Wipeout Ported, Segagaga Fan Translation Breakthroughs, Speed Devils now Online - Dreamcast News Round-Up April 2025

I must confess, there’s been a flurry of Dreamcast news these last couple of months that has largely passed me by. Distracted by the day job, some new(ish) part-time studies, and about a billion hours of pointing up the ugly paving slabs in my back garden (still somehow unfinished), I’d taken my eye off the ball. Fortunately though, a rainy Sunday has presented me with the opportunity to get caught up, and rather than taking notes just for my own benefit, I thought I may as well draft a news round-up for the Junkyard.

So, after dusting off my keyboard, pinching a list off Lewis, and conducting a systematic desktop review of relevant sources (skimming Dreamcast Talk), this is what I’ve managed to drum up. In no particular order, here’s what’s been happening in the Dreamcast scene lately.

Get in loser, we’re playing Dreamcast online

I know some folks take little interest in this aspect of Sega’s swansong console, but I MUST urge them to reconsider at every available opportunity, as 2025 is arguably the best time to be playing the Dreamcast online since its commercial heyday. We’re only in April and online multiplayer modes for several titles have already been launched or revived this year.

Most recently, in March, Speed Devils Online was brought back online thanks to the sterling work of Shuouma and flyinghead. As explained by PC Wizard in his Dreamcast Live blog post, Shu started work on this title way back in 2017, with some of us hoping that it could be cracked reasonably easily given that the game shares server code with the likes of POD 2 and Monaco Grand Prix Online (all developed by Ubisoft). Alas, it wasn’t as simple as that, but thankfully, eight years on, flyinghead has picked up Shu’s groundwork and managed to finally solve the puzzle.

Speed Devils Online opening screen, courtesy of Sega Retro.

Rewinding back a little further, in January the Dreamcast ports of two colossal PC titles were brought online. First of all, NuQuake, a version of Quake ported to the Dreamcast (thanks to mrneo420, dreameatergames, Ian Michael, BERO and Kazade), was brought online out of nowhere by a fellow called Maximqad. Why would you want to play the original Quake when the sublime Quake III Arena is available I hear you ask? Well, for one thing, NuQuake supports up to 16 players in a single match, far more than any of the officially licensed Dreamcast titles were able to manage. Fair warning though, if you do try NuQuake out, then a Dreamcast Broadband Adapter is highly recommended, as performance via dial up is currently still pretty sketchy.

The second port of a monster PC title that was brought online for the Dreamcast in January was no less than Counter Strike. Granted, unlike NuQuake which is publicly available, this title is still very much a work in progress and remains in a closed testing phase for now. Nevertheless, footage has been published by The Sega Guru showing the online multiplayer mode functioning via real hardware which is tantalising in and of itself. So, who’s responsible for this development? Maximqad of course. They’ve come out of left field, are rapidly stacking up big wins, and we’re all for it. God speed.

If battling it out over a phone line isn’t your vibe, then there are plenty of other reasons to get your Dreamcast online. For one, you could browse through the hundreds of thousands of internet radio stations available via the refreshed DCPlaya software released by Delux in February. Or, maybe you want to back-up your VMU saves, but don’t have a VM2 or one of those wacky cables Lik-Sang pushed back in the day? Well, now there is a web browser-based option in the wonderful Cloud VMU produced by Robert Dale Smith.

2025: year of the port

The last few months have seen an unprecedented wave of hefty high-quality ports released for our beloved little white box. Sometimes this blog may come across a little hyperbolic, but in this case I reckon there are reasonable grounds for getting hyped, and each of the following deserve your attention for varying reasons:

Wipeout box art snippet nabbed from Laced Records.

This month (April 2025) jnmartin84 released a port of the eternally cool Wipeout to the Dreamcast, which commentators such as The Sega Guys are (reasonably) touting as the best version of the game to date. Feature complete, running at 60fps, and with input remapping to allow for the Dreamcast controller, this is exactly the kind of work that we love to see. Check out the project’s GitHub page for more details.

Jnmartin84? Doesn’t that username ring a bell? Ah yes, that’s because in January, they also released a virtually perfect port of Doom 64 that features a whole suite of enhancements, some of which are exclusive to the Dreamcast edition, including real-time lighting. A gushing overview and interview with the developer from the Junkyard's founder, Tom Charnock, can be found here. 

Unless you’ve been entirely cut off from civilization lately, you’ll probably know that an alpha port of Grand Theft Auto 3 for the Dreamcast (yes, that still seems ludicrous to type) was released to the world on New Years Eve 2024. Without being paid a penny, a phenomenal international team of volunteers led by skmp achieved what many had thought would be impossible, thereby resolving a debate that has been running ceaselessly in the scene for nearly a quarter century. Oh, and as if that wasn’t impressive enough, they followed it up with a port of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in April, as covered by Lewis for the Junkyard.

Ken Rosenberg upon reading this blog post...

Unwilling to let the momentum fade, skmp is now beavering away at porting a more contemporary title, The Liquid Jet, to the Dreamcast too. In fact, Sad Mask Party’s “slimy and psychedelic” PC adventure game is so fresh that only a demo is available right now. It is hoped that the first level will be playable by the end of this month – stay tuned for further updates.

Indie and homebrew happenings

As exciting as big-name ports can be, we’re also eternally grateful that there are creatives willing to produce new material for the console, whether that be freely distributed homebrew or commercially produced indies. 

The top story in this realm is that the one-and-only Senile Team are planning a new spin-off of Intrepid Izzy in the form of Izzie’s Arcade which is “likely” to see a Dreamcast release. Taking inspiration from the short but sweet arcade sub-section of the former, Izzie’s Arcade was announced in March as a mini-games collection of sorts, allowing you to explore an arcade packed with “strange, funny, quirky and experimental little games”. Given that Roel (Senile Team founder) and his collaborators have about as high a reputation as can be gained in the scene (for good reason), we at the Junkyard are delighted to hear that they may yet be blessing the scene with another new game. 

Another tantalising prospect that came to light in February is that Bitmap Bureau are working on an officially licensed Terminator 2 run and gun style game, Terminator 2D NO FATE, which is slated for release on contemporary formats in September, with ports for retro consoles to be announced at a later date. As with Senile Team, Bitmap Bureau’s name carries a great deal of weight in our scene due to the reception of their last release for our console, Xeno Crisis. Hearts were broken when the Dreamcast version of the studio’s Street of Rage homage, Final Vendetta, was axed due to insurmountable console development constraints. However, we remain hopeful that Terminator 2D NO FATE will be a different story.

Terminator 2D NO FATE screenshot courtesy of Bitmap Bureau.

Elsewhere, steady progress continues to be made with the much anticipated HarleQuest. A fourth demo for the game was revealed in March, exhibiting 60fps performance, updated combat and controls, and new procedural area generation. To read about this and more, we recommend visiting the game's Kickstarter page and following Orc Face Games on social media. 

The translation train keeps on chugging

An impressive array of English translation patches have been produced for Japan-exclusive Dreamcast games in recent years, with each one potentially having the effect of a brand new release for monolingual Brits like me. Of course, given how big that population of titles is, there remains much to do.

Undoubtedly one of the most highly desired treasures is an English translation of the enigmatic Segagaga. The job of translating this game seems to be a bit like an unconquered mountain. Many, many crews of translators have set off with the intention of mastering it, before almost inevitably stalling, running out of resources or getting disorientated, and never being heard from again. Some of the more naïve observers may express disquiet that progress hasn’t been made – or even set out in flip-flops saying they will conquer the mountain in “30 days max” - but they invariably underestimate what a beast of a job it is. 

Recently though, murmurs have been heard from a team that are actually making progress, and who have the photos to prove it. If Exxistance and co. can pull this one off then we definitely owe them a non-premium lager beer (or two). Check out the Dreamcast Talk thread to see how things have played out thus far. 

Screenshot from the ongoing Segagaga translation effort, courtesy of Exxistance.

The other bit of translation news is more concrete in that it involves a fully complete translation patch released last month by a crew including the Junkyard’s good pal Derek Pascarella. As explained in our blog post, the definitive English translation of Capcom vs SNK 2 features translations that are of a higher quality than the prior PS2 version, as well as a new companion section containing a bunch of awesome goodies, including a 100% VMU save file and translated developer interviews. The patch is a must-have for fighting game aficionados – download it here.

Hardware, hardware, hardware

The OG Dreamcast controller is just fine for me. Maybe that’s because my hands are of child-like proportions, or maybe I’ve just held the damn thing for so long that a pinch of Stockholm syndrome has set in. However, I know that many (most?) people aren’t keen on the controller's contours and layout, hence why a burgeoning market for new third-party controllers exists today. 

The most recent controller to hit the scene is Retro Fighters D6, a wireless six-button controller that adopts a profile reminiscent of the Dreamcast’s ASCII pad and its Sega Saturn predecessor. Available in black or white for the RRP of $49.99 USD, those who are interested can check out the manufacturer’s website for full details, and may also wish to read the first impressions authored by Lewis here on the Junkyard blog.

Photo courtesy of the Junkyard's Lewis.

Those who aren’t fussed about new controllers might instead have their eye caught by some VMU accessories that are fresh out the oven. In February, hot off the back of shipping a limited edition of Sturmwind which contained a custom VMU shell, VGNYsoft began selling a range of injection-moulded VMU shells as standalone products in a wide variety of colours. Those who have already upgraded to a more advanced ‘VM2’ need not miss out on the fun either, as Dreamware Enterprises have also recently released a range of accessories for their all-singing all-dancing VM2, including a translucent blue shell.

Any other business?

I must wrap things up here as I need to rescue a big fat jacket potato from the oven any minute (butter and cheese with a side salad, in case you were wondering). Yet, before I do so, let’s flag up a few final miscellaneous tidbits of news that are worthy of a mention:

• A design-classic PAL console box made a brief cameo in an episode of the latest series of Black Mirror. Given that the show’s creator, Charlie Brooker, wrote for the Official DC magazine back in the day, perhaps that’s not so surprising? 
• Shenmue topped BAFTA’s “most influential video game of all time” list, leading to bafflement in some sections of the press.
• An impressive Shenmue fan-game “Back to Yokosuka” has been released for the Sega Saturn by the development wizard Frogbull.
• Brielle Garcia, who was behind the official Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie Genesis cartridge, revealed they are working on a Dreamcast rhythm game that allows audio to be loaded from a second disc. 

What do you make of the recent goings-on in the scene? Is there anything obvious that has been missed here? Let us know in the comments below or join us over on Discord to have a bit of a longer natter.