Here's to you Sega
The Dreamcast passed and it was unfortunate that Sega just couldn't compete with the competition. That doesn't mean that it left behind an amazing legacy of quality software that brought many things new to the table to revive genrés of titles being inundated with clones and basic rehashes. This editorial will go over the Top 10 in terms of originality but excellent gameplay that should be remembered forever by its fans.
10. Sega Gaga
What made this title interesting was that you are now in the role of Sega. You call the shots, you make the decisions to turn Sega from rags to riches. Sega Gaga was a simulator in which you are in control of Sega. You start off as small potatoes but you must trounce the evil competitor (Sony?) with great decisions at impeccable timing. Despite barely registering in most minds in Japan and failed to bring enough interest to be released in other nations, it still broke a lot of ground for its innovation. No developer ever introduced a simulator in which you are the role of a video game company whose goal is to simply dominate.
9. NFL 2K1
NFL 2K was a great effort by Visual Concepts as well as its first but it had its share of problems. NFL 2K1 managed to break ground in three ways. The first one was easily the most improvement done onto a game. NFL 2K was quite buggy and full of problems. NFL 2K1 this time around fixed the mass majority of the problems, introduced entire new modes, greatly beefed up playbooks, and make the gameplay distinct from Madden. Secondly, sales of NFL 2K1 managed to topple sales of its competitor, Madden 2001 on the PlayStation 2. Thirdly, it was the first full fledged title to take advantage of the SegaNet plan. Visual Concepts created a great football title with netplay that had very little lag with just a 56K modem.
8. Sonic Adventure
A long, long rest was maybe what was needed for Sonic. After Sonic 3 and Knuckles in 1994 plus a massive amount of Game Gear Sonic titles, Sega was on its way to make Sonic the most despised character in gaming by milking it to a level where even Capcom and Squaresoft would start to sweat. Sure, Sonic titles were released but none were official Sonic titles. Finally, after five years, Sonic Team delivered Sonic Adventure. Sonic Adventure showcased the great graphics of the Dreamcast, brought back several popular players and even added a few new ones. It was just great to play a real Sonic game again.
7. F355 Challenge
What made Gran Turismo fans happy was that it appeared to be the first realistic driving game. Beforehand, most racers were arcade oriented. Gran Turismo featured somewhat realistic physics. Until Yu Suzuki arrived. His drive for innovation and greatness formulated the ultimate racing sim title of all time. F355 was very realistic. So realistic that it was originally powered with 3 Naomi arcade boards for the arcade version. F355 is realism to the core, something only Polyphony can dream about. Featuring realistic cars, realistic environments, and best of all for sim fans, realistic physics. This game was published by Acclaim for the American release.
6. Skies of Arcadia
Overworks had been known for quality but not of this caliber. Skies of Arcadia, originally known as Project Ares was a simply answer to Final Fantasy. The characters seemed very familiar from Final Fantasy titles. You got the jerk main character, the mysterious girl that nobody knows about at first but the history and her origins slowly unravels which is tied to the main plot. Then you got another girl that always seemed to be a partner to the jerky main character. Yet Overworks created a RPG that manages to beat out Final Fantasy in every aspect. Skies of Arcadia is without a doubt the best turn based RPG of all time released. The new ideas that are quirky yet refreshing is what makes this game so great.
5. Phantasy Star Online
Online RPGs were known to be like crack as thousands of PC players boasted PC superiority with games like Ultima Online and Everquest. A Online RPG just didn't seem to be possible for the consoles but Sonic Team proved them wrong and created a game that was simply amazing to play and carried all of the addicting qualities of a Online RPG and yet adds the Sonic Team touch to make it one of the finest Online RPGs of all time. This game brought people to play for thousands of hours at a time. The hunt for incredibly rare items became fun instead of long and arduous.
4. Seaman
Interaction has always been something gamers have been desiring. Many games would just take the concept of a world and make you explore every aspect of it but it still felt like you were controlling the character. Seaman was the first game (it came out before Hey You Pikachu in Japan so it wins) to take interaction to a whole new step. Coming with a microphone, Seaman allowed you to talk to these fish-men combo. You talk to them, it talks back, and you can tap the glass. Anything is possible in the game. Its like a fishbowl but this time, the fish talk to you.
3. Jet Grind Radio
Sega innovates yet again. Jet Grind Radio is the story about rebellious skaters who must make their mark in a futuristic town named Tokyoto. What made this game popular at first was the new feature of something that now is becoming a standard and that is cel shading. Not only was this a first with consoles, Sega is used it well and fit like a glove. The gameplay is equally amazing. By collecting paint cans, you spray your tags on assigned locations. You can get more tags, you can explore large levels like Crazy Taxi. Another thing is that you can also do various rollerblading tricks like Tony Hawk. Its like Tony Hawk and Crazy Taxi but with its own innovative flair.
2. Crazy Taxi
Sega has officially made the racing genré refreshing. Crazy Taxi manages to create a great racing game that is fun but quite deep. You are a cabbie and you must take passengers to their locations in the time limit. Through the way, you can accomplish tricks to get tips. You get rewarded on getting there as fast as you could and get punished if you don't. The game rewards all out craziness and with an amazing soundtrack featuring The Offspring and Bad Religion, Crazy Taxi is just what racing games needed.
1. Shenmue
Shenmue will always be remembered with the Dreamcast. Shenmue tells the story of Ryo Hazuki as he lives in 1980s Japan and brings a sense of realism that is simply amazing. You got to work to get money, you can explore every aspect of the town. The game was just built to take gaming to the next level and it more than succeeded. Shenmue also features the most realistic graphics to date. Even with major PlayStation 2, Game Cube, and XBox titles arriving, Shenmue more than holds its own. The story is also compelling and fun to get into.
Certainly Sega has developed more than 10 titles for the Dreamcast but these were the ones that stood out from the rest like a sore thumb, in a positive light. Each one of these titles were great. Classics even for the majority of them. Some people may completely forget all about the Dreamcast but simply its their loss but you can tell that some of the new releases coming to post Dreamcast consoles are directly inspired from these 10 groundbreaking Sega titles. Here's to you Sega. Thanks for making a piece of machinery and turning into an almost endless fun machine.
-Shin Egg Robo X
