Shuffle, Resi Evil, and some F1.

The boot sale sucked this morning (Only made a tenner. Gack.), but I picked up a few more DC goodies. This one guy had two sets of Dreamcast consoles with a bunch of games on his stool, mostly he usual common-as-muck UEFA, Tomb Raider etc etc but he also had three games that I managed to get him to sell separately for a five "paund" note.

Sonic Shuffle: I can't begin to remember how long I've been meaning to try this out. The last time I actually saw a physical copy of it was back when it first came out (one copy) six years ago full price. Before you say Ebay: I only really use that for games and stuff I can't find elsewhere like import titles etc. Anyway, being the Sonic nut I am, it's kind of a shock to have not played this at all yet, until now. If you haven't heard of it there one simple, three-word way of describing it: Mario Party Clone. Mind you, it didn't turn out to be quite as bad as people have made it out to be (look about on any review site, it's not got very good ratings, which may of put me off buying it in the past maybe), once you get used to all the rules (Note to self: Read manual heavely before playing). Playing in 1 player is obverserly not the most fun in the world as you have to wait for the 3 CPU players to take their turns and faff about, and I really wish Knuckles would STOP saying "Is that all you got?" over and over again. Still, I found myself rather hooked to this today for some odd reason, and you'll be surprised where the hours go to (For a Sonic game, it's hardly what I would call a quick-blast game). All in all, from what I've seen so far I'd give this a 7/10 (Might go down to 6, although the fact I'm playing it so much must be a good sign)


Resident Evil Code Veronica: Now I never usually go for these titles or anything like it because they feature just about everything I don't want video games to have such as limited ammo and saves, searching back and forth a lot and all that equipping rubbish. I remembered the lengthy demo well, however, and for £1.66 it can't be a waste. Currently I'm in the same spot I got stuck in on the demo (which I solved, but can't remember) where you have to get some sort of material to make a 3D copy of a badge thing. It's not as tedious as I remember the original on the Saturn being, but I sill found myself wondering around aimlessly looking for one of those bloody herbs (I wasted one thinking I was giving it to that injured bloke in the cell room, and another was in the form of a spray can so I didn't even know what it was). I will, however, try and have a go at more of it. I won't give this a rating because I haven't played enough yet.

F1 World GP something or other 2 for Dreamcast (duh): The Dreamcast has way too many racing games. I mean, in Formula 1 alone it has 4. According to, well, a lot of people though, this is supposed to be the best one, so even though I only got another one a few weeks ago (F1 Racing Championship. Confused with the titles yet?) I decided to get this on the promise that I'll sell the inferior one. I'm glad to report that this one I just bought it is indeed the better one, with much, much nicer graphics, and a whole lot more options as far as I could tell. That other one will be on the boot sale tomorrow. 7/10

I also bought a PC game that can be found on the Dreamcast on American import that I haven't stuck my teeth into yet from the same bloke for a quid. I'll come back to that one another time.

15 comments:

Tom Charnock said...

It's worth sticking with Code Veronica. Sure, it starts off a bit slow and is a bit tedious at times, but it gets really good when you get into the mansion on the hill and the story line picks up the pace. I won't spoil it for you, but there are lots of suprises. A top game all round. I also liked F1WGP2 - it's a brilliant game, and definatley one of the best F1 games I've ever played. Never played Sonic Shuffle though, and like you I've only ever seen it once - when it came out ages ago. Never really been into those board games though, so unless I see it cheap I'll probably give it a miss

Tom Charnock said...

I suppose it's down to the staff really. When I bought Shenmue, the cretin behind the counter just brought out disks 1 and 2 and put one in each box...I had to tell him there were meant to be 4 disks. Sonic Adventure 2 Trial came free with PSO - someone has clearly ripped gamespot off!

gnome said...

Is Shenmue really that good? I mean, Really?

Animated AF said...

Update: Sonic Shuffle is starting to get frustrating, so the score is now 6/10

Tom Charnock said...

Gnome - Shenmue is a graphical marvel. It is easily one of the most impressive looking games on the DC. However, it is extremely tedious in the gameplay stakes. The plot is interesting and you find yourself really giving a crap about what happens, and there is a lot to see and do (like collecting toys/games etc and playing in arcades and then there's the mini games too), but there is a lot of waiting around and running blindly down streets talking to every single person you meet just for a hint as to what you're meant to do next. If you see it cheap (as ever), snap it up, but don't expect an Ocarina of Time-esque experience. I really want to get on with it just so I can get to Shenmue 2, but like I said, it's very tedious...

gnome said...

Hmmm..thanks a lot tom... Seems great, as talking to different characters isn't a problem for me (playing adventure games and all)... And btw, I may soon get "Under Defence" (full priced, but -hopefully- a present and a 2006 Dreamcast release!). I also believe that Shenmue was made by the creators of the (quirky n great) "Fahrenheit". Any ideas on where (besides ebay) I could look for DC games?

Cheers!

Tom Charnock said...

Hmm, besides eBay, there's not a lot going on online. I suppose you could try Amazon. I generally get mine from various 2nd hand shops and stuff though, cos you normally end up paying more for the postage than the actual game when you buy DC stuff off websites.

Animated AF said...

There's also Play-Asia and Lik-Sang for Dreamcast games online.

I presume you mean "Under Defeat" which, from what I've played, a very pretty scrolling shooter that doesn't have a wholoe lot of depth. Plus it's already going for a lot on Ebay because it managed to Sell out weeks after its release. It sold out though, wow!

Son_et_lumiere said...

Yeah you should probably get Ikaruga if you want a shmup. Is V. good, but hard.

gnome said...

Well, thanks guys, and I guess I do mean Under Defeat after all...

Tom Charnock said...

Hmmm...problems publishing. Yet again...

Animated AF said...

Other recommended Shumps: Psyvariar 2 (Stunning big explosions!), Twinkle Star Sprites (32-bit graphics, but hella additive and unique), Mars Matrix (HARD) and Giga Wing 2 (Gorgeous). The latter two are also on US import.

gnome said...

Thanks again...

Anonymous said...

I just went on eBay and got that F1 game you have there for £3.50 including delivery! The screenshot sold me :)

Perhaps you should have a section on the site with the automatic eBay links to Dreamcast stuff. I think you can earn commissions.

Tom Charnock said...

Glad you could visit the 'Yard Peter. That eBay suggestion souds interesting - I'll look into it.