraid to play games from genres that you may not be a fan of
DO try them all
DONT feel too sad that you missed out for so long
ok, that last one may have been a bit much, but i think everyone gets what i'm trying to say. XD
know about the Great Reset?
@@donkeyparadise9276 no
This is your best video in a while. Highly recommended. Although Soul Reaver was a PSX port that was vastly superior on DC, and the Dreamcast version of Dino Crisis was crisp and far nicer than the dodgy PC version.
Also the DC SW:Racer was fantastic. Ok just an upscale N64 game but the N64 version was great so to have less frame dips and higher res was amazing!
Great work!
Do you mean Pod Racer? I didn’t even know that came out on Dreamcast, I loved that game on the N64.
Clear, concise, and correct. Even if someone disagrees with your opinions on particular details, they’re presented fairly. This video is a good idea that is well-executed.
I remember being absolutely blown away by NFL2K when it came out. Me & my friends played it all the time! It was by far the best football game that had ever came out at the time.
Talking about the Dreamcast always makes me so amazingly nostalgic.
It wasn't a perfect console nor one that was really allowed to truly spread its wings, but for the short time it got, it had incredible library and much like the Saturn had an absolutely fantastic extended run in Japan. The Dreamcast will live on forever as one of the greatest short-lived consoles that ever was.
Unfortunately, the Dreamcast’s age is catching up to it. The GD-ROM drive is very vulnerable to breakdowns. The controller board has a design flaw in one of its resistors that will make using controllers impossible until you fix it. The power supply is very sensitive to clean connectors.
Do your research before getting a DC.
Fortunately, many of the DC’s problems are easy to fix. The GD-ROM can be replaced with a MODE (Multiple Optical Disk Emulator), which is better than the original GD-ROM anyway. The resistor is quite easy to replace even for novice repairs. The power supply problem is easy to fix with q-tips and alcohol.
These simple problems can net you great deals if you know how to restore game consoles. I once got a “broken” DC, 2 controllers, 2 “non-working” VMU’s, and 5 Sega Sports games for only $30. The problem was simply replacing the controller board resistor. I got $100 worth of supposed junk for dirt cheap!
I would have loved it if the Dreamcast had a full lifespan and we started to see remasters of Sega's arcade Saturn ports to the Dreamcast all cleaned up.
Plus other arcade compilations and more previous 1st/2nd party sega games. Especially sonic gems collections, Capcom, and midway arcade treasure series and ect. Since sega robbed us from a solid run with the saturn due to poor management and marketing. The dreamcast lifespand will become longer. I wish sega would've port there compilations to the Xbox instead of snubbing them completely.
Can you imagine a Panzer Dragoon Saga 2? A Shenmue II release in america, and a Shenmue III striking while the iron was still hot? We would have had so many more excellent shoot-em-ups, racing games, fighting games (IMO this was the genre's peak period), and even lightgun games would have been a really viable genre to explore more. Games were wildly creative at that time too, not settled into just a few tropes! There was even talk that someone was developing a first person sword fighting game using the fishing rod controller... imagine that!
The unfortunate image of both Saturn and Dreamcast is that they're Arcade Consoles with gratuitous amounts of shooters and fighters and very, very little else. Which just doesn't appeal to many gamers who prefer action, adventure and/or RPG titles.
I however disagree and think the Saturn is a "thinking man's" console while Dreamcast has many interesting titles on it's own as well.
Not always the greatest, but Lunacy on Saturn for example, or 7th Cross on Dreamcast. The latter of which was just SO painfully weird and obscure that I thoroughly enjoyed every janky moment of it.
What good consoles. Damn...
Saturn had a ton of great rpg titles: Panzer Dragoon Saga,Sakura Taisen 1-2,Dragon Force 1-2,Shining Force III trilogy,Grandia,Lunar 1-2,two Devil Summoner, Tengai Makyou 4th apocalypse.
That was one of the reasons the system was a success in Japan...and why Dreamcast failed there as well .
@@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526 Yup, exactly. Dreamcast had some in Japan too, but not that many, and they were really minor in comparison it would seem. Apparently, it had tons of VNs though. Nothing beats PSP (and, probably, Switch) in that category though, as far as consoles go.
I'm learning to code purely to make 3D platformers for Dreamcast.
Also to hopefully male unofficial ports for games like Rayman 3, Sonic Heroes etc.
LJN/Acclaim/THQ have a really interesting history, which when you look into can explain a lot of the weird things in the games. For example, back to the future couldn't secure the music rights so they sped it up to an unrecognizable degree. It doesn't make the games any better it does make you laugh at the things you got frustrated with back in the day.
As a Sega fanboy and collector myself, I'm thankful for videos like this. I've had the opportunity in the past couple years to acquire a Saturn and Dreamcast. Videos like this help me with discovering good games for these consoles, especially since I never got the opportunity to play them when I was growing up. Thank you for all you do for the gaming community. Your videos are quite a bit of help with collecting for different pieces of hardware, namely the Saturn and Dreamcast.
Since the start of the pandemic, I've been gradually building up my retro library and like you, got myself a Saturn and Dreamcast (first time in my life). Pretty damn good consoles, though I modded them both to avoid the hassle of paying for expensive copies of games.
@@ultraspinalki11 ya don't even have to mod a dreamcast with iso files but I don't know if its very healthy for it!? I've never had any problems but my first dc died and I only ever did the right thing!?
@@ultraspinalki11 I'd love to learn how to mod consoles, especially for the Saturn. It's games are quite expensive.
@@pauldutton1082 if you look up retrorgb, he gives a list of trustworthy modders from around the globe. If you're lucky, there might be one near you that you can pay to do the job for you.
Nice video! (as usual!)
One exception for Acclaim woud be : "Do play Re Volt!" This game was very good and innovative!
That one might fall under PC ports though.
@@rosskwolfe That's true but Dreamcast version has a bonus circuit, is easier to play today ( no Windows xp and above, not that easy to "emulate") and gamepad support work pretty great
@@zanrek5021 Re-Volt is easy to get running on modern PCs thanks to RVGL. It runs smooth as butter and looks better than ever, and as a bonus it also includes the Dreamcast-exclusive track and cars.
And Trickstyle.
Brother, you are right on the money with the more "awkward" releases. Chu Chu Rocket, Samba de Amigo (the maracas are a must), Space Chanel 5, and Rez were so much fun when they released and hold up so well today.
Samba is even capable of teaching proper rhythm vs. the Rock Band stuff. Very challenging and fun. A perfect party game.
I'm seriously loving this new video format. I would love to see more Do's and Don'ts. I agree with everything you said!
Quake III Arena on Dreamcast is a good buy IMO, for some good old fashioned split screen multiplayer. On PC you had to play remotely online or LAN up, which wasn't always feasible. I had lots of fun with the Dreamcast port.
Do: buy Power Stone. One of the most underrated fighters by Capcom.
Power stone 2 is better
Dreamcast is the most underrated console ever. It was made to dominate the market but SEGA's sins doomed it to failure.
It forced sega to release the dreamcast too early due to losing a lot of money during the end of the early to mid 90s. Which cause the saturn to fail in the west and Europe by sega bad decisions.
@@maroon9273 Saturn unfortunately had already failed in the west. SEGA wanted to release the Dreamcast before the PS2. But the damage had already been done. People were brain washed with the PlayStation brand name so much that they compared the PS1 to the Dreamcast.
@@majimamike4097
Since the saturn failed two holidays years in 96 and 97 due to sega horrible marketing and management. It lead to Bernie stating the saturn is not the future and the dreamcast was born.
I guaranteed had sega did the right marketing it would've sold more than the n64 (34 million) and even twice with a powerful cleaner hardware.
The ps1 did not stop the n64 having a successful run in the west and Europe. 33 million consoles sold and the mario 64 (11.9 million) outselling ps1 grand turismo (10.9).
Had n64 used optical disc, it would've sold more units.
@@maroon9273 I agree. Marketing is everything. You can sell literally nothing by using good marketing. SEGA could have saved its hardware part by showing it off more to the customers. The twin-cpu obstacle would have driven developers away but still Saturn had some of the best games of its genre.
@@majimamike4097 dual processing and difficult dsp limit the console reaching its performance during its lifespand. Similar thing happened with previous hardware that were underpowered against the saturn including sega cd, 32x/32x cd add-ons and the atari jaguar. At least n64, ps2 and ps3 hardware were pushed to its limits nearing the end of its lifespand. Had sega cared about the marketing the saturn well in na/eu. We would've seen developers push it to its limits during the end of 90s and to the
Yes, especially 3D based games. We would've seen 3D games being pushed to its limits during end of the 90s and the 00s if sega marketing was better during its earlier days.
At least the n64, ps2, ps3 were able to push their hardware to its limits nearing the end of their systems lifespand. Same thing with the genesis. Genesis had a slump during 1993 to 1994 due western developers creating low quality engines instead utilizing dma channel on the gpu. Which is difficult to access due to the genesis exapansion unfriendly limited hardware. It took 9 years for the genesis to use software scaler scaling sprites (jurrasic park lost world) with sega cd add-on. Also, other games that pushed the system to display 32-bit like graphics in the mid 90s without the 32x add-on.
Always going to like and comment on a Dreamcast video.
I got into the Dreamcast at exactly the right time from a collector's point of view. I picked mine up at Game Stop in early 2002 for around $20. games that sell for well over $100 today, like MvC2, Power Stone 2, Shenmue, and Ikaruga were mine for $5-10, complete in box. The Dreamcast was done in 2002, but still current gen.
Toy Commander is a good weird one. I also like the stellar presentation of the Dreamcast Magazine's demo discs, which deserve their own video.
I played those demo discs so dang much lol. I think most of the games I bought were ones I liked from them. Played the crap out of Rush 2049, Virtua Tennis, and Tony Hawk. The Toy Commander Christmas demo was sooo good too. My real Toy Commander disc stopped working for some reason not long after buying it. Was pretty bummed out. Around that time I figured out discjuggler (2002 ish) so I just sailed the seven seas for Toy Commander lol. Damn takes me back. Crazy memories.
I think other than powerstone and shenmue, toy commander was my favourite DC game
Toy commander was awesome both single and multiplayer.
Regarding Acclaim I do agree except for a few games. The games were Re-Volt. It's a great game developed by them. And still one of my favourite games to this day on the Dreamcast. As well as Shadow man. And Trickstyle.
Revolt needs to be on PC. I believe the custom level community is alive and active. Even the lego editor is decent. One of my favorite games of all time. The fact that you could even edit the corse graphics maps was a blast.
@@trebleboost7 Cool. Thanks for the info 👍 I have a PC myself so I'll try it out
Best console ever
It's a classic for sure.
My favorite console of all time
@@aegisreflector1239 Same here,amazing how so many great games were on the Dreamcast with only two years on the market.
One exception for the PS1 ports is Soul Reaver. The DC version is actually better than the PC port and the best way to play it.
Cracking game. Needs an update/remaster
Yeah, it was almost like Soul Reaver and Rayman 2 were developed for the Dreamcast first, then ported to everything else. At least, that's what the quality feels like :D
Totally agree. From 20fps on ps1 to 60 on dc. This guy didn’t do his homework enough. I bought the PS one version later and I was like oh my god this is hideous
And the Tony Hawk games.
I really like this kind of videos. Not only does it give good advices for newcomers on the system, it also spreads nostalgic vibes to the old fans of the machine. I realize there are some titles that I forgot about and still would like to check out, so this video was a good reminder.
Once again Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes gets snubbed. While Capcom's Federation vs Zeon is a fast-paced third person shooter with arcade rules, Rise from the Ashes is a deliberately slow, first person mech sim that fans of Battletech/Wechwarrior will appreciate.
Both SW Episode 1 Racer and Nightmare Creatures are fun games that look and run far better than their PSone / N64 versions.
In fact Episode 1 Racer was a favorite on the Dreamcast for most DC owners back then.
Really have to disagree with what you said about Star Wars Episode 1: Pod Racer. It's a great racer and the Dreamcast version was by far the best at the time! Sharper visuals, smoother framerates and it had the music throughout the races (the N64 version, for example, only had music play on the last laps). I know it's since been released on Switch, Xbox and PS4/5. But if I were to buy a version for a retro system, it'd be the Dreamcast version.
As usual, great work, u put alot of work in your videos and it shows.
I appreciate that! Thank you.
26:27 don't help "collectors." The prices are already absurd with some going on borderline insane. People who loved them and played them, and may have been looking to owning (or replacing their originals) are priced out or forced to contribute with this artificial inflation.
Skies of Arcadia is one of my all time favorites since it came out
Regarding the wrestling games, in DO's, please mention explore Japanese wrestling games like Toukon Retsuden 4 and Giant Gram series
NFL 2k is better than any current Madden game, change my mind...
Could you do a review of the "Carrier" for Dreamcast? I discovered it recently and it blew me away, it's a really good game
I loved my Dreamcast back in the early 2000’s!!!
I appreciate this video. Not everybody will have the fortune to have been retro-collecting before the pandemic caused prices to skyrocket so it's a good idea what to skip and to focus on.
I hated there was never a follow-up to GunGriffon on the Dreamcast. It was only natural it seemed. You mentioned during the FPS section that games shine when made specifically with the Dreamcast in mind; I think a GunGriffon game built from the ground up would have been fantastic. Would have been a little awkward with two freaking fewer buttons, no shoulder buttons, and [still] one analog stick, but I would have ate it up
Chu Chu Rocket was my first videogame that I played through online. The console was way ahead of its time and under appreciated.
Their first to market approach backfired because of the DVD format becoming mainstream 2 years later, its unfortunate
Cool video...the Dreamcast really casted a lot of dreams come true
Just give us a Sega Dreamcast mini with at least 30 games.
Rayman 2 and Soulreaver for example were not basic ports from other consoles, specifically PSX, they were properly developed for the Dreamcast. So if you own them on PSX or N64 then maybe consider trying the DC versions.not only are they beautiful but also come with additional features not seen or heard elsewhere.
Rayman 2 is one of my all-time favorite platformers. It ran super smooth, had gorgeous art, controlled well (even better than Sonic), a nice story and length, memorable music and sound, and... look, if you like adventure or platformer games at all, you just need to play this.
Great video as always! I disagree with some things for example, some ports from the ps1 were much better on the dreamcast, Dave mirra bmx was a master piece and didn't deserve to be on the list of bad games, other ps1 port that was better was Tony hawk 1 and 2, tomb raider last revelation, soul reaver, Dino crisis, alone in the dark new nightmare, urban chaos, even that there are barely no new things on the ports, the performance and resolution were much better and the experience was outstanding, I had all of ps1 ports to the dreamcast back then and I still played them these days, well, it's just my opinion and don't take it the wrong way, I love your content and never miss any videos, keep up the amazing work and greetings from Portugal
Those games are how they would look as ps1 games with the 3dfx graphics card on pc! They don't have any extra detail or anything in the 3d models, under the textures. He's not saying they are all crap but the were half arsed ports, they didn't do anything and that's a shame. Most of them are OK but they're pretty primitive compared to the real dreamcast stuff. I don't wanna disrespect the great Dave Mirras legacy, but that and urban chaos were stinkers. Soul reaver, Tony hawk etc were all awesome on ps1, and that's how it worked. They didn't have to change up the games but they could have least changed the models to what dc could do. Look at soul calibre!? Its a million times better than the arcade version, forget about the ps version! That was mind blowing at the time.
Ahh, just hearing the Skies of Arcadia music playing when you discussed the RPG's was soothing. What a wonderful game. Those simple cartoony visuals have aged surprisingly well over time. I need to finish my emulated playthrough. Sadly my Dreamcast gave up the ghost and it's the only way I can play it reliably.
As a game I still play to this day, I was a little sad to see Episode I Racer lead off on the Star Wars segment, but it really was the only Star Wars game even worth considering. If nothing else, you can just throw the disc in a Dreamcast and it'll work as intended, which isn't so much the case with the PC version these days.
Yeah, I was surprised Sega Lord X bagged on it so much. The poly count was higher and framerate was better on the DC than N64, and it was actually an upgrade for me versus the PC version.
I like it too. Its got more to it, if you really get into it and its sorta relaxing because of the way you don't really have brakes, or use them. Ya just get in the zone and its peaceful.
Wwf attitude is garbage now but when it came out I couldn’t believe my luck . My friend and I waited the whole summer holidays for it to arrive in the post and it came the morning we had to go back to school after 6 weeks off. We couldn’t learn that day lol
I convinced my older non gamer boss back in 2001 to get a Dreamcast, and he bought one with Rayman 2. I often wonder if it was the only game he ever played, or if he ever beat it.
If you were only going to play one game... not a bad choice. Rayman 2 was iconic. I wish Rayman 3 felt more like it.
Excellent video - definitely a few things here I will pick up. And great to see some Blue Stinger love!
Skies of Arcadia is, hands down, the single BEST game in the entire Dreamcast library. And that's a hill I'll die on. By far one of the most unique and fun RPGs ever made, for all intents and purposes, you can make the argument that it's two games in one with boots on the ground combat and airship battles.
Way too often random encounter. You can cheese it by listening to the disc revs, but... it's still something obnoxious.
@@chauhoanglongnguyen7790 Are the battles as frequent as the ones in VAY? Because that would be scary!
What did you think of Grandia 2, I felt I had more fun on grandia.
I have such fond memories of skies of Arcadia. I just started it again and it is more wonky than I remember and the battles definitely come a little too often. Still a great game though.
i played it on a dc emulator so i could quickmap 2x speed for doing the random battles@@nicholasadamson2103
DC is extremely underrated. Loved owning it
“They sucked ass far more than not”
As someone who has been gaming since 85, that quote fits Acclaim’s track record to a T.
The DC was both my first system I purchased with my own money and my first import system. Power stone kept me entertained for days. Great system. Great memories.
Sucks that it took so long for us as kids to realize Acclaim sucked, despite their licenses being so appealing.
Acclaim a lot people may not know is really LJN by a different name
@@avalond1193 yes and no. They were sold to Acclaim in like the early 90s I believe and folded up in the mid 90s
I mean if it wasn't a Turok game or shadow man (and a few other random ones) then yeah if it had acclaim on it avoid it at all costs.
AKA lame
Highly disagree with your take on Star Wars Jedi Power Battles. The DC version is the definitive version and a must own in my opinion.
Even though I was around back then I will admit by the time the Dreamcast came out I had pretty much already given up on Sega. I did play it back then but only at friends houses. I didn't own my own untill 2020. I found it to be very expensive to try and collect for. The the games I want are the pricier ones. I HIGHLY recommend if you're just getting into Dreamcast do what I ended up doing. Get an original model with a 1 or 0 on it then get a GDEMU and a fully loaded SD card. I had to but my card off of eBay because I do not own a computer to make my own, but now I own EVERY game for it and am still on original hardware. Kinda spendy the way I did it but in the long run it was way cheaper than trying to buy all the disc I wanted.
Your mistake for not buying a Dreamcast in 1999 like the rest of us.
I bought it 1999 and Saturn in 1995. How much to upgrade your DC with the GDEMU?
@@costumeninja1914 you can only get a clone now. That's what I got. Your Dreamcast has to be an original one with a 0 or a 1 on the bottom. The GDEMU was only $45. I do not own a computer so I bought a fully loaded sd card and that was $145. And a single resistor to take the load off the power supply was just a couple of bucks. That all you need to get going. So $200 all in if you already own the Dreamcast, and then you'll have every game.. I also bought a 3D printed tray to hold GDEMU down and hold the SD card.that was only $15.
I went from my ps1 to the Dreamcast and it blew my mind.
Seeing Skies of Arcadia for the first time was amazing
I love and miss my Dreamcast since it died few years back.
With so few being sold and so many ways to resurrect them I am equally sad and curious as to what became of it?
Optical Disc drive emulators and even modern upgrades available for the power board and fan means so long as the mother board is good, all is not lost.
Why then don’t you get another Dreamcast? Seems the obvious thing to do. I got one this year skies of Arcadia is cool but it seems to take a while to get into, I’m just at the first pirate sky island ‘windmill island’ or somthing. The Dreamcast I got is region free, modded for better specs and has changeable LED lights in the controller ports via Bluetooth, it’s dope.
Some additional advice:
*DO* get a GD-EMU for your system, because that GD-ROM inside is probably not long for this world.
*DO* play the Atomiswave games recently ported to the system. They play best from a GD-EMU.
*DON'T* play Toy Commander without cheat codes. Trust me, you'll want that extra help.
Their latest Sonic origins collection on PC gonna have Denuvo anti tamper... please sega dont do that, why you're so keen with denuvo will pissed some of your customer off on PC. Its the remaster of 30 years old game, denuvo is unnecessary in this case