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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread

IrishNinja

Member
So my Skeleton Saturn CD lens has gone

I'm planning to change it but I wonder which Saturn model I should look at, maybe the model 2 white one?
Or any cd drive model can be used? I have a grey Model 1 and I noticed they are different, even if I didn't check if that one can fit into model 2

aww that sucks - can you not just change out the drive? ive done this with the DC
 

MurderOfPoes

Neo Member
So my Skeleton Saturn CD lens has gone

I'm planning to change it but I wonder which Saturn model I should look at, maybe the model 2 white one?
Or any cd drive model can be used? I have a grey Model 1 and I noticed they are different, even if I didn't check if that one can fit into model 2

The Model 2 have an extra control board for the CD (where the Model 1 modchip would usually go), so I don't think they are compatible.
 
aww that sucks - can you not just change out the drive? ive done this with the DC

yes, that's what I'm planning to do, even if here in Japan I don't see anyone selling just the drive so I suppose I have to buy a junk Saturn.
I just wonder if the white Model-2 is enough, cause if I have to look for a "This is Cool" or Skeleton unit, I give up :D


The Model 2 have an extra control board for the CD (where the Model 1 modchip would usually go), so I don't think they are compatible.
yes, as I said, I noticed some components were different (and also on the right side of the console, it's interesting to see how the hw part improved during revisions)
 

Khaz

Member
Models 1&2 are just for the outer shell and buttons, there was plenty of variations in regards to the insides, some being shared along the two shells.
 
BUG!'s okay. I liked it for the first two worlds or so. After that, though, the difficulty spike is just a bit much for me. Feels like you gotta do too much between checkpoints, and the levels start to drag.

Still kinda wanna try BUG TOO! for some reason, though.
 
BUG!'s okay. I liked it for the first two worlds or so. After that, though, the difficulty spike is just a bit much for me. Feels like you gotta do too much between checkpoints, and the levels start to drag.

Still kinda wanna try BUG TOO! for some reason, though.

Don't bother. The "BUUUUG JOOOOSE" line is ruined in the sequel.
 

StevieWhite

Member
So just beat Panzer Dragoon Saga...and im still confused lol.

Does Orta answer more of this stuff, and if so...must've sucked for fans to have to wait that long. Or was there something in the game I missed that would lead to a different ending scene?

My recollection is "kinda." By the time I played Orta, it had been a few years. You aren't alone... it is an engaging but confusing narrative.
 
Almost certainly that; Saturn emulation was pretty much garbo up until SSF really started getting good in the latter half of the 2000s, and even then you needed a beefy PC to run it well (hell, you still do).
 
Orta is one of the few original Xbox games that I still have. Don't even know if we have an original Xbox OT thread as it seems to be one of the few system threads that I don't have a subscription to.
 

Galdelico

Member
Actually, I think the only Saturn to another console port is Dead or Alive 1, and that's not even a Sega game.

What do you mean by that? Isn't DoA on the Saturn just a port of the Model 2 arcade game? DoA on the PS1 is quite different, it even got its arcade re-release under the name of DoA++. Also, Sokyugurentai is originally an STV arcade board as well.

Iirc, Silhouette Mirage and Grandia were both Saturn games, later ported to the PlayStation.
 

Conezays

Member
Been playing lots of Tetris on my AVS lately so I've been neglecting the Saturn a bit. I decided to throw on Soukyu Gurentai for the first time in awhile and managed to finally beat it for the first time after owning it for a year, lol. I think Tetris is helping my shmup skills :p
 

MikeMyers

Member
Found this on Instagram:

14872656_10207757371191971_1583267011_n.png


Ha, ok sorry. I thought you meant original Saturn games (no arcade titles then) ported to other systems that were contemporary with the SS.

Oh I see. Well I'd count Silhouette Mirage and Grandia, as well as the ST-V games mentioned before.
 

IrishNinja

Member
$70 primate rage, $80 for a golf game (?)...goddamn, was saturn retail really like that? no wonder PSX ate its lunch

finally sat down & beat D! after REmake, this was another great halloween choice. i only found 2 of the 4 bugs though, might have to go back in for the rest sometime.

thinking i might try Enemy Zero next, then if i'm still in that WARP mood, D2 on dreamcast!
 

KC-Slater

Member
Well it appears to be from a Canadian Toys R Us.

But yeah that is awfully positioned by Sega.

That flier brings back a flood of memories. Console prices were insane during the 32-bit era in Canada.

I really wanted a Saturn at the time (initially for the Model-2 ports, later on for the CPS2 stuff) but the price made it pretty much a non-starter. I worked part-time at a video store in high school, so I could take the rental systems home with me after close if there were any still in stock, so that was cool.

I was on the N64 hype train at the time, and elected to get one at launch instead, in part because it was only $299 Canadian at the time, IIRC. I was still bummed I didn't get a Saturn instead, though. Buyer's remorse had set in. I eventually bought a couple rental units from the store I worked at, and a ton of the games for dirt cheap because consumers had all but lost interest. (This was well before Nights had even been released -- consumers had made their choice, and it wasn't the Sega Saturn lol. The store sold off all Saturn everything.)

I pretty much hate the N64 outside of a handful of games, but I still think the Saturn is such a fun, intriguing piece of hardware.
 

Conezays

Member
Ah, Canadian game prices in the 90's. I definitely remember paying over $100 for some SNES and N64 games at the time. Pretty sure I saw Ninja Gaiden Trilogy on SNES for over $100 USD as well when on vacation. Sadly, I didn't own a Saturn back then but I did have a Genesis and Dreamcast. You'd think Dreamcast launching at $199 ($300 less than the Saturn!) would have ensured a decent level of success for Sega. Alas...

Surely we all received clunkers like this at one time or another for holidays? :p

uiD9YP9.jpg
 

TeaJay

Member
I pretty much hate the N64 outside of a handful of games, but I still think the Saturn is such a fun, intriguing piece of hardware.

This era in gaming I was firmly on the PS1 bandwagon, on the console side at least. Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Final Fantasy, Tekken. Otherwise I was a big PC gamer at the time.

No one I knew had the Saturn. Hell, no one even had the N64. Finland was strictly Sony land. It was marketed as a cool, hip thing, as in consoles weren't kid stuff anymore like Nintendo and Sega and PC gaming was for nerds, so you better pick the PS1 if you wanna be cool. It was brilliant, and they sold the PS1 to literally every other household, almost as much as the C64 and the NES back in their time.

But even if I had the Saturn, what europe got was mostly crappy early 3D ports (which PS1 did better). Plus the highly advertized arcade conversions. Only in recent years I have delved into the import / 2D / unknown scene and boy, if we got THOSE games, Saturn would've rocked the 90's.
 

MurderOfPoes

Neo Member
Don't have a Xbox/360. If I ever do get around to getting one the first game I'll get for it is Orta.

Orta includes PD1 one too! I play it from a 360 to a CRT with a RGB scart cable. Looks real sharp and nice!

Beware, the PAL version of Panzer Dragoon Orta is said to be backwards compatible but it crashes every single time after level 3.

Read somewhere that the only way to get around it is to play enough hours to unlock the level select and skip to level 4.

That or play the NTSC version (mind you, the game is region locked).
 
Beware, the PAL version of Panzer Dragoon Orta is said to be backwards compatible but it crashes every single time after level 3.

Read somewhere that the only way to get around it is to play enough hours to unlock the level select and skip to level 4.

That or play the NTSC version (mind you, the game is region locked).

I used this workaround for the PAL version:

Found a way to get past the crash/error on level 3 on the PAL game, it's not ideal, is quite a hassle and you will miss most of the story (doesn't show the cutscenes), but you can at least play the other levels.

First, you need to load a random level and just pause then retry the level repeatedly 20 times - basically you need to continue/retry levels 20 times to unlock the next step, you will probably already have a few. When you think you have done enough Save&Quit and you should get a prompt saying you've unlocked something in Pandora's Box

Now this should have unlocked Mission 3 in the Sub Scenarios section of Pandora's Box, the next step is simply to start this level and leave it playing by itself until you have amassed a total of 15hours of gameplay time - just leave it overnight or something. This is easy if you have a wired pad, as they don't turn off, but a wireless pad will turn off after a stretch of inactivity - you could try placing the pad against something so that a button/stick is constantly pressed (haven't tested this myself) and you might need to replace the batteries at some point.

When you have 15hours of gametime it will unlock the Box Game feature of Pandora's Box, this is basically a level select (with some extra stuff). And you can just start from level 4 to continue from after the crash.

Still hope Microsoft will fix this game, but I doubt it, so at least you can get a bit more from the game this way.
 

MikeMyers

Member
Interesting about Panzer Dragoon Orta PAL.

Wonder if Orta would have been a success if it was a multiplat instead of being tied down to the Xbox.
 

Tizoc

Member
I recently realized I should plan on getting an actual JP White Sega Saturn, anyone know where I can look up price listings?
 

gelf

Member
Interesting about Panzer Dragoon Orta PAL.

Wonder if Orta would have been a success if it was a multiplat instead of being tied down to the Xbox.

I don't know about "success" but I do feel Xbox was the worst platform for it to be exclusive to. Same goes for Jet Set Radio Future.

Sega fucked up in general by throwing exclusives around 5 different platforms at the time. Fragmenting their base.
 

KC-Slater

Member
I don't know about "success" but I do feel Xbox was the worst platform for it to be exclusive to. Same goes for Jet Set Radio Future.

Sega fucked up in general by throwing exclusives around 5 different platforms at the time. Fragmenting their base.

Each team got to decide which platform they wanted to work on, after Sega went third-party. (Can't find source right now.)

Not sure it was the wisest decision to let the development teams make the business decisions, but it's not like Sega's leadership was making steller choices at the time, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
I feel like JSRF and PDO woulda been compromised on their visions if they had been made multiplat. They did right by specifically targeting the most powerful home console hardware at the time.
 

gelf

Member
Its that great Sega contradiction that's hard for me to square as fan of the company's games. A smarter company would have held a tighter leash on its developers and probably been more successful. But that could also mean many of the great niche games I love that they put out may never have been greenlit in the first place with more current market trend following titles being put out instead.

In either timeline I as a Sega fan lose out in some way unless its also a timeline where stuff like Panzer Dragoon, JSR etc have mainstream appeal somehow.
 
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