A developer has successfully gotten the original Halo: Combat Evolved, a day-one launch title for the original Xbox in 2001, ported and running on the Sega Dreamcast – in both campaign and multiplayer. And he’s posted 28 minutes of gameplay footage from the campaign and multiplayer to prove it.
X user and game developer “Jilted Valkyrie” uploaded the footage just days ahead of the 25th anniversary of both Halo and the Xbox itself. The Dreamcast, meanwhile, is a tad older, having launched in Japan in late 1998 and worldwide in late 1999. The footage shows a modified title screen displaying the title, “Halo: Dreamcast Evolved,” with the legendary Halo theme music playing. It then shows multiplayer footage on a number of maps, including big ones like Sidewinder. Meanwhile, footage from the first mission of the campaign is there too. The framerate appears to dip below 30fps at times, but it doesn’t take away from the technical marvel that is getting an Xbox game running on the older Dreamcast hardware.
Jilted Valkyrie says the campaign port is currently 77% complete, and he shouts out Dreamcast developer Falco Girgis for his help on the project. “If you like what you see, go give @falco_girgis a follow. Without his work in KOS and SH4ZAM, this unique, passionate port of Halo would not exist. He inspired me with his technical posts on GTA3 for Dreamcast to do something I always wondered about… Halo on Sega.”
He later added, “It’s not a 1:1 port, so the experience has completely new things to it not in any other version. There’s even an entire new mode… plus who wouldn’t want to play Halo online on Dreamcast?” He did not give details on the new mode, however. Finally, he says that he expects to release it this year.
As for modern Halo, Xbox seems set to reboot the franchise – or at the very least, the way Halo is made. Xbox leadership took development duties on the next mainline Halo away from Halo Studios (nee 343 Industries) and handed them to Activision, who will form a new team to helm the project. It’s a bold move, and it remains to be seen if it can restore the series to its former glory.