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dsheinem
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Re: Console of the Month (Jan 2022): Sega Saturn

by dsheinem Sun Jan 02, 2022 5:06 pm

This is a great idea for a thread! I will try to play/beat something from each console you choose this year...a great excuse to fire up my Saturn!
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Re: Console of the Month (Jan 2022): Sega Saturn

by stickem Sun Jan 02, 2022 6:45 pm

I love and appreciate the saturn a hell alot more today than when it released. I'm more into the game genres it does well. to me it's a dedicated shmup and fighter console. at the time of release, ps1 had more games, more game I wanted to play (and everybody else i knew), and was cheaper so easy decision back then.
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Re: Console of the Month (Jan 2022): Sega Saturn

by Syndicate Mon Jan 03, 2022 11:41 am

I love my Saturn, it was the first console I picked up w/my own funds. I still remember picking mine up from Target in the Spring of '98 and then heading over to EB and buying Fighter's Megamix, Guardian Heroes, and Dragon Force. I steadily built my Saturn library month over month and also picked up a bunch of imports as well. I have many fond memories of 100-round Saturn Bomberman matches, tons of Capcom Vs and SNK classics action, in addition to all of the excellent original content the system received. While most of my friends in college had PSXs, me and one other friend were the only Saturn diehards.

Around 2003 I officially "retired" my Saturn as I was fully into my Dreamcast and had also picked up a NGC. Well, about 3-years ago I fell right back down the classic gaming rabbit hole and started picking up Genesis games and ended up w/quite a bit of mission creep that led to quite a few Saturn acquisitions as well. I was gifted a second console by a friend and original 20+ or so collection grew to 44 today. Thankfully I picked up the final four Sega produced games for the system in N.A when they were all new, so I didn't have too many super expensive games to add. I'm still kicking myself for not waiting for my Magic Knight Rayearth pre-order, but everything I picked up recently was reasonable enough. I'm only missing a few that I really want, mainly a few RPGs and some of the import shmups the system is known for.

Looking back at the Saturn's games I had the best time w/the incredibly accurate Capcom and SNK arcade ports, especially just hanging out in my dorm room getting some Street Fighter vs X-Men rounds in and just getting better at the games. The RPGs were solid too, I never did finish SFIII, but I had a great time w/Dragon Force and Panzer Dragoon Saga. One of my gaming goals/resolutions this year is to get my Saturn hooked back up so that I can really enjoy just how awesome it is. It's easily the most slept on 5th gen console. I think its failure was due to several factors, one the confusion Sega sowed in the market w/the 32X and also the surprise launch. Second, it was also initially overpriced and was not worth the premium over the PSX for most consumers and even difficult to justify for us Sega fans/diehards. Third, Sega failed to predict where the games market was heading, which to this day still blows my mind as the awesome Model 2 was already in full swing. Sega should at least should have had a console capable of bringing those hits home. Lastly, Sega didn't lean into the systems core strengths, yeah the Saturn wasn't great at 3D w/o a lot of work and writing to the metal, but it could handle 2D phenomenally well so why weren't 2d fighters and shmups brought stateside? Other awesome games were also left overseas. I think Sega could have eeked out a niche status at the very least if it was one place you can get a near arcade perfect MSH vs Street Figther and also enjoy something different like Princess Crown.
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Re: Console of the Month (Jan 2022): Sega Saturn

by Reprise Mon Jan 03, 2022 7:56 pm

I have had a Saturn for nearly 20 years and I love mine. I was always a Sega kid in school, in fact Sonic the Hedgehog is what got me into video games. So when the Saturn started appearing in shops, I knew I absolutely had to get one. One of my brother's friends got one at launch and I would love playing on it whenever I was at their house. The games were my first time seeing 3D and it blew me away. I was just a kid though and my parents didn't want to buy me another video games console, having just bought me a Mega Drive a year or two prior. They said if I wanted another console, I needed to save up for one.

So years later, grinding away saving pocket money and Birthday/Christmas money, and spending some of it on a Gameboy Color, eventually rumours started gaining momentum about a successor to the Saturn. I obsessively bought any magazine I could that had any information about the successor and loved reading about the Dreamcast once it was revealed. So, predictably, I ended up skipping the Saturn in favour of buying a Dreamcast.

To cut a long story short though, around 2002/03 ish, when the Dreamcast was going through its quick demise, I was having a blast picking up dirt cheap Dreamcast games and couldn't help noticing that Saturns (and N64s, which I also wanted and never managed to get) and retro games in general were being sold in shops local to me for next to nothing. So I bought a Saturn, along with (iirc) Panzer Dragoon, Theme Park, Nights into Dreams, Sega Rally, Virtua Fighter 2, Alien Trilogy and Daytona USA, and a 3D analogue controller. I was absolutely obsessed with the system and bought any decent game I could following that.

Around 2010, I got an Action Replay cart and then started exploring the import scene for the system. I played through Grandia using a translation guide, which was hard going, but I still had so much fun doing it, and I found lots of hidden gems like Bulk Slash.

Nowadays I don't play the console a whole lot, but I still have a go on it once or twice a year when I get the urge to play. I used to play Christmas Nights every Christmas too, which kinda makes me sad, because I realise I haven't done it in at least two years now. That's life though... I'm older, have less time and concentration for games and I have a kid of my own who is getting into video games now.
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Re: Console of the Month (Jan 2022): Sega Saturn

by Nemoide Mon Jan 03, 2022 11:20 pm

I'll join the choir: I love the Sega Saturn!
I think I got mine in 1997 (I was a kid and have *always* been at least a few years behind the times), it still has the Electronics Boutique price sticker on it: a refurbished console (with original box, manual, and Virtua Fighter Remix) was $79.99.
I was a die-hard Sega fan and I was instantly in love with the Saturn, Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers quickly became my favorite fighting games, Panzer Dragoon sparked my imagination of a distant future world that was totally different from what I was used to seeing in any media, Nights into Dreams similarly sparked my imagination and taught me to appreciate replaying games for higher scores. I remember getting Panzer Dragoon Saga I think as a birthday present but there was some delivery mistake and it was delivered to the wrong house: my mom had to drive me over there to pick it up. I'm so glad I got that game because it really changed my perspective of what games could be. It was my first RPG and the music, the battle system, the sci-fi story, and being able to explore more of life in the world of Panzer Dragoon was tremendously impactful.
I got an Action Replay cart when I was in high school and it was where I finally felt like a hardcore gamer: IMPORTING video games from Japan! A number of my early imports where too tough for me to play without language skills (Sakura Wars, Magical School Lunar, Tokimeki Memorial - all of which I loved because I could at least see anime opening sequences) but it also let me make my very first crazy expensive game purchase by importing Radiant Silvergun with my money from my second job when I was in high school. I think that was my first shmup and now I'm hesitant to recommend it to any but the most hardcore STG fans - even I don't feel hardcore enough to play it properly, but I felt like I was gaming in another dimension when I played that thing.
I never really stopped collecting for the Saturn although now games are so expensive that it's hard to justify buying them except for as a special treat. But I have a good number of the most valuable ones (Panzer Dragoon Saga, Magic Knight Rayearth, Burning Rangers, et al) and I have a Satiator ODE in case I really want to play something like Shining Force III without dropping several hundred dollars.

Now I feel like I ought to hook up my Saturn and play something...
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Re: Console of the Month (Jan 2022): Sega Saturn

by alienjesus Tue Jan 04, 2022 11:01 am

I love the Saturn too, I think it has a unique and interesting library for sure. One thing I find interesting about it though is I personally don't think any of the system's games are truly amazing. There's no game where I'd look at it personally and think of it as an all-time classic, except maybe Guardian Heroes.

However, this doesn't really matter, because I find the games to be eclectic, unique and fun. A lot of the games for the system are fundamentally flawed in some ways, or a bit janky....but I kinda think that adds to the charm!

I first got my Saturn whilst I was at university, a little over a decade ago. It was considered one of the pricier retro consoles to get into even then, but an expensive retro game back then was £30, not £100+ :lol: I was on a shoestring budget so I mostly picked up cheap stuff with it (Theme Park, Virtua Fighter, Virtual On, Worms, Athlete Kings) although I did luck out on some good prices on Nights and Guardian Heroes, which were really spalshing out for me at the time!

I had wanted a Saturn way back when as a kid because I was a big Mega Drive and Sonic fan and I wanted to play a new 3D sonic. I never actually saw one in shops though! In the end that generation marked my move to Nintendo systems as my first choice due to Pokémon Stadium coming out on N64. 10 year old me couldnt resist 3D pokemon!
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dsheinem
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Re: Console of the Month (Jan 2022): Sega Saturn

by dsheinem Tue Jan 04, 2022 11:45 am

I spent some time with both Sega Rally Championship and Virtua Fighter 2 on Sunday - a good way to start the month! (Is it even possible to beat SRC with an AT car?!?! :lol: Maybe I should try it with my Saturn wheel...)

I had a PlayStation when the Saturn was a current console and never picked one up until the very early 2000s. Like some other folks have mentioned, I have always thought of the Saturn as primarily a shmup/fighter machine, and one that I have primarily played imports on. Today, almost all those shmups and imports are better in superior versions on some other console, so I have spent much less time with the Saturn over the past few years...

So it has been a treat to return to a couple of Sega's marquee first party titles - you can tell that the developers really wanted to put their all into these ports and make the system shine, and the games are really a revelation in both graphics and gameplay when compared to even the souped-up fighting/racing games found on the 32X from just a few years prior.

Other than arcade ports, which Saturn games do people recommend that can be reasonably beaten in 2-3 hours or less?
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Re: Console of the Month (Jan 2022): Sega Saturn

by Note Tue Jan 04, 2022 1:11 pm

It's been great to read about everyone's memories and experiences with the Saturn!

I also did not own a Saturn when it was originally released, as I was already lucky enough to have both a PS1 and a N64 at the time. However, my two cousins who were die hard gamers (and got me into the hobby) had a Saturn and so did my friend from school. My cousins had X-Men vs Street Fighter and Night Warriors on the console, which both looked great to me. I was also amazed to see they had a Japanese game, I wasn't aware of the importing scene back then. I did want a Saturn back then, but I ended up getting a Dreamcast when it was released, and put my Saturn thoughts on the back burner.

My friend had a Saturn with Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter 2, and Virtua Cop packed in, so we played a lot of those games. He also had Nights into Dreams, Virtual On: Cyber Troopers, and Dragon Force, with the later two probably being two of my favorites on the console back then. A lot of fond memories playing Dragon Force and taking turns in battles, passing the controller back and forth. Both these games were grails for me, and I finally picked them up in the past year.

I purchased my own Saturn around 2007. I really liked the look of the all white Japanese Model 2, so I picked up that version of the console. At that time, my main reason for picking one up was to play Shining Force III. I'm a huge fan of the first two Shining Force games and wanted to finally experience the third game, which I also purchased in 2007. I'm really glad I got that game back then. Just a side note, the cover art for SFIII and Shining the Holy Ark are great!

When looking for mod chips for the console so I could play US games on the JP console I bought, I discovered the Racketboy website and store selling chips, which is how I come across this forum in the first place!

More recently, another childhood friend of mine who I'm still close with, saw my white Saturn and became interested in the console. He is a big Dreamcast fan but also never experienced the Saturn. I tried to warn him about the price of games and let him know about the ODE route, but he decided to jump in anyway! And proceed to complain about game prices to me later. Lol. He ended up getting House of the Dead (JP), Virtua Fighter 2, and Daytona USA to start with, and is now challenging me in VF2 and Daytona, so I need to practice for whenever the next time we get a chance to hang.

Currently, I'm playing through Shining the Holy Ark and am about 32 hours into the game. I'm really enjoying it, and it's been one of my favorite RPGs I've played the past year or two. I'm hoping to finish the game in the next month.

There are still a good amount of games I'd like to get for the system, but I'm not in a rush and slowly getting games here and there. So many great titles on the console! It's very underrated IMO, so I'm glad to see it getting some love.
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Re: Console of the Month (Jan 2022): Sega Saturn

by Reprise Wed Jan 05, 2022 8:25 am

alienjesus wrote:I first got my Saturn whilst I was at university, a little over a decade ago. It was considered one of the pricier retro consoles to get into even then, but an expensive retro game back then was £30, not £100+ :lol: I was on a shoestring budget so I mostly picked up cheap stuff with it (Theme Park, Virtua Fighter, Virtual On, Worms, Athlete Kings) although I did luck out on some good prices on Nights and Guardian Heroes, which were really spalshing out for me at the time!


Ha, sounds like you're around the same age as me. I was at university over a decade ago and splashed out majorly on an expensive Saturn game... Well, long story short is I never updated my address with the bank and my mum texted me to say my latest bank statement arrived, did I want her to open it and file it for me. Without even thinking, I answered "yeah, that's fine". A minute later, I got a text back saying "you're a student, what the hell did you spend £85 on!?" It was a Saturn game :lol:

Anyways, that game was Panzer Dragoon Saga, so who's laughing now 8)
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Re: Console of the Month (Jan 2022): Sega Saturn

by alienjesus Wed Jan 05, 2022 8:36 am

Reprise wrote:
Anyways, that game was Panzer Dragoon Saga, so who's laughing now 8)


It certainly wasn't me when I bought that game last year :lol:
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