Which Dreamcast games are must haves?

[MisterCreazil]

Basically what the title says, I'm thinking I'm going to buy a dreamcast and I want to know what would your top 10 games for it be?

[sheep2001]

ikaruga - still hold it's own as one of the all time best SHMUPS
virtua tennis
MSR - the best racer of the time
Jet Set Radio - amazing cel shaded graphics
Space Channel 5 - a bit linear, but fun rythm game
Chu Chu rocket - lots of fun and pick up for next to nothing
Shenmue - ground breaking
Soul Calibur - has been surpassed now, but at the time simply amazing
Crazy Taxi - you can't have a DC and not own this!
Dead or Alive 2 - the DC answer to Tekken
Marvel vs Capcom 2 - needs no introduction

ooops - that's more than 10, but i could keep going..............

[KaiserWAVE]

Virtua Fighter 3tb
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Virtua Tennis 2
Crazy Taxi
Toy Commander
F 355 Passione Rossa
Space Channel 5
REZ
Jet Set Radio

[csvo2000]

Sonic
Sonic 2
Soul Calibur
Test Drive Le Mans
Samba De Amigo with Maracass
Seaman
Jet Grind Radio
Crazy Taxi
Dead or Alive 2
Chu Chu Rocket

[shenske]

What!?! Only 10 

Everyone has it pretty much covered as far as the top ten goes.
I'll list a little more obscure ones or ones that others haven't mentioned.
The Dreamcast had a lot more accurate arcade ports than the N64 & PS1 produced.

Cosmic Smash
     Crazy futuristic tennis/breakout hybrid
Bust-A-Move 4
     One of the best puzzle series
Gauntlet Legends
     has extra characters that were later released on Dark Legacy)
House of the Dead 2
     Lightgun games! Can't go wrong.  Plus it has top notch voice acting 
Hydro Thunder
     Much better Arcade port than any other console for that generation
NFL 2K2
     Best as football could get at that time
NFL Blitz 2001
     Much better Arcade port than any other for that generation
Phantasy Star Online
     Where online gaming jumpstarted on consoles and much better than PSU
Powerstone
     Sega's version of a free for all brawler
Star Wars - Episode 1 - Racer
     Good racer and better than the N64 version
Typing of the Dead
     Look to House of the Dead only with a keyboard.  Its a lot cooler than it sounds
Ultimate Fighting Championship
     The last good UFC game, the PS2 games were trash.  Hopefully this new UFC by THQ can bring the sport back up to par

[sheep2001]

UFC, Powerstone 1/2, and Hydro Thunder would have been included in my list if i'd kept going - as would Skies of Arcadia, record of Lodoss War, Le Mans 24, Rayman 2, Ecco, Tony Hawk 2, Vasnishing Point, Resident Evil:Code Veronica.............  How did a console that barely lasted 3 years get so many top titles....and still fail?

[shenske]

Resident Evil:Code Veronica

Got the front done, almost there 

[sheep2001]

oooh - almost forgot the amazing Mr Driller!

[the7k]

Racketboy.com is the place to go to when you wanna know what games are must haves. Here's their "Defining Games of Dreamcast" article.
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sega/dreamcast/2006/04/games-that-defined-dreamcast.html

Obviously, this isn't all of the games that are great, but these are the games that dropped jaws back in the day.

[sheep2001]

good to see that 8 of my original selection are in there! 

MisterC - would be good to hear your views on some of these when you get the DC - good to hear if it's just nostalgia that keeps these games alive for us, or a fresh pair of eyes (and thumbs) agrees.

[MisterCreazil]

well you might have to wait a month for me to get a couple more paychecks but yeah I'm definitely thinking I'm going to get one.

[the7k]

If you are strapped for cash, you'll like this article.
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/2007/04/cheapest-sega-dreamcast-games-top-bargains.html

Edit: Also, here are all the DC games that hold up even today... which includes a lot of the games already mentioned, but a few other titles that seemed to escape people's minds.
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/2006/10/best-dreamcast-games-for-today-top.html

[Beastman1975]

if you have a ps3 or 360 you might want to wait on buying marvel vs capcom 2 on the DC  since its being released as downloadable content with online fighting  this summer


trailer yay http://www.gametrailers.com/player/48720.html

[KaiserWAVE]

The online fighting aspect will become very stale for most people once they run into a decent Cable/Magneto/Storm team I own the DC version and the Xbox version and the XBLA version is a definite day one purchase. But I'll stay the hell away from ranked matches. I'm tired of quitters or condescending winners.

But back on topic, yeah, MvsC2 is da definitie must. It's deep enough for a skilled player but it's very easy to pick up and get into for a button masher kind of player. Kinda like a 2D Tekken

Oh, and that racketboy list of must haves...Bangai-O? Really? I'd rather go with GigaWing, Mars Matrix and Karous.

3 games I'd put among the best are MDK2 and Soul Reaver. Soul Reaver is just a cleaned and spruced up port of the PS1 game, but it's an outstanding game nonetheless. Also Daytona USA 2001 is a definite must for arcade racer fans!

[the7k]

Well, racketboy does have an entire article already dedicated to DC shooters (also has articles dedicated to Saturn and PSX shooters as well).

Yeah, I'm kinda ambivalent about MvC2 re-release. It would be nice to play with friends - but friends aren't always available. Even Arcana Heart made a "Plus Mode" for it, which basically rebalanced the game for fair play, but I somehow doubt Capcom will make such an effort to simply change a few numbers here and there - they know people will buy it anyway.

Also, don't think you can escape Magneto, Storm, Sentinel just by avoiding ranked matches. After playing SC4, I found out very quickly that I couldn't avoid Cervantes by just avoiding ranked matches. Everybody plays to win, regardless of stat-tracking - they could care less about fun.