PlanetDreamcast | Games | Reviews | bleemcast! Metal Gear Solid

bleemcast! Metal Gear Solid Metal Gear Solid On Dreamcast! - Review By Retrovertigo - Page 2/2 The Bad One of the downsides to emulation is that it's "not the real thing." As much as Metal Gear Solid on the Dreamcast looks like the PlayStation version, it's not the same game. The controls with the Dreamcast controller are good, but not as good as the Dual Shock. I've always chosen the directional pad over the analog thumb pad when going for accurate control in Dreamcast games, however, you have to use the thumb pad to control Solid Snake. There are no controller settings, and you're stuck with the defaults that Bleem has given you. The graphics in Bleemcast! are polished, however the higher resolution brings out the imperfections of the game. Even though the textures look less blocky, the imperfections of the game, once hidden by the PlayStation's inferior software rendering, is clearly seen on the Dreamcast. Some textures appear to warp and wave as a camera changes focus, 3D models' facial textures look more like smears, and polygon clipping of character models is very apparent in some close-ups. Saving a game requires a dedicated VMU, which means that an entire Dreamcast VMU must be formatted for the PlayStation and can only be used on Metal Gear Solid and other Bleemcast! titles. Using it for Dreamcast games will require you to reformat it again. In other words, once a game has been saved on a Bleemcast! title, you can not use the same VMU to save Dreamcast games. This is a factor that you should keep in mind if you're thinking about purchasing it, and don't have a lot of extra VMUs to go around. The Final Word Whether or not you choose to buy Bleemcast! for Metal Gear Solid, really depends on whether you already own the game and a PlayStation. If you don't, this is probably the perfect opportunity to spend the least amount of money to play one of the greatest games ever created (in my honest opinion). However... if you already own a PlayStation and Metal Gear Solid, your $10 might be better spent elsewhere. Bleem does a great job of making an old PlayStation game look better, but besides some polished graphics, there really isn't much else that is offered. It's a shame that Dreamcast gamers couldn't have taken advantage of the original idea for Bleemcast!, of 100 supported titles per disc, but at least these "single servings" are better than nothing. Perhaps while PlayStation 2 owners begin getting their fill with Metal Gear Solid 2 today, Dreamcast owners can enjoy the game that started it all. Developer: Bleem! Publisher: Bleem! Genre: Emulation Highs: Play one of the greatest PlayStation games on your Dreamcast! Polished graphics, decent controls. Lows: Better resolutions and polished graphics really shows the PlayStation's inferiority in 3D rendering. Textures are blurred and look smeared. Other: 1 player, Standard Controller, VGA Box, Dedicated VMU (is formatted for PlayStation). Final Score: (out of a possible 10) Previous Reviews Comments on this review? Mail Feedback or talk about it with others in the Forums.