The Official Sega Saturn Thread!

[+Hydro Thunder]

On 3/6/2023 at 5:55 AM, str0m said:

4 screws to remove the case and about 3 to remove the old drive then reverse this process? Lot cheaper.... Satiator is nice though if you want to keep the cd drive

Is it seriously that easy?  Not sure why I thought some soldering was involved, must have been thinking about other mods.

[SlidellMan]

Keio Flying Squadron 2:

Something tells me that this was going to be released stateside, but Sega of America's insipid judgement stopped that from happening.

[SlidellMan]

Sega Lord X reviews the worst game on the Saturn:

We should be glad that this didn't get released here.

[digdugnate]

On 3/4/2023 at 6:30 PM, Hydro Thunder said:

Intrigued by this too...seems a lot easier than getting a Fenrir installed.  Let us know how it goes!

 

I'm still waiting for mine to ship, but it's par for the course since I think it's just the one dude in Australia and a shipping partner in the US.  I have my SD card ready though. 

[SlidellMan]

Here's more of that Sega Saturn Unreal demo:

More translations and homebrew footage:

 

[str0m]

On 3/9/2023 at 9:54 PM, Hydro Thunder said:

Is it seriously that easy?  Not sure why I thought some soldering was involved, must have been thinking about other mods.

https://www.fenrir-ode.fr/installation/

 

Yep nice and easy

[Steven Pendleton]

I tried the Gen Lock thing on the RetroTINK 5x recently to see what it does and it seems that it breaks the audio on my Saturn. Not sure if this is unique to my setup, but in case someone else tries it and has audio problems, no, your Saturn is (probably) not dying; try the other modes instead to see what happens.

[str0m]

Probably irrelevant to your issue but just waffling, there are a lot of Saturn cables out there where the audio channels are swapped for some reason, easily "fixed" by swapping the phono ones. Thought I was going mad at first or my TV had issues.

 

What is the Gen lock thing out of curiosity? I'm only familiar with them from back in the Amiga days where a Genlock was used to overlay computer graphics onto video.

[Warmsignal]

I guess I never fully grasped how much better the Saturn version of Quake is, compared to the N64. I've owned the N64 version for a long time, but I gotta say I think doesn't do the original justice. The Saturn version however, does. Yeah it doesn't run as fast, but Quake is meant to be a visual treat. Unlike Doom where you're blazing through corridors that all have the same repetitive and dull look. Saturn Quake is reach with detail, and it's jarring how dumbed down the visuals are on the N64 version. Surely it's more than playable, but something is lost in the translation.

I never thought I'd find myself saying that the Saturn version of a game is superior to the N64, but with Quake? I think it's the case.

Edited March 17 by Warmsignal

[str0m]

If you like it then check out the developers other games which used an earlier slightly less impressive version of the same engine, Exhumed/Power Slave and Duke Nukem. Quake being the best of the 3 but Exhumed has some great bits especially the coloured lighting (and in Quake, which the PC version didn't have)

Edited March 17 by str0m
more

[Punisher5.0]

9 hours ago, Warmsignal said:

I guess I never fully grasped how much better the Saturn version of Quake is, compared to the N64. I've owned the N64 version for a long time, but I gotta say I think doesn't do the original justice. The Saturn version however, does. Yeah it doesn't run as fast, but Quake is meant to be a visual treat. Unlike Doom where you're blazing through corridors that all have the same repetitive and dull look. Saturn Quake is reach with detail, and it's jarring how dumbed down the visuals are on the N64 version. Surely it's more than playable, but something is lost in the translation.

I never thought I'd find myself saying that the Saturn version of a game is superior to the N64, but with Quake? I think it's the case.

To be fair Quake64 is actually using the Quake engine and it runs very well. If you havent played Q2 then you should check that one out. Still uses the Quake 1 engine but looks way better and still runs good.

[Warmsignal]

4 minutes ago, Punisher5.0 said:

To be fair Quake64 is actually using the Quake engine and it runs very well. If you havent played Q2 then you should check that one out. Still uses the Quake 1 engine but looks way better and still runs good.

Not played Quake 2, but I recall thinking that the PS1 version was the better looking console version of that game. The N64 versions are very graphically simplified, for reasons I don't really understand.

6 hours ago, str0m said:

If you like it then check out the developers other games which used an earlier slightly less impressive version of the same engine, Exhumed/Power Slave and Duke Nukem. Quake being the best of the 3 but Exhumed has some great bits especially the coloured lighting (and in Quake, which the PC version didn't have)

While I think Saturn Duke Nukem 3D was a pretty good effort, I feel like the N64 version was a bit more polished, even with the censorship. There's quite of bit of detail missing from the Saturn game, and the perspective of your shooting makes it feel like you're constantly crouched or you're really short. The N64 game feels more refined, and there's added detail and content in that version that's not even in the original. It's cool to play Duke on the Saturn, but I gotta admit it's not the best version.

[Punisher5.0]

11 minutes ago, Warmsignal said:

Not played Quake 2, but I recall thinking that the PS1 version was the better looking console version of that game. The N64 versions are very graphically simplified, for reasons I don't really understand.

While I think Saturn Duke Nukem 3D was a pretty good effort, I feel like the N64 version was a bit more polished, even with the censorship. There's quite of bit of detail missing from the Saturn game, and the perspective of your shooting makes it feel like you're constantly crouched or you're really short. The N64 game feels more refined, and there's added detail and content in that version that's not even in the original. It's cool to play Duke on the Saturn, but I gotta admit it's not the best version.

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I dont like the wobbly, dithered and pixelated textures of PS1 games. More importantly though is that the N64 version plays better. The PS version has goofy controls and has loading times during the level. To make matters worse, the mid level loading causes the music to reset.

[Warmsignal]

37 minutes ago, Punisher5.0 said:

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I dont like the wobbly, dithered and pixelated textures of PS1 games. More importantly though is that the N64 version plays better. The PS version has goofy controls and has loading times during the level. To make matters worse, the mid level loading causes the music to reset.

But the music in the PS1 version is freaking awesome. Don't really mind hearing it start over.

 

I think it never occurred to me how simplified a lot of 3rd party games were on N64, in terms of visuals. I guess it's a limitation of the cart. I was an N64 owner back in the day, and I didn't know any different. I used to prefer and boast about how clean and straight everything looked on N64 back then. Later, I started to realize that I actually prefer more detail and color, even if it's pixelated. Duke Nukem 64 had a lot of that detail going for it, as where other N64 games didn't so much.

[Austin]

I think the N64 Quake II plays worse. The over sensitive analog stick movement makes it very difficult to be accurate, and putting it on the slowest setting doesn't help matters at all. I am constantly over or under shooting in N64 Quake II, whereas I'm quite accurate in the PS1 version (note, I do play with the d-pad, not the analogs). The N64 version is also a linear game with mostly different level layouts and isn't as interesting, with a lot of "gotcha" insta-death moments if you don't know what you are doing. The PS1 Quake II on the other hand retains a semi non-linear structure like in the PC version, where you bounce back and forth between a few levels until you complete a goal and then move on to the next set. It also retains the music from the original PC game and some of its expansions which helps the experience a lot. I guess it's a preferential thing, but wobbly graphics aside, the PS1 version has the edge for me because of its more robust gameplay. FPS titles where it's difficult to aim just aren't any fun no matter how you slice it.

 

If we're comparing N64 Quake 1 and Saturn Quake 1, it can be argued the Saturn version looks more interesting with its more grungy visual style and flashy lighting effects, while the N64 version looks.. empty. That's an understandable complaint. However, I'd say the gameplay is pretty poor in comparison in the Saturn version, with enemies moving around like marionettes with invisible strings attached, gravity pulls you off platforms if you become idle too close to a ledge, and your gunshots frequently don't register even when you're standing right in front of an enemy, making combat inconsistent. It just doesn't feel good to move or shoot in the game, whereas it's the opposite in the N64 game. Since that's actually using the Quake engine, it does feel pretty solid, inconsistent framerate aside (something both versions suffer from, the N64 version less so, especially with the softening filter applied in the options menu). Neither version is a replacement for the PC game, but I'll take the N64 port most days because gameplay-wise it feels much more solid, and is more fun as a result.

 

Re: Duke - I do prefer the Saturn version to the other '90s console ports, but will give the N64 one credit as it runs pretty smooth. The lack of in-game music though is a dealbreaker for me. The Saturn version on the other hand has a killer rendition of the Duke 3D soundtrack, and in terms of Saturn games specifically, it plays and runs well. I'd say it's still a looker when compared to other 3D titles on the system.

Edited March 17 by Austin

[Steven Pendleton]

On 3/17/2023 at 12:18 AM, str0m said:

Probably irrelevant to your issue but just waffling, there are a lot of Saturn cables out there where the audio channels are swapped for some reason, easily "fixed" by swapping the phono ones. Thought I was going mad at first or my TV had issues.

Yeah, you have to be careful when you buy cables for that reason. I know the HD Retrovision cable is good, but it's a Genesis 2/Mega Drive 2 cable anyway if you want to be technical.

 

On 3/17/2023 at 12:18 AM, str0m said:

What is the Gen lock thing out of curiosity? I'm only familiar with them from back in the Amiga days where a Genlock was used to overlay computer graphics onto video.

It uses a regenerated clock to do... something. I honestly have absolutely no idea what the hell that means, but that's what it does, apparently. It does seem that it affects my Dreamcast as well, so it's probably something to do with my monitor and nothing else.

 

Gen lock does seem to prevent the signal dropping when switching resolutions in my case, but it seems that it varies on the display you use. I only have one HDMI display, a PC monitor, so I can't test it on anything else. It also has less lag than the triple buffer, but I guess it has compatibility problems, so triple buffer and/or frame lock are generally going to be more compatible.

Edited March 17 by Steven Pendleton

[SlidellMan]

The early Angelique games can be best described as part dating simulator, part Koei strategy game. The scripts to these games have been translated, but the patches were either abandoned or haven't been started.

[Lord Innit]

Only took six days to arrive from Japan to the UK.  

[DragonGrafx-16]

8 minutes ago, Lord Innit said:

Only took six days to arrive from Japan to the UK.  

Why is the box so thick? Bonus disc? Soundtrack CD?

[Lord Innit]

57 minutes ago, DragonGrafx-16 said:

Why is the box so thick? Bonus disc? Soundtrack CD?

1MB ram cart. 

[DragonGrafx-16]

1 minute ago, Lord Innit said:

1MB ram cart. 

ah

[SlidellMan]

Anyone here remember Mr. Bones? Sega Lord X does:

 

[Austin]

On 3/31/2023 at 11:01 PM, SlidellMan said:

Anyone here remember Mr. Bones? Sega Lord X does:

Unfortunately, I do.

 

I remember it being supremely awkward to play. I'd like to give it another try, but am not expecting to be all too impressed by its gameplay once more. We'll see.

[SlidellMan]

Saturn Bomberman Fight!!

Virtua Fighter Kids:

Finally, the original Saturn Bomberman:

Man, Hudson and Sega AM2 were on a roll.

[DragonGrafx-16]

6 minutes ago, SlidellMan said:

Saturn Bomberman Fight!!

Virtua Fighter Kids:

Finally, the original Saturn Bomberman:

Man, Hudson and Sega AM2 were on a roll.

Saturn Bomberman is great! The cutscenes show how great a a Bomberman anime could have been. heh