Post a Comment On: The Dreamcast Junkyard

[Image] [Updated, originally posted September 2020 and updated February 2021] 
With JoshProd now releasing a video preview of their upcoming games for 2021, we can confidently say that any fears we had about the games running poorly have been addressed, at least for the most part. This article has been edited to reflect that.
The brand new February 2021 trailer can be watched below:

The last few years have seen a surge of new independent releases on the Dreamcast, keeping this 20 year old love affair we have with the console going strong. This year we've already seen Xeno Crisis from Bitmap Bureau - a multi platform, multi directional shooter that we liked quite a lot - and we're not far away from seeing the release of Xenocider from Retro Sumus, another title that is shaping up very well (something we can personally guarantee here at the Yard). The masters of the recent surge of releases, however, is undoubtedly JoshProd/Pixelheart. The French indie publisher has now released over 20 titles on the Dreamcast, and already had us excited for their upcoming release of the very promising looking Arcade Racing Legends, but have now upped the ante once more, with the announcement of a 5th wave of releases - all due (currently) to be released before the end of the year. I don't know about you, but any good news in this year of unpredictable craziness is most welcome.

As with their previous titles, JoshProd like to announce a batch of games at a time, with varying developers, genres and packaging formats. This wave we see 6 titles that cover platforming, fighting and lots of shooting, the return of a popular indie developer and a rather interesting multi-game set. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's have a look at the list of titles announced:
Alice Sisters (Orionsoft) Rocketron (Astro Port) Satazius Next (Astro Port) Tough Guy (Panda entertainment) Supercharged Robot Vulkaiser (Astro Port) Wolflame (Astro Port)
As well as these, there's two other new titles coming to the Dreamcast - we'll get on to them later:
Gigantic Army (Astro Port) Zangeki Warp (Astro Port) It's an interesting lineup of titles, and one that will certainly please the shooter community, adding a grand total of 6 new titles to that genre's already prestigious library on the console. Information is scarce on some of these titles yet - although we know that there will be the PAL style release, in a PAL case, as well as the reversible US/Japanese cover versions, just as with previous JoshProd published titles. One thing we did notice was that the cover art for most of these titles, at least in the shots on the Pixelheart website, are the same for all versions, something that wasn't the case for older releases. Whether that's a good or bad thing is undoubtedly a personal view, but it's a shame we don't get some different artwork across regions, especially considering the previous high quality JoshProd have delivered. 
We thought we'd take a brief look at each of these titles, as that may be useful for those of you who haven't decided on whether to dip into your pockets and pre-order - especially as each of these releases is €34,90, a not inconsiderate sum to pluck up for an Independent release.
Alice Sisters [Image]

The return of Orionsoft to Dreamcast indie titles is a welcome one. I very much enjoyed his previous titles, especially Escape 2042 and Alice's Mom's Rescue, and this new release appears to be a sequel to that latter title. Like the original, this appears to be a 2D platformer, but with the interesting addition of co-op mechanics. Each player guides one of the sisters (or a single player can switch between them) through a promised 28 stages, each using different abilities to combat the games puzzles. 4 game modes are also promised, and screenshots show a charming, colourful world, very much in the style of Orion's previous titles.  [Image]

A DC release was hinted at in the summer of 2019, but little was revealed for this cross-platform release (a Steam and Mega Drive/Genesis release are also on the cards), but the trailer dropped by JoshProd in February 2021 has the game running and looking as charmingly fun as I hoped it would. I'm looking forward to this one, a proven developer, a genre we've not seen much of, and an intriguing co-op mode which could be very enjoyable indeed. You can pre-order the PAL version here, the US version here and the Japanese version here.[Image]
[Image]

Rocketron [Image]

The second title of the wave is a return to the library of PC shmup developer Astro Port, a back catalogue that has already delivered us Armed Seven, and which much of this wave of releases seems to be made up from. Rocketron is a little different, in that it's a relatively new title (releasing on Steam in 2020) and it's not quite the traditional shooter type game that Astro Port are more famous for. Bearing a few similarities with Bangai-O, this is a side scrolling action shooter where you control your cybernetic humanoid through several stages, face off against screen size bosses and get to play with quite the arsenal of weapons. 
 Most interestingly enough, the game is described by many as a metroidvania style experience - something we're lacking on the DC, and a mouth watering prospect. Having played a few Astro Port shooters, it's obvious they know their craft well, and with some very positive reviews of the Steam release, it's quite possible that this could be a legitimate contender for the top tier of the DC indie library. Footage of the game running (again see the trailer at the top of this article) displays a very impressive title indeed, and my anticipation for this one has only grown after watching it!

[Image][Image]

You can pre-order the PAL version here, the US version here and the Japanese version here.
Satazius Next
[Image] The second Astro Port title announced in this wave, Satazius Next is an intriguing game for many reasons. First released on Steam back in 2011, Satazius built up a small but rather strong fan-base, its horizontal shooting action recalling the Gradius series, and receiving a very positive response. This 'Next' version promised a completely reworked game, and found it's way onto Pixelheart's Shmup collections for both Switch and the Wii U - again, receiving a good response from reviewers. Solid shooting action, colourful graphics and a well designed weapons upgrading system all sound very good indeed.  [Image] It is, however, difficult to ignore the fact that whilst this DC version will cost you a little over £30, it comes with two other titles on the Switch, for a lower price. And the PC version is a little under £5 (although that's not a problem solely for this title, it's a rather common occurrence amongst DC indie releases). There is a slightly cheaper way of getting it... but we'll get onto that later. All in all, it's hard not to be impressed that a well received Switch title will be coming to the DC, and it promises to deliver a good, solid game. It's not quite as impressive as some titles in this wave of releases, mainly because the genre is somewhat abundant in the DC indie scene, but we'll happily have this addition to the library.[Image] You can pre-order the PAL version here, the US version here and the Japanese version here.
Tough Guy[Image] Taking a little break from all the shooting action, we see the second indie one on one fighter, this time Panda Entertainment's Tough Guy. If it's not a game you're familiar with, you're forgiven - originally coming out in 1995 on PC, it's a fighting game which... let's be generous and say 'respectfully takes inspiration from'... Street Fighter II, developed and released by Panda Entertainment, a Taiwanese developer that is also known for Sango Fighter, a Chinese Three Kingdoms fighter, released on PC's and the Super A'can. If you know Street Fighter, you know what awaits you in this title - a globe spanning cast of fighters, interesting worldwide stages and some combo-based fighting action. It has a couple of unique features - most prominently the ability to regenerate your fighters health - and does what it sets out to do without much fuss. An updated version of the title was released for PC, for free, in fact, in 2019 by Super Fighter Team, who bought the rights to the developers back catalogue, and you can download it here to give it a try. [Image] The last indie fighter - or more correctly, JoshProd's release of the 90's Visco fighter Breakers - was criticised by many, but was enjoyable enough, and we hope the same can be said of Tough Guy. The game appears to run quite well in the 2021 trailer, but as always with fighters, even small drops in performance will be a potential problem.  It's also interesting to note the involvement of Piko Interactive in this release. Presumably, they hold the right to release physical versions of the game, but it does open up yet another possibility - Piko Interactive hold the rights to a large number of retro titles, and if this hints at possible future Dreamcast releases of some of these titles... well, we'll have an awful lot of indie titles to look forward to...[Image] You can pre-order the PAL version here, the US version here and the Japanese version here.
Supercharged Robot Vulkaiser [Image] The third Astro Port title announced, Supercharged Robot Vulkaiser is a now 13 year old title, first seeing life on the PC back in 2007, and the oldest Astro Port game yet to see it's way to the DC (a year older than Armed Seven). Taking a massive dose of inspiration from 70's Japanese animation, it's a brightly coloured, horizontal shooter for fans of the sort of so-cheesy-it's-good, massive combining robots style of Saturday morning cartoons. It met with a generally positive response upon release, and for it's 2015 Steam release, although hardcore shooting fans do point out the rather naive nature of the game.  [Image] The only one of this wave of titles to have differing regional artwork (so far at least), JoshProd definitely can ramp up the glorious silliness inherent in titles of this ilk, and it looks like they are indeed doing so. Whilst it probably won't quite reach the levels of past DC indie hits such as Sturmwind, it's certainly a nice little addition to the library, and footage of the game shows it running without any issues. [Image] You can pre-order the PAL version here, the US version here and the Japanese version here.
Wolflame [Image] The 6th and final release announced as part of this wave is yet another Astro Port shmup - Wolflame. This vertical shooter, familiar to anyone who has ever played a Toaplan title, it a bullet drenched blast-fest which has received a very positive response on Steam since it's release. It also made it's way onto the Switch shooter collection from Pixelheart, so it's again really quite impressive that it sees it's way onto the Dreamcast. Whilst we're not lacking in quality horizontal shmups, it's also not a genre that we'd turn our nose up at. Footage of the game running shows a considerably increased performance than an earlier version we played, which is fantastic news. [Image] Of course, the same criticism can be levelled here as it was with Satazius Next - for £5 less, you can get this and two other titles to play on the Switch, and for £4.79 you can get it on Steam. The Dreamcast premium strikes again. However, we'd happily pay such a premium for a strong entry in this genre, and if Wolflame can produce the goods, we'll be very happy indeed. [Image]
You can pre-order the PAL version here, the US version here and the Japanese version here.
Astro Port Collector [Image] That's not quite where it ends with this latest batch of releases though. Alongside the 5th wave's 6 titles, and without much fanfare, an Astro Port Collector release was listed on the Pixelheart website. There was no cover art, other than a placeholder, and not much information, but it listed a box set which would include 4 Astro Port titles - Satazius Next and Wolflame, both also seeing standalone releases, alongside 2 titles that are only available, it seems, as part of this collection - Gigantic Army and Zangeki Warp.  The contents of this set is listed as being a 4-fold digipack DVD case, so it'll certainly look different than other JoshProd releases. Of course, the most intriguing element are the two titles only available in this set, so let's take a little look at these.
Gigantic Army is a side scrolling platform shooter, a gentle homage to the genre's 90's glories, and a game which was released originally on the PC a decade ago, before seeing a standalone release on the Switch in 2019. It's original release saw a decent response, and fans of of this type of game will certainly get something out of it. There's detailed 2D sprites in a style I've come to expect of these Astro port games, and lots of gratuitous violence with some striking bosses, all making for quite the exciting prospect. [Image] Zangeki Warp is a more recent Astro Port title, coming out in 2015, and another Horizontal shooter from the developers. The original version of this article depicted it as a game very much in the style of R-Type or Gradius - but it's now clear that's doing the game a disservice. The game's title points towards the use of a 'Warp', which appears to allow you to warp across the screen, leaving destruction in your path when you do. Video footage of the very impressive, screen filling enemies being taken down by a warp slice, exploding in a shower of blood and guts, is one of the more impressive things I've seen from any DC indie title. With this unique style, great visuals and a solid performance in the frame rate department, this looks to be another very exciting prospect for the console.  [Image] Why these two titles won't see a standalone release is unknown, as both are arguably amongst the most exciting, and technically impressive, games of this wave of releases . Instead, you can only get this as part of the Astro Port Collection - which is being sold at a slightly eye watering €99,90. It does mean each is only €25, which is good value, but we'd of loved the option of individual releases for those who don't want every title. After now seeing both Zangeki Warp and Gigantic Army running, the Astro Port collector package, limited as it is to 2,000 copies, seems like it may very well be a decent value collection of games - including some of the most exciting new indie game prospects for the Dreamcast.
You can pre-order this collection (there's only the one version) here. 
Overall, this new set of releases is an intriguing mix, and one which I originally was rather hesitant to fully embrace. However, the 2021 trailer released by JoshProd has put nearly every one of my fears to rest, with what appears to be great performance across the board. 
But, there's more....
Within the trailer, I spotted a couple of games that have not (unless I've been living under a rock) been announced yet. After a little searching, at least one of them I can put a name too..
Verdict Guilty[Image]
This one on one, 90's style fighter has a cops versus robbers, law and order versus the bad guys theme, all set in a Neo Seoul cityscape, overrun with a criminal wave. Developed by Retro Army (also responsible for Super Trench Attack), it's got a really unique look and feel, and had a positive response when released via Steam back in 2016. We're all for more fighters on the system - especially one which does something a bit different.
No announcement of when this one drops has yet been made - or even any confirmation that this is the game they have in the video, although it's clear it is - but we'll let you know when more information becomes available.
The other title in the video is more of a mystery...[Image]
Images of this scrolling beat 'em up threw me a little, as it seemed both familiar, and not familiar, at the same time. The character shown is Tia Langray, who first appeared in the Visco fighter 'Breakers' (which also saw a DC port some years ago). A quick search of Visco gaming output though, doesn't reveal any game released in this style, starring the character...
Of course, those eagle eyed amongst you, will remember that JoshProd did drop a hint some time ago, that a new Saturn game was in the works... and a picture showing Tia..[Image]Whilst many assumed this would be a one on one fighter, it now appears that the game (and now on Dreamcast - we're not sure if this means a Saturn version is still planned) is a brand new, scrolling beat 'em up, starring a character that already has somewhat of a cult following online. Pure speculation, of course, but if this is the case, then this instantly becomes a very interesting prospect indeed.
Credit really has to be given to JoshProd, for this continual feed of new Dreamcast indie content. Whilst we'll always say it as we see it at the Junkyard, and have been the first to criticise where it's deserved, these 10 games shown in the new trailer really do have us excited about what is to come. 2021. 
10 new games from just one publisher. Blimey!