Is it worth picking up a Sega Saturn?

[RokstaEnSweden]

Hey guys, I was just wondering what your thoughts were about picking up a Sega Saturn. As a kid, I BEGGED my mom for one because it had Nights on it which I had seen in the stores and magazines and looked totally amazing to me at the time. I never did get it though, which turned out great for me in the end because I picked up a PS as soon as FFVII shipped.

Anyways, I have a good friend with a Saturn so I get the opportunity to play it every now and then. I really enjoy it, but my friend also has the benefits of having a lot of amazing games for it like Guardian Heroes and Dragon Force.

So.. I've been debating picking one up lately. I just don't know if it's really worth it because the really good games look to be really expensive due to the short life span of the system. I also seem to think that the library for the system is relatively small as well for this reason. I hear playing imports on it are the way to go, but I don't want to pick up a system that can't stand on its own with its NA releases.

So what do you guys think? Is it worth it to get a Saturn for the totally sweet anime cut scenes despite the large price on a majority of the games and the slim selection? Or do you think my money is better spent elsewhere? Like maybe on a Dreamcast?

[Dakinggamer87]

I think it's worth it.. It's true the best NA releases had limited print runs due to the short lifecycle in America unlike Japan.. The imports are great but there are some great games like Nights into Dreams you can still get for pretty cheap..

I would check out the racketboy guides to help you out in deciding what games you like and more info in general about the Sega Saturn:

http://www.racketboy.com/guide/sega-saturn

[Anubis]

Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes

But....

Mod it. I bought a Saturn specifically to mod it and I don't regret it at all. It's easily become one of my favorite systems. There are so many great games for it. Hell, the panzer dragoon series is worth it alone.

[The Apprentice]

To me the Dreamcast and Saturn are interchangable. You could buy either one and be pretty satisfied with the games you get, even if you go my route and buy $100 worth of cheap games instead of $100 worth of "good" games... I was surprised at how many cheap games I actually like.

Also it's not a given that the great games for either system will cost you the ammount they ussually go for. I've picked up tons of stuff uber cheap over the years.

All that being said, I reccomend the Dreamcast first because it's a slightly cheaper window into the Sega mindset (I visited every thrift shop, pawn shop, and flea market this weekend, and I managed to find NHL '97... with no manual) Once you get used to the difficulty of owning a Sega system (other than Genesis) then I reccomend the Saturn.

[deathclaw]

I would say go for the Dreamcast...IMO there's more great games and most of them are pretty cheap..many of them still sealed! you can have much more fun for the same amount of money...

[Anayo]

I'm a bit of a Saturn fanatic myself, so I'm probably BIASED, but...

There are some relatively cheap exclusives for the Saturn that are really worth looking into, like Virtua Cop II, Nights into Dreams, and Die Hard Arcade, and Shinobi Legions.

Also, for the uber-rare games, like Dragon Force and Shining Force III, you get what you pay for. Meaning I do not regret the money I spent on them at all (granted I got DF for $23, SF3 for $49, both disc only). This might be a moot point if you're going to modchip your saturn, but the point I'm making is that they were REALLY good, to such an extent that there's XBOX 360/PS3 games selling today for that amount that don't give nearly as much play value.

[weasels]

it worth it but if you seem low on money go for the dreamcast first. the asking price is low and you don't need to mod it at all to play burned games (if your curious check the guides on this site. that's where i learned how to do it.) so really you need is a dreamcast and a pack of cd-r's. the saturn like said above is great as long as you mod so you don't have to spend large amounts money for the great games like panzer dragoon saga. also make sure if you do mod it you get a model2 saturn.

[t0yrobo]

It's tough to beat a Dreamcast for price/quality. But Saturns are really nice, it just stinks that you need at least one memory cartridge, and if you want to mod it you pretty much have to get a model 2 and then hope you can track down a chip. Model 1's are super easy to swaptrick though.

[SinclairVulture]

Yeesh, it's a tough sale if you aren't importing. Typically, importing is a good way to save money once you mod the console or buy a "Pro Action Replay" (aka White Cart of Liberty).

The price of the console itself is usually relatively negligible - between $40 and $50 to get started. If you don't use it at first, shelve it until you find a cool game. If you like NiGHTS, then it's worth the purchase of the console not just because it's a good game (which it most certainly is), but because, simply put, it's important to you. Of course, that shouldn't stop you from buying other games as well. Darius Gaiden, Virtua Fighter 2, Daytona USA, Clockwork Knight, and Virtua Cop are all very cheap, non-import, and very much worth owning.

But if you want to get the most amount of game for the least amount of buck without importing, then I have to agree with everyone else: Dreamcast is the way to go.

[the7k]

I bought a Sega Saturn about a year ago, and my collection of Saturn games easily dwarfs my Dreamcast, PS2 and SNES games.

In short, yes.