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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread

Sometime in early 2006 I walked into a console repair shop I had never been in before that sold used games. In the glass counter he kept all of the older stuff like Saturn games. He had some pretty cool stuff in there that I asked about the price of; he told me every Saturn game was $7 (or close to it, this was 6 years ago and I don't remember exactly).

I walked out of that place with Shining Wisdom, Shining the Holy Ark, Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Dragon Force (with one of the rare disc arts), and some other stuff I don't remember. Only cost me somewhere between $35 and $45 for the whole lot. At the time Dragon Force alone was worth at least twice what I paid and any two of the others would also have recouped my cost.

wow, what a deal!
 

Dave Long

Banned
As an aside to my pinball posts earlier in the thread, I did some research and discovered that Kaze Co. was behind Super Pinball: Behind the Mask for the Super Nintendo. I have that on the way from eBay. Had to replace my SNES to play it (my original one bought in 1992 has problems displaying in color sometimes...), but I'm looking forward to checking that out.

They do web development now. :(
 
If you're counting imports, then Saturn over Dreamcast any day of the week, no contest. Just US domestic? Ehhhh....

Saturn over Genesis is a harder question.
 

Dave Long

Banned
I think the Genesis is their best platform, pretty easily. Saturn and Dreamcast are much closer, especially if you throw out the imports.

As much as I enjoy all the other consoles that have come and gone and are today, these SEGA systems are still my favorites and probably always will be.
 
I think the Genesis is their best platform, pretty easily. Saturn and Dreamcast are much closer, especially if you throw out the imports.

As much as I enjoy all the other consoles that have come and gone and are today, these SEGA systems are still my favorites and probably always will be.

I definitely play my Saturn more than Genesis these days, but that's probably just because I played the shit out of Genesis as a kid.

Domestic Only:

Genesis > Dreamcast > Saturn

Import + Domestic:

Genesis > Saturn > Dreamcast
 

cj_iwakura

Member
I actually own more DC games than I do Saturn games, but yeah, Saturn no question. DC just had a lot more cheap, quirky titles, Saturn has more quality.
 

Seik

Banned
I didn't even know there was a dreamcast emulation thread.

Yeah it kinda bombed hard because I released it two week pre-Wii U launch, or maybe because there's simply not enough GAFers that actually cares about the Dreamcast. :p

I'll do an update for the Dreamcast thread with a bunch of new tested games during my holiday vacations. maybe it'll get a bit more love.
 
Yeah it kinda bombed hard because I released it two week pre-Wii U launch, or maybe because there's simply not enough GAFers that actually cares about the Dreamcast. :p

I'll do an update for the Dreamcast thread with a bunch of new tested games during my holiday vacations. maybe it'll get a bit more love.
I'm getting a J-DC soon, so I'll probably pop in and ask for some recommendations on good import exclusives.
 

Dave Long

Banned
Ah... cool. Pricewise it's not so bad to get one, so it's viable. I just have so many systems hooked up that any one that I can have play imports on its own is better than having two. You know?
 
There aren't many, IMO.
That would make sense, as it wasn't nearly as popular in Japan as the Saturn. Still, in addition for the 5 or so I already have I'm looking at Border Down and Cosmic Smash, and am curious as to what else is out there.
Ah... cool. Pricewise it's not so bad to get one, so it's viable. I just have so many systems hooked up that any one that I can have play imports on its own is better than having two. You know?
Yeah, to be honest space is going to become a real issue for me if I keep buying consoles, lol.
 

morch

Member
Does anyone own "Satakore" re-releases of any games? If so are the spines red? I know the obi strips are red, but what about the spines themselves as printed behind the plastic shell? I'm thinking about picking a Satakore release up but I want uniformity on my shelf.

just went to check my sfa zero 2 dash i somehow picked up for £25/$35-40 but i still got it bagged up so i can't see properly, it has a black plastic bit on front of spine holding the case, but i can't see on the spine itself

sorry, best i can help, dont think ill open it cause i got sf collection too :( i think im becoming a collector :(
 
just went to check my sfa zero 2 dash i somehow picked up for £25/$35-40 but i still got it bagged up so i can't see properly, it has a black plastic bit on front of spine holding the case, but i can't see on the spine itself

sorry, best i can help, dont think ill open it cause i got sf collection too :( i think im becoming a collector :(

Thanks, I appreciate the effort. I think I'll take the chance on it either way.
 
just went to check my sfa zero 2 dash i somehow picked up for £25/$35-40 but i still got it bagged up so i can't see properly, it has a black plastic bit on front of spine holding the case, but i can't see on the spine itself

sorry, best i can help, dont think ill open it cause i got sf collection too :( i think im becoming a collector :(

I have the Albert Odyssey satakore release and the spine is white under the obi and on the japanese printed side.
 
My copy of Mahao Daisakusen (Kingdom Grand Prix) came in today. Looking forward to trying it out. Race mode seems hard as heck to get in the top three; might have to check out the shooter mode from the cheat menu.
 
Put me in the camp that likes the Saturn over the DC. The library might be a bit more streamlined with RPGs, fighters, 2D games etc but it was really a true evolution of the Genesis, plus we did get some cool exclusive 3D games like Burning Rangers and NiGHTS. The Dreamcast was more arcady and better for more short gaming sessions with friends over.
 

RM8

Member
Guys, would I be missing too much if I get a Japanese Saturn? That'd automatically remove RPGs from my potential library because my Japanese sucks hard, for example, and I really want to play Guardian Heroes... also, would I need to buy any adapter to play it here in Mexico (it's the same as US voltage-wise and... everything-wise)?
 

Yes Boss!

Member
Guys, would I be missing too much if I get a Japanese Saturn?That'd automatically remove RPGs from my potential library because my Japanese sucks hard, for example, and I really want to play Guardian Heroes... also, would I need to buy any adapter to play it here in Mexico (it's the same as US voltage-wise and... everything-wise)?

Same voltage. Action Replay Plus could get you playing american games (RPGs) on the j-Saturn no problem. Even Panzer Dragoon Saga plays fine (the one known with problems) by simply inputing a code.
 

RM8

Member
Awesome. I'll be getting the grey and blue one early next year when I'm in Japan, they're pretty cheap at Super Potato. I'll finally own the "big 3" systems from my favorite console generation :)

Thanks!
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
For what it's worth, there's pretty much no reason to get the Saturn version of Guardian Heroes over the XBLA version.
 
Picked up Megaman X4 in pretty great condition (case, boxart, & manual all intact) for $40. Looked on Ebay and Amazon, and apparently, complete copies are $90-100. I guess I lucked out...?
 
First of all, I would like to thank you Seik for outing up this info on the Saturn Emu. I now can play Akumajou Dracula X - Gekka no Yasoukyoku. I did run into a problem which I don't know if others have had it too which is after running the game for about 30 minutes it just up and crashes. I didn't have any problems yesterday until today. Does anyone know the reason why it does this and if there is a way to fix it?
 
Picked up Megaman X4 in pretty great condition (case, boxart, & manual all intact) for $40. Looked on Ebay and Amazon, and apparently, complete copies are $90-100. I guess I lucked out...?

Auctions are the way to go on eBay if you can snipe. I saw one go for ~$27 recently.
Even used game sites based in japan price it under insane ebay/amazon scalpers.
 

Yes Boss!

Member
So,

I have an old RGB cable with NTSC on the console side, and EU pinout on the TV side. I've got the j-pinout and and a soldering iron and will rewire it for J-RGB. Wish me luck!
 

Tain

Member
lol, this is like the RGB discussion thread now. Which is great, because I need to find a good SCART switch.
 

Seik

Banned
Picked up Megaman X4 in pretty great condition (case, boxart, & manual all intact) for $40. Looked on Ebay and Amazon, and apparently, complete copies are $90-100. I guess I lucked out...?

You got a very good deal, I got my mint copy for $75. :p

Still waiting for a deal for Burning Rangers. D:
 

Seik

Banned
HOLY SHIT, I DIDN'T EXPECT THIS.

ABjWH.png


He accepted the offer, which was $35 less. (Got it for $115)

Ok, this will be a Christmas gift to myself. My Sega Saturn Collection will finally be complete! :D
 

Seik

Banned
that's a lot for burning rangers. my jp copy was like 20 bucks. :p

Yeah, I know, I really wanted the US version in my collection.

Still, with shipping it cost me $150 total. The only copy available at that price is a loose disc, so I kinda got a deal here, I think. :p
 
I think NA Saturn prices are on the rise again. NA Burning Rangers was already a limited release. I was browsing Amazon last night and import prices seem to be holding though.
 

Tain

Member
I'm not at home right now, but did Saturn Fighting Vipers run at 60fps? I know it uses the same mixed resolution (high res backgrounds, low-res characters and arenas) with goraurd shading approach as Fighters Megamix, but I forget if it ran at 60 or not. I know Megamix doesn't.

Either way, I'm curious as to why they did it. Virtua Fighter 2 is seen as a high point for the Saturn, tech-wise. Does anyone here think the tradeoff was worth it and prefer the way Megamix/Vipers looks?

Or maybe they couldn't get walled arenas with the high-res no-lighting approach? That sounds a little wild to me.
 
Is there a reason to get the Saturn version over the HD port at this point?

The saturn version of FV is fine for a Saturn game, but it's pretty neutered in terms of the original FV vision. The recent port is lovely, native 1080p and a wonderful model 2 port.

But as much as I love FV, Megamix still has it beat.
 

Tain

Member
Damn, that's a shame. VF2 has elevated arenas, too, I think, so maybe it's a texture size or alpha issue or something.
 
HSS-0130... Someday :(

All the ones I see for reasonable prices are ruined (i.e. modded for use on modern systems; unusable on Saturn).
 
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