The Best Undiscovered Sega Dreamcast Games
Usually, when you get a new-to-you console, you can usually find or remember the major games to check out. But what happens when you need something different to play? This is where the “Hidden Gems” come in.
Read More About My Criteria For Hidden Gems
See All The Hidden Gems Articles
This will be a bit of a work-in-progress. I may add to these as I go along and find new games.
If you have some recommendations to add, please do so in the comments section below.
Platformers
Obvious Choices:
Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Rayman 2, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Featured Game: Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream
“Napple Tale’s fourteen stages of play are primarily of the 2.5D variety, which means 3D graphics adding spice to single direction scrolling… The developers explore the gamut of gameplay concepts that we’ve seen before, from moving platforms, to well-timed jumps over moving objects and wide chasms…It may sound like standard stuff, and much of it is. However, the levels are arranged to perfection and feel like the result of much planning. They also feature a few non 2.5D sections. Boss encounters take place in large free-roaming arenas, and are as imaginatively constructed as the NiGHTS bosses. You’ll also find a few mini games here and there, and some fun diversions, like mine cart rides and an awesome multi-path roller coaster sequence. Also worth mentioning is the progression of level complexity. Although the game never becomes overly difficult, the levels grow more complex and lengthy as you progress – by the end, even experienced gamers may find themselves slowing down so as to not die…
The amazing world, oddball creatures and numerous moments of humor and surprise seem to take root in Alice in Wonderland. The 2.5D platforming levels are designed with just as much attention to detail – their elegant design is the equivalent of the elegant storytelling which can be found in the Lewis Carrol classic. Seeing as how Alice’s adventures in wonderland have been translated throughout the world and read by children everywhere, shouldn’t the same be said of Alisia’s?
IGN’s Review of Napple Tale
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More Great Games:
MDK 2
Super Magnetic Neo
Action
Obvious Choices:
Jet Grind Radio, Ecco The Dolphin: Defender of the Future
Featured Game: Alien Front Online
“Alien Front Online is one of the more impressive games on the Dreamcast, not necessarily in the visuals or the depth of gameplay; in the latter sense, it’s a pretty simple game, a Quake with tanks, so to speak. What Alien Front Online brings is a pretty sweet online package added to a single player mode with lots of missions.
Based off the original SEGA arcade game, Alien Front Online puts you in the role as the invading alien army, with their strange vehicles and weaponry, against the US Army, with their big tanks, bigger guns, and diehard attitude.”
IGN’s Review of Alien Front Online
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More Great Games:
Toy Commander
Bomber Hehhe!
Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage
Gundam Side Story: 0079
Iron Aces
Incoming
Frame Gride
Pen Pen TriIcelon
Deep Fighter
Vigilante 8: Second Offense
Wild Metal
Adventure
Obvious Choice:
Shenmue
Featured Game: Stupid Invaders
“Right away you will notice the gorgeous graphics in Stupid Invaders. Sported within are great colorful backgrounds and that wonderful “cartoony” look that we all enjoy (Well most of us, anyway). The characters and environments are rendered very nicely. To give you an idea of the look of the game, just imagine the color scheme and wacky rendering techniques found in the classic PC game Day of the Tentacle. The animation looks great, except for some missing frames in some of the CG sequences. Used to tell most of the story, the CG sequences do a great job of progressing the story and play a huge roll in the game. And besides, watching the CG sequences is a lot of fun. They are very high quality, and are so well done, that Ubi Soft could have taken this game and made an entire cartoon out of it. Some may argue that Ubi Soft should have just done that instead, but keep reading for more on that issue.
Having a great storyline in an adventure is a must, whether it is in film, a television show, or a videogame. Without an interesting storyline, all the technical bells and whistles will eventually lose their grip on the player and the game itself will have failed. But Ubi Soft has a nice simple storyline for Stupid Invaders, with some great suggestive humor that will have you falling out of your chair throughout the course of the game. Even though its a “cartoon-styled” game, Stupid Invaders isn’t for the kiddies, as it has some mild language and “suggestive themes.” Rather than give any hints though, I let you check it out for yourself.”
Planet Dreamcast’s Review of Stupid Invaders
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More Great Games
Rent a Hero No. 1
Floigan Brothers
Maken X
Survival Horror Adventure
Obvious Choices:
Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, Resident Evil Code: Veronica
Featured Game: Blue Stinger
“The combat in the game is very much similar to that of the Resident Evil series which, sports nifty weapons, such as napalm guns, bazookas, plasma rifles, machine guns, rail guns, and my personal favorite the Star Wars light saber rip-off, the Raysword… The combat isn’t as sparse as in the Resident Evil games makes things fun but doesn’t give that level of suspense that Resident Evil had…
The plot has many twists and turns along the way like any good adventure game should. You’ll meet up with other controllable characters such as Dogs, the foul-mouthed ship captain. Every time an important event occurs you are treated to some beautifully rendered CG graphics that rival Final Fantasy VIII. The plot unfolds in a linear fashion, with the main objective being the ever famous “save the world from destruction” theme we’ve been seeing since the days of Space Invaders. You will see the story unfold as you slowly figure out why the asteroid is falling towards Earth and discover who is behind the whole shebang. Overall, the plot is what kept me in front of the TV for as long as it did”
PlanetDreamcast’s Review of Blue Stinger
Find Blue Stinger on eBay
More Great Games
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
Shadow Man
Carrier
Illbleed
3D Shooters (First or Third Person)
Obvious Choices:
Unreal Tournement, Quake 3 Arena, Rez, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six
Featured Game: Fur Fighters
“I really enjoyed Fur Fighters. It’s all too rare nowadays to get a 3-D action game which has (gasp!) action. Far too many 3D games are either dumbed down to compensate for being 3D (Sonic Adventure) or remove most enemies altogether, creating vast, almost-empty wastelands of exploration (Mario 64, Rayman 2). Although I’m not much of a first (or third) person shooter fan, I’m pleasantly surprised by the difference the inclusion of FPS elements has made to this sagging genre. You’ll often be attacked by three or more enemies at once, and will quickly find yourself strafing, jumping, and running madly to even the odds in your favor. Enemies attack with the same weapons available to your character: the shotgun is the typical short range weapon, the machine gun is the basic mid-range weapon, and others such as the rocket launcher can be used from longer distances. Switching weapons is also done ala MDK2, using the D-pad to cycle through the available choices. Eight weapons are available, and each is distinguishable enough from the others to give them individual advantages. As in all FPS games, you’ll always have a basic melee attack for those times when you’re out of ammo, or in an area in which it would be wiser not to fire.”
PlanetDreamcast’s Review of Fur Fighters
Find Fur Fighters on eBay
More Great Games:
Outtrigger
Propeller Arena
Red Dog: Superior Firepower
Starlancer
Headhunter
Rainbow Cotton
Charge N Blast
Heavy Metal: Geomatrix
2D Shmups
Obvious Choices:
Ikaruga, Bangai-O, Mars Matrix, Gunbird 2, GigaWing, GigaWing 2
Featured Game: Cannon Spike
“The interesting thing about the game is its setup. It can be easily described as a shoot em up mixed with Contra for good measure. It’s over head, one screen look gives it a Powerstone feel to it. While not creative by any means, it gets the job done by being a fast paced shooter. And it’s rather hard too. Not so much because of the enemies AI (which at times you wonder if it even exist) but for the sheer amount of fire power that they have and a total lack of reaction to your attacks….
The game is set up much like Alien Solider, in where that the game is pretty much one boss battle after another. At the start of each stage you have to battle waves of terrorist which usually consist of either humans with weapons, robots, or robots with weapons. All enemies are typically the same, with being able to usually just shoot out tiny bullets or land a punch if they’re close enough. Once you have defeated every enemy, a midboss accompanied by with more enemies comes along to wreak more havoc. The midbosses tend to be much more massive although sometimes not so much and they range from a helicopter to a zombie gorilla. Once you defeat this wave, the actually boss of the level will attack you with the possibility of having minions with him/her. These bosses are the games challenge as they tend to shoot many bullets for you to avoid much like a shmups. There are a few instances where they will shoot at you that is reminiscent of a bullet hell feeling, as with many Psikyo games, with all the projectiles coming in at you. ”
Hardcore Gaming 101’s Review of Cannon Spike
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More Great Games:
Triggerheart Exelica
Under Defeat
Karous
Zero Gunner 2
Radirgy
Border Down
Castle of Shikigami 2
Psyvariar II
Trizeal
Chaos Field
2D Fighting
Obvious Choices:
Marvel vs Capcom, Capcom vs SNK, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Guilty Gear X, King of Fighters
Featured Game: Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves
“MOTW is one of the best fighters you can get for the DC. It’s also one of the best 2D fighters ever made. There’s really no reason for you to not go out and pick it up. If you like fighting games, even if you don’t, chances are you’ll like this.
It’s got everything you could want: nice graphics, spot on control, solid play mechanics, and it’s loads of fun to play. It’s nice to have a fighting game that requires some real strategy. It’s a welcome change from the current trend of button masher fighting games that Capcom’s “Vs”� series has spawned. If you’re looking for a fun new game to play on your Dreamcast, you need not look further than Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves.”
PlanetDreamcast’s Review of Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves
Find Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves on eBay
More Great Games:
The Last Blade 2
Vampire Chronicles
JoJos Bizzarre Adventure
3D Fighting
Obvious Choices:
Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter 3tb, Dead or Alive 2, Power Stone, Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram
Featured Game: Project Justice
“The fighting system in Project Justice is classic Capcom, which most people would agree is a good thing. Anyone acclimated to the basic movements Capcom has used since the early days of Street Fighter will have no trouble picking up Project Justice and pulling off moves and combos… Although some players may be caught off-guard that they can’t use all their characters in a single round, this is actually one of the most interesting elements of strategy when playing the game. Often times, it is beneficial for the player to choose a character he has no intention of playing, simply to gain the advantages that character has as a support character. The nature of the fighting system allows for those sorts of strategic decisions.
The fighting system is very much like that of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 in the way the use of partners adds to the strategy and depth of the fighting engine. In fact, the game really plays like a 3D MvC2, just without the ability to call in your partners. You can cancel opponents attacks by striking them at the right time as well as launch all kinds of crazy air comboes in the air. There are more or less millions of comboes and strategies in Project Justice, making it an actual worthwhile fighting game even though the theme and setting doesn’t exactly take itself seriously. Although a handful of characters almost border on “cheap” with seemingly infinite juggle ability, any player can avoid such traps with just a bit of practice and skill.”
PlanetDreamcast’s Review of Project Justice
Find Project Justice on eBay
More Great Games:
Tech Romancer
Plasma Sword
Fighting Vipers 2
Psychic Force 2012
Wrestling
Obvious Choices:
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Featured Game: Fire Pro Wrestling D
“Regular consumers of Wrestlemania, No Mercy or similar US franchises (or those that have ignored Wrestling games totally) – consider yourselves warned – you might be in for something of a shock. Fire Pro is to those US based games what Street Fighter is to Tekken: less glitz and glam and far more substance. Fire Pro Wrestling is as old as old school can be (originating from way back in 1989) yet fresh enough to compete with the slickly produced new breed of 3D wrestlers. From the start there is a realisation that this game is different; perfect timing and a sense of the game play structure are absolutely necessary for survival let alone success; button mashing results in becoming intimately acquainted with the canvas.”
NTSC-uk’s Review of Fire Pro Wrestling D
Find Fire Pro Wrestling D on eBay
More Great Games:
Giant Gram 2000: All Japan Pro Wrestling 3
Giant Gram: All Japan ProWrestling 2
Racing
Obvious Choices:
Sega GT, Daytona USA 2001, Sega Rally Championship 2, Metropolis Street Racer
Featured Game: F355 Challenge Passione Rossa
“The most defining characteristic of F355 is definitely its control. If there is one word in the English language that sums it up perfectly, it would have to be connected! You see those hands on the wheel? Those are your hands, driving your F355! I can honestly tell you that I’ve never played a game of any type that possesses more feel. You can feel when you’re traveling too fast to navigate that corner up ahead. You can feel when you’ve applied too much throttle and started to break the rear end lose. You can feel when your tires have started to regain traction, telling you it’s time to get back on the throttle. You can feel… well, I could go on and on with examples here, but I think you’re starting to catch my (4 wheel anyone?) drift.
Needless to say, after spending countless hours with those other “sim” racers and their typically floaty control, upon my first lap around Suzuka Short, I was simply amazed at how tight everything felt. And it’s important to note that this perfect control is equally attainable with either the standard Dreamcast pad, or a (preferred) high quality racing wheel… According to Sega, a professional F355 driver has claimed that “training” with F355 Challenge in the off season has actually improved his real life lap times at Long Beach! Now that’s saying quite a bit about what Yu Suzuki and his AM2 team have accomplished here!”
PlanetDreamcast’s Review of F355 Challenge Passione Rossa
Find F335 Challenge on eBay
More Great Games:
Revolt
Hydro Thunder
Test Drive LeMans
San Francisco Rush 2049
Looney Tunes: Space Race
4 Wheel Thunder
4×4 Evolution
18 Wheeler American Pro Trucker
Star Wars: Episode I Racer
Tokyo Xtreme Racer: 2
V-Rally 2
Vanishing Point
Wacky Races
Puzzle/Maze
Obvious Choices:
Bust-A-Move 4, Super Puzzle Fighter 2 X, Chu Chu Rocket, Bomberman Online, Puyo Puyo Fever
Featured Game: Wetrix
“Wetrix is another hiqh quality puzzle game that can proudly stand next to its N64 competition, Tetrisphere and Bust-A-Move. The camera and control problems and the slightly flawed multiplayer mode knock it down in our final rating, but if you’re looking for another game that you can just pop in and play anytime, this is it. Wetrix is an addictive waste of time for one player and shows that there is still room for innovation and originality in the puzzle genre. Couple that with its low sales price and you’ve got another Infogrames/Ocean classic and a splashing debut for British developer Zed Two. Buy it, but don’t expect to immediately like it. It takes time.”
IGN’s Review of Wetrix
Find Wetrix on eBay
More Great Games:
Ms Pacman Maze Madness
Sega Swirl
Mr Driller
Sakura Taisen: Hanagumi Taisen Columns 2
The Lost Golem (Golem No Maigo)
RPG/Strategy
Obvious Choices:
Skies of Arcadia, Grandia 2, Phantasy Star Online
Elemental Gimmick Gear
Most of the game is a 2D overhead view. All the backgrounds and sprites are a 320×240 resolution, but all the backgrounds are 100% original hand-drawn goodness. There’s nothing constructed from tile sets here. Every inch of every map is unique. Very colorful stuff. Very alive. Sprite animation shows nothing to complain about. Very pleasing to the eye… All the boss battles, of which there are maybe 10, are in full 3D. They play exactly like the 2D portions of the game. Same buttons for the same moves. It offers a good bit of variety and makes the bosses seem a bit more dramatic….
If you’ve ever played Alundra 1, Beyond Oasis, Legend of Oasis, Brave Fencer Musashi, or Zelda LttP, you will know what to expect [in terms of gameplay]. The game consists of running around on fields and dungeons, talking to townsfolk, collecting money and other items, acquiring character upgrades and weapons, and performing some side quests. There’s a few mini-games thrown in there, but some are extremely frustrating.
Find Elemental Gimmick Gear on eBay
More Great Games:
SegaGaGa
Record of the Lodoss War
Armada
Evolution: The World of Sacred Device
Evolution 2: Far Off Promise
Sports
Obvious Choices:
NFL 2K2, NBA 2K2, NHL 2K2, World Series Baseball 2K2, Virtua Tennis, Tony Hawk, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing
Featured Game: NBA Showtime NBA on NBC
“The gameplay is almost exactly like NBA Jam’s, which means all the big insane dunks and unrealistic physics are here. But unlike Blitz, there are actually a couple of rules. Goaltending is in effect and the occasional bone-rattling charge may result in a free throw. Hit three shots in a row and you’ll catch fire, making you a force to be reckoned with until the other team puts out the flames. While on fire, you have a better chance of making any shot, but your fire can be chanced once the opposing team makes a basket or after you make five consecutive scores. Some fans may miss the inclusion of powerups, but their absence makes the game a bit more balanced. The AI hasn’t changed much since Jam, it still cheats, but that makes it challenging. And just like the arcade game, there are lots of codes to use and secret characters to unlock.”
PlanetDreamcast’s Review of NBA Showtime
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More Great Games:
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX
NFL Blitz 2001
Tee Off Golf
Sega Bass Fishing 2
Sega Marine Fishing
Other
Obvious Choices:
Space Channel 5, Samba De Amigo, Crazy Taxi, House of the Dead 2
Featured Game: Cosmic Smash
“Cosmic Smash is a heavily stylized sports game with the emphasis placed strongly on arcade gameplay, which received only a small budget release in Japan. A big departure for respected Sega Rally developers Sega Rosso, realism is dropped in favour of immediate gameplay, funky music and pre-eminent cool. Ushering us in to this gaming metaverse, an announcer simply declares ‘Welcome to Cosmic Smash’, in a manner so laid back you imagine it took quite some effort…
Visually, Cosmic Smash is a virtuoso performance in minimalist retro-future chic, instilling pure joy in anyone old enough to remember the beautiful artificial vistas of Tron. Playing arenas are either clean white with grey line details and strong, disembodied light sources, or pitch black with green neon strips of colour defining the room. The player model and ball both emit light that gives enjoyable, subtle lighting effects in white areas, and a warm glow in black ones. Blocks are shiny and transparent, casting reflections on arena walls.”
NTSC-uk’s Review of Cosmic Smash
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More Great Games:
Seaman
Typing of The Dead
OoogaBooga
Yu Suzuki Gameworks
Pro Pinball Trilogy
Cool Cool Toon
Twinkle Star Sprites
Confidential Mission
Worms World Party
Jet Coaster Dream
Jet Coaster Dream 2
Tokyo Bus Guide
Lack of Love
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Thanks for picking EGG and using my review.
And thanks for writing it 🙂 You did a good job
To the ‘Other’ category, I’d add ‘Lack Of Love.’ Just started playing it and it’s well worth a look.
Ouch…you chose to feature Blue Stinger over Illbleed? That hurts. By the way, I did a write-up of the game in that contest forum thread a while back.
Eeh, it just came down to a matter of personal taste. I’m not as much of a fan of the total blood and gore 🙂
By the way, your screenshot for Fur Fighters is from the PlayStation 2 version, I believe. The Dreamcast version didn’t feature cel-shaded graphics.
Yeah, I thought that looked odd when I got the graphic. I’ll try to find a new one.
dave penn, I’ve added Lack of Love and I’ve also added The Lost Golem under the puzzle section (just stumbled on that one)
Excellent post! Oh, and Stupid Invaders was indeed a very good adventure. One of those rare truly funny games. Played the PC version, mind you.
F355 Challenge rules all racing games! I bought the Thrustmaster Ferrari wheel just for that game. I get all the practice I can at home, then go play it at the arcade and whup everyone (with all the handicaps off). One of my favorite games of all time, and its even more beautiful in VGA mode. With the wheel attached to the table in front of my 19″ Dell flat-panel the driver’s hands on the screen move exactly with mine! Seriously, if you wanna learn how to drive then F355 is the only game you should be thinking about.
1. Here is a better pic for Fur Fighters (nice choice too, great game): http://www.defunctgames.com/pic/reviewpics/reviewfurfighters-6.jpg
2. Bangai-O as an obvious choice? Even I never played that game and I play Dreamcast alot. Put Gunbird 2 and Gigawing as obvious choices since they’re better known to the general public.
3. I’ve heard of Elemental Gimmick Gear but I’ve yet to play it, so thanks for the recomendation.
4. I absolutely never heard of Cosmic Smash and it looks great with a very Rez like felling, will give it a spin sometime, thanks for the recomendation.
5. You should’ve waited for 8 March before publishing this so you could include Karous in the list. You can include it now and then later edit the entry to link to a review, how about that?
I didn’t enjoy EGG at all, but at least my favorite DC game, Record of Lodoss War, was mentioned.
Overall, I love the list.
Thanks, Timerever for the screenshot.
I left Bangai-O on the obvious choices, but I also added the others you recommended.
Now the real question is: where the heck can one find Cosmic Smash and Napple Tale? The usual suspects for imports all say out of stock 🙁
Napple Tale can even be a challenge to find on eBay, but you can usually find Cosmic Smash every now and then if you are willing to pay for it.
Otherwise, you’ll have to resort to downloading an ISO and burning a copy.
Wow, that was easy. Let’s try this one: To my wallet, I would add twenty dollars.
>dave penn, I’ve added Lack of Love and I’ve also added The Lost Golem under the puzzle section (just stumbled on that one)
Nice try, Dave 🙂
yeah, I see a Cosmic Smash listed for $109!! I did find a UK store w/ both, but in USD the total was about $150 which is too steep for me. Guess I’ll have to be more dilligent trolling the bin newsgroups.
I saw it on eBay for less than $60 not too long ago…
I’d add Evil Twin to the platformers section. Very dark and twisted game. Not sure if it plays at 60hz as it was a european only release, and anyways vga is the only way to go. Also i remember spending hours playing Speed Devils, very cool to play with friends, with interactive courses.
Where the hell is Berserk: Guts’ Rage? That game freaking RULES.
I noticed you linked to my website for The Lost Golem. It really is a great game. If anyone is interested, I did an interview with the game’s developer, Shuichi Ishikawa. The interview can be found here: http://gogamego.blogspot.com/2007/04/dreamcast-interview-shuichi-ishikawa.html
where’s Evil Twin? and Record Of Lodoss War, the hardest game i played on my DC
I remember playing Alien Front Online which wasn’t released in the UK. Didn’t get the chance to go online with it, was a decent game though. At the time, I think I got it brand new for something like £20. But I played quite a few games that didn’t make it to the UK, like Seaman, Sports Jam, Typing of the Dead, D2, they just didn’t do it for me.
Mr. G 🙂
There’s 2 puzzle games on dreamcast that is truly hidden gems. These are Sega Tetris and Musapey’s Choco Marker. Both were released in Japan and both were in arcades.
Sega Tetris plays very well. The graphic is very arcade looking and colourful with great moving backgrounds. The battle mode where there’s 7 stages is really a challenge (even for me, and I played my gameboy tetris quite a lot for 15 years) All in all, the best tetris game I’ve played that isn’t the gameboy tetris (and I’ve played a lot of tetris games…)
Musapey’s Choco Marker is very rare. The graphics is very arcade looking and colourful like Sega Tetris. The point of the game is simple: basically to place a block so that 2 blocks of the same colour is sandwiching blocks of another colour. The field is usually many blocks stuck together and you have to use this principle of sandwich to eliminate all the blocks until only the special block remains without the time limit. If you look at some screenshots, you can see the game is very good looking and I can tell you it plays very well.