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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread
- Thread starter Seik
- Start date
cj_iwakura
Member
sixteen-bit
Member
Not to mention Gekirindan and Metal Black
Taito Legends 2 is seriously one of the best value propositions in games.
Taito Legends 2 is seriously one of the best value propositions in games.
baphomet
Member
Thell pull it down in a second.
You can always write "mod chip installed" on a sheet of paper in the main picture, but that's about it. Even then they'll pull it down if they notice it.
I would just keep it personanlly. Also I'll answer your pm later today.
I'm getting it someday!!! But one of the main reasons is the arcade version of Growl.
A Black Falcon
Member
Yeah, everything is amazing about it except for the tragic absence of tate support for any of the shmups (I really wish it had it!), and the bad slowdown some games have in the PS2 version, which is the only one the US got (Dungeon Magic...). There's also that the four-player beat 'em ups are two player only on PS2; you'll have to import the European Xbox version for 4 player mode. Fortunately the EU Xbox version is region-free, interestingly. It also has a couple of games not on the PS2 version, and vice versa. Still no tate support, though.
It's still absolutely worth having, though!Do the Japanese PS2 Taito collections have tate mode? I haven't played them.
Huggers
Member
Thought that was the case. Maybe I'll hang onto it. One of those things I might regret selling. Ah yeah cheers mate, appreciated
StevieWhite
Member
Just recorded a whole bunch of video of Saturn Macross. I'm going to do a longer writeup later, but I thought I'd post this. This is the last level. If you're spoiler averse for old games/anime, don't watch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCi3nEs9HCY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCi3nEs9HCY
baphomet
Member
What are you capturing that with?
StevieWhite
Member
I run the Saturn through a framemeister and capture the video with an ElGatoHD60.
meitantei_conan
Member
Just bought a japanese copy of resident evil. I suppose this is that start of my saturn collection. I still dont even own one yet. Gaf can you recommend me some affordable games? Im open to imports as long as they can be played with no knowledge of japanese.
StevieWhite
Member
This seller on e-bay is probably your best bet. Bought from her loads of times, never an issue.
http://stores.ebay.com/Retro-Accessories
blast processed
Member
What kind of games do you like? My library is still small but I recommend all of these and they can be found cheap with the exception of the obvious 3, which I had to take a loan out to acquire. Battle Monsters has to be the "worst" best game I have ever played. If you find that for $10 grab it.
StevieWhite
Member
If fighting games are your thing, there are lots of great Capcom SNK fighters for the system that you could probably import for cheap. Virtually any Sega arcade port can be imported for very cheaply as well - they require next to know knowledge of Japanese.
Tough to find for cheap, but Dragon Force is probably my favorite game for the console.
http://www.subspacebc.com/dragon-force/
Thanks a lot!
meitantei_conan
Member
Are the Japanese versions of north american games still playable? looking at GEX and clock work knight specifically.
meitantei_conan
Member
I like pretty much anything except for fighters,shmups, or racers, not really big fan of those. I do want die hard and nights.What kind of games do you like? My library is still small but I recommend all of these and they can be found cheap with the exception of the obvious 3, which I had to take a loan out to acquire. Battle Monsters has to be the "worst" best game I have ever played. If you find that for $10 grab it.
rokkerkory
Member
Amazing!!
IrishNinja
Member
haha but you just named some of the best genres on the saturn though
Bar81
Member
meitantei_conan
Member
HAHA! I know. I am open to trying out some of them as long as they have some sort of interesting mechanic or hook. I remember seeing a fighting game where you can fight as a car. That's something I would get.
blast processed
Member
Thats this game.
The Virtua Cop light gun games are very fun if your into that.
Here is a good top 100 Saturn games in 10 min
Also I love giving shootouts to GameSack which did a nice episode on the Saturn as well. The also have a lot of videos titled "Left in Japan" which would help you on some imports. That can be found here,
i don't care for the language but Alpha Omega Sin did 3 Videos on the Sega Saturns library
Part 1
Part 2
&
Part 3
Sega Saturn is a hidden gem really and some research needs to be done before diving in. Just make sure there are enough games worthing playing before investing into it.
Hope this helps.
Elevator Action Returns, Bubble Symphony, Magical Drop 3, Astal, Panzer Dragoon 2 (if it counts), Powerslave.
EAR is on the expensive side the others not so much.
StevieWhite
Member
No, you'll need to mod the Saturn or pick up a pro-action replay. PAR's aren't prohibitively expensive, and it's worth picking one up if you are going to get a Saturn collection going. Japanese games are often cheaper than their Western counterparts.
Seems like you picked the wrong console.
Emperor Bohe
Member
yeah... Saturn shines with those genres.
StevieWhite
Member
I finished my writeup of Saturn Macross:
http://www.subspacebc.com/the-super-dimension-fortress-macross-do-you-remember-love/
For those of you that don't feel like reading the writeup, here are the gameplay videos - I hope you enjoy them! Again, these could be considered spoiler-ish... but I think this is well-worn territory.
http://youtu.be/j4rYzomf5mI
http://youtu.be/zUe8HIy09Lk
http://youtu.be/cCi3nEs9HCY
http://www.subspacebc.com/the-super-dimension-fortress-macross-do-you-remember-love/
For those of you that don't feel like reading the writeup, here are the gameplay videos - I hope you enjoy them! Again, these could be considered spoiler-ish... but I think this is well-worn territory.
http://youtu.be/j4rYzomf5mI
http://youtu.be/zUe8HIy09Lk
http://youtu.be/cCi3nEs9HCY
sixteen-bit
Member
There's a good chance you might love it less on Saturn. It's a garbage port.
sixteen-bit
Member
Janet got that Aoi VF3 moveset. Knda brilliant marketing as a partial VF3 preview for folks thirsty for a home version.
meitantei_conan
Member
Thanks for the video links watched them all. I will be getting the fighters remix for sure.Thats this game.
The Virtua Cop light gun games are very fun if your into that.
Here is a good top 100 Saturn games in 10 min
Also I love giving shootouts to GameSack which did a nice episode on the Saturn as well. The also have a lot of videos titled "Left in Japan" which would help you on some imports. That can be found here,
i don't care for the language but Alpha Omega Sin did 3 Videos on the Sega Saturns library
Part 1
Part 2
&
Part 3
Sega Saturn is a hidden gem really and some research needs to be done before diving in. Just make sure there are enough games worthing playing before investing into it.
Hope this helps.
Ok thanks guys for all the help.
Not that I don't like fighting games and racers its just I only find them entertaining when playing with other people. Unfortunately for me my friends don't like playing old games. I find most shumps to be very difficult, if there are easier ones on the Saturn please recommend.
Don't give them the opportunity to choose. Unplug and pack all your other consoles before inviting them, then they can only play the Saturn with you. And if they don't want to play video games, well you can still get drunk.
Besides, Fighters Megamix is a genuinely cool game to play and to show, with power moves easy to learn and to do (hold back and hit, or double tap to run then hit), no qcf, shoryukens or charge moves. Lots of fun to have. Make sure to unlock the hidden characters beforehand though, so you can play a car or a giant stuffed bear with no joints.
And you want a copy of Saturn Bomberman and multitaps if they don't like fighters. Up to ten players!
meitantei_conan
Member
Hahaha. I will try to get them to play mega mix. Maybe if I get them drunk enough they wont notice. I just ordered a japanese copy from ebay.
Edit: Will also be getting bomber man.
encephalon
Member
"Be smart! Fighting foes isn't the only way to survive this horror!"
Thank you Capcom, for informing your Japanese audience of this important gameplay element ... in English.
I don't know where this version of Resident Evil got the reputation for having better looking backdrops, but it does seem to run a little quicker than the PS1 ver. Or at least the animations are sped up. Chris feels surprisingly agile.
And as for Deep Fear, yes, go play it. It's a bit of a clusterfuck, but it's a somewhat memorable one and it's a lot of fun.
Thank you Capcom, for informing your Japanese audience of this important gameplay element ... in English.
I don't know where this version of Resident Evil got the reputation for having better looking backdrops, but it does seem to run a little quicker than the PS1 ver. Or at least the animations are sped up. Chris feels surprisingly agile.
And as for Deep Fear, yes, go play it. It's a bit of a clusterfuck, but it's a somewhat memorable one and it's a lot of fun.
I'm glad people are talking about Fighters Megamix. It's easy to pass the game off as a novelty, but there's a lot beneath the surface.
Connections with Virtua Fighter 3
Those who know me know that I love VF3. It's my favorite VF entry when comparing the arcade games (can't beat the TLC that 4EVO got on the PS2), so its connection with VF3 is something which I find particularly interesting about Fighters Megamix. Hiroshi Kataoka, the game's director, hails from the Fighting Vipers series while Daichi Katagiri, game coordinator, directed Virtua Fighter 3. Beyond Katagiri there doesn't seem to be much spill-over between the two projects - not particularly surprising considering that Virtua Fighter 3 arrived in Japanese arcades a mere 3 months before Fighters Megamix was released.
On to the juicy stuff. Every VF character in FM sports their VF3 movelist - since it took 3 years for VF3 to get a console port, if you wanted to learn your moves at home, Fighters Megamix was your only option. It's a good thing then that Fighters Megamix marks the first time we got a command training mode. (The following year, Last Bronx would expand on this, and its frustratingly absent from the Dreamcast version of Virtua Fighter 3tb.) As someone pointed out, Janet sports Aoi's movelist although she's missing some of her throws (to compensate she can slug you full of lead). There is no repping of Taka-Arashi, sadly - despite Jeff Gerstmann's apparent dislike of the character, I think he's pretty cool. Wish more people played him. Sidesteps are in, although I'm not sure the VF3 Korean step can be done in FM. If anyone feels like giving this a go, I'd be interested in knowing.
The rest are mostly just Easter egg material - Siba's stage, for example, is Wolf's from VF3, and his theme is the VF3 attract theme. Jeffry, Lion and Akira's models in the intro seem to be completely lifted from the arcade version of VF3, while other characters are rendered versions of their VF2 incarnation.
Tech
Despite its VF3 connections, Fighters Megamix appears to be using the Fighting Vipers combat engine. VF3 combos don't really work, but you can do some really cooky stuff against the wall. When compared to Saturn VF2, much visual fidelity has been lost to compensate for -- actually, I'm not sure. The enormous roster? It clearly is running at a lower resolution than VF2 did, and I'm pretty sure that it's running at a low frame rate on some stages as well (would be interested if someone can verify). Stage geometry is far less complicated, at least on VF stages, forgoing VF2's rings for something more closely resembling a Tekken stage. The game does, interestingly, sport a more advanced lighting engine than VF2 Saturn, and maybe even VF2 arcade. Check it out:
Shadows don't do that in VF2!
I can lose an afternoon to Fighters Megamix easily. While to most it's just "that crazy fighting game where you can play as a car" I hope the next time you play it you experiment with something, have some fun. And, by the way, if you're going to use Hornet, you have to break your armor (4P+K) to access any of the good moves.
Connections with Virtua Fighter 3
Those who know me know that I love VF3. It's my favorite VF entry when comparing the arcade games (can't beat the TLC that 4EVO got on the PS2), so its connection with VF3 is something which I find particularly interesting about Fighters Megamix. Hiroshi Kataoka, the game's director, hails from the Fighting Vipers series while Daichi Katagiri, game coordinator, directed Virtua Fighter 3. Beyond Katagiri there doesn't seem to be much spill-over between the two projects - not particularly surprising considering that Virtua Fighter 3 arrived in Japanese arcades a mere 3 months before Fighters Megamix was released.
On to the juicy stuff. Every VF character in FM sports their VF3 movelist - since it took 3 years for VF3 to get a console port, if you wanted to learn your moves at home, Fighters Megamix was your only option. It's a good thing then that Fighters Megamix marks the first time we got a command training mode. (The following year, Last Bronx would expand on this, and its frustratingly absent from the Dreamcast version of Virtua Fighter 3tb.) As someone pointed out, Janet sports Aoi's movelist although she's missing some of her throws (to compensate she can slug you full of lead). There is no repping of Taka-Arashi, sadly - despite Jeff Gerstmann's apparent dislike of the character, I think he's pretty cool. Wish more people played him. Sidesteps are in, although I'm not sure the VF3 Korean step can be done in FM. If anyone feels like giving this a go, I'd be interested in knowing.
The rest are mostly just Easter egg material - Siba's stage, for example, is Wolf's from VF3, and his theme is the VF3 attract theme. Jeffry, Lion and Akira's models in the intro seem to be completely lifted from the arcade version of VF3, while other characters are rendered versions of their VF2 incarnation.
Tech
Despite its VF3 connections, Fighters Megamix appears to be using the Fighting Vipers combat engine. VF3 combos don't really work, but you can do some really cooky stuff against the wall. When compared to Saturn VF2, much visual fidelity has been lost to compensate for -- actually, I'm not sure. The enormous roster? It clearly is running at a lower resolution than VF2 did, and I'm pretty sure that it's running at a low frame rate on some stages as well (would be interested if someone can verify). Stage geometry is far less complicated, at least on VF stages, forgoing VF2's rings for something more closely resembling a Tekken stage. The game does, interestingly, sport a more advanced lighting engine than VF2 Saturn, and maybe even VF2 arcade. Check it out:
Shadows don't do that in VF2!
I can lose an afternoon to Fighters Megamix easily. While to most it's just "that crazy fighting game where you can play as a car" I hope the next time you play it you experiment with something, have some fun. And, by the way, if you're going to use Hornet, you have to break your armor (4P+K) to access any of the good moves.
ResidentDante
Member
Nice little history lesson oneida! Appreciated!
Valkyria
Banned
I'm glad people are talking about Fighters Megamix. It's easy to pass the game off as a novelty, but there's a lot beneath the surface.
Connections with Virtua Fighter 3
Those who know me know that I love VF3. It's my favorite VF entry when comparing the arcade games (can't beat the TLC that 4EVO got on the PS2), so its connection with VF3 is something which I find particularly interesting about Fighters Megamix. Hiroshi Kataoka, the game's director, hails from the Fighting Vipers series while Daichi Katagiri, game coordinator, directed Virtua Fighter 3. Beyond Katagiri there doesn't seem to be much spill-over between the two projects - not particularly surprising considering that Virtua Fighter 3 arrived in Japanese arcades a mere 3 months before Fighters Megamix was released.
On to the juicy stuff. Every VF character in FM sports their VF3 movelist - since it took 3 years for VF3 to get a console port, if you wanted to learn your moves at home, Fighters Megamix was your only option. It's a good thing then that Fighters Megamix marks the first time we got a command training mode. (The following year, Last Bronx would expand on this, and its frustratingly absent from the Dreamcast version of Virtua Fighter 3tb.) As someone pointed out, Janet sports Aoi's movelist although she's missing some of her throws (to compensate she can slug you full of lead). There is no repping of Taka-Arashi, sadly - despite Jeff Gerstmann's apparent dislike of the character, I think he's pretty cool. Wish more people played him. Sidesteps are in, although I'm not sure the VF3 Korean step can be done in FM. If anyone feels like giving this a go, I'd be interested in knowing.
The rest are mostly just Easter egg material - Siba's stage, for example, is Wolf's from VF3, and his theme is the VF3 attract theme. Jeffry, Lion and Akira's models in the intro seem to be completely lifted from the arcade version of VF3, while other characters are rendered versions of their VF2 incarnation.
Tech
Despite its VF3 connections, Fighters Megamix appears to be using the Fighting Vipers combat engine. VF3 combos don't really work, but you can do some really cooky stuff against the wall. When compared to Saturn VF2, much visual fidelity has been lost to compensate for -- actually, I'm not sure. The enormous roster? It clearly is running at a lower resolution than VF2 did, and I'm pretty sure that it's running at a low frame rate on some stages as well (would be interested if someone can verify). Stage geometry is far less complicated, at least on VF stages, forgoing VF2's rings for something more closely resembling a Tekken stage. The game does, interestingly, sport a more advanced lighting engine than VF2 Saturn, and maybe even VF2 arcade. Check it out:
Shadows don't do that in VF2!
I can lose an afternoon to Fighters Megamix easily. While to most it's just "that crazy fighting game where you can play as a car" I hope the next time you play it you experiment with something, have some fun. And, by the way, if you're going to use Hornet, you have to break your armor (4P+K) to access any of the good moves.
What an awesome post, now I want to get home a play it. I'm not a really big fighting games fan, eventhough I have quite a collection on Saturn. But the unlockables in this game look nice.
This, it could've been a better port but it has some solid new content that's well worth a look.
RoryDropkick
Member
Great writeup. I absolutely love Megamix. Our anime club back in the day used to have this game on constantly along with KOF 96/97 and Street Fighter Alpha 2. Saturn was a real hit with our group. I'll never forget the meeting when Xmen Vs. SF was released, myself along with 2 other friends had bought it and we had 3 tv's going with the game and it was played nearly all day.
sixteen-bit
Member
That sounds so awesome. Nothing like local play with friends.
I really miss that.
StevieWhite
Member
Great stuff! Recorded the soundtrack to a cassette tape back in 1998.
High resolution was traded for Gourad shading/Lightning which wasn't an in-hardware feature like PS1.