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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread

Credo

Member
I have a question for you, Saturn-GAF.

Is there a site somewhere that has a comprehensive list of import games that can be played by people who don't speak a word of Japanese? I already have a good shmup collection and a few fighting games, but I'd like to expand into other genres, and I don't want to end up buying games that will shut me down before I can even start them.

And if there isn't a comprehensive list anywhere, can you all recommend some non-shmup/fighter imports that I should play?
 

Valkyria

Banned
I have a question for you, Saturn-GAF.

Is there a site somewhere that has a comprehensive list of import games that can be played by people who don't speak a word of Japanese? I already have a good shmup collection and a few fighting games, but I'd like to expand into other genres, and I don't want to end up buying games that will shut me down before I can even start them.

And if there isn't a comprehensive list anywhere, can you all recommend some non-shmup/fighter imports that I should play?

http://vsrecommendedgames.wikia.com/wiki/Saturn

Check the image at the bottom, but it should be somewhere in this thread.
 

Valkyria

Banned
There are hundreds of Japan only games on Saturn. You got there the generally appraised games. There are lots of Visual Novels in Saturn but none of this game is easy for non Japanese speakers.
 

Seik

Banned
Soooo I finally got my copy of D&D last friday. :D

FShHzaT.jpg


The game is great, there's a bit more reading than I thought, but it's in no way blocking anything in the game. The only problem I had is that SSF crashes after something like 30-45 minutes in.

Ok...maybe I'll buy a damn XRGB3 and RGB-21 cables, purism is starting to be tempting again...still not sure though.
 

Seik

Banned
Nice, Seik. Good to know about the text. Maybe I will take the plunge one day.

Yeah it's not that much, think about Guardian Heroes when people talk a bit between missions and then you have a choice to make (a choice that'll change your story's path), it's basically the same thing. :)
 

cj_iwakura

Member
How well does it look/run compared to the arcade edition? I think it's safe to say that's my most sought after Saturn import.
 

Hightower

Banned
Well, Im starting to raid the used stores around me...


Started of with

The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Cyber Speedway
Gex
Word Series Baseball II (my favorite sports game EVER)


.....so it begins...

Now I have to get an Action Replay and build...
 
Funny, I picked up World Series Baseball '96 for the Genesis last night purely based on how much I used to love the Home Run Derby demo of the first Saturn WSB on my Bootleg Sampler disc... wonder how they stack up against each other.

I do see WSB titles occasionally when I check out the Power Gamer up in Glen Burnie, MD, but it's usually 2 or '98, and I don't know how they all stack up. I'm not usually a sports game guy, but I do like baseball a bit, so...

Also, Gex is a pretty good game.
 

Hightower

Banned
Well, I have a second copy of WSB 2 now... won an auction for 5 sports games...for $1!


WSB 1
WSB II
Bottom of the 9th
All Star Hockey
All star Hockey 96
 

Hightower

Banned
Oh god.. what am I doing???

DAMN YOU ALL!!!!

Just bought... complete copy of Road Rash for $13.

Seems a decent deal because it has case and manual.


Oh, and got Iron Man/ X-O Man o War for $4 complete.




Im hooked again... damn those large plastic and extremely fragile cases...
 

Teknoman

Member
Its kinda cool if you really like old school sports games these days. You can get a ton for cheap. Except maybe NBA Jam TE...speaking of which, was Extreme edition any good?
 

jdl

Banned
the woman and i have been replaying some pd saga. easily the most zen inducing rpg.

what are you doing with your brains, sega.
 

Teknoman

Member
Just got RE 1 today, and you know what? Its not bad at all. Kinda like the cheesy live action intro, and zombies actually fall apart at times (have no idea how I shot an arm off). Even got a slight jump out of me from a downed zombie. Kinda want to make an LTTP thread about it.


Actually makes me wish RE2 used that Romero commercial as its live action intro instead of the CG we got.
 

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
I was wondering, anyone ever tried the latest release of Yabause on Wii for kicks?
Is it true that many games run full speed with sound?
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
ugh, so they just kept the sfc internal 8:7 ratio instead of stretching it to 4:3 like it's supposed to be. The reasons to avoid the cd version of x3 keep piling up. :p
I made the mistake of buying this as well.

I believe the reasoning for this is pretty simple; Sega Saturn cannot natively output 256x224 like the SNES. Stretching the image to 320x240 would ruin the image as well.

What I feel they SHOULD have done is simply draw more of the game screen to the left and right. Even then, though, the aspect ratio would have been wrong. It's kind of a mess and should never have been ported to Saturn for this reason.
 

Hightower

Banned
Its kinda cool if you really like old school sports games these days. You can get a ton for cheap. Except maybe NBA Jam TE...speaking of which, was Extreme edition any good?


I prefer the traditional TE version to the EXTREEEEEEEEEMMMMME which is all polygonal and doesnt run as smooth as TE
 
Just a small update over the whole XRGB-3 / cable situation I had last week. It turns out the XRGB-3 is fine. The JP-21 port is fine. It really is the cable that screwed everything up and honestly I was lucky I got a badly made Japanese converted SCART cable. There was probably a short or something in it that made the Saturn fry instead of screwing up the XRGB-3 or worse, my Panny G25. I can only imagine the worse if I had plugged in a properly working cable.

I equipped myself with this bad boy. That's how I was able to do the test. I also thank Seik for selling me his Saturn euro SCART cable.

But do you guys want to know the strangest thing? The Saturn, which is clearly broke and unplayable using the standard composite cable, is perfectly fine when using the euro SCART cable with my XRGB-3. Isn't that weird? I was able to test the composite cable on another Saturn and it works just fine. So I guess the pin-out makes all the difference here.

All in all, I think I've been pretty god damn lucky over this situation. Feels good when Karma pays you back a bit.

Finally I can play some KoF '96!
 
Great news man, glad it all worked out! I was worried for selfish reasons as I recently acquired a SCART cable too which I haven't had the chance to try yet. I got this: http://www.retro-access.com/ourshop...-cable-for-NTSC-Japanese-US-model-Saturn.html and have a Framemeister / US Saturn, which according to people in this thread should be the right combination.

Careful. I got a similar cable, as in converted for Japanese Saturn but the SCART port was still euro SCART which is what caused my problem. If I were you I would buy a SCART to jp-21 converter just to make sure everything is fine. Do not take chance with such expensive hardware. I learned my lesson haha!
 
Careful. I got a similar cable, as in converted for Japanese Saturn but the SCART port was still euro SCART which is what caused my problem. If I were you I would buy a SCART to jp-21 converter just to make sure everything is fine. Do not take chance with such expensive hardware. I learned my lesson haha!
Is there any way to tell? Or do you just plug it in and pray? This is nerve-wracking! The framemeister itself came with an adapter that I thought was jp-21, but now I'm more nervous than ever...
 
Is there any way to tell? Or do you just plug it in and pray? This is nerve-wracking! The framemeister itself came with an adapter that I thought was jp-21, but now I'm more nervous than ever...

The framemeister comes with a JP-21 adapter, but it's not a SCART converter. There is no way to tell physically whether it is a SCART or a JP-21 cable AFAIK unless you open it. Trust me, just buy that converter and don't take any chance with your $500 upscaler. I was VERY LUCKY. Don't play with luck.

I just grabbed that from a local gaffer a few weeks ago. Absolutely awesome.

Yes! I love the weapon locking system and the game has this very upbeat gameplay. Kinda hard to explain. It just nails it.


Man, all this worry about my XRGB-3 made me forget to post my latest pick-ups for the last 2 weeks. Finally received Salamander Deluxe pack and Cotton 2. I also decided to explore the SNK fighters on the Saturn and I must say I am very impressed by them. They play really well and look fairly close to the arcade. On this picture are Samurai Shodown III, Real Bout Fatal Fury Best Collection (Real Bout, Real Bout Special). The other 2 are obvious :) Still need to receive Samurai Shodown IV, Fatal Fury 3, Earthworm Jim 2 and finally my white Model 2 Saturn. After that I will definitely be done for a while :D

WHJjJUv.jpg
 

Teknoman

Member
So lets say I decide to give up on S-video, and go with SCART like the Genesis via a SCART -> Component converter. How would I get sound from my Saturn, or is that not possible using a standard converter.

I know the Genesis could still output sound using it's headphone port for stereo, so thats no problem, but the Saturn...i'm not sure how that would work.
 

Absol

Member
So lets say I decide to give up on S-video, and go with SCART like the Genesis via a SCART -> Component converter. How would I get sound from my Saturn, or is that not possible using a standard converter.

I know the Genesis could still output sound using it's headphone port for stereo, so thats no problem, but the Saturn...i'm not sure how that would work.

You can get a Saturn SCART cable which has two RCA output you can connect to your receiver/stereo/whatever.

Got mine from this seller:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sega-Saturn...t=Video_Games_Accessories&hash=item2ec5ceb0ea
 
So lets say I decide to give up on S-video, and go with SCART like the Genesis via a SCART -> Component converter. How would I get sound from my Saturn, or is that not possible using a standard converter.

I know the Genesis could still output sound using it's headphone port for stereo, so thats no problem, but the Saturn...i'm not sure how that would work.

If you already have the SCART>Component converter, you can use the following audio extractor with the converter:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Scart-to-Audio-Extractor-for-Component-YUV-RGB-Video-Converter-CVS287-CSY-2100-/221190880604?pt=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item338000fd5c
 

cj_iwakura

Member
5OnKTaj.jpg


This game is gorgeous so far. Parallax scrolling, in-game chatter, massive planets in the background, lots of collateral damage with other ships being shot down, etc.


I'll have to get some screens or at least a stream of it later.
 

Teknoman

Member
You can get a Saturn SCART cable which has two RCA output you can connect to your receiver/stereo/whatever.

Got mine from this seller:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sega-Saturn...t=Video_Games_Accessories&hash=item2ec5ceb0ea


By the way, I just found out that my TV supports 240p over component just fine (Sony Wega, plays PS1 games on a PS2 connected via component), so shouldnt I just be able to use this as an SCART converter?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RGB-SCART-A...=US_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item3367e332e9

Then again I cant tell how the other end looks...so it might just be best to go with what everyone else knows that works.


EDIT: Went ahead and ordered this.

51kqbtDfx7L.jpg


Now to just wait for the ebay seller with the scart+two audio plug ntsc cable for the Saturn to come back.
 

Kainazzo

Member
By the way, I just found out that my TV supports 240p over component just fine (Sony Wega, plays PS1 games on a PS2 connected via component), so shouldnt I just be able to use this as an SCART converter?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RGB-SCART-A...=US_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item3367e332e9

Then again I cant tell how the other end looks...so it might just be best to go with what everyone else knows that works.


EDIT: Went ahead and ordered this.

Now to just wait for the ebay seller with the scart+two audio plug ntsc cable for the Saturn to come back.

I've seen those before, and I'm pretty sure they don't work as a simple SCART->component converter. They're very different signals; I think there's a reason they emphasize it for a Dreambox. Wish they made a converter that didn't require a separate PSU, but I haven't seen one yet.

Made the right choice though, I guarantee that YUV box works great!

Edit: That seller has excellent cables, but likes to go on vacation a lot (guessing to round up more materials for another batch). Whenever they come back, I'd stock up on all the systems you think you'll ever want. They already stopped offering PS1 SCART cables, and I haven't found a source of new high quality ones since.
 

Teknoman

Member
I've seen those before, and I'm pretty sure they don't work as a simple SCART->component converter. They're very different signals; I think there's a reason they emphasize it for a Dreambox. Wish they made a converter that didn't require a separate PSU, but I haven't seen one yet.

Made the right choice though, I guarantee that YUV box works great!

Edit: That seller has excellent cables, but likes to go on vacation a lot (guessing to round up more materials for another batch). Whenever they come back, I'd stock up on all the systems you think you'll ever want. They already stopped offering PS1 SCART cables, and I haven't found a source of new high quality ones since.

Cool thanks for the heads up. She's supposed to be back on the 12th, so I guess the rush will be on lol.
 

Seik

Banned
By the way, I just found out that my TV supports 240p over component just fine (Sony Wega, plays PS1 games on a PS2 connected via component), so shouldnt I just be able to use this as an SCART converter?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RGB-SCART-A...=US_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item3367e332e9

Then again I cant tell how the other end looks...so it might just be best to go with what everyone else knows that works.


EDIT: Went ahead and ordered this.

51kqbtDfx7L.jpg


Now to just wait for the ebay seller with the scart+two audio plug ntsc cable for the Saturn to come back.

It's this box I invested in with a bunch of SCART cables in the first place, I never managed to make it work, neither Papersleeves.

After last Friday where we played a bit a Hyperduel and KoF...I admit I want a XRGB3 soon, the thing is wonderful. Dat price though. D:
 

Valkyria

Banned
I bought yesterday in Retromadrid (retro convention in my home town) Stakes Winner 2 and Virtua Fighter CG portrait os Shun Di.

The horse's races game is a LOL and hard as hell, I can not one not even once. The other one makes no senses at all hahaha.

Also I won an auction for 28$ for Burning Rangers, Sonic Jam, Layer Section and Dynamite Deka (Die hard arcade). I think is a fair price for the 4 games (all NTSC-J).
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
It's this box I invested in with a bunch of SCART cables in the first place, I never managed to make it work, neither Papersleeves.

After last Friday where we played a bit a Hyperduel and KoF...I admit I want a XRGB3 soon, the thing is wonderful. Dat price though. D:
You never got it working?

There could be a variety of reasons for that.

What type of cables did you buy? What type of TV did you use?
 
Soukyugurentai related:

Also posted on shmups and Racketboy in hopes of finding more people to test.

I noticed something very odd while playing Soukyugurentai Otokuyo tonight on my newly acquired Model 1 Japanese Saturn. I was playing on Arcade Difficulty (5) as I usually do on my Model 2 US Saturn and the game was noticeably more difficult. More enemies, the enemies were more aggressive, there were more bullets and the bullets were faster. Even bosses were starting patterns they normally don't unless I have the difficulty set to 6 or 7.

I erased any saved data from the Action Replay 4 in 1 menus and tried again with the Action Replay unplugged. I thought maybe I was experiencing some kind of cheat device deterrent. >:) But that wasn't the case. It was still much more difficult than what I had experienced when playing on AC difficulty in the past on my US Model 2 Saturn.

So I hooked up the Model 2, erased all saved data and started on AC difficulty. Just as I suspected, the game was quite a bit easier.

Can anyone else test this? Is it a difference between Japanese and other region systems, or a difference between Model 1 & 2 Saturns and not region specific at all? Is non-Otokuyo affected?

I have experienced little differences in loading and game play between Models 1 & 2 with other games in the past, but this is the first time I have seen differences this extreme.

I would like to revisit this so I'm digging it up from page 7 which ran on to page 8 of this thread.

Does anyone have a region modded Saturn they can test with? Set the game to arcade difficulty in the options menu (difficulty 5) and make a couple of play throughs on both JP region and US region and note the change in difficulty.

I just don't have the hardware to do any extensive testing anymore myself. I was able to try out the Playstation version and the difficulty is on par with the Saturn version (Otokuyo or otherwise) at 5. Of course, you will need an ST-Key or Action replay 4 in 1 to play the game while in US region mode.
 

IrishNinja

Member
saturn still in limbo, still wondering about my 3rd party s-vid cable as well cause last i tried it there was some sharpness and some fuzziness, might be the splitter im using too though
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Wow, SDF Macross is absolutely gorgeous. Especially the animation from Do You Remember Love, my god.

Music is amazing as well. Love the cut-in commentary from the Macross comm team, more shmups should do that.
 
Wow, SDF Macross is absolutely gorgeous. Especially the animation from Do You Remember Love, my god.

Music is amazing as well. Love the cut-in commentary from the Macross comm team, more shmups should do that.

I wonder if it's a budgetary thing. I remember Silpheed had radio chatter, which was cool, but that game was fucking gash.
 
You never got it working?

There could be a variety of reasons for that.

What type of cables did you buy? What type of TV did you use?

We tried euro scart cables, JP-21 cables, euro scart cable with JP-21 converter, etc.

For the component part we tried a multitude of different cables too. We tried the box on his 47" LG. We tried it on my Panasonic G25. We tried it on his old JVC CRT TV. We tried it on my JVC too and I got to try it on a Trinitron 32FS120. I even tried it on my Sony Playstation 3D display. I tried it coupled with my XRGB-3 too...

We are absolutely clueless. Shit just refuses to work.

Might be a defective box for all I give a damn.

Honestly my XRGB-3 and all its quirks gave me much less of an headache than this stupid box.

On topic, I received my new Saturn today as well as a game I cherish quite a bit :)

uRJ4ok9.jpg
 
I'm currently trying to decide whether to hang onto my Saturn or not. It went untouched for a long time due to my infant/toddler daughter essentially living in the only room in our apartment that has a TV. I'll also be moving countries in the summer. Might not be able to take it with me.

I just don't know whether I'll ever actually get to play it or any of the games I have for it, and at this point in my life that's a good reason NOT to hang onto something. I also have a rather valuable accessory, the Floppy Disk Drive, which could probably fuel my handheld gaming (the only kind of gaming I seem to be capable of these days) habit for a while if I sold it.

It's a big dilemma. I want to keep it, and I know I'll be sad if I sell it, but on the other hand, it's getting harder and harder to justify owning.
 
I'm currently trying to decide whether to hang onto my Saturn or not. It went untouched for a long time due to my infant/toddler daughter essentially living in the only room in our apartment that has a TV. I'll also be moving countries in the summer. Might not be able to take it with me.

I just don't know whether I'll ever actually get to play it or any of the games I have for it, and at this point in my life that's a good reason NOT to hang onto something. I also have a rather valuable accessory, the Floppy Disk Drive, which could probably fuel my handheld gaming (the only kind of gaming I seem to be capable of these days) habit for a while if I sold it.

It's a big dilemma. I want to keep it, and I know I'll be sad if I sell it, but on the other hand, it's getting harder and harder to justify owning.

I can't talk for you, but in the past I've sold my video game collection and deeply regretted. So much that I've ended up buying again the stuff I had. Let me tell you this. I felt incredibly stupid buying the same stuff twice at twice the price I've paid before.

Sell it only if you are certain you won't touch this stuff ever again. Otherwise you will have to pay the price of your mistake.
 
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