• Tag Archives Dreamcast

  • Ecco The Dolphin: Defender of the Future (Sega Dreamcast)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Magazine advert for Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future on the SEGA Dreamcast.

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/161882021845/thesegasource-magazine-advert-for-ecco-the

    Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future was actually the fourth game in the Ecco the Dolphin series though it was more a remake than a sequel. It was developed by Sega and released for the Dreamcast in 2000. The main advancement in regards to this game was the move from 2D to 3D. Previous games in the Ecco series were released for the Sega Genesis and Sega CD.

    The game encompasses a large span of time and is set in the distant future. Dolphins are as intelligent as humans and are at different point allies or enemies of human. As Ecco, the player is always attempting to unite them and save the earth from various threats, the biggest of which is an alien invasion.

    This is a pretty unique game as are all of the games in the Ecco series. It also received very good reviews. As a first party Sega title it was initially released only on the Dreamcast but as Sega eventually dropped support for the Dreamcast, it was later also released on the PS2 (in 2002). A sequel was planned for the Dreamcast but was never completed because of the Dreamcast’s early demise. However, a partially completed copy has made its way into the wild.

    Above is a magazine ad for the original Dreamcast release.





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  • Marvel Vs. Capcom (Sega Dreamcast)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes was actually the third entry in this series of arcade fighting games for which entries are still being produced. It was released as an arcade game in 1998 and about a year later was ported to the Sega Dreamcast with additional modes and enhancements including a four player mode. It was later also ported to the PlayStation but that system was more limited and many sacrifices in animation quality, modes of play, etc. were made. Both versions were positively received but the Dreamcast version was clearly better and even improved upon the original arcade game in some respects.

    Each of these Marvel Vs. Capcom games expanded upon the base of fighters. It started with X-Men vs. Street Fighter, then Marvel Vs. Street Fighter with additional Street Fighter characters as well as Marvel Characters outside of the X-Men. Then this release, Marvel Vs. Capcom, expanded the Marvel characters further and also expanded to Capcom’s other characters besides those in Street Fighter. They were all excellent 2D fighters and much like the Street Fighter II series of games.

    Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes would ultimately be re-released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in hi-def form but if you are looking for one of the original releases, definitely go with the Dreamcast version if you can find it. There have been four installments since this release in 1998 but only one more for the Dreamcast. A new installment, Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite is also on the way for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows.

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    Marvel Vs. Capcom (Sega Dreamcast)

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/161888736075/pr0jectneedlemouse-the-japanese-american-and





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  • Power Drift

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Power Drift
    Publisher: SEGA (Arcade, Saturn, DC, 3DS), Activision (Amiga, CPC, ST, ZX, C64, DOS, MSX), Asmik (PCE)
    Developer: SEGA AM2 (Arcade, Saturn, DC), Activision (Amiga, CPC, ST, ZX, C64, DOS), New Frontier (MSX), Copya System (PCE), M2 (3DS)
    Platform: Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, PC Engine, Saturn, Dreamcast, 3DS
    Year: 1988 (Arcade), 1989 (Amiga, CPC, ST, C64, ZX, MSX, DOS), 1990 (PCE), 1998 (Saturn), 2001 (DC), 2016 (3DS)

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/159812558829/kazucrash-power-drift-publisher-sega-arcade

    Power Drift was a kart racing arcade game that came out in 1988, four years before Mario Kart on the Super NES. The game made uses of 2D sprite scaling for 3D effects much as the Super Nintendo would later do. Power Drift was somewhat similar to Outrun and Super Hang-On which were out around the same time.

    Power Drift was ported to a variety of home system, mostly computers. I know that in the U.S. it was officially released for the Commodore 64 and DOS based PCs. It was also available for the Atari ST and Amiga but these may have been European only releases. It was also available on other popular computers in the U.K., the PC-Engine in Japan and much later, the Sega Saturn also only in Japan.

    The original home platforms did not have sufficient power to scale nearly the number of sprites that were used by the arcade version so they often became quite different games though some versions were good in their own right. For example, the Commodore 64 version was quite a decent game despite the limitations of that system compared to the arcade game. While the Atari ST and Amiga had prettier graphics, the frame rate was abysmal and the playability was not as good. I suspect the later Saturn version was better than arcade perfect. Versions were also planned for the Mega Drive/Sega Genesis and Mega/Sega CD but were never completed.





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