Dreamcast Magazine Issue 3

Issue 3 of Paragon Publishing's Dreamcast Magazine went on sale in the UK on 23rd November 1999. The main cover story was the magazine's first in-depth look at Shenmue, a game that with hindsight needs no real introduction. Other previews include Vigilant 8: 2nd Offence, Ferarri F355 and Resident Evil 2; while the news section details European sales figures for the fledgling system and takes a look at new peripherals available to buy.

You Had One Job! - European Dreamcast Game Box Screw-ups

Since the beginning of time - well, gaming - video games have come in boxes with artwork. The artwork was put there to sell the experience to you, to convince you why the game inside that box was the game you needed to leave the shop with that day more so than any of the others. By the time our beloved little white SEGA box came onto the market, it was the sixth generation of gaming. Even games released for the microcomputers of the '80s had box art, so, by the late '90s, it was very much an established norm.

On the Dreamcast, there was a clear template for each region of how the box artwork should look. In Europe, you had the nice blue base template and logos; a front cover, a spine, and the back cover. So simple and elegant, everything looking uniform on a shelf... what could possibly go wrong?

Well, quite a lot it turns out...

Tokyo Highway Challenge

Right from day one, Dreamcast game publishers found sticking to simple templates difficult. Tokyo Highway Challenge (known as Tokyo Xtreme Racer in the USA) is actually one of the Dreamcast’s more under-appreciated titles. Leaning heavily into an Initial D vibe, the game places you onto Tokyo’s C-1 “highway” and tasks you with challenging and beating all the other illegal street racers in a quest to become the ultimate import racer. Quite how you do that in what are domestic cars in Japan I never did figure out, but that’s not what we’re here to discuss! So, how exactly did Crave fail on the console's European launch day with their game packaging?

Clearly using the white arc of the US theme.

Mistake: Using the US Dreamcast template on the front cover. Although it does at least look like they tried, seeing as they went to the effort of removing the little orange triangle that represents the console's power LED...

NFL Blitz 2000

Also on day one, it wasn’t just Crave who were struggling with the idea of box art. Step forward, Midway! In their defence (“DEFENSE!!!”), they did have more boxes to get right at launch with Hydro Thunder, Ready 2 Rumble and Mortal Kombat Gold all releasing alongside NFL Blitz 2000.

NFL Blitz 2000 is an arcade sportsball game. I hear it's good fun, but I won’t lie, I’ve never understood a sport called football where most of the game has the players holding the ball and running. Anyway, having graced us with multiple launch titles, I can confirm that Midway got the front and back of the game perfect. So far, so good. So what on earth could possibly go wrong from here?

Just the Dreamcast logo and the code on the spine.

Putting the game on a shelf only emphasises the issue even more... 

Mistake: Forgot to put the game's name on the spine.

We're Three!

¡ Hola mi amigos! I realise this post is about a week too late - but it just dawned on me that The Dreamcast Junkyard is now officially entering it's third year of existence! Wow! Who'd have guessed that three years after it's conception, the humble 'Yard would be the most powerful Dreamcast-related interweb thingy/Empire in this arm of the galaxy?!

For this reason, I would like everyone reading this right now to go to the kitchen/cellar/local Netto, pour yourself a pint of vodka/gin/paint thinner (my tipple of choice, these days) and quaff a libation to the memory of the Dreamcast and to the future of the Dreamcast Junkyard. Finished? Good. As a special birthday treat, here's a picture of a Dreamcast travel clock I found on eBay several weeks ago but then forgot about and so never got around to posting before the auction ended:

Reviewing all the officially liscensed guff that we've seen here at the 'Yard over the years (you know - the jackets, shorts, towels, watches, tissue holders, hats etc), it makes me wonder whether Sega's financial and PR teams were actually run by Baldrick from Blackadder (above left, yesterday). Picture the scene:

INT. SEGA BOARD ROOM. SEVERAL JAPANESE BUSINESSMEN AND A MEDIEVAL IDIOT SIT AROUND A LARGE, HIGHLY POLISHED TABLE WHILST THE WALLS ARE ADORNED WITH DREAMCAST PROMOTIONAL POSTERS AND AN IMPRESSIVE CITYSCAPE CAN BE VIEWED THROUGH THE FULL LENGTH WINDOWS

Shoichiro Irimajiri: Right people, let's hear your strategy for world domination

Baldrick: I have a cunning plan, sir. It involves mass producing Dreamcast branded swimming shorts and alarm clocks. If my predictions are correct, Dreamcast domination is guaranteed

Shoichiro Irimajiri: Fuckin' mint - right, lets wrap this up and get down the pub. I'm buying

Quite.

Anyhow, after my recent adventures in trying to download and burn my own games (something I failed at spectacularly, even though I can't actually see what I did wrong - I followed the instructions down to the letter and wasted TWO packs of high quality CD-Rs*), I went with my tail between my legs and aquired more games off one of our esteemed long-time supporters. Now, some say his favourite meal is carpet-tack and drawing pin pizza and others claim to have seen him at the controls of United 93 before it ploughed into a field in Pennsylvania. All we know is he's called The Sti...erm...Gary**. And here are the fruits of my loins of purchasing stuff (hmmm, not sure if that works. Ah well.):

Capcom Vs SNK 2

Oh. My. God. I'm by no means a beat 'em up fan - especially when it comes to the 2D variety; indeed the last one I actually bought at full price was X-Men: Children of the Atom on the fucking Saturn, and that must be about 15 years ago now...but this is simply awesome. I hate to say it, but I am what would probably be considered a 'newbie' when it comes to 2D beat 'em ups like this. Never held a Neo Geo pad and never played an SNK game before either, but after sampling the delights on offer here I can truly appreciate the appeal. For a start, the presentation is possibly the best on the DC - I'm talking DVD interactive menu style here, and the gameplay is unbelievable. The roster of playable characters is fucking ma-husive and features all the old favorites from the Street Fighter canon, as well as a shit-load of ones you might have read about in Sega Saturn Magazine but never had the cash to be able to sample (King of Fighters, I'm talking to you). And don't get me started on the fantastically camp announcer, who is possibly the gayest in-game voice over dude since Guy Smilie agreed to commentate for Ridge Racer. Oh, and the post fight faux news reports are quality too...I could go on forever. Quite simply, this is possibly the best 2D fighter I've ever played. But there's more...

Marvel Vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes

Holy Christ's undead corpse on toast! This is even better than Capcom Vs SNK 2! It's got Jill Valentine in it! At this point, I must apologize for my ignorance and total denial that the 2D beat 'em up genre even existed. I have been living in the gaming closet, clearly. Last time I disclosed my virginity when it comes to shooters - this time my virginity in fighters. The shame is unbearable, people. Moving swiftly back the MvC2, gameplay features the ability to assemble a team of three familiar characters (granted - something you can also do in Capcom Vs SNK 2) and then use their individual special attacks, combining them into one humungous super-attack powerful enough to level a continent, nay a planet. All of the familiar Capcom characters are here (and also a few unfamiliar ones for good measure), as well as the usual Marvel ones too (the X-Men etc), but its the general pick-up-and-play nature of the game that made me fall instantly in love with it. The presentation is simply awesome (the music is amazing), and the selection of playable characters is inspired (as mentioned, you can play as Resident Evil's Jill Valentine; Wolverine; Spiderman; Venom; Strider and even Mega Man (who you would think would be invincible...))...what's not to love about the Marvel vs Capcom 2? Dazzling, in every sense of the word.

Power Stone 2

Everyone's favourite early DC game, Power Stone was a 3D beat 'em up with a difference - you could run around freely within the stage, pick up weapons and the titular 'power stones' and dish out some serious cans of whup ass in full-blown polygonal glory. Power Stone 2 ups the ante by several folds, adding such delights as a four player mode (an aspect missing from the original that SERIOUSLY damaged my Dreamcast's appeal recently), bizarre side-scrolling single player stages and a horse-box full of new characters and weapons. In layman's term, Power Stone 2 is basically more of the same, but with 4 characters battling to the death rather than just two. This may sound like a bonus on paper (screen), but in reality it's about as confusing as that sudoku puzzle in the Metro (erm...I'm thick). You can barely see where your character is at times and you're constantly being attacked and then told (courtesy of big flashing arrows) to run or jump to a new area of the level. What was wrong with smashing someone's face through a wall ala DOA2, to reveal a new arena? Here, you have to outrun Indiana Jones style boulders, mid-bout, just to carry on your scrap! Don't get get me wrong - Powerstone 2 is a wicked fighter, and the absolute pinnacle of pissed-up four player gaming 'mayhem'...but it just gets too complicated for it's own good at times. The twat.

Alien Front Online

The premise here is cooler than Samuel L. Jackson locked in a meat freezer in the local branch of Farm Foods. Earth as been overrun by hideous alien invaders who have set up camp in our major cities. You are a rookie tank commander who is tasked with blasting the shit out of said alien scum and allowing the druggies, chavs and benefit scrounging single mothers to move back into the decrepit inner city slums once they're cleared. It's called 'democracy,' people. Anyhow, you get to enforce this notion by driving a hoofing great tank through E.T.'s newly acquired living room and unloading a 40 Lb shell into his face with extreme prejudice. Alien Front Online essentially plays like a tank-based version of Spawn: In The Demon's Hand. The levels at first appear to be massive open-plan cityscapes, full of destructible tower blocks, but in reality are rather small, enclosed arenas. The controls are also rather annoying - the strafe command is ever-so-slightly Red Dog-esque and overly cumbersome meaning you'll be blasted by alien tanks more often than you should - and you can't turn the turret and body of the tanks independently...but the graphics are fairly decent and the music is rousing so I'm not going to be too harsh. Obviously, as the name suggests, Alien Front Online was originally intended to be played over t'interweb with teams of humans battling teams of aliens for global domination. Alas, as with most online DC titles these days, the servers now presumably lie unloved and AIDs ridden in a gutter in Dehli. Sigh.

Demolition Racer: No Exit

You remember Demolition Derby, right?! That ancient PS game where you smashed cars into each other in an attempt to bed the opposing redneck's teeth into their dashboard? Yeah? Cool. Demolition Racer is a game that follows the same template, albeit with vastly superior graphics. Apparently a port of an older PSX title, the first thing you may notice about Demolition Racer is its outstanding soundtrack. Whilst today's games (most notably those released by EA) often feature soundtracks by real-life bands, back in the day it was quite unheard of (for the first, see crap top-down shooter Loaded), and that's why Demolition Racer's is so unique. Granted, the bands on show are fairly obscure ('Cirrus' and 'Coffee Shop Boys' to name but two), but their tunes are really rather good and fit the mood of the game perfectly. Unlike that hideous creation blaring out during the first stage of Sonic Adventure 2. Rolling Around at the Speed of Sound, indeed. So, it's a redneck simulator where you can race against other cars and smash into each other to earn points; or you can take part in a proper destruction derby in a 'bowl' and, erm, smash into each other to earn points. It differs from Destruction Derby in that the tracks are strewn with power-ups and the like, and the damage models are quite basic considering it's whole focus is on destruction...but it's good fun and like I said, the soundtrack rocks. Good stuff overall. Why it didn't get a PAL release I'll never know, but it may have something to do with the above Baldrick situation.

NOW FOLLOWS A BBC*** PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

*Please don't post any comments about my buying burned games, downloading ISOs, Discjuggler, or calling me a fucking idiot/shit-eater/retard/cum-guzzling bollock fondler etc. I did everything right and followed all the instructions at (the rather good) dcisozone.com site, but nothing I downloaded and burnt using either the aforementioned Discjuggler or Bootdreams would run in my DC. Again - I did nothing wrong. And just to emphasise the point, I've downloaded and burnt shit before and it worked perfectly. Don't hate the playa - hate the GAME, people. And if you must ignore this heartfelt plea, have the cojones not to post as 'anonymous.' That way, I can find out where you live, slip in through an open window at 3.15am on Christmas Morning and slit your fucking throat with my Soul Reaver. Cough. I would also like to add that, yes, the stuff that you can download obviously works for many, many people - it just didn't for me.

**Apologies if you're not familiar with Top Gear. That paragraph will have made no sense whatsoever.

***Not the real BBC, you understand.

And on that note, it's nearly Christmas, so I'm off to battle my way through the crowds of Primark-clad zombies in Woolworths to get some vastly reduced pick 'n' mix for my Xmas dinner. Oh, and spare a thought for these two poor bastards:

Yep, it's Woolie & Worth. Who's thinking of them during this festive financial crisis?

Dead Or Alive 2: Final Hits Dreamcast (Updated)

Fan-made mods are just a part of life when it comes to PC gaming, but on consoles - and especially the Dreamcast - they are fairly uncommon. Enter aptly-named modder Green Ranger who has taken it upon himself to heavily modify Tecmo's superb 3D fighter Dead Or Alive 2 and create DOA2: Final.

This project is the result of several years' worth of work and pulls together two previous mods to the game (DOA2 Special Edition and DOA2 Ultimate Edition), and adds lots of new features. These new additions are mainly visual - new character costumes and designs, plus additional character dialogue which allows for new single player storylines. The story in DOA2 was pretty confusing in the first place, so maybe this new narrative will help to make things a little clearer. Here's a full run down of the new features and character costumes added to DOA2: Final:

• New Title Screen that reads - DEAD OR ALIVE 2: FINAL
• Stage Slideshow during Title Screen sequence has been altered
• New music throughout the game - Stages, Training Mode, Mode Select Screen and Ending Credits have new music
• Character dialogue changed extensively to give some fighters new storylines, and also dialogue changed in general to sound less confusing when interacting with characters.
• New/edited costumes for nearly every fighter (costumes from my previous mods were tweaked/updated for this release) 
• DOA3 character stances for Zack and Genfu
• Bass & Tina's storyline now have a new Tina Poster on the brick wall and in Bass' room
• Stage layouts differ for various characters in Story Mode - nice way to spice things up!
• Bigger Dummy file in CDI image to allow for faster load times
• In Versus & Watch Mode the Aerial Garden is automatically night, press R-trigger to access daytime Aerial Garden

Dreamcast Collectors Unite! Exploring your collections - Part 4

Hello fellow Dreamers, and welcome back to our ongoing 'Dreamcast Collector's Unite!' series of articles, taking a closer look at the collections of Dreamcast fans from across the globe. So far we've uncovered rare controllers, heard people's fondest memories of the console, the game and the merchandise that make up their collections, and seen some of the rare - and not so rare - pieces that make collecting for this console such a passion for so many people.

We're bringing you a quartet of collectors today, with a range of collecting habits, desires and goals - so without further waffling from me - let me introduce you to our latest fab 4, who go by the names of Ser Flash, Chris, Lee and James!

Ser Flash

Hello fellow Dreamer! Tell us a little about yourself!

STG fans around the world know me as Ser Flash. I make up half of Studio Mudprints, and we create and host Bullet Heaven, the world's longest-running shmups review show.

You obviously have a love for the Dreamcast; when did that start?

More or less since it came out. As a staunch Nintendo player, the Dreamcast really captured my interest, especially against the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 at the time. It would become my first-ever Sega console in 2000.

So your current collection – can you give a brief description of what you have, what you collect (i.e. games only, games and console variants etc.) and what your 'end goal' is, if you have one?

We don't really refer to it as a "collection" so much as a "Library", meant to be accessed, not merely displayed. We acquire games from all regions, though North American and Japanese games make up the vast majority of our titles. In the early days, we bought all kinds of different titles, from RPGs to Fighters to shooters. These days though, it has been almost exclusively shooters, which was ultimately my end goal: Acquire and feature every Dreamcast shmup and border-liner.

Why did you start collecting for the console, and if you still are, what makes you continue?

We never really collected for the system per se; we just got games we wanted to play at first, and later just those that we thought would review well on our show. It became a more directed effort when it come to tracking down and procuring a complete set of shooting games for a large-scale video compendium. The only one requirement was that all Japanese games needed their OBI spine-cards. Now that they have been completely obtained, we still get the odd title every now and again as more new titles are made, but our focus is now almost entirely PlayStation One exclusive shooting games.

Where do you get new additions to your collection? Are you still able to find them 'in the wild' or is it online only now?

Almost exclusively online, predominantly on eBay. It sounds lazy, but scouting out and stalking the best deals on specific games can take a long while; all of the ones we have gotten were in great condition for comparatively bottom dollar, but some took time and planning. We sometimes find neat things at local shops though.

What's the favourite part of your collection, and why?

Probably Yu Suzuki Game Works Vol.1. I had no idea it existed, then I suddenly needed it more than anything else in the world. So basically it marked the time I completed a game set with a book. My favourite Dreamcast game is probably Bangai-o, though. So nice, I bought it twice.

We all love bargains, any in particular stand out for you whilst amassing your collection?

Grabbing a bunch of games on $10 Clearance in the early days was definitely nice. The used market was excellent until relatively recently then it suddenly exploded, especially for shmups. This kind of makes it hard to pick out a really good deal for its time. There have been several times we were able to get new, sealed games for well-under the typical used price in the last couple of years, so those would count, I guess.

VG Chartz rates the top 10 Dreamcast Games.

http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=3396&a=2

You will notice that they included both the American Dreamcast and European Dreamcast controller in the graphic for this article. Classy. It's the little touches that really do it you know.

The list itself is not really that surprising.

However, I was pleased to see that Resident Evil Code Veronica was at the top.

As the very first Dreamcast game I ever played and beat RE CV holds a special place in my heart of hearts. Actually utilizing the Dreamcast VMU for something other than memory was fun (it displayed your current health). I felt that this was the best control-wise of all the classic Resident Evil games.

With all the remakes of this game (That actually added very little to the game) and the more recognizable titles in the Dreamcast lineup it's good to see this title get some respect.

I actually bought the limited edition of this game but I have not tried to play it yet. The CD art and cool red cover are marvelous looking.

Kiss Psycho Circus - Videogame Torture

I've played some great games on a variety of systems so far this year - Resident Evil 5, Gears Of War 2, Left 4 Dead, God Of War, Resident Evil (remake), House Of the Dead Overkill, Tekken: Dark Resurrection, and so on... But in every gamers life comes the need to reconnect with his Dreamcast, and most recently I decided to do this via the unholy game mentioned above.

Thus, I've played/endured a Dreamcast game called Kiss Psycho Circus: the Nightmare Child. And what a fucking nightmare it was...

If you look at the sidebar of the Dreamcast Junkyard, you'll see a section devoted to Tomleecee's Dreamcast reviews. In there, is a review of Kiss Psycho Circus, which says: "This game is appalling. Rubbish graphics, rubbish design, just plain rubbish." I should have heeded the words of our leader, instead I chose to recklessly ignore them.

I'd played it a little way back in the day, and my hazy memory recalled it as being a little bit different to anything I'd seen before. It was, in fact, the first the first FPS I'd ever played. But some sort of software or hardware glitch had cut my playing experience short. Six or so years later, I decided to give it a go for the second time...


So what is this monstrosity all about then? Ostensibly a first person shooter/mythical quest type thing, the game has very tenuous links to the rock legends Kiss. In fact it's got more to do with a comic: "KISS: Psycho Circus chronicles the adventures of an unusual traveling circus. The macabre stories focus on exploring the deepest, darkest corners of the human soul." (according to Image Comics.)

So what's it got to do with the band then? (initially the main selling point for me - who doesn't like spandex and stage make up???)

Well, fuck all really! You might find a jukebox or stereo which will play a Kiss song. As the player, you go around collecting pieces of Kiss costumes... Ace Frehley's platform boots, Gene Simmon's shoulder pads or Peter Criss's cod-piece. There are rumours on the internet that if you put the GD rom in your PC that you'll get a Kiss pinball game - not true. There are also rumours that if you put the GD rom in a CD player, it'll play a few classic Kiss tunes -also not true. You do, however get a very snotty sounding English lady telling you take the disc out of your CD player, as it's only compatable with the Dreamcast (!) which is quite surreal...



The game ends up being a very tedious run through of a middle of the road, dated, FPS. Some of the game's monsters are pretty well designed, some of the landscapes boldly coloured in psychedelic hues, which make it alright to look at for a while, and graphically lies at a kind of cross between Half Life and the more trippy boss levels in NiGHTS. Having said that, why when some publishers were able to come up with graphics as good as Soul Calibur, Sonic Adventure, Code Veronica or Headhunter, did so many Dreamcast software publishers settle for knocking out games which look average, like Death Crimson OX, or this one?



The game gives you nothing for your dogged completion of levels. No 'easter eggs', interesting cut scenes, hidden mini games or unlockables. If you die you get put back a long way, meaning the necessity of replaying of elements of the game over, and over, and over again. The story is literally one of the most convoluted pieces of bullshit ever, one that I can't be bothered to relate. The cutscenes that are in the game are minimal, there's nothing to collect and the boss battles are never really going to inspire. After literally hours of playing through seventeen, long, long levels, the game just fizzled out with one of the most boring and simple boss fights ever. Nothing memorable at all.



I was hoping for a Dreamcast revelation, a repeat of the joy I found when I played 'SOTB: Gut's Rage' last year, or completing Headhunter earlier this year. But the only joy I had from completing this game is knowing that I beat it, completed it and I'll never have to play this particular piece of crapola again!

Samba de Amigo Ver. 2000 has been Converted into English

Samba de Amigo is that monkey game with the maracas. 

What that rather inelegant opening serves to say, is that Samba de Amigo needs no introduction. Not only is it beloved by Dreamcast fans for its colour-soaked rhythm hijinks that made use of the delightful maraca peripheral (which required a significant amount of space to store on your gaming shelves), but it is also well known for a port it received on the Nintendo Wii; one which appeared at the right time to slot neatly into the motion control hype of the seventh console generation.

This Wii port is actually important to our topic today, because it incorporated many of the additions that were introduced as part of the Samba de Amigo Ver. 2000 package, a Japanese-exclusive upgrade for the Dreamcast. While this DC release was never brought to the West, it was still an easy import for many gamers (including DCJY's very own Andrew Dickinson) due to it lacking any significant language barrier to its gameplay.

Photo nicked from Mike's @DreamcastPics account. Sorry, Mike.

This didn't stop hacker dukeblooders from converting Samba de Amigo Ver. 2000 into English, though. The reason I refer to this as a "conversion" is because what has been done here is effectively a similar process to what we've seen previously with community projects that made Space Channel 5: Part 2 or Resident Evil Code: Veronica Kanzenban (Resident Evil Code: Veronica X) accessible to English speakers, by taking content seen in later Western ports (in this case, the Wii port) and inserting it into the Dreamcast version with some kind of wizardry that I will never be able to comprehend.

On dukeblooders' project page on GitHub, they explain that there isn't technically any text in this game, only images. The majority of images and audio were replaced with those from the English Wii versions, although some images had to be reproduced by dukeblooders.

If you want to give this English conversion a go on Dreamcast hardware, you will have to play it on an ODE like a GDEMU or a MODE, as currently it is not able to be burnt onto a CD-R. Otherwise you can still play it via emulator using the Type A controller mode, sans maracas. Just head over to the GitHub page to download the patch, which can easily be applied to an image of the game using Derek Pascarella's Universal Dreamcast Patcher.

Where Are They Now? Official UK Dreamcast Magazine's '100+ New Games'

Who remembers the July 2000 issue of Official UK Dreamcast Magazine (Issue 09)? The cover was adorned with its usual demo disc, sporting demos for Resident Evil CODE: Veronica, Tony Hawk’s Skateboarding and Silver (plus an interactive tour of the Dreamarena website), but rather than a single game gracing the front as usual, brown paper was torn away to reveal the headline ‘100+ New Games: Exclusive shots and insider information the the games you’ll be playing for the next year… and beyond!’

This was a bold, simple cover, aiming to reassure readers that things were all good in the world of Dreamcast, that many new games were on the horizon. Of course we all know how this story ends, but at the time we were still over 6 months away from the announcement of the DC’s discontinuation and the PlayStation 2 was already out in Japan. With more and more people choosing to wait for the launch of Sony’s sophomore system in Europe, sales were slowing and confidence was starting to wane.

I recall at the time that the issue did its job. I picked it up ostensibly for the CODE: Veronica demo disc, having only just gotten a Dreamcast myself, but the promise of so many new games on the horizon certainly shored up my belief that the Dreamcast was going to be around for some time to come. Hindsight is 20/20 though, right? Sigh...

Looking at the issue while doing my continued research for ‘Dreamcast: Year Two,’ almost 22 years after it was first published, I found the most interesting thing about the ‘100+ New Games’ feature to be the stats. You see, readers, I took it upon myself to start a spreadsheet and list every single game mentioned in the 22 pages of this feature (written by Ed Lomas, Warren Chrismas and Steve Owen - Ed even mentions it in my interview with him for ‘Dreamcast: Year One’). I then worked out which of the mentioned games actually released on Dreamcast, which of them released in PAL territories, if any of them were released elsewhere and whether any that didn’t release on Dreamcast had any sort of playable version in existence today.

I’ll end this piece with a link to the spreadsheet for you, but first those sexy stats. Check out this bullet-pointed list of factoids that stand out all these years later:

• In actuality the feature mentions 153 games, although only 99 are given their own sections (of various sizes). The other 54 are listed on one page under the title ‘And There’s More...’. These were games known of, but not seen by the ODM team.
• Of those 153 games, 104 saw a Dreamcast release.
• 17 of the released games were home platform exclusives, meaning they never saw release on any platform besides Dreamcast or in arcades. These are: NBA 2K1, POD: Speedzone, Illbleed, Sonic Shuffle, Super Runabout, Outtrigger, WWF: Royal Rumble, Alien Front Online, Tokyo Highway Challenge 2, Magic: The Gathering, Cannon Spike, Max Steel: Covert Missions, NFL 2K1, Super Magnetic Neo, D2, Floigan Brothers and Draconus: Cult Of The Wyrm. Who says the Dreamcast has no exclusives?!
• 17 of the released games never ended up being released in PAL territories. These were: NBA 2K1, Illbleed, Sega Marine Fishing, World Series Baseball 2K1, Prince Of Persia: Arabian Nights, Alien Front Online, Magic: The Gathering, Seaman, Bang! - Gunship Elite, NFL Blitz 2001, Max Steel: Covert Missions, NFL 2K1, D2, Namco Museum, Demolition Racer: No Exit, Frogger 2, and Ms Pac-Man: Maze Madness.
• Evolution 2 was very nearly a Dreamcast exclusive, apart from a PC port released only in Taiwan.
• Of the 49 games from the feature that never saw release on the DC, 10 never saw the light of day on a home system at all (though Jambo! Safari and Brave Firefighters were released to arcades).
• A fair few of those that never saw release were due on both DC and PC, but a heist game titled Picassio started development on Dreamcast before moving to PS2 and finally GameCube before being shelved. The only one we know was only ever destined for Dreamcast in this list was Take The Bullet.
• The other 39 games originated on other systems or were eventually released on other platforms.
• Of the unreleased games in the ‘100+ New Games’ feature, 4 have some kind of version playable on Dreamcast today. You can download a fully working version of Half-Life thanks to review copies that were sent out before the completed game was ultimately pulled. Versions of Take The Bullet and Heroes of Might & Magic III have been found over the years, in various guises, though neither game is complete or fully playable. Colin McRae Rally 2.0 is known to have a version that is around 30% complete, though this isn’t available to the public (our own Tom Charnock was able to give it a go though).
• There are some games with either limited or no information known, such as Legend Of The Blade Masters, M.O.U.T.: Urban Warfare 2025 and Gorkamorka. It’d be great to find out more about titles like these.

These are just games listed in one article too. We know there are many more games that were due to arrive on the Dreamcast but never did, however it’s very interesting to take a look back in time and see what might have been had the console's lifespan not come to such an abrupt end.

See the full list of games mentioned in ‘100+ New Games’ via this link, or grab the PDF of the magazine (which we used to recreate some of the feature pages) here, and let us know which of them you would like to have seen come to fruition in the comments. If you have any information about any of these ‘lost’ games too, please hit us up!

Classic Gaming Volume 2 Features The Dreamcast

The latest instalment of Future Publishing's retro gaming bookazine has hit the shops, and this time it features our beloved Dreamcast. Gamesradar Classic Gaming Volume 2 is 144 pages of retro loveliness, and it contains sections focusing on five different consoles plus a selection of the best games for each platform. The Commodore 64, Atari ST, Super Nintendo, Neo Geo AES and (of course) the Dreamcast are all included, and each chapter gives an overview of the hardware, a selection of peripherals and console variants. As a nice extra touch, contemporary magazines covering each platform are also mentioned, meaning classic mags like Commodore Format, Super Play and DC-UK are all given a shout out.

The games sections aren't exhaustive, but they do cover the best titles for each system, most of them with huge full-page images. The Dreamcast section in particular features games such as Sonic Adventure, Shenmue, Rez, Resident Evil Code Veronica and Soul Calibur; and there's a double page feature on the output of Capcom in general. There are a lot of other bookazines of this type also available from rival (well, former rival) publisher Imagine, and of course there's the monthly magazine Retro Gamer which consistently produces high quality articles on a range of retro topics.

Let’s take a look at Dreamcast: Year Two

Back in July 2020, Dreamcast: Year Two - the sequel to Andrew Dickinson's Dreamcast: Year One book - went to Kickstarter and smashed its funding goal within 64 hours. It took a while to get finished, but is now complete, printed, and gradually making its way out to backers. As somebody who was involved in the creation of this book, I'm really excited for everybody to get their hands on what has been created here.

And with that, I must now insert my obligatory 'conflict of interest' disclaimer. Unlike the first book in this series, which Tom reviewed on the blog upon its release, Dreamcast: Year Two has full involvement from The Dreamcast Junkyard, and even sports our branding on its back cover. When we interviewed Andrew for our podcast, the DreamPod, little did we know it would be the start of a great friendship, and that he'd eventually go on to join The Dreamcast Junkyard team himself. Because of this, you will also find written content from Junkyard members Brian Vines, Kev Mason, James Harvey, Lewis Cox (me!), Mark Williams, Mike Phelan and Tom Charnock in this book. Myself and Tom also assisted with editing and proof reading. Oh, and we all backed the project too. With all of that in mind, this article will not be a review, but merely a "look" at Andrew's new book.

If you would like to have a peek behind the curtain to hear more about the process of this book's creation and the Kickstarter, I recommend you listen to Andrew's recent appearance on The Sega Lounge podcast.

Dreamcast: Year Two and the accompanying DCY Zine.

So, the book. Just like its predecessor, Dreamcast: Year Two again uses the format originally created by Sandeep Rai for his PS Vita: Year One book (with his blessing, of course!) This time, the book covers the events that occurred in the world of Dreamcast between April 1st 2000 and March 31st 2001. This includes the console's cancellation, the advent of online gaming, the appearance of many notable games, and much more. All of this is presented alongside the excellent art of illustrator Dan Tiller, whose colourful style, with its many paint splatter effects, is a stark contrast to the very clean artwork of Dreamcast: Year One. Andrew explains that there was a clear rationale for this design choice: "I wanted something a bit messier, to show how messy the second year [of Dreamcast] was. It was really colourful and bright and amazing, but it was also the end of the Dreamcast and things were going wrong!" He also went for a predominantly blue theming over Year One's orange, ‘cause European blue swirl for life, yo.  

Other than the Junkyard team, the book also contains writing from members of the wider community such as Retro Faith, the Dreamcast Years crew, and Dreamcast Hub, as well as a great piece from the creator of the 'Years' book format, Sandeep Rai.

After some introductory pages (including a foreword by the Junkyard’s founder Tom Charnock!), the book begins with a detailed breakdown of the events of Year Two, written by Andrew. First, he covers why many consider it to be the Dreamcast's "golden year", before hitting us with the one-two punch of reality that in the grand scheme of things, the Dreamcast wasn't doing quite as well as we thought. Not only was there the looming threat of the PlayStation 2, but poor attempts from Sega to quash rumours that the future was looking grim for the Dreamcast and that Sega were to become a third-party developer wasn't doing much to reassure fans. 

Andrew then takes us back to that devastating moment when the news of the Dreamcast's discontinuation reached the masses, and reflects on how fans at the time handled the news, excellently summed up using Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' five stages of grief model. This analogy-based chapter is definitely one of my favourite pieces of writing I've read from Andrew. Well done, sir.

This segment is then followed by a collection of interviews. One of Dreamcast: Year One's strongest suits was its interviews, and the interviews in Dreamcast: Year Two are excellent too. The selection of interviewees is nicely varied, each hailing from a different creative background, but with an appreciation for the Dreamcast in common. The interviewees are as follows:

• Corey Marshall (voice actor, English voice of Ryo Hazuki in Shenmue)
• Darren Jones (Retro Gamer magazine editor-in-chief)
• Adam Koralik (YouTube Creator)
• John Linneman (YouTube Creator, Digital Foundry)
• Iain Lee (TV Presenter, Channel 4's Thumb Bandits)
• Forbes Longden (Dreamcast Today founder)
• Mickaël Pointier (developer, V-Rally 2's Dreamcast port). 

It was particularly interesting to hear many of these guys reflect on their memories of first hearing the news of the Dreamcast's cancellation. Even more harrowing than that news, however, is Adam's story about losing a red Code: Veronica Dreamcast controller at airport customs. That tale is going to haunt me for a while...

After the interviews come some longer form articles covering a range of topics. These articles are a new addition for Dreamcast: Year Two and fit naturally within the page order. Dreamcast and Saturn Junkyarder Brian Vines' piece "Beyond Saturn" explores the many ways in which the Dreamcast picked up where its ill-fated older brother, the Saturn, left off. Brian's article is followed by Sandeep Rai's, in which he waxes lyrical about the Dreamcast's many excellent Capcom fighters. After this, Retro Faith provides some great insight into the origins of online gaming, and how the Dreamcast introduced this now hugely popular feature to a generation of console gamers. Finally, our very own Mike Phelan talks about the Dreamcast's many weird and wonderful peripherals (there's a lot).

Total Control: Issues 1 to 5

Total Control was a multi-format print magazine that was sold in the UK between November 1998 and September 1999. Published by (the now defunct) Rapide Publishing, Total Control was marketed as a mature magazine aimed squarely at twenty-somethings with disposable income, and as such had a more adult style than some other magazines available at the time. The late 1990s saw a glut of print magazines come and go, and Total Control had stiff competition from publications like Arcade, CVG and Edge; the latter of which is the only one still going at the time of writing. Total Control only lasted for 11 issues due to Rapide Publishing going into administration just before issue 12 could hit the newsstands, but in this brief run it managed to pack in a ton of high quality Dreamcast-related content. This is no doubt down to the fact that it existed in that golden period between the Japanese and US launches, and died right before the PAL release - as illustrated, rather poignantly by the blue swirl adorning the final issue’s cover.

If you want to read an 'interesting' story about my acquisition of these magazines,
scroll down to the 'bonus feature' at the bottom.

There’s not much written about Total Control these days and the magazine seems to have passed into the annals of time with little more than a whimper, but since collecting the entire catalogue (thanks mainly in part to Matt from SegaMags) I thought it would be nice to feature this oft ignored source of Dreamcast nostalgia right here at the 'Yard. Because there’s quite a lot of Dreamcast coverage in these magazines, I’ve split this feature into two parts - the first of which will look at issues 1 to 5 of Total Control, with issues 6 to 11 investigated in the second part (coming soon!).

Are you ready? Here we go…!

Developer Interview: Elysian Shadows' Falco Girgis

Elysian Shadows Team hit the gaming headlines in the summer of 2014 when their eponymous indie RPG Elysian Shadows made it's Kickstarter goal in a matter of weeks. Since then, Elysian Shadows Team have been a constant fixture in the gaming press due to the open and entertaining nature in which lead programmer Falco Girgis and his colleagues have kept us involved in the development process via blogs and the popular YouTube series Adventures in Game Development. Often outspoken yet never dull, Falco very kindly agreed to speak openly to The Dreamcast Junkyard and tell us a little bit more about the rest of the development team, the history of his project, his impression of other upcoming indie games, and just how Elysian Shadows has quickly become one of the Dreamcast's most eagerly awaited games...

DCJY: Could you give a little bit of background on the Elysian Shadows team – who you are and what your roles are in developing Elysian Shadows?

Falco Girgis: Right now we’re just four dudes from different countries who work together every day in our underwear via Skype, haha! Falco Girgis and Tyler Rogers are the resident rednecks, from Alabama. Falco is the one behind the fancy tech like the lights and physics. He’s the engine and toolkit developer and the resident graphics guru. Tyler Rogers marries Falco’s tech with the pixel art and audio to achieve the creative vision we’re aiming for through his Lua scripting. He’s focused more on the gameplay experience while Falco is focusing more on the technology powering the game. Patrick Kowalik and Daniel Tindall are our pixel artist and our level designer respectively. Patrick lives in Poland and Dan lives in Britain. We met both of them through our YouTube series, “Adventures in Game Development.” They both messaged us looking to join our cause.

Shmup Up the Volume!

First of all I would like to apologise to all of you folks out there, that like me, check regularly to see if there’s anything new posted on the Dreamcast Junkyard. As you may know, the ‘Yard is a three man operation, founded by Tomleecee and supported by myself (Father Krishna) and The Gagaman(n).



At this present time, Tom is currently saving the world from the Axis Of Evil. The Gagaman(n) is currently honing his computer and film making skills and preparing to take the world of multi-media by storm. (Check out his two red hot posts below…)

So what about me? What’s my excuse for not stocking the ‘Yard with new posts?
Well there are a couple of things! Firstly I’ve been collaborating with my good buddy Caleb, on a Trans-Atlantic project celebrating another one of Sega’s classic consoles- The Saturn- over at the un-originally titled Saturn Junkyard. I’ve also been contributing to a blog about the world of handheld gaming with the wonderful Gnome, originally titled Gnome’s Gaming On The Go.




Combine those two things with the mundane pursuits of work and family life and the end result is... not enough time to sustain my posting duties here at the ‘Yard. But hopefully that will change now.
I’ve been adding to my collection (which I posted on this very site last month) and substantially boosted my games repertoire. The games haul includes: Virtua Athlete 2K, Silent Scope, Plasma Sword, Unreal Tournament, Skies Of Arcadia, Deep Fighter, Championship Surfer, Fur Fighters and Wild Metal.



I’ve also very nearly completed Resident Evil: Code Veronica, so I’ve plenty to review and talk about (a situation which has not been the case for some time!)
I’ve also played bought and played brand new Dreamcast release Last Hope and a new set of Cha Cha Amigo maracas from the wonderful Play Asia, so my love for the Dreamcast is still alive and kicking!!!

Talking of games developed for the Dreamcast after its official “retirement”, the excellent Games TM Magazine has just run a full page review of said titles, and because I love you I’ve decided to transcribe the entire thing for your reading pleasure!

So, here’s to a new era of Father Krishna’s Dreamcast ramblings! OK Here goes…

No.1 “Ikaruga” Estimated Price: £50, Publisher: ESP, Year Of Production: 2002

“When Treasure’s Ikaruga was announced for Dreamcast in 2002, everyone naturally assumed it would be the last Dreamcast game. It wasn’t of course, but that didn’t stop the game from selling out almost instantly, becoming one of the most valuable titles on the system. Literally meaning “spotted dove” Ikaruga re-defined the shoot ‘em up with a puzzle mechanic that rewarded players for intelligent mastery of the black-and-white colour-coded enemies and weapons.


No.2 “Shikigami No Shiro 2” Estimated Price: £40, Publisher: MediaQuest, Year Of Production: 2004

Although it was produced on Gamecube, PS2 and Xbox, the Dreamcast version of Shikigami 2, remains highly collectible thanks to it’s low production run and limited editions. As a shooter, its fairly generic but notable for using humanoid characters, rather than the more traditional spaceships or aeroplanes. Despite being generic it is pretty enjoyable and well worth adding to any Dreamcast collection.

“Border Down” Estimated Price: £70, Publisher: G.Rev Year Of Production: 2003

So, for a game exclusive to the Dreamcast format, the unusual Border Down manages to fetch a very pretty penny- and that is something that is looking very unlikely to change any time soon. Noted for its adaptive difficulty Border Down stands out as one of only a handful of horizontal shooters to be produced in the last five years. Fast, colourful and very playable, Border Down is one of the best shooters on the Dreamcast, and essential even at the steep price.

“Radirgy” Estimated Price: £40, Publisher: Milestone, Year Of Production: 2006

Its visuals may have made it look like it was designed for mobile phones, but Radirgy (supposedly pronounced ‘Rajirugi’) is a vertical scrolling shooter that stands proud among its peers. Curiously, for only around £30 more than it’s current price, its possible to pick up Radirgy with a fully refurbished Dreamcast. Gamecube owners may also like to look out for the upcoming Radio Allergy, a port of the game, that’s due to be released in the US some time this year. (See IGN Review here! )


“Under Defeat” Estimated Price: £35, Publisher: Sega, Year Of Production: 2006

Of all the games released after Dreamcast’s demise, Under Defeat is surely the prettiest. Using full polygonal 3D environments and objects, this vertical scrolling helicopter shoot ‘em up looks incredible. Interestingly, the back of the Under Defeat case claims that the game would be the last ever for the Dreamcast., but the shooter proved profitable enough, to ensure that the developer, Milestone, and several others continued to support the console.

“Chaos Field” Estimated Price: £5, Publisher: Sega, Year Of Production: 2004

Chaos Field is an odd little shooter. Completely comprised of boss fights, you would expect to pack in all the best bits of the genre without all of the rubbish. Not so, sadly.
Although technically well made, there is something about the structure of Chaos Field that makes it feel exhausting to play. Other issues like slowdown and a general lack of originality in the mechanics make this the least attractive of Dreamcast’s more recent shooters.



“ Trizeal” Estimated Price: £35, Publisher: Triangle Service, Year Of Production: 2005

Although a strictly traditional shoot ‘em up in terms of the gameplay, Trizeal is worth checking out for other reasons. Triangle Service, a developer comprised of just three people, created the game, and its amazing to see what they have achieved with their comparatively limited resources. This is exactly what makes the current Dreamcast scene seem so appealing – it allows small developers to create games that they wouldn’t be able to on any other console.


“Puyo Puyo Fever” Estimated Price: £20, Publisher: Sega, Year Of Development: 2004

Puyo Puyo Fever was the last title that Sega ever developed for the Dreamcast system. Developed by Sonic Team, the Fever game could almost be described as a vanity project to see how many different platforms could be supported with one game. The final result was ten different versions, making for one of the wildest multiformat releases in the history of videogames. As a collectors piece, Puyo Puyo Fever is as interesting to own as it is fun to play."

Hope that was of interest! Peace Y'all! FK