10 years of Dreamcast; the 10 best games.

Sega’s Dreamcast celebrated its 10th Birthday recently so this would seem the perfect time to take a look at ten of the Dreamcast’s best games.

The Dreamcast has always been something of a paradox; a superb gaming machine with great games that was somehow never truly loved until it was dead.

Despite its short life, the Dreamcast is blessed with a fine catalogue of games so picking ten is not going to easy! I’m sure your list may well differ from mine so please do let us know what you think.


10.
Space Channel 5 (Sega/United Game Artists).
Space Channel 5 is a music rhythm game similar in many ways to Parappa the Rapper. Primarily taking control of the sexy Ulala (Space Channel 5’s reporter), you must dance and blast your way through the game in an attempt to beat the Morolians; an alien race forcing everyone to dance against their will.

Packed full of style and humor, the game very much has Mizuguchi’s (Rez/Lumines) style throughout and even Michael Jackson manages to cameo!



9.
Samba De Amigo (Sega/Sonic Team).
Sonic Teams rhythm action game was in many ways the first sign of things to come in the shape of Nintendo’s Wii and it’s no coincidence that the game has also appeared on that platform.

The game came bundled with two hand held maracas which connected to a special sensor bar that plugged into the Dreamcast. Sensors in the bar and on the cords of the maracas could determine the exact position of the maracas when the player held them so if you were instructed to shake the maracas above your head, the software could tell if you doing so.

Samba is great fun to play (I still prefer the Dreamcast version to the Wii’s) and has loads of charm and character as you’d expect from a Sonic Team title. A great family/party game that was rarely put away in our household. It’s just a shame that obtaining the original game with Sega’s maracas is such an expensive affair these days.



8.
Street Fighter III: Third Strike (Capcom).
Capcom’s conversion of their arcade hit is not only one of the Dreamcast's best fighting games; it’s also one of the best Street Fighter games ever. In fact many people still put this game up as THE best Street Fighter game. The Dreamcast played host to the first home version of the game and it is wonderful to play in every respect.



7.
Crazy Taxi (Sega/Hitmaker)
The Dreamcast played host to many of Sega’s arcade game conversions, and Crazy Taxi was one of these which I simply could not put down.

The style, the music (by The Offspring and Bad Religion), the frantic game play (which involves tearing round a city transporting passengers to their destinations), everything about Crazy Taxi just screamed play me.

In many ways time hasn’t been kind to Crazy Taxi as a franchise due to lame ports and sequels, but the Dreamcast's original is still a joy to play and it suits the controls of the Dreamcast’s joypad perfectly.



6.
Skies of Arcadia (Sega/Overworks).
RPG’s were never in great supply on the Dreamcast, especially in the West where the only other RPG release of note was Grandia II.

Despite this lack of content for RPG fans, Sega still managed to deliver this superbly fresh RPG based on Sky Pirates. Using your airship to travel between islands which floated in the air, Skies of Arcadia was a supremely crafted adventure that managed to distinguish itself from its contemporaries and still feels fresh today.



5.
Ikaruga (Treasure).
Only ever released in Japan on the Dreamcast; Ikaruga was Treasures spiritual sequel to its seminal ST-V arcade and Saturn shooter, Radiant Silvergun.

Ported over from the Dreamcast based Sega Naomi arcade hardware, Ikaruga blended manic shooting action with an almost puzzle like quality as players attempted to chain enemies of different colours by changing the polarity of the main craft.

Featuring beautiful graphics and masterful game play, Ikaruga quickly became one of the Dreamcast’s most imported games. Whilst both the later Gamecube and XBLA conversions are very good, many will argue (myself included) that the best home experience of Ikaruga remains on Dreamcast.



4.
Shenmue (Sega/AM2).
Produced and directed by Sega legend Yu Suzuki (Out Run/Virtua Fighter), Shenmue was probably Sega’s most ambitious Dreamcast game.

The game aimed to give the player total interactivity set in a world that tried to mimic real life as much as possible with its simulation of time, weather and interactivity. It’s not an easy game to get into but its worth the effort as the player is rewarded with a world quite like any other produced at the time and graphics that really did push the Dreamcast.

Shenmue’s budget and ambition was huge and this is reflected in every aspect of the game. A classic.



3.
Jet Set Radio (Sega/Smilebit).
In many ways the Dreamcast showcased Sega at its creative best. Much like Shenmue, Jet Set Radio showcased Sega’s creative talent at its very best.

The game pioneered cel-shaded graphics and its style was completely unique at the time. The games premise centre’s around roller blading graffiti gangs in Tokyo; the player skating round avoiding trouble, racing and tagging various objects.

On paper Jet Set Radio shouldn’t be my type of game and yet it is an utter joy to play and still unique in its blend of style and game play. It also spawned a superb sequel called Jet Set Radio Future (one of my favorite games of all time) which was released on Microsoft’s Xbox console and both games feature superb soundtracks (the soundtrack to JSRF is the only game soundtrack I have ever brought!).



2.
Soul Calibur (Namco).
To this day I’ll never understand why Soul Calibur, a launch title for the Dreamcast, never propelled sales of the console into the stratosphere. Was it the poor marketing by Sega? Perhaps people never really saw it promoted? Whatever it was, this game should have shown the masses what the Dreamcast was truly capable of.

At the time, Soul Calibur looked simply amazing (and to be fair it still does) and it played beautifully. Had this been put next to a Playstation running Tekken in stores up and down the country, the Dreamcast may have had a different fate

The game came with a VGA option and using this option produced mind blowingly sharp visuals. So good that I still play this today Soul Calibur is a masterful piece of programming by Namco.



1.
Rez (Sega/United Game Artists).
Ok, ok – this is a biased choice! Rez is one of my favorite games ever and I’ll play Mizuguchi’s hypnotic masterpiece as long as I’m still a gamer. Probably beyond that if it’s possible!

At its most basic Rez is simply an on-rails shooter; you move the firing reticule around the screen and shoot enemies. You can collect upgrades that allow your character (essentially a hacker avatar) to evolve (take more hits) and power ups that temporarily take out all the enemies for you, kind of like an auto pilot. And that’s it, that's literally is all you do.

But of course Rez is so much more. The sound effects (for example when an enemy is destroyed) are essentially portions of electronic music; string together a few kills and your ears will be greeted by the sounds of drums and trills which blend in with the games ever evolving beat.

The visuals are striking and unique, somewhat a cross between a game and a music visualizer. Each part of Rez, the visuals, the music, the sound; blends in together to form part of a truly hypnotic and mesmerizing experience.

It’s not an easy game to describe, and at its core it is simplistic. But sit yourself in a darkened room, turn up the volume and let your mind immerse itself in its vibrant world and you’ll find a gaming experience quite like any other.

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Left 4 Dead modder to fly Gabe to Australia?

Further to yesterday’s news about Valve flying two Left 4 Dead 2 boycotters to their offices in Seattle, it’s nice to see some fun amongst the chaos!

A modder working on a campaign for the original Left 4 Dead sent Gabe an email asking why he hadn’t been invited to Valve so that they could preview his work. Gabe’s reply?

“We are boycotting your campaign.”


The modder in question then asks if he has to fly Gabe to where he lives in Australia to which Gabe replies “me and Erik”.

Good to see despite all the lunacy Gabe has to endure; he still retains his sharp sense of humour!

It doesn’t end there though. Following Gabe’s reply, the modder Joe has now started a fund in an effort to bring Gabe to his house to check out the campaign. You can find the details here.

The fund currently stands at $469.73 with $100 of that total having been donated by Valve’s very own Robin Walker who left the following message:

This is Robin Walker, from Valve. The rest of us at Valve would sure appreciate a couple of days without Erik around, so thanks for organising this!

Quick question though: if I donated more, would you buy a one-way ticket for him?

Robin.

I think I may just love Valve again! Anyone with such thick skin and such a great sense of humour deserves your support; roll on November!

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Valve rewards childish boycotters.

As a keen Steam user and Left 4 Dead player, I have to say the latest actions undertaken by Valve have really ticked me off.

Most of you will be aware of the ridiculous uproar from certain members of the Steam community when Valve released news that they were working on Left 4 Dead 2.

Accusations of abandoning the original game and ripping people off flew around from the more childish members of the community (despite the fact most L4D players have clocked up 100’s of hours in a truly great game) and a boycott group was formed.

Valves response? Fly two of the group out to their offices, all expenses paid, to play Left 4 Dead 2.


Here we have a group of people who have spent their time slamming Valve on what is for most gamers a non-issue; and Valve rewards their moronic behaviour with what for many gamers would be the trip of a lifetime.

Nice one Valve. Most of your true fans appreciate the great game that Left 4 Dead is; have never been unhappy with the hundreds of hour's entertainment it’s provided because that is superb value for money. Most are happy we are getting a sequel to a great game sooner rather than (Episode 3) later.

So why does it now feel like you’ve just kicked all your loyal fans right where it hurts?

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Dreamcast Lives!

Just in time for the 10th Birthday of Sega’s brilliant Dreamcast console (at least if your American), comes news of another new game for the system - Rush Rush Rally Racing by Senile Team (developer of Beats of Rage).

The game is a top down racer (think Micro Machines /Super Cars) that can be played by up to 4 players in split screen mode. Its due out in October and you can grab it direct from the publishers, redspotgames.

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Finally the Sonic game we have been waiting for?

Sega have just announced that they are at last developing a Sonic game which will go back to the series 2D roots.

After years of fans complaining about Sonic’s pretty dire 3D adventures, it seems as though Sega have finally listened.

The game, currently known as Project Needlemouse, will be built entirely from the ground up and be in HD which suggests to me at least that it will be hosted on 360 or PS3 and possibly even be a download release on XBLA and PSN.

Just in case you don't get the reference, the very first Sonic the Hedgehog game was initially codenamed "Mr Needlemouse" whilst in development. No other details are known at this point so for now just enjoy the teaser trailer and dream!

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Review: Batman Arkham Asylum (360/PS3/PC).

Generally I don’t spend too much time with many licensed video games these days. Second only to movie tie-in’s, games based on comic book characters are always on my ‘it’s bound to be crap, best avoid’ list.

However the latest Batman game from Eidos has hit with quite a bang (sorry I guess that should read Kapow!) and it’s certainly causing quite a stir within the gaming community. It’s topped the charts in my homeland UK and virtually every publication this side of Heat magazine is heaping praise upon this latest attempt to bring the Dark Knight to the gaming masses.

Game of the Year is continuously being touted and amazingly the Guinness Book of Records (Gamers Edition) has recently announced in a press release that Batman: Arkham Asylum has been given the award for “Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever" based on its average Metacritic score. And no, I’m not making that up.

So is it as good as the hype?


Well, kinda. If I’m being totally honest I’ve deliberately held out on writing this review. Literally every publication has for the last week or so raved on about how amazing this game is, it’s been compared to modern classics such as Bioshock and as I mentioned above put up numerous times as a game of the year contender; yet if I’m honest I don’t entirely agree.

The game starts off with a short intro depicting Batman escorting a captured Joker to Arkham Asylum. The Dark Knight is deeply suspicious of the Joker due to the ease with which he captured his old adversary; and these suspicions prove well founded as the Joker promptly escapes and takes over the majority of the Arkham Island complex. Its then up to Bats to track the Joker down and restore control.

The game takes the form of a 3D action adventure (think Tomb Raider) and clearly cleverly draws its game play elements from many classic titles such as Metal Gear (stealth), Metroid (exploration/upgrades) and Bionic Commando (grappling hook).

These elements are fused together remarkably well, and you certainly will not feel as though you are playing a copy of any of the aforementioned games. Arkham has its own hybrid style of play which despite the obvious influences feels perfectly adapted to the world Rocksteady have fashioned for the Dark Knight’s adventures.

Your first introduced to Batman’s combat system; a simple system involving 3 primary buttons: attack, counter and stun. Rather self explanatory, attack starts Batman attacking his foes (multiple presses unleashes a fury of different attacks), counter is used for when an enemy attacks (highlighted by a symbol above their head), and stun is used against armed (non-firearm) enemies to give Bats an opening to take them down. It’s extremely simple and so intuitive that you’ll be unleashing combos and taking down multiple enemies confidently within a minute.

Enemies armed with firearms require different tactics however; Batman is after all not super-human and this frailty is realised brilliantly in the game. Rush in with fists flying against a couple of gun toting henchmen and the chances are you’ll end up becoming a permanent addition to Arkham Asylum.

Against armed enemies you’ll need to be stealthy, and these stealth combat sections are arguably the best part of the game. Using both the environment and Batman’s enviable gadgets, you have to sneak your way to the enemy and silently take them down without alerting their comrades.

You can grapple between gargoyles, sneak through floor venting, duck round corners and hang from balconies to approach your victims and once close enough, and provided they have not been alerted to your presence, you get the option to silently take them down.

If you’re hanging from a balcony you can pull the adversary over it or you can simply silently sneak behind them to dispatch them, making sure you leave quickly before the other foes find the unconscious body (Batman characteristically does not set out to kill in the game).

The best of these moments if offered by the gargoyles which Batman swings between using his grappling hook. A quick press of a button allows Batman to hang upside down from them and then grab the enemy silently as they walk underneath; hanging them from the gargoyle by rope for the others to find. And as they find their downed colleagues they become more and more nervous.

These sections really are a joy to play; there’s such a great range of moves available and you’ll genuinely love gradually terrorising the remaining enemies. This is Arkham Asylum at its very best.

Throughout the game you’ll have to follow various trails as well as find and solve a variety of puzzles laid down by The Riddler. To do this you’ll need to enter ‘Detective Mode’.

Batman's Detective Mode in action.


Detective mode is a special vision mode which Batman uses to identify various clues and interactive objects in his environment. It also allows him to identify enemies (including through walls) and their type (unarmed or armed). The mode itself is superbly implemented graphically but it works a little bit too well and here lies one of my major issues with the game.

I love exploring my game environments and the challenges set down by the Riddler in every area certainly encourage this type of exploration, hence the comparison with games such as Super Metroid. The problem is that when you are in normal mode, many of the games interactive and hidden items are hard to spot. Combat too is far easier in Detective mode as it easily identifies enemy’s locations and again the interactive objects such as gargoyles that Batman can swing between.

Because of this the player has very little incentive to come out of Detective mode for fear of missing something and this in turn means that what the player does miss out on is the wondrously realised portrayal of Arkham Asylum. I found myself constantly reminding myself to turn Detective Mode off so as to appreciate the superb graphics that Arkham offers but within no time at all I’d have it back on through fear of missing something. Trying to constantly flick between the two in an attempt to get the best of both worlds I found rather nauseous.

The characters in the game are on the whole brilliantly portrayed and a special mention should be made of the Joker himself who is superbly voice acted by Mark Hamill. This is not camp Batman or Batman the Animated Series; the game is very much styled and influenced by the darker tone of the graphic novels and the recent Batman movies which is a great thing in my opinion. He’s not known as the Dark Knight for nothing and thankfully in recent years both movie producers and now games designers are starting to realise this.

Batman himself certainly looks the part although I can’t help but feel his character is rather flat, especially when compared to the villains, not least the Joker himself. Batman talks rather monotonously which stands out a mile from the Jokers hyperactive style, and when he’s not in motion he just seems so, well, dull.

Mark Hamill is brilliant as The Joker.


The boss battles are rather dull and generic although encounters with the Scarecrow do stand out, at least in style if not in actual game play terms. I won’t go into details as I don’t want to ruin it for anyone, but I’m sure the designers have watched their fair share of Nightmare on Elm Street!

As a game Batman is certainly stands upright on its own; but as a license it really does excel. The style is perfect and you really will feel like you’re playing Batman: The Game as opposed to Batman: The Money Spinner. There’s also no question in my mind that it is the best comic book licensed game in many years, a rare game where the license has been used with some respect and not just as a revenue generator.

What it isn’t though is completely flawless. Detective mode arguably takes as much away from the game as it gives; generic guard models spoil the sense of immersion in the world and too often Arkham Asylum tries to blend too many game styles together without perfecting any.

The combat is basic and does become repetitive and even the brilliant stealth sections are not perfect; partially ruined by the guard’s inability to look up and some rather inconsistent detection patterns.

But don’t let me put you off, Batman is worthy of your time and cash, it is a great game – it’s just not quite as good as much of the media hype would have you believe.

8/10.

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Star Wars: Galactic Warfare (COD4 Mod).

If you’re a Call of Duty 4 fan but secretly longing for battle in a galaxy far, far away then German modders blackMonkeys may have the answer.

Their upcoming mod Star Wars: Galactic Warfare is a total conversion of Call of Duty 4 and it's already looking rather tasty. Hopefully LucasArts won't notice just how good this looks, especially given the obvious comparisons to the Battlefront games.

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Superb Halo 3: ODST live action trailer.

Microsoft has just released a live action trailer to help promote the upcoming launch of Halo 3: ODST.

Directed by Rupert Sanders (who also did the Believe advert), the advert is absolutely stunning; so much so that it's hard to believe the movie studios are still passing over Halo for the big screen treatment.

Anyway hope you enjoy the ad; a longer version will be released a bit closer the games launch. Can't wait!

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Left 4 Dead 2: Baseball bat pre-order 'bonus'.

The rather annoying in-game pre-order bonus fashion continues, this time courtesy of Valve.

Pre-order Left 4 Dead 2 on either PC or Xbox 360 and you'll get the exclusive melee weapon the Baseball Bat available in your game. It's not just a re-skin of another weapon either; the baseball bat will have its own handling and damage characteristics.

Interestingly if you don't have the bat but join a game with someone who does, the weapon will be available to you for the duration of the game. How thoughtful!


I've already posted about how I don't like this new in-game bonus trend and I have to say I'm rather disappointed in Valve for jumping on this bandwagon of bullshit.

As a big fan of Valve and Left 4 Dead this news certainly won't stop me buying the game; I just thought they were above this kind of stunt. Guess we all better pre-order Half Life 2: Episode 3 if we want the crowbar eh?

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