Merry 'Castmas! - The Festive Games of the Sega Dreamcast

This time last year, I had almost no time to enjoy the holiday festivities. I was unable to put up a tree or lights, let alone restore holiday cheer to Twin Seeds City. Rather, we were swamped with uprooting our lives, dog, and 15 years’ worth of belongings as we prepared to move across the Atlantic. It made for a hellishly stressful shitmas.

This year is the opposite, mercifully. So far I’ve enjoyed relaxing and rekindling the holiday spirit. I’ve indulged in some longstanding traditions, while adopting several new ones from this side of the pond. The Christmas markets, Sunday roasts, and excessive pints at my locals have helped make this season all the merrier. Of course, I’ve also been playing a bunch of Dreamcast games to help celebrate the season.

Sega’s final console imparted us with a multitude of titles that could be considered festive in one sense or another. Of course, these games will resonate with different folks in different ways. Some are dusted in snowscapes, some are lit with Christmas decor, and some just have festive vibes. Whichever the case, the following games have helped restore my holiday spirit in their own odd and unique ways…

Blue Stinger 

I’ve spilled plenty of ink championing Blue Stinger as a highlight of the Dreamcast’s festive offerings, and its library in general. We’ve also rambled about the game in several of our podcast episodes by this point. In fact, you can listen to our latest DreamPod dedicated solely to Shinya Nishigaki and Climax Graphics’ holiday classic.

Ditching any semblance of survival horror, Blue Stinger teeters a balance of action/beat ‘em up, B-movie camp, and festive vibrancy. Yet that understates how hard it goes on all counts.

Whether you crave gory fisticuffs or holiday cheer, Blue Stinger indulges in both and spares us from all nuance. If you want to obliterate Dinosaur Island’s mutant folk, its vending machines offer a buffet of shotguns, stun rods, rocket launchers, and lightsabers for your destructive delight. And if you want Christmas cheer, it will bury you in an avalanche of neon snowman, chipper earworms, and festive/bizarre Pen Pen cameos. 

Blue Stinger embodies holiday excess and it will charm the shit out of you if you let it.

Christmas moral: We can capture the magic of Christmas with just a little brute force...and tequila.

Beverage pairing: Mistletoe Margaritas

Dessert pairing: Hassy pudding

Song pairing: My friend Angela’s metal karaoke rendition of “Feliz Navidad” followed by this song on loop for 10 hours

Cool Boarders Burrrn! (NTSC-J) / Snow Surfers (PAL) / Rippin’ Riders (NTSC-U)

As a game without a consistent title between regions (for legal reasons), I at least appreciate their alliteration.

Frankly, I’ve always wished I enjoyed UEP System’s Dreamcast snowboarding game more than I traditionally have. I still return to it every couple years thinking that maybe it will finally click. It never fully does but we’ll muddle through somehow.

Perhaps my expectations were overblown by my love for other turn-of-the-millennium snowboarding games. I always balked at Snow Surfers’ stifling rigidity. It offers limited potential for exploration and improvisation, which contrasts unfavorably with the likes of SSX, Amped, and even Steep Slope Sliders. But in its own charming way, that also makes Rippin’ Surfers a unique kind of grind. Countdown timers are unforgiving and tricks are limited to specific launch points (as with other Cool Boarders games). There are just a few viable approaches to each course, which I was compelled to practice ad nauseam to improve my best scores and inch towards more optimal runs.

Unmoored from the expectations of its contemporaries, I found a merry little game in Burrrn Riders. With a little persistence, carving the slopes feels surprisingly serene, and is further bolstered by the chill beats and nifty set pieces. It’s not an expansive game but its simplicity makes it feel oddly cozy.

Christmas moral: Sometimes it’s nice to enjoy games for what they are.

Beverage pairing: Jingle Juice with Mountain Dew

Dessert pairing: Christmas crumble or something with alliteration

Song pairing: “Merry Muthafuckin’ Christmas” by Eazy-E

Shenmue

AM2’s classic Santa stalking simulator needs no introduction here. I’ll just say that — with Shenmue’s dynamic weather system — I had to load through all my Xbox saves, all my PS5 saves, and a dozen VMUs before I finally found a save state where it was actually snowing in Dobuita. After that, I had a jolly time crunching through the snow and following Santa around town as he peddled local boozers to underage teenagers before imbibing at them himself. We couldn’t stay out too late, though. Ryo still had to show up for his forklift job on Christmas Day. 

On a side note, Mark's mandatory, pre-shift forklift races do not pay overtime and that’s fucking bullshit.

Christmas moral: Unionize.

Beverage pairing: Milk

Dessert pairing: Nothing. Ryo doesn’t eat food in Shenmue 1 because he is a ryobot

Song pairing: “Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes)” by Harvey Danger

A Tribute Documentary about D2 Creator Kenji Eno is on the way

A documentary about 90s gaming visionary Kenji Eno is on the way from documentary maker Archipel.

For those unaware, Kenji Eno was a maverick game developer and musician who founded WARP game studios. With WARP, Eno most famously brought us the excellent D trilogy: D, Enemy Zero and D2, the last of which was on the Dreamcast. All three games pushed the boundaries of what people at the time considered a "video game", the latter two of the trilogy in particular experimenting with multiple genres. Eno sadly passed away on February the 20th, 2013, due to heart failure brought on by hypertension.

On the tenth anniversary of Eno's passing, Archipel, a documentary maker that specialises in documentaries "about Japan's creative minds and culture" on YouTube, plan to honour him with a tribute documentary.

Back in October of last year, Archipel announced the documentary was being worked on, saying they'd recieved some "moving testimonials" about Eno, presumably from those who worked with him in the industry. They followed this up seven days ago, when they provided an update, saying they'd wrapped up shooting and that a teaser trailer will be released soon.

We've wrapped shooting. Happy and honored for all the guests who participated to the project and the conversations we've had about this truly avant-garde creator. Teaser coming soon.

— Archipel | アルシペル (@SailToArchipel) January 16, 2023

Update: On the 20th of February - the anniversary of Eno's death - Archipel finally released their teaser for this documentary. This very sombre clip shows the faces of Eno's friends, colleagues, and family who will be providing testimonials. Many highly regarded creatives from the Japanese video game industry are shown, including Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid), Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Rez, Space Channel 5), Yoot Saito (Seaman), Kenichi Nishi (L.O.L.: Lack of Love), and Fumito Ueda (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus). The teaser ends confirming that the documentary will be out in 2023. Check out the teaser below.

As a huge fan of Eno's work, I'm really excited for this upcoming documentary. Will you give it a watch when it's released? Let us know via our social media channels, or simply by dropping us a comment below.

Related Articles: 

• In White 1999: The Time D2's Laura Appeared as a Model in a Japanese Fashion Magazine
• A Quick Look At Real Sound: Winds of Regret
• The Haunting D2 Music Box

Staff Picks: Top 21 Dreamcast Games

With our 2022 Top 200 Dreamcast Games poll coming to a close at the end of March, coinciding with the 21st anniversary of our beloved console’s discontinuation (I would say RIP but she is very much still alive and kicking, if you've been paying attention to anything we've been reporting on in the last few years!), I thought it was time for a peek into the minds of the staff here at The Dreamcast Junkyard. What did WE vote as our top ten Dreamcast games, and how does that look when compiled into a list? Well, let's find out shall we?

Along with myself, I asked Tom, Mike, Brian, Lewis, Kev, James H, James J, Mark and Rich to list their ten favourite Dreamcast titles in order. I took these and did what I seemingly love to do now as I approach my forties - I made a spreadsheet! Everyone's top picks received a score of 10, 2nd place got 9, and so on. I then employed some magic formulas to tally up the totals to give us a definitive top 21 games, using the number of times a game was voted for as a tie-breaker where necessary.

The end result is very interesting! We think there's something here for everyone, and if these were the only games in your collection most people would be pretty happy! There are some surprises, and a few things that, if you've ever listened to the DreamPod, you will not at all be surprised about. 

I'll link you to the spreadsheet itself at the end of this article so you can see the full list of games and how everyone voted, for your agreement or ridicule, but first let us count down these games from last to first. Our first entry is the only joint entry, seeing three games share 19th place...

19. Blue Stinger, San Francisco Rush 2049 & Spirit of Speed 1937 (Joint)

A trio of titles start us off, a couple of which often split the opinion of fans. One thing they all have in common? A commitment to a particular time. Blue Stinger takes place in the year 2000, so each represents a very different era, though released within a short space of each other in reality. Let's hear what some of the team had to say about these games.

Upon its release, Blue Stinger was widely misunderstood and critically dismissed under the umbrella of its survival horror contemporaries. In the decades since, it has emerged a cult classic in its own right. Blue Stinger is Shinya Nishigaki and Climax Graphics' endearing homage/parody of Hollywood action and sci-fi cinema, and it plays wonderfully as a B-movie beat-em-up today. - Brian on Blue Stinger

Rush 2049 embodies everything an arcade racer on Dreamcast should be. It looks great, the tracks are full of inventive shortcuts and hidden nooks and crannies, and the actual racing is tight and exciting. A true Midway game that doesn't take itself too seriously, Rush 2049 is easily one of the best racers on the platform. - Tom on Rush 2049

Spirit Of Speed 1937 is the Dark Souls of racing games. The sad truth is that 99% of people won't play it long enough to experience where its strengths really are. It's a true to the era racer which rewards forward thinking and careful driving - something sim racers will appreciate. - James H on Spirit of Speed 1937

18. Rez

Art? Hacking? No this isn't the latest goings-on over at OpenSea, but instead best encapsulates Rez (besides, this is actually nice to look at). Tetsuya Mizuguchi's rail-shooter may have been minimalist on visuals, but it was heavy on trance beats and addictive gameplay. A gem in the Dreamcast's library and its influence is still felt to this day. - Rich

17. Jet Set Radio

Ahead of it's time in so many ways, Jet Set Radio is held up as one of the shining beacons of unfettered creativity that the Dreamcast is so well known for. From its art style to its music, its gameplay to its reverence for hip-hop and Japanese street culture, JSR is a masterclass in what a video game can be. This is Sega at their most zany, but in the best possible way. Strap on your in-line skates and grab that spray paint can, it's time to get funky! - Andrew

In White 1999: The Time D2's Laura Appeared as a Model in a Japanese Fashion Magazine

Kenji Eno seemed to look at game design differently to other developers. If you've played his major Dreamcast outing D2, you'll know exactly what I mean. He was always pushing the boundaries of what made a game a game. Something he very much championed was the idea of a 'digital actress.' It's a bit of an odd concept to explain, but perhaps the most modern equivalent we have is the likes of Hatsune Miku, a fictional character that has transcended her original source material (as the mascot for a piece of music software) to become a celebrity in her own right, crossing over into other forms of media, almost like she's following some kind of real world career path. 

Laura, created by Kenji Eno, was very similar. She's a familiar face we see in Eno's D trilogy, but in each game she 'plays' a completely different character, in the same way real-life actors play different roles in movies. In D, she is Laura Harris; in Enemy Zero, she is Laura Lewis; and in D2, she is Laura Parton. Despite sharing a similar-looking character model, they are all different characters who are involved in completely separate storylines.

Laura Harris (top left), Laura Lewis (bottom left), Laura Parton (right)

Being the creative genius he was, Kenji Eno's vision for Laura did not end at games. Prior to the release of D2 in Japan, Laura modelled clothes designed by Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto in the August 1999 issue (no. 268) of the Japanese fashion magazine High Fashion (or simply "HF"). Not only was she included within the issue's pages, she was featured slap-bang on the cover too. 

I can't imagine how stressful it must have been for many hard-working fashion models back in 1999 to have a precious front cover spot pinched from them by a 3D-rendered Dreamcast woman. Below are all the covers of High Fashion from January 1997 to December 1999 (source). Laura definitely stands out amongst the other mortals - a definite case of "one of these things is not like the others".

Video game characters modelling clothes isn't unheard of these days, though. In the last decade, we've seen Final Fantasy XIII-2's troupe of characters model a range for Prada in Summer 2012, while the game's main character Lightning did a virtual shoot for Louis Vuitton in 2016. But this photoshoot of Laura could potentially be one of the first instances of this odd concept to ever occur. 

• Related: DreamPod 88 featuring Video Game Esoterica

I was so intrigued, I tracked down this issue with the promise to myself that I'd document it here for the enjoyment of all who love the more esoteric side of Dreamcast lore, and as an extension, the legacy of Kenji Eno and D2. So here we go. I present to you issue 268 of High Fashion magazine. Feel free to click on any of the scans if you want to view a larger version of them.

DCJY welcomes Video Game Esoterica

In the latest episode of our podcast DreamPod, Tom, Lewis and Martin are joined by Anthony Bacon of the excellent Video Game Esoterica YouTube channel. In this episode, we discuss Anthony's YouTube journey thus far, as well as everything odd to do with the Dreamcast, legendary developer Kenji Eno, and his game D2. They even squeeze in some chat about the 3DO's failed follow-up; the Panasonic M2, and even the Apple Pippin. You don't want to miss this one!

Use the embedded player below to listen here on the main Dreamcast Junkyard blog, or alternatively you can grab the episode on either your podcatcher of choice or over on our YouTube channel.

Links to things discussed in the Podcast:

• Video Game Esoterica YouTube channel
• Junkyard article going over the Dreamcast PHS / Dreamwire service, and the official Dreamcast wireless adapter
• Dreamcast MIDI cable
• O.to.i.Re: Dreamcast Sequencer
• Junkyard article discussing Dreamcast non-gaming software for stock market, betting, car sales, education etc

Thanks once again to Anthony - be sure to check out Video Game Esoterica on YouTube and give Anthony a follow on Twitter.

The Haunting D2 Music Box

D2 is a game that famously never received a PAL release, and the Japanese and NTSC-U versions are highly sought after and represent one of the late developer Kenji Eno's finest moments. While it's true Warp also went on to develop another Dreamcast game in Real Sound: Winds of Regret, the Japanese outfit never really revisited the Dreamcast - much to the disappointment of many.

Now, while randomly wandering the annals of YouTube the other day though, I stumbled upon a fascinating video from fellow 'tuber FatalistDC that shows off a rather brilliant yet lesser-known piece of Dreamcast merchandise: a wind up music box that plays the haunting theme tune from D2:

We've looked at myriad examples of Dreamcast-related merchandise in the last couple of years, but I'd never seen (or heard of) this music box prior to a few days ago. To this end, I contacted FatalistDC and asked about the history of the item and he was able to supply the following:

"I got it years ago, searching Yahoo Japan Auctions for items related to D, D2 and Enemy Zero. I found this music box and some D2 mangas too. I quickly bid on them using Shopping Mall Japan. I don't have more info about the item itself or why a D2 music box was released or if there are any more very rare items of D2 memorabilia."

- Fatalist DC

Thanks to FatalistDC for allowing me to share his video here - check out his YouTube channel for Dreamcast centric videos. He did also point me to this article from Gamesniped that details a pretty spectacular Enemy Zero collector's edition, but alas had no more info on the D2 music box. Do you know any more about it or have any similarly lesser known Dreamcast-related collectables? Let us know in the comments or in the Facebook group!

Does it Matter if You're Black or White?

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that this post will relate to the design shift from white to black in the old US of A-NTSC land. Well, you'd be wrong, I'm not going to talk about that. It's already common knowledge and well understood, though I will just quickly mention that it's supremely handy that both designs use a standard 10.2mm CD jewel case with a clear plastic tray. These are dime-a-dozen and can easily be replaced if you want to return your collection to showroom condition.

Nope, not going to talk about these.

Remembering Kenji Eno

Last month a gaming legend passed away. Kenji Eno is not a household name but his influence on games is massive, creating unique works that have such a unique and mysterious feel to them.

Sega fans will know him best for games like D and Enemy Zero on the Saturn and D2 on the Dreamcast. He also created Real Sound: Kaze no Regret, a game on both the Saturn and Dreamcast that was a audio only adventure, so even blind people could play it. The man was also a musician and composed tracks for Sega Rally 2.

Here is a fantastic article over at Gamasutra about his career and influence. Also, a Dreamcast fan e-mailed me an interview with Kenji Eno discussing D2, scanned from an issue of Gamersrepublic. Check it out below.

Finally here's a video review Caleb did way back in 2007 of D2.

 

D2 Video Review. Rummage! American Style!

My first attempt at a game review video and it shows.

I didn't cover everything I wanted to and the voice-over sucked. Plus the video game footage is poor quality.

Points I couldn't get in:

1. The music in this game was kick ass.

2. The ending movie in this game has a timer showing how much time has passed since 2000. Or I suppose if you played the game in 1999, how long until the new millennium.

3. This game was protested in America by feminist groups, which makes NO sense since it has a female protagonist facing down the ultimate evil all by herself. There is a cut scene where an insane dude shoots a helpless woman IN THE FACE, so it was a pretty intense game. But there really wasn't any anything blatantly misogynistic. Except for the tentacle oral rape of course. But I am sure that monster would have done that to any victim regardless of gender.

4. I wasn't clear on the whole "bootleg" version thing. Due to the insane amount of FMVs in this game copied versions are mostly scaled down graphically and don't look as good as the real thing. Hands down D2 is the most difficult Dreamcast game to copy. Which means you should be like me and get a real copy.

I hope you get the general point. I really liked the game.