SATURN AT 10

[RCM]

That's right boys and girls. Our favorite little black system that couldn't turns 10 today along with the 10th anniversary of the very first day of the very first E3.

I actually didn't get mine till June 1st 1995 (couldn't get a ride to the mall that was 20 miles away). It was and is a great system with so many must have titles. It's a little ironic that the best of the Saturn library holds up so much better than the best of the PS'. Pretty 2D vs. ugly 3D. Not that all of Saturn's best are 2D, ah, you get me point I hope.

Remember those horrid "Theater of the Eye" commercials? Yuck. Anyway, this thread is dedicated to Saturn and it's amazing titles. Feel free to drop fond memories or whatever into this thread. As long as it has to do with Saturn!

I still love ya Saturn!

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[FurinkanianFrood]

Best. System. Ever.


best of the Saturn library holds up so much better than the best of the PS'


The midrange Saturn stuff holds up better than the best PS stuff.....

The Saturn has better controllers. It has better games. Much better 2D. In the hands of good programmers it also does 3D better. Saturn DOA, VF2, Last Bronx, VirtualOn etc. are much cleaner and better animated than PS games.

Most of the decent looking 3D PS games depend on cutting corners with pre-rendered backgrounds and a lack of a truly 3D feel (**cough** Tekken 3 **weak**). And last time I checked most of the good looking PS games were RPGs, relatively not very hard to program them to look nice.... Most of the games (including most good ones like MGS, FF7) are fugly as sin.

I got rid of my PS. It's a waste of shelf space. Gathered dust like crazy.

Other than SOTN, Tri-ace stuff, and Suikoden 1+2 it doesn't have much of a point IMO.

[GobopopRevisited]

I have great memories of my Saturn.

Unfortunately, my Saturn has horrible memories of... anything. System Memory "Died"! No Scud! No Nights! No Virtual On! No... No... Nothing!

A system I wanted to love, but can't help but hate...

[Tatsu]

I personally don't think that the Saturn has the better library than the PS1 but it sure has a lot of great games! No doubt about this at all! I just have my Saturn for several months now but I really like that little fellow!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SATURN! :dance:

[Kroogah]

I have great memories of my Saturn.

Unfortunately, my Saturn has horrible memories of... anything. System Memory "Died"! No Scud! No Nights! No Virtual On! No... No... Nothing!

A system I wanted to love, but can't help but hate...

New battery no help?

Saturn is great, sold my first Saturn collection and now my favorite games are impossible to find (Konami MSX Collection, Sega Ages Memorial Selection 1) looking at games like MSH vs. SF and Vampire Savior, it's hard to consider the Saturn as 10 YEARS OLD but it's real obvious when you play stuff like Tomb Raider or Alien Trilogy. Virtua Fighter 2 looks great though.

[NEOFREAK9189]

I have great memories of my Saturn LOL

[Sosage]

I had a hate relationship with Sega by the time Saturn launched. I supported Sega through the Master System, Genesis and Sega CD. When I purchased the 32X for full price and found out (what felt like) over night about the Saturn, it felt like a slap in the face.

I only turned around when I saw X-Men vs. Street Fighter in action. I love Capcom more than Sega and seeing a CPS-2 port of that caliber was enough to make me drop my grudge and bust out my wallet for a used system. It should go without saying...but Capcom fucking worked that machine in the end...XSF/MSF/VS/Z3 are all must have imports even today. It is kind of cool to me that this Capcom support for Sega was also mirrored with the Dreamcast (they were one of the few big boy third party companies that supported the machine until the end...speaking of, thanks for the interview thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=60085Capcom) “steven”).

Shifting gears, did anyone happen to receive the promo material for the Saturn? I remember receiving a VHS tape in the mail with Ice Cube wearing a Saturn ringie thing on his head (I don't remember what was on it beyond that...can't find the tape).

[THATinkjar]

Ah, the Saturn! So very pretty. My fixation began when my brother brought it home, flaunting it as he rightfully could. I fell in love immediately. Daytona was a cut above anything I had ever experienced from the comfort of my own home. I begged him to let me have it for the grand sum of nothing, but alas, he saw the weakness in my proposal.

Getting my own was a dream come true that Christmas. It wasn’t so long after, though, that I sold it to (I think) fund my N64 purchase. Still, a great system. And I had a nice collection. And I definitely look forward to resuming my love affair with Sega this summer!

[Damaramu]

Happy Birthday Saturn! :bday: :cheers:

To celebrate, I'm gonna play some games today. Like I do every other day! LOL :hail:

[Tron 2.0]

Saturn+2d=Bliss there ya have it what... else could ya ask for 8-)

[s1lence]

It never got a saturn until it was about 7 years old. What a great system that never got what it deserved, in the states anyway. You can still get sealed games for it in japan if you have a good source. It also is home to some of the best games, ie silvergun and dragoon saga. Happy Birthday!!

[vulcanjedi]

Yo

Got my first taste of a home virtua fighter and Panzer Dragoon in early 1996 at a friends but didn't get my own saturn till 1998. Virtua Fighter 2 was the first fighter I really practiced at till I was able to beat it.

In the summer of 1996 I was at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey the weekend of the huge NiGHTS Into Dreams promo. Several places in the park they had these big kiosks with NiGHTS loaded on a dozen Saturns for people to play. My oldest son had just gotten a PS1 a few months earlier and comparing anything the PS had to offer against Nights showed a major difference.

Playing through Panzer Dragoon Saga was an amazing experience. Now I just fire it up every few weeks to play Power Drift and to try and get farther in Mr. Bones...

VJ

[segagamer4life]

I picked up my saturn in 95 it cost me a ton, but thanks to EB and their trade in- policy I traded in some old stuff and got some money off the price, which was 399, at the time.. and damn was that expensive, but man oh man, what a system, I still remember when I first played Nights. I remember the hours I spent playing Virtua-Fighter... sweeeet. This system, was so underrated, and overlooked, the panzer series, is still one of my all time fav's. All in all, great system, thank you sega for the best 32-bit system. :D :D

[CullJeff]

The first game i ever played on a saturn (still don't own one yet) was Street Fighter The Movie The Fighting Game. I thought that it was the most hilarious thing i had ever seen, but aside from that i thought the Saturn was great. Now if only Sega would jump back into the game with some sort of holographic virtual 9-D system then they would show them.

[esquire]

It's a little ironic that the best of the Saturn library holds up so much better than the best of the PS'.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly may that be? I'm by no means a Sony fanboy, and I love my Sega systems to death, but IMO I find your comment extremely hard, if not impossible, to believe, especially since the Saturn releases only totaled about 250, compared to the Playstation's 1200+ games. I know there were a lot of good RPGs and of course Panzer Dragoon series for the Saturn, but consider the following:

Saturn RPGS
Albert Odyssey
Dragon Force
Legend of Oasis
Shining the Holy Ark
Shining Wisdom
Shining Force III
Magic Knight Rayearth
Mystaria
Dark Savior

Playstation RPGS
Alundra
Alundra 2
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire IV
Arc the Lad Collection
Lunar Silver Star Story Complete
Lunar Eternal Blue Complete
Suikoden
Suikoden II
Vandal-Hearts
Vandal-Hearts II
Final Fantasy Tactics
Brigandine
Kartia
Ogre Battle LE
Tactics Ogre
Grandia
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Destiny II
Thousand Arms
Wild Arms
Wild Arms 2
Star Ocean The Second Story
Legend of Mana
Legend of Legaia
Legend of Dragoon
Jade Cocoon
Valkyrie Profile
Vagrant Story
Hoshigami
Saga Frontier
Saga Frontier 2
Rhapsody
Threads of Fate
Azure Dreams
Granstream Saga
Dragon Warrior VII
Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX
Final Fantasy Origins, Anthology and Chronicles
Chrono Cross
Shadow Madness
Diablo
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
Persona
Dragon Valor
Beyond the Beyond
King's Field I & II
Xenogears

Edge: Playstation, and not in just pure numbers.

Platformers: Sonic, Astal, Bug, Clockwork Knight vs Klonoa, Tomba, Crash, Medieval, Oddworld, Skullmonkeys, Blasto, Wild 9, Silhouette Mirage, to name just a few.

Edge: Playstation. Besides Sonic, the Saturn platformers didn't stand up to the Playstation's

No US Castlevania vs. Castlevania SOTN and Chronicles

Edge: Playstation

Shmups: Darius Gaiden, Galactic Attack vs G. Darius, R-Types, R-Type DX, Einhander, Raycrisis, Raystorm, Thunderforce V, Raiden Project, Gekioh, Strikers 1945, Novastorm, Philosoma, Viewpoint, Metal Slug X, Mobile Light Force, Sol Divide, Shooter series

Edge: Playstation. Not even close.

Strategy Games: Iron Storm, PTO 2, Romance IV, 1 Worms game vs Dune 2000, C&C Red Alert, Panzer General, Allied General, Romance IV & VI, Warhammer series, 3 Worms games.

Edge: Close, but slight edge to Playstation.

Sports games and Fighters: Didn't really bother as each console has al ot of the same, save in fighters/brawlers Guardian Heroes Dark Legend and Blazing Heroes vs say Tekken, Soul Blade. This is where they are probably the closest.

Also, I didn't bother to mention games released on both consoles such as Warcraft II, Command & Conquer, In the Hunt, etc.

Of course these are all US releases only, but if you are going to add in all the Japanese releases for the Saturn, you'll have to do the same for the Playstation. The only area I see a change is with of course shmups. Still the Saturn US shmup library is very lacking, and the Japanese Playstation shmup library was pretty good itself.

Its nice that you want to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Saturn, but you had to throw in that jab at Sony in the process, which clearly is not true, and if it were, well then history perhaps may have been different. I love my Saturn and the games for it, but I can't deny the fact that overall the Playstation had not only a better library, but its best games were better than those for the Saturn.

[Promophile]

Someone mentioned their Saturn Memory died. I'd like to point out that the saturn has a VERY easily replaceable battery. Its a watch batter CR3023? Something like that. I had the same problem, replaced the battery and everything was fine.

[RCM]

It's a little ironic that the best of the Saturn library holds up so much better than the best of the PS'.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly may that be? I'm by no means a Sony fanboy, and I love my Sega systems to death, but IMO I find your comment extremely hard, if not impossible, to believe, especially since the Saturn releases only totaled about 250, compared to the Playstation's 1200+ games. I know there were a lot of good RPGs and of course Panzer Dragoon series for the Saturn, but consider the following:

Saturn RPGS
Albert Odyssey
Dragon Force
Legend of Oasis
Shining the Holy Ark
Shining Wisdom
Shining Force III
Magic Knight Rayearth
Mystaria
Dark Savior

Playstation RPGS
Alundra
Alundra 2
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire IV
Arc the Lad Collection
Lunar Silver Star Story Complete
Lunar Eternal Blue Complete
Suikoden
Suikoden II
Vandal-Hearts
Vandal-Hearts II
Final Fantasy Tactics
Brigandine
Kartia
Ogre Battle LE
Tactics Ogre
Grandia
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Destiny II
Thousand Arms
Wild Arms
Wild Arms 2
Star Ocean The Second Story
Legend of Mana
Legend of Legaia
Legend of Dragoon
Jade Cocoon
Valkyrie Profile
Vagrant Story
Hoshigami
Saga Frontier
Saga Frontier 2
Rhapsody
Threads of Fate
Azure Dreams
Granstream Saga
Dragon Warrior VII
Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX
Final Fantasy Origins, Anthology and Chronicles
Chrono Cross
Shadow Madness
Diablo
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
Persona
Dragon Valor
Beyond the Beyond
King's Field I & II
Xenogears

Edge: Playstation, and not in just pure numbers.

Platformers: Sonic, Astal, Bug, Clockwork Knight vs Klonoa, Tomba, Crash, Medieval, Oddworld, Skullmonkeys, Blasto, Wild 9, Silhouette Mirage, to name just a few.

Edge: Playstation. Besides Sonic, the Saturn platformers didn't stand up to the Playstation's

No US Castlevania vs. Castlevania SOTN and Chronicles

Edge: Playstation

Shmups: Darius Gaiden, Galactic Attack vs G. Darius, R-Types, R-Type DX, Einhander, Raycrisis, Raystorm, Thunderforce V, Raiden Project, Gekioh, Strikers 1945, Novastorm, Philosoma, Viewpoint, Metal Slug X, Mobile Light Force, Sol Divide, Shooter series

Edge: Playstation. Not even close.

Strategy Games: Iron Storm, PTO 2, Romance IV, 1 Worms game vs Dune 2000, C&C Red Alert, Panzer General, Allied General, Romance IV & VI, Warhammer series, 3 Worms games.

Edge: Close, but slight edge to Playstation.

Sports games and Fighters: Didn't really bother as each console has al ot of the same, save in fighters/brawlers Guardian Heroes Dark Legend and Blazing Heroes vs say Tekken, Soul Blade. This is where they are probably the closest.

Also, I didn't bother to mention games released on both consoles such as Warcraft II, Command & Conquer, In the Hunt, etc.

Of course these are all US releases only, but if you are going to add in all the Japanese releases for the Saturn, you'll have to do the same for the Playstation. The only area I see a change is with of course shmups. Still the Saturn US shmup library is very lacking, and the Japanese Playstation shmup library was pretty good itself.

Its nice that you want to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Saturn, but you had to throw in that jab at Sony in the process, which clearly is not true, and if it were, well then history perhaps may have been different. I love my Saturn and the games for it, but I can't deny the fact that overall the Playstation had not only a better library, but its best games were better than those for the Saturn.

I was speaking in terms of graphics for the most part. Tekken 3 is still fun to play but it's lost some of its appeal, while you look at X-Men vs. Street Fighter and it's still very pretty. It was no jab at Sony, If you look at my next sentence


Pretty 2D vs. ugly 3D.

My point was that people generally think that PS' best were 3D and Saturn's best was 2D. And it's very clear that the 3D of that gen is pretty ugly. It's ironic because that was the major factor differentiating the two systems and making one rise and one fall and now the Saturn's best still looks great and hold up as opposed to Tekken which doesn't. I was speaking in general terms and quite frankly that's my opinion. You have yours and that's fine but I don't agree with it or your list. No jab, just opinion my friend.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Has it really been 10 years? Damn. I remember splitting the money with my dad for my first saturn on september 3, 1995 for the outrageous price of 399 dollars. It may have been a steep price to pay, but the memories of many heated Virtua Fighter 2, Darkstalkers and Virtua-on matches made the price well worth it in the end.

Since then I have owned and sold about 3 or 4 saturns. However, I always find myself coming back for more of the greats like Nights, Astal and the Panzer Dragoon series more often then not.

Happy 10th anniversary Saturn!!

:dance:

[fishsandwich]

It's a little ironic that the best of the Saturn library holds up so much better than the best of the PS'.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly may that be? I'm by no means a Sony fanboy, and I love my Sega systems to death, but IMO I find your comment extremely hard, if not impossible, to believe, especially since the Saturn releases only totaled about 250, compared to the Playstation's 1200+ games. I know there were a lot of good RPGs and of course Panzer Dragoon series for the Saturn, but consider the following:



All your comparisons are good, and your arguements are valid. There's no doubt there are more games in the PSone library and, theerfore, many more GOOD games than you'll find on the Saturn.

However, he said the BEST for the Saturn versus BEST of the PS. I wouldn't say it "holds up SO much better" but the best game of a particular genre on the Saturn does generally compare favorably to, and sometimes surpasses, its best match on the PSone.

I am including imports... they are very often a vital part of any serious Saturn owner's library. They are easy to get and easy to play on any US Saturn with any number of pop-in carts. Compare all the PS imports you want. The game library canyon closes a lot when you compare the domestic releases (245 vs 1200+) to imports (700+ vs approximately 2000)



Panzer Dragoon Saga, while short, is as good as any PSX RPG of the same type. Better in some cases.

Dragon Force and Shining Force III are fantastic strategy/RPG's and I haven't played any better on the PSX.

Virtua Fighter 2 is a superb fighter and is deeper than anything on the PSX. The Saturn does not have Tekken 3, though, and some perople prefer that style more. Matter of preferance.

Saturn wins when it comes to 2-D fighters, hands-down... and not just fighters from Capcom. Street Fighter Alpha 3, anyone?

The PSX has a lot of great Shmups, but it doesn't have Battle Garegga, Batsugun, or Radiant Silvergun.

Saturn gets mowed down and buried by Gran Turismo. Whoops.

The Saturn does get its ass kicked by the PSX when it comes to platformers, but it certainly competes.

I don't know much about sports games, but I know that the Sega-produced Soccer and Baseball games are highly, highly regarded. Not so much for other sports?

Don't get me wrong... if I was to be cast off on a deserted island (with electricity) I'd take the PSone domestic library over the domestic Saturn library ANY day... but I might go with Saturn if that island only allowed Japanese imports.


-----------------------------------------------------


I remember when I first got a Saturn... it was late 1996 and a guy I worked with was selling his Saturn, a gun, and about 8 games for $100. That wasn't a bad price back then.

I played the hell out of those games, bought more, and rented the hell out of a bunch more games. I gave my PSX more time, but that was before I discovered imports.


Some non-import favorites they went under the radar...


AMOK
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satamokss.jpg

BAKU BAKU
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satbakubss2.jpg

BURNING RANGERS
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satburnrss2.jpg

CLOCKWORK KNIGHT 2
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satclockwk2ss.jpg

CROC
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satcrocss.jpg

DARK SAVIOR
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satdsss.jpg

POWERSLAVE
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satexhumedss2.jpg

FIGHTING VIPERS
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satfvss2.jpg

GOLDEN AXE: THE DUEL
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satgaxess2.jpg

HOUSE OF THE DEAD
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/sathotdss2.jpg

DUKE NUKEM
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satdn3dss.jpg

CRIMEWAVE
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satcrimewss2.jpg

MASS DESTRUCTION
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satmassdss.jpg

MANX TT
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satmanxttss2.jpg

PANDEMONIUM!
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satpandemss2.jpg

SEGA TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/sattouringcss2.jpg

SONIC JAM
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satsonicjss2.jpg

SONIC R
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satsonicrss2.jpg

STEEP SLOPE SLIDERS
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/satsssss2.jpg

THREE DIRTY DWARVES
http://www.segacollection.com/saturn/sattddss2.jpg

More to come?

:evil:



Y

[MegaDrive20XX]

Happy Birthday you beautiful piece of hardware!

w00t

Here's to a system that finally perfected 2D fighter ports!

[pookninja]

happy birthday saturn.the sega saturn is one of my favorite systems.i still play mine on a regular basis.just for fun,im gonna list my top "must play" games for this great systemnightsdarkstalkers night warriorsworld series baseballalbert odysseysega rallydaytona usadark saviordragon forcefire pro wrestling 6 man scramble(jap import)dungeons and dragons collection(jap import)blazing tornado(jap import)street fighter zero 2(alpha)warriors of fate 2(jap import)blue seed(jap import)virtua cop 1+2baku bakuand all 3 panzer dragoonsto me,these are some of the best games ever made,and i would recomend anyone to try these games out on the saturn.

[PDorr3]

Back when the saturn came out I was too consumed by the PSX, and had little interest in the saturn. About 2 years ago I finaly got one and I must say it is a great system, panzer dragoon and sonic R are the two reasons I wanted the system.

[J2games]

I love threads like this, it's my reminder of what is so great about classic gaming. I don't think in the last 4 years of J2Games we have ever packed away the Saturn, someone on staff is always playing SOMETHING... personally, I was always hooked on the gun games, silly I know, but love Area 51, Virtua Cop, etc.

This is making me think of something... for all you Saturn Collectors out there, in honor of our beloved Saturn turning 10, we're gonna offer through the end of this week, 10% OFF any Sega Saturn purchase. Games, systems or accessories. Just visit J2Games.com and use coupon code 'saturn' on checkout!

Happy B-day Saturn, here's to another 10 years!

[nate1749]

The Saturn has better controllers.

I love my 2 sega saturns, but the controllers are the crappiest ever. The button layout is poor, the size is too small, and they feel really cheap. I will give them durability, but they seriously weigh like 1 once and just feel like cheap junk.

I've always thought this was a mistake, taking the genesis style controller and making it a saturn. My hands are already small and they still feel massive on this controller - it just wasn't designed to fit a hand, unlike the playstation or dreamcast (sega figured it out eventually) controllers.

Plus PsOne controller has dual analog sticks & I believe rumble - definitely better than saturn. Take away those neat features and you've got an original ps controller which didn't feel so cheap and fit your hand.

I still play virtua cop 2 on a regular basis. I don't think I'll ever get sick of this system.

Oh and the battery is CR2032 - and yes very common and very easy to replace. I actually just bought a NIB saturn modem & gamepack. I want to try to call my friend and see how games are over the 28k modem. To bad they didn't have a BBA somehow....

Nate

[c2000]

Ten years already.. X_x

God I love this system :-P


Btw Guess my site is still the first spot to look for Saturn screens eh? ;)

Im redoing most of the screens now through composite instead of RF. btw. (for segadatabase.com)

[fishsandwich]

The Saturn has better controllers.

I love my 2 sega saturns, but the controllers are the crappiest ever. The button layout is poor, the size is too small, and they feel really cheap. I will give them durability, but they seriously weigh like 1 once and just feel like cheap junk.

I've always thought this was a mistake, taking the genesis style controller and making it a saturn. My hands are already small and they still feel massive on this controller - it just wasn't designed to fit a hand, unlike the playstation or dreamcast (sega figured it out eventually) controllers.

Plus PsOne controller has dual analog sticks & I believe rumble - definitely better than saturn. Take away those neat features and you've got an original ps controller which didn't feel so cheap and fit your hand.

Nate

I must disagree!

I love the smaller controllers, and they are durable as hell. I don't like the bigger, earlier ones though.

Of course, I only use the Saturn analog controller... the best controller ever.

:D

[bargora]

It's a little ironic that the best of the Saturn library holds up so much better than the best of the PS'.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly may that be? I'm by no means a Sony fanboy, and I love my Sega systems to death, but IMO I find your comment extremely hard, if not impossible, to believe, especially since the Saturn releases only totaled about 250, compared to the Playstation's 1200+ games.

Shmups: Darius Gaiden, Galactic Attack vs G. Darius, R-Types, R-Type DX, Einhander, Raycrisis, Raystorm, Thunderforce V, Raiden Project, Gekioh, Strikers 1945, Novastorm, Philosoma, Viewpoint, Metal Slug X, Mobile Light Force, Sol Divide, Shooter series

Edge: Playstation. Not even close.
I don't have the time or expertise to address your other points, but I gotta speak up about library size and scrolling shooting games in particular.

I will concede that if you restrict the comparison to the U.S. libraries, then the PlayStation thrashes the Saturn like the proverbial red-headed stepchild. But, as some posters have alluded to, I have one word you should hear: Imports

And let me preface this by saying that I dig both the Saturn and the Playstation, and I'm pretty platform agnostic as long as I get to blow stuff up. Lots of stuff.

So--If you include JP Saturn titles, you immediately get back Raycrisis, Raystorm, Thunderforce V, Gekioh (or Shienryu, if you like), Strikers 1945 (which actually is Strikers 1945 II), Mobile Light Force (which is a marketing department travesty of a renaming of Gunbird), Metal Slug, and Sol Divide. All of these games were released on the Saturn in Japan

And if you count import titles, the Saturn has a library rivalling the PlayStation's in size.

It's true that the PlayStation still has (and the Saturn has not) R-Types/DX, R-Type Delta, Einhander, Raiden Project/DX, Novastorm (which did come out on Sega CD, though I suppose that's not relevant), Philosoma, and Viewpoint (and have you actually tried to play it on the PS? Aaargh). And bringing in imports also nets the excellent Gradius Gaiden for the PS.

However, once the imports come into the picture, you get Saturn exclusives for Battle Garegga, Blast Wind, Darius II, Radiant Silvergun, Soukyugurentai, Strikers 1945 (the actual first one), Thunder Force Gold Packs 1 and 2, Twinkle Star Sprites, and several others I haven't played.

And then there's a pile of other shmups that came out for both PS and Saturn, other than those I mentioned above. I'm not going to get into arguments about which version is better graphically for those games, because there are other people who like to argue that sort of thing. However, I will point out that several of the vertical shooters that have tate support in the Saturn version have had that option removed in (at least the domestically released) PlayStation version.

All I'm saying is that if you include the whole world of games, the Saturn vs. PlayStation shmup battle is nowhere near the blowout you originally described it to be, and there are plenty of people who believe that the Saturn shmup lineup beats the PlayStation's.

[nate1749]

The Saturn has better controllers.

I love my 2 sega saturns, but the controllers are the crappiest ever. The button layout is poor, the size is too small, and they feel really cheap. I will give them durability, but they seriously weigh like 1 once and just feel like cheap junk.

I've always thought this was a mistake, taking the genesis style controller and making it a saturn. My hands are already small and they still feel massive on this controller - it just wasn't designed to fit a hand, unlike the playstation or dreamcast (sega figured it out eventually) controllers.

Plus PsOne controller has dual analog sticks & I believe rumble - definitely better than saturn. Take away those neat features and you've got an original ps controller which didn't feel so cheap and fit your hand.

Nate

I must disagree!

I love the smaller controllers, and they are durable as hell. I don't like the bigger, earlier ones though.

Of course, I only use the Saturn analog controller... the best controller ever.

:D

Is the analog controller the 3d controller that came with Nights? I just bought one of those and I haven't used it yet but from picking it up it seems to fit my hand a lot better. Seems like what the DC controller was based off of.

Nate

[Trevor Belmont]

What an incredible, underrated (outside of the hardcore VG community) system. I find it sad that part of the reason the Saturn was "doomed" was because it was "too difficult" to program on. Or, as some companies realized, it meant that mastering programming on the Saturn could produce some incredible results. Essentially the PSX won out partly because of how easy it was to program on.

At any rate, like an idiot, I sold off a lot of my collection a long time ago, and am currently paying through the nose to get it back. I'm hooked on Magic Knight Rayearth. Talk about a game that doesn't receive much mention, but is fantastic nonetheless.

Anyone out there on the fence about getting a Saturn, get one right away. You're truly missing out!

[Mianrtcv]

Ten years... It feels like ten years since sega dropped out of things. The Saturn was a nice system. Sega unfortunately just didn't get enough games out. Yes, they got some good ones. However as was pointed out, not that quantity = quality, but their library was not as large as a console would have needed to compete/survive that period. Too bad, Happy Birthday anyway. The system that convinced my other half games are ok (she was hooked on House of the Dead). So for that, I always have to say thanks, this way I can amass ridiculous amounts of games under the guise of "you have to try this"...

[suppafly]

The Genesis is my favorite system Ever. The Dreamcast is a close second.

However I strongly dislike the saturn. I´ve had 2, and over 50 games, and I just cant think how it intended to compete with the PSX. And I hate the saturn too for making sega go almost bankrupt and unable to support the dreamcast (a great system) as long as they should´ve.

Die Saturn, Die!

[Fuyukaze]

When the Saturn was first released, I decided I would give it a try and rented it and 2 games I thought would be good. When I returned it, I figured there was nothing the system would ever have to offer me that the PS didnt. Little did I know the 2 games rented were arguably the worst games one could ever rent for the system. Virtua Fighter 1 and Myst. Years later after finaly seeing what the system was capable of, I decided I must have it. Around 4 years ago I finaly picked one up and have made it my mission to get as many games for it as I could. I dont believe I am doing to bad as I have 30 games for it now. I may not have any of the Big names for the system, but even so I am happy with what I have. I am not so happy that I will stop getting games though LOL !

[Melf]

How can anyone prefer the PSX controller over the Saturn one? For shmups and especially fighters, the Saturn controller owned the PSX pad. Dual Shock is nice, but that horrid half-ass D pad just makes my fingers bleed.

I still love my Saturn and coincidentally just got a minty copy of Steamgear Mash! Time for some birthday fun.

Happy birthday Saturn!

[nate1749]

How can anyone prefer the PSX controller over the Saturn one? For shmups and especially fighters, the Saturn controller owned the PSX pad. Dual Shock is nice, but that horrid half-ass D pad just makes my fingers bleed.

I still love my Saturn and coincidentally just got a minty copy of Steamgear Mash! Time for some birthday fun.

Happy birthday Saturn!

Me, I have a terrible time doing moves/combos without the d-pad. I suck in the arcade because of this too. For shoot-em-ups I think all controllers suck, I like guns.

Nate

[segagamer4life]

Saturn+2d=Bliss there ya have it what... else could ya ask for 8-)


you're right.... and nice pic obtw..lol

[esquire]

I was speaking in terms of graphics for the most part. Tekken 3 is still fun to play but it's lost some of its appeal, while you look at X-Men vs. Street Fighter and it's still very pretty. It was no jab at Sony, If you look at my next sentence


Pretty 2D vs. ugly 3D.

As was I talking about graphics, 2D. If you look at the games I listed, they are for the most part 2D, especially the RPGs and Shmups. I don't wan't to detract too far off the original spirit of the thread, but I would've liked to seen some specifics from you, like fishsandwich did. Let's just say we'll disagree and leave it at that. The Playstation had some beautiful 2D graphics. With games like Legend of Mana, the Lunar games, Hoshigami, the Final Fantasy series, and Arc the Lad Collection, you can't deny the PS1's 2D glory. IMO, those games are better graphics wise than anything comparative on the Saturn.

[The Brown Eye]

Remember those horrid "Theater of the Eye" commercials? Yuck.

I have a disc of TrueMotion demos that has that and some others on it. Sega's TV spots for the Saturn were a lot better (IMO) than the DC ones. Just bizarre at times.

[Ed Oscuro]

The Saturn had better 2D if you could utilize it properly...Konami's B-team had a horrible time porting SotN (Japanese version, anyhow, NitM) to the Saturn. For Crusader: No Remorse, I've read the Sat. version was sharper, while the PSX had brighter colors (go figure...not what I'd expect after playing Sol Divide).

A question, then - how do Neo Geo ports on the PSX hold up to those on the Saturn?

[Mr Mort]

Without a doubt, the Saturn is my favorite system of all-time.
I looove my Saturn(s). I baught my first one in August of 95, paid close to $500 for the system w/ Daytona & one controller, and it was worth every penny.

I have so many great memories of that system, and it's still hooked up and gets played on a regular basis. I have so many favorites on that system, it's crazy:
-Thunder Force V
-Guardian Heroes
-Panzer Dragoon Zwei
-Panzer Dragoon Saga
-Street Fighter Zero 3
-Sega Rally
-Fighter's Megamix
-Metal Slug
-Night Warriors
-Powerslave
-Radiant Silvergun
-too many more to list...

I'm a huge fan of Sega's arcade games and Capcom's 2D fighters, and naturally, the Saturn is gifted with amazing ports of those games. I loved 2D games on the Saturn. Few systems could handle 2D as well as the Saturn did. IMHO, only the Neo-Geo could do better.

I was (and to a lesser extent, still am) pissed that SOA refused to port so many japanese games to North America. If their marketing was done better, and they had actually brought over all those amazing japanese games, the Saturn would have fared much better. It still wouldn't have beat the PS, but it would have at least been better received.

Oh well, thank goodness for imports, for the Saturn was (and still is) an amazing system.

[CasualCoreGamer]

I'd love to raise a birthday toast to my beloved Saturn, but without Bernie Stolar's skull in my hand, it just wouldn't be sincere enough.

[Kroogah]

Hey K U, you know my Sega collection is massive
Got all the past hits and classics
Herzog Zwei now Panzer Zwei
Originality that made me a fan today

To anyone who knew me better,
Know that I chose Saturn first cuz it's 2D heaven
Bernie Stolar dropped the ball with the RAM cartridge
X-Men Vs. Street Fighter could've expanded the market

Del tha Funkee Homosapien, "Proto Culture"

[Lothars]

Well I just got my saturn about two weeks ago and definitly looking for games now,

but i do have to say I love the saturn it's an amazing system that never got the attention it deserved.

Especially games such as the 2d fighters, Xmen Cota

MSH, Xmen vs Street Fighters, basically any 2d fighters is the games im looking for

so hey if anyone has and want to sell im definitly interested.

[jsiucho]

Man it was a great B-Day present for me, I have only recently gotten a Saturn like 2 years ago,,, been playing lots of nice fighting imports, but about 4 months ago I started to play Dragon Force,, what a great game,, and to make it better I beat it for the first time yesterday!,, I wll always remember this day from now on. Now for some Panzer Saga! I heard good stuff about this game.

JS

[AB Positive]

I need to re-get the white jp saturn I had not too long ago... the import scene is awesome for fighters, shmups, and other quirky titles that really flesh out what the Saturn can do.

Except for the RPGs on the system, I have very little interest in the us side of gaming, they didn't bring over nearly as many great titles as they could have.

-AG

[josekortez]

I just lucked up on a buttload of Saturn games earlier this week, so I'm looking forward to trying them out once I find a working Saturn. I've heard a lot of good things about this system, even before this discussion.