Sega’s Dreamcast just turned 15; here are some can’t miss titles for retro gamers

Last week, Sega’s Dreamcast console turned a stunning 15 years old so in honor of the big birthday year, I thought I’d put together some of my personal picks for the can’t miss games of the line.

I remember very well getting a Dreamcast. It was the latest in a line of consoles that I’d been importing from Japan in the 1990’s, which started with the Saturn and PSOne a few years prior. In those days (the late 90s) there were still tons of games being released in Japan first, sometimes waaaaaay before they saw launch in western countries. This was good stuff too, not to be waited on and not even really niche, and thanks to a local import store I didn’t have to.

Far from the simplicity (and ultra-high prices) of the eBay of today, the only real way to get your mitts on something like an import console back then was by going through a local store like the one I used to visit weekly (more if I got the chance). Sure neither the software nor the hardware was what I’d call cheap (and I grossly overspent on some GBA titles as I recall), but it was all just too cool to get to play some of these blockbuster games months before anyone else in the US that it was worth it… most of the time anyway.

For the Dreamcast, I was instantly sold on it, and even though I still bought an American unit eventually, I was never sorry I ponied up for the import as soon as I was able. I had gotten it relatively close to the Japanese release date of November 1998 too (GameExpress was a pretty terrific little shop) and got a few titles like Sonic Adventure (which popped up a month or so later) and Virtua Fighter 3 along with it, which made for a very happy Holiday Season indeed.

Even with those to hold me over though, it really wasn’t till the ‘Cast launched in the US of A that the console started to take off in my opinion. September 9th, 1999 (the US launch date) was a great day for gaming and, though it didn’t end well and came to a halt abruptly in 2002, carried forth a glut of excellently made and fun to play games that hit what was to be Sega’s final entry in the console wars.

Though the company is firmly in the camp of ‘third parties’ now, more than a few gamers remember the heyday of what was Sega’s Dreamcast. So with that in mind I’ve put together a little list of my favorite titles that debuted on the console. This was a particularly tough one, since there are quite a few games that I enjoyed on the Dreamcast that weren’t necessarily exclusive to the system, but just looked and played better on it.

In any event, here are my top five of all time, from last to first:

• The House of the Dead 2 – Blasting zombies and other assorted things that go bump in the night from the comfort of your own couch. Sure light-gun supported games had been around for a good long time, but the Dreamcast meant that this one looked arcade-perfect and played just as well. Oh, and 2 player mode was an absolute joy.
• Power Stone – A premier fighter from Capcom that’s gotten exactly zero love since its (also pretty good) sequel that also appeared on the Dreamcast, Power Stone was awesome fun. An arena brawler with up to four players at once, this game basically played like a 3D action title (complete with power-ups and weapons) and had a formula that’s never been adequately duplicated.
• Sonic Adventure – What’s to say about the little hog’s first outing on the Dreamcast? Sonic Adventure proved that the Blue Blur could indeed make the transition to the 3D realm and still be fun and engaging. Now, don’t get me wrong, it did have its bad points, but it was nonetheless a great reintroduction to the character for the Dreamcast and boded well for the future of the franchise in a similar way to how Mario 64 ushered in the 3D-era for Nintendo’s plumber. We all know how it ended up for Sonic though…
• Soulcalibur – Simply one of the finest fighting games of all time and still a title that holds up today, Soulcalibur in many ways is perhaps Namco’s best fighting game of all time. Excellent graphics (that still look good), phenomenal play-control and depth, and some of the most interesting character designs seen outside of a Capcom or Midway (or NetherRealm) fighter ever, this is a fight fan’s dream. It’s also one of the only fighters that exclusively armed its characters, which is something that you still don’t see a whole lot of.
• Resident Evil: Code Veronica – Code Veronica might be something of a dark horse pick for most people, but it’s far and away one of my favorite games of all time, Dreamcast or no. Everything about Capcom’s Resident Evil offshoot was awesome, and from the newly designed (at the time) 3D settings to the gruesome new undead enemy types that were all kinds of creepy (remember the skinless, half-rotten zombies in the graveyard?!), Code Veronica was one of the best entries in the series. Much like Soulcalibur, Code Veronica even stands the test of time and is just as much fun today as it was back in the year 2k. If you’re a fan of the classically-styled RE titles that was more about horror than action, this is one not to miss out on.

• Marvel vs Capcom 2
• Daytona USA
• Skies of Arcadia
• Nightmare Creatures 2
• Soldier of Fortune
• Quake III Arena
• Spider-Man
• Star  Wars Episode 1: Pod Racer
• Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2

So those are my picks. No, you didn’t see any Shenmue, Seaman, or Jet Set Radio on there, but there’s a reason- I didn’t really like any of them (and I really tried in the case of Shenmue). But if they were some of your faves, or if you have some other Dreamcast title that absorbed way too much of your free time, let me know in the comments below!