Dreamcast racer Speed Devils: Online Racing back online thanks to Dreamcast Live

It’s Dreamcast Live time again. The “Online Racing” subtitle of Speed Devils: Online Racing (2000) finally has meaning again now that online servers have been restored thanks to Dreamcast Live, Shuouma, and Flyinghead. Now you can once again race online in this oft-forgotten Dreamcast classic via Dreamcast Live’s network.

As a special side note, although this also works with the NTSC version of the game released in North America, the fact that this also works with the European PAL release makes Speed Devils Online the last online-enabled PAL Dreamcast game that wasn’t online. Now all PAL Dreamcast games with online modes are finally online once again.

Dive on in below the break for more info.

Not to be confused with its offline-only predecessor Speed Devils (1999), Speed Devils: Online Racing is a cult classic racer from UbiSoft, which was built off of the previous game, but with a heavier emphasis toward online multiplayer (Though offline single-player races were also available, so this game wasn’t exactly a coaster for the past few decades). As a UbiSoft title, Speed Devils Online apparently reused server code from other UbiSoft racing games of the day like POD Speedzone (2000) and Monaco Grand Prix Online (2001), both of which were brought back online with Dreamcast Live years ago. Taking advantage of that, Shuouma went to work on restoring Speed Devils’s servers, only to find it wasn’t as straightforward as he thought. It took eight years, but with the assistance of Flyinghead, we finally see the fruits of their labor today. You can read the blog post on Dreamcast Live for more info on how these two managed to bring Speed Devils Online back online, or hear about it from the above video from Dreamcast archivist and longtime Dreamcast Live contributor PCWZRD13, which also gives you a good look at the game in action.

Shuouma and Flyinghead are names that should be familiar to Dreamcast Live players by now. Both have already had their hands full building new server code and bringing games back online though the fanmade Dreamcast network for years now, with Shuouma (Previously credited as Shu) having recently restored internet connectivity for Sega Tetris and Dee Dee Planet, while Flyinghead had restored online features for F355 Challenge.

Thankfully, connecting your copy of the game won’t be as hard as making all new server code was for Shuouma and Flyinghead. As long as you have a DreamPi to connect your Dreamcast’s modem adaptor online, and you’re familiar with Dreamcast Live and how it works, you’re good to go. Unfortunately, Speed Devils Online did not support the Broadband Adaptor, so that won’t do you any good for this game. Refer to Dreamcast Live’s connection guide for details if you’re new to Dreamcast Live.

Are you a fan of Speed Devils: Online Racing? Did you play it online while its original servers will still running 25 years ago? Are you a frequent Dreamcast Live player or, perhaps, new to Dreamcast Live? Give us a shout in the comments below.

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