Dear Sega: Why didn't you let us save and continue?

[Ziggy]

Sega seemed to have had an aversion to saving game progress all the way up to the Dreamcast. There are so many games that should have had a save and continue function but did not. This has always annoyed me. There are some really awesome games that are afflicted by this problem, and rarely do I have the time and/or ambition to play them for the required time to beat them.

I can understand that including a save function for cartridge games meant using additional parts which increased the cost. So you wouldn't want to do that for every game. But even then, there's a lot of Sega games that don't even have a password system so you can continue where you left off. I can be more forgiven in the early days, but Sega continued this trend right up through the Saturn. I guess let me just use examples to explain further.

Sonic the Hedgehog (the first game in the series for the Genesis) was released in 1991. The comparison has to be to Super Mario Bros. Now the three SMB games on the NES didn't save or have passwords, but they all had a warp system. But by 1990, Super Mario World was released which saved game progress. Sonic 1 came out a year later and did not save. I'll forgive Sonic 1 because it's a short enough game, but it should have at least had a password system. Yes, I am aware that there's a level select code. But a secret code is not at all the same thing as a password system. Especially in 1990 when you couldn't easily hop on the Web and learn every secret about the game in a matter of seconds. If you didn't find the level select code in a gaming magazine, or hear about it from a fellow gamer, then you would never know about it!

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 came out just a year later, and was way longer than the first game. And STILL Sega did not include a save or password system. Again they included a secret level select code. Which, as I just said above, is not a replacement for a password system! Also, using the level select in either game does not start you off with whatever Chaos Emeralds you had collected.

VectorMan was reportedly Sega's answer to Donkey Kong Country. DKC has a save function, not only for game progress but it also displays your time and completion percentage. Simply beating each level and the last boss in DKC did not get you 100%, which enticed you to keep playing and added replay value. But VectorMan had no save or password functionality, which in 1995 was feeling archaic. Even worse is a year later they released VectorMan 2 which was an even longer game and still did not save or have passwords!

The first Castlevania and Mega Man games on the NES did not have passwords (and actually, the original version of Castlevania on the FDS saved progress). But they were relatively short and it can be forgiven since this wasn't yet the norm in the mid 80's. But ten years later in 1995, every Castlevania and Mega Man game since then had a password system (Rondo of Blood even saved) and yet Vectorman is still clinging to that "play in one sitting" style. Honestly, it's why I never played through either VectorMan on the Genesis.

There are some SNES games that don't save or have passwords, and they annoy me equally as much, but they're all from third party developers and publishers. Plok comes to mind. But most Nintendo developed SNES games save, and the ones that do not save really don't require it. In 1993, Nintendo released Super Mario All-Stars, and you had 4 save slots for each game. So even though these games didn't save their progress back on the NES, it was clear to Nintendo that in 1993 this is something that needed to be included.

Sonic Jam came out in 1997, years after Super Mario All-Stars, and did not add saving for any of the game that previously didn't. Sonic 3 & Knuckles saved, but Sonic 3 was able to save on the Genesis. They added extras for the first two Sonic games, like time attack modes and being able to play the bonus stages, and even the spin dash in Sonic 1. So why not add save functionality to these two games?

Astal for the Sega Saturn does not have a save or password system. Again Sega included a level select code. At this point, it just seems like this is just their style. The Saturn had build in game save memory. There would be no reason not to have this game save progress, unless that was your design choice.

I'm sure there's more examples of games on the Genesis or Saturn that should have saved or had passwords, these are just a few that I know of off the top of my head. I always felt like Sega held on to and never let go of that arcade paradigm. In the arcade, you stop playing because you ran out of quarters or (real life) time and if you wanted to play again you'd have to start from the beginning. I feel like Sega just continued with that model. Even their modern games still feel very arcade-like. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But continuing where you left off became the norm and Sega failed to get on board with that. After games got bigger and longer, it didn't make sense to do this for home console games anymore. The first Castlevania had no passwords but it was only 6 levels. The first Sonic has 18 levels plus the final boss, plus the bonus stages with the collectibles. Sonic 2 was even worse!

[Jagosaurus]

I remember leaving the Genesis on to pick up on Sonic progress . Man... I think it was those arcade, quarter eating, roots.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I agree with these posts wholeheartedly. There are so many old games, and particularly old Sega games, that would have been improved immensely by the inclusion of a save or password feature.

[Ziggy]

In addition to emulators, some flash carts now offer save state capabilities, including the Mega Everdrive X7 for the Genesis. And although I've used the save state function on my Mega ED X7, I'd still rather see games have a save or password system in place. One, the save state function doesn't work perfectly. It can't restore the music state, which makes you have to think carefully where you're gonna save. And I also find that I can't keep myself from abusing save states, rather than just saving at the end of each level. Also, if I own a Sonic 2 cart but I want to play in an emulator or flash cart for save states, then what's the point of owning the cart?

[Ziggy]

Sonic 3D Blast is another example. The Genesis version, again, I can kind of understand not wanting to do a save function because of the extra manufacturing cost. But like every other example, there could have at least been a password system. The Saturn version of the game, there definitely should have been a save function since the Saturn has built in save memory!

Like Sonic 1 and 2, Sonic 3D Blast has a level select code. But a secret code is not a substitute for a password system. Also, the way the level select code works is more tedious in 3D Blast than it is in Sonic 1 or 2.

[postulio]

I wholeheartedly agree. And to add insult to injury, with the Saturn, the saving system was onboard of the console and you were limited to only a handful of games (or even 1-2 depending on the game) which was backed up by a CR2032 battery all but guaranteeing you'd lose your save after a few months or forces to delete it. Yes there was a cartridge you could buy which cost as much as a whole new game.

As for Vectorman, that really hit a sour note with me. As much as I loved the gameplay it was rendered almost entirely unplayable to me in 1995 because I couldn't save my progress.

[IrishNinja]

this, so hard. there's so many genesis games (won't even get into SMS ones) i can't finish in one sitting.

what really sucks is save states have been happening on mega everdrives, but i lave my 32x plugged in so that somehow negates the function. i have no idea why.