List of Dreamcast homebrew games

Many games have been independently developed for the Dreamcast by independent developers. Most of these games were commercially released long after the end of the console's official life span in North America where production was ceased by end of 2001, although Sega of America still offered support and had some games scheduled for release (but was the division at Sega who released the fewest titles after 2002, pretty much limited to NFL 2K2 and other games in the 2K genre) and so games kept being released for quite some time still after first announcing the move to 3rd party development, unlike 1st party titles of other regions like Puyo Puyo Fever being released in 2004 in Japan and a select few more in Europe, seeing as the Dreamcast was launched approximately 1.5 years later in Europe compared to Japan and 13 months later than North America, thus the last region the console was released on 20 October 2000. Meanwhile, in Japan, the console was released in November 1998, lasting with official support and console sales as well as hardware peripherals and games both developed and published by studios at Sega of Japan, from 1998 through 2007, almost giving the 6th generation console 10 years of official support in the region.

Dreamcast-Console-Set

In comparison, the Xbox 360 had already been launched when Sega still was publishing games for the Dreamcast (and other platforms) in Japan.

However, most of the time, the online Sega Direct store was the only place to find new consoles which had been produced recently, often with special color variations, such as black and other limited edition collector items; after the last official released title published by Sega of Japan, Karous (2007), hit store shelves, indie developers published games on the console from all over the world, often with very tight time frames between each release — and making the console, in some ways, relevant again well into the seventh generation of consoles.

Consequently, these games are unlicensed by Sega, although completely legal if created with a development environment which is not licensed by Sega. The Dreamcast had nine new entirely independent games released by 2020, thus making it more prolific than most release schedules since 2001, at least in North America.^{[clarification needed][1][2]}

IGN reopened their Dreamcast section in 2006,^{[3][circular reference]} as Sega was publishing games like Under Defeat in 2005.

The Dreamcast's unlicensed games are produced and printed on regular compact discs (CD) using the Mil-CD format created in-house by Sega, which is just a normal CD unlike its native games format, the GD-ROM, aimed at karaoke and interactive content on regular CDs in general. Unlike the GD-ROMs, though, which can hold up to 1.2GB of data, a CD-ROM can hold around 50% of that.

Josh Prod is among a few of the most serious and active studios that is publishing many high-quality titles, which will boot on any Dreamcast, although only some consoles manufactured between up until 2007, where Sega removed the MIL-CD support from the BIOS. Console manufacturing in Japan was restarted to meet demand up through 2007, although no official numbers exist. However, Sega removed the MIL-CD compatible code in the BIOS; this prevents owners of these consoles from playing games released on CD-ROMs.

While the last officially Sega published game, titled Karous, a lot more titles were consistently released in Japan up until that point. Trigger Heart Exelica was one of them, along with Under Defeat (2005) and Puyo Puyo Fever (2004), to name a few. However, those owning a console with the latest BIOS version have to replace their GD-ROM drive with an optical drive emulator, or solder in a new or additional BIOS ROM chip to have the ability to boot up a game released on CD-ROM, like the Arcade Racing Legend^[4] by Josh Prod, which was released in 2020 after a Kickstarter campaign.

Releasing games on half the size of the native format, however, can be a problem, depending on the game. Copying games from GDs through Dreamshell to an SD-card, or through the official broadband adapter and being subsequently burnt to a blank CD, can result in having to remove content to make them fit on standard CDs; depending on the region, this can be a felony. This makes the independently released titles for Dreamcast different from other homebrew titles, in that a completely stock console will most likely boot the game, such as with Gameshark, Action Replay, CodeBreaker and Bleemcast, to name a few. The Japanese consoles not supporting MIL-CD will often tell you (in Japanese) on one side of the outer box.

The reason for releasing games on CDs instead of the native format is mostly because the GD-ROM format is no longer marketed by Sega, and is thus difficult to get a hold of, nor did it ever have a commercially available blank counterpart. Another reason is that there is actual copy protection in place, which has yet to be defeated without using the rare 'System Disc 2' – a disc by Sega for use by developers that unlocks the protection, making it possible to boot games burnt on GD-R discs, the blank GD-ROM equivalent to blank CD-R discs.

Games are mostly released in standard CD or DVD jewel cases, or more recently, styled as a retail Dreamcast case, depending on region (where Japan had what may look like a DVD case). The regional style of the cases is a purely cosmetic option, because all independent titles released on CD-ROM are region-free, as Mil-CDs in general cannot be region locked, while GD-Rom-based games indeed are, requiring one of many commercially released boot discs like the GameShark, CodeBreaker and others, which enable all regions to boot.

Most of the games released, as well as those currently in development, have all been developed using the open source and free SDK known as KallistiOS, or an equally legal alternative, providing about the same functionality as Sega's own SDK; developers have stated that the Dreamcast is very developer friendly^[5] — although some claim good performance is easier to achieve in 3D with the officially SEGA SDK, although it illegal to use without a license.

The Dreamcast saw the majority of its biggest homebrew releases after 2017, the same year most of the online functions of the console was bought back, thanks to projects like DCSERV. This also extended the availability of the massively popular online game on a console, Sonic Team's Phantasy Star Online, as the original servers were closed down in 2004. During this period, the complete library of Atomiswave arcade games were unofficially ported to Dreamcast, thanks to their similar system architectures.^[6]

The indie games are of great variety: some have Genesis-style 16-bit graphics, whereas others look more like Dreamcast-era games. However, the SDKs developers are allowed to use are not as optimized for the hardware as their Sega licensed counterparts. The 16-bit games usually have also been released as homebrew for the Neo Geo AES console, and others may also have had releases for PC, mobile, or as downloadable indie titles for newer consoles — such as Flashback, which was released for the Nintendo Switch as well as the Dreamcast.

List

Released titles

Game	Publisher	Developer	Genre	Year
2D House of Terror^[7]	2D Retroperspectives	2D Retroperspectives	Action	2013
4x4 Jam	JoshProd	Invictus Games	Racing	2017
Alice Dreams Tournament^[8]	Alice Team	Alice Team	Action	2017
Alice Sisters	JoshProd	OrionSoft	Platformer	2020
Alice's Mom's Rescue^[9]	Hucast Games (first run) / JoshProd (second run)	OrionSoft	Platformer	2015 / 2017
Another World HD	JoshProd	Delphine	Action	2018
Arcade Racing Legends^[10]	JoshProd	Intuitive Computer	Racing	2020
Armed Seven^[11]	JoshProd	Astro Port	Action	2019
Bang Bang Busters	JoshProd	Visco	Action	2018
Battle Crust	JoshProd	Picorinne Soft	Shoot 'em up	2018
Beats of Rage	Senile Team	Senile Team	Beat 'em up	2004
Bleemcast! for Gran Turismo 2	Bleem!	Bleem!	Racing	2001
Bleemcast! for Metal Gear Solid	Bleem!	Bleem!	Action/Adventure	2001
Bleemcast! for Tekken 3	Bleem!	Bleem!	Fighting	2001
Breakers	JoshProd	Visco	Fighting	2017
Captain Tomaday^[11]	JoshProd	Visco	Shoot 'em up	2019
Cave Story	DCEmulation	Daisuke Amaya	Metroidvania	2013
Cool Herders	GOAT Store	Harmless Lion LLC.	Party	2006
Counter-Strike	DCFan.net.ru	Valve	First-person shooter	2008
Crafti^[12]	DCEmulation	gameblabla	Survival	2017
Dreamcastnoid: Retail Enhanced Edition	Matranet	Ryo Suzuki	Arcade	2017
Driving Strikers^[13]	WAVE Game Studios	Reality Jump	Sports	2023
DUX	Hucast Games	KTX Software Dev.	Shoot 'em up	2009
DUX Version 1.5	Hucast Games (first run) / JoshProd (second run)	KTX Software Dev.	Shoot 'em up	2013 / 2018
Elansar & Philia	Hucast Games	OrionSoft	Point-and-click adventure	2015
Epitech Collection^[14]	Epitech	Epitech	Miscellaneous/Compilation	2002
Escape 2042: The Truth Defenders^[15]	OrionSoft	OrionSoft	Puzzle/Adventure	2017
Fade to Black	JoshProd	Delphine	Action-adventure	2018
Fast Striker	NG.DEV.TEAM	NG.DEV.TEAM	Shoot 'em up	2010
Feet of Fury	GOAT Store	GOAT Store	Rhythm	2003
Finding Teddy^[11]	JoshProd	Storybird	Adventure	2019
Flashback: The Quest for Identity	JoshProd	Delphine	Action	2017
Flea!^[16]	Lowtek Games (first run) / WAVE Game Studios (second run)	Lowtek Games	Platformer	2020
Frog Feast	OlderGames	OlderGames	Action	2007
Fruit'Y^[17]	Dragon Box	Retroguru	Puzzle	2015
FX Unit Yuki: The Henshin Engine^[11]	JoshProd	Saru Studio	Platformer	2019
Ganryu	JoshProd	Visco	Action	2017
Ghost Blade^[18]	Hucast Games (first run) / JoshProd (second run)	Hucast Games	Shoot 'em up	2015 / 2018
Ghoul Grind: Night of the Necromancer^[19]	Woog Worx	Woog Worx	Action/Platformer	2021
Giana's Return^[20]	Giana's Return Team	Giana's Return Team	Platformer	2011
Gunlord	NG.DEV.TEAM	NG.DEV.TEAM	Run 'n Gun	2012
Hanky Alien^[21]	DCEmulation	ant51	Shoot 'em up	2016
Hermes^[22]	Dragon Box (first run) / JoshProd (second run)	Retroguru	Platformer	2017 / 2022
Hydra Castle Labyrinth^[23]	E. Hashimoto	E. Hashimoto	Platformer	2020
Inhabitants	GOAT Store	S&F Software	Puzzle	2005
Intrepid Izzy^[24]	Senile Team (first run) / WAVE Game Studios (second run)	Senile Team	Action/Platformer	2021
IRiDES: Master of Blocks	GOAT Store	Madpeet	Puzzle	2009
James & Watch: Arm^[25]	Retro Gaming Roundup	Ben Lancaster	Puzzle	2015
James & Watch: Tooth Cracker^[25]	Retro Gaming Roundup	Ben Lancaster	Puzzle	2015
Jump'n Blob^[26]	2D Retroperspectives	2D Retroperspectives	Platformer	2011
Last Hope	RedSpotGames (first run) / NG.DEV.TEAM (second run)	NG.DEV.TEAM	Shoot 'em up	2007
Last Hope: Pink Bullets	NG.DEV.TEAM	NG.DEV.TEAM	Shoot 'em up	2009
Leona's Tricky Adventures^[27]	KTX Software Development	KTX Software Development	Puzzle/Adventure	2016
Magic Pockets^[11]	JoshProd	Bitmap Brothers	Platformer	2019
Maqiupai	GOAT Store	JMD	Puzzle	2005
Matterrun^[28]	Fuseki Games	Fuseki Games	Shoot 'em up	2017
NEO XYX	NG.DEV.TEAM	NG.DEV.TEAM	Shoot 'em up	2014
Neverball^[29]	DCEmu	DCEmu	Puzzle	2009
Non Casual Encounter : Prologue AKA Encuentro no casual: Prólogo^[30]	SEGASaturno Productions	Alfonso "Ryo Suzuki"	Visual Novel/Adventure	2021
Orion's Puzzle Collection^[31]	OrionSoft	OrionSoft	Puzzle	2016
Pier Solar and the Great Architects	WaterMelon Co.	Watermelon Co.	Role-playing	2015
POSTAL^[32]	WAVE Game Studios	Running with Scissors	Action	2022
Powder^[33]	Dreamcast.es	Jeff Lait	Role-playing	2015
Primitive Nightmare^[34]	Fuseki Games	Fuseki Games	Shoot 'em up	2010
Redux: Dark Matters	Hucast Games	KTX Software Development	Shoot 'em up	2014
Rocketron	JoshProd	Astro Port	Shoot 'em up	2020
Rush Rush Rally Racing	RedSpotGames	Senile Team	Racing	2009
Rush Rush Rally Reloaded	Senile Team	Senile Team	Racing	2017
Satazius Next^[35]	JoshProd	Astro Port	Shoot 'em up	2021
SQRXZ^[36]	Retroguru	Retroguru	Platformer	2010
SQRXZ 2^[37]	Retroguru	Retroguru	Platformer	2010
SQRXZ 3^[38]	Retroguru	Retroguru	Platformer	2011
SQRXZ 4^[39]	Retroguru	Retroguru	Platformer	2014
Street Fighter VS Mortal Kombat	Captain Dreamcast	Captain Dreamcast	Fighting	2012
Sturmwind	RedSpotGames (first run) / Duranik (second run)	Duranik	Shoot 'em up	2013 / 2017
Supercharged Robot Vulkaiser	JoshProd	Astro Port	Shoot 'em up	2020
Tapeworm Disco Puzzle^[40]	Lowtek Games	Lowtek Games	Puzzle	2021
The Escapee	JoshProd	Invictus Games	Adventure	2018
The Textorcist	Gamefairy	Morbidware	Typing/bullet hell	2021
Tough Guy	JoshProd	Panda Software	Fighting	2020
Tyrian^[41]	Dreamcast.es	Dreamcast.es	Shoot 'em up	2008
Volgarr the Viking	Crazy Viking Studios (digital) / JoshProd (physical)	Crazy Viking Studios	Platformer	2015 / 2019
Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles	RedSpotGames	Yuan Works	Puzzle	2008
Witching Hour	PRO Studio	Nexinita	Adventure/Horror	2022
Wolflame	JoshProd	Astro Port	Shoot 'em up	2020
Xeno Crisis	Bitmap Bureau	Bitmap Bureau	Shoot 'em up	2020
Xenocider^[42]	Retro Sumus	Retro Sumus	Run 'n Gun	2021
Xump^[43]	Retroguru	Retroguru	Puzzle/Platformer	2013
Yeah Yeah Beebiss II^[44]	WAVE Game Studios	Rigg'd Games	Platformer	2021
Zia and the Goddesses of Magic^[45]	OrionSoft	OrionSoft	Role-playing	2016
Shadow Gangs^[46]	WAVE Game Studios	JKM Corp	Beat 'em up	2022

Announced titles

Game	Publisher	Developer	Genre	Estimated release
HarleQuest!^[47]	WAVE Game Studios	Kilgariff Technologies	3D Platformer	2024
Midsummer^[48]	TBA	Duranik	Action	TBA
Non Casual Encounter AKA Encuentro no Casual^[49]	SEGASaturno Productions	Ryo "Alfonso Martínez"	Visual Novel-Adventure	2022
Okinawa Rush^[50]	TBA	Steven Miller	Action	TBA
Reaperi Cycle^[51]	TBA	Retro Surge	Role-playing/Puzzle	TBA
Rizzo Island^[52]	TBA	Dreameater Games	3D Platformer	Q1 2020
Super Nutmeg^[53]	TBA	Retroguru	Platformer	TBA
Veredict Guilty Clash^[54]	JoshProd	StoryBird	Fighting	2019/2020

Abandoned projects

Game	Developer	Genre
AMEBA^[55]	Retro Sumus	Adventure
BeatTendency^[56]	KeiDash	Rhythm
Donk! Samurai Duck!	Cryptic Allusion	Platformer
Elysian Shadows^[57]	Elysian Shadows Team	Role-playing
Hypertension: Harmony of Darkness^[58]	TDGMods/Istope Softworks	Horror/Shooter
Reblobed^[59]	2D Retroperspectives	Platformer
Redux 2^[60]	Hucast Games	Shoot 'em up
Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs - The Game^[61]	Team Saber Rider	Run 'n gun/Shoot 'em up
Saviour^[62]	2D Retroperspectives	Role-playing
Scourge	TGDMods/Istope Softworks	Action
SLaVE^[63]	Jay Townsend/Istope Softworks	First-person shooter
Sydney Hunter & The Caverns of Death	CollectorVision	Puzzle platformer

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• "Henshin Engine The GAME. - PC Engine/TG-16, PC/Steam!". Kickstarter.com. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
• "Interview: Senile Team - Rush Rush Rally Racing". Nintendolife.com. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
• "Interview with Jeroen van Mastbergen from Senile Team about Rush Rush Rally Racing". Diehard GameFAN. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
• "Un nuovo gioco per Dreamcast in uscita nel 2015: SLaVE". Eurogamer.it. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
• Anderson, Lark (22 August 2008). "GC 2008: They Are Still Making Dreamcast Games". Gamespot.com. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
• "10 new Dreamcast games on the way". Engadget.com. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
• Arendt, Susan. "New Dreamcast Games Coming This Spring". Wired. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
• . Zam.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
• Plunkett, Luke (9 September 2009). "Happy Birthday Dreamcast! Here's A New Game". Kotaku.com. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
• "Dreamcast Not Dead – New Release Set For 2010". Gameinformer.com. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
• "German TV show reveals a new Dreamcast game". Gamesradar.com. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
• "Redspotgames looking to continue publishing for Dreamcast". Engadget.com. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
• "List of 2006 - 2015 Games on SEGA Dreamcast and Genesis / Megadrive". Segabits.com. Retrieved 1 January 2018.