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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread
- Thread starter Seik
- Start date
shanafan
Member
One of these:
Or be like me and get one with audio out:
Ok thanks, I think this seems simple enough.
s_mirage
Member
Usually fine on a modded console, but with a couple of caveats: the timing is ever so slightly off on a modded PAL console due to different oscillator frequencies between PAL and NTSC models. The biggest impact of this is if you use a Framemeister, as it loses sync when the Saturn changes to its high resolution mode. IIRC, changing scaling mode addresses the problem until the next resolution change. The other issue is that some games may have problems. I've only ran into one example of this though: Corpse Killer Graveyard Edition. On my modded PAL Saturn, that game is a stuttering mess in 60Hz mode. It works correctly in 50Hz mode, as I assume the engine was designed to cope with it, but the framerate being slightly out in 60Hz kills it. Interestingly, Corpse Killer for the 32X also has slight issues with a 60Hz mod, so I assume that Digital Pictures' engine was particularly timing sensitive.
Shouldn't be too hard to find. It's a cheap import but you might struggle playing it if you don't know Japanese.
Didnt see this until now. Thanks for letting me know.
Though this latest news is making me having 2nd thoughts on going back to the UK though, lol.
Didnt see this until now. Thanks for letting me know.
Though this latest news is making me having 2nd thoughts on going back to the UK though, lol.
sixteen-bit
Member
I still need to buy Sonic R. Thanks for the reminder.
Barrel Cannon
Member
Does anyone know where I can buy spare Saturn CD drives from? I'm doing a project and I'd like to have a spare or two
.
Haha, when I bought my Saturn the guy selling me it had 2 copies of Resident Evil. One he was holding to sell to another buyer and the other one he asked me if I wanted to buy. I passed on it because I wasn't really that interested.
Are they even removable
Haha, when I bought my Saturn the guy selling me it had 2 copies of Resident Evil. One he was holding to sell to another buyer and the other one he asked me if I wanted to buy. I passed on it because I wasn't really that interested.
blast processed
Member
Isn't this game crap with a good soundtrack?
sixteen-bit
Member
Crap game with a "good" soundtrack
Beer Monkey
Member
They are easily removable, there are different models for different revisions of the Saturn, and you you find a source let me know!
I have a spare from one of my launch models. I removed it when I installed my RHEA. Inbox me if interested.
Barrel Cannon
Member
Thanks, PM'd
The RHEA seems pretty dope. Way out of my price or else I'd be doing that lol.
It's no Altered Beast.
blast processed
Member
Nothing is.
Is Spot Goes to Hollywood any good? I don't mind the isometric view, just want to know if its worth $20?
It's no Altered Beast.
#TeamAlteredBeast
and every move is guard-cancellable, so you can make people freeze up then do 40% throws lol
Shadow Hog
Member
Respectively, "nay" and "yay".
R is a nostalgic guilty pleasure for me and Altered Beast isn't, what more can I say?
Nay to both.
Gunstarheroes
Member
I will always give Sonic R a pass for the soundtrack.
sixteen-bit
Member
Jam menu tho.
brother
blast processed
Member
lol, nice. And nay
No, it's just that anytime my boy Altered gets mentioned in the Genesis/Mega Drive thread, it gets laughed outta town. So we jumped over to the Saturn thread to discuss our favourite demon-punching, shirt ripping, power-uping, transforming, Smokey the Bear fighting game.
blast processed
Member
It gets the same treatment across all boards just like the 32X.
shanafan
Member
Haha alright, I'm new here
I do love myself some Altered Beast.
ONE OF US
ONE OF US
Nah, it has flaws. The other versions like the Sega Master System version definitely has serious issues! Taken from hardcore gaming 101:
"One of the most annoying issues is that it's far too easy to let one of the white wolves slip by, so you lose out on a power-up. The first few times you run into Neff, he's polite enough to refuse combat if you're not transformed, so you get to continue with the stage for another cycle. If you mess up too often though, he'll fight you anyway, which is a recipe for guaranteed death if you're still a human.
The difficulty is also incredibly high. Enemies approach in droves and attack quickly, and it's far too easy to get surrounded or bombarded by cheap hits. There's almost no invincibility time after taking a blow either, which just results in even more damage. Your character is so huge that it's extremely difficult to dodge attacks during boss battles without getting hit. Unfortunately Altered Beast was originally designed as something of a credit feeder, so when translated to the home consoles, where you're given limited continues, it just becomes obnoxious.
Altered Beast hasn't aged quite as well as other Sega properties - it really is all about the visuals. But from a certain mindset, it's still rather impressive, because the presentation is damn good. Various body parts fly out of the screen when you kill bad guys. Kill a gargoyle, and its body falls to the ground while its wings fly back off into the sky. Kill a Cyclops and its flesh literally falls off. It's almost humorously grotesque, especially considering there really isn't any blood or similar effects.
The voices - whether it be the opening cry to "Rise from your grave" or the nefarious "Welcome to your doom" spoken before each boss - are iconic. The monster designs are also pretty awesome, especially the early bosses, like the huge demon who rips off his heads and showers his screaming visages down on the player, or the plant-thing which attacks with its innumerable eyes. The Chicken Leg monsters, also known as Chicken Stingers, show up in Golden Axe too. Even though Altered Beast is somewhat lacking as a game, it maintains the joyous excess of 1980s arcade titles which made them so appealing.
Sega also had a weird thing going on with the endings of some of their arcade releases. In Altered Beast, after the game shows you all of the beast forms, it reveals that everyone in the game are merely actors "filming" a "movie", who all take off their costumes and then share a drink.
The Genesis port is the closest to the arcade version. Some of the minor graphical effects have been toned down, particularly the scaling effects, though parallax scrolling has been added. In general it's a bit easier, though the music isn't quite as powerful. The wacky ending is also gone. Otherwise it looks and plays almost exactly the same. There's also a cheat code that lets you choose which beast to play in each level. This version is found on the Sega Smash Pack Vol. 1 for the Dreamcast, though it suffers from some unfortunate sound degradation. It is also available on the Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2 and PSP, and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the PS3 and Xbox 360, all of which feature near perfect emulation. The arcade version is included as an unlockable bonus. The arcade version is also available on the Wii Virtual Console.
The Sega Master System version isn't nearly as impressive - it looks okay for the system, but the movement is extremely choppy, and there's plenty of flickering, resulting in a game that's practically unplayable. It's also missing a whole level. Additionally, this and all other console ports suffer because they lack the proper number of buttons, so you need to press up to jump, which is lame.
The PC Engine port has redrawn backgrounds that look significantly worse, and ditches all of the multi-plane scrolling. Additionally, the controls (especially the jumping) are less responsive than before, making the game considerably more frustrating. A PC Engine CD version was also released early in the system's life, but is quite a cheap port job. There's a new intro, featuring a narration over music from the arcade game. The pictures are merely stills from the game, combined with some terribly grainy artwork, and it goes on for several boring minutes. The actual game is exactly the same as the HuCard version - they didn't even bother to improve the music. It's also incompatible with the System Card 2.0 and 3.0 requiring the obsolete 1.0 card to function properly. What a wreck.
The Famicom version was produced by Asmik, as opposed to Sunsoft, who handled most of the Sega-to-Famicom ports. The game looks awful, with tiny sprites and ugly colors, but it's smoother than the Master System version, even though the gameplay is still atrocious. However, Asmik added three whole new levels, with three new beast forms (a lion, a shark and a phoenix), along with some cool new bosses that actually look fairly decent. The ending in this version is even stranger than the arcade version. After the staff roll, the curtain goes down, revealing the screen to be in a movie theater and... the beast and the princess are in the audience? How meta.
There are also a variety of computer ports. The Amiga and Atari ST versions, ported by Software Studios, look and sound the most faithful, although a quarter of the screen is taken up by a status bar, and the graphics are quite dark. It's also rather choppy and the collision detection is somewhat dodgy. The Commodore 64 version, also ported by the same company and rather similar, starts off incredibly cool, with an excellent replication of the title screen and decent rendition of the main theme. But in-game it's terrible, with sparse enemies, regrettably awful collision detection, and no music. The PC version, ported by Unlimited Software Inc, suffers from low-color graphics even in VGA mode. The main character moves too quickly compared to the enemies, and the animation is laughable, but in spite of these issues it plays acceptably. The AdLib music conversion is okay, though all of the voices are obviously gone.
All of the above computer ports pale next to the arcade or Genesis ports, but they're still miles beyond the rest. The Amstrad version looks okay, but it's impossibly slow, incredibly choppy, and basically unplayable, although the 8-bit chiptune rendition of the music isn't all that bad. The ZX Spectrum version is essentially identical play-wise, but suffers from the usual brightly miscolored graphics, while the MSX version is a port of the Spectrum version."
Please not that I do not hate Altered Beast, it's just a basic okish at best game I just find that it's too short, kinda slow for a beat em up, pretty basic in gameplay that doesn't do anything unique or interesting, bosses aren't too tough, you're a big target, and it doesn't age well at all. It's nowhere near the best Genesis has to offer when Sonic and Streets of Rage are on the system, but at least it's not Double Dragon 3, Sword of Sodan, Rise of the Robots, Dark Castle, Action 52 and Slaughter Sport as those are the worst Genesis games.
I want to beat it without dying though.
I want to beat it without dying though.
blast processed
Member
The only thing I like are the transformations. It's very 80's an I like that.
Also, I was playing Varth: Operation Thunderstorm the other day and I swear the same guy does the voice in that game and Altered Beast. Especially when he says"power up" in Varth.
Also, I was playing Varth: Operation Thunderstorm the other day and I swear the same guy does the voice in that game and Altered Beast. Especially when he says"power up" in Varth.
I can get to the final boss without dying, then he just creams me. Haven't been able to find a reliable way to get hits on him without taking hits in return.
SEGA AGES: Altered Beast.
sixteen-bit
Member
If AB came out on Saturn I would have loved to see what they did with the transformation sequence...
If AB came out on Saturn I would have loved to see what they did with the transformation sequence...
That part is so epic! Alien Soldier is easily one of the best games ever made.
If the game has any faults it's that you have to be mentally prepared to play it and endure it's punishing difficulty. If they had just made the weapon wheel switch a quick press of the button rather than the button plus directional movements it would've been a lot better to control.
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