Showing posts with label B# Major General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label B# Major General. Show all posts

Time for some Grandia II...nes

To say I've been putting off playing Grandia II would be an understatement - the game's sat on my shelf for upward of a year now, with only a few plays on it so far. The idea of playing a JRPG on the Dreamcast is still an odd one to me, having grown up playing most of my RPGs on Nintendo consoles (or that time I binged a bunch of Skyrim on my bro's PS3).

But I'm not here to commiserate about video game backlogs. Rather, let us look to a particularly nifty feature of the Dreamcast release of Grandia II: the bonus "Music Selections" CD included. With a total of 12 pieces coming in at 50 minutes of music, it's a nice sampling of the game's soundtrack, with what appear to be a few remixes thrown in for good measure. Thankfully, no jingles or short sounds are included, so the CD works as a standalone listen.
My own personal copy
Oddly enough, the album begins with a remix. Both "Cançäo do povo (Little Shelter MIX)" and the last song, "Cançäo do povo," feature the vocal talents of Kaori Kawasumi. The song and its remix provide nice bookends for the whole affair, as the remix opens up with a catchy dance-like beat, and the original ends it on a more mellow, longing note.


Fontcast

Inspired by the recent tenuously-related-to-Dreamcast article (I kid, Tom. :P ) and inspired by a book on different typefaces, I thought about our own lovely Dreamcast:
No nonsense, elegant
The logo featured is a simple, elegant one. It doesn't wear on the eyes, unlike certain fonts which will go unmentioned (coughinserthatedfontnameherecough) although extended use might tire one a bit. Still, it would be a nice font to have on hand, just in case.

I assumed that the search would be difficult, as some fonts look almost exactly like each other, and many companies have custom lettering made up for a specific purpose. It would take hours - or at the very least, several minutes.
Detective time!
Turns out, nope. There were the false leads of Tahoma, Myriad and Verdana - but even a cursory examination showed this to be false. Fortunately, the site My Fonts came to the rescue, positing the font Basilea (not to be confused with Basilia, a completely different font). Upon downloading the font and trying it myself, I found it to be a 98% match.
Lovely, eh Tom?
By way of a little background, all I could discover was a My Fonts' user noting that it was "designed by Markus Low in 1965." Further search reveals that it won the "1965 VGC National Type Face Design Competition."

And there you have it. Another lovely piece of trivia about our beloved console.

16ths: The Dreamcast Start-Up Theme

Hey! I started doing YouTube videos just this past year, and one of the series I do is about short pieces in video game music. The Dreamcast's boot tune is one such piece. Even though some older systems had musical start-ups, most of the others weren't as good - certainly, they probably didn't have the same caliber of composer. Anyway, prologue aside, here's the video:

OST Your Heart

La la laa
Video game music. It's great, right? Very few genres of game feel complete without beeps, bops, or full-on symphonic orchestra behind them. In some instances, musical cues aid the player in being better at the game in general. It can emphasize moods, tell stories, etc...

But you're not here to hear all that.
Thanks to the wonders of disc audio, Sonic's music sounded the best it ever had. Especially thanks in large part to the involvement of Jun Senoue and Crush 40. Senoue had worked on Sonic games going back as far as Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on the Genesis. Crush 40, for whom he wrote music, would provide tracks for several Sonic games, including the Adventure series and later games in the franchise.

Dreamcast Origins and Potatoes

I haven't written in a bit, and I think it's been long enough, so let's have a bit of nostalgia! Namely, my first interactions with the Dreamcast. Oh, and my thoughts on a certain Sega publicity stunt.

Not mine, but it's the same version. Best swirl, BTW

We were never ones to get a video game system new, so I had an NES and Sega Pico a few years after their heyday (Well, the latter for sure. I was born just as the SNES was coming into its own.) Anyway, one day around the year 2000 or 2001, we go to Best Buy and purchase a Dreamcast. According to a extremely reliable source (Wikipedia, of course) we purchased it just as it was phasing out. Not exactly new, but the closest I'd been to that point.

My First Podcast and A Resolution

A couple of days ago, I had the fortune of participating in our blog's podcast. And from that experience I learned one important thing:

It's still a bit of a mystery to me!

I do not know nearly as much about the Dreamcast as I should! Despite having gotten the console near the end of its life time and playing it since then, much of the stuff discussed was stuff I was hearing for the first time. Like, the game "Under Defeat" being the last game released on the system, or the worst game on the system (From our poll, it's Spirit of Speed 1937). Or the fact that the Dreameye was a thing.

Listen to the podcast if you haven't!

Plus, I haven't played the classic Jet Set Radio/Jet Grind Radio! This is a situation I'm trying to remedy even as I type.

Another game on the "Get This" list!

Therefore, I must resolve to learn more about my Sega consoles in general, and our beloved Dreamcast in particular. What makes it popular today? Why do I still like it after all these years? What other great games haven't I experienced yet? All this and more, next time on Dreamcast Junkyard!

Also, listen to the podcast! :P

Top 5 Games That I Would Play If I Were Stuck on a Desert Island

I'm sure you've seen it before. The "what X would you take if you were stuck on a desert island?" or "What X would you Y if that was the only thing you could Y?" Or something of the sort. Those silly, annoying questions that ask you to pick a few things, not even considering the fact that picking a favourite X may cause you great emotional distress, turmoil and mental unrest and ARRGRGHRGHH...

Sorry about that.

Still, they are interesting sometimes. Trying to think of article subjects the other day, this one was a potential topic. Instead, I went with the fruitless "hidden music track" quest. That quest showed me one thing - my Dreamcast collection is surprisingly small. This top 5 would represent almost 1/4 of my collection of 23 games! Fortunately, this is a hypothetical scenario, so I can give myself all the Dreamcast games, even the unreleased ones. I could even give myself a Dreamcast 2!

Deciding this list depends solely on one thing: replayability. (Or replay value, if you want to be a hater.) Can I play this game many times without getting bored? Can I learn speed-running techniques to learn and master the game? Can I find some wicked glitches to totally break the game? Also, soundtracks are an important consideration. Despite this, it's still rather difficult to imagine that scenario, given that I have over a dozen systems plus a robust emulator on my Mac.

So, in no particular order, here we go:

Crouching Music, Hidden Tracks

Video game systems with CD players - weird, right? No?

I suppose not. In a world where most consoles can stream Netflix and cell phones are used to play games, non-game functions are increasingly a given in our beloved systems. However, I would bet at least a dollar (or a pound) that versus the hours and days spent actually playing games, my dear readers have spent mere minutes here:

A CD player? How quaint!

There's not much to say about the player itself. Even competing PlayStation had a similar feature, so it was not unique. However, a few years ago, I discovered a secret.


RPGs Across the Board; or, Grandia II - The Beginning

One of my favorite genres of video games is the RPG. I'm not overly attached to the turn-based combat (although I have come to like it over the years): I like the stories, and the bigger RPGs have great composers, like Final Fantasy, or the Mario RPGs. I had at least one RPG on most of my major systems, like the PlayStation, Gamecube, Gameboy etc...but something was amiss.

I had no RPGs for the Dreamcast! And because my current system had no affordable games available at the time, I made it a goal to get at least one good game. Fortunately, my brother had received a gift card to a local retrogaming shop. I had gotten Final Fantasy 7-9 there, so I hoped that they would have at least one good Dreamcast RPG. They had two.

Dream? More Like Nightmarecast!

Long time, no write, fellow Dreamcast enthusiasts! When I first started writing for the Junkyard, I had assumed it would be easy for me to think up topics for one of my favorite systems of all time.

Apparently not. However, recent events lead me to a (potentially) troubling topic. Well, at least for me.

Emulators. (Disclaimer: Umm... I don't support piracy, emulators are tricky legally, don't steal from the companies, etc...)

They're great fun! I mean, without them, I would never have been able to play most of the Final Fantasy series. Or Earthbound. At one point, I had several programs, spanning from NES all the way to N64. Recently, though, I got a new laptop. Because it was a Mac, I needed to find alternate emulators, which was not as big a problem because I would have done so anyway. Gradually, I moved from generation to generation. NES & SMS --> SNES & Genesis --> N64 (that situation was complicated. Not a topic for this blog, however) --> PS1.

Then I reached a road-block. I obtained emulators for both GameCube and Dreamcast. I'll be the first to acknowledge that my snazzy Mac isn't all about what's under the hood, so to speak. But gosh-darnit I have 2.4 GHz processor and more than enough RAM for older generation emulation! These emulators, though, were still a pain! I'll save you the details from the GameCube one (I only tried a few games, by the dubs. The games are still pretty big to download.)

The offender for the Dreamcast emulator was called "lxdream." On my main source for Mac emulators, it was the only option available. Ech. Naturally (for me) the first game I try on it is Sonic Adventure. And then, because I must have a penchant for misery, Sonic Shuffle. After trying these games for just a few minutes, here's a tip, at least for Mac users considering running the Dreamcast:

Don't.

As I played through Sonic Adventure while writing this article, I had to deal with messed up graphics, choppy music, and controls occasionally sending me to fall into the water. I could understand the graphical and control issues, but the speed? Really? And in previous play-throughs, it locked up partway through the first level. Uggh. Oh, and certain audio samples were missing, or way too loud. Even their own site gave it a poor rating in the compatibility section.

The other game I tried was Sonic Shuffle. I'll admit, I didn't really try playing Shuffle until now. As per usual, it ran slow, but the graphical errors weren't as bad as Adventure's. The sound however, was practically nonexistent in-game. I think at some point it played something, but really softly. In-game was mute. Knuckles got to the first Precious Stone (sp? Not sure, don't care at this point) and the battle screen saw some weird graphical errors. Plus, the slowness of the emulator and having to wait through the CPU's turns made it unbearable to play, even for mere minutes.

Anyway, further play and writing would lead to an obvious conclusion: the Dreamcast emulator kinda works, but is far from finished. As it is, I own a Dreamcast and those games. I can enjoy Sonic Adventure or torture myself with Shuffle whenever I want. It is unfortunate that the emulator doesn't work, though, because of emulator features I appreciate: namely, save-stating and ROM hacks. Like, I dunno, a hack that makes the CPU characters less awful and cheat-y.

That all being said, I haven't tried any of the non-Mac-specific emulators, of which I've found at least 4. Through all these exploits with emulators, from the excellent ones to the mediocre ones, and these OK ones, I've gained more appreciation for console developers. The lesson I learned was that there is more to emulation than just raw processing power. It may seem obvious at first; however, I am one of the people who are disappointed whenever it is announced that a system is not backwards compatible.   I'd much rather have a good current gen console than one that plays older games, but at risk to the hardware itself.

TL;DR? Well, the simple point is that a crappy Dreamcast emulator helped me understand that emulation is not always a easy task to accomplish.

B# Major General out!

Crazy Taxi 2: A New-Retro Review

One of my few games for the Sega Dreamcast is the arcade port racing game, Crazy Taxi. It was special for being one of those few games that at least two people in my household played. Recently, I looked into the sequel games produced. There are apparently portable versions, but I haven’t played a good hand-held racing game, besides Mario Kart. However, the second game in the series, Crazy Taxi 2, was also released on the Dreamcast.


“Hey, self!” I thought. “This is a great opportunity to review a game for the blog, and expand your pitiful Dreamcast collection!”

With those words in mind, I purchased the game. And, as a bonus, I have not read or watched any reviews on it (well, one video mentioned it in passing, but it was an offhand reference anyway.) Since I haven’t played the first game in a while, maybe I won’t apply as much “Nostalgia-Comparison” logic to it. Maybe.

Review
Starting off, I am reminded of the original. I can’t help it! I’ve got the [licensed?] music playing at me, the customers yelling for or at me, and an ever decreasing time limit to play under. This game, essentially, has three game modes: Around Apple, Small Apple, and Crazy Pyramid. The latter is a series of mini-games, like jump over things or pop balloons. Silly stuff.

Anyway, the main meat of the game occurs in the “Around Apple” and “Small Apple” modes. You can choose either to go by “normal rules” (presumably the rules used on the original arcade game. I haven’t played that version, so I’m just guessing here) or choose between intervals of 3, 5, or 10 minutes. Then it’s just a matter of choosing from one of the four drivers and burning some rubber!

What do I think of it?

Overall, it feels the same as the original. A fun, solid racing game. If I were comparing it to the original, I might say that it’s too much like the original. But I’m not. However, I found myself getting bored. Maybe it’s that the style of game doesn’t connect with me. Maybe it’s because I could never get more than a Class D license in most runs. Either way, it’s still a solid sequel, and if you’re a fan of the series or driving games in general, you should consider picking it up.

As it turns out, most reviews I saw of it were generally positive. Yay!

Sonic Adventure: A Personal Retrospective

The year is ... somewhere between 1998 and 2001. The place is a tiny apartment building. My family had recently acquired a new video game system, (one of the rare times we've gotten a system during its actual run) the Sega Dreamcast.

So naturally, I play the heck out of the demo disc that came with it. Rayman 2 demo? Yes. Tomb Raider? Definitely. Fur Fighters? (If it's the one I remember with the random object throwing and what not) Yes, please! However, one demo stood out in particular for me. That of Sonic Adventure. That demo received many, many playthroughs.

Fortunately, we purchased several Dreamcast games a bit later, and Sonic Adventure was one of them. I couldn't get enough of it. I played it over and over again. Well, not technically... (See, we hadn't gotten memory cards yet, for whatever reason. So I had to restart every time. Naturally, I didn't make much progress, notwithstanding the unskippable cut-scene). Even when I had a memory card, my journey with the game wouldn't end until several years later.

So what is the appeal? Well, I can't speak for the majority of Sonic fans, but I know about me. On a side note, I initially had no idea that there were other Sonic games before this one. I just knew Adventure. (And later Sonic Shuffle, but that nightmare game is neither here nor there.) So I guess this is a disclaimer that all/most of my Sonic experience is interpreted through that game, even if subconsciously.

To the game itself, then! It is a 3D platformer, the first true 3D game that Sega had produced up to that point. The attempt at 3D was a risk, I suppose: however, the bigger risk seems to be the varied styles of play that the characters have. In previous games, play-style was more unified, as the number of playable characters tended to be low. That's not the case in Sonic Adventure. Every one of the six characters accomplishes their goals in different ways. To review the game, I believe each should be discussed in turn:

Sonic
Description: Titular character, and main protagonist. I believe his play-style exemplifies the game as a whole. The basic goal of his levels is to travel from point A to point B (often with a few major changes of scenery and music in-between). Simple, but fun. Being the main character, his story is much longer than the rest of the characters' stories, totaling in at 10 action stages, 2 mini-games and several boss fights. Additionally, the final "character" unlocked after completing the other characters is another outing for Sonic, featuring the final boss fight of the game.

Analysis: His mode is appealing because it continues the speed and platforming action of previous entries in the series. After all, the game is called Sonic Adventure, so it's only natural that the best gameplay comes from his levels. Personally speaking, one of my favorite aspects of the game was a certain boss fight of Sonic's: the Egg Viper. Initially, I simply could not figure it out. I kept dying. After figuring out that I should use homing attack on it, it became very easy and my favorite boss fight. The music was also a drawing point for it, too.

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Tails
Description: Sonic's loyal side-kick. His play style is a variant of Sonic's: get from point A to point B before Sonic (or in his last level, Robotnik.) With one exception, all of Tails' levels are shorter versions of ones traveled in with Sonic. Similarly, only Tails' last boss fight is uniquely his own (Egg Walker, parallel to Sonic's Egg Viper.) It seems like Sonic is condescending to let you win, as one time during my latest run-through (in Casinopolis' sewers) I caught Sonic standing around, waiting for me to catch up.

Analysis: After Sonic, Knuckles, and E-102, probably the last play-style that I actively appreciate. The racing character doesn't go too fast, and speed rings are provided to give you an appreciable advantage. Because the stages were previously seen with Sonic, there is little need for more exploration of the level beyond what is necessary to win. Tails' final boss fight has the same music as Egg Viper, is a little tricky, but doesn't give the same satisfaction that Egg Viper does. His story feels short. (And a theme arises: stories that feel short, even for the stories with annoying play-styles.)

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Knuckles
Description: A friend and rival of the spiny blue dude. In Knuckles' stages, one must locate three pieces of the Master Emerald that are scattered about the play-field. He, Sonic and Tails have a number of boss fights and stages in common: their past history in older games draws them together, even in this iteration. For the most part, his stages are easy to complete in a few short minutes.

Analysis: Even though the Sonic games series was founded on the principle of speed and intense platforming action, I find Knuckles' stages pretty fun. The player is allowed to explore a portion of the gestalt stage in Knuckles' version of that stage, much like a player can explore the adventure field as other characters. Knuckles has one unique boss fight: he battles the newly formed Chaos 2 on the hotel's observation room.

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Amy
Description: Star-crossed fan-girl of the spiny blue dude. As with Tails' play style, Amy must reach point B before Zero catches her. However, there is no friendly rivalry: he is out for blood. Well, bird, but he doesn't care for Amy either. Because she doesn't have Sonic's speed or Knuckles' power, she must evade Zero as best she can. Her play style is annoying, as she can't spin-dash and must constantly avoid attacks by Zero. Fortunately, her story is very short, stage-wise, only having three. Only in the very end does she defeat the annoying Zero and reunite her bird with its family.

Analysis: Annoying. It wouldn't be so bad, if not for two things. First, she is slow physically. Second, if you go back to play the other missions for the levels, Zero somehow returns! Even though you may have already killed him in the final boss fight. (I only did Hot Shelter, so maybe he wasn't in the others? Eh.) It is nice to see him explode, especially after he punches the innocent Flicky (the cute birds from Sonic 3D: The family of birds is of this species.) for no reason. Not my favorite story of the game, but not my least favorite either.

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E-102 (Beta)
Description: Robotnik robot turned vigilante. He must reach point B, where the goal varies. In later missions, he is after the other E-100 series robots to free the animals trapped within them. He's not fast like Sonic, but he does have something better: a laser guided blaster! Everyone made a big deal about Shadow having guns in his game, but E-102 beat him to the punch with his five stages. (Albeit, only one gun. Still, it's the principle of the matter!)

Analysis: Roll around and blow stuff up. Super fun! Revenge yourself against the evil Dr. Robotnik. Even better! I'm sure they would have gotten dull after a while, but I would have appreciated one or two more of his levels. Also, he was just cool looking. The E-100 is one of the few instances where Robotnik actually had a good design aesthetic. Too bad they all got destroyed...

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Big
Description: Umm... Big cat who lives in the forest with his frog pal. Like Knuckles, he hunts for something. Unfortunately, his something swims. His levels thus bring the oddest play-style for a Sonic game: fishing. Fortunately, there are only four stages and a weird boss-like thing.

Analysis: Uggh! He is one of the reasons I never completed the game when I originally got it. Only during the later run-through was I able to finally get through his short, but annoying, story. I may have enjoyed a stage once or twice, but otherwise disliked them. The action was much slower than the rest of the game, and too dissimilar in style.

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In the end, 4 (5 maybe) out of 6 of the characters are enjoyable to play as. That's a pretty good ratio, especially considering later Sonic games. However, I see another aspect that I had not noticed before: fun, inconsequential story details. For instance, in the Station Square adventure field, one can follow a story of romance: at the Burger Shop, an NPC female has a major crush on the NPC guy in the burger shop. Over the course of the game, she moves from outside the shop, to inside - too nervous to order - to finally become a co-worker with him, her adoration for him finally known. It has absolutely no effect on any story or gameplay. It's great!

Another one, however, affects the story. The train workers decide that they need to go on strike. This helps point the player to focus on stages and events within whatever adventure field s/he is stuck in at the time. (When I tried to reason out the chronology of events, this is a minor event in most of the characters' stories. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles' stages can be easily reconciled. Others alter the events slightly. Big's involvement with Chaos 6 complicates things a bit.) Anyway. I think there's one or two others (like the explorers in the Mystic Ruins) but these are the ones I noticed the most and really liked.

Still, Sonic Adventure does have its foibles. One are the unskippable cut scenes. During the first play-through, they're OK. But when I'm playing through for the fourth or fifth time, I already know all that stuff. Plus, some of the voice actors (coughamyandbigcough) can get annoying after a while. The camera occasionally misbehaves. However, the controls handle well. It is also cool to learn the story of Knuckles' ancestors and why Chaos is trying to wreck everything. Thus, Sonic Adventure is my favorite Sonic game, and the game to which I return again and again.

The Four Horsemen

You know, it's very nearly ten years since we started on our journey of enlightenment here at the universe's largest repository of Dreamcast-related junk. Who could have known that we'd still be serving the world's Dreamcast fans as the number one destination for useless information and slightly meandering and pointless prose almost a decade after I first published the first post here? Not me for one. Naturally, it's mainly down to you lot reading this stuff that we're still pumping it out...but behind the scenes I also have some very talented individuals to thank for creating high quality content that's (for the most part) based on Sega's last - and some may say greatest - entry into the console pantheon.

However, the time has come for the DCJY to induct some new talent into the ranks. Naturally The Gagaman and Barry The Nomad - as well as myself - will still be adding to the cavernous vaults of information here, but I thought it was about time some fresh faces were brought in to add to the diverse mixture of personalities, writing styles and opinions. Without further ado then, allow me to introduce the four - yes FOUR, and in no particular order - new members of the DCJY team:

Ben Rayner
Location: London, England

My Top 3 Dreamcast Games:
Jet Set Radio 
Shenmue (I&II count as one right?)
Sword of The Beserk: Guts Rage (loved the anime and the game to death!)
(close 4th and 5th were Nomad Soul and Resident Evil: Code Veronica)

I've been playing games for as long as my tiny brain can remember and with so many opinions and such verbal diarrhoea, it was inevitable that I'd start writing about them! As a freelancer I've worked with a handful of great game websites as well as now running my own hub of all things current in the gaming world (www.thenebula.co.uk); but I've always loved the Dreamcast and am glad to join a group of a like minded nutters! In other news, I occasionally play the drums and enjoy a glass of whiskey served with a side of emulators!

Lost Ruin
Location: The Midlands, England

My Top 3 Dreamcast games:
Resident Evil 2
Sega Rally 2
Jet Set Radio

My name is Gaz (aka Lost Ruin) and I love videogames and I am a gamer! I could just leave it at this, but I might as well elaborate a bit and give you smidge more information about me. I'm 39 years old and my love of gaming started back in 1983 when I received a ZX Spectrum from a jolly fat bloke in a red suit one Christmas morning. Today I own a lot of different consoles - both new and old, and when I’m not working and looking after my family, you can bet that you'll find me online playing on the Xbox One or Xbox 360.

Some of the consoles I own are rubbish, but others have truly made an everlasting mark on me and the rest of the gaming world. One such console is the Sega Dreamcast and it is because of this machine, that I am talking to you now.

We'll certainly get to know each other better as I write more and more and I hope to give you my insights into the DreamcastI'll review some really good games and perhaps some rubbish ones too.

B# Major General
Location: South Carolina, USA

My Top 3 Dreamcast games:
Sonic Adventure
Toy Commander
Star Wars Episode I: Racer

Although I owned both an NES and Sega Pico, the Dreamcast was my real “first console.” Because of that, I became a gamer in general, a retro gamer and aficionado of video game music. Recently graduated from university, my interests include literature, music and psychology.

Robert Jones
Location: Bath, England

Hi guys. My name is Robert and I'm a freelance writer and journalist. In my spare time I like collecting and playing retro video games, with the Dreamcast, Super Famicom and Neo Geo AES my 'go to' systems of choice. I'm also fascinated with Japanese culture in general, something for which I am currently learning Japanese to become more immersed in. 

My Top 3 Dreamcast games:

Shenmue - Ok, so I realise this is totally unoriginal, but that does not negate the fact that Shenmue is my favourite title on the Dreamcast. In fact, it is one of my most loved games of all time. As I sit here now, I remember the first time I played it. I remember how I watched Iwao Hazuki fight his last battle against Lian Di, how I witnessed a family broken in two and how I saw a young man named Ryo decided to sacrifice everything for that most old-fashioned of concepts, honour. A truly beautiful game.

Lack of Love (L.O.L) - I like this title on two different levels. Firstly, conceptually Lack of Love just speaks volumes to me. Sometimes I feel there is a serious lack of love, compassion and basic human decency on this planet and if people - myself totally included - would only step back from the trappings of modern life a little, we could all build a better world to live in. Lack of Love captures this feeling perfectly, showing that even on the tiniest of levels, keeping an open mind and demonstrating empathy can be incredibly rewarding. Secondly, in terms of game design it is just spot on, with subtle mechanisms allowing players to navigate its world and systems with zero language barrier. 

The Last Blade 2 - I'm going to guess some purists won't like this due to it being a port, but if you can look past that then The Last Blade 2 is an absolutely stunning 2D fighter. Crafted by the kings of the genre SNK, The Last Blade 2 is simply staggering in execution, delivering some of the most iconic artwork, animations and gameplay of any fighter ever made. The incredibly deep combat system is just top draw too, capable of surprising you even after you feel you have played the game to death. The setting of the game, during Japan's 19th century Bakumatsu, is also just epic.

So there you are, intrepid and weary net-surfer! These four new Horsemen of the Dreampocastlypse (yes, I went there) bolster our already formidable knowledge-base of all things Dreamcast no-end. We have a game music expert, a couple of NTSC aficionados, and a man not only old enough to remember his first experience of the ZX Spectrum, but old enough to remember the creation of the universe itself (sorry Lost Ruin!). The thing that connects us all though, is a real appreciation and a genuine love of the Dreamcast, and I have no doubt that with our new recruits the Dreamcast Junkyard will continue to thrive.

Welcome!