TheDreamcastwas the final console that Sega made, the successor to the Sega Saturn. Its console division was already on the downturn at that point, and the Dreamcast wasn’t enough to save it. Yet even with that, the Dreamcast spawned some of the most interesting games in the industry and had some online features that became the basis for much of what came later.

Yet having only run for a short few years, how many games did the Dreamcast even get? It’s a surprisingly high number all things considered, so let’s get into it and see just what’s been made for this console that met an early grave.

How Many Games Were Released On The Dreamcast?

First launched in Japan in 1998, the Sega Dreamcast was officiallydiscontinued worldwide on March 31st, 2001, less than three years on from its launch. That’s a rough death sentence for any console, though was especially cruel here considering it really did get some stellar games.

How many games, exactly? Well if we’re looking internationally, the vast majority of Dreamcast games never released outside of Japan, leavingonly around 250-300 to actually reach the EU and North America. A dramatically higher number appeared domestically, however. Accounting for all territories,the Dreamcast had around 600 games in total.

For only three years, that’s an absurd achievement as the bulk of those games came out in those first 3 years. That’saround 200 games a year, or 17 a month. A game every two days. That might seem small now, but when games were only physical, that’s a more impressive feat.

When Was The Last Game Released For The Dreamcast?

After its discontinuation in 2001, the Dreamcast’s library started to dry up pretty quickly. As such, the final North American game released onFebruary 12th, 2002 in NHL 2K2. The game later released in Japan too, on July 11th. 2002.

For Europe, there were a series of games that released onApril 26th, 2002. These games were:

In Japan, the very last game is much later. Originally an arcade game,Karous was ported to the Dreamcast on March 8th, 2007. Almost six years on from the official discontinuation, this game marked the very final game launched on the Dreamcast.

Karous also released just a month after the optical media used for the Dreamcast,GD-ROMs, were officially discontinued.

What Were The Launch Titles For The Dreamcast?

In terms of launch titles,the Dreamcast was a mixed bag. When it came to Europe and North America, it had quite a wide selection to choose from, from Sega’s own first-party titles to plenty of stellar third-party games. For its initial Japanese launch though, which was almost a year prior to the international launch,there were only four games.

As you can imagine, four games wasn’t exactly a strong opening. The titles poured in quickly afterwards, as evidenced by the more packed international launch, but it was a dire number to start off with. Let’s take a look atall of the regional launchesdown below.

NFL 2K

NFL blitz 2000

Soul Calibur

TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat

Interestingly,the EU and NA launches have different gamesdespite launching so close to one another. For some of these games, the additional translations simply weren’t finalised, though humourously some came out in Europe before the North American release, too. Sadly, the Dreamcast’s discontinuation was announced less than two years after its official international launch.