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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread

astonish

Member
I'm very curious to try the original Virtua Fighter. It didn't seem to get much of a kind reception, but if it's close enough to the model 1 original then that is all I'm looking for.

It had problems and was a bit of a letdown out of the box, not because of the graphics, but framerate and control. All the problems got fixed for VF Remix. If I remember correctly VF Remix is essentially the porting VF1 to the VF2 engine that had a perfect Saturn port
 

Gyrian

Member
Eh, don't expect too much from Fatal Fury 3... It came before the RAM cart golden age of arcade ports, and it doesn't compare well with the original game. My personal suggestion is to grab the Real Bout Best Collection, since both Real Bout and Real Bout Special got ported way much better than 3.
On the other hand, I LOVE The King of Fighters '96, it's easily my favourite KoF on the Saturn.

Fatal Fury 3 is the one in the series that I'm least familiar with, by far, so I'm coming in with pretty clean expectations and without a reference for what it might be missing on the Saturn. I guess I'll find out how it stands on its own.

It had problems and was a bit of a letdown out of the box, not because of the graphics, but framerate and control. All the problems got fixed for VF Remix. If I remember correctly VF Remix is essentially the porting VF1 to the VF2 engine that had a perfect Saturn port

Framerate & control? That would be a letdown, it's usually the graphics that take the hit first...
I have Remix too, and it is fantastic but those re-done visuals have never sat with me.
 

IrishNinja

Member
New pickups Sunday! Guardian Heroes, Shining Wisdom, Bomberman Fight, and Enemy Zero CIB for $80 CDN. Not bad for a hungover purchase, Lol.

goddamn, you made out like a bandit man! i wanna say those first 2 alone go for that much each, haha...congrats!

For the first time in years, I feel like I wanna play some Saturn. Might even buy a couple new games. I miss this fucking thing.

Kinda regret getting into the game so late. I didn't own a Saturn until 2008, and shit was already pretty expensive then. Nothing like it is now, but still...

I guess that in a way, it kinda makes it more satisfying when I do get something new.

yeah, damn it's rough right now though - some imports aren't so bad, but overall everything seems to be going up a bit. i came in way late on the good deals but still..
if it's any consolation, you can prolly get a few big ones on your potential list for Garegga alone!


On the subject of Core. Does anyone know why Fighting Force was cancelled on the Saturn? It seems like it was at an advanced stage. Not that it was a big loss in the end, it just seems weird it never made it out. Was there a falling out after Sega rejected it as a new SOR? If that's what happened.

because sometimes there's justice in this world~
for real, if that would've been called SOR 4, i never would've gotten over it, haha
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Okay, so my current collection is:

Battle Garegga
Elevator Action Returns
Fighters Megamix
Galactic Attack
Guardian Heroes
Mega Man 8: Anniversary Collector's Edition
Mega Man X4
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
Shinobi Legions
Silhouette Mirage
Soukyugurentai Otokuyo
Street Fighter Zero 3
Thunder Force V
Vampire Savior
X-Men Vs. Street Fighter


It's pretty small. There's two games I've wanted for a long time that I might finally go ahead and buy. We'll see.

I was really excited to play some Saturn yesterday, but it looks like my XRGB shit the bed, so I guess I need to replace that, too.
 

Gyrian

Member
So I've put all three games through their paces today and came back with impressions.

First, KOF96 is pretty goddamn fantastic! The conversion appears completely spot on, with the only real slight negative being loading screens per fighter (I can forgive this, they're actually rather quick). If there's a single aspect I can truly hold against it is that I prefer the synthesized AES/MVS soundtrack compared to the arranged CD music here.

Fatal Fury 3 is a rather odd one, on the other hand. It goes to load screens pretty often, but does appear very complete. I expected to see some compromise without a RAM cart, but it's actually not at all apparent without the original side by side. If anything, it animates very well with pretty generous animation! (e.g. clothes reacting after some motions or when a kick is held in position for a second). Audio is not too great thanks to muffled sounding samples. But what really shocked me, where it all falls apart: it performs poorly. Choppy frame skips & slowdown! It is super strange, as if the game is trying to hit 60FPS but failing most of the time. Some stages even perform worse than others. I didn't think I'd ever see this so visibly on a 2D fighter on Saturn, but here we are. And it's kind of a shame because the port seems nice enough otherwise. I'll have to see where they went from here with Real Bout.

OG Virtua Fighter is not too bad! Controls can appear a bit unresponsive, but I don't remember the arcade well enough to tell whether what I felt there was unique to the Saturn ver. It's not 60FPS, but a pretty solid 30. Some slight graphical oddities when camera angles change at the beginning or end of a fight. These flat polys still have a ton of charm!
 

Galdelico

Member
So I've put all three games through their paces today and came back with impressions.

Fatal Fury 3 is a rather odd one, on the other hand. It goes to load screens pretty often, but does appear very complete. I expected to see some compromise without a RAM cart, but it's actually not at all apparent without the original side by side. If anything, it animates very well with pretty generous animation! (e.g. clothes reacting after some motions or when a kick is held in position for a second). Audio is not too great thanks to muffled sounding samples. But what really shocked me, where it all falls apart: it performs poorly. Choppy frame skips & slowdown! It is super strange, as if the game is trying to hit 60FPS but failing most of the time. Some stages even perform worse than others. I didn't think I'd ever see this so visibly on a 2D fighter on Saturn, but here we are. And it's kind of a shame because the port seems nice enough otherwise. I'll have to see where they went from here with Real Bout.

They went in the right direction, you'll be positively surprised. ;)

I don't know if you already have it on the Neo Geo AES/MVS, but in case you haven't and you want some legit Fatal Fury 3 at home, I strongly recommend to give this a try (it's Garou Densetsu Battle Archives 1, in the Neo Geo Online Collection for the PS2):

71697_front.jpg
 

D.Lo

Member
The problem with Saturn Fatal Fury 3 is just the framerate. It's not the greatest game ever either, but the port is choppy as.

Real Bout and Real Bout Special got the framerate back up to scratch, they're better games, and are to all intents and purposes better than arcade perfect (as they have improved soundtracks).

Real Bout Special is the cream of the crop, beautiful looking and playing game.
 

Timu

Member
They went in the right direction, you'll be positively surprised. ;)

I don't know if you already have it on the Neo Geo AES/MVS, but in case you haven't and you want some legit Fatal Fury 3 at home, I strongly recommend to give this a try (it's Garou Densetsu Battle Archives 1, in the Neo Geo Online Collection for the PS2):
I'm so going to buy these SNK collections next year!
 
I owned (and still own) the three major consoles from that gen. It was a great time. It still is, since I still have them plugged in at all times. I'm glad I got most of the now expensive releases for a lot of consoles back in the day.

I'm so going to buy these SNK collections next year!

They're great. It's just a shame that the Samurai Shodown one (at least the US version) doesn't support 240p (and also lacks V Special). Same with the King of Fighters one, which also has some other issues, but that one isn't based on the Japanese release, and is a new version altogether.

I have the Art Fighting Anthology, both Fatal Fury Battle Archives, Metal Slug Anthology, Samurai Shodown Anthology (which took me forever to find on PS2), and World Heroes Anthology on PlayStation 2, The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga on Wii (it's supposedly better on there), and SNK Arcade Classic Vol. 1 on PSP (which I plan to pick on PS2 as well at some point).

The Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, and World Heroes collections all have the option of using the original AES/MVS music, and the arranged soundtracks from the Neo Geo CD/Saturn/PlayStation versions. Japan also got a few other collections that the US didn't get.
 

Galdelico

Member
The problem with Saturn Fatal Fury 3 is just the framerate. It's not the greatest game ever either, but the port is choppy as.

Real Bout and Real Bout Special got the framerate back up to scratch, they're better games, and are to all intents and purposes better than arcade perfect (as they have improved soundtracks).

Real Bout Special is the cream of the crop, beautiful looking and playing game.

Speaking of which, am I the only one experiencing an odd bug during (spoiler tag, just in case, lol)
the Blue Mary's Blues ending song
? It's like the audio is a couple of seconds out of sync with the animations. My white Saturn works fine, the CD drive doesn't give me any problem whatsoever... It only happens in that one occasion. It's odd because I checked out a couple of longplays on YT and they both ran perfectly synced over there.

I'm so going to buy these SNK collections next year!
Some of them got ridiculously pricey, like the ADK Tamashii one, but they're all worthy. Games are emulated - not ported - so these collections may feel a bit barebones at times, but other than that, they are fantastic.
AFAIK the only one that got messed up quite a bit is - accidentally - Fatal Fury Battle Archives 2: the Japanese release needed to get that Blue Mary's topless ring out animation cut out from Real Bout, which caused some minor audio fuck up in the map screen, while the US one got Real Bout censored as well, plus the blood recolored in each game (RB2 even got the 'Continue' portraits completely removed).
 

cj_iwakura

Member
It was pretty great. I was the only kid in my school with one. However bring that I was young I had no cash so I only got a few games a year. So I missed some good ones like pds and Dragon force.

Heh, I was the only one on the block with one. I went to a friend's anytime an N64 game I cared about came out. (Which meant KI and Star Wars, usually)
 
I got mine in '96 during my sophomore year of high school and had it region modded immediately. Got Last Bronx import as my first game. We used to play import games all the time at our anime meetings so that was not a big deal back then for us. KOF '95 was a big hit when I brought it in to my class. I got Panzer Dragoon Saga as my graduation gift, sold it later for big money, but I have Azel now.
 

MikeMyers

Member
Heh, I was the only one on the block with one. I went to a friend's anytime an N64 game I cared about came out. (Which meant KI and Star Wars, usually)

I played a lot of N64 classics, but the only time I ever wanted one was for the Pokemon games (was huge into Pokemon back then). Never got around to it.

Saturn pretty much didn't exist when I was a kid in the UK. I remember when Dreamcast came out, and how my friends didn't care for it since there was no FIFA. Everyone loved the Mega Drive though.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
I got mine in '96 during my sophomore year of high school and had it region modded immediately. Got Last Bronx import as my first game. We used to play import games all the time at our anime meetings so that was not a big deal back then for us. KOF '95 was a big hit when I brought it in to my class. I got Panzer Dragoon Saga as my graduation gift, sold it later for big money, but I have Azel now.

My first import ever was a Saturn game; Sailor Moon Super S Various Emotion, still own it to this day.
 

IrishNinja

Member
where'd you guys get imports from in the day? i'd see a few at EB, but more in GameFan/etc ads...i recall the markup being unkind though
 

D.Lo

Member
I think I got mine in 1999? Or maybe 1998 or 2000. Almost free in a thrift shop.

Got an action replay from that site that used be be the main Play-Asia competitor (damit what were they called? Ah, Lik-sang!), did a 60Hz mod, and it was Capcom/SNK ebay import good times.

A couple of years later I replaced it with a white Japanese HK model (240V but NTSC) and have run that baby ever since.
 
where'd you guys get imports from in the day? i'd see a few at EB, but more in GameFan/etc ads...i recall the markup being unkind though

San Antonio had Game World during the late SFC and Saturn/PS1 era, as well as Quest End Games and Gamefellas. Also EB Games did carry imports. Also I had friends that went to Japan regularly.
 

MikeMyers

Member
I think I got mine in 1999? Or maybe 1998 or 2000. Almost free in a thrift shop.

Got an action replay from that site that used be be the main Play-Asia competitor (damit what were they called? Ah, Lik-sang!), did a 60Hz mod, and it was Capcom/SNK ebay import good times.

A couple of years later I replaced it with a white Japanese HK model (240V but NTSC) and have run that baby ever since.

Yeah Lik-Sang, but I think Sony killed them around the PS3 launch.

And I think 1998 qualify as being a Saturn owner whole the system was still alive. Except maybe if you were in Japan.
 

Timu

Member
I owned (and still own) the three major consoles from that gen. It was a great time. It still is, since I still have them plugged in at all times. I'm glad I got most of the now expensive releases for a lot of consoles back in the day.



They're great. It's just a shame that the Samurai Shodown one (at least the US version) doesn't support 240p (and also lacks V Special). Same with the King of Fighters one, which also has some other issues, but that one isn't based on the Japanese release, and is a new version altogether.

I have the Art Fighting Anthology, both Fatal Fury Battle Archives, Metal Slug Anthology, Samurai Shodown Anthology (which took me forever to find on PS2), and World Heroes Anthology on PlayStation 2, The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga on Wii (it's supposedly better on there), and SNK Arcade Classic Vol. 1 on PSP (which I plan to pick on PS2 as well at some point).

The Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, and World Heroes collections all have the option of using the original AES/MVS music, and the arranged soundtracks from the Neo Geo CD/Saturn/PlayStation versions. Japan also got a few other collections that the US didn't get.

Speaking of which, am I the only one experiencing an odd bug during (spoiler tag, just in case, lol)
the Blue Mary's Blues ending song
? It's like the audio is a couple of seconds out of sync with the animations. My white Saturn works fine, the CD drive doesn't give me any problem whatsoever... It only happens in that one occasion. It's odd because I checked out a couple of longplays on YT and they both ran perfectly synced over there.


Some of them got ridiculously pricey, like the ADK Tamashii one, but they're all worthy. Games are emulated - not ported - so these collections may feel a bit barebones at times, but other than that, they are fantastic.
AFAIK the only one that got messed up quite a bit is - accidentally - Fatal Fury Battle Archives 2: the Japanese release needed to get that Blue Mary's topless ring out animation cut out from Real Bout, which caused some minor audio fuck up in the map screen, while the US one got Real Bout censored as well, plus the blood recolored in each game (RB2 even got the 'Continue' portraits completely removed).
Thanks for the suggestions guys, I want to do playthroughs on various Fatal Fury, World Heroes and maybe Samurai Shodown, King of Fighters and Metal Slug games next year on y youtube channel.
 
They're great. It's just a shame that the Samurai Shodown one (at least the US version) doesn't support 240p (and also lacks V Special).
SNK apparently decided that V Special would be a final thank you to the Neo-Geo's loyal fans, so the game was, and remains, exclusive to the MVS and AES. It is too bad, it's a better game than regular V, though neither version is as good as any of the first four Samurai Shodown games, really. SSV is somewhat disappointing, I was hoping for great things for the first new game in the series in so long, but it's just okay... and the control layout isn't as good as 3 or 4, either, those play the best.

I have the Art Fighting Anthology, both Fatal Fury Battle Archives, Metal Slug Anthology, Samurai Shodown Anthology (which took me forever to find on PS2), and World Heroes Anthology on PlayStation 2, The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga on Wii (it's supposedly better on there), and SNK Arcade Classic Vol. 1 on PSP (which I plan to pick on PS2 as well at some point).
I've got the Art of Fighting, World Heroes, Samurai Shodown, and Metal Slug Anthologies for PS2. I was lucky with the samsho anthology, got it for $7 back in 2011... that was a good deal then, but now its price has gone up a lot for some reason, I don't know why. Considering how that I like the KOF games a lot it is a bit odd I never got the Orochi Saga collection, but I do have KOF '02/'03, '98 UM, 2006, and XI for PS2, so there's that. :)
 

Tain

Member
where'd you guys get imports from in the day? i'd see a few at EB, but more in GameFan/etc ads...i recall the markup being unkind though

EB got me a couple Saturn games in like '98 (Thunder Force V Saturn for $15, isn't that nuts?), then I believe I tried Buy-Rite (shitty service for sure), then I tried NCSX and mostly stuck with them up to... today, lol. Got a preorder in for Assault Suit Leynos PS4 physical! There were also a few odd purchases throughout the early 2000s from Play-Asia, Toys n Joys, and Yes-Asia.
 

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
I played a lot of N64 classics, but the only time I ever wanted one was for the Pokemon games (was huge into Pokemon back then). Never got around to it.

Saturn pretty much didn't exist when I was a kid in the UK. I remember when Dreamcast came out, and how my friends didn't care for it since there was no FIFA. Everyone loved the Mega Drive though.

Shitty that something like this actually tanked the console. Yearly roster updates with minimal other effort, but still way more popular than all the amazing stuff Sega themselves put out :(
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
EB got me a couple Saturn games in like '98 (Thunder Force V Saturn for $15, isn't that nuts?), then I believe I tried Buy-Rite (shitty service for sure), then I tried NCSX and mostly stuck with them up to... today, lol. Got a preorder in for Assault Suit Leynos PS4 physical! There were also a few odd purchases throughout the early 2000s from Play-Asia, Toys n Joys, and Yes-Asia.

Fuckin' Buy-Rite. I ordered from there once, and that was enough to learn my lesson.

NCSX was where it was at. And kinda where it still is.
 

Conezays

Member
goddamn, you made out like a bandit man! i wanna say those first 2 alone go for that much each, haha...congrats!

Haha, indeed. I've been pretty anal about watching ebay and local craigslist prices. There's definitely been an element of, "Oh, I have to get this, it's such a good deal!" Now I have like 40 games a month later, Lol. The nice thing about most Saturn stuff though is that the games seem to retain or increase in value, so I'm not *that* concerned about the money spent, barring a few unimpressed looks from the missus :p
 

MikeMyers

Member
Shitty that something like this actually tanked the console. Yearly roster updates with minimal other effort, but still way more popular than all the amazing stuff Sega themselves put out :(
The commercial failure of the Saturn is why we don't deserve nice things. :(

i need shipping to Romania. the prices on Amazon Uk are too high, i'd like to buy it for under 25 pounds.
Yeah I don;t know about that. The RAM Cart in America is $35. I was lucky mine came for free.
 

jerry1594

Member
l

I've got the Art of Fighting, World Heroes, Samurai Shodown, and Metal Slug Anthologies for PS2. I was lucky with the samsho anthology, got it for $7 back in 2011... that was a good deal then, but now its price has gone up a lot for some reason, I don't know why. Considering how that I like the KOF games a lot it is a bit odd I never got the Orochi Saga collection, but I do have KOF '02/'03, '98 UM, 2006, and XI for PS2, so there's that. :)
I heard the emulation kind of sucks for the collections though? I do have Samsho anthology on ps2 though. got it for like $20 new this year, it hasn't gone up much at all, though the japanese version is around 50-70, can't remember which.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
I heard the emulation kind of sucks for the collections though? I do have Samsho anthology on ps2 though. got it for like $20 new this year, it hasn't gone up much at all, though the japanese version is around 50-70, can't remember which.

I haven't been a fan of the PS2 compilations, generally speaking, though some are better than others.

All of the Metal Slug collections kinda suck. The PS2 MS Anthology has horrible input lag. The Wii version got rid of the hitflashes that tell you that a boss is being injured when you're shooting at it. The SNK Arcade Collections also drop hitflashes. The PS3 M2-developed Metal Slug port changes the hitflashes from white to black, which kinda looks shitty.

Last Blade Collection is garbage. Runs at a lower frame rate than the NG originals. Other compilations have sound issues. Some others, like the Kizuna Encounter collection, seem fine, but I don't really know those games well enough to critique the accuracy.


In the end, I just decided to stick to the NG carts. It's the only way to be sure.
 

jerry1594

Member
I haven't been a fan of the PS2 compilations, generally speaking, though some are better than others.

All of the Metal Slug collections kinda suck. The PS2 MS Anthology has horrible input lag. The Wii version got rid of the hitflashes that tell you that a boss is being injured when you're shooting at it. The SNK Arcade Collections also drop hitflashes. The PS3 M2-developed Metal Slug port changes the hitflashes from white to black, which kinda looks shitty.

Last Blade Collection is garbage. Runs at a lower frame rate than the NG originals. Other compilations have sound issues. Some others, like the Kizuna Encounter collection, seem fine, but I don't really know those games well enough to critique the accuracy.


In the end, I just decided to stick to the NG carts. It's the only way to be sure.
I thought the Neogeo games on Wii VC are perfect?
 

D.Lo

Member
I haven't been a fan of the PS2 compilations, generally speaking, though some are better than others.

All of the Metal Slug collections kinda suck. The PS2 MS Anthology has horrible input lag. The Wii version got rid of the hitflashes that tell you that a boss is being injured when you're shooting at it. The SNK Arcade Collections also drop hitflashes. The PS3 M2-developed Metal Slug port changes the hitflashes from white to black, which kinda looks shitty.

Last Blade Collection is garbage. Runs at a lower frame rate than the NG originals. Other compilations have sound issues. Some others, like the Kizuna Encounter collection, seem fine, but I don't really know those games well enough to critique the accuracy.


In the end, I just decided to stick to the NG carts. It's the only way to be sure.
Totally agree with this, I'm not sure I've ever had a retro emulation collection I've been completely happy with.

The advantage of Neo Geo games on the Saturn is that in the best cases they are actually arguably superior products to the NG originals. The load times kill some of them (KOF) and some are bad ports (FF3) but for Real Bout Special and Sam Sho 4 the load times are fine, and you get more options and arranged CD soundtracks, which really enhance those games IMO. Sam Sho 4 has a genuine Samurai movie vibe on Saturn, which the FM chip original can only approximate.
 

jerry1594

Member
D.Lo have you played the Vampire collection? If so what'd you think of that? Hope all this isn't too ot
My friend is one, and he loves to hate on my Dreamcast copies of Garou and Last Blade 2.

Hi haters.
They are junk, just like most Dreamcast fg ports ¯_( ´_ゝ`)_/¯
 

jerry1594

Member
Is resolution a huge deal? 1:1 resolution would be nice but I would take gameplay accuracy over it, unless it affects gameplay like resized sprites.
Vampire Collection is 480i and u get more characters in Saturn Vampire Savior. It has the intrinsic stretching as with other CPS ports, but otherwise I prefer Saturn.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=109000296&postcount=5288
In the PS2 collection there are arranged versions of Vsav 1 and 2, and Hunter 2 (don't think Hunter 1) that all have 18 selectable characters plus Dee.
 

D.Lo

Member
D.Lo have you played the Vampire collection? If so what'd you think of that? Hope all this isn't too ot
Yes I have it. Just like the Apha collection it's a piece of shit. No 240p, so it looks smeared (on a CRT in 480i)

I guess it would be okay if you used the 480p option and some other hardware to force it to 240p.

Saturn version is the way to go, it's VS1 with the VS2 characters added back in, which is really the ultimate, least broken version.
 

jerry1594

Member
Yes I have it. Just like the Apha collection it's a piece of shit. No 240p, so it looks smeared (on a CRT in 480i)

I guess it would be okay if you used the 480p option and some other hardware to force it to 240p.

Saturn version is the way to go, it's VS1 with the VS2 characters added back in, which is really the ultimate, least broken version.
Hmm, I dunno Rotanibor says ps2 is good while saturn is not http://wiki.mizuumi.net/w/Vampire_S...ire_Savior.2C_console_release_or_otherwise.3F
Though Im interested in forcing it into 240p. I do have resurrection on 360 and want to eventually get the arcade hardware so it's mostly for curiosity's sake :p to have nicer looking games I'll probably go the earlier gen route
 
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