Best Twin Sticks? Dreamcast or Saturn?

Post by **molotovwars** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:05 pm

So, I am always collecting Dreamcast things and am contemplating getting a set of twin sticks for Virtua-On. I can either buy the Sega Saturn Twin Sticks and use Total Control 3, or I can buy the Sega Dreamcast Twin Sticks. There are a lot of factors to consider, so hopefully I can find some answers here.

Are there any major differences between the two generations of twin sticks?
Were the twin sticks a Japan only product or were they also released in the US (this question is for both Saturn and Dreamcast)
Are there any region limitations? (I know Japanese guns could not be used with US software)
Are there multiple brands available? If I'm going to pay an exorbitant amount I'll probably get official Sega ones, but out of curiosity.
Is there a large price difference?

I already have Virtua-On for the Dreamcast and will be getting it soon for the Saturn (both are/will be US versions), so because of this I'm thinking of getting Saturn sticks to use for both games. I don't know a lot about them, so I am hoping some people here have used them and can give their personal accounts.

Thanks

Post by **Doctor Fugue** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:01 am

Virtual On: OT for the Dreamcast really makes the Saturn game useless to have, in my opinion, because the Dreamcast port is truly sublime...especially through VGA. They are different games, but the Saturn port was severely comprimised.

I would go for the DC twin sticks as they do feel better and stronger, and you can stick in the VMU.

I have not tried this myself, but I have seen people on forums complain that the Saturn twin sticks do not work exactly as they should through the Total Control 3 because the button mapping of the right-hand stick only simulates the four face buttons on the DC regular controller, so you can't really use the Saturn twin sticks as they are meant to be used for Virtual On.

There are no region limitations with the twin sticks, and I believe were never released outside of Japan. Actually I've never looked for a US version...so I don't know if they came out in NA.

Go for the original Sega brand...even though I've never seen any third-party sticks.

Prices I've seen for the DC twin sticks go from around 70 for a fairly used one, to 100 for a good one in a box. New ones are much more expensive.

There is someone on eBay selling both Saturn and DC versions right now, and both are new apparently. The starting bid is 49 pounds (~100 USD) and the auctions end in a couple of days. Expect the price to go way up but you may be lucky.

Good luck and have fun with this awesome game! By the way, I am a Sega man, so I don't suggest buying the PS2 version.

Post by **molotovwars** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 1:26 am

Thanks for all the information. I'll definitely be going with the Dreamcast ones. I'm also a Sega man myself (haha I think all my racketboy forum posts have only be in the Sega section), but as far as the PS2 version, are you referring to the Sega Ages one? vol. 31 i think. Once I get my ps2 up to speed for importing I may also get the PS2 one because I was reading about it and I heard they did an amazing job with the port along with a lot of added content, etc.

Post by **Doctor Fugue** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:42 am

Yeah, I've heard it's a good port and the two analog sticks work well...but I've never actually seen it in motion so I don't know. As you say, it is part of the Sega Ages released last October.

Just to be clear, though, the PS2 game is a port (with extra goodies) of the original arcade game Cyber Troopers: Virtual On. This is the same game that appeared on the Saturn, but with hardware limitations.

The Dreamcast game is the sequel called Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram and it is a perfect port from the arcade since they both run on the same hardware. I prefer the sequel.