My HANZO VGA box has arrived for the Sega Dreamcast, complete with an impressive collection of switches. VGA, audio, scanlines, more switches and even more switches. Wonderful! Half the fun is going to be working out what they all do.

For testing I’m using my Dreamcast with the smokey grey shell, along with Sonic Adventure 2. I’ve connected the video through VGA and routed the audio through a pair of RCA leads into my sound system. So far we’ve got a picture and sound, which is an encouraging start!

Of course, I then realised I didn’t have a controller handy. After a bit of rummaging around, I found one among the growing collection of cables and controllers scattered across the floor. I really should sort those out one of these days.

With everything connected, it’s time to experiment with the scanliner. There are settings for the scanline appearance, including lighter and darker options and different thicknesses. Some combinations look rather nice, while others seem to introduce a bit of flickering.

Unfortunately, operating all these switches while trying to show the result on camera isn’t quite as straightforward as it sounds. Turn the Dreamcast around so I can see the switches, and suddenly you can’t see the screen. Excellent planning!

I also noticed that the LED associated with one of the modes doesn’t appear to be working on my unit. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on there, although the scanline effect itself is certainly doing something.

Once I got the settings looking reasonable, the picture was rather impressive. The thicker scanlines look quite nice, although I really could do with a proper guide to all these switches before I start randomly flicking them around again.

For now, though, I’m rather pleased with the HANZO. Sonic Adventure 2 looks lovely over VGA, even if I’ve spent nearly as much time playing with the switches as I have playing the game!