In light of it being DREAMCAST WEEK here, I was inspired to mention some exclusives that deserve a look. They aren't "great", but they tried to do unique and interesting things within their conventions, and should be applauded for the effort.

I'd like to give honorable mention to Blue Stinger, Illbleed and of course, D2. They fall directly into the "Must Play" category for any fan of bizarre, way-over-the-top adventure gaming. For those not in the loop, here's a rundown:


Blue Stinger: A launch title that was pretty hyped, but failed to live up. The Japanese version was much more "Resident Evil" like, with fixed camera angles to deliver a more cinematic experience. When Activision brought it over, they changed the camera to a chase-perspective, and game play was helped, but at the expense of some moments that were directed with the fixed-perspective in mind. Lots of weapons, lots of monsters, lots of blood, all wrapped around a truly strange plot of an alien just trying to get it's groove on. *SPOILER* That's right, essentially, you play an intergalactic matchmaker, but you don't realize it until the VERY end. *SPOILER*

"You'll sh*t with fear!" Yeah, that's an official tagline...

Illbleed: Same makers of Blue Stinger. Your friends are held in an amusement park that has killer attractions. That is, attractions that kill...you! (How this thing passed OSHA is never explained...) You venture in to save them and survive, as they're in your horror-club, and they'd do the same for you. Random placement of "scares' cause your heart rate to accelerate, causing you to lose life if it goes too high. Fun house monsters will actually hit you. You can get airlifted out of a haunted house by Helicopter. (You read that right) The game is a fever nightmare, and it's a shame that it's so difficult that most find it unplayable, because if you stick with it, there's a wealth of comedy and neat ideas that you haven't seen in any games before or since.


D2: The developer was the now defunct WARP, and warped is a great way to describe this weird hybrid of survival and horror. In fact, it's more survival than the RE games, as your stranded on a frozen mountain, forced to hunt for food while fighting off random monster encounters, like in an RPG, but played in a first person perspective with guns of varying power. There's tentacles, there's insanity, there's monsters galore...The whole thing ends in a Lovecraftian boss "fight" that simulates pure hopelessness and failure...then resolves into something like ..well, I won't give it away, but suffice to say, the game is a trip and a half. Don't let the name fool you...you needn't play the original "D" to get this one, but know WARP used a cast of characters in all their adventure games, "D" (Playstation and Saturn) "Enemy Zero" (Saturn) and "D2" (Dreamcast) that shared names and looks, but were not the same characters from game to game. Odd? Yes. Worth a look? Definitely.

While the venerable DC is coveted by most for it's shooters, fighters and Shenmue, these three games highlight the innovation and uniqueness of the system. Any fan of the Dreamcast and games in general as a creative force owes it to themselves to track these down and at least take a shot at them. They may not be the best gaming has to offer, but they do offer things other games don't. And that's valuable, at the very least to the validity of the medium itself.