You can play Virtua Tennis online?!

We are not even at the end of January 2026, and we have already seen two online Dreamcast games resurrected for enjoyment via DreamPi. First we had Hundred Swords on New Year’s Day, and then as of the other day, Sega’s Power Smash Tennis is back online.

Those of us in the West will be more familiar with Virtua Tennis than the Japan-released Power Smash, but rest assured they are the same game, just released under two different titles. Chances are though, you probably didn’t realise there was actually an online multiplayer mode in Virtua Tennis; but you won’t be alone as it was exclusively available in the Japanese version.

Incidentally, Virtua Tennis is a rare example of a game in that era coming out in the West before Japan, with the Japanese release arriving a full four months later. Presumably this was because an online mode was being added to the game.

Having updated my DreamPi to the latest version 2.0, I couldn’t wait to try out Power Smash online. As luck would have it, the DreamcasticChannel was planning a livestream for the community that very same day, so I knew there would be a few players online. 

Navigating the Japanese menus can be daunting at first, but once you remember it is 2026 and we have Google Translate in our pocket, getting connected, setting up your username and waiting in the lobby for other players to arrive is an absolute breeze.

Around eight of us were online and we spent the evening chatting in the lobby, playing each other over and over again, and it certainly seemed like nobody could get enough of the tennis action. 

Amazingly, there is hardly any lag to speak of and the game runs as smooth as silk. Most of us will be familiar with Virtua Tennis' gameplay and I’m delighted to say that it feels identical when you play Power Smash online. 

Once you’re in the lobby, challenging other players can be done with a few clicks of the A button, and once they accept, you’re almost immediately into a match. You select your preferred player, court type and match options beforehand (which are stored server side), so there’s no messing about when you get into a game. 

Matches tend to last between four and eight minutes each which makes it perfect for an online gaming night on Dreamcast, especially if there are a few players online. 

Each player has their win/loss statistics saved on the server, and the team at Dreamcast Live have set up a leaderboard page on the website so you can see who’s in the running to become the next Wimbledon champion. 

It was one of the most enjoyable evenings I’ve had playing Dreamcast online and I have no doubt that Power Smash will quickly become a community favourite, with regular online matches being scheduled. It’s certainly become one of my favourite games to play online because of how much action there is, how smooth the game plays, and how little waiting around there is. 

If you’d like you find out more about how to get your Dreamcast setup for online gaming, be sure to check out the excellent connection guides over at Dreamcast Live.

See you on the court soon!

20 Years of The Dreamcast Junkyard — New Merch!

We thought we'd give you a couple weeks break from beating you over the head with the news of the Junkyard website's 20th anniversary milestone. Well, enough time has passed, so it's time to formally announce that we have collaborated with some incredible artists to bring you four new t-shirt designs.

As mentioned during our previous merch drop back in 2024, 100% of the profits made by us from the sale of merch items will go exclusively towards assisting with website and podcast hosting, with any excess going towards funding further website-related projects. Let's check out the designs!

Design 1: "Web 2K5" by Animated AF! (aka Aaron Foster)

The first of four exclusive merch designs created to celebrate The Junkyard's 20th anniversary on the web. This one was illustrated by OG Dreamcast Junkyard contributor Aaron Foster, aka Animated AF, and pays tribute to the earliest layout of the site, referencing the original banner design, the first post that founder Tom made, and more. You will also have seen part of Aaron's design adorning our current header.

Design 2: "JunkyardGaGa" by Tetsu "Tez" Okano

We’re honoured to reveal that Segagaga creator Tetsu “Tez” Okano illustrated this design, which features two familiar characters sat atop a giant junked console. How did I manage to wrangle Mr. Okano to design a t-shirt for us? Well, I proof-read some English promotional copy for his newest game "THE GIRL FROM GUNMA Kai", and he offered to illustrate something for us in return. Nice guy.

This design is also available as a sticker.

Design 3: "20 Years Logo" by From Ashes to Fire (aka Kopke)

Returning once again is From Ashes to Fire (aka Kopke), who is providing a 20 year anniversary rendition of the Dreamcast Junkyard logo he created for us back in 2024. It's sleek. It's Powerful. And you've probably seen it already doing the rounds on our socials and the website itself.

This design is also available on hats and stickers.

Design 4: "Junk Grind Radio" by Uncle Clutch

The fourth and final exclusive merch design, our friend and illustrator Uncle Clutch is taking it to the streets of Tokyo-To with this absolutely killer JSR tribute logo.

This design is also available as a sticker. Be careful with where you stick it though. Remember: Sticker is art. However, sticker as an act of vandalism is a crime.

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We hope you enjoy these four exclusive DCJY 20th anniversary designs. If you are interested in picking something up for yourself, follow this link to our merch store.

New Dreamcast Fan Translations: Macross M3 and Hello Kitty Games Now Playable in English

A few new English fan translations of Japanese Sega Dreamcast games slid across my desk over the Christmas/New Year period. I acknowledged them, nodded my head. “That’s cool,” I thought, then went back to tucking into leftover turkey sandwiches and tubs of Celebrations (I swear they've made those tubs smaller, the cheap bastards). Now I'm nicely rested up, let's take a look at them.

Macross M3

First up, we had a patch for Macross M3 drop on Christmas Eve from NetsuiAya. I know little about Macross, really, but I do know that the fans are very passionate. The beauty of fan communities like Macross's, is that in their efforts to consume every piece of media associated with it, they’ll work their arses off to bring translation projects like this one to life — even if they don’t necessarily have much interest in the Dreamcast to begin with.

Developed by Shoeisha, Macross M3 is a flight/mech combat game that has players assume the roles of various pilots from across the franchise's vast timeline, gunning down enemies across eight different episodes. All of this is interspersed with plenty of character dialogue, which is the main reason why you'll be wanting to get NetsuiAya's patch, as the flying sections are completely playable without having to know Japanese.

Anyway, if you want to give this translation a go, you can download the patch here. Use the Universal Dreamcast Patcher tool to apply it to an existing disc image of the game. There is also a "colour accuracy mod" available for the true Macross heads, which swaps the colours of two of the mechs that for some reason were incorrect in the original release.

A Trio of Hello Kitty games

If you’re a raging fan of Japan’s favourite mouthless feline, then you’re in luck: not one, not two, but three Hello Kitty Dreamcast games are now playable in English. All three were developed by Sega themselves, and while they may be basic puzzlers, they're bloody charming. They are Lovely Fruit Park, Magical Block, and Waku Waku Cookies. Thanks to blashy101 for the translations.

Lovely Fruit Park is an adaptation of Colony, a puzzle game created by Midnight Synergy, that was later reskinned for older audiences into Get!! Colonies. Magical Block draws inspiration from the arcade classic Pengo, and sees Hello Kitty flinging blocks at ghosts. Finally, Waku Waku Cookies doesn't seem to be based on any specific puzzle game, but focuses on Hello Kitty stacking up and matching cookies.

She ain't afraid of no ghost.

To grab these translations, just head to their respective repositories (Lovely Fruit Park, Magical Block, Waku Waku Cookies) and follow the instructions to patch each one. There is an issue with playing Magical Block on real hardware using the current main download, so look for Derek Pascarella's fix in the issues section.

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What a lovely way to shake off those January blues. Thanks go out to our pal Derek for making us aware of all of these translations. Credit to CDRomance for all the screenshots.