Boku Doraemon: Bored Robot Cat Simulator 2001

Hello there, the Gagaman here! With the arrival of my copy of The Dreamcast Ultimate Collectors Book and due to having some spare time, I have for the last few days been playing a lot of Dreamcast games; namely ones I feel I haven't played enough of. With this in mind I want to get back to writing articles here as its been far too long, so I may as well start by talking about what I was playing last night - a Japanese exclusive that is not very well documented, based on a famous long running children's anime: Boku Doraemon. More after the jump...

DreamPod - Episode 19

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The articles referenced in this episode are:
Circuit Breakers: The Best Racetracks On Dreamcast
Kita E - A Journey North In Search Of Summer Love

Music comes from Ghostblade, Gun Lord and Back To The Future.

Unknown Gundam GD-Rom Surfaces On eBay

Well this is interesting. A Katana development GD-Rom has shown up on eBay Germany, with 'Gundam' written on it. Is this a previously unknown PAL version of Gundam Side Story 0079, or something completely new and hitherto undocumented? Either way, The Dreamcast Junkyard fully intends to secure this disc and investigate it further. If it turns out to be something previously unseen, we will be releasing it to the Dreamcast community. We have reached out to the seller for further information, but the real mystery here is that it is a Katana GD-Rom not a regular Dreamcast one. The plot thickens.

Want to help us secure this and release it to the community? Any financial help in the form of  a doantion is welcomed! In other news, we are looking into the idea of launching a full Kickstarter project for a new hardback version of the Ultimate Collectors Guide, complete with artwork and full hardware section. Stay tuned!

Update: Unfortunately, we didn't win the auction. However, all is not lost. The winner of the disc has been in touch and assured us that this will be released to the community! Huzzah!

OST Your Heart

La la laa

Video game music. It's great, right? Very few genres of game feel complete without beeps, bops, or full-on symphonic orchestra behind them. In some instances, musical cues aid the player in being better at the game in general. It can emphasize moods, tell stories, etc...

But you're not here to hear all that.

Thanks to the wonders of disc audio, Sonic's music sounded the best it ever had. Especially thanks in large part to the involvement of Jun Senoue and Crush 40. Senoue had worked on Sonic games going back as far as Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on the Genesis. Crush 40, for whom he wrote music, would provide tracks for several Sonic games, including the Adventure series and later games in the franchise.

Sega Direct Trizeal Bonus CD

Triangle Service. Let that name settle in your mind for a few seconds. Do you recall anything they've ever created? No? Well, Triangle Service are the team behind vertical shooter Trizeal.

A pretty obscure and expensive Dreamcast shmup, with a silky smooth framerate and some great toe-tapping music, Trizeal was ported from the arcade to Dreamcast in 2005, so was a very late release. What you probably didn't know is that Triangle Service released a promotional music CD for the game in a similar fashion to Chaos Field, and it was only available through the Sega Direct online store. I somehow managed to snag this for next to nothing on eBay and I have to say I'm quite impressed with the quality of the tunes on the CD.

Sega Retro Adds Full List Of Widescreen Titles

The news broke recently that certain Dreamcast games are playable in full widescreen mode with the use of a Codebreaker cheat disc. We didn't really bother running the story because it was already being reported to within an inch of it's life on other sites, and to be honest I don't really care whether I play my Dreamcast games in widescreen, narrowscreen, or on a black and white portable CRT from 1987. True story - I used to play my Dreamcast on one of those tiny Casio LCD handheld TVs because I didn't have a proper TV in my bedroom when I was a teenager. School of hard knocks: graduated with honours.

Image source: SEGAbits

Some people do want to play in widescreen though, and that's cool. The good news if you fall into this camp is that our friends over at the awesome Sega Retro wiki have added a page detailing every game that makes use of this newly discovered 16:9 anamorphic widescreen mode, and it also lists the codes required. If you're sick of having those black boarders at the side of the screen when you play your DC on a widescreen TV (and you own a Codebreaker), it may be in your best interest to visit this link:

Sega Retro List of Widescreen Dreamcast Games

Interesting fact: this is the 1000th post here at the Junkyard. Go us!

128-Bits Of Cake

Do you know a Dreamcast fan with an upcoming birthday? If so, I suggest you put the Tesco Value trans-fat delivery shuttle and 15p fire-hazard candles back on the shelf and give yourself a slap across the face with a 1999 Arsenal shirt that's been soaked in yak vomit. And then, once you've cleaned yourself up and reassessed your (poor) life choices, head over to Pretty Cake Machine. Why? Well, because there you will find the person responsible for this amazing Dreamcast cake:

DreamPod - Episode 18

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The Dreamcast Beer Tap

OK, this is clearly just a Dreamcast controller screwed onto a regular beer tap, but kudos to the creator for recognising that the only thing that could make beer even better...is adding some Dreamcast. It's currently listed on eBay here, although the pork scratchings must be sourced elsewhere. If you decide to purchase it, make sure you raise a glass to The Dreamcast Junkyard for keeping a) the dream alive; and b) encouraging your alcoholic tendencies.

Good Dreamcastic Morning Episode 2

YouTuber and Dreamcast fan Pcwzrd13 has released the second episode of Good Dreamcastic Morning, the world's only Dreamcast-centric morning show! This new episode has plenty of content and is a good deal longer than the pilot, and segments include a guest spot from Adam Koralik, a look at the Dreamcast unveiling in the August 1998 issue of GamePro, and a brief glance at the unreleased game reveals from this very blog. Also, if you're interested in reading more about the mentioned Jet Grind Radio/Milwaukee incident, be sure to check this article out. As always, please feel free to visit and subscribe to Dreamcastic Channel for regular updates and gaming content.

On the subject of the unreleased games mentioned in the episode, Take The Bullet will be coming very soon. Intrigued? You should be...

The Ultimate Collectors Guide Book

You asked for it, so here it is. The Dreamcast Junkyard Ultimate Collectors Guide is now available in an updated, physical form. Written by Mike Phelan and with a foreword conjured from my own pen (well, keyboard), this guide is packed to the gills with information on pretty much every single game ever released for our favourite system. You don't need to take my word for it though - check out the video preview below:

Renegade Racers Revealed

Developed by Promethean Designs (of Picassio fame), Renegade Racers looked set for a February 2000 release at the hand of almost-defunct outfit Interplay. A kart racer in the same vein as Crash Team Racing or Speed Freaks, but with overtones of Diddy Kong Racing (hovercraft are heavily featured), Renegade Racers was quietly pulled from Dreamcast release lists and the low review scores of the PlayStation game quite possibly had a hand in that. There is precious little information available online regarding the long lost Dreamcast port of this fairly generic racer, but The Dreamcast Junkyard is on hand to fill in the gaps with the following video. Enjoy...

Dreamcast Express Extra

A few months ago I managed to acquire an almost complete set of Dreamcast Express demo discs. You can read all about those here, but if you can't be bothered to click that link and you're wondering what the hell Dreamcast Express is, let me explain. Dreamcast Express was the name given to an exclusive set of demo and preview discs sent by mail to subscribers of Sega's Dreamcast Partners initiative. Subscribers were privy to content in the form of playable demos, videos and VMU saves that were stored on the discs and in some cases these playable demos differed drastically to the final product. The most glaring example of this is the Buggy Heat demo featured on Dreamcast Express volume one, in which the controls are completely different and you have the ability to 'free look' like you do in most modern racers. If you lived in Japan at the time of the Dreamcast and had the foresight to subscribe to the Partners service, you would also be treated to a rather brilliant welcome pack, and that can be viewed here, complete with English translation.

Now, at the start of this diatribe, I mentioned that I had an almost complete set of Dreamcast Express. That's because apart from the regular volumes (numbered 1 to 7), Sega issued another volume simply titled 'Extra.' I came to own this addition to the Dreamcast Express series through the kindness of reader and contributor James - the very same gentleman who recently submitted the Partners welcome pack images. James also sent me (for the price of postage alone) several volumes of the Japanese Dreamcast Magazine's cover disc series and I will be casting my gaze over those in a future post. For now though, let's delve into Dreamcast Express Extra and see what's hiding on the GD and in the booklet...

The Games of Star Wars

Man, I love Star Wars. It's so quotable. Who can forget the immortal line from Sergeant Apone when the space marines emerge from suspended animation aboard the USS Sulaco? It's simply awesome:

"Alright sweethearts, what are you waiting for? Breakfast in bed? Another glorious day in the Corps! A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm! Every meal's a banquet; every paycheck a fortune; every formation a parade...I love the Corps!"

It just encapsulates everything great about George Lucas's epic space drama. I wasn't that keen when they detached the Enterprises's saucer section from the star drive - those effects were a bit ropey - but when it turns out that the Event Horizon actually went to Hell itself...well, I was simply blown away. Vaporised, even. But then I found the microfilm so it all turned out well in the end.

Sgt. Apone started as a lowly Storm Trooper, too.

If you're still still reading, well done. If you're already looking for the comments section, then you've already lost, my friend. Joking aside, the entire world (well, those sectors with internet access) seems to be gripped with Star Wars fever at the moment, and who can blame them/us/me? The trailer for the next instalment of the Star Wars saga looks positively stunning, and I for one cannot wait to see what Mr Abrams does with the series George Lucas managed to drag backwards through a hedge over the course of two and half terrible prequels.

DreamPod - Episode 17

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Colin McRae Rally 2.0 Revealed

Colin McRae Rally 2.0 for Dreamcast is a game that vanished from release schedules faster than Lord Lucan disappeared after his children's nanny was bludgeoned to death. As a massive fan of driving games, and rally games in particular, when it was canned I really did feel dejected. The PlayStation Colin McRae games are still some of my favourites in the genre (we don't talk about DiRT: Showdown) and the thought of being able to enjoy a graphically superior port with added gameplay modes excited me no end.

Alas, Codemasters decided that work on the game would be cancelled and with that the dream of a proper rally simulation on the Dreamcast died. Widely thought to be a 'lost' Dreamcast game, Colin McRae Rally 2.0 for Dreamcast has been the stuff of forum rumours ever since, but I am thrilled to announce I have had the pleasure of sampling the game...and I took footage to prove it. It's in no way complete (around 30%) and there's not a lot to it - just one track and some options (plus it requires a specific VMU to run) - but it is playable and apart from some slowdown is every bit as good as you would expect.

Developer Interview: Alice Dreams Tournament

Alice Dreams Tournament hit its Kickstarter goal in little more than a day, and it isn't really a surprise. This homage to local multi-player games of yesteryear has outstanding 2D visuals, a multitude of inventive game modes and a brand new use for the humble VMU. The Dreamcast Junkyard backed the project almost immediately and we look forward to being able to play (and review) Alice Dreams Tournament when it launches. In the meantime however, we caught up with lead programmer Julien Desquenne to ask a few questions about the history of the game, the Bomberman series and (naturally) if he knows the identity of the legendary Dreamcast barber...

The likeness is uncanny!

DCJY: Could you tell us a little bit about who makes up the Alice Dreams Tournament team and how you got together? 

Julien Desquenne: Our team consists of Nicolas Pochet the graphic designer and me, Julien Desquenne the programmer.  We met in 2003. In fact, I began to program a platform game and I was looking for a graphic designer to help me on the graphic parts. I really wanted to realize this game on Dreamcast. So I posted my research of a graphist on a Dreamcast French forum (dcreload.fr) and Nicolas replied very quickly and introduced me to his drawings. I was very impressed by his artistic talent and we decided to work on a common project.