Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Appaloosa Interactive

Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future was a great example of the power of the Dreamcast - the game looks absolutely gorgeous. I found that much of my time was spent ignoring what I was supposed to be doing just so I could swim around and enjoy the underwater scenery and the world that Appaloosa Interactive had created here. Unfortunately, once you start to do what you're supposed to be doing, some of the areas are very easy to get lost in. Without a whole lot of landmarks to go by, getting disoriented in the levels can be pretty easy...But, like I said, when half the fun is just wandering around and admiring the aquatic scenery (and diving out of the water to perform flips in front of the sunset) getting lost isn't always too upsetting. If you like the 2D Ecco games, then you’ll likely also enjoy Defender of the Future – it’s basically the same thing, but in 3D.

Review added: 04/13/2019

ECW Hardcore Revolution

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Acclaim Studios Salt Lake City

ECW Hardcore Revolution came right off the heels of Acclaim's success with WWF Attitude. After losing the WWF license to THQ, Acclaim picked up the rights to ECW. Rather than attempt something new, Acclaim stuck with the same formula that they used in their WWF games. That formula was fine in previous years, but it was already showing signs of aging poorly by the year 2000, when Hardcore Revolution came out. With THQ's fantastic, smooth-playing WWF games on both the Playstation and Nintendo 64, Acclaim's wrestling engine felt dated, clunky, and overly-complicated. Hardcore Revolution suffered greatly from this, unfortunately. As a result, fans of ECW, like myself, who wanted this game to be a success so it could boost a wrestling company we enjoyed, wound up pretty disappointed. Hardcore Revolution isn't an abomination or anything, but even with the ECW coat of paint, it was a case of just more of the same if you'd already played WWF Warzone and WWF Attitude. I still put plenty of hours into it simply because I’m a wrestling nut…but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t put more hours into the better wrestling games of the time. If you're an ECW nut, this may be worth picking up, otherwise there are better wrestling options on the Dreamcast.

Review added: 04/14/2019

ESPN NBA 2Night

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Konami

Poor physics. Poor controls. Poor spelling in the title of the game. Poor use of the ESPN license. Poor use of the NBA license. Poor value for any poor sap that bought this poor game. Poor everything. ESPN NBA 2Night would probably be better named "ESPN NBA 2Rible." Get it? 'Cause this game is terrible...and 2rible kinda sounds like terrible...2trible…Bah, you don't know funny. Anyway, from the graphics that seem like they’re a generation behind, to the controls that make you want to headbutt a bed of nails, Supposedly, the Playstation 2 version of this game is quite a bit better, so I’ll have to give that game a review eventually, but the Dreamcast version of ESPN NBA 2Night is one of the worst sports games that I've ever played. It’s absolutely 2rible. Yes, I’m still drilling that joke into the ground…because unlike this game, that joke was 2riffic.

Review added: 04/01/2021