Rolling Start

Ah, Daytona USA. One of my favourite racing series...along with Sega Rally, Thunder, Rush, Colin McRae, WipEout, Outrun and WRC. And a whole gut-load of others, too. What is it about Daytona that warms my cockles? I'm not really sure, but the combination of cringeworthy music, bright visuals and fuzzy car control probably has something to do with it. Oh, and that awesome Sonic mural carved into the cliff face on the final turn of 777 Speedway. If I ever win the lottery, I'm having an artificial cliff face constructed in the grounds of my mansion just so I can have that mural carved into it. The inhabitants of the small rural hamlet that then falls under it's shadow will no doubt petition to get it torn down, but the 30 foot mech I'll also build will silence them.

Going back to Daytona, the original Saturn port was serviceable but the updated Championship Circuit Edition was better, even if the car handling was slightly weird. Oh, and it had the best menu music ever. The 2000/2001 reboot is one of my favourite games on the Dreamcast and features some brilliant tracks and amazing graphics. To illustrate the point, check out this video I knocked up comparing the visuals and audio from the three different console versions mentioned here:

Half-Life: Dreamcast Vs PS2

The story surrounding the Dreamcast port of Valve's seminal shooter Half-Life is one that is full of mystery. The game was pretty much complete and ready to go, but then it was suddenly cancelled for reasons no-one really understands. Actually, thinking about it, it was probably to do with Sega pulling support for the system but that isn't as exotic as the report I read that involved Sony paying the publisher a large sum of cash to drop the title. Before anyone jumps down my throat, that's just a rumour I read somewhere and there's (probably) no truth in it. At all. Regardless, the DC port leaked quite some time ago now - I mentioned that I'd got hold of a copy way back in 2006 - and I've played through the main game and the Blue Shift side story multiple times now. I'd never played the PS2 port though, so when I saw it for £1 in a pawn shop I snapped it up. What else could that pound coin have gotten me? Half a lottery ticket? A sloppy custard tart in a greasy bag from Greggs? Maybe even a Pot Noodle...although I haven't had one of those delicacies for a while so I'm not sure how much they cost these days.

So Half-Life on the PS2, then. How does it compare to the Dreamcast port? I was expecting it to be vastly superior if I'm honest, seeing as the PS2 is supposedly much more technically capable and the game benefitted from having a larger team and a longer development/polishing term. But upon playing it, I was surprised to see that the DC version is every bit as good. There are minor differences, such as slightly longer loading times on the DC one, but the other differences aren't detrimental to Sega's machine. For a start, in DC Half-Life, you can move around in the monorail car in the intro - you can't move in the PS2 port. There's also more music in DC Half-Life, but the PS2 game adds helpful 'hint' boxes around switches and things that you can interact with while DC gamers are left to press everything they can see in the hope it'll open a door/call a lift. Character models' faces in the PS2 game benefit from having slightly more creepy eyes, too. Anyway, I've created a short(ish) video demonstrating the intro section of the game on both systems. I may do another one showing some actual gunplay at a later date but for now, sit back and check out Half-Life: Dreamcast Vs PS2:

Redux: Dark Matters is finally out on Dreamcast!

As covered over at RetroCollect and previewed here at the 'Yard by the Gagaman a few months back, HUCAST's remix of space shooter DUX is now out and available to buy. I personally haven't played either DUX or the subsequent DUX 1.5...but helpfully I'm not blind, so I can use my eyeballs to see that these games look pretty damn good. The last side scrolling shooter I played was Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy on the Atari Jaguar (just this morning, in fact folks!), and I must say that Redux: Dark Matters looks several magnitudes better than that ever will. But then, you knew that already!

Here's a snazzy Youtube trailer:

And here's a link if you fancy buying a copy.

Triple Threat

Well, Christmas has been and gone, and we were a little quiet here at the 'Yard. Mainly because the Dreamcast has been out of production for the last decade, but we don't let that get us down! And in any case - Happy 2014 to our loyal readers and DC lovers! On a slightly different note, I made a new video recently and I thought I should post here as well as elsewhere...if that makes sense.

It's a comparison video showing the various graphical differences between the console releases of San Francisco Rush 2049 on the DC, N64 and Xbox. I think you'll agree that the DC version looks pretty much identical to (if not slightly better than) the 'arcade perfect' Xbox version (which was included as part of the Midway Arcade Treasures 3 compilation). I think the most notable differences between the N64 and other versions is the lack of a headlight effect, and the Xbox version's tire smoke looks a bit thicker than that in the DC version...but have a look and form your own opinion. Enjoy: