Sega Saturn Quake, a lost Icon of it's time.

[T2KFreeker]

Just was sitting back and remembering the old days on this one. If ever there was a programming house for the Sega Saturn that really proved that the Saturn could do 3D graphics, and do them well, it was Lobotomy. Man, not only was the work they did on Quake amazing, but Power Slave and Duke Mukem' 3D for the Saturn were amazing games as well. Even though the Saturn version of Quake does not have the multiplayer games, it is probably the most complete of the home conversions. It has all of the levels, most of the lighting effects, and most Importantly, Trent Reznor's amazing musical score for the game. Talk about an amazing port. Eveything looks amazing in the game except for maybe the water. Still, fo a system that is not known or remembered for it's 3D games, Quake is still king on the Saturn outside of the PC realm. The other games Lobotomy released weren't too shabby either. Anyone else have thoughts on this? Anyone know what happened to these mguys as it would be awesome to see what they could pull off these days.

[Steven]

Ah yes, the infamous and most beloved "Lobotomy Trilogy" on Sega Saturn. As someone who never played PC Quake, and was a rabid Saturn fan earlier this decade, playing Saturn Quake was something of a small dream come true for me back in 2002 or so. Sega Saturn Magazine absolutely loved PowerSlave, Duke Nukem and Quake and gave them some mighty coverage. Great games that pushed the Saturn to its 3D limits.

Never did beat Saturn Quake though. IIRC, it got pretty hard pretty fast...

And yes, I'll admit it. The first time I saw the Shambler racing after me I was more than a little rattled :p

[cityside75]

I own Quake for the Saturn (also own the PC and N64 versions). One thing that I remember at the time of its release was that there was rampant speculation that the Playstation couldn't manage a decent version of Quake, and in many people's eyes Quake was a benchmark of a system's processing power. So, for a while at least, Saturn fans had at least one game they could point to that supposedly "couldn't be done" on Playstation...

Until of course the stunningly complete Quake 2 was released for the Playstation that included the colored lighting and a 4-player split screen mode. I'm still not sure how they managed to pull that off.

If you haven't seen this article, it's a very interesting comparison between the Saturn and N64 versions of Quake.

http://curmudgeongamer.com/article.php?story=20021222175001808

I agree with the author that the Saturn often appears to be rendering much more accurate architecture than the N64, which mainly benefits from the prettier blended textures.

[j_factor]

Anyone know what happened to these mguys as it would be awesome to see what they could pull off these days.

In 1998 they were acquired by Crave. Crave put them to work on a casino game for N64 (yes, seriously). For whatever reason, Crave decided to cancel that game after several months of development. Then they disbanded Lobotomy, with most employees getting positions elsewhere at Crave. One of the main Lobotomy guys, Ezra Dreisbach, decided to just leave; he got a job at Snowblind Studios, and more recently founded Flat Games, which created the XBLA version of Death Tank. Anyway, apart from the casino game, they had been working on a sequel to PowerSlave, some underwater game called Aquaria, and a PC strategy game called Gothic (no relation to the RPG).

[kedawa]

I owned Quake for Saturn long before I had a proper PC, so I never had any issues with the controls back then, but nowadays I find it awkward.
Lobotomy did an amazing job, and included some cool secrets, but the PC version is the only one I'll play anymore.
The N64 port is just a blurry mess.

[Wraith Storm]

Saturn Quake was and still is AWESOME!

The Saturn really lent itself well to games that were dark and bleak in theme. Quake looked so good on the Saturn. It was dark, gritty, and had fantastic, moody, light sourcing. It (usually) ran very smooth and had tons of awesome secrets like Dank and Scuz. Dank and Scuz freaking ROCKED!

The N64 version was really fun but all the mood was lost and the game didn't have the grit of the Saturn version. It felt like a very clean and sanitized Quake... still enjoyable, but not quite right.

[T2KFreeker]

Saturn Quake was and still is AWESOME!

The Saturn really lent itself well to games that were dark and bleak in theme. Quake looked so good on the Saturn. It was dark, gritty, and had fantastic, moody, light sourcing. It (usually) ran very smooth and had tons of awesome secrets like Dank and Scuz. Dank and Scuz freaking ROCKED!

The N64 version was really fun but all the mood was lost and the game didn't have the grit of the Saturn version. It felt like a very clean and sanitized Quake... still enjoyable, but not quite right.

Not to mention that it was missing the amazing Trent Reznor musical score. That alone kills the muddy mess that is the N64 version.

[c0ldb33r]

Saturn quake, duke3d and power slave were all amazing.

One thing I always wondered though, were the weapons in quake sprites or polygons? I personally think they're sprites that are made to look like polygons.

Also, id love to see the article comparing the n64 and Saturn versions of quake, but it's 404 :(

[Leo_A]

The N64 and Saturn versions are both good ports and it's tough to say which is the better game. But I think there's no doubt that Quake was a fairly lazy effort on the N64 and didn't push the hardware nearly as much as Lobotomy did with the Saturn.

Wonder what Lobotomy could've done with the N64.



If you haven't seen this article, it's a very interesting comparison between the Saturn and N64 versions of Quake.

http://curmudgeongamer.com/article.php?story=20021222175001808

I agree with the author that the Saturn often appears to be rendering much more accurate architecture than the N64, which mainly benefits from the prettier blended textures.

Your link doesn't work for me, but you're right, it's an excellent comparison. Here's the correct link.

http://www.curmudgeongamer.com/2002/03/platform-shootout-sega-saturn-quake-vs.html

It was discussed at a AA thread that is an interesting read.

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/172415-nintendo-64-first-person-shooters/page__p__2139248__hl__Quake__fromsearch__1#entry21 39248

[stalepie]

I might pick this up if I see it cheap enough. I loved the first Quake (one of my favorite games) and beat it on Nightmare. My favorite way to play is in winquake with mouselook in about 800x600 resolution. I notice most people play it now using fancier programs that add special lighting and shadow effects, but I like it when it's pixellated ...

unfortunately my laptop screen is not bright enough to handle it. It really only looked good on an IBM CRT I had. :) Perhaps Saturn quake looks fantastic...

[stalepie]

(btw, was that DS port ever finished? anyone know)

[gepeto]

Anyone remember the hidden game deathtank that was unlocked if you owned both quake and duke. That game was a blast even made its way to xbox live.

[gameofyou]

Yeah, Quake is still my favorite of the Lobotomy Trilogy. Powerslave is a really close 2nd, though. Somehow they mastered the dual processors, & created an awesome 3D engine.

[Black_Tiger]

Saturn quake, duke3d and power slave were all amazing.

One thing I always wondered though, were the weapons in quake sprites or polygons? I personally think they're sprites that are made to look like polygons.

All of the weapons, power-ups, etc are fully polygonal. I remember the development articles in UK Sega Saturn Magazine talking about the upgrade to the engine to replace all sprites with full 3D. You can see it in the game as well if you have a decent TV.

I loved Duke Nukem 3D and Quake for Saturn, but never really got into Powerslave since I couldn't get a hold of it until after I'd played those other two games to death. I think that Powerslave might not have been available in Canada, since I never found it for sale new or used and had to order it from the U.S.

I had a lot of fun playing Duke Nukem over Netlink with local people. The one guy I played with the most and I started swapping games for a while. During our last swap I never heard from him again and I lost Quake to him and had to settle with his copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga.

I love the colored lighting effects in Saturn Quake and the overall color. When I finally got a PC years later and got to play the real deal, it was still fun, but I missed the Saturn version's coloring. I never played Quake 64 much, but I didn't like the blander, smoothed over look. The unfiltered Saturn graphics produce the perfect grit for the game.

[weaponepsilon]

Two fun facts. I found an easter egg in Saturn Quake when it was new. There is a hidden room with a and icon called "Dank and Scuz", Activating it causes a short cutscene about two soldiers named Dank and Scuz. Also when placing the ROM on a pc, there were folder you could open up, one contained information about weapons and items that weren't even in Quake....Some pre alpha Quake build about an Egyptian Mythos?

[vulcanjedi]

Never had the chance to play Quake on my Saturn. This past weekend I found Quake 2 on the xbox Quake 4 bonus disk. 4 really stinks but for $4.99 the Quake 2 was worth it :)

[scottygamer]

i remember playing joe montana on sega cd... that game was soo sick when it came out...

[dendawg]

http://curmudgeongamer.com/article.php?story=20021222175001808

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs40/i/2009/014/0/7/Dead_Link_Tattoo_by_Kiotoko_Solo.png

[fahlim003]

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs40/i/2009/014/0/7/Dead_Link_Tattoo_by_Kiotoko_Solo.png
Read the entire topic.

Your link doesn't work for me, but you're right, it's an excellent comparison. Here's the correct link.

http://www.curmudgeongamer.com/2002/03/platform-shootout-sega-saturn-quake-vs.html

[T2KFreeker]

Revival. Been down with what I thought was the Flu and turned out to be Pneumonia. Yes, so I have had a few lucid moments to play some games. Couldn't get QUAKE out of my Saturn though. The more I play it, the more I really realize just how much work was done on this game. Makes me wish I had Component video capabilities for my Saturn so I could see everything that was done. Seriously, I really think that anyone that owns a Saturn should own QUAKE, well as long as you are a FPS fan. It's really tons of fun with the 3D Nights controller too. Not sure if I pointed that out before . . .

[crazyjackcsa]

I found Quake incredibly hard on the Saturn, like stupid hard. I don't know why though. I loved Duke 3D. And I've never seen Powerslave, anywhere. Ever. Lending credence to the theory it was never released in Canada.

[SteveSpeeze]

Just was sitting back and remembering the old days on this one. If ever there was a programming house for the Sega Saturn that really proved that the Saturn could do 3D graphics, and do them well, it was Lobotomy. Man, not only was the work they did on Quake amazing, but Power Slave and Duke Mukem' 3D for the Saturn were amazing games as well. Even though the Saturn version of Quake does not have the multiplayer games, it is probably the most complete of the home conversions. It has all of the levels, most of the lighting effects, and most Importantly, Trent Reznor's amazing musical score for the game. Talk about an amazing port. Eveything looks amazing in the game except for maybe the water. Still, fo a system that is not known or remembered for it's 3D games, Quake is still king on the Saturn outside of the PC realm. The other games Lobotomy released weren't too shabby either. Anyone else have thoughts on this? Anyone know what happened to these mguys as it would be awesome to see what they could pull off these days.


Nothing so far has came along that felt as cool as when quake 1 and 2 came out . Those were good times for me and my friends.

[T2KFreeker]

Nothing so far has came along that felt as cool as when quake 1 and 2 came out . Those were good times for me and my friends.

Yeah, the one thing that really would have put Saturn Quake over the top would have been Net Link support. From what I have heard and read, the code for it is on the disc, but it was never optimized so they omitted it due to running out of time. Not sure how true that is, but if it is, that is sad because it would have been really cool to be able to do.

[SteveSpeeze]

Yeah, the one thing that really would have put Saturn Quake over the top would have been Net Link support. From what I have heard and read, the code for it is on the disc, but it was never optimized so they omitted it due to running out of time. Not sure how true that is, but if it is, that is sad because it would have been really cool to be able to do.

Yep.
I didnt care for the loading either...

[T2KFreeker]

Yep.
I didnt care for the loading either...

Hmm, I didn't think the load time was that bad at all. Not any longer than the PC version at the time.

[Leo_A]

I don't remember ever being bothered by the load times. And this bit taken from that well done comparison of the N64 and Saturn ports posted earlier in the thread seems to support that memory.

"One last tidbit that I'll add before I get to the summary is the load times. Believe it or not, the load times for each level are just about the same between the Saturn and N64! I believe that heavy compression was used to cram the Quake levels onto the N64 cartridge, and this resulted in a long decompression time before each level. Consequently, the Saturn CD load time is just about the same as the decompression time on the N64."

On par with the the time taken to decompress files on the N64 port isn't bad at all. I wish all cd based games from the 90's loaded as quick.