Drew Leachman writes: The From A to Z series lets our editors go back and take a look at games from past generations that are classics, overlooked gems, or just titles they remember fondly. The idea behind this is to pick five games from each letter of the alphabet, once a week to showcase. This delivers 26 weeks and 130 games to talk about. Hopefully it sparks some conversation, and of course plenty of memories.
Our second series will focus on Sony’s sophomore entry into the console business, the PlayStation 2.
Let’s continue with the letter “H”.
The Sega Dreamcast was a system that had some really cool and innovative games. However, the console never had as much widespread appeal as the PS2 or Xbox.
I think outtrigger is really underrated as a game for the dreamcast. It was quite good for the time.
If I could take two consoles with me into the after life it would be the Snes and dreamcast.
I can get behind SNES, but Dreamcast? I'm not saying you're wrong, but I need an explanation
Dreamcast was like an arcade console in the home. As Sega produced many games and brought them over. Third parties released their arcade fighters on the console and they were arcade perfect or better like Soul Calibur. Back when games were about instant fun because they had to be to draw you in.
Every console we play today is more about length of a game and added side missions or fluff to lengthen the game than arcade as many of the games aren't arcade like. There are arcade like games there. Especially fighters. But these consoles don't have the same feel as an arcade company that made an arcade like machine. Dreamcast was the end of an era as most gamers play at home, most console games don't release in the arcade and multiplayer is through an online connection that kills that in person social gathering.
Gamers like myself that grew up on arcades, can tell the difference from popping tokens and nickels and quarters at arcades and just pressing start with a controller. Dreamcast had that feeling. It had a short life but it sure left an impression. Which is why I have two units to make sure. Because it's soul never dies(Soul Calibur)
I'm not sure if my explanation below fits why you like Dreamcast. But that's how I felt about it. Even today, there are no light gun games anymore. And today's TVs don't even support them. I have to keep a CRT TV just to keep light gun gaming alive.
And online is okay. But it's like playing poker in person compared to over the internet with a no name and no face opponent. The game is the same but you don't get the poker face looks, the body movement, the physical cards or chips. Dreamcast had that arcade feel and local, multiplayer fun.
If you like survival horror, i highly recommend D2. It’s really cool. Reminiscent of deadly premonition. Great atmosphere and music. Super campy and cheesy but unique. Just emulate it.
WTMG's Leo Faria: "Why do we do this? We are well aware that a specific licensed game isn’t good, yet we actually manage to be less critical, we manage to overlook its issues, and enjoy these tie-ins, these perfect definitions of the word “shovelware”, without an issue. What is it about these games that makes us more… tolerant? Is it the novelty of playing a game based on a license we like? Is it some kind of psychological effect that reminds us of simpler days? Does it mean that playing these games brings out the best version of the gamer inside of us?"
VGChartz's Taneli Palola: "Ever since it became possible to add actual music to video games, composers have been trying to emulate the sound of orchestral music as closely as the technology they had to work with would allow. From Koichi Sugiyama's early Dragon Quest scores to the many wonderful SNES soundtracks that pushed the console's sound chip to its limits, aiming for true orchestral sounds has been the goal of many a video game composer over the years, long before such a thing was in any way feasible.
It wouldn't be until the mid-90s that the technological limitations would begin to lift, and with the advent of CD-based video game consoles the door was suddenly opened towards much higher fidelity music. From then on countless composers have employed full symphonic orchestras in their scores, and today we take a look at some of the best examples of those from the last 25 years."
