The year 2020 had ended in apotheosis for Dreamcast fans with an exceptional discovery in the bowels of a Katana development kit that belonged to the Red Lemon studio. The"sreak" member of the "Dreamcast-talk" forum had unearthed a technical demo of a Simpson game that was unknown until now. We were playing an insect evolving in the famous colored house of this atypical American family, all in a cel-shaded universe.
It can take years before a new Unreleased Dreamcast is discovered. The main cancelled games of the console (available here) have been found during the last two decades. The hope of unearthing them diminishes over time, prototypes deteriorate, dev kits' hard drives die, many betas were destroyed at the beginning of the century.
The Dreamcast community did not know that the discovery of "The Simpsons: Bug Squad" was just a taste of what 2021 would bring.
2021 will remain an exceptional year for preservation on Dreamcast. In twelve months, the archaeologists, the hackers, the hardcore of the Dc underground scene have done more than in 20 years!
The Unreleased Dreamcast 2021 :
Kyskrew (19 avril 2021) : Nobody remembered "Kyskrew". However, it existed, the project had been far before its cancellation. The game was in development by Dragonhydre a French team of about twenty members. They planned to make it free exclusively for the Dreamcast. This release offers the preparatory work on the game, the script, concept arts, sketches and especially beautiful music. If not playable, to have been able to find conceptual material of this RPG is a huge achievement.
Castlevania Ressurection (27 avril 2021) : For a long time it remained a chimera and the fans of the license wondered if it even existed. Well, not only does it exist but it goes far beyond the simple technical demo presented behind closed doors (only to journalists and VIPs). The game, in its prototype state, has interesting qualities despite the unfinished implementation of multiple elements. By pressing START, you can access the DEBUG menu which allows you to choose another stage among 5 in total. The intentions were there, the realization is not spectacular for a Dreamcast but there are still nice effects and some sceneries stand out.
Dee Dee Planet (15 juin 2021) : While it was thought to be locked up in the safe of Sega of America's archives, a copy seems to have found its way into the wild. Dee Dee Planet was based on old 8-bit games from the 1980s. Players battle each other by operating their robots within three different zones - block zone, freeze zone and liquid zone. The gravity differs depending on the map. To shoot, you simply control the angle and power of the shot.
Agartha (28 juillet et 21 septembre 2021) : Alone in the Dark invented the concept of setting, it created a framework where the player in interactivity with the environment would feel what the developer wanted. Under the label of a new studio, No Cliché, Frédérik Raynal and his team wanted to renew the genre and exceed the competition by proposing an innovative concept "the choice". Agartha would have been the first Survival horror where the player could choose his side: Good or Evil. Two new Builds, sketches and more information about the scenario were discovered in 2021. One of the new prototypes may have repaired one of the corrupted builds from 2017 and made about 17 new maps of Agartha finally playable.
Propeller Arena (22 aôut 2021) : Its release date was scheduled one week after its cancellation. A deadstock that could be sleeping in a warehouse? If 9/11 hadn't happened (the cause of its cancellation), it would probably have been delayed. No destruction order was given. Propeller Arena is an air combat game for Dreamcast, developed by Sega-AM2, which puts the player in control of planes competing in tournaments in the near future. He can choose between different models, such as the Spitfire or the Mustang. He has to make the best score possible in a limited time. A large number of tricks such as spins or loops can be performed using combinations of keys on the controller.
Shangai Dinasty version Européenne (19 septembre 2021) : If you like Mah-Jong, this game is for you. This Pal localization was released as part of the Deluge Project along with 134 other Dreamcast prototypes.
Geist Force (27 septembre 2021) : Overall, the game is really reminiscent of Starfox. The player evolves on the screen by seeing his ship from behind. You have to face the opponents who arrive by wave. This prototype shows a game that had a lot of tricks up its sleeve. We were not going to say no to a Lylat Wars clone! Shoot down as many enemies as possible with one missile shot, we would have asked for more. Geist Force wasn't going to revolutionize the genre. Some ideas were good, like the possibility to destroy part of the scenery. We were going to put people out on the street by destroying their houses!
Scud Race démo technique (31 octobre 2021) : So you can run this technical demo on your PC like the developers of the late nineties. It's a shame that Sega didn't bring this arcade hit to the Dreamcast. Many people were waiting for it. Sifting spent more than 50 hours and 5 months to realize this release, that is to say to emulate the SET 2 (the ancestor of the Katana development kit).
Shenmue 2 version Américaine (23 novembre 2021) : It is much more than a game, it is one of those rare gems that help take players to a new stage of video games. For the first time, the player was immersed in a universe that seemed parallel to ours. This title is a cinematographic work, succeeding in the synthesis between pre-calculated renderings and real time 3D, between adventure game, RPG, FMV and fighting game for the gameplay, the whole in open world with new game possibilities: eating, sleeping, collecting, betting, feeding a cat, playing at an arcade. The 2 Debug Menu allow to explore the game in a new way.
Ring : The Legend of Nibelungen (16 décembre 2021) : It is an adventure game exclusively based on Richard Wagner's opera, The Ring of the Nibelung, inspired by Germanic and Nordic mythologies. In this software, you follow the destiny of the 4 original protagonists of the opera, in the order you want. If we knew the PC version released in 1998, it is a surprise to learn that a dreamcast port was planned. For unknown reasons, the dreamcast version was never released.
Of course, some of these unreleased were already known but finding a new build or that they are finally in GDI (perfect dump) is a big step for the preservation of the last console of Sega.
It will be hard to do better in 2022, the future will tell us. I hope to see some new surprises!
Happy New Year 2022!
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