The Sega Dreamcast was ahead of its time and in turn, had a small window of opportunity to thrive. It released in Japan in 1998, 1999 for the West, and then was discontinued in 2001. That is an incredibly short period for a console’s lifespan.
The Dreamcast may have ended Sega’s leg in the console market but at least it’s still around as both a developer and publisher. Many of the console’s games were eventually ported to other systems. There are, however, quite a few games that never made it off of the Dreamcast in any capacity. Let’s take a look back at the treasures this console is still hiding.
Disclaimer: In order to qualify for this list, the original version of a game cannot have been released on another console in North America.
10 Seaman
Seaman is one of the more infamous games on the system. It is a simulator game that features a fish with a man’s face and Leonard Nimoy as the narrator.
After this Dreamcast release, it hit the PS2 in 2001 but only in Japan. There was a planned port for the PC and 3DS as well, but those were eventually canceled. Just imagine what Seaman would look like in 3D on the 3DS.
9 Cannon Spike
Cannon Spike hit the arcade scene first followed by a Dreamcast port the same year in 2000. This top-down shooter crosses over Capcom characters from across its many series.
Some examples include Arthur from Ghosts ’n Goblins, Cammy from Street Fighter II, and Mega Man. The gameplay is fairly simple and as an arcade port it is short, but good times can still be had with Cannon Spike.
8 Dynamite Cop
This is a sequel to what Western fans know as Die Hard Arcade. However, this game is unrelated to that film franchise as names were changed to avoid licensing agreements. The main star, Bruno Delinger, is a stand-in for John McClane.
This was also an arcade game that launched in 1998 with the Dreamcast port hitting in 1999. It is a 3D brawler that, like Canon Spike, runs on the shorter side. As a side fact, Bruno would later return in Project X Zone, a strategy RPG on 3DS.
7 Project Justice
Project Justice is the sequel to Rival Schools, a now-forgotten Capcom fighting series. This debuted in arcades first with the Dreamcast port happening shortly after.
Its biggest influence seen today is including one of its stars, Sakura, in Street Fighter. Another lost Capcom fighting franchise is Star Gladiator. Its sequel, Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein, also only hit arcades and the Dreamcast.
6 Heavy Metal: Geomatrix
As if the sting of the previous two missing Capcom fighters wasn’t bad enough, there is a third. Heavy Metal: Geomatrix is an original game for arcades and the system that played a lot like their other franchise, Power Stone.
That is to say, it is a brawler in a similar vein to Super Smash Bros. but more in 3D. It was received poorly so maybe the loss isn’t as great as Star Gladiator and Rival Schools.
5 Illbleed
Illbleed was released in 2001, only to the Dreamcast. It is another infamous release on the system and is a survival-horror game much like Resident Evil. The only difference here is that the whacky meter was cranked up to eleven.
It is, without a doubt, one of the most unique games ever made. Like Deadly Premonition, it is an example of a good, bad game that has to be seen to be believed.
4 Crazy Taxi 2
Technically, this game was ported to the PSP in a 2007 collection that brought together the first two games. However, the game was altered in order to meet new licensing agreements so some music and ads were taken out.
That is to say, it is not the original, pure experience fans grew up with. Furthermore, who has a PSP lying around that can even access PSN right now?
3 Sonic Shuffle
Sonic Shuffle was released for the Dreamcast exclusively. It was Sega’s attempt at Mario Party, but with Sonic characters as the name should imply. It received negative buzz which may be why this game has never been ported to any other hardware.
It may also be why Sega never attempted to make a sequel, as Sonic Shuffle just left too bad of a taste in the mouth of fans.
2 Omikron: The Nomad Soul
This game launched for PCs and the Dreamcast in 1999. Omikron: The Nomad Soul is the first game from Quantic Dream right before they made it a bit bigger with Indigo Prophecy six years later in 2005.
It became notable in 2016 again when David Bowie died, as he did the music and was featured in the game. While it isn’t on consoles, the game is available on Steam.
1 The Typing of the Dead
This was a spin-off based on The House of the Dead 2, which is a light gun game about shooting zombies. Instead of gunning them down, players would instead type words in order to inflict damage.
The Typing of the Dead was like an educational game, although it was actually fun. It launched in arcades in 1999 and would get ported to the Dreamcast and PCs in 2001. It also got a PS2 release in 2004, but in Japan only. There is an iOS remake, but this original version still remains trapped for Dreamcast fans.