Is the Sega Saturn overrated?

[Soldier Blue]

The Saturn is becoming more highly regarded as of late because of how well many of its 2d games hold up compared to the early ugly looking 3D graphics of the PS1 and N64.
Really what many of us on the site have grown to love about it is how great these titles look and perform on the system compared to its PS1 counter parts.

There is also of course, the amazing Saturn exclusives. Many of which are still Saturn exclusives because of the difficulty of emulating the system and its dual proccessors. Many people are missing out on a complete library here availiable nowhere else. Astal, Nights, Panzer Dragoon, Guardian Heroes, Saturn Bomberman, Shining force III..

Some of the very best games on the system are the imports: Astra Super Stars, Batsugun, Vampire Savior, Shienryu, Street figter Zero 3, Radiant Silvergun (fucking amazing) and I could go on all day.
A lot of the titles are nearly arcade PERFECT.

Many of us also adore the controller (model 2) and look of the console.

So there are a lot of reasons why we love the Sega Saturn and many people actually UNDERATE it.

[Jmustang1968]

oooh not so sure about that one... I think it is all preference though...

I see a lot of the arcade guys like the Saturn and you are an arcade guy. I never really was much for arcades. I bet our top 100 would be different from yours lol

I know PSX is going to have at least 20 amazing RPG's, but the Saturn is not all fighters / shooters. There are some superb platformers and action/platformers that simply never were released here.

Psychic Killer Taromaru
Tryrush Deppy
Super Tempo

And just amazing 2D stuff again, that a lot of people don't know is out there.

Ninku
Nekketsu Oyako

And this doesn't touch on the epic US released stuff:

Guardian Heroes
Burning Rangers
Panzer Dragoon Saga

And ^ that doesn't touch on ANY of the SHMUPS/Fighters, which, I mean yeah, don't get me spouting shooters for the saturn, i'm getting all hot and bothered!!!

Not all people like shmups though. And the PSX games go beyond RPGs. Resident Evil series, Twisted Metal just off the top of my head.

[TornadoCreator]

There are two games that I always feel the need to talk about when it comes to the Saturn.

The first Aliens Trilogy, an early FPS game but considering this was before both Half-Life and GoldenEye I think it's truly impressive. It's not as clean as Half-Life, but compared to say Doom it knocks the socks of it and is really suspenseful. The graphics are impressive and make GoldenEye look like it's made of scrunched up and folded tissue paper by example (early polygons uugghh). I'm not much of an FPS fan myself, but this is one I highly recommend, oh and play it with full attention and sound, it's much better that way, here's some gameplay footage...



The second is Titan Wars. This game seems to be practically unknown but it's one of the best on rails shooters I've ever played, and it's surprisingly well acted and well shot for what is essensially an FMV game. This is one of my favourite games for the system and I hope you get a chance to try it if you're collecting Saturn, however it's known in USA as Solar Eclipse. Again, here's some gameplay footage...



Other classics have already been mentioned. Saturn Bomberman was very fun, Wipeout I think plays best on the Saturn and I had hours of fun on Daytona USA so I'd recommend them too. I have a soft spot for Fighters Megamix as well but I doubt it's aged well but it's worth checking out.

Is the Saturn overrated though? Honestly no, I don't think so. People know its an underdog console with poor third party support and a small sellection of really good classics, I doubt you'd be disappointed. Was the Saturn underutilised, definately, but I still think it's a good console, not great but definitely better than any of the lesser knowns like the 3DO, CD-i, Neo Geo or Jaguar, and while many will disagree, I think it's largely better than the N64 so I don't see you regretting a Saturn.

[mjmjr25]

^ I didn't list any shmups

And I didn't list:

Crows
Final Fight Revenge
Magic Knight Rayearth
Mizubaku Daiboken
Princess Crown
or
Linda Cube

..and I STILL havent listed any shmups

[mjmjr25]

not great but definitely better than any of the lesser knowns like the 3DO, CD-i, Neo Geo or Jaguar, and while many will disagree, I think it's largely better than the N64 so I don't see you regretting a Saturn.

...you had me

...until Neo Geo.

Epic Fail.

Unless you meant CD?

[Soldier Blue]

^ I didn't list any shmups

And I didn't list:

Crows
Final Fight Revenge
Magic Knight Rayearth
Mizubaku Daiboken
Princess Crown
Linda Cube
Shinobi X
Dragon Force 2


..and I STILL havent listed any shmups

Lets add to the list shall we?

[ZenErik]

The Saturn was and still is greatly underrated.

[Jmustang1968]

^ I didn't list any shmups

And I didn't list:

Crows
Final Fight Revenge
Magic Knight Rayearth
Mizubaku Daiboken
Princess Crown
Linda Cube
Shinobi X
Dragon Force 2


..and I STILL havent listed any shmups

Lets add to the list shall we?

Ah adding some of the JP only games is tough. When you start comparing regions and where stuff was released... part of my issue with the Saturn is that they didnt release so many games over here, especially Shining Force 3 Ch 2 and 3!!

[Flake]

Is the Sega Saturn overrated?

Well academically the obvious answer is 'no'. The Saturn has a terrible reputation outside of the retro game community.

Mostly that has to do with two things:

A) The sales record. Sega made some terrible choices and the Saturn died upon the altar of retail because of it.

B) The 2D stigma. In the mid to late 90's, games that were 2D were often given poor reviews...for being 2D. As the Saturn was a 2D beast and Sony was actively forbidding many publishers from putting 2D games on their system, the public perception was that the Saturn was by default an inferior machine. That notion was never shaken as the Saturn died so quickly in the US.

The Saturn literally never got the chance it deserved.

But in retrospect, it's obvious that the Saturn had a lot of things going for it. People have begun to realize this and awareness of the machine and its many gems is increasing, hence the idea that the Saturn has become 'overrated'.

tl;dr version: Poor Sega Saturn. People won't cut the thing any slack.

[swiftzx]

I LOVE my Saturn and is my 2nd console of choice for fighters and 2d games so it gets alot of use at my house. As others have said, it is truly a gem and very underrated. If you ask me, Playstation is overrated.

Saturn > PS1 any day