Got a Dreamcast for Hanukkah, whats good?

[Cheddahz]

I've heard this Sega machine has some classics on it and I've already ordered a copy of Shenmue for it, so hit me up with recommendations for it

[TVC15]

Record of the Lodoss War is fuck awesome.

[benjipwns]

Toy Commander

[TVC15]

Oh, Armada is the tits, too.

[Himu]

do you want exclusives? Because most Dc exclusives are slim pickings these days. Almost everything has been ported.

Some good suggestions:

Grandia 2
Virtua tennis
Out trigger
Virtua fighter 3
Samba de amigo
Cosmic smash
Project justice
Soul calibur
Power stone
Toy commander
Shenmue 1 and 2
D2

Other classics like jet set radio and space channel 5, crazy taxi, garou motw, or doa2 have been ported to other systems and are better than the dreamcast versions.

Racketboy tends to have great dreamcast game suggestions, I suggest start there. You can pirate anything with utopia or game shark lite.

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sega/dreamcast/the-best-dreamcast-games-under-10

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sega/dreamcast/games-that-defined-dreamcast

[tiesto]

Domestic:
Skies of Arcadia
Bangai-O
Soul Calibur
Grandia 2
Crazy Taxi
Cannon Spike
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Shenmue
EGG
Sega Bass Fishing
Tennis 2k2

Imports:
Rez
Psyvariar 2
Napple Tale
Border Down
Lack Of Love

[Himu]

Cannon spike! Good one!

Games like Rez don't seem worth it these days because Rez is on ps2 and on 360. If you don't have those systems it may be worth it though.

Another list:

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sega/best-dreamcast-games-for-today-top

[Himu]

Probably a more useful list for someone trying to find the less obvious stuff:

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/best-undiscovered-sega-dreamcast-games

[Positive Touch]

sword of the berserk was afucking awesome game

[benjipwns]

Power Stone (1 and 2) never getting re-released except for that PSP collection is one of the odder things. Especially considering all the other collections Capcom has made.

And you don't need a boot disk anymore for almost anything, I think during the standardization wave all the collections were made auto-booting. I think there are a couple games that do for technical reasons. That said, getting the games for cheap is mildly preferred since CD's make the drive sound even worse.

[Himu]

Power stone not being re-released was odd. Also, it's made by Capcom, not sega. I thought Capcom would release it on 360 when companies were unloading DC classics, but nope. Or maybe I missed it?

[Positive Touch]

nope they didn't and that's a shame. woulda been great with online multi

[Himu]

BEEP

HmmmhmmMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmm...

[Mr. Nobody]

BEEP

HmmmhmmMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmm...

The memories 

Gone too soon

[Joe Molotov]

All the stuff that got ported to the PS2 were pretty good.

[Positive Touch]

just remembered I have a copy of maken x I never played. how badly did they butcher it when they brought it over? I remember hearing that they took out a zombie pope battle during translation.

[Himu]

Jet set radio has an hd version that knocks the shit out of the Dc version. 60fps on pc.

[Human Snorenado]

Just pirate anything worth playing like a real human being, for fucks sakes

[TVC15]

just remembered I have a copy of maken x I never played. how badly did they butcher it when they brought it over? I remember hearing that they took out a zombie pope battle during translation.

No idea what was cut, but I really enjoyed what I played of the US version back in the day. It's enough of a curiosity that I'd easily recommend it to the OP.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

its the only Megaten game that's purely action, right?  I remember its not bad.

Illbleed is a game that occupies far too much of my mental space.  Its not good by any means, but its one of the best crazy-as-shit things to ever get a commercial release.

[pilonv1]

Everything, even the Sonic games

[TVC15]

Wiki doesn't indicate Maken X is a megaten game. I really don't remember a whole lot about the game aside from it being weird and cool and a first person game with a lot of close up/melee combat. I think at the time it was released the only Megaten games released in the US were Persona 1 and Jack Bros. It was the dark ages.

Oh, it has Kaneko art. That's why it could probably pass as a Megaten game.

[TVC15]

While it's on my mind: it's a terrible, terrible game, but I consider it a DC rite of passage to play Blue Stinger.

EDIT: Illbleed is also really, really terrible, but it's not entertaining to play in the least. I'd instead recommend watching some youtube videos.

[Himu]

MakenX isn't megaten

[TVC15]

Here, this is all the Illbleed you need:

[TVC15]

Bangai-O is a must. On of Treasure's finest. I distinctly recall getting ass on the day of its US release, which earns it a full extra point on the TVC15 review scale.

[kick51]

Zombie Revenge is the shit

Power stone not being re-released was odd. Also, it's made by Capcom, not sega. I thought Capcom would release it on 360 when companies were unloading DC classics, but nope. Or maybe I missed it?

it's on PSP lol

[demi]

Illbleed is amazing
Blue Stinger is a huge trigger for bear like persons (the sauna scene )

[mormapope]

The Dreamcast version of Jet Grind Radio has all the music intact, something that can't be said for the re-released versions. Songs were replaced in future versions. Grandia 2 is a really charming JRPG that isn't too long and has a really snappy combat system, I'd say its aged well. Shenmue is a interesting game to own, as almost nothing happens plot wise but its a fun game to get lost in and explore, definitely not traditional by any means.

The Dreamcast in general has a ton of great arcade ports, fighting games, shooters, bullet hell games.

[bork]

The Dreamcast version of Jet Grind Radio has all the music intact, something that can't be said for the re-released versions. Songs were replaced in future versions. Grandia 2 is a really charming JRPG that isn't too long and has a really snappy combat system, I'd say its aged well. Shenmue is a interesting game to own, as almost nothing happens plot wise but its a fun game to get lost in and explore, definitely not traditional by any means.

The Dreamcast in general has a ton of great arcade ports, fighting games, shooters, bullet hell games.

It does, yeah.  But a large portion of its best games got ported/re-released on other hardware.  Once JSR hit everything I found little reason to hook mine back up again.

Even obscure titles like Maken X made it to other systems.   The game was ported to the PS2, changed into a third-person action game, and retitled "Maken Shao."

[Himu]

Power stone not being re-released was odd. Also, it's made by Capcom, not sega. I thought Capcom would release it on 360 when companies were unloading DC classics, but nope. Or maybe I missed it?

it's on PSP lol

Yes and it sucks so it doesn't count

[Himu]

The Dreamcast version of Jet Grind Radio has all the music intact, something that can't be said for the re-released versions. Songs were replaced in future versions. Grandia 2 is a really charming JRPG that isn't too long and has a really snappy combat system, I'd say its aged well. Shenmue is a interesting game to own, as almost nothing happens plot wise but its a fun game to get lost in and explore, definitely not traditional by any means.

The Dreamcast in general has a ton of great arcade ports, fighting games, shooters, bullet hell games.

This is false. JSR HD has all the music from the original. In fact, it has even MORE music because it also includes music that was in the japanese version. On Bantam St and Grind Square they switch songs out. If you reset the level, you will get totally different songs. On Bantam St you may get a original JP JSR mix, but if you reload you may get Jurassic Five. Every song from the original is in HD and then some.

[bork]

The Dreamcast version of Jet Grind Radio has all the music intact, something that can't be said for the re-released versions. Songs were replaced in future versions. Grandia 2 is a really charming JRPG that isn't too long and has a really snappy combat system, I'd say its aged well. Shenmue is a interesting game to own, as almost nothing happens plot wise but its a fun game to get lost in and explore, definitely not traditional by any means.

The Dreamcast in general has a ton of great arcade ports, fighting games, shooters, bullet hell games.

This is false. JSR HD has all the music from the original. In fact, it has even MORE music because it also includes music that was in the japanese version. On Benton St and Grind Square they switch songs out. If you reset the level, you will get totally different songs. On Benton St you may get a original JP JSR mix, but if you reload you may get Jurassic Five. Every song from the original is in HD and then some.

It's missing "Yappie Feet" (and "Many Styles" from the PAL version).

[Himu]

I forgot EU version had its own songs.

Also Yappie Feet was the worst song on the original game. I hated the song and never noticed it was gone.

[bork]

I forgot EU version had its own songs.

I didn't even know it had its own songs until looking this up! 

Also Yappie Feet was the worst song on the original game.

[Mr. Nobody]

I remember Evolution being an interesting RPG

No clue if it holds up today though and I don't think I played the sequel for more than 20 minutes

[demi]

Evolution Worlds is on Gamecube anyway, contains both games

[Himu]

No wait. The worst song in the original is that fucking song where some guy keeps saying the same shit. I think they play it on a Benton level.

[Mr. Gundam]

sword of the berserk was afucking awesome game

As was Gundam Side Story Rise from the Ashes.

[bork]

sword of the berserk was afucking awesome game

As was Gundam Side Story Rise from the Ashes.

Wasn't that ported to PS3, as part of a compilation game, recently? 

[TVC15]

DC is also the best system for 2d shooters. If you want an underrated favorite that seems to be lost to time, check out Mars Matrix. I put hundreds of hours into it. Ignore shit like Ikaruga. The only reason anyone likes Ikaruga is that it gave GameCube owners the opportunity to play a video game.

[Mr. Gundam]

sword of the berserk was afucking awesome game

As was Gundam Side Story Rise from the Ashes.

Wasn't that ported to PS3, as part of a compilation game, recently?

It wasn't ported. Side Stories took the storyline from the game and adapted it for the Missing Link engine. So the first person view became a few levels of 3rd person action that followed the same plot. Same thing with the Blue Destiny trilogy.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

All of the really good stuff has been mentioned so I'll just echo some suggestions:

Skies of Arcadia - one of my favorite games of all time.  A lot of people whined about the encounter rate at the first part of the game but fuck them.  Everything about this game seems well crafted.  The only downside is that some of the later ship battles drag on a little too long but fuck, what a great game.

Grandia 2 - Not as good as SOA but a damn fine RPG.  At the time it had an amazing battle system.  The biggest weakness is that the game is too linear: you just go from point A to point B.

Evolution 1 and 2 - Got slammed as boring dungeon crawlers and yeah, they're right.  I had a lot of fun with these games.  It's basically purified turn based RPG gameplay.  If you like turn based battling and then grinding to get more abilities, this is the game for you.  Everything else (town, plot, etc.) is secondary at best.  Don't bother with Time Stalkers, which is garbage.  Evolution Worlds theoretically includes both games but I recall they cut out a lot of content.

Basically everything from Capcom: Marvel vs. Capcom 1 and 2, Power Stone 1 and 2, Mars Matrix, Cannon Spike, Project Justice, Tech Romancer, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III (All three versions although the first two are on the same disc), etc.  I even had fun with the Spawn game they made.

Sonic Adventure - I'm sure it has aged since I last played it (2000 or so) but it had a few fun levels.  The game has a lot of glitches and some of the shitty friends have some real slogs to get through.

Sonic Adventure 2 - Slightly more refined.  Has some shitty friends but less so and the game is more polished.  Some of the Knuckles levels are bullshit though.

I also had fun with a number of other B/C level games: Illbleed, Blue Stinger (even though the guy walked around like he had a stick up his ass lol), Death Crimson OX, Toy Commander, Trickstyle, Hydro Thunder, Wacky Races, and even Pen Pen TriIcelon is worth burning an ISO for.

Looking at some of the prices and I'd just burn ISOs.  Mars Matrix kicks ass but fuck paying $70 for a copy; it came out brand new for $20.

[mormapope]

This is false. JSR HD has all the music from the original. In fact, it has even MORE music because it also includes music that was in the japanese version. On Bantam St and Grind Square they switch songs out. If you reset the level, you will get totally different songs. On Bantam St you may get a original JP JSR mix, but if you reload you may get Jurassic Five. Every song from the original is in HD and then some.

Damn, you're right. Where the fuck did I get my info from? For some reason I thought more music was cut out. That was one of the reasons why I didn't buy JSR HD.

Fuck me.

[bork]

This is false. JSR HD has all the music from the original. In fact, it has even MORE music because it also includes music that was in the japanese version. On Bantam St and Grind Square they switch songs out. If you reset the level, you will get totally different songs. On Bantam St you may get a original JP JSR mix, but if you reload you may get Jurassic Five. Every song from the original is in HD and then some.

Damn, you're right. Where the fuck did I get my info from? For some reason I thought more music was cut out. That was one of the reasons why I didn't buy JSR HD.

Fuck me.

Like I said earlier, it's missing one song from the American version.  I also remember people making a huge deal over missing music and it ended up being a big nothing.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

DC is also the best system for 2d shooters. If you want an underrated favorite that seems to be lost to time, check out Mars Matrix. I put hundreds of hours into it. Ignore shit like Ikaruga. The only reason anyone likes Ikaruga is that it gave GameCube owners the opportunity to play a video game.

seconded.  The previously mentioned Bangai-O is just flipping wonderful all around and I would personally hype the shit outta Gunbird 2, which I would say is the best thing Psikyo (RIP) ever made by a mile, its got ridiculous replayability and was my personal gateway drug into 2D shooters, for which I'll always be grateful for.

[pilonv1]

The Dreamcast version of Jet Grind Radio has all the music intact, something that can't be said for the re-released versions. Songs were replaced in future versions. Grandia 2 is a really charming JRPG that isn't too long and has a really snappy combat system, I'd say its aged well. Shenmue is a interesting game to own, as almost nothing happens plot wise but its a fun game to get lost in and explore, definitely not traditional by any means.

The Dreamcast in general has a ton of great arcade ports, fighting games, shooters, bullet hell games.

This is false. JSR HD has all the music from the original. In fact, it has even MORE music because it also includes music that was in the japanese version. On Benton St and Grind Square they switch songs out. If you reset the level, you will get totally different songs. On Benton St you may get a original JP JSR mix, but if you reload you may get Jurassic Five. Every song from the original is in HD and then some.

It's missing "Yappie Feet" (and "Many Styles" from the PAL version).

One of the few times it was good to get PAL games. Also DC had great 60hz support

[kick51]

dynamite deka is awesome

[Himu]

Here, this is all the Illbleed you need:

this looks incredible.

[a slime appears]

Nothing, fuck the Dreamcast.

[bork]

Nothing, fuck the Dreamcast.

[Purple Filth]

did i get transported to 1999?

anyways i thought the fighting games were cool since they were arcade quality or greater due to the innards of the dreamcast.

Soul Calibur
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Project Justice
Power Stone 1 and 2
Street Fighter 3 Third Strike
Guilty Gear X
SNK VS Capcom 1 and 2
KOF DreamMatch 98

[bork]

did i get transported to 1999?

anyways i thought the fighting games were cool since they were arcade quality or greater due to the innards of the dreamcast.

Soul Calibur
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Project Justice
Power Stone 1 and 2
Street Fighter 3 Third Strike
Guilty Gear X
SNK VS Capcom 1 and 2
KOF DreamMatch 98

Not that last one.  KOF Dream Match 1999 (which was KOF '98, lol snk) did not play as smoothly as the Neo-Geo version.

Hardcore Street Fighter nerds will also turn their noses up at 3rd Strike-- it wasn't arcade perfect, I.E. a miniscule amount of frames were missing and it was based on a later revision than U.S. players got, so people will actually trash it nowadays.

[Purple Filth]

did i get transported to 1999?

anyways i thought the fighting games were cool since they were arcade quality or greater due to the innards of the dreamcast.

Soul Calibur
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Project Justice
Power Stone 1 and 2
Street Fighter 3 Third Strike
Guilty Gear X
SNK VS Capcom 1 and 2
KOF DreamMatch 98

Not that last one.  KOF Dream Match 1999 (which was KOF '98, lol snk) did not play as smoothly as the Neo-Geo version.

Hardcore Street Fighter nerds will also turn their noses up at 3rd Strike-- it wasn't arcade perfect, I.E. a miniscule amount of frames were missing and it was based on a later revision than U.S. players got, so people will actually trash it nowadays.

Oh yea i forgot it had such a dumb name since it was basically 98 and i played a bunch of the real 99 before this. I just remembered it for what it was i guess.

Never knew that about 3rd strike since it seemed fine to me 

though tbf i wasn't very good so i probably missed it for that reason 

[bork]

did i get transported to 1999?

anyways i thought the fighting games were cool since they were arcade quality or greater due to the innards of the dreamcast.

Soul Calibur
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Project Justice
Power Stone 1 and 2
Street Fighter 3 Third Strike
Guilty Gear X
SNK VS Capcom 1 and 2
KOF DreamMatch 98

Not that last one.  KOF Dream Match 1999 (which was KOF '98, lol snk) did not play as smoothly as the Neo-Geo version.

Hardcore Street Fighter nerds will also turn their noses up at 3rd Strike-- it wasn't arcade perfect, I.E. a miniscule amount of frames were missing and it was based on a later revision than U.S. players got, so people will actually trash it nowadays.

Oh yea i forgot it had such a dumb name since it was basically 98 and i played a bunch of the real 99 before this. I just remembered it for what it was i guess.

Never knew that about 3rd strike since it seemed fine to me 

though tbf i wasn't very good so i probably missed it for that reason 

Nobody did.  It was something that a small selection of people noticed a year or two after it came out, and suddenly it wasn't good enough among your typical Shoryuken.com forum-frequenting snob.

[Cheddahz]

Grabbed the first Power Stone and have a wishlist of shit I want to add to my Dreamcast in the future now, thanks everyone!

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I forgot about San Francisco Rush 2049.  The single player is decent enough but the multiplayer battle mode (whatever they call it) is amazing.

I also forgot about Crazy Taxi.  The game is fucking amazing.  The downside is that it has four songs in it and you will end up memorizing them whether you like it or not.  Interestingly enough, the Xbox, Gamecube, and PS2 ports of this game are all fucked up and are missing features of the Dreamcast original.

Also some more good games: Soul Calibur, Test Drive Le Mans, Metropolis Street Racer, and Bangaio.

The best time to be a Dreamcast owner was shortly after cancellation.  Retailers dumped their Dreamcast stock for seemingly pennies on the dollar so I was able to get these great games for $5 each.

[a slime appears]

Nothing, fuck the Dreamcast.

(Image removed from quote.)(Image removed from quote.)

The games are genuinely GREAT. I can't ever hate on the amazing library the Dreamcast had but the hardware was an awkward stopgap between generations and the controller was an ergonomic nightmare. I can't praise a system that lasted a mere two years and it's non-existent piracy protection that royally fucked developers over.

In 5 years I'll probably be scrambling to complete my Dreamcast collection anyways, lol.