• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Buying a Dreamcast... Should I Do It?

Acquiescence said:
Buy one, an absolutely gorgeous console. I've still got mine hooked up to the tv. Why is it that games this gen just aren't as colourful as the ones on the Dreamcast. It's like how technicolour films died with the '50s; the visual palette just isn't as vibrant anymore.

Fully agree. I loved the vibrancy of Jet Set Radio and even games like Trickstyle.
 
Acquiescence said:
Buy one, an absolutely gorgeous console. I've still got mine hooked up to the tv. Why is it that games this gen just aren't as colourful as the ones on the Dreamcast. It's like how technicolour films died with the '50s; the visual palette just isn't as vibrant anymore.

I know, right? The Dreamcast as a whole was special, to be honest. So many original and revolutionary ideas came to life on that console. Love it <3
 
Yes! DC is the best console of the 21st century
I know it technically launched in 1999 but who cares
, hands down. It's a shame you won't be able to experience SegaNet.
 
It always seemed to me that most of the good Dreamcast games got a rerelease on another console at some point. Is this true, or am I not remembering what was on the system correctly?
 
Htown said:
It always seemed to me that most of the good Dreamcast games got a rerelease on another console at some point. Is this true, or am I not remembering what was on the system correctly?

it just depends on what you consider best, i guess. TOY COMMANDER lingers in dreamcast obscurity. it has problems but it's probably my favorite dreamcast game.
 
Htown said:
It always seemed to me that most of the good Dreamcast games got a rerelease on another console at some point. Is this true, or am I not remembering what was on the system correctly?

Outtrigger needs a new version.
 
viewtiful_dru said:
Don't do it. The current generation of games has softened you.

You wont be able to handle the Godcast.

The steely undercoating laid by the Atari 2600 will always remain. I fear nothing.
 
Htown said:
It always seemed to me that most of the good Dreamcast games got a rerelease on another console at some point. Is this true, or am I not remembering what was on the system correctly?

Many of the Dreamcast exclusives have been, yeah, but there are still a few good ones.

And then you have the most important reason to own the thing, the arcade ports.
 
I was going to sell my DC/Collection this year but have taken up an interest in the case mod scene.

I love this concept - a tablet form-factor that runs on battery power. It needs the VGA hack to really make it though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Anwrn5CXnTg&feature=BFp&list=WLE8581F343CE219FE&index=1

And the Dreamshell OS is something special as well. Being able to rip my collection into iso and run them from a SD card would be really nice plus MAME and other emulators.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gTpylJi9wk&feature=related

I would love an 8-10 inch tablet, possibly a netbook screen with no GD Rom drive, making it a smaller, thinner form factor than the one in the video above and less draining on the battery. Using Dreamshell OS I can do all the iso ripping from the intact DC first - I have about 120 PAL DC games so a 16-32GB SDHC card will come in handy, I can archive games on my PC and swap them off the card as necessary.

Having a small form portable DC would be so good. Want. Badly.
 
luka said:
Yes, and get a vga box while you're at it. I'm still impressed by how vibrant and smooth everything looks on it.

This.

I don't understand some of the people here saying that DC graphics were "washed out." They're not. If you play on a VGA box, everything looks amazing. I will contend for ages that Sonic Adventure 2 running over VGA box looks better than most PS2 games. Ferrari F355 Challenge is also a showpiece. And, both are good games.

Gunspike/Cannon Spike is one of my all-time favorite pure arcade action games. Not to be missed.

Find a lot of the Dreamcast Magazine demo discs, and then enjoy gobs of game demos. =)
 
Tain said:
Many of the Dreamcast exclusives have been, yeah, but there are still a few good ones.

And then you have the most important reason to own the thing, the arcade ports.

Oh man, that list. I need to get my hands on some of these. Was Cannon Spike any good? It always interested me, but I've never picked it up (despite seeing it used in some old game shops several times).
 
I brought one this week with two controllers, VMU and ten games. Altogether it was £7.99. Yeah, you read that right - pictures are in the april pickup thread.

Brought brand new controllers and VMUs, some vibration packs and a VGA adapter shortly afterwards. Full total is like, under £35 for everything.

BEST PURCHASE EVER.
 
richisawesome said:
I brought one this week with two controllers, VMU and ten games. Altogether it was £7.99. Yeah, you read that right - pictures are in the april pickup thread.

Brought brand new controllers and VMUs, some vibration packs and a VGA adapter shortly afterwards. Full total is like, under £35 for everything.

Deal of the millenium. Man I love my DC.
 
Pietepiet said:
Oh man, that list. I need to get my hands on some of these. Was Cannon Spike any good? It always interested me, but I've never picked it up (despite seeing it used in some old game shops several times).

I really like what I've played of it. The controls are pretty great once you get used to them, and despite the concept being pretty unique, the randomized first half of the game makes it feel a little bit like Psikyo's traditional shooters.

Hell, I'd confidently call it the best dual analog arena shooter if it weren't for the fact that it doesn't use dual analog. Which, as it turns out, works totally fine for it.
 
Buy a Dreamcast if and only if you like shoot-em-ups and niche 2D fighters. There is no better system for either (well, MAYBE a Japanese PS2).

If you don't like those, don't bother. Most of the best games in the other genres made their way to other systems, or have been made irrelevant by advancements in the design over the years.

Plus, the controller blows.
 
That's pretty much true. If you aren't into the arcade ports, you're left with, like, JSR, Shenmue, and a handful of good but probably not required games.
 
The Shift said:
I was going to sell my DC/Collection this year but have taken up an interest in the case mod scene.

I would love an 8-10 inch tablet, possibly a netbook screen with no GD Rom drive, making it a smaller, thinner form factor than the one in the video above and less draining on the battery. Using Dreamshell OS I can do all the iso ripping from the intact DC first - I have about 120 PAL DC games so a 16-32GB SDHC card will come in handy, I can archive games on my PC and swap them off the card as necessary.

Having a small form portable DC would be so good. Want. Badly.
too bad the comments in the SD DC Adapter video are talking about very slow loading speeds and the fact that lots of games are completely unplayable because the adapter is using the serial port, which happens to be slower than the gdrom :((
 
As Tain said, you keep the have the Dreamcast around for the same reason you have a Saturn around: The arcade ports.

Daytona USA, Giga Wing, Tech Romancer, Outtrigger, Project Justice, and Typing of the Dead are all entertaining, and worth playing. I STILL think that Soul Calibur and Crazy Taxi 1 & 2 are better on the Dreamcast.

: I guess there are some other fun games, like Toy Commander, Red Dog, Rayman 2, and Grandia 2.
 
You must have Sega Marine Fishing and a fishing controller. I still love to pull that one out and play it occasionally. Never ported to another system either.
 
There's a really underrated game on Dreamcast called Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm.

It has really interesting combat and I think it's one of the best games on the system.

Play that
 
Older retro hardware and games are the biggest bargain in gaming.

Downloadable retro games on XLive, PSN, and Nintendo online is the biggest rip off in gaming.
 
depths20XX said:
There's a really underrated game on Dreamcast called Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm.

It has really interesting combat and I think it's one of the best games on the system.

Play that


Think it uses the Tony Hawk engine; so trippy.
 
Tain said:
That's pretty much true. If you aren't into the arcade ports, you're left with, like, JSR,

Jet Set Radio feels a lot like an arcade game, though. It reminded me of Crazy Taxi in a way.
 
I think I asked this in a DC thread before but I either didn't get an answer or forgot to check back, but how is Dayton? Still worth playing today if you don't have nostalgia glasses on or an irrational love of all things Dreamcast?
 
Ohh no - after reading this thread I caught myself checking top-25 game lists, amazon listings for the DC console etc ... another thing to collect and enjoy ... damm
 
vilmer_ said:
Absolutely.

Funny how the very first reply is exactly what I wanted to post before entering the thread.

The Dreamcast along with the Sega Saturn are both machines that have stood the test of time extremely well and haven't been bettered even after all these years.
If you have the option of dipping into Japanese only games as well, that easily triples your options for getting some timeless classics on these systems.

mr_toa said:
Ohh no - after reading this thread I caught myself checking top-25 game lists, amazon listings for the DC console etc ... another thing to collect and enjoy ... damm

Be sure to check out www.racketboy.com to get a good taste of the obvious as well as not so obvious choices. ;)
 
I dont think its worth it. I bought a dreamcast a couple of years ago and barely touched it since. Played shenmue, got bored only after a couple of hours in and this is basically true for all the games i bought. The only game that I really enjoyed was sonic adventure 1, which is not saying much because i was a huge sonic fan back then. I think the saturn was a much better console (although i never had one).
 
depths20XX said:
There's a really underrated game on Dreamcast called Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm.

It has really interesting combat and I think it's one of the best games on the system.

Play that

I like this game a lot, too. It's definitely underrated.
 
So do we need to start an "Essential Dreamcast Games" thread or something?

Should I track down D2? I rented it once but didn't get far. I remember that it's a survival horror game with random battles.
 
Strangely enough my favorite Dreamcast games were Sonic Adventure 2 and that Ecco the Dolphin (Defender of the Future?) game.

Ecco was sublime. It controlled terribly but it was legitimately frightening.

Dat shark boss!

Dat ancient alligator boss!
 
Alright, I'm going to have to go against most everyone else, some of whom drank too much Sega Kool Aid.
Let's get one thing out of the way. The Dreamcast was, and still remains the greatest console launch I've ever experienced. In 1999 the Dreamcast was the fucking shit and it remain the shit for a few years.
But 2011? Sorry, man but that ship has sailed. Regardless of what anyone's going to tell you, the vast majority of Dreamcast's best games have been brought to other consoles.
So what we have left is...
Daytona USA- Awesome in it's day, but in 2011? Psssh right. Just grab Outrun 2 for $5 if you need some Sega arcade racing.
Shenmue- Hands down the worst Dreamcast game I played ever. It was a total bore from day one, so don't buy into this created hype for a game that doesn't deserve it. Just because it was ambitious for it's time doesn't make it a good.
Confidential Mission - As a fan of lightgun games I'll give you this one. BUT you'd be better off buying House of the Dead Overkill.
Project Justice/Tech Romancer - Have you seen all of the amazing fighting games that came out this gen? Do you really need these? No.
Star Gladiator whatever- Garbage.
Illbleed/Blue Stinger - Once again why waste money on old mediocre games that no longer have the benefit of at least being nice looking?
Mars Matrix- Awesome game. Play it for free on your PSP.
Sega Rally 2 - Don't make me laugh
Virtua Fighter 3 - Not even arcade perfect. Why waste your time when you can just buy VF4 or VF5?
Soul Calibur - DC version is still king, but who cares? There's been a million other fighting games out since then.
Ooga Booga/Outrigger/Alien Front - Don't make me laugh
Planet Harrier - Fuck yeah! Oh wait, Sega fucked us over on this one.
Super Magnetic Neo- You've gotta be kidding
Sword of the Berzerk - Are you really up for an average hack and slasher that looks like ass?

Sorry guys, but I'm Kool Aid free. Dreamcast was an awesome in it's day. So was Heather Locklear.
 
As long as you have a loud enough sound system to drown out the sounds of the disc drive, I say go for it.
 
ShinUltramanJ said:
Daytona USA- Awesome in it's day, but in 2011? Psssh right. Just grab Outrun 2 for $5 if you need some Sega arcade racing.

I actually thought Daytona was pretty much crap on day one (terrible handling and worthless online). But, I mostly agree with you. A lot of the games that truly remained exclusive were second tier at best even in 1999/2000, and I wouldn't play any of them today.

And if you really loved games like Tech Romancer, Last Blade 2, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Mars Matrix, Giga Wing 2, Bangai-O, etc.... you'd probably own a system by now. For most, those games are curiosities at best.

And I'm scared to play JSR because I loved it so much back in the day but I am afraid it hasn't aged well.

I keep my system around for VOOT (I have the Twin Sticks). That's pretty much it.

BTW... here is Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm. Is this really something anybody in the year 2011 would want to play for any reason besides nostalgia?
 
diffusionx said:
BTW... here is Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm. Is this really something anybody in the year 2011 would want to play for any reason besides nostalgia?

man

that looks awful

edit:

ShinUltramanJ said:
Confidential Mission - As a fan of lightgun games I'll give you this one. BUT you'd be better off buying House of the Dead Overkill.
Mars Matrix- Awesome game. Play it for free on your PSP.

these two are The Most Offensive Things Ever.
 
Under Defeat was an amazing experience but also a sad one since I believe it was one of the last retail Dreamcast games.
 
Buy it! The SEGA Dreamcast is the best console that i have ever had. And buy Shenmue (best game ever), Soul Calibur and Jet Set Radio. You will not regret it, trust me! Have fun!
dreamcast_rot_2.gif
 
Top Bottom