Did any games really push the DREAMCAST to the max?

[Atari7800]

With only two years of development, I wonder if we saw all that the DC could do...

We know the DC can do mad 2-D, but what games pushed it hard in 3-D? The best I've seen is Headhunter... I know some people will say Soul Calibur, but that was a fairly early release and I'll bet it could have been topped. It seems all the characters have the same tacked-on bangs (hair) on their heads that blow in the same way for everybody.

Was the DC maxed out when it died its official death? What is the most graphically advanced DC game?

:D

[sisko]

I always have been, and still am in awe of Gundam 0079's graphics.


Pre-rendered and not.

[EnemyZero]

DOA2 had some nice graphics, and shenmue did as well

[SegaTecToy]

I think that only a crazy homebrew programmer/hacker will be able to push the DC to its limits. The system died too early to have all its potential fully used.

And with nowadays' schedules I doubt that many professional teams have the time/opportunity to push a system to its limits like it was made for some of the old consoles.

[sabre2922]

The DC unfortunately was never Truly pushed to its limits ,but very few consoles truly are during there lifespans, especially one as short as the DC's.
A good example of what the system was capable of compared to all three of the current next gen systems was the (cancelled) DC version of Max Payne wich looked just about the same as the PS2 version (no where close to the Xbox ver though).
I have been a gamer for the last 25 years and the Dreamcast was and is THE MOST UNDERATED systems ever. Neglected by all but the most hardcore it was simply overshadowed by the looming launch of the PS2 wich in my opinion is the most overated system of all time. very ironic imao.
The truth is that the DC was fully capable of doing almost every single first and second generation PS2 titles that were so-called console killers when released.
The Xbox and Gamecube are what I believe to be more of a true jump up from the DC in terms of graphics and cababilities overall but thats just my opinion and probably for another post all together.
LATER GAMERS!!!

[geelw]

i'd have to say D2, especially if you're a texture nut. there are some awesome areas in the game that look almost too realistic. also, some of the stuff in headhunter is amazing, and of course, soul calibur still impresses... :D

[BenT]

Sonic Adventure 2 and Dead or Alive 2 are the two most graphically-impressive DC games, IMO. 60 fps, great textures, VGA support (progscan). With its deficient texture capabilities, I'm sure PS2 couldn't do SA2 quite as well.

Ikaruga and Border Down are impressive, too, though Border Down's 3D models are rather lacking artistically.

[Ze_ro]

I gotta go with the Shenmue games on this... both of them have amazing graphics. Easily comparable to the PS2 in my opinion.

--Zero

[YoshiM]

What taxed the Dreamcast? Simple: Bust a Move 4.

Okay, you can stop laughing now. The animations for the "tossing of garbage" at an opponent or getting the smack put down on you took up a lot of the playing field and slowed everything down. These were 2D graphics and it took *that* to cause the DC to hiccup? Probably piss poor coding on Taito's part but still....

Beyond that it's really hard to say. Comparing some games to the PS2 (like Unreal) the DC version looked just as good and loaded *faster* than its PS2 counterpart. When I saw Half Life being displayed at Midwest Classic it looked like a frickin' PC was playing it.

Truely and untapped system that could still probably hold its own against the big three.

[suppafly]

Jet Grind Radio has the best DC graphics IMHO...