General Arcade & Retro Chat' Special Championship Edition

o1s1n

Always regret not buying a Dreamcast on release. The promise of the PS2 having a DVD drive was too big to pass up. Was the main reason I held on for one.

Retr0gamer

I held off because I didn't trust Sega after the Saturn. Then the first year was so good for that system. And the PS2 then came and despite being rubbish other than ssx it wiped the floor with the Dreamcast. By the ps2's second Xmas the system had become essential and the Dreamcast wasn't being produced anymore.

Colonel Panic

I loved the Dreamcast. It came out at a time when I had disposable income for games for the first time ever, and even the PAL version, with 60Hz support being commonplace was worth getting.

I still play Powerstone, Bangai O and House of the Dead 2 on a regular basis.

And then there was the awesomeness of playing Phantasy Star Online and a brilliant console port of Quake 3 Arena over dialup. Kept that line busy for hours at a time!

It also marked my first and last adventure in video game journalism. A Sega site set up mostly to get white label review code, but we also worked with an import place to borrow and review Saturn stuff too. That's when I went back to get a Saturn and got into shmups like Souky, Layer Section and Battle Garegga.

CiDeRmAn

Wow, that was a big purchase for me, imported it at launch from Japan, in that funky orange package.

The launch games...

Best described as "mixed".

Virtua Fighter 3 TB

Incoming

Pen Pen TriIcelon

But Power Stone was on the way, so not to worry!

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121426593#Comment_121426593

The Western launch line up at least slapped.

DaveyDave

I don't know what it is about the Dreamcast but I I have very fond memories of it. There's just something about the games that feel unique to that console.

I'm not sure if I got the Dreamcast before the PS2 or after, but either way I was a good boy for Santa two years in a row I had both. The Dreamcast must have been sold off at that stage as we certainly weren't well off to casually have both!

I definitely play it more than the PS2.

Quigs Snr

I just GDEmu'd one of my Dreamcasts to have a look at some of the imports that I never got around to (and wasn't smart enough to buy when they were still peanuts). Extraordinarily underrated console. I picked mine up in 99 with Soul Calibur and to this day I dont think I have ever been as impressed with a new console. I even bought the mouse and keyboard to play Quake 3 tournaments online with. For dial up it performed superbly well most of the time. I somehow still have about 30 games left to collect on my PAL wanted list for the console - which is looking like its going to be an expensive enterprise.

Retr0gamer

Don't forget that the Dreamcast had Blue Stinger and introduced the world to Dogs Bower.

The Last Bandit

Completely ignored the Dreamcast when it came out, jumped straight on the PS2 bandwagon - DVD playback was a big influence at the time. Still prefer the PS2 but no doubt the Dreamcast had some brilliant titles, always felt like the more arcadey type console, not in a bad way.

o1s1n

I didn't get a Dreamcast myself until I started buying up old consoles, think around 2003/2004.

Would have been long enough ago for me to still have a CD Drive in my PC capable of firing off loads of CDR games!

I think it was the last great console that really tried to delve into what videogaming of the future could be.

From Shenmue taking the whole 'virtua' thing to the next level and being a life simulator to VMUs and the portable aspect of them, then actually having a modem too and trying to embrace online gaming.

I still think of it being far more futuristic than the PS2, which was a great console but just felt like an upgraded PS1 in comparison.

Retr0gamer

My current hobby related to videogames: watch experts in music theory discovering videogame soundtracks like Streets of Rage 2 and Shin Megami Tensei 4 and being blown away by how complex and clever the music is.

CiDeRmAn

I've told the story before, but it marked the beginning of my collection, as selling the Japanese console let to an N64, Saturn and some cash, which was soon followed by almost everything else!

dav09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121428447#Comment_121428447

Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage 2) is a video game music legend. He has many games with legendary soundtracks, one I think is overlooked that blows me away is Maximum Tune 3. While might not be my favorite genre, the hard trance soundtrack on the original surround sound cabinets really take you back to late 90s/early 2000's while playing it. It's really technical, complex and really well made and mental to think it's by the same guy as Streets of Rage 2 too when you contrast it. Such a cool experience playing that game and is really made complete by it's music.

KeRbDoG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121428447#Comment_121428447

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cx73EOaGWU

This popped up in YouTube to be watched, talking about the SoR soundtrack. The lad gets a little excited :D

McDermotX

There was a little piece in The Guardian on Yuzo Koshiro last week. Can't recall if it was posted on here

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/games/2023/nov/21/yuzo-koshiro-game-soundtracks-streets-of-rage

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121429135#Comment_121429135

That's what I watched yesterday that prompted my post. 👍

dav09

This post/video got me thinking about all of the crazy 90s video game soundtracks out there. Robin Beanland is another I rarely see mentioned (who also did Goldeneye and Donkey Kong Country) but on Killer Instinct 2 Arcade in particular was crazy for its time. Another one of those games that just takes you back to that mid 90s era whenever I play it, some really complex tracks on it, and an overall super diverse soundtrack. Some songs sound like 90's thrash metal, then other's like 90's cheesy dance house, then a bunch of really technical for it's hardware tracks sound like they'd fit on a quirky 90's Warp IDM record. It's fantastic.

DaveyDave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121428850#Comment_121428850

I was surprised to find out he had done Maximum Tune, it's a series I've enjoyed playing in recent years and the dance tunes definitely add to the arcade experience. The soundtracks aren't out of place on the newer entries either.

Retr0gamer

Never forget

KeRbDoG

The badly drawn characters should have been a red flag - mistakes were made

Mr.Saturn

On that note.

Doge

Absolute cracker of a video on the music theory / chords of selected Streets Of Rage 2 tracks for @BGOllie , @o1s1n and fellow A&R musos:

https://youtu.be/2cx73EOaGWU

One of the cool things is that the presenter Charles Cornell has never played the games so there's no nostalgia bias involed and he was still blown away.

Quigs Snr

The first time I ever even noticed music in a video game (Mario aside) was when the title screen of Turrican for C64 loaded up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqAsGDgvPyo

.... I was convinced that I had heard it before.. Maybe Rocky IV soundtrack... took until the internet age for me to discover that it was a pretty darn good Sid chip rendition of "escape" from the transformers animated movie from 1986.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121434093#Comment_121434093

Great to see that soundtrack getting some non nostalgia recognition, it really is incredible.

I see Yuzo new Megadrive Shmup is scheduled for a 2024 release - can't wait to hear what he's done with the soundtrack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvFTLEGim_M

Retr0gamer

I watched a 7 hour video on a music theory teacher going wild about the smt4 soundtrack. Well I didn't watch all 7 hours just skipped to my favourite tracks but interesting to hear how technical they are and how he was able to pick out parts of the music that would tie tracks together that where for similar themes.

Retr0gamer

Samurai shodown rpg finally has a fan translation

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/7113/

DaveyDave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121434093#Comment_121434093

Interesting watch, it's a fantastic soundtrack but seeing it picked apart like that makes you appreciate the complexity of music more.

Doge

https://youtu.be/s3SfmMFOvQE

Cats

Dr Bob

Well , pour one out for my trusty Philips CM8833 monitor ..it finally gave up the ghost today , blank screen and whining looks like a blown LOPT , and from looking at forums it seems to be hard to get (and monitor repair is beyond me sadly) . there will be a short ceremony tomorrow , immediate family only , no flowers . Thanks

Retr0gamer

Digital eclipse are doing a Jeff Minter collection. This will be in the same documentary style as their Atari collection and karateka release.