saturn import games?

[neilwron]

what are some good ones that a non japanese speaking person can get through and still have a good gaming experience?

[thecheeseeater]

I'd expect fighting games and shmups to be your best bet as far as a good gaming experience. Personally I just bought DoDonPachi and it is a hell of a game and there is almost no japanese. Certainly not any that gets in the way of the game.

[ott0bot]

I'd expect fighting games and shmups to be your best bet as far as a good gaming experience. Personally I just bought DoDonPachi and it is a hell of a game and there is almost no japanese. Certainly not any that gets in the way of the game.

Indeed..this man speaks the truth. Fighters and shmups are where it's at and DDP is my favorite on the system. Check out rackets article for other great choices. HERE!. As fas as fighters go...you have pretty much every fighter of the era at you diposal so take your pick. Just be sure you know which titles need a 2-4 mb RAM cart.

I'd also say certain platformers or action games are great choices too. For instance the Japanese version of Guardian Hero's can be found for much less than the US version, and even though some parts are text heavy you really don't lose too much of the game. When you branch off somewhere you just have to think of it as a 1,2 3 option instead of castle, swamp, forest. I've also heard that Princess Crown(odin sphere predecessor) is mostly a beat em up and you can navigate without knowing japanese. Keio Flying Squadron 2 is also a good one.

[Bootaaay]

Yeah, Princess Crown is mostly action but there are some RPG elements - fortunatly there are guides readily available for non-Japanese speakers.

Also, if you're a fan of SRPGs you should really pick up Wachenroder, easily one of the best in the genre and one of the best RPGs on the Saturn - theres alot of Japanese text, but again guides can be found.

Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari aka Seven Wind Islands Story is an amazing adventure game by Enix featuring beautiful 2d water-colour style graphics - not only is the game beautiful, but it's also very unique and well worth checking out. Again, there are guides available and also some Youtube video walkthroughs.

Other games i'd reccomend;

AJPW featuring Virtua - this obscure wrestling game features all the bigs names from mid-90's All Japan Pro Wrestling (Baba, Kawada, Misawa, Kobashi, Akiyama etc) as well as (bizarrely) Wolf & Jeffry from Virtua Fighter. The game unsuprisingly never made it outside of Japan, which is a real shame as AJPW feat. Virtua has one of the best combat engines to ever feature in a wrestling game (it's the engine that went on to be used in Giant Gram 2000 on the Dreamcast) and it forces you to wrestle a proper match in order to attain your best moves - theres no battering your opponent to raise your special bar, instead your character has to take damage before you can use your top-tier moves, this makes the game much more interesting as you have to expose yourself to danger in order to win in spectacular fashion.

Assault Suit Leynos 2 - Amazing 2d mech combat game - think Metal Slug meets mechs. The game is unforgivingly difficult, but looks and plays great. There is some Japanese text, but guides are available.

Astra Superstars - An amazing and unique 2d fighter developed by Sunsoft, it's alot of fun but can also be very expensive, well worth it if you're a huge fan of the genre though.

Batsugun - Credited as being the first "bullet-hell" shooter, Batsugun is a very unforgiving game, but it's a joy to play.

Battle Garegga - Unforgiving but addictive 2d SHMUP.

Cotton 2/Cotton Boomerang - 2d cute-em-up's, both are great, but Cotton Boomerang is like a remixed version of Cotton 2 and features loads more characters and attacks.

Detana Twinbee Deluxe - Featuring both Twinbee arcade games (Detana & Twinbee Yahoo!) this pack can be had for fairly cheap, and is well worth it if you like the Twinbee games or SHMUPS in general.

Dungeons & Dragons Collection - Featuring both Tower of Doom & Sword over Mystaria, this collection of Capcom's amazing Dungeons & Dragons beat-em-up's is much sought after and often goes for quite a high price, but with good reason as both are two of the best beat-em-up's available for the Saturn.

Sengoku Blade - Amazing Samurai themed horizontal shooter.

Silhouette Mirage - Unique 2d platformer/shooter from Treasure, can be difficult to find (also available on PSX, but the Saturn version is superior if I remmember correctly).

Soukyugurentai - Awesome 2d SHMUP, and my personal favourite on the system.

Stellar Assault SS - re-make of the SEGA-CD game of the same name, Stellar Assault is a totally addictive space shooter. Well worth picking up if you're a fan of the genre, but it can be quite pricey.

Tenchi wo Kurau II - Amazing Capcom side scrolling beat-em-up, well worth picking up as it can be found very cheaply.

Terra Phantastica - enjoyable and obscure SRPG, guides are available.

Thunder Force V - Amazing SHMUP, one of the best on the system.

Thunder Force Gold Pack 1 & 2 - Collecting all the Genesis Thunderforce games as well as the arcade-only Thunderforce AC.

Tryrush Deppy - Really unique and beautiful 2d platformer that sees you controll a taxi-cab. Well worth picking up, but although it isn't at all expensive it can be hard to find.

[neilwron]

Thanks alot guys thats alot of info there! I actually already have guardian heroes US so thats cool, as for the rpgs....they all look so awesome but i dont know if i can play an rpg that i have to read a guide to. Princess crown though i can see having fun with. So i think i'll stick to the schmups, puzzlers, and maybe a couple fighters although its not my favorite genre (other than beatemups). Thanks again!

[Gamerforlife]

Though they go for insane prices, one has to mention these two:

Radiant Silvergun-Considered by some people to be the greatest shooter ever

Psychic Killer Taromaru-Kind of like a Shinobi game. Fantastic action game

Two of the Saturn's holy grails. You could play them for free on a modded Saturn

[neilwron]

i am definately purchasing radiant silvergun. Just gotta wait for a decent price on one, i think id pay up to 140 for it and i have seen it for a little less so we'll see.

[AwesomeMonstar]

Assault Suit Leynos 2 - Amazing 2d mech combat game - think Metal Slug meets mechs. The game is unforgivingly difficult, but looks and plays great. There is some Japanese text, but guides are available.

Completely agree with this. Still no metal warriors (snes) but it's quite an awesome game. If you've ever played cybernator it's the sequel.

[Snickerd00dle]

i've heard there was a cart that you could stick in an import saturn system that would translate your import games to english, does anyone know about this and if so where i could buy one?

[ott0bot]

i've heard there was a cart that you could stick in an import saturn system that would translate your import games to english, does anyone know about this and if so where i could buy one?

I don't think that is possible, and if it were it would slow down the game so much it probably wouldn't be worth playing. You only real choice I know of is to mod your Saturn and played burned copies of the games that have been translated with the patch.