#50. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing
September 9, 1999
Midway Studios San Diego
Midway Home Entertainment
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing is a sterling example of what made the Dreamcast so great. Developer Midway Studios San Diego took a concept and fleshed it out into something not only unique but very fun to play. There was no half-stepping here.
Featuring a colorful cast of characters, players can take them from the bottom to the top in an engrossing campaign mode where training and proper planning play a crucial role in your boxer’s success. Throw in an endlessly fun versus mode and how approachable it is by players of any skill level and it’s a hit. I dare you to bring it to a game night and not have a ton of fun.
I have distinct memories of how this game permeated wildly different groups of friends and family. From my grandfather who was really into professional boxing to a friend that seldom touched anything outside of racing games. So long as you were willing to give it a shot, you were likely to get reeled in.
Many fighters have come and gone since Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, but I’d like to think that it carved out enough of a space that it holds up decades later. — C. Dawson
#49. Ooga Booga
September 12th, 2001
Visual Concepts
Sega
This game feels like it was based off of a Nickelodeon cartoon that never existed. Matter of fact, I had to look it up just to make sure. It’s refreshing to see a game of this type released during this era that wasn’t just a cheap cash-in on a popular children’s property.
Ooga Booga is just pure, simple fun. Sure it’s a little bare bones, with the bulk of single player mode taking place through a series of tutorials and trial missions which unlock additional characters, stages, and more, but the unique art direction and core gameplay mechanics carry a lot of weight. The main gimmick of the game is “Smackahuna” mode, which is honestly kind of like Super Smash Bros. but on a 3D plane. You score points by hitting each other with melee attacks, projectiles, rideable boars, and magic spells. This is exactly what the ESRB warned us about when they listed “cartoon violence” on the game’s label.
It’s not the most groundbreaking game in the world by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s still very accessible, and I can imagine it’s probably a pretty fun party game too. At the end of the day, for a game that was released hours after 9/11, it could be a whole lot worse. — K. Podas
#48. Bomberman Online
October 30th, 2001
Hudson Soft
Sega
Who doesn’t love Bomberman? Seriously, he’s such a lovable character! It’s hard not to feel anything but joy watching him trot around dropping explosives everywhere. The gameplay in Bomberman Online is pretty much just classic Bomberman– run around a grid, drop bombs, and hope for the best, which you can’t go wrong with. There are also some new modes that are fun and welcome additions, but will have you quickly wanting to go back to just playing regular Bomberman again.
The single player campaign has you competing in the “Bomb-A-Lympics” which, if you couldn’t guess, are kind of like the Olympics but with more explosives and cartoon mischief. You play through various stages with different rulesets and unlockable missions that let you progress further in the game and collect customizable costumes for your character. The music is also pretty sick, and the early cel-shaded graphics are a charming reminder of this very specific era in gaming.
Oh, and of course there’s an online multiplayer mode which I couldn’t play because the servers have been shut down for 20 years. At the end of the day, it’s fucking Bomberman. No more, no less. — K. Podas
#47. NFL Blitz 2001
September 12, 2000
Avalanche Software
Midway Games
Reviewing annual sports releases twenty years after the fact kind of gives up the whole game. When NFL Blitz 2001 came out a year after its predecessor, you could sort of justify its existence by noting that it had up-to-date rosters. Now, all those players are long since dead, making the whole thing seem pointless. The game is a bit more polished than the 2000 edition and the developers added a party game mode that you will never use. Unlike the N64 and PlayStation releases, the play selection screen has also been changed to only show the routes of the play you’re currently selecting. This gives you a more detailed look at the different routes, but my caveman brain didn’t like it because I had to actually read in order to locate Da Bomb. Fortunately, the gameplay still more than satisfied my primitive desires for cartoonish violence. If you had to choose between this game and the previous year’s release, you should certainly pick this one, but your experience wouldn’t be all that different in the end. — K. Duggan
#46. Tokyo Xtreme Racer
September 9, 2000
Genki
Crave Entertainment
What a great hook for a racing game. Some very intense opening text informs us that it’s crazier than hell out here and basically you gotta race if you wanna be worth a shit. You buy a car, zip around Tokyo at night, and look for rivals. When you see one, you shine your brights at them a bunch until they agree to race. When the race starts, it’s a one-on-one and you both get power bars like a fighting game. You deplete your opponent’s health by getting out ahead of them, and vice versa. Like Metropolis Street Racer, TER offers a brilliant twist on conventional racing games, and the result is a title I feel like I could play forever. A few things could stand improving, namely the generic soundtrack and more variety in the parts of Tokyo you’re allowed to access, but that all feels minor when you consider that this game is a blast that is completely original, and also looks and plays fantastic. The simple challenge system lends itself a clever bit of strategy, too. Does that rival over there’s car look way too fast for you to take him in a race? Great, just don’t harass him with your bright lights and you should be fine! — M. Roebuck
#45. Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
November 8, 2000
Capcom Production Studio 1
Capcom
In a world where Akuma was part of the base roster for Tekken 7 and Guilty Gear’s Baiken is in 2019’s Samurai Shodown, it may be hard to convey to you just how explosive the original Capcom vs. SNK really was. Sure, for most of North America, where The King of Fighters never really took off, this game was Street Fighter vs. Who the Fuck Are These Other Guys. For the rest of the world, the first CVS was like the moon landing. A generation of fanfiction nerds manifested this into existence. Crossovers are old hat by now, but in 2000, this was arcade nerds’ Marvel vs. DC.
By now, the original game is a historical footnote next to its 2001 sequel, which expands on it in every way. It’s difficult to argue that you should play CVS when CVS2 exists, with the exception of some cool background stages and music that didn’t make it into the sequel. On its own merits, though, CVS is a perfectly solid fighting game with a couple of rough edges. Nobody likes the fixed ratio system and you’re legally allowed to throat-punch anyone who picks Nakoruru, but it’s worth the occasional revisit. — T. Wilde
#44. Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour
July 19, 2000
Crystal Dynamics
Eidos Interactive
I love Disney World. I’m not ashamed to say it. The way the best rides combine environmental storytelling with feats of engineering is a fine art that really can’t be replicated anywhere else. I played a lot of this game as a kid in between viewings of those Travel Channel shows that were just ads for the parks, and I was kind of shocked to discover that it kinda holds up today. It plays like a mix of the great kart racers of the time. There’s an adventure mode in the style of Diddy Kong Racing or CTR, drifting that feels like a looser Mario Kart, even hidden collectibles on the track like Sonic R. And the track designs do a really great job translating the rides into a virtual form. Trust me, as someone who has spent way too much time thinking about the Haunted Mansion, all the beats of the ride are in there. Am I biased here, hopped up on too much dopamine from Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at things I recognized? Yes. But if you like the Disney Parks at all, check this one out. — S. Finkelstein
#43. Garou: Mark of the Wolves
November 23, 2001
SNK
Agetec
Garou: Mark of the Wolves is an absolute classic fighting game. Garou is often considered the “Third Strike of SNK,” referencing the beloved Street Fighter III: Third Strike. The spritework oozes quality and personality and the combat system is fresh and unique. Before Zelda: TotK ran on the Switch, this game inexplicably ran on the same NEO GEO as the first Fatal Fury.
Garou pulls off a miracle by introducing an entirely new cast of characters (plus Terry) without creating any duds. I don’t know if you follow more recent SNK games, but that is NOT easy to pull off. Most importantly, Garou: Mark of the Wolves has a character named Butt. You can still find Garou being played on the side at any fighting game tournament south of the border, and a sequel is currently in development. I don’t really know where to rank a stellar fighting game in the greater scheme of the Dreamcast catalog, since the fighting game genre exists in its own little hemisphere. But I can tell you one thing: In everywhere outside the US and Japan, Garou: Mark of the Wolves es numero uno! Jajajajajaja! — Ryan Fleishman
#42. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
November 15, 2000
Capcom
Unlike RE2, RE3 on Dreamcast is basically identical to the PlayStation version. The only significant difference is that you get a couple of extra outfits for Jill, neither of which are particularly exciting, and you can select them from a menu right at the start.
There was a real opportunity here to offer a version of RE3 where Jill could wear a hot dog costume and Capcom did not take it. I’m going to try real hard to not take that personally.
If you’ve never played the original RE3, this is definitely worth a look. The behind-the-scenes story is that it was thrown together in eleven months by an inexperienced B-team when Capcom found itself with a hole in its production schedule. You’d expect that would mean the final version of the game is a mess, and it is, sort of. RE3’s setting is a fever dream. It’s still the single most compulsively replayable game in the core RE series, and has one of the best antagonists.
Your first trip through RE3 is punctuated by moments of sheer terror as the Nemesis, a giant, intelligent, tool-using Tyrant, constantly pops in to cancel your birthday. You can figure out his patterns with experience, but on a blind run, he seems utterly random. Every game made in the next 20 years that features you getting chased by some indestructible asshole owes at least a stylistic debt to Nemesis, and it’s worth taking a look at RE3 to see the master at work. — T. Wilde
#41. Shenmue
November 7, 2000
CRI, Scarab
Sega
Let’s cut straight to the point. You’re either going to love Shenmue or you’re going to hate it. There is no in-between on this. Of all the titles on Dreamcast, it stands out as one of the best looking, hands down. In terms of all games, it’s one of the most detailed and nuanced in terms of the world design and how fleshed out it is.
The biggest dividing factor is how mundane everything is. Similar to Persona titles, there is a day and night cycle. Shops and people keep their own schedules. This either adds to the immersion or makes everything feel like a chore and you try to progress the story. Said story is rather grounded when compared to other titles. Shenmue isn’t some bombastic affair and you won’t ultimately end up killing a god. Instead, you’re going to talk to a lot of elderly people about their days while juggling quick time events. It’s very grounded and methodical.
All that aside, Shenmue suffers from two major issues today. The controls are abysmal and the sound quality, especially for voiced lines, aren’t great. Everyone is using a very hot mic and the performances wildly vary. It’s hard to recommend Shenmue because of how divisive it is. It’s one of those things that a person needs to experience themselves, kind of like that experimentation phase in college. I can’t tell you if you’re gonna like it, you just need to give it a shot. — C. Dawson
#40. Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash Of Super Heroes
October 7, 1999
Capcom
Capcom
Before the juggernaut that would be Marvel vs. Capcom 2, there was this ambitious predecessor. Capcom had already proven itself formidable with its Street Fighter series and its take on Marvel heroes with X-Men: Children of the Atom was well received by fans of both the mutant heroes and fighting games.
So, what better way for Capcom to up the ante than
to smash several beloved franchises together? Much like Mountain Dew and Doritos, this was a match in nerd heaven.
The roster was small and had some curious choices. Who would ever pick the knock-off Iron Man, War Machine, when Iron Man is literally available? Like many fighters at the time Marvel vs. Capcom didn’t come with a list of combos, specials, or optimal teams. Instead, players had to learn in a trial by fire with a brutally difficult AI. This tempered those willing to learn and set up players with their mains like a virtual matchmaker.
The animation was top-tier, the roster iconic, and the gameplay had a steep, but rewarding, learning curve. By bringing this arcade hit to Dreamcast, Capcom allowed players to put in plenty of practice before going back to the arcade to thrash little kids picking their favorite heroes. — C. Dawson
#39. The Typing of the Dead
Janurary 23, 2001
Smilebit
Sega
The Typing Of The Dead is a typing-based “edutainment” game that replaces the gun in zombie shooter House Of The Dead 2 with a keyboard and it rules so much. Maybe I’m biased because I was absolutely the kid who spent elementary school computer lab periods playing typing games, but Typing of the Dead is surprisingly frenetic with a sense of adrenaline and a charming sense of humor to boot. Typing goofy phrases (“my foxy wife,” “yummy yet carcinogenic,” a limerick about Sega putting dreadlocks on an echidna) fast and accurately is harder than you think. Even with an incredibly short arcade/campaign mode, it still finds some time to iterate on the gameplay in an interesting way. One boss requires you to type the words that correctly answer its questions. Another boss enters brief periods of invulnerability that completely disrupts your typing flow. All this frantic typing activates the part of me that’s always thought mid-2000s hacking scenes looked sick as hell. Yes, I do want to rapidly mash on my keyboard and achieve some sort of visceral result. I’ve never been a big FPS guy but furiously typing “teach me how to love” and “grassroots movement” to blow up zombies before they Get me…Now we’re talking.
If you’re the kind of kid who chose words like “Limulus polyphemus,” the scientific name for the Atlantic horseshoe crab, for the “choose your own words” part of his 1st grade spelling tests grew up to join an online video game publication were to rate this game, he’d probably give it an 85/100. — Aaron Weerasinghe
#38. Test Drive Le Mans
November 9, 2000
Infogrames Melbourne House
Infogrames
Look. I get it. I’m just as shocked as you are. The Test Drive series has a reputation for being absolute garbage but with developer Pitbull Syndicate not being behind the wheel, there was an opportunity to actually put out a good game. So, Infogrames Melbourne House rose to the occasion and produced what is arguably the best racing sim on the Dreamcast.
Test Drive Le Mans features actual team cars on actual tracks with features like a day and night system and fluctuating weather. Each car actually handles differently and can be customized by those ambitious enough. Having spent a few decades playing racing sims like this, it was like slipping on a comfortable pair of shoes as I slid right into the groove of things.
Those that are particularly ambitious can take on the actual 24 hours of Le Mans race. It’s a grueling affair and not for the faint of heart but can create one of those lifetime memories you’re proud to look back on due to overcoming such a challenge. It might not have all the bells and whistles of Gran Turismo but Test Drive Le Mans certainly holds its own against every other Dreamcast racer. — C. Dawson
#37. Space Channel 5
June 4, 2000
Sega AM9
Sega
It’s unfortunate that I had a weird experience with Michael Jackson when I was a teenager.
Luckily that experience is just seeing him randomly pop up towards the end of the crazy Simon-Says-like rhythm game Space Channel 5. Put yourself in my shoes: you’re six hours into a hyper-pop music voyage where you’re playing Ulala, the orange-mini-dress-adorned journalist working for the titular network who’s been investigating and fighting back an invasion of hypnotic dancing aliens.
Then Michael Jackson shows up.
Sure, I’ve already sat through a ballerina boss battle and various fights with my reporter rival named Pudding, and eventually I’ll find out the invasion is literally a false-flag operation by the Rupert Murdoch-like leader of my news organization. It’s still nothing compared to the weirdness of a silver-jumpsuit-wearing Jacko dancing in the background while I’m trying to remember in which directions the aliens pointed. — J. Ruggiero
#36. Crazy Taxi
February 2, 2000
Hitmaker
Sega
My favorite part of this game is when the announcer says, “Hey, Hey, Hey, it’s time to make some CA-RAZY money are you ready?” but playing this game for this project made me realize you’re truly making some insane amounts of cash. You’re making $150 for a trip down the street! This game rocks. It’s a novel take on the arcade racer where you’re trying to ferry people to the KFC before time runs out. The faster you go, the more money you’ll make. It’s simple, it’s fast, it’s fun. The Dreamcast was the last console where a perfect port of an arcade game was a selling point, and that’s really all this is. There’s a few minigames that act as training missions, but don’t expect anything on the level of Super Monkey Ball’s bonus modes here or anything. — S. Finkelstein
