ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more

The 20 best Dreamcast games of all time

The 20 best Dreamcast games of all time

The 20 best Dreamcast games of all time
22 December 2015

Gone too soon, the Dreamcast was Sega's final home console and a stark reminder that the business of making video games is a harsh, unforgiving one.

But let's not dwell on those salty tears once more - let's talk about the console's great  the console. That's much more fun.

And no, let's not go back over the fact that the pad was awful and hurt your fingers, either... No, this is just a place for indulging in the happy memories of a console ahead of its time.

Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2

When you need to have a brawl that isn't too complex or serious, in which you can knock Bill Clinton pirouetting out of a boxing ring  and into the crowd, R2R: Round 2 hit the spot like no other. Silly, overblown arcadey fun.


NFL 2K

Before EA Sports tied up the NFL license with Madden, 2K Sports had a few shots - and produced one of the best gridiron games ever made. Aged? Yes, but it still stands up.


Chu Chu Rocket

Most of us  got this for free direct from Sega - little did we  know it would end up being one of the console's best. It's the Dreamcast's very own Tetris, in a way.


Ikaruga

The epitome of hardcore arcade shooters, Ikaruga is still the bar by which other shmups are judged. Excellent, gorgeous and extremely difficult, it's something you can still have a ton of fun with today. And no, we still haven't completed it.


Crazy Taxi/2

You can re-play Crazy Taxi on countless formats - testament to its quality as a fun game of picking up passengers and racing through the city to their destination - yet the amazing soundtrack was messed up by inferior ports. As such, the Dreamcast versions remain the purest form of insanity.


Ferrari F355 Challenge

Most of us won't own a Ferrari in our lifetimes, but we can always go back to this - one of the finest Ferrari simulators ever released. Even though it only featured the F355, it still managed to be great fun.


Resident Evil: Code Veronica

This was a console-seller in its own right for many a year, as the continuing zombie-blasting, inventory-managing, tank-person-controlling survival horror game was only available on Dreamcast for a time.


Street Fighter 3: Third Strike

The return of the classic 2D fighting series resulted  in blistered thumbs, broken pads and many hours of impromptu tournaments at households around the world.


Samba De Amigo

Not many were able to play this one properly, owing to the rarity - and thus huge price - of the maraca controller. But it was a game where you used bloody maraca controllers, and so was amazing.


Sonic Adventure

Taking Sonic into 3D had been done to some extent before, but it wasn't until the Dreamcast that he really hit his pacey stride. It hasn't aged too well, but viewed  in context Sonic Adventure is a true classic.


Rez

While hard to explain, Rez has always been easy to enjoy. It's one to enjoy with the lights off, headphones on and volume way up.


Metropolis Street Racer

Racing around London, San Francisco and more was absolutely excellent in MSR - a game that set the tone for the future of many a racing series.


Power Stone/2

Some prefer the original, some take the added four-player insanity of the sequel, but whichever way you want to go you're guaranteed some ludicrously good arena brawls in Power Stone.


Space Channel 5

Dancing games are something to totally ignore, right? Wrong. Especially when they're as peculiar as Space Channel 5. Oh,Ulala, we miss you so...


Skies of Arcadia

An RPG classic, Skies of Arcadia is one of those games you lost that friend to for a few weeks back in the early 00s. Why? Because it was deep, engrossing and huge.


Shenmue/Shenmue 2

Who doesn't want to go to work every morning and start the day with a forklift truck race before finishing the job then going to buy capsule toys with all your earnings? A fool, that's who.


Marvel vs Capcom 2

Long before Marvel became synonymous with mainstream movie success, one of its crossovers in gaming was already getting a buttload of fans. And rightly so, because this is still an amazing, fun 2D fighting game.


Virtua Tennis 2

Tennis is the kind of sport that really benefits from simple, straightforward arcade-style play. Virtua Tennis 2 is the game that proves that, especially as we played it just the other day and loved it just as much as when it came out in 2001. COME ON, TIM!


Soulcalibur

How many hours were lost to Soulcalibur? So many that it became easy to ignore how weirdly the name was written. Bettered by its sequel, yes, but the original is still a stone-cold Dreamcast classic.


The House of the Dead 2

You can't get much more basic in gaming than standing still, shooting zombies - and that's exactly what you do (all that you do) in House of the Dead 2. And you know what? It's brilliant.