Non-Gamer w/kids needs advice (1 Viewer)

[Joey_R]

WOW!!! This information is great. Just what I expected. I am close to being convinced to buy the Dreamcast and several games.
Now, what games? I think I'll get the DC and 5 games. 4 kiddie games and 1 for the old man. I don't have clue about what the kids will want. However, I know I really liked Quake when I played it once. I guess that's a FPS game.
How about adult and kiddie title recommendations?

 

[Mike_G]

Soul Calibur!!!!!

Crazy Taxi

If you liked arcade games, the Midway collection and the Atari collection.

Space Channel 5 might be cute, although I never played it myself.

Sonic

Mike

 

[Iain Lambert]

I'd really recommend Crazy Taxi and Virtua Tennis (or the new sequel) for both the kids and yourself. In both cases the idea of what to do and the controls are pretty simple to grasp, and you can have fun no matter what your ability is. Tennis rarely even gets played solo against the computer in my house, but singles and doubles matches between friends keep us busy.

Space Channel 5 is basically 'Simon' (if you remember that), and while its not too hard again to pick it up I'm so bad that I got bored quickly, so beware.

Soul Calibur is my all-time favorite beat-em-up, but its not suitable for kids in my opinion, and like all one-on-one beat-em games is dull without a human opponent.

Headhunter might go down well with you; its rather like Metal Gear Solid. Again, the violence might rule out kid-play though. What little I've played of the Chicken Run game has been fun though - its MGS with chickens!

Mr. Driller is a personal favorite; its a puzzle type game (think Tetris) where you drill down through multi-coloured blocks. Controls are easy, no real violence, and the 'come back for more' factor is enough that I had to buy it for the Gameboy as well, just to avoid leaving it alone while on the plane.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I wouldn't consider buying a Dreamcast for kids without these 3 games:

Rayman 2

Chu Chu Rocket

Looney Tunes: Space Race

I'd probably also get some of the 'classic' packs with the likes of Ms Pac Man and Galaga...kids often take to the 'old' stuff due to the simplicity of gameplay.

 

[Iain Lambert]

Michael - have you tried Wacky Races? I've heard its much better than Looney Tunes, which I have to say I was a bit disappointed with. The handling isn't a patch on wipEout games, and the weapons were really annoying, as it becomes a matter of luck rather than judgement if you want to avoid being knocked to the back of the pack on the last bend by an undogeable piano or homing rocket.

Rayman 2 and ChuChuRocket are brilliant however, and highly recommended...

 

[Joey_R]

Assuming I buy a new DC, what accessories, if any, should I buy to go with these games:

ADULT:

Soul Calibur

KIDS:

Crazy Taxi

Rayman 2

Chu Chu Rocket

Ms. Pac Man

Feel free to recommend other games!

 

[Michael St. Clair]

2 or 3 extra controllers

1 memory card (VMU/VMS)

s-video cable or VGA transcoder

Iain,

I agree that Looney Tunes isn't a great game, but kids seem to get $10 worth of enjoyment out of it. I'd buy a lot of other games first, though.

 

[Iain Lambert]

If you're buying ChuChu Rocket then you really really need some extra controllers. This game was meant to be played with all four players being real people, not computer-controlled. Much of the fun of Soul Calibur is the two-player mode as well. At least 1 VMU (I've got 21 games and I've filled two of them) is necessary as well. In short, what Michael just said!