The Gamer's Quarter

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

I decided for good about three days ago that I can't go much longer without owning a Dreamcast. The prices on Ebay are fantastic, so I'm going to hit that up as soon as the bakery gives me my next paycheck. Here's the (embarassing) thing: I have never owned a non-nintendo system. Not for any sort of fanboy-dom, but just because I could never afford multiple consoles for each generation. So I'm gonna need some games for this dreamcast, and I'd love some input from y'all as to what to invest in right off the bat.

Here's what I'm definitely getting:
Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram
MDK 2

Everything else is pretty much up in the air. Chu Chu Rocket? Skies of Arcadia? Marvel vs. Capcom? Honestly, I have no idea. I'm shooting for five or six games to start with. Also, if there are any peripherals I should know about, let me know. Thanks in advance, kids.
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

dessgeega · Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:13 pm Post subject:

explosion invincible bangaioh!!
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simplicio · . Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 1091

My favorites:

Jet Grind Radio
Zero Gunner 2
Bangai-O
Ooga Booga
Chu Chu Rocket
Armada
Mr. Driller
Cool Cool Toon
Skies of Arcadia
Project Justice

You are about to hear more fighters and shooters listed than you could possibly imagine, let alone play in a lifetime.

Also, let's just say it: if it wasn't before, piracy is now your friend.

SuperWes · Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:24 pm Post subject:

Here are most of the interesting games I've got.

Bangai-O
Cannon Spike
Chu Chu Rocket
Cosmic Smash
Crazy Taxi
Crazy Taxi 2
Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future
Fatal Fury: Mark of The Wolves
Giga Wing
Giga Wing 2
Gunbird 2
Ikaruga
Jet Grind Radio
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Mars Matrix
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
MDK2
Mr. Driller
Power Stone
Power Stone 2
Project Justice
Record of Lodoss War
Resident Evil - CODE: Veronica
Samba De Amigo
Samba De Amigo Ver. 2000
Seaman
SEGA Smash Pack Volume 1
Shenmue
Skies of Arcadia
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure 2
Soul Calibur
Space Channel 5
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Street Fighter III: Third Strike - Fight for the Future
Super Puzzle Fighter II X for Matching Service
Time Stalkers
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Typing of the Dead
Virtua Tennis
Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram
Zombie Revenge

Looking at the list I'd honestly suggest a PS2 over a Dreamcast. A lot of the better games on the Dreamcast have had ports, sequels, or better alternatives on Sony's system. If you haven't strayed outside of Nintendo land you'll find a lot more of interest, not to mention a lot easier time finding games on the PS2. Not that it's the Dreamcast's fault or anything, it was really only around and thriving for about a year.

-Wes
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dessgeega · Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:42 pm Post subject:

SuperWes · Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:55 pm Post subject:

dessgeega · Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:58 pm Post subject:

as if you would need to play games that aren't shooters.
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squidlarkin · . Joined: 10 Dec 2005 Posts: 100

squidlarkin · . Joined: 10 Dec 2005 Posts: 100

Also! I didn't see the previous thread. Heh.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Assuming you have played Sonic Adventure because you have Nintendo systems...

Five? Man, Ok, here is my list of five DC games I would take with me for good variety:

Jet Set Radio (US Name, don't get confused!)
House of the Dead 2 (with Gun. Gun = Manditory)
Giga Wing
Shenmue
Soul Calibur (really the only fighting game you don't need a special controller for)

I would recommend other stuff too (like Space Chanel 5 and SF3: Third Strike) but they are available on the PS2 for better costs (lincluding controllers and games).

I would also list some of the newer shooters, but they are fairly pricey (and won't drop any time soon!).
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

dessgeega · Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:28 pm Post subject:

zero gunner 2.
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Roam Unit · . Joined: 23 Jan 2006 Posts: 14

The only Dreamcast games a proper person really needs:

Chu Chu Rocket
Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage
Virtua Tennis
Mr. Driller

Last Blade would also be worth checking out, but only if you get a stick. Playing any sort of 2D fighter with the Dreamcast's d-pad is like trying to arm-wrestle a cheetah.

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

Why hasn't Rez been mentioned yet?
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

SuperWes · Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:14 pm Post subject:

Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

Soul Reaver's worth a shot if you find it too.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

ApM · Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:01 pm Post subject:

MDK2 is way, way better on a PC. You're welcome to my Dreamcast copy, though!

I really dug Super Magnetic Neo, but perhaps I'm just strange like that. An interesting (if unfair) platformer with a very interesting game mechanic.

I second Typing of the Dead; I finished it for the first time the night before I got married, and it was a fantastic experience. The ending is an absolute masterpiece.

Also: Tokyo Bus Guide. Drive the speed limit! Don't break any traffic laws! So great.

Fred · . Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 99 Location: Iowa

I guess it has been covered, but I feel I should emphasize one game: do you have three friends? Do you enjoy drinking alcohol together? If so, then Virtua Tennis is the game for you! I can't count how many bro-downs at the local watering hole have been topped off by a rousing session of doubles VT. Plus, it got my friend laid!

VIRTUA TENNIS. It's what video games were meant to be.

Zack · . Joined: 21 Oct 2005 Posts: 26

Chu Chu Rocket is really not worth it without friends to play it with, by the way, if your friends won't want to play Dreamcast puzzle action games with you. Okay, well, Chu Chu Rocket costs like 50 cents so it's probably worth it anyway.

Typing of the Dead and Bangai-O are radical also, but really I am posting to say that I think it's cool that you work at a bakery.

GSL · Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:39 am Post subject:

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2
Ikaruga (of course!)
Powerstone 2
Mars Matrix
Soul Reaver

It's true that you can get a good amount of Dreamcast games on other systems such as the PS2 (or in Ikaruga's case, the Gamecube) but, well, the minute you start contemplating multiple systems is the minute you need to make a decision: do you just want to PLAY a game, or do you want the DEFINITIVE version of a game?

Though many of the PS2 ports of Dreamcast games have come posthumously, the vast majority of them just cannot live up to the standard set by the Dreamcast releases years before. Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore has muted colors and jaggies galore compared to the Dead or Alive 2 Limited Edition. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, aside from being almost more expensive than the Dreamcast edition, is just... well, there's just something not entirely crisp about the sprites. The same goes for the 20th Anniversary version of Street Fighter III: Third Strike. And Ikaruga on the Gamecube is decent--if you've never played the Dreamcast or arcade versions as a reference point.
Then again, there are a handful of titles that actually work better on consoles still living; for example, I'm convinced Skies of Arcadia Legends on the Gamecube is actually better than the original.

MvsC2 is a pretty standard choice, and why not? For a system flooded with fighting games, there's a scant few that DON'T require a six-button joystick or pad, and this is one of the best, Capcom's 2D fighter high point in all its wacky glory. Runners-up would be Soul Calibur and Project Justice.

Powerstone 2 is, I suppose, most fun on a large TV with three friends, although the single-player game can be fun, too. This is Super Smash Bros. made slightly more interesting and without those goddamned Pokemon; a frantic, excellent arena brawler without equal. You could always stoop to getting the second one, which is cheaper and more common and still a lot of fun, but it just isn't the same.

Zero Gunner 2, Giga Wing, and Ikaruga are all well-known, excellent shooters for the DC, but Mars Matrix is a great game that often gets overlooked. It's got the mild bullet hell and 16-digit scoreboard consistent with a Takumi title, and the crazy chaining techniques found in recent Cave games.

The Legacy of Kain series is much maligned as being too over-the-top dramatic, but I found the twisted gothic tale of betrayal and vengeance to be a lot of fun. Play through the Dreamcast installment--it should be cheap enough--then go pick up Soul Reaver 2 on PS2. It's a pity THAT was never completed for Dreamcast!

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

SuperWes · Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 9:09 am Post subject:

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

GSL · Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:54 am Post subject:

Oh, come on! It's not like Mars Matrix is Mushihimesama on Ultra Mode or anything! The game challenges you to either improve in order to progress, or rack up enough points to buy your way through the game (with the assumption that by the time you're able to do that, you've hopefully improved a bit more). Giga Wing is fun, sure, but there's nothing about it that's going to feel fresh or exciting; it's a comparatively tame, generic shooter that, while solid, offers nothing new that hasn't been done before, and on two or three other systems, to boot.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

thatbox · . Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 99 Location: nashville / nola

Get SoA for your Gamecube, not your Dreamcast. It still does 480p and has an extra character as well as the Dreamcast's online extras on the disc - you can get Final Cupil without VMU and CD-R wrangling!

Five games!

Shenmue
Jet Set Radio
Rez
PowerStone 2
Project Justice
Chu Chu Rocket (doesn't count since it's cheap cheap!)

You can get new Virtua Tennises, now, on new systems, so it's not as imperative as it once was. Rez is good on the Dreamcast for the 480p and non-PS2 analog stick! And you DO NOT WANT Powerstone Collection (or whatever it's called) for PSP. What at travesty!
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Rez is a good choice too!
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

If not for the readily available PC version, the absolute best Dreamcast title would be Typing of The Dead. I'm not even kidding.

simplicio · . Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 1091

Here's the other thing about dreamcast: 4-player

and here's that list:
Ooga Booga (which is the best local multiplayer game ever devised, except perhaps Pac Man Vs.)
Chu Chu Rocket
Worms World Party (not Armageddon, which is played entirely with only one controller)
Power Stone 1 & 2
Virtua Tennis and all those 2k2 sports games (NFL, NHL, NBA) are really solid and fun (especially multiplayer), even if you don't care for the sports in question
Both Looney Tunes Space Race and Wacky Races are fun little kart games, though you're honestly much better off with Mario Kart: Double Dash.

Addendum: I don't think anyone's said anything about Toy Commander yet, which is pretty imaginative (and rather difficult) and worth your attention.

Also of note are two games which don't pirate properly: you'll need real discs for both Ooga Booga and Skies of Arcadia. Well, you don't need the SoA, if you don't mind sound being about 2 seconds out of synch.

Does anyone know if Cool Cool Toon was made by the Guitaroo Man/Ouendan folks? It really feels like a spiritual predecessor. I mean, werewolves. Dancing.

thatbox · . Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 99 Location: nashville / nola

Ooga Booga is actually plenty piratable!
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purplechair · . Joined: 28 Mar 2005 Posts: 378 Location: in my pants

I nearly suggested Toy Commander, but I was afraid you'd all laugh at me. I haven't really played it enough to know if it's as good as I remember.

It's like "Micro Machines meets Battlefield", or something.

Toto · 4th Man Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 122

The way I see it, owning a Dreamcast myself, is that it isn't that immoral to pirate. The only people that make money out of you pirating the games are some random pawn shop owner, not Sega themselves.

GSL · Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:11 am Post subject:

Just a note if you're planning on pirating Dreamcast discs: Don't get your hopes up. Initial batches of Dreamcasts shipped with a flaw that allowed 'music CDs' to contain executable code, therefore opening up the system to burned, downsampled versions of its GD-ROM games. Sega later fixed the flaw, rendering burned games unplayable on some versions of Dreamcast without a modchip (and if you're THAT set on pirating games that you don't mind dramatically shortening your console's lifespan; well, be my guest). Many people quote somewhere around September 2000 as the manufacture date (visible on the sticker on the underside of the Dreamcast) when Dreamcasts stopped being able to read pirated games, but there have been plenty of cases in which Dreamcasts manufactured later play burned games just fine, and Dreamcasts manufactured earlier refuse to boot pirate discs.

The moral of the story: Be willing to legitimately pay money for the titles you want, or you might be disappointed if your Dreamcast isn't pirate-friendly.

thatbox · . Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 99 Location: nashville / nola

St. Louis, it's pretty much more of a "IF YOUR DREAMCAST ISN'T A HELLO KITTY DREAMCAST OR AN EA OR ESPN SPORTS DREAMCAST THEN YOU ARE GOOD TO GO" situation.
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ApM · Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:15 am Post subject:

GSL · Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:30 pm Post subject: