We check out the mighty SEGA Dreamcast and the RG552 retro gaming handheld in our Retro / Present article. We take a look at a retro console and games, then explore more modern ways of playing them if you do not have one.
Retro / Present – Dreamcast and RG552 Video
Introduction
I did not actually own a SEGA Dreamcast when it first released back in 1998. I had a PlayStation and was waiting for the PlayStation 2 release in the following year. Several years ago I picked this Dreamcast up, retrobrighted the case and controller a little and installed some mods.
SEGA Dreamcast technical specifications
The Dreamcast was designed to use mainly off the shelf parts which reduced the cost of the console. Compared to say the PS1 and PS2 with their custom chips, the Dreamcast was a fair bit lower in price than them both.
| CPU | Hitachi SH-4 32-bit RISC @ 200 MHz |
| GPU | PowerVR2 @ 100 MHz |
| SOUND | Yamaha AICA @ 67 MHz |
| MEMORY | 16 MB RAM, 8 MB video RAM, 2 MB audio RAM |
| STORAGE | 128 KB VMU, CD-ROM Drive |
Notable features of the Dreamcast were the ability to output to VGA which provided higher quality visuals up to 480p. The normal A/V cables would output to 480i or in some cases 240p, which look fine on a CRT display, but not so great on higher definition displays. As a note, we are running this Dreamcast via VGA through an OSSC upscaler which outputs to 1080p via HDMI.
And not forgetting the VMU which is part memory card, part PDA and part mini game unit. It interacts with various games to provide information or rewards during the game. Or you can disconnect it and play mini games that are downloaded onto it. For example on Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, there are various simple mini games and the ability to connect to other VMU for battles against others.
It was also the first console to include a built-in modular modem for internet access and online gaming. A keyboard and mouse were available for web browsing .
Best games for the Dreamcast
No console would be complete without games. With SEGA being a games publisher, it meant that there would be some great first party titles from their catalogue. Around the same time as the Dreamcast, the SEGA made NAOMI arcade board was released. It used similar technology to the Dreamcast, and it meant many popular arcade games were easy to port over. Titles included the arcade hits Marvel vs Capcom, Crazy Taxi and House of the Dead, which also included the lightgun accessory.
There’s too many to list, but other standout games include Quake 3 Arena which had online compatibility with PC players, Samba de Amigo with maracas to shake to the music, and SEGA Bass Fishing complete with fishing rod accessory., Then there’s classics such as Dead or Alive, Sonic Adventure, Ikaruga, Jet Set Radio and Soulcalibur. And of course Shenmue, personally I never enjoyed the Shenmue series, but each to their own 🙂
The fall (and rise) of the Dreamcast
The SEGA Dreamcast was unfortunately short lived, with it being officially discontinued just a few years later in 2001. Twenty one years on, the Dreamcast is still going, with games in development and being released. And the modding community have made some excellent products including replacement power supplies, HDMI output kits and even optical drive emulators which let you run games from SD Cards.
How much does a Dreamcast and games cost now?
Picking up a SEGA Dreamcast today is quite cheap. They can go for as little as £50 with a controller, generally a little higher if you are not patient. Games, due to the ease of piracy on the console, are thankfully fairly cheap. You can pick up bundles of games either with the console or separate from as little as £20-30 if you don’t mind broken or missing CD cases. The high quality condition or rarer titles and accessories can however go for far higher prices.
RG552 retro gaming handheld
I have matched up the Dreamcast with the RG552 retro console that is dual boot OS. There are other handhelds that can run Dreamcast, but you may find compatibility or performance issues on them. If you want no hassles then the RG552 is a great choice!
RG552 technical specifications
| CPU | RockChip RK3399 @ 1.9Ghz |
| GPU | Mali T860 MP4 |
| DISPLAY | 5.36″ IPS Display, 1920×1152 |
| RAM | 4GB LPDDR4 |
| STORAGE | 64GB eMMC, 2x Micro SD Card Slot |
You can read or watch our full RG552 review here. It is a dual boot device giving the best of both worlds with Android and Linux. It supports AAA Android games as well as emulating all the greatest consoles from Atari up to PSP.
The RG552 dual boot operating systems
We recommend using the Android OS for Dreamcast emulation as it performs far better than on Linux. The emulator being used is the free version of Redream that is pre-installed. The free version is fully featured, but upgrading to premium unlocks more save slots per game and higher resolution rendering. It’s not really needed for the RG552 handheld, but if you want to support development of the emulator, it only costs around £5 .It also covers say the PC version if you want to use that as well.
Dreamcast emulation on the RG552
The vast majority of games are compatible on the emulator, with only 40 of the 900+ titles having issues. In terms of performance, I tried a number of games and they all run very well on the RG552 retro handheld console at 60 FPS. Some may have occasional dips while accessing data from the disc image, it’s nothing that will affect gameplay.
There are built in options to change the video resolution, as well as the aspect ratio from 4:3 to 16.9. If you go into the menu while playing a game and look in the Cheats menu, you can enable a hack to make the game display native widescreen. Not all games support this correctly though.
Another useful feature for the RG552 from Anbernic are the save states which allows you to save the current game position and resume exactly where you left off at a later date. It’s very handy for when travelling and you quickly need to save and shutdown for example.
Connecting the RG552 to a TV/Monitor
And you are not left out of the big TV gaming as the RG552 has a Mini-HDMI port for connecting to your TV or monitor. You can change the output resolution in the settings but be aware that higher resolutions may affect the performance. It is simple plug and play and no having to mess around with settings.
Why you should buy a RG552 retro handheld?
The RG552 retro game handheld is just right for the Dreamcast. It has a large display which is perfect for the Dreamcast’s quality visuals, whether or not you stretch it to widescreen is up to you. The controls are perfect, with plenty of buttons available to match the original controller. Although sadly you can’t play House Of The Dead with a lightgun, you can still play it with the controller. With the Redream emulator you can explore and enjoy the vast majority of Dreamcast titles which are very well supported on the RG552.
If you are looking for a handheld that is capable of playing the Dreamcast, amongst other classic and more modern consoles, computers and handhelds, then the RG552 is a definite handheld to consider!
Where can I buy a RG552?
You can learn more about and buy the RG552 here. Or browse our range of retro gaming handhelds here.
