If there’s one thing that’s even better than getting another Dreamcast game back online, it’s getting one online that’s never been online before! And such is the case with today’s announcement that Propeller Arena is now playable online for the first time! At least outside of the development studio anyway. This is all thanks to the efforts of flyinghead who only just last year brought Outtigger back online in collaboration with Shuouma. This is no coincidence however as Propeller Arena is based on the same base netcode as Outtrigger but obviously with some differences that required a bit more effort to figure out.
Propeller Arena, for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, was an arcade-style flight combat game that Sega had planned for release in 2001 but was sadly cancelled due to the events of 9/11. The game is really a masterpiece from the awesome folks at Sega’s AM2 division and combines intense arial combat with Sega’s iconic arcade feel. The game was 100% completed before the cancellation and would have been one of the Dreamcast’s most advanced online games, featuring support for up to 6 players, a fully-featured lobby with plenty of game customization, text and voice chat, private messaging, password-protected games, and wait for it… broadband adapter support! From what I’ve played, the gameplay is very smooth even with the standard modem but BBA support is always a welcome addition and makes the peripheral ever-so-slightly more worth the high asking price.
Propeller Arena has always been one of the “Holy Grail” games Dreamcast fans wanted to play online and now we finally can! It’s without-a-doubt an amazing addition to the now-numerous catalog of games playable online in 2026. A huge thanks goes out to flyinghead for making this happen and also to Shuouma whose original Outtrigger code was used as a starting block for this.
As always, be sure to check the Connection Guide for all the info you need on how to connect. As with any new server, there may be bugs. If you experience any issues, you can report them in the comments below.