Best Dreamcast Multiplayer Games

[Nz17]

Every year for New Year's Eve it has become a tradition for me to bring down the Dreamcast for our night's festivities. I have a good-sized Dreamcast game collection, with somewhere around or over fifty games for the good old console. The problem is, I am a big single-player game guy, so most of the few multiplayer games I have are things like Marvel vs Capcom 2, Soul Calibur, Worms World Party, Chu Chu Rocket, Vigilante 8 2nd Offense, ReVolt, Ooga Booga, Cool Herders, Virtual Tennis, and Sonic Shuffle.

The problem is most of these games are either not pick-up-and-play friendly for the young and the newcomers (Chu Chu Rocket), create too much of a divide between those who frequently play games and those who do not (Marvel vs Capcom 2, Soul Calibur, ReVolt), take too long to load (Sonic Shuffle), are too slow for a party (Worms World Party), or are just not interesting enough for me to have played yet (Vigilante 8 2nd Offense, Ooga Booga) and thus I assume the others at the party would be similarly disinterested.

So I would like to create one or two lists of the Best Dreamcast Multi-Player Games. Maybe the Top 25 Most Approachable Games and the Top 25 Best Games for Frequent Gamers. Remember to mention in which category to include your suggestions. I'll get us started.

Top 50 Most Approachable Games

Bomberman Online
Bust-A-Move 4
Chu Chu Rocket
Confidential Mission
Cool Herders
dRxLaX (homebrew)
Gauntlet Legends
House of the Dead 2
Looney Tunes Space Race
Mr. Driller
NBA 2K1
NHL 2K1
Ooga Booga
Power Stone
Power Stone 2
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing
Sakura Wars: Hanagumi Taisen Columns 2 (import)
Samba de Amigo
San Francisco Rush 2049
Sega Swirl (Sega Smash Pack)
Sports Jam
Super Puzzle Fighter II X for Matching Service (import)
Tennis 2K2
Toy Commander
Typing of the Dead
Virtua Cop 2 (Sega Smash Pack)
Virtual Tennis


Top 25 for Frequent Gamers

Armada
Dead or Alive 2
Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves
Fur Fighters
Guilty Gear X (import)
Gigawing 2
Mars Matrix
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Metropolis Street Racer
Quake III Arena
Sonic Adventure 2
Soul Calibur
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Unreal Tournament
Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram
Worms World Party
Worms Armageddon


Top 25 for Alternating Turns

Crazy Taxi
Crazy Taxi 2

Note: These lists are open to homebrew and import games that are friendly to English native speakers.

[crisssybwoy]

Power Stone 2 was a great multi player game.

[GM80]

I really like the multiplayer of Power Stone (1 or 2) for the "Approachable," and Fur Fighters for the "Frequent Gamers."

IIRC, Ooga Booga also had a somewhat interesting multiplayer component.

[MrSparkle]

Soul calibur, Tennis 2k2 (the definitive dc tennis game), crazy taxi 1 & 2, tony hawk 2, Ferrari F355 Challenge, Bust-A-Move 4, mars matrix (dont miss this one), house of the dead 2 (if for nothing else the hillarious dialog), confidential mission, Samba de Amigo, and finally Dead or Alive 2 hardcore edition.

[scooby105]

Powerstone 2 is awesome. 4 players and really easy to pick up and learn.

[otoko]

Rush 2049 is my favorite. Pretty easy --> acceleration, brake, wings.

It's more than just racing it has stunt tracks and battle arenas.

[otaku]

Multiplayer beyond two player definetly goes to powerstone and its definetly easy for anyone to pick up and enjoy

Otherwise fighters one on one are great to

[Leo_A]

Soul calibur, Tennis 2k2 (the definitive dc tennis game), crazy taxi 1 & 2, tony hawk 2, Ferrari F355 Challenge, Bust-A-Move 4, mars matrix (dont miss this one), house of the dead 2 (if for nothing else the hillarious dialog), confidential mission, Samba de Amigo, and finally Dead or Alive 2 hardcore edition.

Several of those you mentioned don't even have multiplayer modes, and Ferrari 355 is a bad suggestion for a casual multiplayer game that anyone can jump right in and have fun with.

[ssjlance]

Capcom Vs. SNK 2, Mars Matrix, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Sega Swirl, Mr. Driller, etc.

[dao2]

Phantasy Star and Alien Front Online, but they're no longer really playable ;p

AFO has a sp but that's not what it'sa bout :|

[TurboGenesis]

Among my fellows, we enjoy to play:

Tennis 2K2
Chu Chu Rocket
Power Stone 2
Giga Wing 2

Tennis is very addictive and Power Stone does not require deep knowledge of fighterese. Button mashers are able to steal a victory in Power Stone on occassion which is make them happy :)

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Rush 2049 is my favorite. Pretty easy --> acceleration, brake, wings.

It's more than just racing it has stunt tracks and battle arenas.

I recall the battle arenas being a ton of fun, and the Dreamcast version of that game had a super slick frame rate and resolution to boot!

[dao2]

also propeller arena was pretty decent if you ever played it ;p

[MrSparkle]

Several of those you mentioned don't even have multiplayer modes, and Ferrari 355 is a bad suggestion for a casual multiplayer game that anyone can jump right in and have fun with.

the few that don't have multiplayer i put in because they have easy going inconsequential game play and are therefore good for single player tradeoffs. I'll admit ferrari 355 is not a quick game to pick up and play well, but it is a quick game to pick up and enjoy imho (im not even a huge racing game fan).

[SpaceHarrier]

Super Puzzle Fighter II X for Matching Service (import). It's 2 player, has lots of different modes, good music and fun animations. It's easier-going than Tetris, so everyone can have fun. I don't recall there being too much japanese text either.

I suppose you could file this under "Most Approachable"

[Damaramu]

TOY COMMANDER

My friends and I had a freaking blast playing this game! We would alternate between TC, Rush 2049, Soul Calibur, and Marvel vs Capcom 2.

But yeah, Toy Commander is fairly easy to pick up for beginners (or so I've seen). Once you unlock more maps and vehicles the fun increases.

Should be fairly inexpensive to boot.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

Whenever I have people over and want to play some Dreamcast, Armada is usually the first game I go for. It's a pretty shallow sort of blast-a-thon (there's supposedly some RPG elements, but I usually ignore them), but lots of fun and exponentially better the more people you have.

Gauntlet Legends is another great one that no one's mentioned yet. A really solid arcade hack and slash game with support for up to four players simultaneously with no split screen. And speaking of Gauntlet, the original is on Midway's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 with four player support, as well. Can't go wrong with that.

Most of the DC's great racers are four player, too. I think the best for a party game is Looney Tunes Space Race. It's actually probably my all-time favorite kart racer, including the Mario Kart series.

Then, since you mentioned that homebrew was on the table, you absolutely *HAVE* to check out dRxLaX. Definitely one of the best multiplayer games ever conceived.

In the two player department, Sports Jam is great (really should have had four player support) and if you have two guns House of the Dead is fabulous. I bet with two keyboards, Typing of the Dead would be totally cool, too. And speaking of accessories. Try Soul Calibur with two fishing controllers (actually, it's not that great after the initial novelty wears off).

Ooga Booga is a great game, by the way. You should definitely try it out, either single player or multiplayer.


...word is bondage...

[Parodius]

Fur Fighters is a blast. I am still hoping for some sort of update with online multiplayer. The cel-shaded PS2 version was nowhere near as good.

I also second Looney Toons Space Race!!!

4-player co-op gauntlet legends was great.

Vanishing Point's mini games are great fun as a trade-off game.

Both Worms iterations are fun as well.

Street Fighter Alpha's 2 on 1, 3-player fights are excellent fun.

[diskoboy]

I'm including titles that used to have online multiplayer, too..

Phantasy Star Online
Quake 3: Arena
Chu Chu Rocket
Power Stone 2
Marvel Vs. Capcom 2
Metropolis Street Racer
Samba de Amigo
Alien Front Online
Bomberman Online
The ENTIRE SegaSports catalog.
Ooga-Booga
Ferrari F355 Challene
Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram (the import was better, with online play, and twin sticks)
Mars Matrix
Gigawing 2.

[GM80]

... Armada ... Looney Tunes Space Race ...

I had forgotten about both of those. Agreed on both counts ... my then 50 year-old mother even played Looney Tunes Space Race with my friends and me.

[grolt]

Chu Chu Rocket is the one I always come back to, but I really had a lot of fun with Quake 3 back in the day - it had a way more stable frame rate and gameplay experience than the PC version, regardless of setup. NBA 2K1 and NHL 2K1 were my favorite multi-player sports titles. Ready 2 Rumble had its share of fun as well.

[EX-Soldier]

Power Stone 2 was a great multi player game.

...what he said

[OMF2097]

Armada!

[Nz17]

OK guys, I've updated the original two lists and added a third list for games which are single player but good for alternating game play (hot seat style). Any other games which should be on these lists? Should "The Next Tetris" be included? Be sure to mention which of the three categories your game suggestions belong to.

[ubersaurus]

Powerstone 2 is undoubtedly the best multiplayer experience on the console.

My friends and I have had a lot of fun, though, with the KOF games, the Capcom vs SNK games, Marvel vs Capcom 1 & 2, Super SF2 Turbo, and the Gauntlet game.

Quite frankly all the fighters on the console are awesome.

[Nz17]

Quite frankly all the fighters on the console are awesome.

Really, all the fighters (http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/game.cmf?gameid=15233)? ;)