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NeoGAF Official SEGA SATURN Community

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus





Take everything you love about X-Men Vs. Street Fighter, add in The Avengers and a goofy Japanese comic sidekick, add in some wildly over-the-top special attacks and the greatest pixel art known to man, and you've got my all-time favorite 2D fighting game on Sega Saturn: Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter. You were just about to say, "Hey, me too." Because, of course, that would be the sensible thing to say.

This game easily earns a spot in my Saturn Top Ten. And if it's not in yours, it's likely only because one of the other 4-Meg Capcom fighters took the spot. Which is perfectly fine in my book. They're all fantastic beyond belief and deserved to sell millions of copies worldwide.

It's getting harder and harder to find a complete copy for less than a hundred bucks. Better move fast if you want this one in your library.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
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I'm working on a book project about Nintendo 64 which includes several racing titles, which gives me the perfect excuse to toss in a few runs of Sega Rally Championship. This is a JP Saturn w/composite cables running on a 13" Sony Trinitron. Notice the nice smooth windows on the car? No dithered dot patterns here.

Sega Rally still holds up magnificently and I greatly admire AM3's dedication to car physics and handling, the way your vehicle responds differently to pavement, dirt and mud, the way the suspension bobs and dips in turns, the way you have to precisely manage powerslides to stay on the road. At its core, this is really a time-attack racer. You're battling against the clock and the tracks, not the drivers. The computer cars are merely placeholders, following a set path and spaced precisely apart from one another. They don't really acknowledge you like, say, the suicidal murder cars in Daytona USA.

I really should be playing this game more often. I played it obsessively during that snowy Minnesota Winter of 1995-96, and it actually improved my winter driving skills, or at least showed me how to pull of powerslides in heavy snow. Finishing first place is still difficult, as you have to make an absolutely perfect run with no errors, and for that I'm grateful. And the 2P versus mode should keep everyone engaged from now until the sun explodes.

During the Gen-5 era, it was commonly accepted that Sega Rally was Saturn's best racer, but also it's only good racer, that everything else was terrible or disappointing. Today, I would definitely say that isn't the case: Manx TT Superbike, The Need For Speed, Wipeout & Wipeout XL, Touge King of Spirits 1 & 2, Shutokou Battle Drift 97 and Impact Racing are all excellent. The JP Daytona USA Circuit Edition is probably the best Saturn driving game from a technical standpoint, offering 40 breakable cars, smooth 30 fps, Taisen Cable support and various day/night lighting conditions. I'm a bit surprised that Sega didn't crank out a bunch of Sega Rally sequels, milk the franchise as Namco did with Ridge Racer. It would have been easy to introduce a new version with a dozen racetracks and a career mode. But AM3 was busy with Baku Baku Animal, Decathlete, Virtual On, Last Bronx and Winter Heat, and I wouldn't sacrifice any of them.

And for the record, the best racing game on Sega Saturn? The original Daytona USA. Deal with it.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus







This is why you buy the JP Daytona USA Circuit Edition: support for the Taisen link cable. This enables two players to race against one another, each with a Saturn and television. Add in the racing wheel and you've truly brought the arcade experience home. And have I mentioned that this is the only multiplayer mode to include computer cars? Split-screen and Netlink only put the two drivers on the track.

I bought my copy when they were selling for $10, but prices have risen to the $40 range. It's still a bargain, but you are highly advised to purchase one before this game hits the $100 mark, especially as more Saturn fans learn about the Taisen cable and want to play those glorious 2P matches.

The third video in this post features all Taisen-compatible Saturn games, including Daytona CE, Hyper Reverthion, Steeldom, Doom (thanks for wrecking this port, Carmack), Hexen (much better but still not Lobotomy), Gungriffon 2 (also compatible with the Virtual On joysticks) and Hyper 3D Taisen Battle Gebockers. Daytona, of course, is the star of the show.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
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Asuka 120% Burning Festival LTD is one of Saturn's greatest 2D fighting games, and is considered the best installment of the long-running series that began on the PC Engine and worked its way through Saturn and Playstation. In 1999, after the dissolution of their studio Fill-In-Cafe, the creators of Asuka released a software patch for the retail disc, dubbed Asuka 120% Limit Over. This patch was posted online and given to fans for free.

In 2007, the patch was discovered by Western Saturn fans via the Lost Levels forum, whose members then released an ISO file for burning to disc. In 2015, Limit Over was given a full English translation, specifically the character names.

You can download this translation file here, although you will have to patch these files to your backup disc. A fully patched version of Limit Over is available online, although I cannot say where.

Finally, I want to post a tutorial file that I downloaded some time ago (it might have been posted on GameFAQs at some point). It provides an overview of the gameplay additions made to this version, as well as the controls for movies and specials. I'm going to post the message in its entirety. Enjoy:


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Some treat for all the haters. Asuka 120% LIMIT OVER is a fan modification of the Saturn all-girl fighter Asuka 120% Burning Fest Limited. Basically what you may consider a "rom hack", except that its quite advanced for the time - it was made in 1998 and features radical edits - and on a CD based console.

It includes a lot of changes, including:

- Simple to-the-point menu screen (no story mode, only vs, ranking and deathmatch)
- New special moves (knockdown move and secret final attack)
- Additional dodge moves (recovery)
- Additional medium attacks
- Additional throw attacks
- Balance tweaks
- Taunts and autocombos

Changes were made according to the opinions of many players on the net.

lo.lzh contains the files needed to patch a regular asuka 120% image to Limit Over. As all instructions are in japanese, and the tools needed are getting aged, I've decided to post a pre-patched bin/cue. Note that it wasn't patched by me, I found the copy on Share.

mainpage (japanese): http://www5.ocn.ne.jp/~afc/limitover/index.html
info on the series (japanese): http://naitouraita.cool.ne.jp/naitou/asuka/main.html
discussion at lostlevels.org: http://forums.lostlevels.org/viewtopic.php?t=1233&start=0
wikipedia info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asuka_120%

note: the serial and header is the same as the original Asuka 120% game, the patch does not modify the header, only some files on the disc.

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The controls are dead simple but in case people cant figure them out:

A - weak attack
X (or forward + A) - medium attack
B - slow but strong attack
C (or A+B) - counter attack, you are invincible while doing this but it consumes your special meter
forward + B - "long" punch

forward or backward twice - dash/backdash, also works with forward/backward + Z
down, up - super jump, also works by pressing Z without directions
up, up - hopping/small jump, also works by pressing Z and down

R (or down+C) - dodge
back + A (while guarding) - dodge
back + B (while guarding) - reversal

forward + B from upclose - throw and tech. hit (throw escape)

When you are knocked to the side of the screen or to the ground, press forward twice (screen side) or down twice (ground) to recover quickly. Mashing A or B also works.

double tapping Y, Z or R for taunt.

Special moves are nearly the same for all characters:
- Down, Forward, A/B (or forward + Y)
- Down, Down, A/B (or down + Y)
- Down, Back, A/B (or back + Y)
For super special moves, use C instead of a/b when your special meter is 100% or 120%. You can use super specials continously when at 120%.

Some characters also have barrage moves by tapping forward + A or simply X fast, Honda Hundred Hand Slap style.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
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Time for another evening session of Last Bronx, an excellent translation of the Sega AM3 arcade hit. Prices for the US version are becoming very expensive, but the JP edition is still available for cheap, and even offers a second disc devoted exclusively to player tutorials and gameplay hints.

I snapped these photos this evening and managed to capture shots of one of the anime endings on the game's Saturn mode. Even though I tend to reach for VF2 and Anarchy in the Nippon, there's no denying this is a must-have fighting classic. In a just world, this game would have spawned an entire franchise, breakfast cereal and line of direct-to-video DVDs. Oh, well.

I also wanted to share a Youtube video episode of Yo Videogames, a show where a group of guys gather together on a couch to play classic videogames and shoot the breeze. They're always entertaining to watch and you should check out their other Saturn gameplay sessions.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus





Here's a brand new Youtube video on Anarchy in the Nippon, one of my all-time favorite Sega Saturn brawlers, as well as its Playstation sequel. The review critic does an excellent job noting the involvement of the "Iron Men" Virtua Fighter players (no, Sega AM2 had nothing to do with this one). Gameplay footage is excellent and the language barrier is listed as a problem. Fortunately, I already provided a handy menu translation just a few posts ago.

I did enjoy the attention given to the PSX sequel, which is even more obscure than the original. Personally, I prefer the Saturn version, but there are many good qualities in the PSX version and it's worth checking out.

I grabbed my copy several years ago and only paid ten bucks. Today, Ebay prices are going for $20, plus shipping, which seems to be around $20 this year, thanks to COVID-19 disruptions. I strongly advise that you get a disc before they become expensive and rare.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus





Some footage of Capcom's outstanding Vampire Savior on Sega Saturn. This is another of the monster 4-Meg fighters on the system that demonstrates this console's supremacy in 2D video games. It really doesn't get better than this.

It doesn't appear that this title is as popular with fans as X-Men, Marvel or Zero/Alpha 3, and perhaps that's due to Vampire Savior being an original IP with no connection to any long-running franchise or pop culture icon. It may also be because of the excellent Night Warriors, which arrived in early 1996 in the US and is nearly arcade perfect. Maybe the 2nd and 3rd Darkstalkers is just too similar to one another? Who's to say?

Fortunately, this is a good thing for Saturn collectors, because it means you can find copies on Ebay for significantly less money than the other Capcom 4-Meg titles. You do not want to look at the prices Street Fighter Zero 3 is going for these days. You'll bust a kidney from the sticker shock.
 

MadeManG74

Neo Member



Sega Saturn Fan Translation: Valhollian

This is excellent and most welcome news. Meduza Team has recently announced that they are engaged in an English translation of the 1998 Strategy-RPG Vahollian. This game plays very similar to Sakura Wars, Wachenroeder and Shining Force, and if you're a fan of the genre, you'll dive right in easily and have a blast.

Meduza Team was previously responsible for translating Linkle Liver Story, as well as widescreen hacks for Shining Force 3, Powerslave, and Dead or Alive.

Great work, guys! Keep it up!


I need to keep an eye on this one, love Shining Force III and this might be an interesting new title for me to sink into.







Whenever I get the urge to play a snowboarding videogame, I always reach for Steep Slope Sliders. What do I love about this videogame? What makes it great? Atmosphere. Ambiance. The sense of isolation, of being lost in mountains and forests. The spectacular course designs that absolutely demolished Cool Boarders and 1080. The color designs that perfectly capture how snow looks in real life, especially on days with overcast skies. The moody and unconventional music. And, most of all, the absence of any grating, obnoxious "extreeeme" cliches that have aged as poorly as leisure suits.

The strange thing about this genre is that every other snowboarding game is really just a driving game, except you're riding a board instead of a car. Tricks are treated almost as an afterthought, something tacked on as a gimmick. Here, the emphasis is almost entirely on scoring tricks and finding the perfect spots to launch that big trick combo, while the racing is treated as an afterthought.

I don't think Cave really knew what they had on their hands, or knew how to make everything work. They had a stellar graphics engine (despite a few glitches here and there), excellent track designs and a trick system that clearly predicts Tony Hawk Pro Skater, but there was no career mode, no competitions, no multiplayer. There are four main courses, only one slalom course, one obstacle course and one halfpipe course. All of the bonus courses and characters can be unlocked in roughly twenty minutes. You can see how the studio tried to change the formula in search of a hit, first on the ST-V Titan arcade board, then with the Sony Playstation sequel Trick 'N Snowboarder.

Unfortunately, that was the wrong approach, and all the changes amounted to dumbing down what worked and padding in features that didn't work. Cave was trying to chase after Cool Boarders, when they really should have focused their attention on Tony Hawk: rail grinding, more tricks, eliminate the "top five stunts" rule, add some secondary objectives like collecting tapes. Steep Slope is already ninety percent there.

If nothing else, this is a killer snowboarding game because you get to surf the asteroid belt from The Fifth Element with a dog, a penguin or a UFO. How do you not love that?



Definitely a great game. I remember reading gushing reviews in Sega Saturn Mag and picked it up, probably one of my more played games on Saturn, just had so much fun doing high score runs and unlocking all the cool hidden characters, then attempting tricks and runs with them.
Gorgeous graphics as well, loved the 'fog' effect to fade in the background to avoid pop-up. Worked thematically as well since it's meant to be snowing/overcast.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus





Zoom's Zero Divide: The Final Conflict easily belongs on Saturn's AAA list, offering some of the best 3D polygon graphics in the system's library. This masterful 3D fighting game stands tall alongside Dead or Alive, Anarchy in the Nippon, All-Japan Pro Wrestling and Savaki, as well as Final Fight Revenge (it's not that bad, honest!) and K-1 Fighting Illusion.

Note the incredibly smooth 60fps, smooth animation, Gouraud shading, breakable armor, particle effects and a variety of walled arenas. Not the extensive use of VDP2 planes for the floor and backgrounds, sometimes featuring parallax or line scrolling effects. Note how the walls become invisible when viewed from behind, something Sega used in Virtua Fighter 3. Note how nothing onscreen glitches or breaks down, how the walls appear solid without any popping out, ala Fighters Megamix and Last Bronx. Savaki also managed to pull off this feat with its caged arena, which makes me wonder why Sega couldn't do the same.

One question about this game's visuals has puzzled me for ages: is it running at 480i resolution? It has long been accepted as fact that Saturn cannot render Gouraud shading in its high resolution modes, which are limited to an 8-bit color palette. Yet here is Zero Divide appearing extremely sharp and crisp, certainly sharper than Megamix or Fighting Vipers which ran in 240 resolution.

So which is it? Is Zero Divide playing at 480, meaning that Zoom's programmers found a way around the polygon shading problem, or is it just a really crisp 240 display with brilliant model design? Either way, this game looks fantastic and easily deserves a spot on the "how did they pull that off on Saturn" list.

Somebody ought to track down Akira Sato, Zero Divide's director/producer, and have him spill the beans. He's not the same guy who worked on Gran Turismo, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, right? That has to be a coincidence.

Update (9:35pm): A few quick updates. First, the move lists for the game's bonus characters were published in the December 1997 issue of Sega Saturn Magazine, which is available for viewing or downloading at Sega Retro. Second, you can select different colors for your fighter by holding down L and pressing a direction on the D-pad at the character select screen.

Finally, someone on Youtube provided a quick translation of the robot's final speech at the very end:


"Thank you, you did well...With this, finally I can truly vanish... As electronic beings time, and the fact that we do exist, is like a long dream without end... We, who were made to build the desire of humans, finally belong to them. Our will, your evolution, might be brief to steadily mend the human progress. But, I would like to have believe that that isn't a meaningless thing to a human being. I will be gone, but the element the element who has created me, will probably become part of the dream which composes this space. Not an nightmare like XTAL, but as part of the good genuine dream...Let us meet somewhere again. Until then..."
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
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A discussion on the return of "mesh transparencies" in modern videogames such as Super Mario Odyssey, Yakuza and Devil May Cry 5 led to this lengthy defense of Sega Saturn, as well as a breakdown of graphics (including polygon transparencies) in Dead or Alive. I always enjoy these hardware discussions and debates and often find something new to learn about classic gaming consoles. And isn't it nice to hear detailed defenses of Sega's Gen-5 machine? That never happened in the 1990s, and I mean never. Saturn was universally seen as the weakest of the three major players of the era when it came to 3D graphics, and 2D was cast aside, baby and bathwater, as "obsolete" until the artform's renaissance a decade ago.

Here's the post in its entirely. Enjoy:


I love the Traveler’s Tales videos, but they stopped making Saturn titles after Sonic R released in the US. The Saturn was still releasing titles into 1999 in Japan, which is when Street Fighter Zero 3 came out. The reason why this is important is a little title called Dead or Alive. It came out after Sonic R in Japan. Itagaki and Team Ninja not only addressed what many people thought was a flaw, but put 3 types of transparencies into the game. 2 full on real transparencies exist in the danger zone area. Half transparencies are also present. Dead or Alive had a few unique issues addressed, and Sega further addressed this in the Digital Dance Mix Demo, which has several simple polygon backup dancers with full transparencies that cross in front of the main high polygon player model.

In Dead or Alive, the game pushes more polygons than the PS1 version. Not only that, but the Saturn version was chosen above the PS1 version as the original game port featured on Dead or Alive Ultimate for X-Box by Itagaki. When you land in the Danger Zone on Saturn, the resulting explosion has a transparency, while this occurs, rather than simply end there, there’s another gray smoke polygon that’s also transparent. Unlike previous transparency implementations on Saturn in Guardian Heroes, where the background is visible, but a player walking behind the transparency disappears, in Dead or Alive, the player model and the floor are visible through both full transparencies. Meshes are only used for the life bars. Half Transparencies are also featured in this game.

Tecmo pulled this off by synchronizing the VDP1 and VDP2 as best as possible using a modified version of the Virtua Fighter 2 Engine. They then ran one processor per character, the same way it was done in Virtua Fighter 2. Dead or Alive on PS1 was made almost a full year after the Saturn version, using very mature 4th generation software libraries. They used a similar engine to Tekken 3, which pushed the maximum amount of polygons the PS1 could do with AI, and Gouraud Shading, in an interlaced presentation. DOA on PS1 512x480 at 60fps. 480 interlaced is 240 since every other line is rendered to the screen. The Saturn version is 704x480 at 60fps. The PS1 version has a simple flat, low res Bitmap background wrapped around the play area. The hit effects are also simple 2D png files that you can extract using an emulator. On Saturn, the danger zone produces a small number of real particles, you can extract or dump the textures using GitHub source version of Yaba Sanshiro, but you’ll never get those because they’re actual particle effects. It’s here that you’ll also see that the Saturn textures are higher in size and resolution.

Since a lower than Virtua Fighter 2 HiRes mode was in place on Saturn, Gouraud shading wasn’t used the way it was in Fighting Vipers, or Fighter’s Megamix. This freed up resources to render infinite plane floor surfaces, which simply aren’t possible on PS1, as well as very detailed, multilayer, scaling backgrounds. This is the example I always use, Ryu’s stage. It has mountains with an animated waterfall, on a separate layer, there are another two layers which each produce lightening animations at 20fps. Then you have the overhead bridge, which is fully 3D in the arcade version. Tecmo created an infinite plane above the where you fight, cut it to the correct dimensions and stretched it across the top of the stage at an angle. When you jump, or see replays, it’s above you, creating the illusion of a 3D bridge. This isn’t possoble on PS1. While all of this is happening, on the outside of the main fighting area, where the danger zone is located, there are animations there as well. The danger zone has pulsating glowing effects that are present throughout the entire match. The ring never distorts it tears as it does on the PS1, which doesn’t have polygon perspective correction. This results in minor affine texture warping on PS1. The Saturn version uses polygon perspective correction, which, up until recently wasn’t properly emulated. Through modern GPU Tessellation, it’s been added to some Saturn emulators, as well as scaling for both VDP1 and VDP2. Previously, only the polygon layers were scaled up. This is important because on YouTube, comparisons are unfortunately made via emulators, I’ve done this myself as well, but always noted as such. The reason why this is important is, tessellation on Saturn emulators creates the effect properly, as seen on a real system. The PS1 emulator removes affine texture warping, adds polygon perspective correction, HiRes Sprite filtering, texture filtering, and mip mapping, the later 2 of which weren’t featured on consoles until the N64.

The Saturn mimicked the effect of anisotropic filtering without actually having the feature. This only worked in games like Sonic R, which had a very N64 like look to it, as well as Last Bronx and Dead or Alive. The ability to render infinite planes meant that massive floor or ceiling textures, such as the parking garage in Last Bronx, had a repeating tile based texture, which was saved as a single layer, then stretched infinitely. The act of stretching the texture, then using the HiRes mode on Saturn in the aforementioned games, gave the texture the appearance of smoothed out filtering as a result. Extracting these textures shows this to be the case. Their resolution was high enough to still look clean, but low enough to appear softer when stretched out, since those textures were not dithered, or point sampled. That brings another point out, the PS1 model one had banding in gradients. This was only solved when the Slim model released, causing some confusion about the capabilities of the PS1. If you had the model one like I had, in Dead or Alive you have banding in the floor gradients. The Saturn didn’t have these issues when it was properly used. It’s not present in Dead or Alive on PS1 when you play it on the Slim model. To “fix” this issue, you get the dreaded dithering that Sony added to many games. You’ll see it in Gran Turismo 1-2, in Tekken 3, Ridge Racer Type 4, Wipeout 3, the list goes on. The did this because more people owned a model one Playstation than the Slim, and they wanted to hide the gradient banding for gamers. The result is, dithering on the model 2 PS1 in those titles, despite addressing the issue on that system.

I love Travelers Tales, as well as Sonic R, but the frustrating thing about their videos is how they keep saying impossible effects. Look at the making of Crash Bandicoot where the original developers discuss breaking the PS1 down and steaming pre scripted assets to overcome ram limits. Both consoles had workarounds that can only exist if you discover how the game system actually works. The Saturn was the actual future. It was multi processor before that was a thing. A 2D acceleration chip, as well as a separate 3D processor and multi core CPU. Current GPUs have similar configurations, and due to the lack of 2D acceleration on the early Nvidia cards, when Sega ported Virtua Fighter Remix and Virtua Fighter 2 to PC, the scaling backgrounds weren’t present, they were static, without any zooming at all. The Saturn died early in the US, and lived literally another 3 years in Japan, Tecmo got to use more mature software libraries and still only used 74% of the Saturn, which is confirmed yet again by the emulator. This is more efficient use than Burning Rangers, and Nights, with little to no player model polygon clipping while fighting at 60fps. The Saturn was never maxed out properly the way Tekken 3 was on PS1. Despite that, you have 1,100 plus games on Saturn, about 100 less than PS1, except on Saturn, only 300 plus were released in the US. So you don’t get to see the superior Saturn port of Dead or Alive here, or Stellar Assault and Bulk Slash, or many other titles with large polygon backgrounds and battles that have clean fade in, as well as proper utilization of some of the Saturn’s strengths. Instead you have Doom on Saturn here, coded entirely in software, using no 3D or 2D acceleration at all. Then you see Duke Nukem 3D, a far more complex title, with working VDP coded mirrors, Gouraud shading and colored lighting, as well as large, in stage loading free, multi-tiered levels. The port was so good, Digital Foundry put it above the PS1 version, and almost nearly above the N64 port. This game came out around the time the Saturn was ending its life span in the US, and the emulator reveals that it’s not using anywhere close to tbd full potential of the system.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus







This video showcase of Saturn's VDP2 powers ought to be required viewing for all gamers and especially Segaphiles. The titles featured in this series are but a sampling of the system's unique ability to use 2D and 3D architecture to create amazing and immersive worlds. I'm sure you've already seen this, but now it's got a home on the Sega Saturn Community blog.
 

Scotty W

Member
I am having trouble with the copy of Xmen vs Street Fighter I just picked up.

I have aJapanese Saturn model 1.01.
I have the 4 meg ram cart.
The game loads the title screen and demos, but when I hit start, the screen goes black into an infinite loading loop.

I turned the system off a few times and let the demoes play through, but same problem.

Thoughts?
 

MadeManG74

Neo Member
I am having trouble with the copy of Xmen vs Street Fighter I just picked up.

I have aJapanese Saturn model 1.01.
I have the 4 meg ram cart.
The game loads the title screen and demos, but when I hit start, the screen goes black into an infinite loading loop.

I turned the system off a few times and let the demoes play through, but same problem.

Thoughts?
Might be a silly question, but have you checked other games to make sure it's not a problem with the laser or reading the disc?
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Haha, this is so faithful it's like looking at some magical Saturn that could render in high res without issues like clipping and dithering and the framerate and all that stuff, yet maintaining the low polycount and the weird controls they had to deal with because they didn't have a modern controller.


Someone else might have taken the opportunity to make it truly next-gen rather than keep the low fidelity for the environments and what not, but it's still really nice and cool all the same. I'd play it!
 
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Komatsu

Member





It can never be overstated how spectacular Dead or Alive on Sega Saturn looks and plays. It's so good, Tecmo included this Saturn version--not the arcade, not the Playstation home port--on the Xbox compilation disc Dead or Alive Ultimate. It's arguably the best looking 3D fighter on the system*, to say nothing of Sony or NIntendo.

Easily a top-five pick for Greatest Japanese Saturn Game We Didn't Get, and possibly deserving the number one spot. It absolutely should have been released here. This would have turned heads. The kids would have taken notice.

For the longest time, you could score a complete copy of Dead or Alive for ten bucks. Today, the prices are rising, and twenty is the bare minimum. You had better hurry up and grab your copy before this baby hits a cool hundred. Which it totally deserves.

Sega Saturn is the best videogame system in the world because of classics like this. If your Top 20 list doesn't include Dead or Alive somewhere in the mix, you need to have your head examined. Now watch these videos and practice your combos.


(*Note: I still say Virtua Fighter 2 has the better character and color design, although there's no question DOA does a better job with its camera and backgrounds. And those outer rings with the explosions...*chef's kiss*)


I have DOA and you are absolutely right: it looks amazing. Such a great game.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



Guardian Force is another favorite of mine, an arcade shoot-em-up featuring a tank that can fire two separate weapons in multiple directions against a gallery of multi-scrolling environments. It reminds me of classic tank games like Assault and Iron Tank and always puts a smile on my face.

This was the final Saturn game by Success, the creators of the Cotton series. For flash and pizazz, Cotton 2 and Boomerang both receive all the attention from Segaphiles, while this title gets a little lost in the shuffle. That's not really a bad thing, and for a system loaded with hundreds of hidden gems, Guardian Force is in good company.

Prices for a retail copy are astronomical. You'll be lucky to find one for under two hundred dollars. Heck, I saw an Ebay sale where someone was selling the warranty card for $40. That's likely the reason why this game is a touch obscure. You'll have to find a copy by other means (cough, ahem), at least until Success or whoever now owns their catalog gives us a proper revival on modern platforms.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus





I figured we were long overdue for some Burning Rangers love, so here's a long-play video of the Sonic Team classic in action. The second video shows the shuttle mini-game that can be unlocked.

This title gets remembered more for its mistakes--glitches, clipping--than what it gets right. It's definitely pushing the Saturn well past its breaking point, although I strongly suspect it's the Nights engine that's breaking down. But that's part of its charm in my eyes. It's almost as though Sonic Team is deliberately trying to melt down your console's motherboard by overloading massive amounts of lighting effects, particle effects, breakable floors, complex geometry, rippling water and a thousand pixel art explosions coming from every direction. It's really quite remarkable and all the more impressive because it all looks slightly rough. That roughness becomes part of the charm. Playstation's and NIntendo 64's 3D platformers are a lot smoother and more stable, but they're not being asked to do half as much. I'd honestly like to see either of those consoles pull this game out of their hats without choking to death.

As always, I think Burning Rangers looks much better on a CRT display, plays much better with the 3D Controller and absolutely deserves more attention from fans. This game absolutely should have been released on Dreamcast, and absolutely should have been released on other platforms. Why isn't this on the Switch?

There are so many killer moments in this videogame: the lights going out in stage one, where you're forced to wander around with only a green flashlight; wandering into a trap room that hits you with ten explosions from every angle; flying the shuttle craft through the trippy tunnels (reminds me of N20 on PSX, which is freaking fantastic); battling a giant sea monster in a tank while hopping over platforms (later remade in Sonic Adventure); riding a dolphin through a series of water tanks; the very final boss battle that pulls out all the stops; the highly impressive real-time voice directions that guide you through the burning stations; the fact that all hell breaks loos when a building's structural limit cracks over ninety percent.

Again, the only thing anybody remembers about this game is the clipping, which only fed into the Gospel Truth notion that Saturn "Can't Doo Three Dee." Whatever. I will freely admit that the glitches irritate me now and then, but there's only one or two places where it becomes a real problem, like where you're fighting up a long tall concourse in stage three: the popup kicks out the background so you can't see all the way down. It's weird considering that both Tomb Raider and Powerslave could pull off those graphics with relative ease. But, again, they weren't drawing those graphics while also pouring on a ridiculous amount of color, lighting and transparency effects. It's almost as if Sonic Team took inspiration from that moment in Sonic the Hedgehog where you're hit and a hundred rings spill out everywhere, and decided to base Burning Rangers entirely on that.
 

Kazza

Member
I just got a Vita and have been playing some old PS1 games. One of the games I fired up was Fighting Force. It's a game which I was looking forward to playing on my Saturn back in the day, but which never came out. From looking at the beta online, it seems the Saturn version was looking pretty impressive in parts. In the very first section where you are fighting in the road, Core has the camera facing all the way down the street, allowing the Saturn to flex its VDP2 muscles (the PS1 version has its camera facing the wall and gate instead). I also like the elevator stage with the pulled out camera angle. In the first video the glass seems to be using some kind of real transparency effect, where in the second the infamous Saturn dithering rears its head (although this wouldn't have looked so bad on a CRT, as Daniel Thomas MacInnes Daniel Thomas MacInnes would point out).






While it doesn't seem to get much of a good rep these days (and I found it a little dull playing it this afternoon), I think I would have liked it a lot back in 1997. It has some nice touches/set pieces. I like the way cars and helicopters drop in, and some of the stage designs are pretty ambitious. As a Saturn exclusive I think the devs would have included even more VDP2 goodness and other things taking advantage of the hardware. I'll always regret Sega not signing Core to some kind of Saturn exclusive deal for this and Tomb Raider and the like at the very beginning of that generation. They did such great work on the Mega CD, and their 32 bit efforts were generally very good also.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



Mass Destruction is one of my favorites, a tank shoot-em-up with a heavy emphasis on blazing speed and wild explosions in the best arcade tradition. This title was released on Playstation and Saturn, and does a very good job showing off the powers of both consoles. That said, Sega's version has a slight advantage thanks to its supremely smooth scrolling thanks to VDP2, as well as its high resolution 480/60 visuals. There is an extra crispness in the visuals that just pop off the screen.

Youtube channel Gaming The Systems takes a look at both versions of this game and comes away impressed. Saturn version scores one point higher than PSX, but fans of both consoles should be more than happy to run soldiers over with their tanks and set buildings on fire with massive flamethrowers.

It's worth noting that during the Gen-5 era, it was almost universally accepted that Playstation was the winner in all multi-platform games. Saturn usually received the leftovers and was stuck with a weaker translation at the hands of Western coders who couldn't crack its famously complex hardware. I even held to this belief myself until finally going through the software library many years later. Back in the '90s, the Sony/Sega score was massively lopsided. Today, it's far closer to even, with Saturn receiving an identical, and sometimes superior, version of the same videogame.

As always, I should emphasize that the differences between Saturn and PSX were extremely minor. These were the two most evenly matched consoles in the history of the medium, far closer than any previous rivals: Spectrum and C64, Genesis and Super NES, Gameboy and Lynx, 2600 and Intellivision, even PC and Mac. We kids had it lucky.

Generation Five is really the last time rival game systems would be notably different from one another, requiring different programming and design techniques to reach their full potential. By Gen-6, hardware designs had streamlined and consoles would eventually become interchangeable (anyone who can spot a difference between PS4 and Xbox One is just fooling themselves), and software developers could easily port the same program code from one platform to another with little fuss. You couldn't really do that in Gen-5, which is one key reason why the development community quickly rallied around Sony. It's one thing to write a novel, quite another to write a novel and then translate it into two different languages while under the same time and budget restraints.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



Great news for Sega Saturn fans: Valhollian is now fully playable in English. The translation patch was released just a few days ago and is available online. You should be able to find it with a simple Google search.

Strategy-RPG fans will love this game, doubly so if you're a fan of Shining Force 3. This system was blessed with so many of these games and it's terrific that we're able to play in English.

Now if we could finally complete Princess Crown, that would be absolutely perfect.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
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The next Sega Saturn English translation project: Baroque. Yes, yes, yes!

This is one of my all-time Saturn favorites, easily a top-ten title for me. It's a first-person Roguelike adventure that lives and breathes unsettling, creepy, gothic horror. It's a videogame that must be played in the dark with headphones, preferably late at night when you're alone at home and feeling slighly spooked out. You know the feeling. You know there's nobody else in the house, yet you want to turn on all the lights and keep the television blaring to scare away whatever spirits are lurking around the basement and bedroom closets. That is the perfect time to play Baroque.

This is the second attempt at translating the 1998 Sting RPG title, the first being in 2018 but never yielding any results. Let's hope that this newest attempt will be successful. Until then, I would highly recommend that you grab the Japanese disc as quickly as possible, before prices skyrocket to the moon. Find the bonus promotional disc as well--I discussed that release in a previous post, so be sure to give it a read.
 

Komatsu

Member



Great news for Sega Saturn fans: Valhollian is now fully playable in English. The translation patch was released just a few days ago and is available online. You should be able to find it with a simple Google search.

Strategy-RPG fans will love this game, doubly so if you're a fan of Shining Force 3. This system was blessed with so many of these games and it's terrific that we're able to play in English.

Now if we could finally complete Princess Crown, that would be absolutely perfect.


Whaaat? Need to get this ASAP. Always wanted to play Valhollian and my N5 Japanese struggled with it.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



Here are the latest Sega Saturn fan translation updates:

- SegaXtreme member "Nanash1" is working on an English translation of Cotton 2. This project has been underway since May and the most recent news update came on September 26.

- An update on Lunar: Silver Star Story was posted on September 5. Support for the Saturn Video CD/MPEG card will also be included, which is a very nice bonus. A public beta was released for download in June for those willing to help squash translation bugs.

Status update for those wondering whats left to fix:

Both Lunars
- Fix character flickering at end of battles (erase length suspect)
- Fix track 2 playing (toc fix suspected)
- Implement dialog corrections, thread over on lunarnet explains

Lunar SSS
- File load times are slower than original when the disc is rebuilt with mkisofs. Cause unknown.
- Dub version: Add audio and video. Debug why problems exist with certain files.
- Sub version: Add subtitled audio. Sub videos once video fix determined.

Lunar SSSC MPEG
- Determine how to mux in new mpeg videos for subtitled and audio for dubbed. MPEG-PS format mode 2 form 2 on cd.
- Dub version: Add audio and video. Debug if needed.
- Sub version: Add subtitled audio.
- Fix blank top spot for ocarina and rememberizer playback.

Currently working on MPEG edition video/audio....


- Fire Pro Wrestling S: 6Men Scramble is receiving an English translation. The latest news update was posted on September 17 and shows progress on the menu screens and particularly the create-a-wrestler mode.

- No progress or updates from "CyberWarriorX" on his translation of Princess Crown. His last update to the romhacking.net forums was on May 8. As this project has been underway since 2013 it is highly uncertain whether it will continue or has stalled.

- There has been no updates since December 2019 on Magic School Lunar, the spinoff of the beloved Game Arts franchise.

- User "LG30" has reported that his translation of Phantasm, the Saturn port of Sierra's PC adventure title Phantasmagoria, has stalled. Two problems are cited: a skeleton head that offers clues on the pause menu, and inclusion of English voices during FMV scenes. We should now consider the project suspended until the problems are resolved.
 
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Kazza

Member
It's crazy that Sega invested time money and effort into 3 separate, brand new mascot platformer IPs, and yet didn't make a Sonic game for the Saturn launch period.




The only one of Bug, Clockwork Knight and Astal I have played is Bug, which I rented from Blockbuster Video (around 1996 I guess. I was really impressed by the 3D graphics in the magazines, and I quite enjoyed the game too, but the difficulty was a little brutal (similar to many Sega USA developed games). I need to play the other two someday.

These were the scores Mean Machines Sega gave the three back then:
Clockwork Knight: 82%
Astal: 53%
Bug: 94%


They were really harsh on Astal (I hear it's a decent game), and probably a little too blown away by Bug's 3D graphics.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
It's crazy that Sega invested time money and effort into 3 separate, brand new mascot platformer IPs, and yet didn't make a Sonic game for the Saturn launch period.




The only one of Bug, Clockwork Knight and Astal I have played is Bug, which I rented from Blockbuster Video (around 1996 I guess. I was really impressed by the 3D graphics in the magazines, and I quite enjoyed the game too, but the difficulty was a little brutal (similar to many Sega USA developed games). I need to play the other two someday.

These were the scores Mean Machines Sega gave the three back then:
Clockwork Knight: 82%
Astal: 53%
Bug: 94%


They were really harsh on Astal (I hear it's a decent game), and probably a little too blown away by Bug's 3D graphics.



Bug was pretty fun at the time. I loved it when I first saw it in the summer of 1995. The 3D platforming aspect was new and even though the overall experience was very repetitive, the presentation was very polished and enjoyable. The one major issue I have to this day are the lack of any save points between worlds. I honestly have no idea what the software devs were thinking, because this is a pretty tough videogame. Fortunately, you can simply access the level select code and be fine. This game was tossed into the trashbin the minute Super Mario 64 arrived, but it's still very good at what it tries to do. The sequel is more refined and aimed to improve the gameplay mechanics a bit, but gamers just weren't interested. It's their loss.

Clockwork Knight has that Japanese design of tightly constructed stages and nimble controls. It's a nice 2.5D showpiece for Saturn and a promising look at the future of the genre...that is, if gamers weren't completely burned out on platformers by that time. The purely side-scrolling gameplay also turned many off, as the "all three-dee, all the time" mania was in full swing. Today, it would receive a much better reception than it had in '95 and '96. Oh, and breaking the game into two separate discs, ala Sonic 3 & Knuckles, was a dumb decision. That's Sega for you.

Astal was roundly dismissed for being not only using 2D, but pixel art. The horror! Once Donkey Kong Country appeared in '94, pixel art was officially "obsolete," and Western gamers desperate for approval from parents and their peers (to say nothing of their chances of actually getting dates with females) refused to give this one the time of day. That said, I will agree with the critics that it's too short and too easy, but you can't hate something and then say the portions are too small. Fans of classic side-scrollers will absolutely adore Astal. There are a lot of impressive moments and it has a lot of character. Sega really should bring this one back.

And, as always, this topic brings us back to the big elephant in the room: Sonic. Like Homer suggested, whenever Poochie isn't around, everyone should ask, "Hey, where's Poochie?" The blame for this lies squarely on the shoulders of Sega of America, who were the co-developers of Sonic 2 and S3K and given the green light by Japan to create the next-generation sequel while Yuji Naka and company work on their new Saturn mascot. Needless to say, Sega Technical Institute spectacularly dropped the ball, and never really had a solid idea for what a 32-bit 3D-based Sonic the Hedgehog would be. The first demo that used the Nights engine didn't appear until 1996, and based on what footage is currently available, barely constituted a videogame. It looked like something that was thrown together in a single afternoon. The second design with the spherical worlds, was a major improvement, but it's still a confusing mess of a videogame. It's basically Bug with a fish-eye lens, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but nowhere near the level of Super Mario 64, Nights or even Crash.

So why wasn't there a Saturn Sonic in 1995? Once again, I return to my continuing thesis: Kalinske wanted Saturn to fail and die a quick death in '95, so that he could rush out a new console to compete directly against N64 in '96.
 
I bought a Saturn a few years back to play Shining Force 3 parts 1, 2 & 3 since I'm such a fanboy of the series. Ended up playing a whole lot more though, Astal still fascinates me with how colorful and pretty it is even today, but also makes me sad that there was such a strong push for 3D back then. Just the possibility of a 2D sonic game with the saturn's capabilities makes me excited as hec. Sadly it wasn't meant to be.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



A dedicated Sega Saturn fan recorded a series of Virtual On Netlink matches back in 1998, and later uploaded to his Youtube channel in 2009. These battles feature one-on-one fighting across a direct phone connection and was an early attempt at online videogaming. Efforts to play or transmit games over telephone lines date back to the Atari 2600 era, but Sega pushed the technology harder than anyone, first with the Tele-Modem in Japan, then the Sega Channel in the USA and PAL regions, followed by Saturn X-Band in Japan and Netlink in the West, and finally concluding with the Dreamcast's SegaNet.

Netlink aimed to exploit the newly-emerging "information superhighway" by offering a modem adapter and keyboard for Saturn. Users could send one another text messages, check email and surf the internet. The main attraction, of course, was online play, and five Saturn titles were released for the service: Daytona USA Champion Circuit Edition, Sega Rally Championship Plus, Duke Nukem 3D, Virtual On and Saturn Bomberman. The Netlink edition of Daytona is actually the Japanese Circuit Edition with all the additions and edits over the previous Western release, and Sega Rally offers 3D Controller support. I don't know what changes or edits were made to Virtual On, if there are added gameplay modes or bug fixes, but the US Netlink edition was also released in Japan and is far more affordable.

It's great to see this arcade classic in action. It's one of those videogames that is both easy to understand but hard to learn, thanks largely to its twin-joystick controls. Fortunately, these controls translate nicely to the Saturn joypad (far better than Virtual On's Dreamcast sequel), so you won't feel completely lost if you're using a standard controller.

In any case, here are a series of online matches to enjoy.
 

cireza

Member
I bought a Saturn a few years back to play Shining Force 3 parts 1, 2 & 3 since I'm such a fanboy of the series. Ended up playing a whole lot more though, Astal still fascinates me with how colorful and pretty it is even today, but also makes me sad that there was such a strong push for 3D back then. Just the possibility of a 2D sonic game with the saturn's capabilities makes me excited as hec. Sadly it wasn't meant to be.
You have Knuckles Chaotix which is a good indicator of what could have been, and of course, Sonic Mania.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
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Today I'm providing the near-complete* collection of Sega Saturn reviews from Electronic Gaming Monthly, or EGM. This was the one of the premier videogame magazines and was known for their Japanese-inspired multi-party reviews. They were also known for being tough critics, which was especially notable when so many publications were all too happy to print smiley faces and declare everything "the greatest game ever" in an effort to satisfy advertisers. You may not always agree with EGM's opinions, but at least they had opinions to share.

This listing is really just a handy guide for Sega Saturn fans, good for dinner discussions and debates at parties. I'll list everything in alphabetical order for your convenience. Full archives of videogame magazines are available for download at Retro CDN.

For the EGM scores, I added up all four review scores into a final number. Sports and (most) racing titles only featured two reviewers, so I simply doubled those scores to bring them in line with the others.

So, without further ado, here are the EGM Sega Saturn Review Scores:


Albert Odyssey - 33 (8.0, 8.0, 9.0, 8.0)
Alone in the Dark - 17 (5.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0)
AMOK - 24.5 (5.0, 6.0, 6.0, 7.5)
Andretti Racing - 35 (8.0, 9.5, x2)
Area 51 - 22.5 (5.0, 6.0, 5.5, 6.0)
Batman Forever - 19 (5.0, 6.5, 4.5, 3.0)
Battle Arena Toshinden Remix - 21 (7.5, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5)
Battle Arena Toshinden URA - 18.5 (4.5, 5.0, 4.0, 5.0)
Battle Monsters - 14 (4.0, 3.0, 4.0, 3.0)
Braindead 13 - 18 (4.5, 5.5, 4.0, 4.0)
Bug! - 31.5 (8.5, 8.0, 7.0, 8.0)
Bug Too! - 29.5 (6.5, 8.5, 7.5, 7.0)
Bust-A-Move 3 - 31 (7.0, 8.5, 8.0, 7.5)
Clockwork Knight 2 - 35 (9.0, 8.5, 9.0, 8.5)
Command & Conquer - 35.5 (9.0, 9.0, 9.0, 8.5)
Congo - 20.5 (6.0, 4.0, 4.5, 6.0)
Corpse Killer - 17.5 (6.0, 2.5, 5.0, 4.0)
Crime Wave - 24.5 (6.0, 5.5, 6.5, 6.5)
Croc - 30 (7.5, 7.5, 7.5, 7.5)
Crusader: No Remorse - 20.5 (6.5, 4.0, 5.5, 4.5
D - 32 (8.5, 8.5, 7.0, 8.0)
Darius Gaiden - 29.5 (7.5, 7.5, 7.0, 7.5)
Dark Savior - 33.5 (8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 8.0)
Decathlete - 33 (8.0, 8.5, x2)
DEFCOM 5 - 28.5 (7.5, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5)
Die Hard Arcade - 29.5 (6.5, 8.0, 7.0, 8.0)
Dragon Force - 36 (9.5, 9.5, 9.0, 8.0)
Duke Nukem 3D - 30 (7.0, 8.0, 8.0, 7.0)
Enemy Zero - 30.5 (8.0, 8.5, 7.5, 6.5)
FIFA 98 Road to the World Cup - 26.5 (6.0, 7.0, 7.0, 6.5)
Fighters Megamix - 32.5 (7.5, 7.5, 8.5, 9.0)
Fighting Vipers - 26.5 (5.5, 7.5, 7.5, 6.0)
Gex - 31.5 (8.5, 8.0, 7.0, 8.0)
Ghen War - 19.5 (7.0, 3.5, 4.0, 5.0)
Golden Axe: The Duel - 24.5 (6.0, 6.0, 6.5, 6.0)
Grand Slam - 31 (7.5, 8.0, x2)
Grid Runner - 30.5 (7.5, 8.0, 8.0, 7.0)
Guardian Heroes - 32.5 (8.5, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5)
Gungriffon - 33 (8.0, 8.5, 8.5, 8.0)
Hang On GP 95 - 28 (7.0, 7.0, x2)
Hardcore 4x4 - 33 (8.0, 8.5, x2)
Herc's Adventure - 33 (9.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5)
Hexen - 20.5 (5.5, 5.0, 5.5, 4.5)
House of the Dead - 25.5 (6.5, 7.0, 7.0, 5.0)
Hyper 3D Pinball - 33 (8.0, 8.5, 8.5, 8.0)
Iron Storm - 32 (9.0, 7.5, 7.5, 8.0)
Krazy Ivan - 15 (3.5, 3.5, 3.0, 5.0)
Last Bronx - 32.5 (8.0, 8.5, 7.0, 9.0)
Legend of Oasis - 26.5 (7.5, 6.0, 7.0, 6.5)
Loaded - 23.5 (6.0, 4.5, 6.5, 6.5)
Lunacy - 22.5 (4.0, 7.0, 5.0, 6.5)
Machine Head - 27 (7.5, 7.0, 6.5, 6.0)
Magic Knight Rayearth - 28.5 (7.0, 7.0, 7.5, 7.0)
Manx TT Superbike - 27 (6.5, 7.0, x2)
Mass Destruction - 27 (8.5, 7.0, 6.0, 5.5)
Mega Man 8 - 34 (8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 8.5)
Mega Man X4 - 33 (9.0, 8.0, 8.0, 8.0)
Mortal Kombat 2 - 23 (7.0, 5.0, 6.0, 5.0)
Mr. Bones - 34.5 (8.5, 9.0, 9.0, 8.0)
Mystaria: The Realms of Lore - 32 (8.0, 7.5, 8.5, 8.0)
NASCAR 98 - 28 (8.0, 6.5, 6.5, 7.0)
NBA Action - 18 (4.0, 5.0, x2)
NBA Action 98 - 28 (7.5, 7.0, 6.5, 7.0)
NBA Live 98 - 26 (7.0, 5.5, 7.5, 6.0)
NFL 97 - 18 (4.0, 5.0, x2)
NHL 98 - 29.5 (6.5, 9.0, 7.5, 6.5)
NHL All-Star Hockey - 30 (7.5, 7.5, x2)
NHL All-Star Hockey 98 - 18.5 (5.0, 5.5, 3.5, 4.5)
NHL Powerplay 96 - 32 (7.5, 8.5, x2)
Nights: Into Dreams - 32 (8.0, 8.5, 8.0, 7.5)
Nighwarriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge - 30.5 (7.5, 8.0, 7.0, 8.0)
Norse by Norsewest - 29.5 (7.5, 7.0, 8.0, 7.0)
Pandemonium - 33 (8.5, 8.5, 8.0, 8.0)
Panzer Dragoon Zwei - 33 (8.0, 8.5, 8.5, 8.0)
Panzer Dragoon Saga - 38.5 (9.5, 9.5, 9.5, 10)
Powerslave - 29 (8.0, 6.0, 8.0, 7.0)
Quake - 26 (6.5, 8.0, 6.0, 5.5)
Quarterback Attack - 29 (7.5, 7.0, x2)
Robo Pit - 25.5 (6.0, 6.5, 6.5, 6.5)
Robotica - 28.5 (6.5, 7.0, 7.5, 7.5)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 4 - 32.5 (9.0, 7.0, 8.5, 8.0)
Scorcher - 24.5 (3.0, 7.0, 7.5, 7.0)
SCUD: The Disposable Assassin - 28.5 (7.0, 6.5, 7.5, 7.5)
Sega Ages - 26 (7.5, 6.0, 6.5, 6.0)
Sega Rally Championship - 34 (8.5, 8.5, x2)
Sega Touring Car Championship - 26 (6.0, 6.5, 6.0, 7.5)
Shellshock - 20.5 (5.0, 5.0, 6.0, 4.5)
Shining Force 3 - 35 (9.0, 8.5, 9.0, 9.0)
Shining the Holy Ark - 31 (8.0, 6.5, 8.5, 8.0)
Shining Wisdom - 22 (5.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0)
Shockwave Assault - 17.5 (4.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5)
Sky Target - 19 (4.0, 6.0, 4.0, 5.0)
Solar Eclipse - 31 (8.0, 7.5, 7.5, 8.0)
Sonic 3D Blast - 26.5 (6.0, 7.5, 7.0, 6.0)
Sonic Jam - 32 (7.5, 8.5, 8.0, 8.5)
Sonic R - 31 (8.0, 8.0, 8.0, 7.0)
Steep Slope Sliders - 31.5 (8.5, 7.0, 8.5, 7.5)
Street Fighter Alpha 2 - 36.5 (9.0, 9.5, 9.0, 9.0)
Street Fighter Collection - 34.5 (8.5, 8.5, 9.0, 8.5)
Street Fighter: The Movie - 26.5 (6.5, 6.0, 7.0, 7.0)
Super Puzzle Fighter 2 X - 29.5 (8.0, 7.5, 8.0, 6.0)
Tetris Plus - 30 (7.0, 8.5, 7.5, 7.0)
Theme Park - 32 (8.5, 7.5, 7.5, 8.5)
Three Dirty Dwarves - 30 (7.5, 8.0, 7.0, 7.5)
Thunderstrike 2 - 32 (8.5, 8.0, 7.5, 8.0)
True Pinball - 28 (6.5, 8.0, 7.5, 6.0)
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 - 34.5 (9.0, 8.0, 8.5, 9.0)
V.R. Virtua Racing - 30 (8.0, 7.0, x2)
Virtua Cop - 30 (7.5, 8.0, 7.5, 7.0)
Virtua Cop 2 - 32.5 (8.0, 8.5, 8.0, 8.0)
Virtua Fighter 2 - 33 (8.5, 8.0, 8.5, 8.0)
Virtua Fighter Kids - 25 (7.0, 7.0, 6.0, 5.0)
Virtua Fighter Remix - 29 (8.0, 7.0, 6.5, 7.5)
Virtual Casino - 28 (7.5, 7.0, 6.5, 7.0)
Virtual On - 31.5 (8.0, 8.0, 9.0, 6.5)
Warcraft 2 - 34 (8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 8.5)
Wing Arms - 29 (8.5, 6.5, 7.0, 7.0)
Winter Heat - 36.5 (9.5, 9.5, 9.0, 8.5)
Wipeout - 28.5 (7.0, 5.5, 8.0, 8.0)
Worldwide Soccer 98 - 22 (5.5, 5.5, 7.0, 4.0)
World Series Baseball - 35 (8.5, 9.0, x2)
World Series Baseball 2 - 37 (9.2, 9.3, x2)
World Series Baseball 98 - 32 (8.0, 8.0, x2)
Worms - 34.5 (9.0, 8.5, 9.0, 8.0)


(*Note: Several issues of EGM have yet to be scanned and digitally preserved. This includes issues 72, 74 and 100. Saturn games reviewed in these issues include the following: Virtua Fighter, Clockwork Knight, Daytona USA, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Worldwide Soccer, Shinobi Legions, Saturn Bomberman, Resident Evil, Marvel Super Heroes, Madden NFL 98.

Retromags currently has all three issues listed in "scanning" status. As soon as these issues are available, I will add the missing Saturn reviews to this database.)


(Update 10/29: I added three reviews to the list: FIFA 98, NBA Live 98 and NHL 98.)
 
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SpiceRacz

Member
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Today I'm providing the near-complete* collection of Sega Saturn reviews from Electronic Gaming Monthly, or EGM. This was the one of the premier videogame magazines and was known for their Japanese-inspired multi-party reviews. They were also known for being tough critics, which was especially notable when so many publications were all too happy to print smiley faces and declare everything "the greatest game ever" in an effort to satisfy advertisers. You may not always agree with EGM's opinions, but at least they had opinions to share.

This listing is really just a handy guide for Sega Saturn fans, good for dinner discussions and debates at parties. I'll list everything in alphabetical order for your convenience. Full archives of videogame magazines are available for download at Retro CDN.

For the EGM scores, I added up all four review scores into a final number. Sports and (most) racing titles only featured two reviewers, so I simply doubled those scores to bring them in line with the others.

So, without further ado, here are the EGM Sega Saturn Review Scores:


Albert Odyssey - 33 (8.0, 8.0, 9.0, 8.0)
Alone in the Dark - 17 (5.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0)
AMOK - 24.5 (5.0, 6.0, 6.0, 7.5)
Andretti Racing - 35 (8.0, 9.5, x2)
Area 51 - 22.5 (5.0, 6.0, 5.5, 6.0)
Batman Forever - 19 (5.0, 6.5, 4.5, 3.0)
Battle Arena Toshinden Remix - 21 (7.5, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5)
Battle Arena Toshinden URA - 18.5 (4.5, 5.0, 4.0, 5.0)
Battle Monsters - 14 (4.0, 3.0, 4.0, 3.0)
Braindead 13 - 18 (4.5, 5.5, 4.0, 4.0)
Bug! - 31.5 (8.5, 8.0, 7.0, 8.0)
Bug Too! - 29.5 (6.5, 8.5, 7.5, 7.0)
Bust-A-Move 3 - 31 (7.0, 8.5, 8.0, 7.5)
Clockwork Knight 2 - 35 (9.0, 8.5, 9.0, 8.5)
Command & Conquer - 35.5 (9.0, 9.0, 9.0, 8.5)
Congo - 20.5 (6.0, 4.0, 4.5, 6.0)
Corpse Killer - 17.5 (6.0, 2.5, 5.0, 4.0)
Crime Wave - 24.5 (6.0, 5.5, 6.5, 6.5)
Croc - 30 (7.5, 7.5, 7.5, 7.5)
Crusader: No Remorse - 20.5 (6.5, 4.0, 5.5, 4.5
D - 32 (8.5, 8.5, 7.0, 8.0)
Darius Gaiden - 29.5 (7.5, 7.5, 7.0, 7.5)
Dark Savior - 33.5 (8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 8.0)
Decathlete - 33 (8.0, 8.5, x2)
DEFCOM 5 - 28.5 (7.5, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5)
Die Hard Arcade - 29.5 (6.5, 8.0, 7.0, 8.0)
Dragon Force - 36 (9.5, 9.5, 9.0, 8.0)
Duke Nukem 3D - 30 (7.0, 8.0, 8.0, 7.0)
Enemy Zero - 30.5 (8.0, 8.5, 7.5, 6.5)
Fighters Megamix - 32.5 (7.5, 7.5, 8.5, 9.0)
Fighting Vipers - 26.5 (5.5, 7.5, 7.5, 6.0)
Gex - 31.5 (8.5, 8.0, 7.0, 8.0)
Ghen War - 19.5 (7.0, 3.5, 4.0, 5.0)
Golden Axe: The Duel - 24.5 (6.0, 6.0, 6.5, 6.0)
Grand Slam - 31 (7.5, 8.0, x2)
Grid Runner - 30.5 (7.5, 8.0, 8.0, 7.0)
Guardian Heroes - 32.5 (8.5, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5)
Gungriffon - 33 (8.0, 8.5, 8.5, 8.0)
Hang On GP 95 - 28 (7.0, 7.0, x2)
Hardcore 4x4 - 33 (8.0, 8.5, x2)
Herc's Adventure - 33 (9.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5)
Hexen - 20.5 (5.5, 5.0, 5.5, 4.5)
House of the Dead - 25.5 (6.5, 7.0, 7.0, 5.0)
Hyper 3D Pinball - 33 (8.0, 8.5, 8.5, 8.0)
Iron Storm - 32 (9.0, 7.5, 7.5, 8.0)
Krazy Ivan - 15 (3.5, 3.5, 3.0, 5.0)
Last Bronx - 32.5 (8.0, 8.5, 7.0, 9.0)
Legend of Oasis - 26.5 (7.5, 6.0, 7.0, 6.5)
Loaded - 23.5 (6.0, 4.5, 6.5, 6.5)
Lunacy - 22.5 (4.0, 7.0, 5.0, 6.5)
Machine Head - 27 (7.5, 7.0, 6.5, 6.0)
Magic Knight Rayearth - 28.5 (7.0, 7.0, 7.5, 7.0)
Manx TT Superbike - 27 (6.5, 7.0, x2)
Mass Destruction - 27 (8.5, 7.0, 6.0, 5.5)
Mega Man 8 - 34 (8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 8.5)
Mega Man X4 - 33 (9.0, 8.0, 8.0, 8.0)
Mortal Kombat 2 - 23 (7.0, 5.0, 6.0, 5.0)
Mr. Bones - 34.5 (8.5, 9.0, 9.0, 8.0)
Mystaria: The Realms of Lore - 32 (8.0, 7.5, 8.5, 8.0)
NASCAR 98 - 28 (8.0, 6.5, 6.5, 7.0)
NBA Action - 18 (4.0, 5.0, x2)
NBA Action 98 - 28 (7.5, 7.0, 6.5, 7.0)
NFL 97 - 18 (4.0, 5.0, x2)
NHL All-Star Hockey - 30 (7.5, 7.5, x2)
NHL All-Star Hockey 98 - 18.5 (5.0, 5.5, 3.5, 4.5)
NHL Powerplay 96 - 32 (7.5, 8.5, x2)
Nights: Into Dreams - 32 (8.0, 8.5, 8.0, 7.5)
Nighwarriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge - 30.5 (7.5, 8.0, 7.0, 8.0)
Norse by Norsewest - 29.5 (7.5, 7.0, 8.0, 7.0)
Pandemonium - 33 (8.5, 8.5, 8.0, 8.0)
Panzer Dragoon Zwei - 33 (8.0, 8.5, 8.5, 8.0)
Panzer Dragoon Saga - 38.5 (9.5, 9.5, 9.5, 10)
Powerslave - 29 (8.0, 6.0, 8.0, 7.0)
Quake - 26 (6.5, 8.0, 6.0, 5.5)
Quarterback Attack - 29 (7.5, 7.0, x2)
Robo Pit - 25.5 (6.0, 6.5, 6.5, 6.5)
Robotica - 28.5 (6.5, 7.0, 7.5, 7.5)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 4 - 32.5 (9.0, 7.0, 8.5, 8.0)
Scorcher - 24.5 (3.0, 7.0, 7.5, 7.0)
SCUD: The Disposable Assassin - 28.5 (7.0, 6.5, 7.5, 7.5)
Sega Ages - 26 (7.5, 6.0, 6.5, 6.0)
Sega Rally Championship - 34 (8.5, 8.5, x2)
Sega Touring Car Championship - 26 (6.0, 6.5, 6.0, 7.5)
Shellshock - 20.5 (5.0, 5.0, 6.0, 4.5)
Shining Force 3 - 35 (9.0, 8.5, 9.0, 9.0)
Shining the Holy Ark - 31 (8.0, 6.5, 8.5, 8.0)
Shining Wisdom - 22 (5.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0)
Shockwave Assault - 17.5 (4.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5)
Sky Target - 19 (4.0, 6.0, 4.0, 5.0)
Solar Eclipse - 31 (8.0, 7.5, 7.5, 8.0)
Sonic 3D Blast - 26.5 (6.0, 7.5, 7.0, 6.0)
Sonic Jam - 32 (7.5, 8.5, 8.0, 8.5)
Sonic R - 31 (8.0, 8.0, 8.0, 7.0)
Steep Slope Sliders - 31.5 (8.5, 7.0, 8.5, 7.5)
Street Fighter Alpha 2 - 36.5 (9.0, 9.5, 9.0, 9.0)
Street Fighter Collection - 34.5 (8.5, 8.5, 9.0, 8.5)
Street Fighter: The Movie - 26.5 (6.5, 6.0, 7.0, 7.0)
Super Puzzle Fighter 2 X - 29.5 (8.0, 7.5, 8.0, 6.0)
Tetris Plus - 30 (7.0, 8.5, 7.5, 7.0)
Theme Park - 32 (8.5, 7.5, 7.5, 8.5)
Three Dirty Dwarves - 30 (7.5, 8.0, 7.0, 7.5)
Thunderstrike 2 - 32 (8.5, 8.0, 7.5, 8.0)
True Pinball - 28 (6.5, 8.0, 7.5, 6.0)
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 - 34.5 (9.0, 8.0, 8.5, 9.0)
V.R. Virtua Racing - 30 (8.0, 7.0, x2)
Virtua Cop - 30 (7.5, 8.0, 7.5, 7.0)
Virtua Cop 2 - 32.5 (8.0, 8.5, 8.0, 8.0)
Virtua Fighter 2 - 33 (8.5, 8.0, 8.5, 8.0)
Virtua Fighter Kids - 25 (7.0, 7.0, 6.0, 5.0)
Virtua Fighter Remix - 29 (8.0, 7.0, 6.5, 7.5)
Virtual Casino - 28 (7.5, 7.0, 6.5, 7.0)
Virtual On - 31.5 (8.0, 8.0, 9.0, 6.5)
Warcraft 2 - 34 (8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 8.5)
Wing Arms - 29 (8.5, 6.5, 7.0, 7.0)
Winter Heat - 36.5 (9.5, 9.5, 9.0, 8.5)
Wipeout - 28.5 (7.0, 5.5, 8.0, 8.0)
Worldwide Soccer 98 - 22 (5.5, 5.5, 7.0, 4.0)
World Series Baseball - 35 (8.5, 9.0, x2)
World Series Baseball 2 - 37 (9.2, 9.3, x2)
World Series Baseball 98 - 32 (8.0, 8.0, x2)
Worms - 34.5 (9.0, 8.5, 9.0, 8.0)


(*Note: Several issues of EGM have yet to be scanned and digitally preserved. This includes issues 72, 74 and 100. Saturn games reviewed in these issues include the following: Virtua Fighter, Clockwork Knight, Daytona USA, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Worldwide Soccer, Shinobi Legions, Saturn Bomberman, Resident Evil, Marvel Super Heroes, Madden NFL 98.

Retromags currently has all three issues listed in "scanning" status. As soon as these issues are available, I will add the missing Saturn reviews to this database.)

Two things immediately catch my attention: Worldwide Soccer 98 scoring a 22 and Clockwork Knight 2 scoring a 35.
 

Kazza

Member
Two things immediately catch my attention: Worldwide Soccer 98 scoring a 22 and Clockwork Knight 2 scoring a 35.

Maybe it's just the American dislike of football/soccer showing itself? These two seem strangely low to me:

Powerslave - 29 (8.0, 6.0, 8.0, 7.0)
Quake - 26 (6.5, 8.0, 6.0, 5.5)
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
Maybe it's just the American dislike of football/soccer showing itself? These two seem strangely low to me:

Powerslave - 29 (8.0, 6.0, 8.0, 7.0)
Quake - 26 (6.5, 8.0, 6.0, 5.5)


What's really weird is how Quake on Nintendo 64 scored higher, a 32 (7.5, 8.5, 8.5, 7.5). The reviewers praised the visuals but also criticized the multiplayer for only allowing two players. Saturn Quake features no multiplayer, and this was the main complaint from the EGM review crew.

Personally, I prefer the Saturn version for its grittier visuals, more complex geometry and dynamic lighting. The N64 version uses far simpler geometry and it all looks so washed out. It doesn't feel quite right and I greatly prefer both Doom 64 and Quake 2, the latter especially thanks to its 4P deathmatch modes.

Powerslave was just missed by most reviewers and the general public, and it's a criminal oversight. It was regularly dismissed as a simple Doom clone, which is just baffling. Perhaps we had to wait for Metroid Prime to arrive to finally understand what Lobotomy was doing. It's a generation-defining masterpiece that deserves equal standing alongside Super Mario 64, Tomb Raider, Quake, Nights and Crash.

Worldwide Soccer 98, NBA Action 98 and NHL All-Star Hockey 98 were just savaged by EGM. As stated in the previous post, I don't wish to criticize them since harsh videogame reviews were almost nonexistent in those days, but, damn, those guys were brutal. But it does highlight one of Saturn's biggest failings in the West: a lack of quality sports titles. The Sega Sports '98 lineup was (and remains) superb, but far too late as most kids had already moved on. Their loss.


Update: I thought I'd give N64 Quake a spin and see how it compares to Lobotomy's version. All I can say is: ya gotta be kidding me. This is a joke, right? Saturn Quake stomps all over this version. Graphics are far more dynamic, detailed and complex, the analog steering is more precise (don't get me started on the Nintendo controller), audio and music is more involving. N64 version is stripped down to the bone, stage designs are incredibly basic, and everything is too bright for its own good. It doesn't even have a title screen or opening stage where you can select the difficulty. About the only thing this version has in its favor is a smoother frame rate, presumably 30fps. But look at what had to be chopped out to hit those numbers!

Seriously, Saturn Quake looks and plays significantly better than Midway's N64 version. This isn't even close.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus





These two Youtube videos compare Quake on Saturn and Nintendo 64, and they both do an excellent job of showing how both games look on their respective consoles. The first video in particular takes you through the first stage so you can make direct comparisons.

As stated before, N64 Quake has the advantage of a smoother frame rate, but at the cost of stripping down the level architecture to the bones. Controls are also slightly slippery and require some adjustments in the options menu to work properly. Saturn Quake offers a darker, Gothic design filled with shadows and some wonderful dynamic lighting that wasn't even present on the PC original. Controls are smooth on the Saturn's 3D controller, especially with those analog triggers that make sneaking around and strafing so enjoyable. The lower frame rate-somewhere between 15 and 20 fps-is the one notable weak point.

Saturn Quake is often seen as the "impossible" port, which is intended as a compliment but always underscores the system's poor reputation for 3D graphics. It seems like nothing could shake that eternal meme, "Can't Doo Three Dee," not even the mighty Lobotomy. Yet here is the case for the defense.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus







And, to close out today's look at Quake with videos of the game running on period PCs, specifically 486, 5x86 and Pentium computers. As you can see, the performance was nowhere near the level of modern games, and even back then, VGA resolution at 60fps was more a dream than a reality.

It's easy to dismiss older videogames, especially 3D polygon games from Generation Five, but this is often based on modern assumptions. Those vintage console titles don't look so bad when you see what the bigger PCs at the time struggled to do.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
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We are quickly coming up to the 25th anniversary of the US release of Virtua Fighter 2, Sega Saturn's greatest triumph and a stunning work of programming and design. On a CRT display, its hyper-crisp visuals have lost none of their potency. This videogame hasn't aged a single day.

The 480/60 visuals remain crisp, detailed and highly colorful, and the amazingly fluid character animation (the first videogame to use motion capture) would be welcomed as a budget Dreamcast title. The game's emphasis on realistic martial arts techniques were a direct callback to Karate Champ and International Karate, a bold move at a time when fighting games were increasingly defined by over-the-top combos, cheap gimmicks like "fatalities" and reckless button-mashing. VF2 feels more like a quasi-simulation inspired by endless viewings of Jackie Chan and Shaw Brothers movies. I loved Sega and Yu Suzuki for sticking to their guns and following their own unique path. The last thing we needed was another Killer Instinct or Mortal Kombat.

In Japan, VF2 was a smash hit sensation, while in the West it was more of a cult hit for some, a curiosity for most. I'm curious to know why that was the case, why this videogame sold respectably but never what it deserved. My impression at the time was that most gamers' loyalties moved from Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat to Tekken, which became the gold standard for 3D fighting games. Even among the professional tournament circuit, the VF series retained a small cult following that lagged far behind all other major franchises. I don't have an answer for this.

In Japan, Sega published strategy guides, created VHS videos and sponsored professional tournaments to build the Virtua Fighter brand. Why were none of those things done in the US and PAL regions? I don't think most Western gamers even knew what this series was about until Virtua Fighter 4 on Playstation 2 arrived with its wonderfully in-depth tutorial mode.

Oh, well, no idea. I'm just rambling here. The important takeaway is that Saturn VF2 is about to turn 25 years old, it's still a gloriously fantastic videogame, and I once wore an onion on my belt while taking the ferry to Shelbyville.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



















Time for a Virtua Fighter 2 video extravaganza! Here are all the Japanese tournament videos you'll ever want to see, featuring many of the best players including our beloved Tetsujin. What I love most about these videos are the rowdy crowds. It sounds like these battles are taking place at the local sports bar and everyone is just buzzed enough to be having the time of their lives.

Just imagine if Sega ever bothered to nurture a fan scene like this in the US and PAL regions. Fans in Japan had strategy guides, books, videotapes and tournaments. Here in the States, nothing, nada. All you had was the instruction manual and that mostly consisted of incomplete move lists and a picture of Tom Kalinske laughing in your face. "Figure it out, kid!"

My advice: get yourself a couple Virtua Sticks from Japan, memorize these videos, learn the frame charts to learn the difference between "punch counterable" and "throw counterable" attacks, and put together a group of friends who want to get serious about their fighting games. No more button mashing. No more excuses. Don't even bother with Playstation 5 until Sega gives us a new Virtua Fighter sequel. Until then, stick with Saturn and its spectacular lineup of fighting videogames.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



Here is a recent video from VF Tetsujin Bun Bun Maru playing Virtua Fighter 2 with a friend. This is a great video from one of the old masters. Enjoy!

The name "Bun Bun Maru" comes from a Japanese newspaper. Its literal translation is "sentence sentence period newspaper." It was also the nickname of Japanese baseball player Aya Shameimaru.

As for the VF Iron Man, I don't know his real name, although it does appear in the credits of Anarchy in the Nippon. He was a staff writer for Famitsu Magazine when the Virtua Fighter craze broke, and he eventually moved to the professional tournament scene, where he is best known.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



Youtube channel Umbrella Terms has created a charming video in defense of Ninpen Manmaru, the colorful 3D platformer created by Tamtam and published by Enix in Japan. Narrator Trans Xicana argues that the game's slow pacing and tank controls are a wise design choice, in keeping with the manga and anime character, and should not be dismissed for violating the "rules" of the genre.

Ninpen Manmaru is an interesting little title. It's no classic by any stretch, but it has its qualities and come recommended to all Saturn fans.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



Prices for NBA Action 98 shot to astronomical levels in the weeks and months after Kobe Bryant's sudden death early this year. I saw Ebay auctions well over $700 for a videogame that, one year prior, could be found for five bucks. Since that time, prices have come down to the $40-$60 range for a complete copy, and loose discs starting at $25. For a sports title, that's still high, but still very affordable.

Every Saturn owner should have this videogame in their library. It's one of Saturn's finest hours and earns my vote for the best basketball title of Gen-5.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus









Let's take a quick look at the '98 EA Sports lineup on Saturn. By this late date (second half of 1997), the Saturn was all but extinct and this was reflected in collapsing third party software support. Electronic Arts was clearly looking to the Sony-Nintendo future and, aside from Madden, they just stopped caring about Sega. NBA LIve 98, NHL Hockey 98 and FIFA 98 were all dreadful, pitiful efforts that smacked of laziness and indifference. You can see poor player models, frame skipping, rough polygon environments, missing gameplay features, obvious gameplay bugs and an overall lack of polish. This is the very definition of "cashing in a paycheck."

The only exception to this shameful display is Madden NFL 98, which makes sense as Madden 97 was Saturn's top-selling game in the US. This time, EA put in the effort and the results are superb, a solid football sim that improves upon the previous edition in nearly every way, and--most importantly for Sega fans--looks and plays identical to the Playstation version. The only criticism against this game is that pass defense is much harder this year than in Madden 97, but I've always had problems completing passes in this franchise since the beginning. I can make passes about as often as I could on Genesis, and failure is always due to not reading the defense.

Madden 98 is easily the best football game for Saturn, not that there was any competition. Tom Kalinske and Sega of America never developed a football title for the console--the hideous NFL 97 was actually Jimmy Johnson VR Football for the Playstation, where it finally arrived a year later and was equally terrible. Sony, of course, had their excellent NFL Gameday franchise on PSX, which was sadly killed off alongside NFL 2K when EA secured their exclusive contract with the league. Ugh. What a bunch of jerks.

Unfortunately, most gamers would endlessly flock to the EA Sports titles, regardless of quality or competition, which meant that casual players would once again see Sega Saturn as a third-rate machine barely able to keep up with Sony and Nintendo, chanting the eternal meme: "Can't Doo Three Dee, Can't Doo Three Dee." It's a pity that nobody bothered to look around, because had they done so, they would have been very pleasantly surprised. But whose responsibility was it to counter Saturn's toxic reputation? Tom Kalinske and his people at Sega of America, you say? Why, yes, that's absolutely correct. You can pin a lot on Bernie Stolar, but when it came to sports videogames, he was on the ball. He did his damn job, unlike other people I could name.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
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Intelligent Gamer Magazine writes a rave review for the spectacular Strategy-RPG Dragon Force in their January 1997 issue. Included is a short interview with Working Designs' boss Victor Ireland. At the time of this interview, he was quite bullish on Sega and showed no interest in working with Sony or Nintendo. Six months later, in the wake of a disastrous, almost legendary E3 1997, that relationship would lie in tatters and Saturn's fate in the US all but sealed.

In a parallel universe, Dragon Force would have sold millions of copies and the Sega/WD relationship would have continued for many years. We were going to get Lunar: Silver Star Story, Thunder Force 5, Thunder Force Gold Packs and maybe even Grandia! How unfair is that?

IG is one of those gaming magazines where practically everything is given a rosy review (a "C" is considered a failing grade), but that solid A is very welcome and well deserved.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



Youtube channel KidShoryuken offers a short video on Princess Crown, the glorious 2D Action-RPG created by the man who would later found indie studio Vanillaware (Odin Sphere, Muramasa). Its gameplay reminds me a lot of NES-era adventure games like The Adventures of Link, Simon's Quest, Battle of Olympus and Faxanadu, and I couldn't be happier.

At least two attempts at an English fan translation have been attempted, and we're still waiting news on the most recent project, although that trail has gone cold months ago. It's possible that the translator will emerge any day now with the final patch, but it's also possible that everything completely falls apart. Let's hope for the former, as this is a true Sega Saturn classic that everyone needs to play.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



Sega's Linkle Liver Story is a colorful and cheerful Action-RPG that flies under the radar of most gamers, but a new English translation promises to change that. This Youtube video takes you through the entire game, start to finish, showing off a terrific adventure with large sprites, smooth animation and impressive VDP2 effects. There are even some polygon graphics here and there, and the whole package feels like Sega Genesis on steroids.

I'm reminded of Legend of Oasis, another quality adventure game that used 2D pixel art to great effect. If you're a fan of that one, you're sure to love this one as well. It's a pity that it was never released in the West, but gamers in the '90s were fully caught up in polygon mania, which effectively cut out half the Saturn library and crippled Sega's chances in the Gen-5 battle against Sony and Nintendo. Oh, well.

Chalk this up to yet another Japanese Saturn classic!
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus







There are fighting games, and then there are fighting games. And then there is Street Fighter Zero 3 on Sega Saturn, a sensational arcade-perfect translation that stands as one of the system's greatest triumphs. How good is this version? It's better than the Dreamcast translation. We're talking an absolutely arcade-perfect game with stunning visuals, glorious art design, wonderfully fluid animation and practically no loading times.

What's there to say? It's the ultimate Street Fighter with every character in the series to that point, multiple game modes and fighting action that will keep you busy for decades.

Looking at Ebay for a quick search, I see the lowest price going for Zero 3 is $250, with most prices ranging from $300 to over $1,300. Ouch. At prices like that, I wonder why Capcom couldn't simply make a short print run and make some easy money? Why doesn't anybody else do that, in fact? It seems like such an easy idea. Limited-edition games are the hot new thing among collectors, and I'm sure we'd all gladly pay $70 for an authentic copy of a stone-cold classic.

Seriously, kids, this is just about the greatest videogame ever made. Get yourself a copy by any means (cough, ahem) and show off to all your friends.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
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Frontline Gaming Japan has an ongoing series commemorating the 25th anniversary of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, the landmark Strategy-RPG that blazed the trail for the genre during the 1990s. It chronicles a series of extensive interviews in Weekly Famitsu magazine with the original software developers, where they discuss all aspects of production and design, their aspirations and influences.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three (coming soon)


Thanks to SlimeGooGoo for writing a post about this earlier today. You can follow that thread here.
 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei series has thrived for over two decades, and Sega Saturn was blessed with the brilliant and uniquely stylized Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner in 1995 and a direct sequel, Soul Hackers in 1997. These RPGs are heavily inspired by Japanese comics and anime as well as cyberpunk literature and perfectly fits the mood of the era.

This video offers a short "dummy's" introduction to the series and these two titles in particular. Neither Saturn title was released in the West, a decision that might have made sense in the '90s but appears baffling and tone-deaf today, especially when one considers how badly the system was starved for RPGs.

Fortuntately, Soul Hackers was released in the West on Nintendo 3DS, offering fans a chance to discover this classic in English. Devil Summoner was ported to Playstation Portable but remained exclusive to Japan.

It goes without saying that an English fan translation for the Saturn games would be fantastic. Let's hope that happens one of these days.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus







John Carmack can go jump in a lake for sabotaging the Saturn version of Doom. If Sega's console was struggling to survive in 1997, this videogame drove the nails into the coffin and buried it under six feet of dirt. This title did as much damage as anything in the software library.

The story is now well-known: Rage Software programmer Jim Bagley was put in charge of the project. He built a custom engine that took advantage of Saturn's hardware processors that resulted in a Doom that played at full-screen and "full speed," meaning 60fps. When his work was sent to Id Software for their approval, Carmack flatly refused to accept it. He insisted that Bagley code the game entirely in software mode. As any PC owners will gladly testify, this has the result of crippling performance and reducing frame rates to a slow crawl.

Carmack insisted on pure software rendering because, hey, I'm John Freaking Carmack, that's why. His defense that he wanted to avoid unnecessary texture warping never held any water, as Alien Trilogy, Baroque, the Gundam Side Story trilogy and the Lobotomy Trilogy will clearly demonstrate. But he had a steady habit of putting his thumbs on the scales, pushing one console platform over another, and for whatever reasons, Sega always found themselves on his bad side. We remember that he personally coded the Atari Jaguar Doom that competed directly against the Sega 32X port only a few years prior.

Due to these complications and time restraints, the project ended up porting the Playstation code, which any good Saturn fan will tell you is a recipe for disaster. You can't dump C code onto this machine and expect anything to work properly. The final results speak for themselves: a dreadful translation of an all-time classic that runs chugs and skips at a snail's pace, suffers from sloppy controls and dreadful pacing. It is the worst version of Doom and one of Saturn's most shameful embarrassments.

By early 1997, most gamers in the US had already settled into a Playstation-Nintendo 64 world, and Saturn was abandoned and left to slowly fade away. Most kids never tuned in for Nights, Fighting Vipers, Virtua Cop 2, Dragon Force or Powerslave. But they tuned in for Doom, one of gaming's biggest blockbusters of the '90s. The wreckage they saw only confirmed their assumptions: Sega's console was a broken mess of computer chips. If this stupid machine can't even play Doom, how can it handle a post-Mario 64 world? Even the Super Nintendo could do 3D better than this. Hammer, meet nails. Shovel, meet dirt. Saturn is not our future. Game Over, Man. Game Over.

One interesting postscript to this story: years later, Bagley found himself at a computer conference where he met Id co-founder John Romero and they discussed the matter. Romero revealed that he was the person responsible for approving projects and at the time of the Saturn Doom's rejection, he was away on vacation. When he later returned, he was so impressed with the work that he not only wanted to approve the game as Bagley intended, with hardware acceleration, he wanted to release that version on the PC as well.

Wouldn't it just rock your world if one of these guys suddenly showed up with the gold disc for Saturn Doom? No, that's about as likely to happen as Yu Suzuki releasing the legendary gold disc for Saturn Virtua Fighter 3. But we can still dream.

For comparison's sake, I'm also posting videos of Doom on Atari Jaguar--because we could always use more Atari Jaguar in our lives--as well as the Super NES version, which doesn't seem quite so bad in retrospect.
 
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