Dashy no Blast - Halloween-themed Dreamcast Demo released!

It's spooky month, people. While I personally have made little to no effort to acknowledge it whatsoever this year (I literally put a pumpkin emoji in my Twitter name, and that's it); retro game developer Voxel definitely has with a brand new demo just in time for All Hallow's Eve...

Voxel is no stranger when it comes to developing for the Dreamcast, as evidenced by his previous projects, such as proof of concepts RUINS and Unfungused Game. 

Voxel's latest project, Dashy no Blast, is a Halloween-themed 3D multi-directional shooter where you take control of a witch flying around on a broomstick shooting an assortment of fiendish ghoulies. 3D graphics in Dreamcast projects are always a welcome sight, and Dashy no Blast is looking really good visually, especially coupled with the spooky aesthetic. Voxel says he's been working on this game's engine for a while, which leverages "the powerful open source KallistiOS and GLdc libraries."

While the game doesn't currently support twin sticks, the left stick is used to move, and holding the right trigger will lock on to an enemy, in a similar vein to Cannon Spike. Basically, Dashy no Blast is like if Cotton met Cannon Spike, and I'm totally here for it.

Getting Jersey Devil vibes from these pumpkin heads... Anyone remember Jersey Devil? No one?

While Dashy no Blast is just a pre-alpha with one level for now, Voxel has asked on Twitter for people to let him know what they think, as he's "seeking as much input as possible before deciding on the future direction of this game." I know for certain I'd definitely love to see more. A game like this could definitely be a perfect candidate for an indie release once it's complete. If you give Dashy no Blast a go and like what you play, please let Voxel know!

To play Dashy no Blast, just download the .cdi from the itch.io page. It is playable on real hardware (VGA only) and emulators. Happy Halloween!

Rainbow Cotton now has an English Translation!

The ever-busy Derek Pascarella, alongside the same talented team who also worked on Sakura Wars Columns 2, is back with a brand new English fan translation, the cute as heck Rainbow Cotton!

Developed by Success, and released exclusively to Japan in the year 2000, Rainbow Cotton is a 3D rail shooter in a similar vein to Panzer Dragoon and Space Harrier. But instead of playing as dragon riders or space soldier dudes, you take on the role of the titular witch character Cotton, flying and shooting your way through very aesthetically pleasing 3D fantasy stages. While the visuals are an absolute joy to behold, and have been praised highly by many, Rainbow Cotton unfortunately suffers in the gameplay department and has been heavily criticised over the years for frustrating controls and gameplay quirks. 

But if there was ever a time to forgive this game for its flaws, it's now, because it's now fully translated into English! That's everything: in-game text, graphics, and even the anime cutscenes that tell the tale of Rainbow Cotton. Now you can understand what's going on properly. 

If you fancy a peek behind the curtain of how Derek and his team hack and translate these games, then tune into DreamPod episode 93, which features Derek and his collaborator Burntends as guests. Podcast plugs aside, below are all the relevant links you'll need to learn more, and ultimately play this translation. As always, read the Release Notes before playing, and be sure to thank Derek and his crew for another job well done!

Release Notes

GitHub Project Page

Download Patch

To be used with the Universal Dreamcast Patcher.

Patched GDI

Patched CDI (Untested)

Review: Battle Crust

There was undoubtedly a period, not too long ago, when the mention of yet another shoot 'em up for the Dreamcast would have brought a deafening sigh from the community. It seemed that for a time, every single post-mortem indie release was another vertical or horizontal shooter (I hasten to add that I'm not a fan of the term 'shmup,' just as I cringe at the term 'Metroidvania'), and even though the majority of them are pleasant, highly competent examples of the genre, overkill set in. This probably came to head in 2015 with the release of Ghost Blade - a game I personally quite enjoyed, but one which also drew derision and ultimately signalled a hiatus for shooters on the system.

Indeed, the reliance on the shoot 'em up has largely vanished from the indie Dreamcast scene, what with JoshProd stepping up to the plate and releasing a bunch of new titles for the Dreamcast with nary a spaceship in sight. That's about to change though, as the latest wave of releases from the French publisher includes a port of Picorinne Soft's well received retro-styled vertical shooter Battle Crust. The game initially launched on Steam back in 2016 and I must admit that prior to learning of the Dreamcast port, I was totally unaware of its existence.

Of all the games to bring to the Dreamcast, it's a curious choice then. Especially when you look at the other titles that are making up this third wave of new releases from JoshProd: Another World, Fade to Black, Bang Bang Busters and The Escapee. However, variety is the spice of life, and if anything JoshProd is proving that Dreamcast gamers are thirsty for a range of experiences from a range of genres; and now that the tsunami of shooters seems to have slowed to a mere trickle, it's actually refreshing to see a new title of this ilk on the Dreamcast.

Hyperbole aside though, games like Battle Crust live and die on the quality of the experience they provide, so enough with the procrastination - let's see if Battle Crust deserves a place in the Dreamcast's ever-growing indie library, and more importantly, in your collection...

A Quick Look At Gunbird 2

Whenever there's a discussion about the best shmups on the Dreamcast, the usual names get bandied about. Ikaruga, Mars Matrix, Sturmwind, Under Defeat, Castle Shikigami 2, Dux. Well, maybe not that last one...but you get the idea. As epic and deserved of praise as all of those games are, there's one that rarely gets a look in when said hypothetical discussion is taking place - Gunbird 2. And since the original Gunbird has recently been released on the Nintendo Switch, I thought it would be fun to jump into the sequel Gunbird 2, and see if it really does deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as its illustrious peers in the genre.

The Dreamcast is well known for certain genres: 2D fighters, arcade racers, crap football (soccer) games...and shmups. Apart from the Saturn and the NEO-GEO, I'm pretty confident that there is no other home hardware format that boasts such an exquisite library of shoot 'em ups, and in amongst the crowd of quality examples rests Gunbird 2. Released in arcades by Capcom in 1998 and then ported to the Dreamcast in 2000, Gunbird 2 builds upon the prequel's gameplay and features, adding several new characters, updated visuals and some pretty fantastic writing and unusual extra features.

A top-down, vertically scrolling shooter, Gunbird 2 will feel very familiar from the off to anyone who has ever played a shmup in this vein. I personally have never played the original Gunbird either in the arcade or on the Sega Saturn, so the fact that it is coming to the Nintendo Switch interests me greatly; and if it plays anything like as well as the Dreamcast sequel a fun time is almost guaranteed...