CRAP Saturn fighting games (plus a few unsungs)

[The32xMemorial]

It's pretty much accepted that the Saturn has yet to be surpassed as THE system for 2-D fighting game fans, and it played host to a good number of very good 3-D fighters, as well.

My question... whcih Saturn fighting games really sucked? Here's a few of my thoughts.

1. Battle Monsters
Yuck! This horror-themed fighter has silly Halloween-style characters and just sucks ass.

2. Street Fighter: The Movie
This one wasn't based on the arcade game of the same name... it actually utilizes a modified Street Fighter 2 game engine. Yet it still sucks. I wonder why? Could it be Jean-Claude?

3. Virtua Fighter 1
Ok, I know this game plays well, but it looks so bad compared to Battle Arena Toshindin (PSX) and VF Remix and VF2 that it's pretty much unplayable now.

4. Final Fight Revenge
Now THIS one reeks. It's a 3-D fighter based on the classic side-scrolling Final Fight games, and the graphics SUCK. We're talking some of the ugliest character models ever seen on the Saturn. Yet it requires the 4 meg RAM cart to operate! It was once an arcade game (that never made it past its test run in Japan.) To add insult to injury, it was the LAST Saturn game ever released! What a way to go...

5. Sailor Moon Super S Various Emotion
I've never been a fan of Sailor Moon, but this turd is awful. Who designed the animation for the characters? They don't have knees!

6. F.I.S.T.
This semi-sequel to the ok Pretty Fighter X DID NOT make the transition to 3-D well at all. Ugly looking and bad playing!

7. Dragon Ball Z Shinbutohden
It might be sought-after, but it sure ain't any good. Bad, bad game. The sequel is better, but not by much.

8. Hyper Reverthion
Awful Virtua On rip-off that some people buy thinking it's a shooter when in fact it's a waste of plastic.

9. Battle Area Toshinden Remix, Battle Arena Toshinden URA, and D-Xhird
These Toshindin games (D-Third doesn't feature Toshindin characters but it's a Takara game that utilizes the same game engine) really aren't that bad but they suck when compared to the PSX games. Why bother to do a game if you can handle the hardware?

10. Resurrection: Rise 2
I meant to place this higher. What a piece of shit! The developer promised it would be markedly better than the first Rise of the Robots... liars!


Here are some more obscure Saturn fighters that deserve more attention than they got...

1. Dead or Alive
The PSX version is grand, and everyone expected the Saturn game to come out in the States since the arcade game ran on a Sega Model 2 board and used the VF2 engine (as did the Saturn game.) Unfortunately, it's a Japanese-only release that's just as good (if not better) than the PSX port. It's not as good as the various sequels, but it has far and away the most boob-bounce (which was tamed for later versions.)

2. Elan Doree'
A 3-D fighter where your characters are mounted on dragons? Hell, yes! Not the deepest fighter ever, but it looks great and the novelty of the thing is plain cool.

3. All Japan Pro-Wrestling Featuring Virtua
This 3-D wrestling game features a few characters from VF and really should have made it over to the States. It rocks!

4. Cyberbots
This GREAT Capcom fighter never made aq splash anywhere... classic Capcom fighting, great graphics and character design, and 1 meg RAM support.

5. Anarchy in the Nippon
This game may seem like a questionable choice, but it plays pretty well. It was designed by VF experts, after all. The graphics are lame and the characters can be charitably described as "wacky", but it's good fun.

6. Last Bronx
I don't know why this weapons-based figher got such bad reviews... I love it (except for the lame cartoon endings.)

7. Virtua Fighter Kids
Most gamers wrote this off as a novelty game, but the moves are all VF2 (with some VF3 thrown in), the speed is great, and the shorter arms of the characters almost make it a different game entirely.

8. Pocket Fighter
Like VF Kids, this seemingly kiddie game features a deep fighting engine, a lot of humor, and nice 2-D graphics.

9. Galaxy Fight
This 2-D Neo Geo port suffers from some needless slowdown, but it still plays great. It's nice to see that a Neo Geo game made it to the Saturn in the States!

10. Sonic Council
This isn't the deepest or best-looking 2-D fighter on the Saturn for sure, but it plays well and it's cool to see what a little developer pulled out of their hat.

What do you think are the Saturn's crappiest fighters, as well as it's most underrated?

[E Nice]

6. F.I.S.T.
This semi-sequel to the ok Pretty Fighter X DID NOT make the transition to 3-D well at all. Ugly looking and bad playing!

9. Battle Area Toshinden Remix, Battle Arena Toshinden URA, and D-Xhird
These Toshindin games (D-Third doesn't feature Toshindin characters but it's a Takara game that utilizes the same game engine) really aren't that bad but they suck when compared to the PSX games. Why bother to do a game if you can handle the hardware?


6. Believe it or not, the PSX version plays worse than the Saturn version. I guess it's a compromise since it also looks better than the Saturn version. This is game was given such a limited amount of moves it's a wonder they let it out like that. If they just threw in a few projectiles it might have been better playing.

9. Saturn Toshinden games also suffer from something unexplicable. None of them quite have the combo feel/style that the PSX versions had, URA especially so.

Remix plays way slower than the PSX version. Looks grainier as well. On the plus side it has a good story mode and has Cupido and her awesome BGM.

Toshinden URA plays better than Tsd 2 in the fact that matches aren't over in the first 10 seconds. It's not slow but it's not ridiculously fast either, though the first few fights against Repli throws you off. Plus the characters here actually animate rather than the block motion the PSX counterparts perform to laughably animate movements.
URA is just a grab gab graphically. They were toying with using transparent sprites but didn't bother to improve it, so it's in one of the hidden options. I don't think they ever finished making the game before they let it out. There are so many places where you can notice the game could have looked a whole lot better by spotting other places where the game actually looks good, such as Repli's artic stage. Takara even toyed with some light shading, such as in Duke's stage, which changes for three different times of day, and Mondo's stage which which gets very yellow do to the sunset/rise.
Lastly, Replicant rules.

D-Xhird, proof the Saturn could have made more flashier 3D games if better development teams bothered to try. I could only imagine what a 3D Eternal Champions game would have been like.
Actually Eiji Shinjo is in this game.
True to Takara 3D fighters, characters were a bit stiff and controls sluggish. But this game had a bunch of unique features but they were poorly implemented.
Weapons that could be dropped and picked back up. When you dropped a weapon you were limited to a few punch/kick combos. You are very dependent on weapons in this game. Maybe if they gave each fighter an actual fighting style this part could have been something.
Weapons that had life meters of their own and they could be destroyed when the weapon lifebar is depleted.
The ability to jump back into the ring if you fell out of the ring.
The ability to bring up a shield that would hurt opponents if they tried to hit you and making it so the shield is powered by the weapon's life bar, so it can only be used a limited amount of times.
A sidestep that was actually perfromed quickly and allowed you to counterattack from an opponents vulnerable flank or fake a rush attack.
Then there's the ultimate attack, which also requires energy from the weapon lifebar. When you activate it you have a few seconds to wail a combo on your opponent in super speed. Anything will combo at such speed. Though if you miss your last blow you're left open to attack.
Graphically, this is one of the better looking 3D fighters. Izanagi's stage set in the Horsehead Nebula with those asteroids flying by or Eiji's beautiful stage inside the Tower of Babel.
Several stages used transparencies such as ring walls, fog, water or miscellaneous background objects. There's even an hidden option to make Karen's skirt transparent.
This game used light sourcing similar to Fighting Vipers and it didn't have to resort to that crappy flashing transparency technique which is what Fighting Vipers and Fighters Megamix had to use, except for use in the floor shadows. Shame about that part. I was hoping they could match Tsd URA's floor shadowing.
It also had a better looking weapons trailing edge than the one used in Last Bronx.
I just look at this game and wonder if this is what Takara managed to do on Saturn, what could a better development teamhave done?

[nitebycandlelite]

Hmm... I've not heard of many of these games. Did many of them get released outside of Japan?