• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread

Mercutio

Member
New to Saturn (just bought my system three weeks ago), but this is needed to play import titles, correct?

Alternatively, there are modifications you can have performed. Apparently the Pro Action Replay doesn't handle RAM requirements for a few Japanese arcade ports. Modification is the only way to go for full compatibility.
 
Just curious about people's thoughts on this subject. What is the most you would pay for Panzer Dragoon Saga? Is it really worth the asking price? Never played it but it has been on my to play list for a while now.
 

Ommadawnyawn

Neo Member
On emulation, maybe it's been posted before but Yabause apparently has OpenGL support:
PanzerZwei_3_s.jpg


You can also see the mesh translucency there (transparent radar instead of dithering), which is featured in SSF as well.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5JFTbVK2wI

Yabause doesn't work well on my PC though...
 
I know, but it's not really a very good game, so I don't feel like bothering to import it.

But I may do it eventually, anyway, for completionist sake. I should also get a new Game Gear...the screen on mine can only be viewed properly from an awkward angle. Heh. Though it might be hard to find one that works right, since I hear that Game Gear screens don't age well... :(


Bah, I don't see any listing on Amazon or eBay.


Anyway, Panzer Dragoon Saga is great, but as much as I love the game, I don't think it's worth the prices it goes for nowadays. If you can find a time machine, though, go for it!
 

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
Just curious about people's thoughts on this subject. What is the most you would pay for Panzer Dragoon Saga? Is it really worth the asking price? Never played it but it has been on my to play list for a while now.
it is NOT worth the asking price
- guy who paid the asking price
 

Khaz

Member
it is NOT worth the asking price
- guy who paid the asking price

Nothing is worth that price. it's ridiculously expensive. I paid £109 in 2009 and I thought it was already too expensive. The worst part now is that some sellers split their box to sell the parts individually, hoping to make a profit I believe. Disgusting.

I encourage swapping for these kind of games. If you're not a collector don't even bother and enjoy your burnt copy. It's not like your money would be going to the creators anyway.
 
Anyone have an extra controller or two they would be willing to part with? I have been looking for a model 1 and/or 2 controller to go with my 3d controller, but the Ebay prices are rather high. I finally have an Action Replay coming in tomorrow along with some games. I am really looking forward to expanding my Saturn collection, which is still rather small.
 

Dwayne

Member
My Saturn arrived from Japan! Dreamcast too, but my Hanzo VGA adapter hasn't arrived yet.

fyfunke.jpg

How does it feel to be a winner, descended from Heaven?
 
Really curious what Bulk Slash would look like all rezzed up in that emulator...

I guess the player character being a 2D sprite would be detrimental though...
 
On emulation, maybe it's been posted before but Yabause apparently has OpenGL support:
PanzerZwei_3_s.jpg


You can also see the mesh translucency there (transparent radar instead of dithering), which is featured in SSF as well.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5JFTbVK2wI

Yabause doesn't work well on my PC though...

Wow, I had no idea Yabuse was that far along. I remember trying it a few years ago and being really unimpressed.
 

Tain

Member
On emulation, maybe it's been posted before but Yabause apparently has OpenGL support:
PanzerZwei_3_s.jpg


You can also see the mesh translucency there (transparent radar instead of dithering), which is featured in SSF as well.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5JFTbVK2wI

Yabause doesn't work well on my PC though...

Audio sounds pretty nasty but it's nice to see that Zwei, at least, cleans up a bit better than most PSX games when rendered in higher resolutions. I expected more instability, even if it still looks a bit jank.
 

Seik

Banned
Wow, I had no idea Yabuse was that far along. I remember trying it a few years ago and being really unimpressed.

Yabause made a lot of progress, but SSF is still way more stable.

BUT, Yabause seems be updated way more often than SSF, which updates something like once each 1-2 years. So at one point maybe one will surpass the other.
 
I'm surprised the sound chip is the one that's apparently so hard to get right. SSF does a better job than Yabause by far (Dragon Force's soundtrack in Yabause is kinda painful to listen to), but even SSF screws up Clockwork Knight's saxophone instruments (well, in the versions that can run the game at all, anyway).
 

Celine

Member
I'm surprised the sound chip is the one that's apparently so hard to get right. SSF does a better job than Yabause by far (Dragon Force's soundtrack in Yabause is kinda painful to listen to), but even SSF screws up Clockwork Knight's saxophone instruments (well, in the versions that can run the game at all, anyway).
Speaking of which, is there any way to rip music (generated by the hardware) from a Saturn game?
I would like to get Solo Crisis music...
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Speaking of which, is there any way to rip music (generated by the hardware) from a Saturn game?
I would like to get Solo Crisis music...
Look for .SEQ files on the disc, or sometimes a SEQ.BIN file. There are tools out there that can at least convert those to MIDI. I'm not sure if there's anything that plays them natively.
 

televator

Member
On emulation, maybe it's been posted before but Yabause apparently has OpenGL support:
PanzerZwei_3_s.jpg


You can also see the mesh translucency there (transparent radar instead of dithering), which is featured in SSF as well.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5JFTbVK2wI

Yabause doesn't work well on my PC though...

I'm really liking the progress on these emus. I hope they get even better once my next future PC build is complete.
 

Mercutio

Member
Nothing is worth that price. it's ridiculously expensive. I paid £109 in 2009 and I thought it was already too expensive. The worst part now is that some sellers split their box to sell the parts individually, hoping to make a profit I believe. Disgusting.

I encourage swapping for these kind of games. If you're not a collector don't even bother and enjoy your burnt copy. It's not like your money would be going to the creators anyway.

I have a burnt copy and frankly, it's really dated visually. The combat gameplay is wonderful, but it is very hard to enjoy it graphically and cinematically at times. I dunno. This is coming from someone who still plays Zwei regularly and thinks it is beautiful; I really don't think that PD Saga is as enjoyable these days.
 
I honestly greatly prefer Saga to the other Panzer Dragoon games. I understand this will probably not be a popular opinion, but, well, I'm just really not any good at the shmup ones, or at the very least don't have the patience to commit the location of every enemy attack pattern to memory to just brute force my way through 'em, so while I acknowledge their quality and highly recommend them, they're not really my thing.

Speaking of which, is there any way to rip music (generated by the hardware) from a Saturn game?
I would like to get Solo Crisis music...
Have you ever heard of "PSF" files? Basically, they ripped the music of PlayStation games to an emulated file format. Said format then extended to a ton of other consoles, such as the Game Boy Advance (GSF), DS (2SF), and, yes, the Sega Saturn (SSF, not to be confused with the emulator of the same name). There's a repository of said music rips out there. I'm not sure of the legality of linking it, but for what it's worth, Solo Crisis is one of the games with a rip available on the site. It'd require WinAmp to play, though, since AFAIK the only player is a WinAmp plug-in.
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
I never consider the market value when I'm evaluating a game's merits or shortcomings. It just doesn't seem fair or sensible. I mean, think about the inverse example: Does the fact that you can acquire ancient Madden carts for pennies suddenly make those games worthwhile?

PD Saga is a pretty good RPG. It has interesting battle gameplay and very little padding, so it doesn't feel like I'm ever wasting my time when playing it, and that's a very important quality in an RPG to me. But it's also short, has a very sparse world, and I agree that it's a rather ugly game.

PD Zwei is the only game of that series that I think mostly holds up in terms of visuals and performance.
 
I never consider the market value when I'm evaluating a game's merits or shortcomings. It just doesn't seem fair or sensible. I mean, think about the inverse example: Does the fact that you can acquire ancient Madden carts for pennies suddenly make those games worthwhile?

PD Saga is a pretty good RPG. It has interesting battle gameplay and very little padding, so it doesn't feel like I'm ever wasting my time when playing it, and that's a very important quality in an RPG to me. But it's also short, has a very sparse world, and I agree that it's a rather ugly game.

PD Zwei is the only game of that series that I think mostly holds up in terms of visuals and performance.

Agreed. Just more of a way of trying to prioritize which games to collect first. On a side note, are there any good Saturn shooters that are less than $100 aftermarket? It is pretty insane how many are $150+ on ebay.
 

televator

Member
I honestly greatly prefer Saga to the other Panzer Dragoon games. I understand this will probably not be a popular opinion, but, well, I'm just really not any good at the shmup ones, or at the very least don't have the patience to commit the location of every enemy attack pattern to memory to just brute force my way through 'em, so while I acknowledge their quality and highly recommend them, they're not really my thing.

I always got the impression that most folks put saga above all the others. I'm not a classic RPG guy myself and I find these shooter in the style of starfox/rogue squadron/panzer dragoon far more accesible to me than the typical bullet hell shmup. So the shooty panzer dragoons are aces for me.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Agreed. Just more of a way of trying to prioritize which games to collect first. On a side note, are there any good Saturn shooters that are less than $100 aftermarket? It is pretty insane how many are $150+ on ebay.

Layer Section / Galactic Attack is excellent. It's cheap, but would still be worth buying if it reached the stupid price point most Saturn shooters are at.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Seriously. The prices just seem really over inflated.

Yeah, but it's no different than the rest of retro gaming, I suppose. In any case, I don't see the prices going down.


Oh yeah, isn't Soukyugurentai still fairly reasonable? That's probably my favorite shmup on the Saturn... Either that or Garegga.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Isn't that screenshot of PD1, not Zwei? The blue dragon is from PD1...
I honestly greatly prefer Saga to the other Panzer Dragoon games. I understand this will probably not be a popular opinion, but, well, I'm just really not any good at the shmup ones, or at the very least don't have the patience to commit the location of every enemy attack pattern to memory to just brute force my way through 'em, so while I acknowledge their quality and highly recommend them, they're not really my thing.

I agree completely. I do like the shooters, but I'm very bad at them, so I don't enjoy them as much as Saga.
 

Ommadawnyawn

Neo Member
On a side note, are there any good Saturn shooters that are less than $100 aftermarket? It is pretty insane how many are $150+ on ebay.

I put together this list based on sold listings on ebay recently:
Dezaemon 2 - $8-$15+
Super Dimensional Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? - $13-$20+
Fantasy Zone - $15-$25+
Galactic Attack - $15-$25+
Detana Twinbee Yahho! Deluxe Pack - $15-$30 - Identical on PS1, I think
Darius II - $15-$40
Sonic Wings Special - $15-$45+
Darius Gaiden - $17-$30+
Capcom Generation 1 (1942, 1943 (ARC), 1943 Kai) - $20-$30
Gokujyo Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack - $20-$30
Sol Divide - $25+
Capcom Generation 4 (Gun.Smoke, Commando, Mercs) - $20-$30+
Gunbird - $20-40$
Gradius Deluxe Pack (Gradius 1 & 2) - $25-$45
Cho Aniki - $30+
Thunder Force Gold Pack 1 (TF2 & 3) - $30-$45 - Plays well but the music doesn't loop correctly
Strikers 1945 - $30-$50+
Soukyugurentai - $35-$55+
DonPachi $30-$60 - Better on PS1 overall
Chatting Parodius (Jikkyo Oshaberi Parodius: Forever with me) - $35-$55+
Kingdom Grandprix - $35-$60
Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus (Salamander, Life Force, Salamander 2) - $40-$60+ - Also on PSP
Wolf Fang: Kuhga 2001 SS - $40-$60+
Metal Black - $40-$60
Gekirindan - $40-$65+
Skull Fang - $45-$60+
Bokan to Ippatsu! - $45+
DoDonPachi - $40-$65+
Shienryu - $45-$75
Sexy Parodius - $40-$60+ - Identical on PS1?
Game Tengoku - $45-$60+
Sengoku Blade - $45-$75+
Arcade Gears: Gun Frontier - $50-$70+
Cotton 2 - $55-$75
Arcade Gears: 3 Wonders/Wonder 3 (Chariot) - $60+
Thunder Force V: Special Edition - $85-105+ ($50-$60+ regular version) - Not an obvious choice over the PS1 version
Twinkle Star Sprites - $60-$80+ - Don't know if the DC- or PS2 version has the Saturn one's extra mode and artwork
Kyukyoku Tiger II Plus - $65-$160
Steam Hearts - $65-$90+
Arcade Gears: Image Fight/X-Multiply - $50-$130+
Thunder Force Gold Pack 2 (TF3 AC & TF4) - $70-$90 - Less slowdown in TF4
Guardian Force - $80-$115+

$100+ games:
Radiant Silvergun - $125-150+
Blast Wind - $125-$160+
Batsugun - $140-150+
Hyper Duel - $140-$280+
Cotton Boomerang - $145-$160+
Battle Garegga - $155+

Edit: Games I've played and liked in cursives
 

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
at first I was like hell yeah I paid $90 for batsugun shipped

then I was like that's still a shitload of money
 
I put together this list based on sold listings on ebay recently:
Dezaemon 2 - $8-$15+
Super Dimensional Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? - $13-$20+
Fantasy Zone - $15-$25+
Galactic Attack - $15-$25+
Detana Twinbee Yahho! Deluxe Pack - $15-$30 - Identical on PS1, I think
Darius II - $15-$40
Sonic Wings Special - $15-$45+
Darius Gaiden - $17-$30+
Capcom Generation 1 (1942, 1943 (ARC), 1943 Kai) - $20-$30
Gokujyo Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack - $20-$30
Sol Divide - $25+
Capcom Generation 4 (Gun.Smoke, Commando, Mercs) - $20-$30+
Gunbird - $20-40$
Gradius Deluxe Pack (Gradius 1 & 2) - $25-$45
Cho Aniki - $30+
Thunder Force Gold Pack 1 (TF2 & 3) - $30-$45 - Plays well but the music doesn't loop correctly
Strikers 1945 - $30-$50+
Soukyugurentai - $35-$55+
DonPachi $30-$60 - Better on PS1 overall
Chatting Parodius (Jikkyo Oshaberi Parodius: Forever with me) - $35-$55+
Kingdom Grandprix - $35-$60
Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus (Salamander, Life Force, Salamander 2) - $40-$60+ - Also on PSP
Wolf Fang: Kuhga 2001 SS - $40-$60+
Metal Black - $40-$60
Gekirindan - $40-$65+
Skull Fang - $45-$60+
Bokan to Ippatsu! - $45+
DoDonPachi - $40-$65+
Shienryu - $45-$75
Sexy Parodius - $40-$60+ - Identical on PS1?
Game Tengoku - $45-$60+
Sengoku Blade - $45-$75+
Arcade Gears: Gun Frontier - $50-$70+
Cotton 2 - $55-$75
Arcade Gears: 3 Wonders/Wonder 3 (Chariot) - $60+
Thunder Force V: Special Edition - $85-105+ ($50-$60+ regular version) - Not an obvious choice over the PS1 version
Twinkle Star Sprites - $60-$80+ - Don't know if the DC- or PS2 version has the Saturn one's extra mode and artwork
Kyukyoku Tiger II Plus - $65-$160
Steam Hearts - $65-$90+
Arcade Gears: Image Fight/X-Multiply - $50-$130+
Thunder Force Gold Pack 2 (TF3 AC & TF4) - $70-$90 - Less slowdown in TF4
Guardian Force - $80-$115+

$100+ games:
Radiant Silvergun - $125-150+
Blast Wind - $125-$160+
Batsugun - $140-150+
Hyper Duel - $140-$280+
Cotton Boomerang - $145-$160+
Battle Garegga - $155+

Edit: Games I've played and liked in cursives

Thanks much for the list! Should be useful.

Finally putting my Saturn to good use. Also noticed last night that there are a few of them that are on PSN.
If only Sega was still around releasing Saturn games.
 

Ommadawnyawn

Neo Member
Yes, or a "Nights' Ultimate Saturn Collection", in two volumes at ~20 games each. One where the games featured are all voted in by Saturn connoisseurs. :)
 

Bar81

Member
Yeah, I remember it being something around 100$ a year ago.

Now I feel dumb because I still need it. :(

The price hikes for all retro games are just beyond retarded. However, it never ceases to amaze me that we have been blessed with a small miracle in that the the best shmup on the system is pretty much the cheapest - Layer Section/Galactic Attack
 

Seik

Banned
The price hikes for all retro games are just beyond retarded. However, it never ceases to amaze me that we have been blessed with a small miracle in that the the best shmup on the system is pretty much the cheapest - Layer Section/Galactic Attack

My very first Saturn game along with Earthworm Jim 2, got both for 10$/ea. something like 5 years ago in a flea market. Something one shall probably not see anymore since even the flea market guys are now keeping an eye on Ebay most of the time.

Loved it, me and a friend played it to the end the same day we slapped it in the Saturn. :D
 

Bar81

Member
My very first Saturn game along with Earthworm Jim 2, got both for 10$/ea. something like 5 years ago.

Loved it, me and a friend played it to the end the same day we slapped it in the Saturn. :D

Good man. It's my GOAT shmup; so much so that I went out and also bought the JP PCB - Rayforce - and the OST to boot.
 
D

Deleted member 74300

Unconfirmed Member
Well my complete copies of Die Hard Arcade and Gungriffon arrived, around $50 for both of them. Good deal I guess considering I keep seeing copies Die Hard complete for $50.

Anyways awesome Saturn music as usual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcufC6XPzNo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4VmW5qxbKw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUtNbwSSj-I

Also my first time playing resulted in this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Ceit4narM#t=14

I knew I should have looked at what the controls were first...
 
Top Bottom