Dreamcast Scene is having a CONTEST! With STUFF! DREAMCAST STUFF!
"Dreamcast Scene presents - in cooperation with Sega Germany, redspotgames and Van Basilco - a sweepstake that haven't been there in this form. Good Dreamcast knowledge is required and the prizes grow from day to day."
Lots of respect to all the people and companies that are making this happen.
Go! Go and prove your mettle in the arena of the Dreamcast elite!
What does a man do to the fill the gap between Resident Evils? He turns to the House Of The Dead franchise, that's what! I love House Of The Dead on the Saturn, HOTD2 on the Dreamcast and HOTD 1,2,3 and 4 in the arcades! I'm excited about the upcoming HOTD Wii edition, but there is a game in the series that was unknown to me for a number of years and that is Zombie Revenge!
It is reminiscent of Dynamite Cop, in that it's a short and happily frantic game, it's third person and a brilliant HOTD themed shooter/beat'em up. The highlight of the game is finding yourself encountering the monsters you are "oh so familiar with" from the original HOTD in about, Chapter 6.
Obviously you've only ever encountered them before in a FPS Light Gun perspective, but now they're all little and cute, and you can see yourself wasting them! I've actually enjoyed smashing a game in one afternoon, instead of putting hours and days into it.
I'd thoroughly reccomend you check it out, and if you want to know more there's some links for you here:
But if the truth be told, I've been a little slack around these parts of late. Sure, I've been checking in for those great Gagaman(n) posts, and adding the odd comment, but I've not offered any insight, thoughts or even my ususal posted bullshit lately... "No shit Sherlock!?" I hear you cry? Well OK... I'll address that right now by hitting you all with a frankly mediocre and inferior post! (Business as usual then?)
The game which has been 'resident' in my Dreamcast recently is Resident Evil 3(Did you see what I did there?)
2006 (and some of 2005) was the season of Shenmue in the Krishna household. If I wasn't playing it (or re-playing it) I was on the internet looking at websites, wallpapers, walkthroughs, video or reviews/articles about it...
Cut to February 2007... I decided to play RE1 on the Saturn, and just wasn't that impressed... (I hated it) Then an article I'd seen on J's corner of Randomness convinced me to pick up RE4 on the PS2. WOW! That really changed my opinion! Both on the PS2 as a games console and on Resident Evil as a franchise...I played it, completed it, loved it and wanted more...
But what could I play? The most obvious choice was the preceding title in the franchise... Resident Evil:Code Veronica. At the time it was released it was the first RE Dreamcast exclusive. The gameplay and mechanics were SO different to RE4, and yet I found the game to be both enthralling and enraging in equal measure... the main reason for this was the miserly ammunition and save potential. After the luxury of the innovative merchant in RE4, and the liberal smattering of typewriters (that didn't need ink ribbons) RE:CV seemed harsh...
Still, I eventually played through the game relishing every story twist, plot line and cut scene... I loved the graphics, and thought it brought out the best in the Dreamcast. Since then, I've played Resident Evil in it's original glory, - (though not on the Saturn, on the DS, in it's interactive "DS friendly" RE:DS incarnation - .
I followed that by buying RE:CV Gun Survivor for the PS2 (an RE Light Gun game!) followed by re-playing RE4 on the Wii!
But recently, in a Blue Stinger 'break point', I decided to pick up RE2 and play it on the Dreamcast, swiftly followed by RE3:Nemesis! Oh the joy! Both games were PS1 ports to the Dreamcast, and therefore the graphics were only "tidied up" for it's 128 bit release... But HELL!RE3 is a stunning game! And it's a Dreamcast "must have".
For a start you have all the unlockable content from the original PS1 incarnation, meaning you can start the game with superior fire power and generous save potential. And that makes any Resident Evil game more fun...
Plus you play as Jill Valentine! Feisty (hot) original ginger character from the first installment!
But I didn't play as Jill in her (optional) foxy boob tube and mini-skirt unlockable, I played as Jill in her S*T*A*R*S uniform, it was something of a continuum (spelling corrections welcomed) to my last Umbrella themed outing... RE:DS
The whole adventure was glorious! Getting back to the RCPD hedquaters was fun! Seeing it trashed and burning was great, but seeing more of Racoon City was a revelation! God I loved kicking zombie ass all over the place! But then we have to mention 'him'...
Ol' Nemesis, the skirt wearing, dentally challenged, well erm... Nemesis, that pussies around in his Goth splendour throughout the game, kicking ass, with either his bare hands or on occasion with a rocket launcher.
God he's a pain in the arse! But you know what? He's 'take-down-able,' and, with the right load of ammo and health, that bitch is toast! Which means I eventually, completed the game! And if you want more you can always play the Mercenaries mini-game where you have to shoot as many zombies as you can in a set time...
So that means within 2007, I played five Resident Evil games on various consoles and completed them all. It even led me to posture on the Planet Dreamcast Forum that the franchise was better than Shenmue...
Bollocks! That's mad talk! But being so bowled over by Capcom's odyssey, I was lured into making such a statement...
Shenmue 1 & 2 still remain the defining games for the console... But the Resident Evil titles give my favourite a GOOD run for it's money!!! Buy RE2, RE3 and RE:CV for the Dreamcast and revel in their unique glory... Oh and BTW, I've just been kiling time on my favourite console till the new kid on the block comes around... Umbrella Chronicles on Wii. You can find out more about that... here!
Sometimes I take a gamble and throw money at a game that has next to no information out there about it other than, well...that's the said game is a bit odd, quirky, bizarre, unexpected, bonkers, and quite unlike anything else out there in a world full of games that want to be part of the "in" by coping each other to death. While you are very unlikely to see any risk taking oddness over here, Japan has, like many they do with many other things, has a habit of putting that exactly the kind of games I'm talking about. The obvious problem with this is the language barrier, which is made even more difficult when some of these games have no info on them online whatsoever, unless you get lucky with a translated guide.
Of course, 'odd' doesn't exactly mean good or bad, so the gamble comes in wherever or not said daft idea actually works, or in this case, can work when you can't read a word of Japanese. Luckily, Dreamcast import games can be picked up pretty cheap, especially compared to Japanese Saturn games which are often far above my budget. The following games will be rated for how playable they are, how much you can manage playing it without any knowledge of the lingo, and of course how bloody weird they are.
SENGOKU TURB
Blew about £6 on this one. First time I had seen it on Ebay and still sealed up so I took the plunge, convinced it'd be one of those "so bad it's good" experiences judging from this video below. What I got was a action RPG that appears to be animated using a bunch of Playmobil toys and Lego blocks, and voice acting from strangled robotic mutant cats with rabies. But hey, at least most of the menu's are in English!
The game starts with the heroine, and anorexic playmobil girl a some floating cat things running away from a bunch of explosions. Your character is sent off to some planet populated by cats that are currently at war with erm...fairies, and you end up becoming a leader of a group of cat troops who are all useless and die within minutes of a battle. This is about all I could make out from the lengthly cut scenes full of text and ear destroying voices.
The actual battle is real time like Phantasy Star Online, only crap. You run about at the start with a dingy little sword and swing clumsily at fairies as all your cat troops mass suicide. Every time you kill one of the darn things it releases the most horrific scream you have ever heard. Somehow I beat the first level and now I have two new areas I can go to, both of which I die at within seconds, and this is as far as I have bothered to go so far. There is probably something I have to upgrade or something, but the most unlike the menus, all the items are in Japanese. In between the level I beat and the level I'm stuck at there was this odd scene where some Cat characters catch a small fairy and you have to decide wherever or not to let it free or er...eat it. Hmm.
RANDOM FACT: The game is developed by NEC, who actually produced the graphics processor for the Dreamcast. You would think they would know how to use their hardware well if they developed it, but judging by this game they must of accidentally ported a poor N64 engine over.
So was it worth it? No, not really. The music is darn catchy though, even if everything else goes out of it's way to hurt your ears and eyes. Despite this, Segagaga Domain's description of the mini-game filled sequel is tricking me into thinking that will be worth buying cheap, if just for it's title alone which is the longest and most ridiculous title I have ever seen.
Sengoku Turb - Fanfan I Love me Dunce doublentendre.
Wow.
ROOMMANIA # 203
I had read the odd review of this one, which was also ported and given a sequel on the PS2, apparently it was pretty popular, and there is also some very helpful guides for this game floating around on the Internet, so I gave it a shot. Imagine an interactive version of Big Brother only without the annoying freaks desperate for fame and you're half way there with what this is like. You play as, wait for it...GOD, or at least a deity sent down by god to watch over a lazy waste of space Japanese guy who slumps about in his flat doing nothing with his life, and you have to make his life more interesting by acting as his Jiminy Cricket and leading him into situations he would never get into on his own.
You have multiple camera angles of his apartment in which he'll mostly be sitting in, watching TV (which will sometimes show footage from Crazy Taxi, of all things!) and smoking. To motivate him into looking at something, you have to throw little ping balls at objects in timed succession to slowly ween him over to it. Throw them too fast, and he will do anything but what you want, too slow and he'll not notice you. It takes quite a while to nail the timing.
The real fun comes about from when he leaves the apartment for work. Now you are able to travel all over the apartment and really mess about with his stuff. For example, you can take away objects like his alarm clock, turn the TV on, moves things like his table about, or even lock the front door. Then in the afternoon when he returns from work, you can watch as he freaks out. There's nothing quite like seeing him walk in on a trashed table and panicking that someone may of broke in, or having to climb through the window when you lock his door. fart arsing around with his stuff and seeing his reaction is the highlight of the game.
You have missions set to you, which you are given so many game days to beat, which are given to you with nothing but a visual clue. If you fail most of these missions the guy will lose his job and get kicked out of the apartment, succeed in them and all sorts of truly bizarre events will happen to him, which I'd rather not spoil. Simply put, this is a amazingly unique game easily up there with Seaman that you'll most defiantly need a guide for if you have no Japanese knowledge, but is well worth a try. It;s also full of the kind of stuff that would be impossible to get any kind of intelligible translation from because it's just so Japanese (much like a lot of Segagaga), including this odd puppet show the guy watches. Ii will baffle and confuse you to no end, but you'll still find yourself somehow wrapped up into it.
KIRESTUBOY'S GAN-GA-GAN
What sold me on this one was the fact that it uses the Microphone, which you apparently use to shout at monsters. Other than that I had no idea what to expect. When you first start up the game I presume it asks you you to shout into the microphone, to which based on your voice will pick a little monster for you to play as (I got that little green samurai type thing in the left center of the box art). From there you walk around what appears to be a Japanese house (You're tiny, by the way, so everything is massive) and bumping into things seems to randomly set of battles with other monsters thingys. This is where some knowledge of the lingo would come in handy. You have a little stage each and you have to shout at each other, producing huge stone words that will smack into your opponent. Obviously though, most of the time I shout gibberish at the mic, I'll just produce a question mark that doesn't do anything, and then I get my arse kicked as huge Japanese words pummel my poor little Samurai. Shouting the same words the opponents say seems to sometimes work, but I think you have a certain saying for your own monster you must use, and of course I don't know what that is. Oddly enough i have lost a lot of battles but never seem to get a game over screen, it just seems to go on forever. I really need a guide for this if I expect to get anywhere at all, me thinks.
PRO YAKYU TEAM DE ASOBU SERIES
The least 'odd' game of the bunch but odd enough as these kind of cartoon baseball games have been all the rage in Japan for yonks while we're stuck with the boring realism of World Series Baseball and the like. This particular series by Sega started on the Saturn, and is not quite as popular as Konami's similar series which is still going with it's latest edition on the Wii and PS2, whereas this Sega series stopped a after one or two PS2 installments.
In other words, this game is wonderful, if only for the HomeRun mode for me, as I haven't really figured out the controls or all the rules of the main game, but once you know what you're doing you've got yourself a fun and additive game with some of the bounciest most fun cartoon graphics I have seen on the Dreamcast, up there with the visuals in Florigan Bros. The muppet like characters with their daft high pitched voices are a right laugh, too. "PLAYBUUUU!"
There's about 4 or 5 versions of this game which are mostly the same, and from I've seen the one with the box above is your best bet as some of the others are management sims with a feck load of Japanese text. Dreamcast Doctor, a Youtuber who shows of quite a few unusual Japanese Dreamcast games at his account (he's pretty hardcore, he even has the big Segagaga box set which he shows off in one video), has a video of one of these games which may or may not sell you on it.
There are many other strange games out there that I will, one day, find cheap enough to risk buying for a few hours of confusion and bafflement, and if my attempts so far are anything to go by, at the most half of these will actually be good games. We shall see..
It's been up for a little while now, but there's enough content there now to let everyone know about it. I've set up a Dreamcast Junkyard account on Photobucket where I will be placing as much official Dreamcast related images as I can find, so long as they are of high quality. The bulk of the account so far is something I've been working on for a little while now, getting high resolution scans of every Dreamcast game cover. Some of them are 600X600 pixels but a majority of them are a whopping 1400X1400 pixels a piece, the biggest available scans of these game covers that I know to exist on the Internet (of course, I could be wrong, but you'd have to do some deep searching to find any bigger than that).
I'm providing this as a resource for anyone to use. For example for articles on this very blog you could just go straight here rather than having to hunt for them on Google image search where you'll most likely find crappy small scans with nasty watermarks on them. There is also a bunch of artwork and wallpapers on the account in from the likes of Samba De Amigo, Jet Set Radio and Space Channel 5.
You'll notice this rather huge scan above in the covers section of the rare gem Cosmic Smash, one of the few games to come in a DVD case. This will be because I recently got my hands on it via good old Ebay, and I'll be writing an article on it sometime soon. =)
While I'm at it, here's some of my favorite covers from the games in my collection. Admittedly most of them are the Japanese covers as they always seem to be the most artistic to me. The PAL Crazy Taxi cover is a minimalist work of art, though. Click on them to see them in all their high-res glory.
That last one? I'll have to explain what that game is at some point as well..
Looks like the announcement of the Wii Samba De Amigo has brought the fans of the original out of the woodwork, all showing off why this game always has and always will rock your socks off. here's another Youtube video of someone doing essentially the same as I have just done only far more professionally: he has someone filming him for a start, with a better camera that can actually show the TV screen without going all white. I could probably kick his arse at the game though, if that is not the hard mode he is playing, that is..
So are you running about on Ebay looking for this little beauty yet? I'm sure you're getting sick of hearing about it for a full week. XD
While I'm still on a Samba De Amigo high here (the annocement of the new Wii version has made me go back to the game, playing it for a good few hours over the last week) here's a brand new video feature showcasing the contents of the Maraca boxset as well as showing some gameplay (complete with flailing about and shouting at the telly, looking like a right tit. Sorry about the sound quality that is quite a bit of the loud side at times (the mircophone I was using wasn't that great to be honest), and the picture quality isn't up to scratch because my parents have taken the camcorder with them on holiday so I'm using my EyeToy, funnily enough. Turned into another 9 minute video, this, but hopefully it's an enjoyable 9 mintues..
Here's a great video review of Samba De Amigo I found on Youtube just recently by PNTgame. What with the Wii version on it's way this Spring, it's probably wise I get back into this to get the feel for it again. It just won't be the same without the rattling red lumps of plastic though! Hopefully someone will put out an attachment for the Wii remotes that transforms them into maracas, and why not? They make plastic swords, golf clubs and just recently even table tennis paddles. The one time we actually WANT a daft plastic attachment and Sega won't give us it? Anyway, enjoy this brilliant review that not only gives you a darn good analysis of how the game plays, but is also bloody funny.
And while we're at it, here's some more Samba De Amigo videos! For anyone with a Wii: Buy this when it comes out. If you don't own a Wii but can't afford the Dreamcast version: Buy a Wii. If you can't wait: throw the £70-odd at it anyway! Unlike most games that sell for crazy money, it's worth it. I mean, just look at how much fun this guy is having!
If your a real cheap sod though, you could also go with the version found in Sega Superstars on the Playstation 2 using the EyeToy. But...it's just not the same, although maybe it's because I'm not as good at it as this guy..
If you want the best possible experience right now though, you need to get the Japanese expansion release Version 2000, as it added a bunch of new stuff to the game play, like shaking both maracas back and forth in different directions and rotating them in a circle. It also has a rather amusing volleyball mini which is best in 2 player, although you'll want to own the first edition of Samba as well for that one has a bunch of mini games of it's own too, the best of which is WHACK A MOLE. What's not to like?
Oh and the maracas? Instead of buying two of the official sets, you could save money by buying the Cha Cha Amigo third-party maracas as your second pair, which you can buy on Play-Asia cheap! Also: They have lights in them that flash when you shake 'em! How cool is that? I still need to get me a pair of those.
Greatest rhythm game I have ever played. Guitar Hero can kiss my arse.
I'm sure many of you remember this article I wrote about Dreamcast games that could be re-worked into motion controlled Wii games. Of course, it didn't take that article for anyone else to think that the maraca rhythm game Samba De Amigo would be a perfect match for the Nintendo system: everyone was thinking it. Luckily, it looks like Sega heard us, as they officially confirmed it today.
LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO (October 25 2007) - SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. are excited to announce that they are bringing back Samba De Amigo, the Dreamcast classic that helped to create the now-popular rhythm music genre. Created exclusively for the Wii home video game system, this vibrant and addictive new game lets players shake to the beats of a samba-infused soundtrack comprised of popular new songs as well as fan-favorites from the original game.
Playing as the grinning, sombrero-topped monkey, Amigo, players shake the Wii Remote and Nunchuk like maracas, in time with the visual beats of the music on-screen. The perfect party game, Samba De Amigo is packed with lively stages and a host of colorful characters. More details about this exciting new title including a full song listing as well as new special features will be revealed over the next few months.
“The Wii’s controllers enable players to enjoy Samba De Amigo’s unique gameplay without having to purchase an expensive peripheral,” said Rick Naylor, Director of Marketing at SEGA. “Between the music, the quirky art style, and the maraca-shaking players, Samba De Amigo is as much fun to watch as it is to play.”
Developed by acclaimed developer, Gearbox Software, Samba De Amigo will be exclusively available for the Wii in spring 2008. For more information, please visit www.sega.com.
There has been rumors about this spreading like wildfire for a while now, but Sega have finally let the cat (or should I say monkey) out of the bag. The one odd part to it is that the Wii version is being developed by Gearbox, who are mainly known for first person shooters, including the unreleased Dreamcast version of Half-Life, funnily enough. They're also developing another game for Sega based on the Aliens franchise. Hmm.
Still, this is great news for everyone who missed out on the original, rather expensive Dreamcast release (and by everyone I mean 99.99% of the worlds' population) and great news for those who did play it but want more of it!
But there's more! Just a few weeks back another Dreamcast game was reveled to be getting a re-make on the Wii! Sega Bass Fishing! Ha! Looks like Sega is starting to show that they still have som,e brains left and are bringing back the great Dreamcast franchises they left for dead! This along with the upcoming X-Box Live releases of Ikaruga and Rez HD, as well as a follow up to Bangai-O on the DS and Seaman 2 on the PS2, shows just how great the Dreamcast line up was as studios are falling over each other to bring them back to life to excite a new generation of gamers. (P.S to Sega: Now give us ChuChu Rocket as a Wii Ware title, please!)
DCEvolution.net, home of the finest free Hombrew Dreamcast games and apps, has created a Halloween themed Dreamcast E-book/activity CD.
Scary stories, pictures, audio and other such cool stuff abound in this CD image which can be used in both the Dreamcast and your PC. The PC version is also an excellent source for scary text fonts for use in Halloween party invitations.
You know what? Looking back the '90s were pretty damn cool. There was actually good music on the radio all the time. We had kick ass Sega consoles to play video games on. My taste in clothing and personal hygiene were seen as "cool" and "Grunge" rather than "being a scruffy looking SOB". For a very brief time the Internet was cool as well. This was before vast amounts of idiots knew how to invade EVERY SINGLE decent chat room and message board. And of course the late '90s were the time of the Dreamcast (back before it became undead). This was also the time of the Classic Game Room. The first retro video game review Internet show.
Before the dot-com bubble burst this show reviewed the latest and greatest video games. You can learn more about the show at their website.
Anyways, they reviewed video games in a minimalist style that was sometimes insane, but always fun to watch. Here are a selection of some of their reviews of Dreamcast titles. You can learn something about the games, but please take these with a grain of salt. They were meant to be for entertainment. For Gods sakes they gave "Gundam" a higher rating than "Virtual On"!!! But still, enjoy...
...Did I also post these because I am too busy to make my own review video? Yes.
If you have played the demo for Alice Dreams you will recognize this game. I think it started out as a mini-game for AD and got more and more popular. In any case it is gonna get released in 2008. Holy crap this video is sweet.
Wow! VMU Support! There are actually modes where using the VMU is a big part of the game. FINALLY!
Hmm. Bombs, Mazes, 4 players, and sweet looking graphics.
How about side scrolling video games? Do you enjoy those?
Don't you wish there was some way you could have all those things in one Dreamcast game?
Well friends you are in luck! Here is the first video out for "Donk" a new game coming out for the Dreamcast! From Cryptic Allusion, the same people who brought us "Feet of Fury". www.cagames.com
It's an early video, but I think it looks pretty good so far.
It's scheduled to be released in time for Christmas this year.
Recently I have been playing a lot of fighting games on my Genesis, Sega CD and Saturn consoles. The various incarnations of the Sega six button controller work very well for those games.
As sexy as the standard Dreamcast controller is, it just doesn't seem work on the same level for 2D fighting games like Capcom vs SNK. Don't get me wrong, for games like Power Sword and Soul Calibur it's perfect and for most other genres I would rather have a Dreamcast controller. But after some gameplay on different pads it's tough to go from breaking fools with a Saturn slim six button to a Dreamcast controller with only 4.
So to deal with this issue I have been looking around in local game shops in NY State for solution.
This weekend I hit PAY-DIRT...
The ASCII Pad, the capcom special edition one. It had already been opened so my desire to keep things NRFB didn't get in my way of taking it out and trying it out.
Notice all the non-English writing on the box? Yeah I was afraid that it wouldn't work in my American Dreamcast. I had never tried to use any Japanese hardware... But it worked AWESOME.
I really enjoyed using this controller with Capcom VS SNK. Cammy kicked much computer controller player's ass.
How kick ass is this controller? Very. It's got built in rumble and everything.
In any case it also came with some cards detailing the special moves for all the Capcom characters. Kanji? I can't read it! NOOOOOOO!!!!! The art is still cool.
Overall this is a pretty cool collectible and I am glad I picked it up.
God he's a pain in the arse! But you know what? He's 'take-down-able,' and, with the right load of ammo and health, that bitch is toast! Which means I eventually, completed the game! And if you want more you can always play the Mercenaries mini-game where you have to shoot as many zombies as you can in a set time...
The ASCII Pad, the capcom special edition one. It had already been opened so my desire to keep things NRFB didn't get in my way of taking it out and trying it out.
