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Releases: KilledByAPixel/SP13KTRA
Release list
SP13KTRA for Dreamcast (homebrew) v1.9
SP13KTRA started as a js13kGames 2026 entry, an anti-gravity racer in 13 kilobytes of JavaScript. This is its Dreamcast homebrew port: all eight circuits, a field of eight craft, a soundtrack for every circuit and VMU saves, at 60 frames a second.
Play the original in your browser: https://killedbyapixel.github.io/SP13KTRA/
New in v1.9
- The distant road is drawn with fewer polygons, and there are no more hairline cracks in the road, near or far.
- Together with v1.7's scenery cuts and v1.8's DMA, this is the big push for 60 frames a second on real hardware. If you try it on a Dreamcast, please press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout: it tells us exactly where the time goes!
New in v1.8
- The graphics data now goes to the Dreamcast's graphics chip by DMA, so the CPU no longer copies it every frame and can get on with the next one. This should be a real speed-up on hardware (an emulator cannot show it). A photo of the readout (press Y in a race) would be a big help!
New in v1.7
- More headroom for 60 frames a second on real hardware: about a third of the buildings and half the roadside posts (the turn arrows all stay).
- The performance readout (press Y in a race) now shows its own cost as READOUT, so a photo shows what the game itself costs. Photos from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.6
- A big cut in CPU work for real hardware: the race simulation costs about half as much, distant craft are lit more cheaply and the engine trails use half the points.
- The turn arrows are visible all the way into the distance, and there is much less pop-in: the city districts and the infield have about half as many buildings, which leaves room to draw everything else out to the fog.
- If you try it on a Dreamcast, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.5
- A first performance improvement for real hardware: the road and scenery transform now works with the Dreamcast's memory cache instead of against it. If you can, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.4
- Fixed a real-hardware bug where the walls, rails and road edges disappeared in the distance.
- The first time you unlock a new circuit, you go straight to it in the menu.
- CHANGE TEAM in the menu is now the only way to change team (left and right no longer do).
- The pause screen shows how to resume or return to the menu.
- A more detailed performance readout: press Y during a race. Photos of it from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.3
- Fixed a real-hardware glitch where some HUD digits (the race time, the placing) had a dark diagonal cut through them.
- The graphics chip no longer sorts see-through layers pixel by pixel, which should also smooth out occasional frame blips on hardware.
New in v1.2
- Faster music loading from a real disc, and each circuit's song now loads during the LOADING screen instead of at the start of the race.
- Saves that fail to write (a full or missing VMU) are retried instead of lost.
- Unplugging the controller pauses the race.
New in v1.1
- Exploding is the end of your race: your craft stays wrecked and the results card reads OUT (it used to respawn and switch to 8TH).
How to play
Download SP13KTRA-Dreamcast.zip below. It holds sp13ktra.cdi, a DiscJuggler disc image.
- Real Dreamcast: burn it to a CD-R (DiscJuggler or a similar CDI burner) and boot it on a console that plays burned discs, or copy it to an optical drive emulator such as a GDEMU or MODE.
- Emulator: open it in Flycast.
The first real-hardware reports are coming in! If you try it on a Dreamcast, I'd love to hear how it runs, and how you loaded it (burned CD-R, GDEMU, MODE or a loader like DreamShell).
Controls
| Steer | analog stick or D-pad |
| Gas | A, or the right trigger (analog) |
| Brake | X, or the left trigger |
| Turbo | B (costs energy) |
| Pause | Start |
Finish in the top three to unlock the next circuit. Win them all to see the ending. Progress saves to the VMU.
Credits
Game, code, music and art by Frank Force. Ported to the Dreamcast with the help of Claude (Anthropic). Built with KallistiOS (its licence is in the zip) and newlib.
SEGA and Dreamcast are trademarks of SEGA Corporation. This is an unofficial fan-made homebrew game, not licensed or endorsed by SEGA.
SP13KTRA for Dreamcast (homebrew) v1.8
SP13KTRA started as a js13kGames 2026 entry, an anti-gravity racer in 13 kilobytes of JavaScript. This is its Dreamcast homebrew port: all eight circuits, a field of eight craft, a soundtrack for every circuit and VMU saves, at 60 frames a second.
Play the original in your browser: https://killedbyapixel.github.io/SP13KTRA/
New in v1.8
- The graphics data now goes to the Dreamcast's graphics chip by DMA, so the CPU no longer copies it every frame and can get on with the next one. This should be a real speed-up on hardware (an emulator cannot show it). A photo of the readout (press Y in a race) would be a big help!
New in v1.7
- More headroom for 60 frames a second on real hardware: about a third of the buildings and half the roadside posts (the turn arrows all stay).
- The performance readout (press Y in a race) now shows its own cost as READOUT, so a photo shows what the game itself costs. Photos from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.6
- A big cut in CPU work for real hardware: the race simulation costs about half as much, distant craft are lit more cheaply and the engine trails use half the points.
- The turn arrows are visible all the way into the distance, and there is much less pop-in: the city districts and the infield have about half as many buildings, which leaves room to draw everything else out to the fog.
- If you try it on a Dreamcast, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.5
- A first performance improvement for real hardware: the road and scenery transform now works with the Dreamcast's memory cache instead of against it. If you can, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.4
- Fixed a real-hardware bug where the walls, rails and road edges disappeared in the distance.
- The first time you unlock a new circuit, you go straight to it in the menu.
- CHANGE TEAM in the menu is now the only way to change team (left and right no longer do).
- The pause screen shows how to resume or return to the menu.
- A more detailed performance readout: press Y during a race. Photos of it from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.3
- Fixed a real-hardware glitch where some HUD digits (the race time, the placing) had a dark diagonal cut through them.
- The graphics chip no longer sorts see-through layers pixel by pixel, which should also smooth out occasional frame blips on hardware.
New in v1.2
- Faster music loading from a real disc, and each circuit's song now loads during the LOADING screen instead of at the start of the race.
- Saves that fail to write (a full or missing VMU) are retried instead of lost.
- Unplugging the controller pauses the race.
New in v1.1
- Exploding is the end of your race: your craft stays wrecked and the results card reads OUT (it used to respawn and switch to 8TH).
How to play
Download SP13KTRA-Dreamcast.zip below. It holds sp13ktra.cdi, a DiscJuggler disc image.
- Real Dreamcast: burn it to a CD-R (DiscJuggler or a similar CDI burner) and boot it on a console that plays burned discs, or copy it to an optical drive emulator such as a GDEMU or MODE.
- Emulator: open it in Flycast.
The first real-hardware reports are coming in! If you try it on a Dreamcast, I'd love to hear how it runs, and how you loaded it (burned CD-R, GDEMU, MODE or a loader like DreamShell).
Controls
| Steer | analog stick or D-pad |
| Gas | A, or the right trigger (analog) |
| Brake | X, or the left trigger |
| Turbo | B (costs energy) |
| Pause | Start |
Finish in the top three to unlock the next circuit. Win them all to see the ending. Progress saves to the VMU.
Credits
Game, code, music and art by Frank Force. Ported to the Dreamcast with the help of Claude (Anthropic). Built with KallistiOS (its licence is in the zip) and newlib.
SEGA and Dreamcast are trademarks of SEGA Corporation. This is an unofficial fan-made homebrew game, not licensed or endorsed by SEGA.
SP13KTRA for Dreamcast (homebrew) v1.7
SP13KTRA started as a js13kGames 2026 entry, an anti-gravity racer in 13 kilobytes of JavaScript. This is its Dreamcast homebrew port: all eight circuits, a field of eight craft, a soundtrack for every circuit and VMU saves, at 60 frames a second.
Play the original in your browser: https://killedbyapixel.github.io/SP13KTRA/
New in v1.7
- More headroom for 60 frames a second on real hardware: about a third of the buildings and half the roadside posts (the turn arrows all stay).
- The performance readout (press Y in a race) now shows its own cost as READOUT, so a photo shows what the game itself costs. Photos from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.6
- A big cut in CPU work for real hardware: the race simulation costs about half as much, distant craft are lit more cheaply and the engine trails use half the points.
- The turn arrows are visible all the way into the distance, and there is much less pop-in: the city districts and the infield have about half as many buildings, which leaves room to draw everything else out to the fog.
- If you try it on a Dreamcast, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.5
- A first performance improvement for real hardware: the road and scenery transform now works with the Dreamcast's memory cache instead of against it. If you can, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.4
- Fixed a real-hardware bug where the walls, rails and road edges disappeared in the distance.
- The first time you unlock a new circuit, you go straight to it in the menu.
- CHANGE TEAM in the menu is now the only way to change team (left and right no longer do).
- The pause screen shows how to resume or return to the menu.
- A more detailed performance readout: press Y during a race. Photos of it from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.3
- Fixed a real-hardware glitch where some HUD digits (the race time, the placing) had a dark diagonal cut through them.
- The graphics chip no longer sorts see-through layers pixel by pixel, which should also smooth out occasional frame blips on hardware.
New in v1.2
- Faster music loading from a real disc, and each circuit's song now loads during the LOADING screen instead of at the start of the race.
- Saves that fail to write (a full or missing VMU) are retried instead of lost.
- Unplugging the controller pauses the race.
New in v1.1
- Exploding is the end of your race: your craft stays wrecked and the results card reads OUT (it used to respawn and switch to 8TH).
How to play
Download SP13KTRA-Dreamcast.zip below. It holds sp13ktra.cdi, a DiscJuggler disc image.
- Real Dreamcast: burn it to a CD-R (DiscJuggler or a similar CDI burner) and boot it on a console that plays burned discs, or copy it to an optical drive emulator such as a GDEMU or MODE.
- Emulator: open it in Flycast.
The first real-hardware reports are coming in! If you try it on a Dreamcast, I'd love to hear how it runs, and how you loaded it (burned CD-R, GDEMU, MODE or a loader like DreamShell).
Controls
| Steer | analog stick or D-pad |
| Gas | A, or the right trigger (analog) |
| Brake | X, or the left trigger |
| Turbo | B (costs energy) |
| Pause | Start |
Finish in the top three to unlock the next circuit. Win them all to see the ending. Progress saves to the VMU.
Credits
Game, code, music and art by Frank Force. Ported to the Dreamcast with the help of Claude (Anthropic). Built with KallistiOS (its licence is in the zip) and newlib.
SEGA and Dreamcast are trademarks of SEGA Corporation. This is an unofficial fan-made homebrew game, not licensed or endorsed by SEGA.
SP13KTRA for Dreamcast (homebrew) v1.6
SP13KTRA started as a js13kGames 2026 entry, an anti-gravity racer in 13 kilobytes of JavaScript. This is its Dreamcast homebrew port: all eight circuits, a field of eight craft, a soundtrack for every circuit and VMU saves, at 60 frames a second.
Play the original in your browser: https://killedbyapixel.github.io/SP13KTRA/
New in v1.6
- A big cut in CPU work for real hardware: the race simulation costs about half as much, distant craft are lit more cheaply and the engine trails use half the points.
- The turn arrows are visible all the way into the distance, and there is much less pop-in: the city districts and the infield have about half as many buildings, which leaves room to draw everything else out to the fog.
- If you try it on a Dreamcast, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.5
- A first performance improvement for real hardware: the road and scenery transform now works with the Dreamcast's memory cache instead of against it. If you can, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.4
- Fixed a real-hardware bug where the walls, rails and road edges disappeared in the distance.
- The first time you unlock a new circuit, you go straight to it in the menu.
- CHANGE TEAM in the menu is now the only way to change team (left and right no longer do).
- The pause screen shows how to resume or return to the menu.
- A more detailed performance readout: press Y during a race. Photos of it from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.3
- Fixed a real-hardware glitch where some HUD digits (the race time, the placing) had a dark diagonal cut through them.
- The graphics chip no longer sorts see-through layers pixel by pixel, which should also smooth out occasional frame blips on hardware.
New in v1.2
- Faster music loading from a real disc, and each circuit's song now loads during the LOADING screen instead of at the start of the race.
- Saves that fail to write (a full or missing VMU) are retried instead of lost.
- Unplugging the controller pauses the race.
New in v1.1
- Exploding is the end of your race: your craft stays wrecked and the results card reads OUT (it used to respawn and switch to 8TH).
How to play
Download SP13KTRA-Dreamcast.zip below. It holds sp13ktra.cdi, a DiscJuggler disc image.
- Real Dreamcast: burn it to a CD-R (DiscJuggler or a similar CDI burner) and boot it on a console that plays burned discs, or copy it to an optical drive emulator such as a GDEMU or MODE.
- Emulator: open it in Flycast.
The first real-hardware reports are coming in! If you try it on a Dreamcast, I'd love to hear how it runs, and how you loaded it (burned CD-R, GDEMU, MODE or a loader like DreamShell).
Controls
| Steer | analog stick or D-pad |
| Gas | A, or the right trigger (analog) |
| Brake | X, or the left trigger |
| Turbo | B (costs energy) |
| Pause | Start |
Finish in the top three to unlock the next circuit. Win them all to see the ending. Progress saves to the VMU.
Credits
Game, code, music and art by Frank Force. Ported to the Dreamcast with the help of Claude (Anthropic). Built with KallistiOS (its licence is in the zip) and newlib.
SEGA and Dreamcast are trademarks of SEGA Corporation. This is an unofficial fan-made homebrew game, not licensed or endorsed by SEGA.
SP13KTRA for Dreamcast (homebrew) v1.5
SP13KTRA started as a js13kGames 2026 entry, an anti-gravity racer in 13 kilobytes of JavaScript. This is its Dreamcast homebrew port: all eight circuits, a field of eight craft, a soundtrack for every circuit and VMU saves, at 60 frames a second.
Play the original in your browser: https://killedbyapixel.github.io/SP13KTRA/
New in v1.5
- A first performance improvement for real hardware: the road and scenery transform now works with the Dreamcast's memory cache instead of against it. If you can, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.4
- Fixed a real-hardware bug where the walls, rails and road edges disappeared in the distance.
- The first time you unlock a new circuit, you go straight to it in the menu.
- CHANGE TEAM in the menu is now the only way to change team (left and right no longer do).
- The pause screen shows how to resume or return to the menu.
- A more detailed performance readout: press Y during a race. Photos of it from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.3
- Fixed a real-hardware glitch where some HUD digits (the race time, the placing) had a dark diagonal cut through them.
- The graphics chip no longer sorts see-through layers pixel by pixel, which should also smooth out occasional frame blips on hardware.
New in v1.2
- Faster music loading from a real disc, and each circuit's song now loads during the LOADING screen instead of at the start of the race.
- Saves that fail to write (a full or missing VMU) are retried instead of lost.
- Unplugging the controller pauses the race.
New in v1.1
- Exploding is the end of your race: your craft stays wrecked and the results card reads OUT (it used to respawn and switch to 8TH).
How to play
Download SP13KTRA-Dreamcast.zip below. It holds sp13ktra.cdi, a DiscJuggler disc image.
- Real Dreamcast: burn it to a CD-R (DiscJuggler or a similar CDI burner) and boot it on a console that plays burned discs, or copy it to an optical drive emulator such as a GDEMU or MODE.
- Emulator: open it in Flycast.
The first real-hardware reports are coming in! If you try it on a Dreamcast, I'd love to hear how it runs, and how you loaded it (burned CD-R, GDEMU, MODE or a loader like DreamShell).
Controls
| Steer | analog stick or D-pad |
| Gas | A, or the right trigger (analog) |
| Brake | X, or the left trigger |
| Turbo | B (costs energy) |
| Pause | Start |
Finish in the top three to unlock the next circuit. Win them all to see the ending. Progress saves to the VMU.
Credits
Game, code, music and art by Frank Force. Ported to the Dreamcast with the help of Claude (Anthropic). Built with KallistiOS (its licence is in the zip) and newlib.
SEGA and Dreamcast are trademarks of SEGA Corporation. This is an unofficial fan-made homebrew game, not licensed or endorsed by SEGA.
SP13KTRA for Dreamcast (homebrew) v1.4
SP13KTRA started as a js13kGames 2026 entry, an anti-gravity racer in 13 kilobytes of JavaScript. This is its Dreamcast homebrew port: all eight circuits, a field of eight craft, a soundtrack for every circuit and VMU saves, at 60 frames a second.
Play the original in your browser: https://killedbyapixel.github.io/SP13KTRA/
New in v1.4
- Fixed a real-hardware bug where the walls, rails and road edges disappeared in the distance.
- The first time you unlock a new circuit, you go straight to it in the menu.
- CHANGE TEAM in the menu is now the only way to change team (left and right no longer do).
- The pause screen shows how to resume or return to the menu.
- A more detailed performance readout: press Y during a race. Photos of it from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.3
- Fixed a real-hardware glitch where some HUD digits (the race time, the placing) had a dark diagonal cut through them.
- The graphics chip no longer sorts see-through layers pixel by pixel, which should also smooth out occasional frame blips on hardware.
New in v1.2
- Faster music loading from a real disc, and each circuit's song now loads during the LOADING screen instead of at the start of the race.
- Saves that fail to write (a full or missing VMU) are retried instead of lost.
- Unplugging the controller pauses the race.
New in v1.1
- Exploding is the end of your race: your craft stays wrecked and the results card reads OUT (it used to respawn and switch to 8TH).
How to play
Download SP13KTRA-Dreamcast.zip below. It holds sp13ktra.cdi, a DiscJuggler disc image.
- Real Dreamcast: burn it to a CD-R (DiscJuggler or a similar CDI burner) and boot it on a console that plays burned discs, or copy it to an optical drive emulator such as a GDEMU or MODE.
- Emulator: open it in Flycast.
The first real-hardware reports are coming in! If you try it on a Dreamcast, I'd love to hear how it runs, and how you loaded it (burned CD-R, GDEMU, MODE or a loader like DreamShell).
Controls
| Steer | analog stick or D-pad |
| Gas | A, or the right trigger (analog) |
| Brake | X, or the left trigger |
| Turbo | B (costs energy) |
| Pause | Start |
Finish in the top three to unlock the next circuit. Win them all to see the ending. Progress saves to the VMU.
Credits
Game, code, music and art by Frank Force. Ported to the Dreamcast with the help of Claude (Anthropic). Built with KallistiOS (its licence is in the zip) and newlib.
SEGA and Dreamcast are trademarks of SEGA Corporation. This is an unofficial fan-made homebrew game, not licensed or endorsed by SEGA.
SP13KTRA for Dreamcast (homebrew) v1.3
SP13KTRA started as a js13kGames 2026 entry, an anti-gravity racer in 13 kilobytes of JavaScript. This is its Dreamcast homebrew port: all eight circuits, a field of eight craft, a soundtrack for every circuit and VMU saves, at 60 frames a second.
Play the original in your browser: https://killedbyapixel.github.io/SP13KTRA/
New in v1.3
- Fixed a real-hardware glitch where some HUD digits (the race time, the placing) had a dark diagonal cut through them.
- The graphics chip no longer sorts see-through layers pixel by pixel, which should also smooth out occasional frame blips on hardware.
New in v1.2
- Faster music loading from a real disc, and each circuit's song now loads during the LOADING screen instead of at the start of the race.
- Saves that fail to write (a full or missing VMU) are retried instead of lost.
- Unplugging the controller pauses the race.
New in v1.1
- Exploding is the end of your race: your craft stays wrecked and the results card reads OUT (it used to respawn and switch to 8TH).
How to play
Download SP13KTRA-Dreamcast.zip below. It holds sp13ktra.cdi, a DiscJuggler disc image.
- Real Dreamcast: burn it to a CD-R (DiscJuggler or a similar CDI burner) and boot it on a console that plays burned discs, or copy it to an optical drive emulator such as a GDEMU or MODE.
- Emulator: open it in Flycast.
The first real-hardware reports are coming in! If you try it on a Dreamcast, I'd love to hear how it runs, and how you loaded it (burned CD-R, GDEMU, MODE or a loader like DreamShell).
Controls
| Steer | analog stick or D-pad |
| Gas | A, or the right trigger (analog) |
| Brake | X, or the left trigger |
| Turbo | B (costs energy) |
| Pause | Start |
Finish in the top three to unlock the next circuit. Win them all to see the ending. Progress saves to the VMU.
Credits
Game, code, music and art by Frank Force. Ported to the Dreamcast with the help of Claude (Anthropic). Built with KallistiOS (its licence is in the zip) and newlib.
SEGA and Dreamcast are trademarks of SEGA Corporation. This is an unofficial fan-made homebrew game, not licensed or endorsed by SEGA.
SP13KTRA for Dreamcast (homebrew) v1.2
SP13KTRA started as a js13kGames 2026 entry, an anti-gravity racer in 13 kilobytes of JavaScript. This is its Dreamcast homebrew port: all eight circuits, a field of eight craft, a soundtrack for every circuit and VMU saves, at 60 frames a second.
Play the original in your browser: https://killedbyapixel.github.io/SP13KTRA/
New in v1.2
- Faster music loading from a real disc, and each circuit's song now loads during the LOADING screen instead of at the start of the race.
- Saves that fail to write (a full or missing VMU) are retried instead of lost.
- Unplugging the controller pauses the race.
New in v1.1
- Exploding is the end of your race: your craft stays wrecked and the results card reads OUT (it used to respawn and switch to 8TH).
How to play
Download SP13KTRA-Dreamcast.zip below. It holds sp13ktra.cdi, a DiscJuggler disc image.
- Real Dreamcast: burn it to a CD-R (DiscJuggler or a similar CDI burner) and boot it on a console that plays burned discs, or copy it to an optical drive emulator such as a GDEMU or MODE.
- Emulator: open it in Flycast.
So far this has only been tested in the Flycast emulator. If you try it on real hardware, I'd love to hear how it runs!
Controls
| Steer | analog stick or D-pad |
| Gas | A, or the right trigger (analog) |
| Brake | X, or the left trigger |
| Turbo | B (costs energy) |
| Pause | Start |
Finish in the top three to unlock the next circuit. Win them all to see the ending. Progress saves to the VMU.
Credits
Game, code, music and art by Frank Force. Ported to the Dreamcast with the help of Claude (Anthropic). Built with KallistiOS (its licence is in the zip) and newlib.
SEGA and Dreamcast are trademarks of SEGA Corporation. This is an unofficial fan-made homebrew game, not licensed or endorsed by SEGA.
SP13KTRA for Dreamcast (homebrew) v1.13
SP13KTRA started as a js13kGames 2026 entry, an anti-gravity racer in 13 kilobytes of JavaScript. This is its Dreamcast homebrew port: all eight circuits, a field of eight craft, a soundtrack for every circuit and VMU saves, at 60 frames a second.
Play the original in your browser: https://killedbyapixel.github.io/SP13KTRA/
New in v1.13
- Faster clipping of the geometry right in front of the camera: roughly 1 to 2 ms back per frame on real hardware, with nothing changed on screen.
- Press Y in a race for a new one-line performance readout (FRAME, MAX, MISS, RND), much cheaper than the full one, which is now a second press of Y. A photo of the one-line readout from real hardware is the most useful thing you can send!
New in v1.12
- The VMU screen shows the game: the SP13KTRA logo on the title, each circuit's outline and your best place in the menu, a big 3, 2, 1, GO, your place, lap and energy during a race, an explosion when you go OUT, and your result at the finish.
New in v1.11
- Every circuit has a new sky: a hand-made panorama all the way round, with smooth dithered gradients. It replaces the sky the game used to build from shapes every frame, which also makes each frame lighter.
- The finale, SP13KTRA, has a rainbow all the way round the horizon, and its fog is now a neutral grey instead of red.
- A cheat to unlock everything: pause a race, hold BOTH triggers all the way down and press X, with nothing else held. Every circuit is marked as won, which opens every circuit and the black and white teams, and it saves to the VMU at once.
New in v1.10
- Fixed the stars: each one drew as a notched square that looked like a tiny crescent, and now draws whole.
New in v1.9
- The distant road is drawn with fewer polygons, and there are no more hairline cracks in the road, near or far.
- Together with v1.7's scenery cuts and v1.8's DMA, this is the big push for 60 frames a second on real hardware. If you try it on a Dreamcast, please press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout: it tells us exactly where the time goes!
New in v1.8
- The graphics data now goes to the Dreamcast's graphics chip by DMA, so the CPU no longer copies it every frame and can get on with the next one. This should be a real speed-up on hardware (an emulator cannot show it). A photo of the readout (press Y in a race) would be a big help!
New in v1.7
- More headroom for 60 frames a second on real hardware: about a third of the buildings and half the roadside posts (the turn arrows all stay).
- The performance readout (press Y in a race) now shows its own cost as READOUT, so a photo shows what the game itself costs. Photos from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.6
- A big cut in CPU work for real hardware: the race simulation costs about half as much, distant craft are lit more cheaply and the engine trails use half the points.
- The turn arrows are visible all the way into the distance, and there is much less pop-in: the city districts and the infield have about half as many buildings, which leaves room to draw everything else out to the fog.
- If you try it on a Dreamcast, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.5
- A first performance improvement for real hardware: the road and scenery transform now works with the Dreamcast's memory cache instead of against it. If you can, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.4
- Fixed a real-hardware bug where the walls, rails and road edges disappeared in the distance.
- The first time you unlock a new circuit, you go straight to it in the menu.
- CHANGE TEAM in the menu is now the only way to change team (left and right no longer do).
- The pause screen shows how to resume or return to the menu.
- A more detailed performance readout: press Y during a race. Photos of it from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.3
- Fixed a real-hardware glitch where some HUD digits (the race time, the placing) had a dark diagonal cut through them.
- The graphics chip no longer sorts see-through layers pixel by pixel, which should also smooth out occasional frame blips on hardware.
New in v1.2
- Faster music loading from a real disc, and each circuit's song now loads during the LOADING screen instead of at the start of the race.
- Saves that fail to write (a full or missing VMU) are retried instead of lost.
- Unplugging the controller pauses the race.
New in v1.1
- Exploding is the end of your race: your craft stays wrecked and the results card reads OUT (it used to respawn and switch to 8TH).
How to play
Download SP13KTRA-Dreamcast.zip below. It holds sp13ktra.cdi, a DiscJuggler disc image.
- Real Dreamcast: burn it to a CD-R (DiscJuggler or a similar CDI burner) and boot it on a console that plays burned discs, or copy it to an optical drive emulator such as a GDEMU or MODE.
- Emulator: open it in Flycast.
The first real-hardware reports are coming in! If you try it on a Dreamcast, I'd love to hear how it runs, and how you loaded it (burned CD-R, GDEMU, MODE or a loader like DreamShell).
Controls
| Steer | analog stick or D-pad |
| Gas | A, or the right trigger (analog) |
| Brake | X, or the left trigger |
| Turbo | B (costs energy) |
| Pause | Start |
Finish in the top three to unlock the next circuit. Win them all to see the ending. Progress saves to the VMU.
Cheat: pause a race, hold both triggers all the way down and press X (nothing else held) to unlock every circuit and team.
Credits
Game, code, music and art by Frank Force. Ported to the Dreamcast with the help of Claude (Anthropic). Built with KallistiOS (its licence is in the zip) and newlib.
SEGA and Dreamcast are trademarks of SEGA Corporation. This is an unofficial fan-made homebrew game, not licensed or endorsed by SEGA.
SP13KTRA for Dreamcast (homebrew) v1.12
SP13KTRA started as a js13kGames 2026 entry, an anti-gravity racer in 13 kilobytes of JavaScript. This is its Dreamcast homebrew port: all eight circuits, a field of eight craft, a soundtrack for every circuit and VMU saves, at 60 frames a second.
Play the original in your browser: https://killedbyapixel.github.io/SP13KTRA/
New in v1.12
- The VMU screen shows the game: the SP13KTRA logo on the title, each circuit's outline and your best place in the menu, a big 3, 2, 1, GO, your place, lap and energy during a race, an explosion when you go OUT, and your result at the finish.
New in v1.11
- Every circuit has a new sky: a hand-made panorama all the way round, with smooth dithered gradients. It replaces the sky the game used to build from shapes every frame, which also makes each frame lighter.
- The finale, SP13KTRA, has a rainbow all the way round the horizon, and its fog is now a neutral grey instead of red.
- A cheat to unlock everything: pause a race, hold BOTH triggers all the way down and press X, with nothing else held. Every circuit is marked as won, which opens every circuit and the black and white teams, and it saves to the VMU at once.
New in v1.10
- Fixed the stars: each one drew as a notched square that looked like a tiny crescent, and now draws whole.
New in v1.9
- The distant road is drawn with fewer polygons, and there are no more hairline cracks in the road, near or far.
- Together with v1.7's scenery cuts and v1.8's DMA, this is the big push for 60 frames a second on real hardware. If you try it on a Dreamcast, please press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout: it tells us exactly where the time goes!
New in v1.8
- The graphics data now goes to the Dreamcast's graphics chip by DMA, so the CPU no longer copies it every frame and can get on with the next one. This should be a real speed-up on hardware (an emulator cannot show it). A photo of the readout (press Y in a race) would be a big help!
New in v1.7
- More headroom for 60 frames a second on real hardware: about a third of the buildings and half the roadside posts (the turn arrows all stay).
- The performance readout (press Y in a race) now shows its own cost as READOUT, so a photo shows what the game itself costs. Photos from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.6
- A big cut in CPU work for real hardware: the race simulation costs about half as much, distant craft are lit more cheaply and the engine trails use half the points.
- The turn arrows are visible all the way into the distance, and there is much less pop-in: the city districts and the infield have about half as many buildings, which leaves room to draw everything else out to the fog.
- If you try it on a Dreamcast, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.5
- A first performance improvement for real hardware: the road and scenery transform now works with the Dreamcast's memory cache instead of against it. If you can, press Y during a race and share a photo of the readout!
New in v1.4
- Fixed a real-hardware bug where the walls, rails and road edges disappeared in the distance.
- The first time you unlock a new circuit, you go straight to it in the menu.
- CHANGE TEAM in the menu is now the only way to change team (left and right no longer do).
- The pause screen shows how to resume or return to the menu.
- A more detailed performance readout: press Y during a race. Photos of it from real hardware are a big help!
New in v1.3
- Fixed a real-hardware glitch where some HUD digits (the race time, the placing) had a dark diagonal cut through them.
- The graphics chip no longer sorts see-through layers pixel by pixel, which should also smooth out occasional frame blips on hardware.
New in v1.2
- Faster music loading from a real disc, and each circuit's song now loads during the LOADING screen instead of at the start of the race.
- Saves that fail to write (a full or missing VMU) are retried instead of lost.
- Unplugging the controller pauses the race.
New in v1.1
- Exploding is the end of your race: your craft stays wrecked and the results card reads OUT (it used to respawn and switch to 8TH).
How to play
Download SP13KTRA-Dreamcast.zip below. It holds sp13ktra.cdi, a DiscJuggler disc image.
- Real Dreamcast: burn it to a CD-R (DiscJuggler or a similar CDI burner) and boot it on a console that plays burned discs, or copy it to an optical drive emulator such as a GDEMU or MODE.
- Emulator: open it in Flycast.
The first real-hardware reports are coming in! If you try it on a Dreamcast, I'd love to hear how it runs, and how you loaded it (burned CD-R, GDEMU, MODE or a loader like DreamShell).
Controls
| Steer | analog stick or D-pad |
| Gas | A, or the right trigger (analog) |
| Brake | X, or the left trigger |
| Turbo | B (costs energy) |
| Pause | Start |
Finish in the top three to unlock the next circuit. Win them all to see the ending. Progress saves to the VMU.
Cheat: pause a race, hold both triggers all the way down and press X (nothing else held) to unlock every circuit and team.
Credits
Game, code, music and art by Frank Force. Ported to the Dreamcast with the help of Claude (Anthropic). Built with KallistiOS (its licence is in the zip) and newlib.
SEGA and Dreamcast are trademarks of SEGA Corporation. This is an unofficial fan-made homebrew game, not licensed or endorsed by SEGA.