Dreamcast Magazine Issue 8

If you'd shambled out of the incessant rain and into your local Woolworths in the days immediately after Thursday the 20th of April 2000, the chances are that upon visiting the magazine section you would have happened across issue 8 of Dreamcast Magazine. Nestled in amongst Total Control, Arcade, N64 Magazine, PlayStation Plus and all the other defunct periodicals of yore, Dreamcast Magazine issue 8 retailed for the meagre sum of £2.99, which means that the 114 pages contained betwixt its glossy covers weighed in at a total cost of just under 3 pence each. In modern money, that's about £5.67.

Now the science bit is out of the way (or is it maths? I regularly get those two mixed up, along with religion and politics), let's get down to business. The cover features Dead or Alive 2 for the second time in eight months, and the previews section details such delights as Evil Dead Hail to the King, Wacky Races, Rush 2049, Gauntlet Legends and Ultimate Fighting Championship.

This edition is also a treasure trove for cancelled games, featuring a plethora of abandoned titles for the Dreamcast. Arcatera: The Dark Brotherhood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Test Drive Off Road 3, VIP and Austin Powers Mojo Rally are all name checked; and there's the smallest mention of a mysterious Dreamcast exclusive from Konami called Imperial Hawk. Very, very little is known about this Konami Imperial Hawk and it was almost certainly cancelled long before a GD was ever pressed - here's the only other reference to it I can find online. That said, there is another game for the Dreamcast with a similar name. Imperial no Taka: Fighter of Zero (aka Iron Aces) is sometimes listed as Imperial Hawk...but it has no connection to Konami, being developed and published by Global A Entertainment in Japan and Xicat/Infogrames in the west. Could very possibly be the same game, but I thought it was an interesting aside nonetheless.

Reviews in issue 8 are plentiful and include Ecco the Dolphin, 4 Wheel Thunder, Tech Romancer, The Nomad Soul, ECW Hardcore Revolution, Wetrix+, Street Fighter III: Double Impact, Aero Dancing F and NHL 2K. There's a special feature on Urban Chaos too...but the less said about that abomination, the better. Here's the thrilling, action-packed video:

You can thank Sky Broadband for the SD quality - after three attempts to upload the video in HD, I gave up after wasting my entire Sunday afternoon with multiple 'failed to upload' messages. The moral of the story is this: give Sky Broadband a very wide berth.