Skies Of Arcadia is one of the Dreamcast's best RPGs, which but it wasn't without its little issues at launch.
If you played the NTSC-U version (as I did), then you will have been disappointed by the fact that it didn't support RGB SCART, meaning that VGA was the best way to experience it.
However, if you played the PAL version, the VGA option was removed—although RGB SCART support was included, but only at 50hz, not full-speed 60hz. As you can see, finding the "perfect" version of the game is harder than you might think.
Thankfully, modder Riggles has just solved this issue with a new patch which basically gives us the ultimate version of the game (thanks, Retro RGB).
Here's a list of what it does:
- Audio in cutscenes is all in sync 1:1 with the JP/US release, no more drifting delayed audio
- SFX is also reverted to the JP/US release ones as these also were 50Hz optimized
- Walking speed is now the same as the JP/US release
- Makes the game region-free
- RGB, VGA, Composite, all in 60Hz with multi-language support for the first time without issues
It's taken 25 years, but we finally have the best possible version of Skies of Arcadia. You can grab the patch here.
However, Riggles adds that another modder, Skye, is working on a major quality-of-life improvement hack based on his patch. This hack will remove censored elements, rebalance the game to change the "notoriously high encounter rate," restore online connectivity, and make other changes. He advises that you might want to wait for that patch before returning to the game, unless you simply want the "vanilla" version.
While we're on the topic, Skies of Arcadia could be getting a remaster at some point soon.