Post a Comment On: The Dreamcast Junkyard

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With the new re-count poll of everyone's favorite Dreamcast games on the move, it feels like a good time to list off some games I personally really love on the system that may not be considered obvious choices but in my opinion deserve a bit more recognition and may have been forgotten by Dreamcast fans voting on this massive poll. Call this a bit of a nudge-nudge-wink-wink-hint-hint sort of article. Looking back at the Top 100 results from 2009 I was surprised how many great games missed out from the list, which does say a lot about just how many great games are on the system but here are some of those games I think deserve a second chance this time around..

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Project Justice: Rival Schools 2
Almost every Capcom fighting game got onto the old top 100, even the port of Street Fighter 2, but not this? This was such a inventive and massive 3D fighter, and is still to this day only available on the Dreamcast, unless you're one of those people that has the dosh to collect actual arcade boards. You could twat people with baseball bats and tennis rackets one moment, and dive into synchronized swimming the next! Pure genius.

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L.O.L - Lack of Love
This one maybe understandably didn't get many votes last time simply because it is quite a rare game and not many people have even heard if it. I implore you to hunt this one down though, it's simply beautiful, and despite being a Japanese only release has zero language barrier as there is next to no text or dialog, just sounds and atmosphere. It's unique and kind of hard to explain, but well worth it's asking price so run off, buy it, play it and then vote for it, because once you've played it you will want to.

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Sega Marine Fishing Not a single fishing game made the top 100, not counting Big the cat in Sonic Adventure of course. The fishing controller is one of the most fun experiences on the Dreamcast for me, and this game in particular is by far and beyond the best fishing game of the bunch. It has so much to unlock and do, and the over the top colourful presentation is pure SEGA.  [Image]

Confidential Mission
Light gun games were so shockingly few and far between on the Dreamcast it's pretty depressing. House of the Dead 2 is of course the one everyone bought a light gun for but near the end of Sega official run of the system they threw us this new James Bond themed spin on the Virtua Cop series, and it's fantastic. It's a pity modern TVs can't play light gun games, but at the very worst you can also use the mouse! 

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Tokyo Bus Guide
Oh come on, don't look at me like that! Tokyo Bus Guide is the ying to Crazy Taxi's yang: it's the complete opposite in tone, speed and rules but is still an arcade gem at heart. Much like getting the most money in Crazy Taxi, being able to clear a whole course in this game without making any mistakes is oh so satisfying. I'm not kidding! When this game clicks it clicks. It's not just me...is it?

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Mars Matrix
Ok so this one was in the top 100 last time, but I just want to remind people for this time that a) this game exists and b) it is absolutely amazing. I really don;t know how to describe why I love Mars Matrix so much but something about it's game mechanics  it's crazy yet some how chill music, batshit sped up presentation and additive scoring and shop system mean I keep coming back to this one over and over again. I've been playing this more than any other DC games recently!

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Indie games!
I also want to give a shout out to NG:DEV TEAM, Redspotgames, Hucast and Goat Store for the new indie games they have released since the last poll. Having new games released for a technically dead console feels rather special and these games hold up to some of the best official releases, my favorites being Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles, Rush Rush Rally Racing, Fast Striker, Gunlord and most recently Sturmwind.

If you have played any of the indie releases and enjoyed them don't forget to vote for them! We at the DCJY love new games for our favorite old console and want them to know how much we appreciate them going to the effort to bring them to the Dreamcast!

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Cool Cool Toon
This is another game that made the top 100 last time and I hope it stays that way this time around. Another one of those games that has yet to be ported anywhere else and it's that one time SNK decided to just escape their comfort zone of 2D fighters and really took on the best of the quirky Japanese rhythm genre that has since died out.

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Looney Tunes Space Race Infogrames followed up Wacky Races with this superb Looney Tunes racer, which really nailed the characters personalities in 3D and despite being quite short and easy was great fun. [Image]
Maken X
For all it's flaws Maken X deserves just as much cult status as many of the quirkier games in the old top 100. The Atlus fan base has really exploded in recent years so maybe this first person sword fighting game may catch a chance this time. I can think of much worse games that could reach the top 100. Yes I'm looking at you Blue Stinger.

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Gundam - E.E.F Vs Zeon DX
Developed by Capcom despite their logo being no where on the box, this 3D robot brawler based on the original 1979 anime series not only looks and sounds the part but plays brilliantly too, with less of a tricky learning curve than Virtual On. Fans of the anime will adore this but even people knew to the series will get a lot of enjoyment of this.

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Alien Front Online One of the first console games to ever feature online voice chat, it's a shame this one cannot be played online anymore but even in the offline modes this is simple, fantastic fun to play. Blowing up everything in sight is such a joy, you can even go all 'Independence Day' and destroy the white house! [Image]

Golem No Maigo / The Lost Golem
You might remember me writing about how much I adore this hidden gem, if not go check out my article about it. This small time production that was mostly the work of one person while they were a student, this charming little puzzle game is like the Dreamcast equivalent of an Oilver Postgate childrens program.

I could think of plenty of other games too but I'll leave it at that for now. I tell you one thing: I personally voted for what must have been around 130 games that I think deserve to reach that top 200. Of course being a top 200 should prevent any good games from missing the list this time around...right?

UPDATE: added a few more, I couldn't resist especially considering some of these games are getting next to zero votes!

What are your favorite underrated Dreamcast games? Let us know in the comments and most importantly: make sure you vote for them! :)