It’s a big day today, folks! Today is the Dreamcast’s 25th birthday in North America! And what better way to celebrate than to give away a game that didn’t come out in North America, Toy Racer! Although we did get the game it was based off of, Toy Commander, we were sadly deprived of this online-multiplayer spin-off. For those of you who don’t know the story of this game, it was actually released as a budget game for the low-low price of only £5, £1 of which was donated to charity. Being a budget release, the game was lacking a bit in content, featuring only 4 tracks to race on, but being able to play online was a pretty big plus. Oddly enough, this was also the only PAL game to include support for the broadband adapter, a peripheral which wasn’t even released in PAL regions. This was likely included for internal testing purposes as it’s not mentioned anywhere on the game’s case or in the manual.
Despite its shortcomings in the content department, Toy Racer is a welcome addition to the online library, being probably the closes thing we have to an online kart racer for Dreamcast. It’s a solid arcade racer that you’re sure to get some enjoyment out of. And hey, you have the chance to get this budget game for an even better price than it was at launch, the low-low-low price of FREE! 100% of which I’m donating to charity, a.k.a. you.
P.S. I should also mention that despite this being a PAL release, the hinges on the case are still in-tact! Well at least at the moment anyway. No guarantees that they won’t shatter in the process of being delivered to your dwelling.
If you’d like to enter for a chance to win, simply leave a comment below and make sure you include a valid email address in the “Email” box. Just for fun, let me know what region you think has the best case design. The winner will be chosen one week from today (September 16th). Good luck!
Update: The winner has been chosen! Congratulations to James Nicholson!
Its unfortunate this game is only pal but nonetheless a fun little game.
No doubt PAL case is the best!!!
i love the pal regions for cases all tho i am found of the north american there is just somthing about that baby blue
I’m partial to the US design, although I’d say the actual artwork is often better on the Japanese covers. Special shout out to Jet Set Radio. Either way, I got my Dreamcast back in February of 2000 and I’m glad to see it still kicking so many years later!
Happy anniversary dreamers, I was always sad this wasn’t a full fledged release, and in all regions as I thought Toy Commander was such a cool idea for a game, and the fact that it had dlc still pops me. There are only a few PAL releases I must have in my collection, Shenmue 2, Headhunter, which I have both of, but this is another I still need!
I think JP has the edge with case design, I’ve seen some absolutely beautiful imports that I’ve bought just for that reason, even if I already had the US version.
It’s strange that Toy Racer never made it to America. And we didn’t even get to play the special Christmas level of Toy Commander until Xmas of 2000.
I was always partial to the JP case design.
even though im weirdly obsessed with obis. nothing beats the black ntsc never was a fan of the white
I like the US cases the best-more durable than PAL and more room for art than the JP ones.
NTSC’s simple jewel case all the way clamshells are weeeak!
If I win it can keep my PAL copy of Shenmue 2 company
Very cool! I’ve always just liked the look of the US cases. I don’t have any PAL games because the blue looks so weird to me. Although I do plan on getting the PAL version of Shenmue 2 at SOME point.
I prefer the North American cases myself, but wouldn’t mind having one PAL disc in my collection.
I always liked the black label Dreamcast cases myself
Have always preferred NA cases because if push comes to shove you can for the most part easily replace parts of the case. No so much for EU.
I wish the Dreamcast game cases were more unique, perhaps like an improved version of the Saturn long boxes. I like the blue on the European DS boxes. Thank you for letting the dream alive!
I always thought that the japanese cases were more durable because the cases were slightly larger. I still love the NA cases though. This game would be amazing to have too!
Weel, thank you pcwzrd13. What a great giveaway for a true milestone for our beloved game system. Not really insteresting on single player mode, Toy Racer is really fun online while playing against three opponents. Moreover, this game is BBA compatible.
Despite I live in Europe, I do prefer north american cases. There’s too much blue on european models (sorry Sonic1994CD).
Amazing! Thanks for the history, I’ll try to keep an eye out for or host an online game sometime. Personally, I think the North America Orange with the European cases would have been the absolute best to set DC games apart from others.
I honestly have never played this game. sounds fun! I’ve played the other games in the series, Toy Fighter on Naomi, and Toy Commander though.
Very cool you are doing this giveaway. I really appreciate your work to keep the dream alive.
I’ve been partial to the american, but I am jealous of the blue from PAL.