The Sega Saturn appreciation thread

[jerry coeurl]

Most gamers can EASILY tell what row they're on without actually looking down at the controller. We don't need one oddball row dreadfully undersized so we won't get confused.

Good for most gamers, I guess? I don't find them to be "dreadfully undersized," either, they feel just fine to me. Even if the slightly smaller top-row buttons did bother me, everything else about the pad is so perfect that it would still be my favorite controller of all time.

Its likely that many, probably the majority, never tried it. So how do they know Saturn pad is preferable? They don't.

Well the majority of people in this thread who have tried both controllers prefer the Model 2.

[NostalgicMachine]

Model 2, all the way. Why is there even an argument over the button sizes? They are perfect for reasons already mentioned. The Model 2 is like a super excellent version of the Genesis standard 6-button.

I remember rolling off the "C-R-A-Z-Y-C-Y-R-A-X code on Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 no problem, every time.

[mick_aka]

SuperPad 8 > Saturn model 2

[Breetai]

Same subjective argument could be made for the Saturn pad.

Errr... didn't I imply that?

Its likely that many, probably the majority, never tried it. So how do they know Saturn pad is preferable? They don't.

But I do. I've owned both. I'm not saying the Superpad is bad. It's great. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. It's well built and designed. It's really a matter of preference.

[Playalives]

Perhaps not the place to be posting this but I'm not really sure where this could go. Does anyone have a bunch of price friendly import saturn suggestions that are pretty decent or are just plain the worst thing ever? I just got a new copy of funky fantasy in the mail and its not as bad as it looks. If anyone could lay down a suggestion or two or 100 that would be awesome! Thanks in advance.

[steve]

Saturn is the true definition of a "hardcore gamer's system." I don't like to use the term hardcore a whole lot, but it's apt when discussing all things Sega Saturn. The Japanese library is (un)arguably superior than the US or PAL library, and in order to get the most bang for your buck, you really need to delve deep into its amazing JP library.

Saturn is not a casual love affair. You gotta go ALL IN to really derive any pleasure from it.

And a shout out to Sega Saturn Magazine... the best gaming mag, EVER. Period. End of story.

Great system. One I'll always love, though to be honest, have lost my flame for it over the last several years. But man, 1999 and 2001-2005 were some amazing gaming years, ones I will never forget and why I'm the "diehard" gamer that I am today. Saturn was my first true gaming love as a young adult.

[Moirai]

Does anybody know of/have a list of what multiplatform games are best on the Saturn?

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Does anybody know of/have a list of what multiplatform games are best on the Saturn?

Off the top my head I know of these:

Clearly superior:
Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Gold
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Vampire Savior
X-men vs Street Fighter
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter
Marvel Super Heroes
Metal Slug
King of Fighters 95, 96, and 97
Soukyugurentai
Thunder Force V
Darius Gaiden
Konami Deluxe Packs (Mostly for the controller and a few very minor differences)
Parodius Titles (Again mostly for the controller and some screen size differences)
Megaman 8
Independence Day (Better Draw distance thanks to VDPII, but does anyone actually want to own this game?)

Debatable Or Borderline:
Resident Evil (More content, different models that some might prefer, but worse lighting and transparency)
Megaman X4 (Better backgrounds, worse transparencies)
Castlevania Symphony of the Night (More content, but a horrible port with more slowdown and bad graphics)
Street Fighter Alpha (Slightly faster loading, nicer super shadows, but it's quite minor)
Street Fighter Collection
Capcom Generation series (I've seen slightly faster loading on the Saturn versions but it's not enough to really get excited over)
DoDonPachi (Pixelated explosions and slowdown, but superior 2 player and additional levels and modes)
Mortal Kombat II (Better than the PS1 port, but still a crap port)

That's really all I can think of off the top of my head, if anyone wants to add to that feel free to do so.

[j_factor]

To add to the above:

Mass Destruction - 60 fps on Saturn, 30 fps on PSX
MechWarrior 2 - Supports Saturn analog pad (PSX version supports only its old analog controller that nobody has)
Tempest 2000/X3 - PSX version makes weird, unwarranted gameplay changes
WipEout - bumping the side of the track no longer results in a dead stop
X-Men: Children of the Atom - the PSX version is terrible
PowerSlave - PSX version has cut down levels, and no Death Tank
Thunderstrike 2 - Supports Mission Stick; no analog whatsoever on PSX
Cyberbots & Pocket Fighter - same as the other 4MB RAM cart fighters
Silhouette Mirage - better graphics on Saturn, and gameplay differences that also favor Saturn
Worms - Saturn version supports the mouse, if you're into that sort of thing; also shorter load times

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Oh I forgot about some of those. But Wipeout I'd put in the debatable list because while it plays better, the frame rate is lower and the transparencies are worse.

[j_factor]

The framerate is lower? I thought that was only for the second one. Transparencies aren't really a significant issue for that game.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Wipeout on the Saturn is 20fps, where as it's 30fps on the PS1. Wipeout XL on the Saturn runs a bit smoother but still not 30fps.



Keep in mind that that video contains PAL versions recorded from PAL consoles.

[j_factor]

Going off that video, it doesn't look like it has 2/3 the framerate, it just looks like it has some frame skip issues. Then again there's no such thing as 30 fps in PAL.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

To me it looks pretty similar to what the original Daytona USA looks like on the Saturn. Basically the scenery doesn't smoothly scroll towards you, it seems to jump a bit.

[TVC 15]

Soviet Strike?