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[KormaChameleon]

If you're into importing games then the Saturn is the best console for it! Tons of Japanese exclusives games on the Saturn.

 

[jimmygnome9]

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.

They're honestly difficult to compare since they are so different in design. The Saturn is clearly made with 2D games in mind and usually programmers had to go to very creative lengths to produce full-3D games on it. The process ends up being totally different than on the Playstation since it had a single unified CPU + single GPU instead of two CPUs + separate VDPs with different features like the Saturn. Here's an excellent deep-dive into the system's hardware that examines how odd the architecture was and how some developers overcame the difficulties.

 

[MikeMyers]

Still good if you like arcade games. RPG's have gotten expensive though.

 

[Augemitbutter]

people should really mention what kind of games they like.

i use mine for shooters mostly. or fighting games when people visit, i don't like to play them alone.

the shining force games and panzer dragoon saga are some of the best rpgs you can play on any console. or dragon force. man, i gotta replay this stuff soon but too many new games keep coming out.

saturn is great if you can appreciate older tech and have some money to burn. night striker is a secret favorite, but don't tell anyone.

 

[RamaTheVoice]

Saturn is king of 2D fighters. It arguably had the best versions of the SF Alpha series and Marvel Super heroes. Kind of regret selling mine all those years ago.

Also: Fighters Megamix.

 

[daninthemix]

If you're able to do MAME / Model 2 emulation you can play the arcade versions of, pretty much, over 50% of the Saturn's worthwhile games.

But there's still stuff like:

Shining Force 3
Shining the Holy Ark
Panzer series
Astal
Guardian Heroes
Legend of Oasis

But honestly arcade ports are what the Saturn was most known for, at least in the West.

 

[MTC100]

"is it still worth it to buy a Sega Saturn?"

I don't know, it's probably not future proof.

 

[Secret Owl]

The Saturn may be a relative blind spot in my personal retro SEGA canon, but I've played enough NiGHTS Into Dreams to feel like it's not as universally appealing and brilliant as some lead me to believe it was.

I'm not saying it's bad, but I certainly wouldn't place it along side "classic 2D Sonic" or many of the other Saturn games being listed here in terms of quality.

I know this isn't a popular opinion among other SEGA fans. I want to love the concept and ideas, I just find the way they are put together to be a bit obtuse and lacking in urgency.

It's certainly interesting as a historical footnote - an early experiment in 3D / 2D game design. I just didn't engage with it enough to see it through.

It has the best version of Sonic 3 and Knuckles

so yes

buy it

Oh? What is the difference in the Sonic Jam versions?

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Saturn is king of 2D fighters. It arguably had the best versions of the SF Alpha series and Marvel Super heroes. Kind of regret selling mine all those years ago.

Also: Fighters Megamix.

I can't, in good conscience, let this post slide. It's full of lies.

I'm a huge Saturn fan, and I play mine regularly. At the time they came out, yes many 2D fighters had their best console versions on the Saturn. BUT, many of the 2D fighting games on it have been superseded by better versions in future consoles.

The Alpha games, for example, have a lot of loading, missing animations, etc. Alpha 3 is the exception, because Capcom did some sort of voodoo and made an amazing game, but it costs an arm and a leg. For the Alpha games, the OP is much better off getting the Anthology for PS2.

Marvel Super Heroes on the Saturn is a fucking straight up disaster, full stop. Even with the 4M cart in place, it's got some seriously long loading times, and probably some of the worst and most consistent slowdowns I've ever seen in any video game, ever. I mean, for any game they would be unacceptable, but for such a high-pace, combo-happy fighter, these slowdowns almost break the game. I can't remember if the Marvel Origins is still available on PSN, but if it's not, then buy this Saturn version ONLY if you really are dying to play this game. But, you've been warned.

Vampire Savior is a technical marvel (one of the best ports for sure) and fun as hell to play, but the OP can get the Darkstalkers Collection on PS360 if they'd like.

I'd say the only true "must get" 2D fighter on the Saturn is X-Men vs Street Fighter, which is a fun as hell game, an amazing port (almost -- if not just fully -- arcade perfect), and it may be one of those games truly stuck on the Saturn forever. I haven't seen any indication that this game will be brought to any modern console or PC anytime soon.

 

[Tyraniboah]

Was it ever?

Spoiler

get NiGHTS and Sonic Jam...best Sonic compilation there is

 

[Outrun]

The cost of the games is more of a barrier than the system itself.

 

[Dehnus]

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

You'll find that Saturn 3D holds up better due to the use of 2D techniques to add to the effects. For instance Panzer Dragoon Zwei used some really interesting 2 Dimensional Raster effects to create magnificent special effects . The water boss alone is a marvel to see for it's time. Later in the Saturn's live SEGA themselves got the hang of the 3D system and were able to push it far futher than what could be expected at first.

Also forget about Daytona USA, I know it was suggested, but the first version is just a very shitty port. Try getting the Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition. It is improved on all fronts. From framerates, to polygon count to gameplay.

Heck some games choose to use Voxels over polygons, and they looked stunning because of it. If it weren't for John Carmack being a stuborn arse, the Saturn version of Quake would have been better than the PS One's version. They used several techniques the Saturn excelled at, and it was quite far along, until Carmack forced the developers to throw it all away in favour of a cheap port .

Things like the "playfield" (just a flat surface rotated and scaled) allowed the saturn to achieve some very interesting effects. LIke the reflective water in Panzer Dragoon Zwei. Not to mention save quite a few polygons due to not having to spend any on the flat surface below outside of details standing out.

Basically the Saturn was a beast for it's time, if you adjusted to programming specifically for it. Porting from a PS1? Yeah, 1 on 1 it'll look worse. But use it's strengths (like the superior fillrate, raster effects, superior sprite handling (Megaman 8's sprite do warped textures flips that the PS One is known for, while on the Saturn they look crisp), and you can do some marvelous things on the hardware.

And that is just it, Saturn is a machine for hidden gems, the few games that did use the hardware for what it was, rather than just use it to port :"meh, it's good enough.".

 

[RamaTheVoice]

I can't, in good conscience, let this post slide. It's full of lies.

I'm a huge Saturn fan, and I play mine regularly. At the time they came out, yes many 2D fighters had their best console versions on the Saturn. BUT, many of the 2D fighting games on it have been superseded by better versions in future consoles.

The Alpha games, for example, have a lot of loading, missing animations, etc. Alpha 3 is the exception, because Capcom did some sort of voodoo and made an amazing game, but it costs an arm and a leg. For the Alpha games, the OP is much better off getting the Anthology for PS2.

Marvel Super Heroes on the Saturn is a fucking straight up disaster, full stop. Even with the 4M cart in place, it's got some seriously long loading times, and probably some of the worst and most consistent slowdowns I've ever seen in any video game, ever. I mean, for any game they would be unacceptable, but for such a high-pace, combo-happy fighter, these slowdowns almost break the game. I can't remember if the Marvel Origins is still available on PSN, but if it's not, then buy this Saturn version ONLY if you really are dying to play this game. But, you've been warned.

Vampire Savior is a technical marvel (one of the best ports for sure) and fun as hell to play, but the OP can get the Darkstalkers Collection on PS360 if they'd like.

I'd say the only true "must get" 2D fighter on the Saturn is X-Men vs Street Fighter, which is a fun as hell game, an amazing port (almost -- if not just fully -- arcade perfect), and it may be one of those games truly stuck on the Saturn forever. I haven't seen any indication that this game will be brought to any modern console or PC anytime soon.

You're right, it must've been the rose-tinted nostalgia glasses talking. Although Alpha 3 was seriously amazing. So I'll amend: "King of 2D fighters at the time."

Please refrain from calling people liars if you aren't sure they're not simply mistaken.

I'll stand behind Fighters Megamix though ^^

 

[7DollarHagane]

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

I have about 100 Saturn games and all of them work.

I know hundreds of Saturn collectors on a Facebook group and never hear reports of "rotting" discs.

If you take care of the discs thy will outlive the drives in the system. That's my experience.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

My Saturn wont read discs properly, not sure what to do with it now

If you're not afraid to do (IMO) a very harmless opening of your Saturn, try this YouTube video.

My Saturn had the same symptoms the video describes (wouldn't read game discs, but would play music CDs just fine), and with the video's help I was able to fix my Saturn.

Good luck!

 

[ibu]

DO NOT forget Die Hard Arcade. Awesome game.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

You're right, it must've been the rose-tinted nostalgia glasses talking. Although Alpha 3 was seriously amazing. So I'll amend: "King of 2D fighters at the time."

Please refrain from calling people liars if you aren't sure they're not simply mistaken.

I'll stand behind Fighters Megamix though ^^

Yea, apologies for that -- I think that's why I phrased it the way I did. What was in my mind when I wrote that was "yea, this information needs to be clarified, from what seems to be an otherwise reasonable and excited poster."

But your modified point is correct. You are also correct about Fighters Megamix.

 

[Nocturno999]

Why would anybody play this?

Seriously, I would only recommend it for 2-D fighting games. 3D games aged badly except RPGs.


Prices are ridiculously high now.

 

[iswasdoes]

Why would anybody play this?

Nostalgia, and some games hold up. Virtua Cop is no less fun today than it ever was

Whats this disc rot? is it common?

 

[s_mirage]

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

IMO this is overblown. I've yet to see one rotted game, and only one potentially rotted CD that was from the 80s. Discs with pinholes that were there from manufacture, yes. Discs with metal layer damage from improper care (don't put CDs label side down), yes. Actual progressive rot, no.

 

[SkyMasterson]

DO NOT forget Die Hard Arcade. Awesome game.

YES!

Die Hard Arcade was the reason I wanted the Saturn back in the day lol.

But seriously though, if you want to have a decent library of Saturn games, prepare to drop a grand easily.

Great games than are under $30:

Virtua Fighter 2
Virtua Cop
Virtua Cop 2
Fighters Megamix
Nights(with 3D pad will be more obviously)
Clockwork Knight
Daytona USA(I enjoy the Saturn version, despite it's flaws)
Panzer Dragoon(disc only, complete will cost you)
and a few more.

In fact, if you just care about playing the games and not collecting, disc only will save you hundreds of dollars.

 

[daninthemix]

YES!

Die Hard Arcade was the reason I wanted the Saturn back in the day lol.

Just played the arcade version on MAME yesterday, oddly. It's an extremely sub-Streets of Rage beat-em-up, but the Saturn version is at least perfect (because it's running on STV hardware).

 

[cireza]

I'd say the only true "must get" 2D fighter on the Saturn is X-Men vs Street Fighter, which is a fun as hell game, an amazing port (almost -- if not just fully -- arcade perfect), and it may be one of those games truly stuck on the Saturn forever. I haven't seen any indication that this game will be brought to any modern console or PC anytime soon.

Going to strongly disagree with that. The console has a whole bunch of (very close to) perfect ports of fighting games, which makes all of them worth playing depending on your tastes.

Just naming a few :

Street Fighter Zero 3
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter
X-Men vs Street Fighter
Night Warriors
Vampire Savior
Cyberbots
Street Fighter Collection
Pocket Fighter

Real Bout Special
SamSho IV
KOF 96
KOF 97

There are also other more obscure fighting games that deserve to be checked, like Groove on Fight and others I did not mention.

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is also affordable and a pretty fine version of the game.

They're honestly difficult to compare since they are so different in design. The Saturn is clearly made with 2D games in mind and usually programmers had to go to very creative lengths to produce full-3D games on it. The process ends up being totally different than on the Playstation since it had a single unified CPU + single GPU instead of two CPUs + separate VDPs with different features like the Saturn. Here's an excellent deep-dive into the system's hardware that examines how odd the architecture was and how some developers overcame the difficulties.

Already knew this, but thanks anyway.

 

[PantsuJo]

Everyday is a good day for buying a Sega Saturn, my friend.

 

[Skulldead]

Still good if you like arcade games. RPG's have gotten expensive though.

This answer, thought there 2 RPG in US that are not that expensive that really worth getting, Legend of Oasis and Dark Savior.

 

[robot]

If you are interested in owning original US games, do the research on the ones that interst you, and then check prices first. Saturn games can easily go into the $100+ range, some way way more. With disc rot being a potential factor now, I'd say it's a risky endeavor if you did have the budget for some of the heavy hitters.

Japanese games can be cheaper but then there's the language barrier.

So in short, yes it's always been a great system and there are a ton of great games on it, but it can get really expensive depending on the route you take.

 

[petran79]

You're right, it must've been the rose-tinted nostalgia glasses talking. Although Alpha 3 was seriously amazing. So I'll amend: "King of 2D fighters at the time."

Please refrain from calling people liars if you aren't sure they're not simply mistaken.

I'll stand behind Fighters Megamix though ^^

Waku Waku 7 on Saturn has arranged soundtrack and voice acting during cut scenes. Though sfx sound awfull.

 

[Tizoc]

Unless you want segata sanshiro to judo flip you into explosions in the afterlife, you bet your ass a sega saturn is worth getting
I plan on getting one down the line too

 

[sixteen-bit]

Saturn has a great library but be forewarned the games are expensive af now.

 

[s_mirage]

Waku Waku 7 on Saturn has arranged soundtrack and voice acting during cut scenes. Though sfx sound awfull.

The background graphics look awful too; they had a big resolution cut from the Neo Geo original. Shame, as it was one of my favourite Neo Geo fighters.

 

[Zutrax]

If you're into importing games then the Saturn is the best console for it! Tons of Japanese exclusives games on the Saturn.

I own a Saturn and my biggest issue with it is that the games for it are just so damn expensive and hard to find in good condition. Do you have any good import suggestions that require little to no knowledge of the Japanese language to enjoy? I know Saturn imports are much much cheaper and plentiful. I only own Sonic R and Policenauts (which I then burned and patched with the English fan patch so I could legally own and play it).

 

[ThatStupidLion]

Shining force 3
Dragon force
Albert odyssey

Go wild

Id get a japanese one though, itll save you a ton of money on the games and give you a bigger library, not knowing the language would suck but you can get by

 

[kaydigi]

I'm still bitter thst Dragon Force 2 never came out in the US.

 

[djtiesto]

3 questions for you-

1. Do you have a lot of money to spend?
2. Do you import games?
3. Do you like shmups, fighters, 90s Sega arcade games, and RPGs?

If you answered yes to 2 or more of these, go for it.

My favorites - US
Nights, Panzer 1, 2, Saga, Shining Force 3, Sega Rally, Guardian Heroes, Shining the Holy Ark, Astal, Dragon Force, Rayearth, Sega Rally, Legend of Oasis, Dark Savior, and Virtua Cop

JP -
Tengai Makyou 4, Langrisser 4, 5, Linkle Liver Story, Radiant Silvergun, Shienryu, Battle Garegga, Batsugun, XMen vs SF, Waku Waku 7, Anarchy in the Nippon, Groove on Fight, Farland Story

 

[kunonabi]

If you don't mind importing it is absolutely worth owning.

 

[bobone]

Yep its a great console.
But seriously get a chip to play burned games.
My collection is spotty at best because of disk rot, and I don't care what people online say, its not worth paying hundreds of dollars to people on Ebay to get the originals of Saturn games. The current collectors market is going crazy, and the Saturn is worth enjoying any way you can.

 

[MattyH]

Worth it for nights into dreams

 

[BrianRoyale]

It was my Street Fighter vs X-Men and Street Fighter vs Marvel Super heroes machine. Slap in that extra Ram cart/action replay to use japanese games. Holy crap it was amazing. I need to bust that thing out (and also get HDMI converter cables for it).

 

[Camjo-Z]

Definitely worth it, especially if you get an Action Replay to play imports. Here are my recommendations:

Astal
Chibi Maruko-chan Taisen Puzzle-Dama
Daytona USA
Die Hard Arcade
Fighters Megamix
Lupin the 3rd: Sage of the Pyramid (one of the few good Saturn-exclusive 3D platformers)
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
Sega Rally Championship
Sonic 3D Blast (looks much better and has a completely different soundtrack than the Genesis version)
Virtua Fighter Kids

 

[Peltz]

The games are expensive as fuck these days. It's one of the priciest consoles to collect for that don't start with an N and end with an EO GEO.

So only grab one if you don't mind dropping close to 3 figures for most good games... especially if you want the North American versions.

 

[sidusson]

Get a japanese one and if you love shmups and 2d games you will be very happy

 

[_SAKY_]

My Saturn wont read discs properly, not sure what to do with it now

Buy a Phoebe or Rhea ODE, a replacement CD ROM drive, or wait for Professor Abrasive's "Satisfier" to release.

https://gdemu.wordpress.com/

https://www.patreon.com/prof_abrasive

EDIT: This could also applied to the issues of high costs for Saturn games and "disc rot"

 

[SoundPulse]

It's a great system with a similarly great library. The only thing I would caution against is that you're getting into it too late. Since a lot of people have turned their eyes towards the system, game prices have spiked, and some games are ridiculous. Don't let that stop you, though.

 

[Kai Ozu]

Yes, awesome system.

 

[Teknoman]

Was it ever worth getting?

Spoiler

I bought one a few years ago. I only have D and Tunnel B1

You have some work to do.

 

[Omegasquash]

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

I haven't heard any reports like this, but admittedly I haven't looked.

Thus far, I haven't seen any issue, although this does make me want to back everything up digitally all of a sudden.

 

[RiZ III]

Unlike other older consoles like nes, genesis, snes, dreamcast, etc., Saturn actually has some very very good titles that were never ported to any other platform and will probably never be ported. This is the reason that Saturn is worth owning even more than other retro consoles.

I think it's worth having just for Dragon Force, Shining Force3, Panzer Dragoon Zwei and Saga. Also, all 3 scenarios of Shining Force 3 have been fantranslated as well as Dragon Force 2. So yea, get it.

Keep in mind that if you actually want to buy copies of the games worth having, it's going to cost you quite a bit of money.

 

[DealWithIt]

If you pick up games, make ISOs. Saturn emulation is pretty good now

 

[Rapscallion]

I've had dreams where I find a white Japanese sega saturn at a thrift store. Love the way that thing looks.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Are there any facts confirming this ?

Here's a contemporary article:

https://www.nowgamer.com/retrospective-the-story-of-sega-saturn/

The following is originally from totalgames.net, which sadly no longer works as their parent company went belly up a long time ago:

The Dreamcast Story

''A do-or-die machine which will decide whether Sega stays in the
hardware biz''

Dreamcast is a system born out of Sega's darkest hour, a do-or-die
machine which will decide whether the company stays in the hardware
business. Its precursor, the 32bit Sega Saturn, had been widely
expected to conquer the world with Nintendo's own second next
generation system heavily delayed -- due to the collapse of an
alliance with Sony -- and neither Atari nor 3DO seriously threatening
mass market success.
All that changed with the November '93 announcement of the Sony
PlayStation, a system which would heavily defeat Sega's system and
become a considerable influence on how Sega designed Dreamcast.
Although there had been rumours of Sony producing a console, what came
as a heavy shock to Sega was the technical superiority of the
PlayStation. While the Saturn had been designed as perhaps the
ultimate 2D arcade machine, albeit with a substantial 3D capability,
PlayStation was totally committed to polygons.

Sega boss Hayao Nakayama angrily berated Sega's engineers for their
failings, but it was too late to totally redesign the system if the
1994 launch was too proceed. Instead, Sega added yet another processor
to an already over-complicated design. In terms of raw power, the new
Saturn was much more of a match for PlayStation, but it would never be
an easy machine to program for. The twin CPU design in particular
demanded highly specialised machine code rather than the C most
Japanese developers prefered: barely a year after Saturn's launch a
key Sega manager admitted only one in a hundred programmers would have
the skill to use the machine's full potential.

Ironically, the Saturn's Japanese launch would be Sega's best ever
performance in its home territory. Even a flawed version of Virtua
Fighting was enough to transform the company's traditional weakness in
its home territory. Overseas, however, it was to be a different
matter. Scepticism about the prospects of a CD-ROM machine succeeding
in the cost-sensitive US market meant Saturn was originally partnered
with a low-cost, cart-based system codenamed Jupiter -- principally
due to American scepticism that a CD-ROM machine could be
competitively priced. When Saturn was upgraded, Jupiter got axed in
favour of Mars, an upgrade for Sega's 16bit Mega Drive which was
supposed to protect the company's hugely lucrative US market. In fact,
32X was an unmitigated disaster, drawing vital developer support away
from Saturn and destroying the company's reputation among gamers who
found themselves with an add-on with barely a handful of games.

The Saturn debacle would cost the jobs of Sega's American and Japanese
bosses, beside reducing its US empire to a ruin running up losses of
$167 million in 1997. For any replacement machine the lessons were
clear: a single format, complete user-friendliness for developers and
a new brand -- so low had sunk the once mighty Sega name.


As soon as any console is launched, work is usually underway on a
replacement but the Saturn's troubles gave this process an unusual
urgency for Sega. By 1995, rumours surfaced that US defence
contractors Lockheed Martin Corp. were already deep into the
development of a replacement, possibly even with a view to releasing
it as a Saturn upgrade. There were even claims that during Saturn's
pre-launch panic a group of managers argued the machine should simply
be scrapped in favour of an all-new LMC design.

Sega originally entered into partnership with LMC to solve problems
with its Model 2 coin-op board, however by 1995 the relationship had
soured somewhat with the Model 3 board suffering massive delays.
Around the same time, 3DO began shopping around its 64bit M2 system.
According to informed sources, Sega's Japanese bankers had brokered an
unwritten deal whereby Matsushita would manufacture M2 units, while
Sega would concentrate on the software. M2 devkits were supplied to
Sega in early 1996, with initial work reputedly concentrating on a
Virtua Fighter 3 conversion for M2's launch.

Sega's M2 project soon fell apart however. 3DO's Trip Hawkins blamed
corporate ‘egos' for the collapse, while Sega insisted its engineers
were unconvinced M2 was the breakthrough technology they needed.
Instead, the company was increasingly preoccupied by the PC market --
unlike Nintendo, it was fully prepared to convert its games onto the
format and in mid-1995 it had entered into a partnership with PC
graphics card manufacturer nVidia. Under the terms of the deal, Sega
would supply ports of key Saturn titles exclusively for the nVidia PC
graphics card. At the time, pundits wondered if Sega might be
switching from Saturn to nVidia as its principal platform.

By 1996, this speculation was ebbing away as two clear frontrunners
emerged in the PC graphics market: VideoLogic's PowerVR and 3Dfx's
Voodoo chipsets. Sega approached both companies to be partners in two
parallel Saturn 2 projects, each of which having minimal if any
knowledge of the other. The 3Dfx-Sega of America project was codenamed
Black Belt, while the VideoLogic-Sega of Japan system was known as
Dural. Although console development is usually shrouded in total
secrecy, Saturn 2's development coincided with the rise of the
Internet and Black Belt soon became a popular topic of gossip. For a
time, many presumed Black Belt was the only new Sega system.

All this changed on July 22nd, 1997, when 3Dfx was informed them Black
Belt was cancelled. It was a shattering blow -- "Our contract with
Sega was considered to be gospel right up until we received the call,"
admitted marketing manager Chris Kramer. Two months later, 3Dfx issued
a lawsuit against Sega while blaming VideoLogic's Japanese backers,
NEC, for bringing influence to bear on a decision which would
otherwise have gone to 3Dfx. An initial burst of publicity soon gave
way to highly confidential discussions which settled the lawsuit away
from the public eye in August 1998.

For outsiders, 3Dfx had always been the favoured partner due to their
leadership in the PC market, moreover Sega let it be known the
decision to cancel wasn't due to either performance or cost reasons.
What may have been a factor is 3Dfx's very strength made it a
difficult partner for Sega, VideoLogic's second-place status obviously
made it the hungrier partner. Moreover, whereas 3Dfx see themselves as
creating a new gaming platform around their Voodoo hardware and Glide
software, VideoLogic were much more eager to use Microsoft's Direct3D
API.

Whatever the reasoning behind the decision, the PowerVR decision
further dampened excitement about a machine soon to be redubbed
Katana. In January '98, UK trade newspaper CTW ran a savage onslaught
upon the new format: "When one looks at a format owner that actually
struggles to garner interest in its latest hardware announcements, you
know it''s in trouble. From Black Belt to Dural and Katana,
journalists have leapt into headline mode, but the level of
disinterest elsewhere is palpable." Commenting upon the latest
redundancies in America and Britain, Dinsey wondered whether the
company was "giving up and trying to re-invent itself as a PC
publisher."

In May, Sega gave its response with the official announcement of its
new system, its specifications and that controversial name: Dreamcast.
The marketing campaign began with the announcement of the marketing
campaign and its $100 million budget for each territory: America,
Europe and Japan. Sega boss Shoichiro Irimajiri put the cost of
hardware development at $50-80 million, software development at
$150-200 million, which with marketing added up to half a billion
dollars.

The PR statements were suitably bullish: "Dreamcast is Sega's bridge
to world-wide market leadership for the 21st century" commented Sega
US VP Bernie Stolar. "I am confident that Dreamcast will become a de
facto standard for digital entertainment" claimed Sega chairman Isso
Okawa. However, it was at E3 itself that the tide really began to turn
for Sega with bravura software demos finally earning the machine
journalists' respect. Post E3 reports were full of adoration , as
impressed by the restoration of Sega's old self-confidence as the raw
processing power on show. Dreamcast's launch date was set as November
20th and this time all Sony can threaten is the announcement of new
hardware -- 1998 is Dreamcast's alone.

From E3 onwards, Sega orchestrated a careful drumbeat of
announcements, including the launch of the VMS unit on July 11th to
tie-in with the Godzilla movie and a much hyped August 22nd PR event
for Sega's old mascot in Sonic Adventure. In September, Sega ran an ad
showing MD Eiichi Yukawa being abused by members of the public who
preferred Sony -- and promising all would change with Dreamcast's
arrival. And so it is, everything now rests with the machine and its
software.

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 ?

They got there by abandoning the 3d backgrounds and replacing them with bitmaps - which the 2D powerhouse was good at. So they could concentrate on the character models which, yes, were very good.

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...

Lobotomy's unreleased PSX port of quake ran at 30FPS, compared to only 20FPS on the Saturn.

The guy who did the saturn port talked about how much of a nightmare it was:

http://www.segasaturn.co.uk/dd/interviews/ezra_dreisbach.html
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/death-tanks-ezra-driesbach-interview

And about the PSX prototype on another site that seems to have had most of its content taken down since, but thankfully a gaffer slurped the whole thing:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9391

I have a whole heap of respect for the developers who managed to wring 3d performance out of the stone. Based on the software output & controller, the saturn is my favourite console ever, but any dev who had to use 3D must have gone through hell.