Introduction
On 9/9/99 SEGA’s last ditch effort to overcome Sony’s dominance in the North American console market, the Dreamcast, was released. Promising proper online console gaming, true arcade quality graphics, and a strong upcoming line up of games, SEGA put forth their best effort to rebound from the mild domestic success of the SEGA Saturn in Japan, and its colossal failure in international markets.
Despite the Dreamcast ultimately failing as well, thanks to a lack of consumer confidence in SEGA, rampant piracy, the power of the PlayStation brand, and most importantly the PS2’s included DVD player, the Dreamcast managed to become a cult favorite with a die-hard fanbase that continues to speak its praises even today.
I am one of these rabid Dreamcast fans, and it all started on Christmas 1999.
“Its Thinking”
During the latter part of 1999, SEGA’s North American “Its Thinking” campaign, managed to sufficiently intrigue me with regards to Dreamcast’s power. My 9-year-old mind was obsessed with the thought of being able, for the first time, to truly play arcade quality titles at home, something that had always been promised, but rarely been delivered, especially with regards to 3D titles.
My excitement for the promise of faithful arcade ports was enhanced tremendously by spending much of the year playing the Power Stone arcade game; an incredible 3D arena fighting title, that was unlike anything else I had played up until that point. With a colorful roster of characters, interactive environments, and over-the-top finishing moves, it offered a fresh experience I yearned to have on console.
Aside from the arcade ports, SEGA also promised online gaming, something I was completely unfamiliar with. Being exclusively a console gamer at that point, the thought of playing with gamer’s across the world was novel and completely amazing.
Considering all the cutting edge technology and finally being guaranteed a brand new Sonic the Hedgehog title, I was completely sold and begged my parents for the console for Christmas.
There was one minor issue, my parents refused saying I had too many consoles already, and my previous SEGA console, the Saturn, had barely any games.
Despite being pretty bummed, I resigned to the fact that I would not be getting the Dreamcast that holiday season. I instead made a list focused on the previous generation’s consoles, of which I had all three: the PSX, Saturn and N64. Unfortunately the Saturn had long been abandoned by most developers in North America, so my list focused primarily on PlayStation RPGs to bolster my ever-expanding PSX collection, and a few games to bolster my limited Nintendo 64 stock. I also sprinkled in some used games for my SNES and SEGA Genesis
After realizing the quality titles available for my current consoles, the bitter sting of being without a Dreamcast subsided.
Then came Christmas day. As my brother and I opened our gifts, I came across a small CD-shaped present. Expecting some PSX game, I excitedly opened it to see Mortal Kombat Gold for the SEGA Dreamcast, a gift from my aunt accidentally mixed-in with my presents from my parents. In utter shock, I stood mouth agape for a moment, before snapping to my senses.
I immediately began scrambling to find a box that could contain a Dreamcast. Nestled toward the back a tree, was a box much larger than my other presents. With my parent’s secret having been discovered, I asked them if I could open the large box next, which of course they permitted. There it was, in all its glory, my SEGA Dreamcast, with Sonic Adventure, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, and Power Stone
With Mortal Kombat Gold and these three gems, I was ready to enter the next generation in gaming.
My Dreamcast Highlights
As the magic of Sonic Adventure finally propelled SEGA’s mascot into the 3rd dimension proper, I sat amazed, enjoying the new approach to the blue blur.
The central hub world, variety of characters, and hidden completionist bonuses further elevated the game in my mind, and kept me entertained for hours. Despite some of the common criticisms for the game, I found it to be an incredible experience, with the exception of Big the Cat sequences.
Later in the Dreamcast’s life cycle Sonic Adventure 2, upped the ante, with even more, new, character’s and a stream-lined approach to level selection. Selecting Hero or Dark story lines.
As Heroes, the player uses Sonic, Tails and Knuckles in an attempt to stop their Dark counterparts from accomplishing their maleficent goals. This Dark team consists of Shadow the Hedgehog, a black-clad evil doer, Rouge the Bat, a scantily-clad humanoid bat, and of course the evil Dr. Eggman.
Each hero and their specific anti-hero offer one of three distinct play styles: classic speed platforming, for Sonic and Shadow, Chaos Emerald hunting, for Knuckles and Rouge, and shooting sections reminiscent of the E-102 Gamma levels from the original Sonic Adventure, for Tails and Eggman. This diversity of play styles keeps things interesting for the player, while still managing to make the game feel like a cohesive package.
As the game progresses, and both story-lines converge, the third and final story-line becomes available. This final chapter involves both teams becoming directly involved in a climactic conflict that results in the series’ most epic final battle since the complete ending in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. For me, Sonic Adventure 2, perfected what the first game set into motion and did justice to the Sonic franchise in its transition to the z-axis.
The Dreamcast was not simply a mascot machine however, as mentioned, the variety of epic arcade hits available for the console provided me with fodder for many-a-party and brought the slowly dying arcade scene into the home.
Power Stone and its even more exciting sequel, Power Stone 2, fueled innumerable late night battle royales among my cousins, brother and I. As I mained Wang Tang, I was able to use his Super Saiyan-inspired moves and quick-strikes to crush nearly everyone. Some of my fondest memories on the Dreamcast involves the time spent talking trash during VS. and teaming up to take on the CPU characters cooperatively.
The console also offered Virtua Fighter 3, Street Fighter 3, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Soul Calibur, Dead or Alive 1 and 2, Marvel vs Capcom 1 and 2, and a quiet gem Project Justice, that was perhaps my favorite of the bunch. Though I did not have all of these fighters, I had some, and traded titles often with another one of my Dreamcast-wielding friends to have the opportunity to play them all. Many of these games require no explanation of their greatness, and have become legend in the annals of fighting game history, but I have to mention a few that were game changers for me.
The one game of I borrowed the longest was Dead or Alive 2, a fast-paced, combo-driven 3D fighter that offered one of the most fluid, and visually stunning experiences on the Dreamcast… it also helped that I was a pre-teen boy and the game’s female characters were well-endowed, and partially nude. Despite cashing in on my hormones, the game managed to stand alone on merit as well, being one of the best fighters on the Dreamcast.
The game I loaned to my friend in exchange for DOA 2, was none other than the aforementioned Project Justice, a sequel to the solid PSX fighter Rival Schools. Coming off of an obsession with the team-based approach of the game’s predecessor and the Marvel vs. Capcom series, I was primed to deal with a refined 3-dimensional interpretation of the mechanic implemented in Project Justice.
Project Justice, like Rival Schools, revolves around an interesting concept involving students using their academic or athletic tendencies as their main attacking style in battle. For example, there are swimmers, student council members, gang members, violinists, gym teachers, baseball players and school nurses that all manage to join the fray in this quirky fighter. Each have their own specific specialties relevant to their area of expertise.
My personal favorite, Edge, a spiky-haired gang member void of other talents, instead pulls a switch blade from his meticulously spiked hair to stab enemies; an effective counter to being hit in the face by a volleyball.
Aside from the characters being merely conceptually interesting, the game has a pretty solid story mode that slightly fleshes out each of them, making the characters somewhat more relatable than they otherwise would be. Between this story mode, versus and unlocking all the hidden characters, I was kept occupied for months on end… not bad for an on a whim purchase.
There was also a solid selection of racing titles on the Dreamcast as well, but I spent most of my time on a rented Crazy Taxi and the mediocre Test Drive 6. Despite being mediocre, I actually had a ton of fun racing my friends in Test Drive 6…I still hear the “Here in My Car” intro movie every time I go over the speed limit even today.
Crazy Taxi on the other hand was actually an exceptional arcade “racer” based on being a Taxi driver, a new twist on a genre that rarely strays from the safety of simply racing other cars. Although I spent much more time playing the Arcade version, renting the game on my Dreamcast a few times helped me round out my experience on the SEGA Dreamcast, by providing a solid title in a genre I overlooked for the console.
Speaking of overlooked, a genre that is often scoffed at by gamers, Sports titles, had an incredibly strong showing on the SEGA Dreamcast. Thanks to EA Sports refusal to release any of its sports games on the Dreamcast, SEGA released the 2K series of franchises, which were universally critically acclaimed and fun as hell.
NFL 2k and 2K1, as well as NBA 2K and 2K1 were staples in my collection, especially considering Allen Iverson graced the cover of both NBA titles, and me being a HUGE Sixers fan at the time. As a massive football and Eagles fan, I also spent countless hours as the general manager for my team in Franchise mode, especially in NFL 2K1, which had a fully functional ONLINE. versus mode.
Understandably, my parents having been otherwise overly generous with regards to my addiction to video games, were unwilling to pay for the monthly fee for online access on my Dreamcast; an additional charge atop our pre-existing internet bill. Luckily though, I was able to experience NFL 2K1 Online over a friend’s house and it was my first experience with online gaming, something I wouldn’t do again until the XBOX 360’s release in 2006.
Speaking of online experiences, Phantasy Star Online was essentially the face of SEGA’s online campaign. Reviving the long dormant Phantasy Star series, Online re-imagined the sci-fi JRPG epic as a party-based hack and slash action RPG.
Players would explore the surface of the planet Ragol in parties of four, searching for Red Ring Rico while discovering the planet’s innermost secrets and history.
The game opened with a character creation screen that allowed a player to choose from nine classes combining a number of three life forms, two genders, and three primary job classes.
A player could choose to be a balanced Human, a magically-inclined Newman, or a physically dominant android called a Cast. These were further divided by job: HUnter, the melee specialists; RAnger, the firearms specialists; and FOrces, the mages.
This streamlined class system, numerous side quests, and the grind-heavy main quest made for incredible fun, despite my lack of internet access. I played for innumerable hours on the original release, and the version 2.0 that increased level caps and added an additional difficulty, maxing out my character.
I had always dreamed of playing the game online, but unfortunately never got the chance until I was in college playing the PC version on a private server. I was able to get my same character build from the DC version to level 160+, and a few other characters in the 80-100 range before the server crashed without being backed up… one of the most devastating gaming disasters in my life.
Though PSO, sated my appetite for a Dreamcast RPG to some extent, it was more of an action RPG than anything else. For a true taste of Role Playing I initially purchased Time Stalkers, which was unfortunately terrible. It was a major blow to my confidence in the genre on SEGA’s newest console, and a waste of a hard-earned gift from my parents for having a good report card.
Then one day I was browsing my GamePro magazine and came across intriguing promotional art for a game with an even more intriguing name, entitled Evolution: The World of Sacred Device.
This tradition turn-based JRPG with randomly generated dungeons provided a taste of classic mechanics I yearned for. With character-specific abilities based on household objects and ancient mechanical weapons called Cyframes, ranging from giant arms, to a bayonette-like jet pack, to a hip-mounted cannon, Evolution provided enough variety to quickly enamor me with its gameplay.
Despite its mediocre reviews, I absolutely adore the game and its colorful cast of quirky characters, so much so I purchased its equally entertaining sequel, Evolution 2: Far Off Promise, day one.
I followed up Evolution, with the purchase of Grandia 2, a fast-paced RPG with one of the best soundtracks of all time, questionable voice acting, and a nearly perfect battle system.
Ryudo, essentially a sellsword, is tasked with protecting a songstress of the Church of Granas from harm. This seemingly quick buck, rapidly escalates into a tale of divine proportions, touching on themes such as organized religion, possession and the usual fare such as romantic triangles and saving the world.
While the story is only average in quality, it is compelling and acts as as the perfect accoutrement for the hard-hitting soundtrack and expertly crafted battle system in Grandia II.
Despite the wonderful few years I spent with SEGA’s swansong console, the experience was unfortunately short-lived. After four magical years, my console’s disc reading capabilities deteriorated, allowing me access to only the consoles boot screen.
In a questionable moral move, I sold my broken Dreamcast and all my games to Gamestop for some small sum, a decision I will always regret.
If only I had kept my games and purchased a new Dreamcast, but instead I used the funds to aid in the purchase of the newly released Microsoft Xbox.
This left me with some unfinished business for the console. I never was able to get into Shenmue, a game I purchased day one, but was unable to appreciate at the time. I also had intended on purchasing Skies of Arcadia, per a friends suggestion before the terminal decline of my console, a game that I would’t get the chance to play until the re-release on the Gamecube.
Fortunately, it was not all bad, as the XBOX ended up being another underrated gem of a console, and in many ways carried on the legacy of the Dreamcast.
With a few major SEGA franchises such as Phantasy Star Online, the Jet Set series, Toe Jam and Earl, and Panzer Dragoon, as well as online play, Microsoft attempted to pick up where the dying SEGA left off in its battle against the all-powerful PlayStation 2.
Now my love of Dreamcast only lives on in my memories, ports like those on the XBOX and Gamecube, and emulators, but the magic of that Christmas in 1999 will stay with me forever.