Sega Saturn racers

[Rhomaios]

Are Saturn topics ok here? Not sure where else they might go. I've been getting into Dreamcast racers lately courtesy of a fellow AA member and some free time this week, and it made me wonder about Saturn racers as well. What are the best arcade racers for the system? Any that are worth getting over the PS1/N64 or DC/PS2? For what it's worth, I'm a big fan of games like Need for Speed Hot Pursuit II (best in class). As soon as I got it, I put quite a bit of time in Vanishing Point on the Dreamcast, which is definitely a blast to play, even if it feels a bit grind-heavy. Any more like these? Thoughts? Favorites? Games you detest and I should stay away from?

 

The one I had my eye on so far is the US version of Need for Speed. I never actually played the original.

[Atariboy]

Go out now and buy Sega Rally. You can thank me later.

[roots.genoa]

I concur. SEGA Rally is clearly above the rest, including its sequel on Dreamcast.

I liked SEGA Touring Car, but not as much and mostly for the soundtrack; the framerate is atrocious. The only racer I loved on the Saturn was WipEout 2097, but it's quite different of course. I even prefer Cold Storage's soundtrack to the licensed music of the PlayStation version. Fight me.

[sirlynxalot]

Sega Rally is definitely the best arcade racer on Saturn.  I've also gotten a lot of fun out of Need for Speed and Manx TT.  Wipeout is ok but does not compare well to the PS1 version.  I think there are several solid Japanese releases for classic sega 2d drivers like outrun and power drift if those are of interest.

 

Everything else, all those Tokyo highway challenge and hill climb drift games, nascar games, etc were largely forgettable to me. Probably not bad for the time but just felt bland and mediocre to me as an adult with no nostalgia for them and they didn't impress me as graphical stand out titles for the system either.  Sega touring car is graphically impressive but it controls very poorly, as does the original arcade version. It kinda has the sega Rally look but it is just awful to control and suitable to skip imo.

Edited January 7, 2022 by sirlynxalot

[Zoyous]

I second Manx TT! It's a gem that might be overlooked because it doesn't have the name recognition of Hang On. The courses are beautifully fluid and it handles very well with the Arcade Racer controller.

 

Among the Super Scaler games, both Out Run and Power Drift are excellent arcade conversions. Out Run is probably the most accurate of all home versions, since subsequent releases featured a changed sprite of the car so it doesn't look as much like a Ferrari. Gale Racer (a port of Rad Mobile) should be avoided, though... it was a rushed release and doesn't do justice to the original at all.

 

Virtua Racing is also a very good home version that has several cars and tracks that are unique to this release, in addition to being very faithful to the original arcade game.

[boog]

There were four different versions of Daytona for Saturn, and the Japanese Circuit Edition is probably the best. It's an overhaul of the original Saturn release with better graphics, new tracks, etc. The Japanese Circuit Edition has the original arcade music that was removed from the US CCE version and handling that's closer to the arcade than the US CCE. 

 

 

[+Cafeman]

1 hour ago, boog said:

There were four different versions of Daytona for Saturn, and the Japanese Circuit Edition is probably the best. It's an overhaul of the original Saturn release with better graphics, new tracks, etc. The Japanese Circuit Edition has the original arcade music that was removed from the US CCE version and handling that's closer to the arcade than the US CCE. 

 

 

Here was my take on CE. 

 

 

[Rhomaios]

Thanks for the recs! It's said that the Saturn didn't get more racers, but that's true for all the genres. I should have mentioned I already knew about Outrun, though these days I think I prefer turning on Outrun 2 instead.

 

Is there a difference between the US and JP versions of Sega Rally like there is with Need for Speed?

[sirlynxalot]

Not aware of any differences, and I wouldn't expect anything to be on the level of need for speed which had a full reskin for the Japanese version.

[Atariboy]

There's minor localization differences between regions for vanilla Sega Rally, but nothing noteworthy.

 

Sega Rally did though see some improvements with a rerelease, but both Japan and the US got it. It was called Sega Rally Championship Plus in Japan and Sega Rally Championship NetLink Edition in the US. The rerelease added support for the analog 3D pad and online multiplayer (Via XBand in Japan and NetLink in America). 

Edited January 10, 2022 by Atariboy

[roots.genoa]

We had the original version but always played it with the analog pad (as soon as we got it of course). ?

I guess the inputs weren't really analog, but it gave us the feeling they were at the time. ?

[Steven Pendleton]

There is always Sonic R, a game that is so terrible that it's a lot of fun and it gets better when you learn how to actually play it properly. It says on the box that it has analog controls, but it actually doesn't, so no need to use anything other than the regular controller.

[Austin]

F1 Challenge is a fun arcade style racer. Doesn't get talked about much. Simple but worth playing.

 

Saturn actually has quite a lot of racing games but they are featured over a variety of sub-genres (arcade, futuristic, sim, etc). Some other racers that haven't been mentioned (of varying degrees of quality) include Scorcher, Cyber Speedway (Gran Chaser), Impact Racing, Hang On GP '95, Gale Racer (Rad Mobile), Highway 2000 (Wangan Dead Heat), High Velocity (Touge King: The Spirits), Andretti Racing, etc.

[NeonSpaceBeagle]

Saturn Racers ?. Power Drift, Outrun (amazing version), Street Racer (the pal version cuts off so much of the screen tho on this one beware), 2 wipeouts, .. 

[str0m]

I love Sega Rally and Outrun. I have tried a few of the other 3D racers but just didn't get on with them due to slow framerates or control issues (Touring cars!) etc. Been meaning to revisit a few. Street Racer does look good and plays nice and smooth but has horrendous AI catch up unless I'm imaginging it. Probably great fun with a few real players though.

[Lostdragon]

If your after something a little less serious and is a fantastic showcase for the Saturn hardware, might i humbly second Street Racer? 

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2022 by Lostdragon

[Barone]

On 1/5/2022 at 9:01 PM, Rhomaios said:

Are Saturn topics ok here? Not sure where else they might go. I've been getting into Dreamcast racers lately courtesy of a fellow AA member and some free time this week, and it made me wonder about Saturn racers as well. What are the best arcade racers for the system? Any that are worth getting over the PS1/N64 or DC/PS2?

 

The one I had my eye on so far is the US version of Need for Speed. I never actually played the original.

NFS is better on the PS1.

For the Saturn, Sega Rally is by far the best racing game on the library. Way ahead of its time in terms of physics, sliding mechanics, etc.
And it fits the Saturn's 3D capabilities well since it's more about one AI car in front of you at a time.
Easily one of the best racing games of that gen. 

Other that, I would only recommend OutRun and Power Drift.
Touge King of Spirits 2 is also good but there are many better similar options on the PS1 IMO.

The Saturn really doesn't have any good large scope console racer.
You probably should try Racing Lagoon on the PS1, which was recently translated to English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWsk4GDiFtY

[str0m]

I tried Power Drift and got a bit of motion sickness! Not as bad as when I tried the moving cab arcade machine (which I nearly fell out of lol) but still noticable.

[+Cafeman]

The best and most fun are Sega Rally Championship, Outrun, Daytona USA/ Chamionship Circuit Edition NA / Championship Edition JP,  Manx TT, and Sega Touring Car Championship.  All these will give you that Sega racer feel you crave although with some limitations.  Manx TT could have used more modes and track variations and less rubber band AI, and Touring Car has erratic frame rate and control issues, and it is uglier than it should have been in-race.  SEGA Rally is 10/10 to me.  

 

After that there are more that are fun but might have better versions elsewhere or seem more dated today.  Virtua Racing, F1 Challenge, Wipe out , the Need for Speed are the ones I have enjoyed.  

 

Then there are more C grade racers, which have fun but IMO are also kind of busted in various ways and have not aged that well.  High Velocity, Andretti Racing, Cyber Speedway.  

[NeonSpaceBeagle]

Sega lord x just put up a video of oddball racing games on the dreamcast. I really enjoy his content and I love my racers.

[profholt82]

Regarding Manx TT Superbike, it is compatible with the 3D analog pad (the round controller that resembles the Dreamcast pad and was included with Night Into Dreams). It handles all right with the regular controller, but it plays great with the analog pad and it really takes it to the next level. Just wanted to throw that out there.

[Rhomaios]

I re-bought Sega Rally. Street Racer actually looks pretty cool, so I might pick that up and save NFS1 for the PS1. Thanks for the advice, everyone!

[+legeek]

If you can find one, the Saturn Racing Wheel really adds to the experience for most of the games that support it.  Oddly enough, the Japanese version of Race Drivin' is perfectly calibrated for the wheel.

[Markimus of K.]

On 1/7/2022 at 1:14 PM, Zoyous said:

I second Manx TT! It's a gem that might be overlooked because it doesn't have the name recognition of Hang On. The courses are beautifully fluid and it handles very well with the Arcade Racer controller.

 

Among the Super Scaler games, both Out Run and Power Drift are excellent arcade conversions. Out Run is probably the most accurate of all home versions, since subsequent releases featured a changed sprite of the car so it doesn't look as much like a Ferrari. Gale Racer (a port of Rad Mobile) should be avoided, though... it was a rushed release and doesn't do justice to the original at all.

 

Virtua Racing is also a very good home version that has several cars and tracks that are unique to this release, in addition to being very faithful to the original arcade game.

i might have to disagree a bit on Virtua Racing. I'll try to keep this short.

I first played it in an arcade whilst on vacation in Vancouver BC, Canada. Thought is was just awesome. So when it was released for the Genesis in "94, I bought a Genesis with Virtua Racing. $115 CDN. Jebus. But it was so worth it. Then I got a 32X and it's version, with better polygons and more tracks was just perfect!

 

Then I got the Saturn version with very high hopes. It was done by another development Team. It looked the same, but it just didn't play the same at all. I was very disappointed by it.

 

And also, a shout out to F1 Challenge, great game, but was very incomplete. Only a few tracks and things, but still very fun to play.

[roots.genoa]

Yeah the Saturn version always had bad reputation, even though it has its fans of course.