The Steam Deck is my favorite way to play emulated games. I’ve probably spent as much time playing retro titles on Valve’s handheld as I have playing regular Steam games, and it’s wonderful.
I finally got around to adding my Dreamcast collection, after putting it off for so long. This has been a game-changer since it has allowed me to experience many of my childhood favorites all over again.
The Dreamcast Was the Best
Despite being a commercial failure and leading to SEGA’s exit from the hardware market, the Dreamcast was a fantastic bit of kit. There’s just so much to like about the console all these years later, from its rounded square form factor to the squiggly loading screen and startup sound.
Released in 1998, the Dreamcast was built from off-the-shelf components and had a lot in common with SEGA’s NAOMI arcade system board. This was smart since it made it easier for the company to port arcade classics that would go on to define much of the console’s catalog. It also ran a modified version of Windows CE, which made porting PC games easy too.
The Dreamcast featured modern features like online multiplayer (complete with a built in dial-up modem and optional broadband adapter), up to 480p output, and a controller that doesn’t look out of place today. It includes a single left analog stick, a d-pad, analog triggers, and four ABXY face buttons. There’s also a slot in the middle for a Visual Memory Unit, SEGA’s take on a modern memory card that could be used independently of the console to transfer saves or play mini-games.
The Dreamcast was unfortunately overshadowed by the pending release of Sony’s PlayStation 2, which included a DVD drive (something the Dreamcast didn’t have). Sony’s pint-sized remixed PlayStation (the PSone) also didn’t help matters. SEGA sold a little over 9 million units worldwide over the lifespan of the console.
Despite this, the Dreamcast has one of the best game libraries of any console. This includes first-party hits likeSonic Adventure,Crazy Taxi, andShenmue, console exclusives likeMetropolis Street Racer,Power Stone, andSoulcalibur, and experimental weird stuff likeSeaman,SEGA Bass Fishing, andThe Typing of the Dead.
Many of these games are highly playable, even now. Though I have three Dreamcast consoles in the house, these days I’m content with reaching for my Steam Deck instead.
Valve Steam Deck
The Steam Deck LCD is, hands down, the best budget handheld gaming PC you can get, thanks to its phenomenal price, top-notch build quality, excellent software support, and pretty solid gaming performance.
Valve Steam Deck OLED
The Steam Deck OLED is a clear improvement over Valve’s original handheld console, with a larger battery, more storage, faster Wi-Fi, and more. Not to forget the bigger and better-looking OLED screen that gives the device its name.
Emulation on the Steam Deck Makes This Easy
Getting everything working on the Steam Deck is as simple assetting up EmuDeck. This is a one-size-fits-all emulation solution that loads up your Steam Deck with a vast array of emulators. To get started, simply switch to Desktop Mode on your Steam Deck (you’re able to hold down the Power button to do this), visit theEmuDeck website, download the installer, and then run it.
This is a lot easier if you set up a virtual KVM anduse your computer’s keyboard and mouse to control your Steam Deck instead.
The installer will walk you through the process of installing all the emulators you need as well as a front-end to make accessing them easy. When you’re done, you’ll find your chosen front-end in your Steam library so that it’s easily accessible in Game Mode.
For Dreamcast games, RetroArch is used with theFlycastcore. This is arguably the best emulator for playing Dreamcast games on any platform. It’s completely free and open-source, routinely maintained, compatible with the vast majority of titles, and has excellent performance.
By default, Flycast will be configured to enable hacks like widescreen mode, but you can dig into the emulator’s settings and make changes as you see fit. Of course, you’ll need to provide your ownlegally extracted ROMs(which go in the Emulation/roms/dreamcast folder) and BIOS files (in Emulation/bios/flycast/bios) for this to work, which you’ll need to set up using Desktop Mode.
With everything configured, the Steam Deck is a force to be reckoned with in terms of emulation. Flycast isn’t (yet) perfect, and you should expect to see the occasional unsightly texture glitch or shadow flicker. But the benefits, for me, are worth it. The Steam Deck’s controls are perfectly suited to the Dreamcast, and if you’re lucky to have the OLED model then games look better than ever before.
I’ve got most games running at 3x the native resolution, upscaling them to look better than they do on original hardware. For titles likeJet Set RadioandWacky Races, this is transformative since cel shading scales particularly well. I’ve opted to turn off the “force widescreen” hack since I prefer the 4:3 aspect ratio of the original hardware. The Steam Deck’s taller 16:10 display comes in clutch here. You can go even further by setting up custom shaders and applying CRT filters to better mimic the experience of playing on an old TV if you want. This is configurable from the RetroArch Quick Menu (which I’ve set to toggle when clicking in the left and right thumbsticks).
And then there’s the added bonuses I never got to make use of when I first played these games all those years ago.RetroArch integrates retro achievements, which is a fun feature that adds another layer to game progression. Unlimited save space means no more juggling memory cards. Save states make it possible to freeze progress at any time, even when a game wouldn’t normally let me, and return to that moment even after quitting. You can also tap the Steam Deck’s power button to suspend everything.
But this isn’t even the most convenient aspect.
I Transferred My Whole Library
I’ve still got all my original Dreamcast games, including the copy ofSonic Adventurethat came with the console, complete copies ofShenmue IandII, and some bargains I picked up in the dying days of the console likeCapcom vs. SNK. I’ve even managed to double-up on some of these, as friends got rid of their consoles (which might also explain why I have three of them).
But actually getting around to playing on original hardware isn’t as easy as it once was. The Dreamcast is an analog console that made use of component cables or a VGA connection (but only in the case of some games). Modern TVs lack these inputs altogether, and even if they had them things would look pretty bad due to the lackluster scaling. That’swhere video scalers come in, but they’re pricey bits of kit that can be hard to justify.
For less than the price of the relatively affordableOpen Source Scan Converter, I grabbed a 1TB microSDXC card purely for housing my retro game collection. I’ve set about transferring my entire library of games to this card, and I haven’t even bothered to keep backups anywhere else. The only exceptions are some rare Amiga floppy discs that I’m worried I’ll never be able to rip again.
Since this microSD card must be formatted in the Steam Deck to use the ext4 Linux file system, the easiest way totransfer files is wirelessly using an app called LocalSend.
With the average Dreamcast game ranging in size from less than 100MB to three or four discs at 1GB each, I still have 800GB of space available. I don’t have to fish around for discs or worry about picking up a CRT or video scaler. I don’t have to make room under the living room TV for yet another console (though I do have one proudly on display not far away).
If ever there was an argument for SEGA to jump back into the hardware game purely to make a “Dreamcast mini,” this would be it. Even now, I’d probably buy one. I’ve been spoiled by the convenience of digital libraries and features like being able to suspend games, this is a trade-off I’m willing to make.
Sometimes PC Releases Are Better
Though I love the Dreamcast hardware and aesthetic, a console generation is only as good as its games. The reason I fell in love withShenmuewasn’t because of the LCD screen in the middle of the controller, it was because it was the engrossing story and world that kept me hooked.
So it makes sense then—with a handheld machine that has access to everything on the Steam store—that sometimes the best version of a game isn’t the one that was released almost three decades ago. SEGA has done arguably more than anyone to preserve its games (hey, they needed the cash), and that includes a few stand-out Dreamcast titles on Steam.
Every time I get the itch to playShenmueand its sequel, I’ll turn to the 2016Shenmue I and IIre-release. I grabbed this on the PS4 when it came out, but I also couldn’t resist buying it on my Steam Deck during one of Valve’s notorious sales events. Two other examples include the 2011 release ofSonic Adventure DXand the 2012 release ofSonic Adventure 2.
There are many other titles that play fine on the Steam Deck via Proton (sometimes after a little tinkering) that you may have first encountered on the Dreamcast. I’m talking about games likeShadow Man Remastered,Omikron: The Nomad Soul,Re-Volt,Star Wars Episode I Racer, andTomb Raider VI-VI Remastered.Here’s a curated Steam listwith even more in it.
Dreamcast emulation gives me one more reason to pick up my Steam Deck. I recently went away for the evening and despite being hooked onMario Kart Worldat the time, I left the Switch 2 and opted to play through Sonic’s story in the originalSonic Adventureinstead.
If you’ve got a Steam Deck or are thinking of picking one up, its status asarguably the best portable emulatorshould not be overlooked.
