Sega Saturn.

Azureth

Azureth

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Feb 29, 2008
Messages
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Just wanted to make a topic on this.

Did you have one? Funny thing is I didn't even know it existed until way after it had been released. I had a N64 and PSX though. I got it much later and ended up importing some games and had a lot of fun.

Looking back, it amazes me how many missteps they made. Launching the system with no warning? At a price higher than the competition? Hiring a retard (Bernie Stolar) to run NoA that kept most good games from coming over. Not making it dev friendly.

It's real too bad because it was a fun system with arcade perfect games.
 
If you can, play Bug!, Bug 2, Reloaded, and D3. I also have had a Saturn in the past. It was amazing. Good days!
 
Bought one within a few weeks of release. Played many many hours on it and really enjoyed it. I think it was the playstation that finally defeated it though. I loved daytona usa, panzer dragoon, bug, knights (had the awesome controller)
I think the graphics were very good for the time.
 
darknite said:
Bought one within a few weeks of release. Played many many hours on it and really enjoyed it. I think it was the playstation that finally defeated it though. I loved daytona usa, panzer dragoon, bug, knights (had the awesome controller)
I think the graphics were very good for the time.
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OMG I cannot believe I forgot Panzer Dragon! Same with Daytona USA.
 
Loved this system, but the loading times for mortal kombat killed it for me. Street fighter Alpha with birdie and sakura stage made me hang on to it for this long though! Gotta give this system with the spaceship while playing a cd a thumbs UP!
 
Sega Saturn with a 8 meg RAM cartridge upgrade and using the disc flip trick to play Japanese imports was a fucking beast. Japanese fighting games with the 8 meg RAM upgrade loaded in seconds , it was great.

Now I miss my Saturn :(
 
Was an interesting system, but poorly designed. Sega made way too many bad hardware choices with that thing. Net effect was it had a lot of power but rarely was there a game that could use it.

When it came to 2D graphics, it was the ultimate system, that's what it had been designed for. Of course 3D was the big thing so that was a problem. It did have 3D capability hacked on but it wasn't great and was very strange. It used quadrilateral (4 sided) surfaces instead of triangles for fundamental units. That could work but since most games were designed with triangles in mind, they didn't make effective use of them.

Made it a hard sell for devs vs the Playstation which was much simpler. A MIPS R3000 plus a GPU, plus a SPU. Quite simple from a programming standpoint.

What I think is really funny is that Sony seems to have not learned from the Saturn. The Saturn being the complex beast it was is a major reason the PSX was able to succeed. Had Sega produced a console that was easy to develop for Sony would have had a much harder time since Sega was the established name (the N64 had problems on account of using cartridges, though it still did well). Then what do they do with the PS3? Make a strange, complex as hell, console while fighting MS who has a very easy to develop for console.

It's a pity too, I always liked Sega.
 
I still have my Saturn, along with all the games I bought for it. There's a few games I don't have, that I'd like to get, like Burning Rangers for example. I think I only have around 12 titles or so, including NiGHTS: Into Dreams, Shining Force 3, Soviet Strike, and Virtua Fighter 2.
 
hmm cant find any pictures of my collection which is in storage while I move, but I've got two sega saturns model 1 modded model 2 retail, the 5in1 cart, and about 40-50 games.

The pride of my collection is Dragon Force, Ray Earth Magic knights, Shinning Force III, Dungeons and Dragons Collection(JP), and House of the Dead. I still play it. Playing Panzer Dragoon Saga on an emu right now as I'm waiting for an ebay copy to show up around $200. I bet Gooch has a copy he won't sell me.

My greatest Saturn frustration is that the fucks won't port the Shining Force III collection in English so you can't beat the fuckin game. Thankfully teh English Trans is complete but you have to emu.


Dragon Force is my Favorite game of all time. Just a really awesome blend of strategy, RPG, and Koei style battles. Found a really out of date picture of my collection

picture.php
 
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piscian18 said:
hmm cant find any pictures of my collection which is in storage while I move, but I've got two sega saturns model 1 modded model 2 retail, the 5in1 cart, and about 40-50 games.

The pride of my collection is Dragon Force, Ray Earth Magic knights, Shinning Force III, Dungeons and Dragons Collection(JP), and House of the Dead. I still play it. Playing Panzer Dragoon Saga on an emu right now as I'm waiting for an ebay copy to show up around $200. I bet Gooch has a copy he won't sell me.

My greatest Saturn frustration is that the fucks won't port the Shining Force III collection in English so you can't beat the fuckin game. Thankfully teh English Trans is complete but you have to emu.


Dragon Force is my Favorite game of all time. Just a really awesome blend of strategy, RPG, and Koei style battles. Found a really out of date picture of my collection

picture.php
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My biggest pet peeve as well. I loved SF III Ep I. It still amazes me they let such a screw up like Bernie in charge that was anti-fun game apparently. :rolleyes:
 
I never owned one but I remember going up to my local Best Buy a couple of times a week to play the one they had on display. I would spend an hour or so playing Panzer Dragoon, I thought that game was amazing.
 
I always thought Sega made some great systems,but just always fell short making good business decisions.
 
I still have 2. My original I got when they were offering the 3 games during Christmas of one year. Bought a white model 2 many years ago and put in a modchip. Great system just never play with it much now. Probably going to end up selling it all soon. Hands down it had the best 2d controller ever made in my opinion.
 
Saturn was a great system -- I still remember convincing my grandparents to rent it for me from Blockbuster when I visited them sometimes (my parents wouldn't let me have a console at the time).

Nights in to Dreams is still one of my favorite games of all time (they're making a PC "HD" port, definitely going to pick it up on Steam when it comes out), and I remember being amazed at the original WipEout and Panzer Dragoon. I actually bought an Xbox rather than a PS2 later due to Panzer Dragoon Orta. That was a mistake over all, but the game was decent.

I have a Saturn, though I honestly haven't had it out in a long time. Don't even own a TV anymore, so...
 
I bought one instead of a psx. It was very expensive as I recall. All I had at first was Daytona USA. A while later, I traded it in and got a Playstation. There were many bad games on the Saturn but it did have a few gems. I had and liked

Panzer Dragoon Saga
Shining Force III pt. 1
Dragon Force

Is that it? Hmmm I think there was Burning Rangers as well, Albert Odyssey was ok and there were a few other middling RPG's. I worked at Toys R Us at the time. We had 4 copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga all marked down to 20 bucks. I set them all aside to buy them until some poor kid came in the store just desperate for the game. I could recognize a true RPG fan and let him take a copy. The game was pretty short but it was a revelation and definitely the shining gem of the system.
 
Dragon Force was amazing. I played maybe hundreds of hours of that game and Dragon Force 2.

God I miss those days. Even when the games were more expensive , they just dripped with replay and fun.

:(
 
Godmachine said:
Dragon Force was amazing. I played maybe hundreds of hours of that game and Dragon Force 2.

God I miss those days. Even when the games were more expensive , they just dripped with replay and fun.

:(
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Howd you play DF2, do you speak Japanese or is the game have english options? Just wondering because its cheap on Ebay but I haven't bought it because I figured it was all in japanese.
 
huxley said:
I bought one instead of a psx. It was very expensive as I recall. All I had at first was Daytona USA. A while later, I traded it in and got a Playstation. There were many bad games on the Saturn but it did have a few gems. I had and liked

Panzer Dragoon Saga
Shining Force III pt. 1
Dragon Force

Is that it? Hmmm I think there was Burning Rangers as well, Albert Odyssey was ok and there were a few other middling RPG's. I worked at Toys R Us at the time. We had 4 copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga all marked down to 20 bucks. I set them all aside to buy them until some poor kid came in the store just desperate for the game. I could recognize a true RPG fan and let him take a copy. The game was pretty short but it was a revelation and definitely the shining gem of the system.
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...wait. This makes me think you have at least 2 copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga mint in box. So basically, you are like an ebay thousandaire.
 
Got one. Sadly my pitbull which i had to give up because of going out of town to work, chewed up my svideo cord 3 years ago.. It was a fun system. Although i havent played alot of the good games on it. in particular panzer drogoon saga or bug!
 
Panzer Dragoon Saga is still one of my top RPGs to this day. Good luck getting your hands on it. It's pretty rare and not cheap if you do. I was lucky when I got one of the last copies at an EB Games many years ago.
 
Best system ever next to the PSX, I bought one as soon as they were available, it's still kicking somehow. I LOOOOVED Panzer Dragoon 1, the second one was alright...Anyone remember Grandia and Albert Odyssey!? Those were kick-ass. Shining Force got mentioned a few times, I thought that was well done as well.

I've got the first one in english and a japanese import, but the second one only in a japanese variant for some reason (never bothered to get an english copy I guess). They're all in a sealed box in my closet, doubt I'll have time to ever take them out again. Maybe my future kids will be able to use it down the road.

For whoever was looking for a "cheaper" version of the first one, this bundle here has the first game plus others and a system for under 200: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sega-Saturn...0794368359?pt=Video_Games&hash=item2ec046e967

Just a heads up.
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
silent-circuit said:
...wait. This makes me think you have at least 2 copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga mint in box. So basically, you are like an ebay thousandaire.
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Hah! If only, I sold them years back, I think it was 250-300 for each copy. It's funny how RPGs are the only games that seem to hold or appreciate in value. That is somewhat lost on today's consoles as games are made in such large quantaties....
 
huxley said:
Hah! If only, I sold them years back, I think it was 250-300 for each copy. It's funny how RPGs are the only games that seem to hold or appreciate in value. That is somewhat lost on today's consoles as games are made in such large quantaties....
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Might be because they have longevity in gameplay. Unlike say, a sports game where you do the same shit over and over, at least in an RPG there's a story of some sorts. I know at least I would pay top dollar for a high-quality story-driven game, would get me my moneys worth in no time.
 
How well did Castlevania: Symphony of the Night play in comparison to the PSX version?
 
I bought the Saturn right when it came out, when it was a ridiculous 399.99 and came with Virtua Fighter 1. I LOVED the Saturn so much that I was anti-PSX until about 1996 or 1997 when I finally bought one for the impending release of FF7. I played most of the really great games, and still have some of them, but wish I had kept cool games like Astral. I still have Panzer Dragoon Saga (which I also picked up @ EB brand new), Shining Force 3, Albert Odyssey, Shining the Holy Ark, Radiant Silvergun, and a bunch of other awesome JP 2D fighters with the Action Replay. I still have a saturn console, but now if I want to play, I just use the SSF emulator as it's more convenient.
 
huxley said:
Hah! If only, I sold them years back, I think it was 250-300 for each copy. It's funny how RPGs are the only games that seem to hold or appreciate in value. That is somewhat lost on today's consoles as games are made in such large quantaties....
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Depends on how rare the game is. Final Fantasy anything is pretty worthless. My Copy of the House of the Dead runs $80+ on ebay.

the most valuable retail title of any game is Radiant Silvergun JP for Sega Saturn running $300+ on ebay.

Guardian Heroes used to be pretty valuable but now thats its available on GBA and Xbla I think it's values gone down a bit.
 
piscian18 said:
fuck idk. Just the thought of trying to get 200% on that game gives me a headache.
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I've never hit 200% since it took long for me to get to every single area possible. I think I hit 190%ish & called it quits. My question was more out of intrigue to see if someone has explored the extra area that I've read about a while back.
 
piscian18 said:
hmm cant find any pictures of my collection which is in storage while I move, but I've got two sega saturns model 1 modded model 2 retail, the 5in1 cart, and about 40-50 games.

The pride of my collection is Dragon Force, Ray Earth Magic knights, Shinning Force III, Dungeons and Dragons Collection(JP), and House of the Dead. I still play it. Playing Panzer Dragoon Saga on an emu right now as I'm waiting for an ebay copy to show up around $200. I bet Gooch has a copy he won't sell me.

My greatest Saturn frustration is that the fucks won't port the Shining Force III collection in English so you can't beat the fuckin game. Thankfully teh English Trans is complete but you have to emu.


Dragon Force is my Favorite game of all time. Just a really awesome blend of strategy, RPG, and Koei style battles. Found a really out of date picture of my collection

picture.php
Click to expand...

Wow.. nice looks like my old Saturn collection, but missing PDS. I sold the whole pack back then for 600 bucks on Ebay.

I had it all though..

SF3, Burning Rangers, PDsaga, Dragon Force, a bunch of imports...etc.

Shoulda kept it. Dragon force is my fav. from the bunch as well. SF3 was awesome, but we needed parts 2-3 (
 
I've got a modded Saturn on the shelf that will play CD-Rs - wanted one for years, bought from a buddy - because I wanted to play some of those rare Saturn games. Back when there was no emulation at all of the Saturn.

Really should bust it out and use it. Try some of those fan translations out - especially Shining Force III.

I too had never heard of the console during the SNES/playstation years - but I wasn't a big console gamer at the time. Played FF7 on my roomate's Playstation at college...but was mainly playing Quake 2 and the like...didn't get a PS1 of my own until probably 1999.
 
I almost bought a Saturn until I realised that the 3D was unimpressive and the competition was looking better.
 
The Dreamcast should have been more popular though, I had loads of fun with that playing Soul Calibur, Soul Reaver, and Quake 3 online. My first internet device too. Back when chat rooms were fun.
 
Shining force 3 is wicked, I have had to get it on an emu though.

But Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop 1 & 2, SF Alpha, Fighting Vipers, Virtual On, Grandia, Panzer Dragoon, etc.

I thought wing arms was pretty cool too. Lots of really good games, I played the hell out of it compared to my PSX that I only really played..FF7 and MGS on.


Dreamcast was a great system too, they had lodoss wars...Diablo 3 should have taken a page from that game. And Berserk!
 
Neo Zuko said:
The Dreamcast should have been more popular though, I had loads of fun with that playing Soul Calibur, Soul Reaver, and Quake 3 online. My first internet device too. Back when chat rooms were fun.
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The system was very stylish. It reminds me of modern generation Apple products in a way. A nice clean white with a small logo. Even the boot screen was simple and beautiful. GDR's limited the system a bit and the controller was terrible. Otherwise it had it's share of good games.
 
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