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[xpresstuning]

Haven't been into gaming for a half a year now (pursuing other ventures), but i have a soft spot for the Sega Saturn and its emulation scene. I usually check on them from time to time, so imagine my surprise wen Mednafen and the SSF emulator both got an update this year! With so many Sega Saturn game fan translations hitting the scene in recent years opening them up to retro fans to experience, the demand for a quality emulator is always there.

So wanted to let people know that a new version of the Saturn emulator SSF just launched last week. You can find it on shimazz's github. Here's his X/Twitter account as well.

I don't use Mednafen because SSF is simply put, much better, especially on weaker hardware. Mednafen runs like ass on low end rigs. So does its Retroarch core, which is i dunno how old or if it's been updated (it's based on Mednafen, and its an older revision, last i checked). But here's an update on Mednafen as well.

Good luck, guys. As a bonus, here's my quick 'n dirty top 10 (beginner) recommendations for anyone getting into the Sega Saturn. It has an eternal appeal because of its unique library of games that form a distinctive bubble of 90s Japan unlike any other 5th generation console.

Panzer Dragoon Zwei (i'd play the first one as well. It's a good game, and because it's better than the shitty remake. Also provides a frame of reference concerning the massive improvements in Zwei over the original)
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Dragon Force
Guardian Heroes
Cotton 2: Magical Night Dreams
Nights into Dreams (and the controller for it)
Keiō Yūgekitai: Katsugeki-hen
Radiant Silvergun
Shinning Force III (Scenario 1 - Japanese version with translation patch)
Street Fighter Zero 3

Fuck it, here's another 20. All of 'em essential. All of 'em are definitive versions on Saturn if you're wondering about some of the games that were also on Playstation and/or have other (shitty) versions elsewhere.

Shining Force III Scenario 2 & Shining Force III Scenario 3
Vandal Hearts: Ushinawareta Kodai Bunmei
Dragon Force II: Kamisarishi Daichi ni
Shining The Holy Ark
The Legend of Oasis
Dark Savior
Saturn Bomberman
Astra SuperStars
Astal
Twinkle Star Sprites
Bulk Slash
Sexy Parodius
Layer Section (Galactic Attack)
Hyper Duel
Silhouette Mirage
Purikura Daisakusen
Sakura Wars I
Sega Rally Championship Plus Netlink Edition
Batsugun
Elevator Action 2: Returns
Soukyugurentai

Alright those are 22 lol. I'll stop here.

 

[Alexios]

Beetle core isn't that outdated, but does seem to have an error causing - on less than top of the line hardware at least, I don't see people complain too much about it after the Grandia fan translation so it probably works better for most than it does for me - Grandia FMV to playback very slow/laggy.

My CPU is 12 years old and both SSF and Beetle/Mednafen run full speed. They're mostly (both) talked down by people who expect them to work on a budget Android phone. Even a Raspberry Pi 5 runs Mednafen/Beetle full speed, naturally any system that can emulate PS2, GC, etc. well, can as well.

They're both really accurate (neither is @ 100% but almost no emulator out there is). Last I checked for example some SNK fighting games had sprite issues on SSF. I've not yet encountered anything other than Grandia's issue on Beetle (I haven't tried Mednafen stand alone in a while, I don't need to).

SSF does have the nice turn-mesh-to-real-transparencies and turn-interlaced-games-to-full-resolution options, that work very well (though it's been ages since I tried them and did encounter an issue with Panzer Dragoon Saga at one time), but I prefer the CRT filters and all stuff I get with Beetle

Saturn has many more gems, Gungriffon 1 & 2, Deep Fear, Burning Rangers, Die Hard Arcade, Grandia (among the ports you mention are best), Magic Knight Rayearth, Mass Destruction (best), Policenauts (best), Stellar Assault SS, Thunder Force V (best), Vampire Savior, DecAthlete, Winter Heat, etc.

​

For SFZero 3 (SNK fighters too, so I don't mind SSF having issues with them in the past) I'd emulate the arcade version, sure it has the world tour mode and extras like the PS port yet is near arcade perfect but, since it's not yet translated, you may as well go arcade (VS has extra characters & English).

SFAlpha 2 is also a great port without even using a ram cart though, so worth checking out for that, similar to Virtua Fighter 2 (also not listed, wut) and Sega Rally among others not being nearly as good as the arcade games but still being great system showcases that are great fun to have and play.

Astal is overrated, I don't get why it's famous for amazing 2D or whatever, the main character alone ruins its look for me, he doesn't have great animations and looks plain weird, I don't see what's impressive beyond people parroting tech stuff like huge sprites with rotation etc., SM looks way better.

Two possibly small updates don't make it godly, it's been godly for a decade with the emulator options, amazing fan translations, patches, etc., I dunno where this misinformation comes from (again, outside lower spec circles, where the main choice is Yaba & forks with way lower compatibility etc.).

I think github may take SSF down if it's reported, he doesn't seem to share the source code as required (I think, maybe I'm wrong on that). I read somewhere he did at one point, but then quickly removed it as he then made a deal for those SS Tribute or whatever recent releases on various platforms.

 

[analog_future]

Thanks for sharing! I've never had great results with Saturn emulation, so I'll give this new SSF build a shot.

 

[Disco Dave]

It's been a few years since I dabbled with Saturn emulation. Completed the Shining Force 3 trilogy with the translation patch and then moved onto other things.

I did try Saturn emulation on my Galaxy Z Fold 2 via Yaba Sanshiro 2 app... it wasn't great. The games kept randomly crashing and I couldn't be bothered spending the time adjusting the settings.

Might give SSF another go.

 

[Gitaroo]

none of them still have resolution scaling though?

 

[Togh]

Cool, with that I hope the "Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread" and "Sega Saturn games in 4K resolution." receive some well deserved attention again, I loved seeing the gifs and screenshots from those threads.

Kronos, another good emulator for Saturn was updated very recently:



Yaba Sanshiro which is my favorite Saturn emulator received a lot of updates but only for the mobile version, the Windows version last update was 08/17/2022

none of them still have resolution scaling though?

Kronos and Yaba Sanshiro not only have that but also have support to High Resolution Rotating Background (high res Mode 7 effect like on BSNES and mGBA) and Tessellation for better distorted sprite drawing (something like PGXP on modern PlayStation emulators).

 

[RAIDEN1]

I assume this updated version has no problems running Policenauts..

 

[Alexios]

I assume this updated version has no problems running Policenauts..

Of SSF or Mednafen? I didn't go far (yet) with Beetle but didn't see any issues, does it have some? SSF is what the fan translators mostly tested the game with all the way back in 2016 as their readme file says and they encountered no real issues with completing the game from start to finish on that.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

Alright those are 22 lol. I'll stop here.

 

[Dacvak]

Holy shit, OP, you have no idea how helpful this thread it to me. I’ve never played Saturn (not much, at least), and last year I ceremoniously declared 2024 to be the “year of the Saturn” for me. But being so ignorant, I really don’t know where to start. So your list is incredibly valuable to me!

The only issue is that I’m committed to playing on either MiSTer or real hardware, and the MiSTer core isn’t perfect yet. Also, for some weird reason, I want to start with Super Tempo (which doesn’t even boot on MiSTer), because I have a weird soft spot for the 32x game, even though it’s kinda ass.

Anyway, thanks for the thread!

 

[a multicultural team of v]

Holy shit, OP, you have no idea how helpful this thread it to me. I’ve never played Saturn (not much, at least), and last year I ceremoniously declared 2024 to be the “year of the Saturn” for me. But being so ignorant, I really don’t know where to start. So your list is incredibly valuable to me!

The only issue is that I’m committed to playing on either MiSTer or real hardware, and the MiSTer core isn’t perfect yet. Also, for some weird reason, I want to start with Super Tempo (which doesn’t even boot on MiSTer), because I have a weird soft spot for the 32x game, even though it’s kinda ass.

Anyway, thanks for the thread!

It's pretty easy to play on real hardware, just need a 4meg action replay cart and you can boot burnt games seamlessly.

 

[SF Kosmo]

Most SSF updates in recent years haven't really offered meaningful improvements. In fact many have regressions in compatibility which can lead to messy situations where you need to keep multiple versions of SSF handy. The inability to play ISOs is pain as well.

Mednafen and its derivative Beetle Saturn seems to have passed SSF in overall compatibility in the last two years. It's still not perfect, but it generally is my go-to.

 

[Saber]

Thats cool, I didn't know SFF had a new version.
SFF is a good emulator compared to others because every one of them simply uses way too much of the CPU power. I dunno about you guys, but using every power of the CPU for an emulator is not a sight of a good emulation.

 

[SF Kosmo]

I dunno about you guys, but using every power of the CPU for an emulator is not a sight of a good emulation.

I can't say I agree with that conclusion. The most accurate emulators certainly demand more from CPUs.

If you're using a PC from the last like... 8 years or so, Saturn emulation shouldn't really be an issue regardless. Mobile emulation struggles a lot with it though.

 

[Saber]

It's been a few years since I dabbled with Saturn emulation. Completed the Shining Force 3 trilogy with the translation patch and then moved onto other things.

I did try Saturn emulation on my Galaxy Z Fold 2 via Yaba Sanshiro 2 app... it wasn't great. The games kept randomly crashing and I couldn't be bothered spending the time adjusting the settings.

Might give SSF another go.

I only picked SFF for Shinning Force 3. SFF started pretty rough(specially one the sound part), but end up emulating pretty well in my case.
Recently went up keep updating SFF and notice they did fix those problems, so for me so far this is a winner because SFF is not taxating and ultra CPU demanding like others.
With things heating up for Saturn emulation I might give other games a go as well, I thank the OP for the update otherwise I wouldn't even notice.

 

[Shifty1897]

This is gonna be the year I finally play all those Saturn games I've been waiting for on my Retroid Pocket 4 Pro.

 

[Azelover]

For some odd reason I can't get these emulators to work anymore. 15 years ago I used SSF to play Panzer Dragoon Saga, and it ran pretty decently. I was able to finish it. Now I can't get the damn thing to run. I guess I'm getting old.

 

[amigastar]

Is there a special game on the Saturn that i have to play? Or maybe more games?
Edit: I see op has some listed.

 

[ShirAhava]

Awesome news and I have SO many issues with Mednafen/Beetle Saturn I don't know why people
hold it in such high regard it completely borks for me quite often to the point that I stopped depending on it

SSF works like a dream can't wait to test out some of my favs

 

[ShirAhava]

For some odd reason I can't get these emulators to work anymore. 15 years ago I used SSF to play Panzer Dragoon Saga, and it ran pretty decently. I was able to finish it. Now I can't get the damn thing to run. I guess I'm getting old.

I was in the same boat not too long ago check out this awesome tutorial worked for me! (no more mounting virtual disks!)

 

[AREYOUOKAY?]

They need to add an easy to use cheat feature for any of these. Retroarch removed that for one of them I think. I just wanna unlock characters right away for Fighters Megamix and do other fun things.

 

[xpresstuning]

Beetle core isn't that outdated, but does seem to have an error causing - on less than top of the line hardware at least, I don't see people complain too much about it after the Grandia fan translation so it probably works better for most than it does for me - Grandia FMV to playback very slow/laggy.

My CPU is 12 years old (and GPU 8 years old but it probably doesn't matter nearly as much) and I have no discernible difference in performance between SSF and Mednafen. They're mostly (both) talked down in terms of performance by people who expect them to work on budget Android phones.

They're both really accurate, neither is at 100%, but almost no emulator out there is. Last I checked for example, some SNK fighting games had sprite issues on SSF. I've not yet encountered anything other than Grandia's issue on Beetle (I haven't tried Mednafen stand alone in a while, I don't need to).

SSF does have the nice turn-mesh-to-real-transparencies and turn-interlaced-games-to-full-resolution options that work very well (though it's been ages since I tried them and did encounter an issue with Panzer Dragoon Saga at one time) but I prefer the CRT filters and all stuff I get with Beetle

Saturn has more gems, Gungriffon 1 & 2, Deep Fear, Burning Rangers, Die Hard Arcade, Grandia (among the versions you mention are best), Magic Knight Rayearth, Mass Destruction (best), Policenauts (best), Stellar Assault SS, Thunder Force V (best), Vampire Savior, Athlete Kings, Winter Heat, etc.

​

For SFZero 3 (SNK fighters too so I don't mind SSF having issues with them in the past) I'd emulate the arcade version, sure it has the world tour mode and extras like the PS port yet is near arcade perfect but since it's not fan translated you may as well go arcade (VS has extra characters & English).

SFAlpha 2 is also a great port without even using a ram cart though, so worth checking out for that, similar to Virtua Fighter 2 (also not listed, wut) and Sega Rally among others not being nearly as good as the arcade games but still being great system showcases that are great fun to have and play.

Astal is overrated, I don't get why it's famous for amazing 2D or whatever, the main character alone ruins its look for me, he doesn't have great animations and looks plain weird, I don't see what's impressive beyond people parroting tech stuff like huge sprites with rotation etc., SM looks way better.

Two possibly small updates don't make it godly, it's been godly for a decade with the emulator options, amazing fan translations, patches, etc., I dunno where this misinformation comes from (again, outside lower spec circles, where the main choice is Yaba & forks with way lower compatibility etc.).

I think github may take SSF down if it's reported, he doesn't seem to share the source code as required (I think, maybe I'm wrong on that). I read somewhere he did at one point but then quickly removed it as he then made a deal for those SS Tribute or whatever recent releases on various platforms.

Panzer Dragoon games have significant performance issues on Mednafen/Bettle on my desktop, so do other 3D games, so that's why i gave up on it. Since i'm not that big into video games anymore who knows when the hell i'm gonna invest in a better desktop. My CPU is 10 years old. It's a shitty CPU tho. SSF? No performance issues whatsoever, and literally everything runs perfect. Both have issues, both have input lag. I'll go with SSF.

Overall i love your opinion, nice I'll go with SF Zero 3 on Saturn tho - here's my logic. The arcade port in whatever collection is basically bare bones as FUCK compared to the Saturn version. I don't play multiplayer that often. Saturn version, besides a meaty SP mode and being far better than the Playstation port also has a number of exclusive tweaks here and there - forgot specifically what, but you can check some wikis or something.

Most SSF updates in recent years haven't really offered meaningful improvements. In fact many have regressions in compatibility which can lead to messy situations where you need to keep multiple versions of SSF handy. The inability to play ISOs is pain as well.

Mednafen and its derivative Beetle Saturn seems to have passed SSF in overall compatibility in the last two years. It's still not perfect, but it generally is my go-to.

I dunno the specifics tbh., i don't care to check. IIRC, Astal is a notable example of a game that regressed in compatability. Tho that's been fixed, you can play it on the latest version with a tweak. If there are other games that regressed, so be it, not gonna deny that i dunno. Everything i've thrown at SSF simply works. And i mean some obscure shit as well.

I was harsh on Mednafen, but i remembered my struggle to make it run on my emu machine, which basically runs everything up to the 6th gen and CEMU flawlessly. So since Mednafen runs like shit on my desktop, i'll go with SSF because it runs flawlessly. Fuck Mednafen lol, God damn it. But yeah, seriously now, i know how good of an emu it is.

I don't think it surpassed SSF in compatability, at all. They're more or less equal? Again, haven't experienced one single issue, so i can't say i know for a certain or care to really do my research on the subject.

Overall i respect your opinion, no problem I understand your choice.

 

[Togh]

Holy shit, OP, you have no idea how helpful this thread it to me. I’ve never played Saturn (not much, at least), and last year I ceremoniously declared 2024 to be the “year of the Saturn” for me. But being so ignorant, I really don’t know where to start. So your list is incredibly valuable to me!

The only issue is that I’m committed to playing on either MiSTer or real hardware, and the MiSTer core isn’t perfect yet. Also, for some weird reason, I want to start with Super Tempo (which doesn’t even boot on MiSTer), because I have a weird soft spot for the 32x game, even though it’s kinda ass.

Anyway, thanks for the thread!

If you want recommendations you can't go wrong with these:

Best Sega Saturn Games Of All Time

Running rings around the world

www.timeextension.com

The Best Sega Saturn Games For Today: Top Titles That Still Matter - RetroGaming with Racketboy

It’s pretty easy to find a list of “The Top 10 Sega Saturn Games†or some similar ranking, but most of them were written back when the console was still on the retail scene and almost all of them only compare the games against other Saturn games.  (Digg This Guide) This is all fine if […]

www.racketboy.com

Games That Defined The Sega Saturn - RetroGaming with Racketboy

Following up on my feature of the Games That Defined The Dreamcast, I wanted to cover the list of the best Sega Saturn games that gave Sega’s 32-bit console its character. The while the Saturn may have failed commercially in comparison to the Sony Playstation, it had a very solid game selection...

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The Best Undiscovered Sega Saturn Games - RetroGaming with Racketboy

Usually, when you get a new-to-you console, you can usually find or remember the major games to check out. But what happens when you need something different to play? This is where the “Hidden Gems” come in. Read More About My Criteria For Hidden Gems See All The Hidden Gems Articles This will...

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Sega Saturn 2D Fighters Library - RetroGaming with Racketboy

While the Saturn might not have been able to keep up with the Sony Playstation in terms of 3D gameplay, Sega’s 32-bit powerhouse cleaned house with it’s 2D muscle (Check out our breakdown of PS1 Strengths and Weaknesses vs N64 and Sega Saturn). The 2D fighter genre is essentially the best...

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The Sega Saturn's Explosive Shmups Library - RetroGaming with Racketboy

Two-dimensional shooters are some of the most intense old-school games out there due to the precision, reflexes, and memorization needed to survive these adrenaline rushes.  For fans of the shmup genre, the Sega Saturn is a must-own console due to its excellent exclusives, a healthy dose of...

www.racketboy.com

Most SSF updates in recent years haven't really offered meaningful improvements. In fact many have regressions in compatibility which can lead to messy situations where you need to keep multiple versions of SSF handy. The inability to play ISOs is pain as well.

Mednafen and its derivative Beetle Saturn seems to have passed SSF in overall compatibility in the last two years. It's still not perfect, but it generally is my go-to.

It's been a few years since SSF has been able to run ISOs. Not only that but it also can read ISOs in CHD format, something that Mednafen still can't do.

 

[Dzab]

Is there any way to get the Saturn emulator working online, for example playing Guardian Heroes multiplayer? I remember trying a few years ago but no luck.

 

[Papa_Wisdom]

I use Mednafen and I’ve had no real issues with it, even packed away my console and games Into storage because I was enjoying the experience with it. Got one of those wireless Saturn pads to go with it. It’s great apart from a bit of a sticky button on the pad itself.

Saturn is my goat console. I’m so happy it’s finally getting the appreciation it deserves. For the arcade nerd like me during that time it was THE console to own, even if a lot of the conversions weren’t graphically comparable sega got the gameplay down to a T.

 

[Togh]

Is there any way to get the Saturn emulator working online, for example playing Guardian Heroes multiplayer? I remember trying a few years ago but no luck.

Just use Parsec to play it online

 

[U n i o n 0015]

Cool, with that I hope the "Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread" and "Sega Saturn games in 4K resolution." receive some well deserved attention again, I loved seeing the gifs and screenshots from those threads.

Kronos, another good emulator for Saturn was updated very recently:



Yaba Sanshiro which is my favorite Saturn emulator received a lot of updates but only for the mobile version, the Windows version last update was 08/17/2022


Kronos and Yaba Sanshiro not only have that but also have support to High Resolution Rotating Background (high res Mode 7 effect like on BSNES and mGBA) and Tessellation for better distorted sprite drawing (something like PGXP on modern PlayStation emulators).

I want to like Kronos and Yaba, because they’re pushing new features, but I generally find their compatibility to be quite poor compared to Mednafen. But I haven’t tried the latest updates on Yaba, because why haven’t those been ported to Windows?

 

[Togh]

I want to like Kronos and Yaba, because they’re pushing new features, but I generally find their compatibility to be quite poor compared to Mednafen. But I haven’t tried the latest updates on Yaba, because why haven’t those been ported to Windows?

I guess it's because the author of the emulator wants to focus on the mobile version which is the one where he can earn some money

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Will have to check this stuff out as it's been pretty unstable and a while since I even fired up a Saturn game.

 

[SF Kosmo]

Panzer Dragoon games have significant performance issues on Mednafen/Bettle on my desktop, so do other 3D games, so that's why i gave up on it. Since i'm not that big into video games anymore who knows when the hell i'm gonna invest in a better desktop. My CPU is 10 years old. It's a shitty CPU tho. SSF? No performance issues whatsoever, and literally everything runs perfect. Both have issues, both have input lag. I'll go with SSF.

Overall i love your opinion, nice I'll go with SF Zero 3 on Saturn tho - here's my logic. The arcade port in whatever collection is basically bare bones as FUCK compared to the Saturn version. I don't play multiplayer that often. Saturn version, besides a meaty SP mode and being far better than the Playstation port also has a number of exclusive tweaks here and there - forgot specifically what, but you can check some wikis or something.



I dunno the specifics tbh., i don't care to check. IIRC, Astal is a notable example of a game that regressed in compatability. Tho that's been fixed, you can play it on the latest version with a tweak. If there are other games that regressed, so be it, not gonna deny that i dunno. Everything i've thrown at SSF simply works. And i mean some obscure shit as well.

I was harsh on Mednafen, but i remembered my struggle to make it run on my emu machine, which basically runs everything up to the 6th gen and CEMU flawlessly. So since Mednafen runs like shit on my desktop, i'll go with SSF because it runs flawlessly. Fuck Mednafen lol, God damn it. But yeah, seriously now, i know how good of an emu it is.

I don't think it surpassed SSF in compatability, at all. They're more or less equal? Again, haven't experienced one single issue, so i can't say i know for a certain or care to really do my research on the subject.

Overall i respect your opinion, no problem I understand your choice.

Mednafen's compatibility is close to 100% other than games that require unemulated peripherals.

SSF is considerably behind and plagued with regressions.

I get that if you happen to be using like a Core 2 Quad then the performance benefits matter, but for most people both comfortably run at 100%.

 

[StereoVsn]

I guess it's because the author of the emulator wants to focus on the mobile version which is the one where he can earn some money

Considering all the handhelds coming out PC side, the author could also sell Windows version. Yeah, there is piracy but quite a few people will happily pay for a good Saturn emulator with upscaling.