Got my 15th system, the Sega Saturn

[HatefulGravey]

I just got this thing a week ago, and so far I think I hate it. I picked up a few games for it (the ones I could find) and have played them a bit. I found a virtua stick, a 3D control pad (which I love) and the model 1 control pad. I replaced the internal clock battery as well. So I have fully functioning system I just need the action replay 1M/4M region break memory card deal.

 

Before I buy another piece of $30 hardware for this thing though I have to stop hating it. I asked around the local scene and all everyone can tell me is how great Guardian Heros is. I'm sure its a great game, but I'm not putting $100+ in one game for a system I still need to be impressed with.

 

I'm also hearing alot about the import games. I have no problem getting the action replay deal for that reason, but I do need to know I can get the games at a reasonable price and with relative ease.

 

So, help me stop hating my Saturn. I always thought they were cool, turns out they might be if you can import the good games for the damned thing. Point me to something great, I have faith in the community.

[The_Laird]

There have been loads of threads here recently discussing the Saturn and its games such as tTHIS one.

 

Guardian Heroes is my favourite game for the machine and I can asure you it can be had alot cheaper than that. In fact the Saturn is my favourite home console, it just has so many really great games its actually hard to go wrong.

[mbd30]

Have you tried "Nights"? Is it fun?

 

That's one of the non-import games that I'd be interested in for the Saturn.

[HatefulGravey]

There have been loads of threads here recently discussing the Saturn and its games such as tTHIS one.

 

Guardian Heroes is my favourite game for the machine and I can asure you it can be had alot cheaper than that. In fact the Saturn is my favourite home console, it just has so many really great games its actually hard to go wrong.

 

Sorry then. I didn't mean to junk the forum up with more conversation about the Saturn then is needed. Disregard thread please.

[fiddlepaddle]

I have an opinion to junk up with anyway.

 

When I first found one, it was cheap, and I bought it. I had no games, so I waited and I looked. Expensive games were found, but not bought. Over the years, cheap games trickled in and I began to play one from time to time. I now have maybe 30 games, and many are fun.

 

No specifics, just an indication of the attitude I take when in this situation. Let the library "build itself". You can buy the expensive games later if you want.

[the.golden.ax]

If it has round power and reset get a racketboy mod chip. It's the best 30 bucks you can spend.

 

AX

[tz101]

If you are like me and have 14 other systems, then you know that all systems are not exactly your favorite. I collect for all the systems up to the current gen, but have to admit that Saturn is also not exactly my favorite. Like the post above, I have let the games trickle in, but I have not given it the time it deserves to really prove its worth in my overall collection. Do I hate Saturn? No.

 

I have other systems in my collection like Colecovision, Intellivision, and Sega Master System that really do not pique my interest to play much. Do I hate them? No. Will I play them much? No. Am I going to throw them out or sell them? No. This is what's known as collecting.

[CGQuarterly]

Are you down for chipping your system? That will open up whole new words for you. Most of the domestic Saturn library sucks, but it has a great import library. Mod chip + Saturn Region Patcher = awesomeness. But if you aren't down to don the eye patch, I understand.

 

Chris

[Austin]

What games did you play?

[atarian63]

Hang in there and try it! There are tons of good games, the original house of the dead being one of them,manx tt,Virtua racing is excellent,many others.

[the.golden.ax]

I imagine the titles he did play were bottom of the barrel stuff. Saturn has some of the worst bad games of any system. When they stink they stick. The good stuff is insanely good. There isn't allot of so - so stuff that is ONLY on Saturn... most of the so - so stuff is on other consoles as well.

 

AX

[TheGameCollector]

There's some good cheap Saturn exlusives too. Do you like 2D fighters? Did you try Dark Legend? Tha game's only worth like $8 or something sometimes. It's just like any of those Neo Geo fighters but with 6 buttons instead of 4. Do you like puzzle games? The Saturn has an exlusive - Bust-A-Move 3.

 

If you don't know what certain Saturn games look like, go on youtube and you'll probably find most of them somewhere on there.

 

If you try a lot of stuff or see videos of games and just hate their looks, someone else will gladly come along and buy back the Saturn goodies you found

Edited January 12, 2011 by TheGameCollector

[MagitekAngel]

Regarding imports, I've noticed that a lot of Japanese versions are cheaper than their NA counterparts on ebay. I don't know enough Japanese to get through an RPG, but a shooter or a fighting game would be great to get on the cheap.

[+save2600]

Sorry if this is not what you or others here want to hear, but I wouldn't invest another dime into the damn thing. CD based console bias aside, the Saturn (and its imports) only have a handful of games that truly stand out (Panzer Dragoon!). Yes, it's a cool little quirky system with a handful of great games, BUT... and that's about it.

[DaytonaUSA]

Hate is a pretty strong word for such a fantastic console. Pro tip: maybe stay clear from the Maddens, Tennis games, and just general shovelware. Like any system, it has it, but it should be pretty easy to spot.

 

Try these affordable and awesome games:

 

Daytona USA, Sega Rally, Virtua Fighter 1 or 2, Pandemonium, Virtua Cop 1 & 2, Sky Target, Astal, Rayman, Sonic R, Street Fighter Alpha series, Darkstalkers (Vampire Savior), Xmen VS Street Fighter, Virtual On, Sonic Jam, Fatal Fury, Samurai Showdown, Saturn Bomberman, Dead or Alive, Fighters Megamix, Fighting Vipers, Tomb Raider, Need for Speed, Dark Savior, Mass Destruction, Myst, Panzer Dragoon, Virtua Racing, Hang On GP, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei, Road Rash, F1 Championship...

 

Those are just some off the top of my head.

 

I've only liked a few of the expensive Saturn games, so you really don't need to spend "hundreds" to enjoy this console. The expensive ones I'd suggest are Street Fighter Zero 3, Burning Rangers, ... and that's about it. Most are in the 20 dollar range or much lower. I think if you give this system a chance, you'll fall in love. To be honest, I don't know what games you've bought to make you "hate" the Saturn, but this should at least give you some level of appreciation for the Saturn.

[DaytonaUSA]

Sorry if this is not what you or others here want to hear, but I wouldn't invest another dime into the damn thing. CD based console bias aside, the Saturn (and its imports) only have a handful of games that truly stand out (Panzer Dragoon!). Yes, it's a cool little quirky system with a handful of great games, BUT... and that's about it.

 

I beg to differ. The import scene alone makes the console a must have, and there wasn't a single game in my over 60 game collection that I didn't love and want to play at some point. I've not had many consoles that can say the same thing.

[Rockin' Kat]

If it has round power and reset get a racketboy mod chip. It's the best 30 bucks you can spend.

 

AX

 

I have that model of Saturn. I bought the mod and could not get the bloody thing to work in my Saturn. Wish I could send the system and mod to someone else to see if maybe I just suck at installing the stupid thing... now I'm not even sure where the mod is right now... in some drawer somewhere.

[+wood_jl]

Sorry if this is not what you or others here want to hear, but I wouldn't invest another dime into the damn thing. CD based console bias aside, the Saturn (and its imports) only have a handful of games that truly stand out (Panzer Dragoon!). Yes, it's a cool little quirky system with a handful of great games, BUT... and that's about it.

 

I beg to differ. The import scene alone makes the console a must have, and there wasn't a single game in my over 60 game collection that I didn't love and want to play at some point. I've not had many consoles that can say the same thing.

 

 

I agree. As much as I love Atari stuff, I wouldn't trade a Sega Saturn for an Atari 7800 - no-way-no-how, and I know he loves that system. I'll take Daytona USA and Sega Rally over Pole Position II and that awful controller; I need not make any further comparison to declare Saturn is fun.

[the.golden.ax]

If it has round power and reset get a racketboy mod chip. It's the best 30 bucks you can spend.

 

AX

 

I have that model of Saturn. I bought the mod and could not get the bloody thing to work in my Saturn. Wish I could send the system and mod to someone else to see if maybe I just suck at installing the stupid thing... now I'm not even sure where the mod is right now... in some drawer somewhere.

 

 

Racketboy is a good dude. The first time I modded a Saturn it wouldn't work and he exchanged it no questions asked. They are cheap import boards made in mass so they are frequently dead.

 

AX

[mimo]

Way more fun than a Jaguar, even with a Jag CD

 

get a mod chip fitted and try before you buy!

Saturn Modchip Board V2

 

http://www.consolegoods.co.uk/

so easy to fit, and a good seller too

[CGQuarterly]

Way more fun than a Jaguar, even with a Jag CD

 

get a mod chip fitted and try before you buy!

Saturn Modchip Board V2

 

http://www.consolegoods.co.uk/

so easy to fit, and a good seller too

 

That's where I bought mine. Racketboy chips are not very good quality. I installed about 10 of them for someone and had over a 50% failure rate. Some of that could be the saturns themselves, but they were all "moddable" based on what model they were. The ConsoleGoods chips are beefier looking and just seem to be of higher quality. And even being shipped from the UK, they're still quite cheap.

 

Chris

[HatefulGravey]

I have maybe 5 games for it right now. I did get a nice 2D fighting game, Darkstalkers something or other. Its a good fighting game, but it doesn't stand out from the rest of the Capcom crowd by any means. I got Resident Evil with it. I wont judge the system at all by that because its no where near exclusive.

 

I think what is really getting under my skin about this thing is the prices are stupid high. The Saturn has to have more $80+ games then any other system I have yet collected. Every time I look online at reviews or list of games that look cool I find that they are all big money titles. Are there no titles for less the $30 that are recomendable? I don't mind spending money on games, but when I start a collection I look forward to getting 5 or 10 games to try the system out. I picked up a few (and aside from what I mentioned I don't remember titles sorry) and they aren't much to talk about.

 

Even here I mention that I'm not interested in spending $100 on a game for a system I just got before I know that it has some things I know I can enjoy. What do I get recommended? House of the Dead, when I look it up its $100+, Gardian Heros, $100+....

 

I'll take my time and let the collection grow, but I'm still thinking this is going to be the one system I have a hard time caring for in the long run.

[+save2600]

I agree. As much as I love Atari stuff, I wouldn't trade a Sega Saturn for an Atari 7800 - no-way-no-how, and I know he loves that system. I'll take Daytona USA and Sega Rally over Pole Position II and that awful controller; I need not make any further comparison to declare Saturn is fun.

Oh yeah, you can't compare the two systems. Who are you talking about, me? Yeah, I love the 7800, but c'mon... that's not what I was thinking when I made my comments about the Saturn. I'm taking into consideration that HatefulGravey already has 14 other systems and I'm betting some are similar to the Saturn (same era, CD based, etc.). Lots of competition to be sure. Saturn *IS* a great system, but as already noted, can't say the prices some of this stuff are fetching is worth it. If you were a dyed in the wool Sega nut and you didn't have a bunch of other systems, then yes, the Saturn seems to really stand out. When it's alone that is- IMO.

[TwinChargers]

The Saturn is a system I've always been on the fence about, but there are some pretty reasonably priced games on this site, but honestly I'm not sure what are the must haves are for the system or if these guys (Collectors Cards and Games) are all that reliable. The prices seem good, anybody deal with them before?

[+save2600]

The prices seem good, anybody deal with them before?

I have and you've got to be careful. "Collectors and cards" is the name of their thrift/pawn/re-seller type shop. Not always for the true collector as a lot of their stuff is not in the greatest shape. If you're a collector that cares about the condition of your games, be sure to ask those for kinds of details! Still, more or less a crap shoot dealing with 'em as is anybody in that line of work. Seems all of the retail stores within a 90 mile radius of me, dealing with used gaming goods, all have this junkyard mentality about 'em. It's what it's coming down to as more and more of this stuff has been cherry picked twice over I guess.