What started your interest in the Saturn?

[fahlim003]

Pretty simple topic and one worth addressing to be sure. I'll get the ball rolling.

I became interested in Saturn long after the format was replaced; in fact, it was after Sega had exited the home console market. It was in 2003 or perhaps 2002 when I learned about Radiant Silvergun by way of shmups.com and its forums. Radiant Silvergun became my beacon towards landing a Saturn however it wasn't without its issues.

To explain further I want to add I missed out on the 32 bit era since it was around this time I received a more powerful computer, that and the fact I was more than satisfied with my Sega Genesis - anything beyond that didn't even cross my mind. So PS1, N64, and with the least exposure Saturn all fell by without notice or issue until I took up interest in console gaming again thanks to PlayStation 2.

To go back, the issues for me regarding Saturn then were as follows:
1. Price - being a student and in Canada meant buying a system was not as cheap as I'd like nor as accessible. The market was either to get lucky locally or consult eBay.
2. Library - being unfamiliar with titles other than Radiant Silvergun I didn't have much to go on and as such considering price/availability made it also a challenge to overcome.
3. Import only - which is a considerable point. Radiant Silvergun not only being import but being after the wave of overstock had now become quite pricey and required import adaptors or modifications. Further headache into the unknown and into my wallet to consider.
4. Naivety - considering the three above points I was very sceptical of the Saturn and was pessimistic prior to any decision or move and looking back it was perhaps not surprising since many people held Saturn in a poor or negative light, albeit unfairly so.

By those powers combined... it pretty much put the Saturn interest into mothballs and it seemed to me to be only a dream, one which would last another 2-3 years.

In the new year of 2005 I began a new program in computer engineering and not much had changed pardon going to the next level of education. I had a decent PS2 library and was fairly content with Windows/PC gaming too. Out of the blue and for no reason other than to check, I searched on eBay in February 05 for console only Sega Saturns. As fate would have it there was an auction ending in a few days at $4 US, console only (no hook-ups) but working fine as the original owner's back-up. To top it off it was local, within province, which meant not getting nerfed on the shipping. In the end, the auction ended without much fuss at $4 plus $11 shipping (which wasn't too bad) for a functional Model 2 US Saturn. But what about cables? What about software? What about general use?

As it stood I at the time generally stuck to RF video/audio input since I had no switching box and again few consoles. I went by a local game store and actually got a brand new official Sega RF cable for $8. I used a cable from my PS2/PS1 and fired it up and sure enough it did work... now what about a controller? I was fortunate here too as during that time I was taking an elective language class on Saturdays and I spoke about my recent find with him. He explained to me he had a Saturn, an imported white one no less, however due to a flood his system no longer worked. I asked what he did with the accessories and he said "nothing" to which I offered to buy his 2 controllers and power/composite cables for $20. He gladly obliged and the following Saturday I had nearly everything ready to roll... to play audio discs. Incidentally, the first audio disc I did play in the system was the Radiant Silvergun + soundtrack which was nice but not good enough, I required real software. Having now fully immersed myself in Saturn information I rapidly decided on the first games I would get: Virtua Fighter 2 and the Nights 3D controller bundle. I managed in April to find said games, both from the same seller off eBay but luck was not on my side this time. The seller shipped the items separately and I only received VF2 while the Nights bundle never arrived while never getting a refund either (hello International Postal Money Orders). Around this time I also began part-time work in a meat department in a nearby grocery store so I finally had some funds to dabble in although losing $30 on Nights still sucked. Despite an income I was still under the impression Radiant Silvergun was a long ways off so I decided to stick to domestic and potentially cheaper software. Over the summer I built up a decent collection again getting Nights, Guardian Heroes, Sonic Jam, Saturn Bomberman, and a couple others and was really enjoying what the system had to offer. Then it happened...

During the summer I downloaded a Dreamcast game, even though I owned no Dreamcast nor had inclination to buy one. I downloaded this game since it was very small and because a friend of mine had recently unpacked his Dreamcast and I figured it was worth testing, especially since I had heard good things about it (this review (http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=ikaruga) in particular). Upon loading this game up around midnight at my friends we kept on playing until 7am the following day at which point we both decided "now" was a good time to sleep. Ikaruga simply swallowed our interest and from this led to my soon thereafter purchase of my own Dreamcast for which to enjoy this incredible Treasure offering. Of course, Ikaruga is sometimes coined as project RS-2, a sequel in spirit not so much in story, from Radiant Silvergun and it makes sense since the main designers of Ikaruga worked on RS-1. It was then at the end of summer I decided I was going to save up to buy a copy of RS-1 and an adaptor in order to finally take in the experience. And, on September 22nd, 2005, I won an auction for Radiant Silvergun sans spine card for £77 which I paid in cash, sent registered mail which at the time worked out to cost me $168 Canadian dollars and in approximately 3 weeks time I finally loaded up the game which started it all.

I still highly respect Radiant Silvergun and the many hours I logged in it for not only did it inspire my interest in Saturn, Dreamcast, and Treasure but in shooting games, the old fashioned type which is to say it rekindled my interest since long ago I often enjoyed 1943 and Gradius 3. It was very influential as now my Saturn set consists of over 50 plus titles, the majority imported, plus many interesting and engaging domestic games such as Shining Force 3 and Panzer Dragoon Zwei. I own several systems including two Model 2 V-Saturns and I have many peripherals including an imported Virtua Stick. Of course, I drew the line at the collecting aspect since I collect games I enjoy and games I play so I didn't go ape crazy in acquiring things such as the Astro City stick(s) or Delisoba Deluxe just because I really enjoy Sega's 32-bit offering.

And that's about all folks. To anyone who read my entire story and wasn't bored off their ass, I hope you enjoyed it. I look forward to reading alternate tales, likely of those who unlike me caught the Saturn during its initial wave.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Panzer Dragoon Demo Kiosk at TRU

I had an NES, SMS, Genny/SCD and SNES at the time. It blew my mind. Not long after, I finally played Virtua Fighter in an arcade. That sealed my fate. LOL

[Belmont008]

Timing I guess,

Always wanted to play castlevania symphony of the night with the two extra areas but it always seemed like too much effort to acquire, didn't want to use an emulator either.

Had some extra cash, found a good deal on ebay and wha la, I now have over 22 classic saturn complete long box games and castlevania to boot. Those extra areas really weren't that great but I still think it's stupid that they couldn't be included on any subsequent releases of the game, especially the playstation formats.

[Emperor Megas]

The Panzer Dragoon demo at Software Etc. was my first introduction to the system, however the prohibitive price tag but the system on the back burner. It was a few months later when I borrowed a friends' system (he acquired his Saturn through a shady scam run on a video rental outlet) while he was working offshore, and I payed Astal and Daytona that I decided I needed to get my hands on one. The quirky, uberJapanese Daytona soundtrack was right up my alley, and I really loved the art style and music of Astal.

[The 1 2 P]

I didn't get my Saturn until well after it's life time. I'd always been interested in it because I was a Sega fan but the PS1 owned that generation. After doing some research I discovered that the Saturn had quite the treasure trove of Japanese exclusive games. The PS1 had already turned me on to Japanese imports so from there it was only a matter of time before I got a Saturn to start buying some imports for it. And today, out of my 31 Saturn games 29 of them are Japanese imports.

[Garry Silljo]

I started in on the Saturn when it was dying in the states and all the stores that had anything were clearing things out at rock bottom prices. I got the collection more than half complete for very little, picking up many games for less than $10 a piece.I had a playstation at the time and was only buying the Saturn stuff because it was so cheap and I thought I could make deals with it later. However as I tried out and played the games I realized I loved it way more than Playstation. I traded in all my PS stuff to buy even more Saturn games. I'm about 10 games away from the complete collection right now, (most left are the expensive ones) but I fully intend to slowly finish it and keep it near and dear.

[Damaramu]

Was working at TRU when, surprise!, we get in a shipment of Sega Saturns! The videogame dept. manager immediately grabbed one Saturn and 2 games (Daytona & Panzer Dragoon) and brought them to the employee break room where we briefly tried them out. They were impressive but the price on the system was a bit too rich for my blood.

Fast forward a year later and I would pick up a used Saturn and a copy of Guardian Heroes thanks to GameFan's write up on the game! I HAD to have Guardian Heroes! This was the issue in question:

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/9547/gfguardianheroes.gif

Fast forward to now, I have small but good selection of NA Saturn games and a bigger and better import collection going. I'm still buying Saturn imports when I come across games I'm missing. Hell, I just got an import copy of Marvel Super Heroes on Friday in the mail.

[buzz_n64]

I was as Six Flags Magic Mountain when they had multiple kiosks set up with NiGHTS. I thought it was amazing, but I knew for sure my parents would not get it for me due to the high price tag of the Saturn. But now I got it! :)

[Rickstilwell1]

I didn't get my Saturn until I had a Gamecube and PS2, so probably around summer of 2002 or so. I had played Sonic games for the Genesis for years and Sonic Mega Collection for Gamecube re-sparked my interest in Sonic. I looked at the credits which showed a list of all official Sonic games and I saw the three for Saturn. I had heard the Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast looked and sounded much better, so I was interested. I was also curious about Sonic R and wanted to see what the 3D world in Sonic Jam was like. I had also seen a preview of Shining Wisdom in one of my stepdad's old gamepro magazines. The art style reminded me of a PS1 favorite - Beyond the Beyond so I was quite interested in that as well. (Turns out it was actually an action based RPG or adventure but I still liked it.)

With enough curiosity, I went to a local retro game store and bought a system with Sonic 3D Blast for $40 and had a good time with it. I gradually bought other games for it and liked them all except for the random sports titles I found at Game Crazy. I eventually sold those off and kept the good stuff.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I've been a Sega fan since the Genesis days, and always got their systems around the same week they came out. That includes the Saturn. I don't have a memory of where I purchased it, but I do know Sega caught me and my friends off guard by releasing the Saturn months early. We were like, "what the heck?"

My interest in the Saturn waned during the height of PS1, and eventually the system disappeared from my possession. I think a relative borrowed it, but I'm not sure. Went I went "retro" several years ago, I repurchased a Saturn off Craig's List, and I am enjoying it now more than I ever did thanks to all the information and reviews on the Internet.

[kupomogli]

Those extra areas really weren't that great but I still think it's stupid that they couldn't be included on any subsequent releases of the game, especially the playstation formats.

Other than the few extras, Nocturne in the Moonlight by KCEN is a port of Symphony of the Night. A very poor one at that. IGA was interviewed and mentioned that the included areas were just poorly designed areas that were thrown in there so he didn't include them in the PSP version and he decided he'd throw his own version of Maria in there, this time actually being based on her Rondo of Blood version, rather than the overpowered Ninja Mega Man Maria.

So yeah. That's why it wasn't included. The PSX version was released first and IGA didn't like the additional areas so he never added them into the PSP version.

[Kellhus]

DragonForce, amongst the other RPGs the Saturn has.

That, and it's gorgeous 2D capabilities. I got into the Saturn after it's time unfortunately, in about 2004.

[Baloo]

I saw one used flea market for $35 two summers ago and decided to get it on a hunch. I had never played anything on the system and had no idea what was on it, but I was pretty big into the Genesis and SEGA stuff, so I decided to pick it up. Then drove down the street to my local classic video game store (Next-Level Videogames in South Jersey) and picked up Virtua Fighter Kids and X-Men Children of the Atom.

Neither game really impressed me and at first I had thought I bought a system that was basically a dud like the CD-i or 3D0, something with games that didn't interest me. But then later on I traded a few games for a CIB copy of NiGHTS into Dreams... with controller at Next-Level, and that was it for me. I fell in love with the game, played it nonstop for at least six months.

Since then I've picked up many games afterwards, including Sega Rally, Virtual On, Burning Rangers, Saturn Bomberman, Minnesota Fats, Daytona USA, hit after hit and it quickly became my all-time favorite system. The great 3D arcade hits and Sonic Team games, as well as the excellent 2D Fighters and import library really beats nowhere else. After playing through NiGHTS into Dreams, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Burning Rangers I knew this was my favorite system. Nothing could top the underrated and completely amazing games SEGA released for the system. It's one of the few systems I always keep hooked up, and continue to purchase games for.

Nothing beats the Saturn in my eyes.

[Steven]

this is my SEGA SATURN SAGA:

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/7506/375401.html

[Steven]

Was working at TRU when, surprise!, we get in a shipment of Sega Saturns! The videogame dept. manager immediately grabbed one Saturn and 2 games (Daytona & Panzer Dragoon) and brought them to the employee break room where we briefly tried them out. They were impressive but the price on the system was a bit too rich for my blood.

Fast forward a year later and I would pick up a used Saturn and a copy of Guardian Heroes thanks to GameFan's write up on the game! I HAD to have Guardian Heroes! This was the issue in question:

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/9547/gfguardianheroes.gif

Fast forward to now, I have small but good selection of NA Saturn games and a bigger and better import collection going. I'm still buying Saturn imports when I come across games I'm missing. Hell, I just got an import copy of Marvel Super Heroes on Friday in the mail.


Oh wow, your Saturn story is included in my Saturn article (see post above this one). Good stuff.

5-10-08

STILL KICKIN'

I love the Saturn; comes in second for me behind the Genesis.

Was working at TRU in '95 when a surprise (well to me at least) shipment of Saturn arrived. Me and the guys went nuts. The guy running the videogame section snagged one on the spot, hooked it up to the TV in the break room and we fired up Virtua Fighter and Daytona. Good times.

A year later, I bought one in '96 after purchasing an issue of GameFan with Guardian Heroes on the cover. Their write up on the game convinced me that I had to have one. Never regretted it, and it still sees regular use here to this day.

-Damaramu

[otaku]

I had been hearing about it for a decade when I finally bought one in 2007 when I landed my first job system was cheap but games were often expensive and or imports. Awesome system though-great memories created for me in a short time.

[Wraith Storm]

It all started in 1990 when I was at Sears Surplus (Anyone remember that great store?) and I had to choose between A Turbo Grafx-16 and A Sega Genesis.

I ended up with the Genesis (getting a Turbo Duo about 11 years later!) and never looked back. I absolutely LOVED it. I can't tell you how many time my friends and I ran through Altered Beast. Eventually in 93' one of my friends got a Sega CD and I fell in love with it. He had a ton of great games for it that I couldn't play on my Genesis alone.

One day at Best Buy they had Eternal Champions: Challenge From The Darkside on display. My friends and I were already massive fans of the original. I played EC:CD and was simply slack jawed. It had some amazing cut-scenes, Incredible music, excellent graphics and improved on the Genesis original in every respect. I had to have it and was fortunate enough to get an X'Eye for Christmas in 95' with EC:CD and some other games. I was in Love with Sega by this point.

Then came summer of 96'. We took a trip to Disney world and at Epcot center they had A ridiculous amount of floorspace reserved for Sega. It was labeled "Futuretronics" and they must have had 100 Genesis', 25 Sega CD's, 25 32x's and 25 or more Saturns loaded with games to play. That was where I first played Metal Head on the 32x. My friends and I were HUGE Mech fans. Somewhere I have a video where I actually made my Dad record my play session so I could show my friends when I got back home. A Giant mech roaming through a city blowing up crap with tons of different weapon upgrades!?!? Sign me up for a 32x!

A couple of months later I got a 32x for my Birthday along with Metal Head. While it wasn't the revelation the Sega CD was I still enjoyed the few games I got. I have many great memories of my friends and I playing Metal Head, Shadow Squadron and Star Wars, and very fond memories of my dad and I playing Virtua Racing Deluxe.

I was so happy with all my Sega stuff I never even knew the Saturn was around until the trip to Disney World and Epcot Center. I thought it was cool but was more than satisfied with what I had until one special day. One day while watching after school cartoons on Fox, they ran a commercial for some sweepstakes where you could win a Sega Saturn. They flashed some scenes from a bunch of different games and one of those games was Eternal Champions: The Final Chapter! At this point my friends and I were still playing EC:CD like crazy. That game and it's over the top dark humor is legendary between us.

I told my friend about the new EC game on the Saturn and his mom bought him one a few weeks later for his birthday. We stayed up all night and played D, Astal and X-Men Children of the Atom. We had A blast. Later when Nights was released I rented a copy and borrowed his Saturn and was hooked from the start. I showed it to my parents and it was all I talked about for months. That Christmas I received my own Saturn when they had the 3 free pack in games.

This was the catalyst for my love of Virtua Fighter. While my friends and I eagerly awaited Eternal Champions: The Final Chapter we duked it out in Virtua Fighter 2. We waited and waited and unfortunately never got to play EC: TFC. But we didn't regret it. There were so many great games released that gave us so many sleepless nights. Being the big Mech guys we were (and loving Metal Head), I will never forget the day I bought Gungriffon and showed it to them!

The Saturn is one of my favorite systems ever released and 14 years after getting one I still buy and import for it.

[Baloo]

This was the catalyst for my love of Virtua Fighter. While my friends and I eagerly awaited Eternal Champions: The Final Chapter we duked it out in Virtua Fighter 2. We waited and waited and unfortunately never got to play EC: TFC. But we didn't regret it. There were so many great games released that gave us so many sleepless nights. Being the big Mech guys we were (and loving Metal Head), I will never forget the day I bought Gungriffon and showed it to them!

The Saturn is one of my favorite systems ever released and 14 years after getting one I still buy and import for it.

Did you ever end up trying Virtual On as a kid? :D

[Damaramu]

Oh wow, your Saturn story is included in my Saturn article (see post above this one). Good stuff.

Hey cool! I totally forgot about that! I guess we played all three launch titles as I seem to remember 2 different sets of games being played!

[sheath]

I played a Saturn at a friend's house all Summer and Fall of 1995 but was content with my 32X and Sega CD, and a smattering of Genesis titles, up until I saw Virtua Fighter 2 in action. I saved up and bought a Saturn, Virtua Fighter 2 and a Virtua Stick in November of 1995. After returning the Virtua Stick to Software Etc. I discovered the awesome Hori Arcade Stick.

Sega Rally, Virtua Cop, Wing Arms, and eventually Virtual On, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Mystaria, X-Men COTA and Street Fighter Alpha 2 made the Saturn my and my friends' most played console of 1996.

[Darko]

Honestly? A sweet deal on Craigslist.

[vulcanjedi]

The special NiGHTS day at Six Flags back in 1996. NiGHTS was better than anything I had seen on the Playstation. Then I spent a night at a friends house playing Virtua Fighter for 5 hours. I got a used Saturn in 1997 for only $50 and bought up all the used games I could. Including 5 copies of Panzer Saga (which have since been sold except 1 :)

Mark

[Colorado Rockies]

All 6 of the Working Designs Saturn games plus:
Nights & Christmas Nights
Shining Force III
Burning Rangers
Panzer Dragoon
Guardian Heroes

[Wraith Storm]

Did you ever end up trying Virtual On as a kid? :D

Oh Yeah! The first time I saw it was also at Epcot Center in the Sega Futuretronics area. They had the 2 player arcade cabinet. After making my dad record me playing Metal Head, when I saw Virtual-On I made him record my game of that as well. :) My friends thought it looked awesome when I showed it to them and I knew it was awesome because I had played it.

After I got a Saturn I picked up a copy of Virtual-On shortly after release. It was at Best Buy and after I bought it I went out to the car and opened it up as we were leaving. To my amazement it was missing the game disc! Just the box and instructions! So I ran back inside to exchange it, but wondering if they were going to believe me or not. When I explained my situation they said that it was the third or fourth that week to have a missing game disc.

They swapped it out with an actual complete copy and after I got home my brother, my buddy Josh and I played it for hours. And over the next few months my friends and I would put a TON of time into VO. After all it was 2-player. As great as Metal Head and Gungriffon were, we couldn't fight each other except for the controller.

[calistarwind]

About six years ago I was working for Game Quest and some lady came in with a Saturn with a broken hinge and 3 games. Since we could not take the Saturn she offered me the whole lot for $10. Right after that I was able to trade my broken Saturn with a perfectly working used Saturn from a friend working at another game store. It was quite the deal since on the titles were, Bug, Nights and Shining Force III. I became familiar with the battery save function dying quite quickly after I played several hours of SFIII and found out I saved nothing.

[gameofyou]

Panzer Dragoon and Daytona. Also the fact that I really liked Sega's arcade games, & I knew a lot of them would be ported.

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

I remember that my step-son had saved his money and bought one at launch. Since I got to see him play it and sometimes play it myself, it was one of the systems that I gravitated to later when I began to collect games. I just wish that I had had the money at the time to pick up his collection when he sold a bunch of it off. Anyway, I am now up to 70-something complete US games and 50 or so Asian, (Japanese and Korean) games.

JY

[j_factor]

Panzer Dragoon was the first thing that piqued my interest. I was especially impressed by the opening FMV. I had seen FMVs before, but I'd never seen a game introduce itself in such a grand fashion. Even today that scene is still fun to watch. Then I played the demo, and I was hooked. The gameplay was fantastic, and I was blown away by the game's setting and other-worldliness. Then I did a little reading and found out that the language used in the game is an invented language that was created specifically for it, which I thought was super impressive.

That was in spring/summer 1995. I was interested, but I wasn't sold on the system yet, because after all it's just one game. I was also curious about Playstation, although there was nothing that jumped out at me like Panzer Dragoon. The launches came and went in September and I decided then that I'd wait 'til the end of the year and just get whichever of the two that had more games I wanted to play at that time. That ended up being the Saturn.

For the next few years, Saturn was my primary system, although I also still had Genesis and SNES and still paid attention to new 16-bit games. I had tons of fun with it while it lasted. Then I got pretty pissed when Sega just up and stopped releasing games. Towards the end of 1998, I sold my Saturn and bought a Playstation. Dreamcast was already out in Japan by that point, and I knew about it (and even played it), but I thought it was ridiculous that Sega of America was planning on just not releasing anything for over a year (especially because there were tons of Saturn games they could've released). I also thought Dreamcast should've come out here first (or at least the same time), considering Saturn games were still coming out in Japan. And I also had played the import Dreamcast and wasn't terribly impressed with the lineup of Virtua Fighter 3tb, Pen Pen TriIcelon, Godzilla, and a little later Sonic Adventure. Anyway, Playstation was then my only console, and I had a blast with it too for the next few years. In 2001 I started missing my other systems and re-acquired a Saturn, among others. Since then I've gradually amassed a pretty large collection at 180 games.

[weaponepsilon]

I played it in Toys R Us when it was brand new. After waiting about a year, the price dropped and SEGA started to include free stuff in their system package. I bought it and then a few months later, I got a PS. A year later, an N64. Sigh. Those were the days. I worked nonstop so I could raid the local used shops for software becoming notorious in the process amongst all the store employees.

[jupitersj]

this is my SEGA SATURN SAGA:

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/7506/375401.html

I've always been interested in the competitive consoles I didn't choose when I was growing up, so I knew I would take the Saturn plunge. The Saturn to me is like merging the Genesis and Snes; I love arcade/shmups/rpg and the Saturn does quite well in these categories. What pushed me into Saturn collecting making a huge $400+ game lot purchase on Ebay(and many more wallet depleting purchases haha..) was listening to many of the longer time Saturn gamers on the Saturn forums on GameFAQs; notably you Steven.

While I know you used a different handle over there(and so did I; I'd prefer not to say), I eventually stopped spending time there and the Dreamcast forums as most of the regulars moved on. Now I wanna setup my white Saturn and play Steam Gear Mash =)

[Steven]

The Saturn to me is like merging the Genesis and Snes; I love arcade/shmups/rpg and the Saturn does quite well in these categories. What pushed me into Saturn collecting making a huge $400+ game lot purchase on Ebay(and many more wallet depleting purchases haha..) was listening to many of the longer time Saturn gamers on the Saturn forums on GameFAQs; notably you Steven.


Haha, thanks man. Glad I was able to help out a gamer during all those years long long ago posting dozens of (obscure) game impressions. It was definitely a fun time for me. I still like the Saturn but my "pure love" for it faded a while back. Still, I will always remember those times fondly... early '00s was a great time to be a Saturn gamer/collector. Some of the most fun buying, playing and discussing games as I ever had.

And interesting statement saying Saturn is like merging Genesis and SNES. I can sort of see where you're coming from, but unfortunately the Saturn didn't have nearly enough (quality) platformers for my liking. Had it, I'd say the Genesis merging SNES statement would be head-on accurate. Still, after all these years, that's an interesting proclamation I had yet to hear from anyone :) I'd say it's more 80 Genny, 20 SNES than 50/50 though (which would have been the perfect combo) :)

[jupitersj]

Yes, the Saturn is much more Genesis as it should be :evil laugh:

I'll play pretty much any game if it's decent enough, but I'd say 65-70% of my total game collection is rpg(mostly snes, ps1, ps2. I've been less than 5 titles away from a complete us ps2 rpg collection for some time; money and laziness keep me from finishing. This includes preorder bonuses, strat guides, special editions, etc).

I just can't keep away from action, adventure, and shmups though which is why I love the Saturn so much. I do own a ton of fighters on Saturn but I've always been casual with them. I seem to love conflicting genres; must be my musician days bleeding through :)

[supaevil]

Oh me and the saturn, was 19 working at best out of business now wearing a tie for i believe 4.75 an hour. I saw this at the tyler mall in Riverside 500 bucks i bought it right then and there i was living at home still impulse buy considering no magazine said it was coming out remember that people?

I read magazines cuz the internet wasnt out, i played bluueeee skieesss daytona and panzer dragon. I had fun with bugs , astal , mr. bones., daytona of course but now the 3d is the sucks. Later i got dragon force guardian heroes, and panzer dragon saga wich i sold for big bucks on ebay dont hate i had my fun with them also burning force wich i thougt sucked!
Have an import cartridge still with xmen vs some shiet else i forget and nightstalkers that was a fun game. Cant believe i wasted so much money but when somethings unannoucned and you see it being a video game freak you jump on it!

Toodles your friend
Supaevil

[123►Genei-Jin]

I got a Japenese Satrun from a friend in 1997 (still own this same unit) and the main reason I liked it were these games:
-Neo Geo and Capcom arcade ports (too poor to get a real Neo or CPS-1/2 system)
-Shining Force III: My favorite strategy RPG series ever.
-Magic Knight Rayearth: Have no idea why I like it so much, I finished the japanese version without knowing any japanese.
-Fighters Megamix: couldn't stop playing this for a while.

[Cafeman]

Coming off the Genesis and Sega CD, and also a huge fan of Sega's coin-op games at the time, the Saturn was a no-brainer for me.

Although I was a little bit misled by info at the time. I thought Eternal Champions was coming out on Saturn (it never did), and I saw previews of this awesome new Saturn game called "Tomb Raider". Little did I know the Playstation was also getting TR , and a prettier more solid version.

But still, Daytona , Virtua Fighter, and Panzer Dragoon really sold me - the visuals are very 1st-gen 3D but they were still quite impressive coming off the 16-bit era, and the gameplay of all these was outstanding. there weren't as *many* games as Playstation got, but there certainly enough good games. The last year of Saturn being actively supported was glorious -- Radiant Silvergun, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Shining Force 3, Burning rangers, Xmen vs SF w/4Meg RAM cart ... neat stuff.

I feel that Sega was really weird at the time. It's like they wanted to distance themselves from the Genesis - Sonic, Ecco, Vectorman, Eternal Champions, Comix Zone ... all these could have been launch titles, but instead we got Bug and other strange titles. But in hindsight, that makes the Saturn's library a bit more interesting now .. you got your unique games like Astal and Guardian Heroes.

[FrankSerpico]

X-Men: Children of the Atom was far and away my favorite video game back in the mid-late '90s, and once I read a review of the Saturn translation I wanted one badly. Too bad I didn't end up getting a Saturn until several years after its "death", but I still have a lot of fun with it

[RCM]

I was interested around 1993 when Tom Kalinske mentioned Sega had a powerful console waiting in the wings just after the 3DO launch (I think that's what he said).

Ports of Virtua Fighter and Daytona were exciting, even if the Daytona port was pretty awful graphically. I've been hooked ever since, and Saturn remains my favorite system. If you were a hardcore gamer and especially loved the arcade titles of the time, Saturn was the place to be. It even forced me to start importing 'cause the US library pales in comparison to what the Japanese got.

It died well before its time.

[thegamezmaster]

Nights into dreams!

[retroman]

the day it came out...i had reserved one, and what a surprise when it came out way before it should have...had to borow money off mom and dad to get it cause i did not have enough saved up...i was only 16 and did not make shit for money.

[Zama]

I got into playing Saturn games back in 2007 when I saw a video on youtube of Panzer Dragoon Saga and Shining Force III. As of this date, I still enjoy them just as much (if not more) than when I first got into collecting and playing them :popcorn:

[Tupin]

Finding one a couple of years ago CIB with region switch already installed for $60.

Later I got a modchip for it, so I can play all kinds of games now.

[Sailorneorune]

I found one with AV and power cables for $5 at a local thrift shop. No games, though, but a contact online (who later became my fiance!) helped me get started. We had Radiant Silvergun and some of the other big names, but after not having played them for quite some time, we gave them new homes. My favorite games for the system would be Nights, Astal, and Legend of Oasis.

[Lerxstnj]

I just got my Saturn this week!
My main reason for getting one was not for any particular game, but because I love Sega and the Dreamcast so much and wanted another Sega system for the collection. I already had the Genesis, but was not thrilled with most of the games. I think the DC is the best system ever made and has the best game catalog. I got 3 Saturn games so far that came with it (Batman, Shanghai & Cyber Speedway). There seems to be a few nice exclusives that I will eventually pick up (Clockwork Knight 1 & 2, etc.). I know a lot of Saturn games got updates on the Dreamcast, so I'm more interested in the exclusives. First impressions with the system are the good games are hard to find, graphics are great for the time, and the sound is awful and distorted. I am using the RF adapter. Maybe if I get the RCA adapter cable, the sound might improve?

-The Newest Saturn Owner

[starchildskiss78]

I remember when it first came out in 1995. I had a couple of friends whose parents had bought the systems for them. I was stuck with my Super Nintendo and my small handful of games (I stupidly traded my Genesis and games to a friend for the Super Nintendo and two games. All because of Donkey Kong Country and Nintendo Power...) I remember playing games like Daytona USA, NHL 97, Independence Day and being impressed. Daytona USA definitely did it for me fun-wise. I was also blown away by the fact you could go online with the thing!

Fast forward to 1999. I was staying with my brother and he had a Sega Saturn. We found all sorts of stuff on clearance at one of the electronics stores and had a blast playing. I was introduced to Astal (my favorite to this very day), Bug!, Clockwork Knight, and Street Fighter: The Movie. I moved in 2000 but always wanted to get one.

I started seriously collecting video game systems and games around 2002 or so and was always on the lookout for a Saturn. I almost had one when Game Xchange switched owners here and they had a Saturn (Model 1 I think) for $50. I was going to buy it a couple days later when I got paid, but it was snatched up. The search continued...

In 2005, I had learned the owner of the Game Xchange here also had one in Pascagoula, MS. (A 30 minute drive from me.) I traveled there and to my joy found a Model 2 Saturn for $30 and games for $6 a piece! I bought up the Saturn and a TON of the games (which you can see in my room of doom pics) and fulfilled my dream of owning that underrated black box. I sold/traded/donated most of the games until I only had Astal, Street Fighter: The Movie, and Nights Into Dreams left, but I have since started trying to buy some of the games back that I enjoy. I am up to 10 games (including Christmas Nights Into Dreams) and the two "bootleg" demo discs.

[Flashback2012]

I wanted a Saturn ever since they were first announced, as I thought it would be THE machine that would provide near perfect ports of all of my favorite sprite based arcade games (I was working in an arcade when it was announced).

Even though I'd been a lifelong Sega fan since the Master System, I actually picked up a PlayStation at launch and didn't get around to getting a Saturn until they released the re-worked system that included the 3 games, oval buttons on the console, and the Japanese game pad. I remember picking it up from a local chain we had here called Video Game Exchange and then driving over to Toys "R" Us and finding the gray Saturn pad and buying that the same day. :)

I haven't the chance to check but I think I own nearly as many imports for the system as I do domestics. I was BIG into the import scene for the Saturn and partially for the PlayStation. I remember we went down to Atlanta for E3 '98 and we picked up X-Men vs. Street Fighter at a local Electronics Boutique to play at the hotel on the Saturn we brought with us. :ass:

Over the course of time, the Saturn has made it's way into my top 5 systems, usually sitting at number 2 right behind the TG16/Duo and ahead of the Dreamcast, GBA, and DS. :)

[mchay]

Never paid much attention to the Saturn until a couple of weeks ago.

I have a fair amount of arcade games and wanted to play some of the good shmup ports on the Saturn. The situation as of now is that I have ~35 Saturn games bought, but still no console or Arcade stick for it.

I'm looking for a region/50+60hz modded console and pref. the Hori Saturn stick - but finding these in Europe have been without any succes until now.

[dnehthend]

it was 1999/2000, Funcoland was giving them away for $20 and the games were a few dollars a pop so I figured why not?

[courtesi1]

At this point would you recommend the system to someone? They are going on what, over 15 years old now? How are they holding up?

[Zigfried]

One Sunday, I looked in the Best Buy brochure and saw Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Guardian Heroes, and Night Warriors were all on sale.

I bought them all -- and the Saturn -- that day.

[Daniel Thomas]

At this point would you recommend the system to someone? They are going on what, over 15 years old now? How are they holding up?


Right now, I would recommend a Saturn (or Genesis) over any of the modern consoles. For the price of a single $60 video game, you can score a Saturn, a couple controllers, a few games....then you buy a 100-pack stack of CD-Rs and start burning discs. There are so many good Japanese Saturn games, it's stunning. I've never seen anything like it.

The Action Replay 4M Plus is the must-have accessory for every Sega Saturn, as everyone knows. An S-Video cable is also essential, oh, and you need an oldschool CRT TV to play lightgun games. Fortunately, you can get monster-sized TV sets on Craigslist for a song, since everyone has upgraded to HDTV.

Finally, be sure to get a Model 2 Saturn. That's the model with the round power and reset buttons (oval buttons are Model 1). You can get a mod chip for the Model 2 that enables you to play CD-Rs without using the "disc swap" trick. It's a convenience upgrade, but a nice one, nontheless. Again, today's Sega Saturn fans already know this.

[ScDp]

I was a refugee from the TurboGrafx/Duo system, into shmups and 2d fighters and Bomberman. Also games that were quirky and didn't exist on the dominating systems of the day (from Nintento and Sony). Once I got a clue that the Saturn was the "successor", I was all over it. NCS modded my unit so it could play different region games and also sold me a 4mb kit and VCD adapter, man the Saturn was the hotness.

I wish I could get my DC to emulate it. :)

[Richter Belmount]

nothing

[Gameboy415]

I was interested in Sega Saturn from its initial reveal and the promise of future games like Panzer Dragoon and Sonic Xtreme (ha!).

The only thing holding me (AKA: my parents) back from buying one was the launch price of $399.

However, I went to the JC Penny Outlet store the day after Christmas with my Mom that year and they had all electronics 50% off.
So long story short, I got a brand new Sega Saturn for half-price just a few months after its release! :D

[OldSkoolBrian]

Albert Odyssey and Panzer Dragoon is what got me started on the Saturn.. I still play them to this day.

[Mr Smith]

I am a huge Mega Drive fan and the Saturn seemed like a logical step. My Saturn and I did not get along and it was swiftly sold again.