To me, the DC is the first recognizable "modern" 3d console. The Playstation 1, the N64 and the Saturn all had issues and compromises and the games from that generation really haven't held up terribly well.
But Dreamcast games largely have held up, in the way that perhaps NES and Turbografx games have held up from the 2d console era.
If somebody were to fire up SoulCalibur or Crazy Taxi on the DC today, it might require a double take to realize it's not on a modern console.
Other than HD and widescreen, I'd argue that it isn't knock your socks off better, not in the way the move from the Atari 2600 is to the SNES (in fact the time from the DC to the PS4 and the XBone is longer than the time from the 2600 to the SNES). But the jump from the PS1 to the DC was huge.
Of course there's lots of improvement today, but nice models and art assets have become hideously expensive to produce...so modern consoles just don't end up with that much of an improvement in many comparable games.
The DC has pretty much every recognizable component of a modern console, fancy controller with an analog stick, internet connectivity, optical disks, and a tiny tiny console.
Could the DC provide every modern game type? Of course not. But for games that have a lineage back to the DC (or earlier), there's just not that huge leap you'd expect when looking back.
On top of that, there's an absolutely incredible library of really innovative games on the console. Unbelievably fun and exciting and you can't really find them anywhere else. Unlike today where virtually every game is released on pretty much every console.
It's a shame Sega couldn't make the economics work, because the industry would be far more interesting with them in the mix.
edit oh yeah, and it was gorgeous on a VGA monitor.
looking back, I had both a PS2 and a DC, and I played the DC way more, the games were just more fun.
Some of my best memories of me and my late brother were playing Soul Calibur together on my DC. He was a master at fighting games, and we'd spend hours together every week learning all the combos and moves of each character. I was better at deathmatch FPS games though, so the roles were reversed when we played Unreal Tournament. I was a natural on the keyboard and mouse, and he preferred the gamepad anyway. He still got good enough to take me down half the time.
But Dreamcast games largely have held up, in the way that perhaps NES and Turbografx games have held up from the 2d console era.
If somebody were to fire up SoulCalibur or Crazy Taxi on the DC today, it might require a double take to realize it's not on a modern console.
I mean, once it gets into the gameplay, does this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjqKJw_TOko look or play really appreciably better than this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S9Gqspnd2Q
Other than HD and widescreen, I'd argue that it isn't knock your socks off better, not in the way the move from the Atari 2600 is to the SNES (in fact the time from the DC to the PS4 and the XBone is longer than the time from the 2600 to the SNES). But the jump from the PS1 to the DC was huge.
Of course there's lots of improvement today, but nice models and art assets have become hideously expensive to produce...so modern consoles just don't end up with that much of an improvement in many comparable games.
The DC has pretty much every recognizable component of a modern console, fancy controller with an analog stick, internet connectivity, optical disks, and a tiny tiny console.
Could the DC provide every modern game type? Of course not. But for games that have a lineage back to the DC (or earlier), there's just not that huge leap you'd expect when looking back.
On top of that, there's an absolutely incredible library of really innovative games on the console. Unbelievably fun and exciting and you can't really find them anywhere else. Unlike today where virtually every game is released on pretty much every console.
It's a shame Sega couldn't make the economics work, because the industry would be far more interesting with them in the mix.
edit oh yeah, and it was gorgeous on a VGA monitor.
looking back, I had both a PS2 and a DC, and I played the DC way more, the games were just more fun.
Some more info
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awg3UZs9J_E&feature=youtu.be
http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/7/4599588/why-did-the-dreamcas...