It’s always a fun experience when you come back to the consoles you grew up with and truly begin to appreciate them for what they were. Sure, we remember a lot about them, but it isn’t until we get older and can put things into perspective more that we truly begin to understand what these particular systems brought to the table. While the Dreamcast didn’t have near the success of the other systems it was competing with, it wasn’t for lack of hardware. Game designers raved about the capabilities of the console and they loved the fact that it was one of the easiest systems to design games for that they had ever seen. It provided them with an endless array of instruments that would allow them to expand upon their games in ways that they could never have imagined before.

It suffered from being too far ahead of its time and that only becomes more evident as time passes on. There was so much potential that wasn’t realized and while it didn’t have a particularly long run, it changed the gaming industry forever. Being the only console to have a hit game in every genre, it’s easy to see how the system itself had a large library of great games. While there are certainly some great games for the platform, there are also some pretty bad ones as well. That’s why I wanted to cover the fifteen worst games along with the fifteen best for the system.

30 Worst: Nothing Like A Party

Via: video-games-museum.com

With the large mix of great games that are out there you are bound to have some that are really bad. It’s always perplexing when such a thing happens, but it often boils down to poor game mechanics or game breaking glitches. While this is certainly the case, you will sometimes get a game like Sonic Shuffle that really makes you scratch your head.

The extremely long load times in the game helped to doom it from the start.

While this was certainly a negative for the game, things only got worse from there when you discovered the relative lack of available mini-games along with the wonkiness of the general gameplay. This was odd given that it was billed as a sort of party game, yet it lacked the basic qualities that were found in instant successes like Mario Party.

29 Bonkers: Learning Is Fun!

Via: wurb.com

Ah yes, I’m sure we can all remember the days we spent in computer class learning how to type properly on the keyboard. Usually, the learning programs weren’t fun at all, but occasionally you would have a chance to play Mario Teaches Typing and suddenly learning how to type wasn’t all that bad.

With the success of such typing games, it’s hardly a surprise that Sega released The Typing of the Dead. While the game certainly used a lot of the same elements found in other educational games, it presented something that was wholly different than anything else out there. The game itself was fashioned after The House of the Dead 2 and the typing difficulty would increase as you progressed through the game.

28 Worst: Not Sweet At All

Via: gameskinny.com

You would think that if a company was going to make a game after an iconic series they would at least spend the time to make it good. Sadly, consumers learned rather quickly that this was never a guarantee once they got their hands on South Park Rally. They were immediately faced with the reality that they had just purchased a game with some of the worst controls imaginable.

Unlike most racing games, South Park Rally allowed players to drive in a non-linear way.

Not only that, but you could complete side missions along the way to earn a bonus and could pretty much complete the course in any way that you saw fit. While this might seem great, it created a lot of confusion within the game and things got worse when you came to the realization that you had to get first place on every track in order to progress.

27 Bonkers: Grandia II Is Grandiose

Via: ricedigital.co.uk

When you have a household name like Final Fantasy floating around, it can be rather hard to make a name for yourself within the RPG market. The aforementioned franchise became the measuring stick to which all other games would be held to and it would force game companies to try to appeal to consumers who enjoyed such games.

As a result, Grandia II employed a lot of the same mechanics as the Final Fantasy games.

While the game was similar to the iconic franchise, it differed in that it used a unique battle system which allowed users to move around during battle and strike opponents from different directions. Additionally, it allowed for both playable characters and their enemies the ability to cancel moves. Further, playable characters could also inflict combo attacks on the enemy, allowing them to strike the enemy more than once.

26 Worst: Zero Interest In This Title

Via: YouTube.com(John GodGames)

I can still remember the first time I laid eyes on the cover art of Slave Zero and thought to myself, “Cool, I get to be a giant robot with all sorts of power.” It brought me back to the days of Rampage and I was ready to have all sorts of fun. The problem? It wasn’t at all what I thought it would be.

Originally, the game was slated to be released for the Windows operating system.

Though you were presented with this idea that you were piloting a giant robot, what you got instead was a small-size depiction of said robot that was barely taller than the cars on the street beside it. There was nothing within the game that gave you the impression that you were controlling a giant size robot at all. Furthermore, the game was plagued with game breaking glitches that would cause it to crash and a serious lack of a good soundtrack.

25 Bonkers: The Name Alone Is Magical

Via: crunchyroll.com

Sometimes you come across a game and think that it isn’t going to be near as fun as it actually is and ChuChu Rocket! is certainly that. The name alone is just egging you on to play and you can’t help but wonder what it’s all about. If you ever played those cat and mouse puzzles as a kid then you already have a good idea of the premise of this particular gem.

Essentially, your job is to guide mice like creatures called “ChuChus” through a maze that leads them to a rocket. During this entire process, you must avoid making contact with the cat-like race known as “KapuKapus.” The reason for this is that the ChuChus live on a spaceport and need to get to their spaceships in order to escape the invading KapuKapus. It’s a complex and interactive puzzle game that will keep you entertained for hours.

24 Worst: Here's A Revelation, This Game Is Bad

Via: seganerds.com

It’s hard to forget my very first experience with the system given that it was playing Tomb Raider: Last Revelation. The game was so poorly done that it made me almost give up playing the system altogether. At the time, I figured that if the majority of the games were like this I wanted no part in playing them.

Knowing what I know now about the game's development, it’s easy to see why the game was designed so poorly. As it turns out, the development team behind the series was suffering from creative fatigue and many of the artists and designers just didn’t want to work on it anymore. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of things to like about it, but the puzzles and the mechanics just didn’t feel like a typical tomb raider game.

23 Bonkers: Basketball Perfection

Via: forums.operationsports.com

While there aren’t too many basketball games that I enjoy, there are a few that I can play for hours on end and never get bored. Of course, NBA Jam is one of my all-time favorites, but when it comes to overall mechanics and gameplay, NBA 2K is one of the greatest basketball games of all time.

Characters moved and interacted in a very realistic manner.

There was a steep learning curve and it wasn’t easy to score even in the best of circumstances. It forced you to play good defense and adjust mid-game to counter what your opponent was doing. One of the hardest things to do in the game was making free throws and you certainly couldn’t count on them to win you the game. Visually, it really showcased what the Dreamcast was capable of.

22 Worst: Innovation Doesn't Equal Fun

Via: YouTube.com(ladyabaxa), neoseeker.com

Sometimes innovative ideas come along that just aren’t executed in the right way and you end up with a terrible game as a result. This is certainly the case with Space Griffon VF-9, which has a name that you aren’t soon to forget anytime soon. While you certainly won’t forget its name, you will want to forget the gameplay.

If you liked MechWarrior then you might have been fooled, as I was, into believing that this particular game was more of the same. Sadly, it's not, and you find out that not only are the controls not intuitive at all but that each time one of your teammates contacts you the entire game is frozen apart from the person speaking to you. It only gets worse from there though when you discover that each level of the base you are exploring looks exactly like the last. This makes it insanely easy to get lost and lose track of where your next mission actually is.

21 Bonkers: Like Galaga But Better

Via: hardcoregaming101

I’m sure you can remember back to the days when you would play a side-scrolling shooter like Galaga and waste many quarters doing so. It never seemed to get boring and you were always trying to best your top score the next time you were at the arcade. Perhaps that’s why Ikaruga has become one of the most sought-after titles of all time.

It took all of the elements from our favorite side-scrollers and made something better. The boss battles were something else and the number of visuals that you experienced were second to none. There were all sorts of upgrades that you could acquire and the pacing and movement of the enemies were unlike anything else on the market at that time. It’s hard to believe that the game's director, Hiroshi Luchi, only worked on the project during his free time.

20 Worst: Why Was This Made?

Via: theisozone.com

The title alone makes you want to learn more about the game, but given how bad of a game it is you will probably immediately regret that decision. As you have probably already guessed, Who Wants to Beat Up a Millionaire is a parody of the popular game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

It suffered from a lack of direction and an inability to appeal to a particular crowd.

In playing it, you get the sense that the game's developers were trying to make a game based on the show fun, but weren’t exactly sure how to do it. They attempted to accomplish this by allowing fellow contestants to beat each other up, but this caused those who liked trivia games to dislike the game and the wonky mechanics during the fighting sequences caused more of the same from those who enjoyed fighting games. Add to that the sub-par jokes and you have a pretty mediocre game.

19 Bonkers: Starting The Online Craze

Via: segabits.com

It would be rather difficult to create a list like this one and not include Phantasy Star Online within it. After all, it was the first of its kind and without it, we would be a lot farther behind with online play then we are now. At the time, many within the industry felt that online play wasn’t something that players wanted in an RPG.

Sega president Isao Okawa paid for a full year of internet access for every user inside Japan.

Contrary to what many inside the industry believed, the success of Phantasy Star Online proved once and for all that not only were users ready for online play but that they wanted it implemented in as many games as possible. The success of the game was so great, in fact, that a game-specific keyboard was later released to help users interact with one another.

18 Worst: They Should Have Left This In 1937

Via: oldiesrising.com

There are certain games that come out that make me wonder just how it is that they ever got a production budget in the first place. I have no doubt that this is what many people were thinking when they first got their hands on Spirit of Speed 1937.

Bringing iconic classic cars to the center stage was certainly a good idea.

While the concept was certainly a good one, the execution of it left a lot to be desired. First, as is the case with many bad racing games, Spirit of Speed 1937 suffered from lackluster controls and poor handling. To make matters worse, the game has an agonizing poor frame rate that is a bit perplexing given that the graphics aren’t exactly stellar either.

17 Bonkers: Not Just Some Gimmick

Via: tapatalk.com

Being one of the first games that I ever had the chance to play on the system, Elemental Gimmick Gear or simply E.G.G. as it’s more commonly known, was one of my all-time favorite games. It showcased everything that was great about the console and really pushed it to the limit of its capabilities. The environment and the level of detail are simply stunning and the cut scenes that are present are certainly something to behold.

Through playing, you are able to experience a fully immersive environment complete with rather challenging puzzles that make you feel accomplished once you have conquered them. There are multiple bosses throughout the game and you can purchase, as well as acquire, upgrades for your character through storyline progression. Each new element that you acquire helps you to move further along in the story and you have to learn how to implement them through trial and error.

16 Worst: The Baseball Game Equivalent Of Walking The Batter

Via: vizzed.com

Today it may seem like sports games are becoming streamline and repetitive, but back during the era of the Dreamcast, things were vastly different. Each company was trying to find the best way to implement real-world mechanics into a game and it made for some rather interesting and innovative features that we take for granted today.

While there have been many great sports games over the years, it is fair to say that World Series Baseball 2K1 isn't among them. No, it’s not the worst game ever made, not even close, but it isn’t exactly great either. To start with, the game didn’t include all of the statistics for the players. Granted, it’s not a necessity, but it certainly helps. Also, unlike most baseball games, you couldn’t place your batter where you wanted or alter their swing style or swing strength. As bad as this all is, it pales in comparison to the forced delay when throwing or catching the ball.

15 Bonkers: An RPG Like No Other

Via: romulation.net

One thing that you will begin to notice when you look at the development history of games during this time is that they had a relatively short production cycle. Granted, they didn’t have to take as much time to program as they do now, but it’s still pretty amazing to see games turned out in just a little over a year's time.

Unlike most RPGs at the time, Skies of Arcadia had no loading time when entering buildings.

This, along with the implementation of anime art style for facial expressions, allowed it to stand out and separate itself from other JRPGs on the market. Unlike prior games of the same thread, Overworks strove to make Arcadia a bright and vibrant world rather than one filled with dark and dreary themes. This decision proved to be the right one as the game went on to maintain one of the highest user ratings for the system.

14 Worst: Not So Groovy

Via: checkgamingzone.com

These days you would be hard-pressed to find many people who haven’t watched or at least heard of the iconic classic, The Evil Dead. Even for those who haven’t, Ash vs Evil Dead has helped to re-energize the conversation and bring new fans to the series. As is the case with many famous movies or shows, game developers see an opportunity to cash in on a fan base by creating a game fashioned after its namesake.

While the PlayStation version did slightly better, the Dreamcast version missed the mark entirely.

From the very start, you get the sense that Evil Dead: Hail to the King was an attempt at creating a clone of the famed Resident Evil series. While the game borrowed a lot of key elements from the aforementioned series, it failed to deliver on most accounts. The game has astonishingly poor background graphics along with poor camera angles that make it next to impossible to play.

13 Bonkers: Powerful Indeed

Via: YouTube.com(Free Emulator)

These days it’s not exactly easy to come by and if you do decide to buy it, Power Stone 2 is going to run you a pretty penny to be sure. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to play it then you no doubt know why it has become one of the most expensive games for the system out there.

It implemented many different game modes including an arcade mode that contained within it a storyline and an adventure mode which contained within it an unpredictable storyline along with the ability to collect things like cards, money, and items. The fighting system was very intuitive and the environment was fully interactive, allowing players to pick up things like tables and chairs and use them as weapons. Furthermore, the majority of the stages were dynamic. This meant that the stage would change and alter as the battle progressed and time passed, falling apart and transforming in various ways.

12 Worst: Graphical Chaos

Via: theisozone.com

Alright, so Urban Chaos may not be as bad as some of the others out there, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t belong here. The game itself was an action adventure game told from the third-person perspective. The environment was as open world as you could get and it employed a rather revolutionary fighting system that allowed for a lot of complex movements.

While there are certainly a good amount of positive aspects of the game, they are diminished by the lack of care given by game developers to both character and environmental graphics. Sure, this isn’t the end all be all, but the short rendering distance doesn’t allow you to examine what you’re up against until you are in the thick of it. Putting that aside, the game isn’t nearly as bad as some of the others on here.

11 Bonkers: Yes, Really, A Tennis Game

Via: replayers.org

Alright, I know what your thinking, how could a tennis game make its way onto this list? This is understandable as most sports games of late have left a lot to be desired, but during the era of the Dreamcast, we would see some of the best sports games of all time.

Implementation of natural player movements made the game shine.

What made the game so great was that you felt as if you were actually the player on screen. There wasn’t a moment where you felt that your movements didn’t match your character and you never felt as if you were facing an impossible to defeat opponent. The graphic quality of the game certainly didn’t hurt things either and it ran about as flawlessly as one could expect given the platform.