How is your Dreamcast gaming going on?

[mas]

"Call of Shitty" Haha.

The DC is still one of my favorite systems to play today, and I did buy one originally.

Seeing as how I primarily play stuff that is arcadey, it was the logical choice. I think I primarily bought it back then based on the fact that it was going to be the only console that was going to have a home port of SF lll.

Now seeing the horrible ports of games like MvC 2 on other systems, I believe I made the correct choice.

You damn right you made the right choice.

[noiseredux]

Games are still coming out for the system

this is one of my favorite things. Games have come out for the system every year since it launched. Here it is 2014 and games are still coming out for a system that launched in 1999. It's awesome.

[BoneSnapDeez]

What are the good Dreamcast homebrew games? Are most of them shmups? And just how many new DC games are coming out per year? I don't keep up with this stuff.

(this little discussion prompted me to look at Atari homebrew games out of curiosity. The Atari Age website has 104 "unofficial" carts available for order. That's mind-blowing. )

[noiseredux]

What are the good Dreamcast homebrew games? Are most of them shmups? And just how many new DC games are coming out per year? I don't keep up with this stuff.

first, let me start by quoting myself:

Also, I know this is nit-picky but I kind of don't like when games such as Sturmwind, Neo XYX, etc are called "homebrew." To me homebrew denotes a sort of hobbyist thing that is just kind of shared within that community. I think of things like Beats of Rage mods. But stuff like Rush Rush, Gunlord, Dux I just think of as independently published unlicensed games. I mean, they are mass-produced and distributed by major retailers (you can find these games on Amazon, Play Asia, etc) with professional packaging.

When Redux is brought to PSN or XBLA I doubt you'll call it homebrew rather than an indie game.

Secondly, in Japan there were licensed games coming out as late as 2003-ish. Sega licensed Karous, Triggerheart Excelica and Radirgy in Japan in 2007 even. And don't forget 3rd party stuff that came later like Under Defeat. So not all of these later releases were unlicensed.

Many indie releases have been shmups, yes. Though there's been quite a few that weren't:

Cool Herders - puzzle
Feet of Frenzy - DDR clone
Gunlord - run n gun
Inhabitants - puzzle
Irides - puzzle
Maquipai - mahjong
Rush Rush Rally Racing - racing
Wind & Water Puzzle Battles - puzzle

Usually you see one or two indie releases a year. This year alone, we know of four games to be independently published:

Redux - shmup (already out)
Neo XYX - shmup (out this month)
Ghostblade - shmup (Oct)
Pier Solar HD - RPG (Apr)

As far as what's good... Sturmwind might be my favorite. It's a horizontal shmup. Here's what I said about it:

The novelty of new games appearing on old consoles is always fun. But as is the nature of novelty, it can also soon wear off. What makes Sturmwind so special is that it’s not just a great shoot-em-up, it also pushes the Dreamcast to the absolute threshold of its capabilities and proves that to a certain degree this failed hardware from 1999 could still make brilliant 2D arcade games worthy of competing with the current generation. The appearance of Sturmwind is incredible - and viewed through the DC’s VGA output rivals any indie shmup released this year on more competent technology. The art-direction itself is fantastic, with brightly colored bullets, insanely detailed backgrounds, and memorable boss battles. Even the power-up system was an interesting take on an old formula. Add to this a bevy of extras from online leaderboards, to unlockable ‘achievements’ and even the capability to save replays to a 3rd party SD card adapter and you’ve got a serious argument that the true death-year of the Dreamcast is still anyone’s guess.

Gunlord also got rave reviews. And I've heard great things about RRRR, though I haven't played either yet. I'd also like to get Faststriker and W&W Puzzle Battles as well.

Oh and Irides is awesome. It's basically Lumines for DC.

And everything I've mentioned has been commercial releases. This doesn't touch the surface of all the actual homebrew stuff that comes out to download/burn each year.

[shallowgamer]

Personally, I wasn't terribly impressed with Rush Rush. But I agree, Sturmwind is amazing.

Neo XYX is being prepared for shipment! Can't wait!

[stickem]

Are these indie games on cd or gdrom? I've only played iso's of those. Plan to purchase sturmwind, fast striker and gunlord. The others out didn't impress me much. Would like to pick up pier solar when that comes out because there probably won't be a second chance later.

[ExedExes]

Seeing as how I primarily play stuff that is arcadey, it was the logical choice.

Simply put, my reason, and very well said.

[bacardipr05]

Ive only purchased one of the indie games myself Sturmwind. I believe its just a regular CD. Sturmwind was great and the developers deserve to be supported. Its quite a amazing game from a indie developer on a system 12 years out of the loop.

[bacardipr05]

about 18 hrs into Grandia II now. I like that this far into the game there's some genuine surprises. Like



Anyway, I was recently thrashed by Melfice and have since set off on a boat (The 50/50) and have become stuck on an island thanks to a rising tide.

Youll love the reason why the captain choose the name 50/50. Also i spent way too much time on that island due my poor almost comedic lack of direction. My nephew was like OMG you already been there umpteen times. Luckily the game is forgiving in that each section isnt too long and i took the eventually i stumble upon the right course apporach..

[noiseredux]

so according to that same issue of EGM I was referencing, Jet Grind Radio was the first video game to use celshading? Is that true?