So I bought a Jaguar

[sheath]

The last run came boxed with a printed instruction sheet.

[TheSonicRetard]

Ah I see. I have a skunk board that was supposed to be "new" when I bought it but it came sans box. I guess it was an earlier run. A skunk board is pretty much required for anyone who wants to be serious about their jaguar. That, and a JagPro controller.

[grimm]

I bought a brand new jaguar from germany last summer, and have only gotten a few games for it so far, but its a fun system to collect for. So far ive gotten Cybermorph, Kazumi Ninja and Brutal sports football. I just ordered Cannon Fodder for it, and also a skunboard. I also picked up the Pro Controller some time back, which has a marginally better d-pad than the horrible original, plus some more face buttons and shoulder buttons. I think its a system worth collecting for, and seems one of the liveliest when it comes to quality homebrew titles, although these cost anywhere from 50-100 dollars new. And some popular homebrew titles like Battlesphere Gold goes for very high amounts on ebay. But if you are happy collecting the common titles from back then, you can find most of them sealed, at very reasonable prices.

[TheSonicRetard]

Thats something worth pointing out - the Jaguar has probably the most alive homebrew scene of any retro system. Not only are new homebrew titles released, but several commercial titles have had their source codes bought up, licensed, and been completed and released in recent years. I have Hyper Force and Barkley Shut up n Jam of these sorts of releases. (Although neither is very good). Protector SE might just be the best recently released jaguar game, and it makes a strong case for being one of the best games on the entire system.

Some people on Jag Sector 2 are supposed to be looking for the source to MK3.

[WarmSignal]

Hummm... Saturn has tons of awesome titles, unlike the Jaguar.

Good acquisition though... Jaguar has its own good games and it's always good to know the old consoles in real form.

I think that depends on how much you want to like the Saturn. I know several people who are into games and have gone over the library and decided the Saturn wasn't even worth the time. Theyre too picky and not giving what is actually there a chance. It happens a lot I think. I think that may be the case for Jaguar as well.

[TheSonicRetard]

I think that depends on how much you want to like the Saturn. I know several people who are into games and have gone over the library and decided the Saturn wasn't even worth the time. Theyre too picky and not giving what is actually there a chance. It happens a lot I think. I think that may be the case for Jaguar as well.

When I collect for lesser popular systems, what I try to do is cover all the typical genres first. That is, I look for a killer platforming game, a killer RPG, a killer shmup, a killer action game, etc. I think the saturn has a few games in just about every genre that is high quality, which makes for a nice, rounded library. If I can find such a library on a console, then I consider it a great system.

The Jaguar isn't on the level of the saturn for me. For one, there's no real killer RPG on the system, and an even bigger blow is that there isn't any awesome action games. Hyper Force and Pitfall are the closest the system ever got, and both are rather mediocre (Actually, Hyper Force is terrible). It does have a bunch of good games in other genres, but it's not a complete, well-rounded library. I'd place the Amiga CD32 well above the Jaguar because it's library feels fuller in this regard, for example.

But I do think pre-conceived notions about a console does affect what you get out of said console. It's best to go in with an open mind.

[Barone]

I think that depends on how much you want to like the Saturn. I know several people who are into games and have gone over the library and decided the Saturn wasn't even worth the time. Theyre too picky and not giving what is actually there a chance. It happens a lot I think. I think that may be the case for Jaguar as well.

Well, I was one of the very few guys arguing against the Saturn in a looong thread that we had here sometime ago. I still prefer the PS1 library but to compare the Saturn to the Jaguar is crazy IMO.

I don't know those people that you're talking about but I'd bet that they just didn't have the knowledge required. Mainly about the Japanese library of the Saturn.
The US library is quite obvious and a bit poor IMO. But the Japanese exclusives have a lot of excellent stuff.
OR such people are just 3D lovers and 2D haters... Then I would have nothing to say.

And I'm very picky about quality in games...

[TheSonicRetard]

The US library is quite obvious and a bit poor IMO.

Only if one is not willing to spend some real money.

[Barone]

Only if one is not willing to spend some real money.

Maybe I have phrased it badly.
Compared to the Japanese library or the PS1 US library it feels a bit poor IMO. But is still pretty good.

[WarmSignal]

Well, I was one of the very few guys arguing against the Saturn in a looong thread that we had here sometime ago. I still prefer the PS1 library but to compare the Saturn to the Jaguar is crazy IMO.

I don't know those people that you're talking about but I'd bet that they just didn't have the knowledge required. Mainly about the Japanese library of the Saturn.
The US library is quite obvious and a bit poor IMO. But the Japanese exclusives have a lot of excellent stuff.
OR such people are just 3D lovers and 2D haters... Then I would have nothing to say.

And I'm very picky about quality in games...

They weren't interested in importing, and neither am I. I always just stick with what we were given, and even still, I'd say the Saturn was pretty good. Not really comparing those two consoles, just pointing to the stigma of commercially failed consoles with small libraries meaning crap console and/or waste of money.

[TheSonicRetard]

Maybe I have phrased it badly.
Compared to the Japanese library or the PS1 US library it feels a bit poor IMO. But is still pretty good.

I can agree with that, and I don't think what we said is really incongruent. Until someone is really willing to put down some cash in a US saturn collection, its going to feel quite a bit poorer than either the PS1 or JPN Saturn's library. After spending a few thousand to bring the saturn up to par, I think it pulls quite a bit more even with the PSX library, but at that point I feel the difference is preference and breadth, not necessarily quality.

Really, if someone is going to get into saturn collection, especially today, limiting your selection to just one region makes no sense, because a majority of the games you're going to be picking up come from the internet to begin with. Each region has a high dollar, very sought after game worth picking up - PDS and SF3 in the US, Deep Fear in PAL-land, and Psychic Killer Taromaru in japan.

[TheSonicRetard]

They weren't interested in importing, and neither am I. I always just stick with what we were given, and even still, I'd say the Saturn was pretty good. Not really comparing those two consoles, just pointing to the stigma of commercially failed consoles with small libraries meaning crap console and/or waste of money.

I go out of my way to pick up domestic releases above all others, because they're usually more sought after in the US than abroad, and because I feel like there is an obligation to buy what was available to me. That said, I imported games back in the 90s through ads in the back of EGM, so I never felt restricted to one region. There are games in the saturn library which deserve to be imported to fill out the console's library. While I won't go as far as to claim that the system feels incomplete without imported titles (I believe the US saturn library alone is enough for the system to stand on), I can't deny that non-domestic titles improve the quality of the Saturn's library.

Deep Fear is a perfect example of a game which deserves to be imported. It's virtually unknown in the US, but it's quite sought after in the UK because it is the last saturn game released in that region. And, like Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Shining Force III, etc. it is noticeably higher quality than most other releases on the console. In this case, it's a resident evil clone, roughly on par with that of RE2 or RE3. Even without this game, the niche is filled in the US library with plain-jane Resident Evil, but picking this game up strengthens that genre in my library. Compared to its sequels, RE1 feels a bit dated. Having a game like Deep Fear, which feels much more modern, helps alleviate the feeling that the Saturn never kept pace.

[NeoZeedeater]

Protector SE might just be the best recently released jaguar game, and it makes a strong case for being one of the best games on the entire system.

Yeah, I like this one a lot more than Defender 2000.

[TheSonicRetard]

Yeah, I like this one a lot more than Defender 2000.

I don't dislike Defender 2000, although Defender 2000 mode in that game isn't quite as... quirky? As Tempest 2000. It feels a bit too removed from the original.

Protector SE is pretty much what I wanted out of an updated Defender. As is, I play Defender 2000 to play classic mode, and I play Protector SE to play a defender game that is to the original what Tempest 2000 was to the arcade Tempest.

[Chilly Willy]

I don't dislike Defender 2000, although Defender 2000 mode in that game isn't quite as... quirky? As Tempest 2000. It feels a bit too removed from the original.

Protector SE is pretty much what I wanted out of an updated Defender. As is, I play Defender 2000 to play classic mode, and I play Protector SE to play a defender game that is to the original what Tempest 2000 was to the arcade Tempest.

I got Protector SE instead of Defender 2000 and am very happy! Especially since if you have the BJL cable, it allows you to load homebrew on the Jaguar (no commercial roms! Just homebrew). I wish they would do more "updates" to classic Atari games like that... imagine Joust or Centipede done in a similar manner.