As gaming audiences continue to look forward, it's easy to overlook the important contributions from the past— like the formidable game library on Sega’s Dreamcast console. The Dreamcast was Sega’s swan song in the first-party hardware game before they turned into third-party developers. The Dreamcast ultimately couldn’t compete with Sony’s PlayStation 2, but the quirky console still receives lots of reverence for its creativity and ambition.
The advent of console-exclusive releases can be an effective way to bring in audiences. Many of the Dreamcast’s most memorable games have ended up ported or remastered onto other consoles, but there are still several games that can only be experienced back on the Dreamcast.
10 Illbleed Is An Inventive Love Letter To Old-School Horror Films
Resident Evil and Silent Hill helped put survival horror on the map, but some of the most challenging contributions to the genre have fallen through the cracks. Illbleed came out towards the end of the Dreamcast’s life and it’s a passionate homage to slasher movies from the ‘70s and ‘80s.
Set at a deadly amusement park, Illbleed has a cast of multiple characters, all of which can pass away to accumulate a higher body count and ultimately affect the game’s ending. There are genuinely exciting ideas present in Illbleed, and it’s extremely twisted, but it remains a lost Dreamcast relic.
9 Blue Stinger Adds Some Striking Twists To The Survival Horror Genre
Blue Stinger is a fascinating action-adventure and survival horror hybrid that stands out for being one of the Dreamcast’s North American launch titles. It crafts a unique story that revolves around a meteor on Christmas Eve and mutated half-dinosaur monstrosities.
Blue Stinger feels like the very best kind of Resident Evil rip-off and its tonal whiplash is part of the fun. Blue Stinger comes from Climax Games, a Japanese developer that was an important part of Sega's history during the previous gaming generations. Unfortunately, the obscure title hasn’t found life anywhere else.
8 Super Magnetic Neo Offers Pristine Platforming With A Clever Concept
Platformers have become a bit of a lost art, but the Dreamcast is the home for some especially unusual entries in the genre. Super Magnetic Neo uses the basic positive and negative impulses of magnetism for a simple, yet satisfying, platformer premise.
Super Magnetic Neo features lush, bright worlds, strong level design, and the perfect cartoonish aesthetic that honestly makes Super Magnetic Neo feel like an anime. On a different console, Super Magnetic Neo could have grown into a decent platforming mascot, but instead he’s a niche Dreamcast relic.
7 Pen Pen Trilcelon Is The Weirdest Racing Game On The Console
The racing genre of video games has reached a place where realistic titles that strive themselves in authenticity are the norm, bearing certain exceptions like Mario Kart. Pen Pen Trilcelon, a Japanese launch title for the Dreamcast, is an extremely weird take on the racing genre.
Pen Pen Trilcelon adopts a triathlon structure to its races, but the most memorable thing about the game is the bizarre penguin-esque creatures that the players control. Pen Pen Trilcelon's art style is still very striking, but its inherent weirdness likely kept it from reaching other consoles.
6 Segagaga Is An RPG Set Within The Belly Of Sega
Segagaga is the perfect example of both the Dreamcast’s endless creativity as well as its dwindling popularity. Segagaga is an RPG-simulation hybrid where players control a new Sega employee who's tasked with saving the company against their competitors. Not only is the game development premise revolutionary, but it features constant representation from popular Sega series, both as allies and enemies.
Segagaga is one of the last truly great games released for the Dreamcast, but it's also such a niche experience that's tied to the Dreamcast's life that it's understandable why nothing else has been done with it.
5 Godzilla Generations Rampages With The Famous Kaiju Monsters
Godzilla films and the larger kaiju genre have become unexpectedly popular outside of Japan over the past decade. It's encouraging to see a return to these giant monsters, but the Dreamcast wasn't afraid to embrace the Godzilla franchise back in the late '90s.
Godzilla Generations is a destructive and satisfying action title where players control Godzilla and four other iconic kaiju from the series as they wipe out cities and fight other monsters. Subsequent Godzilla games have been released over time, but there's lots of acclaim over this classic game that's stuck back on Sega's console.
4 Elemental Gimmick Gear Rewards Retro Gamers With A Polished Makeover
Releases during the lifespan of the Dreamcast and the PlayStation 2 typically made 3D games their priority, but there are some 2D titles that are absolute gems that have gone overlooked due to their old-fashioned look. EGG: Elemental Gimmick Gear is an old school RPG experience with a hard sci-fi storyline.
EGG largely trades in beautiful hand-drawn environments, yet it switches to a modern 3D approach for its boss battles. Elemental Gimmick Gear is one of the Dreamcast's stranger games and so it's not a major surprise that it wasn't a priority to bring to other consoles.
3 D2 Is Haunting Psychological Horror On An Epic Scope
Hideo Kojima is the current auteur game developer, but several decades back Kenji Eno tried to fulfill this role with Sega. The Dreamcast's D2 is actually the final game in a trilogy that started back on the Sega Saturn. D2 technically qualifies as survival horror, but it gives the player much freedom with the large environment that they're meant to explore and survive in.
D2 is a gigantic game that has four discs, a rarity for the Dreamcast. The size and niche nature of D2 are likely the biggest factors in why the moody title has slowly faded into obscurity.
2 Sword Of The Berserk: Guts' Rage Brings The Beloved Manga Series To Life
Appreciation for the Dreamcast was always the most rabid in Japan, so it’s only natural that the Sega console contains games that adapt beloved manga and anime. Berserk still receives anime adaptations, but Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage brings the series’ exaggerated violence to the player. Guts’ Rage is set between the 22nd and 23rd volumes of the manga.
The Dreamcast properly taps into the series’ chaotic combat with this original story. Guts’ Rage is a solid hack-and-slash action title, but the wavering popularity of Berserk has likely played a factor in the game’s lack of ports or remasters.
1 Sonic Shuffle Gives Sega’s Mascot The Mario Party Treatment
The success of one style of video game can often mean a slew of copycats to follow. Nintendo continues to strike gold with its Mario Party minigame releases, so Sega thought they’d try to do the same thing with Sonic and friends for the Dreamcast.
Sonic Shuffle should be a homerun, but it’s a needlessly complicated and difficult game. Clunky minigames and generic game boards don’t do Sonic Shuffle any favors. It’s a shame that a sequel couldn’t course correct Sonic Shuffle, but it’s also why there’s never been a push for a re-release.