Dreamcast, MGC & Zero Gunner 2

[jbanes]

All you Dreamcast fans can welcome one more player into your fold. I now officially have a Dreamcast.

 

There's a funny story behind it, too. When I attended last year's MGC ('06), I spent some time playing games in the Museum. As some of you may know, I've always liked Shoot'em ups. I'm not particularly good at them, but I enjoy them none the less. So much so that I even wrote my own*. Thus when I came across this neat shoot'em up running on the Dreamcast, I had to try it.

 

The game was pretty much the standard fare of "helicopter blows up everything and collects powerups". The biggest twist was that the graphics were absolutely gorgeous 3D models rather than 2D sprites. This (surprisingly) made everything on the screen easier to see. I didn't spend too much time playing the game, but I did enjoy it the time I spent with it.

 

 

Fast-forward a year later. I'm at MGC '06 and I see a Dreamcast for $20. It occurs to me that I could get it and track down the game I had played the previous year. I have no idea what the game was called or even where to look. No worries, I purchase the system and look through the other DC games on the floor. Sadly, there aren't many of them and I can't even read the ones in Japanese. I ended up leaving with no idea of what that game was.

 

So I get home and use the power of the Internets to find my answer. Low and behold, I do find it. It's an incredible game called Zero Gunner 2. There's only one problem: It was never released in the states and good luck on finding an import copy. Doh! So much for that idea.

 

Thankfully the interwebs did provide a solution, but I do have to wonder why such an incredible game was never released here in the states? I can't help but think that Sega & Psikyo greatly underestimated its potential popularity. Shmups may not do as well here, but there are times when they're welcomed.

 

 

On the hardware itself, I have to say that I'm impressed. The unit itself is very solid. Especially when compared to another CD system like the Playstation. Even neater is the fact that disk swapping is not only supported, but it's encouraged. If this feature hadn't existed, it wouldn't be possible use discs like the Utopia Bootloader. (Without which import games couldn't be played on a stock DC.) Plus, it helps offset the relatively small data size of the GD-ROM discs.

 

The modem in the back is fun to look at for all of 2 seconds, but was destined to be obsolete from the time the console shipped. At this point it's more of an oddity than a useful feature. (Especially now that the game servers are shut down.)

 

The controller is extremely interesting. The double-triggers are very nicely implemented, so I can see why Microsoft copied that feature in their 360 controller. However, the controller was obviously designed with the DPad in mind. The analog stick is so far up the controller that even big hands like mine find it uncomfortable to use. The DPad is much easier to reach and has a nice feel. It's also very painful after extended use. I forgot that there were good reasons to get rid of these things.

 

I don't have a VMU yet, but the idea strikes me as a bit strange. Playing mini-games on your memory card? Ummm.... okaaay. The linking feature is neat and actually justifies the reason for the LCD. However, I can't help but think that using the console to perform copies (like every other system) would have been a better solution. Sega isn't targeting the kids on the playground who swap games like trading cards. It's not unreasonable to have a console around. If Sega had taken that route they could have shrunk the size of the memory cards and made the controller a more manageable size. (Why are there two slots in every controller?) Putting the card slot on the machine would have been an even better choice.

 

As for the media, I can't help but think that Sega made a mistake here. A CD-ROM with no error correction? That's just asking for trouble. Which is why I'm not surprised to hear reports of discs failing regularly. I'll probably pick up some used games from local stores, but I imagine that finding working discs is going to be a chore in of itself. That being said, I'm not sure what other choice Sega had. They launched so early in the last generation that DVDs were still too expensive to use. Both Sony and Nintendo wisely waited until the price of DVD drives were affordable enough to release their respective consoles. (Though Nintendo lost a LOT of space by using mini-dvds.)

 

All in all, I think this machine is a great little piece of hardware that will find a good home with me. And since I can get a VGA adapter for it, I can't wait to hook up an old CRT monitor and play some Lightgun games!

 

 

* FYI, I will still update the high score club if you're interested in submitting a high score.

Edited June 11, 2007 by jbanes

[Trooper]

The reason for the two slots in every controller is so that you can have a memory card and a rumble pack inserted at the same time, or two mem cards of course.

 

/T

[Scumdogg]

The VMU is for more than just mini-games, several Dreamcast games actually make use of the screen in-game. I thought it was a fun idea. But you'll probably just want to scrap any notion of playing the mini-games when you do get a VMU, and just go ahead and take the batteries out. They die quickly, and dead batteries result in an annoying beep every time you fire up the system.

 

The Dreamcast is a great system, definitely one of my all-time favorites due to the prevalence of great fighting games and other arcade ports. The only downside to getting one now is that games (especially complete ones) are getting ridiculously hard to find in the wild. And like you mentioned with Zero Gunner 2, if you plan to import, it's usually crazy-expensive.

 

Oh, and if you want a great shooter that *was* released in the states, check out Mars Matrix. It's pretty impressive.

Edited June 12, 2007 by Scumdogg

[jbanes]

The reason for the two slots in every controller is so that you can have a memory card and a rumble pack inserted at the same time

That actually makes a lot of sense, though it reminds me of a specific complaint that I forgot to mention: Why no built-in rumble? Both of Sega's competitors were already pushing rumble, with Sony already producing controllers with built-in rumble. Sega's failure to include rumble as standard may have reduced the cost by a minor amount, but it also made a variety of games a lot less fun. Especially arcade conversions that originally used speaker rumble like Hydro Thunder and Rush 2049.

 

Oh, and if you want a great shooter that *was* released in the states, check out Mars Matrix. It's pretty impressive.

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check it out.

Edited June 12, 2007 by jbanes

[2600Lives]

I'm a total Dreamcast fanboy. At present I've amassed probably 30 or so VMU's (I picked up a crapload when TRU was blowing them out at a buck each), a keyboard, mouse, light gun, several rumble packs, and a GameShark, plus 5 controllers (one is my "fightin' game pad"), and extension cables. Love my DC! I still need to get one of those fishing controllers for it, though.

[RJ]

I debated whether to buy DC Feet Of Fury at MGC, but didnt. Maybe next time. Nice price at least.

 

Lately I've been getting back into my Dreamcast, it's one of my least-played systems. I finally got into Omikron a few wks ago, but after deciding I wasnt going to see it through, I sold it back & deleted the (huge) save file. Today I began unlocking Hydro Thunder tracks & played a round of Tee-Off Golf. That futuristic G-Ball game is quite original. & my twin 5-yr old nieces LOVE Sega Marine Fishing using the special controller.

 

Anyway, the family vacation is coming up & I usu. bring it along. Hopefully they'll get into Tee-Off & SMFishing.

[Bill Brasky]

I had Zero Gunner 2 for the dc and I don't recall it being that expensive when it was new. The game WAS released domestically, in the arcades, afaik. I saw it here in an arcade first.

[jboypacman]

Dreamcast is a great system and has some great games on it.I need to pick me one up and some games sometime down the line while i can still get them pretty cheap.

 

Also you should try out Gunbird2 for the DC its a pretty cool little shoot'em up you might enjoy.

[Fighter17]

I love the shmup line-up for the DC, but the controller for me were terrible. The D-Pad was way too loose for my taste.

 

Good job with getting Zero Gunner 2, one of my favorites on the Dreamcast. The last shmup Psikyo did before X-Nauts purchase them out (and thus Psikyo went to the shitters ever since). Zero Gunner 2 should cost $70 tops (mint copy with Spine Card). Like jboypacman said before me, Gunbird 2 is also good on the Dreamcast (another Psikyo developed shmup).

 

You also need to get Ikruaga for the Dreamcast, because it's better than the Gamecube version. One copy should cost around $30-$40.

 

Mars Matrix is good, but demand for the titles makes it go between $20-$40. It's a good Takumi-developed shooter (Takumi also did Giga Wing 1 and 2 which were also release on the Dreamcast).

[Bill Brasky]

Why do so many people have such a hard-on for those spine cards?

[jboypacman]

Hey Fighter17 thanks for reminding me of Gigawing II another great shoot'em on the DC.

[Fighter17]

Why do so many people have such a hard-on for those spine cards?

 

It's part of the package.

 

I don't think it's important.

[jimid2]

The Dreamcast is the only console that we currently own two of, both of which are hooked up (to different TVs, of course). It's always been a household favorite for fighting games, shooters, and my daughter thinks Crazy Taxi is the best game ever made, Seriously! (which reminds me, she starts driving lessons this year ) Anyway, a great system, with a lot of great games - Trigger Heart Excelsior is another great shooter that's available on import, btw... I got mine from Play-Asia.