My Dreamcast Adventure so far (plus ?'s)

In 2003 I won a free DC with Evolution, Grandia II and Shenmue. Thanks Fox1!

But only recently have I warmed up to it... it started with a trip to GameStop where I got Crazy Taxi for 4.99. And man have I taken quite a liking to the system.

Since I've gotten:

-Carrier 9.99 at TRU
-2 generic memory cards at TRU 1.24 each
-Plasma Sword at GameStop 6.99
-Maken X at GS 4.99
-RE: Code Veronica eBay 10
-Soul Reaver 2 eBay 6
-Soul Calibur eBay 15
-Mars Matrix trade
-DOA 2 ditto
-MDK2 ditto
-Blue Stinger Game Krazy 1.99

And I'm currently tackling one game at a time. Right now I'm about 2 hours into Carrier. I like it. At points it feels a little slow and whatnot... but still I trek through and find enough incentive to play through the dang thing. It does remind me a lot of DEEP FEAR though. Consider this a warmup for Code Veronica.

I also been playing Maken X but I got stuck and am kind of tired of playing that game. It can give me a headache a bit at times... it started out really interesting but then my interest toward it kind of just fizzled out...

Questions:

A. I do not have a VMU. Is it recommended I get one? Right now I'm surviving off 2 generic 100 block each memory card. Is that good enough?

B. I saw these games at Game Krazy today. Are they a good deal?

-RE 2 (complete) 9.99
I can't seem to find this on eBay for any cheaper than 10 shipped so what the hell right? I should just get it.

-Power Stone (complete sans manual) 7.99
This seems to command 15+ on eBay right? Missing manual irks me but 8 bucks is not too bad...

-Quake III Arena (complete) 7.99
Does Quake III still have knights, grunts and shamblers? I almost bought this...

-Tech Romancer (CD only) 9.99
Is that a fair price for disc only?

-D2 (Complete) 7.99
I almost bought this too, but wanted to save money for Saturn games. Haha. So I only bought Blue Stinger for 1.99. Anyway, D2 looks good but does it play well too? What is its going rate on eBay?

-Last Blade 2 (CD only) 19.99
I really want to try out LB 2 but no manual and case for 20 bucks? It goes for 25-esque on eBay right? I'd want a complete copy...

C. BTW what do you guys think of these games?

-Blue Stinger
-Mars Matrix
-MDK 2
-DOA 2
-Carrier
-Maken X

Thanks!

PS- I'd like to add... Game Krazy rocks! They have NES games, Game Gear, Saturn, etc. Today as I was being ringed up for Blue Stinger (1.99!) one of the employees was testing out Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua Cop 2 for SEGA Saturn. Ahhhh... almost took me back to the mid 90s.

PPS- I saw Shinobi for Game Gear for 7.99. Isn't that a good port/game? Is that a good price for cartridge only? I also saw Columns for 4.99.... damnit all too many good games not enough time or money....

PPPS- I now have a somewhat more valid opinion on the whole Saturn vs. DC debate. While I'm only a DC weener and at the same time a Saturn whore (haha) I guess bias alone dictates who comes out the winner for me. But I do love each system differently. DC just is a more today machine simply because of the power and the time it came out during. But somehow its somewhat mainstream success in the US always made me cringe a little. Eh, call me weird. I still will always love the Saturn most, but the DC has itself its own superior merits and games, likewise. But I think when you devote a certain amount of quality time with a system, it can never be replaced. All I need now is a Genesis to complete the Sega family.

Man when I bought the dc on launch day, the game I got was Blue Stinger, the game was incredible, it was just awesome, although the voice acting is some of the worst you'll ever see, the game itself was VERY fun. ( I highly suggest you get a VMU, they are very cheap)

All those games you listed are at least good IMO, some great!

I used to LOVE my DC, it has really cool stuff I cannay deny, but I havnt been the slightest interested in it for the last 6 months. Hopefully something will kick start my fun again.

Marvel Vs. Capcom made me buy a DC.

I love that game.

You've listed a lot of very solid games for the DC, but I think you should consider either modding your system or at least getting a boot-disk or Action Replay. There are a huge amount of great games for the DC available only on import - it's not as drastic a situation as with the Saturn, but if you've got the ability to play Japanese releases, many more games will suddenly be choices.

Yep - there are a ton of great import titles on the DC (many great schmups). I'd opt for the mod chip if I were you, as disc swapping makes me slightly impotent.

I got my mod kit from ncsx.com, and had no problems and got it working on the first try.

http://www.ncsxshop.com/cgi-bin/shop/NCS_LOGIC_v4.html

You need to get a Euro version of HeadHunter, outside of the Shenmue games it's the best action adventure on the system.

The DC's short lifespan is probably the greatest travesty in gaming history ( next to the Jaguar being released). Collection you've got so far is solid. Just wait till you start getting ahold of some imports. I bought a DC-X just to play Ikaruga. Mod-chip is the nice way to go, but if you don't wanna get into modding the DC-X works great.