Aahhh, Sega’s Dreamcast, I maxed out a credit card buying you with Sonic Adventure and Soul Calibur. The next thing I know, Sega, you quit on me…and I don’t even know why.
I loved this system and wholeheartedly supported it and wanted it to thrive. But it appeared and disappeared without even so much as a bang. That didn’t stop a bunch of really good games from coming out on it.
So without further ado, here is
MY Top 10 Dreamcast Games
Number 10: Space Channel 5
Space Michael…that’s all I can really say about why this game is in my top ten. That's right, that's Michael Jackson on the right up there, I can't believe he had a cameo in this game.
Number 9: The Typing of the Dead
It’s House of the Dead but with a keyboard instead of a light gun. Just a funny, innovative game that has some learnin’ in it disguised as fun.
Number 8: Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage
I played this game long before I watched or heard of Berserk, always wondering why this guy was such a badass wielding a crossbow arm and a giganto-sword. A pretty well made hack and slash game that never really went anywhere.
Number 7: Fur Fighters
Dude, it’s a 3rd person shooter that involves shooting the stuffing out of stuffed animals. I’m no furry, but this was a really well made game. It eventually made its way to the PS2, but mainly under the radar.
Number 6: Skies of Arcadia
I remember hanging out at a friend’s house playing this for hours upon hours. I remember this game fondly as one of the first true RPGs to make it to the console. The graphics were bright and crisp, the combat system was really well done, and the airship designs were just amazing.
Number 5: Samba de Amigo
I’m a real sucker for rhythm games, with that being said, this game took some elements of Para-para Paradise and made them their own. Instead of looking like a hand waving dance retard, you got to shake brightly colored maracas like a hand waving dance retard. You were even required to “strike a pose” during most of the songs, trying to match the pose shown on the screen, genius!!!
Number 4: Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves
I had to pick this SNK masterpiece over many, many of the other SNK brawlers that were released on the Dreamcast, mainly because the fighting system is probably one of the most in depth and balanced they have ever made. Don’t get me wrong, this was going to be the spot I put Street Fighter III in, but I spent more time mastering Kushnood Butt and Terry Bogard’s moves and combos, than I ever did with trying to master using Dudley or Ibuki. One of my favorite fighting games of all time!
Number 3: Shenmue
I must avenge my father’s death, but first, I’m going to get a part time job, race some forklifts, and do a whole bunch of other shit before getting back to that thing I said I must do. This was a very gorgeous game for its time, and was one of the best character driven RPG-ish games on the Dreamcast.
Number 2: Jet Grind Radio
The original game before it was repackaged as Jet Set Radio: Future (loved that game too). Involving gravity defying inline skates and tagging, this was a game that oozed character. The cell shaded graphics were fresh at the time (before everyone and their dog made a game using it, I’m looking at you Capcom!), the soundtrack had great Engrish music, great Japanese pop, as well as some Hip-Hop, and the story wasn’t too bad either. I fondly remember the levels where you had to Tag the rival gang members in your colors. Awesome sauce here kids!
Number 1: Seaman
The name is provocative enough, but so was the way you interacted with the quirky main character. You see kids, the Dreamcast controller was able to accept all sorts of wacky peripherals, and Seaman came with a plug in microphone. Not only that but Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock himself!) did all of the voice work for this game. I don’t know how you’d feel after having a fish ask you when your birthday is and having him wax poetic for a minute or so on the virtues of a bi-partisan system of government. The animations were very nice for its age and the voice recognition was good as well, considering this was something like 6 years ago. There are a few bad things like the slowdown when the screen has more than 4 things going on and the fact you have to visit your seaman every 16 hours otherwise he bellies up. Go out and get this game and give it a try, its hella fun, and my number one Dreamcast game.
I’d like to thank you all for reading my blog, as always your comments are welcome, but please no whining that I “forgot something.” Keep in mind that this article is just a work of opinion and keep in mind that I’m a weird kid. Thanks again for reading!
My top 10
10. The House of The Dead 2 (Dont come!, Dont come!)
9. Toy Commander (My bro and I played Multiplayer on this's ass off)
8. Quake III: Arena (Not PC, but FPS)
7. Sonic Adventure (I liked it, what can I say?)
6. NFL 2k1 (Pick your plays on your controller during multiplayer. I've yet to see this outdone. PSP maybe?)
5. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (When TH was good and fun)
4. Jet Grind Radio (Fun, that is all)
3. Resident Evil: Code Veronica (MY first Resident Evil experience)
2. Shenmue (open environments, pick up anything)
1. Phantasy Star Online (First online console experience)
Nice comment man. I loved a lot of the games that you listed, especially RE:CV and PS Online (many many hours spent there). I even agree with you on Sonic Adventure, I liked it.
I <3 your lists
I fucking love the dreamcast, every once in a while i want to get one just to mess around for 5 minutes. I played it on my computer monitor because the Dreamcast had a VGA adapter. I was playing in High Def. before the fucking PS2 was out. Goddamn that was so far ahead of it's time. Too bad it didn't have DVD, that's what killed it. (And no EA support)
I like that Fur Fighters made the list. You are clearly a Dreamcast enthusiast with original choices.
Some small points of contention . . . How in God's green earth did Ikaruga not make the list? Or Bangai-O? Or Cannon Spike?
De gustibus non est disputandum. Great list overall though.
I hated the fact that Sega quit the hardware business. Its too bad, you know they did have some systems that didn't sell well, but they usually set the benchmark that Nintendo and Sony tried their hardest to beat. I know that's kinda flaming, but damn I love each Sega system I own.
I <3 the dreamcast. Mine broke years ago and I never got round to getting it replaced. I never had many games, only a few but Jet Set (Grind) Radio was definitely my favourite. Simple, yet sooo much fun. That and Quake III. Oh and we can't forget Power Stone 2 now can we. So much fun for all involved. So they would be my top three.
@ Tristero
Aw crap man, I was working on my memory alone, I never had any experience with those 3. But if you say they're good, I'll hit up the pawn shops and gamestops to find em...
*hurries to Wikipedia to look up games*
I actually have a official Dreamcast Magazine in front of me (Issue 12 March/April 2001) that has every dreamcast game reviewed & ranked in it. Number one on their list = Soul Caliber, #167 (Worst) being WWF Attitude. I need to scan this mag and post it later.
I bought a dreamcast from a friend a few weeks ago for about $30, with 4 games, but teh only thing i've played on it since then is the first few levels of ikaruga.. maybe i should check out the rest of these.
I can hear the lobby music now. I wish the servers were still up, i'd try it out with my backup dialup line.
Not haveing a dreamcast, I remember playing the Demo of Shenmue at babbages. And it was a frekin blast.
@ tehdopefish
You might want to check out #2 Jet Grind Radio (Jet Set Radio if you live across the pond) from my list first. That's a damn good start to building a Dreamcast game library.
@tehdopefish : stfu
@ everyone else
10. sonic 2
9. bust a move
8. sonic 1
7. space channel 5 part 1
6. tony hawk 2
5. cosmic smash
4. jet grind radio
3. ikaruga
2. Space channel 5 part 2
1. REZ
Oh snap, I forgot about REZ coming out on DC first!
Ah Dreamcast. Good memories. Every once and a while I still dust it off and play some Shenmue.
On a side note, I met my wife over 7 years ago playing Soul Calibur on Dreamcast... and forever since, our Souls have been intertwined with the flame of destiny!
that's a terrible list.
@ SeventhSense
Hey man, you know what they say about opinions. Maybe a little constructive criticism would help. What would your top 10 be?
Mark of the Wolves is a fine example of 2D fighting. Overlooked for sure, but a fine game nonetheless.
One game no one has mentioned though is Power Stone. That game was pretty good stuff. Also, bonus points for having a picture of Sloth in his pirate outfit. The only thing that could beat that is a picture of Cory Feldman in "The Burbs".
Sonic adventure 2 and Power stone 2 shoulda been on there >.>
I still remember the first day I got my Dreamcast (9/9/99...heh) with Soul Calibur, Sonic, and House of the Dead. I was more excited about it than I have been for any other console before or since. Even though I traded it in years ago I still look back on those days fondly. As a die-hard Sega kid growing up, it broke my heart to see them leave the console business and to watch the post-Dreamcast Sonic games slowly descend into the depths of mediocrity. Soul Calibur remains one of the most rewarding console gaming experiences I've ever had.
I personally would add Crazy Taxi to this list. It was a stupid, silly little twitch game, but I loved it. Am I alone in this? Also, the DC had a far superior version of Soul Reaver, which was a great game to begin with.
@ Danro
That's adorable. Was she playing the game?
@Outer Heaven
We were two strangers in a meandering sea of nerds and booth babes at GDC 2000 in San Jose. And the rest is FORGED INTO THE BLADE OF HISTORY!!
God I love my Dreamcast. I still have a ton of the demo discs that came with the Official Dreamcast Magazine, great for popping in when I'm bored.
@Danro
You are a dork. Hahaha.
Actually Crazy Taxi and Power Stone were on my list, but they didn't make the cut, they seemed a bit too mainstream to make my list.
Also, I thought about Soul Reaver, I spent my sophomore year in college playing that at my friend's dorm room
what dude, it's a true story and you know it!
Skies of Arcadia FTW!!!! But no Power Stone 1 FTL!
If the Dreamcast version of Fur Fighters is just like the PS2 version, then fuck that game. Holy Hell, I despised that thing. So badly designed it wasn't even funny.