Official Dreamcast Magazine Issue 0

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12

Sega

JUNE 1999. ISSUE 0 a

AT LAUNCH

MORE THAN ANY OTHER SYSTEM EVER! —
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SUPERSONIC!

NEWS

PREVIEWS :
FEATURES

REVIEWS |

AND MORE!

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Dreamcast 90210? Oh God, no...

WELCOME...

.10 the Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine- dedicated to the most power-
ful and exciting videogames console in the world. Armed with a 128bit
graphics engine and a modem that will allow you to surf the internet, play
massively multiplayer games and even e-mail your buddies- Sega
Dreamcast is in every way a next generation entertainment platform.

It deserves a next generation magazine.

Like the system, we're ahead of the game. Dedicated to bringing you the
complete world of Dreamcast every issue, our promise to you is that we will
work tirelessly for the biggest exclusives- never flinching from asking the
tough questions and never ever taking the PR line. We promise to furnish
you with only the very best demos on our exclusive GD-ROM so that you can
play before you pay and in our reviews we aim to set a new standard.

We will never review a game until it's completely finished. And when it
arrives in the office- we won't score it until we've played the whole thing
through- from the start menu to the end sequence.

But we're official, so we can't say what we want, right? Wrong. This maga-
zine carries the official license from Sega because that's the best way to
give you, the reader, the best value every issue. It means we can provide you
with a disc full of free demos and uninhibited access to Sega's legendary
and world-class development studios. It gives us the back-stage pass- and
that's better for you. But the door only swings one way. Sega has absolute-
ly no say in the content of this magazine. We are editorially independent-
beholden to no-one. We answer only to you.

So once again- welcome. Enjoy this sneak preview and join with us in look-
ing forward to Septmeber, when the world's most powerful console hits the
stores- coincidentally enough, just in time for Issue One. Looks like
Christmas is coming early...

Simon Cox
Editor In Chief

GD-ROM

ie,

At first glance, DCM’s disc may
look like any in your collection, but
it’s much, much more. Simply pop
the disc into your Dreamcast, power
up, and you'll no longer just read
about the hottest forthcoming
games in our pages — you can actu
ally play them weeks (and often
months) in advance of their arrival
in stores. Every month, our disc will
also provide exclusive video inter
views with important figures from
the world of Dreamcast, video walk
throughs and Strategies for the

toughest games, downloadable

VMU games, special saves, and cast
iron pick-up lines.

Plus, our special web browser
makes it easy to go online with your
Dreamcast and check out the mult!
tude of Internet-exclusive news,
reports, contests, and other special
goodies we have to offer at our

: -

lreamcastmagazine.com webd

site

Toll-free Disc Help Line:
1-800-555-4357

DISC!

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“Run, Sonic, run!” Playing hard to

get with a killer whale is risky

business - but it sure looks great

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ADVENTURE

SPIN OUT IN EMERALD COAST

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ees 8

Maintaining top speed through the
stage is crucial, so no waiting
around for that freakazoid fox.

CONTROLS

an

wil

ri

D-Pad: Swi
st-persor

t, enabling Sor

’
'

When dolphins attack! Soni
Adventure’s Emerald Coast

wouldn’t be right without them

Analog Stick: Walk

nes ’

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N tt ing’s more relaxing after a cor gested, Stratos boasts the best acceleration of the two,
Stressful drive on the highway than firing up while the Celica is an all-around good handler

your Dreamcast and getting behind the wheel of Whichever you choose, you won't be « aught snort of

another car — one that, unlike your own, can be horsepower — these cars tear up the gravel with

rammed into opposing traffic without risk of Dodily Batmobile-like ease.

injury or irksome lawsuits. It’s with this

S=EGARALLY2

4 IN AND DRIVE!

goal in mind ‘Olrlas

i\ awsu V . you've mastered every twist and turn of | : “
| “oy e’ve bred this pint-
that lg,’ Bar tapped a play Te) amaesia ieee 5€da dal amel ase n burse, Speed on over to DCM’s website " "

Rally 2 onto this month’s DC-ROM

7 a, ateal thy {ory ; ’
Tele) starting up the demo, you

Ready, set, go! Keep the pedal to
the metal and you'll have no
problem leaving your competi-
tion in the dust.

EXCLUS

S'VEDREAMCASTSG

sized dynamo with
only the best and most
skilled of Sonic’s animal
pals to instill in him light-
ening fast speed, not to mention
dashing good looks. just don’t tell your
friends where you got him, eh?

To get our extra-special Chao onto your
VMU, first select the “"VMU Downloads"
option from the main menu of the GD-
ROM. Now highlight “Super Chao,” hit the
"A" button, and he’ll be downloaded and
ready to race in no time flat. For
more information on Sonic’s
cute comrades, be sure to read
our Sonic Adventure Supertest
review, which starts on page 24.

at www.dreamcast magazine amr ilemelelierc lem cel el

yn against those of

ale more DO nters On getting
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com slelamiameltim@ele)

Practicing proper cornering tech-
nique is essential to winning, but
nudging other cars off the track
never hurts, eh?

Hurtling full-throttle into pud-
dies will muddy your car - just
don’t let this cool effect distract
you from the track ahead.

PROFILE
e DCM hot seal

this month is Berni

WWESPREVIEW

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ee . /
O COMM | {DCM minute clip and accompanied Dy our running commentary Ly
fe). VO ifTie S| \) (OVe@T ada SO. if you're | als eelelele ‘iel a sneak Deak at dale games ray
\ sé
Starts on page 6, this issue 1D-ROM , 20 for the “Watch t!” option on the Dt ROMs
the gilis with exclusive video footage from nen d grab yoursell some popcorn =n Sd
, ~ —
Dreamcast game displayed at the three-d Viewing pointers: Hitting the “A” button will pause the ~Y ang
event — many of which yo ee previewed in these pages video, and hitting “B” kicks you back out to the game p f y
. ? >
dal. Coming mo tt select on menu Pressit 4 “~~ of Will pring Up a Vi }. style ‘eee v . . v
’ | _ ii
, ‘ |
Pri ee 2 eee nue to From Software's Frame Gride, tro! that lets to move frame DY ims dgleler ag tnose extra lite al
each of the re tha ames is represented by a two special moments Frame Gride: Watch it on the disc now!

O)iiter] (Opec

mcasti

WETeevAlale

Editor In Chief
SIMONCOX |

CONTENTS

Art Director
GREGORYHAN

Senior Editor
RANDYNELSON

Reviews Editor
RANCESCAREYES

016SEGAS 024
ee SHENMUE | ADVENTURE

EDITORIAL
voice: 415. 468. 4684 fax: 415. 468. 4686
email: scox@imaginemedia.com

IT’S TAKEN FOUR YEARS AND OVER SONIC SPINS BACK INTO ACTION!
ii ——— 20 MILLION DOLLARS - AND THERE’S | WE RATE THE GAME THAT YOU CAN’T
sicene santos, Customer Service 600.676.2643 STILL A WAY TO GO YET. WE BRING | AFFORD TO MISS - PLUS! THE LOW-

YOU THE FULL STORY ON THE GAME | DOWN ON THE LEVELS, THE SECRETS,
THAT COULD CHANGE THE WAY YOU | THE CONTROLS, AND HOW TO BREED

PLAY FOREVER YOUR OWN A-LIFE ‘CHAO’ THING!

email:
with “Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine” as the subject

Inc
720 Post Rood, Scorsdole, New York 10583
Entire contents © 1999 Imagine Media Inc All rights reserved

Quoke 2. ond thet stupid 19 @ 4" Insoctopus creoture of Randy's

IMAGINE MEDIA. INC.. :
150 North Hil Or.. Grisbene, CA 94005 ‘9
(415) 468-4684 www imaginemede com q

DREAMCAST
101

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO
KNOW ABOUT DREAMCAST BUT WERE
AFRAID TO ASK. WELL, ALMOST...

Cc
SPECI

ALESEDITION JUNE] 999ISSUEO

QO6DC DIRECT

TOKYO GAME SHOW REPORT, PLUS! NAMCO’S FIRST DREAMCAST GAME!

one ZONE

RPG NEWS FEATURING CLIMAX LANDERS AND GRANDIA 2

QO] | CRAZY TAXI

SEGA'S LATEST COIN-OP TAKES DRIVING GAMES TO THE NEXT LEVEL

0 |20°CWORLD

DREAMCAST REPORTAGE FROM JAPAN AND EUROPE, PLUS! IMPORT NEWS

O14 SHINYA NISHIGAKI

BLUE STINGER CREATOR CONFESSES ALL ON THE DCM COUCH \

One) SOON: SHENMUE

THE GAME THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING - REVEALED

O20 DREAMCAST 101

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW - IT’S THE NEXT BEST THING TO OWNING ONE!

O24 SONIC ADVENTURE

SONIC RETURNS - BUT IS IT ALL YOU HOPED FOR? READ OUR IN-DEPTH REVIEW

O0230CNATION

HOW TO GET ONLINE WITH DREAMCAST IN FIVE MINUTES FLAT

O30 TO...BEAT SEGA RALLY

WE SHOW YOU HOW TO BEAT THE CLOCK, AND THE BENDS

BLUE STINGER
CREATOR, SHINYA
NISHIGAKI, TALKS
SHOP AND (COUGH!)
SMOKES A LOT ON
PAGE 14

SEGADREAMCAST

ep }- 3016

s well as giving the world its first

taste of Shenmue, the Tokyo
Game Show played host to around
fifty other forthcoming Dreamcast
games - demonstrating plenty of third-
party commitment for the system.
Sega knows that for Dreamcast to suc-
ceed, it needs to cover a number of
popular genres - namely driving, fight-
ing, sports and RPGs and they were all
well provided for (and a few decidedly
odd Japanese ones besides - see side
panel).

As the surging tide of Japanese
gaming press flooded into the cav-
ernous Makuhari Messe convention
center, DCM used its long-legged
Gaijin advantage to break early for the
Sega booth, arriving seconds before
the hordes and securing a stint on
Shenmue- Sega genius designer Yu
Suzuki's epic action adventure.

We are happy to report that

Shenmue is only months from comple-
tion, and is visually amazing. There's
so much to say about Shenmue, in
fact,that we have dedicated our lead
preview to what we saw at the show.
To get the full scoop, turn

to page 16, and then come .
back here for the low-down

on the other hot Dreamcast

titles that lit up the Sega booth.
MEN/NTIGHTS

Namco weighed in with its superb
arcade conversion of fighting game,
Soul Calibur, to make good on the
promise it made to support Sega as
long ago as last September. The char-
acter models are a generation ahead

SNK announced that its handheld Neo Geo Pocket Color system will be coming to the States this month

of those in Sega's own Virtua Fighter
3tb, and it drew a great deal of inter-
est from the press - as much- if not
more, than the 2D Marvel vs Capcom,
which ran along side it. Capcom's title
may not look like a technical,
erm...'marvel’, but the oversized
sprites and detailed cartoon anima-
tions make it the best example yet of
its kind.

As for that other Capcom fran-
chise- Biohazard — all that what shown
of Code: Veronica was a couple of min-
utes of video. They were great min-
utes, featuring giant spiders and the
usual assortment of humans well past
their expiration dates, but no-ones

saying when playable code will be
available.

Sega took care of those who like
their fights a little less improvised with
Giant Gram wrestling which was good
for a laugh.The only real disappoint-
ment was SNK's King of Fighters
Match 1999 -which was still funny- but
in a ‘laughing at it, not with it’ sort of
way. The crappy resolution of the
sprites, coupled with severely dated-
looking animation make it an excel-
lent candidate for next issue's Disc
inferno.

Flying the flag for sports were
Let's Make A Professional Baseball
Team and Soccer Team games from

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9 NEFORMAILONNET WORK

HOTL/KESAKE

cll en ee ee ee es ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ae ee Oe ae Oe Oe ae se eae ee ne se ee ee en ee en se ee en ae ae ne a a ne a a an a a a a ee

Sega, which play well enough and
mix management strategy with
arcade style action.

GETFISHYWID’IT

Coin-op conversion Get Bass was
also pulling the crowds (well, at
least three people stopped and
stared at it, and two picked up the
controller and made fishing faces)
and Sega provided
its new controller,
which we can report
is everything a fish-
ing controller
should be. No-one
here fishes, so it's a
little hard to tell,
but it had the reel
and you could turn
it, which seems
about right. it even
smelled fishy
(although that
could have been the
sushi lunch packs).

DCM comman-
deered Konami's
Air Force Delta,
looking forward to
some Jop Gun dog-
fights, only to find a
pretty average
knock-off of
Namco's arcade hit
Ace Combat. A competent, but shal-
low start for Konami.

HEAVY/WETAL

Still the most popular giant
robot/mech franchise in the country
(and pretty popular on the world-
wide Anime circuit too), the 30 year
old Gundam illicits a huge turnout
wherever it rears its metallic head in
Japan. Which explains the crush sur-
rounding Gundam Side Story.
Blending first-person mech combat
with third-person stomping-around,
Bandai has captured well the feel of
marching about the landscape in
200 tons of steel.

The same goes for From

priced at $80 and can be linked to the Dreamcast via a cable >} Core Design announced Fighting Force 2 for Dreamcast >>

Software's Frame Gride, which
showed potential. This arena-based
robot combat game was running
online via the Dreamcast's 33.6Kb
built in modem - pitching you
against unknown opponents from
one of the other demo stations on
the booth - which made the one-on-
one combat particularly engaging-
and personal.

With fighting, wrestling, sports,
flying and driving games all neatly
accounted for- as well as gun games
(in the form of the complete and
superb The House of The Dead 2)
only one genre remained underrep-
resented- first person action.
Regrettably, the only one available
was Maken X from Atlus- a textbook
example of how not to do it, featur-
ing plodding controls, poorly ani-
mated characters and less atmos-
phere than the moon on a particular-
ly quiet Sunday evening.

HELLOSOYS!

The real star of the show, however
(at least in terms of visuals)and the
perfect remedy to Maken X, was
undoubtedly Tecmo's Dead or Alive 2
- which looked absolutely stunning.
Shown on a giant screen at Tecmo's
booth, the game boasts the most
incredibly complex character mod-
els. The detail of the in-game mod-
els is just breathtaking - way ahead
of Sega's own Virtua Fighter 3tb-
and significantly better than even
Namco's Soul Calibur. The version in
the movie is currently running on
Sega's Dreamcast-based arcade
board, Naomi, so expect the home
version to match the coin-op pixel-
for-pixel. For more on this title, turn
to page 8.

With just four months to go
before the US launch, the Tokyo
Game Show proved that Dreamcast
is just now beginning to reveal its
potential as the greatest games
machine ever made. Sega’s promise
of at least ten top-tier titles for the
US launch is right on target.

“ if | can just reach that fishing controller,

maybe | can use it to defeat the evil genius

Dr. Octopus! Or | could just play Get Bass
until my brain turns to Ramen...”

Capcom has a strong show with the com-
plete Marvel vs Capcom and more video

footage of Biohazard Code: Veronica. Still
no word on a release date beyond ‘1999"

Sead or Ae Sy

Scie.

Air Force Dette: Bom
Konami de avery
average arcade title

(eken x X: Not yet fin-
ished, but aire. looking
like a complete ster

Match too A nightmare!

COLDL/KESUSHI

BACK? OTHE

t’s obvious that

someone at UK-
based Criterion Studios
has fond memories of

Back to the Future 2, as
BOUNCINGS4CK its first Dreamcast

DEAD OR ALIVE 2 TAKES FIGHTING GAMES game, Velocity:

Trickstyle, borrows
- AND VIRTUAL PIN-UPS - TO THE NEXT LEVEL heavily from the film to
work on Sega's Dreamcast-driven Naomi arcade hardware, the talented staff at create an experience
more specifically, the keenly-named ‘Team Ninja’ — are lending their fighting game that’s two parts Top
a fabulous looking sequel to 32bit fighting favorite Dead or Alive. Boasting the Skater and one part

tely detailed characters yet seen in a fighting title (which, consequently, have been
ntirely by hand — yes, even their bouncy bits), Dead or Alive 2 also makes strides in
ning the 3D fighting arena itself. Rather than simple walled-in affairs, the stages are utter
Many include whole annexes into which the melee spills over, whether by throwing your
through windows or off waterfalls. Like Virtua Fighter 3tb, DOA2 also features tag
but, unlike Sega’s fighter, your partners are always visible on the sidelines and can

match without so much as a stutter.

Wipeout. It’s the
year 2066, and
the world’s popu-
lation has taken
up anti-gravity
racing as a means
to combat the
boredom brought
on by global
“Gnnnr! Gnnnr! Gnnnrrr!” “What : peace. Nine char-
did you say?” Hulk Hogan's stunt- acters are selectable,
double, Bass, tests his latest and racing takes place
pick-up line on Kasumi. Guess in four locales — London,
what happens next... New York, Cairo, Tokyo —
each holding a myriad of
shortcuts to uncover.
Tricks are central to the
package, and it’s with
this in mind that a four-
player half-pipe mode is
in the cards, with online

CUTTING

ugely popular in arcades, Namco’s third 3D attack, training, spectator, and Virtua Fighter 3tb-like tag- play between Dreamcast
weapons-based fighter is officially — and team play. Namco is confident of the title’s success, and and PC players also a
exclusively — bound for Dreamcast release. chances are good that it may be the first of many from the distinct possibility.
Namco unveiled a fully-playable version of company for Dreamcast in coming months.

>
~
~ Soul Calibur at Tokyo Game Show this
_

March, and the bevy of promised
Dreamcast-only enhancements were already in
gf, play. Vastly improved character detail
; - and animation are the most prominent
. byproducts of the re-tooling, although the
rock-solid 60 frames-per-second game-
play is certainly not to be discounted.
Also to be expected in the final product are

five new play modes: versus, survival, time Soul Calibur: Better visuals, more features than coin-op.

STOP PRESS! Sega president and COO Bernie Stolar has confirmed a price and date for US Dreamcast - $199 on 9/9/99 PP

SS a a

SONOFA

hiny has singled out

Canadian developer
BioWare to deliver a
Dreamcast follow-up to
its darkly comedic action
game, MDK.
Unlike its predecessor,
MDKz2 has you controlling
three distinct characters
over the course of its
nine stages. Hero of the
first game, Kurt Hectic
returns. Armored Coil
Suit intact, he comes into
play for stages where

HOOP

een to provide an unprecedented breadth of available genres at Dreamcast’s launch, Sega has committed to

delivering a second sports title along with the system this September. As with NFL Football 2000, NBA
Basketball 2000 is developed by Visual Concepts, and with the same ultimate goal in mind: ultra-realism. The game
boasts more than four times the motion-captured moves per player of any
other basketball title, detailed facial animation, and true-to-life ball and col-
lision physics. Sega also promises more than 400 individually modeled

Stealth and pin-point
accuracy are needed.
Joining Kurt is his jet-
pack-donning dog Max,
who can wield up to four
weapons simultaneously.
Rounding out the lot is
the elderly Dr. Hawkins,
who excels at combining
items MacGuyver-style to
create exotic super-
weapons. MDK2 remains
a purely single-player
affair. “We're trying to go
for more of a story-based
action-adventure game,
more so than MDK1
was,” says BioWare co-
founder Greg Zeschuk. In
development concurrent-
ly with the PC version,
MDK2 will premiere
simultaneously on both
formats this September.
"| think the Dreamcast
version will in some ways
be the best looking of the
two, since that’s the one
we're spending the most
time optimizing,"
Zeschuk surmises.

MDkKz2: videogame or love

child of Timothy Leary and
H.R. Geiger? Answers on a

postcard, please.

players, polygonal
coaches and offi-
cials, and 28 indi-
vidually modeled
Stadiums. Add in
brisk 60 frames-
per-second game-
play, and we may
just be looking at
the most realistic
hoops game to
date.

WRISTACTION

Ss the latest addition to
Casio’s growing line of G-
Shock timepieces, the sky
blue DW-9000 G-Lide repre-
sents the pinnacle of
sports watch design. @
It features a back-
lit display, multi-

:
“ &,
function alarm, J

Stopwatch, and cal-

endar — in other

words, it’s never been

easier to manage life in-
between rounds with your
favorite Dreamcast games. It’s
also waterproof to 200 meters
and tough as nails, so even
when you're sleeping with the
fishes, it won't be.

Price: $140
Manufacturer: Casio
Contact: www.casio.com

%
j
4)

x
Ff ms

Shaq takes a time out, presumably
from the filming of Kazam! 2, to fea-
ture in the most jaw-droppingly
realistic basketball simulation ever.

- ootball games have become a
yearly staple since the massive
success of EA’s Madden on Genesis,
but never has one been available
immediately at the launch of a new
system. When Dreamcast makes its
way onto US shelves this
September, it will be accompanied
by Sega’s first football title since the
16bit days, and early glimpses suggest it
may usher in a new level of realism for the
genre. This unprecedented realism is gener-
ated via players that possess more than
1,300 motion-captured moves apiece, polyg-
onal sideline crowds, and 32 painstakingly
re-created stadiums — right down to the 3D
spectators. Sega also plans to include an
on-the-fly play editor which utilizes the

Hyper-realistic physics
Dreamcast VMU as a personal viewing screen, and player animation are
So your opponent won't see the plays you're 2 Siven, but what about

running against them. the beer and pork rinds?

Cool Boarders from UEP Systems will hit Japan in June, featuring trick, trial, and half-pipe modes plus two-player racing

FANTASYZON®

DREAMCAST??GNEWS

ne of the most anticipated

CLIMAX LANI | : OMING. ITI
titles for both US and

Oo Japanese gamers is Climax’s

latest role-playing effort, Climax
Landers. Close to release in Japan,
Landers borrows both concepts and
characters from its own back-catalog
of RPGs, while promising to offer some
new features . Responsible for
Landstalker on the Genesis and Dark
Savior on the Saturn, Climax has
earned a strong reputation from RPG
fans and the company’s first trip into
Dreamcast territory looks to uphold it.
At the game's forefront stands the
hero, whose expert handling of the
blade grants him his moniker Sword.
Possessing an innate ability for a spe-
cial type of magic, Sword is chosen by
an elder in his village to solve the rid-
die of his homeland. Apparently, much
to the dismay of the citizens residing
on the group of three small continents,
the world of Climax Landers is also
home to a space-time shift that has
the power to warp characters back and
forth through history. As a result,
Sword is able to travel to different

periods, including 1980's Japan and
prehistoric sites. Therefore, you can
fully expect to be standing in the
check out line of a convenience store
one moment, and speaking with
princesses and knights the next.
Incorporating randomly-generated
dungeons similar in concept to those
in ESP’s Evolution, Climax’s president,
Hiroshi Naito comments that “dun-
geons change each time you enter
them. You enter each dungeon as a
beginner and progressively power up.”
That said, you'll need as much help as
possible from Sword’s party members
which include such esteemed RPG
alumni as Lyle the elfin thief from
Climax’s Genesis action-RPG
Landstalker, as well as Marlin, a mage
who made her debut in Shining in the
Darkness. Also onboard is Lady (the

ME TO DIG OUT THOSE PIXIE EARS...

he cal! Gi

ll have a chance to time travel (top),

hat up some girls (bottom right).

Put

GRANDIA

Dreamcast’s other big RPG on
the horizon comes courtesy of the
company responsible for some of
the most successful and beloved
role-playing titles on the Saturn,
GameArts. Barring the system-sell-
ing achievement of Red Co.’s
Sakura Taisen series, GameArts’
character-driven RPG, Grandia, was
a compelling reason to own a
Saturn and learn Japanese.
Following the adventures of Justin
and his childhood friend, Sue,
Grandia’s massive world and clever
battle system wooed gamers and
the game firmly entrenched itself in
the hallowed halls of classic RPGs.

Now with Dreamcast, GameArts
is set to do it all again. But, this
time around with the system’s
incredible processing speed and
polygon power, gamers can expect
nothing short of a graphical show-
case. Not only do the screenshots
show off impressive lighting effects
and detailed character designs,
GameArts has also announced that
Grandia |i will support two players.
How this feature will be implement-
ed into gameplay is unknown,how-
ever, it is known that the sequel
takes place four years after the
original with many of the main

female martial characters returning in more

rd on the mature form. Slated for a
P summer release in Japan, you
Ladystalker), Rao yeh

probably won't see it here
in time for the launch.
Christmas? Maybe.

(a half-human, half-lion
warrior) and Marion (a
wooden female puppet).

Combat appears to
be more action-oriented
than most RPGs from the
early versions of Landers which
would make sense; Climax has
made its name for the most part off
the success of its action RPGs in the
past. And with full VMU support for
more than 10 mini-games that allow
players to swap monsters that they've
captured as well as participating in
breeding and “casino-type” activities,
Climax Landers is a sure bet for US
release. Can’t wait.

reedom within a bustling city is the core

appeal of the latest coin-op from Sega’s
Japanese labs. Crazy Taxi chucks you in the seat
of a bright yellow open-top cab in San Francisco
and offers one objective - to pick people up at
the roadside and get them to their chosen desti-
nation as swiftly as possible. Reckless driving is
not appreciated by some passengers, though - a
lower tip is their way of letting you know.
Packed with pedestrians and dense with other
traffic, we found there’s a tendency to career
around the city trying to ram as much as possible
at first. But as with L.A Riders, progress can only
be made by hunting out shortcuts (often narrow
one-way streets) and accruing as many time
bonuses as possible. Funnily enough, the urban
humor and garish hues of Crazy Taxi also reminds
slightly of age old Atari skateboarding classic
720°— perhaps no coincidence since the creator’s
previous project was the excellent skateboarding
sim Top Skater.

echnically there are few differences

between Dreamcast and Naomi apart from
an extra amount of RAM on the motherboard
and the code being mounted in ROM, instead
of on CD. This means that the conversion
process is relatively straightforward and only
tweaks such as reducing the number of tex-
tures are required for it to run on Dreamcast
Perhaps the most encouraging aspect though
is that Naomi is cheap and is therefore facili-
tating slightly greater creative risks within
Sega. Apart from planned multi-screen efforts
such as Airline Pilots and Ferrari 355, some
titles (the first will be
Wre ) will even feature cross com-
patibility between the Dreamcast’s VMS and
the coin-op — simply plug your VMS into the
arcade cabinet and your favorite trained char-
acters will become active on the big screen.
Sega says a further two or three games will
utilize this cross-fertilization of code this year

“YOU TALKIN’ TO ME? THERE’S NOBODY ELSE HERE...”

In terms of handling, the ultra fast and comi-
cally exaggerated dynamics of Crazy Taxi make
Sega Rally \ook like a lesson in simulating car
physics. Employing some of the most exaggerat-
ed driving moves yet seen in a racer, power-
slides, jumps and even acceleration/braking
combos are possible while you’re weaving in and
out of the traffic trying to keep a cool head. It’s
all very 70s cop show car chase. And it works a

treat.

But this is no slouch in the visual department
either. Packing Naomi technology under its hood
(see box-out), Crazy Taxi is perhaps the best evi-
dence yet of just how good Sega’s new console is
at throwing polygons around the screen. Streets
unravel in to the distance with minimum pop-up

and everything runs at a silky
smooth 6ofps, but where it
really scores in its use of realis-
tic lighting and shadows - try
and find another game that

looks as
vibrant as
this.
Given the
speed at which
Powerstone and House of the
Dead have jumped across to the home con-
sole, only the most pessimistic Dreamcast
owner would doubt its imminent transferal.
However, with the developers having already
expressed a desire to implement extra fea-
tures in the Dreamcast version, that could
mean a Slightly longer wait. Here’s hoping for a
multi-player rumble between rival cab compa-
nies...

Not all fares are
happy with the ster-
ling service you pro-
vide. Some take it out
on your car if they sus-
pect you tried to scare
them, or otherwise
reduce their life |
expectancy. es
SF

—_S

. , |) ewe 7 ‘

oat

=
A.

Sega's Crazy Taxi: You race around the city picking up fares and dropping them off at their destinations in as little time as possible. The
best fares are usually the most difficult to get to, but pay more. There's a time-limit, of course, and it’s best if you don’t try to mow
them down with your taxi- at least not before they've paid the bill. Expect this one to arrive on Dreamcast before the year is out.

11

DOVORGS

SEGADREAMCAST

DC JAPAN

IMAGEPROCESSING

Sega’s current wave of ads in Japan are something of a departure from previous cam-
paigns and feature Sega General Manager Yukawa Hidekazu trapped in a sinister daydream
where children are not what they seem. Below is a translation of this latest media salvo- along
with our own interpretation of events...

Translation: Hidekazu Appearing friendly, they lull uddenly- their eyes tu

appears on a mountain-top- the charming Hidekazu into a black and they scream: “N

dressed, in a Saville Row suit faise sense of security. “Sega it’s a ioke! We d t need

with some chiidren has changed", they cry Sega- we want PlayStation
Really?" replies Hidekaz

IMPORTGAMEOFTHEMONTH
>> GET BASS

It's either your idea of heaven or officially the

least interesting sport this side of the Seniors Lawn
Bowling Tour. Whichever side you find yourself on when it
comes to fishing, Get Bass will have you dreaming of elec-
tric, er... fish for weeks to come.

Currently only available on import, Sega’s bass fishing
sim is a pixel-perfect port of its arcade classic of the same
name- with an added ‘consumer mode’ featuring extended
multi-stage tournaments , the option to fish as the fairer
sex and access to your very own tackle box. Oh no! Hidekazu has been Suddenly, the ground opens His secretary has caugnt

Not convinced? Play it, and you'll be (ahem) hooked. duped by demons! up and swallows ladies-man the worldly Hidekazu sleep
With the time limit ticking down, and the ever present dan-
ger of losing a big catch, Get Bass is a lot more exciting
than you might at first assume. Catch a ‘Big One!’ and you'll
realize just how satisfying a game can get. Lose one, and
you'll get right back in there for another go — every time.

But for the ultimate thrill-ride (or what passes for
thrills in the fishing community), you should buy the bun-
die and get your hands on the fishing controller. It has a lit-
tle gyroscope hidden inside for detecting your arm move-
ments so that you can cast your line without using a button.
Of course, you look sort of stupid doing it, unlike real fish-
ing (apparently).

¥5800 ($50) eee
Sega

Sega “Are you okay? * she asks. “ Hidekazu reflects on his

— Yes,” he replies. nightmare.
0

No 4 ,
VMU, ;
Fishing Controller ;

Hidekazu ng on the job

SAMED/FFERENCE

Okay- so we admit it, there are other
Dreamcast magazines worth looking at
on the planet- but they're in Japan. The
magazine market over
there now supports
four different
Dreamcast magazines —
the best two of which
we picked up while at
the Tokyo Game Show.
DC Dreamcast is Japan's
official magazine for
our beloved system and
has been around since
December of last year.
Oddly, the free GD-ROM
is packaged with
Softbank’s ‘Dreamcast Magazine’-
unofficial, but equally unrivalled in
terms of news, previews and mad
pages full of readers soft-porn Manga
illustrations. And before you ask, no.
Not ever. Keep them to yourself.

DRIVERSWANTED

METROPOLIS STREET
RACER GATHERS SPEED
Follow that car! Metropolis Street Racer features cars from Europe, Japan
As Cazy Taxi (see page 11) and the USA - and some of the most amazing lighting effects ever!

called him up...

demonstrates, the Next Big Thing
when it comes to racing games is
city driving. If

you've ever wanted

to take partina y

real Hollywood car-

chase, complete with screaming
pedestrians, empty cardboard
boxes and (inexplicably) chickens,
then Metropolis Street Racer will
take you there.

Racing through London, San
Francisco and Tokyo, you'll be
screeching around over two square
miles of map at each stage in one
of twenty different licensed sports
cars that include the Acura NSX,
Ford Mustang and the Italian Fiat
Barchetta, as well as other assort-

considered —‘

BW: ‘ Racing around a city throws
up many challenges..hang on a

minute..’ (screeching of brakes). big rabbit, Brian.We could
DCM: ‘Brian?’ hear the bump from here.’
BW: ‘Sorry. Now where were we? (Sirens)

Challenges. The main one is how to
maintain accuracy and a ‘real city’
feel without compromising the
structure and playability of the

game itself. You can use made up (click)

cities, like most games do, but DCM: “Yeah, so
we're doing real life,so you needto _ilong.’
represent what's there, and there- Metropolis

fore the choice of which areas to
model has to be really carefully

(A hair-raising thud and crunch fol-

TWOMONTHSWITHOUT? O/LETPAPER!

If you thought the Truman Show or EDTV took tele-
vision a step too far, then wait ‘til you get a load of
Japanese variety show Susunu Denpa Shonen (Don’t go
for It, Electric Boy!). Taking an unemployed comic named
Nasubi (which translates as ‘eggplant’), the show locked
him in a room with his only sustenance for 15 months
being whatever he could win through entering competi-
tions in magazines, airing his plight for 15 minutes every
Sunday night. His first several meals consisted of noth-
ing more than the Tokyo equivalent of Alpo, and it took
him months to win toilet paper.

Spying an opportunity for a game, Tokyo-based
publisher Hudson (better known for its hit Bomberman
titles) has created the interactive Dreamcast version of

that..! just hit, an erm..rabbit
or something.’
DCM: ‘it must’ve been a pretty

BW: ‘Look: it’s been nice talk-
ing to you, but | have to go.

Thanks for the opportunity
and stuff. Bye.’

Ld ink de tal it akg

Street Racer is due
out in September. Read our
full preview of this stunning
game next issue.

ee ee 8 8

ed European and Japanese autos. lowed by more screeching of
We called Bizarre Creations brakes)

producer Brian Woodhouse, andhe cm: ‘Brian? Are

explained the challenge thrown up you there?’

by creating such an open road. He BW: ‘Sure.

was on his cell phone doing about Sorry about

7omph on the freeway when we

the show — complete with a naked cartoon Nasubi- his,
ahem, ‘interactive’ areas covered by — yep- an eggplant.
We would usually be the first to bemoan the fact that
Japanese games so rarely make the leap to the States,
but in this case, we'd be sort of relieved if it didn’t.

DCEVROPE

TRANS-ATLANTIC DREAMCAST NEWS

ee ee es

‘EUROPE

Habsbabsbebebsbabstsbebebabobebsbebstebebetatedetal

13

‘sonal with

PROFILE

———---_—— = Salil iliac leeatteertimneplitens

DCM: The game features some
# pretty spectacular explosions. How
many types of weapon can you use?
SN: There are eight different types of
weapon, which you keep with you

throughout the game.

OCM SPECIALEFFECTS

DCM: Sega initially thought that all
Dreamcast titles would run at 6ofps, but
that’s not the case for Blue Stinger, is
it? Why’s that?

SN: We use a refreshment rate of 30fps.
We could have used 6ofps, but because
we wanted to display lots of creatures,
we had to rethink things.

hinya Nishigak DCM: During your time working on

“In terms of content, we wa alice Dreamcast development, what have you

found to be its strongest feature?
el ieh\,-1e-M CoM ale i-Mial-M=> decal -lalas SN: The number of polygons it can

»N display is important, and there’s also the
of a Holl vAielele| movie in an lighting effects. It’s also very easy to
develop on Dreamcast; there’s good
Taliciaclaihucmuce y. = support and some good libraries. There

—_—_—— are also some impressive sound filters.
DCM: So what kind of lighting effects are
you using in the game?
SN: Basically we use two sources of
light. One is ‘Nephilim’ [a flying female
character], who is a moving source of
light. After that we have the weapon
effects, and we also have the regular

oN map’s lights. But for realtime lighting we
use Nephilim and the weapons.
DCM: Do you think you're really pushing
the Dreamcast hardware?
SN: It’s difficult to say. We're not using
all of its capabilities — for example, we're
not using the bump mapping, but we are
using the lighting features. There are
always many different ways to use any
hardware. It’s actually very hard to
answer that particular question.

*eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eee eee eer ere eee eer er er er eee ere eC ee CeO ee eC eC eC eC eC ee eee em eC eee eee

R YEARS AND 20 MILLION DOLLARS, SHENMU
AIMS TO CHANGE THE WAY YOU.PEAY FOR

i *
Fou) : g

SHENMUE

Developer:
AM2
Publisher:
Sega

Origin:

Bieri

Genre:
Adventure
Players:

One
Peripherals:
Puru Puru Pack
VMU

ESRB Rating:
Pending
Online?

No

Release Date:
TBA 2000

WHAT'S THE

it's Shenmue, the most
ambitious (and expen-
sive) adventure title ever
created — to the tune of a
20 million dollar devel-
opment budget and four
years of painstaking
work by Sega's leg-
endary AM2 division,
headed by Yu Suzuki.

WHY MIGHT IT

Shenmue has the poten-

tial to utterly smash the
mold with its deeply

immersive environments,

captivating characters,
and the ability to convey
human emotion far
beyond the means of
other game before it.

Shenmue may prove to
be too ambitious. It
attempts to elude nearly
every notion there is of
what an adventure title
should be, and, as a
result, may ultimately
seem too foreign (and
even cumbersome) for
many players to enjoy -
or comprehend.

riginally known
under the working

title of Project

Berkeley, Shenmue

began its life long

before Sega man-
agement introduced Suzuki to its pro-
posed Dreamcast specifications nearly
four years ago. Suzuki has said that
the desire to create an epic adventure
game had always been with him — he
just didn’t have the canvas on which
to realize his dream until Dreamcast.

Each character in Shenmue is con-

structed from thousands of polygons
each, down to their individual finger-
nails and teeth (“ick!’ — Ed), and its
some 1,200 rooms and locales are
exquisitely detailed — carpets have
individual weaves, cherry trees boast
thousands of petals, and tiny crea-
tures scurry about the place, further-
ing the already immersive atmos-
phere. Suzuki and crew have also
painstakingly motion-captured both
actors and trained martial artists to
provide the eerily life-like movement
of Shenmue’s cast.

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athasei~t,i.

Realistic weather (which is modeled
from actual data on the game’s locales
over the past 20 years) adds to the

realism, along with (drum-roll, please)
what Suzuki — and more than one
physicist — refer to as the fourth
dimension: time. Few games have
accurately portrayed the passage of
time, and even fewer have attempted
to give it influence over gameplay.
Shenmue aims to do both. From shop
keeps to key players, characters will
keep their own schedules, so you'll
have to learn them — and act accord-
ingly — in order to accomplish many
tasks. Ryo Hazuki, the game’s central
character, can also accrue damage
that will take days (and sometimes
weeks) to fully heal, thus hampering
his ability to travel and fight. Of
course, the passage of time will be
compressed, so as not to keep you
laid up in a hospital bed while Ryo’s
recovering, or sitting on a steamer for
a week to mainland China. Or, for
example, going slowly insane at the
Japanese equivalent of the DMV.

ALI VE te:

Sound is an area that has received
equal attention. An entire symphony
orchestra has been hired to record the
game’s soundtrack, and some of
Japan’s finest voice actors brought on
to give believable personalities to over
a dozen central characters.

UP!

Suzuki proposes to afford players ulti-
mate freedom by giving them the abili-
ty to travel to and explore almost
every area of the game at will, achieve
many objectives in non-linear fashion,
speak with any character, and interact
with countless objects. There will of
course be a strong plot thread, so as
to keep you on track toward the ulti-
mate outcome, but Shemmue is more
a living, breathing experience than a
scripted play.

When searching rooms or manipu-
lating objects, the game switches to a
first-person mode. The AM2 staff have
digitized and motion captured a
model’s hands to create this on-
screen, and the effect of them rifling
through cassette tapes, grabbing a
flashlight, and dialing telephones is
almost akin to real life.

Environment and atmosphere
aside, the true meat of Shenmue will
be in its four primary gameplay
modes: Quest, Quick Timer Event,
Quick Timer Battle, and Free Battle.

Quest is just about how it sounds;
explore lavishly-detailed locales and
achieve numerous goals, whether it be
to deliver items from one character to
another, or track down a specific per-
son who may hold clues to your next

course of action. This is also where the first-per-
son mode will come into play — approaching use-
able objects and entering certain rooms will
bring your hands into view, giving you a Ryo’s-
eye perspective and complete control. In Quest
mode, you'll also have the ability to take part in
various sub-games within the grander adventure,
including — but not limited to — part-time jobs
(you'll need to earn enough money to afford the
ticket to mainland China) and even re-creations
of classic AM2 arcade games.

Like Sega’s own Die Hard Arcade, Quick Time
Events and Quick Time Battles require directional
commands and button presses on your controller

Suzuki and his team traveled extensively throughout Asia to survey the locales in which Shenmue takes place. As a result,
each of its hundreds of locations are breathtakingly detailed, from the placement of buildings all the way down to individ-
ual signposts. Environments, such as those above, will be rendered in real-time by Dreamcast's powerful 3D hardware.

in accordance with flashing on-screen prompts.
This form of play will be most often used in the
game’s more elaborate fight sequences, and well
as mad dashes through city streets, balancing on
rafters, and other timing sensitive scenarios.
Free Battle is self-explanatory — you're able to
take out your aggressions on the bad guys in
Virtua Fighter-style real-time. In this mode, Ryo
has the ability to punch, kick, guard, parry, and
block.

The end result is an experience totally unlike
that of any adventure title before it, so much so
that Suzuki has coined a new term to describe
his treatment of the genre: FREE, or Full Reactive
Eyes Entertainment. Or, if you prefer planet
Earth-speak, it’s his hope that, by seamlessly

a) ROUND

Who?

Finest Hour

Don't mention

Why?

What's next?

:
:
Shenmue's cinematic sequences are produced entirely in real-time so, as Suzuki is keen to stress, there is never a discernable shift in visual quality between gameplay and story elements .

ill

integrating these elements, Shenmue will truly
become the sum of its parts — and if the finished
product is anywhere as groundbreaking as but
one of its facets, those ‘killer app’ pundits will

not only have their cake, but eat it too.

By the time you read this, Shenmue will have
been split up into two chapters, the first of which
being nearly finished and scheduled for Japanese

LOOKING

Sega set up two rows of Dreamcasts devoted to
Shenmue at the show, each demonstrating a dif-
ferent mode of play. Shenmue is unique in that it
is divided into a number of different game styles
- depending on where you are in the game.
There's the Quick Timer Event mode - where you
just hit a button and the game does the rest for
you - in this case, chasing a street punk through
the maze-like streets of Hong Kong. It feels a lit-
tle like an interactive movie (ulp!), but requires
fast reflexes and is incredibly cinematic (phew!)
and offers ample opportunities for Suzuki to
show off his meticulously created street scenes.
Mother and baby obstacles, old people carrying

shopping and workmen - are all positioned to lit-

erally trip you up. All that's missing, it seems,
are glaziers making their way v-e-r-y s-\-o-w-l-y
across the road with a giant sheet of glass. And,
of course, a herd of sheep.

The biggest crowd gathered around the Free
Battle mode - the cause of much consternation
for journalists when the game was originally

Character interaction within Shenmue’s world
ranges from conversations with town-folk (top
left) to partaking in a game of dice for much-
needed travel money (left).

TROUBLE

DCM HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE
SHENMUE’S COMBAT SYSTEM FIRST HAND AT THE
RECENT TOKYO GAME SHOW

announced - owing to its absence. For a heart-
stopping month there, it looked as if all the bat-
tles would be decided in the Quick Timer Event
style - merely requiring one or two quick button
stabs to resolve. But no! Suzuki has taken much
of what was seen in coin-op hit Spikeout, and
has included a full Virtua Fighter style battle
system.

Wandering through a dimly lit warehouse,
Ryo is accosted by packs of ruddy-faced bruisers,
of the A-Team rent-a-goon variety, which can be
dispatched with a flurry of kicks and sweeps,
throws and well-timed knees to the groin. After
kicking about 30 flabby butts, the stage is clear.
it's a little easy - presumably to make the demo
accessible to all, and Like Virtua Fighter, the
brawls are as complicated as you want to make
them - a lot depends on how skilled you are with
the controller. Button-mashing gives way to more
elegantly choreographed encounters as your
martial arts repertoire grows. It's vintage Suzuki.

release on August 5. Sega of America itself has
confirmed that the game will see stateside
release in 2000. Whether or not both chapters
will be integrated for U.S. audiences remains to
be seen, but one thing is for certain: Shenmue is
coming, and it may very well change the way we
play adventure games — and experience them —
forever.

This sequence illustrates one of the
game's first Quick Timer Events, in
which Ryo and Ren escape from a
gangster’s hideout. One hitch: they're
handcuffed to each other.

Tokyo Game Show gave the japanese public - and the DCM staff - their first opportunity to try
out Shemue’s Quick Timer Battles and Quick Timer Events first hand.

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early four years in the making, Dreamcast is finally here.
N The latest in a long line of Sega consoles dating back to

the early 1980s-era Master System, it represents the
convergence of the company’s home gaming know-how and
bleeding edge technology from its four partners in the undertak-
ing: NEC, Microsoft, Hitachi, and Yamaha.

Dreamcast has its similarities to past consoles — it still uses
familiar enough controllers (guess that "VR" craze never quite
caught on) and its games still come stored on unassuming, albeit
higher capacity, compact discs. But beneath its pearly white exte-
rior lies a brave new world of earth-shaking innovations and
unprecedented possibilities.

With its Visual Memory Unit (VMU), Sega has given life to the
decidedly two-dimensional memory card concept. Instead of sim-
ply storing games on a boring gray piece of plastic, you'll now be
able to interact with it. Whether exploring dungeons from your
favorite RPG or tuning up that new race car you just won, it’s all
possible — and while on the go, no less.

MCAST IO

*SSeseSs* 333 33 hem:
EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW Dreamcast is also the first internet-ready console, thanks in

full to its built-in 56k modem. Browsing the web from the comfort

ABOUT SEGA’S POWERFUL NEW CONSOLE of your couch is one thing, but how about going head-to-head

against your loudmouth buddy across town (or the country) ina

STORY BY: RANDY NELSON match of Sega Rally 2 to settle that “who's the best driver" bet
once and for all? And if you lose, you can always blame your six-
year-old nephew Urkel who “just picked up the controller" while
you were in the bathroom.

But it is the capacity to evolve that is perhaps Dreamcast’s
most intriguing facet. More so than any other system before it,
Dreamcast can accept a myriad of future expansions and
upgrades. DVD movies in your future? Digital television perhaps?
Or how about some extra memory to make your games look more
real than real? Dreamcast can, and will, handle it all.

In the following pages, we'll give you the lowdown on exactly
what to expect when Sega welcomes us all to the next level this
fall. So sit down with our feature and take some quality time to
get to know your Dreamcast.

CONTROLLER Ports
No cutting-edge console would be worth its
salt without more than two controller ports,
and Dreamcast as it just so happens boasts

four — perfect for multi-player games. But
these aren't your average sockets. They can
send data in two directions, paving the path
for such advanced peripherals as printers, dig-
ital cameras, or perhaps even a Dj-style
turntable.

GD-ROM Drive
Dreamcast’'s innovative CD unit runs at 12 times
the speed of normal CD-ROM drives and boasts
nearly twice the storage capacity — 1 Gigabyte
of data in total. This means you'll see lighten-
ing-fast (or often unnoticeable) load times, and
won't be swapping discs as often for longer
and larger games. Of course, it will still play all
of your favorite audio CDs too.

Eject BuTTON
When pressed, this button makes the
Dreamcast open wide for insertion of games
and music CDs. Mind your fingers as the discs
spin down after playing though — it’s nearly like
a saw blade at 12x speed.

Power BUTTON
Pressing this magical button will cause
your system to sprout wings and fly
around the room frantically. Just kid-
ding... it just turns the power on.

WHat No RESET?

By now, you've probably noticed
that Dreamcast is missing a reset but
ton. To reset your game in progress,
simply hold down all four action but
tons on your controller (A, B, X, and Y)
and hit Start. Viola!

MODEM PorRT

This port serves dual purposes. Firstly, it’s

where you attach a cord for connecting

Dreamcast’s modem to the phone jack on your
wall. The modem itself can be removed for
replacement with a faster model in the future.

; Alternatively, this is also where undisclosed
; | future upgrades will connect, sliding in under-

G — neath the system and offering their own exten-

TLE ee ee sion slot for accommodating the modem.

A/V Mutti-Ourt Port
Here’s where your four video output options are
connected: S-video, composite video, an RFU
adapter, or the exceedingly high quality VGA
Box.

SERIAL Port
Exact purposes of this smallish port have yet to
be revealed, but it's likely that Sega's proposed
Local Area Network adapter (an add-on for set-
ting up your own multi-system, multiplayer
games at home) will connect here.

Te oe eo oe ee FF FF FF

ve eo eo eo Vo oe oe tr FF FF

Lint GuN

From: Sega
Price: Packed-in with House of
the Dead 2, $33 (¥3800) sepa-
rately

Release: Out Now (Japan)
Compatible Games: House of the
Dead 2

it’s the Dreamcast Light
Gun, the most innovative
videogame blaster in the
world. Do you feel lucky?
You should, because its pin-
point accuracy is second to
none, and its built-in direc-
tional pad will undoubtedly
open up a whole new world
of possibilities for light gun
shooters. The least of which
being the ability to actually
move around freely inside
the game world while bliast-
ing away with a “real” gun.

KEYBOARD

From: Sega

Price: $33 (¥3800)

Release: Out Now (Japan)
Compatible Software: Dream
Passport, WebTV browser

Surf the web in style — or at
least a lot more effectively
than you can with a con-
troller. Featuring all the keys
and doodads you'll find on a
Standard computer key-
board, the Dreamcast key-
board also boasts a number
of shortcut keys designed
specifically to make using
the system's bundled inter-
net software easier to navi-
gate by automate the typing

of such common things as
"www" and “.com" for web-
site addresses.

CONTROLLER

From
Pr ce
Release

Compatible Games

VISUAL Memory UNIT
(VMU)

From: Sega

Price: $33 (¥3800)
Release: Out Now (Japan)
Compatible Games: Al!

Dreamcast’s most unique
peripheral, the VMU is more
like a smallish hand-held
game system than a memo-
ry card, although it can be
used for saving game data
(128 blocks worth in all).
Central to the VMU's
remarkableness are its
diminutive LCD screen, con-
trol pad, and action buttons,
which enable you to orga-
nize data, and, more impor-
tantly, play mini-games that
can be downloaded from
many Dreamcast titles.

ARCADE STICK

From: Sega

Price: $50 (¥5800)

Release: Out Now (Japan)
Compatible Games: Virtua
Fighter 3tb, Power Stone, Marvel
vs. Capcom

For true arcade-style con-
trol, there’s no substitute for
having an actual arcade con-
troller — or, in this case,
something incredibly close.
Modeled after Sega’s own
arcade cabinets, such as the
one used for Virtua Fighter
3, the Arcade Stick is as
close as you'll get to the real
thing without buying a
$3,000 coin-op unit. It’s also
especially heavy, with a nice
weighted, metal base, and
features a built-in VMU slot.

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POR Seeeeeeoeeeeen — POP OEE EF RE ce

ith a distinctly Gen X atti-
tude and a talent for
hurtling through side-
scrolling space at the speed
of light, Sonic has gone on to capture
the imagination of millions around the
globe, joining the ranks of Mario and
recently inducted Crash Bandicoot as
having one of the most recognizable
mugs in videogames. With the launch of
Dreamcast in Japan, his-hedgehogness
has arrived in style for his first truly 3D
outing. As startling a change as this may
be for a series so firmly entrenched in
side-scrolling
ideology, the result is a visually stunning
experience with some equally amazing
gameplay.

Under the direction of series creator
Yuji Naka, Sonic Adventure gets off to a
blazingly fast and fabulously familiar
Start. All of the quintessential "Sonic"
elements are intact, as a run-through of
the first stage, Emerald Coast, confirms:
gold rings to collect, cute enemies to
bonk on the head, red bumpers that
launch you into orbit, the super-spin
dash, and most importantly, tear-induc-
ing speed- and it’s all in beautiful 3D.

Right away you know you've entered
a new world of gaming, full to bursting
point with silky-smooth animation,
incredibly realistic scenery and flawlessly
designed levels. Sonic has indeed come
a long way since the Genesis. From the
visual depth of each environment to the

DEVELOPER:
Sonic Team

subtle animations of all the objects on
each screen, this game must be seen to
be believed.

Sporting bright, colorful textures and
completely smooth 3D polygons, each of
the six playable characters in the game
are rendered with crystal clarity (get to
know the different characters on page
26) and the stages are equally impres-
sive looking.

Each consists of three essential ele-
ments. There’s the exploration parts,
where Sonic runs around looking for
shortcuts and secret areas (of which
there are many) and — most impressive
from a speed standpoint —the gravity-
defying tracks that house super-speed
launch pads that rocket the blue fella

The most basic move in the
book, Sonic's jump move has
been enhanced to help him navi-
gate the brave new world of 3D.
jumping by pressing X, then
pressing jump again at the
height of Sonic's leap allows him
to do one of two things: home in
on the nearest enemy for a good
bashing or jump dash to cover a
greater distance more quickly.

Sonic's dash move is little more After Sonic picks up his first An ability only accessible to
than a way to get around town upgrade, the super speed Sonic during the adventure seg-
or stages more quickly. Pressing shoes, he’s then able to really ments of the game, you'll need
and holding the B or X button pack a punch with his Super to carry things like keys from
powers up your dash. Releasing Spin Dash with the B or X but- one area to another in order

it sets you on your way. Only
until you get a hold of the Super
Spin dash will this move be of
any real use against enemies or
in specific environments.

ton. With each upgrade, Sonic's

spindash will become more use-
ful in the action stages by allow-

ing you to power up and cross
large gaps in the ground by fly-
ing over them in a straight line.

with the Y button to unlock new
stages. This skill shows Sonic's
increased interaction with his
surroundings and even lets him
cuddle a bit with his Chaos. Is
this really a good thing?

25

26

wy
JA

~*
Species: Fox
Abilities: Flying and racing different characters
through each level

Goals: Finding short-cuts to outrun opponents
Best level: Emerald Coast or Sky Deck

if he were a Simpsons character, he'd be:
Milhouse Van Houten

Te

Species: Echidna. An anteater with a single ori-
fice for expelling waste and fluid. Ick.

Abilities: Digging, climbing and gliding

Goals: Find hidden locations of Emerald pieces
in each level and make a whole gem.

Best level: Casinopolis

Simpson’s counterpart: Nelson Muntz

Species: Hedgehog

Abilities: Double jump w/hammer blow.
Goals: Outrun Eggman’s robot through levels
equipped with her glorious Hammer of Love.
No, seriously...

Best level: Twinkle Park or Hot Shelter

Simpsons counterpart: jessica Lovejoy

eS

Species: Take a big fat guess

Abilities: Very few. Fishing, if you must know
Goals: The obligatory “fishing element” in every
Japanese game. Fish to rescue his pet frog

Best level: Hot Shelter

Simpsons counterpart: Barney Gumble

yo ONL
Fe

Species: Sentry Robot

Abilities: Super Multi-targeting Blast

Goals: Save as many animals as possible from
each level, while destroying evil sentry robots
all under a time limit

Best level: Red Mountain

Simpsons counterpart: Professor Frink

DCM Counterpart: Randy Nelson

ee

Species: Uber Hedgehog
Abilities: invincibility

Goals: Destroy Perfect Chaos and amass rings to
maintain super powers
Simpsons counterpart: Radioactive Man

(Top) Sonic gathers with Knuckles, Tails and Amy in a special ending to take down
Perfect Chaos. Bring on Super Sonic! (Right) E-102 takes a stroll around town; (cen-
ter) Frog-catching in Emerald Coast; (bottom) Tikal, the Chaos Emerald guardian

along like a bullet train. For a change of pace, there are
also a number of sub-games that range from snow-
boarding, to pinball simulations (guess who's the ball?)
to a “whack-a-Mole”-type game with Amy. Even when
you've completed a stage, you can always play it again
another way to get just a little more out of it.

The level design is further enhanced by certain
moments of blissful spectacle. From a killer whale
chase in Emerald Coast to Wind Valley’s dizzying torna-
do, complete with a vortex of brilliantly rendered
leaves, Sonic Adventure wields flash and function with
equal skill.

TO GO

While stellar visuals go hand in hand with introducing
Sonic to a more powerful system in Dreamcast, the
gameplay in Sonic Adventure also takes a bold leap in
a new direction as well. Sonic not only receives the gift
of gab (with full voice tracks), but he’s also able to use
his newfound voice on the characters roaming the fic-
tional metropolis, Station Square. Here you’re required
to interact with other characters, read signposts and
carry out minor tasks in order to progress. In fact, a
good bulk of the challenge within the game is finding

mt 02:46:03
014

each of the
level entrances
hidden
throughout
Station Square.
You'll need to
complete the
levels in a specific order to access each successive
Stage, giving the game a strictly linear structure.

CHAO

But Station Square isn’t just for seeking out new
Stages. You'll also be able to visit the Chao Gardens,
where you can participate in the raising, breeding and
training of the Tamagotchi-style Chaos. Think of it as an
introduction to virtual pet sims, Sonic-style. (More on
Chaos in the sidebar “Chao Baby” on page XXX).
Controlling Sonic in his 3D universe is surprisingly
smooth allowing you to get a good grasp on navigating
both depth and direction without any problems. The
layout of each level takes the pressure off the controls
by defining the actual room you have to move around.
By using elements such as water, lava or umpteen mile
drops to surround limited areas, you'll have a good

Emerald Coast, your starting point in Sonic Adventure, is a showcase piece with plenty of dazzling sights and breakneck speed.

CHAO’. >:

Not only will these little creatures give
you hours of love and entertain

ment, they'll also give you a

damn good reason to use your

VMU. It can be a bit tricky- so

here’s a mini-guide to parent-

hood.

® How do | get started?
First, you must find some eggs.

There are two pastel-colored ones sitting in the

s =
me . Bes.

Chao Garden in Station
Square that can be
hatched.

——
bi How do | hatch ——-

eggs?

Very carefully. Chaos
are very sensitive to
your actions, so it’s best to avoid dropping or
throwing an egg. Hatch it nice and slow by first
picking it up with the Y button, then holding the
button down and pressing any direction on the ana-
log stick. You'll begin caressing the egg, coaxing
out the Chao. Once you set it back on the ground, it
willhatch.

i What should | do with it once it hatches?

Pay close attention to how it acts each time you
visit. At this early stage in a Chao’s life, you can
assimilate different animals with it. This can be
done by freeing some of Robotnik’s animal slaves
in different stages then returning to a Chaos
Garden. The animals will automatically be freed
into the area and you

can then pick one up ,

and bring it near a wy
Chao. The Chao will

then nuzzlethe animal, .§

delightedly, and possi-

bly take on some of its

characteristics (so best

to avoid to close associ-

ations with , say, Echidnas...). You can also feed
your Chaos by shaking down coconuts from the
trees in the garden.

® Can you mate Chaos in the gardens or only on
the VMU?

You can mate them anywhere, but preferably not in

public. Set two adults next to one another in order

to let them get started and if successful, they'll

produce an egg!

La What can you do with the VMU in all of this?
Train, train, train! By moving a Chao to your VMU,

you can participate in a number of games that will
boost your Chao’s stats . The mini-quest will
improve your Chao’s abilities so it can win in the
Chao Races.

x — ey
—

Ty

oo |

Tim’ O11: 22:
0861

Sonic Adventure manages to include not
one... not two... but countless of those
elusive “gaming moments.”

idea as to where you can or can’t
go. But, you also never feel too
restricted when roaming. Each
environment succeeds in feeling
incredibly open, whether your red-
sneakered feet are zipping along a
Set track as Sonic or you're fishing
in a pond as Big the Cat.

While some gamers may have a
distaste for the speed-factor in Sonic
games, claiming that it feels too much like you're being
led around by the snout, rather than forcing you to use
any real skill, the speed segments in Sonic Adventure
avoid feeling too scripted. Level designs are paced well
and include enough variety to neatly sidestep this prob-
lem

CAUGHTONCAMERA

The same cannot be said for the game’s camera.
Nicknamed “Cammy” around the office, the camera sys-
tem has a bad habit of taking on a life of its own at
times. Due to the speed of Sonic himself, you’ll find
Cammy lagging behind or getting stuck at the most
annoying angles. Not just annoying, the experience can
leave you disoriented. Imagine cruising along, collecting
rings on a steel platform -- next, you're staring, bald-
faced at the backside texture of a wall with absolutely
no idea where you are or where the hedgehog has gone
off to. Imagine if this kind of thing happened in the
movies. You’re watching the T-Rex approach the
upturned jeep in Jurassic Park, when suddenly the cam-
era gets stuck behind a giant green fern with a tiny bee-
tle on it. And the camera stays there until the scene
ends. Aargh!

While this doesn’t happen too frequently, some
stages seem worse off than others (cough... Sky Deck...
cough... Emerald Coast). Though the problem is forgiv-

56

Dramatic camera angles work both for and against Sonic Adventure. Thankfully, it'll
be “ooh’s,” not “aarghs” that you'll find yourself saying more often than not

able in the face of the game’s abundant strengths, it’s
lucky for us US gamers that the cameras are being
corrected for the domestic release.

But the camera problem also highlights another of the
game’s few (but significant) weaknesses: bugs. Clipping
through certain corners in the environment (parts of the
scenery suddenly disappear and then re-appear without
warning), as well as some rather dodgy collision detec-
tion take a little of the shine off the otherwise gleaming
surface of Sonic Adventure. To be absolutely bowled
over by the beauty of a waterfall one moment, then
falling through a wall for no reason to an untimely death
the next, is sure to spoil the mood. Once again, you'll be
relieved to know that this will all be corrected for the US
release.

Despite these problems, however, Sonic succeeds in
delivering a fast, furious rollercoaster ride with enough
depth and beauty to dazzle even the most jaded gamer.
it’s not the only reason to buy a Dreamcast, but it’s a
damn convincing one.

FRANCESCA REYES

DREAMCASTONLINE

Ca

DREAMCAST GIVES YOU THE WORLD!

oe fe
S@3a3-7;-8 Rm!
vr=a-7FHAARAR
cnPrse7y-250O88
BATTLE TIME 229ReuT

Sega's original online service, Dricas (top left), went live in
November 1998 and serves as a one-stop information source
for Japanese Dreamcast owners. In addition to daily news and
chat, the site offers some more unique features, such as Mail
Chum (top right), a digital postcard service of sorts.

ONLINEGAMEOFTHEMONTH

Price: Y5So0 ($50)
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Origin: Japan
Online: Yes
Multiplayer: Yes > 5
Peripherals: VMU,

Racing Whee!

DREAMCASTONLINE101

WORLD WIDE

y DCM's wel WHAT?

TWO WAYS
TO BROWSE

GO!

CONNECTING TO THE OFFICIAL SEGA ONLINE CONTEST

DREAMCAST MAGAZINE SITE

Simply head over to our site
and upload your best Sega
Rally 2 times, and we'll com-
pare them against those of
your fellow readers. If you're
good enough, you just might be
able to pull away from the pack
and win the ultimate prize, a
Subaru Impreza 555 of your
very own. No, wait! Heck, it's
the dummy issue - for one
month only, the prize for the

www.dreamcastmagazine.com fastest Sega Rally 2 lap time
is... the planet Mars!

“ PROFILE:L/VE
LIVE MONTHLY CHATS WITH DREAMCAST CELEBRITIES

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BALLOTBOX

HAVE YOUR SAY IN OUR
MONTHLY ONLINE POLL
Nant to be heard? DCM’s website gives you a

by ot P Thimetelialiel ' irmont}

DCM

HOWTOBEAT
SEGARALLY2

GO FROM DRIVING MISS DAISY TO BULLITT IN 60 MINUTES
WITH DCM’S CRASH COURSE IN RALLY RACING

LEARN’ OSLIDE

Sega Rally 2

CUSTOMIZE CAR

FIND SECRET

Enter the following codes in For 30 Frames per Second,
at the title screen. Use the enter:

digital D-pad and action UP, A, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT,
buttons in order to enter one. RIGHT, B, B, UP

To unlock all cars, enter: For 60 Frames per Second,

UP, DOWN, UP, B, A, LEFT, B, enter:

B, DOWN UP, A, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT,
RIGHT, B, B, DOWN

To complete the 10-Year

Championship Mode, enter: if you enter the code correctly,
UP, LEFT, DOWN, RIGHT, B, A, you'll hear a tone afterwards.
B, RIGHT, DOWN

L716.

DESERT

MOUNTAIN

ai sl=tate'

<
‘a /
—_

UNLOCK EVERY CAR

Skill Level tiwood Blues Now

you're getting the hang of it. You can

do the shopping mall without ever aa KCAL SEL
leaving your Cal

Skill level: Morgan Freeman in

Driving Miss Daisy. No, wait- this is

pretty basic stuff. If you can win Year

1 you're probably Miss Daisy — or
maybe just her dog. Keep working
Skill Level: Burt Reynolds in

Smokey and the Bandit. Getting

faster. Whenever you're chased Dy a
traffic cop. you can be sure he'll
wind up in a duck pond, and then, moments Later, hilar
Skill level: William Shatner in ously pick a small fish out of his pants
|. Hooker. Driven around by the

heavily blow-dried Romano, you still

need help getting out of the car- and

during the race, you're actually

replaced by a stunt-double several hundred pounds

lighter. With a beard Skill Level: Speed Racer. You're

nearly one with the road. There's a

chimpanzee and little kid hiding in
our trunk. You let opponents get

y

right up on your bumpe then launch suddenly into the air

as they hurtle unwittingly into the ravine ahead

Skill Level: That guy from Duel

Youre making

progress, but you

look terrified. Chill a ce

out. Take a load

off. Relax. And try to ignore that 16-wheel Skill Level: Mad Max. Nothing phas

erinthe next lane es you. You've mastered the art ol

aggressive driving. just remember

what you did to the eas-tank before

[ ro YOu ti y to | | Ip or your $e ba tlimiir. a. Hpe prematurely ove|

Skill Level: David ee |

Hasslehoff in Skill Level: Steve McQueen in

Knight Rider Man and sliehtiy-effeminate Bullitt. You solve the murder, get the
machine in perfect harmon You lose points for not doing girl. the sideburns. and permission

} y [ ; : [

your own driving though for talking to yo r dasn Theme to never ever smile ever
needing resci ne - Ae, episode DY a Trans Am

Skill Level: Bo and Luke

\
Duke. You can drive — an aces

_ - -
a ° "
el ee ell pretty good, but you Q _ }
am °

stupidly welded

the doors shut and took out the windows > a

What if it rains, eh? What then? Foots!

Dreamcast 90210? Oh God, no...

—_

WELCOME...

....10 the Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine- dedicated to the most power-
ful and exciting videogames console in the world. Armed with a 128bit
graphics engine and a modem that will allow you to surf the internet, play
massively multiplayer games and even e-mail your buddies- Sega
Dreamcast is in every way a next generation entertainment platform.

It deserves a next generation magazine.

Like the system, we're ahead of the game. Dedicated to bringing you the
complete world of Dreamcast every issue, our promise to you is that we will
work tirelessly for the biggest exclusives- never flinching from asking the
tough questions and never ever taking the PR line. We promise to furnish
you with only the very best demos on our exclusive GD-ROM so that you can
play before you pay and in our reviews we aim to set a new standard.

We will never review a game until it's completely finished. And when it
arrives in the office- we won't score it until we've played the whole thing
through- from the start menu to the end sequence.

But we're official, so we can't say what we want, right? Wrong. This maga-
zine carries the official license from Sega because that's the best way to
give you, the reader, the best value every issue. It means we can provide you
with a disc full of free demos and uninhibited access to Sega's legendary
and world-class development studios. It gives us the back-stage pass- and
that's better for you. But the door only swings one way. Sega has absolute-
ly no say in the content of this magazine. We are editorially independent-
beholden to no-one. We answer only to you.

So once again- welcome. Enjoy this sneak preview and join with us in look-
ing forward to Septmeber, when the world's most powerful console hits the
stores- coincidentally enough, just in time for Issue One. Looks like
Christmas is coming early...

Simon Cox
Editor In Chief

a» Se ‘~

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2

sega.com

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2 wy inte a the USP aggtademiach OMiee. ©1999 SEGA. Ail hts Served