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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread

Teknoman

Member
If I was in charge of a port I'd be tempted to add in more ways to earn credits through gameplay, be those extra lives or score bonuses, whatever fits. Just something that makes getting extra more satisfying then just being given them from the start. It would have to balanced well of course.

I find it hard to restrain myself and set my own challenges so having it on freeplay stops me trying my best to git gud as I can just walk to the finish destroying a lot of the fun. Why risk getting to that health pickup if I just respawn next credit anyway. Forcing myself to restart the game when I lose x number of credits feels weird. I think free play should be hidden behind cheat menus or better yet unlocks.

Definitely. Its even worse in games like Metal Slug.
 

piggychan

Member
Not that I have a lot to add to the continues discussion, but I feel like Layer Section does it right; having 4 continues is an adequate challenge that forces you to really learn the game, but it isn't so strict that it's discouraging.

How's Symphony of the Night on the Saturn? I know it has it's problems, but I've been struck with the desire to play it on the system after messing around with it on Vita this morning. I might keep my eye out for it today when I head to some shops in Tokyo.

I personally think it is a great game in it's own right. However if you are looking to make comparisons then it will fall short.

It is not even handled by the original Castlevania team and some of the graphical effects are missing while others the enemies have new death animations (although very minor) which make use of the saturns 2D sprite rotation/scaling etc. Acessing the map is not as easy as the PSX

the FMV is also very small compared to the PSX and the resolutions is a little different. The only thing I can think of as positives are that Alucard has the ability to run, sound test, new music tracks, new levels, new familiar, new enemies, new weapons, 3rd equip and hidden art folder on the disc, plus you can start the game from 3 characters straight away.
 
Definitely. Its even worse in games like Metal Slug.

Ugh, yes. I remember always losing interest in beating Metal Slug X on PS1 because doing so was trivialized by unlimited continues.

I personally think it is a great game in it's own right. However if you are looking to make comparisons then it will fall short.

It is not even handled by the original Castlevania team and some of the graphical effects are missing while others the enemies have new death animations (although very minor) which make use of the saturns 2D sprite rotation/scaling etc. Acessing the map is not as easy as the PSX

the FMV is also very small compared to the PSX and the resolutions is a little different. The only thing I can think of as positives are that Alucard has the ability to run, sound test, new music tracks, new levels, new familiar, new enemies, new weapons, 3rd equip and hidden art folder on the disc, plus you can start the game from 3 characters straight away.

It sounds interesting, if nothing else. The pros outweigh the cons for me if I can find it cheap enough.
 

piggychan

Member
Are Christmas Nights and Guardian Heroes import-friendly games?



Hey man, it also plays DVDs!

Christmas Nights should be. Guardian Heroes well you will have sections where the game asks you to choose multiple paths to further the game and story. I'd say its import friendly but also it is available on XBL marketplace
 

piggychan

Member
Ugh, yes. I remember always losing interest in beating Metal Slug X on PS1 because doing so was trivialized by unlimited continues.



It sounds interesting, if nothing else. The pros outweigh the cons for me if I can find it cheap enough.

I'd say grab it just for being a fan of the Castlevania series.
 
That D&D Collection also has infinite continues makes it significantly less interesting to me, which is a bummer. I was weirdly excited about buying it.
 

Timu

Member
Which are you referring to?
Shinobi Legions, X-Men Children of the Atom, Street Fighter Collection, Golden Axe: The Duel, Primal Rage, Mortal Kombat II, Die Hard Arcade, Marvel Super Heroes, Shining the Holy Ark, Sonic Jam, Corpse Killer, Guardian Heroes, The Legend of Oasis, Astal, Fighters Megamix, Shining Force 3, Earthworm Jim 2, Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Dark Savior, Power Slave.

These are just the US versions. Most are above 40 with some being a little over 100!!!
 
Shinobi Legions, X-Men Children of the Atom, Street Fighter Collection, Golden Axe: The Duel, Primal Rage, Mortal Kombat II, Die Hard Arcade, Marvel Super Heroes, Shining the Holy Ark, Sonic Jam, Corpse Killer, Guardian Heroes, The Legend of Oasis, Astal, Fighters Megamix, Shining Force 3, Earthworm Jim 2, Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Dark Savior, Power Slave.

These are just the US versions. Most are above 40 with some being a little over 100!!!

You could have just said all games :) It seems were entering that pre-holiday, jack up the price, season again. It's when I do the least amount of my retro buying.
 
I got X-Men:CoTA CIB in fantastic condition for like, late 2012. Jeez. I should probably get Die Hard Arcade and Guardian Heroes (Yes, I'm aware of the 360 port. Still want a physical version, though.) before the prices get even more stupid.

I'm glad the D&D Collection got a more faithful port on PS3 and a physical JP release. Saved me from having to track down the inferior (and more expensive) Saturn version.
 

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
I got X-Men:CoTA CIB in fantastic condition for like, late 2012. Jeez. I should probably get Die Hard Arcade and Guardian Heroes (Yes, I'm aware of the 360 port. Still want a physical version, though.) before the prices get even more stupid.

I'm glad the D&D Collection got a more faithful port on PS3 and a physical JP release. Saved me from having to track down the inferior (and more expensive) Saturn version.

Why is it you are passing on D&D due to the digital version but not doing the same for GH? Guardian Heroes 360 is also superior to the Saturn version and is also far less expensive. Save the money and put it towards something cool and exclusive!
 

Mzo

Member
From what he wrote I'm guessing he bought the physical Japanese M2 port of D&D and not the digital US one by Backbone or whatever it was.
 
From what he wrote I'm guessing he bought the physical Japanese M2 port of D&D and not the digital US one by Backbone or whatever it was.

Yeah.

And I already have GH360 (First thing I bought when I got a 360 a year and a half ago, actually), I just want a physical version to go along with it.

I'm just a stickler for having physical versions whenever possible. If there is a digital release far superior to any preceding physical versions (Daytona USA, for example), I make sure to get that, too.
 

Timu

Member
You could have just said all games :) It seems were entering that pre-holiday, jack up the price, season again. It's when I do the least amount of my retro buying.
Lol. Also, yeah I'm avoiding it for this season, way too pricey...though I can pick up the cheaper ones at least.

I got fighters megamix brand new for $15 on eBay in aug 2010.
Over 30 bucks used, not even brand new either.

I got X-Men:CoTA CIB in fantastic condition for like, late 2012. Jeez. I should probably get Die Hard Arcade and Guardian Heroes (Yes, I'm aware of the 360 port. Still want a physical version, though.) before the prices get even more stupid.
X-Men:CoTA is over 40 bucks CIB. Die Hard Arcade is over 60 bucks CIB. You don't want to see Guardian Heroes, lol.
 

Mzo

Member
By Treasure themselves actually, with a much improved translation, new artwork from Tetsuhiko Kikuchi and online co-op.

Talking about D&D again.

From what he wrote I'm guessing he bought the physical Japanese M2 port of D&D and not the digital US one by Backbone or whatever it was.

Sorry if it wasn't obvious.

PS - looked it up, it was Iron Galaxy.
 

Celine

Member
From old Sega site:

Executive Producer for Sega’s AM1 research & development division, Makoto Uchida is perhaps best known for his work on Altered Beast, Wing War and Golden Axe. Now Uchida-san has brought the number one arcade game in the U.S., Die Hard Arcade, to the Sega Saturn! Recently, Sega Online caught up with Uchida-san:

What was the inspiration for Die Hard Arcade?
Die Hard is one of my favorite films. The first time I saw it, I knew I wanted to create a videogame based on it. The action and storyline made a big impression on me.

How did you get all the fantastic realistic movements?
Our group really collaborated to get the movements just right. We all had ideas about the movements and how to make them as realistic as possible. Our best research was done in the United States - it seems Americans have more dynamic movements than the Japanese. We found it interesting to observe the movements of people walking down the street in America. I guess you could say we did a lot of "people-watching".

What was the biggest challenge in producing the game?
The hardest part was creating narrow passages - we had to use many different devices to make it work. Especially the scenes of running narrow passages - they were really difficult, because the location/placement of camera was limited.

What are your favorite features of the game?
My favorite feature of the game is the realistic portrayal of the action scenes. I like the heavy action scenes - with lots of excitement. In most confrontation-type fighting games you can't experience the action to such a realistic extent. I'm very pleased with the way the action scenes turned out.

What percentage of the Saturn's capacity did you use?
I would say we used approximately 95% of the Sega Saturn's capacity in creating Die Hard.

How long have you been a Game Producer with Sega?
I've been a Game Producer with Sega for 10 years although it doesn't seem like it has been that long. Time flies when you're having fun - and it's always been an enjoyable experience.

Advice for anyone interested in a creative career, such as yours?
It sounds insincere, but I really believe you have to begin by paying attention to what you like, that is, what really moves you. I think it's important to allow yourself to be moved, to be mesmerized and to be passionate about what you enjoy. Don't hold back, try different things and feel free to express your enthusiasm for what you love.

Where do you get your creative inspiration?
It varies. So many things inspire me - every day is different! Most often though, it's after I've seen a great movie and I'm sitting watching the credits scroll by on the screen. That's when creative ideas tend to pop into my mind.

How would you compare Sega's arcade teams to those of other companies?
There is no comparison, Sega's teams are the most powerful leading AM developers in the world! I think the reason Sega's arcade games are so successful and have such incredible gameplay, is because of the incredible developers such as AM2, who have such great foresight in leading the entire AM team. Sega's teams are the best!
 
By Treasure themselves actually, with a much improved translation, new artwork from Tetsuhiko Kikuchi and online co-op.

I think he meant the US/EU versions of the D&D Collection, which was done by Iron Galaxy. The JP version was done by internal Capcom staff (including some of of the people that worked on the original games that are still at the company) for whatever reason.

For what it's worth, the Iron Galaxy versions aren't bad at all, though there's some annoying lag/loading with the menu frontend they use (MvC: Origins had a similar annoyance).
 

Celine

Member
Interview with Mr. Kenji Eno
President of Warp, Producer, Director & Storywriter of Enemy Zero

Sega Online: If you weren’t making games, what would you want to do?

Eno-san:
After I left high school, I pretty much just listened to music, read magazines and didn’t do much for about a year. Then I realized I had to do something, so I found a job working for a software company.

If I weren’t making games, I would be doing something music-related. I’d probably go back to school and earn an advanced degree in it first. There are an enormous amount of talented people in the music industry - I think a degree is essential. The other thing I might do is some type of free-lance work, but I'd still make music on the side.

Sega Online: Who is your favorite musical group?

Eno-san:
I listened to the Beatles, and YMO (Yellow Magic Orchestra) when I was young. I also spent a lot of time making my own music, playing the organ. Eventually my father bought me a computer for the purpose of creating music. Learning how to make music on the computer, lead to my career in making videogames.

In junior high school I formed a couple of bands - a rock band, a techno band and a punk band. In one way or another, I was always involved in music. I don’t have any particular music that I can say is my absolute favorite, my taste is diverse, however I do tend towards music from the UK and European music. I’m listening to Bjork a lot lately.

Miss the other questions :-\
 
So it's once again time to replace my Saturn battery. I still have my saves but the system clock menu is intermittently popping up which of course signals impending doom. Maybe I'm crazy but I thought saw someone on here say it's sometimes possible to keep your saves when you switch out the battery if you do it quickly enough? I'm not too worried because I have my saves backed up to my RAM cart but that thing is notoriously flaky and seems to lose them occasionally.
 

IrishNinja

Member
I remember gamestop carrying Saturn imports, and when they blew them out, they were $4 new. I passed up stuff like SotN for $4 because I was buying used SNES games. I was kicking myself as I was doing it, still am now.

Final Fantasy II in the box for $20. It was like some miracle day at the Gamestop and it just happened to come inbetween paydays, typically.

why.png


it's like...i remember this era, but it's so hard to believe from where we're at

Oh okay. Will just got for the 360 version then.

Look forward to playing as Sonic in Christmas Nights!

it's so awesome! i mean, it's gimmicky & whatever but as a big sonic fan i so dug it when i finally unlocked him a few years ago (christmas day no less).

RIP Kenji Eno.

was that yesterday? shit, RIP to a legend
 

Banjoman

Member
I'm in Japan and I bought a Saturn with some games and a 1mb ram cartridge. I'm trying to play kof 97 but shit doesn't work. It keeps on giving me a blue screen with something written in japanese about the ram.
Anyone can help me?
 

Khaz

Member
Dont quote me on this but I think the 1MB is for KOF 95, not 97.

I'm quoting you, but because you're incorrect. KoF95 has a ROM cartridge, while 96 and 97 use a 1M RAM cartridge.

The Blue Japanese Screen appears when the game doesn't detect the cart, so try again, clean it, etc.

[edit] eh, I like to take things literally
and put them on a shelf
 

MikeMyers

Member
I'm quoting you, but because you're incorrect. KoF95 has a ROM cartridge, while 96 and 97 use a 1M RAM cartridge.

The Blue Japanese Screen appears when the game doesn't detect the cart, so try again, clean it, etc.

Haha. "Dont quote me" was probably a poor way to say I''m probably wrong in the content of forum posts.
 
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