deSPIRIA's scrappy survivalist future of deadly secrets and grisly monsters, a setting where people try to eke out a life for themselves amongst the decay as androids play the roles of shop assistants and murderers while a powerful religion oversees all, is something of a spiritual sequel to the supremely atmospheric PlayStation title Dark Messiah. … Continue reading The horrors of the mind
[Apologies for the literal screen shots in this one - emulation doesn't play nice with this game] When you spin the wheel of blind import purchases you do so in the knowledge that whatever comes your way could be anything from a life-changing hidden gem to a complete waste of time, money, and effort - … Continue reading The Dreamcast’s other speak ’em up
Ah, good old Phantasy Star Online. Everyone's played it on one format or another, or dabbled in one of its numerous spinoffs, or spent hours fussing over expensive outfits in the now internationally-available sequel. Been there, done that, evolved a funny-looking Mag and kicked Dark Falz in the chops at the end. But when was the last time any … Continue reading The 21st century RPG
Hidekazu Yukawa, once the Senior Managing Director at Sega, became the unlikely face of the Dreamcast during its Japanese debut after starring in an endearing TV commercial lamenting the company's struggles against the nigh-universal popularity of Sony's PlayStation. From that self-deprecating moment he would on to appear in other high profile advertising campaigns for Sega's … Continue reading The search for Sega’s treasure
There are times when "Dreamcast" seems to be as much its own genre as it is the name of Sega's final console, a special category of GD-ROMs infused with a unique strand of unbound creativity where anything was possible; even a "life intervention game" like Roommania #203. Your one goal in this Japan-only slice of … Continue reading Renta[l room ]hero
Sega's arcade/Dreamcast whack 'em up Dynamite Deka 2, also known as Dynamite Cop, also known as the sequel to an earlier arcade/Saturn bop 'em up that cannot be referred to by its once-official international title for expired licensing reasons, is a game determined to be the most everything it can possibly be. To a certain extent … Continue reading Soufflé samurai
Nothing puts me off returning to Eternal Arcadia - a title I'm sure I last played from start to finish when it was the sort of thing us ever-thinning ranks of Sega hardware enthusiasts could casually purchase new in any old local game shop - quite like being told it's the best RPG on the … Continue reading Blue rogues, blue skies
"Now is the time to save Sega with your own hands!" declares the back of Segagaga's box, although in hindsight it seems a little mean to imply anyone still buying new Dreamcast games in 2001 wasn't already doing their bit to support Sega's floundering console - perhaps it was meant to be taken more as … Continue reading Sega gaga
The original Mega Drive Rent A Hero was Sega's first attempt at making players perform a bizarre fictional job in a genre that didn't exist yet at a time when nobody was aching for a menial employment/beat 'em up hybrid, and in spite of this grand list of potential pitfalls the end result was the … Continue reading Hero for hire
Whatever you think of Warp's eclectic output... ...doesn't actually matter, because there's little doubt the main force behind the company - Kenji Eno - was a man driven by the desire to make whatever the heck he wanted and simply did not care what anyone thought of him for pursuing his goals, even if this … Continue reading Man is the warmest place to hide
