Just Bought A Dreamcast...

[ninja_sauce]

...for £13 on ebay.

I hadn't even thought about the machine, but was talking about rpgs with someone and how one of my favourites had been grandia 2 and was told that the DC version was pretty good. looked into it a little more and sure enough, the consoles and games are dirt cheap on ebay.

So i'm sure this topic has been done here and whilst the search through the forums here was fun i wouldn't mind a little pondering over recommendations. so far i have Evolution, SKies of Arcadia, Shen mue 1+2, zombie revenge, maken x, psychic force (memories of the PS version of this when i worked in the gaming industry), Bangai-O and ring:terrors realm - i hear it's pretty bad, but being a sadako groupie....

I also see that there is a homebrew and emulation scene out there too which sounds interesting.

Any thoughts?

 

[saehn]

...for £13 on ebay.

I hadn't even thought about the machine, but was talking about rpgs with someone and how one of my favourites had been grandia 2 and was told that the DC version was pretty good. looked into it a little more and sure enough, the consoles and games are dirt cheap on ebay.

So i'm sure this topic has been done here and whilst the search through the forums here was fun i wouldn't mind a little pondering over recommendations. so far i have Evolution, SKies of Arcadia, Shen mue 1+2, zombie revenge, maken x, psychic force (memories of the PS version of this when i worked in the gaming industry), Bangai-O and ring:terrors realm - i hear it's pretty bad, but being a sadako groupie....

I also see that there is a homebrew and emulation scene out there too which sounds interesting.

Any thoughts?

This is a very good guide: www.planetdreamcast.com/games/best/

Definitely get Seaman if you find it cheaply. It's a great experience. Love it, you can't experience the game on any other system (or through emulation).

The homebrew scene shouldn't be missed, either. Great stuff.

 

[ninja_sauce]

ah, i found that one in fact - am going through here now: http://www.segagagadomain.com/dreamcast.htm and finding lots of weird and wonderful things...

 

[gaterooze]

Some more obscure ones I like:

Bomber Hehhe!
Castle of Shikigami 2
D2
Frame Gride
Gundam Side Story 0079
Heavy Metal: Geomatrix
Magic the Gathering
Propeller Arena
Puyo Puyo Fever
Record of Lodoss War
Rez
Space Channel 5
Super Magnetic Neo
Tech Romancer
Toy Cmmander
Twinkle Star Sprites
Typing of the Dead

 

[Azalin]

I've never been able to find a copy of (Illicit copy, since it wasn't released) propeller arena.

Soul caliber kicks some pretty hard ass. And jet grind radio & Metropolis street racer are pretty darn fun too. I also recommend PSO v.2 if you're into rpg's.

 

[NoidZ]

I recommend these games by genre:

==Fighting==
Soul Calibur
Dead or Alive 2
Guilty Gear X

==Racing==
V-Rally 2
Hydro Thunder

==Sports==
NHL 2k2
NBA 2k2
Virtua Tennis 2
Tony Hawk's Skateboarding 1 and 2

==Puzzle==
Super Puzzle Fighters
Bust-a-Move 4

==Shooters==
Ikaruga
Under Defeat

==Flight==
Propeller Arena

==FPS==
Quake 3 Arena
Unreal Tournament

==RPG==
E.G.G.
Grandia 2
Phantasy Star Online v1 or v2

==Platform==
Sonic Adventure 2


The Dreamcast has much more great games, but these are just some of the games I own. I have for about 200 Games for Dreamcast, but haven't played it in a while. Best console of that generation!

 

[Angel]

i can suggest Marvel vs Capcom for a fighting game, terrific.

 

[SiDCrAzY]

Power Stone 1+2

Can't think of any more games that haven't been mentioned already.

 

[WhizzBang]

A great purchase - the DC has loads of good games (and loads of awful ones too) but as you know they are generally very cheap.

Most of the best ones have already been mentioned (well done Noidz for mentioning Hydro Thunder) but I would also add the following to your 'worth picking up if you see it cheap' list:

Rayman
Mr Driller
Wacky Racers
Wetrix (may be an acquired taste, this one)


Here are some games you should avoid:
Rainbow Six - terrible controls
Looney Tunes Racing - this would have been an okay Mario Kart style game but for the terrible weapon balance. All attacks cannot be avoided, so it doesn't matter how well you race because someone can drop an anvil on you on the last lap and you lose
Omikron The Nomad Soul - dull souless adventure


I think Rez is over-rated (although not a bad game but you can get better DC stuff cheaper) and although I was hooked on Seaman for a month I hated that bloody thing by the end and was glad when he died.

 

[geniv]

yeah the DC is an awesome system.

don't forget to get the VGA or S-video cable for it.

the default composite tv hookup is kinda sucky.

 

[Ganepark32]

....Looney Tunes Space Race was amazing. I got it as soon as i came out and completed it 100%. U can dodge weapons, its just hard to do it. The anvils take some skill to avoid. If u play it for awhile u'll learn how to do it.

 

[WhizzBang]

....Looney Tunes Space Race was amazing. I got it as soon as i came out and completed it 100%. U can dodge weapons, its just hard to do it. The anvils take some skill to avoid. If u play it for awhile u'll learn how to do it.

Ooh, I'll have to give it another try then. I always thought it could have been excellent as the tracks are good and the game handles well but I found the weapons frustrating. Wacky Racers is very similar but has better weapons so I preferred that (it wasn't as good on the PS2 though, I am not sure why but it was probably down to the joypad).

 

[Jarska333]

A bit off-topic, but are there any usable DC-emulators for PC? My attempts at gettting an actual DC have proven in-adecuate...

 

[Ravnos]

Chankast is pretty popular but AFAIK development on it has stopped. I don't know how well it runs though because it's for Windows only.

 

[NoidZ]

Chancast sucks ass. Buy a Dreamcast instead!

 

[nem]

I absolutely love Looney Tunes Space Race. Anvils can definitely be dodged. It's one of the best looking Dreamcast games too (god bless Melbourne House).

Whoever said Rez is overrated needs to have his head checked.

And how come Headhunter or Rival Schools: Project Justice have not yet been mentioned? Two top titles there.

Also, if you're into old school 2D shoot'em-ups, there's a great wad of them on the Dreamcast. Cream of the crop would be Border Down, Ikaruga, Under Defeat, Radilgy, Mars Matrix and Zero Gunner II.

Best Dreamcast title though? Power Stone absolutely. Still looks terrific in every way.

edit: oops

 

[ninja_sauce]

A bit off-topic, but are there any usable DC-emulators for PC? My attempts at gettting an actual DC have proven in-adecuate...

funny you should mention that, but a new DC emulator has just appeared, i found about about this yesterday when looking for some more DC info:

http://demul.emulation64.com/

"Hello from Russia! We are very proud to introduce you new DC emulator DEmul! We have been trying to write new emulator that will be able to run commercial games since first and only real DC emulator Chankast so far is stopped to develop.

Emulator was started to development early in 2004 year by Wind, but just canceled after Chankast released. About half a year it has been in hibernating, but Chanka was still imperfect and emu was continued to developing. About a year it takes before it shows up BIOS spiral, then early in 2006 year Wind found some emu-russia members and run his first most desired commercial game Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Next progress was very fast and last six of seven month took improvements and debugging.

Now emulator is able to run most commercial releases by various groups all along with homebrew demos and free software. We hope you enjoyed it.

Emulator still imperfect and incomplete. A lot of work still needed. Sound, timing and graphics need improvement and speed up. Since main developer is going to be little busy to do something with DEmul next year, we do not promise fast promoting and emulation progress. We try our best to fix as many bugs as we can and improve emulation."

Runs quite a few comercial games, but not yet at what i would call a playable level - as it is only the second release, though it could pick up.

 

[Jarska333]

Chancast sucks ass. Buy a Dreamcast instead!

I would, but they are rather hard to come by in Finland, and the UK peeps, biggest e-bay populace next to US, atleast, biggest where I understand the language, usually don't wish to send their consoles abroad. It's quite heavy, too... Postage sucks.

Still, Project Buy the Bleeping Machine is still underway.