The "True/Spiritual successor to the Sega Saturn is......

[Dikdikvandik]

Alright, I'll try to keep my say on this concise (probably fail).
I got into Saturn around the same time I got into Dreamcast. And it was for the same initial reasons, mostly fighting games (and some shooters).
To that end, I never even questioned that it was a true successor.

Heck, I even liked the Dreamcast controller for fighters (despite the 4-button layout), it had THE smoothest rolling d-pad the world will ever know and taught me how to perfect the dragon-punch motion and timing (along with Capcom vs SNK).

The Capcom and SNK ports in general were a big part of both systems for me, at least to start.

Also, I think it was the 1st system with adapters allowing Saturn controllers.

As for shooters, Gunbird 2 (Dreamcast) was my 1st bullet-hell, and in turn, got me to notice what else was available on Saturn.

Also, House of the dead sequel.

I could go on, but there are more than enough ties to make DC a worthy Saturn child). I will concede that my initial focus for both systems was pretty limited though.

One other thing, PS2 is the successor to damn near everything at that point, so I can't even consider that fair.

At this point I'm working on the the theory that it's the 360. I can't link to the exact videos, but Kidshoryuken has said as much on a few of his videos the 360 is through of as the successor to the Saturn.

I don't think the pictures I provided help my case against the Dreamcast much. It's mostly fighters, I used to have way more Dreamcast stuff than I do now. Then there's the question of Whats in those white CD envelopes (Burns of course and a version of Marvel VS Capcom 2 that replaces the Jazz with House music)

How about this, a nonlinear succession:

Saturn-XBOX 360-Dreamcast-Original XBOX

That makes sense now doesn't it? Aside from the fact it's totally out of console release order.

[marurun]

The 360 doesn't have nearly the personality the Saturn had. It was also horribly unpopular in Japan and didn't have a lot of those interesting and bizarre Japanese titles the Saturn was known for.

I mean, if you poke around on the internet long enough you'll find someone to agree with you. But there's a lot of cherry-picking going on, here, and not much high-level analysis.

[Dikdikvandik]

It did better than people think, around 2 Million sold in Japan.

If you dig into it's Japanese library you might be surprised what's on there. If you dig into what was on the 360 in general what it had might surprise you.

Ignoring Fighting games, Shmups and Sega games. The 360 was a haven for JRPGs, Racing games, and in Japan it had Visual novels LOTS AND LOTS OF VISUAL NOVELS.

Going back to RPGs though, Lost Odyssey alone is something I definitely could see as something that would've been right at home on a Sega console. In tone, flow and general mood.

[marurun]

That's a good argument to revisit the 360 as a non-Western platform. I don't know that it solves the problem of cherry-picking and comparative appeal in Japan.

Either way, you're hell-bent on your view and none of us are going to change your mind. You've made that pretty clear. So if you're only interested in supporting views, I guess that means this thread is pretty much a dead end.

[isiolia]

To me, if anything, it'd be the Dreamcast.

As others have mentioned, it's largely due to arcade ports. The Saturn, and to a lesser-but-still-relevant point the Dreamcast both existing in a window of time when arcades were still prominent, and home hardware lagged behind to the point that home ports tended to be compromises. The big thing that set those consoles apart from their peers was bringing those games home - certainly helped by Sega's prominence as an arcade publisher. They were a big part of the Saturn's first-party offerings particularly, but the Dreamcast followed suit. Both had arcade boards essentially using the same hardware.
Obviously, it's not completely unique, given the Neo Geo...but Sega did it with 3D games too, and with third party offerings. Those ports were the big thing they offered over the competition, in the mainstream, worldwide. To me, start delving into oddball import/budget/etc stuff...and most every console has something. Or systems like the DS or Wii dwarf it.

Instead, I'd focus more that, in the window of time when great arcade ports were both possible and relevant, Sega was the one and only company out there to release mainstream consoles that focused on them. To a point, it was probably their downfall, as their lineups were a bit sparse or me-too next to Sony's.
Working at Software Etc at the time, the Dreamcast lineup just wasn't strong enough relative to what Sony had unless what someone wanted was predominately arcade stuff.

[Gunstar Green]

It did better than people think, around 2 Million sold in Japan.

That is an abysmal number for console distribution. It sold around 1.6 million. Even the Dreamcast outsold the 360 in Japan for crying out loud.

Both the PS3 and Wii broke 10 million.

No non-Sega console is a successor to the Saturn. The Dreamcast was literally the successor.

[Flake]

If it weren't for Sega's software development and third party relationships, the Saturn would have been just another footnote console failure. Ironically, Sega was also the reason the Saturn failed.

A total, complete, utter, without exception failure but a pretty one with some good Megaman games.

[Sarge]

In my opinion, the 360 was far too popular, and far too broad in genres to fit for me. Even more so with the PS2, which was so wildly successful with nearly every genre known to man covered that it much more fits as the successor to... well, the PS1. The Switch is perhaps too popular as well, and the remarkable amount of indies on there make it feel more like some sort of hybrid 3DS/Vita successor than a Saturn followup.

If there's a system that I can think of that might fit the bill, it's actually... the Gamecube. Much like the Saturn, there was some early success with third-party developers that dropped off during its life. It received a good bit of Sega's support after they got out of the hardware business, even receiving quite a few Dreamcast ports (Skies of Arcadia, Ikaruga, Evolution, Sonic Adventure, etc.). First-party games played a huge part in keeping the system from being a complete failure, although I would argue Nintendo's output here might have been their most oddball/divisive, much like Sega's Saturn output.

And yes, the Dreamcast is the obvious choice, because it actually had what you'd expect from a Sega machine. Too bad it didn't last longer.

[pierrot]

A total, complete, utter, without exception failure

That's a pretty US centered take on the console. It was pretty successful in Japan; it outperformed the N64 there (potentially outstripped the N64's total regional sales within its first fiscal year), and even the PS1 for a time. I guess in a similar vein we should start calling the N64 a unequivocal failure.


Anyway, this is kind of the problem with the topic, as I see it; this is clearly only acknowledging the Saturn library within its home region. I love the Saturn. I have more unique titles for it (almost entirely imports) than any other console. The only other one that's close is the Dreamcast (although it's actually really close, even without the overlap in regions). (Never mind, I was wrong. Upon further inspection, my Dreamcast collection is still larger at 220 titles, to my Saturn's 204.) There just really aren't any other consoles that are, holistically, like the Saturn, though. I got the console toward the end of '97, and in the US, that was already the time where it was heavily clearanced. I played games on it like Nights, Virtua-stuffs, Sonic R, Area 51, Solar Eclipse, and NBA Live. It was like a 3DO+ here, to me. Still loved it then, but it was a little weirder than the competition. In Japan, sure, it was right in line with the zeitgeist over there, and comes off as more of a cross between the Super Famicom and the PC Engine CD. Even through that lens, I don't see a console since that would resemble it in any way. It feels like an exercise in trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. The Saturn is a unicorn, man. Just enjoy it for what it is.

Nintendo's output here might have been their most oddball/divisive, much like Sega's Saturn output.

Here's my own hot-take: I feel that Nintendo's best output ever was on the Gamecube. I'd say that Sega's most oddball output was on Dreamcast, though.

[Sload Soap]

Looks like those pesky Facebooks kids were right again. Dreamcast or nothing.

Also, dude, Powerslave!