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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread
- Thread starter Seik
- Start date
Golden Axe rips that game apart in terms if quality, pacing and fun.
blast processed
Member
How are they similar? One is crap the other is not.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
They're both crap, but not really similar.
D.Lo
Member
Presentation sure. 80s fantasy cheeseball. They have elements in common and appear to be in related universes,
Golden Axe is a medicore '3D' (now sometimes referred to as 'belt scrolling') beat um up. It's a competent overly brown Double Dragon clone with decent generic fantasy tropes (plus some light Sega weidnesss)
Altered Beast is a basic pure 2D actioneer. Almost the entire thing is Sega weirdness (Greek + Generic fantasy + Zombies + other Sega weirdness), it's uglier than GE which is just bland, and has shit gameplay instead of boring/competent.
Golden Axe is a medicore '3D' (now sometimes referred to as 'belt scrolling') beat um up. It's a competent overly brown Double Dragon clone with decent generic fantasy tropes (plus some light Sega weidnesss)
Altered Beast is a basic pure 2D actioneer. Almost the entire thing is Sega weirdness (Greek + Generic fantasy + Zombies + other Sega weirdness), it's uglier than GE which is just bland, and has shit gameplay instead of boring/competent.
I'll always be forever disappointed that the cartridge port doesn't accept Megadrive games. I was hyped when I first saw this big cartridge slot, it had to mean games on cartridges, unlike the tiny memory slots on the PS1. Alas all I ever used it for was for extra save space.
Not having backward compatibility with the MD32XCD was a big failure imo, they could have grabbed many of their previous customers, instead of having them jump to the Playstation and its fancy 3D.
Not having backward compatibility with the MD32XCD was a big failure imo, they could have grabbed many of their previous customers, instead of having them jump to the Playstation and its fancy 3D.
sixteen-bit
Member
The console was already $400 in 1995. Could you imagine how expensive it would be if they tried BC? It would have failed even worse.
I'm no engineer, I can't say. I only speak as a consumer here. Maybe they could have used chips of the same family, like the 68040 to keep compatibility with the Megadrive, and similarly chips from the 32X family but with kickass 3D rendering? I'd say this wasn't even a consideration as the 32X and the Saturn weren't designed by the same company. The Neptune was a stupid attempt too.
[edit] I'm reading that there is a 68000 in the Saturn, acting as a sound processor. Why they didn't take this opportunity for Megadrive compatibility I don't know.
blast processed
Member
It would have been nice to have backwards compatibility at first, but everyone wanted 3D. Most that purchased a Saturn probably dumped the Genesis to fund the $399 price anyway.
D.Lo
Member
Saturn does have a 68000 variant, but a Mega Drive isn't just that.
The Mega Drive is a souped up Mark III with some System 16 chips added (hence the hardware backward compatibility). And the Mark III is itself just a souped up SG1000 with an extra video mode. You'd need an entire Mega Drive inside, since the MD design already has literally has three generations of Sega consoles' chips inside.
I'm pretty sure that Master System backwards compatibility is because of hte z80 processors that the Genesis uses mostly for Sound - The Genesis had a Motorola 68000 as the main processor and the Z80 as a secondary processor. As far as I'm aware, in Master System mode, most of the Genesis is disabled and the Z-80 comes back as the main processor.
According to http://sega.wikia.com/wiki/Sega_Mega_Drive
I mean, of course, simply having the main processor on board is not enough to make backwards compatibility work. The Saturn was also a mish mash of off-the-shelf processors bundled together to counter the much more advanced (in 3D) hardware of the playstation, built from the ground up as a 3D powerhouse. Remember that the Saturn was supposed to be a souped up home version of the system32 arcade machine in it's early ages of development, but sega had to do a fast switch to 3D development once the PSX was announced. I don't think they had the time to be bothered with adding Genesis Backwards compatibility.
This is also why some games don't run on the Genesis 3: To cut costs, sega made a new chip that replaced the audio capabilities of the Z80 but didn't mimick all the features of an actual Z80, and games that used it (Virtua Racing comes to mind, and the Bakwards Compatibility) don't work.
Golden Axe is fun but a little busted. I haven't put enough time into trying to 1CC Altered Beast to feel all that comfortable in judging it. But...
...I prefer talking about how great Die Hard Arcade is to comparing Altered Beast vs Golden Axe.
@kimimi on twitter recently posted some dope high-res PS2 emulation shots of Dynamite Deka. I kind of got a kick out of seeing Saturn assets so cleanly (and emulation seems better than the high-level Saturn emulators), even if it makes the game look pretty buffoonish.
...I prefer talking about how great Die Hard Arcade is to comparing Altered Beast vs Golden Axe.
@kimimi on twitter recently posted some dope high-res PS2 emulation shots of Dynamite Deka. I kind of got a kick out of seeing Saturn assets so cleanly (and emulation seems better than the high-level Saturn emulators), even if it makes the game look pretty buffoonish.
D.Lo
Member
A version of the entire board of the Mark III is inside a Mega Drive. The Mega Drive design is literally a Mark III with some extra chips (not a full Japanese Master System, as it lacks the Yamaha YM2413). The only reason the Mega Drive can't play SG1000 games is that the video modes were removed from the VDP, otherwise it has a full SG1000 inside too.
Sega didn't make the Genesis 3. And it's still got 98% of a Mark III inside.
Yep exactly, the Saturn board is already a veritable cityscape of chips, adding an entire Mega Drive would make it even worse and more expensive.
A Black Falcon
Member
Golden Axe is a great classic and one of my favorite beat 'em ups ever, while Altered Beast is a thoroughly mediocre and forgettable game that isn't much fun. So no, I would say that they are not at all similar, beyond the visual similarities that come from being Sega games released during the same time period...
Weird! I booted up Soukyu Gurentai and the menu screen was flickering and moving around, but playing the actual game had zero visual issues. I took out my scart cables and plugged back in and the problem was resolved. Not sure why the menu would look garbled but the game perform fine if there was a cable issue.
sixteen-bit
Member
Are you playing it on a NA Saturn with a Pro Action Replay by any chance?
Japanese. I've played the game on JP and NA Saturns in the past but I think this was the first time I've used a scart switch box running the game.
UltraGunner
Banned
Is there a fix for getting past the intro FMV on Panzer Dragoon Saga on SSF? It constantly goes to the bios menu after finishing the intro.
Saturn Memories
Neo Member
Couple suggestions:
1. Ensure you're mounting the correct file (eg: cue instead of bin/iso, ccd instead of img, mds instead of mdf, etc).
2. Use the appropriate BIOS.
3. Go to EZ Settings and try Full Compatibility mode.
4. If that doesnt work, try High Compatibility mode.
5. Use SSF 0.12 beta R3. It's less buggy than the current build.
6. If all else fails, try uoYabause 0.3.0 for Windows.
good. Spend some time with it otherwise first impressions may leave you bewildered. I hope you find the code to unlock the debug mode at some stage because thats when the 2D fun stuff starts happening and takes the Saturn games to another level away from the psx's
UltraGunner
Banned
How do I mount .cue files on virtual drives? It doesn't give me the option to do so.
How much does it set you back? I am considering this too, since WD fucked up the western version on the PS1 that I own
spazchicken
Member
lol
Saturn Memories
Neo Member
I don't know why your virtual drive software doesn't allow you to mount cue files by default, but it definitely should. Try doing this when selecting the file:
UltraGunner
Banned
I don't know why your virtual drive software doesn't allow you to mount cue files by default, but it definitely should. Try doing this when selecting the file:
Alright I figured out what was the issue: I was using Virtual Clone Drive which doesn't recognized .cue files. I switched to Daemon Tools and mounted the proper file. Now it works perfectly! Thanks for the help.
(Love your youtube channel BTW. I didn't know you were on GAF)
Saturn Memories
Neo Member
No prob. If you're ever unsure, remember to always mount the smaller of the two files.
Pretty much just in this thread.
How much does it set you back? I am considering this too, since WD fucked up the western version on the PS1 that I own
$50.
Also House of the Dead 1 is hard.
Saturn Memories
Neo Member
Place your thumb over the light gun's muzzle, for quick reloading. Should help considerably.
StevieWhite
Member
Starting Deep Fear today. Super pumped. It has been on my "to play" list since '99.
So I've put in Sega Ages (PAL) on my Japanese Saturn with the Action Replay cart. Both Space Harrier and After Burner load up fine but Outrun will not (and it returns to the CD menu). No idea what's going on here; I previously played this disc fine on my NA Saturn. Argh.
Edit: Deleted its save data off the system memory and a few others I didn't care about and it's working now. Go figure. I had this issue occur months ago when Exhumed's save file became corrupt as well.
Edit: Deleted its save data off the system memory and a few others I didn't care about and it's working now. Go figure. I had this issue occur months ago when Exhumed's save file became corrupt as well.
Gunstarheroes
Member
If you get past the hysterical voice acting, the music and creature design is great. Gameplay is just RE1, but its not bad. Certainly overlooked.
StevieWhite
Member
So far, so good. Playing the JP version. Does the EU version run at 50 hz?
What's a decent price for a 4mb expansion cart? Is the Action Replay the best option? Bought Street Fighter Zero 1-3 for my JP saturn only to realise that 3 won't boot without one!
Also, I managed to get my USA and PAL games working on my JP saturn...with an odd workaround. I installed a modchip, ripped my games to my PC, changed the region using http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/861/ then burnt them to CD. Each game I've tried has worked flawlessly.
Played through some Earthworm Jim 2 on my JP saturn earlier, it was glorious
Also, I managed to get my USA and PAL games working on my JP saturn...with an odd workaround. I installed a modchip, ripped my games to my PC, changed the region using http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/861/ then burnt them to CD. Each game I've tried has worked flawlessly.
Played through some Earthworm Jim 2 on my JP saturn earlier, it was glorious
UltraGunner
Banned
Man, setting up SSF through Launchbox is such a blast. You get a nice menu of all your games and you can configure Daemon Tools to automatically mount a game with a single click. Its nice since the SSF author never bothered making a nice UI.
sixteen-bit
Member
Happy 20th Anniversary, Nights.
Probably around $40 to grab the AR cart which I think is your best bet.
blast processed
Member
Gameplay still holds up. Great game!
Never played Christmas Nights tho.
sixteen-bit
Member
Same here. I think it's on my PS2 version of Nights so maybe I'll give it a try someday
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Fuck, now I really feel old...
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