VGRC

On this day ten years ago, the Dreamcast, Sega's final foray into the gaming market as a platform maker, was unleashed onto an eager market. Sadly, not even two years later it was canned and, as we all know, Sega became a third party developer.

However, while it didn't exactly live up to Sega's expectations and was largely a bust for the company's hopes of continuing in the hardware market, the Dreamcast was far from a complete failure, as it was home to quite a few stellar games. Here, we remember, in no particular order, some of our favorite Dreamcast games.


Armada

This little gem went largely unnoticed by most of the gaming industry, but those who were fortunate enough to come across it were treated to an unusual yet amazing hybrid game. Half overhead space shooter, half action-RPG, Armada blended the simple time-tested play mechanics of games like Xevious and Asteroids with the open worlds and role-playing elements of games like Secret of Mana. However, the kicker was the multiplayer: Much like in Secret of Mana, you could have friends tag along with you to control party members to aid you in taking down an ever-growing gallery of massive foes.


Crazy Taxi

One of the strongest points of the Dreamcast back when it came out was the similarities of its hardware to its own Naomi arcade board, which gave Sega a leg-up on its competitors to produce truly "arcade perfect" console ports. One of many Naomi titles to get the Dreamcast treatment was Crazy Taxi, which not only had a perfectly preserved arcade mode, but a whole slew of extra content. Of course, even if you missed it in the arcades, that didn't make Crazy Taxi any less fun: This game spawned a whole new breed of "delivery" games revolving around vehicular mayhem... a formula that has been oft-imitated, but never quite matched since.


Grandia II

I missed out on this one until just a few years ago, when I scored a copy from a fellow member on the Hooligans of the Night forums. Anybody who knows me knows my general distaste for most RPGs and especially JRPGs. Imagine my surprise when I found myself sucked into it and it's engaging story involving corrupt religious institutions and a giant holy war, all wrapped up in a package reminiscent of some of the best RPGs from the 16-bit era. Sure, the dialogue was unbearably corny at times, but that didn't detract from what was otherwise a stellar (and highly memorable) game.


Ikaruga

Granted, Ikaruga never saw a US release on the Dreamcast, but that didn't stop shoot-em-up nuts from importing this game like crazy. Another Naomi board title, Ikaruga was developed by Treasure, the guys behind the almost cult-like hit, Radiant Silvergun. If that name-drop wasn't enough for most scrolling shooter fans, the unique polarity-based play mechanic was, which had you shifting the polarity of your ship on the fly to absorb same-color weapon fire and avoid fire of the opposite polarity. Mixing that with the frantic gameplay that is courtesy of every Treasure game was a very rewarding, if oftentimes frustratingly difficult, experience.


Jet Grind Radio

You cannot have a list such as this without at least giving a mention to Jet Grind Radio. While I much prefer playing the Xbox sequel nowadays, the Dreamcast is where it all started: Rollerblading through a massive city and spray-painting everything in sight, while dealing with numerous run-ins with the cops and rival gangs. And on top of that, it just looked cool with its (at the time) pioneering cel-shaded graphics, with an eclectic soundtrack to match. Jet Grind Radio was a fresh breath of air into the "extreme sports" genre at the time that was popularized by more tame games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater that lacked Jet's edginess and sheer "cool" factor.


There are so many games we've missed, but for us, these are the five that immediately come to mind when somebody mentions the Dreamcast. Its been ten years since the Dreamcast hit American shores, so why not reflect? What were your favorite Dreamcast games? Sound off below.