PlanetDreamcast | Features | The Scary Side of Sega

The Scary Side of Sega "The Dreamcast's Scariest Games!" - by Retrovertigo Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, by Infogrames Genre: Survival Alone in the Dark 4 is the freshest blood on the Dreamcast, and unfortunately looks to be the last horror game for the system. I still argue that if it wasn't for the original Alone in the Dark there wouldn't have been a Resident Evil. Fortunately, the new game in the series has come a long way from its original title, and features some pretty impressive graphics, character models, and texture work. However, the game also has a few graphic glitches like bad collision detection and popup that detracts a little from the overall enjoyment. The most frightening aspect of the game: The fact that you can get the nicer-looking Dreamcast version of Alone in the Dark 4 for $19.99 at most stores, while the PlayStation and GameBoy Color versions are $29.99. Does that make sense? Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and Dino Crisis, by Capcom. Genre: Survival Capcom was gracious to bring some of the best survival horror games from the PlayStation to the Dreamcast. Even if you aren't the biggest Sony PlayStation fan, you probably remember the hoopla surrounding the release of Resident Evil 2 several years ago, after the first game garnished so much attention and success. Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, as well as the Jurassic Park-inspired survival title Dino Crisis, are available featuring slightly better graphics using the Dreamcast's superior graphics hardware, which should provide for a slightly scarier experience. The most frightening aspect of the games: Classic Resident Evil has never been so good, and you don't need a PlayStation to enjoy these titles. Evil Dead: Hail to the King, by THQ Genre: Survival Uh oh. Gamers should have smelled the stench of this dead-on-arrival title for the Dreamcast long before it hit the retail shelves. Roughly inspired by the brilliant college horror film Evil Dead, this game was looking to be quite an enjoyable Resident Evil clone, complete with voice talent by everybody's favorite campy B-movie star Bruce Campbell. Unfortunately, the game featured a lot of unfavorable things like bad graphics, bad gameplay, and bad animations. Even the voice of Ash couldn't save this game, the same way he saved S-Mart from the "She-Bitch" at the end of Army of Darkness. The most frightening aspect of the game: The fact that some people actually spent money on this disaster. Typing of the Dead, by Sega Genre: Educational / "Shooter" What do you get when you mix Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing with House of the Dead 2? That's right! You get Typing of the Dead. I'll have to admit, that TOTD sounded like the dumbest combination, but once I tried it with the Dreamcast keyboard, it was actually very fun. The most frightening aspect of the game: It's a mature-rated game that teaches typing. Some of the phrases you'll be typing are a little unconventional for a typing tutor. Sure, you could learn to type using this game, but would you really want to? Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, by Crystal Dynamics / Eidos Genre: Action / Adventure Players assume the role of Raziel the vampiric soul-sucker, in a game that can only be described as a darker version of the Tomb Raider series, with a little more ass-kicking thrown in. One of the most impressive features is the ability to travel between the land of Nosgoth and the spectral world, which is a twisted alternate reality. The world actually deforms in real time, which is quite impressive graphically. Raziel must travel from land to land to solve puzzles, which gives Soul Reaver some really enjoyable gameplay. When Raziel is injured all he needs to do is skewer a few baddies and devour their souls. Just like Campbells soup, that's "Mmm, mmm, good!" Most frightening aspect of the game: The Soul Reaver is such a good-looking game, that the PlayStation 2 demo version of Soul Reaver 2 doesn't look a whole lot different. Honorable mention goes to those few games that I left off the list, or that I felt weren't scary enough. However, I was quite pleased that in the Dreamcast's short lifespan of just over two years, there was a significant number of survival or horror titles that made it to the console. Some of these games were scary enough to chill your blood, some simply weirded you out and played with your mind, and others disturbed you because of their horrible gameplay and graphics. This Halloween, if you're not out trick or treating, close all the doors, turn off all the lights, crank up the volume, and fire up your favorite Dreamcast fright fest!