Prototypes of Retro-Bit's Upcoming Dreamcast Controllers Finally Revealed

Photo courtesy of SHIRO!

Let's face it, the Dreamcast controller isn't exactly beloved. Sure, it was the tool that granted us the ability to experience some of the best games to ever exist, but unfortunately suffers from a not very ergonomic shape, a single uncomfortable analog stick, a funky D-pad (no, not the Jet Set Radio kind of funky), and a wire that comes out of its butt. Probably it's best attribute is the fact that it is compatible with a variety of accessories like the VMU memory unit, the rumble pack and the microphone, but those don't make up for how sore your hands feel after an intense sesh of Maken X.

Anyway, those who frequent the Dreamcast community may recall that Retro-Bit, a manufacturer of all kinds of aftermarket retro gaming accessories, including officially licensed recreations of Sega controllers, announced a redesigned Dreamcast controller in 2020 with an ETA for later that year. In 2021, they provided an update to say that due to manufacturing shortages, the controller had been delayed. Finally, at this year's Portland Retro Gaming Expo, Retro-Bit finally offered us a glimpse of these much anticipated pads.

Photo courtesy of SHIRO!

Thanks to our friends at Sega Saturn, SHIRO!, those who didn't attend the convention were able to get a look at these in progress prototypes of both a wired and wireless variant of Retro-Bit's controllers via some photos they uploaded to Twitter. Matching the original designs presented to us in 2020, these upcoming controllers feature a more comfortable-looking recessed analog stick (compared to the dome design of the original), a Sega Saturn style D-pad, redesigned trigger buttons, and six face buttons that are laid out in a slanted orientation more suited for fighting games, with the C and Z buttons doubling to mirror the L and R triggers. On the wired version, the wire comes out of the top. This means there is now only one VMU slot available, however the controller does include built-in rumble, and if you're anything like me, the rumble pack is all that second slot gets used for anyway.

The wireless Bluetooth version shown off does not have a built-in VMU slot, and instead opts for the use of a VMU receiver dongle, which is similar to what we've seen from the upcoming Retro Fighters StrikerDC wireless controller. A possible reason we're seeing this workaround from companies like Retro Fighters and Retro-Bit was explained to us in our Discord by our pal Derek Pascarella (not affiliated with either company, just a bit of a tech whizz), who explained that not only can Bluetooth connections be interrupted which can lead to save data being corrupted, but also the "madness of trying to synchronise timings of a Bluetooth signal with strict MAPLE bus timings for Dreamcast input peripherals". Very good, what he said. So far, the only person to pull off this technical feat of allowing VMU support in a wireless controller is Chris Diaoglou with his DreamConn, and we can only imagine how much time and effort that took him to pull off.

Retro-Bit's dongle connects from USB-C to the Dreamcast controller port, stands vertically, and even has a little kickstand for extra support. Retro-Bit's wireless controller will also ship with a compatible USB dongle for compatibility with PC, Mac and an array of modern consoles.

Photo courtesy of SHIRO!

At the expo, SHIRO! also filmed an interview with Retro-Bit's Marketing and Product Specialist Andreas Ordonez, where he showed the controllers off a bit more, and also answered some very important questions. Andreas confirmed that various aspects of the controller are still being improved and ironed out, such as the form-factor, and how the VMU receiver will operate. With this in mind, he said we may hear more in 2024 depending on how everything progresses. As for pricing, he speculated that it would possibly by in the $49.99 range and not much more than that, with the wired version obviously being cheaper, although an idea of price wasn't given for that one.

I do like the idea of having a Saturn-style D-pad and an improved analog stick, but I'm personally not as keen on the drastic change to the layout of the standard A, B, Y, Z button layout, and perhaps wished they'd opted more for something like that of the Mad Catz Dream Pad, that preserves their original position (I never thought I'd praise something Mad Catz made). Also, while it's not so much an issue for me, the form factor still looks very similar to that of the original controller, which many have criticised for being unergonomic, so to have all these potential improvements but keep that original shape seems a bit of a misstep. But of course, these are just prototypes, so are subject to change from what we should expect from the final product.

Anyway, let us know what you think of these prototypes in the comments section below, or via one of our many social media channels. A big thanks goes out to Sega Saturn, SHIRO! for their coverage of these controllers. Be sure to go check out their website.

The Hunt for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox versions of the Sega Dreamcast

Over the years, fans of the Sega Dreamcast have had the opportunity to see many interesting and artistic case mods, but some of the oldest to make a splash in the Dreamcast scene were the ones you see below; case mods designed to look like the Dreamcast's sixth generation competitors: Microsoft's Xbox, Nintendo's GameCube and Sony's PlayStation 2.

Cool designs? Or heresy against the Dreamcast? These case mods have had many fans and detractors over the years.

Long-time fans may dimly recall seeing pictures of these customised Dreamcasts making the rounds on Dreamcast forums and fan websites as early as 2002. The pictures have continued to show up over the last 20 years on various forums, fan sites and social media pages across the internet (including a 2006 post on this very blog), although genuine information about their origin has tended to be scarce. Given their relatively polished-looking designs and their appearance around the time of the Dreamcast’s commercial death, theories and rumors have spread that a Japanese gaming magazine or even Sega themselves may have commissioned them to use in conjunction with a story or announcement about Sega’s decision to create games for third party systems. Some critics have even gone as far as to argue that the images were mere Photoshop creations and never even truly existed.

After being reminded of these designs through a chance encounter with a fan who had found the GameCube design for sale on an online marketplace, I set off on the complex mission of discovering the truth about these mysterious custom Dreamcasts. I searched my own memory, trawled through defunct websites of yesteryear on the Internet Archive, and even managed to track down and discuss the case mods with the original Japanese creator. After all of this, I can finally provide the authentic story of these early and unusual custom designs.

The Creator

Enter G-Cube – the name of a group of Japanese model kit builders. In the early 2000s, G-Cube was a group of three people who would get together and use their extensive modeling, graphic design and painting skills to cosmetically enhance existing model kits, toys and other items. 

One of many logos used by G-Cube

Their projects involved assembling things such as retail model kits with highly detailed custom paint jobs, some of which would also have significant modifications, including custom fabricated parts, to make finished products that were substantially different from their original design. The group’s work often included designs for mecha, figures, spaceships, and other vehicles from anime and video games. Over the years, G-Cube’s creations would be profiled in Japanese hobby magazines, and the group would even display their work at public exhibitions and festivals. The group would also take commissions from customers, and to this day, G-Cube puts recent creations up for sale on Yahoo! Auctions Japan from time to time.

Various older works by G-Cube

I was fortunate enough to find contact information for a Mr. Fuminori of G-Cube, who as luck would have it, was the designer behind all three of the Dreamcast case mods shown above. The following is a summary of information about each of the case mods...

Daytona USA back Online, Dreamcast: Year Three, Samba De Amigo in VR, and more! - Dreamcast News Round-Up July 2023

Summer is here... not that you'd know in the UK, though, because it's been raining nonstop for two weeks straight. At least the forecast for new developments in the Dreamcast community is looking promising, so much so that I thought I'd round it all up for you in this handy post. There's an overarching theme of homebrew wizardry this month, whether that be in the form of new software or hacking old software, so be sure to thank all the talented individuals mentioned for their hard work.

Dreamcast: Year Three announced!

This piece of news is one I have no shame plugging first! Last month saw the release of Dreamcast: Year Two, a book edited by Andrew Dickinson that features many written collaborations from The Dreamcast Junkyard team and others in the Dreamcast community. Well, for those who were wondering, Andrew confirmed in a tweet that Dreamcast: Year Three is coming, revealing its awesome cover, illustrated by KinkySketch, as well as saying to "expect a [Kickstarter] campaign mid-2024". The plan with this one will be to launch the campaign with much of the content already produced to avoid long waiting times for backers.

For more information on The Dreamcast Junkyard's book releases, check out our dedicated section on the website.

Debug Indie Sampler, Vol. 3

Wave Game Studios have already given away two great demo samplers, each featuring snippets of the latest and greatest in Dreamcast indie games and homebrew. Anyway, here's a heads-up to say that Debug Indie Sampler, Vol. 3 has gone up on Wave's store for pre-order, and as before, the only ask if that you pay for shipping. None of the demos have been confirmed yet (as represented by the anonymous coloured squares on the cover below), but Wave have said that "[we] won't be disappointed". Exciting! The sampler is limited to 2,000 copies and won't be reprinted, so make sure you go and grab one!

This modern art is getting out of hand...

Reinvigorating the games of old...

While you sleep, talented hackers in the Dreamcast community toil away, tweaking the inner workings of your favourite Dreamcast games to make them more accessible in various ways. You may never have knew you needed hacks like the ones discussed below until this article, so let us know if they went straight onto your GDEMU or a CD-R after reading.

VGA Dreams

This follows on from a topic brought up in Lozz’s last Dreamcast News Round-Up. TapamN has been doing some amazing work making a whole load of Dreamcast games compatible with VGA output. A bugbear of many a DC fan is the seemingly random assortment of games that don’t natively work with this oft preferred method of video output, so what TapamN is doing is a godsend. 

The most recent title to receive TapamN's VGA treatment is the The King of Fighters '99 - Evolution, the Japan-exclusive Dreamcast remake/port of The King of Fighters '99. Here's to enjoying Neo Geo-quality bouts in beautiful VGA on the best console ever made.

The King of Fighters '99 - Evolution working in VGA mode, as shown by Derek Pascarella (ateam).

Also hacked to work with VGA is survival horror title Seven Mansions - Ghastly Smile, another Japan-exclusive game that received an English fan translation thanks to SnowyAria and MrNobody back in 2019. This one is particularly handy, as I'm pretty sure it was the only fan translated game available for the console that lacked VGA compatibility, so this hack is a great addition to GDEMUs everywhere.

A full list of the VGA patches that are available and where to download them can be found on the console mods wiki. With these most recent additions, the number of Dreamcast games that remain incompatible stands at a surprisingly slim 24. 

C-Smash VRS Review: A Cosmic Revival in ReVRie

Past works are lost when they stop conversing with the present. Honoring old games requires us to continue engaging with them, of course, but the onus is also on them to reciprocate. To enrich their legacy, revivals and follow-ups must do more than pander to us old fucks who were already there for them. They must also find relevance with new generations of players and creators who may be inspired to shepherd their ideas into the future. Or else let them die. Celebrating those experiences can mean reinterpreting and recontextualizing them, if not reinventing them altogether.

In this essay, I will—

And so it goes for Cosmic Smash, Sega Rosso’s modest game of intergalactic, block-breaking racquetball. The NAOMI title saw limited distribution in Japanese and European arcades in 2001, plus a stint on Japanese Dreamcasts. Following an initial run in obscurity, it has since rallied a cult following – that is, assuming the Junkyard community’s Top 200 rankings weren’t fraudulent.

At #64 overall, Cosmic Smash was voted the #5 ranked Japanese exclusive and the #1 game about swatting balls around a shipping container.

For many fans – including the creative teams at RapidEyeMovers and Wolf & Wood – Cosmic Smash’s resonance endures. Unearthing the license from under the sofa cushions at Sega’s IP lawyers’ offices (I imagine), they have developed C-Smash VRS, an unlikely reimagining of Rosso’s space station sportsball.

I’ve long respected Cosmic Smash for its melding of Rez-ish vibes and Virtua Tennish feel, but I’ve always felt detached from its primary hook. In virtual reality, though? Immersing players in the kineticism of physically swinging paddles at balls at walls in space makes immediate sense. Titles like Sparc, Holoball, and Proton Pulse have also poked at the edges of this concept in VR, albeit with mixed success. At the very least, they’ve helped buoy cyber squash as an accredited genre.

Meanwhile, the recent wave of Sega-inspired remakes/sequels/homages has set ample precedent on the nostalgic front. Yet, in the rising sea of Sega-likes, it’s easy to float adrift. Many rehash the most superficial aspects of their inspirations but fundamentally misunderstand — or fail to coherently capture — the core of why folks love them in the first place. This keeps them from fully evoking or advancing those concepts, or replicating their magic in any meaningful way.

Refreshingly, C-Smash VRS is deliberate and confident in its homage, and it wastes little time laying a foundation of its own.

VRS shares Cosmic Smash’s premise in all its minimalist glory. It has you rally a ball against a wall of blocks/panels to clear them within a time limit. As you progress, the configurations grow more layered and complex, and glimpses of puzzle elements begin to emerge. Some panels will move in patterns. Unbreakable panels will obstruct portions of the field. Special panels will clear adjacent rows, freeze panels in motion, or extend your time limit. Over time, successful hits will recharge your Power Smash ability, which can clear stacks of panels in a single shot.

The racket work feels remarkably natural. Its nuanced tracking and physics afford a wide gamut of shots, shanks, and whiffs. If you’re experienced at real-life racket sports, a few of the principles you’ve learned – like squaring yourself for forehands and backhands, anticipating timing and trajectories, etc. – will certainly help you here. If you suck at such sports in real life, though, then the learning curve will be a bit steeper. Either way, it is innately intuitive and rewarding to learn.

For their part, the PSVR2’s Sense controllers never struggle to keep up. In the game and real life, I flail in parity. And whenever I fuck up, it’s just about always my fault. The technology – or VRS’s exceptional implementation of it – simply works. That I never have to think about it is probably the best compliment I could give.

There are drawbacks, however. VRS binds several actions to the other controller, with limited options for button mapping. A Force-pull gesture serves the ball towards you, crouching helps reach low-bouncing balls, and the analog stick moves you horizontally along the baseline. It would be great to be able to remap all of these actions as needed, especially to a single controller.

Interestingly, VRS also helps me appreciate aspects of Cosmic Smash I had taken for granted. In its shift to first-person, it loses the flair of its wireframe avatar and all the cool shit they could do: The leaping volleys. The wall jumps. The aerial flips. The unlimited trick shots. The stylish replays. The celebratory flexing. They’re necessary omissions, but I underestimated their collective contribution to the original’s vibrancy and charm. Realistically, C-Smash VRS is feasible because it eschews those verbs, and players prone to motion sickness will be thankful for their absence. In that sense, VRS helps celebrate Cosmic Smash by contrast of its own sacrifices.

As with the original game, VRS’s style is integral to its substance. It preserves its clean, minimalist aesthetics and adds new flourishes of its own. It depicts a similarly optimistic future where humankind has channeled its ambitions into interstellar sports courts. VRS then expands on its setting with livelier and less claustrophobic arenas. Windows have now been installed, unveiling orbiting planets, little space guys, and other nuggets of world(s)building.

In its scope, C-Smash VRS is laser-focused on the minimum viable product, for better or worse. It practically flaunts its simplicity in its pair of solo modes. Among them is Challenge, where you progress through dozens of stages under a strict, continuous time limit to clear as many as you can as quickly as you can (i.e. Cosmic Smash). Alternatively, Zen mode works the same except failing stages doesn’t end your run and you can replay them as desired to improve your times and rankings. If that motivates you, you’ll get substantially more out of VRS’ solo-play. If not, you may be done with it after a run or two.

Review: Tapeworm Disco Puzzle

2022 began much as 2021 ended - with a bumper crop of healthy Dreamcast indie games for us all to enjoy. It seems the answer to the question "what did you do in lockdown" for many in the scene was "make a new Dreamcast game" and you know what? If the only positive thing to come out of that whole ordeal was more Dreamcast games, then that’s a small win for us here at the Junkyard. Give us more indie games! 

In January 2022, one Tapeworm Disco Puzzle arrived at the Junkyard headquarters. I say "headquarters", it's actually just a wooden shed in the New Forest that we initiate new members in, using a combination of audio-visual psychological warfare techniques, a pair of secateurs, a copy of Spirit of Speed 1937 and a signed picture of Peter Moore. I may have said too much. Forget you read that. Anyway, Tapeworm Disco Puzzle is one I'd been looking forward too for some time, as it was announced as a "spin-off sequel" to Lowtek Games' title Flea! which had released a couple of years earlier. I previously reviewed Flea! here on the blog and thought it was rather good. Tapeworm Disco Puzzle, just like its predecessor, is an 8-bit title that, whilst limited technically due to its Nintendo Entertainment System origins, packs a whole lot of game and bags of charm onto its disc.

Much like the Dreamcast version of Flea! I reviewed previously, Tapeworm Disco Puzzle is a NES game that has been ported to the Dreamcast. Lowtek games originally ran a Kickstarter for the title back in December 2020, which was successful funded - probably thanks in no small part to the positive reception that Flea! had garnered previously. A Dreamcast and a PC port were also listed alongside the NES cartridge as part of this initial campaign, and it finally made its way out to backers within a little over a year's time, which is a quick turnaround time by Kickstarter standards.

If you've ever played Lowtek Game's first outing Flea! (which is probably a fair few of you now, since its re-release by WAVE Game Studios), you'll be familiar with the colourful pixel world that designer Alastair Low has created. A world of greedy, blood-hoarding monarchs, "refu-fleas" and undeniably cute, hopping heroes; it was a credit that for such a simple title, it created a genuinely charming little in-game universe. This world is expanded upon in Tapeworm Disco Puzzle, in a rather odd way. Your main character this time is the tapeworm, proprietor of the local night club where all the fleas like to hang out. Problem is, something strange is happening to his parasitical patrons, so as well as making sure there's plenty of banging party tunes and enough blood to go around, you'll have to try and work out just what is going on. Along the way, you'll come across some other club-owning worms, as well as all manner of other denizens of this surprisingly well-crafted mini-universe that Alastair has created.

Whilst inhabiting the same universe as Flea!, Tapeworm Disco Puzzle - as its name may suggest - takes an altogether different approach when it comes to gameplay. This is a grid-based puzzle title, in which you must collect musical notes and blood with your tapeworm. Our hero, however, is limited in size, so to collect all the elements, you need to work out the best way to navigate the stage, as well as collecting tapes which will increase your worm's length (ahem...) which will allow you to reach areas that you'd otherwise be unable to. It sounds simple - and to be fair, the core concept here is - but the game quickly throws all manner of different elements in. Wormholes see our hero popping up in other areas of the stage, fleas will often be present in stages (the only way to collect blood) and it's your task to assist them, buttons need to be covered by your extended worm body to open doors, and there's plenty of bad guys spread throughout the stages too, which you'll need to avoid contact with.

Stick It to the Man: Playing Games That Aren’t Fighters With the Dreamcast Arcade Stick

As with everything Dreamcast, the official arcade stick is something I have noticed has increased in price in the last so many years. Having been looking to add a second stick to my setup, I've discovered its average listing price on eBay now clocks in at well over £80 (close to double what I paid for mine back in 2018 when I finally decided I should get one for my beloved white box), although at the time of writing, it appears UK second hand retail chain CEX are currently selling them at a much more respectable £65!

Despite being a fighting game fan, I am the sort of fan that doesn’t actually fully understand the concepts of blocks, cancels, charge characters, spin characters or laser tappers. Okay, I made those last two up, but they definitely sound like the sort of things I imagine people on modern online fighting lobbies mutter to themselves as I lose my 115th game in a row: ‘this guy is trying to play a spinner like a lazerT, the idiot!’ Probably.

Anyway, I do own a number of different sticks - mainly for Xbox consoles, but also for some others - but not because I'm some sort of fighting purest as evidenced in the intro. It’s mainly because of my love for arcade games, which leads me back to the Dreamcast. With its focus on arcade conversions or at least arcade-style home gaming, I decided to bypass the merit of discussing the DC's fighters and go straight to discussing the games of other genres in my collection that offer arcade stick compatibility, which is normally indicated by a handy logo on the back cover of the game (thanks, Sega). However, this isn't always the case, I'm looking at you, Midway. Come see me after class, please...

I hope this piece proves to be useful for anyone who hasn't yet purchased an arcade stick and wants to know if it's 'worth it' for games other than fighters. Or maybe if you have one sat in a cupboard collecting dust, hopefully this article will give you the drive to get it out and give it another go, as it's frankly a glorious piece of kit.

Virtua Tennis 

This was one I was instantly drawn to try when I first got my own arcade stick. Its inclusion here offers a rare chance for me to give a shout-out to anyone who ever played the Virtua Tennis arcade machine that was in the Scream pub "The Pulpit" in Cheltenham during the years of 2001 and 2003. Unless you are the person who broke the lob button on the player two side, in which case I hope all the hinges fall off your PAL Dreamcast cases because you are a monster.

My first ever experience of Virtua Tennis was on said arcade machine, and I remember actually being disappointed when it appeared in the pub, as it was a replacement for my beloved Virtua Striker. I reluctantly had a go anyway, and then another, and then the next thing I knew, I'd bought Virtua Tennis for the Dreamcast (later that day, if my memory is correct).

The arcade stick is obviously perfect for this game. I’ve always felt the standard Dreamcast controller was a tad unwieldy for the game and that this is one of the very few drawbacks that the Virtua Tennis series has against it. But with the arcade stick, the smooth movement of the stick and the really effective yet simple amount of buttons offers a perfect way to play, to the extent I now want a second one for the rare chances I have a second person in the house willing to play Dreamcast. The arcade stick also has the added benefit of not causing D-pad indentation on your hand like the standard controller can. Surely that alone makes it worthy of purchase?

Final verdict: Get your stick on! Stick > Controller > Fishing rod (in that order).

Virtua Striker 2 ver 2000.1

I am overly fond of this game. Even though it has numerous flaws and actually plays a terrible game of football, I still love it. I love playing it on the arcade stick even more than the standard controller as it controls in the same stuttering and janky way that the arcade did. Oddly, the game itself would only let you use the D-pad when using the standard controller and not the analogue stick, so getting to control the game with the stick is a much nicer feeling all round, and is a clear improvement over the controller, as long as you can forgive the game for all its other issues.

Final verdict: GOOOOAAAALLLLLL!!! *ba da bum ba*

DIRECT SHOOT!

Virtua Athlete 2K

Those who know me, know I love track and field games. I can see that they are ultimately dumb and shallow, yet still they have been responsible for some of my best competitive and multiplayer memories on virtually every console up to the Xbox 360, which was when those kinds of games (and the people who’d play them with you in person) all seemed to vanish.

Prior to officially joining the staff for the Junkyard, I made an overly elaborate comparison of the three athletics games that found their way onto the Dreamcast and that was actually the first time I ever played Virtua Athlete 2K.

I was not overly surprised to see it had arcade stick support, as it is effectively a more serious reskin of the Sega Saturn great Athlete Kings/DecAthlete (originally of the arcades). So is it any good with the arcade stick? Well, not really no. The button mashing is more satisfying on the arcade stick due to the larger buttons, but the game is significantly harder with this control method. I tried to adjust to compensate, thinking this might be from my many years of using the standard controller for these kinds of games, making me unfamiliar with the arcade controls, but it isn’t. For the quick precise nature of this sort of game, the wider spread of the buttons and control on the arcade stick isn’t ideal.

Final verdict: Controller or bust if you want to go fast.

Dreamcast: Year Two shipping, HarleQuest! funded, Phantasy Star Collection, Sapphire Hotel - Dreamcast News Round-Up May 2023

Pixel art credit: Xtreme Retro

Spring is now well and truly upon us here in the UK. My central heating has finally been switched off, the nights are drawing out, and the air is alive with the sounds of songbirds, neighbourhood kids, and the obnoxiously loud engines of boy racers. The departure of winter typically does wonders for my mood, but this year my nerves are uncharacteristically shot to pieces as my boyhood football club is flirting with the prospect of imminent relegation. Rather than spend another afternoon anxiously inspecting the league table and fixtures list once again though, I thought I’d try to distract myself by penning a DCJY news round-up. The Dreamcast scene continues to bloom, delivering a bountiful harvest all year round, and there are some vigorous green shoots sprouting up too which are likely to bear fruit later in the year. So, dear readers, settle down, get comfy, and feast your eyes upon all the latest from the world of the Dreamcast.

Homebrew Happenings

The Dreamcast has long been blessed with a dedicated cast of coders who love nothing more than cooking up homebrew offerings of all shapes and sizes. The degree to which homebrew efforts have extended the console’s software library and capabilities is truly remarkable and the selfless souls who deliver these goods deserve our thanks (thank you!).

Lately it seems that Ian Michael’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection has become a trend-setter, as several other ‘collection’ type projects are now in the works. First of all is Ian’s own follow-up, a Phantasy Star collection, which allows the classic Master System, Game Gear and Mega Drive titles to be played on the Dreamcast in seamless fashion, complete with a menu system that pulls everything together, and extras such as separately playable soundtracks and videos. Sega produced a package of this sort for the Saturn, but its release was limited to Japan. If Ian’s previous work is anything to go by, then we anticipate that this follow-up will be well worth your attention.

Cover image for Ian Michael's Phantasy Star Collection created by 'caruse'.

Shindougo has joined Ian in flaunting their chops in the DC homebrew collection space too, releasing Castlevania and The Simpsons collections in December and April respectively. Neither of these franchises ever saw official representation on the Dreamcast - exclusive titles were in development, but never made it past their fledgling stages. Leaked builds of both are available but are pretty bare bones. Those who want to scratch that itch they’ve been having for a Castlevania or Simpsons experience on their little white box should check out Shindougo’s releases, both of which are available via the links posted above. Video demonstrations of these collections have also helpfully been produced by friend of the Yard, gamesreup.

Hydro Thunder working in VGA mode, as shown by Derek Pascarella (ateam).

Another homebrew project of a different ilk has also surfaced in recent weeks. Dreamcasters who have (justifiably) clung to VGA as their preferred video output option will be pleased to hear that TapamN appears to have delivered a method for playing virtually any DC game via VGA. Until now there have been a few dozen games that have stubbornly resisted efforts to force them into outputting VGA, but thanks to the elbow grease of TapamN, a comprehensive solution seems to be at hand. TapamN first demonstrated the new patching method in action with Bangai-O. A frenzy of further contributions have quickly followed from others within the community demonstrating that the method works for games such as Airforce Delta, Deadly Skies, and Hydro Thunder. A full list of the VGA patches created by TapamN are available on the console mods wiki.

Online Optimisations

Putting your Dreamcast’s modem to work really should be mandatory. If you aren’t swimming in the warm crystal-clear waters of the console’s online capacities then you are missing out - especially so, given that the experiences available keep expanding.

Hey hey hey, it's time to upload some CRAZY replays. Crazy Taxi 2 website screenshot courtesy of Xiden.

In mid-April, Xiden announced that the replay upload function of the Crazy Taxi 2 website has been revived. Now, as if it were 2001, that means you can upload replays of your lucrative fare-maximising runs, and find out how paltry they are in comparison to those of your compatriot taxi drivers by downloading their replays. Baggy jeans are recommended for the fully immersive turn-of-the-millennium experience. All you need to know can be found in Xiden’s Dreamcast-Talk post.

In other online news, Johne, a stalwart of Brazil’s DC online community, has launched a Dreamcast Now Android phone app. Dreamcast Now, of course, being the website that provides a live summary of who is currently online on their Dreamcast and what game they are playing. With the app, users are able to set a variety of notifications for different events, including when designated friends have come online, and when favourite games have currently active players.

Rent-A-Hero No. 1 has been Translated into English for Dreamcast!

The beauty of the Dreamcast is that when you think you've played everything the console has to offer, something new lands in your lap. These days, that often comes in the form of a brand new indie game, or in the case of what we have here today: a Japanese game from back in the day being playable for the first time in English on the Dreamcast thanks to the hard work of fans.

Many of us had a good feeling about Rent-A-Hero No. 1, some possibly even since the early 2000s, when muddling through the game with a translation guide was the way for non-Japanese speakers. Those wanting to truly experience the game were thrown a bone in 2008 when an unreleased officially-translated Xbox prototype leaked onto the internet, but those wanting to experience the game on its original platform, the Dreamcast, were still stuck with guides and translation apps... until today.

Thanks to the hard work and perseverance of VincentNL and his talented team of "Rent-A-Modders", Rent-A-Hero No. 1 is now fully playable in English on the Dreamcast! But this is no ordinary fan project, because the lengths this team had to go to in order to bring us this high-quality translation is an entire topic of conversation in and of itself. Before we go into all that, though, a bit of background on the game first...

The first Rent-A-Hero was developed by Sega-AM2 and released exclusively in Japan for the Mega Drive in 1991. The Rent-A-Hero character next saw an appearance as an unlockable character in 1996’s Fighters Megamix for the Sega Saturn. The game we’re talking about today, Rent-A-Hero No.1, released for the Dreamcast in Japan in May 2000. A remake of the Mega Drive original, it shares the same quirky and humorous tone of the game it is based on, but brings the gameplay into the world of 3D. The game is effectively an action-RPG that has you assuming the role of 16-year-old Taro, a budding hero for hire. As Taro, you run around town doing odd jobs and missions assigned by SECA to build his way up the ranks of herodom. The game also has beat 'em up style combat that uses the same fighting engine as that used in Sega's arcade game Spikeout.

Rent-A-Hero No. 1 looks and plays great on the Dreamcast, and if it wasn't for the incredibly eccentric Japanese humour that it wears like a bejewelled bangle on its sleeve, questions about the game's lack of a Western Dreamcast release would definitely be flying around. Oddball humour is this game's strongest suit, and with an abundance of Sega references throughout, Rent-A-Hero No. 1 is a game every fan of the house of hedgehog should spend some time with. Whether it be the inclusion of Segata Sanshiro or the "Creamcast" console you access in the game, the tributes to our favourite ex-console manufacturer throughout are hardly subtle.

So, back to the translation. This translation patch required many heavy lifts to get to what you’re seeing in this final release. A deep analysis and understanding of numerous original Katana SDK libraries was needed in order to reverse-engineer and interact with a slew of the game's already-compiled assembly code.

Radirgy De Gojaru! - Radirgy's Terrible 3DS Spinoff

Ah, Radirgy. One of a handful of high-quality shoot 'em ups developed by MileStone Inc. to grace the Dreamcast in Japan, Radirgy boasts a colourful cel-shaded anime style, and a ridiculous plot that follows a protagonist who is allergic to radio waves. It's as Japanese as these shooters come, really, and I bloody love it. Radirgy has enjoyed a quiet cult following over the years, and has received various sequels and offshoots.

A few years ago, I was browsing Wikipedia (as neurodivergent gentlemen like myself tend to do), when I discovered that, sometime in 2014, Radirgy came to the 3DS. "Wow!" I probably thought to myself, "Handheld Radirgy! I need this right away!" When I investigated further, I sadly discovered that it was only available for purchase on the Japanese 3DS eShop, and there was no way for me to access that on my European region locked 3DS (thanks, Nintendo).

Credit: Depressed Sonic

Roll on March 2023, and the 3DS eShop was about to shut down for good, with its final day being the 27th of March. The Wii U eShop has now also shut down too; news I'm sure was received with a resounding whimper (no, it doesn't matter how many times a day retro Twitter tweets it, the Wii U is not "the next Dreamcast"). In this hustle and bustle, I learnt about a certain homebrew application that aims to collect and preserve 3DS eShop games, applications and DLC from many different regions - something which Nintendo clearly has no interest in facilitating (thanks, Nintendo). Using a Wi-Fi connection, the app granted me the ability to download any of this content for free, straight to my hacked 3DS that has the means to install .cia files.

As the app collects games from various regions and bypasses any region locking on your console, I immediately headed to the Japanese section, and lo and behold, there is was: Radirgy De Gojaru!. A moment later, it was downloaded onto my 3DS.

Screenshots taken with Luma3DS.

I booted up the game, and everything looked good at first. The startup menu screen featured the same bouncy electronic music and flat, 2D graphic stylings indicative of Radirgy. But this positive first impression all came crashing down when I actually started the game...

What I was playing looked liked Radirgy. It sounded like Radirgy. I was in control of a ship in a cel-shaded world, shooting at a painfully slow trickle of approaching enemies with the A button, or hacking at them up close with the sword by using the B button. For some reason, though, the background wasn't scrolling. Isn't your ship in Radirgy supposed to gradually move through a variety of constantly changing locales? Instead, I was just locked to a single static background, one which featured nothing exciting; just a load of trees and a grey building at the bottom of the screen. I thought at first that I was playing a tutorial level or something, but no matter how long I played for, this scenery never changed.

On the 3DS' touchscreen, amongst a variety of icons, I could select one of four different weapon options: a wide shot, an x-shot, a shot that shoots from both the front and sides, then finally, the "sword" option, which would make the sword attack more powerful than the bullets I was shooting. While I could freely switch between these options, doing so was weirdly unresponsive, and I often found myself having to hammer the touchscreen just to register my choice. Turns out I needn’t have exerted myself so much, as I soon figured out that just sitting at the bottom of the screen and mindlessly spamming the default wide shot takes care of oncoming enemies with ease. It didn’t take me long to decide I’d had enough. What on earth was I playing?

For you see, dear reader, this game was, in fact, not a port of MileStone's shmup for the 3DS (which is something I would've known if I'd spent just a few minutes with Google), but instead a small, eShop-exclusive spinoff game. Think something in the same vein as DSiWare or PlayStation Minis. This release was not developed by MileStone, but by Klon Co. Ltd., a company formed by ex-MileStone employees after the company closed due to the president getting arrested for violating Japan's Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (he was being shady with money, basically). Klon acquired the rights to previous MileStone properties, and this title, Radirgy De Gojaru!, was released as a result of that.

I'd love to give you a better variety of screenshots. But this was all the game had to offer!

So Klon had the Radirgy license, and they produced... this? Radirgy is beloved for its high energy and zaniness, but what they created here is frighteningly dull. I'm not sure what "Radirgy De Gojaru!" translates to in English, but I can only imagine it means something like "Radirgy: Shed Defender!" Because that's all you do here. Defend a shed. Or a bunker. Or whatever the hell the grey cube at the bottom of the screen is. The game is basically one of those old flash tower defence games with a Radirgy skin, although even those flash games were more enjoyable than this… and they ran better too. I hate to say it's true, but even on my New Nintendo 3DS (the more powerful, upgraded 3DS) this game suffers from slowdown. When the larger enemies are on screen and bullets are flying, the game chugs. Badly. Not even Ryo Hazuki running through Pigeon Park on a rainy day had frames dropping like this.

Believe it or not, this wasn't Klon's only game for 3DS to feature a previous MileStone license. They also released a spinoff of Karous, called Karous: The Beast of Re:Eden, which was actually a more fully-fledged release, featuring multiple levels and modes. It even went as far as to receive a physical release, exclusively in Japan. While I haven't played this one myself, I did find a very informative video about it by Briareos Kerensky, and, despite Klon's best efforts to flesh it out a bit more, Karous: The Beast of Re:Eden is pants too.

Klon folded in 2016, before being succeeded by RS34, Inc., who went on to release the excellent Radirgy Swag for Nintendo Switch in 2019, which is a much more faithful Radirgy title. If you're really looking for a portable Radigy experience, I'd probably just go play that instead. Or, for the diehards, there will always be the original on Dreamcast...

Have you played Radirgy De Gojaru! before? Had you even heard of it? Let us know in the comments below, or by dropping us a line on one of our various social media pages.

Related articles:

• A Quick Look At Radirgy
• Radirgy and Chaos Field now playable in English!

HarleQuest! - A new 3D Dreamcast Game launches on Kickstarter!

A game that I know myself and the other members of the Junkyard team have definitely been excited for is HarleQuest!, which started its life as a prototype called Dungeon Ross for a Global Game Jam event that was held back in late 2016 in Dundee, Scotland. The developers were a two-man team made up of Ross Kilgariff (also known as ross.codes) and Alastair Low (of LowTek Games). We covered a more fleshed-out build later in 2017, and it was looking mighty impressive, even back then.

Since those days of yore, Ross went on to  work on contract with LowTek Games, porting Alistair's NES games Flea! and Tapeworm: Disco Puzzle to the Dreamcast, both of which have gone on to be regarded as DC indie staples in their own right. This gave Ross a taste of the process of bringing a new game to the Dreamcast, and along with being introduced to WAVE Game Studios (who re-released Flea!), it also inspired him to turn his and Alastair's 3D prototype into a new independent game!

Dungeon Ross being demoed

We've been following along with Ross' development progress on Twitter for quite some time now, and it's fair to say the footage of HarleQuest!'s work-in-progress gameplay has never failed to wow us. While we champion Dreamcast indies of all shapes and sizes here at the Junkyard, there's nothing quite like seeing a fantastic-looking 3D game for our little box of dreams, and HarleQuest! is exactly that. This top-down roguelike dungeon crawler boasts a distinctive style too, with character designs that almost hark back to games like MediEvil, Jersey Devil (does anyone remember Jersey Devil? No one?) or 40 Winks. With all this going for it, no wonder we were buzzing to learn it was coming to Kickstarter on April 1st.

And no, before you say it, this isn't an April Fool's prank. On this wretched day of fools (which has only been amplified to insufferable levels by the very internet with which I am beaming you this very information), I am happy to tell you that HarleQuest! has launched on Kickstarter, with a goal of £11,250. Let's take a look at it.

The game's pitch reads as follows: 

"HarleQuest! is a tough-as-nails roguelike with technical combat, randomised dungeon layouts and tons of weapons and loot! Combat encounters require precise control and care, enemies lurk around every corner and bosses guard your only exit. Death is permanent. This is not a game for the faint of heart.

"The unlikely hero of our story is Estienne, a jester who has been thrown into the dungeon by a cruel and capricious king. He must run, spring, tumble and sneak his way through the twisted depths below the castle. Can you help Estienne regain his freedom and put an end to the King's tyrrany?

"Go it alone, or invite a friend to play couch co-op!"

Working on versions for both Dreamcast and PC, Ross states that with the help of backers, he can take HarleQuest! from being a "simple, fun" game, to a "fuller,  more feature-packed" title, and potential stretch goals of £15,000 and £20,000 even hold the promise of digital versions for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation/Xbox respectively. Ross' goal is to deliver the game by October 2024.

But we're here for Dreamcast, and with the help of WAVE Game Studios, HarleQuest! can be delivered to our doorsteps in the professional, high-quality DC packaging that WAVE are very much known for. This means proper pressed discs (CD-ROMs) that are region-free, a full colour instruction manual, and your choice of EU Blue, US White or JP Orange theming in a standard CD jewel case. To get yourself this physical Dreamcast release, the lowest you'll be paying is £35 (excluding postage), although a genuine EU PAL case “upgrade” is on offer for the purists at an additional charge of £10.

A lower tier that includes both digital versions (Dreamcast and PC) is available, for those who run ODEs, etc. There is also a £10 "goodies pack" tier, which gets you an enamel pin, a sticker and badge pack, as well as an embroidered patch (to sew onto your battle jacket, of course). It doesn't get you the game by itself, but could definitely be added onto the physical game tier to get you some extra goodies.

If you're looking for the real deal stuff though, look no further than the collector's and developer's editions. Including the physical Dreamcast game, the collector's edition includes a metallic print inlay, enamel pins, stickers, badges, an embroidered patch, a branded beanie (to wear while you rock your HarleQuest!-branded battle jacket), a personalised letter of thanks from the developer, as well as the ability to help "shape the game as it’s being developed". This basically means people who back this tier get priority on the feedback and ideas they share with the development team. 

The developer's edition includes everything from the collector's edition, but also grants you full access to the game's source code, art files, audio files and tools, as well as a copy of the game's design document with extensive details on every aspect of the game. This edition would also grant you permission to distribute a modified version of the game on the HarleQuest! website (non-commercial), and it even says that if you do make something great with the HarleQuest! assets, engine, etc., Ross would maybe consider it for a commercial release! Let's hope this could be the start of more special things to come from the Dreamcast indie scene.

Wrapping up these two editions, if the campaign reaches a stretch goal of £25,000, vinyl figures of in-game characters will be added to them! This would be really awesome to see, and I sincerely hope the campaign can reach this stretch goal.

If you want to try the game before you back the Kickstarter, Ross has released a demo .CDI which can be burnt onto a CD-R or put on an ODE. In this demo, you have to defeat all the enemies in each room to win! You can download the demo here.

Finally, and this is the most important bit: we have until Sunday the 30th of April to get this Kickstarter fully backed (and reach those stretch goals), so in order to get that "fuller, more feature-packed" version of HarleQuest!, the Dreamcast community will need to get backing! Again, you can back the Kickstarter here.