Dreamcast was ahead of its time. Arriving in 1998 with a bubbly Y2K aesthetic, when Sony’s PlayStation and the Nintendo 64 reigned supreme, Sega’s console was the first to offer true online gaming thanks to its built-in modem.
RPG fans from around the world came together to raid polygonal forests on Phantasy Star Online, the Dreamcast’s answer to Final Fantasy VII. Joining other players on the space odyssey meant sitting through the infamous dial-up internet tone. The series of bleeps and bloops now sounds nostalgic enough to give older gamers goosebumps.
For every high, like levelling up in front of your online pals, there was a low. Those who became hooked on online multiplayer games could easily rack up huge internet bills by joining foreign servers. In hindsight, the inevitable scolding you received from your parents was worth it for the memories alone.
Alas, the Dreamcast’s singular mix of online play, exclusive Japanese games, and superior console graphics wasn't enough to win over the masses.
Ironically, being ahead of the curve ended up blighting it. In the late nineties, broadband internet access was sparse, limiting the appeal of the console’s robust online features. Sega’s reputation had also been tarnished by the commercial failures of the Sega 32X and Sega Saturn, making consumers more hesitant to fork out for its latest machine. Add to that the lack of third-party games, and you could see why the public never warmed to the console.
By the time the monstrously successful PlayStation 2 arrived in 2000, the Dreamcast already felt like an afterthought in the cut-throat world of gaming.
Still, it lives on in the hearts of Dreamcast owners, and their mates who were lucky enough to get a go on Crazy Taxi. For everyone else, it will forever be remembered as Sega’s swansong, before it fully pivoted to making games for other systems. And to think there was a time when the thought of playing Sonic on a Nintendo console seemed unimaginable.
As an ode to the visionary kit, and that wacky controller with its accompanying LCD screen memory slot, here are the best Dreamcast games that made it a blast to play.
Shenmue and Shenmue II
A coming-of-age story entwined with a murder mystery, the Shenmue saga took players on a gripping journey from Yokosuka, Japan to Hong Kong across the span of two beloved Dreamcast titles. But it was the games’ quirks that pulled you in. If you weren’t smitten as soon as you adopted that stray kitten in the first instalment, Shenmue probably wasn’t for you. The numerous side quests, street fights, blue-collar jobs, arcade machines, and collectible capsule toys made it easy to get side-tracked. Bursting with heart, the games’ focus on everyday life made its virtual Japan and Hong Kong feel even more real. More than two decades later, its imprint can be seen on contemporary open-world games and RPGs ranging from GTA 5 to the Yakuza series.
Jet Set Radio
It’s the fluorescent punks versus the fun-hating cops in Jet Set Radio, a cell-shaded bath bomb of a racing game. Grab your spray paint and magnetic rollerblades and start tagging the streets of Tokyo-To with the baton-wielding police hot on your trail. Outrun them by grinding across bridges and vaulting over cars as you cover the neon-drenched city in colourful graffiti. Pull it off with flair, meaning extra somersaults, to earn more points towards your “Jet Rank”. It’s not enough to beat the feds, you have to look good while doing it, kid.
Crazy Taxi
Skid around the streets of San Fran from behind the wheel of a convertible yellow cab in this arcade classic. The goal is simple: pick up and drop off passengers, while swerving traffic, before the timer runs out. Reckless drivers can pocket extra cash by overtaking and driving on the wrong side of the road. Don’t worry about pile-ups, you’ll bounce off other cars like dodgems. Unlike in GTA, the pedestrians always manage to jump out of the way, no matter how many times you cut through the crowded park. After the tenth replay of the Offspring’s anthemic All I Want, you’ll feel like you’re stuck in a pop-punk timewarp. With Sega currently developing a reboot, now is the perfect time to revisit the simple pleasures of Crazy Taxi.
Capcom vs SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
Worlds collided in Capcom vs SNK, a fleet-footed brawler featuring iconic characters from Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, and other classic arcade games. Assembling a fierce triple tag-team composed of Ryu, Chun-Li and Kyo Kusanagi was a dream come true for beat-’em-up fans. The resulting fights were as epic as you’d expect: Hadoukens ripped through the air, gravity-defying Bird Kicks were unleashed, and fierce body blows set opponents alight. When the “groove metre” filled up, you could perform a pulverising super combo that floored your adversary. Solo wins were fun, but nothing could top the high of defeating your buddies in two-player mode. In the words of the game’s enthusiastic commentator: “Keep rocking, baby!”
Phantasy Star Online
Up to four players could team up over the internet to explore the uncharted planet of Ragol on Phantasy Star Online (PSO), looting crates and slaying dragons as they went. There was no voice chat back then, but you could type to your squad mates, with the Dreamcast auto-translating on the fly.
It may sound quaint to modern gamers, but PSO was truly ground-breaking for its time. For many, it was as jaw-dropping as when they first laid eyes on Super Mario 64, back when the visual leap from one console generation to the next was truly revolutionary.
Visually, the game was an acid-tinged head trip. The custom characters looked more like ravers than noble warriors. Instead of glow sticks, they wielded neon pink lightsabres and giant iridescent swords. These were put to good use against the game’s enemies, from anthropomorphic bears with ungainly arms to alien fauna, including Venus fly traps that looked like they’d been cross-bred with a packet of Skittles.
The gameplay loop didn’t change the script, but the novelty factor was enough to keep players questing for months.
Metropolis Street Racer
A racing game for perfectionists, Metropolis Street Racer (MSR) is as much about skilful driving as it is about finishing first. Across the single-player campaign, your goal is to rack up points (officially known as Kudos) by tackling various race types with the relentless focus of an F1 driver gunning for pole position. If you don’t memorise those tracks, and hug every corner with panache, you won’t get very far.
Like most Dreamcast classics, MSR functions as a trip down memory lane. Its collection of late-’90s motors, from the Alfa Romeo Spider to the Peugeot 206, still holds plenty of appeal for petrolheads with a penchant for retro cars. A bit of trivia: It’s also technically the first game in the cult Xbox racing series, Project Gotham.
Sonic Adventure 2
As the final Sonic game to debut exclusively on a Sega console, Sonic Adventure 2 symbolised the end of an era. Its launch was quickly overshadowed by the Dreamcast's official discontinuation just months later, marking a bittersweet end for the console. But, for many, Sega went out with a bang, delivering a 3D platformer that improved on its spotty predecessor in every way. The voice acting was better (as was the lip-syncing), there were no jarring hub worlds to interrupt the flow between levels, and the focus was back on faster, action-oriented gameplay.
Notably, the game offers two distinct campaigns that let you indulge your good and evil sides. In the Hero timeline, you play as Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, each with their own distinct levels while, in the Dark timeline, you control Shadow the Hedgehog, Doctor Eggman and Rouge the Bat.
Visually, the game rendered its levels with an eye-popping amount of detail and impressive frame rates – though the camera controls were as janky as ever.
Virtua Tennis 1 & 2
In Virtua Tennis, Brits could right the wrongs of the past by winning Wimbledon with Tim Henman. The British ace never lifted the trophy, despite reaching the semis four times between 1998 and 2002. With four controller ports on the Dreamcast, the arcade tennis game also offered a solid multiplayer showdown. You and up to three pals could smash volleys at each other in tense doubles matches.
Meanwhile, the chaotic mini-games made for quirky distractions: one moment you were trying to defeat a tennis-ball-shooting tank, the next you were serving footballs at cardboard enemies. But, it wasn’t without its cons. In a massive lapse of judgement, there were no female players in the first game. Sega corrected that oversight in the sequel, Virtua Tennis 2, which brought tennis greats (like sisters Venus and Serena Williams) to the virtual court.
Soulcalibur
Soulcalibur is a rare console port that’s leaps and bounds better than the arcade version. For players, it also served as an excellent introduction to the Dreamcast’s superior graphical power. Unlike the stiff fighting games that preceded it, Soulcalibur gave you the freedom to move around the ring in three-dimensions. It might not sound like a big change now, but it felt fresh at the time: suddenly, you had more ways to dodge incoming attacks and dreaded ring outs.
But, none of that would have mattered if the gameplay wasn’t up to scratch. Thankfully, it delivered in that department, too, with a roster of fighters (and their liquid-metal variants) that came with their own variations on the classic block, strike and parry trifecta that was the hallmark of the series – not to mention blistering special moves and combos. Sega wanted a splashy launch title for the Dreamcast and that’s exactly what Soulcalibur delivered.
Quake 3 Arena
With a Dreamcast keyboard and mouse, players could experience one of the best PC ports of all time, Quake 3 Arena. Playing a fast-paced, run-and-gun first-person shooter with the Dreamcast controller was a no-no due to its sole analogue stick. The only time you needed it was when a hapless friend came round for some local split-screen action.
A multiplayer-only game, Quake 3 was all about blasting your opponents with giant hand cannons and watching as they burst apart, staining the arena walls with blood. If you wanted single-player action, there was always House of the Dead 2 (or Doom, the spiritual predecessor to Quake, on the Nintendo 64).
Here was an ultra-violent shooter that had been distilled down to its fiendishly addictive essence. A game for deathmatch purists, set across a series of dimly lit dungeon-like maps that felt more like ancient torture chambers – a death metal song brought to life.
