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Was the Sega Saturn really any good?

Morrigan Stark said:
Oh hell no. It'd probably end up like the disgraceful PS2 Shinobi, a "character action" game with non-existent level design. What a disappointment that game was, especially after the amazing level design of Shinobi III.
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I hated the PS2 Shinobi, which was Shinobi in name only. The levels were abysmal, glad to see I'm not the only one who disliked it.

I'd prefer a classic style Shinobi in 2D, but I've no idea who could do it well these days.
 
Gungriffon and its sequel are some of the best mech game ever made. Sad they never get mentioned in the same vein as the Saturn's other greats.
 
The Japanese Saturn was, especially for Capcom arcade games. I enjoyed the N64 and to a lesser extent, the PS1, but loved the Saturn.
 
My favorite system to this day. Why? Well, much has been posted, but

Arcade Gears: Pu-Li-Ru-La
Arcade Gears: Gun Frontier
Arcade Gears: Wonder 3
Arcade Gears: Image Fight and XMultiply
Assault Suit Leynos 2
Astal
Astra Superstars
Baku Baku Animal
Batsugun
Battle Garegga
Blast Wind
Bubble Bobble featuring Rainbow Islands
Bubble Symphony
Burning Rangers
Bust-a-Move 2: Arcade Edition
Bust-a-Move 3
Capcom Generation
Capcom Generation 2
Capcom Generation 3
Capcom Generation 4
Capcom Generation 5 (Street Fighter Collection NA/EU)
Cho Aniki: Kyuukyoku Muteki Ginga Saikyou Otoko
Christmas Nights
Clockwork Knight
Clockwork Knight 2
Cotton 2
Cotton Boomerang
Cyber Troopers Virtual-On
Cyberbots: Full Metal Madnes
Darius II
Darius Gaiden
Dark Savior
Dead or Alive
DecAthlete
Dynamite Deka (Die Hard Arcade)
DoDonPachi
DonPachi
Dragon Force
Dragon Force II
Dungeons & Dragons Collection
Elevator Action2 Returns
Fighters Megamix
Fighting Vipers
Fire Pro Wrestling S: 6 Men Scramble
Gekirindan Time Travel Shooting
Gokujou Parodius: Deluxe Pack
Grandia
Gradius Deluxe Pack
Guardian Force
Guardian Heroes
Gunbird
Gungriffon
Gungriffon II
Hyper Duel
In the Hunt
Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius
Keio Flying Squadron 2
Kingdom Grand Prix
King of Fighters '95
King of Fighters '96
King of Fighters '97
Last Bronx
Layer Section
Layer Section II
The Legend of Oasis
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
Magic Knight Rayearth
Marvel Super Heroes
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
Mega Man 8: Anniversary Collector's Edition
Mega Man X3
Mega Man X4
Metal Black
Metal Slug
Nights into Dreams...
Night Striker S Taito
Out Run
Panzer Dragoon
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Pocket Fighter
Policenauts
Princess Crown
Psychic Killer Taromarou
Purikura Daisakusen
Puyo Puyo 2
Puyo Puyo Sun
Radiant Silvergun
Rayman
Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus
Sega Ages Volume 1
Sega Rally Championship
Sexy Parodius
Shienryu
Shining Force III
Shining the Holy Ark
Shining Wisdom
Shinobi Legions
Silhouette Mirage
Snatcher
Sonic Jam
Soukyugurentai
Space Harrier
SteamGear Mash
Steep Slope Sliders
Street Fighter Alpha
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Street Fighter Collection
Strikers 1945
Strikers 1945 II
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo Capcom Capcom 1997
Tactics Ogre
Thunder Force: Gold Pack 1
Thunder Force: Gold Pack 2
Thunder Force V
Tryrush Deppy
Twinkle Star Sprites
Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire
Virtua Cop
Virtua Cop 2
Virtua Fighter
Virtua Fighter 2
Virtua Fighter Kids
Virtua Fighter Remix
Waku Waku 7
Willy Wombat
Winter Heat
X-Men vs. Street Fighter
X-Men: Children of the Atom
 
Celine said:
For the first few years :-P
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I'm guessing you're again referring to its place in the market (i.e. sales and support)? Because at no point in that generation would the Saturn has been viewed on a similar level as the prior generation performance-wise. You wouldn't look at something like Last Bronx or Sonic R, compare it to something on PlayStation (even past the point of the Saturn's life), and assume that it was running anything but comparable hardware really.

Vital Tundra said:
Perfectly good console. But just like the Genises, there was a better competitor(s).
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In the Saturn's case sure (PlayStation, not N64). In the Genesis' case though? Nah.

Both the SNES and Genesis were different, but basically equal. It's pretty much entirely preference.
 
Not really - if you like 2D and/or arcade ports there's nothing even close. Perfect ports of some of the best games of all time.

Also - Tryrush Deppy.
 
The Japanese library is obviously better but I'd say the library the west got is unfairly looked down upon, there are plenty of gems that we did get. As far as I'm concerned VF2 and Sega Rally are the best fighter and driving game of that generation. Panzer Dragoon Saga was also my favorite RPG of that gen. Many of the game being brought up in this thread did make it to the west so you certainly could build a library of great games even ignoring Japan only stuff, especially if you liked fighters.

One game I always like to bring up that I don't think has been mentioned is Exhumed/Powerslave. As far as I'm concerned Saturn got the best version of that game, (the PS1 version got close and the PC version was a completely different and worse game). What I loved about Exhumed was it more about the adventuring and collecting powerups to reach new areas and less about the shooting, It was in some ways Metroid Prime Egypt. Without the continued promotion from Sega Saturn Magazine I'd have never played it.
 
Seik said:
You forgot Elevator Action Returns and it breaks my heart a little bit. :(
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Sorry bud, forgot a lot of games! Classic top notch hiddem gems like Shinrei Jusatsushi Taromaru or Bulk Slash.

Elevator Action Returns is pretty damn good.


Valkyria said:
I wanted to say, that I knew/have played all the games in the pictures, but this one right here is unknown to me:

That's something cool about Saturn, there is always something to discover.
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Ninpen Manmaru or.. Who needs Mario 64?

NinPenManmaru.jpg


Little Gameplay Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jHdiojWyBg
 
Whoa, had no idea Tactics Ogre came out for the Saturn. Must be Japan only for sure. Did it run better than on the PSX? The PSX version had terrible framerate drops, IIRC.
 
No question.

It was the house for the BEST fighters at the time: VF2, Marvel vs Capcom, SF Alpha, etc.

The best RPGs: Panzer Saga, Lunar EB, Magical Knight Rayearth, Beyond Oasis, etc.

The best shooters: Layer Section, Battle Garegga (import), Batsugun (import), etc.

Daytona, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Sega Rally, Guardian Heroes, the list goes on.

It had it's share of problems. It didnt have the volume of PS1, but It (arguably) had a lineup that surpassed N64 in terms of top tier games. The N64 isn't considered a bad system, is it?
 
Yeah, as many others have said, if you could play Japanese imports, and not counting the Neo Geo and its games pricepoint-wise, it was damn-near unbeatable for 2D content.
 
gelf said:
One game I always like to bring up that I don't think has been mentioned is Exhumed/Powerslave. As far as I'm concerned Saturn got the best version of that game, (the PS1 version got close and the PC version was a completely different and worse game). What I loved about Exhumed was it more about the adventuring and collecting powerups to reach new areas and less about the shooting, It was in some ways Metroid Prime Egypt. Without the continued promotion from Sega Saturn Magazine I'd have never played it.
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Exhumed is the best FPS of that generation for me, it's insane how much it's aged better than Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. It's a toss-up between whether or not the Saturn or Playstation version is the best.

As for SSM, it was a great magazine which always championed games the mainstream media wouldn't even when the Saturn was pretty much dead in the UK. Along with CVG and Mean Machines, it was pretty much the pinnacle of gaming journalism. Looking back on it, I'm quite happy I didn't really have internet access back then and had to rely on these sources of information. Some of the early Gamespot reviews for Saturn/Sega games at that time were an absolute disgrace really; they didn't even attempt to mask their bias.

http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/power-slave-review/1900-2534039/

This pathetic Jeff Gerstmann review of Exhumed is one of the worst pieces of professional writing I've ever seen about any videogame, even including all the ridiculous Polygon/Kokatu articles about Shenmue III. The only review I can think of that was worse would be IGN's review of God Hand on the PS2.
 
ienjoyrawfish said:
Exhumed is the best FPS of that generation for me, it's insane how much it's aged better than Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. It's a toss-up between whether or not the Saturn or Playstation version is the best.

As for SSM, it was a great magazine which always championed games the mainstream media wouldn't even when the Saturn was pretty much dead in the UK. Along with CVG and Mean Machines, it was pretty much the pinnacle of gaming journalism. Looking back on it, I'm quite happy I didn't really have internet access back then and had to rely on these sources of information. Some of the early Gamespot reviews for Saturn/Sega games at that time were an absolute disgrace really; they didn't even attempt to mask their bias.

http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/powe.../1900-2534039/

This pathetic Jeff Gerstmann review of Exhumed is one of the worst pieces of professional writing I've ever seen about any videogame, even including all the ridiculous Polygon/Kokatu articles about Shenmue III. The only review I can think of that was worse would be IGN's God Hand review.
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Wow, that's indeed terrible. PowerSlave was amazing. I actually grabbed that free port someone made the other day, before it was taken down. It aged really really well. I'm terrible at it though.

DieHard GameFan was another print magazine I felt gave the Saturn a chance. But they were pretty much the only ones.
 
I always confuse the Sega Saturn with the Sega CD lol.

Never owned the Saturn, but man i REALLY loved the Sega CD :) Willy Beamish was my favorite on that system. :)
 
BadAss2961 said:
How is this even possible after their consoles that followed? All of them had terrible third party support, but the N64 has maybe the two very best games ever made.
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Because those two games don't last forever (or even very long at all). The Wii U is home to some of the highest rated games of this generation, but it's library still sucks really, because if you happen to not like a small handful of games, you're basically out of luck.

The Gamecube, and even the Wii didn't really have this issue.
 
UKyDrPCl.jpg


It's been with me for years. It's the only console pre Generation 7 that I keep out of storage.

The Western releases were rough, with most of the great games being very hard to find and very expensive. Importing was the meal ticket. If you are a fan of 2D games, the Saturn is the system to go to.
 
gunstarhero said:
It had it's share of problems. It didnt have the volume of PS1, but It (arguably) had a lineup that surpassed N64 in terms of top tier games. The N64 isn't considered a bad system, is it?
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Saturn vs N64 is tough.

Saturn definitely had far more great games, but N64's best games surpassed anything on Saturn.

If I could only choose one to have as my main console, I'd probably go with Saturn for the sheer variety
 
I had Anarchy in the Nippon at one point and remember it being impressive from a tech standpoint, but felt it was similar to DoA and ultimately preferred that game.

Wonder what happened to my copy. I've rarely ever sold games... Weird.
 
Khaz said:
I love my sword play. I enjoy the fact that it has its own button unlike Super Shinobi (I know, there's a code), the levels are designed for it and the character controls great. Gameplay-wise it's an improvement over the Megadrive games and would be the superior game if not for the cheesy graphics.
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What? No...
The level-design is just awful, a far cry from the previous two games.
 
DownGrader said:
Like this?



(Note: everything looks better with CDs.)
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Thats the retail box I remember.

The console was awesome...until I loaned it to a buddy...who had a friend of his come over to play...and this other random guy broke my Saturn by trying to stick the wrong video cable in the wrong port. How its even possible to be that stupid I'll never know. Lesson learned at a young age: Dont loan consoles to friends. And get better friends.

But the console itself was great. I still have the broken one in storage somewhere along with a few games. I wonder if there's any way to get it repaired cheaply? My guess is probably not since the tech is so old....
 
Saturn is the only Sega Console worth owning nowadays. The great games from Genesis and Dreamcast were all ported to many other platforms, but Saturn games never got that love. These games alone make Saturn a must have system and also my favorite Sega system: Dragon Force, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Shining Force 3. There were other gems too like Die Hard Arcade and the Virtua Cop games. Also, even though NiGHTS did get a port recently, honestly they fucked it up. The port broke one of the most important mechanics in the game which was the length of the trail that Nights left behind. In the port it fades too quick making it impossible to beat bosses quickly or even play the game properly. It's one of my favorite games ever and it can only be played right on the saturn itself.

As for the design of the console, I fucking love it! It was so 90s but that's the charm. I don't expect old hardware to look modern. I love the old school design and the giant plastic cases. It's what defined that era and made the system unique.

So yes OP, Saturn was good. Actually it was great and still is. Sega internal development was at it's peak on Saturn&Dreamcast. Man I miss those days.
 
310494_front.jpg


Back in the day, if you wanted your anime games to have boobs in them Saturn was the place to go.

The%20Yakyuken%20Special%20%28J%29%20Front.jpg


Then there was Yayuken Special. Strip paper-rock-scissors. The PC opponent was relentlessly impossible to beat. We actually had to make pro-action-replay codes to force the bitches to always pick paper. It was a desperate time.
 
Like many here, I enjoyed the Western library well enough but didn't realize the full potential of the Saturn until I got into importing. When I saw X-Men Vs. Street Fighter running flawlessly on a console (a console!), that was it.

My one gripe--at least the only one that comes immediately to mind--would be this:
dracula_x.jpg
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This should have been amazing. An already great 2D game running on a system made for 2D gaming? And with new music, stages, and characters? I'm not sure how they managed to mess it all up. Maybe they tried converting the polygonal trickery from the PSX original instead of using straight sprites...
 
Morrigan Stark said:
Whoa, had no idea Tactics Ogre came out for the Saturn. Must be Japan only for sure. Did it run better than on the PSX? The PSX version had terrible framerate drops, IIRC.
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I didn't either. Fucking shame it never came out in the States [for the Saturn].

The Orz said:
My one gripe--at least the only one that comes immediately to mind--would be this:


This should have been amazing. An already great 2D game running on a system made for 2D gaming? And with new music, stages, and characters? I'm not sure how they managed to mess it all up. Maybe they tried converting the polygonal trickery from the PSX original instead of using straight sprites...
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It's still an amazing game.
 
It was a great system. Especially when they got better tools to take advantage of what the system could really do. Take for example Virtua Fighter and how they made VF Remix and how much better it looked once they really understood the system. Stuff like Sega Rally was amazing on the system.
 
Best system for 2d fighters. If you haven't played a Street Fighter Alpha game at an arcade or on a Saturn, you haven't played Street Fighter Alpha.
 
Resilient said:
The games - there were some fun ones. But they were far and few between, and honestly nobody I knew back then was speaking about this thing (in AU) having must play games.
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It'll always boil down to your own tastes in games, but I had a blast with the Saturn. I'm big into fighting games, and getting stuff like Xmen COTA with no real compromises was great. Then there was Dragon Force which I replayed a billion times. Guardian Heroes, the Panzer Dragoon games...

If you just piddled around with Ghen War, I don't blame you for your negative impressions though.
 
This and the 64 are tied for my favorite 5th gen system.I just wish it had better support, the system was very capable tech wise.
 
Just got back from a friends playing all their Saturn games and had a blast! They lent me Panzer Dragoon Saga, Asuka 120% Limited, Soukyugurentai, and Vampire Savior to play later too. :)
 
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