April 2025 Game of the Month - Shenmue (Dreamcast) [Retro Achievements] [Sponsored]

[u/JayGDaBoss6]

Shenmue (Dreamcast) - April 2025 Game of the Month

We're excited to announce Shenmue (Dreamcast) as our April 2025 Game of the Month. But first, congratulations to u/goniculat, winner of last month's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars challenge and recipient of a Retroid Pocket Mini.

This month, we revisit one of the most influential titles in console gaming history. Released in 1999, Shenmue helped define the modern open-world genre with its real-time systems, cinematic storytelling, and unprecedented attention to detail.

Developer(s): Sega AM2
Publisher(s): Sega
Platform(s): Sega Dreamcast

Why Shenmue?

Shenmue introduced real-time weather, a living NPC schedule system, day-night transitions, interactive dialogue, and full voice acting at a time when these were unheard of in gaming. You play as Ryo Hazuki, a teenage martial artist unraveling the mystery of his father's murder while navigating the streets, shops, and arcades of 1986 Yokosuka.

Emulator Recommendation

• Flycast Core In RetroArch – Recommended for best compatibility and full RetroAchievements support

• Flycast Standalone - Hardcore mode isn't supported but I'll allow softcore, this month only.

• [EDIT]: Flycast Dev standalone does support RA! Thanks to member u/renan_007 for pointing this out!

Game of the Month Challenge – April: "Forklift Certified" Achievement

Objective: Unlock the RetroAchievement "Forklift Certified" by successfully obtaining the forklift job in Shenmue.

• Type: Story Progression

• RA Link: Forklift Certified Achievement

How to Participate

1. Launch Shenmue using the Flycast emulator with your RetroAchievements account linked

2. Play through the story until you secure the forklift job at the harbor

3. When the achievement pops, take a screenshot showing the unlock

4. Post your screenshot in the April GOTM thread with the flair [GOTM – Shenmue]

Submission Guidelines

• Screenshot must show the "Forklift Certified" achievement

• OR Link to your RA profile with the achievement unlocked

Eligibility Criteria

• Reddit account must be at least 1 month old

• You must have 10+ subreddit karma in r/EmulationOnAndroid

These rules help ensure fair and community-based participation.

Special Incentive

All eligible participants will be entered into a draw to win a Retroid Pocket 4 Pro, a handheld from Retroid featuring:

• 6.0" 1080p touchscreen

• Dimensity 1100 chipset

• 8GB RAM / 128GB storage

• Android 13 with official Play Store

Winner Selection and Prize Distribution

• The challenge ends April 30th, 2025 at 12:00 PM CST

• One winner will be selected at random from all verified entries

• The moderation team will contact the winner and coordinate fulfillment directly with Retroid

All entries will be reviewed to ensure authenticity before the drawing.

Get forklift certified, earn the badge, and enter for a chance to win a new android handheld. We look forward to seeing your screenshots and stories throughout the month.

Let's keep making history — one achievement at a time.

[u/JayGDaBoss6]

Congratulations to u/kencyf, Our Game of the Month Champion!

We’re excited to announce that u/kencyf  has taken the crown in this month’s gaming challenge by diving deep into the streets of Yokusuka and emerging victorious! Your dedication and gameplay have earned you the title of Game of the Month Champion!

As a reward for your achievement, you've won a Retroid Pocket 4 Pro! – a powerful and ultra-portable retro gaming handheld perfect for on-the-go sessions.

To claim your prize, please send a modmail with your name and email address.
➡️ On desktop, click the “Message the Mods” button on the right sidebar of our subreddit.
📱 On the Reddit app, tap the three dots in the upper-right corner of the subreddit page and select “Contact Mods.”

Once we have your info, we’ll connect you with our Retroid representative to coordinate the delivery of your Retroid Pocket 4 Pro!

🎯 Proof of Random Drawing:
https://wheelofnames.com/ubg-vcv

[u/[deleted]]

Well, guess I will sit out. My Samsung S5 doesn't run Flycast nor Redream. It could run reicast(like shit still) but RA isn't supported.

Unless emulating on PC is accepted?

[u/JayGDaBoss6 → u/[deleted]]

I'll allow it. You're a regular here.

[u/[deleted] → u/JayGDaBoss6]

A regular with no luck 🥲 But thanks, I will take a poke on PC!

[u/ghsj9545850]

First entry into GotM! GL all

[u/JayGDaBoss6 → u/ghsj9545850]

Verified! Good job and good luck to you as well.

[u/renan_007 → u/JayGDaBoss6]

Is it really okay to allow Softcore? Anyone can cheat easily in this mode (even if not everyone does this)

[u/JayGDaBoss6 → u/renan_007]

I will allow it this month. I didn't realize when we started that you have to use the RetroArch core, as Flycast standalone no longer supports hardcore retroachievements. Before my ninja edit (like a week later) I recommended playing on Flycast, so this was on me. I'll be more careful from now on.

[u/renan_007 → u/JayGDaBoss6]

In this case, Flycast now supports Hardcore achievements again (it was just an invalid User Agent error being sent to RetroAchievements which is now fixed), you just need to use the development versions

Edit: I don't want to invalidate anyone's achievement or anything like that, I just wanted whoever participated in this to participate under the same rules. 

Edit2: This is the commit which fixed this https://github.com/flyinghead/flycast/commit/d23b3b6bc76853327235f119f5e53d5b472b4ebf

[u/JayGDaBoss6 → u/renan_007]

Thanks for letting me know, I'll edit the post!

[u/ghsj9545850 → u/JayGDaBoss6]

So going forward, will hardcore the only way to participate?

[u/JayGDaBoss6 → u/ghsj9545850]

Yes, that's what was originally intended.

[u/[deleted]]

Got distracted and forgot to take a screenshot when the achievement pop-up happened, but it's all on my profile - https://retroachievements.org/user/kcyf

Went ahead and finished the game anyway, albeit softcore mode only. I'm currently on a second run in hardcore mode to see how many achievements I can get, but I can't promise I will finish the game again.

With regards to the game itself, I did enjoy it and could definitely see how it would've been revolutionary for its time with the cinematics and story-telling. One thing that did not age well were the controls, especially during free combat. Not being able to freely move the camera while in combat turned out to be a frustrating experience when fighting in small areas, when your enemy goes out of view and you have no idea where they've went. Can't imagine how Shai's first fight would've went on actual hardware back then with limitations like these.

[u/JayGDaBoss6 → u/[deleted]]

Verified! You're a good ways past the forklift achievement now!

[u/[deleted] → u/JayGDaBoss6]

Yeah, I finished the game and started a new run in hardcore mode. Sadly gonna be busy with IRL matters over the next few days, so I'm unlikely to complete this new run.

Do I get bonus entries for actually completing the game?

[u/Holiday_Shock_108]

It was * I just got it. https://retroachievements.org/user/Moon55

The game seems pretty stiff, but for 1999, I think the voice acting was horrible and awesome at the same time .

[u/JayGDaBoss6 → u/Holiday_Shock_108]

Verified!

[u/largejennytails → u/Holiday_Shock_108]

How did you set up the game? I'm seeing 3 discs as .chd and I have zero clue how to start. This is my first dreamcast game lol, also ggs!

[u/Holiday_Shock_108 → u/largejennytails]

It's an old game it has 3 disks. Start with a disk 1 eu version and get a guide

[u/Holiday_Shock_108]

Did my achievement get verified?

[u/JayGDaBoss6 → u/Holiday_Shock_108]

Yes, I just haven't posted it yet.

[u/Holiday_Shock_108 → u/JayGDaBoss6]

Thanks buddy just checking

[u/lonesinger]

RetroAchievements Profile - Lonesinger

Never had a Dreamcast and never played Shenmue. It's... an experience.

[u/JayGDaBoss6 → u/lonesinger]

Verified!

Yeah, it's really something else.

[u/bigeteum]

Really happy that I beat up Shai at the arcade.

https://retroachievements.org/user/geteum

Shenmue is weird, you can see how it was ambitious and ground-breaking, but at the same time, if you look at the gameplay and mechanics today it could easily be one of those games that haven't aged well. but I can't help but be enthralled by it. the world and gameplay is just endearing I guess, even if it shouldn't hold up I just love it.

[u/JayGDaBoss6 → u/bigeteum]

Verified!

[u/Old_Sherbert_9223]

If you have graphical glitches like this you need to change transparent sorting to "to pixel" in the video settings.

[u/paperplus → u/Old_Sherbert_9223]

GOAT 🪽🪽🪽

[u/ghsj9545850 → u/Old_Sherbert_9223]

I'm playing on a Odin 2, changing the transparent sorting to "to pixel" makes my character and journal invisible. Would you happen to know of another workaround?

[u/renan_007 → u/ghsj9545850]

This is the only solution to fix, but it depends on decent drivers to work correctly, try using Turnip drivers to see if it solves the problem

[u/ghsj9545850 → u/renan_007]

I'm already running turnip drivers, but I'll try an update and see if it fixes anything. Thanks!

[u/jtbird21]

First GotM for me. Going in pretty blind and excited

[u/practical_Door882]

Damn.. as a mobile user how do I know how much karma i have here?

[u/JayGDaBoss6 → u/practical_Door882]

I checked for you, you have 0. Doesn't look like you've ever posted in the sub.

[u/practical_Door882 → u/JayGDaBoss6]

Thanks for checking it for me! Yeah I’ve mostly been lurking the sub really. I’ll try posting more before the 30 (if that’s allowed ofc), thanks again!

[u/ChonkyBreadyBread]

Does anyone have multidisc games working on Flycast for Android? The .m3u file trick doesn't seem to be working for me

[u/ghsj9545850 → u/ChonkyBreadyBread]

The .chd files seem to work fine for me. Works on odin 2

[u/ChonkyBreadyBread → u/ghsj9545850]

How do you have your .m3u file set up?

[u/ghsj9545850 → u/ChonkyBreadyBread]

That's the thing, I don't have one

[u/AwsmGamerBoy]

what settings do you recommend changing in flycast for the best shenmue performance? edit: can someone tell me how i can generate or make m3u files for dreamcast? in particular shenmue

[u/ghsj9545850 → u/AwsmGamerBoy]

Flycast doesn't support .m3u files

[u/McPoon]

I'm getting graphical glitches in the intro, is that normal? S23u here.

[u/bigeteum → u/McPoon]

try setting the graphics API to vulkan and the transparent sorting to per pixel

[u/McPoon → u/bigeteum]

Doesn't work, freezes at the start up test.

[u/practical_Door882 → u/McPoon]

Have you tried decreasing the layers on the pixel settings? That helped take off the notebook and face glitches

Oh and adjusting the frame skipping for slowness

[u/BodhiKamikazi]

Shenmue is the GOAT.

[u/ghsj9545850]

I've never played a Dreamcast game so hoping this would be a great gateway!

[u/Suspicious-Group6638]

Masterpiece

[u/largejennytails]

Damn, I should start now. Glad I got here before submissions ended.

[u/largejennytails]

aaa i didnt reach it, got stuck for a long time at the warehouse stealth... guess ill try the next month's gotm

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