9. Rayman 2: The Great Escape (Ubisoft)
The Ubisoft mascot certainly made the transition to three dimensions more gracefully than SEGA's own. Unlike Sonic Adventure, Rayman 2 is a carefully constructed, polished platformer with a really distinctive art style and lots of imagination. For those who've never played one of his games, the hero can hover using his hair and shoot his limbless hands to hit distant enemies - a move set which is employed ingeniously throughout. It also has a terrific sense of humour and the music composed by Eric Chevalier is really good at setting the mood of the game's various swampy environments. As with most 3D action games, the cameras are occasionally pretty dodgy, but after the Mario games, Rayman 2 is the best 3D platformer ever made - and the Dreamcast version is still the best on consoles (ignore the poor ports afforded the DS and 3DS).
Beyond Good and Evil creator Michel Ancel was not behind the game's sequels and Rayman as a character swiftly fell out of critical favour as a result - even overshadowed within the studio by a combination of the Raving Rabbids, Ezio Auditore and the various square-jawed men of the Tom Clancy universe. Yet the Frenchman has returned to the series for the upcoming multi-platform
Rayman: Origins, so let's hope this high-style 2D affair marks a return to form for the propeller-headed, floaty-fisted loon.
8. Space Channel 5 (SEGA/United Game Artists)
Up. Up. Up. Down. Down. Down. Some of my all-time favourite video game music corresponds to those commands, shouted by bizarre, shrill aliens. The way the soundscapes build as you go through the levels, adopting the various musicians you rescue into your back-up band, makes for a fitting aural reward for getting the best possible score. You probably won't though because Space Channel 5 gets hard fast. Another brainchild of music game legend Tetsuya Mizuguchi, this represents one of the very best original IP Dreamcast games. As well as the damned catchy soundtrack, visually it's an odd and inspired mix between FMV backgrounds and polygon-rendered characters - with insanely awesome designs. But if that weren't enough, this rhythm action game also boasts a strange
cameo from "Space Michael" AKA the late King of Pop himself. The main character, intergalactic news reporter Ulala, has been adopted enthusiastically into the SEGA canon, appearing since in
SEGA All-Star Tennis and
All-Star Racing, whilst the game's never-released-in-Europe Dreamcast sequel (Space Channel 5: Part 2) has been included in the X-Box 360
Dreamcast Collection (albeit badly ported).