English Friendly Japanese Sega Saturn Games?

[Magmavision2000]

I got a Japanese Sega Saturn for Crimbus and I'd like to know some games that are English friendly such as fighting games and shmups.

[dj_convoy]

In other words, the most expensive games!

 

Actually, buying a lot of the various decent fighting games in Japanese is a good way to score at least some of them more cheaply than normal. Good way to get stuff like the various Darkstalker games or the Virtua Fighter derivatives. I think Japanese is the only way to get X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Street Fighter, but I could be misremembering.

 

You may wish to take a gander over at SEGA Retro, who have extensive Saturn info for each game, even broken down by genre.

 

[Tanooki]

There is a kind of tactical but open arena DBZ combat 1on1 fighting game for the system I used to have, didn't require reading to kick someones ass once you figured the controls out.  I also had this kind of but now WW2 like looking era third person air combat game but I can't remember the name but it was perfectly fine to play.  The larger Saturn version of SOTN (Nocturne in the Moonlight) is a must to grab as it's fantastic.

[Austin]

Lots of Sega's arcade stuff. Many are quite cheap so do some research (i.e., shop on eBay and sort lowest to highest to get an idea). I'll highlight the ones that should be dirt cheap.

 

Sega Rally Championship, Out Run, After Burner II, Space Harrier, Galaxy Force II, Power Drift, House of the Dead, Virtua Cop, Virtua Cop 2, Daytona USA, Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition, Fighting Vipers, Last Bronx, Fighters Megamix, Virtua Fighter, Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Fighter Kids, Virtual On, Gale Racer. Loads I am probably missing.

 

Shoot 'em ups aren't typically "cheap" on the Saturn, but the most affordable import versions are Layer Section (Galactic Attack/RayForce) and Darius Gaiden. Both are excellent games. Most others from what I understand are $50 at a bare minimum these days.

 

Another good idea is getting yourself an Action Replay. It has some extra features you'll find handy (like acting as a region bypass, allowing save backups, and including the extra RAM for certain games). Then you can grab some of the cheaper North American titles as well.

[dj_convoy]

9 hours ago, Tanooki said:

There is a kind of tactical but open arena DBZ combat 1on1 fighting game for the system I used to have, didn't require reading to kick someones ass once you figured the controls out.  I also had this kind of but now WW2 like looking era third person air combat game but I can't remember the name but it was perfectly fine to play.  The larger Saturn version of SOTN (Nocturne in the Moonlight) is a must to grab as it's fantastic.

Yep; Dragon ball Z Densetsu. Very interesting game; you get to play thru basically the whole series and use many, many characters in wild three on three battles. It has a bizarre see saw fighting mechanic (basically, you overwhelm your opponent and tip the see saw in your favor; when you do, you automatically perform a special move) and I imported it as a teenager, pre internet and was able to play with no problem.

 

There's also the more traditional DBZ Shin Butoden, which works like the DBZ fighting games on the Super Famicom. That one you have to learn the special moves and such for.

 

The other Japanese game I had as a kid was a Macross shoot em up based on Do You Remember Love. I'd probably only recommend that one if you are a hardcore Macross dork, like me.

 

Austin makes a great point re: SEGA arcade stuff. Depending how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go down, you can get the analog flight stick and basically play arcade perfect After Burner II and Space Harrier. It's a bit expensive but I believe the Saturn is still the only way you can play the Yu Suzuki racer Power Drift.

 

there are lots of Neo Geo fighting games on the Saturn as well. Make sure you get that Action Replay, as you will need the extra ram. One or two of the Neo Geo ports have their own proprietary cartridges they come with (and you can't use an Action Replay), so make sure to do the research.

 

Saturn is a shoot 'em up beast if you want to open up the ol' wallet. Donpachi, Dodonpachi, Sokyugarentai, Radiant Silvergun,

Battle Garegga, Cotton, Darius Gaiden, Gradius Collection, Salamander Collection, Twinbee Collection, various Parodius ports (definitive ones), Thunderforce Collections (and Thunderforce V), In the Hunt... and plenty more, besides. Some of those are pretty expensive, but the stuff like the Gradius and Salamander collections are actually not too bad if you patiently wait for an eBay deal. If you like Parodius, Saturn has hands-on the best versions, better than the arcade in some respects, and again, those aren't quite as brutally expensive as some of the games I listed above.

 

The Daytona games are a must if you like racing games, as is SEGA Rally. Doesn't matter if they are the Japanese versions or not. I cannot remember the correct information, here, so I was going to give you a tip, but now I'm unsure of myself... It's either Hang On GP or Manx TT Superbike that sucks with a normal controller... But if you use the official Saturn steering wheel, it turns it into a different game, with excellent controls.

 

Don't know how much it costs these days, but the Saturn is home to the better than arcade perfect best version of Street Fighter Alpha Three, even better than the Dreamcast version.

[Tanooki]

Yup yup that's the one DJ.  I got a Saturn from a recently laid off Sega employee who joined Midway when I was there and he was salty about it and sold off all his Sega stuff and I bagged his Saturn and a few games, then jumped on ebay that night and picked up a few titles like Castlevnia, DBZ, etc.  I got a lot of amazing battles out of that game and you're right, it was kind of like a see saw free for all with some nasty blows when you could pull advantage.

 

Shin Butoden, well the sequel being it was the only one with a fun and diverse roster I had on the SFC and it got hours many hours of use, and again story mode fluff aside(and if you knew the cartoon who cared) reading had no value.

 

The only foreign Macross game I had in the day was 2036 on the PC Engine CD I played on my Duo, and I'll be looking to get that game back in my hands sooner than later as it's quite fun.

 

I'll back up DJ there on the Neo games, they're fantastic conversions true solid quality at home only rivaled by the PCE CD Arcade CD versions of the few titles it got, but Saturn got more of them.  And if you truly want to go poor or get a second mortgage those shooters on Saturn are insane and worthy.  Since he did bring up crazy controllers if you have the budget, Virtual On with the twin sticks was a far better release than the sequel the Dreamcast received.

[dj_convoy]

I need Macross 2036, too. Someday...

 

Oh, and you can get a converter dongle to use the Virtual On twin sticks on the Dreamcast, as well. Squeeze every ounce of use out of those bad boys if you're gonna spend the money...!

 

Another weird controller one... You may need a walk thru the first couple of times you play it, and you will want the wacky controller for maximum fun, but if you have the means... Look into Densha de Go!! You get to drive a train, and believe it or not, it's arcade-y fun.

[+Cobra Kai]

Warriors of Fate II. 

 

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet. Solid Capcom beatemup, very refined. There's a ton of Japanese dialogue, but gameplay-wise you should have no problem figuring the game out.

[dj_convoy]

On that tip, if you can afford it (see a trend, here?), The D&D game from Capcom. Awesome beat 'em up.

[Austin]

Yeeeahhh... Don't do that. Just buy the updated digital version of the D&D games on modern systems. $15 for both in one pack, I think? A much better experience overall. Saturn version is limited in options and has excruciating load times (at least by Saturn standards at the time).

[enoofu]

Could always softmod a memory-card and play any region or burnt rom

[DJ Clae]

Or get Pseudo Saturn instead of modding.

The Saturn version of SOTN is not a good port (resolution and slowdown) except that you can play as 3 characters from the outset.

[Tanooki]

I'd take the 3 characters, the entire added section (Greenhouse) with a boss, and the extensions to a few other places over resolution, but that's me.  I've always preferred the Saturn one as it felt complete.

[Austin]

The resolution doesn't bother me, especially if I play on a CRT. It's the many other issues that don't do it favors. Extreme use of dithering, tons of slowdown, added load times between areas, extended load times just to get in and out of your menu (and this is required now to access your map), etc. The new areas are the obvious highlight, but they are simple in nature and really don't add much to the overall experience. The new weapons are neat, but again, don't add much to the experience. The best addition is probably the shoes that speed you up, some of the added tunes and a sound test. Not worth the cost this version sells for nowadays.

[Tanooki]

I can't argue against the cost today.  When I got it I bought it in 2001 and it was like what maybe $20?  Saturn stuff like much wasn't into masochist behavior until after the NES, then SNES got exploited into the crapper in 2012, then it hit NEC, then Sega optical, and it spread like wildfire.  I couldn't justify much of anything of B+ and up tier on Saturn anymore based on price alone.  If I had to own one, I'd get one of those SD card pop in solutions and call it a day.  I started out on the game so the loads didn't bother me at all anywhere, and the slowdown just didn't seem all that memorable.  Dithering I wasn't in love with but the Saturn had some real sucky limitations so it was at the time forgiven.

[+Cobra Kai]

Is the Japanese Burning Rangers friendly enough? It's a game that's almost $400 now for the US version. I've always wanted to play that game.

[dj_convoy]

There's not really a map, so you have to rely on your radio buddy to tell you where to go and what to do. I suppose you could muddle thru... but it'd probably be difficult