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Dreaming Of Revivals

25-Feb-2009 The Virtual On news gets Gillen hoping for other Sega re-releases.

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So, strategic mech brawler Virtual On is heading for the Japanese XBLA.

And while I think it'll never be the same without the gigantic arcade dual-stick setup that'd put Mad Catz Street Fighter sticks to shame, it does open the rumour mill floodgates for potential re-releases in the near future.

You see, this year marks the tenth anniversary of Sega's Dreamcast console, the developer's last attempt at keeping in the hardware business. While support for the machine was pulled only two years after its UK launch, many people still hold the console in high regard as having one of the finest gaming collections in gaming history.

And because it is the tenth anniversary, there's been speculation that Sega will mark the occasion by flooding the Xbox Live Marketplace with XBLA conversions of some of those titles, or release a compilation similar to the Sega Megadrive Ultimate Collection. Here's my two cents on what I want to see.

Crazy Taxi
I'm not after the sequel with its multiple passenger pickups, or the third iteration that replaced blue skies with a nighttime Las Vegas. Crazy Taxi got it right the first time round, a time-limit fuelled race across a sandbox pseudo-San Francisco to pick up passengers and deliver them to their destinations, racking up tips by pulling off drifts and taking shortcuts over rooftops and into oncoming lanes of traffic. I cannot tell you how many days I racked up on this gem of a title.

Seaman
Some people think Xbox 360 needs to corner the Wii family-friendly market. Some people don't realise that most of those releases are pure shovel ware and the Xbox 360 is doing a good job as it is - and what better way to stick the middle finger up to so-called marketing trends than Seaman. To explain simply, it's Nintendogs developed by David Lynch and Takashi Miike...with a cannibalistic fish with a human head, That talks to you.

Powerstone
Still one of the most unique fighters out there, the sequel may have included four-player brawls, but it lost the charm of the original, whose one-on-one tussles underscored the importance of using the interactive scenery. From restaurants to bustling city streets, anything that was not nailed down could be used as a weapon. Brilliant and addictive.

Daytona USA
That we're still waiting for an arcade-perfect rendition of a Sega racer in this day and age is criminal (Sega Rally doesn't count as it was made for consoles first). So what better way to smooth over this oversight than with a re-release of the next-best thing - the Dreamcast version of Daytona USA? The steering might be off using a joypad, but I'd be happy picking up a steering wheel just to get the feel of the arcade original in my living room.

Fighting Vipers 2
A beat'em up that clashed Japanese gangs and fashion with a Virtua Fighter-lite fighting system. It might have been over the top, but with every character touting multiple layers of armour that could be ripped off with stronger combos, it displayed a surprising amount of strategy and class for a game once advertised by Page 3 girls in the Daily Star.

Jet Set Radio
A visual treat back in the day when 'cel-shaded' was just entering gamers' lexicon, Jet Set Radio centred around a graffiti-spraying rollerblade gang in Tokyo. Cool, stylish and pumping out a fantastic eclectic soundtrack, JSR brazenly displayed a OTT character just when realistic shooters were coming into vogue. It went on to produce a sequel, Jet Set Radio Future, that hit the original Xbox.

Marvel Vs Capcom 2
The third fighter to make my list and yet definitely the most revered, if only because it's completely barking crazy. A 56-characetr rooster and three-on-three tag-team fighting system lead to some monster slugfests as Spider-Man and Wolverine went toe-to-tow with Mega Man and Jill Valentine. Still the best gaming representation of Marvel's superheroes, bar none.

Chu Chu Rocket
My first foray into online gaming came from this bizarre title. Leading mice into the safety of space rockets by laying down directional titles across a chequered board might not sound manic, but throw mice-munching cats, a roulette wheel granting you power ups and three other players with their own mice-saving agenda and you've get mayhem. And a shed load of potential XBLA fun.

Shenmue I + II
Talk of a Shenmue sequel will probably only die when the internet does. Is it really worth eating up all that forum space? Perhaps not. So the best way Sega to stop people repeatedly talking about Shenmue is release the first two on XBLA to prove to fans why you shouldn't really make a third one. Right?

Gillen McAllister