Review: Shenmue 2 (Dreamcast)

"All in all I think that Shenmue had some great ideas that overshines the shortcomings and the tale of Ryu was engaging enough to make me want to play the sequal."

That's how my review of Shenmue ended, and now I have played the sequal. And my overall thoughts on the second entry in this series is also very (and even a bit more) positive. Shenmue 2 continues where the first game left off, storywise it's a direct continuation so in that regard it really feels like I just kept playing one and the same game. A lot of things are, however, different. A lot of "quality of life" changes have been made to alleviate the frustrating moments of the first game. My favorite improvement is that if I reach an area outside of the hours where the story progresses I get the option to "Wait", which means the time fast forwards in an instant to the time I want it to be. Also, conversations now have a few options so I can steer the topics a bit more in many cases!

"I find myself not exploring as much as I would like, because I know it's 40% loading screens"

But when things are easier to just... enjoy, without having to navigate outdated mechanics that's only in the way, other shortcomings become evident. For example, I find myself not exploring as much as I would like, because I know it's 40% loading screens. Have to open a door? 30 seconds. Want to gamble? a few seconds to initiate the conversation, a few seconds to get started, a few seconds to load the conversation afterwards, a few seconds to get back to free-roam. Need to restart the system (only way to reload a save)? A couple of minutes. Want to check out a new area? First you have to get there, it's three blocks away with a minute of loading screen between each block, and then a small loading screen when interacting with anything on the way. Most of the time I end up just going where I'm supposed to, because otherwise I've wasted an in-game day with walking and seeing a fracture of what I planned anyway. Perhaps I should've gone the HD remake route, but wouldn't that take away a bit of the awe? I mean, it's a cool game because it's on an old Dreamcast. It's all part of the charm. If it's on a modern system it'd feel underwhelming and outdated.

"it's really entertaining, in its own quirky way"

The main story progresses fairly slow to be honest, it's all the other things I experience "on the side" that makes it seem like a lot is happening. I mean this in a positive way, I feel like I've been through a lot even though I'm not particularly nearer the answer to Ryus question (who is Lan Di and why did he kill Ryu's father). As long as one is prepared to let the game take its detours, twists and turns it's really entertaining, in its own quirky way.

However - towards the end of the third disc they, to my great frustration, ramp up the QTE:s and it all becomes rather cumbersome. It's a lot of trial and error and I was starting to think "I hope they wrap things up soon" going in to each session. And then there's disc 4. It completely changes the pacing and the gaming experience as a whole. All you do through the entirity of the last disc is walk on a forest path with a girl I won't describe further to avoid spoliers. It's a mixture of walking, talking and the occational QTE. For three hours straight. Don't get me wrong, in the beginning I loved it, it felt like a fresh change of both scenery and pace and I quite enjoyed just talking about everything and nothing while taking in the scenery. But by the time we arrived at our destination I was so bored I think I almost fell asleep sitting up once. I know I had the option to skip most of the dialogue but then what was the point of the last part at all? I wanted to experience it the way it was intended. Anywho! Once we arrived this chapter of Shenmue came to its end and even though it dragged on towards the end a bit I'm still very eager to see how things unfold. The third installment is however on the PS4 so I won't be covering it on this blog. How's that for a cliffhanger.

Review: Ghost Blade (Dreamcast)

I have finally spent some time with the, for me at least, highly anticipated shoot 'em up Ghost Blade. The word beforehand was that the game was too easy but otherwise alright. It seems to be a pretty accurate description of Ghost Blade actually, but it also seems a bit unfair to write it off just as an "easy shoot 'em up". It has a lot more going for it, I would argue.

We get to choose between three ships with different attack modes, and although they are not described as such they are spread, narrow and lastly a compromise between the two. All ships are represented by a hyper sexualized female without any purpose except giving teen boys something to giggle at. Once the game fires up it becomes evident that the controls are spot on, the visuals are great (both enemy- and backdrop design) and the music is fitting. The first track might not be the most exciting thing in the world but it gets better. Waaaay better. In fact, by the time I reached the stage Orgasmic Stride the music together with the beautiful flower overgrown backdrop made me feel like I was playing a golden game. A hidden gem. A great shoot 'em up. But yes, it is a bit on the easy side. At least once you get the hitbox size and placement down. I died plenty in the beginning due to not realizing how far back on the ship my hitbox was. But this is not something I hold against Ghost Blade. I like a shooter here and there to just be great fun with pretty pixels and cool music.

"My main problem with this title is the, at times, severe slowdown."

My main problem with this title is the, at times, severe slowdown. And I am not talking about some slowdown to use at your advantage, but unacceptable slowdown to the point where the framerate seemed to be 2 or 3 frames per second. At this speed it becomes really hard to see which way bullets are going since it just looks like a flickering gif of random screenshots. I hope this is a hardware limitation though, and that it gets fixed in the upcoming PS4 port.

Where does this land us? It certainly ends up somewhere in the "okay" area. If it was not for the terrible slowdown I would actually call it great.

News: Win shooters and guides!

There is a competition going on over at The Dreamcast Junkyard right now. The challenge is to identify 25 Dreamcast games from just looking at the VMU. For someone like me, who never owned an original VMU (I only have third party ones with no screen/buttons), this is absolutely impossible - but I am sure lots of you can enter this competition and have a very good chance at winning:

1st prize: Dux 1.5 + Redux: Dark Matters + The DCJY Ultimate Collectors Guide
2nd prize: Dux 1.5 + The DCJY Ultimate Collectors Guide

There will be two winners of the first prize and three winners of the second prize, so there are five winners all in all. I would say that is pretty good odds if you are up for the challenge!

Review: Shenmue (Dreamcast)

It was time. Ever since I got a Dreamcast I had my sight set on a copy of Shenmue. I had heard it was one of the systems truly great and that I should not miss it for anything in the world. And then all the shoot 'em ups happened. I mostly used my Dreamcast for shooter goodness and soon forgot all about Shenmue as it gathered more and more dust up on my shelf. So this one day I met a guy who was new in town and we had quite a bit of stuff in common. Mainly video games, and more specifically we both felt we had used our Dreamcasts way to sparsely over the last years. And the one game we had in common, that both of us owned and had not played, was Shenmue. It really was time. We decided to go "book club" on it and play it separately but report to one another from time to time with thoughts and impressions. And here is what I thought.

"mindboggling amounts of dynamic dialogue with the many NPC's"

Shenmue is a groundbreaking game in many regards. It is one of the first open world games to feature so much attention to detail and realism. Time schedules, high resolution textures in every corner you care to look closer at, mindboggling amounts of dynamic dialogue with the many NPC's, the arcade in the town has real arcade ports... Heck, I have been told even the weather is accurate for the time. It is truly a world to lose oneself in. And here lays my first realization: Shenmue is a cosy and engaging game that does not take it upon itself to mercilessly entertain with tense action and explosions and so forth. It counts on you, the player, to give as much as you want to get out of it. I went all in and even if the game does have a neat notebook to store things,that needs to be remembered in, I grabbed myself a real notepad and a pen and kept some notes of my own.

News: The Dreamcast Junkyard Ultimate Collectors Guide is available as a physical copy

If you are a die hard Dreamcast collector chances are you have come across the wonderful website that is The Dreamcast Junkyard. You might also have looked through the guide to collecting Dreamcast games written by Mike Phelan. It is a guide that lists every game ever released for the system world wide, including the indie titles and even upcoming ones. This guide has now become a real physical thing to hold in your hands for the relatively low price of £10 + £4 in shipping (roughly $20 all in all).

Bear in mind that the guide is not a coffee table kind of book, it is meant to be a tool for collectors. This means there is no bells or whistles. It is pure text, charts and checklists back to back. For a closer look at the guide check out this YouTube video.

If you want to buy a copy then here is a link to their shop.

News: Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs

Team Saber Rider have bought the license to make a 16-bit gun-and-gun based on the 1987 TV series Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs. They are aiming for a release on PC, Mac, Linux, 3DS, Wii U, SNES, PC Engine and Dreamcast. Yeah. What a odd and wonderful list, right? The PC Engine version is particularly interesting to me but it is because of the Dreamcast release I am covering this bit of news on VGL. They are running a kickstarter campaign right now. It is nearly funded with four days left to go, so I see no reason as to why this would not make it.


I take for granted that most of my readers fondly remember Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, so I think I speak for all of us when I say "Hurray!".

Review: Redux: Dark Matters (Dreamcast)

I was not the only one who initially felt that Redux: Dark Matters was a scandalous failure. The complaints started flowing in over at Hucast’s HQ. This resulted in everyone getting a second disc with a fixed version of Redux: Dark Matters free of charge. Well, we had to pay the shipping, but other than that it was free. Did this new version change my mind on Redux? Read on and find out!

Redux 1.1 fixes the visual problems completely. It is crystal sharp with great colors and the same smooth 60 FPS gameplay as DUX 1.5. The textures are all revamped and the sounds are tweaked. Gone is the pod launch attack, and that is a good thing. If you recently read my review on DUX 1.5 you will know that I found that particular attack somewhat pointless since there already is a proper charge shot in the game. Cleaner control scheme, cooler graphics, better sound, even further tweaked balance and a lot more bling. All the way from small pickups down to parallax backgrounds things have been improved and this makes me really enjoy the game.

"Redux: Dark Matters is the definite version, but it is not a completely new game."

Should gamers who own DUX 1.5 get Redux: Dark Matters? Well, let me say this. Redux: Dark Matters is the definite version, but it is not a completely new game. I would rather look at these games as three iterations of the same core game. They are all worth a couple of bucks for the collector I would say, but for an average gamer that just wants to play the best version of DUX out there Redux: Dark Matters is the only logical option. It is the most polished version of them all and it is in many ways like the original DUX on crack. Just make sure to buy the 1.1 version if you are going for a used copy. Really, really make sure.

Article: How Hucast tricked us all

In may 2012, Hucast emerged on Kickstarter. It was the creators behind DUX, that asked for $25,000 to make a sequal - Redux: Dark Matters. It was going to be a totally new shoot ’em up that would be extra sweetened the more streatch goals was reached. In the end Hucast got over $50,000 and although they originally said one particular stretch goal was 60k, they contacted all backers and said that the two player mode (and yet another new level) would enter the game. Excited over the great result Hucast went to work and the fans began their patient waiting.

The first release date, february of 2013, came and went. The updates were few and far between, but the complaints were even fewer. Let them take the time they need, most of us said. The game was delayed multiple times. But then, a snowy january afternoon when I was sitting at home a package fell through my door and down on my floor. The game had arrived. I eagerly opened it up and was greated with a wonderfully designed case filled with extra goodies. You know, some cards, a sticker, stuff like that.

I immediately put the Redux disc in my Dreamcast and on the television screen appeared... a pixelated logo seemingly out of focus. ”Wow” I thought, ”what a curious choice for a logo!”. What followed next could almost be described as a small shock. Redux: Dark Matters was not a ”new shoot ’em up” at all. It was an exact copy of DUX, but with slightly higher resolution, some new textures and deeper backgrounds. That had been shoehorned onto a Dreamcast disc with no thought on how the end result would be.

The result was blurry. In fact, the result was so blurry I could not look at the game for longer than ten minutes before getting a headache. Those who wear glasses can imagine playing without them to understand how Redux: Dark Matters looked.

What happened? How could Hucast go from ”a totally new shoot ’em up with extra levels and a two player mode” to ”DUX again, with no extra levels and no two player mode” at the same time as keeping their backers money without losing sleep? I do not know. It happened none the less.

Redux: Dark Matters is only marginally different from its predecessor and with blurry visuals. Hucast made a mediocre shoot ’em up worse, announced it as a completely new title, collected over $50,000 and laughed all the way to the bank.

I would like to explain here that it is important to read my upcoming, full, review of Redux: Dark Matters because Hucast listened to their fans and tried to make things better. Read that one before judging Hucast.

Review: DUX 1.5 (Dreamcast)

When I said I would take some time to sink my teeth into DUX 1.5 and Redux: Dark Matters I did not think I would take this long to do it. Of course I have not been playing just these two games since my last entry but let us pretend that is the case, for poops and giggles. So, this is my first review of two - focusing on DUX 1.5 and briefly covering Redux: Dark Matters because of reasons soon unveiled to you.

(DUX 1.5 is a slightly updated version of DUX, just as the name would suggest. Since I have not played the original I am not going to compare the two, but rather share some thoughts on DUX 1.5 as a game completely of its own. What I do know is different is the balance and the soundtrack.)

DUX 1.5 is a horizontal shoot ’em up developed by Hucast and released on Dreamcast in 2013, meaning it is one of those games that got released long after the system was discontinued. It plays as one would expect although a bit slow and it is definitely on the easy side. This is something I do not necessarily write off as negative as the shoot ’em up genre has plenty of sadistically difficult games as it is. I managed to 1CC it the same day I first fired it up and it quite frankly did not need anything more than patience.

"It plays as one would expect although a bit slow and it is definitely on the easy side."

The visuals are extremely pretty. Not technically impressive, but the color scheme... Oh, god, the color scheme. It is right up my alley with lots of pastelle colors and bright white objects. It runs buttery smooth and sounds pretty nice as well. The soundtrack is not something I will remember, but it is fitting to the levels and it feels taken care of. The controls are not complicated, but there are quite some things to remember. We have our standard shot (one button for regular shots and one for auto), a charge shot, bullet soaking and pod launch. The ship has a pod in front of it, sort of like in R-Type, which can protect the ship from most kinds of enemy fire. This pod can be used as is, launched forward to cause destruction and also soak up bullets on screen to clear a path or get the player out of a pinch. It all works, but I feel since we have an extremely powerful charge shot there is really no point in having the launching pod as well. It seems like two attacks that does pretty much the same. I ended up ignoring the pod launch during my time with the game.

"the only real challenge in reaching the end is paying attention through long, slow scrolling levels"

All in all I want to recommend DUX 1.5 to everyone that likes a more slow paced shooter with pretty visuals (without being a cute ’em up) and that has a lot of patience, because the only real challenge in reaching the end is paying attention through long, slow scrolling levels.

Immediately after beating DUX 1.5 I popped in the Redux: Dark Matters disc and was expecting nothing less than an amazing successor/remake of the formula. Perfected gameplay and impressive visuals together in perfect harmony and so on and so forth. What I got was garbage. The resolution was very strange and the result of a rushed decision was a game that looked so blurry it made me feel nauseous.

News: Pier Solar HD remake?

Pretty much exactly two years ago Watermelon gave us a very delayed RPG for Mega Drive/Genesis - which was Pier Solar and the Great Architects. It sold out in notime and demands huge prices nowadays. Now Watermelon is asking for $139 000 over at Kickstarter to produce a remake which will be released on PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox Live Arcade and... Oh yeah, of course, Dreamcast. I hope they get what they ask for because Pier Solar is absolutely worth playing.

News: NEO XYX announced

NG:DEV TEAM is up to mischief once again, this time with a vertical shoot 'em up named NEO XYX. I very much enjoyed both Gunlord and Fast Striker so I have every bit of faith in them delivering another solid shooter. As with all their releases, it's not just a Dreamcast version but a Neo Geo one as well. I for one am getting the Dreamcast version because I could never quite justify getting a Neo Geo in terms of the prices versus the game library. Anyway, I should not digress. In the time being I do not know anything about NEO XYX more than the fact that it is, as I said, a vertical shoot 'em up and contain six stages and six bosses. Here is a brief gameplay teaser.

Review: Maken X (Dreamcast)

If one is to speak about Dreamcast in a serious manner the subject at hand should obviously be the most innovative games. Jet Set Radio made celshading popular. Seaman was a bitter fish with a mans face with whom one could talk to through a microphone. In Typing of the Dead the player wrote words that appeared on screen in order to deal damage. The Dreamcast had a big bunch of good arcade ports including many popular shoot 'em ups. And so on. But there is one game on the Dreamcast, that mixes the first person angle with hack 'n' slash, that is rarely or never mentioned. I'm talking about Atlus' twelve year old Maken X.

Maken X, which translates to "the demon sword" is about just this particular sword with godlike powers which is going on an adventure. Sure the game has its obvious shortcomings, such as an incredibly boring story, utterly useless voice actors (in the western version, that is) and the fact that during the entire game the controls suffer from the loss of a second analog stick - but it is still very entertaining to play. You navigate between the stages via a world map and get to visit very diverse places such as China, Russia, England, France, Brazil and the United States in search of the missing old man, higher rank and more blade masters to take over. Wait, what? "Take over"? What am I talking about? Well, the brain jack system of course! An approach we have seen in, among others, Oddworld, Rocket Birds and Forbidden Siren. You get to take control over other characters in order to be able to do things you could not do before. Unlike in the forementioned games you here get to keep the characters that have been taken over and can freely switch between them on the world map before entering a stage. 

"We will sadly miss out on juicy details such as enemies with swastikas in their faces and a battle to the death with the Pope himself"

When taking over a character you get his or her full arsenal and skill, and there is up to twenty different enemies to be taken over - all significantly different from each other. Things that they do have in common includes being able to block, lock target on enemies, jump over their head and land behind them - all ninja like - and also the abillity to gather power to perform certain special attacks.If you are blessed with knowledge of the Japanese language, the Japanese version is strongly recommended. The western version did not just contain bad voice acting, but it also was slightly censored. We will sadly miss out on juicy details such as enemies with swastikas in their faces and a battle to the death with the Pope himself, right there in the Vatican.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that this is a title with flaws just as well as strengths and it probably is not for everyone - but it is on the other hand a innovative game with a fairly high replay value in regards to the ability to accumulate additional characters and the multiple endings. It is like I said rarely or never mentioned when talking about the Dreamcast - and frankly, I can not say why.

Article: How to get the best video signal out of the Dreamcast

It is not as widely known as I had hoped that many Dreamcast games actually have VGA support. When the game have this label on the back of it that means it is good to go with VGA. Most of the Dreamcast gamers I have met and talked to actually starts off using RF and then switches up to regular (RGB)A/V cables as they realize it is much cleaner both on CRT- and HDTVs. But there is an even better option, wich is as mentioned; VGA.

Since most games are VGA compatible there is several VGA adapters released and one of the most common looks like this. You are likely to find another kind since the one pictured can be pretty expensive - but that is okay. Anyone of these boxes will do the job just fine as long as it is only for Dreamcast. The multiadapters can sometimes produce lower quality video and audio, so they should be avoided. If you are worried about buying one of the few games in the future that might not have VGA support you should get a switched one (some adapters have output to both VGA and most commonly Composite and/or S-Video).

Now then, how does one find these little darlings?
They are really all around, just search for Dreamcast VGA where ever you buy cables and it should pop up. Here is an eBay seller with many of the ones with new design for sale. I believe the problem where the weak switch would break is gone due to a different design. Racketboy sells another kind where there is only the VGA option - which works equally good. It obviously does not have a switch.

Just remember that you also have to purchase a VGA male to male cable since these adapters only have female out.

News: Polyko ported to Dreamcast

The game with the short name Polyko's Super Jelly Bean Quest in the Sketchbook of Illusion has been ported to Dreamcast by the Senile Team (Rush Rush Rally Racing). The price for this project is nothing. It is completely free and can be legally downloaded from Senile Teams homepage along with some cover art so it fits snugly into the gaming shelf.

Review: Gunlord (Dreamcast)

After Last Hope and Fast Striker NG: DEV decided to develop a run 'n gun that smells both like Turrican and Metroid. And what a genre debut! After a short introduction sequence you are in the process of shooting just about everything out of existence - but if you are not careful, it becomes a short experience. For Gunlord, ladies, gentlemen and everything in between - do not play around.

That said, the game is obviously inspired by the Turrican series, but it often shines through that NG: DEV is a shoot 'em up developer at heart, and I say that not just because of the second stage which is a pure horizontal shoot 'em up experience, but because it is also played just like a shoot 'em up. Without meticulous memorization of stages, enemies and bosses - chances are minimal to get to the end and when the difficulty is turned up about halfway through the game, it becomes obvious that it is trial and error, where memorization is virtually the only way out. Add to that both colorful and frenetic shooting of enormous dimensions, and a scoreboard on the developers website and you have an incredibly intense run 'n gun that really is not ashamed of its roots.

The stages are nine in number, which may sound a bit short at first glance, but one should keep in mind that every stage has numerous secrets and places that are difficult to reach - which richly rewards the curious with many exciting weapons, extra lives, bombs and other goodies that makes the experience extra intense. However, none of these secrets is absolutely necessary to reach in order to advance in the game, which makes it different from for example Metroid. Along the stages there are plenty of containers that you can shoot to get different weapons from - and bombs and items to slightly fill up the health bar.

From start you are equipped with a spreadshot that outclasses many other default guns, the opportunity to roll around like a ball on the ground while laying out an unlimited number of grenades and what might be described as a laser whip - which can be rotated 360 degrees. Together, this is a really good foundation that make you feel like you are always in control to attack the enemy no matter how they choose to approach. And if you die, it is your own fault.

NG: DEV love their bosses. They are big, well drawn and entertaining. Many of them covers half the screen (or more!), which really feels just right in a game of this caliber. Each monster has a predetermined and rather monotonous pattern that the player would be well advised to remember, but some of them can unfortunately be quite simple when you rehearsed a good tactic - which makes you almost lose respect for some of the oppontents.

"this is absolutely a given purchase that really shows that the Dreamcast is still a console to be counted on"

Gunlord is region free and compatible with both the standard controller, the six button pad and the arcade stick and comes in different versions that vary in price depending on how committed you are. If you are not scared of a cranked up difficulty and at the same time are attracted by colorful pixels in 2D, this is absolutely a given purchase that really shows that the Dreamcast is still a console to be counted on.