SEGA Dreamcast

Numberology For Kids

With one of the coolest release dates ever to grace North America, 9-9-99. SEGA seemed to have thought things through. In hindsight, it wasn’t enough. The hype Sony crafted for their PlayStation 2 release made even children act like frugal buyers and wait for it to come out.

It’s Almost As Nice As The Japanese Limited Edition, Right?

Once I saw the SEGA Sports Dreamcast, I would have punted mine off the roof if I could get it. If a gadget is black, you’ll want it in white. If a gadget is white, you’ll want it in black. I didn’t know the Japanese market had a limited edition black Dreamcast at the time, but this would have satisfied me.

A Game Boy In A Memory Card

I personally never owned a VMU. The idea is cool, and I would have only used it for picking plays on NFL 2K. I think it had some cool functionality with the Chaos in Sonic too?

The Water!

I liked water in video games ever since the transition to 3D. Hydro Thunder at the time blew the doors off any other water rendering in my mind. Looking back, Wave Race 64 has nicer water, but the maximalist arcade frenzy of Hydro Thunder masked that.

It Was Never Seen Before By Many

Jet Set Radio’s look, attributed to its use of Cel-Shading, was the first of its kind, at least to the mainstream market. Magazines boasted it felt like playing a Comic Book or a Cartoon. Polygons no longer mattered; textures? reality? Not important. You’re playing a literal cartoon. Many games went on to use this technique.

Early ChatGPT

So not really ChatGPT, but the marketing and mythos of this game was similar. You would plug a microphone into your VMU slot on your controller and “talk” to Seaman. He would insult you with dry humor, and that’s about it. I liked the quirkiness of it all because there wasn’t much of it in gaming at the time.

The System Seller

The graphics! The thought at the time that no longer will we be relegated to pretty FMV’s that then cut to blocky characters like Final Fantasy VII. I personally believe it delivered on this promise. A bit of a chore to play through in modern times, and it would put the Witcher or Red Dead’s sluggish movement to shame.

The Ivy League