5. Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future (SEGA/Appaloosa)
Never a fan of the original Mega Drive games (I was too young when they came out and they were far too hard) this one completely passed me by on original release. But I picked it up a few years ago and corrected my sickening ignorance. Defender of the Future is stunning. The lush environments - whilst technically dated by today's standards - are still breathtaking, whilst handling the titular dolphin is a joy once you master the controls. He seems awkward to control at first, yet as soon as you've gotten to grips with it you realise there are so many tricks and acrobatic moves you can perform as you evade great white sharks and murder anything smaller than you. It's just as hard as the originals, with the emphasis still ultimately on puzzle solving and many of the gameplay principles are carried over directly from those earlier instalments. You still use sonar to interact with massive, hint-giving crystals and you still eat fish to replenish health and leap above the surface to avoid drowning. It's honestly one of the most seamless transitions from 2D to 3D in the history of gaming. Like Shenmue, this is a visual feast and an unforgettable sensory experience. Only this one is also undoubtedly also an actual video game. A very difficult game, with a sizeable story mode which sees you tangling with giant octopuses and even an alien invasion plot which is absolutely mad. Shame to think that developer Appaloosa were later made to make a dreadful
Jaws game for PS2 using this engine. Honestly, it's like using the works of Da Vinci to storyboard an episode of Family Guy.
4. Metropolis Street Racer (SEGA/Bizarre Creations)
SL: The news of British based Bizarre Creations going bust earlier this year was especially sad for anyone who played MSR on the Dreamcast. Groundbreaking in its design and attention to detail, MSR redefined and revolutionized driving games. The Kudos system, which awarded points for stylish driving, was an excellent idea. I absolutely loved it and wont forget driving around the detailed recreation of London for the first time and being blown away. Defunct developer Bizarre Creations had a lot of success on the X-Box with the
Project Gotham Racing series. However, Dreamcast fans will know that PGR was just an updated version of the studio's Dreamcast exclusive MSR - Metropolis Street Racer. As Stephen mentioned above, the game's Kudos system required you to beat the challenges with a degree of style - not bumping into opposing cars or slamming into the advertising hoardings to guide yourself around tight corners as you might in any other game. The highlight was the cone challenges, that had you trying to pass through as many cones as possible in a given time limit without knocking any over. MSR was the most fun I've ever had in a "serious" racing game. The reward for your silky driving style was the customary unlocking of new cars and events, but it was the stuff of an obsessive compulsive's dream trying to get the top honours on every track before moving on. Realistically modelled cities, such as London and San Francisco, also provided an exciting reason to play, with remarkable detail on every house and shop front. Another perk of this original was that, in lieu of licensed music, SEGA's veteran composer Richard Jacques contributed a bunch of gloriously cheesy rock/pop songs for the in-game radio stations, including
this Oasis influenced number. I'm glad MSR eventually found a mass audience under another name. Yet it's one of those titles which make you wonder how things might have been different for the console as a whole had SEGA known how to (or had the money to) market their best games.