Top imports - Sega Saturn

[devilman]

Damn.. the two games I was going to recommend have already been suggested - Magical Drop III & Radiant Silvergun.

I played MD III to death on the Neo Geo emulator so I was chuffed to find that it came out on the Saturn as the chance of me getting it for my AES were pretty remote. I've got MD II too and the first game which was called Chain Reaction.

Radiant Silvergun is a great game and actually worth the high price it commands. I'll probably never finish it, as shooters are NOT my speciality (in fact, I've no idea what my speciality is) but every time I play it I think "how the hell did they do all this on a Saturn" where a lot of other games just didn't push the system in the way that Treasure did.

Just as an aside, was Sega Ages released in the US? I know that us PAL gamers got all three games (Out Run, Space Harrier & After Burner 2) as one compilation while in Japan they were all released separately. What did the US get?

[GaijinPunch]

The US got screwed. Japan got more than those three. Sega Ages Collection 1-2 and Fantasy Zone come to mind. Phantasy Star Collection was technically a Sega Ages release, although you'd not know from the packaging.

[devilman]

Ah, I'd forgetten about the others. I quite like Sega Ages Collection 2.

[Lost Monkey]

Gals Panic
Radiant Silvergun
Thunderforce V
X-Men Vs Streetfighter
Vampire Savior
Dead or Alive
Sega Ages Volume 1 & 2

There are so many good shmups - way too many to list...

I think the Saturn is my favourite import system with the PCE a close second.

[Kroogah]

The US got screwed. Japan got more than those three. Sega Ages Collection 1-2 and Fantasy Zone come to mind. Phantasy Star Collection was technically a Sega Ages release, although you'd not know from the packaging.

Oh, did we ever.....

Sega Ages Japanese discs:
Space Harrier
After Burner 2
OutRun
Power Drift (not 100% sure on this one)
Mickey & Donald
Columns Collection
Galaxy Force 2
Fantasy Zone
Shukudaigan Tant-R
Rouka ni Ichidant-R
Memorial Selection 1
Memorial Selection 2
Phantasy Star Collection

[Jive3D]

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[maxlords]

I have the US Guardian Heroes and honestly I like the Japanese one better. The reason being is that not only is the US one prohibitively expensive, but it's also got one of the worst hack translation jobs I've EVER seen! BLEAH! It's a lot more fun to play hte Jp one and just make up the dialogue! Usually makes more sense too!

[bargora]

Aside from the excelllent shmups already mentioned, I'd throw in Strikers 1945 II. I know that it's available as a U.S. release for the Playstation (as "Strikers 1945"), but the Saturn version has "Arcade" (or "tate") mode where you can flip your TV on its side and play it like it was meant to be played. I like this feature a lot, and I have an old beater TV I keep on its side just for this purpose.

Another shmup I enjoy that gets almost no press is Blast Wind, which is a Technosoft vertical. While I can't get down with Thunder Force V yet (still hacking at TF2 on my Genny, and TF5 just hands me my butt), Blast Wind is a fun little ride and has a great Technosoft cheese-rock soundtrack. If you pick it up, though, please explain to me if the intro's lingering CG "bust shot" of the female pilot has a deeper implication for the plot...

I've been thinking about picking up Strikers 1945 (JP, Saturn). Any recommendations?

[Iron Draggon]

OK, if you're a shmup fan, these are the ones that I have, and I recommend them all:

Thunder Force V
Blast Wind
Sonic Wings Special
Strikers 1945
Strikers 1945 II
Sol Divide

[maxlords]

OK, if you're a shmup fan, these are the ones that I have, and I recommend them all:

Thunder Force V
Blast Wind
Sonic Wings Special
Strikers 1945
Strikers 1945 II
Sol Divide

Sol Divide? seriously? UGH! I have the US PSX version...it's painful.

[GaijinPunch]

Yeah, Sol Divide is pretty lame.
Unique, yes, but not a good shmup. I think it'd be fine if there wasn't so much scene-changing going on.

[link1110]

Tengai Makyou 4: Not a popular one, but still awesome. Basically its the FF10 of anime graphics, all voice, Plus its funny as hell. Like Working Designs' humor but not that their ploping it in other games? You'll love this, Its a WD game in japanese, too bad they didn't translate it, it was made for them.....

[Iron Draggon]

Wow, I forgot all about this thread! Sorry for the llllooonnnggg delay, but here's the story on Sol Divide for those who are still interested in hearing it:

The US PSX version is a pathetic insult to the Japanese original on Saturn!

What they did was they cut out all the dialogue sequences, of which there are many, instead of translating them into English. That's probably why it seems to have so much scene changing going on. The US version is missing all the dialogue scenes that explain what's happening and blend each scene into the next. Of course I can't read a word of Japanese, so I have no idea what's going on either, but at least I'm not missing all the expressions on the character's faces during all the dialogue scenes. These scenes contain quite a few impressive animations as well, so the US version has been butchered beyond playability, IMO. Without all the dialogue scenes, you're missing half of the scenes in the game. So it's like cutting half the pages out of a book.

I bought the US version hoping that I could finally find out what all those cutscenes are talking about, and I was absolutely horrified by what they did to it. The control is abysmal too, so they really messed it all up. The Saturn version is smooth and fluid, fast and furious at times, and always a joy to play through. It's a bit easy with continues, and it is mostly boss fighting, but if you're into that you'll love it. But I got the impression that the dialogue really is half of the game though, so it really should've been translated instead of getting butchered. As the US version stands now, it's almost completely worthless, unless you don't own a Saturn or you can't track down a copy of the original anymore. It's a bit short to recommend paying too much money for it, but with 3 different characters and 3 different endings, at least it does have some replayability. And there's probably tons of hidden extra stuff that I don't even know about yet because I can't read all the Japanese in the cutscenes. I bet it has more than 3 endings, but I've only seen 3 so far.

Anyway, if you ever get a chance to play the Saturn version, go for it and see what I mean. Especially if you've already played the US version on PSX before. The difference is astounding. Yet more proof that the Saturn kicked ass all over the PSX, but a sad twist of fate prevented it from defeating it like it should have. I think that we might very well still be seeing tons of new releases for the Saturn to this very day, if it had been able to survive it's war with the PSX as the superior console that it was. I have several games on both Saturn & PSX, and the Saturn version is always graphically superior to the PSX version. They usually control much better on Saturn than PSX too.

Still no new imports for me on the Saturn or any of my other systems yet, but I'm working on that as we speak. I have my eyes on a couple of things.

[-hellvin-]

I'm gonna throw in a vote for Sengoku Blade. I LOVE this shooter. What's better than playing some anime chick who can summon a racoon "bomb" which breathes fire in the enemies fucking EYES?

[EnemyZero]

oh anywho...I have ALOT of fun playing willy wombat....it doesnt seem to popular but its one of my fav saturn games

[SegaAges]

radiant silvergun
I know, everybody has probablt already said this 1 (I didn't read any of the other posts)

Capcom Generations 5 (I think)
This is also known as Street Fighter Collection 2. Even though it is a capcom generations disc and says nothing about it being a street fighter collection disc, well, you guys get the point.

marvel vs. street fighter
excellent game. i love it to death. i think the graphics for this are far supirior to those of ps1.

xmen vs. street fighter
you guys knew i was going to say it.

those are he only imports that i have personally played that i can vouch for being good.

[digitalpress]

Reviving a dormant topic because I'm looking for something new to play on my Saturn. I've got about 30 import Saturn games - all of them suggested by various knowledgeable gamers over the years - so if you haven't already added to this thread, please do now!

[Funk Buddy]

Ok, so whatcha' got Joe?

[digitalpress]

Ok, so whatcha' got Joe?

Everything I've got is already covered in the lists above. My favorites are the D&D game, Radiant Silvergun, the Ages series, DoDonPachi, and Keio 2. So I'm pretty much "game" for anything that's recommended and not already stated.

[Funk Buddy]

Ok, I'll see if I can come up with something not listed.