Grab your VMU and dust off that controller! Join us as we celebrate SEGA's innovative console with our picks for the greatest Dreamcast games ever made. From fighting game perfection to groundbreaking online experiences, these titles defined an era despite the system's short lifespan. Which of these legendary games holds a special place in your gaming memories?
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 greatest Sega
00:12Dreamcast games ever made.
00:20Number 20, Space Channel 5.
00:29It may not be one of Sega's most notable IPs, at least these days it isn't, but Space
00:33Channel 5 still managed to make an impact in the publisher's history.
00:37Face off against aliens and rival reporters as Ulala tries to sing and dance her way to
00:41saving the galaxy.
00:43While utterly bizarre in presentation and short in length, Space Channel 5 was clever
00:47in its use of pre-rendered visuals, polygonal character models, and music selection.
00:51Some aspects in its gameplay may not hold up to modern expectations, but even today,
00:56Space Channel 5 still sticks out as one of the best games Sega put out during the Dreamcast
01:01short run.
01:08Number 19, Dynamite Cop.
01:19When it comes to Sega beat-em-ups, most folks tend to gravitate towards Streets of Rage,
01:23and understandably so.
01:24However, we'd be remiss to forget about Dynamite Cop.
01:27Admittedly, there wasn't anything really unique here that we hadn't seen already.
01:31It was a 3D beat-em-up loaded with objects that you could use to pummel foes with, and
01:35it was so much fun to play as, just as much fun as its 2D brethren.
01:39Combine that with the overly dramatic music and ridiculous environments, and what you
01:43have is a cheesy beat-em-up that's too absurd to not love.
01:46Number 18, Samba De Amigo.
01:54Don't worry, we aren't about to go crazy with a bunch of music games filling this list.
01:57However, Samba De Amigo is definitely deserving of some recognition here.
02:01Whereas most music games default to just making the player push inputs at specific times,
02:06Samba De Amigo wanted you to actually get up and move with your own maracas, shake them
02:11in specific directions to nail your beats, and land the best grade possible.
02:15Of course, a hearty helping of multiplayer modes gave us enough excuses to keep the party
02:19going longer than we probably should have.
02:26Number 17, Project Justice Rival Schools 2.
02:35Rival Schools 2 does not get the credit it truly deserves for just how ambitious it was
02:40for a fighting game.
02:41With a roster of 22 playable characters, players had enough choice to build their own formidable
02:46team of three fighters.
02:48Not only that, but every combination of each trio you put together came with their own
02:52unique team of attacks.
02:53And as for the story, you could go about it in two different ways.
02:56While free mode lets you play a standard arcade ladder, the story mode actually guided you
03:00through each school's plot, and see how they tie in with other characters.
03:04It was fairly expansive for its time, and even today the controls and gameplay hold
03:08up surprisingly well.
03:15Number 16, Sega Bass Fishing.
03:26It's hard to believe anyone would call a fishing video game one of the greatest video
03:30games ever made, but in the case of Sega Bass Fishing, it truly is one of the best games
03:34put on Dreamcast.
03:35While it is more or less a straight port of the arcade original, this version comes with
03:39two extra modes, and a plethora of different lures to catch the biggest fish possible.
03:44What makes this game even more impressive is just how good the water and environments
03:48look.
03:49Sure, the game doesn't demand a lot of technical power, but despite its age, it looks and plays
03:54pretty darn good compared to some of the games we've had within the past decade.
04:05Number 15, Dead or Alive 2.
04:12Speaking of games that play really well, the Dreamcast version of Dead or Alive 2 remains
04:16to be one of the greatest ports of an arcade game to ever release.
04:20The controls are super responsive, the graphics are captivating, and the fighting feels so
04:24so good.
04:25Honestly, it is really impressive how much detail was crammed into this port between
04:30the environments, character models, and even the clothes.
04:32Sure, the jiggly nature might be a bit too much for some, but you just cannot call yourself
04:37a fighting game fan if you haven't given Dead or Alive 2 a fair shake.
04:50Number 14, House of the Dead 2.
04:57A launch title for the Dreamcast, House of the Dead 2 was a hell of a way to kickstart
05:01the console, even if it wasn't going to be around for long.
05:04Even so, this iteration of the arcade game was practically a one-to-one recreation of
05:09the original.
05:10No compromises to be found anywhere at all.
05:12And as for the game itself, House of the Dead 2 features the most imaginative environments
05:16and fun enemy designs in the series.
05:18But if you do prefer to practice your virtual literary typing skills, you can always just
05:22plug in your mouse and keyboard into the Dreamcast for an authentic typing of the dead experience.
05:27Which is just House of the Dead 2 with some typing controls, good times.
05:39Number 13, Ikaruga.
05:46Bullet hell shoot-em-ups are a dime a dozen these days, but there will simply never be
05:50another game quite like Ikaruga.
05:52The coolest thing about Ikaruga is not just the music or the absurd difficulty, no it's
05:57the basic idea of attributing one of two polarities to the bullets you see on screen.
06:02And you can switch your own polarity whenever the need arises.
06:05Switch to black and you'll absorb black bullets, but take damage to white bullets
06:08and vice versa.
06:10Despite the simplicity behind this concept, Ikaruga can definitely get overwhelming if
06:14you let it.
06:15But no matter how many times we die to one bullet we didn't just notice, we can't
06:19stop playing this game every once in a while.
06:28Number 12, Daytona USA 2001.
06:37The original Daytona game was already nearly perfect as an arcade racing game.
06:41The controls, the use of rubber banding, the catchy Daytona, it was all beautiful.
06:46The 2001 iteration that was released for Dreamcast made the whole experience even better.
06:51In addition to the three courses featured in the original game, Daytona USA 2001 came
06:56with three of its own tracks along with more cars, more detailed textures and models, and
07:00even an online mode to race the ghosts of other players.
07:03Why Sega hasn't even bothered porting this version of the game forward with better connectivity
07:07is definitely beyond us.
07:09Number 11, Grandia 2.
07:17Took us this long to start talking about JRPGs, huh?
07:19Well, Grandia 2 is among the handful that everyone ought to play at least once.
07:23You play as a mercenary named Ryuto, who after escorting a young woman to a ceremony discovers
07:28said woman possesses a mysterious power.
07:31What follows is a beautiful story about mankind and the evils that can make a society thrive
07:35and march forward into a more progressive future.
07:38It's heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, and at times thrilling to play with its innovative
07:42combat system.
07:51Number 10, Skies of Arcadia.
08:00As other JRPGs relish deep within traditional fantasy and occasional science fiction, Skies
08:05of Arcadia stood out from the crowd for its more whimsical steampunk aesthetics.
08:10But what made the adventure memorable was how the game focused way more on exploration
08:14compared to other JRPGs.
08:15Every location you discovered was hiding tons and oodles of secrets between items, towns,
08:20secret dungeons, and so much more.
08:22It truly made the game feel like an adventure made just for you.
08:25Here's hoping Sega finds a way to bring the game forward to modern hardware.
08:28We'd love to see that.
08:30Number 9, Power Stone 2.
08:38If there was a term we could use to describe Power Stone 2, it's sheer chaos.
08:43The original game was already maddening, in a fun way of course, with its various power-ups
08:47and unique characters.
08:48Power Stone 2 tightens the focus by making these power-ups crucial to winning and removing
08:52some of the more hardcore fighting game elements like combos.
08:55Plus, you had an entire new campaign and adventure mode where you could unlock more power-ups
08:59and weapons, and even combine items for more unlockables.
09:03Simply put, it was a party game for the ages, and it's a shame that Capcom did not continue
09:07the franchise after this one.
09:13Number 8, Jet Set Radio.
09:25There just simply has not been another game quite like the funky hip-hop freshness of
09:30Jet Set Radio.
09:31Zoom around a vast city while collecting spray paint cans to create graffiti and fending
09:34off the fuzz.
09:35It was a fun and arcadey game that you could pick up and play whenever you wanted to, and
09:39the music really sold us on the atmosphere.
09:42Jet Set Radio would become one of the few successful Dreamcast games, selling more than
09:461 million copies across the globe.
09:56Number 7, Crazy Taxi.
10:02Who's ready to make some crazy money?
10:05Well, that's the aim of Crazy Taxi, and it is one heck of a good time, let me tell
10:10you.
10:11Pick up passengers and bring them to their destinations as quickly as you can while taking
10:14them on the wildest taxi ride of their life.
10:17While most will reminisce over the soundtrack and quirky voice acting, the real draw of
10:21Crazy Taxi was just how many maneuvers you could pull off to boost profits.
10:25Use shortcuts, weave through traffic without hitting anything, and leap off ramps to earn
10:29even more crazy money.
10:30It was a fun romp, and its thrilling mechanics and energetic presentation are why so many
10:35players remember it fondly even to this day.
10:47Number 6, Resident Evil Code Veronica.
10:58While most players gravitate towards RE2 and RE4 for good reasons, you'll find an equally
11:03dedicated fan-based champion, Code Veronica, at a similar level of hype.
11:07And they have plenty of reason to.
11:09Claire Redfield's standalone game is just as captivating as the mainline series, with
11:13its unimaginative locations and moody atmosphere.
11:16However, the reason why some consider it to be the best is for its technological improvements.
11:20The camera is more functional than previous games, and the use of actual backgrounds over
11:24pre-rendered ones brought more immersion to the game.
11:26Honestly, there is a case to be made here in regards to Code Veronica being one of the
11:30very best games in Resident Evil history, but I guess that's a list for another day.
11:34Number 5, Soul Calibur.
11:57If you truly want to look at the most graphically impressive games on the Dreamcast, look no
12:01further than Soul Calibur.
12:03We understand that fighting games back in the day weren't as technically demanding
12:06as they are now, of course.
12:08But even so, the amount of detail on display is simply astounding.
12:11The texture work on the clothing, the shine on bladed weapons, the animation of character
12:15clothes in windy environments, the reflection of the water.
12:18Heck, it is all so mesmerizing to think that all of this is running on something as ancient
12:22as a Dreamcast, and it's doing so without any hiccups whatsoever.
12:26Definitely a fantastic and revolutionary fighting game and a remarkable port of an
12:30arcade game.
12:40Number 4, Sonic Adventure 2.
12:49Even though we'll rave about Sonic Frontiers or Sonic X Shadow Generations, Sonic Adventure
12:542 will always be at the top of the greatest 3D Sonic game ever made.
12:57And we aren't just saying that because this game introduces Shadow the Hedgehog.
13:00Okay, in all seriousness, Shadow is kind of a big part of why this game is so revered
13:05so often.
13:06Only do you have a traditional adventure with the Blue Blur himself, Tails, and Knuckles,
13:10you have an entire campaign of equal length starring Shadow, along with Eggman and Rouge
13:14the Bat.
13:15As a bonus, you have the Accoutrements from the previous Sonic Adventure game, with a
13:19fun multiplayer mode and a whole section dedicated to raising Chaos.
13:23It's like having multiple games in one package, and they are all immensely fun to play.
13:36Number 3, Phantasy Star Online.
13:46The sad reality regarding Phantasy Star Online is that this game was way, way ahead of its
13:52time.
13:53Back in 2001, online console gaming had really just started its infancy, as developers were
13:57kind of figuring out how to properly integrate online connectivity into consoles.
14:02And in addition to serving up an insanely fun action RPG, Phantasy Star Online was surprisingly
14:06functional in maintaining a stable connection.
14:09Couple that with the remarkably flexible combat and weapon system to let players develop their
14:13own playstyles, and Phantasy Star Online is easily the most innovative and revolutionary
14:17Dreamcast game to ever exist.
14:27Number 2, Shenmue.
14:38We have seen games that push graphical detail, games that push online functionality, and
14:42games that push for new ideas.
14:43Shenmue made a massive push for total immersion all around.
14:47Day and night cycles, diverse weather, complete with their own effects on the environment,
14:51tons of unique interactive objects, NPCs with their own extensive scripts to follow.
14:55It was a complete enigma how Sega managed to squeeze all of this into the Dreamcast
14:59and get it to work without any problems.
15:02Sure, yes, some aspects may not have aged all that well, but when you do think about
15:06the time Shenmue was released, it's hard to keep knocking it for lines like, do you
15:10know where I can find some sailors?
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15:36Number 1, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, New Age of Heroes.
15:47And when it comes to Dreamcast games, fighting games, and ports of renowned arcade games,
15:52none have matched the same level of quality, hype, and utter insanity as Marvel vs. Capcom
15:572.
15:58First, you have a meaty roster of more than 50 characters to choose from to build your
16:01team of three.
16:02Second, each and every character has unique moves, assists, and hyper combos that can
16:06potentially lead to insane combos as you tag in your other allies.
16:10And lastly, there is absolutely no compromise with this port.
16:13The Dreamcast version of MVC2 is virtually the same as the arcade version, save a few
16:18extra modes and some of the roster being locked behind currency.
16:21Other than that, this is one of those games that is perfect in every way imaginable.
16:33What was your favorite Dreamcast game?
16:34Did it make our list?
16:35Let us know in the comments!