New Sega Dreamcast Games in GameStop? — Ten Indies Being Reissued by VGNYsoft

While an onslaught of homebrew ports and other crazy projects have been hitting the Dreamcast on an almost weekly basis this year, the commercial indie scene seems to have taken a bit of a backseat. Although we've recently seen a few new larger scale projects being announced for future release, for those who still love the ceremony of placing a physical disc containing a brand-new game into their Dreamcast, the options have certainly become less frequent than in previous years.

But fear not, young hoarder, for VGNYsoft, the publishing arm of Videogamesnewyork, is reissuing ten Dreamcast indie titles, with one of them even getting a special limited edition version too. The games are Cyborg Force, GemaBoy Zero Origins, Captain Barrel, Andro Dunos 2, Breakers, Ganryu, FlashBack, Another World, Escape 2042, and Arcade Racing Legends.

The majority of these titles have received praise from the Junkyard in the past, as demonstrated by review quotes from us that you will find emblazoned on the back covers of these new VGNY releases. Of course, it's worth mentioning that we don't receive any monetary kickback for endorsing these games, we simply wanted to share our praise for some genuinely good indie titles, and VGNYsoft thought that was a great idea too.

Tom Charnock's flash poem about Flashback.

We're particularly happy to see both Cyborg Force and Captain Barrel from developer Neo Byte Force make a return, as they were originally self-published back in 2024, but the developer decided to cease publishing their games themselves. What's more is Cyborg Force will be recieving a special limited edition as well, which will include a super cool VMU shell featuring artwork of the game on it. 

This isn't the first time VGNYsoft has done one of these VMU shell editions for their games. They released one for Sturmwind back in 2024, so anyone who grabbed that will be familiar with what to expect.

Currently, all of the standard editions of these games are ready to purchase from VGNY's site, with the exception of Captain Barrel, which will be available from Monday. The Cyborg Force limited edition with the VMU shell will be going up for pre-order at 10am EST on Wednesday the 9th of September.

Speaking with VGNYsoft, they also let me know that international shipping is now also available. Previously, VGNY haven't offered this option, so it's great to hear that those outside the States will be able to easily grab these as well.

These releases will also be available through Canadian online retailer Video Games Plus.

What's this about new Dreamcast games in GameStop?

Yeah, you heard that correctly. VGNYsoft has also informed us that this particular run of Dreamcast indies will be available at GameStop stores across the U.S. as part of the chain's GameStop Retro initiative. Six older VGNYsoft releases will also be sold alongside the ten titles already mentioned: Shadow Gangs, Sturmwind, Reknum Souls Adventure, Hermes, Xenocider, and Ploid. These six games are already available for purchase on GameStop's site.

Whether you love GameStop or not, seeing a brand-new Dreamcast game on the shelves of a chain that big in the year 2026 is pretty cool, right? Better than endless aisles of Funko Pops, anyway. We just need CEX to do the same here in Old Blighty, especially seeing as they've now said they'll be focusing more on retro too.

Credit: IGN

So, what do you think of the selection of indies VGNY are repressing here? Let us know in the comments below, or via social media!

Retrospective: The Flashback series on Dreamcast

With the recent announcement that a true Flashback sequel (imaginatively titled Flashback 2) is heading our way in late 2022, we thought it appropriate to cast our minds back to the recent past and take another look at the officially sanctioned Flashback titles released on the Dreamcast. 

It's not really common knowledge that Flashback was given a full physical release, complete with a hyper fragile PAL case, back in 2017. Well regarded publisher JoshProd was behind this fantastic edition of Delphine Software's sprite based action adventure, and the release was even given a full seal of approval by original creator Paul Cuisset.

We reviewed the game at the time, and gushed at the lovingly crafted package. From the excellent (and authentic) box art and printed disc, to the additional extras lavished upon the Dreamcast remaster, it really was excellent and packed with content.

This included such notable features as a full and uncut intro cinematic (previous console versions featured a cut down intro from the Amiga version), the option to enable pre-rendered cut scenes from the PC release, full voice acting, alternative soundtracks, 16-bit emulated versions, and quick saves using the VMU. 

Furthermore, quality of life improvements came in the form of numerous graphic filters and fully customisable controls. Underneath all the polish though, Flashback for Dreamcast was/is just plain old Flashback...but when 'plain old' Flashback is as good as it is, that's no bad thing.

The release of Flashback on Dreamcast went almost unnoticed by the mainstream gaming press though, and it was quickly forgotten about as the game was subsequently ported to modern platforms such as the Nintendo Switch. Naturally, the Dreamcast is a bit of a niche system these days so that's understandable, but the fact remains that the Dreamcast port of Flashback is as solid as they come and could arguably be viewed as the blueprint for the current gen re-releases that came after it.

What hapenned next was similarly seemingly ignored in the main - the 1995 follow up to Flashback, titled Fade to Black, was also given a fully approved 'official' physical release on Dreamcast. Fade to Black first came to the PC and PlayStation in the mid-nineties to some moderate success, eschewing the prequel's side on, rotoscoped gameplay for a more modern (for the time) leap into 3D. 

Once again assuming the role of main protagonist Conrad B. Hart, players of Fade to Black were thrown into another sci-fi adventure involving the wanton shooting of old foes the Morphs, solving of simplistic puzzles, finding keys and getting hopelessly lost...but this time from a pseudo over-the-shoulder perspective.

Again released by JoshProd and given full approval by the rights holder and designer Delphine Software and Paul Cuisset, Fade to Black on Dreamcast was released in 2018 to very little in the way of fanfare outside of the Dreamcast community. The Dreamcast release, in a similar fashion to the prequel, is a sort of mash-up of the other versions of the game, with the main bulk of the game seemingly based on the PC iteration. 

This is especially evident in the comparatively clean visuals and relative lack of severe pixellation and texture warping associated with a lot of PlayStation titles. Something that sets this game apart from the other indie Dreamcast releases of the era is that it is indeed a fully 3D game, that runs well on the Dreamcast and showcases just how well the Dreamcast might be used for the porting of other classic DOS or Windows games (something that has come to further fruition with the recent release of Postal). 

Controls can take a bit of getting used to, especially since the game employs a Soldier of Fortune style 'hold down a button to access a secondary menu' type system; and you can't manually aim Conrad's sidearm making for some frustrating firefights. Overall though, Fade to Black is a decent third person adventure, albeit one that is very much of its time.

There are a couple of interesting asides about this Dreamcast re-release of Fade to Black that are worthy of note. The first is that the game was originally published by Electronic Arts, an organisation which famously went on to completely ignore the existence of the Dreamcast. Does this make Fade to Black the sole Electronic Arts game to be officially released on Dreamcast, then? 

Also intriguing is a rumour abounds that the Dreamcast game has totally redrawn box art (drawn by Philippe Dessoly, see above) because the original high resolution versions of the Fade to Black artwork are lost to the mists of time. How true that is, I can't be sure, but it makes for a nice bedtime story.

So there we have it. Not one, but two Flashback titles came to the Dreamcast in an official guise. Most people reading this probably already knew this, but for those who didn't...well now you do. Both releases are superb renditions of their respective source material, and are well worth seeking out (go here for Flashback and here for Fade to Black - note these are not affiliate links). 

It's probably worth mentioning here that I am more than a little biased in my views as a huge fan of the series, having owned or played pretty much every single release of Flashback across numerous different plaforms over the years. Of course the Atari Jaguar version is the best (and has the superior variant of the box art), but the Dreamcast version gives it a run for its money. Fight me in the comments.

The Dreamcast Games of 2018

Welp! It’s February already and we haven’t even done a year in review for 2018 yet. Shame on us.

If you recall, 2017 was an unprecedented bumper year for Dreamcast games. There was a total of 27 physical releases last -  er.. the year before - including nine brand new titles, various re-releases and packaging variations. Along with the physical releases, we also got out hands on the previously unpublished game Millennium Racer: Y2K Fighters during 2017 as well. It was going to be hard for 2018 to top this lot.

Just what did the year that heralds the 20th anniversary of our little white box have in store for us? Let's take a stroll back down memory lane through the Dreamcast releases of 2018.

Every Dreamcast release of 2018

Flashback For Dreamcast Will Ship With Even More Bonus Content

We recently reviewed the upcoming Dreamcast port of Delphine Software's incredible science fiction adventure title Flashback, and we found that it was most excellent. A sort of amalgamation of the best bits of all the other ports out there, JoshProd's newly compiled and officially sanctioned Flashback ticked all the boxes for this nostalgia-loving gamer. One of the most impressive aspects of the overall package (apart from the fact that Flashback is an awesome game, period) is that it has a host of bonus features which are exclusive to the Dreamcast version. Graphics filters, extended cinematic sequences and even the original 16-bit versions in both PAL and NTSC flavours are all included.

There has been a bit of concern in the Dreamcast community about the continued delay of the release of Flashback, with those who have ordered it online being quite vocal about the fact that it was due to ship in September, but here we are in November and it still hasn't been released. Well, we can reveal that the game is now due to ship imminently if you bought the PAL boxed version, with the NTSC boxed versions due a mere matter of weeks later. And the reason for the delay?

DreamPod - Episode 52

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Related articles to peruse while you're listening to this:

• Review: Ganryu
• Review: Hermes
• Review: 4x4 Jam
• Review: Flashback

Review: Flashback

Flashback is one of those games that really doesn't need an introduction, but for the benefit of those who have never played 1992's hottest cinematic platform adventure, I'm prepared to ignore that adage and fill you in on the backstory.

You are Conrad B. Hart, an academic who creates a device to scan the molecular structure of organisms as part of his thesis. Rather than get his thesis published, a slap on the back and a job offer from his educational institution though, Conrad inadvertently discovers a plot by an alien race of shape-shifters who are planning to conquer the Earth. Cue a kidnapping, a brief escape from captivity and a marooning on an alien planet (with a few other familiar tropes such as lost memories and pre-recorded holocubes thrown in for good measure), and you have one rollicking sci-fi adventure on your hands. I won't go into any more detail than that, lest I spoil it for those who have yet to experience Flashback; and for everyone else I'm sure you've already played it multiple times and know all about the rest of the narrative that plays out across the game's various dystopian theatres.

As mentioned earlier, Flashback was initially released back in 1992 for the Amiga, although as documented in an interview with Retro Gamer, lead developer Paul Cuisset revealed it was initially programmed for the Mega Drive. The pseudo sequel to 1991's Another World, Flashback went one step further than Delphine Software's previous side-on adventure by introducing some pretty spectacular rotoscoped animation and clever puzzles, as well as some really intense gun play and an interesting plot. When all cut together with some amazing-for-the-time cinematic sequences, Flashback presented gamers with something that was a good few leagues ahead of previous games in the genre, such as the aforementioned Another World and Brøderbund's Prince of Persia.

Since those days of the early 1990s, Flashback has appeared on more systems than you can shake a brown, sticky thing at; and I have personally owned it on Mega Drive, SNES, Jaguar and 3DO. There are also versions for Amiga (as mentioned), PC, CD-i, Mega CD, FM Towns and even the Acorn Archimedes amongst others. It's almost the DOOM of platform games, in that if a system has a screen and a microchip; then it can run Flashback. Happily, that list now also includes the good old Dreamcast, thanks to the hard work of publisher JoshProd and seasoned programmer Chui...

4x4 Jam, Flashback & Ganryu Head Up New Dreamcast Releases

French publisher JoshProd has finally revealed to us the details of the latest batch of titles heading to the Sega Dreamcast, and this time gamers can expect three titles that are totally new to to system. 4x4 Jam is an off-road racer featuring fully 3D visuals and sprawling open stages, while Delphine's classic 2D adventure Flashback: The Quest For Identity has been built from the ground up as a brand new, officially licensed Dreamcast port. The other games in the release line-up include Visco's Neo-Geo scrolling beat 'em up Ganryu, a new PAL-boxed version of Sturmwind, and a re-issue of Orion's retro-styled RPG Zia and the Goddesses of Magic (check out our recent review here).

4x4 Jam is actually a port of a game that has been available on both the Sony PSP and Android/iOS for some time, and is particularly interesting as it potentially opens the door for ports of similar games designed for low-powered mobile devices. The video above was recorded from an actual Dreamcast and shows off some of the sprawling landscapes and Smuggler's Run style gameplay.