During the '90s, Sega's Sonic Team was at the height of its power. Debuting with the iconic Sonic the Hedgehog, the team would officially form in 1996, although key personnel such as Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima had been working on projects prior to that point. Despite its name, Sonic Team's catalog is filled with titles not featuring the blue blur, especially when it comes to Sega Dreamcast games.
Over the course of the console's existence, Sonic Team developed six games. Along with maintaining a high standard of quality throughout, Sonic Team also demonstrated its versatility during this era. Putting aside a sequel, all of these games are unique. Which Dreamcast game developed by Sonic Team ranks as the best?
6 Puyo Pop Fever
Puyo Pop Fever was only released on the Dreamcast in Japan and, more importantly, debuted years after Sega's console had effectively died. As Sonic Team's final game on the system and Sega's last first-party title, Puyo Pop Fever holds a special place in the Dreamcast's history.
Puyo Pop Fever sticks to the competitive puzzle format established in earlier entries in the series. The focus is on matching gumdrops to link combos, with successful chains triggering undesirable puyo pop to fall into the opponent's field. Puyo Pop Fever plays it relatively safe, but fans of these types of games should love this entry.
5 Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure was the Dreamcast's must-own North American launch title. Sonic Team spent years struggling to transfer Sega's iconic mascot to 3D gaming, as the hedgehog's high-octane gameplay proved to be a better match for 2D. Sonic Adventure used all of the Dreamcast's power to craft a thrilling and cinematic adventure, one that showcased the franchise's potential for expansion.
Sonic Adventure's Sonic stages are generally a lot of fun, but the game also incorporates five other playstyles to mixed results. Unlike a few of Sonic Team's other Dreamcast titles, Sonic Adventure has aged poorly in some areas; however, its significance cannot be dismissed. Big's sections can be wiped from history, though.
4 Samba de Amigo
Sonic Team tried something different with Samba de Amigo, a rhythm game that shines the brightest when paired with a special controller shaped like maracas. Starting out as an arcade title, Samba de Amigo tasks players with following on-screen prompts to earn high scores while enjoying a diverse collection of Latin and mainstream tracks.
Rhythm games are an acquired taste, but Samba de Amigo's accessibility and cute presentation make it a solid entry point into a genre that some people might avoid. Along with a version of the arcade's mode, Samba de Amigo also throws a few challenges at players to truly test their music skills.
3 ChuChu Rocket!
Another landmark release in gaming history, ChuChu Rocket! was the first Dreamcast title to offer online play. A simple but addictive puzzle game, ChuChu Rocket! saw players trying to guide adorable mice away from cats and to the safety of rockets. It is a simple premise that works well whether played alone or with others, although the latter brought out the best in Sonic Team's title.
Although the multiplayer is quite rudimentary by today's standards, ChuChu Rocket! has aged the best out of all of Sonic Team's Dreamcast projects. In fact, it is still pretty fun to play in 2020, and the game has amassed a dedicated following since its initial release.
2 Sonic Adventure 2
In terms of quality, very little separates Sonic Adventure from its sequel, and personnel preference plays a part in determining which one is favored. For Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Team split the story into two campaigns, one following the heroes and the other revolving around Shadow the Hedgehog and two other villains (Doctor Eggman and Rouge the Bat). This still amounts to six playable characters.
Once again, Sonic and Shadow's speed sections are the highlights. They showcase the Dreamcast's power and Sonic Team's talent for crafting engrossing levels that flow beautifully. The rest of the sections are less successful and drag down the pace of the game, but they are usually either short or, in the case of Tails and Eggman's levels, mechanically competent. Even if it is far from perfect, Sonic Adventure 2 gets by on charm, ambition, and sporadic flashes of brilliance.
1 Phantasy Star Online
Sonic Team introduced online multiplayer to the Dreamcast with ChuChu Rocket!, but that was only a precursor to the developer's real magnum opus. Sharing a name with Sega's classic franchise, Phantasy Star Online proved that multiplayer RPGs could work on consoles. Even though the game's single-player fell flat, Phantasy Star Online's multiplayer scene should have made the Dreamcast a must-own console.
Allowing for teams of up to four players to be created, Phantasy Star Online had vast (for the time) areas with memorable boss fights that required teamwork to defeat. While the game's content cannot compare to later entries in the genre, and the original version was swiftly rendered obsolete by Sonic Team's Phantasy Star Online: Episode I & II, Phantasy Star Online is still nothing short of a masterpiece.