Sega Saturn thread

[Smacktard]

I finally got a batch of NA games shipped to myself in Saudi. I was slowly accumulating them at a drop shipping site, and had them all sent out to myself recently.


(empty label is Astal)

I focused on purchasing the more expensive games first, and I made sure to get everything below Pricecharting prices, not taking anything unless I got a good deal for it. I remember when Panzer Saga was selling for $1400 CIB, but I got one for MUCH lower than that -- half price, almost -- or about 20% lower than most of the recent purchases. Mercifully, the most expensive purchases are done now, and I probably won't be buying any more Saturn games for a while, unless I stumble across some in the wild at a decent price.

Most of the manuals for the games are pretty bare bones, black and white, low quality, but the Working Designs manuals are incredible. They even have some "Translator's notes" at the end of the manuals, which gives some insight into the translation process and other tweaks and changes they made to the games, including performance, control, animations, and gameplay. They're hella charming, and extremely personable:


(If you're going to read anything, read at least the first and last paragraph)

(The description for Calrdina = lmao)

Can't wait to start playing these. I'll probably start with Panzer Dragoon I and II, then maybe switch it up with Astal or Three Dirty Dwarves. But the one I'm most looking forward to playing is Deep Fear. It's such an unknown for me compared to the other games.

 

[Quagmire]

I am very Jelly, off top of my head I have Nights into Dreams, Daytona and Panzer Dragoon 1 or 2, cant remember.

Would commit small, fineable but not jailable crimes for Saga or Dragon Force

 

[Smacktard]

Have you ever played Saga or Dragon Force? I also got a Saturn Kai so I can play region free and burnt discs

 

[Quagmire]

Have you ever played Saga or Dragon Force? I also got a Saturn Kai so I can play region free and burnt discs

I have played and beat Saga, loved it. Played a little bit of Dragon Force, liked what I played, but I need to try again

 

[Crystal]

Very nice haul, and very good idea to get the expense games out of the way early. Now tomja e fun with them! Saga is an amazing RPG, not just because it's rare, but because it is legitimately good!

Glad you got Magic Knight Rayearth! Even if you don't know the anime, the manual shows you how fun the game will be

 

[Smacktard]

I can't wait to play Saga too! I've heard many people say it's one of the best games of all time, which you don't often hear for action RPGs. Excited to see what it has in store.

MKR looks comfy. I'm not big into anime, but the gameplay looked great, and I'm hankering for some of those top-down action/RPG games.

Unfortunately I'm away on a biz trip for a couple of days starting tomorrow, so not going to have much time with them ;_;

 

[Crystal]

I can't wait to play Saga too! I've heard many people say it's one of the best games of all time, which you don't often hear for action RPGs. Excited to see what it has in store.

MKR looks comfy. I'm not big into anime, but the gameplay looked great, and I'm hankering for some of those top-down action/RPG games.

Unfortunately I'm away on a biz trip for a couple of days starting tomorrow, so not going to have much time with them ;_;

All the more reason to do a great job and get back quickly so you can play!

 

[Fool's Requiem]

empty label is Astal)

haha, Austin Eruption posted a video yesterday about forgotten Segs games, and he brought uk Astal and the odd lack of a title on the side. Apparently, the game didn't receive great reviews because "why isn't this 3D, everything should be in 3D now". The number of games we didn't get in the NA in the late 90s because it wasn't 3D is absurd. What a stupid era.

I remember when Panzer Saga was selling for $1400 CIB, but I got one for MUCH lower than that -- half price

Saga prices have actually lowered below a thousand now. The market might be healing itself. I was able to buy Twin Snakes for 80 complete, even though it would have been well over 100 last year.

I guess, I'll post my collection. Not a huge one like the Dreamcast collection. Gimme a bit.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

Spoiler

- NBA Jam TE
- Panzer Dragoon Zwei (JP import)
- Darkstalkers 3 (Vampire Savior 2: The Lord of Vampire) (JP Import)
- Sega Rally
- Need for Speed
- X-Men vs Street Fighter (JP import)
- Daytona USA Championship Edition
- Daytona USA
- Sonic R
- Fighters Megamix
- Kung of Fighters '97 (JP import)
- Samurai Spirits Best Collection (Samurai Shodown 3 and 4) (JP Import)
- Virtua Racing
- Nights into Dreams (loose with repro box)
- Nights into Dreams Christmas Edition (JP import)
- Bootleg Sampler (Only de.k on there I don't have a game of is Clockwork Knight 2)
- Tomb Raider
- Virtua Fighter Remix
- Virtua Fighter 2
- Virtua Cop

Also seen, Action Replay that expands RAM, provides place to store game saves, and region unlocking. A solid arcade stick (not licensed by Sega). The "3D" controller. A repro controller of the second version (which is like the one released in Japan, not the awful NA launch controller). A pamphlet listing numerous upcoming or "currently" available Saturn games.

 

[Smacktard]

Nice collection. I'd love to pick up Sega Rally and Fighters Megamix at some point. Even though I'm not really a fan of those two genres, these two look great.

It's funny how JP games are just an expected part of a Saturn collection. Are there any other consoles with US releases that are like this? I think Saturn is unique in this way. Some other consoles might have good JP only releases, but not as many as the Saturn.

 

[Smacktard]

The number of games we didn't get in the NA in the late 90s because it wasn't 3D is absurd. What a stupid era.

Apparently Sony didn't even want Mega Man 8 on the PS1 and later only relented because Capcom was going to release it on the Saturn exclusively.

Saga prices have actually lowered below a thousand now. The market might be healing itself. I was able to buy Twin Snakes for 80 complete, even though it would have been well over 100 last year.

I've noticed retro game prices coming down a bit. Also, luxury brand stocks are down huge. People are suffering from inflation and unemployment is ticking up. I unironically think that a booming and then shrinking collector market is a forward indicator of a coming recession.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

Nice collection. I'd love to pick up Sega Rally and Fighters Megamix at some point. Even though I'm not really a fan of those two genres, these two look great.

It's funny how JP games are just an expected part of a Saturn collection. Are there any other consoles with US releases that are like this? I think Saturn is unique in this way. Some other consoles might have good JP only releases, but not as many as the Saturn.

Dreamcast. Many of it's games can be found cheaper if imported. There are a LOT of games that can only be found in Japan (or even Europe). CvS2, Napple Tale, Headhunter, Shenmue 2, Rez, Ikaruga, and many other SHMUPS.

I unironically think that a booming and then shrinking collector market is a forward indicator of a coming recession.

Market needs a reset. Cars, houses, collectables, everything jumped up far too fast and wages couldn't keep up.

 

[Smacktard]

Dreamcast. Many of it's games can be found cheaper if imported. There are a LOT of games that can only be found in Japan (or even Europe). CvS2, Napple Tale, Headhunter, Shenmue 2, Rez, Ikaruga, and many other SHMUPS.

Fair dues, but I'd still wager it's a more common sight with the Saturn. Dreamcast games aren't even particularly expensive in comparison, and the Saturn still has plenty of JP-only games that are great.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

Worth pointing out in my Saturn collection, the X-Men vs Street Fighter game is pretty much obsolete due to the Marvel vs Capcom collection, and the Darkstalkers games all got numerous releases, including the first Capcom Fighting Collection, so I kinda don't need import copies of those games (assuming the physical release of the MvC collection is actually physical.

Also, Tomb Raider on the Saturn is somehow worse than on the PS1, but having it on the Saturn is much cooler. It would be like having Rayman on the Jaguar.

 

[Smacktard]

I only really care to have the definitive physical version, so no interest in Tomb Raider tbh. Mega Man 8 for the Saturn has some new features and bosses and stuff though so that could be cool to pick up.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

I only really care to have the definitive physical version, so no interest in Tomb Raider tbh. Mega Man 8 for the Saturn has some new features and bosses and stuff though so that could be cool to pick up.

IMO, the definitive version of Tomb Raider is Tomb Raider Anniversary. Tank controls be gone.

I just like the Tomb Raider on Saturn because it has the distinction of being the first release of Tomb Raider despite it being known as a Playstation series until Crystal Dynamics took over in 06.

Fun fact, Tomb Raider Legend got a Gamecube release despite the Wii almost about to release and the Gamecube long being considered and afterthought. It also got released 6 months after the PS2/Xbox/X360/PC release.

 

[Smacktard]

Okay the part in Panzer Zwei where you go from running to soaring off a cliff over a sea of white clouds as the music changes is pretty damn magical. Already I like this game more than OG Panzer Dragoon.

 

[Smacktard]

I was inputting my dragon's name and wanted to see what the max character limit was and it accidentally submitted the name and now I am stuck with a dragon named Chompionnnnnn

 

[Smacktard]

100% Panzer Saga

Had to use a guide because there's so many missables. I think it probably would've been more fun to experience without worrying about getting 100%, but it was enjoyable nonetheless!

 

[Smacktard]

I started playing Burning Rangers. It's made by Sonic Team. Appropriately, it is very bad. I finished the first level, and... I just don't think I can bother to play the rest. It's a real slog.

A modern remake of this game could actually be very good though -- if they fixed the platforming, controls, signposting, draw distance, lack of map/radar, lack of direction, and frame rate.

I'll most likely end up selling this one, or try to trade it away.

edit: the second level is MUCH better than the first one. I'll probably try to complete the game, but not 100% it

 

[Quagmire]

I started playing Burning Rangers. It's made by Sonic Team. Appropriately, it is very bad.

Sonic team also made Nights which is good

 

[Smacktard]

Sonic team also made Nights which is good

I'm done with my Saturn purchases for the year, so I'll probably finally be able to play that one next October.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

I'm done with my Saturn purchases for the year, so I'll probably finally be able to play that one next October.

It's on Steam for 8 bucks. It might even have Christmas Nights if it's the same version as the Xbo 360/PS3 version.

 

[Smacktard]

It's on Steam for 8 bucks. It might even have Christmas Nights if it's the same version as the Xbo 360/PS3 version.

Interesting! I had no idea, honestly.

Still, would like to get it for Saturn since it's THE game you think of when you think of the Sega Saturn. I'll be bringing some Gamecube, Wii, and Saturn games back from Canada in December so it's not like I'll be starved for games for the next while, anyway.

 

[Smacktard]

Finished Burning Rangers. Solid 65/100 game. Don't care to ever play it again, but a modern remake fixing all the issues would be really good.

Went to pop in Deep Fear for Spooktober, but I realized the eBay idiot who sold me the game put scotch tape on the tops of the discs to keep them in place for shipping. I slowly tried to peel the tape off of one of the discs, but it ripped off the top film of the disc, rendering it unplayable. Shit was not cheap, either, so now I'm trying to initiate a return on eBay, and I doubt this goes my way since I had already left a review for the item

 

[Fool's Requiem]

Finished Burning Rangers. Solid 65/100 game. Don't care to ever play it again, but a modern remake fixing all the issues would be really good.

Went to pop in Deep Fear for Spooktober, but I realized the eBay idiot who sold me the game put scotch tape on the tops of the discs to keep them in place for shipping. I slowly tried to peel the tape off of one of the discs, but it ripped off the top film of the disc, rendering it unplayable. Shit was not cheap, either, so now I'm trying to initiate a return on eBay, and I doubt this goes my way since I had already left a review for the item

gotta do what I do

don't review anything

 

[Smacktard]

gotta do what I do

don't review anything

I think that's what I'm gonna do from now on. That's twice now I've been burned on Saturn game purchases.

 

[Smacktard]

Magical Knight Rayearth is excellent. Probably my favorite Saturn game so far. The writing is fantastic and funny. There's some nice touches, like occasional short anime FMV sequences.

The music is pretty good too. It reminds me a lot of old RPG Maker games -- the good ones, ofc.

I didn't expect to enjoy an animu schoolgirl game so much, but it's just really enjoyable.

I mean...:





That's just some high quality writing, y'all.

 

[Crystal]

Yay, good ole MKR!

 

[Quagmire]

Still need to try MKR, maybe I'll give that a go sometime soon!

 

[Smacktard]

Playing Dragon Force now and really enjoying it, but a couple of things are VERY annoying.

1. Enemy generals always run away if it looks like they will lose. There's nothing stopping them from running away, and sometimes you have to challenge them 2 or 3 times in a row just to capture them.

2. Regular units are useless against generals after like level 3. WHY DO THEY ONLY ATTACK THE GENERAL ONE OR TWO AT A TIME????? You can have 30 dragons just get utterly stomped by a single general with no soldiers. Killing generals just eventually boils down to whittling away at their HP with the limited MP your general has. General v general, where armies don't matter at all.

 

[Quagmire]

Playing Dragon Force now and really enjoying it, but a couple of things are VERY annoying.

1. Enemy generals always run away if it looks like they will lose. There's nothing stopping them from running away, and sometimes you have to challenge them 2 or 3 times in a row just to capture them.

2. Regular units are useless against generals after like level 3. WHY DO THEY ONLY ATTACK THE GENERAL ONE OR TWO AT A TIME????? You can have 30 dragons just get utterly stomped by a single general with no soldiers. Killing generals just eventually boils down to whittling away at their HP with the limited MP your general has. General v general, where armies don't matter at all.

Makes sense they would run away, but shouldnt be that OP in battle

 

[Smacktard]

Makes sense they would run away, but shouldnt be that OP in battle

It makes it very hard to win against them, though. When you start attacking them -- even if they're surrounded by 30 guys on horseback, they can just hit the ole eject button

 

[Quagmire]

It makes it very hard to win against them, though. When you start attacking them -- even if they're surrounded by 30 guys on horseback, they can just hit the ole eject button

That sucks though, should only happen if reasonable

 

[Smacktard]

That sucks though, should only happen if reasonable

Agreed. Pretty minor gripes overall though. Still an 8/10 game. Really unique, interesting and beautiful. If it fixed those issues and had a better tutorial/intro, I think it could be a 9/10 game.

 

[Smacktard]

Just finished Deep Fear. If you haven't played this game, play it. It's definitely flawed, but it's an enjoyable romp nonetheless. It's probably my 3rd-favorite Saturn game so far. The voice act is very cheesy, and the cutscenes can be campy at times, but there's a nostalgic "early 90s 3D" quality about them that is quite endearing. The music is excellent, although you only ever hear it during cinematics, but it lends itself really well to the horror of the game, and really helps to establish a sense of escalating dread.

I played with tank controls, but if you have a 3D controller, you can move normally. I think this would make the game somewhat easier, but also much more enjoyable. The gameplay itself is pretty simplistic. It's like a survival horror, but without the survival. First aid kits and bullets can be infinitely replenished, and there's no limit on the number of saves you can make. This makes it less harrowing and easier than, say, Resident Evil, but I also kind of appreciated it. It's kind of obnoxious hoarding saves and ammo and health kits, never knowing how much is "enough", or how long you should go between saves. Most encounters can be beaten by simply standing in place and shooting, and spamming health items when needed. As such, there's more dread in the cutscenes than in the gameplay itself. Navigation can be somewhat annoying sometimes, since the map doesn't show you exactly where you are in a room, so you have to do some trigonometry to find out your location, sometimes. There is some backtracking, but I didn't find it too egregious (except at the start of Disc 2).

Spoiler: Small spoiler

The cinematic right before Disc 2 involves an explosion that shuts down the power and lighting system in the base. I thought, "Holy shit, this is going to change EVERYTHING". I figured all the lights would be off, enemies would be more dangerous -- the whole atmosphere would change. A few seconds later, the Captain says, "Let's switch over to the generator", and... the lights come on, and nothing's changed. Total missed opportunity.

Despite its flaws, it's a really enjoyable game. I can't see myself playing it again any time soon, but I'm glad I played it.



And with that, I've finished all the Saturn games I have here with me in Saudi. In a month, I'll be back in Canada, and I'll collect a few Japanese-only games that I'd had shipped there (4, I think?). I'll post more mini-reviews of each of them. And when I finish those, my Saturn won't get much action for another year or so until the weather here cools, and once again becomes better suited to shipping and keeping old CD-based games with notoriously bad pressings.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

I watched a video from Game Sack where they compared the Saturn with the PS1. Obviously, the PS1 won, but it gave me a few games to look out for in the future, like High Velocity Mountain Racing Challenge, Legend of Oasis (as well as the prequel on the Genesis, Beyond Oasis), Power Slave (expensive), Sky Target, Steep Slope Sliders, and Touge King the Spirits 2 (Tokyo Xtreme Racer prequel).

 

[Smacktard]

I planned on picking up Legend of Oasis and Power Slave at some point.

 

[Smacktard]

Whipped out the Saturn since my GameCube conked out. Finished 2 JP-only games in a couple of hours:

Pulirula
This game is a bit of a meme game. It's a beat'em-up with a very limited move set. The only attack is a 2-hit combo. You can jump. There aren't any throws. You also have magic that makes you invulnerable for some time and deals some damage. The spell you use seems random. That's about it.

The story is about some monster that stops time and... Unleashed baddies on the world? I don't know, exactly, but it's up to you to right this wrong.

The gameplay is pretty basic. Hit boxes don't seem to be ideal. You can pretty much face-tank most of the game since it's quite short and you get a good number of continues and lives. There's no incentive to really get good at the game, but then again, it's not really the sort of game that's worth bothering to get good at.

The environments and enemies, however, are delightfully strange. You fight carp with muscular legs, and one boss is weird face creature with a long, flabby, droopy nose. The backgrounds are something else. One background is a sumo wrestler with his ass to the camera. Another is a Japanese portrait in a classic style, seemingly smoking drugs. But the best is a set of women's legs that extend from the background into the foreground by flexing and stretching. In between them is... A door. If you open the door, a pink elephant comes out.

Weird.

The entire game seems to be a gag -- from the limited move set, to the freaky background art, and even the final boss that you can stunlock and easily kill -- until he comes back stronger and immune from stunlocking. Even the name of the game seems like a gag -- Pulirula? Not exactly easy for a Japanese speaker to pronounce.

The game is like an acid trip. It can be beaten in a little over half an hour. Worth it only for how weird it is.

6.5/10.

------------

Liquid Kids

This is a near-perfect arcade port. There's a TurboGrafx-16 version of the game, but it's not as colorful or detailed as this version.

The story of the game is that you are a hippo, Hippopo, living in an alternate universe where humans don't exist. One day, a portal opens which only opens once every 1000 years, and, I shit you not, a demon called Fire Satan emerges, turning your lake into a flaming hellscape. It's up to you to extinguish his flames!

This game is an arcade style action platformer, but it's very different from most platformers in that your character is very clunky and slow. There are power-ups that boost your character, but they're more of an occasional treat, sometimes time-limited, than something you can depend on, like a fire flower.

You attack by throwing a water ball that can bounce or crash and turn into a little waterfall, dousing enemies. When you bump into enemies in this state, it knocks them away, killing them and anything else in their path.

The game starts pretty simple, but ramps up quickly in difficulty. One hit and you die. Thankfully, the game gives you 99 continues and 5 lives. Whenever you die or get a game over, you can continue from the exact place you died. Due to this, there isn't much incentive to master the game. Still, it's a bit of a mercy because the game can ramp up in difficulty, especially towards the end, when it becomes somewhat of a bullet hell. It's obvious this arcade game was made to vacuum quarters from your pocket.

Bosses are mostly fun, but can be a bit annoying. Again, mercifully, when you die, many bosses have their HP reduced to around where it was before you were killed.

Nice soundtrack, some decent gameplay, and some (mostly) fun bosses.

7.5/10

 

[Fool's Requiem]

I don't know if I mentioned it yet, but I chose to go ahead and buy a copy of After Burner II for the Saturn (JP Import). This is basically the definitive console release of After Burner. It is on par with the arcade version for graphics and audio.

This version plays like a dream. It allows for usage of the Saturn analog controller and it works very well. It is also insanely easy to do the barrel rolls thanks to the analog controls. It might actually be TOO easy to do barrel rolls in this version as you can end up just spinning over and over making it difficult to see incoming missiles and enemy planes. The game gives you multiple difficulty levels and starting lives. There is a continue system, which seems to let you continue from the last level you crossed that started with a refueling. But you can't get a high score from using the continue system.

I already traded in my NES copy of After Burner, but intend to keep the solid Genesis version as it plays pretty well and has a pretty generous continue system that just let's you continue where you ran out of lives.

After Burner is probably my favorite of Sega's sprite scaler games. It's like a fast paced Star Fox that's easy to pick up and play, but difficult to master. As such, it's nice to finally have a copy that really plays like it should. This is also one of the few classic Sega games to not get a modern port. I can play Daytona USA, Virtua Racing, Space Harrier, Outrun, among many others on the most recent consoles... but not After Burner for some reason.