Dreamcast Titles Headed For PSN And XBLA

Great news for Dreamcast fans everywhere as SEGA announces that classic Dreamcast games are to return to our consoles in a glorious DLC revolution! Join Drew, as our resident retro gaming enthusiast, as he explores what we can expect in the coming months and what he would like to see!

 Ever since first hearing the opening bars of "Welcome To Station Square" and entering the 3D world of Sonic Adventure it has remained my all time favourite Sonic game. Sure, many will argue convincingly that previous 2D incarnations of the series like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog CD remain the finest and truest examples the Sonic's outings, but for me Sonic Adventure had it all. For a start it totally changed my mind on SEGA's ill-fated Dreamcast by showing without any doubt that it was an extraordinary machine capable of jaw-dropping graphics for it's time. However, not being the type of gamer who is swayed by graphics alone, it was Sonic Adventure's impressive and varied game-play that really sealed the deal for me. Admittedly, the level design didn't always cater well for Sonic's constant need to break land speed records, resulting in occasional moments of infuriating despair, but on the whole the game was a joy to play. That Sonic Team where able to convert Sonic's bullet like pace from a 2D into a 3D environment should be considered a crowning achievement, even if this success has never really been repeated again for SEGA or Sonic.

 With this in mind it will not surprise for anyone to learn that when I learned that SEGA Europe Ltd. and SEGA of America had announced their planned release of Dreamcast titles on PSN and XBLA, my first question was "When do we get Sonic Adventure?" Fortunately, the answer would appear to be soon as according to SEGA Europe Blog we can expect Sonic Adventure to rush our consoles Autumn 2010. But it gets better, as SEGA have also confirmed that Crazy Taxi is also up for release, although no confirmation for a Crazy Taxi release date as yet.

 What makes this news all the more welcome is the notorious shelf life of the Dreamcast console itself, with working machines becoming harder and harder to find and maintain there are many titles simply begging to be preserved in a digital environment. Games like Shenmue 1 and 2 and Daytona USA are classics that will bring back fond memories for many  gamers, while the charm of Chu Chu Rocket never really went away. Personally, I would love to see Fighting Vipers 2 available for download as it was curiously only ported to consoles in Japan and Europe and released later as part of the SEGA Ages collection for the Playstation 2, which never saw a PAL issue.  


 Whatever the future holds for PSN and XBLA, this is great news for fans of SEGA's gaming past and something to watch out for over the coming months. Rest assured that the staff here at JustSandN will be watching this like hawks watching a small, blue hedgehog.