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?

Review: Ganryu

Ganryu resurrects legendarily unbeaten Japanese warrior Miyamoto Musashi for one final fight. The problem is, in this ugly, lazy, soulless, Frankenstein of game...everyone loses

What hurts most in playing this near-perfectly ported Dreamcast edition of Neo-Geo game Ganryu is that the original creators seemingly just didn't care. They didn't care that they were besmirching and cynically exploiting the name and legendary story of, Genji aside, arguably Japan's greatest historical hero. The bloody life of Miyamoto Musashi and his epic duel-of-duels with Sasaki Kojirō on Ganryū-jima, an island located between Honshū and Kyūshū, is literally the stuff of Japanese legend and here, in this side-scrolling 2D hack-and-slash, it is used as inspiration for what, simply put, is a poor and crassly unimaginative title.

Giant floating doll's head? Coming right up, sir!

A legendary tale

This duel, which has been dramatised many times in film - including in the final movie of an epic three-part series staring famous Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune as Musashi - is often seen as the greatest of Musashi's victories as Kojirō was a lethal swordsman himself, with his deadly use of a nodachi, a Japanese great sword, earning him the title of The Demon of the Western Provinces.

While his deeds have reached mythological proportions, Musashi was very much a real person and one who, arguably, perfected the two-blade fighting style. Musashi's Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu technique (two heavens as one), as detailed in his epic The Book of Five Rings (anyone with an interest in kenjutsu should read a modern a translation), was revolutionary for the time and, no doubt, a large part of how the greatest Japanese swordsman of all remained undefeated in over 60 duels.

The cutscenes are nicely drawn.

Musashi wasn't just the ultimate swordsman either. In his later life he mastered numerous arts and crafts - with arguably the finest being his beautiful broken ink pieces such as Shrike Perched on a Withered Branch. Simply put, Miyamoto Musashi is one of Japan's most well-known and beloved historical figures.

Why then would original creators Visco Corporation - a Japanese software house no less - use him and his most famous adventure as a vehicle to publish what is essentially a shoddy, cheap, bolted together Shinobi clone devoid of all soul?

The answer, of course, is money...

Dreamcast Riding High At Gamescom 2017

The annual Gamescom trade fair in Cologne, Germany is always a hit with developers and publishers of the latest and greatest new games and hardware. All the big guns have been in attendance at the 2017 show, with major players like Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft showing their wares, and the public have been lapping it up. But what's all this got to do with the humble Dreamcast? Well, believe it or not, the Dreamcast has been exceptionally well represented at Gamescom this year, with a glut of upcoming games on display for Sega's old warhorse.

Intrepid Izzy from Senile Team, Retroguru's Hermes, Xenocider from Retro Sumus, the recent releases from JoshProd, Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, and Alice Dreams Tournament have all been on display and fully playable. This is due in part to the sizeable displays laid on by Retro Spiel and German retro gaming magazine RETURN. It's pretty awesome to see the Dreamcast represented at such a prestigious event, even more so with all these new titles on display. Below you'll find an assortment of photos from Gamescom 2017 showing that the Dreamcast is far from dead - it's very much alive and kicking!

Review: 4x4 Jam

There are adults out there, probably people reading these very words, who didn't exist when the Dreamcast was a newly released gaming platform and Sega's great hope of winning back the home console war. That's an astonishing thought to a grizzled old gamer like me; that people who I can have serious, grown up discussions with did not exist when I walked out of the shop with my new Dreamcast console under my arm. The at the time revolutionary ideas Sega were talking about; the 6 billion players online, the portable game playing memory card, the PC quality graphical power - things that I sometimes still find remarkable when looking back at the little 14 inch portable CRT TV and a wobbly spectrum keyboard that were my introduction to gaming, these things defined my gaming, set me on a course to being a self confessed Dreamcast addict. But they mean nothing, had no impact, on the gaming lives of a vast number of current gamers.

Online console gaming isn't a pipe dream, but an expected standard. Graphical capabilities are blurring the lines between reality and digital fiction. And as for portable gaming, none of us could have imagined the rise (and rise) of smart phones and the shift towards that platform as a gaming behemoth when we all got excited by a digital screen on a memory card.

4x4 Jam emerged on this new frontier of gaming late in the last decade, before Hungarian developer Invictus Games took it across to a more familiar platform via the Sony PSP minis selection - you know, those cheap and cheerful independent games that were a welcome addition to an often maligned handheld system. It received a good critical reception on both mobiles and PSP, and has even seen an HD update since, as smartphones continue their relentless technological improvement. And now... it appears on the Dreamcast, published by the newly emerged force in the indie Dreamcast scene JoshProd, in some way completing this possibly clumsy circle that I've been trying to create through these meandering opening paragraphs.

But take a moment just to think about this. A game, released on platforms not even conceived within the lifetime of the Dreamcast, ends up being ported to a console approaching it's 20th birthday. The possibilities this opens up are mouth watering. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's all well and good being excited by a well received game on later hardware making its way to our beloved little box of dreams, but the execution of the port, and the quality of the end result, is what really matters. And so this is how I approached 4x4 Jam - excited by the prospect (not to even mention the fact that this is the first proper 3D game to appear in the commercial indie Dreamcast scene, beating the long delayed SLaVE in the process), but with a slight sense of trepidation as to how it would turn out, and what sort of quality I could expect from this unexpected arrival to the Dreamcast party. There was nothing left to do but strap on my imaginary helmet, slip into my virtual driving gloves and take the game for a spin...

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...

Breakers NTSC Variants Available To Pre-Order - We Have 3 Copies To Give Away!

A few weeks ago we broke the news that Breakers was coming to the Dreamcast, and followed up with a huge review and emulation analysis. Visco's obscure Neo-Geo fighter has now shipped in PAL colours courtesy of publisher JoshProd, but there's another opportunity coming for those who didn't manage to snag a copy through French retailer Rush On Game.

As of right now, you can pre-order the newly repackaged version of Breakers in an NTSC style jewel case from Play-Asia.com and it will come with a reversible manual with both NTSC-U and NTSC-J artwork on the front and back covers. The game is identical to the PAL-styled version which was offered initially, but without the big blue box and PAL branding and is priced at $39.99. Shipping will commence on 31st May 2017 for those who pre-order. Note that if you're based in the United States or Canada, you can't order from Play-Asia.com. Instead, VideoGamesNewYork has the rights for your part of the world, so head over here to get your order in.

Here's a sneak peek at the new covers:

Competition (*Now Closed*)
Finally, to celebrate the release of this new variant The Dreamcast Junkyard has teamed up with publisher JoshProd to offer three readers the chance to win a copy of the NTSC packaged version! All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is answer the following question:

Which developer created the original Breakers?

a) Capcom
b) Visco Games
c) Namco

This competition is now closed and winners have been notified by email.

New Dreamcast Games From JoshProd Ship

You'll no doubt recall a few months ago we shared the news that French publisher JoshProd was lining up a range of new Dreamcast releases and re-releases. One of these was Breakers (our review is here), and another was the new Rush Rush Rally Reloaded. The good news is that the games have now been manufactured, the PAL cases have been acquired and shipping has commenced for everyone who pre-ordered. We heard some real horror stories about the website of choice (French games site Rush On Game), but is seems many of the niggles have been ironed out. JoshProd shared some amazing images on Facebook and we thought they were worth sharing here too:

Did you order? Have you got your games yet? If so, what are your thoughts on these new releases and re-releases? Let us know in the comments or join the discussion in our Facebook group.

Review & Emulation Analysis: Breakers

Until very recently, I'd never heard of Breakers. A game that was solely the preserve of Neo-Geo aficionados - and even then those who tended to walk on the more obscure side of the tracks - Breakers is a game that very few outside of the more niche corners of the gaming fraternity will have much affinity with. Released by Visco Games in 1996, the game remained in its native Japan and was never given a western airing, even when the home conversions for the Neo-Geo AES and Neo-Geo CD came around. Breakers is one of those games that unless you know about it, will pass you by.

That's about to change though, as French publishers JoshProd and Rush On Game launch a joint assault on the Dreamcast library with a collection of 5 new or re-issued titles; and the crowning glory amongst this lineup (along with Rush Rush Rally Reloaded) is considered to be Visco's obscure 2D fighter. With little prior knowledge of Breakers on a personal level (a boat I'm sure I crew with plenty of other people), I decided to approach this upcoming release with a three-pronged attack. First, I wanted to give my own opinions on it as somebody who is not au fait with the original games in the Breakers series; to review the sum of the game's parts from the point of view of a newbie to the series with no prior experiences to compare it to. Second, I wanted to get an unbiased opinion on how well the emulation holds up; and third I wanted to get a comparison between this Dreamcast iteration and the original 1996 version of Breakers running on genuine SNK hardware of the era. With this in mind, it's time to settle down with a mug of tea/coffee/vodka for a bloody long article...

Before I continue with this review though, allow me to address the elephant in the room. I'm not an expert when it comes to fighting games, and even less so when it comes to rare and obscure NTSC-J exclusive 2D fighting games for the Neo-Geo. Sure, I own the majority of the King of Fighters series and many, many other Capcom and SNK 2D fighters for the Dreamcast and beyond...but I'm not an expert in the genre. That said, I do enjoy the odd round of digital fisticuffs and I know what makes for a fun and enjoyable gaming experience.

I can clearly appreciate the comical gulf in quality between things like Double Dragon V, Rise of the Robots and Shaq Fu; and games like Marvel Vs Capcom, X-Men: Children of the Atom and Vampire Hunter D. I've sampled the delights of BlazBlue, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, innumerable Street Fighter titles and even stuff like Groove on Fight, Garou and Samurai Shodown. Even though I'm no expert, I feel I'm pretty well versed in the genre and I know what differentiates the wheat from the chaff. So with that in mind, let's jump in and give this Breakers thing a good seeing to...

Rush Rush Rally Reloaded Heads Up List Of Dreamcast Re-Releases

Heads up folks. There's a new Dreamcast release coming very soon. Rush Rush Rally Reloaded is heading our way and it features a whole host of improvements and fixes. Rush Rush Rally Racing was released on the Dreamcast a few years ago and it was then re-released on the Nintendo Wii.

This re-re-release on the Dreamcast (still with me?) is based on the Wii version, but includes a ton of further updates. We spoke to Roel van Mastbergen from Senile Team to get the full lowdown on this latest addition to the Dreamcast's library. Here's a full list, courtesy of Roel himself:

Hi Dreamcast Junkyard! It's true - Rush Rush Rally Reloaded is coming to the Sega Dreamcast and it will come in both PAL and DVD-style long box packaging! Both will be available in limited quantities but will feature the following improvements to the game:

• Two new single player modes: Time Attack and Challenge, which is  like "Get Ahead" from the original game, but against CPU players.
• Totally redesigned menus
• Changed camera distance so you can see more of the road ahead
• Some improved graphics, including: light beams are larger and rotated more smoothly, more colourful billboards, additional illustrations
• Faster loading times
• Stable 60fps in both single and multiplayer modes
• Removed video mode switches between 640x480 and 320x240 resolutions, so low-resolution parts are now upscaled to 640x480
• A mode for detecting when people copy and paste lists
• Support for more character sets in name entry
• Usability improvements, such as last entered name is remembered for name entry so you don't have to re-enter your name every time you play
• Improved legibility of internet score codes
• Improved control configuration options
• Added engine sound options
• 6 languages: English, German, Dutch, Spanish, French, Italian
• DVD case version will feature an 8 page colour manual

As stated by Roel, the game will be available in a DVD style case, but also in PAL flavour too. Even more interesting is that the PAL print run will be handled by JoshProd, a small company based in France specialised in re-releasing old games. Josh Prod have been involved in several re-release projects, the most notable of which was a re-issue of Neo Geo AES cartridge Neo Drift Out (in collaboration with Visco) in 2016. 

Along with Rush Rush Rally Reloaded, JoshProd will also be offering re-prints of certain previously released Dreamcast games such as Ghost Blade, Dux, Alice Mom's Rescue and a run of a new-to-Dreamcast 2D SNK fighter called Breakers. All of these come with PAL-styled packaging and redesigned manuals; and in some cases also include new content.