Best Saturn Memory Solution?

[Daria]

Alright, I'll admit it. I don't play my Saturn much... at all. I think the first and last time I touched the system was like 6 years ago when I got Shining Force 3. At that time I replaced the internal battery but didn't touch the system again until now. So of course the damn battery's dead again. However I know if it's anything like the Sega CD's memory I won't be able to save more than a game or two at time. I need a cartridge.

And I see a lot of options, and they're all expensive. I also read that some can't be directly saved to from within a game, only used for back-up saves. Is this true of all carts? Are there any brands I should avoid? Or is there a cheaper brand that's just as useful as the official carts? I'm.... overwhelmed. HELP!

[Mobius]

The Saturn actually has a pretty good amount of internal memory. I don't know how big Shining Force's save is, but with about 20 games, I never needed a backup cart as long as I didn't want to keep VF2 learning data or NiGHTS A-life data.

That said, a backup cart is still really useful for avoiding lost data due to bad batteries. The Sega carts are the only ones you can save directly to (that I know of), but you can still get away with using the ones that require you to copy to it. If I recall correctly, saves survived a hit of the Reset button, which allowed me to boot back to the menu with a 4M Pro Action Replay and copy them over.

[CDiablo]

The onboard battery isnt too big, but it lasts pretty long for what its worth and its easy to replace. I have a datel cart that saves directly to it.....youll have to do research on which ones work or not I have the Memory Card Plus and it saves directly as well as lets you play any region games.

[Wraith Storm]

The onboard battery isnt too big, but it lasts pretty long for what its worth and its easy to replace. I have a datel cart that saves directly to it.....youll have to do research on which ones work or not I have the Memory Card Plus and it saves directly as well as lets you play any region games.

Thats the same one I have as well and it works like a dream. The model shown in the link is the Performance one. There is another memory cart that is called the same thing but its made by Interact. Avoid it at all cost!!! It's terrible!!!

Like CDiablo said; The Performance Memory Card Plus has direct save, has a TON of memory, lets you play imports and runs cheaper than the oficial Sega Cart.

Also its worth mentioning that the Game Shark also acts as a memory cart with all of the above features. Except I dont remember if it had direct save.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Action Replay 4 in 1 is the best value. 2MB & 4MB RAM cart, Memory Cart and cheat device with a region bypass bonus. Yes, this is the type you have to save to the Saturn system memory then exit the game and transfer a copy to the cartridge. Basically, the idea is you keep the save file of the game you're playing in the system memory then swap it over to the cart when you change games. I like to keep just 1 game save on the system if possible so you don't overwrite a newer file with an older one by mistake. Yes, I've done that... more than once. :/

I think they can still be had in the $20-30 range.

[Daria]

I think I may get the Action Replay after all. Apparently the region bypass feature makes it easier to play burns using the swap trick. I wouldn't play enough copies to warrant modding the system, but the translation for Shining Force Premium disk is out and I've always wanted to try it. And it's not such a big deal to copy saves I'm not using.

Tonight however I buy a new battery to hold me over so I can get back to Magic Knight Rayearth.

[The 1 2 P]

Action Replay 4 in 1 is the best value. 2MB & 4MB RAM cart, Memory Cart and cheat device with a region bypass bonus. Yes, this is the type you have to save to the Saturn system memory then exit the game and transfer a copy to the cartridge. Basically, the idea is you keep the save file of the game you're playing in the system memory then swap it over to the cart when you change games. I like to keep just 1 game save on the system if possible so you don't overwrite a newer file with an older one by mistake.

This is the one I have but I have yet to use my Saturn or this device(despite having them in my collection for 3 or 4 years now). I'm really not thrilled about not being able to save to the memory part of the cart directly. I've been spoiled by direct saves to my Xbox's hard drive and even PS1 memory cards for years. But I'm sure once I get the hang of it I've be fine. The problem is, 99% of my Saturn games are Japanese imports and I can only imagine how many times I'm going to fuck this whole process up by trying to figure out what to save, where to save and how to move it. Oh well.

[dreamcaster]

I bought one of the older Action Replays that didn't feature the RAM expansion, but still featured 8MB of save data - more than enough save hundreds of Saturn save games. It only cost me about $30AUD too. Unfortunately, it died recently - refused to copy to/from the cartridge.

But it was an excuse to buy one of the newer ones that feature the RAM expansion. Of course, both these carts also act as import enablers, which was my primary reason for buying them.

Sure, you have to copy your data to/from the cart via it's GUI when you require a save game, but it's only a small inconvenience given the multitude of benefits the carts offer (8MB save data, import enabler, memory manager, cheat cartridge, RAM expansion).

I consider these a NECESSITY for any Saturn owner - it would just be nice if they could figure out a way to make games be able to access them directly. I see this as the ONLY benefit of the official SEGA cartridge memory.

The problem is, 99% of my Saturn games are Japanese imports and I can only imagine how many times I'm going to fuck this whole process up by trying to figure out what to save, where to save and how to move it. Oh well.

I don't have many JAP Saturn games, but the ones I have all use English file names for their save data, so I never have a problem identifying them.

[Icarus Moonsight]

This is the one I have but I have yet to use my Saturn or this device(despite having them in my collection for 3 or 4 years now). I'm really not thrilled about not being able to save to the memory part of the cart directly. I've been spoiled by direct saves to my Xbox's hard drive and even PS1 memory cards for years. But I'm sure once I get the hang of it I've be fine. The problem is, 99% of my Saturn games are Japanese imports and I can only imagine how many times I'm going to fuck this whole process up by trying to figure out what to save, where to save and how to move it. Oh well.

To be honest, I felt the very same way at first. I was even looking for a separate Memory Card for awhile. It's a pure convenience issue though. As long as you keep your system memory cleared and keep the most recent files on the AR all it takes is a simple select and move before you play and after you're done. It's really not so bad if you can routinely do that. It's a more than fair trade off for having separate ST-Key, Ram Carts and Memory Cart that you have to swap out just right during boots/saves to get all the stuff to work right. Besides, if you are playing an import or a game that utilizes the RAM expansion options you're going to be moving saves from the system memory most the time anyway. Even with a direct save cart.