RESIDENT EVIL CODE VERONICA

Dreamcast Pal | 2000

Code Veronica was the first Resident Evil title to hit the DC. At the time is was the best Resi title available blowing away the competition that was RE2 and RE3 on the Playstation.

The game centres on Claire Redfield in her continuing quest to find her missing brother Chris. The events take place three months after those depicted in Resident Evil 2, when Claire is captured by Umbrella and sent to a remote Island. From this point the game begins.

Resident Evil gameplay remains unchanged through the game and coupled with some very high quality CG movie sequences.

Graphics in this game a superb though looking a little dated against the newer Game Cube titles. This was the first game to ditch pre-rendered backgrounds for polygon versions.

This title was supposed to be an exclusive to the Dreamcast but has typically appeared on Playstation 2 and on the Game Cube under the title of Code Veronica X.

Resident Evil 2 and 3 were also released on Dreamcast.

GUARDIAN HEROES

Gameboy Advance | 2005

A classic Saturn titles gets the shrink for the GBA. From legendary developer Treasure this game follows immediately from the Saturn Original. At that time, the 4 heroes battled their way through and encounter the final boss and apparently loose making a need for a new set of heroes to fight again.

Guardian Heroes is an intense 2D side-scrolling beat em up involving making use of mystical attacks to defeat masses of enemies. Fans of the Saturn original will know how much the screen fills. Your character can grow and obtain new skills and powers as you progress.

The game starts off with three characters that you can choose from but up to 20 different characters can be unlocked later. Some of the original characters from the first game will appear in this game as well.

Tweaks to the gameplay allow countering of enemy attacks blocking immediately following an attack, dashing in mid-air, a hyper-mode for your character and a homing movement for more accurate navigation.

Gameplay modes include the story mode that allows for two-player co-op play, versus mode and training.

More about the Saturn version can be found here.

BOMBERMAN ONLINE

Dreamcast US | 2001

No console is complete without a version of Bomberman and the Dreamcast is no exception.

This is possibly the best version of Bomberman to exist. The game has a pretty good single player mode and features five different play modes: survival, hyper bomberman, submarine, panel paint, and ring mode.

As always with Bomberman the best experience is had with the Battle Mode and this version is no exception. Being on DC there is the immediate playability of 4 players. But the major benefit is hinted in the title: online gameplay. In this version up to 8 players can enjoy an online blast! Though these days availability might be non-existent.

The graphics have been overhauled for a crisp 3D environment utilising the technique of cell shading but luckily stays true to the 2D nature of the game.

Unfortunately this game was only released in the US and Japan and towards the end of the systems life.

The latest Bomberman title appeared on the Game Cube in 2003.