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100: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure |
| 'Bizarre' is right; this is one of the strangest fighting games you'll ever play. Capcom does the manga comic book superb justice with this pair of arcade ports on one disc that let's you fight as a Chihuahua, drop steamrollers on peoples heads and shoot nipples darts. I'm serious. |
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99: Wacky Races |
A fun cartoon racer from Infogrames. Not only do the graphics and sound re-create the Hanna-Barbera classic in fantastic 3D, but there is loads of content to discover and unlock, providing tons of hours of game play.
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98: Sega Swirl |
| The only game in this chart that was given away for free (excluding the European release of a certain other puzzle game) on demo disc and the Sega Smash Pack, Sega Swirl has all sorts of game modes of up to 4 players, and before you know it your evening has vanished. |
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97: Trigger Heart Exelica |
| The most recent game to reach the top 100, released in Japan in 2007! A scrolling shooter with a unique grab-things-and-chuck-them-back-at-them mechanic as some rather scantly clad anime girls attached to rockets. |
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96: D2 |
| ..and the reward for shortest title goes to..D2 is a huge 4 disc adventure that has you struggling through the snowy hills facing off against deformed mutants. Check out Caleb's Rummage! video review of it if you haven't already! |
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95: Spiderman |
| The web slinger's first major 3D outing had many people's Spider senses tingling as it has made it in the chart. Developed by the Tony Hawk's team, this game has tons of un-lockable goodies such as the bag man costume! Type a swear word into the password screen and Spidey will give it a wee slap! Tee hee! |
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94: Star Wars Episode One : Racer |
| The only thing most people actually enjoyed about about the first Star Wars prequel is transformed into a equally enjoyable racing game. A shame it's a port from the N64 rather than the Sega arcade game, but what you gonna do.. |
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93: Super Puzzle Fighter II X |
| Released in Japan as part of Capcom's 'Matching Service' series, this puzzle classic had an online mode added among other things. Famous Street Fighter and Darkstalkers characters get shrunk into cartoon cuties that scrap with each other as you clear coloured gems to wipe the other player out. |
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92: Bust -a- Move 4 / Puzzle Bobble 4 |
| This series needs no introduction, and this forth installment is one of the best in the series. Point your arrow and shoot bubbles to pop matching colours: it couldn't be simpler yet new game play features make battles vs the computer or another player an all out war that can turn at any moment in your favor or not. |
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91: Tech Romancer |
A bit of a cult favorite this one. This 3D fighter from Capcom spoofs various giant robot Japanese anime and TV shows. A sort of spiritual sequel to the Saturn classic Cyberbots, Jin Saotome (also in Marvel Vs Capcom 1 + 2) and his Blodia robot are unlockable in this game, among many other unlockables like the VMU mini-game "Punch Love".
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90: Re-Volt |
| One of the most fun 4 player racing games on the system, Re-Volt has you steering radio controlled cars around streets, gardens and museums with weapons in toll. There are loads of cars to collect and a bizarre clockwork toy mode that has you racing 30 cars at once, and a stunt mode. |
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89: Pen Pen Triicelon |
| AKA 'that game that got it's own poll because I forgot it'. A sudden flood of votes near the end meant this game didn't miss out on a place in the top 100. A rather odd but enjoyable cartoon racer, check out my Rummage! video review all about it. |
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88: Illbleed |
A survival horror that can be best described as 'so bad it's good'. A daft plot about a theme park that has a $100million reward for anyone that can get through it alive, the game tracks not only your psychical health but also your mental health: your six senses. With this in mind you can actually die from freight. This game has of the most bizarre scenes you will ever see, such as a Toy Story parody which has you facing a giant demon Sonic.
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87: Yu Suzuki GameWorks |
A collection of Yu Suzuki's 1980's arcade classics all on one disc, sold with a book about his career as one of Sega's leading creative minds, a rare collectible now but clearly popular enough to reach the top 100. The disc contains Outrun, Super Hang-On, After Burner II, Space Harrier and Power Drift. Small changes to the games include a new non-Ferrari car in Outrun and Shenmue banners in Hang-On.
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86: Sonic Shuffle |
| The blue hog has his crack at a Mario Party style game, that is even developed by the same team as that series. Replacing dice with cards, grabbing chaos emeralds scattered around the board, you need to battle monsters, collect rings and of course play mini games! |
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85: Puyo Puyo Fever |
Sega's last first-party release on the Dreamcast in 2004, Sonic Team took over the series originally designed by Compile and mixed things up with a new Fever mode and new Puyo blob shapes. The game has hardcore Puyo fans split down the middle (mainly for its new cast of characters) yet is still a riot to play and has loads of bonus content in the Dreamcast version, such as wallpaper art for your BIOs and the ability to turn the BIOS into a movable 3D thing.
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84: Cosmic Smash |
A Japanese budget release in rather fancy DVD packaging, Cosmic Smash plays like a mix between Super Breakout's aim (destroy blocks with a ball) and Virtua Tennis like controls (sort of) with an abstract visual style kind of like Rez and atmospheric sound. The game is a direct arcade port with no extras whatsoever (hence the budget release) but can never the less have you hooked to it's additive gameplay.
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83: Fire Pro-Wrestling D |
| The Dreamcast entry in the infamous Japanese 2D wrestling series that started it's life on the PC Engine, FP-WD features over 200 wrestlers from every federation at the time from around the world, and more game modes and options then you could ever hope for. Knocks Accalim's rubbish Wrestling games out of the ring without breaking a sweat. |
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82: Record of Lodoss Wars |
| Based on an anime yet with a very western style isometric RPG with wizards, orcs and knights in shiny armor. The Dreamcast didn't have many RPG's but here is the first of a select few to make it into the Top 100. |
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81: Super Street Fighter II X |
| Another online-enabled 'for Matching Service' release, this time of the all-time classic Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Proof positive that this game is a timeless classic no matter what console it's re-released on. |
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80: King of Fighters 2000 |
Not the only KOF game to make the list that's for sure,but the first that wasn't released outside japan and the first developed by Playmore, who took over all of SNK's brands when the original company went bankrupt, saving them from extinction. I found myself quite addicted to the bonus picture slide puzzles, for some reason.
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79: San Francisco Rush 2049 |
Midway's arcade legacy continues with this futuristic sequel that adds a very odd extra feature to the cars...wings! This completely changes up the game play however and makes this one of the more unique racers out there. You'll actually find yourself spending hours flying around the courses searching for the highly elusive coins that can be very difficult to reach but oh so rewarding when you do grab them. Don't even get me started on the stunt mode, I've lost days to that.
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78: Cool Cool Toon |
Quite a departure for SNK, for this is neither 2D nor a fighting/shooting game but rather a rhythm game with a unique analogue control system that takes some getting used to but once it clicks it's great fun. A wonderful cartoon art style, creative levels and lots of unlock make this Japan only release a must play.
"Cool Cool Toon was just wonderful. Its ingenious gameplay made me smile every time. My favorite of the many excellent songs was Yellow Dog -- best played with a sub-woofer! I even wanted to dance like Amp!" -Terry
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77: Mr. Driller |
After Namco blessed the Dreamcast with a certain highly-ranked fighter, they pretty much gave up on the console. However, they did drop us this rather neat puzzle game that has you drilling through colourful blocks, desperately gasping for air tanks and trying to not get crushed by the falling blocks above. Could have very well of been one of their oldest classics, yet here it was in 2000 for the first (but not last) time, with plenty of game modes to keep you going.
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76: 18 Wheeler |
| One of Sega's many arcade ports, sadly this one didn't get bundled with the same gigantic wheel and horn from the arcades, but it's still fun with the extra Score Attack mode and PARKING MODE. Go check out my Rummage! video review of it!. |
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75: Dynamite Cop |
| Great fun this. The sequel to the Sega Saturn game Die Hard Arcade, use anything you see to beat up the bad guys including French Bread! Pepper! Mannequins! Arcade cabinets! and of course the anti ship missile! This here is another game I did a Rummage! video review of, don't you know. |
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74: Virtua Striker 2 |
Football/Soccer games were hardly the Dreamcast's strongest point, yet this arcade port from Sega none the less has it's fans. No official FIFA stats or team management options here, just pick a country and kick about. The replays of your best goals with the rainbow effect are pretty neat with a rating system of how good each goal was, and there are some crazy secret teams!
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73: Border Down |
One of those shmups that came out after the Dreamcast was off store shelfs, including a limited print run and a special edition that goes for mega bucks. In fact there was so much demand G.Rev produced another small batch last year which naturally sold in five seconds flat too. Each time you get shot in this game you drop to a lower, even harder level of the stage, making it one of the tougher shooters on the DC.
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72: Blue Stinger |
| Before Illbleed Climax made this launch title, another survival horror that borders on camp with it's unintentionally (?) hilarious dialog, perhaps the pure reason it even made the list. Despite this there is fun to be had with this wonky little game. |
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71: Fur Fighters |
Almost released under the name Furballs until a copyright got in the way, Fur Fighters takes the cute cuddly style (right down to the gobbledygook voices) of Banjo-Kazooie and gives the characters guns to shoot the stuffing out of each other. An amusing story in the one player mode complete and a fun 4 player deathmatch mode to boot.
"Fur fighters blew me away with unfaltering quality and depth, sense of humour and tons of references and small touches that really made it: Definitely not just a kids game." - A Moomintroll
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70: Gigawing 2 |
| Improving on the prequel (also on DC but not high enough for the Top 100) with colourful 3D graphics, Gigawing 2 is a crazy shmup with thousands of bullets on screen that can be sucked up or wiped out with sezuire inducing bombs, and a score board that in no time racks up to ridiculously huge numbers. |
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69: Segagaga |
The best evidence of Sega's ballsy creativity on the Dreamcast, SGGG is something of a swan song for Sega's console history amde for the most hardcore fans of their legacy. You start work at Sega and capture wild developers who you later get to work on computers where they'll develop games that will help Sega's dwindling profits. The fan service and in-jokes are immense. There is nothing quite like this RPG anywhere else by anyone else.
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68: Mars Matrix |
A Capcom 2D shmup that will test your reflexes and hand-eye coordination until everything becomes an abstract blur and you feel a bit dizzy, but you'll love every moment of it. The crazy presentation chucks everything at you so fast your eyes barely keep up with any of it, and the store items to buy require so many points you'll be playing it for a long time. $99999999999999 for a new ship colour, anyone?
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67: Cannon Spike |
| Another Capcom shmup? In this 3D one you can play as many classic characters such as Cammy, Megaman, Arthur from Ghouls N Ghosts, that kid from 3 Wonders and B.B Hood, shooting out hordes of enemies including a very odd looking Vega! |
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66: Outtrigger |
| Sega AM2 inject their trade mark arcade style into the first person shooter genre and the results are a blast. America and Japan also benefited from online play which I'm sure helped it into it's spot here on the list. many FPS on Dreamcast are ported over from the PC, but this one is still an exclusive to the console. |
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65: Resident Evil 3: Nemesis |
| It may be ported straight over from the Playstation with only a few bells and whistles added, many were still engrossed with this classic survival horror with that vital unique element of the nemesis hunting you down. |
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64: NBA 2K Series |
EA decided not to support the Dreamcast, so Sega came up with their own Sports series that would not only fill the hole left by the lack of any EA sports, but for many at the time these were considered even better, starting with this Basketball series that lasted on the Dreamcast for 3 installments. |
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63: Bomberman Online |
Only released in America, a much needed Bomberman installed was released in 2001 with the highlight obviously being it's online play and customizable character. Even now there is still plenty there for offline multi-player (as should be expected) and even one player with a whole load of brand new game modes with unique rules.
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62: Sega GT |
Sega have had a crack at just about every kind of racing game imaginable over the years, so a Gran Turismo style game was inevitable at some point. Complete with hundreds of cars to unlock and a neat VMU mini-game. |
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61: King of Fighters Dream Match 1999 + '99 Evolution |
| These two KOF games with very similar names got the same amount of votes so here they are as one entry. Dream Match 1999 is actually KOF '98, and '99 Evolution is the real '99, does that make any sense? |
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60: Worms Armageddon / World Party |
| Team17's classic cartoon strategy series that began life on the Amiga returns in all its 2D sheep exploding, donkey dropping glory. World Party was an update release that added, as the title suggests, online play. |
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59: Under Defeat |
Another one of those late shmup releases, this one from 2006 and also with a special edition that fetches a lot of cash. From Border Down creators G.Rev, this one has stunning graphics from the explosions to the rustling trees and cloud effects. It's not the highest helicopter based shmup on this list however... |
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58: Street Fighter III Double Impact |
This disc contains the first two installments of the Street Fighter III series, which have still never been ported anywhere else. Ryu and Ken are joined by a all new cast of characters such as British boxer Dudley, ninja lady Ibuki and the leggy African Elena. Incredible 2D animation so smooth it still has yet to be beaten. Also has incredible in game artwork and backgrounds. |
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57: Le Mans 24 Hours |
An incredible game from Infogrames based on the famous endurance sports car race that takes place in France. The game gets a perfect balance between simulation and arcade fun, giving you the ability to tinker with the games settings to whatever you prefer, and even has two completely different soundtracks for different tastes. The graphics are stunning, but it's the game play that makes this so engrossing. There is even a mode where you can actually play for a running time of 24 hours, coming back to it by saving in the pits. There is nothing quite like seeing the real time sun rise and sun set while driving.
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56: Resident Evil 2 |
Another port over from the Playstation, maybe making up for the fact that the Sega Saturn never received this game. Still a lot of fans favorite in the series, or at least the series before the game play changed in RE4. Capcom also ported Dino Crisis over, though that hasn't made the list.
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55: Last Blade 2 |
One of SNK's last fighting games before Playmore picked up the pieces, this is a beautiful samurai game that isn't as flashy as other 2D fighters but offers so much depth and a brilliant cast of characters. The American release was oddly censored, re-colouring the blood white and cutting some content out entirely. I can't think of many fighting games where one of the characters starts crying when she chops an opponent in half.
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54: Zombie Revenge |
An arcade House of the Dead spin-off that replaces light gun game play for scrolling beat 'em up action. A cheesy story with some of the silliest named video game characters ever (Stick Brightring? Linda Rotta?) and the ingenious VMU mini-game Zombie Fishing! The Dreamcast sure has a lot of daft horror games, and this one is great fun to play too!
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53: Sword of the Berserk: Gut's Rage |
Based on the popular Manga, this adventure hack and slash gives you a sword so big it'd make Cloud Strife blush, which you naturally use to hack up mutated monsters and demons. Lengthy cut scenes tell the story of Guts, Casca and the naked fairy sidekick Puck, who travel to a town plagued by a decease that turns people into monsters. Oh, and there's a guy in it called 'Balzac'. Nuff said.
"Easily one of the few times I was moved by a story in a game, and in it's time, few games compared visually." -Jason
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52: Toy Commander |
A launch title that stood out for many, drive toy tanks, cars, planes and helicopters around a house, shooting enemies with pencils, pins and rubbers. Bosses include an evil weapon packed teddy bear and a Godzilla toy in a bunny costume! Great fun in both single and multi-player: racing, aerial combat, missions and driving up the side of walls! Sega also released Toy Racer in Europe, a small online game for only £5, with half going to charity.
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51: Unreal Tournament |
| One of the biggest PC first person shooters arrived on Dreamcast with this excellent port that even had online play in America (though sadly cut from the European version). The voice work in particular makes this even more satisfying when you get multiple kills in a row. |
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50: King of Fighters 2002 |
| The last KOF released on Dreamcast and the highest on this chart, this dream match installment is a fan favorite for reasons you'll have the ask the hardcore fans about: it must be really well balanced or something. |
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49: Seaman |
Sega certainly made a lot of unique games on the Dreamcast, but this one takes the cake. In with virtual pet sim you raise a fish like creature that has a human face and using the microphone attachment you can talk to it and it'll talk back. Not so much a 'game' as it is a very odd experience, the fish grows into a sarcastic little git that asks all sorts of personal questions, even what your favorite Dreamcast game is. He doesn't make a huge poll out of it, though!
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48: Ready 2 Rumble Boxing + Round 2 |
| This launch title got a lot of attention for it's comical character designs and facial expressions that were rarely seen in 3D graphics before then. It's also a very fun, simple 2 player game that anyone can jump into. The sequel (which got the same exact amount of votes) added many new boxers including appearances by Micheal Jackson and Bill and Hilary Clinton! |
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47: Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram |
You don't get much more hardcore then this robot combat game from Sega. The controls pretty much require the especially built twin stick controller to play it right, and it's so fast paced only the truly dedicated will master it. Weapons need to be charged, so you can't just run in and smack the hell out of each other, so taking advantage of the scenery is key. Running at a solid 60fps this game still looks incredible all these years later and is many peoples' favorite in the series.
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46: NFL 2K |
Easily one of the most important franchises on the Dreamcast in America that probably helped the console launch sales more than any other game, NFL 2k had realism of the USA's favorite sport unlike anything seen before, blowing away EA's series. If only "soccer" got the same wonderful treatment on Dreamcast this sport did..
"NFL 2K1 was the complete package and easily the best football game of its time. Nobody can take away the great times I had playing the game with 3 friends, and for that I will always remember the Dreamcast as Sega's little white wonder." - Terry
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45: Garou: Mark of the Wolves |
A swan song for the SNK of old, Mark of the Wolves was the last (to date) in the long running Fatal Fury fighting series, and much like Street Fighter 3 it mainly consists of a brand new cast of characters and has become a cult favorite over the years for it's fantastic animation and deep game play. |
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44: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 |
Not only the series that turned skateboarding into a video game phenomenon, but also a very deep score attack game that takes a lot of practice to get great at, yet is easy to jump into. Two installments arrived on Dreamcast and many still swear by this one as one of the best in the entire series. You could unlock Spiderman as a playable character, too!
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43: Soul Reaver : Legacy Of Kain |
This adventure game starring an undead vampire has you dropping in-between the material and spectral worlds, gobbling up the souls of the monsters you kill, so you can get your revenge on the head honcho Kain who chucked you to your death thousands of years ago. Dark and blooding adventure games are not a common sight on the Dreamcast (with many turning out to be duds) but this one is the cream of the ghostly crop.
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42: MDK2 |
The crazy minds at Interplay and Bioware brings you this comic third person shooter adventure with three characters to play as throughout: Kurt with his sniping skills and skin tight get up, Dr Fluke with his two-item combination mechanic (kill enemies with atomic toast!) and his creation Max: a six legged gun touting, cigar smoking dog. This game is rock hard but will keep you coming back for more.
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41: Capcom Vs. SNK |
A crossover fighting fans always wanted to see finally took place in 2000 with this incredibly well presented battle. Finally you could face off the best of Street Fighters and king of Fighters, and it was a match made in heaven.Tons of content to unlock such as an additional soundtrack made of classic tunes, and there's even a colour edit mode.
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40: Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3 |
Capcom sure knew how to make massive, additive 2D fighting games on Alpha 3 is no exception. The last in the Alpha series, which flourished on the Saturn and PS1, this one has more game modes than most fighting games can even dream of: the stats building World Tour, manic 2 on 1 Dramatic battle mode, and a whole slew of multi-player options and characters.
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39: Zero Gunner 2 |
A rare Capcom 3D shmup from Japan, Zero Gunner 2 has a unique control system which lets you lock and aim your helicopter in any direction you want. With 9 levels of difficulty gamers of any skill level (including 'children' apparently) should be able to enjoy this blow 'em upper with trains that transform into giant robots. You read that last sentence right? Trains...that transform...into giant robots.
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38: Ecco The Dolphin: Defender Of The Future |
Bringing back the Mega Drive classic into the world of 3D was never going to be an easy task but the results were one of the most visually beautiful games on the system. Ecco looks so realistic and you can almost forget about the tough adventures ahead and have fun simply jumping, swimming and diving with the dolphin in and out of the sea. Going in for real you'll find a game just as deep (sorry) and challenging as the original, and underwater atmosphere unlike anything else since.
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37: Virtua Fighter 3tb |
One of the first things everyone asked when the Dreamcast was announced was: "will i be able to play Virtua Fighter 3 on it?" and sure enough, it was there on day one. The Virtua Fighter series has always been Sega's showcase for 3D graphical evolution with staggering results between each new release, and while VF3 was already 2 years old by the time it hit Dreamcast, it was still as fun to play as ever.
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36: Daytona USA 2001 |
While Daytona was perfectly playable on the Saturn, we never did receive a arcade perfect port, so Sega decided to treat us to an enhanced remake on the Dreamcast. America was lucky enough to get online play, and new tracks and cars joined the original classic such as the 777 Speedway and of course, THAT so-cheesy-you-can't-help-but-love-it music. Blue, blue skiiies!
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35: Guilty Gear X |
A 2D fighter not developed by either Capcom or SNK? Shock! This one is rather brilliant though: the sprites are huge which mean on your telly it looks like your playing some crazy anime, with equally nutty characters with inventive attacks like this one girl that beats people up with her long blond hair, or the bloke that makes drills pop out of the ground. This game has since gone the Street Fighter II route with about 568 variants.
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34: Marvel Vs. Capcom |
We had previously seen the X-men take on the Street Fighters but now it was finally down to the nitty gritty with Capcom's first 2D fighter on the Dreamcast. Marvel favorites the Hulk, Spiderman, Venom, Wolverine and Capitan America take on Capcom legends Ryu, Chun-Li, Morrigan and even classics like Megaman and Captain Commando. Random assist characters could also be called in to do extra damage, and these ranged from the vaguely familiar to the downright obscure.
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33: Headhunter |
Sega got in Swedish team Amuze to develop this two-disc stealth and action third-person shooter, which also includes a motorbike racing mode to get you from location to location and V.R training stages. You play as Jack Wade (what a name!) who has woke up with Amnesia after escaping a lab and is needed again as the top bounty hunter he once was. It's a huge game with many cut scenes (some in live action) that may have more than just a few similarities to Metal Gear Solid but it is still er...a solid game in it's own right (groan..).
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32: Hydro Thunder |
Midway's launch title for the Dreamcast is the best console port of this arcade turbo-charged boat racing classic. Getting those boost jumps just right and finding all the shortcuts is essential to beat the rest of the pack and unlock the later stages and advanced boats. You know you're really good at the game when it begins to tell you "You're crazy!".
"For sheer exhilaration, Hydro Thunder couldn't be beat. Its speed, huge jumps, and great tracks were a reminder of how much fun videogames could be." - Terry
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31: Rayman 2 |
Ubisoft's long time mascot in his second and to many best platformer with a beautiful art style rendered in 3D superbly well. Fight your way past robotic pirates, swing from flying hoops and ride erratic rockets on legs. While many consoles got this game elsewhere the Dreamcast version has many exclusive features including downloadable bonus stages. Very few 3D platformers "get it right" so to speak, but this one nails it, rivaling even the legendary Super Mario 64.
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30: Ferrari F355 Challenge |
It was never secret that the guys at Sega are big fans of Ferrari, what with their inclusion in the Outrun series and the fact that some of them OWN Ferrari's, but on the Dreamcast they let their fanboy instincts go all out with a simulation game dedicated to s single car. Though it originated in the arcades this is a simulation through and though with realistic controls that has made this the Marmite of Sega racing games. There's no denying the attention to detail in this game is incredible.
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29: Metropolis Street Racer (M.S.R) |
Developed by Bizarre Creations, this was the biggest, most ambitious racing game Sega published for the system. San Francisco, London and Tokyo are painstakingly re-created road for road and wall for wall to the point that people that live in these cities would know the tracks better than anyone else!
The game also features a unique 'Kudos' system that not only scores you for winning a race, but also for driving well, with extra points added for every successful drift. These points could be used to buy new cars (of which were loads) and unlock new areas of each city. This game evolved into the Project Gotham racing series on the X-Box systems. And yet..
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28: Sega Rally 2 |
...this is the highest rated (traditional) racing game on the list. Much like VF3tb this was one of those arcade ports that was guaranteed for launch day (except in Japan anyway), and is one of those games that you'll still find in most arcades. The sequel added far more cars and tracks over the Saturn original and still retained that classic game play everyone loves. "Long easy right, baby!" Oh wait, it was "maybe", or at least it defiantly was when the bloke said it.
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27: Quake III Arena |
Over taking it's FPS rivals considerably, maybe because this one actually had online play in Europe as well for a change. Other port from the PC that worked shockingly well, though many will still insist on playing it with a mouse and keyboard. A good thing the Dreamcast has both of those accessories, then! Even offline this is a 4 player riot.
Officialmashitup2's video response about Quake III
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26: Samba De Amigo + Ver.2000 |
In the Japanese rhythm craze of '99 kicked off by DDR, Sega's response was this crazy maraca shaking game (and another pair of games, but we'll get to those) that came in a huge box with a pair of height-sensing red plastic maracas with real rattle! A one of a kind music game with a brilliant selection of music (including downloadable Sega classics), colorful visuals and a bunch of mini games like whack-a-mole(ley!). Quite possibly the happiest game on earth. [S.O.S in Ver.2000 is the greatest terrible song ever written.] |
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25: Bangai-O |
Treasure presents the worlds smallest sprites blowing the living hell out of each with hundreds upon hundreds of bullets and missiles. What's not to like? You fly a tiny robot fighting your way through waves of equally tiny enemies with enough fire power to melt the screen. Ingenious level designs mix things up and the story is self aware and hilariously translated (in the PAL version, anyway). Check out my Rummage! video review of it!
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24: The Typing of the Dead |
A very clever way to both make a typing tutorial that is actually fun to play and recycle an entire game and sell it as a new one, this is House of the Dead 2 with the light gun shooting replaced with death by keyboard. Words pop up in front of the zombies and you have to type said word out as quick as possible. Even the characters you play as have battery powered Dreamcast's on their backs and a keyboard in tool! Also has a fantastic tutorial mode that is not only fun, but actually useful for learning how to type fast like those office types do.
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23: Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike |
The big daddy of the Street Fighter series, the only entry in the series for a whole decade (until SF4 just recently of course) and still a tourney favorite. New characters included the glorious return of Chun-Li, kung fu girl Makoto, shape shifting Twelve and evil Inspector gadget guy 'Q'. The classic beat-up-a-car bonus game also makes a return here. One for the truly dedicated fighter fans, and still one of the most stunningly animated 2D games of all time.
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22: Chu-Chu Rocket |
This action puzzler has you pasting down arrows on a grid to lead mice into their space rocket, avoiding the surreal looking cats as they mindlessly follow your path. The one player puzzle mode keeps you guessing as you're only allowed a limited set of arrows to place, but where the game really excels is in it's chaotic multi-player mode, online or off.
Here you simply need to direct as many mice as possible into your rockets and send the cats over to your opponents. As one of the first games to showcase online gaming on the Dreamcast (and even given away for free in Europe), Chu Chu was one of those games that sat in the most played pile for many gamers.
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21: Dead or Alive 2 |
Tecmo really know how to push a consoles graphical capabilities, and DOA2 really wowed gamers with it's solid 60fps, detailed anime style characters (if that makes any sense) and huge stages that you could punch your foes through walls and off cliffs from. Of course we can't mention DOA without mentioning it's rather cheesecake fan service, with breasts that defy all the laws of physics, none the less the mass of extras and game modes such as the tag team battles made this a 3D fighting favorite.
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20: Grandia II |
As I said way back in #82, RPGs were hardly the Dreamcast's strong point and that's why this is only the 2nd you've seen, though there are more to come! The prequel on the Saturn sadly never made it outside of Japan (ssshh, i know it did on Playstation, shaddup) but was highly acclaimed at the time so a sequel had a lot of live up to. While this RPG doesn't do a whole lot original or unseen before, what it does with all those RPG conventions it must clearly do it superbly, as a lot of lot liked it. I would talk about it more but this is one of the few Dreamcast games on this chart I haven't played! Sorry!
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19: Crazy Taxi 2 |
If it ain't broke don't fix it, and that's pretty much what Sega done as this sequel is nigh on identical to a certain higher ranked sibling, only now you're picking up customers and dropping them off at in-game advertisements in New York, and you have a car hop move to your advantage which you'll need to shortcut your way through the much taller buildings. The maps this time are far more complex so you need to spend far more time learning the best routes plus you now have the ability to pick up groups of up to 4 people who all want to go to different places, a great challenge for those who masted the first game.
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18: Space Channel 5 + Part 2 |
Sega's answer to the music rhythm game phenomenon was Samba De Amigo, but for those who didn't feel like splashing out on the maraca controllers there was also the highly stylish Space Channel 5, the game that introduced one of Sega's biggest icons to the world of gaming: the sexy pink haired TV reporter Ulala. As Ulala you have to defeat aliens by out dancing them, Simon's says style, sometimes zapping aliens and rescuing hostages at the same time, making sure you don't accidentally get that the wrong way around!. Your timing has to be spot on and the better you do the higher your TV ratings will be. To beat a level you need to end with the required rating, not necessary just beat the stage.
Ulala became something of a massive star for Sega, at least for a brief period of time. She presented a part of an MTV Awards show and plans were made for her to have her own MTV news show which sadly fell through. Micheal Jackson even wanted to be part of the game and made an appearance in both games as Space Micheal, teamed up with Ulala doing all his trademark moves. Lady Miss Kier sued Sega over them apparently using her image after they rejected her offer to use her image for the game, which she lost.
The sequel on the Dreamcast sadly stayed in Japan and is now one of the most sought after games on the system, especially the deluxe special edition that comes with a clock and massive headphones, of all things. The soundtrack, characters, story and of course game play made this two parter a stand out instant classic.
See SliverMongooses' video response about Space Channel 5
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17: Virtua Tennis 1 + 2 |
A sport so simple video games have been re-creating it since pong, yet very few Tennis games had had quite the same impact as Sega's Virtua Tennis (Power Smash in Japan). With graphics to die for and better yet: game play that only required one button, yet gives you so much control over the ball that it became an instant hit with all kinds of gamers: even those who hate sports games, and it one of Sega's biggest, most popular franchises today, especially in Europe. The simple but slick arcade mode had many playing for hours on it's own, but for single player there was the world tour mode where you could create a character, train up his skills in a series of brilliant mini games, enter tournaments to win money, and spend that money on new equipments and clothes.
Many sequels to this pair of games have been released since on newer consoles, and really all that has changed are the graphics, showing what a flawless formula it already was. The first installment on the Dreamcast also had the unadvertised feature of being playable with motion controls via the Fishing controller. It was just a throw away extra yet it predicted where gaming was going years before the Wii made it popular.
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16: House of the Dead 2 |
Sega have always been the king of arcade light gun shooters (or at least joint kings with Namco), and yet very few were released on Dreamcast, and only one making this list, yet House of the Dead 2 made gamers flock to buy a light gun. Why? Brilliant zombie shooting action that never gets old, excellent boss battles, and of course the story.
The story, you say? Well yes, because it is so darn cheesy and badly acted that it has become a cult hit and one of the most quotable video games of all time. I can tell you that I'm probably not the only one that remembers every single line of dialog in this game by heart....am I?
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15: Capcom Vs. SNK 2 |
The last game we would see from Capcom on the Dreamcast, and what a way to go out. Improving on the already excellent prequel in every way, such as adjustable character ratios, 3-on-3 and 1-on-1 arcade modes, infinite and all character survival modes, a whole bunch of new characters from Samurai Shodown, Last Blade, Final Fight and even Street Fighter 1, four new play styles and much more. It's hard not to end up playing this one for hours at a time, plus all those characters + six different ways to play them = countless possibilities.
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14: Power Stone 1 + 2 |
Capcom's launch title for the Dreamcast was an original 3D fighting game that gives you a big stage to run around so you can lob objects at your opponent and find weapons. The main draw of the game is collecting three gems that transform you into a super form, so you find yourself fighting over the gems more than anything. The sequel turned the game into a 4 player brawl with even more ridiculous weapons like tanks, massive boss battles and stages that include one where you end up fighting while falling from the sky! A pair of games so simple to jump into that especially in multi-player will lead to hours, no..days of enjoyment. |
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13: Phantasy Star Online + Ver.2 |
Bringing back the classic Phantasy Star series from the Mega Drive and Master System, but purely by name as PSO by Sonic Team was an all new kettle of fish, or rather a revolution in console MMO RPGs. There isn't a lengthy single player story here, but rather a game that is built on it's real time combat, team work between online players, and hunting for rare items to buy new weapons and abilities for your fully customized avatar character.
One of the amazingly clever bits of technology used in this game was it's universal language translator. You could communicate with players from other countries using pre-set words and this would be instantly translated for into the others players language for them. This might not seem much with the massive online console gaming communities about now, but back when PSO was released it was a first and had Dreamcast gamers flocking to play it.
"This game earns a top spot if only for the many memories of playing online with friends from all over the world. One team member, "Lion" of Brazil, would take gameplay breaks to put his baby to bed. I'd often team up with a friend, and we'd pretend to be Japanese girls. We earned lots of meseta that way.
Nowadays, booting up PSO and playing a game is akin to returning to your grade school on a Sunday as an adult. The whole place is empty and everything seems smaller than you remembered it. The lobbies are no more and my collection of guild cards are useless. Still, I have the good memories." - Barry the Nomad
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12: Resident Evil Code: Veronica |
Capcom had quite love affair with the Dreamcast, showering it with lots of fighting and shooting games (many still only available on the console) but they also debuted a brand new installment in the Resident Evil series on it (about a year before the PS2 got it). The static image backgrounds of previous games were now replaced with fully 3D surroundings While considered a spin off it was originally intended to be Resident Evil 3 by name.
"Resident Evil Code Veronica was the first single player console game I owned and played. I played it on someone else's Dreamcast and when they upgraded to an Xbox I bought their Dreamcast and games for $100. It's a great single player experience and fun as hell to play. I had been a PC gamer for a long time and this game struck as being a very different experience. The Dreamcast controller (deemed awkward by some) seemed like a perfect fit for the game." - Caleb
See SliverMongooses' video response about Code: Veronica
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11: Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 |
The 2D fighter to top all 2D fighters, this game is still a favorite with casual fans and the hardcore tourney crowd alike, so much so that it just barely missed the top 10. With more characters to choose from than any other beat 'em up on the Dreamcast, having a team of three gave the game a whole new element of strategy. Saying that it is also one of the most chaotic games you'll ever see, with special attacks filling the screen with missiles, explosions, fireballs, robots and more. There is seemingly limitless fun to be had with this one.
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10: Skies of Arcadia / Eternal Arcadia |
Sega's RPG megaton on the Dreamcast was this sky pirates adventure of flying ships, treasure hunting, and intense combat. Hunting for treasure was particular neat in that your VMU bleeped to indicate when your getting closer to something worth grabbing. Spread across two discs, Skies is naturally a massive game with lots of brilliant characters to meet and team up with, and the turn based combat includes come incredible special attacks and animation.
Most of all this game is charming: no silly over dramatic FMV cut scenes that take them selves to seriously: just a simple but fun story with appealing characters and wonderful, colourful art direction, more akin to the 2D RPGs of the 16-bit days then of modern ones.
"Skies of Arcadia is one of the few games which has kept me up stupidly late on a work night. It's huge fun. The character combat is great and the ship battles are absolutely fantastic." - SonnyBoy
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9: Ikaruga |
The spiritual sequel to Treasures highly acclaimed Saturn shmup Radiant Slivergun had a lot to live up to, and if anything for many it exceeded those expectations. Not just content with blowing things up, Ikaruga has a polarity switching system that adds a whole new element of strategy as you can shift your way through the many black and white bullets by switching to those colours. The game has an epic atmosphere about it including a striking soundtrack and is still a favorite among many shmup fans everywhere, which is maybe why even after being re-released on XBLA the Dreamcast Japanese only release still sells for good money.
"Wow, was this game addictive! My friend and I made a decision to beat the game in 2-player mode. It took us 3 weeks and was one of the toughest (and most satisfying) games we ever played." - Terry
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8: Rez |
Are video games an art form? Yes, of course they are, and this game right here is evidence of that. A visual and audio masterpiece that sucks you into it's abstract computer world. Close your curtains, turn off the lights, stick your headphones on and immerse yourself in it's wonder,
The game plays a bit like the Saturn's Panzer Dragoon: you point at enemies, hold the button down to target them all, then let go to blast them. The game can also be played with the mouse. What separates this game from Panzer is the unique visual and audio layers that are created every time you defeat enemies: the music in a stage starts almost silent and as you progress all the layers pile up into a orgasm of electronic sound and vision. It's hard to describe without sounding pretentious, but it's fun, the bosses are incredible, and it's just an experience that cannot be matched.
"Rez opened my eyes to what could be achieved by the medium. It's not really a game, but a unique audio-visual experience." - Terry
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7: Crazy Taxi |
The zenith of Sega arcade gaming, Crazy Taxi is now just as much a Sega icon as Sonic the Hedgehog and Outrun, it was that popular. As a big yellow cab as one of four nutty characters, you tear around san Francisco picking up customers and taking them to their destination as quickly as you can, traffic and obstacles be damned. It's the perfect score attack game, you have a strict time limit and need to get time bonuses to keep it from running out.
Experts can technically make a run of this game last for hours by learning the best shortcuts and using the special techniques for extra tips. Nothing quite like drifting slam bang into the required destination, lifting the car up on two wheels, and holding it there while the customer tips you a few hundreds bucks before you finally drop into place.
It's a game that is nigh on impossible not to fall in love with. The crazy box mode full of tricky mini games and crazy challenges, along with un-lockables and an extra console exclusive map are just the icing on this delicious cake.
See SliverMongooses' video response about Crazy Taxi |
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6: Jet Set/Grind Radio |
Again pushing their creativity to all new heights, Sega's Jet Set Radio set a new standard for cartoon style graphics with the first cel-shaded game ever created. This meant that in-game characters had a thick black outline around them to give them a hand drawn look. Nowadays hundreds of games use this technique. The game is also unique in the game play department: combining Sega's trademark arcade style scoring systems with huge 3D levels to explore, excellent characters and story with rollerblading and graffiti spraying. You could grind up rails, jump along roof tops, and do tracks to increase your score with an additive combo system vaguely similar to Tony Hawk's.
The whole package is just a pure treat to the senses. The music is some of the best heard in any video game, the visual style is one of a kind, and even the extras are special: like being able to create your own graffiti designs to use in game, which could also be shared online with others, and you could use images from the Internet in game too. One of the greatest single player experiences to be had on the Dreamcast.
"Jet set radio defined my concept of cool back when I first played it. It didn't try to be like any other game, and to this day it remains one of the few games who's soundtrack sounds good just to listen to." - AMoominTroll
"When I bought the game, I felt I truly had found the Dreamcast's equivalent of NiGHTS. It was, and still is, such a wholly original game. My addiction didn't stop at the US release, as I also bought the Japanese and UK versions for their unique music tracks and graffiti tags.". - Barry the Nomad
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5: Sonic Adventure 2 |
Released on the tenth anniversary of Sonic first appearance on the Mega Drive, SA2 is a massive, slick platformer that is considered by many as the last Sonic game worth playing. The exploration from the prequel is cut out to streamline everything down to the cut scenes and action stages. This time you had stories for the Hero side (Sonic, Tails and Knuckles) and the dark side (Dr.Robotnik and new characters Shadow and Rouge). Gameplay consisted of fast paced platforming stages, treasure hunting and mecha based shooting (so no fishing here!)
The chao gardens were back and even better and there was tons of extra content to find and download, including a stage re-creating of the Green hill Zone which required getting a perfect rank on every single level: not an easy task. This was the last Sonic game on a Sega console and also the first to hit a console by old rival Nintendo, so it's something of a crossroads between the Sega of old and the Sega of new. Wherever or not that's a good thing or not is as always up for debate, but ignoring all that this was a fantastic game.
See SliverMongooses' video response about Sonic Adventure 2
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4: Shenmue II |
Tragically the epic tale of (apparently) 16 chapters was left on a cliffhanger due to this franchises financial disaster, but what we got here was a gigantic game, almost over whelming in it's sheer scale. Shenmue II is 3 chapters of Yu Suzuki unfinished master piece unlike the one chapter of the first game, so that gives you an idea of how much bigger this sequel was. Ryo is now found in China, where you don't have the comforts of your home and cosy little town but rather a daunting, massive city.
Shenmue II wasn't released in America due to a exclusivity agreement for the X-Box port, so Dreamcast fans flocked to import the PAL version which has English subtitles (unlike the dubbing in the first game). maybe this lack of a US release is the reason for it being in forth.
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3: Soul Calibur |
Namco had been sleeping in Sony's bed for years but the Dreamcast finally disturbed their slumber on which they treated us to quite possibly the greatest game they have ever produced, and the most highly acclaimed fighting game of all time (not to mention sixth highest ranked video game of all time, any genre, anywhere). A sequel to the Playstation game Soul Blade, the arcade version did run on PS1 hardware but was completely re-built and enhanced for the Dreamcast with incredible graphics that blew away everyone that saw it on the American launch day.
Not only did it look gob smackingly good though, it also played like an absolute dream. SC found a perfect balance between so simple to play a monkey could do it, and so deep you could spends months mastering it. That said, it was a game where someone who hasn't played a game since pong could beat someone who has been missing sleep practicing at it. Everything about the game mechanics just gelled together in such a way that it was simply impossible not to enjoy it.
But it doesn't even end there. This game was also packed to the gills with content: game modes like the many various survival modes, and of course the huge missions mode where you'd unlock costumes, characters, artwork, profiles, and even a intro scene editor. Just like Virtua tennis, this game was also compatible with the fishing controller for motion controlled weapon swinging, though again it wasn't a key advertised feature, just one of many small wonderful touches in this game.
So you have incredible graphics, flawless game play and enough to unlock and do to last months, does this game have a single snag? No one has come up with one yet all these years later yet. It did only (only?) reach number 3, though!
See SliverMongooses' video response about Soul Calibur
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2: Sonic Adventure |
Sonic is one of the first things that springs to mind when they think about Sega, and his first of only two Dreamcast platformers was not only the best selling game in the consoles entire lifespan, but also your very close second favorite game on the system. Sonic was pretty dormant in the Saturn days as Sonic Team put out new ideas like NiGHTS, but they had actually started planning Adventure as soon as Sonic & Knuckles ended production, with the 3D world in Sonic Jam being a testing ground for how Sonic could work in 3D.
Sega made a huge deal out of this game. In September 1998 they held a huge live show in Japan revealing the game for the first time, showing everyone their research traveling to South America, performances by Crush40 and Segata Sanshiro (he didn't die on that rocket after all!) egging the audience on to chant Sonic's name, which was recorded and used in the game. This was the return of Sonic the Hedgehog for good, after years of the odd spin off or two.
More has been said about Sonic's mostly unsuccessful move into 3D than probably any other Sega related topic in recent years, but most can defiantly agree that his first 3D adventure was also his best. It wasn't perfect (but then no game is), nor has it aged brilliantly, but for those of us who were there at the Dreamcast launch playing this back in 1999, it was a blast. Everything from the exhilarating Sonic stages, to the exploration and raising the Chao creatures on the console and the VMU, and even downloadable content. The less said about Big the Cat though, the better.
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1: Shenmue |
You probably saw this coming from miles off but it was actually quite a fight between this and Sonic for the top spot in the voting, and Shenmue only just took over in the last few days. It's a game that so many love and so many also hate, but a game that has left such a lasting impression and has such an amazing history behind it. It was one of the most expensive games of all time to develop yet didn't sell anywhere near enough copies to make Sega a profit sadly. You could say this game is a major reason why Sega simply couldn't afford to stay in the console business but it's also evidence of just how risky, adventurous and creative Sega were throughout those few years the Dreamcast was on shelfs.
Shenmue started life as a Virtua Fighter RPG, and it was Yu Suzuki's first major console based project after years of arcade classics. This project soon ballooned into a 16-part saga with all new characters that would be spread across a series a games for years to come, and the Saturn project was moved over to the Dreamcast, this game is only the first of those 16 chapters. Yu was so convinced of this games unique-ness that he coined a brand new genre for it 'F.R.E.E' (Full Reactive Eyes Entrainment). While that genre name never stuck anywhere else echoes of this games influence still flow though modern gaming. The game has a few bumps along the way and not every experiment worked, but the experience that many had with game is one that they feel has yet to be matched."The speculation and news leading up to the release of Shenmue was almost as epic as the game itself. At one point magazines claimed you could enter the home of every NPC and watch their daily routine. Tom brushing his teeth!" -Barry the Nomad
"It's simple, when I think of Dreamcast, I think of the wonderful Shenmue... Shenmue left a mark on me and many other gamers out there, and it's a shame that we'll have to miss out on a 3rd instalment. That game alone shows why the Dreamcast was the greatest of it's time, and that's why it got my vote... " -AZtheHedgehog
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