How is your Dreamcast gaming going on?

[fastbilly1]

Was Jet Set Radio really the first? I sweat there were a few cel shaded games before it... I could be wrong though. I know it was definitely one of the first.

Unless you consider Doctor Hauzer on the 3do, but its kind of a jumble of art styles.

For me the Dreamcast is perfectly summed up in one game - Virtua Tennis 2/Tennis 2k2/Power Smash 2. I am not a tennis fan in any way shape or form, apart from random matches of Mario Tennis, but Virtua Tennis 2 is crack cocaine in game form. I got a copy of VT1 in a bulk deal and loaded it up to test it back in 2001, six hours later I realized I was still testing the game. It is elegant and fast with skill triumphing luck every time. Then VT2 dropped with 4 player, and all multiplayer gaming was VT2 for a while in my house. My wife has vetoed a Naomi setup for VT.

[Reprise]

When I was in my first year of high school, we went on a trip to France, via ferry. On the ferry, they had arcade machines for Virtua Tennis and Crazy Taxi. I think it was before they had come out for the Dreamcast (or at least before I had bought them - I can't remember) and we literally spent a fortune playing those games over and over again. I had never been blown away by a sports game before, but Virtua Tennis did just that. It completely transcended the sports and tennis genre of games and was accessible for absolutely anyone to get into and enjoy thoroughly.

So yeah, I eventually bought Virtua Tennis 1 and 2 and both are phenomenal games. I played the hell out of both. I remember I even got my parents playing with me a few times and they thought the graphics and levels of realism were groundbreaking.

[Snatch1414]

Soul Calibur, Shenmue, and yeah Crazy Taxi has to be mentioned as a Dreamcast staple. Also, at the risk of hyperbole I honestly believe Virtua Tennis might be the most underrated game of all time.

Other games that define the Dreamcast for me personally: The fishing games. Incredibly underrated party games, and the unlockables in Marine Fishing and the tournament style of Bass Fishing were just awesome, to the point where I'm going to eventually replace my worn out fishing controller with a new one.

[marurun]

Interesting that you choose Soul Calibur since its a launch game. Usually a launch game does not bring the best out of the system. That only happened with Mario and NES/SNES/64 .I also don't know how they could make a console game improved on an arcade one.

Actually, the NES didn't launch with any particularly memorable titles, at least not in Japan. Super Mario Brothers came later. And Soul Calibur wasn't a launch title in Japan, either. The spring TGS where Soul Calibur was introduced was mid-March. And while Super Mario World was a launch title in Japan and the US on the SFC/SNES and is remembered fondly, it was not a great technical example of the system's capabilities given all the slowdown.

It was actually quite east for the Dreamcast Soul Calibur to best the arcade version. The arcade version was made on antiquated hardware. The System 12 hardware platform was basically a Playstation 1 with a 50% faster CPU and a new sound chipset. It suffered from low 3D resolution and low poly counts compared to other 3D arcade hardware of the time. Keep in mind that Sega's Model 3 had been out since 1996. NAOMI was released with the Dreamcast and was capable of matching or besting the model 3 (depending on the configuration) at much lower cost and much greater ease of programming.

[ExedExes]

VT2 had an even better Tour mode, and being able to use both your created characters in a Mixed Doubles match was amazing.

We need more mention of Marine Fishing. 255 items to collect in the original mode - need I say more?

[CD AGES]

It was actually quite east for the Dreamcast Soul Calibur to best the arcade version. The arcade version was made on antiquated hardware. The System 12 hardware platform was basically a Playstation 1 with a 50% faster CPU and a new sound chipset. It suffered from low 3D resolution and low poly counts compared to other 3D arcade hardware of the time. Keep in mind that Sega's Model 3 had been out since 1996. NAOMI was released with the Dreamcast and was capable of matching or besting the model 3 (depending on the configuration) at much lower cost and much greater ease of programming.

That may be, but its still quite impressive what Project Soul was able to pull off on such a short deadline.

Oh man! How could I forget game like Crazy Taxi and Power Smash!

[marurun]

It was actually quite east for the Dreamcast Soul Calibur to best the arcade version. The arcade version was made on antiquated hardware. The System 12 hardware platform was basically a Playstation 1 with a 50% faster CPU and a new sound chipset. It suffered from low 3D resolution and low poly counts compared to other 3D arcade hardware of the time. Keep in mind that Sega's Model 3 had been out since 1996. NAOMI was released with the Dreamcast and was capable of matching or besting the model 3 (depending on the configuration) at much lower cost and much greater ease of programming.

That may be, but its still quite impressive what Project Soul was able to pull off on such a short deadline.

That is a whole other issue, and I would love to know how they did it. Was it a function of strong dev tools? Was the hardware just damn easy to work with? If anyone knows of a post-mortem out there anywhere on this title, I'd love to read it.

[RCBH928]

So why dont they make VT and release it for current gen. consoles if its that great? I heard they still make those tennis games but I don't hear anyone praising them.

Unless you consider Doctor Hauzer on the 3do, but its kind of a jumble of art styles.

is this another name for Alone in the Dark? they look awfully similar

[fastbilly1]

So why dont they make VT and release it for current gen. consoles if its that great? I heard they still make those tennis games but I don't hear anyone praising them.

They have, VT4 came out on PS3/360/PC and VT Challenge is on iOS and Android. They are good games, but not groundbreaking like VT1 and 2. VT4 specifically felt lackadaisical in improvements.

Unless you consider Doctor Hauzer on the 3do, but its kind of a jumble of art styles.

is this another name for Alone in the Dark? they look awfully similar

No. Doctor Hauzer was the first fully 3d Survival Horror game, meaning everything is polygons and not just static paintings like in Alone in the Dark. If I remember correctly, Hauzer is about an evil house trying to kill you. I know it impacted Resident Evils design choices alot, specifically auditory, but survival horror is a genre others know more about than I do.

[Reprise]

Is Virtua Tennis 4 the one that's on the Vita (I'm fairly sure it is)? I have the Vita game and I really enjoy it! The problem is, like fastbilly1 said, is it's just not groundbreaking like the first two games were. Essentially, the series really hasn't progressed all that much, but I enjoy playing it on a handheld.