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is it still worth it to buy a Sega Saturn?

M

mooooose

Member
hey, always wanted a sega saturn. finally have some money to maybe get one.

is it worth it? always heard saturn games has bad 3D and not even ps1 3D holds up to me anymore.

what games should i get?

what are some things i should look out for when buying a system? common problems?

do i need anything extra?

thanks
 
I have a Saturn and I love it. Got a bunch of games nearly a decade ago. But....

Disc rot has me shook.

I'd say yes but almost all the good games cost an arm and a leg and even if you have the money.. the reports of so many sega Cd and Saturn games rotting is makes me think they may not last much longer
 
3D games on the saturn are fine. Not sure where you heard that. There's a good amount of both 3d and 2d games and there's some real gems on the console.

Game's I'd say are great titles:
Virtual On 1 and 2
Daytona
Virtual Racing
Fighters Megamix
Virtua Fighter 1 and 2
Virtua Cop 1 and 2
Fighting Vipers
Burning Rangers
NiGHTS Into Dreams
Guardian Heroes
Sonic Jam
Astal
 
mooooose said:
hey, always wanted a sega saturn. finally have some money to maybe get one.

is it worth it? always heard saturn games has bad 3D and not even ps1 3D holds up to me anymore.

what games should i get?

what are some things i should look out for when buying a system? common problems?

do i need anything extra?

thanks
Click to expand...




Burning rangers
Nights into dreams
Virtua cop
Virtua fighter 2
Fighters megamix
Clockwork knight
Panzer dragoon trilogy
Sonic jam


Most of the games worth owning however are kinda expensive and rare these days.
 
Personally, I think it's worth it since there are some pretty great games on it (I wanted to say "unique" games, but I think a lot of them got ported or sequels on other consoles).

I would make sure to get a "model 1" version of the console (Grey if Japanese, and if US the one with the oval buttons), because the models after that seem to have trouble playing copies of Space Harrier and Outrun unless you have a reprint. The reprints I think are hard to find.

Of course the 2D fighting games I think would also be ones to look at like the Vampire (Darkstalkers games) and the Marvel fighters, but you probably already knew that.

Also the Pro Action replay cart that lets you save your save data on the cart and also play games from any region is a wise purchase, I'd reckon.
 
VendettaRed07 said:
I have a Saturn and I love it. Got a bunch of games nearly a decade ago. But....

Disc rot has me shook.

I'd say yes but almost all the good games cost an arm and a leg and even if you have the money.. the reports of so many sega Cd and Saturn games rotting is makes me think they may not last much longer
Click to expand...

That one dude was working on usb-loaded mod.

Aside from backups and burning copies, that's the best hope for continued Saturn life - especially since the disc drives will eventually die as well, so USB will be the only option outside pure emulation.
 
Definitely worth buying, especially if you import games since Japan got so many awesome games that we never did.
 
Fuck yeah.

The more I think about it, the more I think the Saturn was my favorite Sega console. And I've owned pretty much all of em, 32x included.

The AM2 stuff was so good, and its still a bit of beast for 2d games, which is more what it was designed for at the time. Games like Guardian Heroes and Dragon Force, I dare say, would still hold pretty well to this day
 
Hell yeah, as long as you don't mind spending some money.

And there are a good number of 3d games with playing on the system.

My recommendations so far (still building my collection)

Nights into Dreams
Sega Rally
Guardian Heroes
Panzer Dragoon Zwei
XMEN VS Street Fighter
Layer Section / Galactic Attack
Virtua Fighter 2
Fighters Megamix​
Outrun (a stretch but a very good port)
Virtua Cop

I also prefer the system to the Dreamcast.
 
Absolutely worthwhile if you enjoy RPGs! Just get ready to spend ludicrous amounts of $$$. My suggestions would be Shining the Holy Ark (No one ever talks about this excellent dungeon crawler) and Panzer Dragon Saga (worth every penny).
 
AmyS said:
Saturn Bomberman
Galactic Attack (aka RayForce aka Layer Section).

Both are must-own games IMO.
Click to expand...

Seconded on Galactic Attack. Also Soukyu Gurentai. A lot of the shooters on the saturn are great. They have a special something. Maybe it's just that they aren't full on bullet hell, and actually feel playable to a mere scrub mortal like myself. Radiant Silvergun is another classic but you can find that on xbox live arcade (along with Guardian Heroes), so I wouldn't say the Saturn is worth it for those alone. Both are awesome though, so if you do get the Saturn, make sure to check them out.

Dragon Force and Panzer Dragon Saga are both still worth playing as well. They are kind of anomalies; no games really replicated what they did. I guess Ogre Battle is somewhat similar to Dragon Force, but it is still it's own (awesome) thing.

As for the price of games, just keep in mind you can always sell them afterwards for basically what you paid.
 
I'd only suggest it if you're really into arcade-style games. It's probably the best system for 2D gaming ever made (and has the best gamepad to show for it) but it's notoriously expensive to collect for. You can mitigate some of that cost by either getting a japanese saturn or an action replay cart to boot imports (which are notably cheaper than western alternatives) but you'll still reach a point where many high-demand games go for $50-$100 or more. All that said, my Saturn is one of my favorite consoles to play on and I still do so regularly.
 
Totally worth it and if you're worried about disc rot or preservation look into Saturn Rhea. It replaces your disc drive with an SD card slot and it's pretty much 100% compatible with all games.

Long live Panzer Dragoon!
 
I would only invest in copies of mid-90s CD-based games that you absolutely know are in playable condition. Disk rot will only become more of a problem in the near future.
 
VendettaRed07 said:
I have a Saturn and I love it. Got a bunch of games nearly a decade ago. But....

Disc rot has me shook.

I'd say yes but almost all the good games cost an arm and a leg and even if you have the money.. the reports of so many sega Cd and Saturn games rotting is makes me think they may not last much longer
Click to expand...
Deft Beck said:
I would only invest in copies of mid-90s CD-based games that you absolutely know are in playable condition. Disk rot will only become more of a problem in the near future.
Click to expand...

Have you ever actually seen a rotted disc? I haven't.
 
Rapscallion said:
3D games on the saturn are fine. Not sure where you heard that. There's a good amount of both 3d and 2d games and there's some real gems on the console.

Game's I'd say are great titles:
Virtual On 1 and 2
Daytona
Virtual Racing
Fighters Megamix
Virtua Fighter 1 and 2
Virtua Cop 1 and 2
Fighting Vipers
Burning Rangers
NiGHTS Into Dreams
Guardian Heroes
Sonic Jam
Astal
Click to expand...

There are better versions of Daytona, elsewhere... though despite all of it's flaws, I still like the Saturn game. NiGHTS Into Dreams can be found on Steam as well as the PS3 and 360. But otherwise, there are still some good choices there.

I would also have to add:

Sega Rally
Panzer Dragoon
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
Shining the Holy Ark
Rayman
Thunder Force V
Power Slave
Die Hard Arcade
DecAthlete
Dark Savior
Grandia
Darius Gaiden

There are also a lot of Japanese exclusive games still worth getting for the machine... especially some of the games that use the 1 and 4 MB RAM cartridges.
 
It's definitely of historical interest. Panzer Dragoon Saga in particular had a lot of interesting ideas that I wish saw a more modern form.

The nice thing about older consoles is if you get the games non-mint (and why wouldn't you), it's basically a free rental. Buy the console, play the games over a few months, sell them, and you'll probably make back everything you spent.
 
Not enough love for Dragon Force in this thread. It should be in every list of great Saturn games, even if it's a little dense at first.
 
Tough one. If you're going to get into your shooters (specifically Hyper Duel and Battle Gareega) and 2d fighters then yes, it probably is worth getting. The more well known games (Daytona, Virtua Cop etc) don't do a lot for me personally. There are other real gems on the system though like Shinobi X
 
it's an amazing system that many of us slept on, and totally worth your time - there's a fantastic library of classics there, as long as you're able to play JP games (which has been easy forever now)

the scene, however, is stupid expensive these days. consider a system that's modded to play burns to really dive in without breaking the bank.
 
playXray said:
I wouldn't say the 3D is necessarily "bad", but isn't it pretty well documented that the Saturn had a noticeably weaker 3D output than PS1 in most cases?
Click to expand...

The hardware is a bit weaker, yes, but the real issue was that it was much harder architecture to develop for. Only a small number of developers (namely AM2) managed to push the saturn to its true potential in terms of 3D.
 
jimmygnome9 said:
The hardware is a bit weaker, yes, but the real issue was that it was much harder architecture to develop for. Only a small number of developers (namely AM2) managed to push the saturn to its true potential in terms of 3D.
Click to expand...

Not to mention that a lot of the graphically impressive PS1 games we think about were games created near or after the death of the Saturn. By the time developers really started being able to make some visually striking games, Saturn was already on its way out. The console was discontinued in 1998, the same year the Spyro and MGS hit the PS1. I know using a beta is unfair, but just look at early prototypes of Shenmue on the Saturn; the console could put some visually striking games if given the resources and know how.
 
I was always extremely happy with my saturn.

But, a lot of my favourite games are very expensive now - Shining Force 3 S1, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Shining the Holy Ark, Shining Wisdom, Burning Rangers, the American version of Mysteria etc. And a lot of the Japanese shoot'em'ups have gone way up in price if you're planning to get a region free mod - I remember getting Blast Wind for $80 and it's now $300 on ebay.
 
Still have mine! Love it, I bust it out from time to time to relive the old days :)

Glad I got alot of games when they were cheaper too.

Shining Force 3 is the gem in my collection too.
 
It is always worth investing in the greatest console ever.

I read above that the hardware was weaker than PS1, I don't think it is the case. It was just a lot more complex to use fully.
 
Panzer Dragoon games and Nights are 3D games that hold up, but even if they didn't, you should be buying this for glorious, godtier 2D games like Legend of Oasis, Guardian Heroes, Three Dirty Dwarves and Dragon Force.
 
cireza said:
It is always worth investing in the greatest console ever.

I read above that the hardware was weaker than PS1, I don't think it is the case. It was just a lot more complex to use fully.
Click to expand...

Sega made a 2d powerhouse, saw psx had better 3d and panicked and added 3d capabilities at the last minute.

So for anything 2d it's awesome. 3D was a lot harder to use and even best case not as good as the psx, because it used quads instead of triangles. Of course, the best devs could still get something decent out of it like Panzer Dragoon Saga or Burning Rangers, but they wouldn't be able to match late era PSX games.
 
I got mine 5 years ago before the market went insane. Fighting games are a must with that controller and that dpad. Xmen vs Street Fighter, Vampire Savior and Cyberbots are all recommended.
 
Sir_Crocodile said:
Sega made a 2d powerhouse, saw psx had better 3d and panicked and added 3d capabilities at the last minute.
Click to expand...
Are there any facts confirming this ?

Sir_Crocodile said:
So for anything 2d it's awesome. 3D was a lot harder to use and even best case not as good as the psx, because it used quads instead of triangles. Of course, the best devs could still get something decent out of it like Panzer Dragoon Saga or Burning Rangers, but they wouldn't be able to match late era PSX games.
Click to expand...
Of course, Saturn games from 97 won't match PS1 games from 99/2000. But maybe that Saturn games from 99/2000 would have... Always a very difficult topic to discuss.

Comparing games from the same years, Saturn had plenty of very impressive 3D games. In 1995 Virtua Fighter 2 was running in textured 3D 640x480 resolution and 60fps. How many fighting games did this on PS1 ?

Nights and Burning Rangers have some pretty advanced effects combined. Exhumed, Duke Nukem and Quake were perfectly fine when released and I am not sure of which games where actually at the same level on PS1 ? Those are 1996/1997 games...

Panzer Dragoon Zwei is a 1996 game and ran very well, with again some pretty impressive stuff going on...
 
I always wanted a Saturn and never owned one. Finally bought myself a model 1 machine in really good condition last last month. Already have about 20 games for it, absolutely love the machine and wish I had taken the plunge sooner. Definitely recommend it.
 
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