Astal is pretty quick, and of course has a great soundtrack...but I dunno about replay value. Maybe one of those games you'd play once every year or so. Havent played Holy Ark myself, but i've learned to never get rid of any RPG. You may have a hard time getting it back.
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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread
- Thread starter Seik
- Start date
Astal is pretty quick, and of course has a great soundtrack...but I dunno about replay value. Maybe one of those games you'd play once every year or so. Havent played Holy Ark myself, but i've learned to never get rid of any RPG. You may have a hard time getting it back.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
I'm not the type to replay most RPGs. There are exceptions (I'd probably never get rid of PSIV or Dragon Force), but in general it's not a genre I'm crazy about. I'm also always a little paranoid that I'm going to fuck up my collection in a moving mishap or something someday (had some close calls in the past) and figure I should probably just offload some of it to people who would appreciate it more anyway.
sixteen-bit
Member
They probably had the DH license but not the license to use Willis' likeness.
sixteen-bit
Member
Great game but the saturn version has a lot of loading. If you have an import PS2, get the Sega Ages version of Dynamite Deka on that instead.
The Bankslammer
Member
is there really much of a reason to get dynamite deka saturn over the sega ages ps2 rerelease?
i mean, i guess there's the price difference (although the ages release is on jp psn apparently) but it just seems like such a marked improvement that there's really no reason to go back
edit: okay beaten but yeah ages rerelease is cool
i mean, i guess there's the price difference (although the ages release is on jp psn apparently) but it just seems like such a marked improvement that there's really no reason to go back
edit: okay beaten but yeah ages rerelease is cool
IrishNinja
Member
been spending my nights off in the last few weeks boozing & exploring the fantastic (albeit largely import) Saturn library, and...goddamn, what a golden little lost gen this was for Sega; i was crazy happy with a PSX & N64 at the time but if i would've given it a chance & pushed past my initial disappointment at the price, i would've been a huge Saturn fanboy. it feels funny becoming one in 2013, heh.
what absolutely sucks though is that like i was telling Mzo, while the upside to Sega seemingly being slept on by the retro community is that most genesis SMS & DC too) classics can be found for a song, with exceptions for the gems that showed up on too many YT lists/etc, heh - Saturn is the goddamn exception. However, much like say Snatcher vs even Earthbound, it bubble feels at least slightly more legit due to the terribly low print runs most titles saw. i can only look at the late 90s/early 2000's heads that got the clearance titles with envy now...
I mean, just the big names: Panzer Saga, Shining Force 3, Dragon Force, Guardian Heroes, Shining Wisdom/Ark, Burning Rangers and the various Working Designs projects...you can easily find a lot of them for damn near 1k right now, and people are buying them at that price. Saga alone goes north of $300 complete right now; a mere 2 years go i swear it was like half that! what's worse is, in my own anecdotal findings, ive yet to even come across a garage sale with a single Saturn thing, even a sports game...so i feel next to no chance to find one of these gems for a good price. it's crushing.
I don't expect NiGHTS/christmas, and common stuff to be much, or lesser shit id dig like D, Enemy Zero, Die Hard Arcade, Shinobi, even Scud (haha shut up) to be hard, but at this point ive grown a weird fondness for the clearly recycled Sega CD oversized cases which jacks up the price on even simple shit. i'm this close to just buying Panzer 1/Zwei on japanese saturn cause the jewel cases (which are sexier, but bum me out for reasons i cant explain!) actually seem to come cheaper and fuck it, the games use their own language anyway.
jelly of you dudes with respectable collections here! /drunken rant
what absolutely sucks though is that like i was telling Mzo, while the upside to Sega seemingly being slept on by the retro community is that most genesis SMS & DC too) classics can be found for a song, with exceptions for the gems that showed up on too many YT lists/etc, heh - Saturn is the goddamn exception. However, much like say Snatcher vs even Earthbound, it bubble feels at least slightly more legit due to the terribly low print runs most titles saw. i can only look at the late 90s/early 2000's heads that got the clearance titles with envy now...
I mean, just the big names: Panzer Saga, Shining Force 3, Dragon Force, Guardian Heroes, Shining Wisdom/Ark, Burning Rangers and the various Working Designs projects...you can easily find a lot of them for damn near 1k right now, and people are buying them at that price. Saga alone goes north of $300 complete right now; a mere 2 years go i swear it was like half that! what's worse is, in my own anecdotal findings, ive yet to even come across a garage sale with a single Saturn thing, even a sports game...so i feel next to no chance to find one of these gems for a good price. it's crushing.
I don't expect NiGHTS/christmas, and common stuff to be much, or lesser shit id dig like D, Enemy Zero, Die Hard Arcade, Shinobi, even Scud (haha shut up) to be hard, but at this point ive grown a weird fondness for the clearly recycled Sega CD oversized cases which jacks up the price on even simple shit. i'm this close to just buying Panzer 1/Zwei on japanese saturn cause the jewel cases (which are sexier, but bum me out for reasons i cant explain!) actually seem to come cheaper and fuck it, the games use their own language anyway.
jelly of you dudes with respectable collections here! /drunken rant
dreamcastmaster
Banned
In the UK at least for me you have no idea what it was like to go the CEX in London (import game store) when everyone was looking at Dreamcast and PS2 and seeing on the shelves of used import Saturn games that it was obvious that someone had traded in their whole collection. Some titles did have a high value but a lot of them were so unknown that they would be sold for a pittance.
As for the bigger name titles you list, they were never cheap (PAL) I learned to buy them on day of release or never see them again as most stores only got about 5 copies of each title and no reorders.
I was working at a videogame wholesaler as a buyer at the time and I make sure I ordered every Saturn title just for fans like me. Even then most games I would only just shift about 40 - 60 units. Compared to 100's on PlayStation.
The only exception to that was Panzer Dragoon saga where I had a lot of retailer pre-orders. My sales rep at Sega told me they actually made another print run for that titles as it was so popular and that was unheard of for any title during that period of the Saturns life. I believe there were only 10K US copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga made, I know the figure of the PAL version and it's much, much higher.
IrishNinja
Member
^oh shit, that's awesome! i have a unibios modded saturn, maybe i should look for the PAL saga/others instead? you figure you guys had higher print runs of the others as well, or?
dreamcastmaster
Banned
Later released games I'm sure there are more copies printed in Europe than the US. Just need to be careful when running on an NTSC Saturn is that a lot of games were optimized for PAL and will perhaps run too fast, overscan or glitch.
I have a switched PAL Saturn and I do know that PDZ has glitches when run at 60Hz for example.
IrishNinja
Member
i've no doubt it's dated (by what i've read) but ive wanted to check out the works of Kenji Eno for a while, so it's on my list!
ah, good to know! guess i'll have to look up specifics before seeking any out, thanks man.
dreamcastmaster
Banned
You can check with me, I've got a pretty huge Saturn collection built up at the time. I'm sure I'll remember which ones don't run well at 60Hz.
Shinobi Legions Pal version ( Shinobi X), how does that run on NTSC? Want that version because of the Richard Jacques soundtrack.
Michael Nyman score.
I LOVE enemy zero. It's just so fascinating, enemies you can't see, horrible gun, graphic adventure rooms, and that incredibly brutal saving system...
It's flawed, but my brother used to say, it is flawed, but in really cool ways.
That makes since if the gameplay clicks with you it is a well produced game. The music and effects were cool for the time but I just despised the gameplay. It is brutal and pretty poorly explained. Most of the combat involves luring enemies into corridors so that you can pinpoint them better. I would have enjoyed it more if you could get a weapon that was not terrible even if that would break the story a little.
Enemy Zero would've probably been better with some sort of visor you had to equip to see the alien. If they wanted restrictions, I guess not allowing the player to move while the visor was equipped would work. Either that or have it send out a thermal pulse that would make the alien temp. visible.
On that note...I kinda want to play D again. Unreleated note, I need to sit down with Deep Fear one of these days / maybe with a translation guide for the items, since the voices are all in English anyway.
Has anyone played that using an action replay cart? I remember reading about some people being able to switch discs just fine, while others thought it wouldnt be possible.
EDIT: Found this note for the playing the PAL version on NTSC NA hardware -
"So after getting that error message (with Disc 2 in the Saturn), all I did was reset the game (don't turn off the power, just hit reset). The Action Replay reboots. Then I backed up my most recent Disc 1 save, and hit start game. Disc 2 started perfectly after that and loaded as if everything was normal. It didn't go to the menu screen; it just picked up in the game right where Disc 1 ended. I made a save from Disc 2 right away and then backed that up too just in case any other funny stuff happens."
Guess the same should work for the JP version?
In other news:
Yippee ki yay.
On that note...I kinda want to play D again. Unreleated note, I need to sit down with Deep Fear one of these days / maybe with a translation guide for the items, since the voices are all in English anyway.
Has anyone played that using an action replay cart? I remember reading about some people being able to switch discs just fine, while others thought it wouldnt be possible.
EDIT: Found this note for the playing the PAL version on NTSC NA hardware -
"So after getting that error message (with Disc 2 in the Saturn), all I did was reset the game (don't turn off the power, just hit reset). The Action Replay reboots. Then I backed up my most recent Disc 1 save, and hit start game. Disc 2 started perfectly after that and loaded as if everything was normal. It didn't go to the menu screen; it just picked up in the game right where Disc 1 ended. I made a save from Disc 2 right away and then backed that up too just in case any other funny stuff happens."
Guess the same should work for the JP version?
In other news:
Yippee ki yay.
Exr
Member
Thanks for the responses guys. I've been leaning towards picking up the Sega Ages collections, donn't know why I didn't. Rad thread.
It's really hard and the save system needlessly fucks with you but it does help the desperate atmosphere. Its very flawed, but the uniqueness of it makes up for the problems.
dreamcastmaster
Banned
Didn't play that one, but I'd be confident as a launch game it would have been unoptimized for PAL.
encephalon
Member
I cheated.
D
Deleted member 74300
Unconfirmed Member
Got myself a battery to save games (my poor Neo Geo pocket color needed one also) while I wait for my action replay plus to show up. Hopefully it's worth the wait. I've heard good things about it.
Sixfortyfive
He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Just got back from a quick trip to Walmart for a pack of CR2032s, as it was the less inconvenient option when compared to the ordeal of getting the system to detect the save cartridge.
Going to give Astal a whirl.
http://www.twitch.tv/sixfortyfive
Going to give Astal a whirl.
http://www.twitch.tv/sixfortyfive
bishopcruz
Member
It's so pretty. Blew my mind back in the day.
Such a good game. Also it makes me sad how fast the Saturn eats through power when i have it unplugged like the rest of my older systems. Also is the official memory card non volatile?
IrishNinja
Member
hey, had to tell you! played Guardian Heroes again (dolo this time), made it to the last guy who beat the living hell out of me in his final form, so much for normal. gonna step it back up & see some endings on easy before trying again!
Damn can't win the game I'm looking for months on ebay.
Why does everybody outbid me ;_;
The connection between the tension in not seeing the enemies and the requirement to listen sounds is a great idea.
Once I played Killer7 without sound/music, it was frightening.
Why does everybody outbid me ;_;
I always though E0 heavily inspired Killer7.
The connection between the tension in not seeing the enemies and the requirement to listen sounds is a great idea.
Once I played Killer7 without sound/music, it was frightening.
I think I am missing something. That is way over priced though I did notice the seller linked it to Panzer Dragoon Saga.
bishopcruz
Member
As I keep saying, Best Beat 'm up EVER!!! I remember some of the routes are pretty much hell. But it's been a while.
Either you're drunk or I'm missing something.
Shadow Hog
Member
I only paid $25 to pick that one up a year and a half ago or so, and I think I might've overpaid. Dunno who he thinks he'll fool, though.
bishopcruz
Member
I only paid $25 to pick that one up a year and a half ago or so, and I think I might've overpaid. Dunno who he thinks he'll fool, though.
I know prices have gone up since I last looked at them, I remember PDZ being $17 on Amazon, and now it is over double that, so I wasn't sure if that was near regular or not.
Watched some of your Shining the Holy Ark archive cause I loved that game back in the day. The ending... Ouch..
Some tips:
1) The Angel Wing item you picked up before the cemetery boss warps you back to the beginning of the dungeon so you can go save in town or whatever.
2) Looks like you missed a dog on the other side of the lake where you picked up your first pixie for that little boy.
3) It looks like you are confused by the pixies you picked up. What they're used for is to help you out in the beginning of a battle for preemptive attacks. If you notice, enemies come in to battle by various ways (left or right sides, from the ground, straight at you, etc.). Depending on how the enemies enters battles, you can call out a certain type of pixie to deal some damage to all the enemies (ie pixies for enemies coming straight at you or leprechauns for enemies coming from the ground). The more of a certain type you collect, the higher the attack output will be.
Hope you go back and play it again sometime!
Shadow Hog
Member
I need to finish that game. I'm in the temple with the big tree, presently. All the constant ups and downs make it a little hard to remember where I'm going, returning to it like a year later, heh.
Opens up another world of Saturn gaming, especially if you dont have a JP Saturn. Props for having an NGPC too. I've only got like 4 games for it (both Metal Slug, SNK vs Capcom, Sonic Pocket Adventure) so i'm still looking for more worthwhile stuff.
The soundtrack is equally mindblowing.
Let me try again
Into Darkness
Sea of Clouds
Crystal Palace
Dat guitar.
Sometimes you just gotta roll with it. Try to look for mispelled listings or even check favorite sellers that have alot of items. Sometimes they might have what you want, and for some reason it wont pop up on general search.
I need to snag Killer7 and Guardian Heroes at some point (huge Treasure fan, and was a big fan of the game back in the day...have no idea why I havent tracked down a physical copy yet). I've got GH HD, but the 360 controller is horrible for the game.
bishopcruz
Member
Into Darkness, ah the memories. Man, no one played this game and it makes me sad. So very sad.
Try using one of the SFIV pads. I love using them for my Saturn emulation, next best thing to an actual Saturn pad.
IrishNinja
Member
okay, so...Guardian Heroes, would that work well for me?
let's also add: Sega Ages, and Saturn Bomberman (the latter im thinking JP, its way cheaper)
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Astal was kind of weak gameplay wise, an ordinary, short and easy platformer, but omg it was so pretty and the music was gorgeous too. Just a beautiful, beautiful game, I have fond memories just because of the art and music.
lol? Wow that seller is scum haha
sixteen-bit
Member
Does this game have redbook audio? Might buy it just for the soundtrack alone, lol.
D
Deleted member 74300
Unconfirmed Member
Well it might be the only way I can get Megaman X 3 without paying tons of $ for it. I do like the cutscenes for that version. Everything else not so much.
I'm also guilty of lacking NGPC games. I don't even have the Sonic for it and that was one of the main reasons I wanted it. Granted the only copy I could ever find in used game stores was this weird pirate copy of it in a GBC cart for some reason but still.
Also yes to Guardian Heroes for the Saturn. It was meant to be played on the Saturn. The demo for the 360 one turned me off on it due to the controls. I hope you can find a copy for around 30 like I did.
Suddenly I feel better about winning this for $5 for the disc only.
IrishNinja
Member
^seriously, some of you guys aren't seeing how bad the retro bubble's getting.
i spent some time last night on ebay to get a general feel for how much the games i'd like to eventually get would cost (complete), based off recent-ish sold items, and came up with this list & prices to try to find said games under/consider jumping on them when and where i do:
Guardian Heroes (55)
Panzer Dragoon Saga (anything < $200)
Panzer Dragoon (20)
Panzer Dragoon Zwei (25-30)
Sonic Jam (40-50)
NiGHTS (15-20)
Christmas NiGHTS (<25)
Burning Rangers (40-90?)
Die Hard Arcade (20-30)
Elevator Action Returns (20-40)
Shinobi Legions (30)
Scud (< 10)*
Saturn Bomberman (80+...import?)
Enemy Zero (30)
D (15)
Dragon Force (60-70)
Shining Force III (70-80)
Shining the Holy Ark (40-50)
Shining Wisdom (60-70)
Albert Odyssey (70-80)
Magic Knight Rayearth (100-150)
Akumajo Dracula X (80..)
Legend of Oasis (20)
Clockwork Knight 1/2 (15)
Sega Ages (70 - import?)
Sega Ages Memorial
Phantasy Star Collection (both fairly cheap when not BIN)
Salamander deluxe pack (50)
DoDonPachi (40)
Galatic Attack (20)
Darius Gaiden (10-20)
Hyper Duel (...)
Radiant Silvergun (100+)
Fighters Megamix (20)
Fighting Vipers (10)
Last Bronx (15)
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter (20)
X-Men vs Street Fighter (20)
X-Men COTA (20)
Street Fighter Alpha 2 (25)
Street Fighter the movie (15)*
* yes i know some games i want are in fact terrible but bear in mind, this is the saturn collection i wanted to put together in '95/96 so it won't feel the same without a few misses, haha
not quite as bad as the SNES scene but shit's erratically jumping, especially if you're impatient & go for Buy It Now stuff. for example: some lucky dude swung PDS for $150 in the last month or so, and several others for about $200 before shipping - BIN's have gone nearly double that; i waited nearly 2 decades to do this so i'm clearly not in that kinda hurry.
other stuff was even wilder, like Burning Rangers could go over $100 or half that. what i think i'm gonna do (as i pay this year's damages off, haha) is just grab a title or so every month, only when i see them for good prices...but honestly, i think my chances are likely going to be better in the buy/sell threads here on GAF and other core forums.
i spent some time last night on ebay to get a general feel for how much the games i'd like to eventually get would cost (complete), based off recent-ish sold items, and came up with this list & prices to try to find said games under/consider jumping on them when and where i do:
Guardian Heroes (55)
Panzer Dragoon Saga (anything < $200)
Panzer Dragoon (20)
Panzer Dragoon Zwei (25-30)
Sonic Jam (40-50)
NiGHTS (15-20)
Christmas NiGHTS (<25)
Burning Rangers (40-90?)
Die Hard Arcade (20-30)
Elevator Action Returns (20-40)
Shinobi Legions (30)
Scud (< 10)*
Saturn Bomberman (80+...import?)
Enemy Zero (30)
D (15)
Dragon Force (60-70)
Shining Force III (70-80)
Shining the Holy Ark (40-50)
Shining Wisdom (60-70)
Albert Odyssey (70-80)
Magic Knight Rayearth (100-150)
Akumajo Dracula X (80..)
Legend of Oasis (20)
Clockwork Knight 1/2 (15)
Sega Ages (70 - import?)
Sega Ages Memorial
Phantasy Star Collection (both fairly cheap when not BIN)
Salamander deluxe pack (50)
DoDonPachi (40)
Galatic Attack (20)
Darius Gaiden (10-20)
Hyper Duel (...)
Radiant Silvergun (100+)
Fighters Megamix (20)
Fighting Vipers (10)
Last Bronx (15)
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter (20)
X-Men vs Street Fighter (20)
X-Men COTA (20)
Street Fighter Alpha 2 (25)
Street Fighter the movie (15)*
* yes i know some games i want are in fact terrible but bear in mind, this is the saturn collection i wanted to put together in '95/96 so it won't feel the same without a few misses, haha
not quite as bad as the SNES scene but shit's erratically jumping, especially if you're impatient & go for Buy It Now stuff. for example: some lucky dude swung PDS for $150 in the last month or so, and several others for about $200 before shipping - BIN's have gone nearly double that; i waited nearly 2 decades to do this so i'm clearly not in that kinda hurry.
other stuff was even wilder, like Burning Rangers could go over $100 or half that. what i think i'm gonna do (as i pay this year's damages off, haha) is just grab a title or so every month, only when i see them for good prices...but honestly, i think my chances are likely going to be better in the buy/sell threads here on GAF and other core forums.
D
Deleted member 74300
Unconfirmed Member
I guess on the subject of cd cases again I'll have to mess around in photoshop to make them all tiny jewel cases like my Nights one since I still can't find a site that has what I want. Only 3 of my Saturn games are actually complete with everything so it's pointless just to have a bunch of empty big cases for the rest of them. Not to mention all the space I can save in doing so.
cj_iwakura
Member
MKR took a while to go up in value. For years it commonly sold for $50. I bought a factory sealed copy in 2006.
IrishNinja
Member
yeah, i just put loose ones in DVD cases with the art from cover project but i know that's not for everyone...still, if you want, you could sell those big empties for some money! or donate them, then i can buy looseys, heh
damn...yeah, even Mzo was telling me this task would've been far easier in the early to mid 2000's but then again, even terrible scenes like SNES would've said the same i figure. the only one i recall around then that was lousy for me was actually some PSX stuff i was replacing; there was this shitty window around 2008 where dudes wanted north of $50 for a GH copy of FF VII, shit was silly.
crap you know what? hope this isn't too obnoxious but since it's a new page i'm gonna repost that pricecheck post i just put up:
Well, the game itself is a pretty damn good game all around. You'll probably have no regrets buying it.
EDIT: Damn, Irish, this is a bit depressing, especially for those building their collections, I'm glad I'm done with mine though.
D
Deleted member 74300
Unconfirmed Member
I still might make big versions of covers again like I did before. Accidentally printed out the pal versions of the instruction books covers the first time I attempted making covers for those because I couldn't tell the difference at the time. What a waste of paper and ink that was getting it just right.
Though I doubt you'd want mine. Most of them are in bad shape or broken which is another reason I'm shrinking down. Blame the clumsy used game stores/ebay.
The last game I'd ever want for the Saturn would be Shining Force 3. Hard to find disc only of it though.