Playing EVERY Sega Dreamcast Launch Game

The Sega Dreamcast was the last console  Sega would ever produce, marking the end   of a decade-long campaign of console war  violence against their arch-rival Nintendo.   Many a playground scrap was had  over whether Sonic could take   Mario in a fight, with 90’s kids  oh-so complicit in the hostilities.  One of those kids was Cultaholic’s own  Sam Driver who very kindly supplied the   Dreamcast paraphernalia you see around  me. And he’s just one example of many   sega fans who were saddened to see their brand  withdraw from the console market in 2001.  It was rising competition from rivals at Sony,  Nintendo, and Microsoft that forced their hand,   with sales of the dreamcast not up to par, but  it was widely appreciated by fans and critics   to be ahead of its time – a home to the likes  of Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, and Shenmue.  So let’s put a positive spin on all this,  shall we? The year is 1999, the country,   United States, and a brand new console from  Sega is launching this week, with 19 next gen   games for you to choose from. Let’s play  them all, are you ready? Then let’s go.  God this opening video’s a bit 90’s isn’t it?  Let’s just skip that and get into the- oh,   no, it’s ANOTHER 90’S CUTSCENE. Aerowings is a  flight simulator that, for the time, actually   looks surprisingly good. There are missions where  you’re tasked with flying through floating rings,   and a free fly mode where you can fly freely. Mad,  I know. The controls are very sensitive which made   it tricky when navigating at street level –  like all good pilots do – but it did allow   me and the boys flying in formation to give this  hospital a show... aaand I think one of them just   crashed into the building there. It also features  a wide range of locations, including city, island,   valley, night city, base, mince pies, mini mince  pies. and if you quit immediately after starting   a flight, the replay has absolutely no idea what  to do. AeroWings received an average score of 74%   from reviewers at Famitsu, IGN, and Gamespot,  with the latter calling it “a quality game”.  Oh boy is this a boring opening crawl.  Set in the far flung future of 2007,   airforce delta – or deadly skies if you wanna get  European about this – is an aerial combat sim,   essentially aerowings but you can fire  missiles and bullets and KILL PEOPLE YEAH   BLOOD. The game’s story has an absurdly in  depth narrative concerning ethnic tensions,   religious debate, and the splitting apart of  the federated republic of dzavailar. Which   all sounds very serious until you successfully  kill all your enemies and this music plays...   Hooray? There’s a greater sense of speed in  airforce delta than in aerowings and it controls   well enough, but as with all flight combat sims  i often found myself fruitlessly chasing fighter   jets that were chasing me, never really being  able to see them for long enough to lock on   with missiles – a necessity, as regular gunfire  is completely ineffective. 66% on Gamerankings.  In 65 million bc a big pebble wrecked everything,  and now in the wake of an earthquake, it’s up to   you in the year 2000 to visit... DINOASAUR  ISLAND. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?   I mean, that doesn’t. Suddenly a big explosion  occurs and it does weird things to your friend’s   face – I promise I haven’t edited this at all.  Then a fairy angel thing spawns and Christ it’s   all just so out there that I can’t keep up with  it. Blue Stinger is an action survival horror game   where you run around excruciatingly slowly and  pick up key cards. There are lots of dead bodies,   strange mutant things, and a fair bit of blood,  but jesus god please the voice acting is something   else. It looks, really weird. While I can  appreciate Resident evil wasn’t much of a looker,   its colour palette and filters made it feel  really spooky, blue stinger on the other hand,   looks like modders have removed it all. It’s  safe to say the game has not aged well at all,   but it did receive decent reviews at the  time, landing a 70% average on Metacritic,   with NextGen saying “Even the lowest-budgeted kung  fu cheapie you can think of had better dubbing,   but if you like an adventure with  big explosions, this ain't too bad.”  Expendable is a top-down run and gun title  which really feels like it should be a   twin stick shooter. Instead you can either  awkwardly spin around with your gun firing,   awkwardly face individual enemies while firing, or  awkwardly face the rough direction of enemies and   hold a trigger to strafe from side to side while  firing. It all starts out quite promising too,   with an opening cinematic that  feels a lot like Abes Odyssey.   The general premise is that in order to  combat an invading race of unnamed aliens,   two super soldiers have been cloned to create  an army, but none of that matters because you   shoot aliens and explosive barrels to get more  powerful guns to more effectively shoot aliens   and explosive barrels. It’s mindless fun  and you can play with a friend in co-op,   allowing both of you to be deafened by  the highscore tally at the end of stages,   but it didn’t review overly well,  achieving 62% on gamerankings.  Based on the Championship Auto Racing Teams (or  CART) racing league, flag to flag is essentially   a formula one racing game that makes you wish  you were playing a formula one racing game.   It doesn’t look incredible either, and with  practically no turning ability once you hit   decent speeds, I was extremely grateful  for the basic curvature of most of the US   courses. Weirdly however, the vehicles were hyper  sensitive to turning at low speeds, meaning I   was able to pull off many outrageous overtakes  while travelling with a fraction of my power.   There’s a championship mode where you can adjust  the car’s various parts to your specifications if   you fancy yourself an expert – like I do with  my 2 gallon fuel tank – but you’ll still be   racing the same basic courses with little gameplay  variation. Described as “A competent CART title,   but nothing beyond what you'd expect”  flag to flag received 62% on gamerankings.  House of the dead 2 has the worst voice  acting I’ve ever heard in a video game and I’m   absolutely here for it. A first person light gun  shooter originally gracing arcades the world over,   the game received a dreamcast port a year after  release, and it translates surprisingly well. For   a start, instead of aiming with a plastic firearm,  you move the aiming reticule with your thumbstick,   and I can honestly say I had more joy with  accuracy via this control scheme than I ever did   in the arcades, although that probably says more  about my shooting ability. Another thing that’s   nice is that you can continue playing without  having to slide another pound coin into a machine,   meaning you can actually make decent progress  without bankrupting yourself! Sadly though,   there are definitely still sections where it feels  like you must take damage as with the various   boss battles. It’s campy and ridiculous, HOW DO  YOU KNOW THAT, but the path does diverge based   on NPCs you’re able to save, allowing for some  replayability too. House of the dead 2 earned 77%   on gamerankings, and also gave us this  clip, which is worth all of the awards.  Ported to dreamcast from arcades, err, what was  it called again? JESUS CHRIST. Hyrdro thunder is   a boat racing game where all the boats look  like they copied wipeout’s homework when it   wasn’t looking. I was initially really  unimpressed by it because those menus   are not good at all, but it turns out that  hydro thunder is actually really good fun.   Collect boost, race around diverse courses with  plenty of dynamic set dressing, and then use your   boost to smash into fellow racers and yeet big  stationary boats out of the way. Oh no this one’s   trying to race me now. YOU’RE NOT IN THE RACE  BACK OFF THIS ISN’T FAIR. It’s colourful, fun,   and has plenty of variety. It definitely feels  like an arcade game, but hey, that’s not always   a bad thing. Hydro Thunder earned an average of  82% based on the reviews listed on Wikipedia.  Goodness me this flashback is a bit haunting,  do you want me to call someone? YEAH,   WHO’S YER EMERGENCY CONTACT, LUV? I think he might  murder someone. Monaco grandprix is an unlicensed   formula one game with far more interesting and  recognisable tracks from across the world than   were featured in flag to flag – even though,  again, no license. Menus are annoying though,   expecially as there’s one constantly repeated  sound effect... can you hear it? Am I going   insane? Wierdly, there’s no map in this game,  making it very difficult to prep for corners, but   I adapted anyway. THIS IS LEGAL, YEAH? Needless  to say, I was a very welcome addition to the   field [pileup], but I’ll be damned if I understand  what they were thinking with the music on the   Monaco course. It sounded like bloody sephiroth  was about to attack. All in all, a very competent   racer, and far more enjoyable than its launch  line up starting grid rival. 71% on Gamerankings.  JESUS OH GOD PLEASE STOP. IN WHAT UNIVERSE IS THIS  CONSIDERED NOVICE DIFFICULTY? An updated version   of MK4, Mortal Kombat Gold included additional  characters, stages, and a weapon selection   mechanic. None of these features were enough  to save it from what can kindly be considered   something of a critical mauling. Criticism was  levelled at the graphical fidelity, dullness   of available weapons, bugs, and game breaking  glitches. I didn’t experience any in my time with   it, but that might be because a revised version  of mortal kombat gold was released about a month   later, and aimed to fix a lot of these issues. It  all went a bit wrong then, including a misprint   in the official strategy guide regarding the  additional characters that only served to confuse   fans. I can’t even show you a cool fatality  because I’m really rubbish at mortal kombat,   but I did win a... skull trophy with eyes,  so that’s lovely. 54.97% on gamerankings,   with gamespot saying “sitting down and playing MK  Gold almost feels like a retrogaming experience”.  Oh yeah, here we go, sports time! I’ve  played an American football game before,   but I’ve never watched American football,  so I’m going to give this everything I’ve   got. Goodness me it takes itself a bit  seriously doesn’t it? Here come the 69ers,   baybeeee. Get a load of these big action figure  players! Absolute units, the lot of them,   especially when stood next to the cardboard  cutout coaches and photographers. Oh god no,   no thank you. Flattered though. The sports charts  are at the top of the screen now, and while I’m   still hopeless at defence, I’m getting pretty  good at offence. I mean, I don’t know a lot about   American football, but I’d consider this a good  play – right guys? It’s a shame the opposition can   magnetically stick to you when tackling as I WAS  DEFINITELY PAST THAT GUY, but never mind. Critics   went absolutely bonkers for NFL 2K, awarding it an  eye-watering 92% on gamerankings. Well done guys.  Oh yeah, here we go, sports time! I’ve  played an American football game before,   but I’ve never watched American football,   so I’m going to give this everything I’ve  got. REALLY? ANOTHER ONE? ONE WASN’T ENOUGH?   Christ, am I going to get a gun? I was not good  at NFL Blitz 2000. I was constantly tackled   as soon as I got the ball, preventing me from  making meaningful progression across the field,   and I rarely had time to pass to teammates who,  themselves, were never in uncontested space.   Defending then, in a strange twist, was  much more fun. As there are NO RULES,   you could tackle pretty much at will,  diving all over the place and leaping   through players like you’re playing  dynasty warriors with shoulder pads.   It was also one of the less enjoyable sports  charts systems I’ve experienced so far,   but what do I know because it got 82% on  gamerankings and I’m clearly an idiot.  What is going on... Well it’s all in Japanese  so god knows what I’m selecting here but...   I’m sorry? One more time for me? Ahh,   I see thank you very much. I TAKE IT ALL BACK,  THIS IS THE BEST VIDEO GAME I’VE EVER PLAYED.   Essentially 1998’s answer to fall guys, penpen  Tri-Ice-lon is a triathlon across various icy   stages where your chosen penpen must slide, run,  and swim their way to victory. Obviously I was   playing as our very own billy ray walrus, and say  what you want about his music, but he’s very good   at athletics and I’m extremely proud of him. If  you can imagine the penpen as humans in mascot   costumes it’s a Japanese gameshow then, allowing  you to attack your competitors to further your   lead. It received 64% on gamerankings, but penpen  triicelon has definitely won a place in my heart.  Well that voice over doesn’t make me  hugely excited. A 3d arena fighting game,   power stone is fast, frantic, and largely quite  good fun. It’s set in the 19th century, and   follows the globetrotting – but mostly fighting  – adventures of various individuals who all seek   the power stone – a stone that will supposedly  make any dream come true. It’s all quite stylish,   with fighters automatically rolling over  obstacles and plenty of crates and objects   to destroy that’ll provide you with various  weapons including rocket launchers and GUNS. See,   I’m the best fighter. If you collect enough gems,  or maybe stones? I’m not sure what they are in any   case, but if you collect enough, you’ll transform  into a more powerful version of yourself,   and be able to deal much more damage for a short  time. 83% according to gamerankings, and it   performed so well in arcades that it even had a  brief run as an anime in 1999, so there you are.  Oh yeah, here we go, sports time!  I’ve played a boxing game before,   but I’ve never watched boxing, so I’m  going to give this everything I’ve got.   That’s it, we’ve hit peak 90’s. Ready 2 Rumble  boxing is, unsurprisingly, a boxing game and   they’ve got the guy, you know,  the guy who says that thing!   I obviously had to choose the 108 year old big  willy Johnson, and I got absolutely destroyed.   Poor guy. I was particularly impressed  by the way they’ve animated the stomach,   chest, and arms, independently. It does make  them look a bit like action figures, but it’s   more realistic than having the bodies be one  single amorphous blob. You can Dodge, Duck, Dip,   Dive and Dodge to avoid strikes, and if you build  up your rumble meter enough, can even be a super   powerful boy for a brief period. It’s especially  fun when you both do this at the same time.   There’s also a championship mode where  you can train your fighters, earn money,   and compete for titles. A decent enough,  larger than life boxing sim then, with the   dreamcast version earning 84% on gamerankings. The first main sonic game to feature full 3D   gameplay, Sonic Adventure was a smash with fans  and critics alike. It even had hub areas where   you could run around and chat to passersby. It may  look a little basic now, but remember, this was   before the likes of GTA3 revolutionised sandbox  gaming, and it blew people’s tiny 1998 brains.   Ignoring the fact that Robotnik just warned him  about the god of destruction and now he’s having   a nap by the pool, sonic transitioned to 3D quite  impressively. You’ll zoom along, collect rings   and powerups, jump off bouncepads and enemies’  heads, and hit special set pieces that really   take advantage of the Dreamcast’s hardware.  These factors all culminate in an impressive   collage of speed and colour, and even though the  cutscenes feel very stilted and there were a few   times I got caught on pieces of scenery losing  all my speed, it’s still really good fun. It may   well be an affront to god that sonic lives in  a human world and get on a train like a person,   but Sonic Adventures was a new high for  the series, clocking 87% on Gamerankings.  Cited as “reason enough to own a dreamcast”,  the home console version of the arcade classic   is by a sizable margin, the most critically  renowned launch game for Sega’s console,   achieving a staggering 97% according  to gamerankings. Now me? I’m terrible   at fighting games. I’m in awe of people who  can play them with any degree of precision,   which I believe makes me a... bootton  mass-hur? Whatever that means. Either way,   I really enjoyed playing soulcalibur. It  felt balanced to my level of playing ability,   and yet was still intuitive enough for me to  pull off cool-looking moves whenever i wanted.   Not that one. See? This might be because the  team worked closely with Namco’s Tekken devs   on the home console port, but they went one step  further, as a big point in the dreamcast version   of soulcalibur’s favour was its visuals which  were – in a rare reversal of the norm – superior   to the arcade build. I like that you can  keep hitting people after you win though.   I won me a soul edge sword by  making nightmare look a right   chump and apparently then set sail  to terrorise pirates. Beautiful.  Well I’ve got to race in the girth 2000, haven’t  I? TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat is a racing   game that attempts to complete the dreamcast’s  launch line up of racing titles by specialising   in off-road racing... with mixed success.  My main issues were that while it controls   alright, it’s really hard to turn at any great  speed, as if you’re constantly stuck in the mud   with no hope of a tow. This is especially  troubling as, according to Wikipedia, the   known control issues were mostly fixed for  the American release, begging the question:   what on earth were they like before. It’s  quite by the books, sadly, with nothing really   standing out and Next Generation suggesting  players rent it if they can’t wait for Sega   Rally 2. 49% according to an average  of the reviews I could find online.  Blimey, they just love to band the radical word  XTREME around (with the letter x and no e),   don’t they? If there’s one thing Tokyo Xtreme  Racer is not, however, it’s Xtreme. Yes,   it’s a competent enough racer where you  become intimately familiar with a stretch   of Tokyo highway, yes it was apparently one of  the first mission-based driving games, but no,   it is not Xtreme, OKAY? You pick a car, drive  around Tokyo’s shuto expressway, and start races   with fellow naughty crime boysandgirls. There’s  a bar at the top of the screen that will drain as   long as you’re in second place, so you must lead  the race, overtaking and weaving through traffic,   until your opponent’s bar is empty, at which  point you win. Winnings can be spent on new cars   and tuning your existing vehicles to ensure  street racing success, but this was clearly   the early days of racing with a mission, so don’t  expect a story presence here. 72% on gamerankings.  TrickStyle is in essence, tony hawks  pro skater but with hoverboards   and you’re racing one another. So downhill  jam then. Developed by criterion – you know,   the burnout people – you start by entering your  name, and if you can’t tell by the craaaazy way   those letters move, this game is Xtreme. You can  pick from one of several different characters,   and then in you hop to begin racing. It is...  quite hard to control. Corners are tight,   and the steering isn’t nearly responsive enough  for you to react in time. I’d be laying down to   get more speed, but then be locked into  that animation while bumping into what   I was desperately attempting to jump over. It  does have impressive levels of rubberbanding,   with AI all too happy to speed off initially, but  they’ll let you overtake them all when nearing the   end of a race. How sweet. Is it going to let  me jump through Big Ben’s big stupid face?!   Oh okay. 71% on Gamerankings, with NextGen  calling it “an impressive game to watch,   and an infuriating game to  play. Track design is sadistic,   and AI players are inhumanly adept. Good  mostly for increasing your stress level.”  That 71% takes the average score for  the Dreamcast’s launch line up to 74%.  And so there we are, all of the Dreamcast’s  US launch line up sort of reviewed in 2020,   were there any among them that were your  favourite? Let me know in the comments below.   Be sure to follow me on twitter for updates on  future launch game videos, and why not like this   video and subscribe to the channel. Thanks so much  for watching, and I’ll see you next time, bye!

Channel: TripleJump

Views: 318,544

Keywords: dreamcast, sega, sega dreamcast games, dreamcast launch, dreamcast launch games, dreamcast launch games ranked, playing dreamcast in 2020, aerowings dreamcast, airforce delta dreamcast, blue stinger, expendable dreamcast, house of the dead 2 dreamcast, hydro thunder dreamcast, nfl 2k dreamcast, nfl blitz 2000 dreamcast, power stone dreamcast, ready 2 rumble boxing, sonic adventure dreamcast, soul calibur dreamcast, tokyo xtreme racer, trickstyle dreamcast, mortal kombat gold

Id: PzUlLF1ZEWE

Length: 24min 0sec (1440 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 16 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/racketcollecta]

Great memories of the Dreamcast, some outrageous games