"If it had only lasted another year I could have easily given it a 10"

Ah the Sega Dreamcast what a great system. The first next generation console is a good one but what is it that makes it so good you might ask? Read on to find out.

HISTORY OF THE DREAMCAST:
The Sega Dreamcast is a fifth generation video game console (like the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and X-box) and runs on a 128 bit engine. It is the successor to the Sega Saturn system (released back in 1995). After the Sega Saturn failed to Sony and Nintendo the Dreamcast was released to try and save Sega's reputation and get them back into the console market. When Sega designed the Dreamcast they were careful not to make the same costly mistakes they had made with the Saturn. First off the made sure that they marketed the system very well by investing lots of money in adds and promotions. They also made sure that their system was considerably more powerful then their main rival's Nintendo and Sony. Another smart move that Sega made was the decision to release the system at a fairly low price for a new system (about $200.00 at launch). They used special CD's called CG's for it's games rather than standard CD's allowing it to have much more space for data in it's games than the PlayStation or Nintendo 64. The Dreamcast was also an easy system to code for unlike the Saturn and as a result developers could develop software for it within a shorter amount of time. The system also had lots of good titles to chose from at it's launch in late 1999 like the excellent Sonic Adventure. Many people were impressed and rushed out to buy a Dreamcast. For about a year lots of excellent titles continued to appear on the Dreamcast and many big name developers supported it. It looked like Sega's fortunes might be changing after such a good launch of their superb new system but they were not out of the woods yet. Sony's PlayStation had been the dominant system in the fourth generation console wars (the Saturn's rival and eventual destroyer) and with Sega's shattered reputation after the Saturn disaster many people were still skeptical of whether or not Sega could get back in the game. A looming menace was threatening to crush the Dreamcast and it was none other than super powerful (but ridiculously over hyped) PlayStation 2 (PS2). With everyone talking about how much better PS2 would be many people stuck with Sony. But worse yet Sega also had steep competition from Nintendo and Microsoft's machines (which are even more powerful than PS2) just around the corner. So early in 2001 Sega pulled the plug on the Dreamcast and announced to the world that they were no longer going to make their own consoles and would instead become a 3rd party developer.

GRAPHICS:
At the time of the system's launch the graphics were among the best ones ever seen in video games up to that point in time. The graphics are clean and crisp and do not suffer from the distortion (jaggies) seen in many Saturn and PlayStation games. In fact the PS2 sometimes suffers from the same graphical glitches and it was released a year latter than the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast also handles 2D graphics much better than any other console system released up to that point in time thanks to the system's large amount of internal RAM. The excellent 2D capabilities are very apparent in the Capcom and SNK fighting games.

SOUND:
The sound on the Dreamcast is great just like any system that uses CD's as a storage medium for it's games. Voice samplings come through very clear and there is seldom any problems with the music quality. There are no real problems at all in this department.

CONTROLLERS:
The Dreamcast controller design is based on the hugely popular Sega Analog Pad from the days of the Saturn. The controller consists of a very comfortable analog control stick, a directional pad, a start button, and six action buttons (four on the front of the controller labelled X, Y, A, and B, and two top mounted ones). The controller is comfortable to hold and works great in most games but the two top mounted action buttons can be hard to reach in certain games (fighting for example).

GAMES:
The Dreamcast may not have lasted long enough to gain a massive library of games but despite this it has one of the best selections of quality titles around. Also many of the games are not simply tired old sequels but completely new series or genres even. Sega certainly went for innovation with the Dreamcast. While Fighting, Sports, Miscellaneous, and Racing seem to be the best represented genres on the Dreamcast every one has at least one excellent game representing it. Some notable Dreamcast games and series include Shenmue, NBA 2K, Daytona USA, Skies of Arcadia, Street Fighter Alpha 3, NFL 2K, Phantasy Star Online, Sonic Adventure, Marvel vs. Capcom, Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future, Chu Chu Rocket, King of Fighters, Virtua On: Oratorio Tangram, Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur, Grandia 2, Dead or Alive 2, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Virtua Fighter 3TB, Capcom vs. SNK, Quake III: Arena, Rayman 2, Samba De Amigo, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Jet Grind Radio, Street Fighter III, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. I could name more but you get the idea. All in all the Dreamcast won't disappoint you.

SYSTEM DESIGN:
The system has a nice look to it and that little swirl that Sega uses as the Dreamcast logo looks pretty sharp. The system is hardy enough that it usually won't suffer too much wear and tear over time. The system is also fairly light, so you can move it around easily without too much hassle.

FEATURES:
The Dreamcast has may cool features. One of the best is the ability to go online with the system using a modem inside the Dreamcast. Once online you can download games off the Internet and play certain games such as Phantasy Star Online and Chu Chu Rocket online with other people. The Dreamcast memory card which is called a Visual Memory Unit (VMU) has a monochrome LCD screen which allows you to view exactly what game data is on the unit without having to connect it to the system. During game play the VMU can be programmed to work in conjunction with certain games to display things like the amount of health that your character has left on the screen of the VMU to save you having to constantly open up the menu on the game to check this information. The VMU can also be programmed to display the time of day. A feature that was not included but would have been nice to have would have been a backwards compatibility with the Sega Saturn and Sega CD it's not a big deal but it would have been nice.

SYSTEM EVALUATION:
(as it would have been when it was released)

GRAPHICS: 10/10
SOUND: 10/10
CONTROLS: 8.5/10
GAMES: 9/10
SYSTEM DESIGN: 9/10

Overall 9.3/10
Rounded to 9/10 for GameFaqs

Even though this system will cease to get any new software shortly I still very highly recommend that you buy a Dreamcast system. There are a ton of awesome games for this console and most of them and the system can be had for a very low asking price. Don't pass up the Dreamcast or you will be missing out on one of the best home consoles to come around in a long time.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/29/01, Updated 08/29/01