"Must-Play" Non-US Saturn & PSX Games?

[Synergy]

What would you guys consider are "must play" or "must have" titles for the PlayStation and Saturn that never made it stateside here in the U.S.? I know about Radiant Silvergun and Scenario 2 & 3 of Shining Force III never being released here. That's about it. I've never looked into PS1 or N64 imports ever. I'm so behind. ;)

After checking out the poor NES, SNES, and PC Engine games that never made it over here, and finally playing Sin & Punishment on the N64 the other day (what an awesome game, by the way. How did I miss that after all these years? I adore you, Treasure.) I recently began to wonder if I'm missing anything crucial on the PSX & Saturn that I should check out.

I'll play pretty much anything; I'm not restricted to a genre. I'd say two BIG genres for me are RPGs and shmups, but like I said, suggestions aren't limited to any one genre. If it's the least bit enjoyable, I'll at least give it a shot.

And while I'm at it, am I missing anything crucial form the N64 other then S&P?

[Vectorman0]

Moved to Import Mania

Vib Ribbon is a must for PSX, along with Pepsiman. Also, if you haven't played any of the arcade versions, be sure to pick up Magical Drop 3 for the PSX or saturn.

[blissfulnoise]

If you want shmups the PSX and the Saturn are the places to do it.

PSX:

Harmful Park (Shmup) - Brilliant "cute-em-up" which has you going through an amusement park.
Zanac x Zanac (Shmup) - Sequel to Zanac which was released on the NES. Also had versions of the original Zanac. Compile's "last" game.
Tobal No. 2 (Fighter) - Sequel to Tobal No. 1 which was released here. Huge roster of characters.

Saturn:

Battle Garegga (Shmup) - One of the finest shmups ever. WWII themed shooter with very large sprites and unique bullet patterns.
Soukyugurentai (Shmup) - My personal favorite shmup ever. Sort of like Rayforce if you've ever played that. Uses a variable lock on system to allow some flexibility in your weaponry.
Kingdom Grand Prix (Shmup) - Very unique shooter that combines racing with a shmup. Your skill in clearing out enemy patterns will accelerate you through the stage faster, and since you're "competing" with other racers fast play throughs are required to win.
Twinkle Star Sprites (Shmup) - Also on the Neo. One of my favorite verses games of all time. Half shooter, half puzzle game, all furious. Attack targets to send them flying at your opponent, they can shoot them back, then you can shoot back with a special attack. Very awesome.

There are a ton of games you can research out there. I'd suggest you check out the shmup forums at http://shmups.system11.org/index.php and take a look at hardcore gaming 101 for some other suggestions http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com.

[Synergy]

Whoops, forgot about Import Mania, maybe that would have been a better place to put it. Thanks.


Soukyugurentai (Shmup) - My personal favorite shmup ever. Sort of like Rayforce if you've ever played that. Uses a variable lock on system to allow some flexibility in your weaponry.

I keep seeing this one everywhere and am going to play it soon. No, I've never played or even heard of Rayforce. Another name for it I just saw is Terra Driver. Is that accurate?

And, whoa, sequels to Zanac and Tobal I never even knew about?

This is a pretty new area for me, so keep 'em comin'! I don't care if it's action, adventure, puzzle, a shooter, a RPG, a fighter, a racing game, etc. I have at least a few games in each genre I love. Just want to "cover all the bases" , and make sure I don't miss out on something great, y'know? I wouldn't bother with games that are heavy on Japanese text though, unless there's English translations somewhere.

[ubersaurus]

Soukyu also came out on the ps1. Not as good a version, but they threw in a 4th ship to choose from to compensate. It's also decidedly cheaper since it got a rerelease ;p

Magical Drop 3 for saturn is a really fun puzzle game. Sexy Parodius is another neat shooter in the gradius vein. Saturn's got a lot of shooters, really. Dodonpachi is one that gets talked about a plenty as being the first "manic" type shooter. Saturn also has a lot of fighters that never came out here from SNK and capcom, and indeed a lot of really good ports, but most require the 4mb RAM expansion cart. Although as I understand the device known as the 4 in one cart includes this ;p

Other good PS1 imports I've found: Gradius Gaiden, Cotton Original, and Dragon Ball Z Legends(which is also on saturn).

[blissfulnoise]

Soukyu also came out on the ps1. Not as good a version, but they threw in a 4th ship to choose from to compensate. It's also decidedly cheaper since it got a rerelease ;p

Magical Drop 3 for saturn is a really fun puzzle game. Sexy Parodius is another neat shooter in the gradius vein. Saturn's got a lot of shooters, really. Dodonpachi is one that gets talked about a plenty as being the first "manic" type shooter. Saturn also has a lot of fighters that never came out here from SNK and capcom, and indeed a lot of really good ports, but most require the 4mb RAM expansion cart. Although as I understand the device known as the 4 in one cart includes this ;p

I'd highly recommend the Saturn version of Souky over the PSX one. And, yes, Terra Diver is the same game. Souky (as it's affectionally known) was released in the states on the ST-V arcade platform under the name Terra Diver.

The first "manic" style shooter is typically accredited to Batsugun which also game out on the Saturn and is definately worth looking at.

DoDonPachi, however, is a highly venerated shmup (again, available on the Saturn and PSX) and evolved the manic shmup genre. It's the "sequel" to DonPachi. I'd recommend getting DoDonPachi before even thinking about getting DonPachi. I'm not a huge fan of the manic genre of shmups (read: Cave) but if that's your cup of tea, DoDonPachi is where it is definately at.

You'll find that a large number of shmups were available both on the PSX and Saturn. Typically the Saturn versions play better due to the hardware, but there are definately exceptions to this. It's worth doing some research on shmups you might be interested in to decide which avenue to go down. I, as a hard and fast rule, buy the Saturn versions whenever possible due to my preference of the Saturn controller for shmups.

Regarding fighting games, a large number of fighting games by Capcom and SNK made their way to the Saturn in Japan along with additional RAM carts to create near arcade perfect experiences. The Capcom games came with 4MB RAM carts and the SNK games came with 1MB RAM carts. As ubersaurus said you can buy a 4 in 1 import cart that will work as 4MB or 1MB carts. This is pretty important because otherwise you'll be switching carts in the middle of booting sequences to play these games.

Some of the Capcom games that use this cart are:

X-Men vs Street Fighter
Vampire Savior (Darkstalkers 3)
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter
Final Fight Revenge
Dungeons and Dragons Collection (Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara)
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Cyberbots (I think)

All of these games are vastly superior to the awful PSX versions and are, for the most part, 100% arcade perfect.

Regarding Parodius, the Saturn and PSX saw three games in the series. Gokujō Parodius Da! (the second and third Parodius games), Chatting Parodius, and Sexy Parodius. Some people say Sexy is the best of the bunch with it's branching levels based off of secondary objectives. Others say that Da! is the best due to its fundamental style play. I'm in the former camp and say that Sexy is a great place to start with the series.

I'll stress again that the Saturn (and PSX) has a HUGE library of shmups and fighters to check out that only came out on the other side of the pond. Doing a bit of research around (Wikipedia isn't a horrible place to start) will open to a lot of cool games to play.

[ASSEMblerEX]

Love and Destroy for PSX
Super Galdelic Hour for PS2

[Hwj_Chim]

Groove on Fight for the Saturn is a very good fighting game. If you can find it for a good price Vampire Savior on the Saturn is a must own. Also Princess Crown for the Saturn is fun. Dracula X: Nocturne in the Midnight for the Saturn is another good pick up if you do not already have the Playstation version. Hope this Helps

[goemon]

Some Playstation Japan-Only games I recommend are:

Ganbare Goemon: Space Pirate Akogingu (One of the most beautiful 2d platformers I've ever seen.)
Pixygarden (A fairy raising terraforming game that's hard to describe.)
Pepsiman
Ore no Ryouri (A cooking game where you have to be a chef at various restaurants and participate in one-on-one cooking battles)
All of the Choro Q racing games, especially Choro Q2 and 3.

...How about I just recommend my entire collection and leave it at that :p.

[GaijinPunch]

These might help

http://www.gamengai.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=273
http://www.gamengai.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13

[Chris]

For your N64 needs, you should get yourself Bakuretsu Muteki Bangaioh, if you don't have it already. Also from Treasure, also a shmup, but an entirely different thing than S&P, I like it even more.

I'd also recommened taking a look at these two sites:
http://users.pandora.be/twin-dreams/Sony_Systems.html
http://www.retrogaming.it/saturn/saturn.htm

[geelw]

clicky clicky on some of my older columns (below or to your left). i'm workin' on some new stuff for later this summer so you guys can finally read some new stuff...

g.

[Guy Bramsworth]

I'll have to go with goemon on this one. Ganbare Goemon Space Pirate Akogingu is one of the best Sidescrollers for the PSX. Besides that, the best that comes to mind is Moon. It's unlike any other game out there, and I'm sure no one can hate it.