Special interview with Ross Kilgariff, the creator of Harlequest!

 

Many of you probably remember the announcement of Harlequest!, a brand new action RPG in development for Sega Dreamcast that is now live on Kickstarter. As of this writing, there are 5 days remaining for the Kickstarter to raise as much money as possible.

Since I have written that article, I have gotten the opportunity to speak with the game’s main creator, Ross Kilgariff (ross:codes) to learn more about him and the inspirations behind Harlequest! Check in after the break to hear more from the man himself. Special thanks goes to Ross for reaching out to us for this opportunity.

New 3D Dreamcast Dungeon Crawler “HarleQuest!” now on Kickstarter

A brand new indie dungeon crawling RPG has just been announced for Dreamcast and PC (Including Mac and Linux), called HarleQuest!, and has begun its bid for crowdfunding on Kickstarter on April 1st. No foolin’.

Being developed by Ross Kilgariff, with assistance by Alastair Low of LowTek Games (Who have experience with Dreamcast development, porting indie NES games to the console), HarleQuest! is envisioned as a “high difficulty, procedurally-generated dungeon crawler” inspired by Gauntlet, Diablo, The Legend of Zelda, MidiEvil, and “SoulsBorne” games such as the Dark Souls series and Bloodborne. The dungeon layouts will be randomized, many different weapons and loot will be scattered around for the taking, fearsome enemies and giant bosses lurk around most corners, the option of co-op multiplayer is there, and best of all, the game will be in full 3D, a rarity for independent Dreamcast games. At the time of this writing, HarleQuest! has raised $8,214 of the $13,811 needed and has kept a good momentum after the Kickstarter campaign went live.

Go check out the Kickstarter page now, which is running until April 30th 2023, or check in after the break for more info from us at SegaBits.

Cancelled Woody Woodpecker Racing Dreamcast port saved and archived

The Sega Dreamcast had a handful of interesting kart racing games in its time, but here’s one that never made it past the finish line to retail shelves. Woody Woodpecker Racing was released for PlayStation, PC, and Game Boy Color, but a Dreamcast version was also planned, as evidenced by the above ad from the manual for the Dreamcast version of The Grinch video game, also from Konami.

Now, thanks to video game archivist and Youtuber Andrew Borman and video game developer @frioglobal1, the source code for Woody Woodpecker Racing on Dreamcast has been found and miraculously compiled into a functional form. Thanks to them, we now have a glimpse of what this game could’ve looked like. Check in after the break to see more.

Samba de Amigo ver. 2000 English fan conversion now available

 

While you wait for the release of Samba de Amigo: Party Central for Nintendo Switch, here’s a new development for what is probably the next best Samba de Amigo game. 

Samba de Amigo ver. 2000, which originally released on Sega Dreamcast exclusively in Japan in the year 2000, has gotten a new English conversion by Dukeblooders. While the game originally didn’t have much Japanese text in it, and didn’t strictly require a mastery of Japanese to play anyway, Dukeblooders went the extra mile and converted as much of the game’s text as possible, mostly using audio or graphics from the Wii version of Samba de Amigo from 2007, which had most of ver. 2000’s features anyway. It may not seem like too much of a change, but it should help the game feel like a more complete English release that never was.

Currently, you can download the patch from Dukeblooders’s Github page. According to this page, patching your copy of the game requires the Universal Dreamcast Patcher software by Derek Pascarella, which you can get from his own Github page. Playing the patched game currently requires a Dreamcast ODE (Optical Drive Emulator) such as a MODE or a GDEMU, as it cannot run from a burnt CD-ROM at this time. It should run perfectly fine in a Dreamcast emulator, theoretically. 

If you’re able to try this out, let us know what you think in the comments below.

SEGA Talk #110: The Grinch Christmas Special (2000)

This time on SEGA Talk we humbug the holidays away as we talk all things The Grinch! We talk about his humble beginnings and how his story became a Christmas phenomenon! Also did you know there was a Grinch SEGA Dreamcast game?

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

SEGA Talk #108: Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage (1999)

Grab your six foot sword, drab yourself in black and get ready to slay demons as we dive into Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage on Dreamcast! We dive into the manga that started it all, look at the world and go Berserk on this episode of SEGA TALK!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

SEGA Talk #107: Segagaga (2001)

Strap in and get ready to save SEGA as we venture into the year 2025 and cover the Dreamcast Japanese exclusive Segagaga! We discuss the cameos, parodies and more!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

SEGA Talk #106: Wacky Races (2000)

…And now here they are! The most powerful duo of daffy podcasters to ever whirl their wheels in the Wacky Races! Competing for the title of world’s wackiest racer! The cars are approaching the starting line. First, is the Giga Mega Drive Turbo driven by Gorgeous George. Next is Barry the Nomad in the AV RCA Hookup Pickup Truck. And they’re off… to a standing start. And why not, they’ve been chained to a post, by Dick Dastardly, who shifts into the wrong gear. And away they go… on the way-out Wacky Races!

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read at the end and more!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

Unreleased Dreamcast game Dee Dee Planet online features finally running unofficially

Dee Dee Planet cover art

The unreleased Sega Dreamcast game Dee Dee Planet has now had it’s online servers finally brought to life thanks to the efforts of the fan-run Dreamcast Live online service. Due to the game having been cancelled, it’s online multiplayer has never once been playable by the public until now. If you want to try it for yourself, you can download a version of Dee Dee Planet that’s been patched for Dreamcast Live functionality from Dreamcast Live’s downloads page. One of Dreamcast Live’s founders, and prominent Dreamcast superfan and preservationist, pcwzrd13, had previously gotten a hold of a nearly complete build of Dee Dee Planet last year, and now Dreamcast Live user Shuouma had been able to create server code for Dee Dee Planet using the server code from Chu Chu Rocket, one of the games previously brought back online through Dreamcast Live, as Dee Dee Planet was designed to use a very similar online server setup already.

Chances are many of you have no idea what Dee Dee Planet is, so check past the break for a brief history of both Dee Dee Planet and Dreamcast Live.

The story of the cancelled Game Boy Color-to-Dreamcast official connectivity solution

Yes, you read that right. Apparently, at the turn of the millennium, an ambitious “TV Adaptor” was planned for Game Boy Color, that would at allow it to communicate with the Sega Dreamcast via your TV screen. This was planned for release in 2000, just a couple of months before Sega would announce their departure from the console race, shocking the world.

Sakura Wars: Columns 2 English Fan Translation Launching May 3rd

If you’ve been around the SEGA Dreamcast scene, you’ve probably been seeing some past Japanese only games receive English fan translated patches. Now it has been confirmed that the English fan patch for Sakura Wars: Columns 2 will be launching on May 3rd. 

While the gameplay of Sakura Wars: Columns 2 is, well Columns, it also has a story mode with decision making, much like a full scale Sakura Wars title. Its nice to check off another previously Japanese title off the list as getting a English translation.

Keep your Dreamcast ready, Sakura Wars: Columns 2 launches May 3rd, 2021!

Today marks 20 years since SEGA left the home console business

Back in 2018, SEGA hit a milestone as a company when on December 18 they had been in the third party business for as long as they were in the first party home console business. The first party period spanned 6,470 days (a little under 18 years) and ended officially on March 31, 2001. As such, today marks 20 years since SEGA left the first party home console business, a period which eclipses the time from SEGA’s debut of the SG-1000 in Japan on July 15, 1983 to that fateful day of March 21, 2001.

Guilty Gear Isuka and Rumble Fish 2 have now been ported to SEGA Dreamcast


It looks like those SNK Atomiswave arcade ports continue to pour in for the SEGA Dreamcast. It seemed I even missed a few, but I had to come do a post for the release of both Guilty Gear Isuka and Rumble Fish 2! I have seriously been waiting for Rumble Fish 2 since this whole port thing got started.

Guilty Gear Isuka GDI Download | Rumble Fish 2 GDI Download

Its also cool to see other people in the community start porting some of these arcade titles over, even adding little short cuts to get into Time Attack and other options. Is the Atomiswave ports the best thing to happen to the Dreamcast in 2020?

Arc System Works’ Fist of the North Star & Demolish Fist have been ported to SEGA Dreamcast

The Atomiswave arcade ports are continuing at such a rapid pace that even your humble blogger, such as myself, is having issues keeping up. You can always check the past released titles by checking out our Atomiswave tag.

This time we have two sweet surprises as we are getting Arc System Works’ Fist of the North Star and the beat ’em up Demolish Fist. Both are really nice looking titles and totally worth checking out.

Demolish Fist GDI | Fist of the North Star GDI

Now we will wait for Rumble Fish 2….

Shoot ’em up ‘Dolphin Blue’ arcade gets SEGA Dreamcast port

When MegaVolt85 started porting all those Atomiswave arcade ports to SEGA Dreamcast, there was one game I really wanted. Dolphin Blue, which always gave me this ‘what if Metal Slug met Ecco’ vibe. Now, thanks to efforts of fans like MegaVolt85 , us SEGA fans can now enjoy Dolphin Blue on their SEGA Dreamcast!

You can download the Dolphin Blue GDI Here

The best thing about the Atomiswave arcade ports is there are still a lot of Atomiswave games yet to come, like Rumble Fish 2, Fist of the North Star, and a few Guilty Gear titles.