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[RevenantKioku]

Okay, I'm in Japan and stumbled upon a Saturn with 2 controllers for real cheap. So I snagged it, Shining Force III Scenario I and some Slayers game which I think might be a dating sim (it was 190 yen).
Anyway, I know some of the big guns for the Saturn, but they're generally freaking expensive.
How about some not too expensive titles that would be worth getting while I'm here?
Text heavy games aren't too bad, I'm not fluent but a dictionary has gotten me through a lot of games.
So what should I make sure to snag?

 

[RiZ III]

If you can read japanese, Dragon Force 2.

 

[WarPig]

Lessee...cheap fun on the Saturn. There are a lot of good shooters down in the middling price range. If you don't want to shell out the big bucks for Silvergun and Do Don Pachi, you can get Konami's Gradius and Parodius comps, Battle Garegga, I got Soukyugurentai cheap last trip out. Tokimeki Memorial is super-cheap and fun if you've got some language comprehension. Grandia is a good RPG and can be had for a song. Virtua Fighter 2, natch. Ditto racers like Daytona and Sega Rally.

The thing to do, by the way, is to try and go shopping off the beaten path. Akihabara is expensive and picked-over, but if you can get out into the Tokyo suburbs or areas like that, there are serious deals to be found. Kevin Gifford took me to a join called Hyakuman Volt in Chiba that had wads of good deals, so try heading out into the 'burbs if you have someone to lead you around.

Edit: Your Slayers game there I think is Slayers Royal. Mediocre-to-lame RPG, but for a buck fifty, why not?

DFS.

 

[cvxfreak]

How much did you buy your Saturn for?

 

[BeOnEdge]

silhouette mirage

 

[jarrod]

The Saturn Slayers games (there's two iirc) are both mediocre SRPGs. As for other potential buys, what kind of games do you like?

 

[GigaDrive]

Salamander Deluxe Pack
Sega Ages Out Run
Capcom Generation 2 (Ghouls N Ghosts) and 5 (Street Fighter 2)

 

[WarPig]

Oh, yeah, get the cheapo Silhouette Mirage. The Saturn Collection re-release is still pretty common, and it smokes the American PSX version.

If you like wrestling, get Fire Pro Six Man Scramble, that's a good one.

DFS.

 

[RevenantKioku]

The Saturn, 2 controllers, Sakura Wars, Shining Force III Scenario 1, Slayers, Street Fighter Zero II for about 4900 yen.
Edit: There was a copy of some fighting game for 10 yen, don't know why I didn't snag it.
RPGs, strat games I play mostly, but I'm open for shooters and adventure platformers.
I'm in Kanazawa now, I don't think I'm gonna have time to hit up Tokyo, but I'm going to Osaka this weekend.

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

Vampire Savior (aka Darkstalkers 3)

Requires the RAM pack, I believe.

 

[shoplifter]

SFZero3+Ram cart
Elevator Action Returns
Bubble Symphony
the aforementioned shooters
Final Fight Revenge (hey, it's not that great but there weren't that many copies pressed iirc)
Fire Pro SMS if you don't have FPD

/wonders if that store in Aki still has Death Crimson for 30000 (yes a three with four zeroes) yen.

 

[Bebpo]

When I was in Nagoya at the used game shops on the shopping arcade I was able to grab Grandia, Lunar Magic School, Policenauts LE with art book, and Metal Slug for 100yen each.

Cheap Saturn goodness is great

 

[Kobun Heat]

I lived in Kanazawa for a year! How long are you there?

If you're there for a while, there are some good game stores a little outside of downtown. What ones have you found?

 

[shoplifter]

When I was in Nagoya at the used game shops on the shopping arcade I was able to grab Grandia, Lunar Magic School, Policenauts LE with art book, and Metal Slug for 100yen each.

Cheap Saturn goodness is great

Osu fucking roxxorz. The old guy's junk shoppe always had something cool.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Osu fucking roxxorz. The old guy's junk shoppe always had something cool.

Holy shit. I wish I'd gone to Nagoya. I totally could have because I had a friend who lived there...

 

[shoplifter]

The thing I always did to find cool shops was to look through Gamest and find the ads for stuff in Nagoya (i did this in Kyoto when I went as well). Then I'd take a weekend and hit 4-5 stores up.

Nagoya had a shop that sold air guns, models, and Neo Geo games. That was it.

In Kasugai (just outside Nagoya) we had a shop run by an older guy (hard to understand cause he mumbled so much) and his son. They had HUNDREDS of pristine empty Famicom boxes, and nothing in there was newer than 16bit. This was in '99. They fixed mopeds out of the garage and just sold games as they could.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Kobun - I'm living at one of KIT's apartments, so mostly just stores around here.
Book-Off had a few decent snagged games aside from saturn stuff. There's a store down from the Book-Off with a pirate mascot. I'm in class at the moment and I can't remember the name. There was also one down the opposite direction, again can't remember the name. But I've only been to three stores.

 

[Culex]

Wasn't there a Shining Force III vol. 2 and 3?

 

[RevenantKioku]

Wasn't there a Shining Force III vol. 2 and 3?

Seems as such. Oh well, if I see em decently priced I'll snag them.
One thing that freaking amazes me is everything I have bought has in been in tip top condition. Even the 300 yen famicom game I bought had the freaking registration card there still. I can't believe the prices and the quality of used stuff here.

 

[shoplifter]

Isn't it awesome how well taken care of most of that stuff is?

You should get vol. 2 and 3 as well as the fan disc if you find it.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Kobun - I'm living at one of KIT's apartments, so mostly just stores around here.
Book-Off had a few decent snagged games aside from saturn stuff. There's a store down from the Book-Off with a pirate mascot. I'm in class at the moment and I can't remember the name. There was also one down the opposite direction, again can't remember the name. But I've only been to three stores.

Takarajima (Treasure Island). The name is not an exaggeration - it's good you found them. Those are actually the best stores; there are some video rental places up around there that sell used games and CDs too.

Head downtown to the Korinbo/Katamachi area and there's another Takarajima, a smaller one, right across from the McDonald's. (This is what it was like in 2001 anyway, could be different now.)

Erm... mostly it's good that you found the Takarajimas, they were always the best ones. That's where I got my 4000 yen PC Engine Duo, Balloon Fight for 99 yen, uh... lots of 99 yen Neo Geo CD games... etc.

Kanazawa's selection is not bad, but it's nothing compared to Den Den Town in Osaka. I don't know how much time you'll have, but take the Sakaisuji (brown) subway to Ebisu-cho station, and you'll be right smack in front of Retro TV Game Revival and Super Potato, the best video game stores ON THE PLANET. Then walk up the street towards Namba and you'll pass all kinds of wonderful stores including two giant Sofmaps that have big floors of used games. Mandarake is also worth a look, it's mostly manga but tends to have cheap used games too.

 

[drohne]

as far as shooters go, soukyugurentai, layer section, batsugun, and thunderforce V are all fantastic and relatively cheap. can't go wrong with the konami deluxe packs either. battle garegga, sengoku blade, and radiant silvergun are terrific as well, but they're apparently expensive even in japan. the pachi games are considerably better on psx. guardian force is a neat little sleeper, one of my personal favorites and quite cheap. there are literally dozens of good to great shooters on saturn, but these are probably the best.

otherwise silhouette mirage would be a great pickup, yeah. and princess crown is an excellent side-scrolling action/rpg with gorgeous sprites. if you don't have a neo geo, saturn's probably the best place to play metal slug and samurai shodown III/IV. er, let's see, what else...oh, certainly elevator action returns, d+d collection, and capcom generation 2 (g+g series). saturn rocks. still my most played console, actually.

 

[jarrod]

Track down Princess Crown at all costs... Atlus really was one of the better Saturn 3rd parties.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Oh, and actually being on topic: If you like Capcom fighters, it's way cheaper to get the Japanese Saturn versions. SF Alpha 2, etc. should be a few hundred yen each. Some of them are too expensive but they're usually junk anyway (Final Fight Revenge, etc) or cheaper on the Dreamcast (SF Alpha 3).

For a conversation piece, buy the King of Fighters games that were combination cart/CD releases.

 

[Eggo]

Strikers 1945 II and Soukyugurentai

 

[JackFrost2012]

Isn't it awesome how well taken care of most of that stuff is?

You should get vol. 2 and 3 as well as the fan disc if you find it.

Vol 1 and 3 go for about 1000-1500y. Vol 2 goes for about 4000-5000y. The fan disc is 20,000.

 

[drohne]

oh, one thing to keep in mind is that most of the vertical-format shooters on saturn are virtually unplayable if you're not willing to flip your tv. layer section is the notable exception: the yoko mode in that has been rebalanced really well. soukyugurentai, silvergun, and guardian force are naturally horizontal-format, so those are obviously fine.

edit: oh, and strikers II is a brilliant game, but that's better on psx as well. and much cheaper.

 

[JackFrost2012]

I don't know how much time you'll have, but take the Sakaisuji (brown) subway to Ebisu-cho station, and you'll be right smack in front of Retro TV Game Revival and Super Potato, the best video game stores ON THE PLANET.

Retro TV Game Revival is where I got my MINT IN BOX Top Secret for 8000y. Perhaps the most scandalously overpriced piece of gaming memorabilia I own, but the box and manual are quite literally flawless. Flawless!!

I tend to stick to the beaten path, since I make it down to Tokyo so rarely. But once I live there proper I'm going to be all about megamysterious ura-gamestore taisen CHALLENGE!!

 

[Kobun Heat]

Vol 1 and 3 go for about 1000-1500y. Vol 2 goes for about 4000-5000y. The fan disc is 20,000.

I saw all four for 18,000 yen in Wanpaku Kosou in Kyoto.

They might still be there.

 

[RevenantKioku]

I haven't seen Scenario 1 for more than 750 yen, just to say.
Damn though, I wish they had a turbo duo there still.

 

[Kobun Heat]

I haven't seen Scenario 1 for more than 750 yen, just to say.
Damn though, I wish they had a turbo duo there still.

This post encapsulates Kanazawa's used game scene. It's way cheaper than Tokyo. But the selection is much worse.

Have they discovered the Famicom Disk System yet? I didn't see one FDS system or game in my eleven months there.

 

[shoplifter]

PCE-Duos weren't too difficult to find when I was there, but that was 4 years ago and they may have been snapped up nicely. It was still quite easy to find sealed software other than Dead of the Brain which had only been out a few months in fall '99.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Kobun - How's Osaka's prices? I haven't seen FDS either, but I'm still relatively shocked at the number of Famicom and SF games around. I've also snagged a few Wonderswan games at ridiculous prices.
2000 yen for the FF2 Wonderswan, beautiful condition.

 

[Bebpo]

Osu fucking roxxorz. The old guy's junk shoppe always had something cool.

Woah! I'd forgotten the name of the place since it's been 3 years but yeah it was the shopping arcade at Osu with the big temple right outside one of the entrances. Hmm, remembering the name brings back memories

Book-Off had a few decent snagged games aside from saturn stuff

heh, I always liked Book-Off just because I was able to get The Bouncer used for 600 yen like 4 months after it was out

 

[JackFrost2012]

I haven't seen Scenario 1 for more than 750 yen, just to say.
Damn though, I wish they had a turbo duo there still.

My prices are from when I was looking for them in early 2002, so the market may have shifted since then. I was mostly aiming to illustrate the differences in prices, not the actual yen values! Using words this time: 1 and 3 are dirt-cheap, 2 is still fairly expensive, and the fan disc costs retardo bucks.

 

[JackFrost2012]

2000 yen for the FF2 Wonderswan, beautiful condition.

Shhhhh, if everyone knows that's what they go for, I'll have to stop selling them for $50 on eBay!!

 

[Kobun Heat]

Kobun - How's Osaka's prices? I haven't seen FDS either, but I'm still relatively shocked at the number of Famicom and SF games around. I've also snagged a few Wonderswan games at ridiculous prices.
2000 yen for the FF2 Wonderswan, beautiful condition.

Osaka can be more expensive than Kanazawa (although that FFII would have only run you 1000 yen at Sofmap) but generally cheaper than Akihabara, and in fact the selection is better. If you're shocked at Kanazawa's selection you're going to fall over and die when you walk into Retro. It took me a year of shopping around to complete my boxed Square Super Famicom collection in Kanazawa; I could have done it in one day in Osaka.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Damn I wish Book-Off had more stuff I wanted.
DQV used was 2500 yen only, that was ridiculous compared to the prices other stores were pricing it at.
Kobun: I meant the Wonderswan that came with FFII and the special strap, don't know if I made that clear or not.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Damn I wish Book-Off had more stuff I wanted.
DQV used was 2500 yen only, that was ridiculous compared to the prices other stores were pricing it at.

Save your money for Den Den Town. Sakai-suji line, Ebisu-cho station. Follow the signs to Den Den Town exit, take a right, and you're in heaven. I look forward to your report after this weekend.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Kobun: I meant the Wonderswan that came with FFII and the special strap, don't know if I made that clear or not.

Oh! Then I hate you.

<--- paid 12000 yen at launch.

 

[JackFrost2012]

DQV used was 2500 yen only, that was ridiculous compared to the prices other stores were pricing it at.

What?! I really want that but it only just now hit 5000y everywhere else ... that's Book-Off, you say?

 

[RevenantKioku]

What?! I really want that but it only just now hit 5000y everywhere else ... that's Book-Off, you say?

Yup, used for about 2500.

 

[basik]

strikers 1945 II, Princess Crown

 

[cvxfreak]

Pick up BioHazard while you're at it.

 

[Necroscope]

Radiant Silvergun
Sakura Taisen 1 & 2

 

[FnordChan]

Don't mind me, I'm just here to second the recommendations for Capcom Generations 2 (aka God, I Love Ghosts And Goblins Sooooooo Much) and the particularly swank Metal Slug conversion. For puzzle game fun the Saturn also has a good version of Magical Drop III.

Meanwhile, has anyone ever encountered this particular Saturn release?

I'm all for seeing the goodness that is Zork 1 propogate around the world, but this is more than a tad bizzare, especially considering all the graphics.

FrobozzChan

 

[Akira]

Pocket Fighter!