5 Japanese Only Dreamcast Games

The Dreamcast was a fun console back in the day. It had a ton of great arcade ports and a number of exclusives that many people loved. Sure, the Sonic Adventure series is a technical mess, but it was a big deal at the time.

Despite all the love, the Dreamcast failed and many attribute this to poor marketing by Sega and a lack of translations of many Japanese imports that could have given the Dreamcast a unique edge over the PS2, Gamecube, and original Xbox.

Let’s jump into this list of a few games that never released in the West that may have helped give the Dreamcast a little boost! Or, at the very least, a number of games we wanted to see come West for one reason or another.

. Cosmic Smash: Cosmic Smash is probably the one traditional title on this list that we wish saw a Western release. The game has a unique look and feel and plays like a 3D breakout crossed with REZ. We think the Dreamcast had the potential to be the home to so many weird, almost avantgarde titles thanks to its positioning. Cosmic Smash sits perfectly alongside REZ and its take on a game of futuristic Squash looks like a great time. The game features a time system that drains as you play each stage, and the better you do the more time you can rack up. Stages take place along a subway sort of system with each stop being a new stage along the way. You can also do the Outrun thing and choose different paths, much like swapping trains on a subway line. And, just to keep the weirdness factor alive, Cosmic Smash released in a DVD-style case instead of the traditional jewel case.
. Magic: The Gathering: How on earth a Magic: The Gathering video game didn’t get released in the West is beyond me. CCGs are huge all over the world but Magic is, or at least was, the biggest player in the genre, especially in the West. I can remember kids filling up the lunch tables playing the game right around the time this game released in Japan. I have a feeling it would have been a decent seller for the rabid fanbase, especially for those who couldn’t spend hundreds and hundreds on real cards. It even featured a lot of English, with all the cutscenes voiced in English, so it might have been initially planned for Western release at some point. What’s cool is that the game features ten cards not found elsewhere, either digitally or in print as well as a full single-player story. Playing a CCG on a console in 2001 made this pretty ahead of its time as most other CCGs were just dipping their toes into the digital space. This cool little title crawled so that modern Magic on consoles and PC could run.
. Godzilla Generations: Godzilla is a very popular character. In fact, he’s probably the most popular mega monster (Kaiju) and known throughout the world. This game not getting a Western release is even more strange as it was a launch title in Japan and could have easily bolstered the Dreamcast’s release lineup in the United States. Godzilla Generations might be a simplistic arcade-like action game where you destroy everything on the stage within a set time limit, but what else do you want from a Godzilla game? Well, reviewers hated the experience and called it bland, boring, and looking like a PS1 game. As a cheap launch title to bolster the Dreamcast game library that probably would have been fine, but maybe Sega felt the game would hurt the Dreamcast release in the West and so left this one and its panned sequel at home.
. Cardcaptor Sakura: Tomoyo no Video Daisakusen: Cardcaptor Sakura is the anime true anime girls love. Where Sailor Moon was the trendy show on television with merchandise that your mother would recognize, Cardcaptor was for true magical girl fans that loved cute things and even cuter stories. The series never made a huge splash in the West, but it did see the series get a translation for an after-school carton block on television, so there was a fanbase. The game itself is pretty weird, but makes sense in the world of the show. You play as Sakura’s friend Tomoyo, and it’s your job to record Sakura’s battles as she works to capture the Clow Cards she’s been tasked to retrieve. This means that the game plays a lot like Pokémon Snap with levels playing out like mini episodes of the show. The reach of the anime may not have been large enough to see a release but Dreamcast owners getting a Pokémon Snap clone for an acclaimed anime might have sold a bunch of consoles to a different type of gamer.
. Segagaga: We talked about how the Dreamcast had weird games and how it should have leaned heavily on that side of the industry, and Segagaga is the perfect example. This is one title we would have loved see get a translation for the West. Sega fans would have gone nuts of this Sega simulation that has Sega poking fun at itself. In the game you take must help save a struggling Sega from losing to its rival DOGMA, who owns 97% of the console market. You do this by engaging with Sega characters and more and fighting them in RPG-style battles. This is a true love-letter to Sega with Easter Eggs everywhere and an amazing use of Sega properties and audio. It’s crazy that the marketing budget was a pitiful $200 paid for by the games director Tez Okano. Critics loved the game and people in the West have been clamoring for a translation for decades!