Official Sega Saturn Thread

[digitalpress]

In the Retrogaming Roundtable continuing series of classic system homage... let us discuss the Sega Saturn, gathering everyone's personal perspective.

I'd like EVERYONE who has ever played this system to give some input here, regardless of whether you owned one, played it a lot, loved it, hated it, or wondered about it.

The 32-bit market was too rough for Sega, apparently, who bailed out on us prematurely, leaving us with just the PlayStation to play until the next gen of consoles arrived a few years later. The Saturn has a rich variety of arcade, role-playing, and original titles, including many exclusives that have etched the Saturn legacy into video gaming history.

Surely you have something to say about this system.

- What is your favorite game on this system?
- What are some of your other favorites?
- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
- How many games do you have for it?
- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Go time! Have fun with this, but by all means, share your thoughts!

NOTE: to jog your memory, here's our complete list of US games:
http://www.digitpress.com/lists/saturn.pdf

[chadtower]

I bought my Saturn the week it was released, paying a whopping $399 for it and spending what was approximately a month's pay at the time. I got SO MUCH play time out of it, though, and all these years later it still works like the day I bought it. A well built machine. I'm still working on a complete collection, but I will have it one day, yes I will.

- What is your favorite game on this system?

No doubt, House of the Dead. Love those gun games.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Panzer Dragoon Saga, the Clockwork Knight games, Powerslave. Virtua Cop 1/2.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Robotica and Virtual Hydlide. I had blown so much of my savings on the system itself that I could only afford a couple of games right off. I bought these two very early releases and was so disappointed I nearly returned the whole system. Talk about two CRAPPY games! Luckily EB had this new policy of letting you return bad games within 48 hours, so I returned those and picked up World Series Baseball and Panzer Dragoon. Much better.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

The day it was released I walked over to the Software ETC (or was it EB) at the Prudential Mall in Boston. It was playing in the window... I almost wet my pants! The demo game was Panzer Dragoon and there had never been a home game anything like that before. This was such a huge quantam leap over the 16 bit systems I didn't even know what to make of it... that game and its predecessors are still among the very best of that era.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Yep, see above, still have that one plus another round button model I recently bought from AdamG.

- How many games do you have for it?

86!

I LOVE my Saturn... just love it, one of my very favorites.

[Oobgarm]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

A tough one, but I'd have to go with Sega Ages or Die Hard Arcade.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Burning Rangers is pretty sweet, as are the Panzer Dragoon titles.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Die Hard Arcade really surprised me. It had been a while since I'd seen a close-to-perfect arcade port. Sega Touring Car Challenge tweaked my melon moreso than any other racing game I've played. :/

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

First time seeing the system in action was at Funcoland, where I work. This was still back in the day, when they carried Saturn. I was a bit put-off by the graphics, as they all seemed very rough. They were a bit on the pricey side, but I managed to get one anyway and a copy of Sega Ages.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Not at launch, no. I was still a faithful Nintendo denzien at that point. :) After getting my own Saturn, I played it for a while, then ended up selling it (and my copy of Sega Ages). Picked up another one on the cheap a few months later, then scored Radiant Silvergun, X-Men vs. Street Fighter(with RAM cart), and Dragon Force for $80. Once again, I played it for a while, and even got a copy of Sega Ages again. I sold that system to a coworker of mine for $40 about two months ago, and I actually just got another system last night for $15. :D

- How many games do you have for it?

17. I'd love to get the Panzer Dragoon games complete, including Saga.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

I used to work in a music store in our local mall, which had a TRU across the street. TRU closed 30 minutes later than the mall, so I was able to go there and browse the game section. This was near the end of the Saturn's life cycle, and I ended up passing on those now-rare titles, with the exception of Burning Rangers. I never expected Saturn games to garner so much cash!

[ManekiNeko]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Tough call, but I'm gonna choose Radiant Silvergun. It comes together so perfectly despite being such an unorthodox shooter. You get all the weapons from the beginning? You have to earn experience points to power them up? You get POINTS for brushing up against obstacles?! Yet somehow, it all works, and it all works brilliantly.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Just about anything Capcom made for the system. There are some great games by Sega as well, including Sega Rally Championship, Virtua Fighter 2, and the last two Panzer Dragoon games (the first wasn't so hot).

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

What surprised me about this system was its popularity in Japan. Obviously they saw something in the Saturn that we had not. I was really frustrated with Sega's refusal to properly support the system... a lot of Saturn fans got the shaft thanks to Bernie Stolar.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Geez, I can't remember when I saw the system for the first time. I was convinced that it was going to really suck at first, but that's before I played NightWarriors. Superb translation, and one of the best fighting games ever made. My opinion took a complete 180 turn after playing game after game of NightWarriors with my friend and brother.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

If you mean 1997, then yes. I couldn't afford it in 1995. Oddly enough, I didn't get a Playstation until 1999!

- How many games do you have for it?

At the most, I had nearly fourty games for the Saturn, including imports. That number is roughly half what it was now, although it's starting to climb back up... I actually found Panzer Dragoon and Street Fighter Alpha (the first games in each series) at a garage sale for a couple of dollars each. Needless to say, I quickly snapped them up.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

I played my Saturn so much that I literally burned out a television set during a grueling game of Earthworm Jim 2. I purchased my first Saturn game about a month before I even bought the system (NightWarriors, naturally). My next two games for the system were Street Fighter Alpha 2 and (embarassingly enough) Street Fighter: The Movie. When they showed Street Fighter: The Movie on ABC, I watched it, then played the game during the commercials! Talk about an endurance test!

JR

[DDCecil]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

That would be probably be Keio Yugekitai, my favorite 2D platformer EVER. The boss of Area 3 is the funniest boss ever, just beating out the Raccoon on Sexy Parodius.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Vampire Savior, Super Real Mahjong series (Though I still don't know how to play it), Albert Odyssey, Tokimeki Memorial Taisen Pazurudama, Time Gal/Ninja Hayate, and Sexy Parodius.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Surprised:

The Licensed Adult Games: I'm surprised about all the adult games that were released in Japan...

Time Gal/Ninja Hayate - My 2 most favorite Dragon's Lair-type games in one package. I was surprised that this even existed!

Infuriated:

Death Crimson - I thought this was actually House of the Dead, but when I played it, UGH!!!

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I saw it being demoed when it was first released, and the game was Panzer Dragoon. It looked pretty good!

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

I owned a US Saturn when it was released and built u a nice collection of titles and by 1999, I had ALL the titles considered rare released for it (Panzer Dragoon Saga? Had 2 of them. Both were mint!) I slowly got rid of all my U.S. stuff (DOH!), and got a import Saturn the same year. I still have my import Saturn today.

- How many games do you have for it?

1 U.S. (Congo)
23 Import

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

I got my Import Saturn with 30 games including Psychic Assassin Taromaru and others for $200.

[Kid Ice]

Surely you have something to say about this system.

- What is your favorite game on this system?
- What are some of your other favorites?
- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
- How many games do you have for it?
- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?


I bought my first Saturn circa 96, when they desparately offered up Virtua Fighter 2, Daytona, and Virtua Cop as pack ins. I quickly discovered that these games were no fun without their necessitated controllers (joystick, steering wheel, light gun). Maybe that was the idea. That Saturn was one of only two systems I ever returned to the store (the other was the X-Box). My reason for returning it: no RF cable! I had no AV jacks at the time, and I was not about shelling out another 20 bucks to get an RF cable.

About a year later I was cruising my local West Coast Video when I happened upon a load of Saturn games for sale, for a mere $5 each! So I picked up a good dozen of those babies, a system at Wal Mart for the fire sale price of 80 bucks, and the rest is history.

What really made the system for me was when the imports starting washing up on the shores of my local EBs and Babbages. X-Men vs Street Fighter, in my HOUSE? Yes!!

To this day, IMO, Saturn has the best controllers, hands down. Two excellent joysticks (the Virtua Stick and the ASCII clicker), the best ever analog pad (why didn't they use that for the DC?), even a decent stock pad (although the shoulders were a might clicky).

Since my AV box can only handle four systems, I've had to be pretty choosy about which systems to keep hooked up. Five years ago it was PSX, 3DO, Saturn, and N64. Today it's PS2, 3DO, Saturn, and DC. The Gamecube is relegated to the "family" TV. Now that's sticking it to the competition.

- What is your favorite game on this system?
Radiant Silvergun, hands down. Panzer Dragoon Saga if we're talking domestic only.

- What are some of your other favorites?
Soukyugurentai
Galactic Attack
X-Men Vs. Street Fighter
Tempest 2000
Street Fighter Zero 3
Pocket Fighter

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Surprise- Panzer Dragoon 2 for being 100 times better than the original, Panzer Dragoon Saga for being 1000 times better.

Infuriated - Burning Rangers. Two things I don't want in videogames are fire and water. In BR you are constantly running through fire. OVERRATED.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

1st time - TRU
Game- Panzer Dragoon
Reaction - So what?

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
No and yes.

- How many games do you have for it?
48

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

For a few months back in 98, this guy showed up at my local flea market selling Saturn imports. I picked up Metal Slug, MSH vs. SF, and Deep Fear. I passed on Astra Super Stars, Vampire Savior, and Castlevania X. I also passed on giving the guy my Saturn to take back to "New York" to mod it (for 50 bucks).

For months I played X-Men vs. SF by swapping my ST Key with the 4 Meg Cart. At just the right moment, I would yank out the ST cart and slam in the 4 Meg cart to get the game to work. Luckily I picked up a combo cart before I busted my Saturn.

The battery on my first Saturn died and I had to replace it. My progress in Panzer Dragoon Saga, Nights, Radiant Silvergun, and World Series Baseball 2 was toast.

[Gamereviewgod]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Hmm....tough one....but I'm going all out with Guardian Heroes. A take off of my all time favorite genre (the beat-'em'up), add a ludicrous amount of massive, scaling sprites, miraculous sountrack and rock solid gameplay? I'm in heaven!
- What are some of your other favorites?
Street Fighter collection is great, Die Hard Arcade is an outstanding (abliet short) brawler, Shinobi Legions is highly unerrated (except for the FMV...ugh), and of course, the Panzeer Dragoon series (though I've never played Saga)
- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
Shinobi was certainly surprising considering digitized graphics usually suck, but then we have Batman Forever which proves the theory correct.
- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
A flea market, beleive it or not. Daytona wasn't that bad even though I had already owned a PSX for a year or 2. I though there was potential here....
- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
Got mine a few years later at a pawn shop. $20=greatest deal ever.
- How many games do you have for it?
Hell if I know....80?
- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
Uh...um..hmm....no. :-D

[Funk Buddy]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Super Real Mahjong Part 7

- What are some of your other favorites?

Most of the puzzle games are fantastic and I really like the fighters/shooters. Bubble Bobble is a game I could play every day and never get bored. Some of the odd ball titles are great too, like Ohsama Game and Shutsudo! Minisuka Police.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

When I played Panzer Dragoon for the first time I said wow. The last system I had before the Dreamcast was the Genesis/Sega CD and I never owned a PS or even played one until 99'.

The bad? There is a 4 wheel drive game which really stinks (can't recall the title) and buying the Sakura Wars Steam Radio Show game like a moron! The mini games are fun for about 5 seconds then all that's left is crappy video and Japanese that I can't understand!

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

At home when my Japanese system came in the mail.

See Sakura Wars comment above.

It was crap... until I put in Panzer Dragoon and played for several hours. All I could think was damn that looks like shit... but in a good way! ;)

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

No, the Sega CD soured me pretty bad. All that money and only a hand full of games. I do like the CD, but man I couldn't afford many games then! When I heard about it and the cost I said no way (kind of like the 32X)!

Yes, I have 2 US and 2 Japanese. I really should sell one of them.

- How many games do you have for it?

145 US
over 300 JPN (not sure, but at least 300)

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Not really. I'm just glad I bought one... one of the best import systems to have!

[RetroYoungen]

I had quite a bit of fun with this system. Let's go over those questions:


- What is your favorite game on this system?

I particularly enjoyed Virtua Fighter Kids, so right now I'll say that.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Dude, for a while there it was ALL about 3 Dirty Dwarves. That was such a great game, so oddball and funny. Also, Virtual Tennis Open was pretty amusing for a bit, but it didn't hold me too long.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

The Dwarves caught me off-guard. But I was really annoyed by NBA Jam Extreme... NBA Jam was a great game, this one was an abomination.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I don't remember the first time I saw it play.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

I bought mine used at Funco, for a measley 20 bucks. 20 of the best dollars I've spent.

- How many games do you have for it?

I've got about 15 games for it right now. I don't know where to find others; my Funco doesn't carry them anymore.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Naw, just the time Chun-Li jumped out of my set and we had hot sex for hours and hours until the power went out and she disappeared. Dammit.

[Dire 51]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Radiant Silvergun, hands down. There are a ton of great games for the Saturn (mostly imports), but RS was the first one to really reach out, grab my shirt and shake me while yelling "BUY ME!"

- What are some of your other favorites?

Trying to limit myself to games that weren't released for the PlayStation at the same time... I'd have to say Bulk Slash, Guardian Heroes, Sega Ages and Galactic Attack.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

I can't think of any games that infuriated me... most of the ones I saw that looked annoying were US releases, which I stayed away from. The game that surprised me was Bulk Slash, a Hudson Soft import. I had no idea at the time that Hudson was making games for the Saturn, and when I found it at a local retailer, I had to pick it up just to see what it was like (besides, the cover art and screenshots looked promising). It's since become a favorite of mine.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

The first time I saw the Saturn in action... I believe it was a demo for Bug! playing at the local Blockbuster. I thought it looked impressive, but I didn't really watch it that long because I was there to get a movie.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Hmmm... I bought my system late in 1998 (for only $10 with a trade-in! What a deal!), which I guess would be the tail end of "back in the day". I still have it, and I would not part with it.

- How many games do you have for it?

Alltogether, 18. 13 of those are imports.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

That would be how I got the system. I had been debating about it for a while, especially after seeing Radiant Silvergun in action. The local EB had several imports I was interested in getting, but the prices on the systems were still too high. However, there was a place in Daytona Beach that I frequented, and as such I got to know the owner quite well. Anyway, Saturns were selling abysmally at the time because everyone was buying PlayStations and N64s, and he'd drastically marked his Saturns down (to only $40), but still no one was buying. So one Saturday I went down there and talked to him for a while, and eventually talk came around to the Saturn. I expressed an interest in buying one, but I didn't have $40 at the time - I just had $10 on me, plus a couple of SNES games for trade (Mario Paint and Actraiser 2, I think). He looked at what I had and told me what I would get for trade (about $10 in store credit). I then told him that all the cash I had on me was ten dollars. His reaction? "Okay, deal." He even included three freebies with it, two of which I sold to my sister, the other one - Galactic Attack - I kept. He certainly made me a very loyal customer... I had been going there at the time for a little over a year, and I kept going back until I left Florida earlier this year.

[Lost Monkey]

What is your favorite game on this system? (And some other favourites...

I really like Nights, Sega Rally, Daytona (the graphics are not all that hot, but the gameplay is spot on), Xmen Vs. Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter 2 and Panzer Dragoon Zwei.

What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

The Sonic World "demo" on Sonic Jam surprises me to this day. Quake 2 Sonic R showed that the system could do some real nice 3D stuff.

The fact that Sonic World was only a demo infuriates me to this day...

Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

The first time I saw the Saturn in action was when the surprise launch occurred. I was driving by TRU and they had actually put up a huge banner over the front of the store.. so I pulled in to check it out. It was running Virtua Fighter, and as glitchy as the first release was, it was still pretty impressive next to the SNES and Genesis kiosks. I wasn't too impressed with the price though... $479CDN...

Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

I didn't buy a Saturn until late 1997, when a Blockbuster near me was selling their rental units for $80CDN.

How many games do you have for it?

I am not certain, I have most of my stuff packed up.. but I have over 100.

Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

The Saturn I bought at Blockbuster had been rented out once.. by an idiot who spilled Coke (or Pepsi) all over it and then no-one cleaned it up for months... I took a good look at it and decided to give it a try anyway. It turned out that the pop had not even reached the internals of the machine and was really only around the door release button and inside the cd tray so once it was cleaned up, it looked brand new... The best part is that it came with a spiffy hardcase.

Later on, I took advantage of NCS's Derby Skeleton sale, so I now have that as well with a territory switch.

For some reason, when I first saw the Saturn, I was already expecting to like the PSX better... To this day, I still have not bought myself a PSX.

[ClubNinja]

One of my favorites here...

- What is your favorite game on this system?


Really hard to say... Panzer Dragoon Zwei or Last Bronx perhaps, but let's not forget...

- What are some of your other favorites?


... Astal for platform goodness, Bug for nostalgic reasons, Fighting Vipers/Last Bronx/VF 2 for 3D fighting goodness, Nights and Panzer Dragoon for obvious reasons, Virtual On, just about any Capcom or SNK import, and even Sonic R.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?


I was so very confused and floored by Nights all at once when I first saw it. This game should've ended up being considered on mainstream "Best ever..." lists everywhere. I was sad that the Golden Axe fighter kind of stunk up the room and infuriated that so many Japanese titles never made it across the sea.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?


Bug! was the first game I saw/played on the Saturn, and I still enjoy it today (though mostly for sentimental reasons.) I thought it was the most colorful, smooth, clever game I'd played in ages at the time. Poor Bug deserves more love. Too bad the sequel wasn't very hot.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?


I didn't back in the day, though my friend got one shortly after launch. We both played the heck out of it and I'd say he got his money's worth, even then. When I started collecting games, a Saturn was high on my list, and ended up being my fourth machine (Genesis, 7800, NES, then Saturn.) Since then, I've acquired most of the games I always wanted to have and even a Japanese Saturn console for easy import playing (and cool factor.)

- How many games do you have for it?


37, which includes imports. I don't really "collect" for the machine, so I only pick up games that will actually see some level of play.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Nothing really special in the way of stories, but the Saturn's still a favorite around these parts and pulled off wonderful 2D games like nothing else (well, the Dreamcast does a fine job too!) [/b]

[Goodwill Hunter]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Like many others, I love RS, Nights, PDS, Saturn Bomberman, and House of the Dead, but my favorite game for the Saturn is Mr. Bones. Partly because it's unique to the Saturn, but mostly because it's an unusual and immensly entertaining platformer. Every level is different and there's a great Blues soundtrack...one of those games that made me sad when it was over. Most challenging level for me was that damn frozen-over pond!

- What are some of your other favorites?

Super Puzzle Fighter Turbo is always a blast...Christmas Nights always gets fired up around holidays...Dragon Force is the game I most want to finish on the Saturn, but still haven't...and the hidden game Death Tank Zwei is second only to Bomberman for multi-player fun.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

I remember being amazed at all of the sprites on sceen at once in Dragon Force, and the beautiful light effects in Powerslave. Also pleasantly surprised how close the Capcom 2D fighters were to Arcade-Perfect! Hexen pissed me off...what an unplayable piece of crap!

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

The first thing that caught my eye was the splash screen where the logo is assembled from all of the flying polygons....sure it's dated now, but the first time I saw that, it knocked my socks off that a home console could do that.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Waited till the Blockbuster rental units hit $49.99 to pick one up. They had been rented so little around here, that they were practically brand new. Hard to beat a like-new system, 2 controllers, hardcase and all the wires for under $50! Most BBs in my area still had the rental units for sale when they dropped to $29.99 each...picked up 3 more just because it seemed like too good of a deal to pass up! Still have an extra in hardcase if anyone is interested.

- How many games do you have for it?

216...about a dozen of those are imports (sounds like I need to get more of these though).

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

This is probably one of the systems that I had the best timing for in terms of picking up deals. In addition to the getting the systems from BB, I also picked up about a dozen copies of Xmax Nights from my local BBs for the princely sum of .99 each...great tradebait over the years! Also scored multiple copies of PDS, SF III and HotD when TRU dropped them to $20, which have also led to some great trades. And I'll never forget stumbling into Best Buy on a day off, right after they dropped all of their Saturn games to $10 each (except for NASCAR '98 and another '98 sports title, which I managed to get for $10 each too). I went to all 4 Best Buys within driving distance and dropped almost $300 on new Saturn games...still my record for most spent on games in one day.

One of my favorite and most played systems!

Rich

[China Warrior]

Again! :embarrassed:

[Tetsu]

b]- What is your favorite game on this system?[/b]

Oooh, tough call. Right now I guess it would be Super Puzzle Fighter X, which is arcade perfect save for a little load time at the beginning.

- What are some of your other favorites?
Astal, Assault Suit Leynoss, Langrisser 4, Street Fighter Alpha 2, and Metal Slug

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
I was surprised at how good a lot of the SNK and Capcom games were translated. The Playstation versions were a joke by comparison. I was also surprised by the high quality, original, quirky games, like Nights, Princess Crown, Burning Rangers, and Bulk Slash. What infuriated me was how few of these games made it out to the US.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

The first time I saw the Saturn in action I wasn't too impressed, because the 3D games on display were inferior to comparable PSX or even 3DO graphics at the time. It wasn't until my friend showed me Astal a couple of years later that I was impressed with the Saturn.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

I got one in 1997 that I got for fifty bucks, and now I have a spare as well.

- How many games do you have for it?

I have about 30 games for it, about 20 imports. Most are shooters and fighters, although I've been picking up the Langrisser titles lately (got 3 and 4 so far, looking for 5)


- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Ok this is the last time this year that I tell this story, I promise. :D I bought my Radiant Silvergun on eBay for about eighty bucks shipped, with a tiny scratch in it and no spine card. A year later, I find a copy of Radiant Silvergun at a game store for $5, no instructions (but spine card?!). A month later I find another copy of Radiant Silvergun in the same store, complete except for spine card. the first game I found had a perfect disc, so I swapped out discs with my the copy I bought and put the spine card from the other in there. From 3 Radiant Silverguns I made a mint complete RS! I ended up selling the other two discs for mucho dinero that year, and sold off my last one this year.

[ubersaurus]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Hmmm...gotta go with Galactic Attack. I friggin LOVE that game.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Saturn Bomberman, PTO 2, Dracula Nocturne in the Moonlight or whatever its called, Nights, Virtua Fighter 2

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

I never thought Galactic Attack was going to become my addiction when I picked it up for 2 bucks. How wrong I was. Now Myst on the other hand, well, Myst sucks. Alot. Burn, Myst, BURN.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Had to be 199..5, 96? Best Buy game area, over in the sega section, they had it running Nights, and I thought it looked damn pretty. First time I had ever seen 3D that didn't look all blocky like Star Fox, and I was impressed. Not so much with the price tag, though. I was only 12 at the time ;p

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
Nope, had an N64, followed by my dad getting a Playstation. I did finally pick up a saturn last year, as some guy was selling his in the paper with about 11 games for 40 bucks, which I figured wasn't such a bad deal. Most of those ended up being crummy sports games, but whatever, I had a few gems in there.

- How many games do you have for it?
20. This place sucks for finding saturn stuff, and I don't want to go online unless I have to (which seems like I will). I am wanting the first 2 Panzer Dragoons, Tempest 2k, Sega Ages, and the import Street FIghter Zero 3, but alas, I'm lazy.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Umm...well my friend Derek had a saturn from back in the day, and one time he brought it with him to the University of Michigan-Dearborn Anime Night in about...99 I believe. Well, one of hte guys that came with us decided to be a dumb ass and kick around a bottle of mountain dew, which got on the saturn. Derek was about to KILL him right there, but the saturn survived and worked. He also messed up the projector and ultimately that got the anime showings shut down, but thats another story.

[Kid Fenris]

-What is your favorite game on this system?
It's a toss-up among Radiant Silvergun, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Guardian Heroes. Radiant’s an amazingly well-designed shooter, Panzer’s a great RPG like no other, and Heroes is, in my opinion, the finest 2D beat-‘em-up ever.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Burning Rangers, NiGHTS, Sakura Wars Columns, Dragon Force, Cyberbots, Vampire Hunter/NightWarriors, Vampire Savior, Princess Crown, Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Saturn Bomberman, Soukyugurentai, Batsugun, and Tengai Makyo: The Fourth Revelation: The Apocalypse IV. I love that title.


-What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

At first glance, Burning Rangers looked like an ugly, slow action/platformer, but I gradually realized how unique and enjoyable (and cheesy) it was.

X-Men vs. Street Fighter also astounded me, simply because it was such an accurate port of the arcade game. A shame it was never released over here, since it was the last Saturn title that could have made a difference in the American market.

Though I was disappointed by Golden Axe: The Duel and Fighting Vipers, my most infuriating moment came during Shining Force III. Upon reaching a higher class, the game’s main character, Synbios, disappeared from the map. He was never there in any subsequent battles, and it eventually screwed up the entire game. I blame Bernie Stolar.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

It was Panzer Dragoon, playing in a kiosk at Toys R Us. I thought it looked great, but I couldn’t understand what was going on. Later, when I got my hands on Panzer Zwei, I figured it out.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

I bought my Saturn in mid-1997, on the same day that it dropped in price to $150. I later realized that I should have bought one a year earlier, so I could have been playing Guardian Heroes, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, and Nightwarriors back when I had little to do other than try to finish Chrono Trigger for the ninth time or so.

- How many games do you have for it?

32. I’m still in search of Soukyugurentai, Batsugun, Dodonpachi, Bulk Slash, and maybe a Japanese Burning Rangers.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

The Saturn was my introduction to the world of doomed systems. Through Sega’s big black box, I came to know what it must have been like for those who dug the Sega Master System or the TurboDuo when everyone else wanted no more than the NES or the Genesis/SNES industrial complex.

I liked my PlayStation and didn’t mind the N64, but I always went out of my way to support the Saturn. I’d show the games off to friends, I’d defend the system if someone disparaged it, and I’d stop at EB or Babbage’s once a week, just because none of the other stores stocked new Saturn stuff on a regular basis.

And eventually, I snatched up all kinds of cheap games and accessories when retailers started clearing out their Saturn stock. It was depressing, like looting a palace not because you’re greedy, but because the king you've served is dead and it would break your heart to leave treasures like Dark Savior and Panzer Dragoon Zwei to the thieves.

Sheesh, I’m a Saturn fanboy. And I always will be.

[YoshiM]

- What is your favorite game on this system?
Hmm, choices. Probably Burning Rangers.

- What are some of your other favorites?
Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cops 1 & 2

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
Panzer Dragoon Saga really surprised me. Good looking game with action and RPG elements mixed in wonderfully. Infuriated? Nights. To me it's like it runs on automatic with little control from me. Ticked me off.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
I saw it at a BlockBuster Video played Panzer Dragoon. Played it, shrugged, and moved on. It really didn't appeal to me at that point.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
No. My group was looking to buy a system collectively so we checked out the major systems. Playstation got passed by due to the crappy controller and nothing interested us. Saturn got passed by due to nothing on the system looked good for us. We got an N64 instead when it came out because of watching the Mario 64 game.

Now I do own one, but it's stored away. I picked it up for $30 at a BlockBuster sale.

- How many games do you have for it?
I think I have 7 or 8

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
This system got me in hot water due to a selfish act. I went to Blockbuster to get Yoshi's Story for my wife was they had a used copy for a good price. I saw they had a tent sale and discovered the Saturn. My collector side kicked in at high gear and I bought the system and a few games over the Yoshi's Story. I told my wife they didn't have Yoshi but they had this. She was okay but the next time we stopped at Blockbuster for some reason I went to see if Yoshi's story was still there and it wasn't. My wife questioned me as I was intently looking and figured out that I dissed the little dino for a has been planet. I went out into the tent and got her Bust a Move 2 for the Saturn. That saved my bacon as she loved the game.

[Biohazard]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

That's a very tough question, but I'd have to say Sega Rally and Panzer Dragoon Saga

- What are some of your other favorites?

Burning Rangers, Sonic Jam and Battle Garegga

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Well, to be honest Sonic R quite surprised me. When I first heard of the game I though It could never be a "playable" game, with the characters running around a track instead of using a car. When I played, I was surprised how well the game felt and played, and up until this day it remains one of my favorite Saturn games

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Yeah, I remember the first time. It was in a local gamestore called Games 'R Fun, and the game was Bug!. My first reaction was "wow", because I hadn't actually seen any ingame movies or whatever, so I was quite impressed with the quality of the graphics. However, I didn't get to play the game :(

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

I didn't own it immediately after launch. I bought it with Virtua Fighter Kids and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, because I was a HUGE fighting fan at the time. I'm not quite sure when this was, but I do know Tomb Raider wasn't released yet.

- How many games do you have for it?
83, not counting duplicates
Most of my Saturn games are PAL, with the rest of my Saturn collection consisting of a fair amount of JAP import and 2 USA titles.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Well, not really. Except that the Virgin Megastore in Amsterdam cleared out their Saturn titels, which I managed to miss ofcourse :(
And I'd like to say that the Saturn is my favorite console of all-time, together with the Dreamcast.

[Mr Mort]

The Saturn is my absolute favorite system of all time.

- What is your favorite game on this system?
Without question, Street Fighter Zero 3. Arcade perfect, even more so than the DC version, very short loading times, perfect control, the sprites aren't all pixelated like the DC version, and the depth of the gameplay is like chess.


- What are some of your other favorites?

Wow, so many to mention...
Sega Rally, Night Warriors, Vampire Savior, Thunder Force V, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Fighter's Megamix, Virtua Fighter 2, Metal Slug, Virtual On, Radiant Silvergun.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

I remember Sega Rally and Virtua Cop impressing me because Sega Rally had an amazing frame rate, tight gameplay, and Virtua Cop actually looked better than the arcade version, and of course Night Warriors blew me away with its amazing animation and visuals. Nothing really infuriated me, other than the fact that Sega of America would not bring out all the amazing games that were available in Japan.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
The first time I saw the system in action was at the local EB a few days after the surprise launch, running Daytona. The instant I saw it, I knew I had to have it. I was (and still am) a huge fan of Sega's arcade games, and wanted to have that arcade experience at home, and finally, the Saturn could do it.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

I got the system about a month or two after the surprise launch. I paid $400.00 for the system alone (which came with VF) and got Daytona, and a spare controller with it. I don't regret it, it was worth every penny, I was the only one among my friends who had a Saturn for over 2 years, but the enjoyment I got out of it was priceless. Today, I have 3 Saturns, and I'm always looking for more.

- How many games do you have for it?

Last I counted, I have 51 games, about a third of which are japanese imports.

[XpOsUrE]

You know the sega saturn is a excellent system, and I still would like to get one here soon, I think the main problem with the saturn was that it was over priced at first, and made too many bad marketing moves like releaseing early with like almost no games, and pissing off retail stores, and 3rd party game companys. Also they made a huge mistake by focousing on 3d rather as a second hand thing compared to 3d because as we all know now that the psone killed the saturn in the 3d genre, but could not even touch the saturn when it came to 2d.

[Kamisama]

- What is your favorite game on this system?
At first it was Soukyu Gurentai, but later it was topped by Layer Section. Both are Great 2D STGs anyway.

- What are some of your other favorites?
Sega Rally: Always good for a little race sometimes.
Farland Story: Introduced me all the 16-Bit SRPGs, and i like them ^_^

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
Magical Hoppers: I have never heard of the game but it was quite good.
Layer Section: I did not know it is soo good ^_^

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
The first time i ever saw it was in a import game shop here in my city. There was Soukyu Gurentai running and after playing it for 30 Minutes i bought the system ^_^

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
Hmm i bought it 1999 and it is my favorite console until today.

- How many games do you have for it?
Around 70 i think, while 20 are ordered and should arrive some day ^_^

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
You know, i have a PAL Console but i can only play NTSC/US and NTSC/JP Games because it is not working correctly :) But as i only play JP Games anyway this is no real problem for me.

Btw, if you are a sega saturn fan, check out my website ^_- There is not much content yet, but much is about to come ^_^

[gulag picture radio]

I picked up a Saturn about a year ago for $12 at a thrift - it had the two regular controllers, the 3D controller, and a pair of guns. I've got about 30 games for it now, each picked up for around $2 at thrifts. I just got Mr. Bones from Goodwill Hunter this weekend, and am very anxious to play it.

I guess that Nights would be my favorite so far, but I haven't played my games too deeply. The surprise to me was just how good the 2D stuff is on there. I was also surprised at how grainy the 3D was - but really I was kind of surprised at how grainy it was on all of that era's systems.

I sort of missed that whole generation of 3D hardware (I was playing games on Atari 2600 and my Amiga at the time). Only after a friend bought me a Dreamcast did I get really interested in contemporary consoles. I've since picked up PSX and N64. Until I really looked into it, I had no idea how much they were trying to accomplish with 3D games of the time.

I never saw it anywhere when it was new, though I knew the system existed. It has really cemented in my mind that Sega has been an interesting company. A company willing to take creative risks more often than the other game companies. I mostly love weird games on consoles, and Saturn has its fair share. I gotta get around to modding my console to play some of those weird import titles.

[Nomeaz1]

^^ I think I strained my eyes on that tiny text LOL

- What is your favorite game on this system?
I am probably the only person in the world who will say this, but Necronomicon: Digital Pinball is my favorite Saturn game.

- What are some of your other favorites?
Most of the Capcom titles, Treasure titles, and of course KAZe's other Saturn outing: Last Gladiators. Then there is the long list of Sega first-party titles.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
Nights really surprised me the first time I played it. I usually find that I am dissapointed when I listen to other rave about certain titles before actually trying them for myself. Nights was as fun as everyone made it out to be. Also the first time I played X-Men Vs. Street Fighter I was literally floored. I couldn't believe that this "dead" system was standing toe-to-toe with my brand new Dreamcast and Marvel Vs. Capcom. However, the thing that shocked me the most was probably the controller. I owned a Genesis since its release and I never felt comfortable with the controller. I remember seeing a Saturn controller in a picture in a magazine and thinking that it was simply a "nifty" version of the Genesis controller and there was no way I would like it. Then after the nightmare that was the Dreamcast controller with those god awful shoulder buttons, I was positive the Saturn controller would be a disaster. Boy was I wrong. Best standard controller for any system.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
I remember seeing the commercials on TV when I was in college and thinking they were pretty funny. After seeing some of the clips of Panzer Dragoon I was very tempted to buy the system. I think I actually stood in front of a case in Best Buy, money in hand, contemplating if I ought to buy one or not. However, due to the trauma I had suffered at the hands of my 3DO I was doomed to hold out for the Playstation (3DO had possibly one of the worst controllers I have ever used). The first actual game that I saw running on a friends Saturn was Wing Arms. I wasn't very impressed.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
I didn't buy a Saturn until late 1999 (I think) when I was living in Japan. Now I have 4 Saturns, all Japanese.

- How many games do you have for it?
Saturn is the system that made me a "collector". I now have 720 Japanese Saturn games (all with different catalog numbers and only 1 of which is missing the case), 77 Japanese Saturn demo and other special discs, 4 U.S. Saturn games (recently aquired), and countless controllers and other accessories.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
Hmm...I bought my first Saturn off of a friend for a cheap $10 bottle of wine and a box of crackers. He had only played the thing twice and it had since been sitting unused in his closet, still in the original box and plastic.

[Vroomfunkel]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Real tough one! If we are talking multiplayer, I would have to say Death Tank Zwei. Single player, I am still loving Metal Slug!

- What are some of your other favorites?

Saturn Bomberman, Rainbow Islands, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Twinkle Star Sprites, House of the Dead, Burning Rangers, Guardian Heroes, Vatlva

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Death Tank Zwei suprised me!! How could an easter egg game, with such a simplistic concept be so amazingly good? I have a freind, a complete Nintendo fanboy, who bought a Saturn just for this game after a few sessions of it at my place! Dungeons and Dragons infuriated me immensely - so much so that I had to sell the game. I really wanted to enjoy it, but the frustration of having to wait for those loading breaks EVERY COUPLE OF MINUTES really bugged me. Sorry. Still pissed off.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

First time I saw it in action was when I got one two or three years back. I bought it to play Panzer Dragoon Saga, which I had heard so much about that I simply had to try it. I was not disappointed. When that opening sequence started up I was mesmerised. Lost several weeks to that game. And don't regret it at all!

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

No. Didn't even know about it "in the day". Now I have a region and speed modded PAL Saturn and it vies with my PS2 for most played console. My flatmates are currently addicted to Twinkle Star Sprites. Every time we have a party, Death Tank comes out!

- How many games do you have for it?

40 PAL, 16 Jap, 1 US

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Well, whilst expanding my collection I bought a Japanese system with a bunch of games (including Metal Slug) on Ebay from a guy in the USA. Total cost with shipping, $240. Not too bad, except the dumbass decided to buy insurance for it and declares the insurance value as $800. Of course, I get hit with an enormous customs charge and am not very happy at all. Anyway, I eventually prove to Customs that it was not worth that much and get some money back. I also sell the Japanese Saturn on Ebay UK to offset the cost of the package. By pure coincidence, I do this shortly after the UK gaming magazine, EDGE, run a huge feature article on retro & import Saturn collecting. A day before the end of the auction, it is at a reasonable price and I am happy enough. I go out for the day, get back late in the evening .. check my auctions .. it is at £200!! I nearly choke! Get up next morning and check the end price... £250!!! ($400) - for a loose, yellowing Japanese Saturn with no Stepdown and no games. I am convinced that I won't get paid, but the cheque arrives within a couple of days, and clears .. and I am a very happy man!

[Funk Buddy]

Nomeaz1 is THE MAN next to one other Japanese fellow I know of for Saturn items. You have too see the collection to believe it! Just ask for pictures if you don't trust what I'm saying. Oh... and you gotta' love his wife for putting up with it and honorable metion to his TV. ;)

[Hypnotuba]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Hmmm. . .I'll go with Panzer Dragoon Saga. But next week that choice may no longer be true. :)


- What are some of your other favorites?

Radiant Silvergun, both Virtua Cops, House of the Dead, NiGHTS, Necronomicon, Layer Section, Soukyugurentai, Strikers 1945 (original and II). Always had a soft spot for Mass Destruction, Manx TT Superbike (I like the analog control with the 3D pad), Robo Pit, Fighters Megamix, Sonic R.


- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Radiant Silvergun surprised me the most. I hadn't played a shooter in years, and I'd just bought a Japanese Saturn and the game. I took it to a friend's house where we played through it on arcade mode with another person observing. It blew us all away. Gameplay-wise, we got destroyed. I wasn't prepared for what shooters had become.

But the art design was mind-blowing. Especially the final boss conflict. . .while it was really melodramatic, it was truly beautiful.

Also, we observed that this game seemed to be truly out to kill us, and did it with glee. :) Finally, the game seemed to be designed with such care and love that we had to take notice. This is a game that can be appreciated in many different ways!


- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I don't really. :/ It must've been when I first brought it home. I think I had Daytona USA. . .and a couple other games. Eh. :)


- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

I didn't buy a Saturn until 1998, when Wal Mart had them for $50. I still have that system, as well as a white Japanese sytem with a US/JPN switch, that I bought in 2000 from NCS.


- How many games do you have for it?

I think 80, with 34 of them being JPN imports.


- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Nothing really, except that all-night Virtua Cop (1 & 2) and HotD sessions are just swell. :)

[Steven]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

I've always liked Saturn Bomberman the most.
It just rocks. During much of the mid 90s my friends and I spent Saturday nights bombing each other to oblivion in Super Bomberman.
Saturn Bomberman is just the best.


- What are some of your other favorites?

Oh geez -- too many to list.
I really enjoyed:

-Puzzle Fighter
-Street Fighter (Collection, Zero 3, Cap. Gen. 5)
-World Heroes Perfect
-Slam N Jam 96
-Elevator Action Returns
-Fire Pro Wrestling 6MS
-Pandemonium
-Lost Vikings 2 (Norse By Norsewest)
-Minnesota Fats Pool Legend
-World Series Baseball 98
-Worms
-NHL All-Star Hockey 98

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

I dunno about any games in particular surprising me but... I've never played an RPG game before, believe it or not. Now I own most of Saturn's US RPGs... that shocked me... that I'd ever drop a dime on an RPG. Reason why: Sega Saturn Magazine. More on this later.
Infuriated?
Sure.
Playing these turds:

-WWF Wrestlemania
-Off World Interceptor Extreme
-Hi Octane
-Alone in the Dark 2
-Congo The Movie

These games made me question my hobby -- they were THAT awful.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

It was summer of 1999. Me in my living room. 27 inch TV.
Playing WORLD HEROES PERFECT (I am a HUGE World Heroes fan)
My reaction: WOW... I don't remember ANY WH game being this fast!
Initially I recall being slightly disappointed (haha, google search revealed I rated WHP 86% on first impressions...)
But later on, I would play WHP for years and years... and really came to love it. Excellent port. 1-3 second loading times.
Part of my childhood...

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

I bought it January 1999 after my older brother told me to get one for us. His internet wrestling buddies were raving all the time about this game called FIRE PRO WRESTLING SIX MAN SCRAMBLE and my bro "had to had it too."
So I did some research (and I was never Anti-Saturn during its heyday, I was always just "eh"... though I remember being jealous at some its exclusives... we owned a PSX)

So anyway I did some research and found that WHP was on Saturn. The rest is history.

- How many games do you have for it?

About 170 at the moment. I made a list of wanted games left and I'll end up with about 220 when all's said and done.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Saturn gamers, IMHO, are some of the coolest gamers I've ever had the pleasure to communicate/deal with.
Most of them have a good head on their shoulders... and some... are like saints.

I once met a Saturn gamer who sold me his copy of RSG for 65.00.
SIXTY FIVE! (October 2002)

I once met a Saturn gamer who sold me PSYCHIC ASSASSIN TAROMARU for 80.00.
EIGHTY!!! (February 2003)

Last but not least, I once met a guy who gave me Saturn games FOR FREE! I wrote some reviews for him at the time but the games he sent me were awesome!

Includes:

-Magical Drop III
-Vampire Savior
-X-Men vs. SF
-BATTLE GARREGA!!!! (yes! for free -- unbelievable!)

etc.

As for memorable deals, my score of SEGA SATURN MAGAZINE is my favorite one. I have 34 issues (37 total) and they're just the cream of the crop, bar none.

SSM did a "Top 50 list" that you can see here (yes, that's me who did it)

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=67146&perpage=25&highlight=ssm&pagenumber=1

Long Live Saturn!
So many good memories with it.
Even more than NES, SNES and Genesis!
I'll never grow old of loving this ACE system and games.

[dreamcaster]

What is your favorite game on this system?

Sega Rally Championship

What are some of your other favorites?

Daytona USA, Virtual-On: Cyber Troopers and Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition.

What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Virtua Fighter 2's graphics still blow me away to this day. Hi-Octane is just a total piece of crap.

Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Well, having loved Sega Rally and Daytona in the arcades, my jaw practically dropped when I first saw the Saturn. I sooooo wanted one. Then I saw the price......

Let's say the SNES kept me happy enough.

Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Whilst I could never afford the Saturn back in the day, I have one (two infact) now, so....yeah - better late than never I suppose.

How many games do you have for it?

I've currently only got nine game for it (Hi-Octane, Sega Rally Championship, Daytona USA, Virtual-On, Daytona USA: CCE, Fighting Vipers, Dark Savior, Virtua Fighter 2 and Sega Touring Car Championship) - but I am always on the lookout for more.

I rank the Saturn as my second favourite Sega console (behind the Dreamcast), and seeing as the DC is my favourite console overall - that ranks the Saturn pretty damned high in my books.

[Jasoco]

- What is your favorite game on this system?
Out of the ones I have, Duke Nukem 3D is really good. An almost perfect port. Quake is really good too.

- What are some of your other favorites?
Blazing Dragons is a neat cartoony game. Croc seems to be good. Bug! is also.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
I didn't have this back then. But judging what I have, the DOOM port disappoints me because of the framerate and lack of enough buttons. I have the PSX one though, so it's no big deal.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
I do. It was in TRU. I was a Nintendo fanboy. I saw the Saturn playing Sonic Whatever (The one with all the old games on it.) playing that 3D level and remember laughing at how crappy it looked compared to Mario 64 which had water you could actually SEE through.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
No. Yes. Received it off eBay and it is one of my faves to have sitting there.

- How many games do you have for it?
16 full, the three free pack and half of Mr. Bones. (Disc One. No Disc Two.)

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
No. Except it took forever to arrive because Western Union Auction Payments (BidPay) sucks so fucking horribly and took 3 weeks to send the MO.

I was happy to finally get it. I had wanted one in my collection for months. Especially to try out the games I don't have yet, Panzer Dragoon and NiGHTS. Can't wait! I already had it opened once. (To look for the battery before I realized there was a door on the back to access it without opening the system.)

[Speedy]

Don't play the system that much, it's more an item that i really wanted to have in my collection because i like the way it looks (and the game boxes also, i'm an EU collector so we've got those nice boxes (imho)).

- What is your favorite game on this system?

I really liked playing Saturn Bomberman, it's a great game and i think the most intresting game in my little Saturn collection. The only thing i need for now is an multitap so we can play the game with 4 pees (or better, 2 multitaps LOL )

- What are some of your other favorites?

Virtua Cop 2, Daytona USA

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Nothing to say here, i'm not really in Saturn as i said above.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Hmmmm, i think i never saw a Saturn live in action beforce i get my own a few months ago

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

No, not back in the day, after my SNES i bought a PC ( x_x ) unti a year ago when i started collecting console games i don't was intressted in a Saturn. Now i've got two of them, both Model 2, one boxed.
Also got an Sega Lightgun, fun item with Virtua Cop 2 8-)

- How many games do you have for it?

Got 19 for the system, nothing really special i think, the games are not so common here in Holland so good games have not so good prices and you can find them almost only on eBay or expensive gameshops. Flee markets are not a good place to find Saturn stuff.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Got a nice story about my own Saturn ... got it for free (the unboxed one)!! Together wit 17 games and the light gun. The only thing i had to do was travelling for 5 hours with the dutch railways (and they suck, but hey it's a free console!). When i came home with the system i opend the box where it was packed in and i also found Lunar Eternal Blue for the SegaCD in good condition (what it had to do with the Saturn i don't know. but it was a nice find ... free console, 17 games and a nice SegaCD game)
I have the system for about 4 months now and hopefully more nice stories are comming.

[CreamSoda]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Fighters: Megamix, most people would go 0.o but I think this is an awesome game! The action packed fights of Virtua Fighter 2, combined with the overall Hyperness of Fighting Vipers(and the cheesy rock music). This is a true Saturn classic in my opinion.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Guardian Heroes, Christmas Nights, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Saturn Bomberman, Saturn Bomberman: Fight, Sega Rally Championship, Duke Nukem 3D, Destruction Derby,

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Destruction Derby, I was suprised at what a great PSX port this was, the only thing I can remember being better about the PSX version is the draw distance. I just got this game for $5 about a week ago and I am very impressed with it. This is already my favorite Saturn racing game, and in my Saturn top 5. Highly underrated.

Daytona USA, infuriated me because it was such a rushed port, no multiplayer, bad graphics, choppy framerate, sloppy control. (thanfully a better version came out later).

Also the game Shenmue, because of how incredible it looks on the Saturn and the fact it never came out.

The incredible missed potential of this amazing system altogether makes me sad to this day.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I first saw Virtua Fighter 2, and I was pretty impressed by how good it looked, and how close it was to the arcade version.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

No sadly, I was about Seven when the Saturn was released, so $400 was out of the question. But yes, I do own the Saturn today. :)

- How many games do you have for it?

Around 50

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

I first got the Saturn in Spring 2000, and I remember the day cause I was really depressed that we had to give our dog away because it kept digging holes and getting out of the yard from under the fence. That afternoon, I got my Saturn from UPS with about 8 games(Virtua Fighter 2,Daytona USA,Virtua Cop,ect). So that made a bad day, quite a bit better. I remember playing Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua Cop for hours that clear warm Spring day with one of my best friends.

Thats probably my best memorie of the system(even though I have alot more, it's the one that stands out).

[CasualCoreGamer]

Favorite Game
At this point, it's a tossup between Dragon Force, which gave me a new found interest in strat/rpgs and Astal, which is the most gorgeous 2D platformer I've had the pleasure of playing.

Other Favorites
Legend of Oasis, Layer Section (I hate saying Galactic attack) and all the other games I own (see # of Games I Own, ahead)


Games That Surprised/Infuriated Me
I've had to weed through games like Robotica, Creature Shock & Virtual Hydlide early on until I started doing my homework. The Saturn was the console that taught me to never blindly buy a game again.

The First Time I Saw Saturn/Which Game/My Response
It was January 97' at a Babbages at the Holyoke Mall. The game was Virtual Fighter. It blew my mind at the time.

Did I Have It Back In The Day?/Now?
Nope. I wasn't much into gaming at the time. Currently I have a Model One & a complete, Boxed Model Two. Gonna get another Model Two so I can wreck it with an ST Key. Eventually will get a Hi-Saturn or V-Saturn.

# Of Games I Own
Sixteen. I love them all & I'm gonna love even more of them this year.
My Games:
-Astal
-Blazing Heroes
-Bust-A-Move 2 Arcade Edition
-Christmas Nights
-Dark Savior
-Dragon Force
-Galactic Attack
-Golden Axe: The Duel
-the Legend of Oasis
-Panzer Dragoon
-Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
-Resident Evil
-Shining Wisdom
-Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
-Virtual On
-X-Men: Children of The Atom

Stories Surrounding The System?
Not Really other than it's my favorite system, by far. I regret not hitting the bargain bins at EB & TRU in 99' though.

[CasualCoreGamer]

guess i could use a little practice operating the bold...

[Steven]

guess i could use a little practice operating the bold...

LOL! It's all good, man.

One thing struck me about your collection...

-Astal
-Blazing Heroes
-Bust-A-Move 2 Arcade Edition
-Christmas Nights
-Dark Savior
-Dragon Force
-Galactic Attack
-Golden Axe: The Duel
-the Legend of Oasis
-Panzer Dragoon
-Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
-Resident Evil
-Shining Wisdom
-Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
-Virtual On
-X-Men: Children of The Atom

16 games in all. One could easily argue... all 16 games you own... are QUALITY. I think we are too easily impressed by collections in the 100s, but your collection reminds me you don't need a TON of games to have a rock-solid library.

I assume you also play your Saturn a LOT more than many Saturn users who own 100+ games.

You my friend are a fine example of quality over quantity.

[CasualCoreGamer]

guess i could use a little practice operating the bold...

LOL! It's all good, man.

One thing struck me about your collection...

-Astal
-Blazing Heroes
-Bust-A-Move 2 Arcade Edition
-Christmas Nights
-Dark Savior
-Dragon Force
-Galactic Attack
-Golden Axe: The Duel
-the Legend of Oasis
-Panzer Dragoon
-Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
-Resident Evil
-Shining Wisdom
-Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
-Virtual On
-X-Men: Children of The Atom

16 games in all. One could easily argue... all 16 games you own... are QUALITY. I think we are too easily impressed by collections in the 100s, but your collection reminds me you don't need a TON of games to have a rock-solid library.

I assume you also play your Saturn a LOT more than many Saturn users who own 100+ games.

You my friend are a fine example of quality over quantity.

Thanks Steven. Yeah, my take on collecting is definitely quality over quantity, so I'll never have complete colections for any platform (one exception being NGPC). Matter of fact, there only roughy 50 or so titles of the US Saturn release list that I care to own (I'll be starting my import gobbling soon enough as well). Here's my rigid criteria (hah) for collecting:
-They must be from a Japanese developer, for the most part (just a preference for their aesthetic/style).
-From now on, in the case of disc based platforms, they (the games) must be complete. A smaller collection with complete games will always look nicer than a huge stack of orphan fodder. For some older platforms, cart only is fine since they all look uniform when stacked.
-For now, they must be cheap as possible (although I did go silly for Dreamcast import shooters/fighters last year). Maybe in the next year or so, I'll start throwing $$ around for the grails.

That's what I love about gaming/collecting. you can get alot done on the cheap if you're resourceful & wily enough. Enough of my mumbling. Saturn Rules! Thanks again, Steven.

[Iron Draggon]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Iron Storm - I just can't get enough of hex-based strategic wargames!

- What are some of your other favorites?

Fantastic Pinball, Hyper 3D Pinball, Last Gladiators, Necronomicon, Pinball Graffiti, Pro Pinball, True Pinball - Do you see a pattern here? Also all the shmups for it, I still don't have them all yet, but I love all the ones I have!

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

The original Daytona USA upset me when I saw all the pop-in it had, but Championship Circuit Edition really surprised me with all the improvements!

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I really don't remember what the first game I ever saw on it was, but I do remember being completely shocked when I went to a game store with my best friend one day, and they had the system way before it was supposed to be released! Neither one of us could believe they had it for sale already!

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Yep, it took me until the PlayStation came out to save up enough money for it, but I bought it as soon as I could! I thought it was way better than the PlayStation then, and I still think it's way better than the PlayStation now!

- How many games do you have for it?

Over 150 and still counting! I should be getting pretty close to 200 pretty soon, at the rate that I've been buying imports for it lately! I'm addicted!

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Yeah, towards the end of last year, I began an import binge on this system, and I'm still on it! I hadn't bought any new games for it for years, but now I just can't stop buying them! Maybe I'll even have a complete Saturn import collection someday! Every time I try to stop it, I find another game I want!

[Ulticron]

Wow! The Sega Saturn, that system comes in at #2 on my all time favorite console list! It's tough to say what's my all time favorite game of the console, but if I had to have just one I'd say it would be Nights into dreams. Even to this day that game is a one of a kind. So many times a game will spawn clone games made by other companies, but no one ever really made a clone of Nights.

Some of my other favorite games? Street Fighter Alpha 2, wonderful fighting game, Magic Knight Rayearth, Albert Odyssey, Dark Savior, were all fun RPGs. I loved Bug Too, and Sonic Jam. Last but not least I can't forget Virtua Cop and Virtua Cop 2 they're so campy they're funny.

Burning Rangers is probably the most annoying game I've played on the Saturn. I bought it, opened it, played very poorly for a couple of hours and gave up and put it on my shelf where it still stays today. As for being suprised by the Saturn, it blew my mind away from the moment I bought it until the end of it's retail life. I enjoied every game, even the bad ones.

I think the first time I saw it in action was 1996 in a mall department store. If memory serves me correct they had Bug Too playing on the system. I thought it looked cool, but I was to busy looking for SNES RPGs to think to much about it. At the time I didn't want a Saturn. I was strictly a Nintendo man and I was livving in the shadows of the NES and SNES era. The market was still flooded with games for those systems in my area at the time. I didn't get my Saturn until the NES an SNES supply started severly drying up which was in 1997. This was my first Non-Nintendo console. It was also the begining of me branching out and learning to appreciate other consoles.

I still have my original Saturn from 97. I don't play her anymore though. I do however play my modded Saturn that has a US/JP switch built into it. Since 1998 I had wanted a modded Saturn w/a region switch, and in 2003 a friend of mine made that happen. He also put in LED lights on the system for me, which go back and forth in a pattern. I love the Saturn, and still play it today.

I think I have a total of 63 games for my Saturn, a number which to this day still slowly grows. The Saturn is a highly worthy, and memorable console, and definately worth the #2 spot I give it in my heart as all time favorite console. :)

[c2000]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Torico Gekkamugentan. Beautiful bgm, great storyline.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Shining Force III, Discworld 2, Clockwork knight 2, Daytona CCE,
Keio 2, Fighting vipers, Soukyugurentai, Metal Slug...many more.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
A lot of games had gameplay elements that didn't yet cross my path.
Games such as Torico, Shining Force 3 (never played rpgs apart from Golden Axe warrior) and NiGHTS. Exhumed (Powerslave) infuriated me back in the
day for being so hard. I can handle it now :D


- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

In 1995? No. Sadly, the system was WAY too expensive for the average
13 year old. I kept going a little longer with my Megadrive and titles such
as MK3 and Sonic3D. I got my Saturn in early 1997 after a friend got one
late 1996 I got waaaaay jealous of games like Panzer Dragoon Zwei and
Sega Rally.

- How many games do you have for it?

Pff I haven't got a clue. Probably around 300. Half JAP half PAL. Im selling
most PAL games now and exchanging them for JAP versions. (except for
titles like Shining Force 3, Strory of Thor 2, Keio 2 etc)

[crazyjackcsa]

What is your favorite game on this system?
Sega Rally

What are some of your other favorites?
Worms, Nights, Shining Force, It's hard to choose!

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

GunGriffon surprised me, I just recently picked it up, way better than MechWarrior. Some things that really infuriated me: No Vectorman, Ecco, or some of the other classic Genny games, and No real Sonic game!

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

I can't quite remember, it was either VF2 or Panzer Dragoon. I thought, wow, that is the collest thing I've ever seen.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

The Saturn is the main system I collect for Now. I got it when Sega Rally was the Pack in game. I still have all of the boxes and rpaperwork.

- How many games do you have for it?
Over 60, 90% complete, all U.S.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
I've only ever met 3 other people with the system, and When I mention I have all three Panzers, Shining Force, And Burning Rangers, Gaurdian Heroes and Dragon Force, they are awestruck. I did have to sell off Dragon Force Burning Rangers and Shining Force, regretted it ever since.

[c2000]

Aaaargh so THATS the game I forgot, I KNEW I forgot one and it's WORMS!
Boy do I love that game.

BTW why cant I edit my post..seems silly.

[Steven]

Aaaargh so THATS the game I forgot, I KNEW I forgot one and it's WORMS!
Boy do I love that game.

BTW why cant I edit my post..seems silly.

I love Worms too. Nice to see others appreciatative of the Saturn port! IMO it's one of the best competitive multiplayer blasts on Saturn, no pun intended. I also consider it one of the most underrated Saturn games, period. It hardly gets any mention.

Me and my bro had have 100s of classic cut throat battles with WORMS.

I just never got into the sequels. The original to this day still has me captivated.

[dj898]

- What is your favourite game on this system?

I have to say Panzer Dragoon Saga followed by Hyper Duel.

- What are some of your other favourites?

Radiant Silvergun, Metal Slug, Astra Superstar and many more...


- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?



- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Saw it on the launch day back in Tokyo... couldn't afford nor my old man was about to buy one for me either... :(


- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Nope! I didn't. I only started to collect for Saturn stuff since 98/99... stop'd soon after though and didn't pick up till 2001.


- How many games do you have for it?

not sure... probably around 500-600+?


- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

At one stage I'd collected Saturn consoles and only one I didn't have was Hi-Navi and VCD Saturn but I got wise and sold most of consoles except prototype and Sonic and CartDev Rev.B setups...

[ozyr]

I never owned one, but I did play one, so...

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Of the limited games I played on this, I would have to say Saturn Bomberman. I've always liked Bomberman, and the Saturn version totally rocked! Multi-player is too cool!

- What are some of your other favorites?

Bust-a-move (2 and 3) - easy games, but I love 'em just that same.
House of the Dead - not the best looking game on this system, but it is a good translation of the cool arcade game.
Virtua Cop (1 and 2) - great light gun game (makes me wish I had this system and the light gun)

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Panzer Dragoon - it was just such a cool shooter done in a somewhat different way than most of the others out there.

Infuriated - none that I can think of. As said, I didn't get a chance to play a lot of games on this system. I'm sure there is something out there that would piss me off, but I haven't bumped into it (yet).

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

At a friend's house. House of the Dead was the game. That is what really got me interested in playing the system for a while. Did not buy it though, for the same reason I don't have an X-box or PS2 right now (at this point in time) - money!

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

No and No again. As put above, I played it on a friends system at his place.

- How many games do you have for it?

None! :( Wish I did, but I find it impossibly to collect for every system that is out there. I don't think I would want to anyway, as my other hobbies are important too.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Just that I thought it was a rather cool system that deserved more time that it got. It could have been so much more. However, Sega just kept digging itself into the grave with each system that was canned before it's time was up.

[segagamer]

- What is your favorite game on this system?
Virtua Fighter 2 and Thunder Force V
- What are some of your other favorites?
Burning Rangers, Shining Force III trilogy, Shining the Holy Ark, Sega Rally Championship, Sega Touring Car Championship, Radiant Silvergun, Puyo Puyo Sun, Shanghai: Triple Threat, Sega Ages series, Panzer Dragoon trilogy, Last Bronx, Grandia, Dead or Alive, Street Fighter Zero 3.
- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
VF2 surprised me the most with its high resolution polygon graphics, especially at a time when PS was known for better polygon graphics. Also, Sega Rally was really solid driving game with great graphics. Sega Touring Car was so very fast. Grandia and Dead or Alive again with great graphics. X-Men vs Street Fighter surprised me with lightning fast loading and crisp solid sounds.
I tried to avoid buying games that infuriated me...
- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
Yes, I was at a local game shop with lots of import games, and saw Virtua Fighter running on Japanese Saturn. I got to play it and was surprised at the deep gameplay.
- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
No, in January 1996, my brother bought the core system at $299 plus Shinobi Legions, Galactic Attack, and Street Fighter Alpha and surprised me with them, since I had a average paying job and could not afford to buy Saturn for $299. Once I hooked it up and played those games, I then went out on a shopping blitz and bought about 20 games at Best Buy, including VF2, Sega Rally, Virtua Cop, and many other 1st and 3rd party games.
- How many games do you have for it?
500+ (both US and JP)
- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
When my brother moved out of the house, he left the Saturn with me, since I bought 99% of the games. Every so often, he got the urge to play Saturn, and borrowed the system and games. At the time, I had already acquired dual-rom games like King of Fighters 95, and 4MB games such as XMvSF, and was swapping carts. Then I got Soukyugurentai and found out about the glitchy text. Eventually, I got hooked on eBay and found so many import games, and that was when I decided to buy a mint but used V-Saturn system from Japan for $50 so I could play every Japanese and US game without problems. But the real story was one day recently, my brother played Vampire Savior and didn't realize that you must power down before swapping carts. He removed the official backup memory cart and plugged in the 4MB cart with the power still on. Sad to say, most of the saved game files were either corrupted or erased, including those for VF2 and TFV.

[Mason P.]

I have been wondering what are the best shooters for the Saturn? Everybody says the 2D shooters were awsome, but I can never find a list of the best ones. I have read through the post and have gotten some good ideas on other games to pick up. I just got a modded saturn so I could play the imports.

Thanks alot,
Mason

[Damaramu]

- What is your favorite game on this system?
The very game that convinced me that I had to have a Saturn, Guardian Heroes. Absolutely my favorite.

- What are some of your other favorites?
Pocket Fighter, Shining Force 3, Shining The Holy Ark, Albert Odyssey, Sexy Parodious, Gungriffon, KOF 95-98, and a bunch more.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
Guardian Heroes just impressed the crap out of me, with it's graphics and frantic pacing.

Three Dirty Dwarves, however is a tough game. I remember playing that one with a friend and just getting frustrated to the point where I set my controller down and stopped playing.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
Yup. I was working at TRU and we received our first shipment of Saturns. We actually hooked one up in the break room and played Panzer Dragoon, Virtua Fighter and Daytona!

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
I picked up a used Saturn in '96. I still own that Saturn, plus 2 others.

- How many games do you have for it?
A bunch, at least 30-40. I'm gonna have to get back to you on this one. :wink 2:

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
Nothing but good times and good memories really.

[Tatsu]

- What is your favorite game on this system?
I don't have that many games, only three to be exact. Shinoby X and Darius Gaiden sure are great!

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?
The first game I've played was Shinobi X. I was amazed by the graphics, I mean the console is rather old now but the cinematic intro looked like a real movie. I was sure expecting the graphics to be a bit more dated.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
I never had a Saturn when it was new and I only did finde the one I own now by chance. An Easy Cash store was opening around the corner of my home and I was always carefully watching the display windows because I was hoping that they also cary used games. The first item I saw before the opening was a used Saturn together with one controller and the Sega Ralley game, and it was damn cheap! I counted the days until the shop was finally opening and as soon it was open I was planing to buy the console. I went there after work, hoping nobody has allready taken the console, but it was still there and now it's main. The a/v cable to connect it to the TV was missing and because of this I got a price reduction. I ordered a cable together with Shinobi X and after waiting a week I was finally able to play.

- How many games do you have for it?
As said above I only have three games because you rarely find Saturn games in the wild here. The games I have are Sega Ralley, Shinobi X and Darius Gaiden.

[jp]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

Oy. Pending on my mood a toss up between Panzer Dragoon Saga, Radiant Silvergun, NiGHTS, and Guardian Heroes.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Hmm... that would be a long list indeed. But, I'll give it a shot:
Astal, Blast Wind, Hyper Duel, Batsugun, Soukyugurentai, Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei, almost all of the Capcom 2D fighters, Astra Superstars, Darius Gaiden, Galactic Attack, Taromaru, Silhouette Mirage, Metal Black, and... a lot of other stuff. Heh. Most of the 2D stuff though.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Surprised me? Blast Wind, because it was so damn fun but everyone online kept dissing it. Infuriated me? Time Bokohan because I paid too much for it and it was quite mediocre.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Panzer Dragoon at Toys R Us on launch day! I played through the game 4 times standing there, and even drew a crowd! 8-)

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Yes and yes?

- How many games do you have for it?

430+... I haven't counted in awhile. Need to do that this summer I guess.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

Way too many and too hard to pick one. :-P

[VG_Maniac]

- What is your favorite game on this system?

There are tons of Sega Saturn games out there that I've never played. So, my favorite game as of now is probably Panzer Dragoon II Zwei.

- What are some of your other favorites?

The first Panzer Dragoon
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Virtua Cop 1 & 2
Virtua Fighter 2
Mega Man 8
In the Hunt
Earthworm Jim 2
Dragon Force
NIGHTS
Darius Gaiden

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

Sonic Jam. I was dissapointed that it was just a collection of the Genesis Sonic games and not Sega's answer to Super Mario 64. :/

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

It was at Toys R Us some time in 1995. I saw Panzer Dragoon playing one time, and NIGHTS the other time...but I forget which one I saw first. I played a little bit. I thought the graphics were very impressive. However, I was so much into the world of 16-bit through the SNES at the time...I really didn't give the system much thought. I just wasn't ready to "move up" to the next generation.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

I didn't own a Saturn back in the day. In fact, I didn't buy one untill 1999, when Sega had already dropped support for it. I was at a local used video game store and I saw they had one for sale for $30. I just couldn't pass the oppertunity to get a 32-bit system for so cheap. I didn't even own a Playstation yet at this time. The only current gen system I had was the N64. Over the next 2 months, I bought 8 games for it. This was before I knew about ebay, and most places around where I live had already stopped carrying Saturn games...so it was very tough to find them. After only owning a Saturn for 3 months and hardly being able to find any games to buy for it, I called it quits. I sold my Saturn and 8 games to a friend for $80. Then used the money to by a used Playstation with one controller and NO games. About 5 months after I bought that Playstation, it broke down...it was one of the early models that overheated very easily. I ended up getting a brand new Playstation that Christmas...but since the Playstation I had sold my Saturn for broke, I sold it for nothing. :angry:

About 4 years later, I really started to miss my Saturn and some of the games I had owned like Panzer Dragon II, Virtua Cop, and Virtua Fighter 2. So I got on ebay and bought a boxed Sega Saturn system and all my games back, plus a couple others. :D So far, I haven't really tried to collect for my Saturn, so I currently only own 10 games. However, I am never going to sell my Saturn again. This time I'm keeping it for good!

- How many games do you have for it?

Like I said above...I only own 10 games as of now. I am planning on getting serious about building up my Saturn collection sooner or later.

- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?

I pretty much shared my main story above. I sold my first Saturn because it was to hard to find games for it (my pre-ebay days). Then a few years later when I started to miss my Saturn, I bought another one off of ebay.

[Reid]

I never owned a Saturn until recently, when I bought one off ebay.

It is a great system!

My favorite games are Duke Nuke em 3D and Virtua cop

[josekortez]

Since I recently got into the Saturn and its library, I wanted to be a part of this discussion on what is one of the finest systems ever made!
- What is your favorite game on this system?
Konami Antiques MSX Collection because of the sheer number of games on the disc
- What are some of your other favorites?
Domestic – Fighters Megamix, Sega Rally, Virtua Cop, Virtua Fighter Remix & Virtua Fighter 2
Import – Fighting Vipers, Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty, Poppohito Hebreke, Tokemeki Memorial Taisen Pazurudama, Fantasy Zone Sega Ages, Super Casino Special
- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?
The puzzle games above are really great. I can’t get used to playing Duke Nukem on the pad, and I’m probably the only person who can’t figure out why Nights is supposed to be so great. The fact that the shmups are so expensive infuriates me too.
- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction? I didn’t see it in action until I owned one, and I thought it looked worse than the Dreamcast at first, but it grew on me.
- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?
I didn’t when it came out. I remember I was a freshman in college, and not only didn’t I have the money for it, but I had stopped buying games briefly after the 16-bit era.
- How many games do you have for it?
Roughly 40 or so, 10 of them are Japanese imports.
- Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
I found my first Saturn at a thrift store out in the country with about 14 games, but the Saturn’s battery had been gutted and it didn’t save any games. Later, I found another loose Saturn at a swap meet with 4 games, so I picked it up, but I didn’t start liking it until I got imports and an Action Replay cart.

[Baloo]

Ahh, the Saturn. My all-time favorite system, and oddly enough one of my newest consoles, next to the Vectrex, having only got it last summer. There's just something about the system that I really like.

- What is your favorite game on this system?

The amazingly beautiful NiGHTS into Dreams..., what a game.

- What are some of your other favorites?

Burning Rangers
Minnesota Fats: Pool Legend
Street Fighter Zero 3
X-Men Vs. Street Fighter
Sonic R
NBA Jam T.E
Virtual On
Daytona USA

And that's just naming a few.

- What games surprised you? Infuriated you?

What games suprised me? NiGHTS into Dreams, Burning Rangers, amongst a lot of the Sega stuff for the system. I played some of it and thought "Now why hasn't any of this stuff been re-released? It's amazing!" It feels like very few, if any exclusives for the system have been re-released here in the US, and it's a shame because there's a lot of great stuff on the Saturn.

As for infuriating, well Virtual On is definitely difficult, I have a VERY hard time beating VR-Dorkas. Sega Rally is really challenging too, I still can't even make it to the Lake level.

- Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action? What game was it? What was your reaction?

Well, I bought my Saturn at a flea market last summer for $35, and my first games was Virtua Fighter Kids (which I later sold), and then X-Men Children of the Atom. At first I thought "Uh-oh, maybe I shouldn't have bought this system", but once I got NiGHTS (my 3rd game for the system) I was definitely satisfied with my purchase.

- Did you own the system "back in the day"? How about now?

Didn't own the system back in the day, unfortunately. I did own the Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, and Playstation, but I think I would've traded them all in for the Saturn back in the day. I only wish I could've scooped up games like Panzer Dragoon Saga, Shining Force III, and Burning Rangers for cheap when the Dreamcast had come out.

- How many games do you have for it?

21 and counting! I've got Rayman on the way in the mail to make 22, and I'm still looking for quite a few more titles for my Saturn. It's my favorite system, and probably the only one I can really see myself keeping in the far future.

[M15fit]

I thought i'd responded to this thread? Anyway, the SS is one of my favorite machine's, So logically, I own about a dozen of them, of all shapes models and colors.

Favorite game on this system?
Devil Summoner Soul Hackers

Some of my other favorites ?
Powerslave/exhumed, Devil summoner, all the shmups, Quake, Duke 3d, Vatvla, Shining series, Grandia, Virtual on, all SNk and Capcom fighters

What games surprised me?
Quake, powerslave, duke 3d, Saturn cant do 3d? Awesome games

Infuriated me?
Doom, should have been so much better. Japanese version is superior

Do you remember the first time you saw the system in action?
Soon after Japanese release, Japanese owned game store I frequented for years.

What game was it?
Virtua Fighter

What was your reaction?
I bought 1, still own it, reaction was overly positive

Did you own the system "back in the day"?
Bought a Japanese grey Import pre Australia release, check above

How about now?
Own 12 working, about 4 for parts

How many games do you have for it?
About 100+ Pal releases, About 200+ Japan releases, About 50 U.S Releases

Any stories surrounding the system that you can share with us?
I really wish there was, but nothing comes to mind. Just that back in the day, my friends and myself enjoyed many nights on Saturn Bomberman. Many Vocal Brawls, many beers, many broken controllers. Nothing violent, Just teenage fun.