Well here it is, 9/9/09 the tenth anniversary of the Sega Dreamcast. The gaming system so awesome no one bought it. Well I shouldn't say no one. On 9/9/99 the Dreamcast had one of the biggest launches in video game console history (for whatever that's worth). The problem with the Dreamcast wasn't so much the launch as it was what happened after the launch, namely a whole lot of nothing. Developer support was a bit sparse (some of the bigger names like EA ignored the console completely) and people who got burned on the awfulness that was the Sega Saturn or the Sega CD weren't that thrilled at the thought of shelling out almost 300 dollars for a system everyone assumed would be crushed by the looming Playstaytion 2. It's really too bad. The Dreamcast was a great system (so great I bought 2 on the launch day). It was packed with all kinds of technology that was ahead of it's time, hell even the Dev Kit looked bad-ass.
Anyhoo, I could go on forever about how great the DC was, but let's just get on with the list. Here are my top 10 Sega Dreamcast games. Yeah I know my list sucks because Phantasy Star On-line isn't on here, tough on you. 10 years ago I was young and thought on-line RPGs were super weak. 10 years later and now I'm old and I think on-line RPGs are super weak.
NFL 2KThis was the game that really sold me on the DC. The graphics crushed any football game of the time, and the playability was right on par with Madden. In some aspects I felt NFL2k was actually far superior to Madden. The ability to call your plays on the VMU in the controller is still the best solution to a problem that's plagued football games since Tecmo Bowl. Your jerk friend looking at your controller and cheating.
NBA 2K1NBA 2K1 was the Serena Williams to NFL2k's Venus Williams. NFL2k may have showed everyone how great sports games on the DC could be, but NBA2K1 really took it to the next level. Controls, gameplay, graphics, for a basketball sim this game could not be beat.
Marvel vs Capcom 2Spider-Man and Wolverine vs Ryu and Guile? Thank you sally! Marvel vs Capcom 2 was probably the last really great console fighter up until the release of Street Fighter 4 earlier this year. The controls with the DC weren't ideal but a crisp D-pad made up for having to rely on the shoulder triggers for attacks. A lesson the the X-box 360 could stand to learn.
Crazy TaxiCrazy taxi was just a fun game. It was great in the Arcade and the port over to the DC was pretty much flawless.
Soul CaliburAhh good old Soul Calibur. This was one of those games that really highlighted the disparity between the current generation of consoles at that time and the Dreamcast. The Graphics were crisp and bright, polygon counts were high and the framerate was smooth as silk (at least it was up until you fought the end boss). Of course none of that stuff would have mattered if it wasn't fun to play and holy cow was it fun to play.
ShenmueShenmue was pretty much the perfect counterpart to the DC. Completely ahead of it's time and totally ignored.
Power StonePower Stone was a great party game. Fun and addictive it was easy to sit down and lose hours playing this one with your friends.
Jet Grind RadioJet Grind Radio is one of those concepts that could only come from Japan. You're a rave kid on roller blades fighting off the tyranny of an oppressive government with an arsenal of music and graffiti. Less Tony hawk and more Mario, Jet Grind Radio was really a unique game that a lot of people just didn't get even when it got a second chance as Jet Set Radio for the X-box.
Tony Hawk 2Tony Hawk 2 was pretty much the peak of the Tony Hawk franchise. You could argue that 3 was really the better game but just like Kramer was when he said The Search for Spock was better than The Wrath of Kahn, you'd be wrong. This was another example of a game that was just soul crushing to play if you owned it for the Playstation. It looked and played so much better on DC it was redonkulous.
Sega Bass FishingThe fishing controller was a lot like riding around on a Vespa. Sure you looked like an idiot using it but it was fun as hell. I'll take virtual fishing over real fishing anytime. It's a lot easier to get a cold beer from the fridge when you're virtual fishing.
As an awesome super bonus, here's a guy playing Soul Calibur with the DC fishing controller.
2 comments:
I've been trying to remember for three days now and it's killing me. What was the 2D space ship battle game we used to play on (I think) the Sega? Each player would set their line-up and then battle, ships had different weapons and strengths like cloaking. Arghhhh, it's driving me nuts.
It was Star Control for the Genesis. The 1 player game was really lame, but the 2 player vs mode was awesome
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