Happy Birthday Dreamcast Junkyard...

Well I was kind of waiting for the great Tomleecee to make his triumphant return with this post, as the 'Yard is his creation. However we are now two thirds of the way through this most festive of months, and so far no word... So I feel it is my bound duty, to mark this occasion in his absence, and raise a celebratory glass to my favourite website of all time, about the best console ever made!














Just looking back at the December 2005 archives, it is amazing to see how this place has grown, from it's humble beginnings to it's current Heavyweight Champion status. A small collection, including a console, two controllers, a couple of light guns and VMUs, and a handful of games, were the initial stash that inspired the site, historically and pictorially documented on Tom's technically challenged digital camera.




Since then through the magic of bloggery, we've been shown a stunning array of Dreamcast images, had an informative tutorial on the console's history, been linked to a host of fantastic sites and blogs, been shown a cinematic Dreamcast journey, courtesy of Google and Youtube and seen a plethora of games reviewed, dissected and compared. Added to that it's all been posted with a brilliant sense of humour, some eloquent prose, and some hilarious asides.



All of the Dreamcast peripherals have been considered and assessed. Unfinished Dreamcast developments of both hardware and software have been uncovered. Mods, emulation and homebrew have been flagged up, and highlighted. Dreamcast related humour, art, photos and film have all been promoted. What a blast!




If you're a regular visitor to the site, spend a few minutes trawling the archives for hidden gems you may have missed, or key in a few words of interest into the sites search facility. So many topics have been considered and presented, that it is becoming increasingly challenging to add new stuff!




The addition of the Gagaman(n) to the site's team, opened up an encyclopaedic world of knowledge about the console's hardware and software to the 'Yard. At once Tomleecee had a partner who was able to double the quantity of posts, providing excellent and insightful articles, but with a very different style of writing. Thus the range of documentation of this great console was increased.
His much coveted Dreamcast collection, also boosted the collective amount of Dreamcast exhibition items on display in our Virtual Museum.



I was lucky enough to become the third member of the team, at the end of August. Having discovered the 'Yard by simply typing 'Dreamcast' as a search word into Google, I was immediately hooked, on it's down to earth, Mancunian humour, occasional cynicism, but overall burning love for Sega's finest.

I became a regular commentor (more about this later), checking regularly and hungrily for each new post. Reviews helped me to make some informed choices as to which games I should buy.
Discoveries such as Bleem, the VMU tool (and indeed the fact that games could be played on the VMU), the hidden uses of the fishing rod peripheral, etc. were revolutionary for me in my awareness of the console's potential.



The comments of the site's readers and contributors have been an integral part of the DCJY's growth. Heroic names such as... son_et-lumiere, Pierre La Stank, Caleb, Deitrix, J, Gamer C, Ross and of course DCJY stalwarts Gnome and The Elderly Gamer (amongst others -BTW if you feel you deserve a mention, post a comment and I'll amend this epistle...) have fleshed out the bones of the articles posted on the site.




Highlights for me have been the afforementioned VMU tool post, the fact that a fishing rod peripheral can produce 'Wii' style gameplay on Soul Calibur, my first mention on a 'Yard post, (and indeed my first post on the 'Yard), finding links to the Elderly Gamer and The Gnome's Lair, watching all the good stuff posted on video links, Gagaman(n)'s post about oft repeated theme's in DC games, and above all the silliness factor... like Tom finding DC 'swirls' everywhere. Oh! and some of the frankly horrendous merchandising that accompanied this most wonderful of Sega produce.



And if none of the above makes sense to you, I urge you, nay command you, to check out a whole year's worth of blogging in the archives.

So at the end of this historic year, thanks to the DCJY's insight, I am able to come up with my top twenty Dreamcast games of all time... Apart from the top 3, they're in no particular order...
I hope that anyone reading this post will take the time to flag up theirs... They are as follows:




1.) Shenmue 1 & 2
2.) Soul Calibur
3.) Caution Seaman
4.) House Of The Dead 2/Typing Of The Dead
5.) Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
6.) Blue Stinger
7.) Super Runabout
8.) Sega Worldwide Soccer
9.) Crazy Taxi
10.) Virtua Tennis 1 & 2
11.) Sega Rally
12.) Jet Set Radio
13.) Dead Or Alive 2
14.) Confidential Mission
15.) Rez
16.) Vitrua Fighter 3tb
17.) Sega Marine Fishing
18.) Marvel vs. Capcom
19.) Outtrigger
20.) V Rally

But that's only the story so far... Hopefully, posting on the 'Yard will continue to shape and change that particular perspective.



Tomleecee took a chance making me a team member. Hopefully the gamble paid off. Being able to post has opened up a whole new world for me.
Fellow Bloggers have become comrades and colleagues, a few even friends. From being a team member on the 'Yard, I have also become a co-contributor to Gnome's Gaming On the Go, and finally spread my wings to produce the DCJY's little brother...the unimaginatively conceived Saturn Junkyard.

However, my favourite website of all time will remain this hallowed 'Yard.



And so , without further ado, raise your glasses and receive a toast for Tomleecee and his most esteemed of creations... "The Dreamcast Junkyard"....

Happy Birthday!

The Dreamcast Junkyard blasts into orbit with the SEGAbits Swingin' Report Show podcast!

The Dreamcast Junkyard writers Tomleecee and The Gagaman joined me (Barry the Nomad) and my co-host George on the SEGAbits Swingin' Report Show podcast to discuss the SEGA Dreamcast from a European fan's perspective. Topics include UK marketing, the delayed launch, games exclusive to the region, the official and unofficial magazines, the collecting scene, and Tom and Aaron’s thoughts on the US release. We also have a discussion on SEGA’s decision to change the red swirl to blue, and which region had the best box art. Believe it or not, this is the first time Tom, Aaron, and myself have all talked to each other outside of comment sections and emails.

Make sure to follow Tomleecee and The Gagaman on Twitter, and make sure to visit RetroCollect and Lucky Hit!

I'm Thinking.

I've finally made it. After eleven months of climbing the Sega blog ladder, I've joined the Dreamcast Junkyard. See kids? All it takes to dominate four Sega blogs is a little perseverance, some smart-ass comments, Father Krishna and Tomleecee. The latter of the two accepts paypal, making bribes easy and convenient.

Before I begin my introduction I wanted to set a few things straight. First off, I'd like to apologize to Tomleecee for going off on him for hating on the movie Punch-Drunk Love. I can agree, that as an Adam Sandler movie, it is awful. However, as a piece of modern cinema it's excellent. Paul Thomas Anderson is a filmmaking genius and was nice enough to give a Sega Dreamcast some screen time. Secondly, that British Shenmue video was made by me.

My Dreamcast fandom began in September 1999. The Dreamcast was the first Sega system, since the Genesis, that I dived into on day one. As the Dreamcast debuted in September, and my birthday is in November, I had to bide my time with magazine articles and short play sessions at mall kiosks. When my fifteenth birthday hit, in came the cash from the grandparents. Soon I had enough for a new system, a VMU and Sonic Adventure. I remember the store was sold out of the game, so I had to spend a week playing only the bundled Dreamcast Generator demo disc. Sure I could've rented the game, but then I'd never want to return it! Once Sonic Adventure was in my hands, I was a Dreamcast fan through and through. The Official Dreamcast Magazine was my bible, and I picked up as many games as I could in the console's 2 year lifespan.

My collection has really grown over the past ten years

I remember the day I learned the Dreamcast was being discontinued. It was on Tech TV's XPlay. I still hate Adam Sessler for breaking the news. Despite the "death" of the Dreamcast, I continued to buy the usual used game until 2003 when I went off to college. I wisely brought my Dreamcast with me, making one of the few dudes in my dorm to own a video game console (I went to an art school, so there weren't too many gamers).


Upon graduating I moved to Philadelphia where I currently live with my girlfriend. She puts up with me owning all this stuff, so shes a keeper. As school assignments were behind me, and I had a steady income, I turned to ebay to fill in the gaps of my collection.


Since 2007, my Dreamcast collection has doubled, with a few more consoles and lots of wacky accessories joining the pile. Gagaman is to thank for making me want to buy a DreamEye.

Yeah, I know the Space Channel 5 soundtrack is a bootleg.

I'm missing issues 0, 2 and 3. If you have them and are willing to sell, hit me up in the comments section.

There is so much more I could say about the Dreamcast, but I'll save it for another article. Happy to be here and looking forward to the future!

Haarlem Globe-trotter

This is actually a REAL shop in Haarlem!!

Hey Up M'Dears!

'Tis I, your pimpernel-like, least prolific, and yet curiously most admired team member, Father Krishna!

"Who?" I hear you ask, -well a quick glance at the old side-bar should reveal my DCJY credentials, whilst a dip into the DCJY archives should reveal why I don't post here very often. The last time my DC received a play session, was a blast through Shenmue last October, to see if it still stood the test of time (it does!). This was inspired by my purchase of Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing which I dearly love, and play on the Xbox and DS.

However, as usual, I digress. I recently returned from the Astral Plane where I reside with those ethereal beings the 'Ascended Masters', in order to take a short visit to the wonderful cities of Amsterdam and Haarlem, in that most tolerant and easy going of territories, the Netherlands!

Apart from getting thoroughly off my twat on pipe fulls of (absolutely legal) Haarlem Haze and Ice-olator Resin, I also stumbled upon this little shop which proudly displayed an image of the Hallowed Hedgehog, with the 'crap and unimaginative/post modern and ironic' shop name: Game Shop.


Once inside, there was a great selection of all things aSega including cartridges for the Game Gear, Master System and Megadrive, games for the 32X and Mega CD and this tidy little collection of Dreamcast and Saturn games. The games were an exorbitant 15+ Euros, and were not particularly rare or exciting. Thus nothing got bought for my Dreamcast or Saturn collections.


What I did buy was this rather lovely little nugget for the Gameboy Advance - Sonic Pinball Party.


Chock full of Sega goodness, this basic pinball sim features both the Saturn's 'NiGHTS' and the Dreamcast's favourite primate, 'Samba'. In fact in 2003, (in contrast to the glut of ports heading from the Dreamcast to the Xbox, Gamecube and PS2), Sonic Pinball and Jet Set Radio for the Gameboy Advance were among the only original games using Dreamcast IP game characters that were still being produced!

It's always good to stumble across a tiny independent gameshop that still sells Dreamcast merchandise, even better when said discovery comes after a particularly potent strain of bubble hash on a beautiful day in the coolest country in Europe.

(On a 'Tomleecee DC spotting' related note, the Kyle family in My Wife And Kids are always playing the Dreamcast, I just don't know how how to capture the image and print it here!)

Take care peeps!
FK :)

New games, new sticks, new buttons.

It's been quite a while since I've posted here hasn't it? That'll be because last week was give-us-all-your-coursework week at Uni, but now I have some time off, which = quality time with what is currently the most modern console in my household (since I sold my GameCube, and haven't got a Wii yet), along with the new bits I have brought back for it from my trip to New York over the last week of 2006.

So how did I even find any Dreamcast stuff anyhow? Pure luck, actually. Th 1st day we woke up in New York, after pissing about with the hotel who had lost our suite, we popped down to Greenwich Village, our favorite area of the city. Unlike the Rolex selling tramps and bright lights of Times Square, this lower down area is not only a lot quieter, but has a lot of great unique shops tucked away. After popping into an small Irish bar for a proper Breakfast, walking down one road I spotted a sign about an import retro shop, with a little map of where it had moved to. For those who may be interested, the address is 202 East 6th Street.

Anyway, we finally found the shop, which was rather small but very well packed with potentially thousands of games stacked up to the ceiling, and an old Mario statue standing out front, that some Japanese family were having heir photo taken with. The first thing you see as you walk in is NINTENDO WII ONLY ONE IN STOCK BIG FAT BUNDLE $500, but as soon as you went around one of it's many corners you came across a wall with about 5 shelfs of hundreds of American Dreamcast games. Yikes! On closer inspection, about half were 2nd hand and half were sealed, but a lot of them were multiple copies of the same game. For example, they must of had at least 50 copies of Coaster Works. Basically, most of it was junk. I did however fish out 3 games I did want which were cheap: Atari Anniversary Edition for $15 (about $8), Illbleed sealed for $10 (£6), and Floigan Bros for just $8 (about a £4).

They also had a shelf of DC games behind glass that were all gooduns, like Typing of the Dead and Outrigger, but were all $25, which is roughly more than I could get them on Ebay anyway. Lastly, there was a glass cabinet full of Japanese games, including one shelf for Dreamcast ones, which were mostly games you can get cheap anyway, like Sega Rally 2, or games that were pretty darn expensive, such as Under Defeat for $90! Ouch. I at least got one thing from this cabinet, and that was Puyo Puyo Sun for my Saturn for $20 (£12), because I wanted to try out that import cart I have had for years.

The shop had a lot of stuff I wanted (including just about every good Neo Geo Pocket game ever), but they were far too over priced with a lot of their games, obviously basing them on the highest prices they go for on Ebay.

One last Dreamcast thing I did actually pick up was a fighting controller for $15. It's third party, but the only time I had seen a controller like this for the DC was one released in Japan by ASCII, which sells for a lotta money. This one is pretty much the same thing, but a lot cheaper. Score!

For starters, it is laid out just like the arcade stick, with the shoulder buttons replaced with the Z and C buttons at the front. This makes the controller very useful for six button fighters like Street Fighter III,. hence the name. It also makes it look a lot like the controllers for Sega's earlier systems, especially thanks to the shape and size of it. Example below (sadly I don't have a six-button Mega Drive pad to compare with, but it's good enough):

Also notice how the VMU sticks out of it. It has one slot, so what about if you want rumble? It's built in! Oh yes. And if you don't want to use the rumble there's a switch to turn it off, if you like. There is also a turbo and clear button, although I haven't tried these out yet. The plastic feels a bit cheap, and the d-pad isn't on par with the arcade stick for fighting games, Also, games that use the analogue stick only won't work with it. It's still a good alternative if you can find one, and also quite nice for playing emulators. Reconfig the controls on Smash Pack and you could have the excat same layout as on the original Mega Drive controller!

Speaking of arcade controllers, I now have two of 'em. I didn't drag this 2nd back from America, however, but it was the first thing I saw in the window of GameStation as I visited it not long after arriving back home, and it was boxed for a measly £13. The one I've had since 2000 didn't have a box and cost me £30, but even that's cheaper than you'd have to pay for one online, because they're so heavy the postage goes through the roof. This new one isn't in as nice condition as mine, but at least it hasn't rusted up at all like mine. Here's a photo of the two sitting together in harmony:

Elaborating on the games I brought back, Atari Anniversary is a complication of about 13 of their old arcade games, all with plenty of options and features, and a bunch of artwork and interviews to round it all off. It's a very nicely made collection, with all the games perfectly recreated. Tempest is additive as hell, too.

Illbleed is a unique take on the survival horror genre in which you are in a horror theme park where you win money for not dying, which isn't easy as they throw just about everything they can at you, from mad chainsaw men to a huge, vampire Sonic that vomits rings. I'm NOT kidding. The game has you keeping track of all six of your senses (yes, you do see dead people), pumping yourself with pain killers, popping to the hospital now and hen and even listening to a cassette of whales to calm your character down from everything that's out to make you jump. It's pretty hard stuff, and features voice acting that rivals that of the first Resident Evil, but it looks great for it's age and is yet another reason why the Dreamcast is the most "dare-to-be-different" console of the last generation. Well worth a go, I've posted a video to give you an idea of it's awesomeness. You know, there was a plan for this to be remade for the Box, along with Blue Stinger, but they got canceled, so there both still Dreamcast exclusives! HA!



Oh, and that purple haired girl in the trailer? You play her wearing nothing but mud near the end of the game. ZOMG NAKED CHEAT. Again, I'm not kidding.

Floigan Bros, as Tomleecee has previously pointed out, is absolutely fantastic. Even now, this is probably the most cartoon like in game graphics ever produced. You can cel shade all you like, but if you really want that classical Looney Tune look in your game, make it bouncy, which this is in spades. In a medium where everyone is striving for realism, it's takes real innovation to do the opposite and take game visuals into a direction that has rarely been done in 3D without resorting to pre-rendered footage (as great as those cut scenes in Stupid Invaders looked, it wasn't ingame). Gameplay wise there is a lot to take in, and Moige is always craving for attention. I swear I've played that high five game with him too many times to count now. It still is, however, a must buy.

Remember that tutorial mode that Tom mentioned? Well, thanks to the game running at 50HZ (which is a first for a NTSC game), I've recorded it and plopped it on YouTube for you to see in all it's cartoon glory!



With those three new American games added, my collection of imports is looking rather healthy now, and almost filling a whole row on me shelf! I can fit 15 PAL games in a row on there, but 30 NTSC, because of tthe thinner, regular CD cases. Lovely.

Some interesting e-mails I've had recently.

Yep, it seems when people want stuff posted at the Dreamcast Junkyard in some fashion they come to me. I'm not sure why, because a lot of the time I take far too long to reply to these e-mails or post them up here. So seeing as I've had quite a few lately I may as well get them all out there..

This first one from Jack Clough is a long one about convincing Sega to not only make Shenmue III, but to make it for the Dreamcast!

Hello Gagaman. Like the majority of people who owned or own a Dreamcast, I currently own two working PAL and a new NTSC US dreamcast (which I bought as I was reminded that eventually all Dreamcasts will die and that scared me, triggered by using a UK plug with my pink Hello Kitty dreamcast resulting in it's smoky demise, annoyingly finding her original plug with step-down convertor shortly afterwards, I'm still grieving. Anyway I digress), most are obsessed with with the Shenmue series. This was the first game I had an emotionally bound with, and it plagues me that the series never got a conclusion, it left me a hollow shell. The only way I can explain this situation to anyone who isn't acquainted with Shenmue is to imagine reading the first two of Tolkein's Lord Of The Rings and then discovering that The Return Of The King will never get published.

       I understand why Shenmue 3 is unlikely to be made. The Dreamcast was an period where SEGA allowed their creativity flow, which led to exciting games however it with hindsight was damaging financially. Shenmue was a prime example of this as the ambition of the games is equalled by none, however the extraordinary costs and the poor sales means it's near impossible to for SEGA to rationally back a second sequel.

       There are also obstacles for developing on a current system. It has been a decade since the release of the sequel fans expectations would be hard to match. Remember the mixed response with Nights: Journey of Dreams on the Wii, SEGA's attempts to cater for fans of the original and a new audience essentially left the game in limbo. Gaming has changed a lot over the years and Shenmue's intrinsic style would be alien to modern gamers. However if they changed the mechanics of the game it would ultimately disappoint Shenmue's loyal fan base who've been praying for a finale and this would leave them with a bitter taste.

When SEGA pulled out of the hardware market, fans scattered across the platforms, aligning themselves with different companies. I personally went with Nintendo, my second love of games, they felt familiar. It's impossible to please all Shenmue fan boys, like with another Suzuki series Virtua Fighter which became a PlayStation 2 exclusive if you didn't own one you had to purchase one especially or, like me, do without.

You could argue they should release across multiple formats, but this leads to another issue. Shenmue was an astounding feat in technology, and no matter how hard a developer tries with a multi-format release it will not push the machines to the limit, and as a GameCube owner I know that at least one will get an inferior port.  

That was the first part, it continued on to another e-mail:

 My solution, prematurely sending email means I'll cut to the chase, is that Yu Suzuki should finally resolve this series by releasing the third Shenmue on the Dreamcast.
       This may sound odd, but as you know there is a thriving dreamcast community and independent games from companies like redspot games are intermittently released. This means there is a market there and I assume SEGA still have the original Shenmue game engine so it should be relatively easy, they wouldn't have to (and I wouldn't want them to) create a game with updated graphics and gameplay to suit the contemporary gaming audience as this would essentially be a love letter to the fans, much in the same way as SEGAGAGA (although wouldn't it be nice if SEGA aided the current translation for SGGG that could be included with Shenmue III). As most of the Dreamcast community are now adults now, and judging by the prices that these limited run of independent games go for on ebay, SEGA could charge more to cover financial costs, no amount would stop me (I've recently bought the limited edition Border Down with mousemat for just over £120 and I've only recently got into scrolling shooters, which by the way I think is one of my favorite shooters).

I think that it be nice to have the Shenmue series from beginning to end on SEGA's last console, although this could be me just being selfish as the only console I play these days is the Dreamcast, I had an XBox 360 briefly (bought one, broke, bought another then sold it after about a month when I got bored) and I've got a Wii but again I've lost interest in it.

       The reason I'm contacting you is because I need your help to get this idea out there. I personally have bugger all internet presence, I'm not on any social network site, forum or anything like that. I read your blogs and watch your videos on Dreamcast junkyard and I know you have a passion for the Dreamcast, I very much enjoyed your top 100. But not only do you have the passion, you also have a following and you know others within the community.

I apologise for the rushed nature of this second part of my email. Since your an illustrator I hope you enjoy this photo of part of my art installation on my emotional connections to three video games consoles I have owned.

I'll be honest: I had no idea how to reply to this e-mail. Either way if you're reading this Jack I hope you don't take offense to this but I don't think the likely hood of this ever happening is all that great. I'd love to see a Shenmue III like most people would, but I think it's hard enough to sell them on the idea of simply porting the first two to XBLA/PSN, let alone have them produce a new one on hardware they haven't supporting for almost a decade for £120. Blimey.

Four days ago I got this from Tris Bates:

"I didn't realize that the Phoenix mirror was a real thing in china , check out these 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/pure-bronze-mirror-tongjing-phoenix-dragon-collection-/250879283228?pt=Asian_Antiques&hash=item3a6992101c

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Curio-Antique-Bronze-Cosmetic-Dragon-Phoenix-Mirror-/280480621699?pt=Asian_Antiques&hash=item414df2a483

http://www.alaintruong.com/archives/2011/09/04/21940789.html

If only Ryo had knew he could pick them up on eBay."

Well would you look at that. The resemblance of this one in particular is quite uncanny! Looks like we have an idea for a expensive prop for a Ryo Hazuki cosplay right here! If these are real does this mean i can also obtain a Sega Saturn with a 1986 copyright? I sure hope so.

..and finally here's one I got just yesterday from 'Lewis':

"you are my hero

thank you for the junkyard, just thank you"

Well isn't that nice? Except I think people are starting to forget that Tomleecee is the man to thank for this blogs' existence.

There are some perks to being e-mailed by fans of the blog though, I must say. I'll back to that in a future article.

Xtreme (virtual) sports

Long time no posting, I see... Well, with so many consoles and so many work to do it gets hard to give my little Dreamcast the attention it deserves. But lately I've actually been playing a little on it, mainly extreme sports games. Don't ask me why, maybe it's withdrawal symptoms for not playing some Tony Hawk in a long time. The thing is, I never got THPS2 for my Dreamcast, since I already have it for the PC and PSX (yes, I know what you're all thinking, OMG I play PSX too!!!). I had other things, though, neglected things, games I bought without giving them much attention. Until now, that is. So, without further adue (that's what I meant to say, isn't it? I sometimes mess up with english expressions...), here's what I've been playing:

Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX


This one is pretty similar to Tony Hawk, which is no surprise since they both run on the same engine. There are a few key differences, though, mainly because here you have a bike instead of a skate, so the jumps are shorter, the tricks are more difficult to do and you can't ride backwards. These are not necessarily problems, and they don't break the game, but something else does: the controls. The gameplay sucks, not because of the mechanics involved but because it's hard to properly control your bike. That's not to say the game is rubbish, and it should please the more hardcore Tony Hawk games/ real-life BMX fans, but the others should at least try it first.



Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX


Another take on virtual BMX, this one distinguishes itself from the Mat Hoffman's game due to its more realistic approach. If, like me, you've played that one first, you'll need some time and practice to get used to this game. The jumps are shorter and the tricks aren't as fluid and easy to execute, but when you do nail them you'll feel like a pro. But, of course, that can also be seen as a flaw, since most people will throw out the controllers in frustration when they fail again and again and the objectives of the game get really hard, really soon, so unless you're a pro you'll get stuck pretty early. A game for the hardcore.



MTV Skateboarding


OMG this game sucks... What? It's true! It actually started out quite well the first time I played it, with this song in the background, but the gameplay is so fucking obtuse. It's rigid, unresponsive, "un-fun" and it just plain sucks. Seriously. With a rather great (or so I hear) Tony Hawk game on the system there's just no excuse to play this one.



Razor Freestyle Scooter


The surprise of the bunch. I think Tomleecee already talked about this one, but I can't remember what his opinion was. Anyway, I liked it, a lot. Maybe because I had no expectations. Despite the "vehicle" you control, a scooter in this case, the gameplay is completely TH-style, and if you've played that game you'll have no problem adapting to it. The progression and objectives are in the same style, and it's almost as fun as that game. Despite the kiddy look, some objectives are rather hard to accomplish (get a 6,000 points combo? WTF? I can barely get a 4,000 one!), but you only need to achieve a, usually somewhat low, highscore to unlock the next stage, so you probably won't get stuck easily. Also, the graphics are not exactly the best the system has to offer, but the game compensates some lack of detail and the bland textures with a big resolution and constant framerate and overall it looks good, even on my big-ass 37" HDTV.

This Is My Dsmbr

Wooo! It's December! Which means it's nearly Christmas. Wooo! Just think - we can all spend hours upon hours walking around shopping centres, battling crowds and wracking our brains on what to buy for that special person, only for them to receive the carefully selected gift on the big day, rip the wrapping paper off and say "...oh, er, that's nice." Well, to that shit I say NAY! For this year, dear reader, I will be buying exactly nothing for exactly no-one. Now, I realise that's a massive double negative and actually infers that I, Tomleecee will actually be buying something for everyone...but you get my drift. Right?

Just as well I'm not buying in to the festivities this year really, as it leaves me with more money to buy firkins of moonshine (which will no doubt be consumed alone, in a cold, bare room on Christmas Day)...and Dreamcast games. The latter of which are things I've been snapping up with alarming regularity of late. The reason it's taken me a week to get around to writing this diatribe though is that I've been patiently waiting for all of these games to be delivered, as they were mostly purchased off of that there popular online auction site...as the BBC may refer to it.

These days I tend to go for the more unusual, harder to find games that were released for the PAL system, and this week I got hold of a game that I've been trying to get my hands on for ages. I realise that there are other, much more highly sought-after titles out there in NTSC-land, but I don't really dabble with the US/Jap side of things - I leave that stuff to the more learned amongst the DCJY team. And speaking of more learned team mates, Happy Birthday to Gagaman! It was his birthday on Monday but he kept it quiet, so feel free offer your condolences via the comments section. Cough. Getting back to the point, I tend to go after the blue boxed rarities rather than the orange ones, and this week's haul has united me with one such gem...but before I get to it, here's a quick run-down of the other stuff that arrived this week. Cheers postie! No more strikes, please!

Grand Theft Auto 2

Yep, long before Tony Whats-his-face or Nico Bellic were mincing about a fully 3D Liberty City, car-jacking and shagging hoes in alleys, GTA was firmly rooted in the realms of the 'top down shooter.' GTA 2 diverts from the original PSX game in that it's set in a sort of semi-futuristic world where several major gangs rule over the city, and you have to please each gang leader in turn to unlock new missions etc.

Let's be honest here - every man and his dog has played GTA in some form or another, so there's little point in me bleating on about how it works. What I will bleat on about though, is just how badly this game seems to have aged. Back when GTA 2 was released, nobody knew that the 3rd installment of the series would lead to a semi-revolution in the way all games were created, and the humble origins of today's titles seem a million miles away from the GTA we know and love.

From the top-down view (I still reckon the DC has enough grunt to handle a fully 3D version of this game, just look at Crazy Taxi for proof) and non-existent storyline, to the slightly bizarre control set up (the button configurations are ker-azy) and the disorientating way the vehicles handle, GTA 2 feels just plain odd to play nowadays. It still holds a lot of charm in a 'this-is-how-it-all-began' kind way, but to be honest I'd much rather play GTA 4 than this anyday.

MTV Skateboarding Feat. Andy McDonald

Hands up if you've ever heard of Andy McDonald? At first I thought this was a skateboarding game featuring that bloke who used to be in Coronation Street (sorry non-UK readers who haven't got a fucking clue what I'm on about), but it transpires that Andy McDonald is a skateboarder! Who'd have thunk it?! Hot on the tail of old war-horse Tony Hawk, Andy McDonald's title tries so, so hard to trump the master at his own game...but sadly (and rather inevitably) falls slightly short of the railing, bails and then smashes his teeth out by landing face-first on the pavement (or as Andy would probably say, sidewalk).

You know, I actually bought a real-life skateboard earlier this year, along with all the relevant gear (helmet, pads, trendy Vans trainers etc) because I somehow got it into my head that I wanted to learn how to do it properly. I went down to the local skate park and it quickly dawned on me that I was the only 27-year-old there...and that I couldn't ride the board for shit. The reason I tell you this slightly embarrassing anecdote is because if you took my skateboarding skills and made a game out of them, MTV Skateboarding is what you'd end up with: it's got the best intentions in the world (brilliant soundtrack, decent graphics, nice front end), but it hasn't got an ounce of the finesse of the professionals.

It actually looks quite good y'know. Shame about the Slow-mo pace.

And by this I mean that the controls suck beyond belief (there's about a 3 second delay between you pressing 'A' and an 'ollie' being performed on-screen), the frame rate makes it look like you're playing the game in half-speed (like on a DVD when you press pause and then play) and the various game-modes are hard as nails to actually get anywhere in. An example: in the 'Collect' mode, you have to collect MTV logos. Collect 10 and you'll open the next skate park. The thing is, if you collect a logo and then fall off your board (which you will - constantly), you lose it and it magically flies off back to where you collected it from! How unfair is that?! Bah - go away Andy McDonald and take your lame-ass Tony Hawk rip-off with you. Leave the soundtrack though, cock munch.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I gave the skateboard to a friend's 13 year old son. Kept the Vans for playing Speedball in though.

NBA Hoopz

Basketball. Never really been interested in it to be honest, although I gather it's all the rage in the territories...erm, sorry 'America.' Anyway, before I cause a bigger outrage than that time when half of Liverpool wanted me dead for calling John Lennon a chav, let's get back to the task in hand: NBA Hoopz. Anybody remember NBA Jam? I had it on the Atari Jaguar many, many moons ago and back then - being a person of simpler tastes - I found it quite enjoyable. Well, NBA Hoopz is quite similar in that it features teams of 3 players 'balling' and 'letting rip' with outlandish special moves and dribbling skills. For me, the real life sport offers little because to my eye it just looks like a load of massive, muscly men running back and forth across a badminton court - but NBA Hoopz does offer some entertainment simply because it adds an air of ridiculousness to proceedings.

Reflections, motherfucka! Mr Ronseal's work is done here

The players themselves are slightly super-deformed, so you can pretty much tell from the off it's not going to be another super-serious NBA 2K2-athon - and you'd be right. The action is frantic and sometimes a bit hard to follow as the possession of the ball constantly switches sides and the size of the court leads to shots raining in constantly...which in turn leads to some very high-scoring matches. NBA Hoopz has everything you'd expect from an NBA title - licensed teams, squeaky sound effects and OTT play by play commentary. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the game...so if you're a fan of the subject matter then you'll probably get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Fair enough?

Aerowings 2: Air Strike

Oh yeah. Now we're talking. Remember 10 minutes ago before you read all that shite about my skateboard and Nico Bellic? Those 10 minutes you'll never get back? Remember? I was on about a game I've been after for ages. This is that game! Aerowings 2! It's even got a cool sub-title: Air Strike. Just rolls off the tongue doesn't it? Don't answer - that was rhetorical. So here we are then, the last great Dreamcast game that I've been searching for. Oh, there are others I don't yet have in my collection, but they can wait; Airstrike appears on ebay but once in a blue moon, so to actually win the auction was quite a momentous occasion for me. Yes, maybe I do need to get out more, but I'VE FINALLY GOT AEROWINGS 2!!! So how does it play? Well...

Watch this space very shortly for a full-scale 'proper' review. Natch*.

*Credit to Amiga Power, circa 1994.

May I take this opportunity, on behalf of all of the Dreamcast Junkyard team, Tomleecee, Gagaman(n), Caleb and myself, Father Krishna to wish all our readers and commentors a very Merry Christmas! Let us know what the old guy stuffs down yer chimney...

The American Dreamcaster Champions "The Undead Console!"

Well Yee Haw! Kick it to the kerb homies! Hot diggity dawg and bless my cotton socks!

(Or whatever it is that our colonial cousins from across the pond say when they get excited...)

Yes folks, the Dreamcast Junkyard is set to become an international phenomenon, as the legendary Caleb (he of Dreamcast loving blog extrordinnaire the Hunyak), has decided to add his not inconsiderable muscle to the great Tomleecee's, 128 Bit Sega Mafia!

We've already got one media wizard on the team in the shape of the Gagaman(n), and now we've just secured another! Expect some great Dreamcast film projects coming up in the future, along with some obscure pieces of Dreamcast trivia and memoribilia, and some killer game reviews!

Caleb's work over at the Hunyak and The Saturn Junkyard has already proved to be of great merit, and I for one am excited about how his fresh insight and input, will give us more regular posts and interesting content. Here's to a new chapter in the history of the great Dreamcast Junkyard...