Definitive English Fan Translation Patches release for Maken X and Castle of Shikigami II on Sega Dreamcast

Got a fan translation double-whammy for you today. One is a Derek Pascarella joint, and the other is an interesting retranslation of a game that already exists in English on the Sega Dreamcast. Don't worry, I'll explain further.

Castle of Shikigami II (Shikigami no Shiro 2)

This beloved vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up from Alfa System started life as a NAOMI arcade title in 2003, before finding its way onto Dreamcast exclusively in Japan in 2004. Those who thought Dreamcast releases stopped in 2002 will be scratching their heads right now (just wait 'till you hear about the indie scene). Sadly, this game would not see an official English release on Dreamcast, although if the 2004 PlayStation 2 Western release with its woeful "Engrish" translation was anything to go by, perhaps that was a blessing in disguise. Anyway, over two decades later, here is a much better English Dreamcast version courtesy of Derek et al.

The English translation used in Derek's translation patch is mostly taken from a Steam re-release of the game from 2021 (later released on Switch in 2023) which was a full, much improved re-translation of the game's dialogue over the aforementioned 2004 Western release. This localisation then received some further fixes and improvements for this patch by translator Walnut, who has also translated any additional dialogue found in the Dreamcast version that was absent from the later re-release.

Guess your standards slip when you've been waiting that long.

As is standard fare for Derek's patches, there are plenty of cool extras. He's programmed in an invincibility mode (for noobs like me, clearly) as well as analog stick support. A hidden character, Chibi Fumiko, who was previously accessible only through a hidden button combination, has also received a dedicated slot on the character-select screen, complete with a new name banner. There's loads of stuff, so if you want to know about everything that's been implemented, check out the "what's changed" section of the readme.

Head over to the GitHub repository to download the patch. Instructions can be found in there on how to patch an existing GDI of the game using Derek's Universal Dreamcast Patcher.

Maken X: Director's Cut

The only game Atlus released for the Dreamcast outside of Japan, Maken X is a unique entry in the developer's renowned catalogue of dark, envelope-pushing games. It's a 3D first-person action game in which you run around hacking enemies to pieces with a big sword (the titular "maken"). In the Japanese version you instead slice up nazis with said big sword. They took all that out in the English releases.

Anyway, AspenVesper has released a retranslation patch for the game that looks to create a "definitive" English edition. Someone had actually previously made an "undub" patch for Maken X, replacing the hammy English voice acting (we love it though) with the original Japanese voices. AspenVesper's patch does this but goes even further. They've completely retranslated the game, improving it over the original English localisation, and restored a wealth of cut content (including the compendium, an encyclopaedia-like feature that was removed from the Western releases). They have also reverted anything that was censored for the West, such as religious symbols, nudity, blood, booze, and of course, nazis. I hate these guys.

It's raining blood now. Slayer would lose their shit if they knew.

To get this "Director's Cut" patch, head over to this page on Game Banana. You will need Derek's Universal Dreamcast Patcher for this one too. Once patched, it'll be time to slice down some nazis with your maken in a way BJ Blazkowicz would be proud of, all in a language their supreme leader couldn't speak.

***

Anyway, there's two brand new fan translations that you can go and enjoy today. Due to the proliferation of generative AI bullshit, I have to include a mandatory disclaimer to clarify that all translation in both of these projects was done entirely by humans (remember when that didn't have to be a selling point for a fan translation?), although the creator of the Maken X patch did use some AI assistance to reverse-engineer the game.

Related:

• Review: Castle of Shikigami II
• A Maken X-mas

The A to Z of Dreamcast Games: A Collector's Guide — Updated Digital Edition Available for Free!

Welcome, Sega Dreamcast fans, to what will go down in the annals of Dreamcast history as the most delayed book release ever! If you’re reading this, no doubt you were brought here by the announcement that, three years after I finished it, we’re finally releasing the culmination of what was many years of work - an updated edition of The A to Z of Dreamcast Games: A Collector’s Guide.

The previous edition, which released back in 2018 as a free downloadable PDF, proved to be quite popular, racking up more than 10,000 downloads to date. It was an attempt to catalogue every single retail Dreamcast release from all regions (including independent releases), give a brief review of each title, and give collectors, or just the curious, a handy companion on their journey through the Dreamcast library.

A two-page spread showcasing a mixture of officially licensed Japanese releases, indies, and a boxout about fishing titles on the Dreamcast.

What's new compared to the 2018 release?

• Updated and corrected release listings, including all new indie releases up to (at least) July 24th 2023. Now covering nearly 700 individual games, and around 1,900 different versions.

• Cover art images included for each and every variant release around the world.

• Revised collecting guides for each region and indie games.

• Various 'boxout' sections throughout the guide, dealing with different areas of the wider Dreamcast collecting world, from regional oddities and budget releases, to homebrew games and translation projects.

Just click the button below to download the updated PDF edition for free!

For those who'd love to hear a bit of history about the project, I shall take you back to… 2015? I’d been collecting Dreamcast games seriously for a while by this point and had made what was in effect a glorified checklist of games. Don’t get me wrong, there were others available at this point online, but nothing which captured all PAL, Japanese and US games, as well as the ever-growing indie releases which were (and still are) gracing our little hobby. As I was quite pleased with it, I sent it across to a pillar of the community, Mr. Tom Charnock, founder of The Dreamcast Junkyard. It was the Junkyard that had helped me fall back in love with the console, and as a long time fan, I thought it would be pretty cool to give him a look at what I had ‘created’. Well, one thing led to another, and before long we decided to print the checklist as the ‘Ultimate Collectors Guide’ with some added information - release identification codes, regional variants, that sort of thing. It was good fun and I thought it would be of some use to those dipping their toes into the Dreamcast collecting world for the first time.

And you know what? It was quite popular really. Not exactly topping the New York Times Best Sellers list, you understand, but quite a few copies were sold and there was a fair bit of talk about it going around. We even had some of Sega’s official social channels give it a shout out. And that, it was to transpire, was to be the catalyst for the next stage in this saga. Apparently putting out a really amateurish, glorified list as a printed book was a big no-no for Japanese gaming giants, and before long both myself and Tom were slapped with cease and desist orders. Was it an overreaction? Possibly. But it wasn't a venture we were really making any money on, and in retrospect the news of Sega being a bit too ‘lawyery’ did more good for us and harm to them. Suddenly it became this ‘banned’ book -something that has been mentioned in at least a trio of eBay listings- and got more attention than it probably deserved. Even now as I attempt to sell off my Dreamcast collection, I’m asked near monthly if I have any of the original ‘forbidden’ books left (I don’t by the way!)

The ‘Sega, don't sue us!’ edition with added caveats in yellow.

That was all a bit more dramatic than I ever expected it to be. But whilst I sat at my desk staring at my framed cease and desist order (cheers, Sega), work was already underway for the next ‘version’ of the guide, which this time would include reviews and (shock horror) pictures! It was always my plan to expand on what I had done so far, turning it into something of a ‘pocket guide’ - ultimately, something that I myself would have wanted when embarking on the collecting journey. The unwarranted attention just made me more determined to go ahead and finish it. It was a bit of a tall order, and the prospect of wading through the numerous barely decipherable Japanese titles (long before our current golden age of translations) was daunting, but… well, we all need a hobby.

And this is where things get a bit more personal. Unfortunately, not long after this, my dad passed away. He was a big supporter of me printing the original Ultimate Collectors Guide and it was somewhat of a private honour to have him hold a physical copy of it in his hands before he passed. Whilst his sight was somewhat fading by that time, he still told everyone that I was some sort of author. This coupled with my impending marriage made me determined to get that final vision I had out there - The A to Z of Dreamcast Games: A Collector's Guide. For a couple of years I beavered away at it and, with changing personal circumstances, finally got a vaguely finished version online in 2018, dedicated as it was to my dad and bringing together all the bits I wanted. We put it up on the blog and it was quite popular again. It was still hideously amateurish of course (I proudly have a DIY punk mentality to how I do things, and won’t apologise for that!) but it was the sort of guide I wanted to put out there.

The original version of the A to Z guide.

Then of course we went through COVID-19 and in the post-pandemic world I wanted to try and improve the guide somewhat. More pictures (of every release), with all the variants that I had missed, and updated to cover all indie games. I bought a house and my personal circumstances were improving somewhat, so as I prepared to start a family I had a grand idea in my head that my silly little guide could be published as a physical piece, something to finally give back to the Dreamcast community and to be somewhat of a ‘statement’ from myself. Dear reader, I’m afraid that didn’t quite work out. Unfortunately my marriage ended and with it my dreams of a family, and despite me getting the guide progressed into a solid draft state, and even printing a few test copies, I fell out of love with the Dreamcast and didn’t have the heart to continue writing a guide that held so many memories. Editing a guide that my ex-wife had proofread for me and had been both a major believer in and patient witness to didn’t feel right and I didn’t have the passion to go on with it.

It’s a shame, but all things happen for a reason. Whilst I’ve moved on from the Dreamcast I hope this guide lives on as some sort of ‘legacy’ even if it is more ‘what could have been’. Thanks to Lewis and the Junkyard who have now put out the ‘final’ version of this guide in an ‘as is’ state. You can now see the guide in what would have been its first printed form, warts and all. It’s exactly as it was when I left it, with the same credits and dedication included, and with the frankly awesome cover art that Lewis designed for it intact. It’s obviously still a little quirky and a little rough (I used a tedious word processor to make the guide that made things ten times harder to update!) but it’s here and to be honest, I’m quite proud of it.

Will there ever be an updated version that includes all subsequent indie releases (the last included here being Driving Strikers from July 2023)? Who knows. If enough of you want it then I guess I could be coaxed back into wrestling with the formatting! Whilst I'm no longer actively interested in collecting for the console there is a part of me which wants to ‘finish’ it. But for now I hope even one person downloads this and finds it useful - if they do, my job is done.

Until we meet again Dreamcast fans - keep Dreaming.

The guide remains dedicated to my Dad and Leanne, Lucifer and Lilith.

A note from Lewis about the future of the A to Z of Dreamcast Games:

As Mike details above, he'd been working on updating The A to Z of Dreamcast Games from its 2018 edition for a long time, with the ultimate goal of releasing it in a physical form. We came incredibly close to making that happen, and a handful of test copies were even printed, complete with the cover I designed, which I'm incredibly proud of. I’m honoured to be one of the very few people to own a physical copy of the guide, it's so big it could be used to hold a door open.

You'll get your hands on one of these one day...

As time went on, however, more indie games continued to be released (not that we were complaining, of course!), meaning the guide constantly needed further updates to keep pace. There was some discussion about removing the indie titles altogether, allowing the guide to be released physically without the risk of it becoming outdated the moment a new game came along. However, for many of us, the guide's inclusion of so many fantastic indie releases was what set it apart from other "complete game library for X system" type books. Ultimately, though, the final nail in the coffin was the soaring cost of printing in the wake of the pandemic.

Fast-forward to 2026, and Lozz and I felt it was important to finally get the guide out into the world in whatever form we could, ensuring all of Mike's hard work wouldn't go to waste. We'd spent some time discussing the possibility of myself and other members of the Junkyard filling in the missing indie titles and bringing the guide up to date, but alas, we'd rather preserve our sanity than attempt to wrestle with OpenOffice, the software Mike used to create this 500+ page guide!

For that reason, we've decided to release the last version of the guide Mike sent me, with his blessing, dated September 2023.

While certain aspects of the guide are inevitably out of date by 2026, including game values, missing indie releases, and some "upcoming releases" that have since come out, Mike’s guide remains the best Dreamcast collecting handbook out there, bar none, and even while some indie titles are missing, as far as documenting all the official releases, it's definitive. It’s far better for it to be available for everyone to utilise and enjoy, rather than sitting on my Google Drive collecting digital dust!

That said, hopefully, this isn’t the end of the A to Z guide. I’ve been discussing the possibility of reworking its layout with a friend of the Junkyard, which would make future updates and revisions much easier (something Mike is okay with, of course). As already mentioned, Mike originally put the guide together using OpenOffice, and I’ve tried my hand at updating it myself, only to fail miserably! The software is incredibly frustrating to work with, although perhaps the sheer size of the guide is also to blame. Adding or removing content seems to have a knack for throwing off the book's entire layout.

The plan is for myself and other members of the Junkyard to work together to fill in the gaps, add the missing indie releases and bring the guide up to date. Once that’s done, we can finally make a physical release a reality.

There’s still plenty of work to do, but hopefully, the A to Z guide has a bright future ahead of it. Until then, enjoy the free updated edition!

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec is Running on Sega Dreamcast!

Well, we now know that the Dreamcast could handle GTA 3, no doubt a flagship title for the PlayStation 2, which many at the time said would've been "impossible" for Sega's humble machine to cope with.

But what about Sony's own Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec? The gorgeous racing simulator could surely not run well on a Dreamcast and look as good as it did on Playstation 2, right?

Well, prominent Dreamcast developer, Jnmartin84, is at it again in an attempt to prove any doubters wrong with a Dreamcast port of Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec firmly in the works.

I won't bother talking too much about it -you know what they say, seeing is believing and all that- so, here is what it looks like running on a Dreamcast console:

Still screenshots don't really do it justice, so I'd also recommend watching Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec being played on real hardware. You can do so over at Jnmartin84's YouTube channel. You'll quickly see just how smooth everything runs.

It should be noted that this is very much work in progress at the moment and Jnmartin84 is well-known for ensuring that everything runs as perfectly as it possibly can be before releasing his ports; which in the current climate is certainly no bad thing. Jnmartin84 has previously disclosed his use of AI tools to speed up certain development tasks, but he does have an extensive knowledge when it comes to Dreamcast development.

We'll keep a close eye on this one and bring you more news as we get it.

StiffPeaks has also previewed this ambitious port, which you can watch below.

Cosmic Smash, Wetrix+ and Cruis’n USA get new online leaderboards for Dreamcast!

Reported and implemented by DC99, Cosmic Smash, Wetrix+ and the new Dreamcast port of Cruis’n USA are now blessed with online leaderboard functionality!

Developed by Dreamcast online community member and DC99 owner, enfilade, online leaderboard functionality is now possible for many Dreamcast titles, allowing the upload of things like high scores and fastest laps directly from your VMU save file, from a Dreamcast web browser.

Most Dreamcast titles that get online functionality revived are returning to some kind of service or web presence that they already had back in the day. This is not the case for these three titles and the possibilities for future games to support online leaderboards is now endless.

Wetrix+ was the first original Dreamcast title to use this functionality, followed by Cosmic Smash. Both titles allow you to upload your high scores and see how you stack up against the rest of the Dreamcast community. Most recently, the Dreamcast port of Cruis’n USA also utilises the same functionality to upload your best times from each track in the game, as well as your overall time after completing the Cruise the USA mode.

Recently, we play-tested both the arcade original and N64 ports of Cruis’n USA. The first public release of the latter is now available for Dreamcast owners to download and create their own CDIs to play on real hardware.

I spoke to enfilade who confirmed that there are many more Dreamcast online leaderboard projects in progress, which means exciting times are ahead! One thing is for sure, the Dreamcast Junkyard will let you know as soon as new titles receive the functionality.

Second Screen Archive: An Effort to Preserve Dreamcast VMU Art

Second Screen Archive began with a fairly simple problem: I wanted to find Soulcalibur’s VMU pixel art.

I searched for a collection I could browse, but couldn’t find what I was looking for. Eventually, that search became an attempt to recover the artwork from the game itself. That turned out to be a bigger task than I anticipated.

Small screen, familiar faces: Soulcalibur’s 19 recovered VMU characters.

The Dreamcast’s Visual Memory Unit has a monochrome screen measuring just 48 by 32 pixels. Within that small space, developers could display character portraits, logos, animations and information that changed during play. When connected to the controller, the VMU can receive screen updates from the Dreamcast; it can also run its own downloaded minigames separately. Those are different uses of the same screen, and investigating their artwork can involve different approaches.

To help with the search, I developed a tool called VMU Scout. The idea was to scan game data for patterns that might represent VMU graphics and display possible matches for inspection.

A possible match isn’t automatically a recovered image. Interpreting unrelated data as pixels can produce something that looks vaguely like a picture, and recognizable graphics still need to be checked and identified.

There also isn’t a single extraction method that can be assumed to work across every game. Although the screen has a fixed resolution, the artwork behind it can be stored in different ways: as complete images, compressed data, smaller pieces assembled during play, or graphics drawn by the game’s code. Finding it involves investigating how a particular game stores and uses its graphics, rather than simply opening a folder full of ready-made pictures.

Examining more games helped reveal recurring patterns, but also exceptions. An unsuccessful scan doesn’t necessarily mean a game has no VMU artwork; it may mean the data needs a different approach.

Soulcalibur provides a good example. Recovering its character pictures involved decoding compressed data using a routine identified in the game’s own program. The resulting collection contains 95 distinct frames across 19 characters, with five poses per character. Those are recovered game pixels, but displaying the poses in a looping GIF does not, by itself, reproduce their behavior during play. The collection’s previews use a chosen viewing speed, rather than verified in-game animation timings.

Five recovered poses for Mitsurugi. The archive’s animated previews use an illustrative speed, not verified in-game timing.

As the work expanded beyond Soulcalibur, I wanted somewhere to collect the results. That became Second Screen Archive: a website dedicated to artwork from gaming’s smaller companion screens.

But the project also raised questions about documentation. Which game and release did an image come from? Is it an individual frame or part of a sequence? When does it appear during play? Have we confirmed that use, or only located the graphic in the game’s data?

Recovering a picture and understanding its context are connected parts of the work. A graphic’s presence in the files does not prove that players encounter it, and a reconstructed screen should be identified as such. Keeping source details and explaining how an image was recovered makes the collection easier to check and build upon.

It also helps to distinguish the artwork displayed on the VMU’s own screen from related material, such as the color save-file icons shown in the Dreamcast’s file manager. These can belong in the wider archive, but they serve different purposes.

The preservation goal grew out of that process. Keeping game data available is valuable, and locating, identifying and presenting the artwork within it adds another way to explore those games.

I want Second Screen Archive to be useful to people who remember seeing these graphics on their own VMUs, as well as artists who might never have encountered them. A browsable collection makes it easier to study the artwork closely and compare the approaches taken by different games.

Building a more complete gallery will require both further scouting and recording the VMU display while games are running. An emulator such as Flycast processes the screen updates sent to the emulated VMU, providing a practical starting point for observing those graphics in context.

That work would involve playing through games systematically: exploring menus, selecting different characters, loading and saving, and reaching the situations that trigger particular displays. Recording the main game alongside the VMU would help establish what caused each image to appear, how long it remained visible and how it changed.

For more precise preservation, a future capture tool could record each VMU screen update directly, together with its timing, rather than relying only on video of the emulator window. This would help retain brief changes and clean pixel data. It would also capture displays assembled during play, which may never exist as a single finished image in the game’s files. Carrier’s health display, for example, includes a waveform drawn by the program.

Live recording would complement extraction, but it would not automatically establish completeness. Some graphics may depend on particular save data, rare events, multiplayer setups or regional differences. Standalone VMU minigames would also need an emulator capable of running the VMU’s own software. Where possible, comparisons with original hardware would help check that emulated behavior matches the real device.

The ambition is to work through the Dreamcast library systematically, keeping track of what has been extracted, what has been observed during play and what still needs investigation. That is a long-term goal, and the archive remains a work in progress.

A selection from the Shenmue gallery on Second Screen Archive, ready to explore and compare.

The VMU is the starting point, but I’m working to expand the archive to cover the PocketStation and other companion devices, bringing their artwork together under the same roof.

For now, I’m continuing to build the Dreamcast collections and update the site weekly. What started as a search for a few Soulcalibur pictures has become a project about making this artwork easier to find, appreciate and document.

You can explore the growing collections at Second Screen Archive. If you remember a particular VMU graphic or know something about where it appears, I’d love to hear about it.

Re-Volt and Toy Story: Dreamcast Nostalgia Comes to Modern Gaming

In the reverse of what we’ve seen recently, with the influx of games ported from other platforms to the Sega Dreamcast, it dawned on me that a few games from the Dreamcast’s original library are actually making their way to modern systems very soon.

First up is the exciting news that Re-Volt is making a comeback with the original 1999 title coming to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation. The Switch version even has a physical release with a rather nice bundle of extra trinkets included, like some stickers and a printed instruction manual. The game releases on the 5th November, 2026.

Lots of goodies in the Switch physical release of Re-Volt.

Re-Volt is definitely one of the better racers on the Dreamcast, featuring a load of radio-controlled cars to take for a spin and some of the coolest designed tracks in the entire genre. Racing around the neighbourhood streets, sewers and gardens is awesome fun once you’ve got used to the handling.

The re-release includes some nice quality of life improvements; there will now be a mini-map in the game to easily see where you’re going, and you can now carry three items during a race rather than just the single one you could before.

If you played the DreamOn demo back in the day, you’ll know this track inside-out!

Next we have the recently released Toy Story: Retro Roundup, which is available on all modern systems as I write this news post, both digitally and physically. The collection -which is handled by Digital Eclipse- features five Toy Story games and, randomly, A Bug's Life. I don’t make the rules.

As well as the superb 16-bit original, also included are two Toy Story titles which found their way to the Dreamcast back in the day; namely Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue.

To infinity and beyond! Or just wherever that arrow is pointing will do.

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was an action platformer based on the spinoff animated series of the same name. Aesthetically, I think it’s aged really well with its cartoony vibrant visuals. It certainly looks like a platformer born in that era. It’s decent to play, just don’t expect anything to hook you in for hours on end.

Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue follows the movie somewhat and once again puts the player in charge of the space ranger as they revisit familiar locations in their quest to rescue Woody. Like Star Command, it’s fine for an action platformer of the era, but absolutely nothing to write home about.

Andy's bedroom! On my Dreamcast! So cool! ...Okay, I’m bored now.

Nevertheless, it’s always nice to see former Dreamcast games being preserved on modern platforms. Will you be picking up the reincarnation of Re-Volt or Toy Story: Retro Roundup? Let us know on socials or in the comments below.

Is that Halo: Combat Evolved Running on a Sega Dreamcast?

Credit: fnaf10kid on Reddit

We're at a point now where new ports are coming to Dreamcast every other day, if not every day. If you hang around in Discord servers or forums where fans of Sega's final console gather, you'll undoubtedly see posts declaring that X game is "now on Dreamcast", accompanied by a screenshot of a nostalgic childhood video game mascot looking like the Flood, standing in a world not too dissimilar to those seen in LSD: Dream Emulator. We definitely appreciate that everything has to start somewhere, and look forward to seeing what comes further down the line, but I'm sure you can understand why we don't always rush to cover these things.

But someone has got Halo: Combat Evolved running on the Sega Dreamcast —and well, too— so I thought it was necessary I type something out.

Halo running on Dreamcast. Credit: JiltedValkyrie

I remember my cousin getting an Xbox for Christmas the year it launched, and she told us it "blows the PlayStation 2 away". I eventually got to play Halo: Combat Evolved on that very same Xbox, and I had to agree with her: yes, it was pretty epic. As we all know, Microsoft would eventually take Sega's place in the console pecking order, but rumours have circulated online for years that Halo was originally in development for Dreamcast. As far as I'm aware, though, these rumours are baseless and stem from some incredibly optimistic speculation printed in a contemporary gaming magazine.

Anyway, I'd previously heard through the social media grapevine that a Halo port was being worked on for the Dreamcast. An individual who goes by the online alias "JiltedValkyrie" had shared a few screenshots here and there, but on Saturday finally released some gameplay footage —a whole 24 minutes worth— and it's looking impressive. I've embedded it below, so take a look.

Here is 24 Minutes of Gameplay of Halo: Dreamcast Evolved on the Pillar of Autumn mission and a bit of Halo level exploration after showing the detail mapping in real-time. pic.twitter.com/XUWRMBwbth

— Jilted Valkyrie (@JiltedValkyrie) October 17, 2026

I'm sure you can see it with your own eyes, but the footage shows off gameplay from the Pillar of Autumn mission. There's plenty of walking around and cutscenes early on, before the action finally ramps up and combat showcases multiple weapons and enemy types, and performance seems manageable enough during those sections. It also has some moments where it needs to pause to load everything in, à la Half-Life DC. Graphically, it's fair to say it doesn’t quite measure up to the Xbox version, but let's not forget that this is A. a work in progress, and B. it's Halo running on a Dreamcast. 

Developers from the scene have been praising this current build in the replies, while also suggesting ways to give the port some extra "GAINZ". I'm not a developer, so I'm not sure if it will ever come close to matching the Xbox version visually, but there’s something undeniably charming about seeing Halo running in this slightly lower-poly way, as long as it performs well.

Yes, really. Credit: JiltedValkyrie

Anyway, this port, which the developer has dubbed "Halo: Dreamcast Evolved", is still a work in progress. In fact, the screenshots featured in this article showing off the Warthog in action were actually posted today. But yeah, when we hear word about some kind of release, we'll be sure to update you...

Cruis'n USA Arcade and N64 Ports are coming to Dreamcast!

Fans of Midway’s 90s racer, Cruis’n USA, rejoice - because there are ports of both the arcade original and the Nintendo 64 version in the works for the Sega Dreamcast.

The arcade port is the work of “HombreImaginario” of Xenocider fame, and the N64 version is being handled by “MoneyShift64” - two completely separate projects.

Before we talk about each project, I must admit that I’m a huge fan of the Cruis’n series (Cruis’n World will always be in my favourite game list) and I remember as a teenager I always wished for a Cruis’n game to appear on my beloved Dreamcast. Indeed, there was a rumour that Cruis’n Exotica was in the works for Sega’s console; noted in the official UK Dreamcast Magazine (Issue 9, Page 30), which I remember reading with delight during the summer of 2000.

Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and a Dreamcast version was never spoken of again, which is why I’m so excited we’re finally getting some Cruis’n games on the system all these years later! I’ve been fortunate enough to play work in progress builds of both versions on Dreamcast, so here is how they are shaping up.

To kick things off, let’s take a look at the arcade port. 

[Arcade Port] Who doesn't want to visit the White House hot tub?

[Arcade Port] Flames from my exhaust are a good thing, right?!

The latest version runs really well and is a great example of using the Dreamcast to learn more about coding, as HombreImaginario explains.

"I'm part of the team who developed Xenocider, but I know very very little code. I've always wanted to contribute to the scene and the community, so I made a list of games before 1999 that had their source codes available and among them was Cruis'n USA (arcade).

So, the source code is a starting guide, but the arcade hardware is vastly different from the Dreamcast, so the game still needs lots of translating and adapting.

My goal here is to be as faithful to the arcade as technically possible, then fix details here and there that make sense to me, like a custom boot screen, or the logo in the VMU, or trying to reduce or hide the popping in the horizon. We'll get there, hopefully. But the whole project is just a learning experience, really!"

Excellent stuff, and it will be a welcome non-NAOMI Arcade port to the Dreamcast’s growing post-life library. HombreImaginario has also confirmed he's working on a Dreamcast port of 1997 boomer shooter Shadow Warrior, so keep an eye out for that as well. 

As for the Cruis’n 64 port, it seems to be very well optimised from the version I played, despite being told that this Dreamcast demo is still not anywhere near the final release, it is running at a very smooth frame rate with little slowdown. The demo features just one track, but you can see my run in the video below.

I also spoke to MoneyShift64 to find out a bit more about this version and they shared some exciting details for the future of the project.

"This won’t just be a straight port of the N64 version. The Dreamcast version will include a locked 30fps frame rate (something the N64 game struggled with) and a whole load of Dreamcast easter eggs scattered around for people to find. I'm also hoping to include rumble support and there will be VMU screen functionality.

The most exciting inclusion will be online leaderboards! It’ll be great to see the community trading fastest times on each track! We'll talk a lot more about this soon.

Eventually, I'd like to make a "Cruis'n Everywhere" version, which includes select cars and tracks from USA, World and Exotica all rolled into one game."

Seeing ports getting Dreamcast-exclusive features is one way to make them stand out from the crowd of ports we've seen recently. Online leaderboards are certainly quite a mouthwatering prospect. Especially for those amongst us who just can’t get enough of taking their Dreamcast’s online! Personally, I can’t wait!

[N64 Port] Cruis'n Dreamcast!

[N64 Port] Controls optimised for the Dreamcast controller.

We’ll bring you more news of each port as they progress. Exciting times.

Dreamcast Online Update: New Games Join the Online Line-Up, including Sega Rally 2 & Sega Marine Fishing!

It’s been a busy few months for the world of online gaming on the Dreamcast so I thought a summary of the major news was in order...

It seems fitting to kick things off with the news that Sega Rally 2 is now back online! Yes, that’s right, it’s possible once again to race against three other people in Sega’s smash hit arcade racer.

Time to dial into the Sega Rally Network! (Say it in the Sega Rally guy's voice).

UK and USA readers may be surprised to hear that Sega Rally 2 was ever an online multiplayer title on the Dreamcast; and that’s because the mode was only ever present in the Japanese version of the game. In fact, Sega Rally 2 was the first ever game on the Dreamcast to support simultaneous players playing online on the console. So it’s pretty cool to have it back online.

I’ve played Sega Rally 2 a lot since the online multiplayer has been resurrected (70+ races at the time of writing) and I intend to play a lot more! It’s fantastic. You can use all of the cars you’ve unlocked in the single-player mode and there are loads of tracks. 

Menus are in Japanese but it doesn't take long to figure it all out.

One really nice touch with Sega Rally 2’s online mode is the “boost” mechanic. Similar to how the CPU controlled characters act in games like Mario Kart 64, with this enabled (which it is by default), it means whoever isn’t currently in first place will get a rubber-band-like boost to keep them in the race. Whilst purists who pour hundreds of hours into perfecting their drifting technique may scoff, it’s a great addition to allow players of all levels to have a good fun time racing without someone 20+ seconds in the lead.

You can check out some footage I recorded of my first few races online here:

Next up, a lesser known title -and another Japanese game- Culdcept II has been fully restored for online multiplayer - and it’s been translated to English as a bonus!

It's just like Monopoly... but without the hat, or dog, or race car, or...

Culdcept II is essentially a board game which plays a lot like Monopoly. The objective is for you to control enough land so that your opponents (of which there can be up to three) have to pay you magic tax for landing on the squares of land that you own. The wrinkle is that rather than just coughing up the tax if you stumble onto a rival’s territory, you have the option to fight them for control instead. To do this, you use the monster cards you have in your deck and a short back and forth contest plays out based on health and hit points. If you have support cards in your deck -such as swords or magic scrolls- you can boost your health or hit points to swing the fight in your favour.

Waiting to start an online match against PC Wizard.

The game is super addictive and really has that “one more go” feel about it. It’s great to see it back online and fully playable. The fact that it has been translated as well makes it so much easier to get your head around in your first few matches. I played against (and got battered by) Dreamcast Live’s very own PC Wizard in an online match which you can enjoy here:

Moving on, the online functionality in Sega Marine Fishing has also been fully restored! Whilst there is no real-time fishing alongside your friends, Sega Marine Fishing has a few interesting online features which can be enjoyed.

Download an entry for the tournament and fish until you can't fish any more!

The first of these is the online competition. Running for a set period (the current tournament runs until December 31st), you must first download a valid tournament ticket from the game homepage and then you can play offline to achieve your highest score.

The competition which is currently live (the Sega Cup), sees you make your way to the Coral Reef location for you to catch the biggest Great Barracuda that you can fit onto your boat. The really nice thing here is that there is no time limit, so you’re left to take your time and try out all the different lures available in your attempt to snag the big one. Once you’re happy with your catch, you simply upload your fish via the homepage to register yourself on the leaderboard. If you think you can do better, you can keep on coming back to try to find a heavier fish.

Oh, a big one! But you'll need to get a bigger one to get to the top of the online leaderboard!

The other unique online feature of Sega Marine Fishing is the cutely named “Fish Mail” mode. Here you can upload a Fish Mail to any location of your choosing by selecting which type of fish you want to include and you can write a message for the user to read when they catch your fish. When you go to play the Fish Mail mode, you get a time limit at your desired location to catch as many fish as you can, and once you’ve caught them you can read the message that the person uploaded when they sent the Fish Mail. You can even reply to them to their registered Dreamcast email address! All silly fun, but a very unique way to add online functionality to a game like this.

Email! With fish! 10/10, must-play game.

I have found that a fishing session in between grinding out racing game leaderboard times has been a lovely change of pace, and you can see some footage of the Sega Cup competition mode here:

To round things off, there have also been a number of other games which have seen online modes restored in the last few months, as well as some general upgrades. Reverse engineering extraordinaire Shu has upgraded the Mobile Suit Gundam: Earth Federation Force vs. Zeon server to make online gameplay a little smoother. This fantastic game did suffer from lag quite a bit, but that has now been improved significantly with this update.

Racing game Vanishing Point’s online leaderboards and weekly challenges have also been brought back to life and are proving very popular with the online community. Each week, two new challenges are generated which gives you a car, track and mode combo to grind for that particular period. Points are awarded for your finishing positions and determines where you sit on the overall leaderboard. Along with some other regulars over on the Sega Online Discord, we’ve been grinding these out each week, exchanging tips and friendly insults with each other as we get closer to crunch time!

Vanishing Point online challenges are getting very sweaty!

There have been so many updates to the online Dreamcast community this year, it’s hard to keep up with it all. I’d recommend that anyone wanted to get online to check out the Dreamcast Live website which not only has every online guide you could ever want, but is also a great place to find out what the latest news is within the online Dreamcasting world.

Hope to see you online soon!

Japan-Exclusive Dreamcast Title "Boku Doraemon" Gets English Fan Translation

Doraemon is an absolutely legendary series in its native land of Japan. The titular Doraemon is a blue robot cat who is sent back in time to tell a ten-year-old to get his shit together, otherwise his future great-great-grandkids won't lead good lives. No pressure, or anything. Naturally, plenty of classic anime hijinks ensue.

Although the series is primarily aimed at children, it's also caught the attention of a certain crowd of adult men because of one Japan-exclusive Sega Dreamcast game based on it, called Boku Doraemon ("I Am Doraemon"), which is an intriguing entry in the Dreamcast library due to its appealing visual style (a combination of 3D environments with 2D sprites) and quirky mini-games. Junkyarder Aaron wrote a great round-up of it back in 2015, and friend of the Junkyard, Dreamcast Enjoyer, made a great video about it too.

Doraemon should've hit up the Dreamcast instead.

Anyway, for those who have been looking to experience this title in English, an individual who goes by "cpc" has translated the game into both English as well as Catalan. As far as I'm aware, this makes Boku Doraemon the first ever Catalan translation of a Dreamcast game, as I don't think even retail releases for the console were available in that language - so that's cool.

Check out some footage below of Jaz playing the English translation.

Playing through the patch, the English translation leaves a lot to be desired, with some missing punctuation and odd quirks with the in-game font to boot. In one section, for example, the text ran off the edge of the screen. Still, it's manageable for anyone who wants to get an idea of what's going on plot-wise. 

The AI large language model Claude is listed as a "contributor" in the GitHub repo, but honestly, the translation here feels too inconsistent to have been generated by AI. So, I'm thinking Claude was more likely used in the hacking process. Regardless, what is currently here could definitely do with a few more goes over. Hopefully it's improved with subsequent patch updates.

Anyway, if you want to give it a go, head over to the GitHub repo and download the patch. Then use Universal Dreamcast Patcher to apply it to an existing GDI of the game.

Star Wars Trilogy Arcade - Model 3 fan port comes to Sega Dreamcast

Update 06/11/26: the full game has now been recreated and released. It is available to download here.

I love Star Wars, me, mate. In fact, my wife said I was a Star Wars nerd because I knew what a Jawa was, which I guess makes me an expert. Anyway, a developer who goes by the - frankly excellent - online pseudonym of "ToastedGreedo" has been working on a conversion of the Sega model 3 arcade rail shooter Star Wars Trilogy Arcade for the Dreamcast, and the current results are looking spectacular. 

The project started as an experiment to try and get assets from the arcade title running on the Dreamcast, but as Yoda said, "do or do not, there is no try", so now ToastedGreedo is attempting to port the whole thing to the console instead. Back in the day, a port of Trilogy Arcade was rumoured to have been in development for the Dreamcast but ultimately never saw the light of day (on any home system for that matter), so this will serve as yet another attempt from the Dreamcast fan community to rewrite the wrongs of gaming history.

Time to get revenge for that shit Boba Fett TV show.

So far, two stages have been recreated and are running on real hardware: the Yavin Death Star stage, which has players blasting at TIE Fighters (typical Star Wars fare, then), and the Boba Fett Duel, where you deflect Mr. Fett's blaster fire with Luke Skywalker's lightsaber. Footage of both can be seen below, with the most recent video of the two also providing a peek at the intro/attract sequence as well as the stage select menu. It's all looking very slick and professional, and offers a taste of what the official port that never released might have been like.

These two stages will be released soon for free as a "demo disc", and I'll be looking forward to seeing the entire game reproduced somewhere down the line. I'm also curious to see what other Model 3 arcade games fans might be able to bring to the Dreamcast in the future.

Regarding the development of this port, ToastedGreedo goes into further detail in the description of their YouTube video:

"The Boba Fett Duel was the first stage I recreated for the project and has served as the foundation for bringing the original Model 3 arcade experience to Dreamcast hardware. It's been especially exciting to see the project progress from an early technical experiment into something that increasingly feels like a complete Dreamcast game. I plan on releasing this Demo Disc for free soon, which will contain the full Yavin stage alongside the Boba Fett. I am continuing to work on bug fixes and ensuring the game is stable on real hardware. Reminder that this is a non-commercial passion project created for the Sega Dreamcast community, and I am not selling this game in any way."

To stay up to date on this project, go subscribe to ToastedGreedo's YouTube channel, and if you're feeling extra generous, they also have a Ko-fi page for donations.

Are you excited for this one? Which do you think is worse: the prequel or sequel trilogy? Let us know in the comments below or via our social media.