A 32-bit game console developed by Sega. Due to development difficulties and the rising popularity of the PlayStation and N64, the Saturn was discontinued overseas in 1998, but continued to sell in Japan until 2000. It was Sega's most successful console in Japan yet their least successful console overseas.
I was wondering if buying a Sega Saturn is still worth it. I always wanted one to be honest but I never got into it because I was always up and about the current ones.
Here are a list of games I am interested in
Area 51 Baroque Burning Rangers Capcom Generations Capcom Generations 2 Christmas Nights Clockwork Knight Clockwork Knight 2 Exhumed Grandia Guardian Heroes House of the Dead Mystaria: The Realms of Lord Nights Into Dreams Panzer Dragoon Panzer Dragoon 2 Zwei Panzer Dragoon Saga (Yes, I know I will have to sell my soul to the devil) Radiant Silvergun Shining Force 3 Snatcher (If it is in English) Street Fighter Alpha Street Fighter Alpha 2 Street Fighter Alpha 3 Street Fighter Collection
Also, is there any devices I should concern myself with to properly play these games on the Sega Saturn?
Owned one since launch and love it, but I haven't played it much in recent years, so its more of a novelty. Most of the good games for it are $$$, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Radiant silvergun, Shining Force and guardian heroes are like $80+ used :(
If you do take the plunge you will need: 3D (analog)controller (for nights), Action replay plus 4m/1m ram cart for imports/fighting games, and a Stunner Light gun. Game wise, House of the dead sucked- stay far far away -. Snatcher is only English on SegaCD. I would recommend Virtua Fighter 2, Virtual Cop 1 & 2, Virtual ON (god that's a lot of virtual) Daytona USA. Oh and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, best version ever!!
Oh and Saturn Bomberman with 2 multitaps and 10 controllers
Well if you're really interested in all those games, then of course you should buy one. You'd be hard pressed to have that many good titles on a current gen system. Nice choices, add some more of the Shining games, Dragon Force, and Gun Griffon (and their sequels), as well as Princess Crown and Christmas Nights (it was meant to be a free demo but has tons of awesome stuff). Some more CAPCOM and SNK games also. The Story of Thor 2 should be a pretty good Zelda-style action RPG, I'm playing the first on the Genesis and it's quite decent. Maybe add Space Hulk. You should add Powerslave/Exhumed too as the Saturn version was the best of them all, and it's a great ego shooter. It may remind you of Metroid Prime since you get new abilities that allow access to different paths of the levels, while you can revisit places and what not.
"Owned one since launch and love it, but I haven't played it much in recent years, so its more of a novelty. Most of the good games for it are $$$, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Radiant silvergun, Shining Force and guardian heroes are like $80+ used :(If you do take the plunge you will need: 3D (analog)controller (for nights), Action replay plus 4m/1m ram cart for imports/fighting games, and a Stunner Light gun.Game wise, House of the dead sucked- stay far far away -. Snatcher is only English on SegaCD. I would recommend Virtua Fighter 2, Virtual Cop 1 & 2, Virtual ON (god that's a lot of virtual) Daytona USA. Oh and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, best version ever!!Oh and Saturn Bomberman with 2 multitaps and 10 controllers"
Even though Virtua Fighter is better than the majority of 3D fighters, I prefer the 2D fighters. Consider that I own a Dreamcast and would never buy Soul Calibur. I think I will skip on Virtual Cop, it might get a Wii port. I have VOOT on the Dreamcast with the Twin Sticks. I'll stick to racing games on the Dreamcast. Mortal Kombat was never my flavor of gaming, despite being a fan of 2D fighters. I am not likely to find 10 people to play Bomberman, plus I have it on the Wii anyways. Thanks for the reminder on the Action Replay. Is there a difference between the 4m and the 1m? Do some games need one over the other?
Al3xand3r said:
"Well if you're really interested in all those games, then of course you should buy one. You'd be hard pressed to have that many good titles on a current gen system. Nice choices, add some more of the Shining games, Dragon Force, and Gun Griffon (and their sequels), as well as Princess Crown and Christmas Nights (it was meant to be a free demo but has tons of awesome stuff). Some more CAPCOM and SNK games also. The Story of Thor 2 should be a pretty good Zelda-style action RPG, I'm playing the first on the Genesis and it's quite decent. Maybe add Space Hulk. You should add Powerslave/Exhumed too as the Saturn version was the best of them all, and it's a great ego shooter. It may remind you of Metroid Prime since you get new abilities that allow access to different paths of the levels, while you can revisit places and what not."
I wasn't sure if I should pick up Story of Thor 2 (Legendary Oasis) but they said the Saturn version had some issues. What kind of game is Exhumed? A first person shooter like Metroid Prime?
Kind of, yeah, with an egyptian theme. More Doom-ish in feel but you do get new abilities and what not as you pass through levels, like levitation and other skills that allow you to reach places u couldn't previously. Pretty tough too.
This guy is skipping all the intro/dialogues and stuff (not that it has so many, but you do lose some of the atmosphere) and he's borderline speed running it going past enemies and knowing the location of everything, so it's not a good representation of the gameplay, but it's one of the nicer vids. It doesn't show off any skill gains since it's the first level. Don't worry about the lack of mouselook, you can look up and down but you don't actually need it to aim at enemies, it has doom stile hit detection which means you just line up the horizontal axis and the guy shoots well.
Edit: He does get a new skill, higher jump or something along those lines after the middle of the video.
Saturn has a undebatably better controller for fighting games, though. And why are you so quick to dismiss everything by saying "WHATEVER I'LL JUST PLAY IT ON DREAMCAST!!!"?
"Kind of, yeah, with an egyptian theme. More Doom-ish in feel but you do get new abilities and what not as you pass through levels, like levitation and other skills that allow you to reach places u couldn't previously. Pretty tough too.
This guy is skipping all the intro/dialogues and stuff (not that it has so many, but you do lose some of the atmosphere) and he's borderline speed running it going past enemies and knowing the location of everything, so it's not a good representation of the gameplay, but it's one of the nicer vids. It doesn't show off any skill gains since it's the first level. Don't worry about the lack of mouselook, you can look up and down but you don't actually need it to aim at enemies, it has doom stile hit detection which means you just line up the horizontal axis and the guy shoots well.
Edit: He does get a new skill, higher jump or something along those lines after the middle of the video. "
Looks interesting. I will think I will add it to the list. iAmJohn said:
"Godwind said:
"I will play it on the Dreamcast."
Saturn has a undebatably better controller for fighting games, though. And why are you so quick to dismiss everything by saying "WHATEVER I'LL JUST PLAY IT ON DREAMCAST!!!"?"
Most games are best played on the Dreamcast simply because the overall design was better as well as upgrades. Virtua Fighter 3 is a much slicker game on the Dreamcast than the Saturn. The Saturn couldn't have handled Virtua Fighter 3 as well as the Dreamcast can.
Also, there are certain controller adapters I can use to have the Dreamcast go to Saturn and Vice Versa. I have a fighting stick for Dreamcast.
"Most games are best played on the Dreamcast simply because the overall design was better as well as upgrades. Virtua Fighter 3 is a much slicker game on the Dreamcast than the Saturn."
There's no Saturn Virtua Fighter 3. There's Virtua Fighter 2. And no Dreamcast Virtua Fighter 2. Saturn VIrtua Fighter 2 is close to the arcade game, though far from arcade perfect, and it looks great. Much better than Tekken 2, maybe better than 3 if you count the 3D backgrounds and smooth animations, but the character models have a few flaws in things like the shoulder joints, yet it's not noticable during actual gameplay. Virtua Fighter 3 was also far from arcade perfect on the Dreamcast, and while I was never a player dedicated enough to begin mastering the games, I think the general fan opinion is that 3 is the black sheep with 4 restoring the franchise's glory and 2 being awesome for its time.
There was once a demo disc that showed footage of Virtua Fighter 3 for the Saturn but the game was never completed or released, we don't even know if it really was Saturn footage as if I remember right it was so blurry it might have been video from any version, just pimping the upcoming Saturn edition. The Saturn also has the best pad for fighters, short of a quality arcade stick.
@ ToolWalrus: A DarkStalkers title, not sure which that is. Great franchise, too bad all they do with it is cameo sexy Morigan in other games.
the action replay 4m / 1m will do both but their are 1m only carts out their and they are useless, just check amazon or playasia for a Action Replay 4 in1 and make sure it will do 4m and import games.
I imported a US Saturn (I live in Europe) and it was awesome. Unfortunately one time a few years ago I dusted it off to play some Sonic R of all things and the step down transformer was on the wrong setting. Suffice to say after a little while it started to smoke and then kinda blew up on the inside. :(
What game is this little girl from, anyway? I can't see the title in that photo."
Dark Stalkers and Cannon Spike. Al3xand3r said:
"Godwind said:
"Most games are best played on the Dreamcast simply because the overall design was better as well as upgrades. Virtua Fighter 3 is a much slicker game on the Dreamcast than the Saturn."
There's no Saturn Virtua Fighter 3. There's Virtua Fighter 2. And no Dreamcast Virtua Fighter 2. Saturn VIrtua Fighter 2 is close to the arcade game, though far from arcade perfect, and it looks great. Much better than Tekken 2, maybe better than 3 if you count the 3D backgrounds and smooth animations, but the character models have a few flaws in things like the shoulder joints, yet it's not noticable during actual gameplay. Virtua Fighter 3 was also far from arcade perfect on the Dreamcast, and while I was never a player dedicated enough to begin mastering the games, I think the general fan opinion is that 3 is the black sheep with 4 restoring the franchise's glory and 2 being awesome for its time.
There was once a demo disc that showed footage of Virtua Fighter 3 for the Saturn but the game was never completed or released, we don't even know if it really was Saturn footage as if I remember right it was so blurry it might have been video from any version, just pimping the upcoming Saturn edition. The Saturn also has the best pad for fighters, short of a quality arcade stick.@ ToolWalrus: A DarkStalkers title, not sure which that is. Great franchise, too bad all they do with it is cameo sexy Morigan in other games."
It wasn't that it was a bad game, gameplay became dated. No machine could handle a Virtua Fighter game before the Sega Dreamcast. Even the Dreamcast had some graphical stip downs to accommodate the hardware. Naomi for the ass kicking. They were going to release Virtua Fighter 3 for the Saturn but dropped it for the Dreamcast because it could actually handle it. Also, the blame was on the dodge button. Has a Shenmue feel for it.
Ive never owned a Saturn or played one or even seen one in person. Seems like it had lots of good games I would like. Didn't Warcraft II come out on it also?
" Ive never owned a Saturn or played one or even seen one in person. Seems like it had lots of good games I would like. Didn't Warcraft II come out on it also? "
Warcraft II did indeed come out for it & it's fun but it's difficult to play without a mouse & Saturn mice are hard to come buy.
No, it isn't. The only English version is for the Mega CD. Besides, the PSX/Saturn ports are the worst versions with loads of censoring.
Almost all of the major Capcom fighters are available for the Dreamcast or PS2 in arcade perfect form like the Alpha Collection and you could import the Vampire Saviour collection.
You can get HOTD for the PC, although I doubt that one has lightgun support. Besides everyone knows that Typing of the Dead is the best.
And the two Darkstalkers characters are better known as Baby Bonnie Hood and Hsien-Ko for those who aren't snobs that insist on using the Japanese names of characters for no good reason.
No, it isn't. The only English version is for the Mega CD. Besides, the PSX/Saturn ports are the worst versions with loads of censoring.
Almost all of the major Capcom fighters are available for the Dreamcast or PS2 in "arcade perfect" form like the Alpha Collection and you could import the Vampire Saviour collection.
You can get HOTD for the PC, although I doubt that one has lightgun support. Besides everyone knows that Typing of the Dead is the best.
And the two Darkstalkers characters are better known as Baby Bonnie Hood and Hsien-Ko (for Westerners) for those who aren't snobs that insist on using the Japanese names of characters for no good reason. "
Dreamcast and PS2 Capcom fighters, arcade perfect?, do you mean like SF Alpha 3 and Vampire Chronicles?. The PS2 and DC versions are notably inferior, they feature loss of frames, smaller sprites, muffled sound at times, and longer load times (- mainly PS1/2). I know because I own DC and PS1/2 versions, as well as Saturn versions, as a collector.
Ask anyone who knows about fighting games and they will tell you as much. ( Capcom Unity or Shoryuken )
Fuck off, snob my arse, I choose to call the characters by there original Japanese names, because they're Japanese games, you pauper, lol. The Western names are lame in comparison.
" @Linkyshinks: And the Saturn was designed for 2D games anyways, correct? "
Correct. The console was designed to display 2D graphics and has two dedicated 2D chips ( VDP1), whereas the DC and PS1/2 architecture was designed primarily for the rendering of 3D graphics, and therefore lacks dedicated 2D hardware. As a result CPS-2 arcade games are far better replicated on the Sega Saturn than on machines designed primarily for 3D software.
buy one and spend alot of money or just download all those games for free on a pc in a matter of seconds...I wonder which is the better choice...hmmmm....
Who needs a saturn when you can have Ataris last attempt at a system I mean really why wouldnt you want to play a system that has a Huge brick of a controller
But to give credit where credit is due, the Jaguar was the BEST system of its time (Terrible controller aside) They just couldnt get the marketing right, But its OK they paved the way on the road of console failure for SEGA
" @Linkyshinks: And the Saturn was designed for 2D games anyways, correct? "
Correct. The console was designed to display 2D graphics and has two dedicated 2D chips ( VDP1), whereas the DC and PS1/2 architecture was designed primarily for the rendering of 3D graphics, and therefore lacks dedicated 2D hardware. As a result CPS-2 arcade games are far better replicated on the Sega Saturn than on machines designed primarily for 3D software. "
That's bull crap! All a console needs is enough ram and enough power to handle 2D. Due to lack of ram, most CPS-2 to Saturn ports were damn awful. Without the ram cart, the Saturn is mediocre at 2D. Hell! Even with the ram cart, the ports are still noticeably inferior to the arcade.The "Saturn does 2D better" is a myth.
Dreamcast games like Street Fighter III "New Generation" and "2nd Impact" look, sound and run better than any 2D game on the Saturn.
" @Linkyshinks: The second one is a playstation version. Are you sure it's the PS2 version? "
It's the same thing, the PS2 collection uses the PS engine, "
Are you on crack? The PS2 versions are nothing like the PS1 ports. It's a fact that the PS2 emulates the arcade originals.
From wikipedia:
"Vampire - Darkstalkers Collection is a compilation of all five Darkstalkers arcade games that was released in Japan only for the PlayStation 2 in 2005. This compilation features the original arcade versions of the games, as well as hidden arranged versions of some of the Vampire Savior games."
you need to track down the off brand memory cart and get the Japanese Saturn version of Super Fire Pro Wrestling (find a menu by menu translation online and change all the japanese to english (one of the greatest wrestling games of all time)
also, get a copy of Iron Storm, its a turn based ww2 strategy game with insane battle cinematics, highly addictive game
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