Chaos Field Impressions

TOKYO--Tucked away in a corner of Sega's Tokyo Game Show booth was a kiosk that was running a trailer for Chaos Field, the upcoming console conversion of the arcade vertical shoot-'em-up that has already been announced for the PlayStation 2. While arcade-to-console conversions, especially for 2D shooters, tend to be rather old hat these days, our eye was caught by the platforms the game will ship for, which include the GameCube and the Dreamcast.

Yes, the Dreamcast. Apparently the loyal following behind Sega's last, possibly greatest console has warranted some love in the form of this posthumous release. GameCube owners will also be equally pleased, because the number of shooters for the 'Cube is painfully small.

While the game wasn't playable, we've had a chance to mess around with it a bit in arcades, and we've like what we've seen. The game draws on elements from other shooters to create its own unique hybrid style of play. You'll have a lock-on feature to take enemies and certain bullets out, as well as a Radiant Silvergun-style short-range energy field that will absorb certain bullets.

The action plays out in top-down fashion in the time-honored traditions of the shooting genre. Enemies and bullets will swarm like bees to honey, and it will be up to you to destroy everything, while avoiding getting blown up. One look at the onscreen insanity and you'll realize why this game had us at "Hello."

We expect the visuals to come home intact to all the platforms. The GameCube's powerful hardware should have no problem handling the load, and the Dreamcast should shoulder it fine due to the fact that the arcade game is running on the Naomi arcade hardware, which is a close cousin to the DC.

Chaos Field is currently slated to ship this December for the Dreamcast, alongside the already announced PlayStation 2 version, and a GameCube port is set to follow early next year.

For more updates, be sure to check GameSpot's coverage of the Tokyo Game Show 2004.