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!

Review: Andro Dunos II

Ok, let's get this clear from the off. Any developer that has the gumption to produce a shoot-em-up for the Dreamcast has their work cut out. The console was blessed with such a phenomenal array of shmups, from the seminal Ikaruga (2002) to the idiosyncratic Radirgy (2006), that creating something that will stand out is a gargantuan undertaking. 

Around a dozen indie contenders have attempted this feat over the preceding two decades, and, although each has its charms, in my eyes there have only been a couple that truly cut the mustard. Fortunately, with Andro Dunos II, it seems we may have another indie shmup that can go toe-to-toe with the big-hitting NAOMI-based official releases (or, at the very least, put up a commendable fight).

Developed by Picorinne Soft and published by JoshProd/PixelHeart, this side-scrolling shmup is a contemporary sequel to Visco's 1992 Neo-Geo arcade game - a title which also appeared on the Dreamcast last year (our review of which is available here). In terms of fundamental game design, there is nothing revolutionary present. The task assigned to players is the same as it has been for decades: direct your ship through a succession of stages, shoot enemies, dodge incoming fire and rack up as high a score as possible. And of course, each of the seven stages closes out with a mammoth boss fight. A simple formula then, but one which Andro Dunos II executes very well in a number of respects.

Firstly, the fundamental gameplay mechanics are solid. When using the regular Dreamcast controller, the controls are intuitive, responsive, and your ship glides around the screen at an ideal pace: not so fast to make things uncontrollably twitchy, and not so slow that dodging incoming fire seems unreasonably hard. Just as important is the fact that enemy projectiles are easily distinguishable, and your hit box, while a little chunky, is perfectly serviceable. These may seem like pretty mundane basics but are prerequisites for a fun shmup experience. In essence, you need to be able to feel that defeat is down to user-error rather than poor game design, which is thankfully the case here.

Secondly, while the core activity of guiding a ship through levels filled with enemies is par for the course, Andro Dunos II does feature several elements that give it some depth and replayability. For starters, there are four weapon types with distinct characteristics at your disposal. Flitting between these quickly to suit your surroundings, combined with choosing how to allocate upgrades between levels, brings a problem-solving element into play and means that you can attempt different strategies over numerous runs. The varied designs of the levels, and in particular the presence of impermeable terrain that periodically encroaches onto your screen, as well as enemies that move and attack in a wide range of ways, only amplifies this. Dexterity and accuracy of movement within the immediate field of fire remain vital of course, but your choice of weapon, tactical deployment of the 'super shot' and overall ship placement are also important here. When you manage to master these aspects, Andro Dunos II is highly rewarding. The wide variability in difficulty settings should offer something suitable for most players too, and the unlockable boss rush mode offers a decent reward for those who make it through the seven regular stages.

Thirdly (is that even a word!?!), the game's aesthetics and audio pull together nicely to forge a vibrant up-beat atmosphere. The graphics are certainly not pushing the limits of the Dreamcast's hardware, but the Neo-Geo-style sprites and layered backgrounds are superbly drawn and take you on a journey through a broad range of scenarios without the game losing its cohesiveness. The synth-heavy electro-rock soundtrack complements the gameplay well too without becoming repetitive.

Of course, all of these positives would count for naught if the game didn't run well. Slowdown and frame-rate drops, amongst many other types of bugs, aren't unknown drawbacks for shmups on the Dreamcast, but thankfully they are nowhere to be seen here. In my experience, Andro Dunos II was buttery smooth and looked gorgeous over a VGA output. Videophiles may well have some gripes, but I imagine average players (like myself) will be satisfied with the presentation. The extensive two minute loading time before the game's main menu seemed foreboding at first, but, if intentional, is actually a clever move as it means that loading is brief between levels. The trade off is well worth it, and in any case, gives you just enough time to brew a cuppa (or scroll the DCJY Discord channels).

Although the Dreamcast version has arrived a year later than its initial outings on more contemporary platforms like the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 4, Andro Dunos II immediately piqued my interest more than some other recent Dreamcast releases as it is actually something new.

Sadly the same can't be said of the game's clichéd premise: saving the earth from an alien race. I wasn't exactly expecting Franz Kafka, but surely it wouldn't hurt to open our horizons up a little wider here? Just as there are heaps of gifted programmers in the Dreamcast scene, I'd bet there are also plenty of creative writers who could contribute something a little more stimulating. 

10,000 Twitter Follower Competition - Win Andro Dunos 2 and a DCJY T-Shirt!

Jumping on to Twitter in 2013, The Dreamcast Junkyard has enjoyed ten years of tweeting about all kinds of Dreamcast-related nonsense. Over the years, we've had many funny moments running the account, and have made many great mutuals too.

Earlier today we finally reached that huge 10,000 follower milestone. For an account that tweets about what I respect is a fairly niche retro console, that's an incredible achievement. With that being said, in one of Elon Musk's many big brained changes since taking ownership of Twitter, inactive accounts will now be removed if no activity is detected for 30 days. Check back with us 30 days from now and you may find our follower count has plummeted down to 10 or whatever. 

Anyway, while our follower count still sits at that almighty 10,000, we're running an exciting competition! We've got two copies of PixelHeart and Visco's brand new Dreamcast shooter Andro Dunos 2, along with two Dreamcast Junkyard controller t-shirts to give away. Thanks to PixelHeart for supplying the copies of the games for this competition!

That's a good lookin' shirt.

To be in with a chance of winning, simply retweet the tweet below (also linked here) and make sure you're following the Junkyard Twitter account, as well as @DreamcastPics and @PixelHeart_eu. Two winners will each receive a copy of Andro Dunos 2 and a t-shirt. Worldwide entries welcome. The competition will end on the 24th of May, a week from the competition's announcement and winners will be announced and tagged on our Twitter. Good luck!

Update: this competition has now ended.

To celebrate reaching 10k followers, we've got two copies of Andro Dunos 2 for Dreamcast to give away, and two Dreamcast Junkyard t-shirts! To be in with a chance of winning, simply retweet this tweet and make sure you're following our account, @DreamcastPics and @PixelHeart_eu. pic.twitter.com/uAGZyqU85Z

— The Dreamcast Junkyard (@TheDCJunkyard) May 17, 2023