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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread

S

starwarsfan541

Banned
Thanks, I decided I am going to try to get her the 3 pack, Sega Rally, and Fighters Megamix for Christmas, plus the system obviously :)

On another note what other good racing games are on the system?

EDIT: Might try and get Sonic R too.
 
O

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
starwarsfan541 said:
Thanks, I decided I am going to try to get her the 3 pack, Sega Rally, and Fighters Megamix for Christmas, plus the system obviously :)

On another note what other good racing games are on the system?

EDIT: Might try and get Sonic R too.
Click to expand...

Fighters Megamix YESSSSSSSSS. It's utter lunacy. You'll both love it.

For other racers, I remember liking the original Need For Speed on Saturn. My old copy is too scratched to play so i'll need GAF verification as to whether it's good or not.
 
S

starwarsfan541

Banned
oneida said:
Fighters Megamix YESSSSSSSSS. It's utter lunacy. You'll both love it.

For other racers, I remember liking the original Need For Speed on Saturn. My old copy is too scratched to play so i'll need GAF verification as to whether it's good or not.
Click to expand...

Yea, I have Sonic Gems Collection on my GC, and I read Fighting Vipers is similar is that good too?

Real shame that Sonic the Fighters never got its Saturn port.
 
O

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
starwarsfan541 said:
Yea, I have Sonic Gems Collection on my GC, and I read Fighting Vipers is similar is that good too?

Real shame that Sonic the Fighters never got its Saturn port.
Click to expand...

Fighters Megamix contains the entire Fighting Vipers roster and game mechanics. I wouldn't bother!
 
O

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
The Bankslammer said:
oh

in that case why do i have the jp version of fighters megamix

also why the spoiler tags

edit: evidently the difference is a half naked picture of honey

welp
Click to expand...

T8H3SuL.jpg
Click to expand...
this page has been soiled
 
P

PepsimanVsJoe

Member
The Japanese version of Fighters Megamix also has a matching card game. Apparently you can win pictures of Janet (Virtua Cop 2) in various states of undress.

SSF keeps freezing whenever I reach the last stage. =/
 
L

luka

Loves Robotech S1
Genesis Knight said:
Going to be honest, those are some weird Saturn recommendations... :) To each their own!
Click to expand...

i think those are great recommendations! at least for people who aren't willing to delve into the extended japanese library.

although I'd personally remove the lobotomy games that aren't powerslave, and radiant silvergun

because fuck radiant silvergun
 
C

Celine

Member
starwarsfan541 said:
On another note what other good racing games are on the system?
Click to expand...
Sega Rally
Daytona USA (get CE version if you can)
Wipeout XL
Need for speed
Touge 2
Manx TT super bike
F1 challenge

A curiosity Outrun for Saturn is the only version that run at 60 fps since thr original arcade was 30fps.
 
S

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
I can't recommend any Saturn version of Daytona USA in good conscience in a world where the HD version (and the Model 2 emulator) exists. And it was the reason I got the system.

That said, the original release has better and more arcade-accurate gameplay, and it also controls pretty well on a standard pad. It's pretty competent if you can get over the extremely primitive graphics. The only thing Circuit Edition has over it is 2-player and a couple additional (unremarkable) tracks, and I doubt that's a big draw.
 
D

Defunkled

Member
I just replaced my save battery about 3 months ago. How long can I expect it to last? My Saturn is always plugged in, if that helps.

I just started Panzer Dragoon Saga for the first time and I want to keep my saves safe.
 
A Black Falcon

A Black Falcon

Member
Defunkled said:
I just replaced my save battery about 3 months ago. How long can I expect it to last? My Saturn is always plugged in, if that helps.

I just started Panzer Dragoon Saga for the first time and I want to keep my saves safe.
Click to expand...

If it's always plugged in? A couple of years, probably. Get a save backup cart (either an Action Replay or official Sega memory card) at some point, though.
 
M

Mercutio

Member
Saturn's one of my favorite consoles. I've got a setup dedicated to 90's and early 00's fighting and arcade games. Here's a photo tour:

We've got this odd kitchen table nook in our house, and it's become an arcade area for my fighters.

DAP_3299_zps8b625f58.jpg


Left to right, we've got a Consolized MVS Neo Geo system, my Victor Saturn, and a Japanese-made Dreamcast. All connect to the heavily modified HSS-0130 stick.

This glorious bastard is my HSS-0130.
DAP_3295_zpsb5d24bf5.jpg


The HSS-0130 was a premium stick made for Japan in 1996, and sold for a whopping 24,800¥. It's hailed by many as the "Best Arcade Stick Ever Made," but that's a god damned lie out of the box. It came with really nice Seimitsu levers, but the buttons were crappy mushy copies of Seimitsu buttons. The stock stick has 8 of those buttons per side, for the normal 6 and the two shoulders. Oh, and it rusts. Like crazy. The stock plate is not stainless steel.

I was fortunate to get this stick for about $130 shipped in pretty terrible shape from YAJ, and proceeded to gut the damned thing. The previous owner had mistreated it pretty badly and tried to modify it for Dreamcast usage. I got rid of the guts and installed a brand new all Sanwa Astro City panel, which is a pretty direct fit. I only had to cut one part of the inside, thanks to the grounding screw on the panel.

The sticks now run on a pair of MC Cthulhu boards and connect by RJ45 and DB15 ports. Had to drill some holes in the back, and also added extra buttons for Home / Select on each side.

DAP_8910_zps170fa3fc.jpg



Here's the Saturn itself.
DAP_3294_zps23082303.jpg


This is a Japanese-made Victor Saturn with swapped power / eject / reset buttons. The power light is modified with a blue LED, and it can play burned discs. The region lockout chips have also been disabled. It's absolutely fantastic; I love how quiet it is in comparison to the Dreamcast. Why can't disc based systems all be so silent? I've also got some memory carts for backup, but normally I keep the 4MB cart in there for fighters.

Oh, if anyone needs a 4MB cart, let me know... I have one without a shell, bare board, just sitting in my desk.
 
D

Defunkled

Member
A Black Falcon said:
If it's always plugged in? A couple of years, probably. Get a save backup cart (either an Action Replay or official Sega memory card) at some point, though.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I do have an Action Replay cart, I was just worried about repeatedly putting it in and taking it out of the Saturn since PDS won't boot up when the cartridge is present. Maybe I'll just use the code that lets you bypass it.

EDIT: Daaaaamn at that stick setup.
 
M

Mercutio

Member
televator said:
This picture makes me think "You came to the wrong neighborhood
or the right one
, motherfucker!" LOL!
Click to expand...

Oh, I know it's mostly emulation round these parts.

But, hey, we all gotta do what we gotta do to get those sweet, sweet, discontinued and impossible to get Saturn games...
 
C

Celine

Member
Sixfortyfive said:
I can't recommend any Saturn version of Daytona USA in good conscience in a world where the HD version (and the Model 2 emulator) exists. And it was the reason I got the system.

That said, the original release has better and more arcade-accurate gameplay, and it also controls pretty well on a standard pad. It's pretty competent if you can get over the extremely primitive graphics. The only thing Circuit Edition has over it is 2-player and a couple additional (unremarkable) tracks, and I doubt that's a big draw.
Click to expand...
Well he just asked for good Saturn racing games...
Also CE had better framerate compared to the original port.

A bit off-topic but was the PS1 version on Taromaru canned?
 
M

Mercutio

Member
IrishNinja said:
goddamn is that a sexy setup. i need to look into that Omega consolized MVS, but even the stick is gorgeous. mad props.
Click to expand...

The Omega's awesome. It can output standard component or true RGB by a little switch, and the video quality is really fantastic. Very crisp; I had an XRGB Mini for a while and this thing performed just as well without it on that Toshiba TV there. It's basically just an MV-1C MVS motherboard in a plastic shell, and my understanding is that everything connects right to the JAMMA edge of the board. If your board flakes or dies, you can get another one for around a hundred bucks and your system's running again. It also uses the Universal BiOS, which is awesome if you want to change things about individual games; red blood in Samurai Shodown etc.

The sticks weren't very economical, and took AGES to gather all the parts for. Until I found suitable housing for the Sanwa panel, it sat in the cardboard box it came in:

wiring_zps7da5670c.jpg


astroPanel_zps72ee17e3.jpg


For a while I was convinced that I'd made a terrible mistake on blowing the cash on the panel itself.
 
M

Mercutio

Member
For anyone interested, here's a parts list to make a stick like mine:

You'll need the Sanwa Panel:
http://www.videogamesnewyork.com/in...ucts_id=1674&zenid=t8l8tmedpvs7i7rgcrr8paj252

The interesting thing about the actual arcade Sanwa panels is that they use a MUCH higher grade of button. Not the cheaper type that come in most "Japanese Button" arcade sticks. These are MUCH bigger internally (almost HAPP size) and tend to be far more durable, according to Japanese sources.

Two Multi-Console Cthulhu:
http://godlikecontrols.com/ (or FocusAttack.com when they're back)

Two RJ-45 Data ports:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/445022-REG/Neutrik_NE8FDP_NE8FDP_EtherCon_Series_RJ45.html

Two DB15 Ports (these fit normal Neo Geo Adapter cables):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008MU0PN2/?tag=neogaf0e-20

An HSS-0130:
http://page6.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/f128218574
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SEGA-Saturn...152?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ecb84aba0

And of course lots of wire, and connecting cables from your system. Focus Attack sells these.

The HSS is the tricky part. You can also, alternatively find Astro City Cabinet or Blast City Cabinet front panels on Yahoo Auctions Japan. The Astro City is generally a sawed off chunk of a cabinet; that means it isn't very pretty on the backside. The Blast City Cabinet front panels are self contained and don't require nearly as much work. No matter what, these are old arcade parts and they come FILTHY. So get ready for that. I camped for a while on the HSS on YAJ, and eventually found one in very rough shape for $90. It cost about $70 to ship over. I don't suggest blowing $500 on one on eBay... especially not if you're going to drill holes in it.

I used a dremmel to cut the holes in the back, and to cut a few holes inside for more cable-running. Mine was not as yellowed as some I've seen; this plastic is VERY high quality and durable, but it yellows if it is in a smoking household. To remove scrapes, scratches, and dings (and very possibly discoloration) I used this plastic cleaner set:

http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10025445&N=&Ntt=Plastic

Oh, and buying things on Yahoo Auctions Japan. I use Buyee (http://buyee.jp/) , which is a fantastic and reliable service. They'll even communicate with the buyer if necessary. The seller of my HSS was VERY concerned about the buyer getting a non-working item (which he should have been, considering his crap soldering job) and returning it... Buyee convinced him that I didn't care and was going to gut his abomination anyway.
 
S

Shadow Hog

Member
I'm a little surprised Quake doesn't have a Hard difficulty. The opening map where you select difficulty only has Easy and Normal readily accessible, with Nightmare hidden in the usual spot by Episode 4's entrance (actually rather impressed they kept that, although they made it slightly more difficult to reach - the floating water area stretched out backward over the wooden structure you need to land on in the PC version, making it a cinch to line it up, but that widened bottom isn't present in the Saturn version). I don't see a Hard anywhere, though. Did they really just nix it and make it only Easy, Normal and Nightmare?

Also a little surprised to see the health packs giving out more health than I'm used to. instead of 15 and 25, it's 20 and 30. Then again, I seem to be getting my butt kicked more than I'm used to on the PC version (aiming issues, I guess?), so the extra health is appreciated.
 
Riky

Riky

$MSFT
Daytona USA (get CE version if you can)
Click to expand...

Don't get the CE version, it handles like a total dog compared to the original port, it might be rough technically but the original plays a lot better.
 
D

Dark Octave

Banned
Mercutio said:
Saturn's one of my favorite consoles. I've got a setup dedicated to 90's and early 00's fighting and arcade games. Here's a photo tour:

We've got this odd kitchen table nook in our house, and it's become an arcade area for my fighters.

DAP_3299_zps8b625f58.jpg


Left to right, we've got a Consolized MVS Neo Geo system, my Victor Saturn, and a Japanese-made Dreamcast. All connect to the heavily modified HSS-0130 stick.

This glorious bastard is my HSS-0130.
DAP_3295_zpsb5d24bf5.jpg


The HSS-0130 was a premium stick made for Japan in 1996, and sold for a whopping 24,800¥. It's hailed by many as the "Best Arcade Stick Ever Made," but that's a god damned lie out of the box. It came with really nice Seimitsu levers, but the buttons were crappy mushy copies of Seimitsu buttons. The stock stick has 8 of those buttons per side, for the normal 6 and the two shoulders. Oh, and it rusts. Like crazy. The stock plate is not stainless steel.

I was fortunate to get this stick for about $130 shipped in pretty terrible shape from YAJ, and proceeded to gut the damned thing. The previous owner had mistreated it pretty badly and tried to modify it for Dreamcast usage. I got rid of the guts and installed a brand new all Sanwa Astro City panel, which is a pretty direct fit. I only had to cut one part of the inside, thanks to the grounding screw on the panel.

The sticks now run on a pair of MC Cthulhu boards and connect by RJ45 and DB15 ports. Had to drill some holes in the back, and also added extra buttons for Home / Select on each side.

DAP_8910_zps170fa3fc.jpg



Here's the Saturn itself.
DAP_3294_zps23082303.jpg


This is a Japanese-made Victor Saturn with swapped power / eject / reset buttons. The power light is modified with a blue LED, and it can play burned discs. The region lockout chips have also been disabled. It's absolutely fantastic; I love how quiet it is in comparison to the Dreamcast. Why can't disc based systems all be so silent? I've also got some memory carts for backup, but normally I keep the 4MB cart in there for fighters.

Oh, if anyone needs a 4MB cart, let me know... I have one without a shell, bare board, just sitting in my desk.
Click to expand...
Tight set up but the NeoGeo should have been a Genesis.

But still awesome that it's a NeoGeo.
 
A Black Falcon

A Black Falcon

Member
starwarsfan541 said:
Also, what accessories are good to have?

I figured I need an extra controller but what else are good ideas?
Click to expand...
A 3D Controller, for sure, if you don't have one!

Also, the Arcade Racer and Mission Stick cost a bit more, but both are really fantastic to have if you like the system. The Arcade Racer gives you analog wheel control in most racing games on the system and is required for analog in several games (Hang-On GP and Virtua Racing, most notably), and the Mission Stick joystick gives you great analog joystick control in some games. It makes Panzer Dragoon and PD Zwei quite a bit better, and is great in stuff like MechWarrior 2, ThunderStrike 2, Black Fire, etc. I also actually prefer it to the wheel or gamepad in the original version of Daytona, which is my favorite version on the Saturn because of the better controls. I also have the Japanese Daytona CE version, which is great, but it breaks Mission Stick support and the controls aren't quite as good I don't think... though they are better than the US CCE version.

sixteen-bit said:
Some games support saving directly to the card. PAR4M+ is recognized as a either a cheat device or RAM cart, so it doesn't allow direct save in-game. You'll have to enter the memory manager between games and copy the saves over manually.

It's only a convenience thing. You won't need one unless there is a game that ONLY saves to memory cards and doesn't support the battery backup (I can't think of any)
Click to expand...
Hexen. You need the memory card to save your actual location (for the games' save-anywhere save files); without it all you can do is passwords that only save your area and basic data. This makes sense though, since on the N64 and PS1 the games' save files take up pretty much an entire memory card, and those are a whole lot bigger than the Saturn's internal memory. There's no way they could have fit it in. They could at least have let you save that password to the internal memory, though... but no. It's not an option.
 
O

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
sixteen-bit said:
I remember there was some chatter earlier about folks (oneida?) picking up Bulk Slash. Any impressions yet?
Click to expand...
I ended up not getting it because Rakuten didn't like the name on my credit card (???) and I couldn't bring myself to spend twice as much through Jap-Sai even though I love them :/ it looks so colorful and fun though, like an enjoyable MML.
 
N

Naeval

Member
I have a Saturn, and is one of the consoles I have enjoyed most. From Guardian Heroes to Panzer Dragoon Saga, including all the shoot em ups and 1 vs 1 that make so famous the console in this niche time ago.

But, could be for that reason, I have it in a box and I never turn it on now. I prefer to have it in my registers that refresh it now. Something that not always happens to me (I love to turn on my game gear / Master System).
 
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