• Tag Archives Dreamcast

  • Mr. Driller

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/636940968032141312/thedoteaters-mr-driller-by-namco-for-the

    Mr. Driller was released in 2000 as a port of the arcade game from the previous year for the PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast and Game Boy Color. The player controls Mr. Driller, the son of the Dig Dug protagonist. In fact, when development first started, this game was to be titled Dig Dug 3 as the third game in that series.



    Mr. Driller is a puzzle game and is sort of a cross between Dig Dug and tetris. Mr. Driller is an emergency worker tasked with drilling down to the buried city below that has been inexplicably covered in blocks. When four colors are connected, the blocks disappear. This of course can cause a chain reaction so you have to be careful Mr. Driller isn’t crushed by falling blocks.

    The levels in Mr. Driller are randomly generated but there are two scenarios that govern the difficulty. There’s the 2500ft challenge and the 5000ft challenge. Obviously, the further you have to go, the harder it is. This distance is split across 5 or 10 levels. Another aspect that adds to the challenge is the fact that Mr. Driller needs Oxygen to survive. Therefore, he must collect oxygen capsules to recharge before running out. There are also some blocks that are more difficult to destroy (“X-blocks”). These take multiple attempts to drill through and use up more of Mr. Driller’s oxygen. However, there is a bonus for connecting four in a row.

    Mr. Driller was initially ported to the Sega Dreamcast, PlayStation and Game Boy Color. the PlayStation and Dreamcast versions are very similar so pick your favorite though the Dreamcast version is going to be slightly closer to the original arcade game as that ran on Sega hardware as well. Fans of puzzle game should enjoy this one and give it a try. This game started a whole franchise so there have been numerous sequels and spinoffs. As far as the original goes, while there were some slightly later ports, I’m not aware of any re-releases so you’ll have to track down an original or use emulation.

    Screenshots above are from the PlayStation version of the game.


    📂This entry was posted in Game Boy PlayStation Retro Games Sega Dreamcast 📎and tagged

  • NBA Showtime

    Posted on by Azrael Comment


    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/190031241521/n64thstreet-the-razzle-dazzle-ad-for-nba


    NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC is an NBA Basketball video game released in 1999. It appeared first in arcades and then later in the year for the Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation. It was also released the following year on the Game Boy Color. NBA Showtime was produced by Midway and is really a continuation of NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime. In fact, game play is much like NBA Hangtime and features many other of the same characteristics.

    While this game is nothing spectacular, if you like basketball games than this was a pretty good one for that era. It features a number of real players and allows up to four players to play. One of the potentially more disappointing aspects is that games only feature two players on each team as opposed to five. Entertaining for multiplayer I suppose but less interesting for single player.

    Aside from the reduction in the number of players on a team, game play is mostly realistic. The exception is that when a player is “on fire”. This is accomplished by a player making three shots in a row. The “on fire” feature acts as a sort of power-up. The player who is “on fire” can easily make shots from almost anywhere, commit fouls without repercussions and also goal-tend without any penalties. This feature is a carry over from the previous NBA Hangtime.

    The Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 versions are definitely the ones to chose from if you want to give this game a try. The Nintendo 64 one will be more expensive to acquire but it makes up for it in the lack of significant loading times. Of course, there is always emulation. The PlayStation version is not as good and while you might want to try the Game Boy Color version if you are a fan of that system, it’s really not much like the others.

    Screen shots above are from the PlayStation version of the game.


    📂This entry was posted in Game Boy Nintendo 64 PlayStation Retro Games Sega Dreamcast 📎and tagged

  • DC-UK (November 1999)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: DC-UK – Issue Number 3 – November 1999



    The Dreamcast was Sega’s last console and one of my favorites. Unfortunately, it led a relatively short life and magazines for that system were few and short lived. Issue number 3 of DC-UK, a Dreamcast magazine published in the U.K., from November 1999, includes the following:

    Features

    • The Padstow Bass Project – Sega Bass Fishing incensed us to try some of that angling stuff ourselves. However, we didn’t allow for freak weather conditions or vengeful seagull attacks.
    • Return to the Forbidden Planet – The Saturn has been almost universally slammed, but some of its games were actually rather good. These are the ones we’d like to see updated for Dreamcast.

    On the cover

    • Pure Soul – Namco’s Soul Calibur reviewed in full
    • American Dream – The US gets DC fever
    • Bass Project – We try to get bass
    • Forbidden Planet – The Saturn’s good bits

    DC-NOW

    • Soul Calibur is fully reviewed by DC-UK. Find out for yourself what we’ve been raving about since issue 01.
    • Hydro Thunder
    • Sega Bass Fishing
    • F1 World GP
    • Buggy Heat
    • Suzuki Alstare
    • Jimmy White’s 2: Cueball
    • Marvel Vs. Capcom
    • Import chart
    • Dreamcasters
    • Expert Witness: Oliver Gavin and Jamie Davies

    DC-EXPRESS

    • The US Launch happened on September 9 – what did our American cousins make of Dreamcast? Well, they seemed to quite like it…
    • Tokyo Game Show
    • Naomi games
    • DVD peripherals
    • Shenmue delayed
    • Neo Geo Pocket Color
    • TV infiltration
    • Gaming weather map
    • From PC to DC
    • Trumps: Soul Calibur

    DC-FACES

    • Dave Perry is the man behind Shiny Entertainment and, more importantly, Earthworm Jim
    • Teruaki Konishi and Shinobu Nimura are the names behind Soul Calibur. We talk to them in Japan.

    DC-NEXT

    • Fighting Force 2 is a run-around-and-shoot-people kind of game. Keep an eye out for the review in the near future.
    • Red Dog
    • Virtua Striker 2 Ver.2000.1
    • Worldwide Soccer 2000
    • Furballs
    • Planet of the Apes
    • Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense
    • South Park Rally
    • NBA Showtime
    • NBA 2000
    • Worms: Armageddon
    • Stunt GP
    • Metropolis Street Racer

    DC-WORLD

    • Review listings with every single review we’ve had in the mag so far
    • What to write and eager fans
    • Ask Auntie Esther
    • Sonic guide: the last bit
    • Calibur and Hydro Thunder cheat
    • Coining it
    • Import gaming
    • Surf’s up: Internet stuff
    • Playtime toys
    • Team Diary and body parts

    Regulars

    • Editorial intro
    • Letters
    • Subscriptions
    • Next month
    • Brain in a jar

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Retro Games Sega Dreamcast 📎and tagged