Title	:	Skies of Arcadia Legends
Platforms	:	Nintendo GameCube, Sega Dreamcast
Publisher	:	Sega
ESRB Rating	:	Teen
Game Rating	:	8.7
Review by	:	Ken Gagne

It was an age of legend — an era of daring. And it was a time of airships. 

Where gravity is more a suggestion than a law, islands float and ships fly for the horizon. Pirates and empires join in battle in Skies of Arcadia Legends, a Nintendo GameCube role-playing game (RPG) adapted from a Sega Dreamcast title released three years ago. 

Players become Vyse, a young man starting his career as a Robin Hood of the skies. His life is interrupted by a visitor from another world who brings with her knowledge of ancient weapons of mass destruction. Vyse becomes embroiled in a race to save the world from the machinations of the Valua Empire, while making many colorful friends along the way. Their travels will take them through a world governed by six moons. Each moon has not only its own magic type, but a similar continent and culture. For example, the red moon symbolizes fire magic, and is represented by a scorching desert region. 

It may sound simple, but these lands are not populated with no cookie-cutter characters here, with each vibrantly alive person you control or meet having her own look and mannerisms. Our heroes are optimistic in such a way as to be sincerely inspiring, not disgustingly sweet. The story is genuinely fun, funny, and surprising — elements missing from many of today's darker stories. Yes, there are bad guys here, and they do bad things, but it just makes victory all the sweeter. Even the good guys have issues, but not the personal demons that would disable them from functioning as a team toward a positive goal. The plot twists that occur along the way are surprising and satisfying. 

The music fits this decor, with tunes that remind me somehow of Final Fantasy II or Wild Arms. After playing Final Fantasy X, Arcadia's written dialogue may seem antiquated, but the occasional one-liner helps give each hero some verbal personality. 

As with most RPGs, much time is spent battling foes. The format here is menu-driven, turn-based combat. Players choose actions for each team member, then watch the results of those actions as enemy and ally operate. Unique to Arcadia are strengths and weaknesses based on the color of one's weapon, which can be changed during battle. These colors also determine the magic each hero learns. Each hero can learn the same magic, which blurs the boundaries of similarity; but each character's unique Super Moves, which are often more offensively effective than magic, rejustifies his existence. 

The encounter rate is average, allowing players to do some exploration without getting bogged down in combat every five seconds. Most enemies can be overcome without much struggle, but the boss battles can worry a poorly-equipped player. Fortunately, players who succumb to superior strength can restart at the beginning of battle, without having to retrace their steps up to that point. 

More interesting are the rarer ship battles, which generally occur at critical plot points. This fatal, aerial ballet between two ships requires elements of strategy and endurance. Do not engage in these combats if you have to be somewhere anytime soon. 

After the Nintendo 64's dearth of RPGs, it's refreshing to see the genre supported on the GameCube. Sega needs to release more original titles for the console, instead of rehashing old titles, but Skies of Arcadia is good enough to not have suffered from age. It does both the genre and the GameCube proud.

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This article is copyright (c) 2003, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Sentinel & Enterprise, 15-Feb-03

Title	:	Tennis 2K2
Platforms	:	Sega Dreamcast
Publisher	:	Sega
ESRB Rating	:	Everyone
Game Rating	:	8.8
Review by	:	Ken Gagne

ieMagazine editorialist Pete Gallagher recently reminisced on the wonderful simplicity of Pong, and how today's gamers would consider such a game beneath them. 

Yet dress it up right and even Pong can be as fun today as it was back then. That's what Sega's done with Tennis 2K2, for the Dreamcast. 

A sequel to Virtua Tennis, Tennis 2K2 builds on the addictive qualities and simple, fast-paced action of the original while adding and changing features. The athlete roster now includes eight women players, for a total of sixteen real-life sportsmen from Cedric Pioline to Serena Williams and Alexandra Stevenson. One to four gamers can pit these athletes in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles tennis matches. 

The lone player will likely spend most of his time in World Tour mode, which is an opportunity for players to develop a unique tennis pro all their own, at the cost of playing as an "unknown" and not a real-world star. In Tour, players create in name, body, and skill a pair of athletes to compete in a calendar of events. The tour continues until every annual event on the calendar has been won. Mini-games, which imitate anything from Space Invaders to othello, will increase the players' skills in areas such as serve, volley, and footwork, allowing them to qualify for more advanced matches. Virtua Tennis' mini-games were more fun; in Tennis 2K2, they are played for the necessity of player development, not the luxury of cash prizes — and duly, repeatedly, since both male and female athletes require constant maturation. 

Prize money from matches can be spent on outfits, access to additional arenas, and contracts with partners for double matches. These are fine incentives, but nothing as seductive as unlocking additional players, as was offered in Virtua Tennis. 

Actual gameplay has changed little. Topspin, slice, and lob shots require quick thought for the ball to be placed where the opponent can't reach it. It's harder to pull off a satisfying smash, and easier to hit the ball out of bounds. The camera has moved a bit closer to the court, making it appear larger but giving players on the far end of the court a disadvantage. 

In doubles matches, your partner can be schizophrenic in his confidence. Often a ball will pass through his territory unchallenged; other times, he'll roam the court freely, hogging the ball. These mood swings can cause your partner to be frustratingly unreliable. 

Sega missed the ball on this one: Tennis is the only entry in the Sega Sports 2K2 lineup to not feature Internet play. This game is a perfect candidate for online matchups; its absence leaves the sequel short of surpassing its predecessor. 

If you take a moment between all the frantic racing and diving about the court, you'll notice some incredibly fluid animation in the character models. Whether they're standing, serving, or stroking, the athletes move as their real-life counterparts would. Between matches, doubles offer their partners congratulations, but skewed collision detection leaves them slapping each other's wrists and elbows as often as hands. Blurred slow motion replays highlight scoring moments, but the action is too blurred to be distinguishable. 

The realistic graphics are accompanied by authentic voiceovers. Announcers keep score as the game progresses, declaring the winners when appropriate. Since players are free to name their World Tour custom character as they like, the announcer cannot identify him winning a match or deuce advantage. It's expected, but conspicuous, since the computer players are regularly announced. 

Despite missed opportunities, Tennis 2K2 is an addictive game that all players can enjoy. Fans of the original seeking a different, if not altogether better, challenge, and a more complete athlete roster, will find it here.

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This article is copyright (c) 2001, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Sentinel & Enterprise, 05-Nov-01

Title	:	Floigan Bros.
Platforms	:	Sega Dreamcast
Publisher	:	Sega
ESRB Rating	:	Everyone
Game Rating	:	7.8
Review by	:	Ken Gagne

Can computers think and feel? Do they have emotions? 

Fuhgeddaboutit. 

Don't mistake complex issues of artificial intelligence for Sega's Dreamcast game, Floigan Bros., which is a collection of adventures in babysitting more than anything. 

The Floigan Bros., Moigle and Hoigle, run a junkyard that's under assault by the evil Baron. Not only must the pair defend their family real estate, but Moigle has a secret project he wants to build! Players control smart and scrawny Hoigle as they lead the larger, dimmer brother in accomplishing the necessary tasks to save the day in this 3D, over-the-shoulder adventure game. 

Hoigle's main endeavor is to manipulate his brother, and thus, the environment. A string of insults can lead Moigle to cry a river of tears and raise the river's water level, or angrily toss his sibling to heights otherwise unreachable. Hoigle must constantly fulfill the big galoot's needs , whether it's for emotional security (give him a hug) or recreation (play Tag, Hide 'n Seek, or High Five). Victory in the various mini-games produce points which Hoigle can use to teach Moigle new games and tricks to advance past progressive obstacles. 

The brothers' objectives are not always in agreement. Moigle must be fed before he can learn a new trick, but he may not be hungry when Hoigle wants to play teacher. Moigle's appetite for amusement, however, is never satisfied; by the time the Dreamcast is turned off, you'll never want to give another "High Five". 

Oftentimes, the game seems to unintentionally set the brothers at odds. Asking Moigle to help is too direct a route and offers no clue about how to proceed. Hoigle must occasionally just fiddle around, waiting for Moigle's attention to be caught by the task at hand. 

Once the method of solving these puzzles is determined, the execution is often without difficulty. The challenges players encounter are solved by simple feats of timing and diligence, often involving tossing bombs or hitting switches. Anyone with the basic skills necessary to be playing video games can perform these actions; several hints are available if you're having trouble anyway. 

The playful, nearly comical interaction between characters is matched by the game's overall look. Artists Chuck Jones and Don Martin appear to have collaborated to create the cartoonish nature of the Floigan junkyard and its denizens. Moigle resembles a gangster that Bugs Bunny would avoid. The rest of the characters share this colorful and animated quality, though some angularity is evident. Camera issues are a staple Sega couldn't avoid, with camera movement nearly impossible to achieve in cramped quarters. 

Floigan Bros. is an innovative game, but a short-lived one with moments of frustration. An experienced gamer will deduce the Floigans' ailments and assemble the seven-part project in no time, leaving little else to explore. As far as video games go, the junkyard is a small world, and Moigle's games are simple and repetitive; neither invite much replay, and the brothers' mildly amusing antics isn't worth sticking around for, either. 

Floigan Bros. shows that toying with people's emotions can be fun, but not without its pitfalls.

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This article is copyright (c) 2001, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Sentinel & Enterprise, 20-Aug-01

Title	:	Soldier of Fortune
Platforms	:	Sega Dreamcast, Windows
Publisher	:	Crave Entertainment
ESRB Rating	:	Mature
Game Rating	:	7.3
Review by	:	Ken Gagne

Enough with the demons, the aliens, and the zombies. If you're looking for a realistic first-person shooter, scope out Soldier of Fortune, a Sega Dreamcast and PC game from Crave Entertainment. You're likely to find it's the demons, aliens, and zombies that keep this genre from being mundane. [DC version reviewed here] 

Our soldier of misfortune is John Mullins, former Army Special Forces agent, now a mercenary for a United Nations anti-terrorist group. He's been hired to delve into New York subways and Kosovo sewers to prevent an international incident from occurring. 

The first thing you'll notice about Soldier of Fortune is the loading times. It can take as many as ninety seconds to load a level or a portion of it — enough time to flip through the latest issue of Guns & Ammo. Even restarting a level can induce a similar delay. 

Now, loading times do not a bad game make — but Soldier of Fortune is not worth waiting for. Mullins has an arsenal of authentic, impressive weaponry to mow down enemies who outrank him in firepower, if not smarts. The levels are straightforward, with the occasional backtracking after flipping a switch. Mullins and his enemies have no talents, and the levels no features, you haven't seen elsewhere. 

The game operates at a fast but discontinuous 60 frames per second. Multiple enemies and sudden movements can cause the display to flicker and slow down. It is otherwise capable of producing a smooth and dark environment. 

The enemies populating that world are advertised as having 26 unique points upon which to fire. A well-aimed shot can cause an appendage to go flying, proving that not only does crime not pay — it costs an arm and a leg. Why (or how) a trooper consciously reaches for his throat when his head's been blown off remains unknown. Less fatal blows will leave soldiers writhing in agony, clutching at their destroyed kneecaps - before suddenly standing erect and resuming fire. I guess Mullins' attacks sting more than anything. 

Other voice acting is provided by Todd Susman (Blast from the Past, Newhart) and Michael Clarke Duncan (Planet of the Apes, Green Mile), though they play their parts in a plot that develops at awkward moments. Shame. 

The Dreamcast's limited number of buttons calls for a clever layout. Each button has two functions, with the 'L' trigger determining which one is active. Jump and reload, strafe and lean, cycle item or weapon are all mapped to the same primary buttons. Though learning the controls is easy, using them is not, with some combinations (such as strafing and using an item simultaneously) being impossible. Players more comfortable with the mouse and keyboard may find themselves less constrained in that setup. 

Built into the Dreamcast are a modem and four controller ports; Soldier of Fortune takes advantage of neither, as it is a one-player game only. I can't remember the last time I saw a shooter get away with that; after playing Soldier of Fortune, I still can't. 

Except for the graphic brutality, there's nothing new about Soldier of Fortune. It's an average first-person shooter with realistic weapons and a modern-day plot. Would-be soldiers should consider themselves fortunate to have better, if less realistic, alternatives available to them, such as Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64.

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This article is copyright (c) 2001, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Sentinel & Enterprise, 06-Aug-01

Title	:	Sonic Adventure 2
Platforms	:	Sega Dreamcast
Publisher	:	Sega
ESRB Rating	:	Everyone
Game Rating	:	8.1
Review by	:	Ken Gagne

What happens when you take a hedgehog capable of breaking the sound barrier, and divide by three? You get Sonic Adventure 2, Sega's Dreamcast game that features the world's fastest mammal in a minor role. 

The evil Dr. Robotnik is back with plans for world domination. This time he's accompanied by two new partners: Shadow, an evil hedgehog who's framing Sonic for his crimes; and Rouge the Bat, a treasure hunter who will do anything for jewels. It's up to Sonic and friends to clear their names and save the day. 

Sonic Adventure 2 is a 3D platform game with six playable characters. Whether players choose to pursue the Hero or Dark storyline will determine if they control Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, or their functionally-identical counterparts: Shadow, Robotnik, and Rouge. 

Unlike the first Sonic Adventure, players have no choice over which character they control. Each level has a designated character and gameplay suited to him or her. While Sonic and Shadow's stages feature the fast action that gamers have come to expect from the series, the other levels are something else entirely. Tails and Robotnik lumber along in unwieldy mechs, blowing up everything that moves. Meanwhile, Knuckles and Rouge scavenge for missing emeralds, aided by clues as obscure as "Blue" or "Somewhere dark." 

The Sonic/Shadow levels are the most incredible, high-speed gaming experiences Sega has ever delivered. There are a few scenes that left my mouth agape. 

These gaming highs make the game's lows all the more disappointing. The Sonic/Shadow levels are rare; players spend more time being other characters than they do hedgehogs. It's "Sonic's Friends, And Sonic," only for your Sega Dreamcast. 

The hedgehog levels also feature the game's best music, with light, lyrical tunes suited for blasting through a level as fast as possible. The other characters are accompanied by duller, rapping tunes, or forgettable background music. The voice casting is perfectly matched to the characters, but the acting is more appropriate for a Saturday morning cartoon. 

I'm amazed that, five years after the first 3D platformers, developers are still struggling with the same issues. Yet Sonic 2 has issues with the camera, especially on the slower-paced levels. There are times when the character disappears entirely from the screen, or it's impossible to bring the camera to face forward, no matter how much you use the 'L' and 'R' triggers to manually control it. 

The rest of the control is fine. The heroes and villains can jump, spin, glide, and dash as suits the player. Despite this, some enemies and attacks are impossible to avoid. Taking a hit means losing hundreds of collected rings, ruining the player's chance for a high score and a passing grade on the current level. It's unnecessarily frustrating. 

Sonic Adventure 2 adds multiple modes to enjoy. Two players can engage in a Hero versus Dark challenge, or take to the track in a go-kart race. The one player will also find several trials to overcome as he reenters previous areas to find new goals waiting for him. 

This tenth anniversary title makes playing as Sonic better than ever. It's all the other characters getting in the way of these rapid moments that diminishes the experience. If I had my druthers (as I did in the original Sonic Adventure), I'd choose the characters I like and ignore the rest. Unfortunately, the sequel features more of "the rest" than Sonic. Give this game a go and speed past the slow parts, if you can.

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This article is copyright (c) 2001, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Gamebits, 03-Jul-01

Title	:	Crazy Taxi 2
Platforms	:	Sega Dreamcast
Publisher	:	Sega
ESRB Rating	:	Teen
Game Rating	:	7.9
Review by	:	Ken Gagne

You've driven to Logan Airport and encountered the insanity present on our roads. What's their flippin' excuse, you wonder? If you're a gamer, that thought is likely fed not by anger, but by envy. 

You want to be a crazy driver, too? Sega makes it happen on your Dreamcast with Crazi Taxi 2. 

In CT2, players choose from several stylin' taxis and their hip cabbies. The gameplay is as simple as picking up and dropping off passengers, but with the clock ticking, you'll have to drive fast and loose to satisfy your customer and earn a fat tip. 

There are two cities in which to ply your crazy driving. Just as the original Crazy Taxi mimicked San Francisco, the sequel's settings are based on New York. Hence, the layouts are primarily metropolitan in nature, with ample traffic and flat land. The soaring hills, beaches, and amazing airtime of 'frisco are sadly absent. 

Constant practice is necessary to memorize the locations of the department stores, museums, and Burger Kings your passengers need to go to. Some passengers can be picked up in groups, with multiple destinations. The fare is paid by the last customer, so the heat is on to make many fast deliveries in a row. 

To aid in these deliveries is a new function: the Crazy Hop. A single button launches the taxi into the air, over obstacles and onto overpasses. (Don't ask me to explain the physics behind this one.) Though weaving through traffic is still easier, the Hop makes available shortcuts over rooftops, though they are unfortunately rare. 

There are two default control schemes. In one layout — the one I prefer - it is difficult to reach the Hop button without accidentally pressing Brake as well, which is contrary to the momentum of Hop. It is not possible to design a custom layout which overcomes this flaw. 

Reprising their role as provider of the Crazy Taxi soundtrack is the band Offspring. Unlike the original Crazy Taxi, which also featured Bad Religion, CT2's tunes are almost exclusively Offspring's. Compared with CT2, I appreciated more the variety in CT1, and the lack of lyrical vulgarities. The comments of the drivers and passengers also seems less inspired this time around; upon late delivery, there are no irritated priests who will kick your tires, proclaiming, "You suck!" 

There was supposedly a time in development when CT2 was going to feature a two-player mode and online play. Whether this was ever actually true, I don't know, but had Sega included such modes, CT2 would have been ten times the game it is. Instead we get an Internet menu option which sends us to the official Crazy Taxi web page. Yay. 

The Crazy Taxi series expands with some interesting features in this sequel. The Crazy Hop takes awhile to put to full use, and even then seems an under-utilized maneuver — but carrying groups of passengers is a fun alternative to the solo customer. CT2 removes some of the fun elements from the original while adding new ones. Why didn't they just combine the best of both worlds? Now there's a crazy thought!

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This article is copyright (c) 2001, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Sentinel & Enterprise, 25-Jun-01

Title	:	Confidential Mission
Platforms	:	Sega Dreamcast
Publisher	:	Sega
ESRB Rating	:	Teen
Game Rating	:	8.1
Review by	:	Ken Gagne

Spy satellites, lasers, and submarines. Grenades, assault rifles… and light guns. It's Confidential Mission, a Sega shooter for the Dreamcast. 

In Confidential Mission, the terrorist group Agares has seized control of a government satellite. Two players take control of Confidential Mission Force agents Howard Gibson and Jean Clifford as they hunt the responsible party. 

CM plays in the style of Virtua Cop. Play occurs from a first-person perspective, with gun-toting maniacs popping out to threaten the mission.  These enemies are encircled with a target that doubles as a timer; when the hands meet, players take a hit. (What a handy piece of foresight! I could have used that in high school gym class.) An on-screen gunsight is the means by which players hand out justice. 

A Justice Shot occurs when players shoot the weapon out of the enemy's hand.  Malefactors go down no more or less easily with this disarming move, so don't mistake this for a Sega lesson in mercy. Just the opposite: though the common miscreant goes down with a single shot, the game awards bonus points for quickly planting additional slugs in a foe. As the manual says, "true agents ought to totally punish those who threaten the world peace." On the lighter side, downed gunners simply disappear, leaving no bloody mess. 

Justice shots, combos, and other skills can be practiced in the Agent Academy.  Two training modes and a simulation exist for each skill, though the minimum passing scores for each often require superhuman reflexes. Or a light gun. 

Unlike most people, I find most shooting games entirely playable without a light gun peripheral. If I've ever encountered an exception, it's Confidential Mission. There are often so many small targets spread across the screen that neither the standard Dreamcast analog nor digital controls provides the speed and accuracy necessary to avoid taking a few hits — something no CMF agent can afford. For the most bang for your buck, the flexibility of a light gun is essential. 

Confidential Mission is presented with only minor disturbances. Sometimes the surroundings move too much; as the agents run down stairwells and corridors, it's hard to know what the perspective will be once they stop. Other times this movement makes the game too easy, centering enemies on the screen so that no targeting is necessary. The terrorists have no awareness of their surroundings, beyond the course they're programmed to run. If they're shot in front of a crate, the body will go flying right through the background. 

The voice acting, though, is bad. Resident Evil bad. And while most of the non-acting sound effects are better, the final boss whines like a brat when shot. 

The game is a scant three missions long, with little variation from play to play. Since it's on tracks — the player has no say in the game's direction or pace — it takes less than a half-hour to play from beginning to end. Five difficulty settings and the challenging academy mode add replay value, but doesn't eliminate the feeling that CM is too short. 

But with a retail price of $19.99, this game may be worth taking into your confidence.

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This article is copyright (c) 2001, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Sentinel & Enterprise, 28-May-01

Title	:	Daytona USA
Platforms	:	Sega Dreamcast
Publisher	:	Sega
ESRB Rating	:	Everyone
Game Rating	:	9.0
Review by	:	Larry Tipton

Daytona USA is one of my all-time favorite Sega arcade games. I own both Saturn versions of this racing game. Both were fun, but fell short of delivering the game intact. Now comes Daytona USA for the Sega Dreamcast, a system capable of handling the game's fast, over-the-top arcade racing. Imagine my surprise to find that the Dreamcast version is even better than the arcade version! 

Daytona USA is an arcade racer. I say this because I want the uninitiated to realize that the game is all about high speed racing, complete with stock car style rubbing, bumps and spills. You'll not find any name brand drivers here nor will you find cars that look like today's NASCAR bunch. 

Daytona USA includes the three tracks that made the arcade version famous, which alone would have made me happy. But the developer also included two tracks from the second Saturn title, and three brand new tracks. All are rendered to perfection and the original three look better than ever. To make the game even more feature rich, the tracks can be raced in reverse and mirrored, and the number of cars on track can be adjusted. 

If you played the Saturn versions, you can remember the grainy graphics and severe graphical pop-up. You'll find none of that in the Dreamcast version. The graphics are outstanding and blaze along at a consistent sixty frames per second. What's really amazing is that the game engine can do this both offline and online. The car reflections and other added details are superbly executed. The cars can and will take damage that will affect the performance of the vehicle both visually and physically. Daytona USA also includes multiple driving perspectives from behind the car and behind the wheel. 

Did I say online? Yes, Daytona USA can now be played online against up to three other players. It can be both an exhilarating and sometimes frustrating experience. If there was a problem with the game, it would be with the online play. If you cannot achieve an acceptable connection speed, you will be disconnected, which may happen during a race. Your car is presented on screen at all times, as it should. Depending on network lag, your opponents may tend to warp or disappear occasionally. Hopefully the network will improve over time. It really does not detract from the game play, as it is rock solid. Your win/loss statistics are recorded for all to see. 

Playing the game offline, you can race with up to forty cars for the checkered flag at a time. You can also choose to race against a friend via split screen. The ghost mode allows you to race against yourself, something that I use to better understand where my problem areas are on the track. 

Daytona USA allows you to adjust the controller's sensitivity and responsiveness. This is a good thing as the default setting is too sensitive. Before getting deep into the game you should take the time to dial it to fit your style of driving. 

The game plays great using the Dreamcast Controller. It also supports the Race Controller. Graphics junkies will be grateful for the VGA Box support. Unfortunately, Daytona USA does not support the broadband adaptor. 

The game is packed with the tunes that Daytona USA fans have come to love and sometimes hate, and the game sounds add to the frantic pace that is Daytona USA. 

Daytona USA is arcade perfection. 

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This article is copyright (c) 2001, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Sentinel & Enterprise, 09-Apr-01