Must-Have Games For The Dreamcast?

Thanks to EntDepot.com for their roundtable discussing the shiniest, best, and most under-rated Dreamcast games, as Sega's defunct console starts approaching cult status. The article starts: "It seems as though Sega has been all but forgotten as the system innovator that it was. As cliched as it sounds, the Dreamcast was years ahead of its time", and some of the now-inexpensive recommended DC titles include Mars Matrix ("a simple top-down, vertical shooter that we have all grown to love and cherish"), Samba De Amigo ("Get a pair of third-party maracas, [and] come to terms with the fact that you'll soon be flailing your arms around like a jackass"), and the less easily purchasable Propeller Arena ("the best game AM2 never released.")

Bangai-O

[mog]

Bangai-O is hands-down the best game on the dreamcast. A must have, definitely!

Marvel vs. Capcom 2

[SouLShadow]

great 2d fighting game. 2 player 3 on 3 battles, 56 charecters to choose from. charecter 'assists with 3 different types for each. combo's, hyper-combo's, 2 and 3 charecter hyper-combo's, switch charecters at any time and they even regain health when they aren't currently fighting (up to 30% of damage taken the last time they were fighting). you get extra levels and different colors for each charecter that you can "buy". we've put in possibly double the max recorded "game play" of 99:59:59 and STILL haven't gotten everything. with so many combinations the battles are never the same, even with the same charecters and we haven't gotten bored yet. of course you can't forget the graphics are amazing too, better then many PS2, GameCube and XBox games i've seen. oh yeah, and there's 3 speed settings: normal, turbo and turbo 2 (aka don't blink).
once we get all the different colors for each charecter then we can have 3 of the same charecter on a team!
imagine fighting with 3 Wolverine's, 3 ServBot's, 3 Guile's or 3 Sentenal's. Each with a diffent assist type and a different color.

Only problem: the game is hard to find, it took us almost a year to find (finally got it off E-Bay).

all in all it's the best fighting game i've ever played, even compared to 3d games.

years ahead... and still ahead.

[zenintrude]

As cliched as it sounds, the Dreamcast was years ahead of its time

And this still rings true. No system since has been able to reproduce 2D arcade games as well, and its 3D arcade ports can't be beat either. Simply said, the Dreamcast is the ultimate realization of the arcade experience at home. The Dreamcast *should* have been the final deathblow to the waning arcade situation, but for some reason people just didn't want arcade perfect ports... odd.

But all that aside, the Dreamcast continues to stand as my favorite console for a single reason: VGA support. After the VGA box was released for the Dreamcast, I thought to myself, "So this is where console games are going..." Crystal clear visuals just reinforced the system's already amazing graphical prowess. But again I was wrong, and the VGA standard was not adopted even as an option by the current crop of systems. Sure, output to HDTV is nice, but I still don't feel the amazing clarity that comes from a nice monitor.

And while we're at it, my top 5:

1. Phantasy Star Online: First Online Console RPG. I logged over 500 hours on the first version of it, and loved every Rappy beating minute of it.
2. Rez: The PS2 port doesn't do this game's visuals justice in the least. Beautiful wire frame graphics wrapped around the best rail-shooter since Panzer Dragoon Saga, all while thumping to one of the best video game soundtracks ever.
3. Jet Set Radio: Invented the oft-repeated cell shading graphical style, and the game play was brilliant as well. Tony Hawk + Rollerblades + Juvenile Delinquency.
4. Samba de Amigo: I was lucky enough to have pre-ordered this game and a set of official maracas, still one of the best gaming decisions I've ever made. Sure Dance Dance Revolution is a lot of fun, but this is even more fun (and completely playable) when you're drunk, while DDR simply is not.
5. Shenmue: Ground-breaking blah blah blah masterful storytelling blah blah blah cat petting simulator blah blah blah Yu Suzuki is a God.

Re:What about?

[pecosdave]

I hit the jackpot on that port.

I have Skies of Arcadia Legends for the Cube, it's only by sheer chance I got it. I bought my Cube used off of ebay with 9 games and a WaveBird. I figured 9 games, several of which I was guaranteed to like and the rest I would give a shot. I'm glad I gave Skies of Arcadia Legends a shot.

You can tell it's a port. Granted they improved everything just a little for the Cube version and added some stuff, but you're right. That games so good I'm considering getting a DreamCast just so I can see what the original was like. The spirit system is awesome, the game is emersing. Even though a lot of the plot is cliche and very little of anything is original, they put it all together in a world that just works.

Kinda like a Lasagne, each part of it can be used in another dish, but not until it all comes together and is cooked properly can you have the best meal on earth.

Re:Mars Matrix?

[AtaruMoroboshi]

Mars Matrix is one of the greatest shooters ever made. Go visit the message board of www.shmups.com and try to insult Mars Matrix; you'll be laughed off the board.

The graphics are not the best, but the gameplay escalates it into the top tier of vertical scrolling shooters, up there with Ikaruga, ESP.Ra.De, Dodonpachi, Radiant Silvergun, and Strikers 1945 Part 2.

It's also one of the hardest games ever made. I've put in at least 30 hours of play and I can occasionally get to the fourth level on 1 credit. Amazing game.

Takumi's Gigawing 2 is also excellent, especially for it's orchestral soundtrack and overwhelming bullet swarms.

.