Dreamcast, ahead of it’s time? Trusted Reviews think so
Posted by Graham. Filed under G, News, Retro. Tagged with Dreamcast, Fan Sites, Fan Stuff.
In a time when Sega Nerds are used to reading about how bad the Dreamcast and other Sega products were from some quite foolish sites - we do tend to come across some more uplifting articles. Trusted Reviews has just done a lovely little piece on the Dreamcast, and why it was ahead of it’s time.
The article talks a bit about how the console might have influenced future consoles.
Look at the Dreamcast pad now and it’s clear how it influenced Microsoft’s work on the Xbox controller and - more successfully - that of the Xbox 360. And if Dreamcast didn’t directly shape the design of that console or Nintendo’s GameCube, you can still see some clear similarities.
Also some of the cracking games on the system.
…Dreamcast played host to some genuine greats. Soul Calibur, Power Stone and Power Stone 2, Dead or Alive 2 and Marvel vs. Capcom were exemplary beat-em-ups. Rayman 2 and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver were fine platform adventures. Ferrari F355 Challenge took the racing game to new - and slightly excessive - levels of realism, and Metropolis Street Racer added fun to the Gran Turismo style of realistic racer. Add Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Fur Fighters, Ikaruga, Baku Baku Animal, Virtua Tennis and Skies of Arcadia to the mix and there’s no way you can accuse Dreamcast of lacking quality games.
But also points out some flaws on the system, which I’m sure we can all agree with.
Unfortunately, there’s one other way in which the Dreamcast prefigured today’s console systems - hardware failure. We’re not talking Xbox 360 levels here, but the Dreamcast’s convoluted cooling systems were prone to the occasional mishap, and a fair number had to be returned to the shop when the cooling broke down.
The article does miss out a few of the systems accolades, such as full Internet browsing abilities, but I think we can forgive that for now. I’m just glad to see an article supporting the ill-fated console, rather than needlessly bashing it!
So if you feel like reading a more uplifting piece on Sega’s little white box, read on here.
[Source: Trusted Reviews]
[Special Thanks: RoJM Via the Forums]
Comments on this article
There have been 3 responses to this article.
It was lightyears ahead of the comp, actually. Almost every game supports 480p too, something almost no Playstation 2 games still do.
Ghaleon
Posted April 28th, 2008 at 2:08 pm.
“Baku Baku Animal”, on my Dreamcast? suuuuuure :)
landman
Posted April 28th, 2008 at 5:03 pm.
Sega was always a pioneer even with the saturn games like nights were really different and impressive sega also have the most beautiful consoles i love the old SEGA !
Paly
Posted April 28th, 2008 at 10:27 pm.