DC - Rayman 2 - The Great Escape review

Rayman 2 : The Great Escape

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| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : Ubi Soft
A.)Rayman's first 3D adventure for the Dreamcast	Publisher : Ubi Soft
B.) Save creatures in the world and since you can't do it by yourself, you gain trust of this voodoo guy who also tries eats Rayman, but he helps Rayman save the world. Strange eh?	Released on March 21, 2000
C.) 15 hours of gameplay in this game.
	Type :Platform

This was Dreamcast's only platform game. Uri Soft made Rayman before, but he's different now. Uri Soft successfully put him into a 3D platform game like what Nintendo did to Mario. The little guy doesn't have legs or arms, just a hand and feet. But he comes equipped with magic which he uses to defeat enemies. It was a solid game, but I fell out of interest with Rayman. But he was funny at times. The game is huge. It must have been really high profile game @ Uri Soft because they've put this game on PlayStation, N64, Dreamcast, and PS2. So it was stunning for all consoles. IGN.com said that the Dreamcast version was absolutely gourgous. The game is already 3 years old, and I thought Dreamcast was going to last until 2004. You do a lot of skills. The game has many ingame cut sceens. And the music is very platformish. When first looking at it, you'll think it's only a kids game. Well sometimes kids games can be great games too. I haven't heard about Rayman 2 much, but this game is also out for Playstation 2. With the exception of Super Mario Sunshine, PS2 has all the great platform games avalible. Publishers put about 90% of platfrom on the PS2. It's good that Dreamcast got one of the top 5 platformers to own for PS2.

In the game you save your homeland. The AI in this game is above average. The Rayman 3 AI is suppose to be improved dramatically over Rayman 2. Though in Rayman 2 the game gets plenty difficult in the middle of it. Most of the game is hanging from vine to vine. I like the colors in the game. The lava level was both long and inventive. It added character to this game. The rest of the artwork is really good. Not half of any developers in the Industry can do as well as Uri Soft did with Rayman 2. Three years after Dreamcast stopped production, it's an antique now.

Summing up Rayman 2 The Great Escape
Graphics	10.0	It's looks really good. A lot like the PS2 version of the game. The dreamcast version of Rayman 2 stands out more because the game looks brighter shades of Rayman and some backgrounds. The water effects are good. The sky moves.
Control	9.0	Take Rayman through an adventure with precise controls. I've beat the game. It's not too hard to beat. While I think they've stold something from Legend of Zelda with the "Z targeting" effect. The game locks on a enemy and automatically destory it. However the camera in the game is good. However, once you make a big mistake, you start the whole level over.
Original	10.0	In some ways I think this game is as inventive as Mario. Only Rachet and Crank, Spyro the Dragon or Crash came this close. Why? Rayman is simple, kids love him in France (he owns his own show) So Rayman is cool in France and North America? Hmmm, although I lost interest in platform games, I respect Uri Soft for making this game. It's fun in it's own way.
Sound	8.0	The soundtracks are appropriate for a platform game.
Replayibly	7.5	I'm not into Dreamcast platform games anymore. I might pick up Rayman 3 for Gamecube though. Just more Rayman, he's gain a reputation for being a good platform game.

DC - Soul Calibur review

Soul Caliber top | GAME FEATURES | Developer : Namco A.) 25 levels 30 characters, best fighting game for any console and it shows Publisher : Namco B.) Epic Music I haven't heard since I don't know Released on Sept. 11, 1999 C.) First anime game I got into. Type :Fighting Soul Caliber was the first game that featured anime that I got into. The women in the game were full of expression. I meant they looked sexy. Anyway I liked this game better then Dead or Alive 2 because the characters could shield themselves easier. The game had tons of moves. I remember looking on the web for best tactices to use in the game. Which moves were the most effective so I won't have to figure it out myself. When I played it I ruled in the arcade mode. Simple tricks could help you get away with the first 5 opponants. But it was didn't take me long to finish. Were the opponents too dumb to do special attacks. I don't know? The key was keeping far away from them until they made a attack and close in and do attack until you KO! them. It worked so well that I beat my own score many times. Maybe 50. I never got into any other fighter. I've tried 2D fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom and Street Fighter Alpha 3. But this game had something that those didn't. Pure 3D action! I'm sure that people will remember this game for years to come. Summing up Soul Caliber Graphics 9.5 How should I say extremely good. While Sega Rally 2 was the best looking racer for Dreamcast. Soul Caliber was the best looking game in the whole year 1999. And for good reason. It was an direct port of the arcade game. The game even was enhanced over the arcade version. Control 9.5 Perhaps the best control put into dreamcast. The balance between dodging, shielding and fighting were up there in the all time. I seen this game in cupple "Best Games of all time" polls and Editor's Choice Polls. The Soul Caliber who changes his appearance in the end of the arcade is twice as hard as any opponents you play in arcade. In survival, you compete all fighters and then it cycles over again. You can't ever beat survival. You will die. It's just a matter of when you will die. The longer you hold out the more unlocked items whether it be characters or gallery pics in the game. You might be able to defeat all characters one time through by button mashing, but the second time it's up to your knowledge of luring in your opponent, waiting for him/her to make a mistake and going all out on them with special attacks before they can recover and fight back. Original 7.0 Tons of orginalness. The sounds are really good. I can tell that his game has aspects of Tekken. But for a new franchise this game is really good. Sound 8.0 The soundtracks are really good. They have up beat tracks that have really good scores. Replayibly 9.5 I love this fighter. But I love Racing more. But besides Super Smash Bros Melee. Soul Caliber is my second favorite figher of all time. And I don't really play videogames that much anymore. It's hard to say. I'm mostly a spectator now a days.

DC - Sega Rally 2 review

Sega Rally 2 top | GAME FEATURES | Developer : Sega A.) 4 playable tracks all of them around the world with 4 soundtracks. Publisher : A2 B.) The best looking racer of 1998 and 1999 Released on September 11, 1999 C.) AI is strong. You must pass all cars in front. Big gaps between you and other competitors, means you must make few errors to get in front. Type : Rally Racing Sega Rally 2 for the Sega Dreamcast was my most favorite game by the end of 1999. Dreamcast had the first console racer to feature high resolution graphics, it was awarded many noninees for good looking racer by PCWorld, Gamespot, IGN.com and Videogames.com. If you ever seen a actual rally race on television, you see that the cars must have decent conditions or the car will not steer ride. Some cars have 2 and 4 wheel drive. The difference between the two is with 2 wheel drive the driver can slide easier. This doesn't work in wet pavement. So the car you choose is the car you must drive in all conditions. You can change the car specs to match better turning. If you have a narrower track, the bearings should be looser. that way you maximize speed while turning a little at a time. The co-driver tells you what kind of curve your going to do. This part gets some getting use too. You must have total control when coming to this title. But it's a lot of fun when you do know the steering patterns. Manuel shift is the best because you can downshift and save seconds. I use to use the time attack option and play against my ghost. That was cool because the ghost went exactly where I went on my best lap. Sometimes I beat the ghost it sometimes I didn't. In my opinion the Time Attack is the most rewarding aspect of Sega Rally 2. Summing up Sega Rally 2 Graphics 9.0 Graphics are solid. Today's games have high resolution everywhere graphics that are independent from the rest of the game. True to life 3D images. This game was the first to have these. This game also started all the high resolution work and set an example of what the next generation rally racer should look like. The game has decent replays and the car models are extra detailed (dreamcast standards we're talking about). The backgrounds are somewhat a blur. But this game is 4 years old and deserves respect for what it was. Not that it's been dominated. Sega put a lot of work in this game from what I can see. Control 10.0 Perhaps the best control I've seen in a Rally racer. I also loved Test Drive V Rally. But this game was better in controlling the vehicle. For what ever reason I liked that game better. Original 9.0 Tons of orginalness. The tracks were well designed. And it had twice as many tracks as the Saturn prequel (I own the prequel too) And Twice as many cars. But the quality of the tracks were about the same. Sound 8.0 The soundtracks were ok. And the engine sounds took advantage of the Dreamcast sound chip. The Dreamcast had the loudness chip I ever heard on the console. Even compared to the XBOX. They both sound the same. Replayibly 9.0 The game was so realistic back then. And the gameplay wasn't bad to begin with. Sometimes I had bad wipeouts because I overturned in a tight corner, which I didn't like at all. But I liked this game From Sept 99 to March 2000 because no other racers were out for Dreamcast and no games had better graphics until Test Drive Le Mans or Test Drive V Rally or F355 Challange or Vanishing Point came out for Dreamcast.

DC - Test Drive Le Mans review

Test Drive Le Mans | GAME FEATURES | Developer : Ifangrames A.) 12 playable tracks Publisher : Ifangrames B.) All different types of cars Released on April 20, 2000 C.) Best stock car racer on Dreamcast Type : Racing Test Drive Le Mans was some good in a dieing console ready to vanish from stores. This game was ported to Playstation 2 and PC. But the Dreamcast had the best graphics and best control of all the ports. The control is tight. This is 2 years before Ifangrames renamed itself to Atari. Basically the same company. What made Le Mans so good, was it was a little above average to begin with. It had the lengthy tracks. The race cars. It is a Speedster vehicle. If that isn't enough it took granted like rain effects. The rain splashs off the ground and makes the road slippery. Flog fills the sky and corners are outlined in lights a couple feet before in view. While it's makes the game complete. It just can't compete to today's games. Summing up Test Drive Le Mans Graphics 10.0 Graphics are really good. I haven't seen any other racer for Dreamcast look this good.It has water particle effects. Great structure graphics. Not too blurry on this ageing console. Graphics are best compaired to Test Drive Rally. Control 9.0 Tight control. Stopping is a nesesesity for making sharp turns. The dreamcast control is able to make good control in a good game. Without having to worry about expensive hookups. This game supports Dreamcast compatible steering wheels. Original 6.5 Most of us have seen these games on more powerful consoles like the PS2. This game is oddly a giant leap from games on the PS2. Sound 9.0 TCool engine sounds. I don't mind the techno remixes. Still too un-American for me. Replayibly 9.5 The tracks create a positive feeling inside. The control feels like your driving a Formula One stock car. It doen't feel quick like in "Ferrari F355 Challenge." That too was a simulation. Yet it's not a rally racer where you continuely let off the accelerator to gain tread. The variety of tracks add to the replay value too.

DC - Resident Evil 2 review

Resident Evil 2

| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : Capcom
A.) IThe playstation port in high resolution. Suppost to be the best Resident Evil 2 port of any console (PSX, GCN, DC, N64)	Publisher : Capcom
B.) creepy rooms. creepy zombie faces.	Released on March 01, 2000
C.) Eccasional freeze ups on the 2nd disc.
	Type : Survival Horror

When Resident Evil 2 came out for Playstation in 1998, it was very improved over the orginal. It looked a lot better, it was twice as long. Originally Capcom was going to port Resident Evil 3 to Dreamcast. So they ported Resident Evil 2 also. Both games had the same graphics engine and for some reason Resident Evil 2 looked better then Resident Evil 3. The cutsceens improved in the Dreamcast Version. Of course all of this becomes unrealistic after playing the Gamecube version of Resident Evil. The prerendered backgrounds are here. One thing that has been unchanged. Out of all ports (including Gamecube version) the Dreamcast has the best graphics. But hey the game is still there. Leon is locked inside of the Police Station for the majority of the first disc. Then Leon and Claire get out and go into a zombie infested hospital. RE2 was my first Resident Evil game I played. I eventually became a fan of the series. Shooting zombies is fun. Although I am a fan, the games do wear off on me. Perhaps after playing and getting lost getting the proper tools to open new areas is too strenious. Capcom also made spinoffs franchises like Clocktower 3 for the PS2. Clocktower 1 and 2 were exclusive to Sega Saturn. I don't know how good they actually were.

The bad was that they didn't redo it like in Resident Evil Code Veronica. I suppose it would be very expensive to create a game and redesign it like if it was in Resident Evil for the Gamecube. Capcom didn't add any parts to it. At times the game was too hard to get through. But that doesn't effect it, it's now Capcom could improve it. Don't get convinced that Resident Evil 2 looks like Resident Evil *Remake* for Gamecube. It looks like the former Dreamcast version. Capcom priced it out at 30 dollars. The orginal game for Playstation is already 5 years old.

Summing up Resident Evil 2
Graphics	6.5	Graphics are good. But not that good. I've seen better on Dreamcast. The blood looks like a blob of red paint unstead of real blood. The game follows a formua that Horror Films also follow. Not showing the actual creepy monster until you run into him. The errie rendered police station, hospital added to the scary effect. It had everything. Very detailed. A long the way, there is hints like being locked into a room and knowing that you'll soon end up fighting another boss.
Control	8.0	Not extremey good control, but very playable. The Dreamcast port didn't have quick turns in opposite directions that RE: Code Veronica had. The game has point and shoot written. Dodging zombies can be hard, but that is also determined by your skill level. It's good!
Original	7.5	Really Original. The game has a story to back it up. And it's not what the dog dug up. It's a compelling story or 2 if you play both discs. One disc has Leon's game. The other has Claire's game.
Sound	9.0	There is elevator music in this game, but it's creepy at times. But combined with the discussing noises the virus infected spooks make, it can really be scary at times. The effects come straight out of "Nightmare of Elm Street" or "Night of the Living Dead" or "The House on Haunted Hill" Honestly, the music fitted the game really well. I was scared sometimes.
Replayibly	4.0	I wasn't too excided to play it over again. One major reason was that I would have to relearn all the right times and where the FMU was going to play (since cutsceens drive Resident Evil 2 to advance further. It's not that I'm lazy, I never would have time to play the whole game finish it with out dieing, getting a little mad. Turning off the Dreamcast and starting over. Then why am I a fan of Resident Evil? When there is nothing stopping me from advancing, the game grows on me, and is addictive. If you got this game when it came out for Playstation. Don't look at this port. You might like the high resolution textures. But it's the same game. You don't need Resident Evil 2.

DC - Crazy Taxi Greatest Hits review

Crazy Taxi 1.1 (Greatest Hits Package)

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| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : Hitmaker
A.) Improved loading times over orginal Crazy Taxi. Adjustments in passenger times. Better control of vehicles	Publisher : Sega
B.) 4 playable characters	Released on January 12, 2000
C.) Addictive
D.) A	Type : Action Platform

For some reason I'd like this game. It was simple and hard. Driving was the easy part, getting passenger to there destination is the hard part. Easy if you have 10 minutes of play.

Summing up Crazy Taxi
Graphics	8.5	Graphics are alright. Not terribly complex to todays standards.
Control	8.0	It's alright.
Original	7.5	Okay. You'll like this game. Dont' mind the realism.
Sound	7.0	3 Slipknot tracks plus a lot of adult language. But if that's ok then you have nothing to worry about.
Replayibly	8.0	The replay value will change. It's a great arcade port of a racing title. It has all the qualities that make it fast like. But the songs will eat you up.

DC - F355 Challenge Review

F355 Challenge

| GAME FEATURES |

A.) Really good graphics.	Developer : A2
B.) 12 tracks with a long arsenal of car options	Publisher : Acclaim
C.) realistic driving. Or one of the most realistic driving sims I played in my life.	Released September 11, 2000
D.)	Type - Ferrari Racing

If it is between Test Drive Le Mans and F355 Challenge, I would have to pick Test Drive Le Mans. But this is the second best racer due to all the options. Playstation 2 may have Gran Tranismo 3 A Spec and Midnight Club, but this game has a cool announcer. Realistic Ferrari sounds. And Led Zepplin / Guns and Roses sound track. These are some classic rock on the Radio. Too bad that the game has only 5 playable soundtracks. It would have been much cooler if A2 included more rock tracks. As for the game, the physics are better then your dead average racer like Wacky Races, Mario Kart 64 and Micromachines. They all suck except for Mario Kart. the game has plenty of tracks including 5 unlockable tracks. I like the sound of the engine when I slow down. The engine skips and that sounds cool.

Summing up F355 Challege
Graphics	9.0	Graphics are one year ahead of it's time. The tracks haven't lost there momentium. It's a little fuzzy in the front. But that's what Dreamcast racers are like. The cars are PS2 quality!
Control	10.0	Perfect Control in my opinion. I lost interest in this game when I got a Gamecube. But I remember when I played this game, it had an edge to it. You play this game and you realise how much more the game is difficult without the handicaps. The AI is good enough that if your lucky, you'll most likely get 3rd place unless you know exactly what turn to take and when to make it. Don't forget to brake. If your willing to put time into a racing game to find out the best curve turning style, your welcome to try. Cars turn extremely tight. Failure to that could of meant a new opportunity.
Original	7.5	Okay. You'll like this game. Dont' mind the realism.
Sound	9.5	Cool ferrari sounds. The music is ok, but the ferrari sounds make up the whole game.
Replayibly	8.0	If it wasn't for new games coming out each month, I would have been addicted to this game forever. For a sort time, this game included online play. It was free access. But now there no one on this game. If your friend owns the same game, the two of you should go online for head to head racing action. That would add a point to replay value.

DC - Ecco the Dolphin - Defender of the Future review

Ecco the Dolphin - Defender of the Future

| GAME FEATURES |

A.) Huge underwater environments	Developer : ????
B.) Making friends is as simple as doing quests for them, but as hard as completing the quests.	Publisher : Sega
C.) 50 hours of gameplay.	Released September 11, 2000
D.) over 150 interactive species of fish and 300 species of plant life featured in this game.	Type - platform

Ecco the Dolphin comes from orginally the Sega Genesis game of the same name. No, it's not a remake. But it does show off Dreamcast's hardware dolphin style. They really mean "Think like a Fish" in this game. Exploring underwater with the exception of breathing oxygen. How much activity can you do without drounding is the apex of real life. It's hard because Ecco has no weapons except for his dolphin call. Dolphin calls can open new areas and scare away curtain enemies like sharks!

Summing up Ecco the Dolphin - Defender of the Future.
Graphics	9.9	Graphics that some PS2 games can't handle. Maybe. This game has great water effects. Some sea life here and there. Although most of the coral reefs and plant life are drawn in. It still looks cool.
Control	7.5	Control the smartest dolphin in the world. Ecco does a lot of tricks. He even knows who his friends are. Control isn't any problem in this game. The camera remains still as Ecco swims around in his universe. I don't like that. They should change that.
Orginalism	8.5	I'm not a big fan of dolphins. It has great graphics, although outdated in 2003. It's also hard. I quit this game because I didn't know where the objectives were. So that's what Gamefaqs.com is for. Even with the facts, you still have to survive on your own. I would use a gameshark on this game if I had a chance. Ecco is either trying to make new friends or die because he has none. Friends are essential.
Story	6.5	Save the world from an advanced alien race. Which is sending beacons underwater for testing the earth for climate reasons. Unless Ecco can prevent it. I don't know because I was unable to finish the game. But first he has to use his friends to get pass by obstacles in foreign water. I guess what I'm trying to say is the story has no effect on what happens in the game.
Replayibly	5.5	The concept of the game is really good, but the time you get done with this game you'll be wondering why you took this game up. It is too long and too difficult for me.

DC - Grandia 2 review

Grandia 2

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A.) Sequel to the great RPG for Playstation / Saturn.	Developer : Game Arts
B.) Save the empire by discovering the evil that lurks under the ground. Fight the Bosses of Valmar. Discover what happens to the main character. .	Publisher : Uri Soft
C.) Better graphics over Playstation 2	Released January 01, 2000
D.)	Type - Role Playing

Grandia 2 is my first RPG, if you call Zelda 64 a RPG then I suppose it'll be my second. I bought it because I have growing interest in console RPGs. Sometimes if you play your first console RPG, you think that the game is better, the game mechanics are foreign to you, and you hate doing battle scenes over and over gets irritating. To my surprise, I liked it a lot. I knew the game had engadging cut scenes and battle mode. I like the story in this game, infact it's as good as Final Fantasy 8, which game out the exact day that Dreamcast was released.

Summing up Grandia II
Graphics	10.0	Featuring better graphics then Sega's "Skies of Arcadia" Every pixel in this game is smoothed out to be more smooth and more colorful then even the Playstation 2 version.
Control	8.0	I enjoy an easy game. While this game isn't easy to complete, it has good control. The camera is great. It hardly has a problem. The battle system has definding feature. The navagation system activated by the B button in progressing the character, is very fulled out. It has basic features including the ability to change weapons, potions, battle gear for all characters in your party. What you except in any RPG. If you compare this game with Squaresoft's Final Fantasy 8, then there is a lot in common with the battle system. The battle system isn't consistant. The game pauses while you plan your stradegy against the enemy. While it doesn't make the game ingenious, it makes the game incredibily realistic to play. You need this battle system to fight enemies in the game. It doesn't take much intelligence to figure defense out. You might want to find what skills are best suitable on the Internet. I once wrote a faq on how to play this game.
Orginalism	8.0	Highly Original. Has the story line of a fantasy rpg. The towns are orginal. Grandia 2 is pure fantasy. I liked the music in the game. Game Arts has good music. The music was really good, and speed up when in tense situations. I like that. The text driven RPG has some spectacular quotes. Some cut scenes are spoken out, and their pretty good. The FVM is good.
Story	9.5	Save the Gradias from the evil Valmar spirit that lives inside the people. Interesting story - 3 main characters are effected in some way in Valmar's clutches.
Replayibly	7.5	This game is simple enough were most people can defeat the final boss, yet powerful enough that you might want to beat the game again. I've beat Grandia 2 only once, but I played 4 hours into the game 4 times since I got it. The best RPG for Dreamcast, no doubt.

DC - Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Adventure 2

| GAME FEATURES |

A.) Featuring original cast : Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles, Amy Rose, Tails, and Dr. Robotnic.	Developer : Sonic Team
B.) The next chapter in Sonic's never-ending saga to end Dr. Robotnic plans to conquer the world.	Publisher : Sega
C.) 3 - 4 hours of gameplay.	Released August 21, 2001
D.) faster frame rate and better loading times over Dreamcast	Type - Action Platformer

Sonic came to Gamecube with a lot of people wondering why? It was Sega that went to Nintendo not the other way around here. So since the two major publishers had 3 big titles to put on Gamecube, Sega this made extra Dreamcast software that would do perfect ports or this is what it looked like. As for Sonic Adventure 2, all you get is Sonic and his speed. To me, this is all right at the beginning. But dies off more as the storyline goes on. SEGA probably got every 10 year old who owns Gamecube wanting to buy it. It is not your Sonic that you once knew and loved on Genesis. But you can tell that Sonic really came along when Sega put him into 3D with clearest pixels and some indirect lighting effects to match.

The Level Design

You might not like Sega for turning Sonic into a more "Techno Sonic". I know why too. Japan is crazy about Techno Remixs. SEGA wanted Sonic to become a Disc Jocky before someone could say that they went overboard. When they did the idea was official and no one could change it. Sonic Team most defiantly borrowed from NiGHTs and famous NES classic Marble Madness to create the Sonic World we're now familiar with. The treasure hunts where more satisfying and height doing Sonic levels. What do you think of that? Knuckles is cooler then Sonic. You can also tell that Sonic Team cleaned up the levels since Dreamcast.

The Control System

Either then Sonic Adventure on Dreamcast. Whether or not you think the gamecube controller has out or not.

Sound

Sonic Team did one thing right out of the sound department. They made the music fit the game. I recently tried doing remixs with songs and all of them turned out horrible. Sega probably did their best in the sound department. The music sounds like alternative rock or hip-hop customized for Sonic and Knuckles. I personally don't care for it much. Most people would listen to the radio anyway so it depends on your preference.

Conclusion

Sonic Adventure 2 is a less a winner then the original but I agree with those people who give it 3 1/2 stars. It would make a decent retail. (posted July 11, 2002)

DC - Skies of Arcadia review

Skies of Arcadia Legends

| GAME FEATURES |	Developer - Overworks
A.) 30 - 40 hours of competitive gameplay	Publisher - Sega
B.) First story driven RPG for Nintendo from SEGA / Overworks.
C.) Near perfect use of the battle system (not as good as some of those Final Fantasy titles but very close. If you haven't played Final Fantasy VII on PS then don't worry about it. The game is still rich in gameplay and really cool in my opinion.	Released on Jan. 29, 2003
D.) Fight the Black Pirates in ship battles. Every time you level up on the ground everything in the skies with reset. Giving you more experience points when you get back aboard.	Type - Role Playing Game

I would only say that Skies of Arcadia Legends is a cool game if you are a RPG fan. I am a mild RPG fan at best. Skies of Arcadia was first released on the Sega Dreamcast in 2000. I beat the game twice. What I'm about to write, is why this game is cool.

As for the story line, it basically says Vyse and Aika who go out and explore their world. The empire called Valua finds the home of Vyse and Aika and distroys it and captures all the blue rouges. (Later in the game the village is rebuilt) Vyse and Aika are now one their own to go on ship battles and hand to hand combat with Valuan solders and creatures that enhabinate 6 climate zones in the game. Some are hard to get too. That didn't stop me from playing Skies of Arcadia. Vyse eventually get to save the Blue Rouges but since they are out to save the world from Valua, the blue rouges meet alleys on the way including the Prince of the Valuan Empire (which is suppose to be a secret let loose later in SoAL) Together Vyse and Aika with their alleys fight evil. [Story 10/10]

The visuals in this game only come second best to Sega's other RPG Phantasy Star Online Episodes I, II. Much like another ported RPG on gamecube called Baldur's Gate - Dark Alliance, SoAL is basically a straight port of the ground breaking Dreamcast game. Skies of Arcadia was the nicest looking Dreamcast game ever created *It has to be the truth*. Plenty of thought went into Skies of Arcadia Legends.

I also like how Overworks put together the worlds from Summer climates to Winter climates. The water effects were exceptionally good. Most additional art is 3D which tells me that Sega put a lot of time in this game. I can also tell that the game was budgeted and could of been more if Sega fully emulated SoA to Gamecube standards. Imagine Skies of Arcadia look and feel like Final Fantasy Chronicles (a huge release on Gamecube appond release). The technology of character models painted is outdated in 2003 but was state of the art in 2000. The Gamecube release is one of the better looking titles from 2003. [Graphics 8.5/10]

Ship battles are fun and appealing to a novice game player. I happened to get to the end of Skies of Arcadia. The game gets harder as the story gets more complex but that's how all games are these days. Some die hards may want to be replay the game until they perfectly destory Victora battleships. In the game, if Vyse didn't get to Valua's secret weapon first and would say, "Ouch!" However, I purposely went through the different zones to fight pirates again and again. It was so fun. [Ship battles 9/10]

My favorite stage of this game is when Vyse and Akia / Fina get separated and all three go in the minigame not knowing the other one is there. It took me forever to figure out the puzzle. To complete the puzzle the player had to move platforms a certain way to get across. So Overworks comes up with a slit screen showing Vyse and Akia going moving levers on the screen which moved the platforms. I got frustrated a couple times but I eventually made it.

In the sound department, Skies of Arcadia has a orginal soundtrack. Not as good as Grandia or Final Fantasy tunes. But the music is well orchestrated. Characters in the game don't speak every word. But their is a convensing story line bar on the botom of the screen. [Sound 8/10]

You have every reason in the world to buy Skies of Arcadia if you like playing role playing games. For people who don't have 30 hours to spare shouldn't get it. For those of you who can't wait until Legend of Zelda comes out on gamecube buy this game. It will more then satisfy your needs. It is very well designed. If you like Diablo Style level up in your skills, Baldur's Gate Deadly Alliance may be another choice. I am looking into it myself. (Review Posted February 01, 2003 9:20 AM)

DC - Sonic Adventure review

Sonic Adventure 1.1 (Greatest Hits Package)

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| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : Sonic Team
A.) First title to feature Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Mr. Robotnic in high resolution. Had stunning graphics at it's time. Won awards in 1999 congraduating Sega for good programming effort.	Publisher : Sega
B.) Good sound track.	Released on Sept 09, 1999
C.) Version 1.1 (greatest hits package) prevents game from freezing up at times. Some noticable improved loading times on levels. Prevention of Sonic getting stuck into walls. Control is alittle more responsive then original release.
D.) A	Type : Action Platform

Sonic Adventure is the recreation of Sonic Xtreme, a canceled first party title which was orginally for Sega Saturn. Sonic Adventure was the first project for Dreamcast, Sega was working on. A demo came with the Dreamcast featuring the first level of the game. Some argue that the first level with the whale was the most fun in the game. The backgrounds were amazing in 1999. And this game. The game featured cut-scenes in the middle of the game when Sonic saves Amy and defeats Dr. Robotnic *again*

Summing up Sonic Adventure 1.1
Graphics	8.5	Great first effort to put Sonic the Hedgehog on Dreamcast. IGN.com said Sonic Adventure had the most impressive graphics in 1999. I noticed that Dreamcast displays images at a lower resolution and looked close to what Gamecube pumps out at 800/600. While the sequel looks better with more pixel shadowing, the first game was better developed (in my opinion) For some levels in the game like Speed Highway for Tails, the level is completely changed. The close ups are great and clean. Sonic looks better then some of the backgrounds, but that can easily be over looked when going at top speed on a speed track.
Control	8.0	Playable to say the least. In 1999, the graphics were clearly the most important aspect in creating Sonic Adventure. Although the key locations in Sonic 3D Blast showed up in this game with music Sonic fans heard from Sonic the Hedgehog for Genesis. About 50% of the Story Mode is moving around while the other 50% is completing the objectives. It is a kids game that adults play.
Orginalism	8.0	When I played this game when I was 14. I liked it. The environments are creative. The music is remixed, but isn't very good. I like Tail's theme, the only exception.
Story	5.0	It's a classic, it's a mulk up of a Sonic defeating Dr. Robotnic. In the game Sonic Team uses voice acting, and is as bad as some anime voice overs in movies. I forget who does the voice acting but Sega hired hollywood actors to act for them. Sonic Team blew it, I admit the idea is good. I wonder if the voice acting improves in the Gamecube version. It has to be so Sonic mets all the playable characters, and the other characters have there own story.
Replayibly	7.5	Dreamcast has some unusually great titles. This was one of them. This game is great, I am a Sonic fan as much as I'm a Mario fan. I'm alittle old to be a Sonic fan, but I don't care.

DC - Tony Hawk Pro Skater review

Tony Hawk Pro Skater (Greatest Hits Package)

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| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : Sonic Team
A.) First title to feature Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Mr. Robotnic in high resolution. Had stunning graphics at it's time. Won awards in 1999 congraduating Sega for good programming effort.	Publisher : Sega
B.) Good sound track.	Released on Sept 09, 1999
C.) Version 1.1 (greatest hits package) prevents game from freezing up at times. Some noticable improved loading times on levels. Prevention of Sonic getting stuck into walls. Control is alittle more responsive then original release.
D.) A	Type : Action Platform

I barely remember Tony Hawk Pro Skater for Sega Dreamcast. Tony Hawk Pro Skater made it to the Dreamcast about a year after its successful PSone campaign. Back in the day when Playstation graphics weren’t god dead awful in some games. Like its Playstation counterpart, the first of two that made it to the Dreamcast were very simple, but those games were running in high resolution. The Dreamcast at one time just happened to get a gem when running directly against the Playstation. One of having a 128-bit console was that you had much less fog and false texturing. So you could see the other end of the arena / stating rink quite easily. The graphics were some of the Dreamcast’s best. The Playstation 2, where all Tony Hawk games are known to exist from did have extra texturing to its characters. In fact if the more playstation textures were drawn in then in the Xbox games, the Dreamcast game would have about 1/3 the processing power of that of the Xbox. It looks better then 70% of all Dreamcast games which quite an accomplishment when also is considering that the game play mechanics are amongst the best of that system. The graphics vastly improved over the N64 version of Tony Hawk. Tony Hawk Pro Skater is one of the few games that I’ve played before I stop playing the Sega Dreamcast all together.

For obvious reasons, I thought there would never be a popular Playstation game for the poor knocked around Sega Dreamcast. Some say that in a year the DC graphics were not going to last those of the duel processing power of the PS2. While others said that Dreamcast only had only a few good titles from a handful of good Playstation 2 games. Well may I remind everybody that when Playstation first came out in 2000, although we knew that there would be some quality titles coming, it didn’t have any exceptional titles except for maybe Tekken Tag Tournament and Ridge Racer V. Well if this game isn’t a popular game port from the Playstation, then I’m mud! First of all the Dreamcast managed to get 2 new exclusive skating parks that the N64 and Playstation didn’t have.

Pros for Tony Hawk Pro Skater for the Dreamcast

• It had a lot of skating parks to skate in.
• Much better graphics then Playstation and N64
• The graffiti contest in Multiplayer mode rocks.
• The part where you’re only player that plays against yourself unlike in later Tony Hawk games were the gamer has to answer to other skaters to do jobs.
• A lot of fun doing tricks in free skate mode. Neversoft got rid of the trick bar in THPS3. Points don’t add up unless you’re against the clock. In this game the skate tricks are added up in the game while you’re playing the game. I thought that game was better. One reason why Tony Hawk Pro Skater was more fun then the sequels.
• The ability to customize your skate and make your own skater with a variety of clothes, tattoos, caps, shorts
• High Resolution graphics over the Playstation, the frame rate improved I’ve heard
• Game takes advantage of Dreamcast hardware
• Music in the game is some good, some bad.
• The Dreamcast version, I wonder wasn’t easier to play then the Playstation AKA the difficulty of the game got better. Tricks and landings were better polled off.
• Replay mode.
• Could create your own skating parks. However, Neversoft gave more options in creating skating parks in Tony Hawk Pro Skater sequels. The parks seem to be bigger in size in the later games.
• I remember H-O-R-S-E and it was fun. Only one thing wrong with H-O-R-S-E. It’s was like your opponent was doing better then you were and you could barely catch up then he would finally beat you after a long time. I realize that this mode is in THPS3 and THPS4 so I’m happy. The mode followed through. One reason to get the next Tony Hawk game for next generation consoles. I played it in THPS4 on Xbox and I realized the same mode was on Sega Dreamcast which was cool.

Cons for Tony Hawk Pro Skater for the Dreamcast

• Bulky Dreamcast controller. Ever since I got a Playstation in near the end of 2002, I realized that the PS controller felt better then the Dreamcast and N64 controllers.
• Couldn’t play your character in THPS2
• Tony Hawk may be a legend but he is so much easier to control then the other skaters. This got better in THPS4 when playing it. It doesn’t hurt the game all that much, but you screw up a lot when playing Tony Hawk first and then playing my other favorite skaters Andrew Reynolds and Kareem Campbell.
• I don’t watch the X-Games on ESPN so I don’t know much about skating.
• Replay mode could have recorded longer.

Summing up Tony Hawk Pro Skater
Graphics	7.0	The talented group at Neversoft improved the game when Playstation owners said that it couldn't be approved apond.. The game wasn't a direct port. Tony Hawk and Spiderman used the same graphics engine. The Dreamcast unlike the PSone and N64 versions before it, had a perfect 60 frames per second speed.
Control	9.0	Tricks are easily pulled off. The Dreamcast controller was bulky but that didn't hurt the game too much. An extreme sport game shouldn't be this professional. But it did and did it very well shocking most Playstation owners when it came out. Extreme Sports doesn't have a good reputation of having a good selection because most of the games suck. But then you have four Tony Hawk Pro Skater games too so you can never run out of Tony Hawk Games. It couldn't of done it wtihout the outstanding achievement Neversoft gave all platforms when releasing this game.
Orginalism	8.0	The game had all the pro skaters in it. The levels were based on actual locations throughtout the USA.
Sound	5.0	The game had music from the radio. Most of it was heavy metal and rap
Replayibly	8.5	Dreamcast has some unusually great titles. This was one of them. This game is great, I am a Sonic fan as much as I'm a Mario fan. I'm alittle old to be a Sonic fan, but I don't care.