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Sega Saturn for Beginners

Alexlotl

By Alexlotl,
in Retro & Arcade Gaming

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Alexlotl

Alexlotl

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I never owned a Saturn. Hell, I think I only saw one once - it was playing a staggeringly good game of Street Fighter Alpha 2.

I've lately had a hankering for some retro-action, as well as some good fighting games, so I'm assembling a Saturn setup. I can only conclude I'm an idiot, as I'm currently living in New Zealand, where all this stuff is rarer than rocking-horse poop. If I'd done this a year ago in the UK, it would have been a breeze.

Having just got a job after five months furlough, my pent-up auctionitis has returned. Here's what I've acquired so far (for surprisingly little):

25 inch 4:3 Panasonic CRT with RGB Scart sockets and nice flat sides, with 'tate potential. (You have no idea how hard it is to find a SCART TV in NZ)

RGB Scart cable (third party, hopefully OK)

Action Replay 4-in-1

Model 1 PAL Saturn with 3 controllers (two model 2 style, one model 1 style)

Sega Virtua Stick HSS-0136

Street Fighter Alpha 2 (JP)

Vampire Savior (JP)

King of Fighters 97 (JP) + 1Mb RAM Cart (these two were bundled with Vampire Savior)

All in the post at the moment (apart from the Action Replay), can't wait for it to arrive.

I couldn't find any PAL Model 2 Saturns here, which is a pity - I'm not sure what I'm going to do about a mod chip, and the 60Hz mod looks much trickier. Does anyone know if anyone still sells easy-style Model 1 mod chips? I know the Model 2 chips that Racketboy sells can be made to work, but it's a bit of a nightmare for a solder-n00b like myself.

Another quick Hertz query - how many EU games featured optimisation of any kind? I understand that some (like PDS) are completely unoptimised, meaning that a quick flick of the 50/60Hz switch sorts them out.

So, what games would people recommend? I've got the following earmarked, but I'd love to hear suggestions:

Street Fighter Alpha titles

Darkstalkers titles

Cyberbots

Pocket Fighter

Super Puzzle Fighter

Panzer Dragoon series (including Saga)

Shining Force 3 (translations seem to be coming on nicely)

Shining The Holy Ark (if it's got an Automap)

Guardian Heroes

Virtua Cop 1&2

HOTD (worth it, or is it a rubbish port?)

Saturn Bomberman

NiGHTS & Chrimbo NiGHTS

Dynamite Deka (Die Hard Arcade)

Anything else essential? Some of the Capcom/Sega retro anthologies for the Saturn look pretty tasty too.

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mash

mash

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Radiant Silvergun!

Marvel vs Streetfighter

Xmen vs Streetfighter

Streetfigher Zero 3.

Used to have two Saturns, my modded JAP one is fucked. :D However, my PAL one bought on launch is still going strong. Apart from the fact it thinks it's 1994. Need to get another battery.

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Wiper

Wiper

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Burning Rangers go!

Also, Dragonforce.

Man, I wish I still owned those games :D

Oh, and it might've aged badly, but Fighters Megamix is always good for a laugh. Beating the crap out of Akira as a car from Daytona USA = best.

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BossSaru

BossSaru

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To be honest, the HOTD conversion is awful graphically. Not bad to play, but a dog to look at.

Definitely get Saturn Bomberman though. An immense game with friends. Exhumed is fairly good, and the Duke Nukem port is enjoyable, and really pushes the system. Lobotomy games (RIP) were incredible at getting results for the system. Plus, the added benefit of Duke Nuken is that, if you have an Exhumed or Quake save file, you can access one of the finest multiplayer games known to man via Duke Nukem's main menu. The godly Deathtank Zwei.

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Treble

Treble

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Same sort of question in this thread. Good recommendations in there.

Some that haven't been mentioned yet (I think):

Sonic R

X Men: Children of the Atom

Dungeons & Dragons Collection

Elevator Action Returns

Fighters Megamix

Athlete Kings

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Naysonymous

Naysonymous

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Same sort of question in this thread. Good recommendations in there.

Some that haven't been mentioned yet (I think):

Sonic R

X Men: Children of the Atom

Dungeons & Dragons Collection

Elevator Action Returns

Fighters Megamix

Athlete Kings

Oh man, I loved that game. I think there was a point in my (young and foolish) life that I thought the graphics in Athlete Kings were as good as it was possible to get.

There was also a fairly obscure game called Robo Pit which I bought just because it was ridiculously cheap, and I loved it. And of course, Virtual On.

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Wiper

Wiper

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There was also a fairly obscure game called Robo Pit which I bought just because it was ridiculously cheap, and I loved it.

I thought it was just me!

Making your own bizarre robot warriors was great fun :blush:

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loathsomeleopard

loathsomeleopard

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Oh man, I loved that game. I think there was a point in my (young and foolish) life that I thought the graphics in Athlete Kings were as good as it was possible to get.

I'd strongly argue that while graphics may have become more refined, there's still not been a button mashing athletics game to beat Athlete Kings. Still gets a play every once in a while, although owing to a long standing agreement between me and a friend, I'm not allowed to play it unless he's around to compete. The practical upshot? Some of the world records on there have stood for more than a decade, and we can't entirely remember how we got them. There's even one on there with a name code that neither of us recognise or remember...

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Gloomy Andy

Gloomy Andy

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Oh man, I had quite a few on your list but have slowly been reducing my Saturn collection over the past months.

My Shining games have been the hardest - Holy Ark is an amazing game.

I've still got a few bits and bobs if you'd like them - check my trading thread for the details.

It's a real shame I can't have my Saturn set up anymore.

I bought it off a guy at school who wanted the money to buy something called a Playstation.

I happily took it off him and set many happy nights playing VF and Sega Rally.

As my collection grew I decided it really was one of the best consoles ever, the Shining Games and having Street Fighter Alpha 1 and 2 being the main reason to have one and love one.

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GViper

GViper

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Sonic Jam has a nice 3D front end plus bizarre Japanese TV adverts and such that weren't included in later collections.

This alone makes it a joy to play.

As far as other reccomendations go, SFAlpha 3 is a stunning conversion, if you're getting lightguns, try Mighty hits for a good point blank style game.

Burning Rangers is reccomended as others have said, and try baku baku animal if you like tetrisy / columnsey puzzle games

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strawdonkey

strawdonkey

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Has a good Saturn only version of Sonic 1 included as well. They added spin dash and changed up the levels. Not availible on any other system.

I know the spindash was added, but what did they do to the levels? I played Sonic 1 to death on the Megadrive and so I didn't really bother with Sonic Jam's version past a cursory glance.

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bigbrick

bigbrick

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25 inch 4:3 Panasonic CRT with RGB Scart sockets and nice flat sides, with 'tate potential.

i thought you could totally fuck CRT's up by turning them on their sides?

summat to do with dislodging the phosphors...

whilst Athlete Kings has been suggested, the sequel, Winter Heat is pretty good as well.

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Alexlotl

Alexlotl

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Picked up the telly yesterday, and SFA2 and the Jap Virtua Stick arrived stupidly early this morning.

This is my first arcade stick - not used to how damned noisy the microswitches are! Seems to be in pretty good condition (visually perfect), although a few of the microswitches seem a bit sticky - I'll see if they loosen up through use, if not I'll have to open and clean them.

Need the damned Saturn to arrive now!

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