NHL2K2 - DC 's US Swansong

[Neohound]

Ten years ago this month saw the release of NHL2K2 on the Sega Dreamcast. It was Sega's final official western release for the system..........

But here we are in 2012, as part of a small but dedicated community, still enjoying our Dreamcast gaming to the max.

[dark]

Maybe Geist Force will release this month, then it would be a double final anniversary sort of

[CD AGES]

Yes! And if memory serves me correctly, Garou Mark of Wolves was right behind the final release of NHL 2K2 here in the US. I was actually quite shocked when I first saw it on display at my nearby store. And for only $30.

[dark]

Garou came out in Nov/Dec 2001. I think it was one of the final three games, the others being NHL 2k2 and Conflict Zone, which came out in early 2002.

[CD AGES]

I actually really like NHL 2K2 (much better than their first attempt) and Garou aka Fatal Fury was a welcome surprise indeed. Not bad for it's final run of games here in US soil.

[AdamKoralik]

NHL 2K2 - last US Dreamcast game.

Karous - last Japanese Dreamcast game.

What was the last European Dreamcast game?

Side note, does anyone ever think about the fact that Karous was the last game Sega ever licensed/endorsed for one of their consoles?

[CD AGES]

And here I thought Trigger Heart Exelica was the final release in JPN...

[Neohound]

What was the last European Dreamcast game?

Good question ! Probably the last European game was RRRR or one of RSG's games ? But, regarding official releases, I don't really know the answer. Big Ben Interactive took over the european publishing duties towards the end of the DC's life, so I imagine it was one of their games ? Maybe Conflict Zone, Razorstyle Scooting, Evil Twin, Canon Spike, PSOv2 or NBA2k2. If I was hazarding a guess, I'd say NBA2k2.

And here I thought Trigger Heart Exelica was the final release in JPN...

Iirc, T.H.E. was released in Feb 2007 whereas Karous was released a month later.

I actually really like NHL 2K2 (much better than their first attempt) and Garou aka Fatal Fury was a welcome surprise indeed. Not bad for it's final run of games here in US soil.

I agree, NHL2k2 is a very good game. They got the difficulty level sorted out - the first game was stupidly hard to score in. It's also a great looking game as was the first one in the series.
Overall, and with the exception of soccer, Dreamcast sports games were of a very high standard and still hold up well even by todays standards.

Side note, does anyone ever think about the fact that Karous was the last game Sega ever licensed/endorsed for one of their consoles?

No, I hadn't really thought of it that way before ! Kinda sad...but Sega should not have pulled the plug on GD-Rom production so early - there was plenty of action still to come with four or more game in production at that time.

[dark]

^ Pretty sure the last EU DC game was Evil Twin. I was kinda surprised that ever even came out to be honest lol. A 3rd party game without much demand for it published super late in the console's life. I can't imagine the publisher (Ubisoft?) made money on it.

I've thought of Karous as something special in terms of being the very last DC game period. I haven't found it for a good price yet, but it's something I'm looking for. I think the "last DC game ever" would be a good item for my collection - plus I kinda like Karous lol

Sega stopping GDrom production did contribute to killing off the Naomi, but more games were subsequently released, and they were released on the old cartridge style boards. An example of this was an update to Karous (not sure what they added or changed). Karous was originally a naomi GDrom game, and then the revamp edition was released on cartridge for naomi as it was released after the GDrom production halt.

[Neohound]

^ Pretty sure the last EU DC game was Evil Twin.

Apparently not. May 3rd 2002 saw the final official european releases. The two games were Cannon Spike and Free Style Scooter.

I think the "last DC game ever" would be a good item for my collection - plus I kinda like Karous lol

Oh yeah, you must own it ! If only for it's place in Dreamcast history. The best price I've seen the game go for recently is $75 - I can't see it going any cheaper. It's a good game but I've somewhat ignored my copy over the years Maybe because I got it together with Under Defeat and that game stole it's thunder. Whatever the reason, I'm glad I got it and I think I should play it more often !