'Sonic Adventure'

October 1, 1999
Web posted at: 4:44 p.m. EDT (2044 GMT)

In this story: 'Sonic Adventure' 'Soul Calibur' 'Trickstyle' 'Pen Pen TriIcelon' 'TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat' 'Tokyo Extreme Racing' 'Blue Stinger' RELATED STORIES, SITES

By John Robinson
CNN Interactive Senior Associate Editor

If the success of the Dreamcast could be measured by the hardware alone, there would be a huge victory for Sega. With reports of well over half a million units sold to date, Sega surely has a good start on what could be a very profitable system. Ultimately, the success of the Dreamcast rests solely on the shoulders of the software developers to produce good games. Without many good titles, the mainstream gaming community will surely forget the Dreamcast. Sega has a lot of top-notch developers signed on to produce games for the system and the initial software offerings for the Dreamcast console show a lot of promise. Hopefully, they are only a small taste of what the future holds for this 128-bit wonder box. Here is a quick look at some of the games that are available for the system, with comments on how they look, and more importantly, how they play.

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Sega Dreamcast software: Part 2

Publisher: Sega

One word: Fast! Almost too fast for adults, but just right for a kid with a few Mountain Dews in him. Sonic is back in full 3D and he's out to once again collect lots of gold rings and defeat the evil Dr. Robotnick. As the name implies, "Sonic Adventure" combines a 3D platform game with an adventure game. While Sonic succeeds as a platform game, it can be a cumbersome adventure game. Long, pointless cut scenes and confusing quests can try the patience of even the most enthusiastic gamer. Like most 3D games these days, the camera angles occasionally can be frustrating, but otherwise, Sonic looks great from nearly every graphical standpoint. The character design is flawless, as are the environments and lighting effects. The action stages and mini-games are simply awesome to play and are sure to keep you coming back for more. If you are a huge fan of Sonic or platform games in general, "Sonic Adventure" is very highly recommended. Otherwise, it might be better to rent first.

'Soul Calibur'

Publisher: Namco

Namco scores big yet again in this amazing weapons-based fighting game that is undoubtedly one of the best reasons to own a Dreamcast. With a lineup of 17 fighters, each with special moves, "Soul Calibur" offers a huge amount of replay value. Originally an arcade game, the Dreamcast version has been reworked to produce even better graphics and animation than the coin-op. The character design is extremely creative and often hilarious. For example, one of the first characters you will unlock is called "Lizard Man" whose tail is most definitely more powerful than his sword. All of the character animations are fluid and seamless with little blue light trails following every sword slash. Playing the game is easy to learn, but hard to master with each fighter having dozens of special moves available. The only two reasons not to buy this game would be not having a Dreamcast; absolutely hating fighting games and even then it would make a good rental. If you haven't already gotten the point of this review, "Soul Calibur" is the best game available for the Dreamcast.

'Trickstyle'

Publisher: Acclaim

"Trickstyle" is a futuristic hoverboard racing game that does a great job of capturing the feel of board sports. The game has crisp, colorful graphics and fluid animations which makes it a lot of fun to play if you are patient enough to learn the stunt system. The difficult training mode may scare off some people but the payoff is sweet if you put in the time to figure it out. There are hundreds of trick combos to learn and as you race on one of the 15 tracks in three locales. Ultimately, "Trickstyle" delivers a good quality racing game and is recommended to anyone looking for a boarding fix on the Dreamcast.

'Pen Pen TriIcelon'

Publisher: Infogrames

If you have young children and a Dreamcast, it is strongly recommended you get this game! Step aside Mario, ÒPen Pen TriIcelonÓ is quite possibly one of the cutest console games ever. Cartoonish animal characters racing on an ice covered planet is what it's all about. A dog, a shark and a penguin are among the characters you can choose from. Controlling the characters is a simple as directing them along the course while ice walking and pushing the ÔAÕ button in a rhythmic fashion allowing you to belly surf and swim. It has to be mentioned that the underwater segments of the races are amazing. The water is rendered perfectly and the characters even blow tiny bubbles while swimming. Most cartoons on TV these days don't look this good. Bottom line is that this is an easy game for kids to learn but challenging enough for adults to play too. Pen Pen TriIcelon is easily the best family-oriented game in the bunch.

'TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat'

Publisher: ASC Games

"TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat" is an off-road racing game that has a lot of potential but never seems to quite live up to the quality offered by the other available Dreamcast racing titles. This game does have decent track design and car models as well as a nice looking menu system. It even has a revolutionary artificial intelligence system where you can actually train a car to drive like you do. The problem is that playing the game seems more like work than play. Sluggish controls and annoying graphical elements just make you think of how good the game could have been. For example, driving in sand feels more like driving in quicksand. A good sense of speed is a crucial element in racing titles. Unfortunately, "Hardcore Heat" seems to be missing that element most of the time. Using the manual transmission option makes playing the game a lot more enjoyable because it allows you to carry a little extra speed in the tough sections. Even so, fans of off-road racing may want to rent this one out of curiosity but others will want to steer clear.

'Tokyo Extreme Racing'

Publisher: Crave

When you first learn that this street racer only has one track it may seem like a huge disappointment. Rest assured, it is one huge track and only a small detraction from an otherwise brilliant idea. "Tokyo Extreme Racing" takes place on the highways of Tokyo and you play the part of a confident street racer who is looking for a challenge. The races take place only at night and the way you lure other cars into a race is by flashing your headlights at them. Once the race starts, a meter appears for each car at the top of the screen. Much like a fighting game, the race lasts until one of the meters is depleted. The cars look absolutely gorgeous and move just as well. One major drawback to this game is that there is a lot of slowdown in the two-player making it difficult to play. There are no real cars in the game and although real licenses would have been nice, it doesnÕt hurt the game that much. The reason is that this game is just plain fun to play. When you are screaming down a four-lane highway at 150 mph, it really feels like you are going that fast. For that reason, "Tokyo Extreme Racing" stands out as one of the top racing games in the current Dreamcast lineup.

'Blue Stinger'

Publisher: Activision

As the resident adventure game in the initial Dreamcast offering, "Blue Stinger" offers fans of the genre a game that will at least tide them over for a little while. The story begins on Dinosaur Island where the hero, Eliot Ballad, is vacationing. A strange meteor falls onto the island and makes everything on the island go a little crazy. From there it is up to Elliot and his cohorts to do away with crazed beings and find the answer to what is happening on the island. "Blue Stinger" plays out much like an R rated cartoon movie, complete with cursing and lots of blood, so it's not for the young or the weak of stomach. While "Blue Stinger" does have some great graphics and a decent game engine, a ho-hum storyline and some really bad voice acting make it hard to call this one great. All in all, Blue Stinger is a good diversion and does do a good job of filling the Dreamcast adventure game void, but not much else.

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