The Sega Dreamcast was the last true video game console for gamers who cared about games. There was no Trojan horse DVD player in it to open the gates for a bunch of knuckle-dragging non-gamers to adopt the console. This was the last true dedicated game machine that pioneered online gaming before Microsoft or Sony hijacked it and forced gamers to pay a fee for using the internet that they already pay for.

Everything about the Dreamcast screamed fun, right down to its compact, sturdy build and white curves so sleek you’d think Michelangelo carved it. The visual memory unit was a clever innovation on memory cards that incorporated portable minigames, file trading, and sometimes enhanced in-game features for most titles. This system was so ahead that every console developer afterward looked at it and realized there was no topping it.

In many ways, the hardware was more advanced than what the competition would put out years later. Most Dreamcast ports on PlayStation 2 or Nintendo Gamecube are inferior, with cut features, worse visuals, or lower frame rates. When PlayStation or Nintendo 64 games were ported to Dreamcast, you could always count on them being the best ways to play those titles.

There is no such thing as a bad Dreamcast game. It’s called “DREAM”-cast, not Nightmare-cast, and most dorks will gravitate toward the cliched and boring usual hits on the console. Skies of Arcadia, Sonic Adventure, Shenmue, Jet Grind Radio, Crazy Taxi, or any of the fighting games or shoot-em-ups is what the average jack-off will cite as a tried and true Dreamcast classic. Every loser likes these games. You know… the types of GEEKS who only play what’s popular: the regular everyday nobodies… the scum.

You have probably played most of these games in this feature if you are cool. If you emulate them, you’re nothing but a brokie who lacks the dedication to be a real gamer. You won’t find these Dreamcast games on any mainstream gaming site list because they like MEN dangling their junk in their eyes. These are the most interesting Dreamcast jogos that challenge the status quo and are too cool for run-of-the-mill lowlives who beg for scraps from a smegma-encrusted, corporate-approved, AAA sewage pipe.

Evil Twin: Cyprien’s Chronicles (2001)

Before Ubisoft became an endless open-world slop-factory, they used to publish interesting games. In Utero’s Evil Twin: Cyprien’s Chronicles was one of the few titles that Ubisoft thought was so cool and special that they decided to hoard it all to themselves over in Europe and not share it with North America. If you caught glimpses of this in magazines, it probably left an impression and stayed buried deep in your subconscious because of how unique it looked.

The best way to describe Evil Twin is a mix of American McGee’s Alice with Rayman. This is one gritty and intense-looking game steeped in Y2K-era Hot Topic grunge. There are bizarre monsters that look like they would be emblazoned on the cover of Tool and Korn albums. The art direction makes this game look unlike anything else on Dreamcast and it’s supported by a dark and ambient soundtrack that pounds.

The story centers on Cyprien; an orphan whose parents died on his birthday. On his latest birthday, he gets into an argument with his teddy bear and rejects the notion that he’s real. This leads to him, along with the other orphans getting transported to a twisted Oz-like world where Cyprien has to confront a Lovecraftian monster and save his friends. It is a lot like Kingdom Hearts, but without any of the lame Disney IP to bring it down.

Evil Twin is a 3D platformer adventure game with a linear and challenging structure. Some levels may offer more open exploration, but for the most part, expect to navigate Undabed cautiously as numerous dangers lurk at every turn. The stage layouts are one of the game’s highlights, winding in bizarre ways and often featuring vertical designs. The varied platforming challenges will keep players on their toes.

Aside from some tough platforming, Cyprien has a slingshot to help him fight the creatures of Undabed, as well as a basic melee attack. There are moments where players will need to go into first-person aiming to shoot switches for some light puzzle-solving, but don’t expect this to be like Ocarina of Time. Cyprien does have a devil trigger that can help fight foes in a pinch and he can also glide to help with trickier gaps.

The controls feel like what you would expect from some Euro-jank that was too weird for a global release. Camera controls can be a pain, but despite its shortcomings, Evil Twin is an interesting experience thanks to its audio/visual panache and surreal story. It is a very playable game that draws you in with its otherworldly designs and atmosphere.

Since Evil Twin: Cyprien’s Chronicles was a Europe-only release, it is especially elusive. Ubisoft never brought it back or ported it to anything other than the PlayStation 2 and PC which were by all accounts terrible ports. Physical copies of the Dreamcast version are rare as hell but are affordable due to it being utterly obscure and forgotten.

Evil Twin is a Dreamcast game at its core and is best played on a Dreamcast. It embodies a very specific scene that was going on around the early 2000s: gamer mall goths who read edgy comics and smoked too much. It is a crystallization of the culture of its time that defined a generation.

Seaman (1999)

You know you want it and that you can’t get enough of Yoot Saito’s Seaman. This is a legendary Dreamcast game that deserves more credit than just having a funny name; this is one of the more thought-provoking animal-raising sims around and you needed a special microphone accessory to play it. Unlike most video games, you must physically speak to the Seaman.

The Seaman is an amphibious organism with a complex life cycle, even more intricate than that of a xenomorph. It begins as a parasite, consumed by a nautilus, only to turn the tables and devour its predator. After some real-world time passes, the parasites enter the next stage of their lifecycle, known as Gillman. This is when Seaman truly begins, and players can engage in conversations with this utterly bizarre smartass.

The Seaman will continue to grow and evolve; sprouting legs and even mating with or killing the other Seaman in the tank/terrarium. This is so long as players will ensure the creature is fed at the correct intervals, adjust the oxygen levels, and keep the habitat clean. As the Seaman grows, so does its thirst for knowledge, and will ask the player questions. Even though the Seaman are full of themselves, there is an undeniable bond that gamers will make with the simulated pet.

Seaman is a very bizarre experience. The visuals are sparse apart from the abnormally detailed and very human-like titular creature. He is voiced by the same actor who played Francis York Morgan from the Deadly Premonition games and he delivers seemingly endless lines of dialogue in his signature weird cadence. Leonard Nimoy serves as narrator and tutorial guide, making the tone feel like a credible nature documentary.

Since so much of the game relies on the Dreamcast’s internal clock, it is easy to manipulate the flow of time for the Seaman for players who want a more exciting experience. The best way to play Seaman is to play it once in a while while remembering the needs of the Seaman or else they will die.

The most important part of Seaman is talking to it. This is a crucial aspect of its development and some of the things it will talk about will be philosophical. Other times the Seaman and Nimoy may mock the player which is keeping in tone with the cool style of the Dreamcast’s entire ethos.

If you’re going to play Seaman today, you’re in luck because physical copies of it are very affordable, ranging as low as $20 and so are the microphones for the Dreamcast, which range about $30-$40. While Seaman did get a port and sequel on PlayStation 2 in Japan only, nothing quite matches the original’s weirdness. Seaman is a quintessential Dreamcast game that defined the unbridled creativity that embodied the console, and no Dreamcast collection is complete without it.

Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream (2000)

Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream may look like something your kid-sister would play, but don’t be fooled by its girlie protagonist and Candyland-looking graphics. This is a 2D and 3D platformer hybrid with dreamy and imaginative visuals that make it feel like a Nights successor.

Arsia is just an average Japanese high schooler at a Summer Festival until she is mistaken for someone else and gets herself Isekai’d to Napple World. Along the way, Arsia meets a whimsical group of spirits of seasons, a frog-car abomination, and even a jester. The story is basic and about what you might expect for a light, breezy action platformer aimed at kids.

Where Napple Tale excels is its controls and impeccable polish and visuals. It’s a crime that this title was overlooked for a Western release and was probably not edgy enough for Sega’s liking. This is the kind of game that would resonate more with Nintendo kids or adult crossdressers than Sega kids during the cusp of the millennium.

Arsia is animated fluidly and everything has a very rounded edge to it. Textures are painterly and colorful; as if they were watercolor paintings brought to life as a 3D model. Napple Tale is like an anti-Evil Twin; where that game was twisted and steeped in an aura of edginess, Napple Tale is wholesome and inviting.

A notable aspect of Napple Tale is the incredible music that was composed by Yoko Kanno. Most anime fans might know her work from Cowboy Bebop, Space Dandy, and all of the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex productions. For this game, she opts for a very whimsical and feel-good ambiance that feels jaunty, as if she is composing for a Kirby game.

Due to the gameplay being an action platformer, Napple Tale is easy to play even in Japanese. The downside to this is that it also makes it very desirable in the second-hand market, but pro gamers would already have their copy before reading this. Brokies will have to scrounge up all their pennies and paychecks to cover the $100 range to afford Napple Tale and they should because this is a fine game that was too good for the West.

Sega Bass Fishing (2000)

Sega Bass Fishing was already a legendary and fast-paced fishing game when it was released into arcades in 1997. The goal is to catch the biggest fish using the right lures. The arcade cabinet was built massive and players used a controller designed like a fishing rod that simulated a line spool and had a crank too.

When it came time for Sega to port it to the Dreamcast in 1999, they knew it had to include a custom fishing rod controller to capture the chaos of the arcade experience. Sega Bass Fishing on Dreamcast is not only a perfect port, but it also includes a tournament mode and two new fishing locations.

If you aren’t playing Sega Bass Fishing with a fishing rod controller, then you aren’t playing Sega Bass Fishing. A playable version exists in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and there is no way to play it with a fishing controller. It lacks all the features and extras from the Dreamcast port and is purely the arcade experience without the fun of the fishing rod controller.

Sega Bass Fishing is for fishing as Crazy Taxi was for taxi driving. It’s a souped-up and more intense imagining with 90s-era, in-your-face Sega flair set against cool azure skies and insanely detailed bass. It is an addicting and frantic chase for time while wrangling up some of the finest freshwater fishes rendered in the 90s. It is not just the ultimate fishing game, but also the ultimate party game on Dreamcast.

Sega Bass Fishing is a common game and has been ported to many platforms since its debut. It also has a sequel but lacks the original’s absurdist charm. It’s playable on seventh-generation consoles and PC, but unless you’re using a fishing rod controller, then don’t bother. The controller is the reason the game was made. It would be like playing Super Mario 64 with a D-pad.

Illbleed (2001)

There is no horror game like Illbleed. It is a game created by a mad genius with a passion for sleazy horror films. The story follows Eriko Christy; a horror maniac who has become numb to fear because her father exposed her to every terror imaginable. Along with her merry band of teens, they participate in a contest to survive six haunted house attractions, each one themed after a fictional horror film.

Explaining the premise does not do the game justice. The entire game is steeped in weirdness and uncanny in-your-face horror that ranges from hilarious to genuinely disturbing. The few cutscenes with voice acting are like a fever dream where you are constantly questioning if what you saw was real.

Ilbleed‘s gameplay is as unique as its premise and characters. Unlike most survival-horror games, Ilbleed centers on disarming traps and managing stats over combat. It is in many ways an inversion of Tecmo’s Deception games. The traps and enemies do more than damage HP, your character’s entire nervous system is at stake. The traps can jack up your heart rate like a wild stallion and if you’re bleeding like a stuck pig, you’re screwed.

To avoid traps, players must monitor four senses. Getting close to a trap may set off one of the senses which means going into first-person mode to mark the hazard, then returning to the horror monitor to disarm them. You can’t disable all the traps though because it costs adrenaline, further ratcheting up the tension and stress on players. Traps and item placements are randomized and surviving a fight with monsters earns adrenaline.

The fighting is interesting because Eriko can sustain clothing damage and end up almost naked and covered in blood and scrapes like she’s starring in I Spit on Your Grave. Combat is like a half-assed fighting game, but this is to be expected in your 2000s-era obscure Japanese survival-horror game. There is also a new game plus mode where it’s possible to unlock a bonus ending.

Ilbleed may not have the recognition as Resident Evil or have conventional gameplay at all, but that is why it is such a Dreamcast-core-ass game. It holds up thanks to how novel and unique it is and because it is so special, it is also rare and expensive. Expect to see listings around the $300 range.

You losers have no hope of playing this game at all because the creator and producer, Shinya Nishigaki, died from a heart attack back in 2004. There is no chance of Illbleed ever coming back and the emulation for it is hopelessly buggy. You can’t get it anymore. You are all shit out of luck.

EGG: Elemental Gimmick Gear (1999)

Indeed, the Dreamcast did not get many RPGs. This was especially difficult for fans in the West who eagerly anticipated what kind of interesting adventures would appear on SEGA’s final console. While the likes of Skies of Arcadia and Phantasy Star Online stole the show with their dazzling 3D worlds, most gamers failed to notice a 2D gem that managed to make it to the West.

In the 2000s, it was considered passé for any game to be 2D. Everything moving forward seemingly had to be in 3D, and many 2D games were commonly overlooked. Elemental Gimmick Gear was one of the many 2D games of its era that got ignored for not embracing the trends of the day. Despite not following the market leaders, its visuals ultimately aged better than most 3D games on the Dreamcast.

Elemental Gimmick Gear (or E.G.G.) is an action RPG that takes cues from 2D Zelda games. The gameplay is primarily an overhead action RPG, but major battles are done in 3D like a fighting game. The combat is very difficult and tedious due to the mechanics and it can be easy to be overwhelmed.

The story of E.G.G. is creative. Nestled deep within a dense jungle, an ancient, dome-shaped ruin was unearthed. Amidst the excavation, researchers stumbled upon a damaged, egg-shaped contraption. Upon closer inspection, the contraption unexpectedly revealed a remarkably well-preserved man, defying the passage of nearly 5000 years.

This man, known as ‘The Sleeper,’ and his enigmatic apparatus were transported to a nearby laboratory for in-depth analysis, all while the excavation efforts persisted. The Sleeper’s machine was christened the Elemental Gimmick Gear (EGG), underwent extensive scrutiny, and was eventually replicated, leading to the widespread adoption of similar egg-shaped mechs for personal use by the inhabitants of Tokion.

Events continually compound on each other, building up to a surprisingly biblical climax. It’s got environmental themes, body horror, and some bitter-sweet emotional sequences… but most importantly, it has a grappling hook.

The narrative is one of the best aspects of E.G.G., but the visuals steal the show. The overhead graphics are lovingly illustrative and there is never a moment of repetition or tiling. Every screen is unique and lush with detail. Characters are pre-rendered sprites and the low resolution of the Dreamcast makes it so that the two art styles don’t clash.

There are more puzzles and adventure gaming in E.G.G. than there are role-playing. Gamers are dropped into a world and are expected to figure things out and explore. Apart from the freedom to build the E.G.G.’s load out, there is not much else for customization or any party building.

E.G.G. isn’t a huge game, but it is challenging and lengthy since it has almost no hand-holding when it comes to solving its mysteries. It is a slow-paced and tough game that demands players pay attention to what they’re doing – it isn’t like Zelda where it’s safe to play casually. E.G.G. is a vicious RPG.

The Ring: Terror’s Realm (2000)

The most prominent survival horror on Dreamcast is Resident Evil: Code Veronica… if you’re basic. The Ring: Terror’s Realm is a fever dream of recognizable elements of horror games that you might already like. This game more closely follows The Ring novels which dramatically differ from the films most regular nobodies would know.

At first, you think it’s about Meg, a CDC researcher trying to uncover the truth about her boyfriend’s mysterious death. If you believe that, then you have got to be shitting me. It’s actually about a post-apocalyptic future where agents explore a simulation based on Sadako’s memories. Like Silent Hill, there are two worlds where one of them is an uncanny mundane setting and the other is a decrepit and bleak place filled with more powerful monsters.

The mundane realistic world is the simulation where Meg is a boring office lady and the CDC building feels like you are stuck in the back rooms but with the most nerve-wracking music designed to stress you out. The setting has a powerfully otherworldly atmosphere which compounds when paired with the utterly bizarre English voice acting that adds a bit of Tommy Wiseau-ian flair to the events.

The Ring: Terror’s Realm has certain flaws. Its tank controls feel very heavy as if Meg is underwater and combat is made difficult due to how fast some of the enemies can be. Since this is a real horror game, Meg is better off not fighting at all and avoiding enemies entirely. There is a stealth element where players can turn off Meg’s gun flashlight so foes won’t see her. This adds some depth to the experience due to its risk-and-reward gameplay.

While The Ring may not be as refined as Code Veronica, it is a far more interesting game due to its odd ambiance and outlandish story. It has such a weird premise that it borders on being experimental and avant-garde. Even its puzzles have an esoteric dream logic to them where players must decipher codes and unusual keys.

If you have played any classic-style survival horror game before, then you’ll have an idea of what to expect from The Ring. This is a game with a lot of friction and some decent graphics that are on par with what Capcom was doing at the time. There is an excellent sensation of dread that coats the game as players progress because old safe environments will have enemies spawn. It always feels like you are being backed into a corner with sweat running down your face.

The Ring is pure unadulterated Dreamcast-core horror that will filter tourists who are unable to adapt to survive or appreciate its strangeness. It is a very elusive game that most people have not played which makes it a uniquely compelling experience. Most of the time people parrot the same tired talking points from dishonest YouTubers who are only looking to sensationalize a title to make a buck.

If you want to buy a copy of The Ring: Terror’s Realm, then too bad because it is very rare and expensive. Horror completionists will sadly be missing out on one of the most interesting Dreamcast games ever released. If you consider yourself a horror fan and you don’t have a copy of this, then you were only a tourist. Stick to Fortnite.

Evolution: The World of the Sacred Device (1999) + Evolution 2: Far Off Promise (1999)

When the average dullard thinks of great RPGs on Dreamcast, their simple mind goes for the obvious Skies of Arcadia or Grandia II. These are the safe choices for gamers with no sense of epicness. Evolution: World of the Sacred Device and Evolution 2: Far Off Promise was one massive RPG split into two parts. The fact that both titles were released in the same year lends credence to this theory.

While the Gamecube port, Evolution Worlds, further reinforces this theory by combining both games into one, it also abridged 80% of the first game. Playing the Gamecube version is for rubes. Real gamers know that the real Evolution experience is to play both original Dreamcast titles back-to-back like it is one two-disc game where you get weak in the middle.

Evolution: World of the Sacred Device is about Mag and his misadventures to pay off his family debt. His line of work is taking his girlfriend, Linear with him into dungeons to plunder treasure and sell them. On top of trying to maintain his estate, there is an evil empire commanded by a degenerate who wants a sacred artifact. There is a lot of wonderful 90s-era anime charm to the shenanigans and crass sexual humor that you don’t see in games anymore.

Evolution 2: Far Off Promise begins with Mag and the gang leaving their podunk town, setting off to a new place for further adventures and clashes with pirates. The stakes are higher this time. Mag and Linear encounter an ancient entity named Yurka, who aims to ruin their relationship and blow up the city with a cannon. The story fleshes out the world and its history, making it feel bigger than it was in the first.

Both Evolution games are set in a single town and are dungeon crawlers with traditional turn-based combat. After every battle, the party earns points that can be used to learn attacks. It is a simple, yet effective mechanic, but one that also plays into strategy since the first time an ability is learned, it costs no MP. Another strategic element is the formation of the party which also applies to the foes. The combat is comfort food for anyone who has played a 90s-era JRPG.

Exploration is admittedly weak since most dungeons are endlessly recycled hallways and rooms. This is less of an issue in Evolution 2 since it features more permutations and even a few developer-designed layouts. Both games have story-driven set-pieces for variety and to break up the tedium of the constant struggle of surviving the ancient dungeons. The flavor text when examining or talking to NPCs is also amusing.

Both Evolution games boast 60 fps and have sharp image quality. The graphics are appealing and the character designs are some of the coolest since Final Fantasy VII. Mag and a few other party members use cyframes. These oversized mechanical weapons never repeat. Mag’s cyframe has a massive fist in it. Chain’s is a sword with rockets on it. Pepper’s cyframe is a cannon attached to her hip. The special attacks are entertaining, making Evolution and its sequel stand out from other JRPGs.

If you want the true Evolution experience, you must play both together on Dreamcast. The Gamecube port does not count since the first game is barely represented. The first game is common and cheap for Dreamcast. Evolution 2 is much harder to come by and while it is affordable by most accounts, it is still rare and obscure due to a low print run and lack of interest by knuckle-dragging droolers.

Bangai-O (1999)

Bangai-O is a hectic 2D mecha shooter from the geniuses at Treasure. Originally released in 1999 only in Japan on the Nintendo 64 with an absurdly low print run, the publisher smartly had it ported to the Dreamcast and in English too. During the porting process, the boys at Treasure redesigned some aspects of the gameplay, improving the frame rate and resolution, making the Dreamcast port the ultimate version of Bangai-O.

The story is some kind of anime-puke dream about space terrorists smuggling fruit to fund their criminal organization. Only Riki and Mami piloting the Bangai-O can thwart the menacing fruit gang and restore peace to the galaxy… by utterly obliterating it. The story is out of its mind and feels like it was a joke by the developers who wanted to make a game where players can blow shit up with hundreds of missiles.

Bangai-O is a 2D multi-directional shooter where players can freely fly anywhere on the map. The mech can fire in eight cardinal directions and the ammo depends on who is piloting. Riki manages the missiles, while Mami is on reflecting laser duties.

A bomb attack functions like a defensive move since it can only be used when Bangai-O is about to be hit. The tighter the proximity, the more devastating Bangai-O’s counterattack will be. Almost all buildings are destructible and even though the frame rate is improved on the Dreamcast, this game will still make it buckle to its knees under the sheer weight of the amount of explosions happening on screen. This is one of the few instances where slow-down in a game is kind of satisfying.

Bangai-O can be upgraded too, but the shop only appears after landing 100 shots on enemies. This is a hard game, so you will need whatever you can get because there are no i-frames. There are over 40 chaotics levels of fruit and eye-melting explosions. This game is elephantine with its content and audacity holding back nothing.

If you want to play Bangai-O, then you have got to be shitting me. You can’t play this legitimately because it is rare in most forms. The N64 version was already rare when it was new and all Dreamcast versions are in the triple digits when shopping for a copy in the second-hand market.

True hardcore gamers should own multiple copies of Bangai-O on N64 and the Dreamcast. Go find some cheap rewritable and screw up your Dreamcast’s lens with a crappy bootleg. You deserve a burned diode in your Dreamcast for feeding it a fake game.

Cannon Spike (2000)

Dreamcast was known for arcade ports of fighting games and shoot-em-ups. Cannon Spike is a fusion of both by way of Psikyo taking a couple of Capcom’s characters from Street Fighter and Darkstalkers (as well as a few other guests) and dropping them into a chaotic multi-directional shooter.

The story is an afterthought as expected for a balls-to-the-wall, homage to Total Carnage and Smash TV. Each character gets a few art splash screens and maybe a paragraph worth of plot which culminates with them battling Vega from Street Fighter, leaving a trail of bloodied mercs and mechs along the way.

The playable cast includes Cammy and Charlie from Street Fighter, B.B. Hood from Darkstalkers, Mega Man himself, a souped-up reimagining of Arthur from Ghosts ‘n Goblins, and a katana chick who is supposed to be Linn Kurosawa from Alien vs. Predator. There is Shiba, an original character, but he might be based on a character with a similar name from Midnight Wanderers from the Three Wonders arcade collection.

You are thrown into a gauntlet of battles after you and a friend stop fighting over who gets to be Megaman. The gameplay is fast and chaotic: everyone can freely move in 3D with a fixed perspective, blasting the shit out of anyone who moves. One face button locks on targets and everyone gets unique melee and ranged attacks.

Like most Psikyo shoot-em-ups, players have limited super attacks. These are always great in a pinch when you feel backed up against a wall or quickly finish a boss. Cannon Spike is a very fast and nonsensical shoot-em-up. It borders on being avant-garde with its utter lack of explanation of anything.

The Dreamcast version is the only console release of Cannon Spike and it came with a few extra difficulty modes that make the game almost unfair. The gallery mode is neat but otherwise uneventful. Despite the lack of content, Cannon Spike is very re-playable and easy to pick up and play. It runs smoothly and looks excellent.

The only drawback to Cannon Spike is how short it is. The 10 levels fly by quickly due to the fast-moving gameplay. This does make it easy to return to and it is still satisfying to replay and complete a run during a lunch break. It’s an adrenaline rush that peaks fast and leaves a lingering wave of euphoria.

Cannon Spike is a high-class Dreamcast game for high-class gamers, which is why it goes for around $200-$300 and up in the second-hand market. This was a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between Capcom and Psikyo; arcade industry leaders during the late 90s and early 2000s. Cannon Spike is a culmination of their best and brightest working together to make one of the best shooters and it is only on Dreamcast.

Maken X (1999)

Maken is functionally a parasite that can also become almost any weapon. At several points during the branching story, players will be given the option to brain-jack other characters and Maken will transform from a sword to all kinds of unusual weapons. This not only will change the course of the story, but it will also change how the combat mechanics work and the player’s stats.

Not all characters will be awesome fighters. Some might be mundane regular people and will be required because they might have access to some place or because it would be easy to fit in as a mechanic, Hitman-style. Brain-jacking ultimately pays off since Maken X has seven different endings and has a short run time of about four to five hours, replays are exciting since gamers can try different hosts to jack into.

The host’s combat abilities can be leveled up from earning XP and performance is graded by not taking any damage during a fight. This is a fair challenge since successful blocking doesn’t require timing within a window and side-stepping offers reasonable i-frames and distance. The drawback is most foes hit hard and health pick-ups are often far and few between, so when you make a mistake or get greedy, you feel the sting of your error.

The different hosts can vary in playability with their basic combos and special attacks, but every one of them has the same general control scheme. The Dreamcast controller is not ideal for first-person action, but Atlus’ solution is surprisingly forward-thinking and is very similar to the control layout of Metroid Prime in Gamecube which wouldn’t come out until two years later. Analogue movement is tank-like and holding a shoulder button will go into a strafe mode and the other is a free-aim.

The pace of the action and speed of the foes match the range of movement players will have and on-screen indicators will point to the edge of the screen in the direction of off-screen threats. Just like Samus, Maken’s hosts can lock on to targets to strafe around them and side-step. Battles rarely have more than eight enemies and most of the time, some will be long-ranged sentries. The action is methodical and has a palpable sense of tension.

The art direction looks undeniably cool but everything is animated very fluidly. The frame rate is a solid 60fps, a rarity for first-person action games on consoles in the 90s and 2000s. Maken X looks and feels polished to a mirror sheen with no noticeable bugs or glitches. The enemy A.I. is simple, yet effective for what the combat calls for.

Maken X was one of the better action games on Dreamcast and was easily the best first-person game on the console. It holds up thanks to its control scheme, solid frame rate, intense visual design, and novel premise. Fortunately for all you poors out there, Maken X on Dreamcast is affordable in the second-hand market. I was able to acquire a factory-sealed copy for this article for about $50, which is in the upper range but your mileage may vary.

D2 (1999)

Illbleed may be the most interesting and disturbing horror game on Dreamcast, but D2 is the weirdest and most ambitious. If you’ve never played the first D, it has little to do with D2 except that both games feature a blonde protagonist named Laura. The story is set in the Canadian tundra in the aftermath of a plane crash. Laura will have to scavenge, find other survivors, and find out why are people transforming into monstrous abominations.

The plot will only continue to thicken as it introduces more bizarre elements like prehistoric mammoths that fed on angels, sexual imagery, and the utter bleakness of the story. The atmosphere is apocalyptic, reminiscent of John Carpenter’s The Thing. Some story developments will happen suddenly without explanation and are never referred to again.

The madness of D2 is wrapped around equally unique gameplay that mixes several genres. When indoors, the gameplay is like the original D: a first-person adventure where players interact with objects, NPCs, and puzzle solving.

Combat is slow-paced first-person shooting with some JRPG-isms because she can’t move in battle. Laura will also have to hunt for meat to survive since resources are limited. Most of the time, Laura will explore the outdoors in the third person, and drive a snowmobile, and players can partake in photography too.

The strange amalgam of familiar gameplay elements makes D2 feel unlike anything before it. This was one of the more epic Dreamcast games and was released on four discs due to the girth of cutscenes and scope of the world. The game will surprise you with something new the deeper you go.

D2 is the closest thing to an auteur-driven game in the vein of Suda 51 or Hideo Kojima. It is a very personal game that is filled with little references to things that Kenji Eno, the game’s director loves. He not only wrote and directed D2, he composed otherworldly music that perfectly fits the surreal ambiance of this Dreamcast masterpiece.

Getting a hold of D2 is tricky since it was a four-disc game. Sometimes sellers sell it incomplete and when they do, it is still pricey. Expect to pay up to around $150 minimum. This is on the low end of the price range for good Dreamcast games, but only because D2 is very obscure and forgotten. A repugnant YouTuber hasn’t made a “hidden gem” video about it yet because it’s very unsafe and unfamily-friendly, ensuring it will stay gate-kept.

Record of Lodoss War: Advent of Cardice (2000)

Record of Lodoss War is one of the best high-fantasy anime produced. It began as a scenario in a magazine but grew into a massive multi-media franchise and spawned countless manga, light novels, Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, and video games. Regretfully, only two Lodoss War games have made it to the West: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth for eighth and ninth-gen consoles and The Advent of Cardice on Dreamcast.

Advent of Cardice is the first Record of Lodoss War video game to be released in the West, and it’s one of the best in the series. The story revolves around two warring gods, Cardice the God of Darkness, and Marfa the God of Light. They took on physical forms and clashed, creating the scarred land that became the island of Lodoss.

Wart, an old wizard resurrects Beld, a youthful incarnation of a powerful antagonist from The War of Heroes, as seen in the Lodoss War OVA. With a chance for redemption, Beld takes on the task of thwarting the plot to revive Cardice. Along the way, he will encounter his old adversaries and former comrades, making allies with both and becoming the mighty warrior he is always destined to be.

Fans of the anime will be thrilled to meet the old gang again and see how they interact with a younger and more heroic version of Beld. Plenty of tasteful cameos and character interactions help give the cast closure, especially since the stakes in Advent of Cardice are so high.

The gameplay will feel very familiar to anyone who has played Diablo. Beld can hack and slash, cast magic, and store items in a grid-based inventory… and hack and slash some more. It is a linear adventure with some side quests, but a long one and it is even longer if you want to push Beld’s strength to his full potential and make him a walking death machine.

Beld does not have a class, but he can be customized in any way imaginable. The only stat gained when Beld levels up is his HP. Beld’s other stats are determined by his gear, and early in the story, he befriends a dwarf blacksmith who can forge almost anything if players provide him with the materials. Beld can become insanely powerful thanks to his friend and players can turn old equipment to match the new. Nothing gets wasted.

Record of Lodoss War: Advent of Cardice is a Dreamcast exclusive to this day and is too good to be exposed to modern gamers. It is a redemption arc for Marmo’s most brutal dude and explores themes of identity and legacy. The basic hack-and-slash gameplay can wear down some gamers without stamina, but whoever said slaughtering hundreds of kobolds and goblins would be easy?

This is still the ultimate Lodoss game. While Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is excellent, it was a small story with low stakes. Advent of Cardice is an epic chapter in the greater Lodoss lore that depicts the characters at later stages in their life.

Dynamite Cop! (1998)

In the West, Dynamite Deka was rebranded as Die Hard Arcade. This was done to boost sales, but the reality was that it probably didn’t need it. The best thing about this is that the protagonist, Bruno Delinger was modeled to resemble Bruce Willis and it stuck. When the sequel came to the West, Sega dropped the Die Hard pretenses and it was given the excellent title of Dynamite Cop!.

Wolf “White Fang” Hongo from Die Hard Arcade survived his encounter with Bruno and now he’s back as a pirate taking over a cruise ship. Just like before, he has kidnapped the president’s daughter and the US has sent Bruno, along with Eddie Brown and Jean Ivy to help fight Wolf’s army. It’s a classic actionsloitation set-up that fosters big sweaty action Hank-style heroism and bravado. You don’t need anything else.

Dynamite Cop! is a beat-em-up in the style of Streets of Rage or Golden Axe but with the sleek style of a Steven Segal movie. In the beginning, players choose the route to the final boss. Some areas will overlap with stages from alternate paths and gamers will need to have played through the game at least three times to see everything.

The combat mechanics have evolved since Die Hard Arcade. Bruno and his team can attack in eight directions instead of only left and right, making the game feel more 3D. Other than basic attacks, the heroes are capable of grappling and wrestling moves. It’s a wild sight to big up huge muscle guys and throw them across the room, only to pick up a rocket launch and blast them while they try to get up. 

Dynamite Cop! has no rules. It is almost like a parody of Die Hard Arcade. Wolf is not just a burly terrorist, he has to be a cyborg with a laser eye. The game over screen is one of the most laughable and over-the-top sequences on Dreamcast and that is saying a lot for a console that has Illbleed on it.

Beating the game unlocks Tranquilizer Gun, an old monochromatic arcade game from 1980. This extra has the player assume the role of a hunter and the goal is to neutralize wild animals and transport them to the truck to skin them probably. This amusing distraction also doubles as the means to earn more credits for the next run of Dynamite Cop!.

Dynamite Cop! is a very short game, but it shines very bright as it burns. It usually goes for about $100 for a decent copy, and since it is short as hell, it’s very replayable. The multi-player and unlockable retro game add some value to the experience, but bum gamers best save their money for bus fare to get to their local mall for free samples at the food court.

Dreamcast was the peak of Y2K gaming. It supported keyboard and mouse, lightguns, motion controllers, fishing rod controllers, microphones, and arcade sticks, and it had the visual memory unit. While many of its games did get ported on Xbox and PS2, it still boasts some of the most interesting exclusives and got definitive ports of several N64 and PlayStation games.

There are more Dreamcast games out there, but that would go beyond the scope of this feature. What do you think are the coolest Dreamcast games that we missed?