Sega Saturn

[nashnooga]

Can anyone point me to a best of saturn list, or recommend anything to me? I've had one for a while, and I really want to get into this system. It seems like a really underrated system, so let me know. Or, if you have some cheapo games you wanna dump, lmk.

[GKC]

Can anyone point me to a best of saturn list, or recommend anything to me? I've had one for a while, and I really want to get into this system. It seems like a really underrated system, so let me know. Or, if you have some cheapo games you wanna dump, lmk.

 

Daytona USA

Sega Rally

the Virtua Fighter series

Virtua Cop

Nights into Dreams

Panzer Dragoon series

 

There's much more but this is a good start. Others can add to it. Also you can look into the some of the Japanese releases.

Edited December 28, 2010 by GKC

[nathanallan]

Agreed with GKC and for the Japanese titles it is worth the mod to the system if it can be modded to play burns and Jap games.

[MagitekAngel]

Worth the mod. But from what I'm told you can just get the action replay 4m cart to play imports; no mods required for that.

[Taskmaster99]

Action replay 4 meg and Japanese games!!!!!!

 

Dungeons and Dragons collection

Dracula X

Street Fighter Zero 3

Xmen vs Street Fighter

Marvel vs Street Fighter

Vampire Hunter

Vampire Savior

 

the list goes on and on.

 

As for American games.....try and find a copy of Dragon Force, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Nights, Panzer Dragoon Saga etc.

[Chuplayer]

Magic Knight Rayearth! The US release is wonderful.

 

Virtua Fighter 2

SEGA Rally

Daytona USA CCE

Guardian Heroes

 

I'd only recommend region switch modding the Saturn, plugging in an official memory cartridge, and never removing it. Avoid the 1M and 4M RAM carts and all the games that require them. Never use any unofficial cartridge of any type.

 

You can play just about any game that requires the expanded RAM carts in some other format elsewhere. Your best option is probably emulators. Unofficial backup memory is horrible for the Saturn. Avoid it. The pins in the console for the cartridges are fragile. It's been theorized that SEGA designed the cartridge port with the idea in mind that there would not be a lot of cartridge switching going on. That's why I recommend putting one backup memory cartridge in there and never removing it. In addition, unofficial cartridges are notorious for having thicker PCBs than official cartridges, and they do damage because of it. You'll probably never need a second cartridge because even the official memory cartridge has a ridiculously huge amount of memory space available.

[Rev. Rob]

Can anyone point me to a best of saturn list, or recommend anything to me? I've had one for a while, and I really want to get into this system. It seems like a really underrated system, so let me know. Or, if you have some cheapo games you wanna dump, lmk.

 

 

• 
   
  
• Dark Savior
  
• Scud: The Disposable Assassin
  
• Duke Nukem 3D
  
• Virtua Cop 2
  
• Norse by Norsewest: The Lost Vikings 2
  
• Sega Rally Championship
  
• Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei
  
• Die Hard Arcade
  
• Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams...
  
• Virtual On: Cyber Troopers: Netlink Edition
  
• NiGHTS into Dreams...
  
• Shining Force III
  
• Burning Rangers
  
• Panzer Dragoon
  
• The Legend of Oasis
  
• Astal
  
• Virtua Fighter 2
  
• Dead or Alive
  
• Fighters Megamix
  
• Shinobi Legions
  
• Panzer Dragoon Saga
  
• Virtua Racing
  
• Enemy Zero
  
• Mystaria: The Realms of Lore
  
• Last Bronx
  
• D
  

[Chuplayer]

Fighters Megamix

Oh yeah, I missed that one. Also check out Fighting Vipers. I love Fighting Vipers.

[zylon]

Probably any of these would do.

[PSony]

I'd only recommend region switch modding the Saturn, plugging in an official memory cartridge, and never removing it. Avoid the 1M and 4M RAM carts and all the games that require them. Never use any unofficial cartridge of any type.

 

You can play just about any game that requires the expanded RAM carts in some other format elsewhere. Your best option is probably emulators. Unofficial backup memory is horrible for the Saturn. Avoid it. The pins in the console for the cartridges are fragile. It's been theorized that SEGA designed the cartridge port with the idea in mind that there would not be a lot of cartridge switching going on. That's why I recommend putting one backup memory cartridge in there and never removing it. In addition, unofficial cartridges are notorious for having thicker PCBs than official cartridges, and they do damage because of it. You'll probably never need a second cartridge because even the official memory cartridge has a ridiculously huge amount of memory space available.

 

You are seriously limiting your game library this way. The Saturn is the only console that has arcade-perfect ports of Xmen vs Street Fighter and Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter, as well as a version of Street Fighter Zero 3 regarded as one of the best (if not the best). In addition, there are numerous other Capcom and SNK ports that use the ram carts and make the Saturn one of the best choices for fighting game fans.

 

I have looked at my Action Replay 4-in-4 pcb and compared it to my official memory and ram carts. They have the same thickness. I looked at my Gameshark and that one has a thicker board than the AR and official carts. There is no harm in using Action Replay 4-in-1. It is the cheapest and easiest way for any beginning Saturn gamer to get into import gaming.

 

Also, mod chips only allow the Saturn to play backups. It does not break the region-lock. You can play backups of imports by region-patching the game before burning it. But to play genuine imports, you need an Action Replay 4-in-1 or install a region-switch on the system.

Edited December 28, 2010 by PSony

[Chuplayer]

You may be limiting your library, but you're also not going to be wearing out the cart slot.

 

Third party backup memory is also weird, and I wouldn't trust the Action Replay's memory function. Something about timings being different due to compressing and uncompressing data. It's been a long time since I read about it. All of those third party memory cards from the 32/64-bit era were junk. The only third party memory card I ever found to be worth a hoot is the Dreamcast 4-in-1 Nexus/Innovation memory card with the PC link.

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

Probably any of these would do.

 

When I first saw those pics, I thought someone had snuck into my 'man cave'.

 

 

 

JY

[The_Laird]

Great console with alot of great games. You really can't go wrong with any of the games by Sega themselves and alot of the Saturns best games can be had pretty cheap too.

[PSony]

You may be limiting your library, but you're also not going to be wearing out the cart slot.

 

Third party backup memory is also weird, and I wouldn't trust the Action Replay's memory function. Something about timings being different due to compressing and uncompressing data. It's been a long time since I read about it. All of those third party memory cards from the 32/64-bit era were junk. The only third party memory card I ever found to be worth a hoot is the Dreamcast 4-in-1 Nexus/Innovation memory card with the PC link.

 

If you're so worried about wearing out your Saturn, you might as well unhook it and keep it in safe storage .

 

Personally I'd rather enjoy my games. It's not like Saturns are super rare and expensive. I even ended up with about 20 of them.

[nashnooga]

Sweet, thanks for all the info everyone... I was thinking about getting it modded.... does anyone know of a service that isn't super expensive and is reliable that does this? I can't solder

 

 

And man, those collections look awesome. I love the saturn cases!!

[PSony]

Sweet, thanks for all the info everyone... I was thinking about getting it modded.... does anyone know of a service that isn't super expensive and is reliable that does this? I can't solder

 

 

And man, those collections look awesome. I love the saturn cases!!

 

http://www.segastyle.com/store/

 

I bought a pre-modded systems from them but they are sold out now. They have a modding service for $55.

[Austin]

Man, where to start...

 

First off, I'm going to say that the Action Replay is the way to go. If you're not comfortable with modding, having someone else do it will be pricier than the console itself. Having the 4-in-1 cart is a convenience that keeps you from having to buy an external memory card, the RAM cartridges that may or may not come with the games you buy that require them, and it acts as your mod chip as well. Having the chip itself is certainly a convenience, but if you plan on playing the system a lot, you will most-likely still want a backup cart anyway in case your battery ever dies (Which does happen).

 

As far as the Action Replay build quality, I have never personally had an issue (I have used multiple carts over the years). They have never lost any of my saves, even on my first I purchased in the '90s that I had for nearly a decade. It is fairly common knowledge that third-party memory cards on the PlayStation are iffy, but it's not something that I've heard to be an issue with the Saturn. If you really have your doubts, keep in mind that you can still purchase brand-new AR carts.

 

Also, don't buy into anyone telling you that your cartridge slot will wear out by using a third party adapter/converter. First off, the slot is there to be used. The Action Replay in particular is also something you leave in the system. There's really no reason to remove it unless it's boot up screen really annoys you (I've only heard one or two people here voice their severe dislike for that). Second, Saturn cartridge ports are finicky by nature, but don't let that discourage you. The only way you're going to physically wear one out is by constantly doing the swap trick for games that use dedicated ROM carts (Ultraman is one). This involves you ripping out the converter cart and then slamming in the game's ROM cart with the system still on. As you only have a split-second to do this, usually you will get this process wrong and have to do it several times before nailing it properly.

 

Whew.. with that out of the way, here are a couple other recommendations. Some may be "out there" to a few here, but most of my favorites were already named above.. So to avoid beating a dead horse:

 

Powerslave: Pretty awesome (and awesome-looking) slightly non-linear FPS, and it includes the first version of Lobotomy's Death Tank (The second was in Duke Nukem 3D for Saturn).

Scorcher: Impressive, difficult futuristic racer with an excellent dark, psy-trance soundtrack, if that's your cup 'o tea.

Sega Ages: Includes nice ports of OutRun, After Burner II and Space Harrier.

Sonic Jam: Nifty for the bonus goodies, and I think this is the only version where they included the spin-dash in Sonic 1.

Radiant Silvergun: OK, in all seriousness, I only listed this because it wasn't named above

Lunacy: Excellent FMV adventure

AMOK: Lightly mission-oriented third-person-ish mech shooter that doesn't feel like a mech-shooter. Lots of stuff going on and it runs at a blazing framerate too.

Last Gladiators Pinball: One of the best digital pinball games ever. Period. And the import version is dirt-cheap too.

[MrPastGlory]

Last Gladiators Pinball: One of the best digital pinball games ever. Period. And the import version is dirt-cheap too.

 

If You like Last Gladiators, You'll love Necronomicon:

 

Another game I can really recommend which wasn't mentioned above is the Saturn Bomberman, which is my favorite Bomberman version.

 

Saturn is one of my favorite systems. As I collect/play mainly shoot'em up games, my Saturn collection is ~90% japanese. I decided to collect Saturn instead of PSX.

 

best wishes,

 

pastglory

[Austin]

If You like Last Gladiators, You'll love Necronomicon:

 

Ah, yes, can't forget Last Gladiator's sequel!

[The_Laird]

I love Digital Pinball too (as we know it) and am super happy I just picked up a 4mb Action Replay yesterday for an amazing £23!

[uglyclone]

I'm not a fan of the Saturn but the one game that makes me wish I hadn't sold off the system is Dragon Force. I hate to say this but the system had way to many games that were underwhelming (U.S. release) and the majority of games that would be considered hidden gems or showcase titles you can expect to pay a pretty penny for. I got out of collecting for the Saturn a long time ago as it just wasn't for me. The fun wasn't there, you could say. Just my personal opinion and a small rant...so yeah make sure you give Dragon Force a play.

[christianscott27]

From a "collectible" standpoint you might want to look at the Working Designs games. Not saying they're the best to play, although they are in most cases, just saying the feel like something you should collect when you look at them. They're pretty, foil stamped, detailed.

[Rockin' Kat]

Another game I can really recommend which wasn't mentioned above is the Saturn Bomberman, which is my favorite Bomberman version.

 

Gotta love a game which can accommodate up to 10 players on one system. I managed to actually get 5 people together to play the game on a 37" Sony WEGA CRT set once a few years back. Talk about chaos on screen. It was awesome. Usually I'm lucky to get just one person to play it with... It would be awesome to actually be able to get a 10 player game going... but who has that many friends who would be just as interested in it?

 

So yeah.... Saturn Bomberman is a must... but if you get it, do make sure to track down the two 6 player multi-taps... or at least just one so you can get up to 7 players.