Flycast is one of the most prominent Dreamcast emulators available today. Flyinghead has taken a major stride towards not only emulating the console but also emulating the forgone era of playing a Dreamcast online.
When the Dreamcast came out, it was originally seen as a technological marvel. It fused two major heavyweights in the gaming arena into one solid unit and did it exceptionally well. It merged the best of the computer with the best of the home console and, originally, it was met with a ton of fanfare.
Sega’s history before then was iffy, to say the least. While we in retro handhelds sometimes fawn over the Sega Saturn and its 32-bit graphics, the console sold incredibly poorly relative to its predecessors. The Genesis saw sales numbers reaching 30 million while publicly feuding with Nintendo’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The Saturn sold less than 2 million units in America and less than 10 million worldwide.
The Sega Dreamcast Did It First
Image source: Dreamcast junkyard
The Dreamcast was to be a rebirth of both the console wars and a return to form for Sega. Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, and two NFL-licensed games were part of its launch catalog, but it also featured a modem with an accessible broadband port right on the console’s exterior.
This was the beginning of mainstream online play, but it never truly caught on like Microsoft’s later Xbox Live would. The speeds were still held captive by the time. People had to use dial-up speeds, deal with slow connections, and worse, most simply did not know how it worked or what to do with any of the extra ports they saw on their consoles.
Nowadays, we all are far too used to online play. Some games only offer gameplay via online multiplayer. The days of couch co-op almost seem like a distant memory in comparison due to the lack of games that put any effort into it.
But now, the best of the best world can be had due to a new update to Flycast.
DCnet is the New SegaNet
Today, Flycast is incorporating DCnet, a play on words of the oft-forgotten SegaNet, into their emulator and it offers near seamless integration of online multiplayer with little to no hassle. Before, Flycast supported connecting to servers hosted by others to play online multiplayer in a similar fashion to how you would connect directly to players in AetherSX2, but DCnet is one server that you connect to.
Once connected, you don’t have to configure or touch anything else. It’s all hosted by Flyinghead, and they’re constantly updating and maintaining DCnet on a daily basis. The only thing you’ll have to ensure you do is update regularly so your emulator is always working and connecting as best it can.
Flycast with DCnet added is currently only available through the development release available on their website. The feature should be added to the mainline release soon, but for now, living in the alternate future where we’re playing Dreamcast games online is truly a future I never expected.
Currently Supported Games
If you’re wondering what the full list of games that currently support DCnet is, here’s what was provided by the developer:
- Ooga Booga
- NFL 2K2
- NFL 2K1
- NCAA 2K2
- NBA 2K2
- NBA 2K1
- World Series Baseball 2K2
- Internet Game Pack
- ChuChu Rocket!
- DeeDee Planet
- Monaco Racing Simulation 2
- Pod Racer
- Planet Ring
- Toy Racer
- Quake
- F355 Challenge – Passione Rossa
- UPDATE: 1/21
- StarLancer
- PBA Bowling 2001
- Worms World Party
- UPDATE1/22
- 4×4 EVO
- UPDATE 2/4
- Tetris
- Daytona USA
- UPDATED 2/5
- Golf Shiyou Yo 2
- Aero Dancing i
- Hundred Swords
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