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My newest console might be my favourite of all time

P

PepsimanVsJoe

Member
Game Tengoku is worth a look mainly for the bizarre bosses and cute references to other games. There's a level that looks straight out of an old-school Dragon Quest, a fight against a girl singing karaoke, etc.

The intro is all kinds of messed up though. Crazy mad scientist wearing nothing but a trenchcoat chasing around a female attendant at an arcade? Yikes

Get Cotton 2 or Cotton Boomerang if you can. Yeah I know more 2D shooters Zzz but these games are really cool. While shooting stuff you can grab enemies, toss them around, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clGwV6dT6ME
 
T

Tsubaki

Member
AVclub said:
I just feel that anyone who thinks the Saturn is the best console of all time hasn't played with many consoles.
Click to expand...

I just feel that anyone who doesn't think the Saturn is the best console of all time is some ignorant Westerner who hasn't played 10% of what the Saturn has to offer.
 
M

meppi

Member
Most of you guys probably already know this, but for those who don't and love retro games, I would recommend checking out RetroCore by Yakumo, the owner of Segagagadomain.

It was a monthly amateur retrogaming show where he would play classic games and comment on them. Pretty much every system up till the Dreamcast gets in on the action, but it's also very Saturn and Dreamcast centric.
Oh and there are also a couple of special editions, namely the Saturn and Dreamcast shooting specials and a 2005 Akihabara Special.
There are 32 regular episodes in total.

They used to be hosted at the segagagadomain, but I think that the only place to download or watch them now is on the internet archive site.
 
P

PepsimanVsJoe

Member
meppi said:
Most of you guys probably already know this, but for those who don't and love retro games, I would recommend checking out RetroCore by Yakumo, the owner of Segagagadomain.
Click to expand...

I've watched most of his videos, they're pretty interesting.

Only caveats:
-Everything is an 8 out of 10 with him.
-It seems like all western games are shite.
-He wears sandals.

The Saturn shooter special is worth a watch, especially for the Planet Joker footage at the end.
 
M

meppi

Member
Can't disagree with you on any of those points. :lol

But I do love the show. I wish there was something similar now that he stopped making new ones.
 
A Black Falcon

A Black Falcon

Member
Tsubaki said:
I just feel that anyone who doesn't think the Saturn is the best console of all time is some ignorant Westerner who hasn't played 10% of what the Saturn has to offer.
Click to expand...

You really can't blame people much for not playing games that weren't released in their region and aren't available in a language they understand... as far as the US or Europe go, the Saturn was a total failure, and its poor release list reflects that.

Of course, in the US the Dreamcast, despite its failure, somewhat rebounded from Sega's low point from the Saturn, and saved Sega's reputation here... in Japan that didn't really happen, of course, given that the DC failed worse there than here. It is funny that despite that total failure in Japan the DC saw years of support, but that was all hardcore stuff... Naomi-port shmups made up most of it.

Anyway, even including the Japanese releases, the Saturn only had a four year lifespan there before being replaced, and Sega's Japanese marketshare (that they had built up with the Saturn) totally fell apart during 1997... sure, the DC's 3 year (or less) effective lifespan in Japan (2 1/2 years in the US) was even shorter, but that was mostly because Sega had lost way too much money with the Saturn (and DC) to continue on. Those are fairly short lifecycles...
 
E

ethelred

Member
AVclub said:
You're right on point. The Saturn was underpowered for the time but did 2D pretty well. Still, it doesn't hold a candle to some of the other retro consoles out there. I mean, the library of games isn't that big because Sega abandoned the platform way too fast. Anyway, there's not a whole lot to debate about.
Click to expand...

The library isn't huge in terms of numbers, but it's absolutely there in quality. It's got a lot of incredible games, and it's got a lot of quality titles that aren't to be found on any other platform -- unlike the Genesis, the SNES, the PSX, the Dreamcast, and so on. In any event, while it was underpowered compared to, say, the N64, it slaughtered that system in quality. And "doing 2D well" (something of an understatement given that the Saturn was more like 2D's epic grand finale) is nothing to ignore. And what gives the Saturn an edge over other niche retro machines like TurboGrafx or NeoGeo was that it had a breadth of quality titles across a variety of genres; it wasn't pigeonholed into one style of game.
 
E

EverSoTrendy

Banned
GuardianHeroes1.jpg


Better believe it, best fucking game ever besides Gunstar Heroes and SOR3.
 
T

Tsubaki

Member
A Black Falcon said:
You really can't blame people much for not playing games that weren't released in their region and aren't available in a language they understand... as far as the US or Europe go, the Saturn was a total failure, and its poor release list reflects that.
Click to expand...

Yes, but these faux hardcore gamers think that by being on GAF their opinion means something, when statements like I just feel that anyone who thinks the Saturn is the best console of all time hasn't played with many consoles. prove what an uninformed idiot the poster is.
 
Tarin02543

Tarin02543

Member
I distinctly remember the saturn being extremely expensive when it came out here in Belgium. Playstation was like 15000 belgian francs when it came out but Saturn in comparision was 22000 francs. For a mere mortal teenager that was many years of allowance.

So if I had been rich I could reminisence over it but I don't have any nostalgic connection to it whatsoever.
 
A Black Falcon

A Black Falcon

Member
Tsubaki said:
Yes, but these faux hardcore gamers think that by being on GAF their opinion means something, when statements like I just feel that anyone who thinks the Saturn is the best console of all time hasn't played with many consoles. prove what an uninformed idiot the poster is.
Click to expand...

Everybody has a different opinion on what the best console ever is... my favorite is the N64, for instance, though the PC is my favorite gaming platform. Not that that really matters here, my point is just that everyone has their own opinion... you said

I just feel that anyone who doesn't think the Saturn is the best console of all time is some ignorant Westerner who hasn't played 10% of what the Saturn has to offer.
Click to expand...

Which is no better, really, than what he said. Anyone who doesn't think the Saturn is the best console ever is ignorant? Ah, no... they just have different taste than you. :)

Of course, if someone's saying that without knowing much about actual Saturn games that'd be different (and that is your charge), but even so, there are many people who played Saturn games but didn't think that it was the best console ever, of course. Anyway though, yes, you should play at least some of a console's games before judging it.
 
A

Ainaurdur

Member
Threads like these tempt me to spend money.

I completely missed Saturn and wish to remedy that mistake, but I'd need to see what else can be shifted in my purchasing timeline to accommodate it. :lol
 
xemumanic

xemumanic

Member
I made sure to buy a spare Japanese Saturn in 2000. With the 4 +1 cart in the slot, I basically NEVER had to remove to cart to play 99.9% of the games I own, save for KOF 95.
 
A Black Falcon

A Black Falcon

Member
Tsubaki said:
I think you missed the facetious parallelism in my post when I first responded.
Click to expand...

Ah, that would do it. It's so hard to tell with text...

Ainaurdur said:
I completely missed Saturn and wish to remedy that mistake, but I'd need to see what else can be shifted in my purchasing timeline to accommodate it.
Click to expand...

The main downside to the Saturn is that for a classic console, it's pretty expensive to collect for... other than that, though, it's pretty good.
 
Xisiqomelir

Xisiqomelir

Member
A Black Falcon said:
The main downside to the Saturn is that for a classic console, it's pretty expensive to collect for... other than that, though, it's pretty good.
Click to expand...

Now really, this impression has to be quashed.

What's rare that people might actually want to play? PDS ($200), Radiant Silvergun ($200) and maybe Taromaru ($700?). Every current-gen+ priced ($50-80) US release (Guardian Heroes, Albert Odyssey etc) can be had for half-off if you pick up the JPN version instead.

And then there's the whole rest of the catalog of really high quality stuff (MKR, Layer Section, Soukyugurentai, Baku Baku, Three Dirty Dwarves, every fighting game, Grandia and so much more) that goes for $5-30.

Compare to Neo-Geo, where you will literally pay hundreds for every game of interest, or arcade boards, which are truly absurd, and Saturn is really not expensive at all.
 
S

suffah

Does maths and stuff
Let's say I had a $500 budget (for console and games). What would you guys recommend? I'd prefer the JPN version over the US version whenever possible.
 
V

virusOprstu

Member
I can't believe noone's mentioned Shining Force 3 Scenarios 1-3 and the Premium Disc :':)'( Oh and Die Hard Arcade was the jam back in the day..
 
S

Scrow

Still Tagged Accordingly
Xisiqomelir said:
My newest console might be my favourite of all time
Click to expand...
it's just the honeymoon period. you get it with all new ("new" to you) consoles. the novelty wears off in due time.
 
L

LiveFromKyoto

Member
This thread has me really tempted to pick one up, I skipped the Saturn and haven't gotten one due to the fact that I didn't like the 32-bit era much, the hardware all seemed too underpowered for what it was trying to do.

But the games are insanely cheap in Japan, the equivalent of $2-3 at used game shops. Most of the things left on shelves are the insanely common games (Virtua Cop, etc.) or the piles random otaku trash that pervaded the system's later years, but there's a good amount of stuff lying around.

People saying things like "better than Dreamcast " (I don't believe any of you, btw) have me at least interested in going back.

What were the best examples of 2D on the system?
 
E

evilernLeGG

Member
LiveFromKyoto said:
What were the best examples of 2D on the system?
Click to expand...

Slight bump,

I too am interested in this. I know most of the heavy 2D hitters (and some of the obscure ones), but every time a Saturn thread pops up, I find new ones that just blow my mind with the sprite quality.
 
Xisiqomelir

Xisiqomelir

Member
suffah said:
Let's say I had a $500 budget (for console and games). What would you guys recommend? I'd prefer the JPN version over the US version whenever possible.
Click to expand...

Glad someone bumped, I missed this before.

Starter Saturn library:

US Saturn + 4in one OR JP Saturn (~$60)
Layer Section ($10)
Panzer Dragoon Zwei ($15)
Sega Rally or Daytona USA ($5)
Guardian Heroes JP ($30)
Soukyugurentai ($40)
Legend of Oasis ($20)
Three Dirty Dwarves ($20)
Magic Knights Rayearth JP ($10)
Darkstalkers/Vampire Savior JP ($10)
Virtua Fighter 2 ($5)
Nights + Controller ($25)
Dragon Force JP ($5)
Thunder Force Gold Pack 2 ($20)

For ~300 with shipping if you get combined wins from JP sellers. Then you can either load up on more $5-40 stuff or pick up a big game like RS or Panzer Dragoon Saga. I love Radiant Silvergun and I haven't felt any boredom or disappointment with it, but it did eat a large chunk of my available budget.
 
D

Diomedeskun

Member
Randam_Hajile said:
Welcome to the club! You'll love it!

I was getting annoyed with Assassin's Creed just now, so I turned it off and decided to go play some old-school games instead. Sat down and saw this thread and decided to bust out my Saturn. Now to decide what to play...

My games
Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean
Astal
Burning Rangers (JP)
Dark Savior
Daytona USA
Dragon Force
Fighters Megamix
Grandia (JP)
Guardian Heroes
Langrisser III
Langrisser IV
Panzer Dragoon
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
Panzer Dragoon RPG Azel (JP)
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Policenauts (JP)
Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge
Nights into Dreams
Sakura Wars (JP)
Sakura Wars 2 (JP)
Shining Force III
Slayers Royal 2
Snatcher (JP)
Tokimeki Memorial (JP)
Virtua Fighter 2
Virtual On: Cyber Troopers

I thinking some Burning Rangers. :D
Click to expand...


Dude.... a bunch of those are my games ... I want them back, especially Shining Force 3 and Dragon Force.
 
Q

qcf x2

Member
NiGHTS was one of the most memorable gaming experiences I've ever had. When I remember my Saturn, I remember NiGHTS first. And I had quite a collection...



Shining Force III was probably my 2nd favorite title there. Pretty much everything else I can remember has been done again and better since then.

Also, I'm the only guy in the world who preferred the first generation Saturn pad. Even for fighters. :D
 
Z

Zophar

Member
AVclub said:
You're right on point. The Saturn was underpowered for the time but did 2D pretty well. Still, it doesn't hold a candle to some of the other retro consoles out there. I mean, the library of games isn't that big because Sega abandoned the platform way too fast. Anyway, there's not a whole lot to debate about.

So I'll just agree to disagree. Congrats on the purchase and enjoy the games. I'll refrain from shitting on this thread any more. :D
Click to expand...
Not true about it being underpowered. The similarities between the Saturn and PSX and the current situation with the 360 and PS3 are pretty incredible. The Saturn had the advantage in horsepower and even more so that you could quadruple its lead in RAM over the PSX by expansion pack, but it struggled with its wonky asymmetrical architecture at a time when it really wasn't widely understood. The meme that Sega included 3D rendering tools as a knee-jerk reaction to Sony's console is a myth- it had been equipped to do 3D from the get-go though its architecture and RAM pool made it a 2D powerhouse that towered over both the PSX and N64.

I find it funny that you hold so much for respect for the Dreamcast though the Saturn is arguably a much better and more fulfilled console than its successor. The Saturn library dwarfs the DC library by at least 100 titles, if not more. Their corresponding US libraries are about equal in size but the Saturn enjoyed *way* more prosperity in the East. Saturn didn't kill the Dreamcast, that shipped had already sailed when the 32X was announced. Sega's piss-poor management had the most to do with it. They simply couldn't afford to continue in the console industry.

If you can't tell I'm a bit of a Saturn enthusiast but not as much as some of you guys! I love the console, and its one of my very favorites- easily the most overlooked console of all-time. Importing opens up *so* many unbelievable possibilities, especially if you understand japanese. Grandia and Suikoden both got their start on Saturn, among several other major franchises. For 2D it simply can't be beat, especially with fighters. Princess Crown, Guardian Heroes, and others pushed the console to its 2D limit.
 
B

B!TCH

how are you, B!TCH? How is your day going, B!ITCH?
I kind of lucked out with the Sega Saturn because my sister was a big Sega fan back in the day. She has an awesome collection of Saturn and Dreamcast games that she left behind when she moved out. While I wouldn't call it my favorite console I can definitely understand the appeal of the console.
 
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