Featured image credit to Looper.com

Sonic’s 30th anniversary is on the horizon (hello 2021, please take us far far away from this place), and Sega fans are getting excited! Sega has been teasing us all year with incredible news and announcements, but also keeping us on our toes with announcements about announcements. Weird, I know. But one of the most exciting things to happen in the last week is the announcement that Sega may be working on a new miniature retro console akin to their Genesis Classic.

In a recent interview with Japanese magazine Famitsu, a Sega spokesperson intimated that they have considerable interest in creating a new miniature retro style compilation console, maybe the SG-1000 or the Dreamcast. I can only speculate, but I believe people would be more excited for a Dreamcast mini than the SG-1000, even in Japan. The Dreamcast may have been a shortlived system, but it was met with incredible critical acclaim and is home to many beloved franchises and one-off games. Some of the best of all-time! So I have to believe that a Dreamcast Mini would sell more units, although the emulation may be more challenging.

Considering the game sizes are going to be considerably larger than that of the SG-1000, and clearly larger than the Genesis Mini, there’s no way we’re going to get 40+ Dreamcast games. Heck, we probably wouldn’t even see half of that! My guess is, somewhere between 10 and 15 Dreamcast games, + at least 1 title that was unreleased outside of Japan.

The real question on everyone’s minds is: Which games will we be graced with? I like to think that Sega would probably keep it as “in-house” as possible, opting out of still-active 3rd party titles of which they may not own any publishing rights. And I also want to believe they’ll choose to share a variety of games that best captures the essence of what the Dreamcast was, less the pioneering online mode. So expect a good deal of different genres, much like we’ve seen Sega do with their numerous compilations over the years, a la Genesis Mini, Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection, and the Sega Genesis Collection on the Switch.

Without delaying your excitement any further, let’s dive into the 10 games that I would most love to see on a Dreamcast Mini! These are in no particular order, mind you, so just read and enjoy! If you feel I’m missing something, please leave a comment below!

10 DREAMCAST MINI DREAM GAMES

Sonic Adventure

Genre: Platforming

This one is obvious. I don’t even need to say much more. Sonic is Sega’s flagship series, and Sonic Adventure launched Sonic into the 3D world + kicked off the Dreamcast in the strongest imaginable fashion. Although not a perfect game, Sonic Adventure still offers a glimpse into a beautiful Sonic 3D World, and houses some killer tunes and gorgeous visuals.

Crazy Taxi

Genre: Arcade action

Another no-brainer here. Crazy Taxi was a massive (I mean, insanely massive) smash-hit arcade game that put the Dreamcast on the map as a bona-fide arcade-porting powerhouse. Crazy Taxi is a flawless port, although retrospectively the arcade-style play doesn’t seem to make as much sense at home. Nonetheless, it’s downright fun to drive around the city to the glorious tunes of Offspring. I can’t see any reason Sega wouldn’t include this on their Dreamcast Mini. It can’t take up THAT much file space, can it?

Skies of Arcadia

Genre: RPG

It’s hard to imagine that the [arguably] best RPG on the Dreamcast wouldn’t see a release here. I would say that Phantasy Star Online is a candidate, but PSO’s commercial success far exceeded Skies of Arcadia’s. So Sega stands to make more money releasing PSO as a standalone downloadable game one day than they would with Skies. That’s why I’m voting for Skies of Arcadia. A flawless, creative, and downright beautiful RPG classic, fitting and deserving of reaching a new audience.

Jet Grind Radio

Genre: Action

Part of me says, “There’s no way Jet Grind Radio doesn’t make the compilation.” But then the other part of me says, “Well, America is so sensitive to anything and everything, Sega is likely to get sued for ‘endorsing and romanticizing vandalism,’ despite an introductory paragraph about the illegal nature of tagging.” So yeah, I don’t know. But let’s just say they’re all for it. So we should expect to see Jet Grind Radio on this mini console because it was one of many creative and fun Dreamcast games that really helped set the system apart from its competitors. And it is STILL super fun today!

Soulcalibur

Genre: Fighting

The Dreamcast wasn’t just home to excellent arcade titles and beautiful RPGs, it also housed some of the best fighting games of all time. Sure, Soulcalibur technically IS an arcade port, but not so much in The States. This brilliant fighting game is renowned for its solid fighting mechanics, so much so that the series is still alive and well with its most recent release coming in 2018, Soulcalibur VI.

Space Channel 5

Genre: Music and Rhythm

What better way to showcase how creatively weird you were than by re-releasing Space Channel 5? I may be stretching just a little by adding this title to the list, but I also think I may be accurate! It may not be the best game of the system, but it does showcase how Sega was more-than-willing to think outside the box and present something different and new.

Ikaruga

Genre: SHMUP

Here’s the Japanese-only game that just HAS to come stateside. Technically it is an arcade title that was ported to the Dreamcast in Japan in 2002, so it is technically a Dreamcast game. It is one of the most unique shmup games I have ever played, eschewing the exclusive bullet-dodging elements for something a little more in-depth. But that’s not to say the quarter-eating bullet-hell doesn’t exist. For fans of the genre, you’ll be more than satisfied! Considering the title is currently downloadable on all modern systems, they may not release it here for fear of lost revenue on downloads.

Sega Rally Championship 2

Genre: Racing

Some may argue that Daytona USA 2001 should be the featured racing game on the Dreamcast Mini, but I’d argue for a better title: Sega Rally Championship 2 (SRC2). Both titles are fantastic, but Sega Rally 2 offers a little more in the way of excitement and thrills, despite the fact that the Daytona USA series is surprisingly rock solid across the board. Following up on the success of their previous arcade / Saturn success with Sega Rally Championship, SRC2 improves every… single… facet.

Virtua Tennis

Genre: Sports

This game may also fall into the category of “unlockable content,” much like ChuChu Rocket (see: Honorable Mentions below). But maybe not. “Why not NFL 2K? Why not NBA 2K?” you ask. Sure, those games are almost universally praised as some of the best in their respective sports for their time. But I’d argue that the current gaming market is so saturated with yearly updated NFL and NBA games, these older titles would not be enjoyable today. Over the last 20 years, Tennis seems to have been relegated to Mario games, Wii games, and random mini-games within larger games. For this reason, I believe Virtua Tennis, which is a damn fine game, is due for a revisit, and thus a perfect candidate for the Dreamcast Mini! This would also help easily cross off the “sports” genre on the punch-list.

Shenmue

Genre: Action-Adventure

Shenmue is one of the best Action-Adventure games of all time. Period. It is masterfully crafted, boasting deep storytelling and a brilliant soundtrack that will straight up move you. Shenmue II is also a sharp game, but definitely not as popular to western audiences as the original. Now that Shenmue III has been released, to mixed reviews, releasing Shenmue here may help drive download-sales of Shenmue II and III.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

ChuChu Rocket

Genre: Puzzle/Maze

This game is fun as hell but perhaps too simplistic to be one of the 10 games released on the Dreamcast mini. If I had to guess, ChuChu Rocket falls more into the category of “unlockable content.” This is why I’m including it here for the Honorable Mentions section. A Sonic Team creation, ChuChu Rocket is an addictively fun puzzle/maze game where you have to help a bunch of mice get to a rocket ship. Silly, I know. But the game boasted super fun online play that aided in the excitement!

Power Stone 1 and/or 2 (but probably Power Stone 2)

Genre: Fighting

The Power Stone games are off-the-charts fun. Especially when playing with 3 of your friends for some 4-player mayhem. I’m not convinced this would make the list considering it’s a Capcom game, and Capcom is still very much in-business and doing well. But if we could get it, I’d love to play it again!

MOST WANTED, BUT PROBABLY WON’T GET

Super Magnetic Neo

Genre: Platforming

This game is so wacky, yet so damn fun. While I’d love for this to see a release on the Dreamcast Mini, I’d actually rather see a total remake and/or spiritual successor! It’s a wildly unique concept that could use a modern-gaming tune-up.

Resident Evil, Code: Veronica

Genre: Survival / Horror

Considering the Dreamcast Mini will hope to be a popular Christmas present for not just people in the mid to late 30s, but also for a new younger audience, I’m not convinced they would release anything too violent or too scary. Too bad, because this title would fit perfectly considering it’s a Dreamcast classic.

DEFINITELY WON’T GET RELEASED

Seaman

Genre: WTF

This game is insanely hilarious and fun, yet too inappropriate for a compilation aimed at [hopefully] falling in the hands of kids on Christmas day of 2021. Not to mention the game features the use of a microphone, so the added controller functionality in this portable mini system would be too expensive just for one game.