""Legends never die, they are forever engraved in memories""

I love the Sega Dreamcast(DC), I have been anticipating it very much and then finally got one in December 1999. It has been nearly 2 1/2 years since Sega announced their plan to cease production of the Dreamcast and focus on becoming a 3rd party developer for Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Even now despite the DC's death, I still like it very much and still enjoy playing the games I have. As a tribute to the DC, one of the greatest console ever, I created this review.

A quick look at the system specs:
NEC PowerVR 2
Hitachi SH4 processor (200 Mhz)
Yamaha Audio Engine
24 MB RAM(16 mb main, 8 mb Video RAM, 2 mb sound RAM)
12 x GD-ROM drive (giga disc, a GD-ROM has at least 1 giga byte storage)
Online connectivity(56k modem or Broadband Adapter)

GRAPHICAL CAPABILITIES: (9 out of 10)
The DC can produce graphics so good that even the PS2 once succumb to its graphical prowess(according to a critic's point of view). Back then most DC games look as good as, some even better, PS2 games. The DC can do anti-aliasing much better so you rarely see jaggies(jagged edges) on DC games, and can produce much better textures thanks to its superior 8 Mb VRAM. That was then this is now, most PS2 developers had found a way to minimize the PS2's anti-aliasing problems and most PS2 games can produce textures as good as the DC as evident in Devil May Cry 2, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and most of the 3rd generation PS2 games. It was an amazing feat though, the PS2 is a more superior hardware than the DC and yet the DC managed to produce impressive graphics. If the DC ever had problems in its graphical capabilities, it was the lack of on board memory or RAM. It had 24 Mb of RAM, 16 main, 8 Mb of Video Ram and 2 mb for sound, although it's decent it's still not good enough. As a result of insufficient RAM, most DC games have pop-up problems(polygonal object(s) that appear once it is in field of vision), slowdown or frame stutters, and some jaggies. The DC is not the perfect graphics-producing console but it can still deliver great looking graphics that can impress everyone even with the Gamecube and Xbox around.

AUDIO CAPABILITIES: (9 out of 10)
Although the DC can't produce Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1 surround sound quality, it can still produce spectacular sound effects. Just listen to the sounds on the Shenmue games or Resident Evil Code: Veronica and you'll truly appreciate how good the Yamaha Audio Engine is. Play DC games on a surround sound set-up and you'll hear high quality sound and music.

GAME LIBRARY: (9 out of 10)
The DC has a great library of games, it has a huge selection games and most of them are very good. There are some genres that are lacking namely light-gun shooting, strategy/simulation, and role-playing games. There are only 2 light gun games available, House of the Dead 2 and Confidential Mission, both are arcade ports. There are some other light gun games available as imports like Death Crimson OX which I've played and it was terrible, I didn't like the game. In the strategy/sim game genre there is Railroad Tycoon 2 which is just a PC port and Conflict Zone a very good real-time strategy game in the vein of Command & Conquer. And in the RPG genre only there are only 2 excellent RPGs, Skies of Arcadia and Grandia 2. There are other RPGs available like Evolution 1 & 2 and the diablo-esque Record of Lodoss War but only the SOA and G2 will give interest to gamers. With the exception of those 3 genres, the DC excels with the other genres especially in party games and fighting games. The DC also has a decent line-up of Online games most notable are Alien Front Online, Ooga Booga, Outtrigger, Sega Sports games, Daytona USA 2001: online edition, Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament, chu chu rocket, and the legendary Phantasy Star Online and there are even more online-able games from japan like Vampire Chronicles(Capcom's Vampire Savior with Online mode). Listed below are my top 15 favorite DC games, 15 games that I recommend to everyone especially to those who are planning to buy a DC or a DC newbie:

My TOP 15 Recommendations
1. Skies of Arcadia (RPG)
2. Grandia 2 (RPG)
3. Jet Grind Radio (Adventure)
4. Soul Calibur (3D Fighting)
5. Power Stone 2 (Fighting/Party game)
6. Toy Commander (Action/Adventure)
7. Ooga Booga (Action/Party game)
8. Headhunter* (Action)
9. Alone in the Dark New Nightmare* (Survival Horror)
10. Shenmue chapter 1 & 2* (Action/Adventure)
11. King of Fighters Dream match 1999 (2D fighting)
12. Metropolis Street Racer (Racing)
13. San Francisco Rush 2049 (Arcade Racing)
14. Marvel vs Capcom (2D fighting)
15. Sega GT (Racing sim)

* = PAL version of the game, available only in Europe.

Other great DC games include: Sonic Adventure 1&2, Quake 3 Arena, Illbleed, Crazy Taxi 1&2, Capcom's Survival horror games(RE series and Dino crisis), Carrier, Alien Front Online, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1&2, Dead or Alive 2, Project Justice, Samba De Amigo and much much more!. it's just too damn many to mention, add to that some great imports like Capcom vs SNK 2, Guilty Gear X, and King of Fighters 2000.

PERIPHERALS AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS STUFF:
The DC standard controller is very good and comfortable for Action, Adventure, RPG, and Sports games but not in Fighting games. If you play a lot of fighting games, it is a necessity to get a DC arcade stick/controller or one of those 3rd party controller converters so you can use the 2nd gen Sega Saturn Controller or 3rd party PS controllers. The DC also has some cool controllers like the Virtual On twin stick controller and the Samba De Amigo Maracas controller, they can only be used with their respective games but they are cool collectibles. The light-gun and DC microphone add-on are some of the DC peripherals that are rarely used in games. Only 2 shooting games support the light gun, House of the Dead 2 and Confidential Mission, and 2 for the Microphone peripheral, the unique and genre-bending Seaman and Alien Front Online. You can surf the net with the DC's standard 56k dial-up modem(33.6 kbps on Europe and Japanese DCs) or the broadband adapter. There are other cool DC stuff like the Bleemcast from bleem, it is a boot disc that will let you play 3 Playstation games, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken 3, and Gran Turismo 2. For each PS game, an individual Bleemcast disc is required so you have to buy 3 separate discs but don't worry the bleemcast discs costs around $5 each. Originally, Bleem plans to support 400 PS games but only 3 games made it coz bleem is now defunct and sony threatens retailers and bleem with a lawsuit. The DC can also play MP3s and VCDs(Video CDs) with the use of a special boot disc and controller. And fan created emulators are scattered around the net so you can play SNES games and other game console games on your DC, they are created by skillful programmers and is available for download. Just Download the emulator and some ROMS, burn them onto a CD-R and you can play them on your DC, it adds life, value, and variety to your DC gaming needs.

THE VMU(The coolest game console innovation ever):
The coolest feature or peripheral of the DC is the Visual Memory Unit(VMU), a memory card with an LCD screen and buttons. It's a memory card plus extra features.
With the VMU you can:
- Download mini-games from some games for some handheld entertainment, you can also connect two VMUs for 2 player mini games.
- Use it as health or statistics inventory for games like the Resident Evil games and use it to create plays on Sega Sports games.
- Customize stuff like choosing logos, erasing save games or copying them from another VMU by connecting two VMUs.
- Download fan created mini-games on the net.
- Download official game upgrades/add-ons like the millenium ring feature for Sonic Adventure and Dynamite Detonator pack for Dynamite Cop on the net.
The only downside of the VMU is that it consumes the battery life too much, if you play mini-games often, the battery lasts for 3-10 days depending on how often you play. And the VMU only have 200 blocks of memory, not enough coz some games especially sports games requires 199 blocks for game saves and most mini games require 120-128 blocks of memory, you'll have no more space for game saves. If you want just a memory card to save games, just get a 4X memory card.

THE VERDICT:
The DC is a great game console, one of the best of all time. If only people gave it a chance, if only they dismayed the hype of the PS2, the DC could've lasted longer. No one can blame them, Sega screwed gamers 3 times in a row with the Sega CD, 32x, and the Saturn. As a result, they don't trust Sega anymore and predicted that their next game console wouldn't last a couple of years, how right they were!. But now the DC is a steal for only $80 bucks and below and the games are very cheap too(except for the rare ones). I'm eagerly waiting for the Treamcast(if they will produce it), a portable DC like the PSOne complete with an LCD screen, VCD and MP3 sotware, and a car adaptor included. I'd like to get one so I can play DC games everywhere and on my car, it will be available in Hong Kong only, so if anyone is interested, they need to import one. Overall I give the DC a perfect score of 10 out of 10, I enjoyed the games even if some genres are lacking. It did not last long but at least it delivered some of the finest games ever created.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/19/03, Updated 07/19/03