Retro News - Free Dreamcast Book!

I don't write about the Dreamcast here nearly as much as I should. It's mainly a time issue - its games will generally take much longer to play and write reviews for - but it's still a bit of a travesty considering how splendid the system is, and how important it is to me too. I do try to keep up with news from within the lively DC community though, and recently I heard a splendid example.

As you may have already noticed by the interceding picture here, the DC community hasn't just been burbling on about their favourite console and its many fine games. They have gone to the effort of making an entire book listing them all, and the best part is - it's completely free to download and keep! This will be of particular interest to hardcore DC fans too, as it's an amazingly comprehensive tome. Every single game ever released for the console is contained within including indie titles released after the console's supposed demise, and all entries have an overview of the game as well as detailed release info including any regional variants or alternate names, etc.

Crap Games #10

The Spirit of Speed 1937 (2000)
By: Broadsword Interactive / Acclaim Genre: Racing Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: Sega Dreamcast
Also Available For: PC

One of my favourite genres on the Dreamcast was that of driving games. There were many superb examples with several available early on, and I bought all but one of them. The one I didn't get, and indeed had never even played until recently, was Spirit of Speed. This was mainly due to the rather harsh reception it was met by upon its release. Actually, that's putting it mildly - I don't think I've ever seen a racing game get so consistently, mercilessly savaged by magazines, websites, and players the world over! Despite this, it's still a title that has always rather intrigued me. Not too many games give you the opportunity to race in classic old 1930's speedsters like the ones found here after all. Whilst possibly somewhat restrictive, it's also a unique premise. Besides, it can't be that bad, surely?

Currently Playing...

Speed Devils a.k.a. Speed Busters (1999)
By: Ubisoft Genre: Racing Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: Sega Dreamcast
Also Available For: PC (variation)

The Dreamcast is famous for many things including some fantastic driving games, but Speed Devils is not really one of these. It was first released as a PC game known as Speed Busters a year earlier but this DC version was intended to be a launch title here in the U.K. As would turn out to be that case for an alarming amount of DC games, it was delayed, but it did surface a month or two later to some rather encouraging reviews.

That was enough for me in my old irresponsible credit card days so I snapped it up and it soon became a favourite. When I recently dug out all my DC stuff after a frankly baffling and unexplainable period of dormancy, I was therefore not very surprised to find myself seeking it out before any other game. I've played a lot of racing games since I last powered this one up though, and mostly on more powerful systems too, so I was also interested to find if it still held as much appeal as once it did.

Rediscovering a Lost Favourite

Well, okay, not lost but sorely neglected at least! To my ever deepening shame and sorrow it's now been a good couple of year since I fired up my precious Dreamcast, the official 'Last Great Console Ever'. This has mainly been because of this very blog on which pretty much all of my gaming time has been spent 'researching' games for features. A worthy sacrifice? Perhaps, but things still had to change.

My modest collection of CIB games...

So, when my wife and I decided to replace our beloved but ageing car the weekend before last, in order to acquaint ourselves with the new one we drove to my parents house (around 12 miles) where, as well as catching up with my splendid ancestors, I decided to also grab my collection of Dreamcast games which were being stored in my old room. However, when I returned home and tried reuniting them with the console which was stowed in the 'stuff cupboard', to my not-inconsiderable fury I was unable to find the controller! Cue near enough an entire week of searching for it until... Thursday night when I finally found it stashed inside my Xbox box. Grrr! My incredulity at this revelation was, however, mixed with excitement as I could now finally reacquaint myself with my recently recovered collection.

Next-Gen Driving Games #4

Hydro Thunder (1999)
By: Midway / Eurocom Genre: Racing Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Sega Dreamcast
Also Available For: Arcade, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, PC

The glorious Dreamcast days were my last as a happy current-gen gamer but they were tremendously enjoyable while they lasted. This was partly because, unlike the Saturn, there were plenty of top-quality racing games available on Sega's final console, and one that I spent rather a lot of time with was Hydro Thunder, the first of Midway's short-lived 'Thunder' series. As suggested by the name, however, it's a game that features water-based vehicles rather than road-based examples, specifically powerboats. You take on the role of an unnamed 'international boat racing' champion who longs for a new challenge only to receive an invitation from the mysterious H.T.R.A. - the Hydro Thunder Racing Association. This 'underground clan of adventurous racing renegades' don't invite just anyone into their ranks either, so you'll have to work hard to earn their respect...

Top Five Dreamcast Racing Games

Unlike the poor old Saturn which came before it, the Dreamcast was positively heaving with top quality racing games and a sizeable percentage of my time with Sega's final console was spent playing them. On launch day I bought Sega Rally 2 along with a steering wheel and, while the wheel proved rather tricky for controlling that particular game, I soon had plenty of others games to use it with. Not since Burnout 2 was released on the GameCube have I spent so much time on a console playing one particular genre and my trusty DC (or a DC - they're hardly the most durable consoles ever!) still occupies a lot of my time. This was one of the hardest Top Fives to compile so far, but here are the games I settled on:

Games-Related Top Fives Disclaimer: I've traditionally stuck to the games I know and love so far, and these game-related top fives reflect that. One of the purposes of this blog is diversify my gaming experiences, to play games I haven't played before, so I will do new game-related top fives in a few years to see how different they are!

5. Hydro Thunder (1999)

Racing games generally come in two flavours - arcade and simulation - and this multi-platform release from Midway is very much the former! It features a collection of half-boat, half-spaceships which must be raced at super-speeds around a similar assortment of highly creative courses set over rivers and various other waterways. It only has one mode which is a basic arcade mode, and it's a tough game too - new boats and courses are only available upon successful completion of the preceding courses (and in a good position too!) and this is dependent on collecting and using the numerous 'boost' icons. Hydro Thunder might not have much depth but it is a hell of an entertaining racer. One long, non-stop adrenaline rush of a game!

Puzzle Games #5

Mr Driller (1999)
By: Namco  Genre: Puzzle  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega Dreamcast  
Also Available For: Arcade, PlayStation, Game Boy Color, WonderSwan Color, PC, iPhone

Love it or loathe it, Dig Dug is (correctly) regarded as an all-time classic arcade game and, despite being converted to a large number of home systems, it has not been one of the franchises that Namco has furnished with a large number of updates or sequels. It received a rather anonymous second instalment in 1985, but the series wouldn't be revisited for another fourteen long years. Originally intended to be Dig Dug 3, the transition during its development to Mr Driller also included a change in the protagonist. The hero of Dig Dug was Taizo Hori but taking his place here is his son, Susumu Hori! As the highest ranked Driller in the world, he was the first one the panicked people called when the cities became overun by mysterious coloured blocks rising from underground...

Survival Horror #1

Blue Stinger (1999)
By: Climax Graphics / Activision  Genre: Survival Horror  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega Dreamcast  
Also Available For: Nothing

As game systems get more and more powerful over the years it's only natural that the games played on them will evolve to make better use of them too, and occasionally new genres appear. One such genre was arguably started by Alone in the Dark which appeared in 1992 for the PC but I don't think anyone would deny it was the arrival of Capcom's Resident Evil series which really saw it take off. This genre came to be known, of course, as survival horror, but it's one that's never really taken a hold of me. Despite this, I bought Blue Stinger at the Dreamcast's launch and looked forward to exploring its world. Is that because it promised something more than existing survival horror games, or would I once again fail to be ensnared by this burgeoning genre?

Overhead Run 'n' Gun Games #1

Millennium Soldier: Expendable a.k.a. Seitai Heiki Expendable (1999)
By: Rage Software / Infogrames  Genre: Run 'n' Gun  Players: 1-2  Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Sega Dreamcast
Also Available For: PlayStation, PC

When Sega launched their magnificent Dreamcast console it was accompanied by some pretty decent and varied games. Nestled amongst the amazing, big name, flashy 3D next-gen games were two offerings from Rage Software. One was Incoming, itself a flashy 3D shooter, but hardly next-gen as far as originality or gameplay innovations were concerned. The other, known simply as Expendable in the US, was a little more unexpected. Here was a game that was more like a late 80's Commando-style run 'n' gunner and, which is fine as part of a console's library, but as a launch game for the most amazing console to date? Well, it was actually a PC game originally, released during the post-3D accelerator card craze. Due to the Dreamcast's technical similarities to the PC's of the day, it was an easy recipient of quick ports. Was Expendable just here to make up the numbers?