One of the very best games for the Dreamcast, along with its superb sequel, was Power Stone, a fully 3D beat em up with a host of crazy characters, great maps, and awesome weaponry. Something of an opposition to standard beat em ups, this one boasts more freedom, with vast maps, and the ability to roam in the environmen free of the normal constraints.

The players are able to choose from ten characters, and are then placed in a battle with other characters. From here, you can either perform normal fistfighting, or get a little bit more hardcore and pick up chairs, tables, sticks, and various other items lying around to batter your opponent to pieces. Also, there are a number of Power Stones that appear around the arena during the fight, and if you're able to collect three of them, you'll turn into a larger, stronger, and more agile version of yourself, where you'll be able to turn your enemies into mincemeat for a while, and there's not much that they can do about it, except for run.

Although the game also allows for two human players to fight, the game does pale a little when compared to its amazing sequel, which allows four players to fight at once, and thus is a lot more fun and chaotic. Thus, it's rare that I will play this in favour of its superior sequel, but it's still got the core gameplay there that the second game built on, and so it must be respected as a beat em up classic for the Dreamcast that's a little different to your regular fighting game, and very fun indeed. An impressively crafted, visually unique game that's great fun whether on your own or with a mate, although it's somewhat redundant after the sequel bettered it in practically every way.