I’ll quickly introduce myself; I’m Mr Old Skool, there that was quick!! I’ve been registered as a staff writer here for quite a few months but just never found the time to get an article out, for some reason I randomly decided to do it tonight, anyway enough small talk and on with my round up of the 10 finest games Sega’s console swansong has to offer.

Just to make this clear and to avoid a million “You missed such and such a game” comments this is MY personal top 10, I can accept there are games not on this list that deserve to be here but as I’ve never played them I can’t really include them.
One last thing, neither of the Sonic Adventure games are on it as they’re rubbish, that had to be said!!

10. Skies of Arcadia

Choosing the best traditional RPG for the Dreamcast wasn’t exactly hard, it was this or Grandia 2, but I feel this shades it. You play as young Sky Pirate Vyse and the story follows the tried and tested formula of a damsel in distress needing saved from some ruthless and clichéd villain. Still it’s an enjoyable adventure with nicely worked turn based battles, some excellent (though very bright) graphics and an interesting storyline. The flying sections can be a pain though they don’t ruin the overall experience. There are a few issues with the game, the camera position is awful at times and the characters are unbelievably cheery, at one stage Vyse takes the news of his Fathers kidnap with the same annoying smile he sports through the entire 2 disc romp. Reading those last few sentences you’d think the game wasn’t up to much but it truly is, I just find it easier to criticize than praise.

9. House of the Dead 2

Easily my favourite light gun game, House of the Dead also hosts the worst voice acting of all time but in a way it’s so bad it’s quite amusing. I’ve played this so much at times blisters have sprouted on my trigger finger, I have genuine war injuries!! Pure Sega arcade from start to finish, loud, flashy, action packed with excellent boss battles I even prefer it to the 3rd and 4th instalments as they got a bit gimmicky with the shotgun and Uzi, fun in the arcades (which I had the pleasure of stumbling upon both full sized cabinets whilst at the worst family caravan holiday of all time recently, needless to say most of my time was spent there!!) but useless at home with a bog standard light gun. The best shooter available for the home consoles by a long way.

8. Space Channel 5

I’ve always been a huge fan of rhythm action games and Space Channel 5 is no exception. Featuring the strangely attractive Ulala (You know what I’m talking about!!) and set in various location in Space the game is unbelievably fun, when you strip it down its just basically Simon Says but the graphics, music, game play and some of the funniest enemies ever combine to make it an essential Dreamcast title. It is difficult though, not a game you can just blast through first go, it takes time and patience to replay the levels and learn the patterns, I also find if I make one mistake I’m right off for the entire level but when you hit the zone you’ll find yourself nodding your head and tapping your feet to the music, which for the duration is top notch. One criticism would be the DC’s annoyingly small D-Pad sometimes feels like its out to get you but that’s hardly the games fault. It also features Micheal Jackson getting kidnapped by Aliens, ‘nuff said!!

7. Bangai-O

This is a serious love it or hate it title, I love it but many will detest it, basically it’s just a fun little horizontal shooter were you control two little Transformer like robots piloted by spiky haired Japanese kids. There isn’t a huge amount to it, just fly around taking out the enemies and buildings to increase your score and reach the end of level boss, there’s loads of truly bizarre characters, typical Japanese strangeness, and a lot of random comments that don’t make a huge amount of sense but it just adds to the games charm. Its stuff like this that keep me stuck in the past, no stupid amount of buttons to press just pure action that’s based on the players speed and skill, true pick up and play accessibility. One gripe is it doesn’t support the arcade stick which to me is sacrilege!!

6. Street Fighter 3rd Strike

Often quoted as the finest 2D Beat-Em-Up ever made, I’d have to agree. Capcom is well known for constantly messing about with Street Fighters fighting system and their releases can be a bit hit and miss but it all came together here and the developer should be very pleased with what they achieved . It all just feels right and apart from cheap Ken all the characters are finely balanced and well matched should you take the time to master each one. The parry system is amazing in the right hands, search You Tube for Daigo and you’ll see the master in action, the guy is just amazing!! If you don’t like fighters this isn’t going to change your mind though, it’s a hardcore game for hardcore players and can be a little daunting at first but is well worth your time and effort. DO NOT play this with the Dreamcast Pad, it’s just not up to the job, get yourself an arcade stick for the true experience.

5. Cosmic Smash

Most of the games so far you will have probably have been familiar with but one thing about the Dreamcast is if you choose to import from America or Japan there is some serious quality waiting to be enjoyed, Cosmic Smash is one such title. Kind off like a cross between Virtual Tennis and Rez and playing in a similar style to Squash, Cosmic Smash is just pure fun, the aim of the game is basically to bounce your ball of targets to make them disappear, hit them all and clear the level. The controls are spot on and the graphics are amazing, the game play is never going to set the world alight but it’s another game that you can just load up and get stuck in straight away, put this on a large screen TV with the volume up and enjoy. It was also one of the only Dreamcast games to come in a DVD style box, quite a rarity.

4. Jet Set Radio

Right up there with Ico and Okami in the “are games art” argument, Jet Set Radio is a beautiful game, the graphics are just perfect, a hugely detailed city and brilliant characters, music that gets you imeresed even more into the experience, excellent level design, I’m a big fan of this one as you can probably tell!! If you’ve never played it it’s basically a roller blading based game which has you spray painting various locations and defeating other gangs that try to invade your turf. Its full of the kind of bizarre characters that only the Japanese can come up with and playing it you would never believe its not far of ten years old, the graphical choice Sega made with JSR mean it just will never look old. Minor irritations include the parts when you have to match a rival characters moves and wall grinding, these don’t stop this from being one of the most remarkable games of all time though.

3. Shenmue 1 & 2

I’ve decided to put the two Shenmue’s together as I fell they are just a continuation rather than two separate titles. Some people really don’t like these games, I can understand why as the control system is a little dodgy, they do drag out a bit and the quick time sections are annoying but you have to see past that and see the bigger picture of what Sega achieved with these landmark titles. Excellent graphics, huge areas to explore with genuinely interesting things to discover, sometimes I just spend hours trying to complete my figure collections from the little machines, and a heart rending storyline put them right up there with the best. They were two of the few Dreamcast games to sell over a million copies though Sega still made a huge loss on them due to the expense of their production, hence the reason we are yet to see the 3rd and final part of the trilogy. The Shenmue duo are more than just games, they are experiences!!

2. Lack of Love

This is probably the most obscure game on the list, think of it as a cross between Pikmin and Spore. You basically have to control your little creature through the stages of evolution, battling enemies, collecting items and the like. At certain points in the game your creature will evolve and you gain new abilities and can then reach new, previously unreachable areas and collect more items to evolve again and so on. Only ever released in Japan and incredible difficult and expensive to track down Lack Of Love is one of those titles that just have to be played rather than read about, everyone’s experience will be different and there’s so much to see and do that the replay value is amazing. The game also has very little text so the language barrier is not an issue in enjoying it. Good luck finding a copy though, and no you can’t have mine!!

1. Rez

And finally we come to the mighty Rez, the greatest game on the Dreamcast and possibly the greatest game of all time!! The only one I ever played every day for 6 months and still play at least two or three times a week now. Pure perfection if ever there was in a title, sensational graphics, sound and level design,. The best bosses I’ve ever seen in my life, awe inspiring stuff, relentless action that sometimes you wish would stop just so you could admire the scenery though it never lets up. Then there’s the music, it immerses you in the action like no other game ever has, hours will fly by when you’re in the zone, shoot, shoot, shoot! “Oh I’m dead?? I’ll just start again then!!” My limited skill as a writer cannot do Rez justice, as far as I’m aware it’s just been released on Xbox arcade in HD, download it, turn the lights of, shut the curtains and sink in, who needs drugs when you’ve got Rez!!