Bomb Rush Cyberfunk Review or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love this Spiritual Successor to Jet Set Radio

Jet Set Radio (or as it was known in North America, Jet Grind Radio) came skating onto the scene in the year 2000. Developed by Sega's in-house studio Smilebit, the flagship Dreamcast release saw players enrol in the rollerblading GGs gang to claim their turf back from their rivals, one graffiti tag at a time, all whilst evading the clutches of the law. A platformer at heart, JSR was fun gameplay-wise, but what kept me and many others coming back for more was undoubtedly its revolutionary cel-shaded graphics, along with its premise, style and music - all a loving tribute to hip-hop and street culture. The exceptional soundtrack, the majority of which was composed by Hideki Naganuma, combined elements of hip-hop, J-pop, funk, electronic dance, rock, acid jazz, and trip-hop, and has been lauded by fans the world over to the point where it's almost taken on a life of its own outside of the game.

North American magazine ad for Jet Grind Radio

In the years following Jet Set Radio's release, Sega stopped making consoles and moved to being a third-party developer. Initially things were pretty good, with a wide range of their IPs receiving new titles or reboots, including Jet Set Radio, which received a beloved sequel/re-imagining on the original Xbox in the form of 2002's Jet Set Radio Future.

But, with series developers Smilebit closing their doors in 2004, and Sega's attention to any IP that wasn’t Sonic slowing to a drip feed over the following decade, the possibility of a new entry into the JSR series became less likely with each passing year. We did see a HD remaster during the seventh generation, which was cool, but the fully fledged third instalment many players have been waiting for just never happened.

The album cover for 2 Mello's "Memories of Tokyo-To"

During the series' absence, a cult community of fans slowly began to form around Jet Set Radio, with its art style and music finally being appreciated for how excellent it really is. A fan developed a whole website to stream JSR tunes 24/7, while artists like 2 Mello made entire albums in the style of the JSR sound. Many new indie titles like Umarangi Generation and Hover aimed to emulate that funky cel-shaded feeling we were sorely missing. Seeing this community of fans and creators blossoming around JSR really got me thinking... with the series' strongest suit undoubtedly being its aesthetic style and music, and with aspects such as the story and character's personalities taking a backseat (with perhaps the exception of DJ Professor K), it made me wonder: could someone else make Jet Set Radio? We'd witnessed it in the indie space for years, with titles like Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Shovel Knight and Cities: Skylines filling the void left behind by the neglect of bigger developers. For me, Jet Set Radio’s best asset is not that it was made by Sega. Sure, the genius minds of Dreamcast-era Sega gave it its best assets, but the fact that Jet Set Radio's winning formula has been abandoned for so long, that it hasn't had the chance to be developed further, to become bigger and better with the power of modern systems, to be re-introduced to a new generation of gamers, is criminal, frankly. As long as the right people were involved, Jet Set Radio could come back in style, even if it meant sacrificing the name.

Lethal League Blaze

The answer to my prayers came in 2020, when Dutch indie developer Team Reptile teased Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. Having previously worked on Lethal League, an excellent series of fighting games that feature cel-shading and character designs reminiscent of Jet Set Radio, and with the second game, Lethal League Blaze, even featuring a song from Hideki Naganuma, it was no surprise that Team Reptile were going to attempt a spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio for their next release. From their short teaser alone, I immediately knew they were the right people for the job. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk looked so much like a new Jet Set Radio game that I would've forgiven you for thinking it was made by Sega themselves. The teaser even featured a Naganuma track. It was finally happening!

Despite this, I still saw a fair amount of scepticism online. Some loyalists said they'd just wait for Sega's Jet Set Radio. Some even went as far as to accuse Team Reptile of "plagiarism". C'mon guys, it has been more than 20 years since Sega released an original entry into the Jet Set Radio series. To bastardise that famous lyric from John Lennon:

"All we are saying is, give Bomb Rush Cyberfunk a chance"

On the day it released, I bought Bomb Rush Cyberfunk for the Nintendo Switch, as that was the only console it was available for initially, and I don’t have a gaming PC, so that option was out. From the outset, the game's cel-shaded look, music and sound effects all felt familiar to me. It was great to jump back into that grinding and tagging gameplay I loved so much, to be transported right back to those special moments of playing the original JSR and Future for the first time. But Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is quick to remind you that while it remains incredibly faithful to its source material, it isn't completely derivative of it. Instead, Team Reptile are here to build and improve, which is exactly what I wanted to see from a spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio. I've always sung the praises of the gameplay refinements that Jet Set Radio Future introduced to the series, and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is no different, picking up where that game left off but now with the benefit of twenty years of hindsight in its arsenal. Throughout this review, I will be calling back to JSR and Future many times to explain how BRC successfully builds on - or even improves - the formula, but please don't understand this as me disparaging the JSR series at all. Both Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Radio Future will forever remain two of my most favourite games of all time.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk's plot, while still containing the appropriate dose of hip-hop and street culture references you'd expect, is crazy, and immediately more involved than either of the JSR games. Rather than functioning as stylish avatars for your rollerblading escapades, the main set of characters of the Bomb Rush crew have unique personalities and converse with each other in cutscenes, much of which is very humorous and often eccentric. The main character, Red, has a purpose - to get his head, which was chopped clean off his shoulders in the game's prologue, back, while also looking to investigate the past of his replacement head (I said the plot was crazy, didn't I?).

The rival crews, still serving as your opponents throughout the game, also have more purpose in the plot, as Red and his crew not only look to defeat them to become "All City" (to claim all turf in the city), but also to gain information to aid in their hunt for Red's origins. While I won't spoil the plot here, all I'll say is the whole idea of Red being a character patched together from the body and head of two different characters, and the duality that brings, is one of the more refreshing plot ideas I've had the pleasure of experiencing in a video game as of late. There are plenty of surprising twists and turns you may not have been expecting from a game that many will be turning to primarily for its aesthetic qualities, and it is certainly refreshing to see.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk's cast of characters are all varied in design and dripping with style, with their clothing combining the aesthetics and fashion of not only hip-hop and its b-boy subculture, but also the skate culture of the early 2000s, with some sci-fi flair thrown in for good measure. Characters like Red, with his crimson "cyberhead", and the angel-winged crash dummy Solace stand out as the coolest of the bunch, while story characters like the "oldheads" are more amusing, looking like caricatures of golden age hip-hoppers with their maroon tracksuits and over-sized Kangol-esque hats. One of them even has a cyberhead that looks suspiciously like the mask of the late MF DOOM. DJ Cyber's cold cybernetic mask and long stylised lab coat really set him apart as the menacing antagonist he is and the Dot EXE crew just look fresh as hell with their pool ball cyberheads and two stripe tracksuits. Team Reptile really knocked it out of the park when it came to matching the imaginative character design seen in the games BRC takes influence from, so much so that you will undoubtedly be searching around the game's city to track down more peeps to add to your posse.

Depending on how you look at it, one potential flaw of BRC's playable characters could be that none of them have any stats, meaning that your decision on who to play as solely comes down to how cool you think they look. Jet Set Radio did assign stats to each character, which meant there was a bit of strategy involved when making your choice of whom to tackle a particular level with, but I suppose ultimately it's probably better to be able to play as your favourite character without their weaker stats holding back your enjoyment, and it does feel great to be able to constantly switch between BRC's aesthetically pleasing cast of characters just 'cause.

Credit: JREEL on YouTube

So we've got a great storyline and some cool characters, but how's the gameplay?

Driving Strikers Review - The First New Online Dreamcast Game in 20 Years

With Driving Strikers, LD-2K and Reality Jump have taken Sega’s iconic “why don’t we play together?” slogan to heart, producing the first online multiplayer Dreamcast game since 2002. Whatever your assessment of the gameplay itself may be, this is a monumental achievement - probably about as significant a leap as we are likely to see within our niche community. Commercial indie releases have been hitting the shelves for two decades now, and although there have been some phenomenal entries made to the Dreamcast’s library during that time, no one had mustered the courage to tackle what is probably the keystone of the console’s identity; online play. That is, until recently.

Luke Benstead and David Reichelt, the former of which invented the popular DreamPi method for connecting your Dreamcast to the internet, have been plugging away at the development of Driving Strikers, a fast-paced ‘car football’ game, for several years now (Rocket League? Never heard of it, mate). The duo, assisted by a handful of others, and with WAVE Game Studios on board as publisher, finalised the game back in June and physical copies have recently begun landing on doormats. Regular scene-watchers may already be familiar with the fundamental concept and overall design given that several demos have been dropped during the game’s developmental lifespan. For those that are still uninitiated though, it’s really quite simple: you take control of a car in a football match, and are tasked with scoring more goals than your opponents within rounds of a few minutes at time. You drive. You strike. It’s all in the name! Well actually, you can boost and jump too, but Boosted-Jumping-Driving Strikers would’ve been a bit of a mouthful.

All screenshots provided by Luke Benstead.

Those who have played the demos will immediately notice that the final commercial release of Driving Strikers is significantly expanded and improved upon when compared to those earlier builds. The most important change is undoubtedly in the handling of the cars, which are directed via your analog stick or D-pad. To be honest, in the demos I found controlling my vehicle to be virtually impossible, resulting in a chaotic experience replete with own goals that would make Frank Sinclair blush. In the final product though, the cars are much more manoeuvrable, allowing for more clearly defined defensive and attacking plays which are greatly rewarding when they pay off - especially so when you can rub it in the face of a human opponent. Matches are still quite hectic in nature, but now to a degree that suits, and while the gameplay is intuitive enough for total beginners it also has space for the development of skill from practice.

The arenas available to players, four regular and two unlockable, are diverse in their design, ranging from a serene beach (which looks more Seychelles than Skegness) to a dingy cobblestone castle. The distinct earworm-laden music that accompanies each stage is a particular highlight, with the Christmas stage track acting like a homage to the classic Dubstep Santa. If the stadia had differed a little more in their shape and terrain, and if the teams you choose from had material differences in their operation (speed, boost, strength etc.), then that may have helped spice things up a little more, but understandably for a game like this, boundaries need to be kept manageable.

The ‘league’ mode featured in the commercial release definitely adds a little longevity to the game (and must be traversed if you want to unlock one of the arenas) but fundamentally Driving Strikers is all about multiplayer - whether that be in person or online. What can at times be a bit of a dull experience when played solo becomes infinitely more fun when the competitive human connection is thrown in. If you are blessed enough to be able to call on four friends to cram round a screen, then Driving Strikers will easily give you the same vibes as local multiplayer classics of old. 

Best game ever. No bias, or anything.

Of course, if your Dreamcast is connected to the internet, then playing online is a must. However, as much of a watershed achievement as this feature is, it does come with some caveats. When it runs smoothly, the online multiplayer experience is fantastic, and you’ll find yourself happily burning through half a dozen rounds before you need to take a breather. Unfortunately though, the lag experienced by DreamPi users can disrupt things, and it seems to be a bit of a lottery as to whether you have no lag, a noticeable yet serviceable level, or a big fat dose. LD-2K and WAVE do acknowledge this, recommending in the manual that hosts should be using a Broadband Adapter wherever possible. The times I have played with a BBA have certainly been noticeably better, but the reality is that this peripheral remains expensive and far less widely used than the DreamPi. Aside from the lag, the game’s online mode does have other occasional hiccups too, whether that be freezing (requiring a console reset) or potential difficulties with the login screen.

No doubt some folks may feel a little aggrieved by these issues, which is understandable. After all, everyone is entitled to an opinion, especially so when the exchange of hard-earned money is involved. However, I personally feel that a more rounded perspective is warranted, and can be arrived at if we account for a couple of contextual factors. Firstly, lag and other snafus aren’t unknowns in the realm of playing your Dreamcast online. Those of us who play regularly will all have had jittery slideshow-like rounds of Mobile Suit Gundam, sessions of DeeDee Planet that desync, or pulled our hair out as a match of Worms World Party fails to start for the third time in a row. Secondly, Luke and David are the first to attempt the feat of getting an indie release online, without being able to follow pre-existing guidelines or rely on the support of a large well-resourced team.

What has been delivered is a meticulously thought out online architecture, compatible with all current Dreamcast internet connection methods and featuring cross-platform functionality with the PC. Granted, there are flaws, but in my view at least, they are forgivable. And, as the online code will be publicly shared, the door for other future online indie titles has finally been smashed open. Given that the battering-ram used for this progress is a vibrant, well-designed, and fun little game leaves me feeling that the £20 I forked over was well spent. The finishing touches such as multiple language options, in-game VMU icons, and a plentiful options menu (that aren’t always present on DC indie releases) only reinforce this perspective.

The three styles of physical copy available from WAVE on release - from Mike's A to Z account!

Here’s hoping that LD-2K return in the future with another online outing for our beloved little white box - after a well earned break of course. In the meantime, check the Dreamcast Live and Sega Online schedules to join us for some rounds of Driving Strikers.

Driving Strikers is available now in physical or digital format from WAVE Game Studios.

Have you played Driving Strikers yet? If so, have you had the chance to enjoy playing it online? Let us know in the comments below or via our various social media channels!

Driving Strikers: The First Online Dreamcast Game in 20 Years Is Up for Pre-order!

The Sega Dreamcast is alive and well, my friends, and today's announcement not only solidifies that fact, but also marries together two of the most unstoppable forces of the Dreamcast's modern day indie scene: new software and online play. Upon its release next month on July 24th, Driving Strikers will be the first Dreamcast game release to support online multiplayer in 20 years.

Developed by Reality Jump (a team made up of Luke Benstead and Dave Reichelt), Driving Strikers is a 3D action-sports game where up to four players zoom around an arena in cars playing a giant game of football. The gameplay has obviously drawn comparisons to Rocket league, although the perspective is top-down rather than following your car from behind. Also Rocket League can't go online on the Dreamcast, so sucks to be that game. 

Anyhow, considering Luke developed DreamPi, a popular means to get your Dreamcast online, it was only natural that one of the games he'd eventually go onto develop would include online play. You will be able to enjoy Driving Strikers' gameplay in person or over the internet with full modem and broadband adapter compatibility. It also supports cross-play between Dreamcast, Windows, and even Linux!

Blue skies... definitely Dreamcast.

Wave Game Studios are in charge of Driving Strikers’ physical release, and as we've always said here at the Junkyard, their quality is consistent and can be trusted. Now up for pre-order, the release is available in three styles, all indicative of official Dreamcast box styles: European blue, American white and Japanese orange. A cool addition from Wave on the game’s artwork is the "online gaming" banner and "online multiplayer" oval as seen on original European and American Dreamcast releases, respectively. 

For a limited time, the game is being sold for an early-bird price of £19.99 (full price £29.99), so go grab it at this cut price while you still can from the Wave Game Studios store! There is also a digital version available for those who are rocking an ODE like GDEMU in their Dreamcast.

If you're interested in learning more about Driving Strikers' development, give our interview with Luke Benstead a read. Also, if you've stumbled upon this article and are asking "What? You can play the Dreamcast online in 2023?", check out Dreamcast Live's connection guide to get started!

Are you excited for Driving Strikers? Will you be playing it online when it's released? Let us know in the comments below or via one of our many social media channels.

Review: Tapeworm Disco Puzzle

2022 began much as 2021 ended - with a bumper crop of healthy Dreamcast indie games for us all to enjoy. It seems the answer to the question "what did you do in lockdown" for many in the scene was "make a new Dreamcast game" and you know what? If the only positive thing to come out of that whole ordeal was more Dreamcast games, then that’s a small win for us here at the Junkyard. Give us more indie games! 

In January 2022, one Tapeworm Disco Puzzle arrived at the Junkyard headquarters. I say "headquarters", it's actually just a wooden shed in the New Forest that we initiate new members in, using a combination of audio-visual psychological warfare techniques, a pair of secateurs, a copy of Spirit of Speed 1937 and a signed picture of Peter Moore. I may have said too much. Forget you read that. Anyway, Tapeworm Disco Puzzle is one I'd been looking forward too for some time, as it was announced as a "spin-off sequel" to Lowtek Games' title Flea! which had released a couple of years earlier. I previously reviewed Flea! here on the blog and thought it was rather good. Tapeworm Disco Puzzle, just like its predecessor, is an 8-bit title that, whilst limited technically due to its Nintendo Entertainment System origins, packs a whole lot of game and bags of charm onto its disc.

Much like the Dreamcast version of Flea! I reviewed previously, Tapeworm Disco Puzzle is a NES game that has been ported to the Dreamcast. Lowtek games originally ran a Kickstarter for the title back in December 2020, which was successful funded - probably thanks in no small part to the positive reception that Flea! had garnered previously. A Dreamcast and a PC port were also listed alongside the NES cartridge as part of this initial campaign, and it finally made its way out to backers within a little over a year's time, which is a quick turnaround time by Kickstarter standards.

If you've ever played Lowtek Game's first outing Flea! (which is probably a fair few of you now, since its re-release by WAVE Game Studios), you'll be familiar with the colourful pixel world that designer Alastair Low has created. A world of greedy, blood-hoarding monarchs, "refu-fleas" and undeniably cute, hopping heroes; it was a credit that for such a simple title, it created a genuinely charming little in-game universe. This world is expanded upon in Tapeworm Disco Puzzle, in a rather odd way. Your main character this time is the tapeworm, proprietor of the local night club where all the fleas like to hang out. Problem is, something strange is happening to his parasitical patrons, so as well as making sure there's plenty of banging party tunes and enough blood to go around, you'll have to try and work out just what is going on. Along the way, you'll come across some other club-owning worms, as well as all manner of other denizens of this surprisingly well-crafted mini-universe that Alastair has created.

Whilst inhabiting the same universe as Flea!, Tapeworm Disco Puzzle - as its name may suggest - takes an altogether different approach when it comes to gameplay. This is a grid-based puzzle title, in which you must collect musical notes and blood with your tapeworm. Our hero, however, is limited in size, so to collect all the elements, you need to work out the best way to navigate the stage, as well as collecting tapes which will increase your worm's length (ahem...) which will allow you to reach areas that you'd otherwise be unable to. It sounds simple - and to be fair, the core concept here is - but the game quickly throws all manner of different elements in. Wormholes see our hero popping up in other areas of the stage, fleas will often be present in stages (the only way to collect blood) and it's your task to assist them, buttons need to be covered by your extended worm body to open doors, and there's plenty of bad guys spread throughout the stages too, which you'll need to avoid contact with.

10,000 Twitter Follower Competition - Win Andro Dunos 2 and a DCJY T-Shirt!

Jumping on to Twitter in 2013, The Dreamcast Junkyard has enjoyed ten years of tweeting about all kinds of Dreamcast-related nonsense. Over the years, we've had many funny moments running the account, and have made many great mutuals too.

Earlier today we finally reached that huge 10,000 follower milestone. For an account that tweets about what I respect is a fairly niche retro console, that's an incredible achievement. With that being said, in one of Elon Musk's many big brained changes since taking ownership of Twitter, inactive accounts will now be removed if no activity is detected for 30 days. Check back with us 30 days from now and you may find our follower count has plummeted down to 10 or whatever. 

Anyway, while our follower count still sits at that almighty 10,000, we're running an exciting competition! We've got two copies of PixelHeart and Visco's brand new Dreamcast shooter Andro Dunos 2, along with two Dreamcast Junkyard controller t-shirts to give away. Thanks to PixelHeart for supplying the copies of the games for this competition!

That's a good lookin' shirt.

To be in with a chance of winning, simply retweet the tweet below (also linked here) and make sure you're following the Junkyard Twitter account, as well as @DreamcastPics and @PixelHeart_eu. Two winners will each receive a copy of Andro Dunos 2 and a t-shirt. Worldwide entries welcome. The competition will end on the 24th of May, a week from the competition's announcement and winners will be announced and tagged on our Twitter. Good luck!

Update: this competition has now ended.

To celebrate reaching 10k followers, we've got two copies of Andro Dunos 2 for Dreamcast to give away, and two Dreamcast Junkyard t-shirts! To be in with a chance of winning, simply retweet this tweet and make sure you're following our account, @DreamcastPics and @PixelHeart_eu. pic.twitter.com/uAGZyqU85Z

— The Dreamcast Junkyard (@TheDCJunkyard) May 17, 2023

Dreamcast: Year Two shipping, HarleQuest! funded, Phantasy Star Collection, Sapphire Hotel - Dreamcast News Round-Up May 2023

Pixel art credit: Xtreme Retro

Spring is now well and truly upon us here in the UK. My central heating has finally been switched off, the nights are drawing out, and the air is alive with the sounds of songbirds, neighbourhood kids, and the obnoxiously loud engines of boy racers. The departure of winter typically does wonders for my mood, but this year my nerves are uncharacteristically shot to pieces as my boyhood football club is flirting with the prospect of imminent relegation. Rather than spend another afternoon anxiously inspecting the league table and fixtures list once again though, I thought I’d try to distract myself by penning a DCJY news round-up. The Dreamcast scene continues to bloom, delivering a bountiful harvest all year round, and there are some vigorous green shoots sprouting up too which are likely to bear fruit later in the year. So, dear readers, settle down, get comfy, and feast your eyes upon all the latest from the world of the Dreamcast.

Homebrew Happenings

The Dreamcast has long been blessed with a dedicated cast of coders who love nothing more than cooking up homebrew offerings of all shapes and sizes. The degree to which homebrew efforts have extended the console’s software library and capabilities is truly remarkable and the selfless souls who deliver these goods deserve our thanks (thank you!).

Lately it seems that Ian Michael’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection has become a trend-setter, as several other ‘collection’ type projects are now in the works. First of all is Ian’s own follow-up, a Phantasy Star collection, which allows the classic Master System, Game Gear and Mega Drive titles to be played on the Dreamcast in seamless fashion, complete with a menu system that pulls everything together, and extras such as separately playable soundtracks and videos. Sega produced a package of this sort for the Saturn, but its release was limited to Japan. If Ian’s previous work is anything to go by, then we anticipate that this follow-up will be well worth your attention.

Cover image for Ian Michael's Phantasy Star Collection created by 'caruse'.

Shindougo has joined Ian in flaunting their chops in the DC homebrew collection space too, releasing Castlevania and The Simpsons collections in December and April respectively. Neither of these franchises ever saw official representation on the Dreamcast - exclusive titles were in development, but never made it past their fledgling stages. Leaked builds of both are available but are pretty bare bones. Those who want to scratch that itch they’ve been having for a Castlevania or Simpsons experience on their little white box should check out Shindougo’s releases, both of which are available via the links posted above. Video demonstrations of these collections have also helpfully been produced by friend of the Yard, gamesreup.

Hydro Thunder working in VGA mode, as shown by Derek Pascarella (ateam).

Another homebrew project of a different ilk has also surfaced in recent weeks. Dreamcasters who have (justifiably) clung to VGA as their preferred video output option will be pleased to hear that TapamN appears to have delivered a method for playing virtually any DC game via VGA. Until now there have been a few dozen games that have stubbornly resisted efforts to force them into outputting VGA, but thanks to the elbow grease of TapamN, a comprehensive solution seems to be at hand. TapamN first demonstrated the new patching method in action with Bangai-O. A frenzy of further contributions have quickly followed from others within the community demonstrating that the method works for games such as Airforce Delta, Deadly Skies, and Hydro Thunder. A full list of the VGA patches created by TapamN are available on the console mods wiki.

Online Optimisations

Putting your Dreamcast’s modem to work really should be mandatory. If you aren’t swimming in the warm crystal-clear waters of the console’s online capacities then you are missing out - especially so, given that the experiences available keep expanding.

Hey hey hey, it's time to upload some CRAZY replays. Crazy Taxi 2 website screenshot courtesy of Xiden.

In mid-April, Xiden announced that the replay upload function of the Crazy Taxi 2 website has been revived. Now, as if it were 2001, that means you can upload replays of your lucrative fare-maximising runs, and find out how paltry they are in comparison to those of your compatriot taxi drivers by downloading their replays. Baggy jeans are recommended for the fully immersive turn-of-the-millennium experience. All you need to know can be found in Xiden’s Dreamcast-Talk post.

In other online news, Johne, a stalwart of Brazil’s DC online community, has launched a Dreamcast Now Android phone app. Dreamcast Now, of course, being the website that provides a live summary of who is currently online on their Dreamcast and what game they are playing. With the app, users are able to set a variety of notifications for different events, including when designated friends have come online, and when favourite games have currently active players.

Witching Hour: Indie Horror on the Dreamcast?

I could hear the wind and rain lashing at my bedroom window, like a cruel temptress in the night, wailing its cries of anguish through the tempest. I hunkered down, my hands shivering with cold and the fear of the evil lurking outside; my face dimly lit by the pale light of the television screen in front of me. Below it sat the white Sega machine, which I had turned on in a feeble attempt to distract myself from the nightmares swirling around my head, but I just found myself sitting there, staring mindlessly at the screen, unable to focus my attention long enough to decide which of the discs in front of me would be my attempt to escape the maelstrom. 

And then, a knock. At least, it sounded like a knock. The thunder rumbled in the distance, a flash of blue in the sky accompanying it, but I'm sure there was a knock. A timid, almost distant, tapping on the glass of the front door. I waited, anxiously, my mind tripping between scenarios - a visitor? At this hour? No. No one would be brave enough to face the violent storm battering the town tonight, surely? A creature, seeking shelter from the weather, perhaps? Nonsense. What type of creature would gently rap on my front door? No, it was definitely my imagination running wild. I was just hearing things in the dark. I needed to focus. Needed to find something to distract from the nightmares. The discs in front of me gave me portals to untold worlds of mystery, if I just picked one, I could have some relief.

The tapping again. Stronger this time, loud enough to jolt me to attention, audible over the howling wind and piercing rain on the window. There was no doubt this time. There was something, someone, at the front door. Fear very nearly overtook me, but somehow I managed to muster enough courage to investigate just what manner of visitor was calling upon me. As I walked, trembling with every slow, careful step, down the dark stairs, the room lit up with the furious bright light and cracking roar of another strike of lightning. My heart must have skipped a beat - or two - but in that momentary illumination, I saw something on the floor. A package? What ungodly courier would deliver me a package, at this hour, in this storm? I moved as slowly as I could, fearful of my nocturnal visitor still being present, but there seemed to be nothing there. Dare I open the door and seek the stranger? Nay, thought I. Besides, the presence of this mysterious package now occupied more of my thoughts. The brown paper of the parcel was shimmering wet, no doubt a result of the weather outside... although, in the dark, I momentarily thought I could see a tinge of red sprinkling this most unwelcome of deliveries. I needed to get this into the light, and quickly.

I hurried back up the stairs, another flash of lightning and whip crack of thunder punctuating my ascent, and into the relative safety of the bedroom, still dimly lit by that television screen. I no doubt could have turned the main light on, giving some warmth to my surroundings, but my desire to see what was in this parcel overwhelmed me. I sat down in front of the screen, and for the first time could make out the package clearly. The brown paper was wet, but not from the rain as I had thought. My throat dried, my heart beat faster, for it was now obvious that upon this unrequested bundle delivered to my door, was the unquestionable imprint of a bloodied hand. Blood. On a parcel delivered to me in the middle of the night, in a storm like this. I froze, my mind not quite capable of grasping the reasons why. Was it really blood? Maybe not. Maybe, this was a joke, played on me by an unseen trickster in the night. It couldn't be blood, I tried to reason.

It felt like an age, just sitting there, staring at the brown paper and that bloodied handprint. I had played out reasons why in mind, but every attempt at explanation just took me down more darker trails of thought. One thing was for certain though - I had to open this. I had to see what horrors - for horrors they surely were - lurked inside that parcel. My hands were sweating and my lips were dry as I carefully tore at the paper, being careful not to destroy what was in front of me. As the paper peeled away, its contents became clear. A plastic case, cold to the touch, was the first thing that caught my eye. A game? There was no doubt, the red quarter circle with a white swirl contained within caught my eye immediately. A Dreamcast game. A new world to explore. There was another crack of thunder in the distance, but by this point, the skipping of my heart beat was solely due to the possibilities that this game now presented me. The strange skeletal features on its front cover, the title written in blood. What unthinkable horrors could be contained within this disc? In the still dimly lit darkness, I peered at the cover - “Witching Hour” seemed to be the name of this new arrival, and its entrance into my life heralded dark things. 

That was not all, though. Underneath the cold plastic, there was a piece of card, no doubt a message to me from my unknown benefactor. I held it up, illuminating it in the light of the TV screen in front of me. What words would it contain? 

"Mike. No luck with that creative writing course, then."

How dare they.

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There's nothing quite like the arrival of a new Dreamcast game. Sure, the sheer number we're currently receiving may make the unique specialness of such an arrival a slightly less exciting experience than it once was, but for those of us involved with the Dreamcast community at large, it's still a heart warming feeling when you tear open the plastic, open that case and start up a brand new title for the little console that won't die. Sega's zombie box of dreams had a great 2022, and one offering in particular promised to bring some horrified first-person gaming to the system - something which is particularly close to my heart. Step forward Witching Hour. 

Let's take a look at Hermes: Limited Edition - the first indie-branded VMU!

If you have dabbled in anything Sega Dreamcast in the last so many years, you'll most likely be aware that the modern indie game scene for the console is bustling, with no signs of slowing down any time soon. Despite the abundance of new indie software releases for the Dreamcast, there was one physical indie release in particular that seemed to peak my interest recently for an entirely different reason unrelated to the game itself, that being Hermes: Limited Edition, and its included Hermes-branded Visual Memory Unit (VMU). 

Hermes is a fun indie platformer developed by Retroguru with a glorious chiptune soundtrack where you play as a chef chasing after a chicken. Mike has already reviewed it on the blog a long while back, and you can check out his review here. In this post, though, I wanted to focus on that special VMU, because it is pretty much the first of its kind: the first indie-branded Dreamcast VMU. The only thing that would have come remotely close to something like this was the VMU lamp for Alice Dreams Tournament, which seems to have have been a Kickstarter-exclusive backer reward, as Adam Koralik and James from Shenmue Dojo both told us they own one.

Released by Video Games New York (aka VGNYSoft), Dreamcast diehards across the globe were understandably eager to get their hands on one of these cool VMUs. Unfortunately, dwellers of the United Kingdom like myself couldn't order from Video Games New York's website as they don't ship here. Luckily, Wave Game studios put a very small batch (ten, I think) of the limited edition up for sale on their website, so I snatched up one of those. Thanks, dudes!

The transparent green VMU is printed with the Hermes logo, as well as the chicken you play as, and the chef's meat cleaver. It actually comes packaged in an official American VMU box, which is stored inside the larger Hermes: Limited Edition box. It is pretty obvious that the VMUs used for this release are leftover brand new official VMU stock, but the printing on the VMU is such high-quality, you'd be mistaken for thinking it could have actually been an official release from Sega back in the day. Also, VGNY made a great choice in using the transparent green VMU!

Because I was so excited to receive my Hermes VMU, I actually mustered up some courage and decided to record a short clip showcasing the VMU, so check that out below! Apologies if I say “erm” a lot, I was ad-libbing!

If you want to get yourself one of these VMUs, there is currently stock available on VGNYSoft's website and Canadian site Video Games Plus. As for whether or not either will ship to your country, I'm not quite sure. Either way, let's hope this is the first of many indie-themed Dreamcast peripheral releases to come!

New Indies, Hardware and Mods galore! - Dreamcast News Round-up August 2022

It’s August 2022 and the Dreamcast renaissance shows no signs of petering out. All kinds of talented and creative folks from across the world clearly haven’t had their fill of the little white dream machine just yet, and a plethora of projects continue to be announced left, right and centre. But how are you supposed to keep tabs on this whirlwind of activity? Don’t you worry, the Junkyard is here to report on all the latest from the Dreamcast cosmos. Buckle up for a bumper news round-up freshly sourced from our network of highly informed sleuths.

Move aside 'Dream Information' the DCJY News Round-up is the only game in town now.

Four new indie releases, Jeremy? That’s insane

In the recent past DCJY writers have salivated over the possibility that the indie release schedule of 2022 and 2023 would turn out to be ram packed. Of course, those who are a little longer in the tooth may know that announced indie games sadly don’t always make it through to completion or can fall into cycles of delays, but fortunately this has not been an issue in recent months, with four new titles landing so far this summer.

Shadow Gangs, the hotly anticipated Shinobi-esque side-scrolling beat em’ up, dropped in June. The Dreamcast release was finally made possible by a Kickstarter campaign that met its funding goal in March, after which the developers JKM Corp conspired with Wave Game Studios to rapidly turn out the physical release. Those who want to know more should check-out the publisher’s website, the handful of reviews that have quickly surfaced (The Dreamcast Junkyard, RetroFaith, Games Freezer), or have a gander at the various gameplay videos available on the likes of Youtube and Twitch.

Two further releases quickly followed Shadow Gangs in June. Hailing from sunny Spain, Nape Games made their maiden voyage into Dreamcast territory with the release of Ploid and Renkum Souls Adventure. Both are pitched as action-adventure 2D platformers, each with their own distinctive stories that appear to link-up with worlds that have already been built-up over the course of Nape Games prior releases. Relatively little has been reported on the Dreamcast releases of these two titles so far – perhaps because the initial print-runs were quite limited. The publishers have hinted that a re-print could be on the cards in the future though, so be sure to keep those eyes peeled.

The final new indie release of the summer season, Mawthorne, shares a common thread with the Nape Games duo in that it was also primarily developed for the NES. Where it differs though, aside from being an entirely new IP, is in its simultaneous release on the Dreamcast and the NES. No waiting around here - the Dreamcast bound MIL-CDs shipped out alongside the cartridges in July. Details on this ‘metroidvania platform-adventure’ game can be found over on its Kickstarter page. Fingers crossed a re-print of the Dreamcast version will be coming down the line for those who missed out on the Kickstarter. As with the Nape Games duo, I can’t comment on the quality of this release, as I haven’t got my grubby mits on it, but with a bit of luck reviews will start to surface soon.

More indie releases on the horizon

Of course, there are shedloads of indie releases and re-releases on the horizon too. Read on for a rapid-fire rundown of the forthcoming games: 

• 240p Test Suite – $24.99, due Q3 2022. Developed by Artemio, published by VGNYSoft. “A homebrew software suite for video game consoles developed to help in the evaluation of capture cards, upscalers, upscan converters, line doublers and of course TV processing of 240p video and scaled signals.”
• Andros Dunos II - €34.90, due Q3 2022. Developed by Picorinne soft, published by JoshProd. A new side-scrolling shmup that is an officially licensed sequel to Visco’s 1992 Neo Geo game.  
• Big2Small - $39.99, release date unknown. A cutesy puzzle adventure game, developed and published by RetroRoomGames, due for release on the Game Boy, N64 and Dreamcast. Pre-sales have been live since the end of May.
• Driving Strikers - £???, development due to be finished by Q4 2022. Driving Strikers does what it says on the tin. You drive about in a car striking a ball into goals. Good, old-fashioned, no-nonsense football with cars, just like your ancestors played. Of course, the game will also mark a HUGE milestone upon release as it will be the first indie Dreamcast game to feature online play. The developer Kazade has indicated that he hopes to wrap the game’s development up before the end of 2022 and has also confirmed he intends for a physical product to be produced, although a publisher has not yet been confirmed. Get hyped for full lobbies from day one.  
• Flight of the Amazon Queen - $24.99, due TBA 2022. Developed and published by RetroSurge. This Dreamcast port of a classic point-and-click game has been on the cards for quite some time now. Postponements have occurred in the past, so we wouldn’t be shocked if the game doesn’t reach completion this year. Fingers crossed the details begin to be firmed up soon. 
• Hermes (re-release) - $29.99/$59.99, due Q3 2022. Developed by RetroGuru, published by VGNYSoft. Many will already be familiar with this little jump n’ run game, given that it was originally released on the Dreamcast in 2017. Aside from new box art, this re-release is most notable for the Limited Edition package which features a custom green VMU. 
• Metal Canary - £???, release date unknown. A promising vertical shmup developed by Titan Game Studios and Frost Byte Games, first revealed in June 2021. It seems likely that a playable demo will be made available by year-end. Follow the Metal Canary Twitter account for gameplay footage and development updates. 
• Non-Casual Encounter - £???, due Q4 2022. Developed by SEGASaturno Productions, Non-Casual Encounter will be the first graphic novel indie game to be released on the Dreamcast. The prologue (demo) released in December of last year was well received, despite being very short. 
• Xenocider (re-release) - $39.99, due Q3 2022. Developed by Retro Sumus, published by VGNYSoft. The impressive 3D rail shooter gets a re-release targeted at North American audiences with new box artwork. 

Basically then, there are more forthcoming Dreamcast releases than you will know what to do with. Let me tell you something, the Dreamcast hasn’t even begun to peak. And when it does peak, you'll know. Because it’s gonna peak so hard that everybody in Philadelphia's gonna feel it. 

Mods, hardware and other tinkerings

A slew of announcements about newly invented modifications, improved hardware, and all kinds of other productive tinkerings have been coming in thick and fast this summer. While you’ve been touring Skeggie’s penny arcades and ice-cream vans on your summer hols’, others have clearly been hard at work…

Scrivani has been busy ensuring owners of the elusive Broadband Adapter can get a little more value out of their peripheral. If you have one, get it out of that dusty box and get online!

Following on from his 2021 invention of a method that allowed Broadband Adapter users to notify others of the games they are playing via DreamcastNow, Scrivani has recently produced a guide on how to use a DreamPi (I.E. a Raspberry Pi configured to enable online play via a simulated dial-up connection) as a WiFi to ethernet repeater. In lay terms, this configuration facilitates the use of the Broadband Adapter over WiFi. So, no more trip hazards from an ethernet cable snaking down the stairs to your router. Admittedly the use of this functionality is likely to be limited, but if you are one of the privileged few who make active use of a Broadband Adapter, then you should definitely check it out.

Capcom vs. SNK 2 was notable for allowing cross-platform play by Dreamcast and PS2 players on the KDDI service.

Sticking with the online theme but moving onto ground that may have a wider appeal, at the end of May, Dreamcast Talk user ‘dude22072’ revealed that they had undertaken some serious efforts to reverse engineer the online capabilities of the suite of Dreamcast games which were formerly playable online via the KDDI service in Japan. The KDDI service was what enabled a large chunk of Capcom games - including the likes of Heavy Metal Geomatrix, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and Spawn: In the Demon’s Hand – to be played online. Given the number of games involved, this is significant progress in terms of the ongoing online revival of the Dreamcast. To be clear, the online functions of these games have not actually been restored yet, and there is no guarantee that they ever will be, but a big step forward has nevertheless been made (serious enough for the online restoration of these games to now be considered work in progress on the Dreamcast Live website).

No 'beeeeeep' sound from a dead battery? How can the VM2 miss this essential feature!?

Those who don’t play their Dreamcast online (sacrilege!), don’t fear, as there is some news that may interest you too. Chris Daioglou has released an update on the progression of the creation of the ‘VM2’, a modernised Visual Memory Unit with a whole host of upgrades, including a rechargeable battery, an improved screen and a MicroSD card slot. A funding campaign for the VM2 is due to launch via Indiegogo on the 1st of September, so you won't need to wait too much longer to part with your hard earned cash. Earlier this month, 8BitMods also publicly stated their intention to produce their own VMU but have kept quiet about precisely what this will entail, given that they are only in their initial stages of development. 

Last but not least

During its tragically short official lifespan, countless games were reported to be in development for the Dreamcast which never actually saw the light of day. Some of the titles that were all but complete, such as Half Life and Propellor Arena are well known, and leaked playable versions have been available for years. However, there are others that remain shrouded in mystery. Thankfully, lately pcwzrd13 has put his detective skills into action, tracking down and speaking with the developers who would have worked on these unreleased Dreamcast games, thereby setting the record straight on what was genuinely in the works and what was simply salacious gossip. He posted an extensive list of initial findings on the Dreamcast-Talk forums in May, including some quotes directly from the developers, and has been updating this on occasion since then. 

The mock-up cover design for Mike Phelan's exhaustively comprehensive forthcoming guide.

Early on in August, the Junkyard’s own Mike Phelan announced he had finally reached a cut-off point for his forthcoming tome ‘The A-Z of Dreamcast Games’, confirming that the tally of games which it will cover is a whopping 703. Hopefully this means we can stop lusting over the photos of the mock-up edition and have the real deal in our hands before the year is out. Furthermore, thanks to the selfless efforts of those who continue to reliably pump out translations – such as Cool Cool Toon which a team including Derek Pascarella has recently begun work on – a growing chunk of the Japan exclusive titles covered by the book are playable by English-language audiences. 

So, that’s all for now folks. New indie releases, revived online games on the horizon, beefed-up VMUs, translations, and hefty books with as many pages as an old school Argos catalogue. What more could you want?

OK, OK, one last snippet of news, if you must insist. If you’d like to meet the Junkyard’s very-own Lewis and Tom, in person, then make sure you head to the Nottingham Video Games Expo on the 17th and 18th of December. Autographed headshots will be available but please be sure to form an orderly queue.

Review: Intrepid Izzy

When it comes to the Dreamcast indie scene, the name "Senile Team" is surely familiar. You might know them best for bringing us Beats of Rage, the moddable open source beat 'em up engine for Dreamcast (and other systems) that provided the basis for countless community-developed mods of series from Splatterhouse to Resident Evil. Or maybe you've had the pleasure of playing their first commercially released game; the excellent Rush Rush Rally Racing (or its update Rush Rush Rally Reloaded). Either way, it's definitely clear that Senile Team has pedigree when it comes to the Dreamcast, and now they're gearing up for the imminent August 20th release of their latest title, Intrepid Izzy.

The Kickstarter campaign for Intrepid Izzy went up back in 2017 with PC, Dreamcast and PS4 releases promised. The Steam version has been available since July 2020, but it's the Dreamcast version that many people, including us at the Junkyard (obviously) have been eagerly awaiting. Prior to Intrepid Izzy's Dreamcast release, I was supplied a review copy. Staying true to the Junkyard, however, this review will reflect only my honest opinions, with no influence from the developers or distributors.

The game starts with our protagonist Izzy, who is presumed to be a bit of an Indiana Jones explorer-type (she's known to be Intrepid, after all), opening a treasure chest in a temple only to release an evil blue genie whose main priority after finally being released is chaos on the world. From the initial cutscene, you are immediately given a taste of the game's carefree sense of humour, which often leans towards the drier side of things, and can occasionally get a bit bizarre. Just right for us at the Junkyard, then.

So how does Intrepid Izzy play? In the simplest terms, it's a 2D action platformer, with lovely, hand drawn artwork and fluid, cartoon-like animation (created with custom-made animation software) that gives me vibes of the ever-popular Shantae series. But to just call it an "action platformer" wouldn't be doing the game justice, because Intrepid Izzy is actually pretty deep, dude. While the initial stage is a rather left to right affair, you soon realise that the game has a very non-linear approach to its levels. That's right, Intrepid Izzy's core gameplay is what trendy gaming pundits might refer to as "metroidvania." I'm talking levels within levels, with a focus on light puzzle solving and backtracking. Get that key to open that door there, find a helmet to ride the minecart to a new area, find a new costume to grant you the power to get past an obstacle you passed earlier, and so on. 

Putting on Intrepid Izzy feels like you're embarking on an adventure, and one that is relatively easy to jump into whether you're a seasoned veteran of this style of explorative platformer, or a complete newbie to it, like I am (unless Kirby & the Amazing Mirror counts). Intrepid Izzy's platforming feels and controls great, and with the constant intrigue of treasure and new areas lurking around every corner, it gets pretty addictive. On countless occasions while exploring, I was conscious that I needed to save and come off so I could continue adding to this review, only to find myself attempting one more puzzle, or leading myself down one more passage.

As you traverse the game's many maze-like levels, you will encounter magic mirrors that grant you quick passage to the game's various other levels, as well as a fast track back to Awesometown, a pleasant town that functions as the game's central hub. You will be returning to Awesometown frequently to recover health by sleeping at Izzy's house and making repeat trips to the town's restaurant to replenish recovery and boosting items (which you purchase with coins that you've picked up throughout your quest). Less frequently, you will be dropping by the house of a bearded wizard, who can upgrade your health at the cost of enough heart fragments, which are hidden sparingly throughout the game's levels. Finally, perhaps taking a page out of Shenmue's book, the last building of significance in Awesometown is an arcade where you can play some basic but fun arcade games - such titles include "Plerg", "Ultra Bazoop" and "3D Wheel".

The other big gameplay element of Intrepid Izzy brings us back to Senile Team's Beats of Rage roots. Implemented alongside the platforming is a beat 'em up combat system that is used to solve environmental puzzles and dispatch enemies. You'll be using these fighting moves throughout your journey to rough up various foes, including huge screen-filling bosses. There are also plenty of occasions during exploration where you will enter a room, only to be locked in, with your only path to escape being to defeat a few waves of enemies. These bouts happen quite frequently, to the point where you soon realise that the combat in Intrepid Izzy is just as important as its platforming.