Cruis'n USA Arcade and N64 Ports are coming to Dreamcast!

Fans of Midway’s 90s racer, Cruis’n USA, rejoice - because there are ports of both the arcade original and the Nintendo 64 version in the works for the Sega Dreamcast.

The arcade port is the work of “HombreImaginario” of Xenocider fame, and the N64 version is being handled by “MoneyShift64” - two completely separate projects.

Before we talk about each project, I must admit that I’m a huge fan of the Cruis’n series (Cruis’n World will always be in my favourite game list) and I remember as a teenager I always wished for a Cruis’n game to appear on my beloved Dreamcast. Indeed, there was a rumour that Cruis’n Exotica was in the works for Sega’s console; noted in the official UK Dreamcast Magazine (Issue 9, Page 30), which I remember reading with delight during the summer of 2000.

Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and a Dreamcast version was never spoken of again, which is why I’m so excited we’re finally getting some Cruis’n games on the system all these years later! I’ve been fortunate enough to play work in progress builds of both versions on Dreamcast, so here is how they are shaping up.

To kick things off, let’s take a look at the arcade port. 

[Arcade Port] Who doesn't want to visit the White House hot tub?

[Arcade Port] Flames from my exhaust are a good thing, right?!

The latest version runs really well and is a great example of using the Dreamcast to learn more about coding, as HombreImaginario explains.

"I'm part of the team who developed Xenocider, but I know very very little code. I've always wanted to contribute to the scene and the community, so I made a list of games before 1999 that had their source codes available and among them was Cruis'n USA (arcade).

So, the source code is a starting guide, but the arcade hardware is vastly different from the Dreamcast, so the game still needs lots of translating and adapting.

My goal here is to be as faithful to the arcade as technically possible, then fix details here and there that make sense to me, like a custom boot screen, or the logo in the VMU, or trying to reduce or hide the popping in the horizon. We'll get there, hopefully. But the whole project is just a learning experience, really!"

Excellent stuff, and it will be a welcome non-NAOMI Arcade port to the Dreamcast’s growing post-life library. HombreImaginario has also confirmed he's working on a Dreamcast port of 1997 boomer shooter Shadow Warrior, so keep an eye out for that as well. 

As for the Cruis’n 64 port, it seems to be very well optimised from the version I played, despite being told that this Dreamcast demo is still not anywhere near the final release, it is running at a very smooth frame rate with little slowdown. The demo features just one track, but you can see my run in the video below.

I also spoke to MoneyShift64 to find out a bit more about this version and they shared some exciting details for the future of the project.

"This won’t just be a straight port of the N64 version. The Dreamcast version will include a locked 30fps frame rate (something the N64 game struggled with) and a whole load of Dreamcast easter eggs scattered around for people to find. I'm also hoping to include rumble support and there will be VMU screen functionality.

The most exciting inclusion will be online leaderboards! It’ll be great to see the community trading fastest times on each track! We'll talk a lot more about this soon.

Eventually, I'd like to make a "Cruis'n Everywhere" version, which includes select cars and tracks from USA, World and Exotica all rolled into one game."

Seeing ports getting Dreamcast-exclusive features is one way to make them stand out from the crowd of ports we've seen recently. Online leaderboards are certainly quite a mouthwatering prospect. Especially for those amongst us who just can’t get enough of taking their Dreamcast’s online! Personally, I can’t wait!

[N64 Port] Cruis'n Dreamcast!

[N64 Port] Controls optimised for the Dreamcast controller.

We’ll bring you more news of each port as they progress. Exciting times.

Printing "Officially" From Your Sega Dreamcast was Possible All Along!

As many Junkyard readers will know, I’ve become somewhat obsessed with the possibility of printing from the Dreamcast. Back in the day, readers of UK Dreamcast magazines would write in asking if Sega had any plans to release a compatible printer for the Dreamcast, or if there was a way they could print webpages and the like from their console. Alas, a Dreamcast-branded printer was never released.

Indeed, I even turned this subject into an April Fools gag a few years ago with the alleged discovery of the Canon Dreamcast Inkjet prototype (model number 5L-00FLIRPA). This, of course, was a fake.

Official Dreamcast Magazine, issue 1.

Dreamcast Magazine (unofficial), issue 22.

You can see above that in issue 22 of the UK’s unofficial Dreamcast Magazine they even said on the record that printing from a Dreamcast was not possible. Well, here we are, all these years later, we're proving them factually incorrect! You see, there was an official Sega printer that was released only in Japan. And now I have one.

But does this mean that I can finally fulfil my dream and print off Spirit of Speed 1937 screenshots directly from my Dreamcast console? Let’s find out...

The printer in question, the “Pri Fun”, is a video hobby printer designed to capture and convert single frames of composite video into physical prints. Released by Sega in late 1995 in Japan, it’s fundamentally a rudimentary capture device that should work with pretty much anything you can plug into it with a composite cable.

At the time, Sega's educational console aimed at kids, the Pico, was pretty popular and the idea was that you could combine it with the Pri Fun to print off pictures that you'd made in the games onto photographic paper. Two games were made which officially supported the printer, Petapeta Chokkin Asoberu Zukan: Doubutsu and Sanrio Festival Tanoshii Card, but the text on the back of the box also brags that it would work with VCRs, TVs, camcorders... even a LaserDisc player! Of course, the eagle-eyed amongst you will have also spotted that along with the Sega Pico, a Sega Saturn is also displayed on the box as an option. Any game console will work with the Pri Fun as long as it outputs a composite video signal.

Unlike regular computer printers which receive precise instructions on how to print a page, this printer simply prints the current frame of video. Printing generates 4x6-inch pictures on specially adapted paper using thermal dye and each printer roll can produce up to 30 full-colour prints.

When I found out about this device, immediately my mind went into “DREAMCAST PRINTER!!” mode, and so I tracked one down from Japan. So without further ado, here's the Pri Fun printer in all its glory...

Why does this Paw Patrol toy sound like a Sega Dreamcast web browser?

I was in Bath this week. Not in the bath, you understand. I mean in Bath. The city of Bath. In Somerset. You know, the place that looks like it was built by Charles Dickens and Isambard Kingdom Brunel while they were both off their faces on opium. Also famous for being the home of many of Future Publishing's gaming magazines in the 90s and 2000s. Anyway, I was in Bath, and while I was there I visited the local branch of TK Maxx (that's TJ Maxx to you Americans) to see what kinds of useless, overpriced tat they had on sale. I didn't find anything I wanted, so I started to make my way to the exit, and as I did so, I heard a familiar sound. 

I couldn't tell where it was coming from initially, but I heard it again...and again. Not sure if I was hallucinating or in the prelimary stages of a Dreamcast-themed fugue state, I looked around a bit to see where these sounds were coming from; and there, around a corner was a small child sat in pram holding a toy dog in a cardboard box. Said child was repeatedly mashing the buttons on the toy dog, and the sounds which were emanating from it were unmistakable - they were the sounds a Dreamcast web browser makes as you navigate around the menus.

Everything you need to surf the Information Superhighway.

These sounds are etched into the very folds of my brain, as I spent countless hours using my Dreamcast as a web browsing device back in the late 1990s. They are as recognisable to me as the 'door opening' sound in DOOM, or the 'select' effect used in the Sega Rally menu. I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing or hearing, so I tried to get a look at what the toy was called before security was radioed directly to my location, and then turned to Google to see if this thing was legit. Turns out the 'Storytime with Marshall' toy is a real thing that kids apparently play with, and lo and behold it is readily availible from all good toy stores. And TK Maxx.

The toy in question, replete with box.

Now, if you search for this toy, you'll discover that it is a plastic dog called Marshall which is a character from a hugely popular animated children's series called Paw Patrol. The toy is manufactured by LeapFrog, a company which specialises in educational toys and has some pretty recognisable brands in its arsenal - think Peppa Pig, Dora the Explorer and so on and so forth. Anyway, this Marshall thing is modelled after a character who is a fire and rescue dog, and somehow it has the same sound effects included as the Dreamcast web browser. Specifically, the Dreamkey/Dreamarena browser which shipped with PAL Dreamcasts. Here's a mashup of the Paw Patrol 'Storytime with Marshall' sound effects and the Dreamcast browser sounds, courtesy of my fellow Junkyarder Jaz (credit for the original Paw Patrol video goes to Pup Toys):

Now, my best guess is that these effects are from some kind of licensable stock library and it just so happens that Sega Europe used them back in the day for Dreamkey/Dreamarena; and they have subsequently gone on to be used by LeapFrog in their Paw Patrol toys. And that's the story. There's no big reveal here, I just thought it was quite random that I was in TK Maxx, heard Dreamcast web browser sound effects, and then discovered that they were coming from a plastic toy dog. Just another day in the ghetto (Bath).

I know it was technically 'Dreamkey,' but I couldn't find a good PNG.

Are you a Dreamcast-owning parent who has had the Dreamkey browser effects drilled into your brain via the medium of Paw Patrol toys? If so, please feel free to let us know about your anguish in the comments.

Dreamcast Online Update: New Games Join the Online Line-Up, including Sega Rally 2 & Sega Marine Fishing!

It’s been a busy few months for the world of online gaming on the Dreamcast so I thought a summary of the major news was in order...

It seems fitting to kick things off with the news that Sega Rally 2 is now back online! Yes, that’s right, it’s possible once again to race against three other people in Sega’s smash hit arcade racer.

Time to dial into the Sega Rally Network! (Say it in the Sega Rally guy's voice).

UK and USA readers may be surprised to hear that Sega Rally 2 was ever an online multiplayer title on the Dreamcast; and that’s because the mode was only ever present in the Japanese version of the game. In fact, Sega Rally 2 was the first ever game on the Dreamcast to support simultaneous players playing online on the console. So it’s pretty cool to have it back online.

I’ve played Sega Rally 2 a lot since the online multiplayer has been resurrected (70+ races at the time of writing) and I intend to play a lot more! It’s fantastic. You can use all of the cars you’ve unlocked in the single-player mode and there are loads of tracks. 

Menus are in Japanese but it doesn't take long to figure it all out.

One really nice touch with Sega Rally 2’s online mode is the “boost” mechanic. Similar to how the CPU controlled characters act in games like Mario Kart 64, with this enabled (which it is by default), it means whoever isn’t currently in first place will get a rubber-band-like boost to keep them in the race. Whilst purists who pour hundreds of hours into perfecting their drifting technique may scoff, it’s a great addition to allow players of all levels to have a good fun time racing without someone 20+ seconds in the lead.

You can check out some footage I recorded of my first few races online here:

Next up, a lesser known title -and another Japanese game- Culdcept II has been fully restored for online multiplayer - and it’s been translated to English as a bonus!

It's just like Monopoly... but without the hat, or dog, or race car, or...

Culdcept II is essentially a board game which plays a lot like Monopoly. The objective is for you to control enough land so that your opponents (of which there can be up to three) have to pay you magic tax for landing on the squares of land that you own. The wrinkle is that rather than just coughing up the tax if you stumble onto a rival’s territory, you have the option to fight them for control instead. To do this, you use the monster cards you have in your deck and a short back and forth contest plays out based on health and hit points. If you have support cards in your deck -such as swords or magic scrolls- you can boost your health or hit points to swing the fight in your favour.

Waiting to start an online match against PC Wizard.

The game is super addictive and really has that “one more go” feel about it. It’s great to see it back online and fully playable. The fact that it has been translated as well makes it so much easier to get your head around in your first few matches. I played against (and got battered by) Dreamcast Live’s very own PC Wizard in an online match which you can enjoy here:

Moving on, the online functionality in Sega Marine Fishing has also been fully restored! Whilst there is no real-time fishing alongside your friends, Sega Marine Fishing has a few interesting online features which can be enjoyed.

Download an entry for the tournament and fish until you can't fish any more!

The first of these is the online competition. Running for a set period (the current tournament runs until December 31st), you must first download a valid tournament ticket from the game homepage and then you can play offline to achieve your highest score.

The competition which is currently live (the Sega Cup), sees you make your way to the Coral Reef location for you to catch the biggest Great Barracuda that you can fit onto your boat. The really nice thing here is that there is no time limit, so you’re left to take your time and try out all the different lures available in your attempt to snag the big one. Once you’re happy with your catch, you simply upload your fish via the homepage to register yourself on the leaderboard. If you think you can do better, you can keep on coming back to try to find a heavier fish.

Oh, a big one! But you'll need to get a bigger one to get to the top of the online leaderboard!

The other unique online feature of Sega Marine Fishing is the cutely named “Fish Mail” mode. Here you can upload a Fish Mail to any location of your choosing by selecting which type of fish you want to include and you can write a message for the user to read when they catch your fish. When you go to play the Fish Mail mode, you get a time limit at your desired location to catch as many fish as you can, and once you’ve caught them you can read the message that the person uploaded when they sent the Fish Mail. You can even reply to them to their registered Dreamcast email address! All silly fun, but a very unique way to add online functionality to a game like this.

Email! With fish! 10/10, must-play game.

I have found that a fishing session in between grinding out racing game leaderboard times has been a lovely change of pace, and you can see some footage of the Sega Cup competition mode here:

To round things off, there have also been a number of other games which have seen online modes restored in the last few months, as well as some general upgrades. Reverse engineering extraordinaire Shu has upgraded the Mobile Suit Gundam: Earth Federation Force vs. Zeon server to make online gameplay a little smoother. This fantastic game did suffer from lag quite a bit, but that has now been improved significantly with this update.

Racing game Vanishing Point’s online leaderboards and weekly challenges have also been brought back to life and are proving very popular with the online community. Each week, two new challenges are generated which gives you a car, track and mode combo to grind for that particular period. Points are awarded for your finishing positions and determines where you sit on the overall leaderboard. Along with some other regulars over on the Sega Online Discord, we’ve been grinding these out each week, exchanging tips and friendly insults with each other as we get closer to crunch time!

Vanishing Point online challenges are getting very sweaty!

There have been so many updates to the online Dreamcast community this year, it’s hard to keep up with it all. I’d recommend that anyone wanted to get online to check out the Dreamcast Live website which not only has every online guide you could ever want, but is also a great place to find out what the latest news is within the online Dreamcasting world.

Hope to see you online soon!

Japan-Exclusive Dreamcast Title "Boku Doraemon" Gets English Fan Translation

Doraemon is an absolutely legendary series in its native land of Japan. The titular Doraemon is a blue robot cat who is sent back in time to tell a ten-year-old to get his shit together, otherwise his future great-great-grandkids won't lead good lives. No pressure, or anything. Naturally, plenty of classic anime hijinks ensue.

Although the series is primarily aimed at children, it's also caught the attention of a certain crowd of adult men because of one Japan-exclusive Sega Dreamcast game based on it, called Boku Doraemon ("I Am Doraemon"), which is an intriguing entry in the Dreamcast library due to its appealing visual style (a combination of 3D environments with 2D sprites) and quirky mini-games. Junkyarder Aaron wrote a great round-up of it back in 2015, and friend of the Junkyard, Dreamcast Enjoyer, made a great video about it too.

Doraemon should've hit up the Dreamcast instead.

Anyway, for those who have been looking to experience this title in English, an individual who goes by "cpc" has translated the game into both English as well as Catalan. As far as I'm aware, this makes Boku Doraemon the first ever Catalan translation of a Dreamcast game, as I don't think even retail releases for the console were available in that language - so that's cool.

Check out some footage below of Jaz playing the English translation.

Playing through the patch, the English translation leaves a lot to be desired, with some missing punctuation and odd quirks with the in-game font to boot. In one section, for example, the text ran off the edge of the screen. Still, it's manageable for anyone who wants to get an idea of what's going on plot-wise. 

The AI large language model Claude is listed as a "contributor" in the GitHub repo, but honestly, the translation here feels too inconsistent to have been generated by AI. So, I'm thinking Claude was more likely used in the hacking process. Regardless, what is currently here could definitely do with a few more goes over. Hopefully it's improved with subsequent patch updates.

Anyway, if you want to give it a go, head over to the GitHub repo and download the patch. Then use Universal Dreamcast Patcher to apply it to an existing GDI of the game.

These AI-generated Dreamcast posters are comedy gold

Not too long ago, our friends over at Time Extension looked at the spate of AI-generated 'historic' posters for games and consoles of yesteryear - essentially nostalgia soaked, but totally fake pseudo period-correct gaming advertisements which never actually existed during the epoch they're meant to have come from. It sounds weird, and that's because it is. 

As mentioned in Time Extension's article, it seems that many people have been duped by these images, and have been left lamenting, nay pining, for the sunlit uplands of a late 90s or early 2000s that never really happened. I believe the term 'hauntology' could fit in somewhere here, but I may be barking entirely up the wrong tree.

Were you fooled...? (Credit: Time Extension)

Anyway, while perusing eBay recently, I started to see Dreamcast-flavoured variations of these 'authentic' 1990s advertisements and magazine covers pop up for sale, and I thought it would be fun to take a quick look at some of them, point out their errors and laugh at the utter slurry the model that shat them out thinks Dreamcast screenshots look like.

Exhibit A

Click to embiggen (if you dare).

First up we have this specimen. A dashing hunk of a bloke in a Dreamcast-branded leather jacket thrusts forth a Dreamcast controller with the familiar swagger and confidence of a late '90s Sega. The poster, described as 'Dreamcast 9.9.99 US Launch Retro Gaming Console A3 Artwork Poster Art Print' proudly boasts that the Dreamcast is the ultimate gaming system; and that the next generation has begun. Not much wrong there, to be honest. But look closer. What's going on with that keyboard in the bottom left? I don't recall any variant of the Dreamcast keyboard coming with its own plinth. Also, what's up with that SegaNet logo?

Free display stand with every keyboard!

The latest Genesis album was poorly received.

We already know this is a fake poster which never existed in 1999, but the dead giveaway (apart from the hallucinations already described, and the spurious taglines) is the game 'screens.' The Shenmue one appears to feature a Temu Ryo Hazuki flanked by a melting waxwork, Sonic is tripping over his own feet, NFL 2K features matches between three different teams, and Crazy Taxi seems to be a game more about buying a used sedan than making crazy money. Elsewhere, the hardware looks fairly accurate on first glance, but on closer inspection the console has two 'B' ports, a built-in high heel and the 'Compatible with Microsoft Windows CE' logo is reduced to a blurred line; while the controller has three 'B' buttons and the D-pad has divots that don't exist on actual hardware.

Star Wars Trilogy Arcade - Model 3 fan port coming to Sega Dreamcast

I love Star Wars, me, mate. In fact, my wife said I was a Star Wars nerd because I knew what a Jawa was, which I guess makes me an expert. Anyway, a developer who goes by the - frankly excellent - online pseudonym of "ToastedGreedo" has been working on a conversion of the Sega model 3 arcade rail shooter Star Wars Trilogy Arcade for the Dreamcast, and the current results are looking spectacular. 

The project started as an experiment to try and get assets from the arcade title running on the Dreamcast, but as Yoda said, "do or do not, there is no try", so now ToastedGreedo is attempting to port the whole thing to the console instead. Back in the day, a port of Trilogy Arcade was rumoured to have been in development for the Dreamcast but ultimately never saw the light of day (on any home system for that matter), so this will serve as yet another attempt from the Dreamcast fan community to rewrite the wrongs of gaming history.

Time to get revenge for that shit Boba Fett TV show.

So far, two stages have been recreated and are running on real hardware: the Yavin Death Star stage, which has players blasting at TIE Fighters (typical Star Wars fare, then), and the Boba Fett Duel, where you deflect Mr. Fett's blaster fire with Luke Skywalker's lightsaber. Footage of both can be seen below, with the most recent video of the two also providing a peek at the intro/attract sequence as well as the stage select menu. It's all looking very slick and professional, and offers a taste of what the official port that never released might have been like.

These two stages will be released soon for free as a "demo disc", and I'll be looking forward to seeing the entire game reproduced somewhere down the line. I'm also curious to see what other Model 3 arcade games fans might be able to bring to the Dreamcast in the future.

Regarding the development of this port, ToastedGreedo goes into further detail in the description of their YouTube video:

"The Boba Fett Duel was the first stage I recreated for the project and has served as the foundation for bringing the original Model 3 arcade experience to Dreamcast hardware. It's been especially exciting to see the project progress from an early technical experiment into something that increasingly feels like a complete Dreamcast game. I plan on releasing this Demo Disc for free soon, which will contain the full Yavin stage alongside the Boba Fett. I am continuing to work on bug fixes and ensuring the game is stable on real hardware. Reminder that this is a non-commercial passion project created for the Sega Dreamcast community, and I am not selling this game in any way."

To stay up to date on this project, go subscribe to ToastedGreedo's YouTube channel, and if you're feeling extra generous, they also have a Ko-fi page for donations.

Update 19/09/26: the demo has now released and is available to download here.

Are you excited for this one? Which do you think is worse: the prequel or sequel trilogy? Let us know in the comments below or via our social media.

RuneScape 2 is Coming to Sega Dreamcast

Ah... RuneScape. I have a lot of nostalgia for the countless hours I spent roaming the blocky world of Jagex's famous JAVA-powered MMORPG. Being called a "noob" by random passers-by for the crime of being a lower level... getting my rune armour stolen by a guy who claimed he could trim it with gold... Formative experiences were had, and life lessons were learned.

Interestingly, the friend who owned the Dreamcast that I'd play when I was younger also sort of got me into RuneScape. Of course, the browser-based game I played back then called "RuneScape" wasn't the same game that is retroactively referred to as RuneScape Classic, which was the original version of RuneScape. The game I spent my entire life playing back in 2005 was actually "RuneScape 2"... which was also reissued in some capacity later as Old School RuneScape? You lost yet? Anyway. The reason I'm bringing all this up is because for the past year or so, a developer who goes by "Lobotomy" has been working on getting RuneScape Classic running on the Sega Dreamcast with a project known as "RuneCast". With some kind of wizardry, Lobotomy has somehow managed to get RSC playing online on Dreamcast at close to 30 FPS, as well as implementing mouse and keyboard support.

Runescape Classic running on Dreamcast.
Photo credit: enfilade.

RuneScape Classic was something I didn't really play much back in the day, but was a fun little novelty for the limited hours I spent on it, probably when my RuneScape 2 friends were offline. The nostalgia for Classic was never really there for me, so I am yet to play this Dreamcast version. Regardless, the fact that Lobotomy managed to pull it all off is as impressive as a blue party hat, or actually seeing Zezima in-game (impressive, basically).

Ever since the news reached online spaces about Lobotomy's triumph, I was as desperate as a dude standing in Varrock bank spamming "buying GF" to know if my beloved (to be honest, it was actually kind of shit, but nostalgia blinds) RuneScape 2 would ever make it to Dreamcast. Lo and behold, on the 27th anniversary of the Dreamcast's North American launch, Lobotomy would post to the Dreamcast-Talk forums to announce it was in the works. "DreamScape", as this version will be known, has been confirmed running on a stock Dreamcast, although the large town of Falador is currently not available to be visited (maybe for the best, as it is still a location that brings back traumatic memories for some), but that will get sorted at some point. Lobotomy is also working on getting a server up and running for the online play.

The hours I spent here farming goblins for experience...
Screenshot credit: Lobotomy

Do you have nostalgia for RuneScape? Would you be interested in playing either RuneScape Classic or RuneScape 2 online on your Dreamcast? Did you know that Junkyarder Harvey (Pizza Hotline) actually produced an officially licensed RuneScape drum and bass remix album? Let us known in the comments below or on our socials!

Complete ports of Sonic R and Zelda: Ocarina of Time are now available on Sega Dreamcast

What's this? News has reached us that not one, but two complete ports of beloved retro titles have finally landed on the Sega Dreamcast. We've covered both of these here at the Junkyard in the recent past (here and here), but as of right now you can download the means to sample complete ports of both Sonic R and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the hallowed Dreamcast.

Captured on Dreamcast hardware.

Both ports come courtesy of Dreamcast porting genius jnmartin84, the same magician behind the Dreamcast ports of DOOM 64, Star Fox 64, Mario Kart 64 and Super Mario 64. Sonic R has been cooking for quite some time, and jnmartin84 has been steadily releasing previews of the work in progress over the last few months, but now the final build is here...and it looks - quite frankly - stunning. I was never a huge fan of Sonic R back when it released on the Saturn, but having sampled this new PC-derived Dreamcast conversion I'm happy to report that it really pops visually on the Dreamcast. Here's some gameplay footage:

As described over on the Sonic R GitHub, you'll need to provide your own game files in order to play this on a Dreamcast, but it is very much worth your time and effort to get it up and running.

As a bonus to what is already an impressive port, an online multiplayer mode is also available, although at the moment, only Dreamcasts rocking the pricey broadband adapter are supported for online play.

I'd get a headache if I lived here.

Hey, listen!

Hot on the heels of Sonic R (no pun intended) also comes the news that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has now been completed and is similarly ready to rock and roll on a Dreamcast near you. This is quite timely, considering all the hype around the recently revealed Switch 2 remake that should be hitting Nintendo's swanky handheld in the coming months (at the time of writing).

Knocking about in downtown Kokiri Forest.

Ocarina of Time absolutely dominated my life when it came out on the Nintendo 64 back in 1998, and to see it on the Dreamcast, running as well as it does is quite a sight to behold. The version here is the Master Quest iteration, meaning that if you're an old hand at Ocarina, there will be some new challenges lying in wait if you decide to once again pull Link's boots on and set out from the comfort of Kokiri Forest to avenge your father's death at the hands of Lan Di...or however the story goes. Here's some footage of the game running on a GDEMU-equipped Dreamcast console:

I'm aware that the use of AI tools in these sorts of ports is a hot topic currently, and I'm certainly no fan of the slop being pumped across the internet like a tidal wave of liquid excrement, so it's probably worth mentioning at this point that it appears as though Claude was used to assist in some small way in both of these ports; however unlike the recent Sonic CD port (which was pretty much completely done with AI tools as far as I'm aware) there was also a hell of a lot of human talent and effort involved too. If however you are in the market for some pure, uncut slop generated by AI, then go and read GenerationAmiga. Because GenerationAmiga is the epitome of AI slop.

A scene from the cool intro dream sequence.

Anyway, if you'd like to sample The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on your Dreamcast, you can find out more over at the project's GitHub and you can also find some lovely cover art mockups for your GDEMU over at Dreamcast-Talk.

HyperSolar is Soaring onto Sega Dreamcast Soon — We've Played It!

The Dreamcast is no stranger to top quality indie titles. Sega's machine has long enjoyed ongoing support from talented indie teams since its untimely official demise. The latest game looking to wow us is HyperSolar (formerly SuperSolar) from Ninja Dynamics.

Imagine if After Burner and Star Fox came together one drunken night and you'll have a good idea of what HyperSolar is all about. We were sent the current build by the developer, and it looks absolutely gorgeous. From rich blue skies to midnight city skylines, everything about this game screams '90s videogames at an extremely high volume.

The current build that we've played allows you to take flight in one of three different stages, namely; Ocean, Lava and City. As you'd expect, each stage offers luscious arcade-style environments based on each of these different locations.

Blue skies!

The city stage is without doubt the most impressive. You must navigate through the various skyscrapers as you tackle enemy crafts and it is easy to get distracted with the view instead of your crosshairs. Buildings are partly lit with office lights left on, vivid neon advertisements demand your attention, and underneath you the traffic is flowing with their headlights on. It's a real treat on the eyes. All at 60fps with widescreen support.

The City stage is very easy on the eyes whilst running at 60fps.

Controlling your fighter plane is done with the analogue stick, whilst the A and X buttons control your machine gun and missiles respectively. Control is crisp and instantly drew a comparison to Star Fox 64 in my mind as to how easy it was to pick up and play.

There isn't much to the game at the moment; it's currently more of a tech demo to set the scene for what is to come. You shoot enemy crafts down with the stage effectively on a loop. The plan for HyperSolar is to include unique stages with boss fights, similar again to how Star Fox 64 is structured.

HyperSolar - Dreamcast Version

This is the final iteration of the city stage, finally running at nearly stable 60fps. It features hexagonal buildings, ground level facades and lighting, cross-shaped trees, new traffic algorithm, lightning and thunder in the sky, audio engine… pic.twitter.com/snMGILORkt

— 🇵🇹 Ninja Dynamics (@ninjadynamics) September 6, 2026

I spoke to Ninja Dynamics about the game and they were keen to highlight that this project does rely on the usage of AI for its code generation, but explained that the design of the game and the algorithms are "very much [their] own".

It's worth reiterating that HyperSolar is still very early in development. The game we've played is a product of just four months of effort. Ninja Dynamics have clearly spent this time making sure the game not only looks fantastic, but also runs great as well.

HyperSolar being played at Gamescom 2026.

HyperSolar was recently shown off at the 2026 Gamescom event where it seemed to gather a lot of attention. It's always pretty cool to see Dreamcast games at "the world's biggest event for computer and videogames" in the modern day!

We'll bring you more on HyperSolar as it progresses.

New Sega Dreamcast Games in GameStop? — Ten Indies Being Reissued by VGNYsoft

While an onslaught of homebrew ports and other crazy projects have been hitting the Dreamcast on an almost weekly basis this year, the commercial indie scene seems to have taken a bit of a backseat. Although we've recently seen a few new larger scale projects being announced for future release, for those who still love the ceremony of placing a physical disc containing a brand-new game into their Dreamcast, the options have certainly become less frequent than in previous years.

But fear not, young hoarder, for VGNYsoft, the publishing arm of Videogamesnewyork, is reissuing ten Dreamcast indie titles, with one of them even getting a special limited edition version too. The games are Cyborg Force, GemaBoy Zero Origins, Captain Barrel, Andro Dunos 2, Breakers, Ganryu, FlashBack, Another World, Escape 2042, and Arcade Racing Legends.

The majority of these titles have received praise from the Junkyard in the past, as demonstrated by review quotes from us that you will find emblazoned on the back covers of these new VGNY releases. Of course, it's worth mentioning that we don't receive any monetary kickback for endorsing these games, we simply wanted to share our praise for some genuinely good indie titles, and VGNYsoft thought that was a great idea too.

Tom Charnock's flash poem about Flashback.

We're particularly happy to see both Cyborg Force and Captain Barrel from developer Neo Byte Force make a return, as they were originally self-published back in 2024, but the developer decided to cease publishing their games themselves. What's more is Cyborg Force will be recieving a special limited edition as well, which will include a super cool VMU shell featuring artwork of the game on it. 

This isn't the first time VGNYsoft has done one of these VMU shell editions for their games. They released one for Sturmwind back in 2024, so anyone who grabbed that will be familiar with what to expect.

Currently, all of the standard editions of these games are ready to purchase from VGNY's site, with the exception of Captain Barrel, which will be available from Monday. The Cyborg Force limited edition with the VMU shell will be going up for pre-order at 10am EST on Wednesday the 9th of September.

Speaking with VGNYsoft, they also let me know that international shipping is now also available. Previously, VGNY haven't offered this option, so it's great to hear that those outside the States will be able to easily grab these as well.

These releases will also be available through Canadian online retailer Video Games Plus.

What's this about new Dreamcast games in GameStop?

Yeah, you heard that correctly. VGNYsoft has also informed us that this particular run of Dreamcast indies will be available at GameStop stores across the U.S. as part of the chain's GameStop Retro initiative. Six older VGNYsoft releases will also be sold alongside the ten titles already mentioned: Shadow Gangs, Sturmwind, Reknum Souls Adventure, Hermes, Xenocider, and Ploid. These six games are already available for purchase on GameStop's site.

Whether you love GameStop or not, seeing a brand-new Dreamcast game on the shelves of a chain that big in the year 2026 is pretty cool, right? Better than endless aisles of Funko Pops, anyway. We just need CEX to do the same here in Old Blighty, especially seeing as they've now said they'll be focusing more on retro too.

Credit: IGN

So, what do you think of the selection of indies VGNY are repressing here? Let us know in the comments below, or via social media!