5. Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Adventure 1 was a huge deal when it launched with the Dreamcast as it was the big return of Sonic to prominence after not getting a mainline platform game on the Sega Saturn. The first game was really received well (at the time) but just as Sonic 2 on the Megadrive improved on the original in every way that’s exactly what Sonic Team did with Sonic Adventure 2 to improve on everything they did in the original game.
Gone were the unnecessary milling about in between levels and less fun to play as characters like Big the Cat and Amy Rose, and in their place the focus was put much more onto Sonic himself along with the all new character Shadow the Hedgehog.
The levels in this game are tighter, faster and more of a thrill ride. If you’re a fan of 3D Sonic games this is the one that probably holds up best even after all these years.
4. Crazy Taxi
Out of all the games on this list, Crazy Taxi is the one which I return to most frequently. This is because it’s been released on most platforms under the sun from the Xbox 360 to iOS, but also because it’s got the best pick up and play feel perhaps of any game on the Dreamcast.
The controls have that arcadey feel that is easy to get into, and yet has depth enough that if you really master the special moves to spin and slide your taxi about you’ll be able to rack up the big bucks in the game.
With its catchy soundtrack, and bright and positive visuals this game is a delight to play and the mini games where you’re knocking over bowling pins with your taxi or trying not to fall off a cliff will keep you addicted for days, weeks and months to come.
3. Jet Set Radio
Ah cel-shaded graphics, you seemed so revolutionary at the time. We were all wowed by the ‘it looks like an animated film’ aspect…but this was before CGI killed off traditional 2D animated movies, and all animated films started resembling video games. Still, it goes without saying that the cel-shaded graphics of Jet Set Radio were incredible at the time and just as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker has a more timeless aesthetic than the more realistically designed entries for the same period so too does Jet Set Radio hold up better then many other Dreamcast games graphically.
Jet Set Radio has more going for it than just the graphics though. It’s also one of the most fun games on the Dreamcast. It’s a fast paced action adventure platformer that is still one of my favourite 3D platformers of all time. It has an undeniable cool factor with it’s funky soundtrack, cool characters who are edgy graffiti artists who skate and grind all around that they give the mighty Tony Hawk and his skateboard a run for his money.
2. Resident Evil Code Veronica
When Capcom announced that Resident Evil 3 was going to be a Dreamcast exclusive it was huge news and a massive win for the 128-bit Sega machine. But then (and before you all try to correct me here) Sony played their ‘we have a deal for the rights to Resident Evil 3 card’ which meant that the Dreamcast game became rechristened as Resident Evil Code Veronica and the PlayStation got what we now call Resident Evil 3: Nemesis which wasn’t originally supposed to be a numbered entry in the series. Business dealings aside the Dreamcast still got the same game it was always going to get, but just with a new game.
Capcom first tinkered with 3D environments in their survival horror games with Dino Crisis on the PSOne, but the added power of the Dreamcast meant this was a truly awe-inspiring entry in the series. The cameras angles in this game could now move and swoop about, although this was still only a half step towards a 3D camera as the movements of the camera angles were on fixed paths and not able to be altered by the player. Interestingly this is the only game in the series that has the moving, but still fixed camera angles…if that makes sense.
The game sees you play as both Chris Redfield returning from Resident Evil 1, as well as his sister Claire from Resident Evil 2 for the biggest adventure in the series up to it’s release. Time hasn’t been as kind to this entry in the series as some of the others, with the general opinion of Code Veronica nowadays seeing it a bit forgotten and not as celebrated as other sequels in the series. But this was really the last game in the first chapter of the Resident Evil games before the series went to the remake/prequel era of the GameCube and then the action focused 4/5/6 era of games.
Just as Resident evil 2 and 3 have received remakes, Code Veronica is begging for the remake treatment in a similar style.
1. Shenmue 2
Shenmue 2 is the only sequel I’ve included on the list, and perhaps controversially for some I have included it in the number 1 position. This is perhaps most controversial because the game didn’t get released in the US, and only had a limited release in Europe where the game which came out in the UK had English on screen text, but didn’t have English voice acting unlike the first game in the series.
This was because the game came out in late 2001, almost a year after Sega announced that they were giving up on the Dreamcast and were becoming a third party developer. The fact it came out in the UK at all is only because Sega made a deal with another company to publish some of their final Dreamcast games which meant they still had to release them in Europe, and for unfortunate US gamers, they would have to wait for the game to come out much later on the original Xbox…although the extra time did mean they got a full English dub of the game and a few other bells and whistles the extra time allowed.
So English voice acting aside, Shenmue 2 improves upon the original in almost every way. Where as the original was a relatively short game this one is much much longer, with many more places to visit and lots more to do. The story progresses more in this game and without giving away spoilers for the end of the game actually does a couple of things which are really quite surprising.
It’s clear when you look at the history of the Shenmue series that Shenmue 1 and 2 were originally intended as one game. We can tell this because the first game really short and this one is much bigger, and was quite obviously the developers rushing to get Shenmue 1 out as quickly as possible to help the Dreamcast’s fortunes. Sega also did this with Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles, and if you need convincing any further just look at the footage of the unreleased Saturn version of Shenmue which showed locations from both Shenmue 1 and 2 despite the fact that they had to make completely new in game assets for the Dreamcast game, and there would have been no reason for them to be making a Saturn version of the Shenmue 2 locations unless they were originally all intended to be part of the same game.
If you want the experience that best represents everything that was the Dreamcast play Shenmue 1 and 2 all the way through. It shows how much potential the Dreamcast had, and leaves you only wondering how much further the Dreamcast could have been pushed if it had lasted another 2, 3 or 4 years.
