Got meself a Dreamcast with a whole mess of crap

[bergbros2]

Living in the Philly area and having acees to a slew of Gamestops and EBGames, I finally broke down and bought myself a black sports Dreamcast with a free VMU, an extra controller and VMU along with these games complete with instructions: Crazy Taxi, Unreal Tournament, Shenmue, NBA 2K2, NFL 2K1, Soul Calibur, Unreal Tournament, Record of Lordoss War, Virtua On, Vitual Tennis, Tony Hawk 2, Chu Chu Rocket, Resident Evil Code Name Veronica, Rayman 2, Sonic Adventure 1. I found that Gamespot and EB are the best places to get the games and sysytem than anywhere else including Ebay. You really can't get individual games on Ebay except the imports as the shipping alone is higher than the prices at GS and EB. I got Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, NFL and NBA and Chu Chu Rocket for $3 apiece. Sonic, Resient Evil, Tony Hawk and Rayman for $7. Virtua Tennis for $4. Shenmue for $8. I don't think these games individually can be bought on Ebay for those prices. Also, I'm not wild about the game bundles which combine a Soul Calbur with really crummy games like Kiss, Wild Metal and Spirit of Speed 1937. At this time, the Gamecube has got to be the best gaming deal going with the system going for $30 (the same price as the SNES!) with the peripherals for really cheap ($2 for a VMU, $4 for an extra conoller) and all but a few games going for less than $20.00 apiece. I have a couple of questions concerning some aspects of the system:

 

- How good are these games: House of the Dead 2 w/ or w/o a gun, Mars Matrix, Marvel v. Capcom Vol. 2, Bangai-O, Ecco, GTO2

 

- Are there some games that have unaccpetable load times?

 

- Is Samba De Amigo really worh itwith the maracas which appear to be really expensive?

 

- Does Seaman concept in practice as madeening as it sounds.

 

- Is Unreal better than Quake Arena?

 

- What is the best driving game for the Dreamcast?

[tiggerthehun]

Well, I can comment on a few of your questions... First off, I found house of the dead 2 to be totally worth it, but yeah, you gotta get two guns. Fortunately, these can be had for a mere pittance - I've seen 'em as cheap as 5 bucks at EB.

SAMBA IS TOTALLY WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION! But - you HAVE to get the official maracas. I tried to go the cheap route with 3rd party controllers - TWICE - and they both sucked arse! With the "real" maracas, there is nothing like it - sheer gaming bliss - and a blast at parties.

Be sure to pick up a few extra controllers for 4 player virtua tennis - another GREAT party game.

Finally, I was partial to M.S.R. as a racing game. I don't remember what that stands for anymore... midnight street racer maybe? But that one was a good one.

Enjoy the gaming!!!

[chrisbid]

samba de amigo isnt too bad with controllers, but it is a complete blast with them. If you see the game cheap enough, go ahead and get it, and keep your eyes peeled for a deal on maracas.

[Ze_ro]

Record of Lordoss War

 

GREAT game by the way... quite possibly the best modern RPG I've played. Seriously. It's kind of a Diablo ripoff though.

 

I was partial to M.S.R. as a racing game. I don't remember what that stands for anymore...

 

Metropolis Street Racer. I've heard this one was very good as well, but I've never tried it myself.

 

--Zero

[bergbros2]

Of course I mean the Dreamcast. and Grand Theft Auto is what I was thinking of too. My brain gets ahead of my typing. I really have to proof read these posts sometimes. Anywhoo..

 

Where other than Ebay can you get the Maracas? Gamespot and EB don't have em though I see the guns everywhere. How many VMU's do you need? Also, I understand you can do Emulation on th Dreamcast, for example Mame, and SNES. How hard is it to set it up on the system?

 

BTW, I chose games based upon the reviews in Gamerankings, the top 20 list in Digitpress, my personal likes. Are there any games that you feel are good despite the general poor reviews. Mars Matrix seems to come to mind. Some people swear its good despite the tepid reviews.

[Dones]

- How good are these games: House of the Dead 2 w/ or w/o a gun, Mars Matrix, Marvel v. Capcom Vol. 2, Bangai-O, Ecco, GTO2

House of the Dead 2 is a great game, imo the best one of the DC's gun game line-up. You should try Confidential Mission and Virtua Cop 2 (which comes in Sega's Smash Pack). If you are going for completion, then get Death Crimsom OX and Silent Scope (there are some 3rd party guns that support this game). To really enjoy all of these a gun is a must.

- Are there some games that have unaccpetable load times?

I haven't found any yet. IMO Loading times are on par with PS2s.

- Is Samba De Amigo really worh itwith the maracas which appear to be really expensive?

Yes. The game by itself is pretty enjoyable with the gamepad, but the fun factor is *greatly* diminished. Although I have read the 1st party maracas are the best, they are impossible to find. I bought a 3rd party maracas set (EMS brand) and they work great.

 

If you are looking to buy maracas on Ebay, a word of advice: avoid buying from seller consoleaccessories4u. The person is a "drop shipper": He sells stuff he doesn't have and has them shipped from overseas (apparently Liksang). I bought my maracas from him and it took a month for the package to arrive. When I asked him about my order, he avoided my questions and was extremely rude. I think I was lucky I got the item. If you wanna buy EMS 3rd party maracas buy them directly from Liksang.

- Does Seaman concept in practice as madeening as it sounds.

No at all. It's actually a very entertaining game. It's probably the most bizarre title of the Dreamcast. It's basically a Pet Sim. I can't really tell you what the game is, you have to play it and find out for yourself.

- What is the best driving game for the Dreamcast?

For me I think is Daytona USA. The best version of the game to have. It's got all the tracks from previous games, has gorgeous graphics, tight control and a great soundtrack. I really miss the times you could play it online!

[Jasoco]

I found Daytona to have horrible turning. Is this fixed when you use a Wheel controller? I've NEVER played a driving game with a wheel controller. Surprisingly.

[Ze_ro]

How many VMU's do you need?

 

It depends on how many games you plan on having, and what types of games you want to play. Keep in mind that if you want to play a full season of any sports games, that alone will generally fill a VMU (It might leave you a couple of empty blocks if you're lucky)... games like Shenmue also eat up a lot of blocks (I think Shenmue takes 80 blocks out of a 200 block VMU).

 

It also depends on what you want to use the VMU for... if you want to play the downloadable games, they take up a decent chunk of memory as well.

 

If you can, try and get yourself one of the X-in-1 cards... I have a Nexus Massive Memory Card Plus that has 1600 blocks worth of memory on it (although you have to switch between 200 block banks with a button), and it works great. This, plus a regular memory card holds much more data than I need, and I have about 50 games. There are no 3rd party VMU's though, just memory cards. You'll probably want to get at least one regular VMU for stuff that benefits from them, and one big memory card (4x or 8x should be about right) for everything else.

 

Also, I understand you can do Emulation on th Dreamcast, for example Mame, and SNES. How hard is it to set it up on the system?

 

Well, you don't have to mod the Dreamcast at all... they're fully capable of reading CD-R's without any modification. The trick is getting the disc written properly. Probably the simplest way of doing this without really learning anything is to use a program called "Selfboot Inducer". See the forums over at Sbiffy!com for more information about this program (Note: You have to sign up for an account on their forums to get anything useful out of their site). Another good site is DCEmulation. There's a lot of good information there too.

 

I should warn you though, that when it comes to raw processing power, the Dreamcast isn't really powerful enough for MAME or SNES emulation. DreamSNES (the SNES emulator) does not run at 100% speed, so you'll need to do things like turn off the sound, or transparency effects and such to get full speed out of games. Some still won't run at full speed even with those tricks. As for MAME, you're pretty much restricted to anything mid-80's or older. Anything newer either runs too slowly, or won't fit into the Dreamcast's memory. I should point out though, that NES emulation is near perfect.

 

Are there any games that you feel are good despite the general poor reviews.

 

Some games that I felt were underrated were:

• - Although it's kind of slow-paced, this is my favorite tank game ever, and has an excellent physics model that allows for some really nifty tricks, like knocking powerups off ledges with explosions, launching powerful magnets that will toss (or rather, pull) other tanks around, and flipping enemy tanks over so you can take pot shots at them while they're helpless.

[*]Vanishing Point - This is a very realistic feeling racing game. The levels are simply beautiful, and quite large... the cars are even more beautiful, and are all real cars. I think there are 32 cars in total, including some exotic european cars like the Lotus Elisse and some Austin Martins, and even some "regular" cars like the Mercury Sable Wagon, Ford Explorer, and VW Microbus. The only problem with this game is the fact that a huge amount of the game is locked, and the tedium of unlocking so much stuff can get frustrating. They even locked many game modes, and you have to unlock mirror/reverse track options on a per-track basis.

[*]Looney Tunes Space Race - This is sort of a Mario Kart style racing game, except with Looney Tunes characters. The humor of racing around as Wile E. Coyote, holding up signs that say "Yikes!" when he's hit with something is enough to make this game worth playing. The powerups are fun, and the tracks are very detailed. I mentioned before that there are some serious gameplay flaws with this game, and the one that bothers me the most is the computer assistance built into the game... You'll never get really far ahead of the computer, because the computer won't let you. This means that you'll be neck and neck with the computer the whole way through no matter how good you are (although if you suck, you'll be left in the dust). This also means that you can patiently play for 2 3/4 laps, and then suddenly use a turbo and stay in the lead just long enough to win the race. This simple strategy can easily ruin the game for you you, so I prefer to not use it unless absolutely necessary. It's still a fun game, and worthwhile to play though. All the voices are perfect.

[*]Bomberman Online - As long as you like Bomberman, you're sure to like this game. It's done in 3D, but gameplay is true to it's 2D roots. There are a huge amount of options in the game, and multiple game modes, so you can tweak it to your liking. The single player game can get tedius, but the 4-player multiplayer is where it's at.

[*]Street Fighter Alpha 3 - I have to admit that I'm a fan of the SF2 series, and this game is the apex of that series as far as I'm concerned (In case you disagree, Street Fighter 3 is also available... I never much cared for SF3 though). For the $20 I payed for this, it's probably the most played game in my collection. If you don't like Street Fighter though, there's probably nothing here to change your mind.

[*]Virtua Tennis - This probably isn't underrated at all... but it's a game that generally gets overlooked with all the Soul Caliburs and Crazy Taxis out there. Virtua Tennis is amazingly simple to play (heck, it's basically a high-class game of Pong), but it's amazingly fun. Having 4 player support is icing on the cake. There's a sequel called Tennis 2K2, and I imagine it's even better (the only addition I know of is female players), but I haven't tried it. Virtua Tennis is much easier to get.

[*]NHL 2K2 - Easily the best hockey game on the Dreamcast (which isn't hard, since it's only competition is NHL 2K), and quite probably my favorite hockey game ever. This game is very true to hockey, and the only flaw is the somewhat poor announcing and lack of heritage jerseys. Of course, if you don't like hockey, then this game won't change your mind.

[*]MDK2 - Although this game is a little excessively hard, it's a very nicely done platform-action game. You not only get to play as sniper Kurt Hectic from the first game, but you also get levels where you get to play as a 4-armed dog who carries a crapload of guns, and as a scientist where you have to think your way through problems and use what you have at your disposal. This results in a nice variety of gameplay throughout the game, so you won't get bored too fast, unless you get to one of the really hard bits that frustrates you into quitting.

[*]Rayman 2 - This game wasn't really underrated either, but it sort of gets forgotten in the same way Virtua Tennis does... it's one of the best 3D platform games ever made in my opinion, and is definitely worth picking up.

[*]Record of Lodoss War - I already mentioned this one, but I'll mention it again for completeness sake... it's Diablo style gameplay, but the storyline is very well done... there's a lot of neat stuff in the game, such as engraving enchantments onto your weapons, and it's a long game that'll keep you playing for an awfully long time. Grandia II and Skies of Arcadia always seem to steal all the RPG kudos on the DC though.

[*]San Francisco Rush 2049 - I already mentioned this one too... easily my favorite racing game on the Dreamcast. Good difficulty level, risky shortcuts, vehicle upgrades, detailed levels, unlockable stuff, and even a stunt mode.

[*]Re-Volt - A nice racing game with remote control cars. The graphics are exceptionally good, and there's a huge amount of cars and tracks... but the game is insanely tough to control (until you get the hang of it) and very unforgiving... so it can get frustrating really fast. If you like a challenge, this game will certainly give you one. There are versions of this for other systems, but I think the Dreamcast one has the most detailed graphics, and is still exceptionally smooth.

[*]Rez - Actually, this one's not underrated at all... This game is great, and most people know it... unfortunately, it's import-only (although it's 100% english), so you might want to stick with the PS2 version if you have a PS2.

Enjoy!

 

--Zero

[CincYnoTi]

 

Well, you don't have to mod the Dreamcast at all... they're fully capable of reading CD-R's without any modification. The trick is getting the disc written properly. Probably the simplest way of doing this without really learning anything is to use a program called "Selfboot Inducer". See the forums over at Sbiffy!com for more information about this program (Note: You have to sign up for an account on their forums to get anything useful out of their site). Another good site is DCEmulation. There's a lot of good information there too.  

 

 

are you saying a mame for something like pacman or super pacman should work pretty well on my dreamcast?? i've burnt a coleco+emulator for my dreamcast successfully. what site should i go to in order to figure out how to burn a mame+emulator?

[Ze_ro]

Well, aside from the two links in my previous reply, you might want to check out this thread discussing the "WOW 80's Pack". I haven't actually tried this pack yet, but it sounds like it's probably the best choice for Mame on Dreamcast at the moment. It's based off of a fairly recent version of the MAME source (0.7x I think), and supports many hundreds of games, most of them full speed.

 

There's also Mamed, which is a port of a much older version of mame (0.37b16 I think), but I've managed to get it working successfully (after burning a few coasters) in the past. Mamed is a little buggy though... not all games will work, not all games will run at proper speed, and it requires the 0.37b16 versions of the roms (which is likely not what you have if you've been up to speed with the PC versions of MAME)... so consider this a "plan b" of sorts.

 

There's a lot of documentation about making self-boot emulators and homebrew apps for the Dreamcast out there... just look around Sbiffy, and you'll even find whole programs that do it all for you. Their forums are probably the best source of advice if you have any further questions.

 

Keep in mind that you'll have to supply your own roms. DCEmulation is very strict about warez/piracy talk on their boards, so don't ask them to provide anything more than information.

 

--Zero

[chairmonkey4406]

games that are a must have for dc:

 

Toy Commander: THIS GAME IS OFF THE HOOK!!!!! Great single player, even better multiplayer. Tanks, planes, jets, cars-all the good stuff.

 

Seaman: Talk to a fish!!! He even insults you!!! It's great to be able to trash talk to a virtual fish and have him understand you.

 

Sonic Adventure 1 &2: It's sonic. Nuff said.

 

Resident Evil Code Veronica: Resident Evil is a great series and this is just another rendition of it.

 

Evolution 2: Don't really remember it other than its an RPG and that it was good

 

Space Channel Five: Early kind of dance game like DDR. It's fun. I understand theres a GBA one now too.

 

Jet Grind Radio: The X-Box one sucks. Just go with the good stuff. Cel shaded (I think) graphics and rocket skates, as well as gangs, good music and grafiti.

 

Power Stone: Very good fighting game.

 

Crazy Taxi series: So far the only game that lets you be a taxi driver. (please post if I'm wrong)

 

I hoped this helped you in your beginings as a Dreamcast owner. I own all these games so you can trust me I know what I'm talking about.

[Jasoco]

Crazy Taxi series: So far the only game that lets you be a taxi driver. (please post if I'm wrong)

Quarantine...

 

Or did you mean Dreamcast only?

[chairmonkey4406]

Crazy Taxi series: So far the only game that lets you be a taxi driver. (please post if I'm wrong)

Quarantine...

 

Or did you mean Dreamcast only?

 

I've never heard of quarantine I thought someone was going to say The Simpsons Road Rage, but that doesnt really count because its well....different

[Jasoco]

In Quarantine you are a Taxi driver in a post apocalyptic futuristic world where everything is corrupted. You pick up people to earn money and can run people over. But there are bad guys out to get you. And be careful not to go off the Power Grid else you'll get stuck.

 

Or something like that.

[Ze_ro]

There was also Space Taxi for the old C-64... even though it was in space, it's still a taxi.

 

Up, Please!

 

--Zero

[bergbros]

You guys convinced me and I got the official maracas for Smaba for $50.00. Did I overpay? I also got Phantasy Star Online for $2 and Skies of Arcadia for $15. Cripes, the Dreamcast is the best gaming value around. THe problem is that the window of Opportunity is getting smaller as EBand Gamespot arenot bringinganyting new in. Also, both stores have a policy of not selling any DC stuff in their mall stores now. Another question: Is it worthwhile to get a steering wheel controller, and if so, whaich one do you recommend? Also, what do you guys think of GUnbird 2?

[tiggerthehun]

Official Sega maracas for $50?!? Geez, these must've dropped in price, or you got a heck of a steal. I got my first set for $90 - second set for $75... But that was quite a while back - perhaps demand has REALLY dropped. I bring 'em out for our family get-togethers - it's something that everyone from the 7 year old nieces, up to my old uncle can do - and enjoy it.

Enjoy 'em!

[tiggerthehun]

BTW, I've got an extra "MadCatz MC2" controller that'd I'd be willing to sell. (It's the "more deluxe" one, with the nicer foot pedals, and the "wrapped" steering wheel.) I picked up an extra one at Wal-Mart when they blew out all their DC stuff. I think it was originally $79 or some crazy stuff like that. I paid $29 for it - took it out of the box and made sure that it worked - then lost the box. So, anyway, it's nice and clean. I just don't have much need for 2 Steering Wheels. I have no idea what one of these is worth. I'd be willing to sell it to you for whatever the concensus of a decent price is. Anyone have an idea?

[ubersaurus]

SFA3? Terrible version...go with the PS1 or Saturn ones if possible. The DC one had messed up hitboxes, and changed around alot of stuff from the original, making it a really, REALLY poor port. Although the other two weren't perfect, they were leaps and bounds better then A3.

 

Now SF3: 3rd Strike...thats the only console its on, and its a fantastic port of a fantastic game.

 

And Border Down, if you're into imports, is well worth it. It's one of the most fantastic shmups on the console.

[Ze_ro]

SFA3? Terrible version...go with the PS1 or Saturn ones if possible. The DC one had messed up hitboxes, and changed around alot of stuff from the original, making it a really, REALLY poor port.

 

What!? I played the crap out of this game, and I thought it was excellent... in fact, the Dreamcast version was re-released into Japanese arcades as "Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper" using Naomi hardware.

 

--Zero

[ubersaurus]

SFA3? Terrible version...go with the PS1 or Saturn ones if possible. The DC one had messed up hitboxes, and changed around alot of stuff from the original, making it a really, REALLY poor port.

 

What!? I played the crap out of this game, and I thought it was excellent... in fact, the Dreamcast version was re-released into Japanese arcades as "Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper" using Naomi hardware.

 

--Zero

 

Well, outside of the total raping of v-ism in DC alpha 3, those hitboxes are obvious. Take Sakura's standing roundhouse. In the arcade, PSX, and Saturn versions, it hits, standing or ducking. In Dreamcast, you can duck right under it. What that does is completely invalidate one of her best moves, and with it, a good chunk of her game. And thats just the one I can remember offhand.

 

Alpha 3 Upper was dead on arrival in japan-NOBODY played it because they all felt it was inferior to the original version. And they're right. Most people feel that V-ism breaks the game, which it doesn't. It's dominating, but as of late, A-ism(or Z-ism, whatever you want to call it) has proven itself to be a viable choice (outside of Dhalsim, who was always good in a-ism). Upper changed that to where A-ism was dominating, V-ism was crap, and X-ism sucked even more. They also took out some glitches, and not exactly bad ones either- some, such as Gief's increase piledriver range, were virtually essential for going up against guys like Akuma.

 

Trust me-PSX loading times and a few missing entrances and frames is worth the tradeoff for a plain better-playing version of the game.

[Ze_ro]

Well, I have to admit that I almost never use V-ism, and I use Sakura even less often, so I'll have to take your word for it. Every time I've tried V-ism, I end up getting hit out of my custom combos almost immediately after starting them (almost as if the computer goes into some sort of desperation mode in which it only cares about stopping your combo or something).

 

I also thought it was pretty lame that the computer never did custom combos for some reason... or do you have to be playing on a higher skill level for that or something? (Incidentally, in the GBA version, the computer doesn't have any problems doing custom combos on you... but they did a bunch of other weird stuff, like giving everyone air throws and such).

 

--Zero

[ubersaurus]

They don't even do custom combos in CvS2. The AI on capcom fighters is so dumb at times...

 

The trick to using CCs is to time them to "blow through" attacks with your invincibility frames. They essentially retaliatory attacks. Learning good ones can take some time though-V-Ryu and V-Sakura are both relatively simple though.

 

But hell, if you want to beat people with less time being put into the game, A-Dhalsim is damn good.