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[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

SaturnDave from the Sega Saturn Shiro podcast has recently posted new images for the upcoming translation of Lunar: Silver Star Story. He's aiming to recreate the style of Working Designs, with relevant logos, silver tone text and full-color manuals. Everything looks fantastic and makes me eager for the final translation patch to appear soon. It can't be that far away if we're nearly finished with the cover and manual designs.

All of these photos appear on SaturnDave's Twitter page. Feel free to send him your thanks and support.

 

[Kazza]

This sequel introduces an important new feature, by expanding even more the terrain aspect : you can now slide on slopes, and fall into holes, dying instantly. There are spells that raise and lower the ground... The main character is also the one able to turn into a dragon, and she can fly higher, and pick up enemies or allies to carry them. Of course, this is an important feature and has to be used a lot.

Those new additions sound great. I really liked the original, so it's interesting to see a review of the sequel. Shame it doesn't have an English patch yet.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Jungle Park is a quirky little game that was created for Apple Pippen and Mac and was later ported to Sega Saturn under the title Jungle Park: Saturn Island. It is a point-and-click game where you control a monkey on an island, solve puzzles and play a series of mini-games. Its design belongs to that mid-'90s computer multimedia style aimed at casual users.

The software studio behind this title would go on to create the cult favorite Cubivore on Nintendo GameCube, and you can see the similarities in character and art design. Certainly not a classic by any stretch, but a very unique experience that's worth a look. You can import the Saturn disc for less than ten dollars.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

For today's Sega Saturn gameplay video, I thought I'd dig a little deeper into the catalogue. Nichibutsu's Terra Cresta 3D is the seventh and final installment of a long-running series of shoot-em-ups that began in the arcades with Moon Cresta in 1980. This Saturn title is an update of the 1985 Terra Cresta, and should probably be regarded as a retro-styled game.

Surely, this isn't going to compete with the likes of Radiant Silvergun or Battle Garegga, but that was never the intention. It's very much a 1985 arcade shooter at heart, half-inspired by Galaga and Xevious, looking forward to the era of Konami and Toaplan. Such an effort is almost guaranteed to obscurity, like creating a polka album during the height of the grunge era. Nobody's going to be interested in what you do, and there's nothing you can do to change their minds.

I was searching for reviews of this game, and most of them were lukewarm to critical. It is regarded among the lower tier of Saturn shooters, although I find this slightly unfair. Hardcore Gaming 101 published a review by Jess Ragan, a wonderfully talented and highly opinionated videogame critic from my beloved '90s zine scene. He came away unimpressed but he wasn't nearly as acerbic as he could have been, and I certainly understand his perspective.

As for myself, I will freely admit that I have never played this videogame, so any impressions should be taken with the required skepticism. I also have a compulsion to champion underdogs and especially enjoy hidden gems in videogame libraries. And there certainly are charms to be found in Terra Cresta 3D, with its Gouraud shading, extensive use of VDP2 background planes, varied environments that evoke the cliches of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, and a few nice touches like the firebird and the 3D boss battles. Again, there is nothing here that is even in the same galaxy as Radiant Silvergun (a technical masterpiece by even modern standards), but the polygons fit where they should, nothing is tearing or breaking, the speed is consistent, and it has that chunky Generation Five feel to it.

Terra Cresta 3D is going for upwards of $150 on Ebay, and I wouldn't even dream of spending anywhere near that amount for it. If I saw a copy for, say, ten bucks, I'd scoop it up in a heartbeat. This is one of those instances where burning to disc or downloading to SD card is the smart option, unless you are a diehard collector who just has to have everything.

 

[Kazekage1981]

i loved the sega saturn. i was totally flabbergasted by panzer dragoon saga (azel). I couldn't believe they made a full 3-D Rpg. Amazing soundtrack as well.

 

[MadeManG74]

Installed Terraonion MODE on my Saturn today and it is absolutely glorious.

Already having a GDemu, i'm thinking I'll get myself a MODE for Saturn as a Xmas present to myself this year

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

It's time to show some love for Technosoft's Thunder Force 5, their final installment* of their legendary series. This videogame takes full advantage of Saturn's hardware, offering a host of dazzling visual effects with 3D polygons, 2D pre-rendered sprites and good 'ole pixel art. It perfectly captures the Gen-5 era with its combination of old and new, bringing the classic arcade shoot-em-up into the modern era.

TF5 was later released on Sony Playstation with the addition of a new opening CG movie that helps to clarify the murky plot, as well as a boss rush mode. That version was released in the USA and is the one that most fans have played. However, I do prefer the Saturn original for its superior graphics: more details, better parallax scrolling, better color and contrast. We can see how the system's hardware design of combining 3D and 2D results in some excellent designs, and would be difficult to reproduce on PSX or Nintendo 64. It's very unique to this specific era, as later consoles had more than enough power to just render everything with polygons, and it makes Saturn all the more special in my eyes.

Thunder Force 5 is very much a time capsule of its era and that's why I love it. Also helps that it's a brilliantly conceived and executed shooter with all the action and excitement one expects from Technosoft. It's a damn shame that the game sold so few copies in Japan and was never released in the USA (a notorious casualty of the meltdown between Bernie Stolar and Victor Ireland at E3 1997).

Now that Sega owns the rights to the entire Technosoft videogame library, they ought to bring this game back. Heck, a single "Thunder Force Anthology" set would be absolutely perfect.

The first video shows TF5 in full, complete with the "good" ending. The second video shows a comparison between the Saturn and PSX versions along with some written commentary. It can be translated into English via Closed Captioning.


(*Yes, we're all aware that Thunder Force 6 exists, but that was not created by Technosoft, but licensed to Sega and created by former Treasure member Tez Okano. It plays more like a tribute cover band than the real thing and should be remembered as such.)

 

[Kazza]

Now that Sega owns the rights to the entire Technosoft videogame library, they ought to bring this game back. Heck, a single "Thunder Force Anthology" set would be absolutely perfect.

This absolutely needs to happen.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

This absolutely needs to happen.

Remember that Herzog Zwei is coming to Nintendo Switch. Every Sega and Technosoft fan out there needs to buy a copy once it becomes available. Show these guys that there's a fanbase with money to spend on the studio's classics.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Mechanical Violator Hakaider: Last Judgement is a lightgun shoot-em-up released to Saturn in 1996, based directly on a 1995 live-action Toei movie. The script for this videogame was actually written by Toshiki Inoue, who wrote the movie script. It involves a futuristic cyborg who returns to an isolated outpost in search of revenge against an old foe who defeated him and took his arm.

Gameplay involves many text-based dialog scenes as the hero interacts with various characters on his quest. There are also Myst-styled pre-rendered graphics as you walk around the town in search of clues. The main action is standard lightgun fare, with enemy robots that jump out from various hiding holes, throwing grenades in your general direction and exploding in giant balls of flame when shot.

This game won't reach anywhere near the level of polish and sophistication of House of the Dead and the Virtua Cop series. It's decidedly old-school in its approach and will probably remind you of Area 51 or Maximum Force, and what's here is pretty good. The pre-rendered visuals have an undeniable charm and the whole cyberpunk atmosphere is very enjoyable.

Definitely a Saturn hidden gem for sure. Copies can be found on Ebay for as little as $20, which is a good bargain for an obscure genre title.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Now this video is a real beast. It is a three-hour compilation of 1,107 Sega Saturn videogames, almost the entire software library. If you've ever wondered just what was available in the Saturn library, or if you were looking for footage to any number of Japanese exclusives, this is the video to see.

 

[MadeManG74]

Now this video is a real beast. It is a three-hour compilation of 1,107 Sega Saturn videogames, almost the entire software library. If you've ever wondered just what was available in the Saturn library, or if you were looking for footage to any number of Japanese exclusives, this is the video to see.

That's pretty slick. Fun to watch through these at random sometimes and find something that catches your eye to try out.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Side Pocket 3 (1997) is the third and final installment of Data East's popular pool series. This version features 3D polygon environments and an assortment of viewing angles, including first-person. Gameplay modes include training, story, trick shot and versus.

The story mode very clearly steals wholesale from Resident Evil, and it's one of those things where you can't really tell if its homage or parody. Instead of battling zombies, you're challenging people in the mansion to a round of 8-ball. All that's needed is for a zombie dog to break through the window and eat the loser.

The visuals are excellent, varied in textures and color. Environments are a combination of pre-rendered artwork and 3D polygons, the player models are detailed and easy on the eyes. It's a great showpiece for the system, that is, if anybody at Sega of America still cared to notice. Too bad Saturn was no longer "our future." That whole "18 months with no product on store shelves" was a really great business strategy, Bernie. Brilliant strategy, Napoleon.

This game was also released on Playstation in 1998 and it's identical to the Saturn version in every way. Everybody wins!

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Great news! Fire Pro Wrestling: 6 Man Scramble now has an English translation project. You can follow the link to read the latest developments. It sounds like all the menus have been translated, and the person working on this would also like to include a roster of 16 saved "create-a-wrestler" characters in the final patch.

No word on when the translation will be finished and ready for downloading, but let's hope the wait won't be too long.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Video Game Esoterica sings the praises of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (aka Nocturne of the Moonlight) on Sega Saturn. It's nice to hear a dedicated fan who stands up and defends this translation of the Playstation classic.

Can we get an English translation of this videogame, please? That would be terrific.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Youtube user Enigmatic M created this excellent video review of Dragon Force 2, showing off the excellent English translation and all the exciting elements to this legendary sequel.

Interestingly, DF2 was not created by the same studio that made the original. Instead, the team responsible for Terra Phantastica, another glorious must-play Strategy-RPG, was handed the responsibility, and they do an excellent job in continuing everything that worked while adding new gameplay elements like multiple armies & formations, as well as improved graphics that push Saturn's 2D powers to its limits.

In a perfect world, Sega's current owners would realize just how many stone cold classics exist in their vaults, and they would reissue these fantastic videogames for modern platforms, winning a new generation of fans. Thank Heavens for the fan translation community, all I can say.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

One of the coolest things happening in the Sega Saturn community are reproduction cases. These are cases and instruction manuals that fully recreate the look of retail games for fan translations. In these photos, we have four excellent examples: Policenauts, Dragon Force 2, and Shining Force 3: Scenarios 2 & 3.

While I personally prefer the Japanese CD jewel cases, there's no denying the sheer panache of these long-box designs and the extra space given to the wonderful illustrations. One can only imagine seeing these titles released in the West in the late 1990s, in that alternate timeline where Saturn was a roaring success.

One caveat with purchasing these reproduction cases: the discs themselves are nothing more than humble CD-Rs, a format with a lifespan of only 10-12 years. I have discovered this fact the hard way, as many of my old Saturn backup discs from 2007 have failed. It's unfortunate and a little frustrating, but every one of these discs will one day break down and stop working. If you are planning to collect, please keep that in mind. Collect for the artwork and the cover designs first and foremost.

 

[MadeManG74]

Great news! Fire Pro Wrestling: 6 Man Scramble now has an English translation project. You can follow the link to read the latest developments. It sounds like all the menus have been translated, and the person working on this would also like to include a roster of 16 saved "create-a-wrestler" characters in the final patch.

No word on when the translation will be finished and ready for downloading, but let's hope the wait won't be too long.

Interesting! But is there any real benefit to playing this version over Fire Pro World on PC now?

 

[Alexios]

No idea what this is about but some nice Saturn love all the same (maybe some Saturn-only novelty store in Japan or something, or a pop up store).

【秋葉原で聞いてみた】現在の『セガサターン』ソフト売上ベスト5はコレだ！ 『パンツァードラグーン』の世界観とセガ沼の深さに震えが止まらない …

ファミコン世代の30代（私）にとって『セガサターン』は比較的新しいハードというイメージだ。しかし調べると発売からすでに26年……立派な「レトロ」の領域だったらしい。 …

rocketnews24.com

Lol died @ the first boss, cmon

 

[Kazza]

Those high-res widescreen Saturn title screens still look amazing, even in 2020:

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Panzer Dragoon Zwei is superior in every way to Star Fox 64, and this is an incontrovertible fact that deserves to be shouted from rooftops. Every game in the series deserved to sell millions, and by all rights we should be getting hyped for Panzer Dragoon 12 on the soon-to-be-launched Saturn 5.

 

[Alexios]

So there's a PC fan sequel to the Gungriffon Saturn games, that looks pretty rad and faithful (maybe too faithful, I could do without the Saturn draw distance, ha).

HIGH-MACS simulator official page

HIGH-MACS simulator official page

grape65535.jp

I'm definitely giving it a shot at some point, some random guy in the Project Wingman discord spoke about it after I started babbling about old school faux sims.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Since Panzer Dragoon Zwei was brought up, I thought we were long overdue for a longplay video. This terrific Youtube video features multiple plays through the game, including all of the alternate pathways.

This was one of my favorite Saturn games from the late 1990s. I remember staying in one apartment of an abandoned building for several months, helping out the landlord to clean up the place and another one of his properties. I found a 13" black-and-white television and hooked up my Saturn, playing endless sessions of Nights, World Series Baseball 98, Virtua Fighter 2 and Panzer Zwei. I didn't have very many titles in my library, partly due to lack of money, mostly due to buying into the endless anti-Saturn hype and believing there was nothing worth playing on the system. And I really hated staying in that building. Life got a lot better once I moved out and starting enrolling in University night classes again.

Oddly enough, I still kind of miss the b/w television, if only because those things are completely extinct now. They were still very common right up to the turn of the century. You could buy them for next to nothing and they made for the perfect backup TV in the kitchen.

Anyway, here's Panzer Zwei in all its glory. I absolutely love its visual design and sense of world building. This is a world with vast untapped potential, and it's beyond maddening that Sega could never do anything with it after the original trilogy and the post-Team Andromeda Panzer Dragoon Orta on the original Xbox. Let's hope the new remastered edition of the original will help turn things around.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Here is a complete gameplay video of the magnificent Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari, or Seven Winds Island Story, created by Givro Corporation and published by Enix in Japan. This is a gorgeous 2D showpiece with gloriously intricate animation, wondrously inventive character designs and a gameplay style that harkens back to the era of graphical adventures ala Sierra and Lucasarts.

This studio were also credited as developers for Wonder Project J, the 1994 life simulation game for Super Famicom as well as its 1996 sequel, Wonder Project J2 on Nintendo 64. Both titles have retained a dedicated cult following since their release. They were also responsible for a Sega Genesis beat-em-up called Mazin Saga, which features fluid character animation very similar to Nanatsu Kaze.

Clearly, this was another Sega Saturn title that deserved to be brought to the West. Childish hostility to 2D pixel art be damned. Here lies a true showpiece for the system that could not be replicated on Sony Playstation or N64, looks fantastic, is clever and inventive, and surely has potential for crossover appeal. And it doesn't look like it's aged a day.

There really needs to be an English translation for this videogame. There's not a lot of text, and what's present is nearly all written in katakana. It would be relatively simple compared to the likes of Grandia, Shining Force 3 Trilogy, Lunar and Policenauts.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Here is an opportunity to see the spectacular Dodonpachi on Sega Saturn running in vertical "TATE" mode on a CRT display. You can see just how terrific it looks and plays in its ideal setting, and believe me, it looks even better in person. There's an extra layer of speed and polish that gets lost when playing on a modern 1080 or 4K display, where everything gets pixelated.

If I ever get to have my own video arcade, Dodonpachi is going to be near the top of my list. This is such a fantastic shooter, it's certainly the most exciting and thrilling one I've ever played, the one that gives me the greatest sense of defying death every three seconds. Yes, Radiant Silvergun and Soukyugurentai have the 3D graphics, Battle Garegga has the gameplay and Batsugun has the wonderful music, but DDP...this has the adrenaline. This videogame is like drinking three Red Bulls at once.

Both Saturn and Playstation received ports of the Cave classic. The PSX version has smoother explosions-on Saturn, they're drawn at a smaller resolution and then scaled up, resulting in a very slight pixelation-but you cannot change spaceships when you continue, while Sega lets you switch from one aircraft to the next. The excellent shoot-em-up blog 1CC Log for Shumups also had some issues with the Sony version that left him frustrated, but I haven't played this version so I cannot comment.

Either way, this is just about the best over-the-top fireworks display you'll find in videogames. And why wasn't it released in the States?! What was wrong with everyone?!

 

[Kazza]

This was one of my favorite Saturn games from the late 1990s. I remember staying in one apartment of an abandoned building for several months, helping out the landlord to clean up the place and another one of his properties. I found a 13" black-and-white television and hooked up my Saturn, playing endless sessions of Nights, World Series Baseball 98, Virtua Fighter 2 and Panzer Zwei. I didn't have very many titles in my library, partly due to lack of money, mostly due to buying into the endless anti-Saturn hype and believing there was nothing worth playing on the system. And I really hated staying in that building. Life got a lot better once I moved out and starting enrolling in University night classes again.

Oddly enough, I still kind of miss the b/w television, if only because those things are completely extinct now. They were still very common right up to the turn of the century. You could buy them for next to nothing and they made for the perfect backup TV in the kitchen.

Having a whole apartment building to yourself sounds like a pretty cool experience. I find it's experiences like that which often stick with you throughout the years. When you said the word "abandoned" it made me think of this photo (exchange the Gamecube with the Saturn - although this person seems to have a colour TV at least)

I'm currently housesitting an apartment for a friend (Covid-related situation), and I think my experiences here will stick with me long after I've left too.

 

[Kazza]

Spare a thought for us PAL Saturn owners:




I have a lot of nostalgia for the old cardboard boxes. They were so different from the Megadrive and Mega CD ones I was used to. Such small things really emphasise that you are entering a new era of gaming (unlike say the Series X boxes, which look really similar to the current gen ones). The long box format also helps distinguish the games from regular CD boxes (the Japanese Saturn boxes are distinct enough imo).

 

[Alexios]

Some pal cases had tight holders for the manual. Or maybe that was just for special cases like PDS which had to be different and larger to fit two discs in each of the two boxes and the paper sleeve on top of both. Maybe other multi disc games too? Deep Fear?

 

[Kazza]

Some pal cases had tight holders for the manual. Or maybe that was just for special cases like PDS which had to be different and larger to fit two discs in each of the two boxes and the paper sleeve on top of both. Maybe other multi disc games too? Deep Fear?

I'm trying to cast my mind back...All I can remember is that my CDs often fell off the little holder, so I wouold usually only open them while holding the case flat horizontally, so avoiding the disc falling to the floor. I never liked the fat EA cases - a little too ugly. I remember Resident Evil came in a nice, thin, plastic DVD style case (similar to the Touring Car case in the video, I think)

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Game Arts' Dino Island is a favorite of mine, and it's easily one of the most charming and enjoyable of hidden gems on Sega Saturn. As a conventional videogame, it's very minimal at best--you are mostly watching an anime cartoon with occasional multiple-choice options presented to you at various times. But the presentation is so impressive,

The hook is that this game does not feature FMV or video clips. Instead, everything is rendered in real time using Saturn's hardware. All of the animation and art is created with bitmap sprites and VDP2 planes. The result is an extremely sharp, crisp display, entirely free of video encoding debris or pixelation. This technique was used by Game Arts in the past (most notably, Yumimi Mix on Sega CD) and it looks glorious here.

It helps tremendously that the story is so enjoyably silly and fun, following the misadventures of three teenagers who live in a city on an island shared by prehistoric dinosaurs. The giant creatures are entirely benign, happy creatures, and the plot revolves entirely around comical mishaps and jokey gags. There is no villain or dangerous threat, certainly no monsters smashing through skyscrapers. The vibe is very My Neighbor Totoro.

Because of the language barrier, Dino Island will remain a cult curiosity at best among Western Segaphiles. I would love to see a fan translation, but the technical nature of this game makes that highly difficult (you're not simply printing subtitles onto video clips). You would need people with actual programming experience to pull it off. Instead, a written fan translation will probably be the only realistic option, which brings us back to the obscurity thing, which means it's not likely to ever happen.

Whatever. You can still marvel at the 2D visuals and how effectively Game Arts recreates the look and feel of anime cartoons on VHS (there's even a funny pause icon onscreen if you pause the game). Prices for used copies are extremely cheap, usually around the $10 mark, which makes this a must for dedicated Saturn collectors.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Wipeout was a standout hit for Playstation and Saturn, and its direct sequel, Wipeout XL, is even better. It easily remains my all-time favorite PSX videogame and probably my favorite entry in the series. Australian-based Tantalus handled the Saturn translation, where it was released in Japan and later brought to the UK, but never released in the USA. Once again, I'd like to personally thank Bernie Stolar for publicly declaring that "Saturn is not our future" a full two years before the Dreamcast launched.

This version of Wipeout XL is somewhat rare and very expensive. Used copies on Ebay sell for $150, and if you're lucky enough to find a disc for less than a hundred, grab it immediately and without further thought. The UK release is much cheaper, but you'll have to contend with the slower speed due to the PAL format. There is also no working download on the internet, so forget about burning to disc. If you want to play this videogame on Saturn, you're just going to have to bite the bullet and fork over hard cash.

I don't currently have a copy, so I cannot comment directly on the translation, beyond watching the Youtube videos posted above. By all rights, it looks terrific. Where the original Wipeout translation used the Playstation code, the sequel was built using the Manx TT engine, offering more stable graphics, more vivid colors, flashier effects and a notable lack of glitches. The only visual difference, as one would expect, are the mesh transparencies for vapor trails, torpedoes and explosions. Once again, I will offer the same advice: either learn to live with the meshes, or use composite cables to smooth them out.

The fantastic techno soundtrack is exclusive to Sony, leaving the Saturn version with a selection of tracks by Cold Storage. He's okay, he's good. He's just not on the same level as Future Sound of London, Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy or Daft Punk. Oh, well, just play the soundtrack CD on your stereo and you'll be fine.

Definitely near the top of my "Best Sega Saturn Games We Didn't Get" list, and goodness knows, that's a crazy long list. Again, thanks, Bernie.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Would you like to see yet another Saturn classic that Sega of America wouldn't touch? Here's Dungeon Master Nexus, a 3D polygon update to the Atari ST and Commodore dungeon-crawling classic.

So we couldn't have any of the 2D Saturn games because kids no longer wanted to play 2D videogames. But then we couldn't get any of the good 3D games, either. And let's not forget Bernie Stolar's notorious hostility to Japanese RPGs, which he was convinced would never sell...only for Final Fantasy 7 to sell four million copies in the States.

Whoops.

 

[Komatsu]

I really can't wait for the Saturn Lunar translation to come out.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Dragon Master Silk is a 1997 RPG developed by Gimmick House and published by Datam Polystar. It plays in a first-person view and will immediately remind you of Shining the Holy Ark, only with cutesy girls and a lot of 2D anime cutscenes. I wouldn't say it's on the same level as Camelot's classic, but what's here looks nice and plays well.

There were at least a couple other titles in this series on the NEC PC-9801 in Japan, and those are a lot more adult-oriented in its content. I haven't played through the Saturn version enough to tell how it compares, but it does seem to be toned down for a more mainstream audience.

This title received mixed reviews in Sega Saturn Magazine JP, with scores of 7-3-7 from the review crew. It remains somewhat obscure due to the language barrier, but players should be able to figure things out fairly easily, as the gameplay follows the genre standards.

Definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of dungeon-crawling adventure games.

 

[Alexios]

So there's a PC fan sequel to the Gungriffon Saturn games, that looks pretty rad and faithful (maybe too faithful, I could do without the Saturn draw distance, ha).

HIGH-MACS simulator official page

HIGH-MACS simulator official page

grape65535.jp

I'm definitely giving it a shot at some point, some random guy in the Project Wingman discord spoke about it after I started babbling about old school faux sims.

I tried this for a little bit and it's great. The gameplay being mouse and keyboard based given the platform is more like standard modern FPS controls but with the mech arsenal and movement capabilities so it feels a bit more conventional than the Saturn games (I’ll have to see if any controls can be mapped to a flight stick or something but I doubt it, plus it’s so hard you might need all the speed and precision the mouse affords). Other than that it seems super faithful and well made with the way the missions work, your various hud elements, weapons systems and everything else. So, the surrounding Gungriffon elements are all there but the core gameplay is more modern and advanced so it’s not exactly like playing the Saturn games, they should be judged/enjoyed separately. It also doesn’t appear to have training levels or anything super easy to get started with so it’s just fast and chaotic from the get go and might seem frustrating before getting the basics (ie don’t try to use your normal cannon to shoot down planes zipping by, either some spread machinegun fire or homing missiles are your best bet). Also every element has been expanded in some way so it really does feel like a sequel. There’s no way the Saturn could do all this even if the graphics are still low fi in all the right ways but it would be amazing on the Dreamcast (and look better, closer to Rise from the Ashes but not quite given the scale/action).

Update: you CAN actually map a dinput flight stick (or any such gamepad I guess, I don't know about xinput, it seems to only work with the first device it grabs, you may need to unplug others to map the one you want, but my flight stick was first anyway) and also select between different schemes, modern or traditional. I’ve almost got it very similar to my MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries control scheme but I’m having some trouble, the moment I use “turret turn” my “turn” axis also becomes turret turn and both axis have the same exact result until the turret reaches its max 45 degree angle at which point both axis just turn the mech in that direction (or turret turn in the other), even though before doing any turret turning simply turning works as it should with the turret centered. I don’t get it, maybe it’s bugged and I’ll simply have to play with the mouse and keyboard (which is fine) or I don’t quite understand the configuration and menus yet. There is a training tutorial (but I can’t progress before figuring out what it asks, it resets if you do something else) after all and the survival mode from Gungriffon II too.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Soldnerschild is a 1997 Strategy-RPG created jointly between Sega and Koei. It is set in a fantasy medieval world of warring factions between nations. If you're a Saturn fan then you'll immediately notice the similarities to Dragon Force, as you interact with over 150 characters, hire and promote generals, raise vast armies, wage war on battlefields and even square off in commander duels.

The visuals aim for a more "realistic" look than the anime stylings of Dragon Force, and interactions in towns involve polygon models laid over pre-rendered backgrounds. I'm reminded a little of Squaresoft games like Final Fantasy 8 and am impressed at how nicely everything appears. 2D character art is supplied by legendary artist Ayami Kojima, best known for the Castlevania series including, of course, Symphony of the Night, as well as a number of Dynasty Warriors games for Koei.

This title was later ported to Sony Playstation in 1998 by Koei under the title Soldnerschild Special. It features a few minor gameplay tweaks, but both versions are essentially identical. Personally, I think the Saturn version looks a little better, offering beefier character polygon models and smoother scrolling on the battlefield (thanks to VDP2, of course).

You can read about the story and gameplay features on the Koei Fandom page, and it will be essential if you want to play as everything is in Japanese. If you're familiar with the Dragon Force series, then you'll probably find your way around in no time. That said, yeah, if somebody could work on an English translation for this videogame, that would be great.

This game received high marks in Sega Saturn Magazine, with scores of 8-7-9.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Wizardry Llylgamyn Saga is a 32-bit update to the original trilogy of dungeon-crawling RPGs from the Apple II. It is a founding father of video role-playing and adventure games, inspiring countless imitators and successors around the world. The creators of the original Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy cite Wizardly as a direct influence.

This disc includes remakes of the first three entries in the Wizardry series, with extensive upgrades to the graphics that nevertheless remain faithful to the original. The dungeons are given a nice 3D polygon makeover, and you'll immediately feel at home if you're familiar with Shining the Holy Ark, Baroque, Dungeon Master Nexus or Dragon Master Silk. The draw distance could be a little bit longer, but that's a minor quibble.

Battles against monsters recreate the classic Apple II menus and while it may seem a bit minimal to modern gamers, it makes for a fitting tribute. I appreciate the colorful graphics on enemies and items, the painterly backdrops in the town taverns, and the dungeons are suitably creepy and mysterious.

The best thing about this game is that it can be played in English. Well, mostly. A menu option allows for "80 Percent English" which is immensely helpful, but there are still Japanese katakana for things like character names. I'm not sure why the software developers didn't go all the way with a translation, but it's better than nothing. I'll gladly take it.

This title received glowing reviews in Sega Saturn Magazine, retitled Sega Dreamcast Magazine by this time, with scores of 8-9-8. It was released in November 1998, making it one of the later videogames for the system. I'm surprised and a little puzzled why this wasn't published on the Dreamcast instead, which had just been released in Japan and was starving for RPGs. Oh, well.

Wizardry Llylgamyn Saga was also released on Sony Playstation, and its 3D dungeon graphics are darker, scarier, more atmospheric, and looks a little bit nicer. The English translation option is also available in this version as well, making this a must-play for everybody.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Sound Qube is a puzzle game created by Media Entertainment and published by Human in 1998. It is a unique puzzle game where you must clear a set of cubes by determining their correct color. Cues lie in the sound emitted by each color when pointed at by the player icon. You must listen carefully, then mark it for the correct color in order to remove them from the playfield. The idea is a little tricky due to the Japanese language barrier, but it's fairly easy to understand the basics.

The visuals are stylized and fit the space techno theme, with extensive use of Gouraud shading and lighting effects. Transparencies are handled through the dithered mesh effect (cue up the usual complaints). Music is quite catchy and enjoyable, full of FM synth tunes that were once all the rage in videogames long ago.

It's a very original concept and I'll give the developers credit for trying something new. Most Japanese puzzlers by this point settled into a predictable groove of ripping off Puyo Puyo, and the genre overall was all but extinct by '98. I do wish it was a little easier to understand at the start, however. There is a learning curve that new players will have to overcome. Overall, a nice little budget title worth checking out. Prices on Ebay are very cheap, but the shipping from Japan right now is nasty (thanks, COVID-19).

I'll close with this gameplay description from the comments for the video shown above. Hope this helps:

This game is actually pretty straightforward.

- There are 5 kinds of cubes (red, blue, purple, white and orange or nuisance cubes) and 2 sonar pulses (red and blue) that you emit from your cursor with C.

- When a pulse goes through a cube, the cube will react based on its color and the color of the sonar that hit it: blue/red react to the same color, purple cubes react to both, white react to neither. Nuisance cubes emit a different sound and also block the pulse from reaching the cube behind them.

- You can mark cubes with the colors you think they are, but it's only a visual aid to help you keep track. The game actually doesn't care.

- To erase red, blue and white cubes, lock at least 2 of the same color with the Z button and press C.This gives you energy (i.e. time), points and items, but it's not needed. Pressing B at any time removes the locks, which is useful if you made a mistake.

- Nuisance cubes cannot be erased.

- The objective in each stage is to erase the purple cubes. Unlike the others, they can be erased one by one. To do it, lock them by pressing Z twice and then press C.

- Some cubes leave behind items: E stops your energy from going down for a few seconds, L gives you a life point back, S makes the sonar pulse go faster and A let's you shoot both pulses at once.

- The numbers on the lower right corner tell you how many cubes of each type there are left: Red, Blue, White and Core (how the game annoyingly refers to the purple cubes).

It actually reminds me a lot of Minesweeper, having to figure out what's behind each block based on the clues you get, optionally marking them with flags/colors and keeping track of the remaining mines/cubes.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Now this is an interesting little videogame. Tadaima Wakusei Kaitaku Chuu! (loosely translated as "Currently Exploring the Planet") is a real-time strategy game for one or two players where you control a team of specialized robots who must populate a planet by building houses and hotels. Players plant and harvest trees, using them to build structures. Meanwhile, a rival team is doing the same and both sides are racing to build the most structures within the time limit.

Please bear in mind that I have yet to actually play this game. It's a little bit of guesswork on my part. On your team, one robot plants and harvests trees into wood, the second builds the houses, and the third is an "enforcer" who can attack rival robots, plant bombs to destroy trees, or launch giant boulders to smash buildings. In addition, you must contend with natural disasters such as earthquakes and tornadoes.

This game feels like a mashup of several classic strategy games: Populous, SimCity, Command & Conquer, MULE. Everything takes place on a planetoid, complete with day and night cycles (the lighting effect is very nice), and I cannot help but think of Super Mario Galaxy. There are a variety of worlds to compete, featuring forests, deserts and mountains. A screenshot on the back of the CD case shows a donut-shaped world. I'm curious to see what else there is.

Tadaima Wakusei Kaitaku Chuu was released in 1995 by Altron for Saturn and Playstation. I have included videos for both versions and they appear to be identical, which is always nice. I do wish this title was released in the West, as I'm a sucker for competitive strategy games. I definitely enjoy the cutesy design and the 3D polygon graphics are very nice.

Ebay prices for this one are very low, as little as $10. We should all get copies and start having tournaments. This might be a real hidden gem worth discovering.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Anarchy in the Nippon: Menu Translation Guide

Here is a translation of the menus in Anarchy in the Nippon. As you know, all the text in this fighting game uses Chinese kanji instead of Japanese phonetic text, making reading somewhat difficult for Westerners. This guide will make it easy for you to navigate the different gameplay modes and options.

Main Menu

1. Arcade Mode

a. Normal Mode​

b. Special Mode (Survival)​

c. Boss Mode (Tetsujin)​

d. Return to Main Menu​

2. VS Mode
3. Team Battle

a. 1P vs CPU​

b. 1P vs 2P​

c. Return to Main Menu​

4. Watch Mode

a. Random Characters​

b. Select Characters​

c. Return to Main Menu​

5. Training Mode
6. Character Creation Mode
7. Option Menu

Notes: Boss Mode takes place on a single rooftop stage at night, as you face the four Virtua Fighter "Iron Men" (Tetsujin) who were the designers of this videogame. Be warned, they are the toughest opponents you'll face, so consider this the expert-level challenge.

ProTip: To select the 3rd costume for any player, hold L or R while selecting fighter. To select the 4th costume, hold L or R while pressing Up.


Options Menu

1P Life - very small, small, normal, large, very large
2P Life - same
1P Round - 1 to 5 rounds per battle
2P Round - same
Time Limit - 15s, 30s, 45s, 60s, infinity
Order - normal, random, reverse
Continue - yes, no
Audio - stereo, mono
Controller Setup
Extra Menu


Extra Menu

Normal Mode Ranking
Special Mode (Survival) Ranking
Combo Ranking
Background (VS Mode) - training, any specific stage, random
Music Volume - none, small, medium, normal
Voice Volume - none, small, medium, normal
KO Replay - yes, no
Life Gauge - normal, skulls, fire, whale, flowers, wallpaper, trains, blank (nothing)
Super Deformed Mode - no, yes
Gravity - range from -5 to +5, 0 is default
Music Test

Notes: I'm still not entirely certain what the KO Replay does. It might feature replays from multiple angles or just skip to the next round. The Life Gauge is just a decoration for your life bar. SD mode creates "super deformed" versions of the characters, ala Virtua Fighter Kids, but the graphics glitch out a bit here, so be aware of that.

ProTip: There is a way to play in-game music at "chipmunk" speed, but I don't know how to do that. I saw it in a Youtube video that was posted years ago, but have yet to do it myself.

 

[Alexios]

in towns involve polygon models laid over pre-rendered backgrounds. I'm reminded a little of Squaresoft games like Final Fantasy 8

I was instantly reminded of Parasite Eve 1 models with that realistic style and nice animation quality. Very nice! I'd have thought Square made it.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Tengai Makyou: The Apocalypse IV is one of Saturn's absolutely best RPGs: fiendishly clever, wondrously stylized and cheerfully irreverent. It plays out like a parody of Japanese RPGs, anime and perceptions of the United States, with an overt sense of humor that is striking, almost satirical. This is the sort of videogame you'd expect Frank Zappa to make.

This title was developed by Hudson Soft and Red Company, the brains behind Bonk, Tempo and Sakura Wars. The presentation is supremely polished with gorgeous 2D pixel art paired with hand-drawn animation sequences. The monster battles, the very staple of the genre, involve animated clips that are highly impressive and very much a time capsule of its era. Indeed, Squaresoft dropped Final Fantasy 7 in Japan shortly after Tengai Makyo's release, landing like a ten-megaton bomb that spelled the end of the classic adventure games and the arrival of stylized, computer-animated epics.

There was once a retro game store in Uptown Minneapolis only blocks from my apartment that had this game in stock for only $10. They had a large collection of import Saturn and Dreamcast games, and you better believe I wish I had a time machine to go back and buy half the store.

There is no English translation available for this game, but GameFAQs does have a very good gameplay guide to help you. On my personal list of fan-translation projects, this would rank near the very top.

Here's a great article by Hardcore Gaming 101 that goes into depth on this game and what makes it so good.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Sega Saturn Fan Translation: Valhollian

This is excellent and most welcome news. Meduza Team has recently announced that they are engaged in an English translation of the 1998 Strategy-RPG Vahollian. This game plays very similar to Sakura Wars, Wachenroeder and Shining Force, and if you're a fan of the genre, you'll dive right in easily and have a blast.

Meduza Team was previously responsible for translating Linkle Liver Story, as well as widescreen hacks for Shining Force 3, Powerslave, and Dead or Alive.

Great work, guys! Keep it up!

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Whenever I get the urge to play a snowboarding videogame, I always reach for Steep Slope Sliders. What do I love about this videogame? What makes it great? Atmosphere. Ambiance. The sense of isolation, of being lost in mountains and forests. The spectacular course designs that absolutely demolished Cool Boarders and 1080. The color designs that perfectly capture how snow looks in real life, especially on days with overcast skies. The moody and unconventional music. And, most of all, the absence of any grating, obnoxious "extreeeme" cliches that have aged as poorly as leisure suits.

The strange thing about this genre is that every other snowboarding game is really just a driving game, except you're riding a board instead of a car. Tricks are treated almost as an afterthought, something tacked on as a gimmick. Here, the emphasis is almost entirely on scoring tricks and finding the perfect spots to launch that big trick combo, while the racing is treated as an afterthought.

I don't think Cave really knew what they had on their hands, or knew how to make everything work. They had a stellar graphics engine (despite a few glitches here and there), excellent track designs and a trick system that clearly predicts Tony Hawk Pro Skater, but there was no career mode, no competitions, no multiplayer. There are four main courses, only one slalom course, one obstacle course and one halfpipe course. All of the bonus courses and characters can be unlocked in roughly twenty minutes. You can see how the studio tried to change the formula in search of a hit, first on the ST-V Titan arcade board, then with the Sony Playstation sequel Trick 'N Snowboarder.

Unfortunately, that was the wrong approach, and all the changes amounted to dumbing down what worked and padding in features that didn't work. Cave was trying to chase after Cool Boarders, when they really should have focused their attention on Tony Hawk: rail grinding, more tricks, eliminate the "top five stunts" rule, add some secondary objectives like collecting tapes. Steep Slope is already ninety percent there.

If nothing else, this is a killer snowboarding game because you get to surf the asteroid belt from The Fifth Element with a dog, a penguin or a UFO. How do you not love that?

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Let's share some love for one of Saturn's most impressive and underrated 3D fighters, Savaki. This title was published in 1998 by Microcabin and developed by a small studio called Cynus. This work is almost entirely the creation of a single programmer named Kozo Nishio, who is credited with "programs, actions, models and graphics." The audio and music is provided by Shihomi Yamashita, Kenichiro Ueda and Nobohiro Makino.

Nishio was also credited as a programmer and animator for the 1996 Altron game Robo-Pit, released on Saturn and PSX, as well as a programmer for the 2000 PS2 title Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory, and the 2019 Action-RPG Code Vein, released on PS4, Xbox One and Windows. It's not a very long list and we're most likely missing much of his work, but what's here is highly impressive. He was certainly one of the stronger coders for the Sega Saturn.

Savaki is a pure martial arts fighter that feels like a cross between Sega's Virtua Fighter and Archer Maclean's International Karate Championship. You select from 7 fighters (along with an additional seven bonus fighters) that specialize in a specific style: karate, dento karate, muay thai, taekwan do, jeet kun do, boxing and freestyle. You have a number of punches and kicks that can be quickly combined into successive attacks, but its feel is closer to a boxing match with a quick flurry of 1-2-3-4 attacks than the over-the-top combos of most brawlers.

The most interesting defensive move in the game is called a "savaki," which is a parry that redirects an attack and leaves an opponent vulnerable to a fast counterattack. This requires precise timing to succeed but is highly satisfactory when it works. Sega even dabbled in this move with Virtua Fighter 3, but only Pai Chan used it, and the technique was abandoned in Sega's later sequels.

Visuals are highly impressive, offering smooth polygon models, fluid animation, Gauroud shading, realtime lighting, particle effects and 60 frames-per-second. The floor and ceiling are rendered with Saturn's VDP2 planes, a static crowd of onlookers sits in the background and the arena is surrounded by a circular cage. Everything is highly polished, stable, free of glitches or warps or the usual hangups seen on the 32-bit systems. And once again, we can see how skilled Japanese programmers could run circles around their Western counterparts on the Saturn.

Saturn "can't doo three dee?" Fat chance. Try to find something on Nintendo 64 that looks this good. I'll wait.

P.S. The final boss in this game totally reminds me of the end boss from Atari Games' Pit-Fighter. It's probably just a coincidence, but I can't be the only one who sees that. These two games are remarkably similar.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Since we're in the mood for fighting games, here's the excellent K-1 Fighting Illusion in action. This was released only in Japan, but several of its sequels were released on Playstation 2 in the West. It's an excellent series of martial arts simulations that plays like any number of classic boxing games. There's even a way to play in a behind-the-fighter view, ala Punch-Out, if you're in a suitable mood.

Note the highly detailed 3D polygon environments in these arenas. In addition to the fighters and the ring, seated fans on the floor and crowds in the stands. There are some nice visual effects in some of the matches, with fireworks and streamers announcing the start of an important fight. The fighters are rendered with some nice shading and color, and there's even a secret set of outfits to wear, something I discovered while first playing.

And now for the part where Sega Saturn fans ask the same frustrated question: Why the heck wasn't this game released over here? Gamers were obsessed with sports games. Here's a great sports game. Gamers were obsessed with 3D polygon graphics. Here's a game with great polygon graphics. Saturn fans were desperate for anything that could compete against Playstation and Nintendo 64. This game is identical to its PSX cousin and easily beats any fighting game on N64 (a wet bag of socks could beat N64 at fighting games). What's not to love? What exactly was Bernie Stolar supposed to be doing at Sega of America? I know he gets ripped harshly be Segaphiles and a lot of it is unfair, and he was instrumental in the Dreamcast's US launch, but, still. He dropped the ball on Saturn. Everybody dropped the ball on Saturn.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

It's a fighting game. It has giant dragons. It has lots of cool attacks and explosions. It's Elan Doree on Sega Saturn. It was released in January 1999 and makes the journey from the ST-V Titan arcade. It looks good, has a unique sense of style, plays a touch slow, makes good use of polygons and VDP2 planes, and probably should have been made for the Dreamcast and Naomi board. But we're glad to see love for the Saturn. Segata Sanshiro approves and promises not to judo-flip anyone who buys a copy from Ebay.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Culdcept is a highly compelling fusion of a board game, a Strategy-RPG and Magic: The Gathering. It's the work of a studio called Omiya Soft and was released to Saturn in 1997, becoming one of the system's most beloved classics in Japan. The series has since appeared on PC, Dreamcast, Playstation 1-3, PSP, Nintendo DS and 3DS, retaining a devout cult following to this day.

This game looks absolutely stunning with its polished production values, VDP2 transparency effects and a mix of 2D pixel art and 3D polygons. Gameplay is deep and endlessly challenging, offering a large number of boards, playing cards and characters. This is the kind of videogame that ends up taking away entire chunks of your life.

Despite the Japanese language barrier, the opening cinema sequence is voiced entirely in English, and there are English voiceovers during games. A popular fan site contains a complete database of all the player cards, which is immensely helpful. Copies can be found in the range of $10-$20.

The first two videos show the Saturn version, and the third video is from a Western release in English.

Saturn Culdcept absolutely needs and English translation. I am aware that I say this about a hundred other titles, but this one goes right to the top. This game placed ninth in the 2000 Sega Saturn Magazine poll, and its continuing presence on later systems is a testament to its enduring quality.

P.S. Oh, did I mention that Yuzo Koshiro did the soundtrack? You're probably searching Ebay for a copy right now.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

It can never be overstated how spectacular Dead or Alive on Sega Saturn looks and plays. It's so good, Tecmo included this Saturn version--not the arcade, not the Playstation home port--on the Xbox compilation disc Dead or Alive Ultimate. It's arguably the best looking 3D fighter on the system*, to say nothing of Sony or NIntendo.

Easily a top-five pick for Greatest Japanese Saturn Game We Didn't Get, and possibly deserving the number one spot. It absolutely should have been released here. This would have turned heads. The kids would have taken notice.

For the longest time, you could score a complete copy of Dead or Alive for ten bucks. Today, the prices are rising, and twenty is the bare minimum. You had better hurry up and grab your copy before this baby hits a cool hundred. Which it totally deserves.

Sega Saturn is the best videogame system in the world because of classics like this. If your Top 20 list doesn't include Dead or Alive somewhere in the mix, you need to have your head examined. Now watch these videos and practice your combos.


(*Note: I still say Virtua Fighter 2 has the better character and color design, although there's no question DOA does a better job with its camera and backgrounds. And those outer rings with the explosions...*chef's kiss*)

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Speaking of the greatest Sega Saturn videogames ever made, here's a group of guys crashing together on a couch to play the sensational X-Men Vs. Street Fighter.

Back in 1997, as we all know, Sega and Capcom conducted some marketing research to determine if there was an audience for this title in the US. They concluded that there was no audience and the game could not become a hit. Such a notion is so completely FUBAR'd on so many levels, it hurts your brain to think about it. Oh, to remember the days when Battle Arena Toshinden was "the greatest thing since sliced bread" and X-Men Vs. Street Fighter was "outdated and obsolete."

It's now late 2020 and I'm still pissed off. Heads must roll. The guilty must be judo-flipped and placed into choke holds. Where is Segata Sanshiro when we need him?!