kunonabi
Member
i was enjoying it up until the i ran into a boss who just wouldn't die. i'm going to give another shot though.
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Sega Dreamcast - Appreciation and Emulation Thread
- Thread starter Seik
- Start date
i was enjoying it up until the i ran into a boss who just wouldn't die. i'm going to give another shot though.
Yeah I had fun playing solo even back in the day, so I think i'd pick it up for cheap.
IrishNinja
Member
genesis you gotta quote that image man, haha
and give detailed impressions! i still wanna jump on this one.
and give detailed impressions! i still wanna jump on this one.
There is a way to play online actually.
http://www.schtserv.com/
Though I never managed to get on their servers, even with the broadband adapter. There must be something I'm doing wrong but I don't know. :/
Genesis Knight
Member
Oh geez posted from mobile, had no idea it was that big. Whoops.
Anyway I don't have a ton of time with it yet (work, yay) but what I saw last night was enough to justify the purchase. I'll be back with more.
Ultimate mode is broken on Dreamcast v2... its way to hard until you find a Red weapon or any other v2 rare.
Genesis Knight
Member
Okay, so some bulleted thoughts:
- Makes NG
EV.TEAM's games look 16-bit. So much going on in the level backgrounds. - Sound effects are a bit meh. Kind of muffled and muddy.
- Music is the same catchy Eurotrance we've seen in most of these indie shmups. Good stuff. Wish I'd bought the version with the OST.
- Hard difficulty is no joke, for those of us worried it would be too easy.
- Lots of neat little touches here and there like lens flares and killer explosions.
- The bosses are pretty imaginative, and very tough because they fill the screen and hurt you on contact.
- Most of my deaths come from running into things I didn't know I couldn't fly over. The difference between background and foreground is hard to determine and kind of trial-and-error. My biggest complaint.
- Definitely has some unpolished assets, like the little chick who talks to you in German during levels. Ugly model.
- Weapon system is very addictive since you can only upgrade weapons by getting a pickup while firing that gun. Takes a second to make powerups change weapon type and they aren't up very long, so it's a tense little moment trying to amp your weapons.
- Love that you can select levels you've already beaten in Normal mode. Nice that I don't have to play the first level over and over like in normal shmups.
- Weapons could have used more variety but you can charge shot them, change your drone positions, and switch them forward/backward. So plenty of tactical options.
- Will take a while to beat all the Normal Mode levels on Hard difficulty.
- If you've bought and enjoyed any other Dreamcast indie shmups, this will be a no-brainer purchase.
I've decided to try and pursue a complete NA Dreamcast collection as I've already got a decent sized pile of games, I have most of the rarest titles, and the Dreamcast is probably my favorite console. While I realize that that means eventually I will have to purchase all of the shovelware and sports games, in the meantime I'm looking to buy mostly games I'm going to play. On that note, are there any "hidden gems" that you guys might recommend?
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
Armada - A pretty decent overhead space-combat/action-RPG. Destroy aliens, upgrade gear/level up, destroy more aliens. Multiple ships to choose from and support for up to four players.
Time Stalkers - *shrug* Well I enjoyed it. Rogue-like with 6-7 playable characters, the ability to raise monsters, 100s of rare items to discover, nearly a dozen VMU games/apps(load up on batteries), and a bunch of other extras.
Confidential Mission - Virtua Cop with a James Bond aesthetic. Definitely worth it.
Rippin' Riders - A solid snowboarding game. Will last at last one weekend if you try to unlock everything.
Sega Marine Fishing - Arcade fishing game with a TON of extras. Addictive, relaxing, and very cheap on the wallet.
Vanishing Point - A gorgeous (for its time) racing game. Its hampered only by the fact that the campaign mode is kinda bullshit. You don't win by beating your opponents, but by beating the clock. It gets very frustrating.
sixteen-bit
Member
IIRC Vanishing Point was named as such because it was the first console racing game without pop-in. You could see really far into the horizon. I'm sure it looked mind blowing at the time.
Canadian Psycho
Banned
Looks fun. Worth it?
Tech Romancer. One of the best fighting games on the console.My Dreamcast collection;
Still need to get Rayman 2, all three Street Fighters, Super Runabout, and Jo Jos Bizzare Adventure. Any other must haves that I maybe over looking?
Thanks. I knew about half of these. Going to try the others. Confidential Mission sounds particularly interesting.
clem84
Gold Member
I have a question for anyone who knows a lot about the DC Japanese scene. Are there some really good Japan only games that we missed out on in the west? I have a pretty decent Dreamcast collection and I have gotten all the US releases that I think are worth getting but recently I began to wonder if the DC was a little like the Saturn, where there were tons of great Japan only games that we missed out on. Anyone know?
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
IMO...not so much.
There are all the shooters that came out after the Dreamcast died (Ikaruga, Border Down, Under Defeat, etc). Also there's a port of Vampire Savior that never made it over here. I think it's called Vampire Chronicle for matching service..something like that.
Napple Tale is a remarkable 2.5D platformer. It's a bit on the easy side but it has its charms and the music is wonderful.
Rentahero No.1 might be worth a peek. Apparently there's a translation of the canceled Xbox port floating around.
For wrestling fans Giant Gram 2k and Fire Pro Wrestling D are two great ones. Although I never played Giant Gram and I own Fire Pro Returns on the PS2.
There is also Segagaga. A love letter to Sega fans in the form of a business simulation/RPG/2D shooter(?).
In short, there are a handful of games the west missed out on. Still it doesn't begin to compare to the Saturn, which is 1/3 a system without accounting for imports.
Genesis Knight
Member
DC is the Sega console with the greatest parity IMO in JP vs. US releases. There's not a ton other than the shmups.
Zen_Arcade
Banned
I don't know if anyone has mentioned it but the HD Hype Youtube link has a pop up when you click it saying it's an outdated video. It links you to this video instead. It's about double in length. Maybe someone could switch it in the OP?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X952GPffvFI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X952GPffvFI
A Black Falcon
Member
Armada, Time Stalkers, and Vanishing Point are good games (yes, I also like Time Stalkers), but Rippin' Riders... ugh, I pretty much hate that game. Sure, the graphics are nice, but the gameplay isn't much fun, I hate the announcers and how they insult you every time you mess up, it's kind of annoying how the music is tied to which character you select, the course designs are mediocre... it's from the people who did the CoolBoarders games on PS1, and it's not much, if any, better than those games. I was hopeful, but just don't enjoy it much at all.
Dash Kappei
Not actually that important
My Dreamcast collection;
Still need to get Rayman 2, all three Street Fighters, Super Runabout, and Jo Jos Bizzare Adventure. Any other must haves that I maybe over looking?
Cannon Spike, Confidential Mission, Spiderman, Gun Bird 2, Mars Matrix, Zero Gunner 2, Under Defeat, Psyvariar, Bangai-o, Shen-Mue 2, Garou Mark of the Wolves...
There were 700 games released for Dreamcast and 200+ were released outside of Japan. I don't see anything different from Sega Saturn.
Chiaroscuro
Member
From those 500 games only released in Japan, more than 450 should be visual novels (advs). Unless you are really into this genre, most of the games were released in the west.
As already mentioned, I can recommend Cosmic Smash, Napple Tale, Segagaga (only with can read a little of Japanese).
A Black Falcon
Member
Bah, the US Saturn library really isn't THAT terrible, and we did miss some good DC stuff...
Hah... that's a slight exaggeration, but it is true that a lot of them are VNs.
L.O.L.: Lack of Love is another must-play import-only DC game. Really interesting, original game! Play it. Zero language barrier too.
Some other interesting non-shmup import-only releases include The King of Fighters 2000 through 2002, Super Street Fighter II X [Turbo] For Matching Service, Capcom vs. SNK Pro, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Guilty Gear X, Rune Jade [good Diablo-esque game], Golem no Maigo [The Lost Golem; puzzle game], Puyo Puyo Fever, Puyo Puyo 4, Zusar Vasar [weird racing game], Treasure Strike [4 player focused action game], Rune Caster [this and Rune Jade are very different games, only the titles are similar; this is a different kind of rpg], and others.
Chiaroscuro
Member
Thanks for the recomendations. I do not have Segagaga, I thought language would be a barrier for a kind of management game. Will check.
I have Zusar Vasar. While definetly different, it is not something that is a must have in the DC library.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
My 2nd Dreamcast is now succumbing to the same disc read errors that my first did. Game runs fine for a little while, then perpetually exits to the system menu as it struggles to load again.
I think I'm going to open this one up and inspect it. Hopefully it's something simple like the disc door not closing properly.
PS: Typing of the Dead is hard, and I sit in front of a computer for a living. ._. Beating Magician and Emperor in boss rush mode is borderline impossible...
I think I'm going to open this one up and inspect it. Hopefully it's something simple like the disc door not closing properly.
PS: Typing of the Dead is hard, and I sit in front of a computer for a living. ._. Beating Magician and Emperor in boss rush mode is borderline impossible...
kunonabi
Member
D2
Elemental Gimmick Gear
Illbleed
Maken X
Psychic Force 2012
Seventh Cross Evolution
napple tale
cool cool toon
Fire Pro Wrestling D
Giant Gram series
Rent a hero no.1
Treasure Strike
Cosmic Smash
Capcom vs SNK 2
Frame Gride
Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation Vs. Zeon DX
Gaia Master Kessen
Once you get past those you're looking at some games with heavy japanese like segagaga, el dorado, and various visual novels and adventure games. There is some really high quality stuff but not very import friendly for most people. Some games did enjoy up with superior japanese versions like project justice, maken x, and the limited edition of dead or alive 2.
I wonder if my dad still has my dreamcast at home. Would love to fire it back up, I really loved that system. My mom got it for not to long after it came out and got some Costco pack that had a extra controller, VMU and crazy taxi. I remember playing the shit out of MLB 2k and soul caliber.
Fox Mulder
Member
I'm not looking for import games yet, but is there some legal issue with buying the japanese game somewhere then getting an iso of it that will run in any DC off a cdr?
Chiaroscuro
Member
you can use that old boot cd to play imports.
RumblingRosco
Member
Playing multiplayer PSO and Alien Front Online via the internet was so amazing to me back then. I'd been gaming online since Team Fortress on my PC, but wow, on a console, it just felt so new and foreign.
Kabuki Quantum Lover
Member
Does this VGA out include sound as well in the same signal?
Video only. Has a separate 3.5mm stereo jack for audio.
Ehhhhhh
Kabuki Quantum Lover
Member
I have the same box (same vendor, actually). It looks like a piece of shit, but it's worked for years.
So, if I planned on using it on a LCD TV then I would use the VGA port, and just use external speakers right? Sounds worth it I guess.
Fox Mulder
Member
how much does one of those vga boxes run?
Kabuki Quantum Lover
Member
Absolutely -- Dreamcast games through VGA have remarkable image quality. Totally worth it. I'm surprised your TV wouldn't have a 3.5mm jack next to the VGA input. Getting a pair of $10 speakers is a decent workaround.
To be fair I haven't checked, will now though.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
3.5mm port is a problem? Just buy a 3.5mm to RCA cable.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10218&cs_id=1021817&p_id=9301&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10218&cs_id=1021817&p_id=9301&seq=1&format=2