The Official Sega Saturn Thread!

[SlidellMan]

Solo Crisis:

Yes, Quintet made their fair share of Sega Saturn games.

[Steven Pendleton]

I haven't been playing Saturn for a while; I let a friend borrow my RetroTINK in June or something and I got it back yesterday, so the Saturn is going to get some more use now, I think.

[Lord Innit]

New arrivals for my Saturn. Got these for a very decent price from a friend in a whatsapp group.

[Steven Pendleton]

I heard Saturn Strikers 1 is pretty good. Strikers 2 is better on PS1 from what I understand. Apparently the Switch/PS4 releases of the Strikers games are not so good, so I do eventually need to look into better ways to play those, and preferably a solution that does not involve buying the arcade PCBs.

 

Aw hell, looks like the Strikers PCBs are not so expensive after all, at least for a well-known arcade shooting game from a well-known developer. They are much cheaper than Toaplan, CAVE, or Raizing PCBs. Still might consider Saturn and PS1 versions instead, though, just to save money.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Steven Pendleton

[digdugnate]

Oooh, I like Gunbird.  I've been on a Street Fighter kick along with Lode Runner, so I've been bouncing back-and-forth between SFZ3, MSHvSF, and Lode Runner.

[SlidellMan]

I have discovered a trio of Sega Saturn translation projects that May pique your interest:

https://segaxtreme.net/threads/lets-localize-terra-phantastica.25272/

https://segaxtreme.net/threads/translating-grandia-digital-museum.25261/

https://segaxtreme.net/threads/stellar-assault-ss-english-localization-project.25260/

[Steven Pendleton]

Stellar Assault SS... I have been meaning to try that. I saw a copy for sale not too long ago. Still need to try Stellar Assault on the 32X.

[Yakumo1975]

Stella Assault on the Saturn blows away the 32X game.  It's also a very long game for a space shooter.  The last stage is very impressive making use of both VDP chips to great effect. 

It's been about 15 years since I last played it.  I should give it another spin. 

[SlidellMan]

I thought I would share my favorite Saturn Game Songs:

 

[NeonSpaceBeagle]

I think the satiator broke the video port on my Saturn. It just doesn't register as being in there anymore. I've dusted it out and everything. Has this happened to anyone else?  Also the stupid cartridge slot on top barely accepts anything in it. Is my system junk now? I sunk so much into it with the satiator, the retrovision cables, grrr. Such a finicky system.  Oh and out of no where my 3d controller stopped working too. I take really good care of my things too 

[str0m]

Not really designed to have things pushed in and out all the time I guess. My cartridge slot only works if I fully insert my cart then lift it back up about 1mm. You could try cleaning it as well, article in the Jag section I think.

[NeonSpaceBeagle]

What are my options now with a broken video port in the back where the satiator goes and a broken cart slot on top where the cart goes to play backups. My laser still works perfectly and plays legit games I guess.  Can I still install a Fenrir ? Or whatever that is.. does it use any of those slots that I mentioned ?  I don't even know how to test out my satiator to see if maybe that's broke cuz I don't know anyone with a Saturn 

[str0m]

Fenrir replaces the cd drive and requires you opening the system up (unplug the power when you do this). I believe there is someone making a mod so you can use both but only for the original 20 pin model 1 Saturn at the moment. Possibly cheaper to get another Saturn off Ebay with no pads etc but that has been confirmed as working although I suppose most people don't have anything for the video port so wouldn't know if it works or not. Have you cleaned both properly with isopropynl?

[Austin]

You probably bent the pins on your video cable. Has happened to me several times. Not the Satiator’s fault.

 

Saturn cart slots have always been notoriously fickle. I have had multiple units over the years where you look at them wrong and they stop working. I have had others where I can plug a cart in and out constantly and it reads every time (as is the case with my current Japanese unit). If you have one that’s problematic, you learn to live with it.

[Razzie.P]

I didn't like this gen of consoles much at all.   They drove me straight to PC gaming back in the day.  My Saturn got virtually NO playtime back then, but I think I'm gonna revisit over the next few days to see if anything wins me over.  Gonna scan over this thread when I get home, but any standout titles that are not aren't the ugly, clunky norm that makes people say "this didn't age well...?"  😁

 

man... I'm remembering how excited I was to play Hang On --- Master System = really good, Genesis = Great, Saturn = gonna go cry now

[Zoyous]

11 minutes ago, Razzie.P said:

I didn't like this gen of consoles much at all.   They drove me straight to PC gaming back in the day.  My Saturn got virtually NO playtime back then, but I think I'm gonna revisit over the next few days to see if anything wins me over.  Gonna scan over this thread when I get home, but any standout titles that are not aren't the ugly, clunky norm that makes people say "this didn't age well...?"  😁

 

man... I'm remembering how excited I was to play Hang On --- Master System = really good, Genesis = Great, Saturn = gonna go cry now

These days it's generally regarded as a 2D powerhouse and many of its best games are shooters/shmups, a lot of which were never brought over to the West. Those have probably held up the best, although some of them have been subsequently re-released. The Panzer Dragoon series is one of the 3D standouts. There's also the arcade Super Scaler ports, which are in some cases the most arcade-accurate available - Out Run, After Burner II, Space Harrier, and Galaxy Force II - the latter three are brilliant with the analog Mission Stick.

[Rhomaios]

3 hours ago, Zoyous said:

These days it's generally regarded as a 2D powerhouse and many of its best games are shooters/shmups, a lot of which were never brought over to the West. Those have probably held up the best, although some of them have been subsequently re-released. The Panzer Dragoon series is one of the 3D standouts. There's also the arcade Super Scaler ports, which are in some cases the most arcade-accurate available - Out Run, After Burner II, Space Harrier, and Galaxy Force II - the latter three are brilliant with the analog Mission Stick.

Agreed. My Saturn has 3 main types of games: 2D shooters (i.e. shmups), light gun games (chiefly House of the Dead and Virtua Cop), and Capcom fighters. Sure, there are a few others thrown in (Panzer Dragoon 1 & 2, Sega Rally, Metal Slug, the Sega Ages games), but that's it. I shied away from 3D with the Saturn and the PS1 with just a handful of exceptions.

[Steven Pendleton]

Yes, my Saturn collection is somewhere around 40%~50% shooters, and yes, the Mission Stick is awesome. I set up my Saturn the other day to play After Burner II but didn't want to bother setting up the Mission Stick, so I ended up playing Soukyuugurentai instead.

[roots.genoa]

There are plenty of great 3D games on the Saturn: SEGA Rally, Burning Rangers, NiGHTs, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Athlete Kings, Virtual On, Virtua Fighter 2, Last Bronx, Amok, Shining Force III, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Die Hard Arcade, Steep Slope Sliders, Deep Fear, WipEout 2097, Resident Evil, etc. I didn't import any game at the time and still had a lot of fun. Of course there are a lot of awesome 2D and/or Japan only games on the Saturn, but people are caricaturing the situation imho.

[Steven Pendleton]

Something like 800 of the ~1000 Saturn games are Japan-only, so I don't really think that it's an exaggeration to say that the majority of the library never got released outside of Japan, but there are some good things in those ~200 games that got released internationally.

[Razzie.P]

Time to go shopping for a light gun or two.   Any particular models known to be "the best of the bunch" or best to just stick with the first party Stunner?

 

 

Guess I need to figure out a 4MB cart to pick up, too.  Seems to be just shy of a million of those out there. 

 

 

[Cobra Kai]

43 minutes ago, Razzie.P said:

Time to go shopping for a light gun or two.   Any particular models known to be "the best of the bunch" or best to just stick with the first party Stunner?

 

 

Guess I need to figure out a 4MB cart to pick up, too.  Seems to be just shy of a million of those out there. 

43 minutes ago, Razzie.P said:

 

Don't you have the Action Replay Plus? If not, that's the cart you want, it has the memory upgrade plus it's an import enabler.

 

Stunner is great for a gun. They keep going up in price.

 

edit: https://www.amazon.com/Action-Replay-4M-Plus-enhancement-sega/dp/B008FPMBNG

[Razzie.P]

16 hours ago, Cobra Kai said:

Don't you have the Action Replay Plus? If not, that's the cart you want, it has the memory upgrade plus it's an import enabler.

 

No, I don't have any sort of cart, that I know of.  Unless it's something I horded up on during a buying spree, stored away, and forgot about it.

 

I see "affordable" stunners on Ebay, usually from Japan, but I'm not sure if they're OEM, third party, knock offs, etc.  Seem to be some cool deals there, like 2 guns + 3 games for $120 and such.   Well, they seem like good prices to my ignorant self, at least.  Could be way inflated.

[Cobra Kai]

Yeah, the Stunner is getting expensive. I was looking into getting a second one, but I don't know anymore. There is a decent deal on ebay for a Japanese Stunner (which is Black) plus Virtua Cop 2 for like $70 or so last I checked.

 

I gave you a link to the Action Replay Plus in my previous post. Don't worry about any of the other various carts out there, the Action Replay is pretty much required gear for the Saturn gamer. Being an import enabler gives you so much better options, not only in game selection, but also can save you some cash in the long run, where the Japanese versions of games are most often quite a bit cheaper than the US counterparts. It also has all the memory space you'll ever need.

[cybercylon]

Any advantage using Pseudo Saturn Kai? It is possible to flash an Action Replay cart with it or buy one where someone has done it for you. I did it myself, and I remember it being a pain in the rear since my Saturn was not modded. I haven't used that flashed cart for a fair number of years since installing a mode, and my Saturn's cartridge slot is very fussy. I need to get a 2nd Saturn with a working cart slot and to use discs if I ever feel like it.