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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread

Vark

Member
Sad that you have to let it go. What are your thoughts upon replaying? I played through it again last summer, and I was surprised by how little I used the morph feature. Still a great game, but far more straightforward than I remember it being.

Had a pretty mindblowing ending - It's a shame people don't talk about that aspect of it more.

Yea I have no real use for morphing, the normal form has been more than adequate for all the boss fights thus far (on disc 4 now). So long as you know the boss patterns and preload your lasers or shot there's just no real benefit. I don't even use the beserks outside of heal for the most part.

I love the game but it feels like they rushed some of it. Some of the cutscenes (especially action ones) don't always make sense and there's a few areas where it's like 'ok now go access this third thing, it's literally right next to you'.

The hardware obviously hindered the size of the areas and because of the draw distance it makes flying around the large open parts (uru) kind of a nightmare without using the field map all the time. So it also makes it wwaayy more linear than I remember.

But all that said the battle system is still fun as hell and it's such a unique setting and system I can't help but love it, even when it's being weird.
 

RiZ III

Member
Yea I have no real use for morphing, the normal form has been more than adequate for all the boss fights thus far (on disc 4 now). So long as you know the boss patterns and preload your lasers or shot there's just no real benefit. I don't even use the beserks outside of heal for the most part.

I love the game but it feels like they rushed some of it. Some of the cutscenes (especially action ones) don't always make sense and there's a few areas where it's like 'ok now go access this third thing, it's literally right next to you'.

The hardware obviously hindered the size of the areas and because of the draw distance it makes flying around the large open parts (uru) kind of a nightmare without using the field map all the time. So it also makes it wwaayy more linear than I remember.

But all that said the battle system is still fun as hell and it's such a unique setting and system I can't help but love it, even when it's being weird.

Using the morphing system properly makes the difference between winning a fight and owning a fight.
 

StevieWhite

Member
Yea I have no real use for morphing, the normal form has been more than adequate for all the boss fights thus far (on disc 4 now). So long as you know the boss patterns and preload your lasers or shot there's just no real benefit. I don't even use the beserks outside of heal for the most part.

I love the game but it feels like they rushed some of it. Some of the cutscenes (especially action ones) don't always make sense and there's a few areas where it's like 'ok now go access this third thing, it's literally right next to you'.

The hardware obviously hindered the size of the areas and because of the draw distance it makes flying around the large open parts (uru) kind of a nightmare without using the field map all the time. So it also makes it wwaayy more linear than I remember.

But all that said the battle system is still fun as hell and it's such a unique setting and system I can't help but love it, even when it's being weird.

Agreed. It's a great game, but it does seem kind of unfinished. You could play through the game VERY ATTENTIVELY and still miss every conceivable sidequest. That being said, it does live up to the hype; my favorite RPG of the era, easily.
 
Yea I like it when people photograph stuff from all angles. I think people respond better to it anyway. Ive noticed a lot of copies of PDS have slightly wavy rear covers. I think they were using cheaper paper and there's nothing in the case that forces it flat.

Yeah. The long box Saturn and CD games have a bunch of things that can just be wrong with them that is hard to see in standard pictures. With CD games it is easier to see some of it though since everything is branded blue, so the bends and cracks stand out. It's hard to even tell if someone just printed out the back/spine artwork on Saturn games from pictures.

With all the people selling disk prints it's even harder to trust online sales now. Problem is that the only place that I'm really able to see the games that I want to buy in person are at conventions and what not, and sellers completely overprice their stuff there. It's not me being cheap, its seeing Rayearth for like $400 without stickers. Retro game stores aren't much better. I live right near eStarland and even though they have a ton of games, they have everything vacuum sealed so I can't really inspect them how I would like. There are a number of high price games that I would gladly pay the current, even ebay, going price for if I could be completely sure of their condition, but they are the ones that cost so much that I'm just not willing to risk it if there is any doubt.
 

MadHitz

Neo Member
I had a PlayStation during this era, but I remember wanting a Saturn for Street Fighter Alpha 2 because you could fight as Evil Ryu, something the PS1 version lacked.
 

thomasos

Member
Yea I like it when people photograph stuff from all angles. I think people respond better to it anyway. Ive noticed a lot of copies of PDS have slightly wavy rear covers. I think they were using cheaper paper and there's nothing in the case that forces it flat.

I've never seen a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga that doesn't have the wavy rear art insert. I think it's a combination of cheap paper and the heavy use of dark ink for that particular insert.
 

Arcane0ne

Member
Hello pals,i have a problem,the other day try play Virtua Fighter Kids in SSF but when the fight starts, the music is mute.

On the options menu works fine,i dont know what happen...

How can i fix this?

I use a backup cd.
 
What are you supposed to do with the spine card? Where does it go? On the inside or outside of the case. I just bought a game online and it says it comes with one but I don't know what to do with it.

As I said, I'm looking to collect SS games
The spine-card was included in the package, like the manual
You can play a game w/o the manual? of course, especially if the game is in japanese and you can't read kanji
but a game w/o manual is not complete in the same way it comes w/o the spine-card, of course in my opinion as a collector :)
 

Valkyria

Banned
Sega Saturn's spine cards are normally really nice, and if you put the case in a plastic sleeve it looks really nice. On the other hand Dreamcast´s spine cards are boring, so to my they don't deserve the extra cost.
 
Sega Saturn's spine cards are normally really nice, and if you put the case in a plastic sleeve it looks really nice. On the other hand Dreamcast´s spine cards are boring, so to my they don't deserve the extra cost.

some PS1 also are nice, and I agree with you about DC ones, most of them are identical, just white and orange
 

Mercutio

Member
Sega Saturn's spine cards are normally really nice, and if you put the case in a plastic sleeve it looks really nice. On the other hand Dreamcast´s spine cards are boring, so to my they don't deserve the extra cost.

I've only got a few PC Engine ones, but they're my favorites.

pce_draculax_0919.jpg


I love the bold colors. It's a little cleaner and more modern feeling than the Saturn's goldish ones.

But hey, all spine cards are great.
 
Sega Saturn's spine cards are normally really nice, and if you put the case in a plastic sleeve it looks really nice. On the other hand Dreamcast´s spine cards are boring, so to my they don't deserve the extra cost.

I've never worried about spine cards. I just don't get the appeal myself.
 
I've never worried about spine cards. I just don't get the appeal myself.

Since I have yet to import a saturn game I don't even know what they are really. I mean sure, I can see them in pictures but I still don't fully understand them. They are on the outside of the case right? Does the back art for the game itself not wrap around that corner and have no design/title without them?
 

KC-Slater

Member
Since I have yet to import a saturn game I don't even know what they are really. I mean sure, I can see them in pictures but I still don't fully understand them. They are on the outside of the case right? Does the back art for the game itself not wrap around that corner and have no design/title without them?

They really don't serve any purpose other than acting as an additional variable to stew over when seeking to fulfill a CIB import Saturn collection. Even if they were particularly cool-looking (spoiler: they aren't) once the jewel case is out of the shrink wrap, there isn't anything to really do with them other than have them.
 
They really don't serve any purpose other than acting as an additional variable to stew over when seeking to fulfill a CIB import Saturn collection. Even if they were particularly cool-looking (spoiler: they aren't) once the jewel case is out of the shrink wrap, there isn't anything to really do with them other than have them.

Well I mean, does the game look incomplete without them, as in is there no artwork or anything under where they normally sit?
 

KC-Slater

Member
Well I mean, does the game look incomplete without them, as in is there no artwork or anything under where they normally sit?

The case/art is complete underneath. Think of it more like when gaming magazines came in sealed plastic bags that had art/text screened over top of them. The spin card is completely supplementary.

$_35.JPG
 
The case/art is complete underneath. Think of it more like when gaming magazines came in sealed plastic bags that had art/text screened over top of them. The spin card is completely supplementary.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMzU0/z/5hAAAOSwQItTzIl7/$_35.JPG[IMG][/QUOTE]

Okay, cool. I'm a person that likes to have all the manuals and stuff with games I get, but I think I could live without the spine cards then. If it isn't extra art, or to cover up something that is blank/the case would look odd without it then I'm fine.

If it was over the full game case, like those DVD/BluRay sleeves then I could see wanting it though.
 

Mercutio

Member
They really don't serve any purpose other than acting as an additional variable to stew over when seeking to fulfill a CIB import Saturn collection. Even if they were particularly cool-looking (spoiler: they aren't) once the jewel case is out of the shrink wrap, there isn't anything to really do with them other than have them.

I'd never seek them out, but they're a fun little packaging treat to get when you do get them. And they make my Dracula X copy worth way more for no good reason, so that's cool.
 
Okay, cool. I'm a person that likes to have all the manuals and stuff with games I get, but I think I could live without the spine cards then. If it isn't extra art, or to cover up something that is blank/the case would look odd without it then I'm fine.

With my post I didn't mean they are essential, anyone can buy games the way he wants
I just said I made the decision to buy all games in that way (and not only SS, even PS1 and DC) and I'm keeping on it.
If I see 2 copies of the same game, one with the spine-card and one without it, same price, why should I have to buy the latter? :)
I have "the luck" to live in Japan and prices usually don't change due the presence or lack of the spine-card, the price changes by the condition of the whole object (disc, manual, case and s-c conditions)
Also it's getting difficult to find complete games in the same way SFC boxed games had skyrocketed in the latest years.

But I say it again, spine-cards are NOT essentials and my post was not intended to have that meaning :)
But I didn't like some kind of answers, as I acted as some sort of snob...
Everyone can buy games in the way he wants, I'm not judging anyone or telling the way games should be bought, we are just talking about our common passion : SS games
 
But I say it again, spine-cards are NOT essentials and my post was not intended to have that meaning :)
But I didn't like some kind of answers, as I acted as some sort of snob...
Everyone can buy games in the way he wants, I'm not judging anyone or telling the way games should be bought, we are just talking about our common passion : SS games

Oh no worries chum, I wasn't commenting on anything you had claimed, just making a proclamation for myself for when/if I look into importing some Saturn games.
 
They really don't serve any purpose other than acting as an additional variable to stew over when seeking to fulfill a CIB import Saturn collection. Even if they were particularly cool-looking (spoiler: they aren't) once the jewel case is out of the shrink wrap, there isn't anything to really do with them other than have them.

Spine Cards are gorgeous, shut up.
 

IrishNinja

Member
spinecards have even less worth than genesis box hangtabs

yamauichi was a high ranking yakuza

the last boss in your favorite game is prolly cheap as hell

why is there so much ammo but no health in these fucking boxes b

all this and more at 11
 
spinecards have even less worth than genesis box hangtabs

yamauichi was a high ranking yakuza

the last boss in your favorite game is prolly cheap as hell

why is there so much ammo but no health in these fucking boxes b

all this and more at 11

A+ post. Also, Golden Silver in Gunstar Heroes is actually kind of a pushover.
 
today I bought this :




iirc it had good words here, I'm just worried about how it plays using a normal pad instead of analog pad w/stick
 

Khaz

Member
iirc it had good words here, I'm just worried about how it plays using a normal pad instead of analog pad w/stick

Nice find!

Don't worry about playability, it's a Doom-like not a Quake-like, you don't need vertical accuracy. You move around with the dpad and strafe with the shoulder buttons. I do think it's the second best way to control these type of games, second only to mouse-controlled turning. Keyboard-only is third, twin-sticks are useless.
 

Kalkano

Banned
See my avie for my favorite game of all time. NOTHING tops Shining Force 3! It's heartbreaking that Camelot left after that. The future was so bright...
 

IrishNinja

Member

wait wait i'd not say such a thing, manuals have objective value, as empirically proven in peer-reviewed scientific studies
doubly so when they're in color!

See my avie for my favorite game of all time. NOTHING tops Shining Force 3! It's heartbreaking that Camelot left after that. The future was so bright...

yeah, that didn't stop Sega from milking the series though...time to go check ebay for my little white whale
 

Kalkano

Banned
yeah, that didn't stop Sega from milking the series though...time to go check ebay for my little white whale

Premium Disk? I got that for free a few years ago, straight from Camelot. ;)

They had somehow come into a second batch of them, and quietly let a few people know.
 

IrishNinja

Member
Premium Disk? I got that for free a few years ago, straight from Camelot. ;)

They had somehow come into a second batch of them, and quietly let a few people know.

whoah whoah, i just want a legit US copy of Shining III for a good price, what's the details on the premium disk?
 

Valkyria

Banned
Tomorrow with daylight I will take some pictures of my games with and without spine cards. For some, it makes the game look extra nice, like the games with double jewel case or the cases with black border instead or transparent to see part of the inlay.
 

Kalkano

Banned
whoah whoah, i just want a legit US copy of Shining III for a good price, what's the details on the premium disk?

It let you fight classic bosses from the series, using characters from all 3 scenarios of SF3. It also had character artwork, the soundtrack, an interview, commercials...

It's definitely the most expensive of the SF3 disks.
 
I know I could just google this, but are there translation patches for the non us released scenarios? It has been what has kept me from really wanting to get SF3.
 
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