Dreamcast - an honest opinion (changed) (Dreamcast in general)

Member Name: Archimedes

Product:	Dreamcast in general
Date:	31/12/00 (51 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great price, great games, superb graphics, internet enabled

Disadvantages: No second pad

Well in a year where the Sony PlayStation2 has had blanket media coverage and has been the number one item on every child, adult and grannys wishlist I had no choice but to buy a console. That console being the Sega Dreamcast. And I haven't looked back for a second! I bought the DC as part of a £150 package from Curry's. Normally I wouldn't touch Curry's with a 200 foot barge-pole but they offered the best package. For £150 you get a DC, complete with a modem, UEFA Striker, Tomb Raider IV, Sonic Adventure and Chu Chu Rocket. A bargain! With that I also bought an extra pad, a VMU and Shenmue. This added an extra £65 though but for that I had everything I had a console, a mini console in the VMU, 2 pads, 5 games and a modem.

Setting up the Dreamcast was exceptionally easy and merely a case of plugging in two leads, slotting in the game and away you go. The first screen that you'll be greeted with is the screen asking for clock settings. This is very useful as in some games, i.e. Metropolis Street Racer it will know what time it is and adjust the settings accordingly. The clock itself can charge itself and keep the time for up to 2 weeks without the power being switched on. The DC also acts a CD player but this is a standard feature that was even implemented on the original PlayStation.

The games available at the moment boast some of the best ever made. The list of classic games is huge... Virtua Tennis, Shenmue, Jet Set Radio, Quake III, Crazy Taxi, Metropolis Street Racer, Sonic Adventure, Chu Chu Rocket, Powerstone. All fantastic games. However it has no backing from Electronic Arts so no FIFA 2001 - August Editions or NHL 2001 - summer specials for the DC. Some may see this as bad but at least we're guarenteed a list of original games and not the almost bi-weekly installments for EA Sports.

The interface on the menu is simple and quick to use and within half a minute you could easily be stuck into a game.


Sega have been the first to allow PAL gamers to decide whether they want to play in 60Hz mode or 50Hz mode. This may not mean much but now we needn't put up with those annoying black borders at the top and bottom of the TV as now we can see it in full picture. This may sound really petty and insignificant but it does make a lot of difference.

The pads are nice, and like the N64 the Vibrator Packs and memory units slip in the pad. However the DC has two allowing for both to be inserted at once. If you should buy a VMU then the LCD screen with show through the pad reporting stats from your current game. You can also take the VMU out and play games on the move. And it's only £20! The pad itself is a fairly average one and I prefer the N64 pad and consider it on a par with the PlayStation one. The analogue pad is located on the top left hand side with the D-PAd directly below it. The X, Y, A and B buttons lie in the same place as the C buttons on N64 and the symbol buttons on the PS. The start button is very low down and you will have some trouble finding it at first to pause if you have ever had another console and are used to it.

And onto the Internet options, which make the DC so unique at the moment. Signing up is easy although you can't decide who to be your ISP and you won't be allowed to use any NTL World subscriptions for free calls so that's quite annoying. Using the Internet is probably easier on a PC although using a gamepad as opposed to a mouse is nice. I've only tried one game on the net so far and that is Chu Chu Rocket that plays with no slowdown from the 33.6Kbm modem but it probably isn't the most challenging game for the DC to process.

I'm in the process of reviewing all of the games I bought for the DC at the moment on their own so look out for those. In conclusion I would say not to get a PS2, which I played and can't see the point as the graphics seem mediocre and the amount of c
lassic games out for it now number a big fat zero. If your reason for getting a PlayStation2 is the DVD player then shop around and you can find a far better DVD player packaged with the DC for a lower price. This review may seem like I'm getting paid by Sega but this is a lovely machine, which doesn't deserve to fail. Ask anyone who owns one and they'll tell you what it's like. I would give this product the heartiest endorsement possible.

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