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[Vandole]

I was in college when the Saturn and PlayStation came out, and I remember the first time I overheard anyone debating on which system was better. The argument that the Saturn guy was trying to pitch was, "the Saturn was harder to develop for, therefore it was a better system."

Anyway, I had a Saturn, but only briefly. I got it sometime after the Dreamcast was killed off, and I got a shockingly good deal on it. Unfortunately that was also at a time when the collectors market for Saturn games started to form, and the really good games were difficult to find and very expensive if you did find them. I ended up just keeping it to play NiGHTS and then was able to turn it around and sell it for more than I paid for it. That said, it was worth going to all that trouble just to play NiGHTS. Love that game.

 

[JonnyMP3]

You guys are talking about the Saturn Nights Analogue Pad that was packed in with Nights into Dreams.

That was not the stock controller.

The Sega Saturn Stock Controller is to this day the Best Fighting game controller made by an OEM and packed into the box. It had 6 face buttons arranged perfectly for fighting games and 2 bumpers on top.

Whether it was stock or not isn't the point. I know that they had a 6 face buttons d-pad controller.
The thing is, now that you've reminded me, the game that I played at the demo station was Nights, and that horrible control pad was obviously mine and other people's first interaction with the Saturn.
So as much as Nights was Sega's supposed new killer 3D IP, that pad was not a good first impression for people.

 

[kingpotato]

I don't care what anybody says, Sonic R is, was and will always be an awesome game with awesome gameplay and awesome music.

Yes. I had a lot of fun with the game and played it a ton. I also loved the soundtrack!!!

 

[Breakage]

Saturn's a mystery to me as I've never owned or played one. I have a sealed copy of RS though. If a Mini version comes out, I'd probably buy it just to see what it's all about.

 

[Abear21]

My friend and I would play Nights forever. The game is crazy good and the essence of “just one more run” due to the outstanding grading system. I wish they would bring this game back in some way. Virtua Racing/Fighter, Sega Rally, and Daytona were all amazing too of course, but Nights is THE game I think of when I think of the Saturn.

House of the Dead with a couple light guns, and a couple beverages with a best friend, was an amazing time too...thanks OP you brought me back some real good memories!

 

[Kokoloko85]

I can't speak to the Nintendo because I don't remember playing any of the arcade fighters on the n64, but all the Capcom games of this era ran much better on the Saturn than PS1. Also virtual fighter 2 was one of the most solid 3d fighters of the gen as well.

N64 barely had any fighters. VF 2 was amazing. Saturn was the place to be for fighting games apart from Tekken and Soul Blade

 

[Kokoloko85]

The Capcom fighting games were awesome on Saturn, all down to the 4MB RAM expansion card. Funny both Nintendo and Sega had RAM expansions yet PS1 was stock its entire life with no upgrades

indeed, That 4mb made all the difference in VS and the tagging mechanic.
Haha yes totally forgot about the N64 Expansion pak lol
Cant remember using it for anything else apart from Majora Mask and Donkey Kong 64/

 

[Kokoloko85]

Panzer Dragoon Zwei is Sega's artistic apex (and, by reflex, the entire industry's artistic apex) and the entire console is worth even for that game alone.
Other than that, awesome and miraculous arcade ports like Sega Rally and Virtua Fighter 2 are a sight to behold even to this day (even if I always preferred Last Bronx).

Also, the Saturn is the last console of with a serious ThunderForce chapter (the best "metal" horizontal shoot'em up series ever) and, i don't care what anybody says, Sonic R is, was and will always be an awesome game with awesome gameplay and awesome music.

Lastly, Exhumed was the prototype of the "perfect" console FPS way before Halo.

Yes, they can hate on Sonic R all they want but it was cool. The music and super sonic last race I can see it on my shelf as we speak haha

 

[VGEsoterica]

Panzer Dragoon Zwei is Sega's artistic apex (and, by reflex, the entire industry's artistic apex) and the entire console is worth even for that game alone.
Other than that, awesome and miraculous arcade ports like Sega Rally and Virtua Fighter 2 are a sight to behold even to this day (even if I always preferred Last Bronx).

Also, the Saturn is the last console of with a serious ThunderForce chapter (the best "metal" horizontal shoot'em up series ever) and, i don't care what anybody says, Sonic R is, was and will always be an awesome game with awesome gameplay and awesome music.

Lastly, Exhumed was the prototype of the "perfect" console FPS way before Halo.

Exhumed / Power Slave was an awesome game. I’m still impressed to this day what they were manage to get out of the Saturn. Same with their port of Quake

 

[ThatStupidLion]

Bought the machine specifically to play shining force 3. There was a sole screencap in the back of EGM import section for years which was the god damn carrot on the stick for me. I would just stare at it waiting for any info to come along or new screen shot to be used. It may have took the whole lifespan but god damn it luckily came to west. I woulda been so pissed if it never made it out of japan like scenario 2/3....

Unfortunately i missed out on Magic knight rayearth and PDSaga

Thankfully i was able to witness the greatness of albert odyssey and dragon force. I wouldnt trade those 3 gamws for anything - okay maybe for shining force 4.....

 

[SirTerry-T]

Panzer Dragoon trilogy (cheating here)
Radiant Silvergun
Athlete Kings/Decathlete
Vampire Saviour
Bombeman Fight!
Guardian Heroes
Virtua Fighter 2
Virtua Cop 2
Metal Slug
Dark Saviour

 

[Naked Lunch]

The Saturn is the pinnacle of 2D games, the king of the shmups genre, and a console I will never un-hook from my television. I run the Saturn to my HDTV using scart to the OSSC at x3 line doubling and it looks absolutely amazing. The Saturn 6 button pad is the best controller in gaming history for 2d games as well.

The Saturn's Japanese library is literally a treasure trove of gaming greatness - and something I am still unearthing even today. Radiant Silvergun alone might be the best videogame I ever played.

My top 10:
1 - Radiant Silvergun
2 - Battle Garegga
3 - Panzer Dragoon Zwei + Saga (tie)
4 - DoDonPachi
5 - Batsugun
6 - Soukygurentai
7 - Guardian Heroes
8 - Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru
9 - Sega Ages Outrun (the best port I have for a home console)
10 - Saturn Bomberman

Theres so many others too like Hyper Duel, Sexy Parodius, Assault Suit Leynos 2, Bubble Symphony, Guardian Force, Decathelete, Virtua On, Blast Wind, Bulk Slash...
I could go on forever...

 

[Archvile82]

Awesome thread, the Saturn is one of my favourite consoles.

Spend nearly £400 pound on a old stock white Japanese model and got it modded, ram upgrade so no need for the battery and cooler PSU.

Exhumed is right up there with one of my all time favourite FPS, great gfx, sound soundtrack and level design. I actually found the latest Doom had some elements that exhumed had way back then.

I also preferred Wipeout on the Saturn even though the psx version had slightly better gfx.

I was also impressed with Manx TT super bike, plays really well with the 3d pad.

Another one that took me by surprise was spiritual assassin taromaru, weird platform game but looks really nice.

I spent many hours on Magic Carpet too back in the day.

The system looks great using component with ossc on an oled, best you will get outside of a good CRT.

Waiting on the satiator before I get stuck into serious sessions.

Last thing to note - my Saturn hate was Doom, they really fked up that port, I had to bite my lip and tell myself it was a good...slide show gameplay on the later levels fk. At least the Hexen port made up for it.

 

[RAIDEN1]

Question is: Can you feel the sunshine? (To quote Sonic R)

 

[Romulus]

Super overlooked game

 

[VGEsoterica]

Question is: Can you feel the sunshine? (To quote Sonic R)

Lolol that damn song. As catchy as Daytona USA

 

[RAIDEN1]

I'll just leave this here:

 

[VGEsoterica]

I'll just leave this here:

lol he does seem to enjoy the Saturn too

 

[kostasfil]

Burning rangers
Panzer dragoon saga
Panzer dragoon 1+2
Mr. Bones
Shining force 3
Deep fear
Keio flying squadron 2
Virtua fighter 2
Sega rally

 

[KellyM]

I prefer the Saturn over the Playstation. My top 10
1. Panzer Dragoon Saga
2 Dragon Force
3. Virtua Fighters 2
4. Sega Rally Championship
5. Shining Force 3
5 Shining the Holy Ark
6 Nights
7 Powerslave
8 X-men vs Street Fighter
9 Vampire Savior
10 Metal slugs

I want to add more like Burning Rangers, Thunder Force 5, Radiant Silvergun, Guardian heroes and many more.

 

[Xplainin]

I loved the Saturn. It was the underdog, but it had the best arcade game maker in the world putting all their games on it.
It was weird. It couldnt seem to handle transparencies, yet the odd developer could do them. Some games ran better on the Saturn, while most didn't.
I held such hope for a developer called "Scavenger". They were apparently doing things on the Saturn that no one else could do. They released Amok, but then disappeared.
It was such a ride.

 

[SF Kosmo]

I built the Best Hit Chronicle Saturn this weekend and I think I might put a Pi in it.

Saturn was not a good piece of hardware, expensive and unwieldy. I think Sega would have been smart to follow it's American Branch's lead. But it was a 2D beast, just at a time when that was almost a liability.

It did have plenty of good games. I still love me some Silhouette Mirage, Panzer Dragoon, Sakura Taisen, Guardian Heroes, Nights... Really the software wasn't so much the problem as the price and the hardware

 

[cartman414]

Oh Japan and your honor culture. If only SoJ was less prideful and didn't leave SoA under the bus like that.

 

[CookieWithMatt]

Got a Saturn during that era over the PlayStation. Kicked relentlessly in primary school over it, but god damn that machine had some gems.

My top ten in no particular order:-

Burning Rangers​

Nights into Dreams​

Die Hard Arcade​

Sonic R​

Panzer Dragoon 2​

Sega Rally​

Baku Baku Animal​

Virtual Cop​

Steep Slope Sliders​

Tempest 2000​

​

 

[VGEsoterica]

Steep Slope Sliders was legit awesome,

 

[Strider Highwind]

I remember getting a ps1 cause my dad was super hyped about it and then my best friend got a Saturn...Shit had me in my feelings at first and I wanted a Saturn really bad.

Then them damn PS1 games started rolling out and I didn't care to even read about Saturn until a few years later when I got one at a pawn shop with a huge box of games lol.

It was a cool system with a lot of problems...had some really dope ass games

 

[Team Andromeda]

The best console ever made. such a shame you had the muppet show at SEGA West during the 32Bit Era.

Here's some of my fav SATURN games

 

[West Texas CEO]

I've used this and it's pretty good:

 

[HoodWinked]

Sega Saturn was an incredible console but only if you had access to its imports.

They had all CPS fighting games at the time all arcade perfect with the ram cart which loaded games nearly instantaneously.

Then games like Dragon Force, Radiant Silvergun, Metal Slug, King of Fighters, Guardian Heroes, Panzer Saga.

I was lucky and was exposed to it in my youth. If only everyone had that friend or cousin with that import Sega Saturn collection to really have appreciated the console at that time. Then everyone would too reminisce about how great the Saturn was.

Playing Radiant Silvergun was like peering into the future. The way it weaved non linear story telling, it's narrative, incredibly creative boss mechanics, with an amazing soundtrack and visuals. It's basically the Super Metroid of it's genre it's a perfectly executed game.

Edit: Also I almost forgot Legend of Oasis i loved this game. Something about the game gave me a weird kind of presence and atmosphere it could been the minimalistic narrative and the soundtrack was by Yuzo Koshiro. Hyperlight drifter invoked a similar feeling oddly.

 

[TMLT]

Its a very underrated/overlooked console with a solid library. It just seemed kind of obsolete in that generation though. The PSX did most things better, usually had the better versions of multiplats, had much more and better exclusives and beyond that it had the reputation of being the "cool" console. Meanwhile N64 did its own thing with the 4 controller ports, cartridges and big exclusives. The Saturn ended up being left out in the cold comparitively. There was no reason to own it as your primary console back then.

 

[DGrayson]

So many Saturn games I still want to play that I havent yet.

XMen vs Street Fighter import with the 4 meg ram cart was so dope back in the day.

 

[DGrayson]

I've used this and it's pretty good:

Yup this is what I had, I actually just sold mine recently on Ebay it was complete in box. Like 2 weeks after the auction finished and I already shipped the item I received a message warning me I cant sell it because it allows for piracy WTF lol.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Some more from the best console ever .

Panzer Dragoon at 60 FPS (well in parts LOL)

 

[Starlight Lotice]

Hi Score Girl shows a lot of love to Old Games and the Main Character buys a Saturn because it got the most Japanese games (and his love Interest gets a Playstation that they swap).

 

[cartman414]

Its a very underrated/overlooked console with a solid library. It just seemed kind of obsolete in that generation though. The PSX did most things better, usually had the better versions of multiplats, had much more and better exclusives and beyond that it had the reputation of being the "cool" console. Meanwhile N64 did its own thing with the 4 controller ports, cartridges and big exclusives. The Saturn ended up being left out in the cold comparitively. There was no reason to own it as your primary console back then.

Shredded the competition when it came to 2d though. Radiant Silvergun simply couldn't be ported to PSX.

 

[kingpotato]

Not seeing enough love for one of the most creative, fun and funny action platformers on the system.

 

[MrA]

Shredded the competition when it came to 2d though. Radiant Silvergun simply couldn't be ported to PSX.

the saturn was so good at 2d that it could do 3d using 2d graphics (the saturn literally does 3d by transforming thousands of sprites)

 

[SirTerry-T]

The Saturn is the pinnacle of 2D games, the king of the shmups genre, and a console I will never un-hook from my television. I run the Saturn to my HDTV using scart to the OSSC at x3 line doubling and it looks absolutely amazing. The Saturn 6 button pad is the best controller in gaming history for 2d games as well.

The Saturn's Japanese library is literally a treasure trove of gaming greatness - and something I am still unearthing even today. Radiant Silvergun alone might be the best videogame I ever played.

My top 10:
1 - Radiant Silvergun
2 - Battle Garegga
3 - Panzer Dragoon Zwei + Saga (tie)
4 - DoDonPachi
5 - Batsugun
6 - Soukygurentai
7 - Guardian Heroes
8 - Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru
9 - Sega Ages Outrun (the best port I have for a home console)
10 - Saturn Bomberman

Theres so many others too like Hyper Duel, Sexy Parodius, Assault Suit Leynos 2, Bubble Symphony, Guardian Force, Decathelete, Virtua On, Blast Wind, Bulk Slash...
I could go on forever...

Oh God, yeah...I think the Saturn, alongside the PC Engine are the two consoles that are most responsible for getting game fans into the import scene.

A Saturn with the region switch and 50/60hz mod was about as good as it got for those of us keen to play the games that never appeared in the West.

 

[Ceallach]

N64 barely had any fighters. VF 2 was amazing. Saturn was the place to be for fighting games apart from Tekken and Soul Blade

What I feel like the majority of the N64 library was fighters and racers.

MK 4, MK Trilogy, War Gods, Bio Freaks, Mace, Fighters Destiny, Flying Dragon, Smash, Killer Instinct, Clayfighter, Rakugakids, the WCW and WWF games. For a system with such a tiny library they make up a good portion of it.

 

[Kokoloko85]

What I feel like the majority of the N64 library was fighters and racers.

MK 4, MK Trilogy, War Gods, Bio Freaks, Mace, Fighters Destiny, Flying Dragon, Smash, Killer Instinct, Clayfighter, Rakugakids, the WCW and WWF games. For a system with such a tiny library they make up a good portion of it.

Ah yes nothing beats WCW Revenge and No mercy. Spent hundreds of hours on those with friends probably top 5 favourite multiplayer game. I always counted them as wrestling games.

Rakugakids and killer instinct and smash was great. But it was missing all those VS Marvel games, Street fighter games, King of fighters and all those good 3d fighters like Dead or Alive, Tekken, Soul blade, Virtua fighter, fighters megamix and vipers etc
Havent even played war gods of Mace

 

[VGEsoterica]

Sega Saturn was an incredible console but only if you had access to its imports.

They had all CPS fighting games at the time all arcade perfect with the ram cart which loaded games nearly instantaneously.

Then games like Dragon Force, Radiant Silvergun, Metal Slug, King of Fighters, Guardian Heroes, Panzer Saga.

I was lucky and was exposed to it in my youth. If only everyone had that friend or cousin with that import Sega Saturn collection to really have appreciated the console at that time. Then everyone would too reminisce about how great the Saturn was.

Playing Radiant Silvergun was like peering into the future. The way it weaved non linear story telling, it's narrative, incredibly creative boss mechanics, with an amazing soundtrack and visuals. It's basically the Super Metroid of it's genre it's a perfectly executed game.

Edit: Also I almost forgot Legend of Oasis i loved this game. Something about the game gave me a weird kind of presence and atmosphere it could been the minimalistic narrative and the soundtrack was by Yuzo Koshiro. Hyperlight drifter invoked a similar feeling oddly.

yes access to imports was important back then. I remember doing Cash on Delivery mail order importing for Saturn and Dreamcast. I can’t even remember who sold them but it was totally a thing you could do via the back of magazines / mid to late 90’s websites. So much fun back then getting import stuff

 

[DragoonWalker]

Remember reading that the Saturn couldn't render polygons, only triangles. Given that polygons were the industry standards, can only imagine how rough it must have been for devs and why its 3D games made my eyes bleed...

One game I was always interested in playing was Bulk Slash, the Evangelion simulator. But the Saturn had come and gone, was for years impossible to emulate, and the game was JP only...

Glad we got the Dreamcast, like the Saturn but with a far more accessible library in the west and beautiful 3D capabilities.

 

[HoodWinked]

Remember reading that the Saturn couldn't render polygons, only triangles. Given that polygons were the industry standards, can only imagine how rough it must have been for devs and why its 3D games made my eyes bleed...

One game I was always interested in playing was Bulk Slash, the Evangelion simulator. But the Saturn had come and gone, was for years impossible to emulate, and the game was JP only...

Glad we got the Dreamcast, like the Saturn but with a far more accessible library in the west and beautiful 3D capabilities.

ya you're almost right, polygon is any shape, saturn was weird because it rendered quads instead of triangles.

 

[FranXico]

I wish they hadn't canceled that 3D Sonic game... also, 2D games looked better than anything on PS1.

 

[DragoonWalker]

ya you're almost right, polygon is any shape, saturn was weird because it rendered quads instead of triangles.

Ah that's what it was. I just remember it was unique somehow and that's why the games looked different. Still, Burning Ranger and Panzer Dragoon looked awesome, many others, not so much.

 

[Thavash]

Loved it, warts and all. Some of my favs:

Tomb Raider (born on Saturn!)

Yes, many people don’t know that TR was a PORT to the PSX

 

[cartman414]

I wonder what ground up Saturn versions of Gradius Gaiden and SotN would be like.

 

[s_mirage]

I wonder what ground up Saturn versions of Gradius Gaiden and SotN would be like.

IMO SotN would probably lack the 3D backgrounds and run at a slightly higher resolution. With no 3D backgrounds to worry about, they could probably pull off some more true transparency over VDP2's backgrounds.

I've been saying it for years now, but I wish someone with the technical know how would try to find out what's wrong with the Saturn port of SotN. Whatever causes the slowdown isn't emulated by any Saturn emulator. VDP1 fillrate? Seems unlikely given that the game is using VDP for background planes, but you never know.

 

[alf717]

I wanted a Saturn when I heard Mega Man 8 was different on it. Luckily grabbed one when the consoles and the games were cheap. My Saturn became a Mega Man machine. I bought the two US Saturn releases of Mega Man and bought the import versions of Rockman. I have Deep Fear which I always wanted to play but it is the Japanese version.

My list isn't large unless similar titles from US/JP count. I only own about 11 game but the ones I enjoyed were:

Mega Man 8
Mega Man X4
Rockman 8
Rockman X3
Rockman X4
Super Adventure Rockman
Tomb Raider
Resident Evil

So many games I would like to try but prices can be so high and I just can't find myself dumping all that cash into them just to try them. Maybe when ODEs are cheaper and more common I will explore more Saturn stuff. I remember back in the other appreciation thread when a Game Sack video of the Saturn was posted. I want to try out a lot of the games featured in that episode.