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[RAIDEN1]

The Sega Saturn's doomed release is known by all and sundry, and there has been many a thread about it, but amidst all of that the console had "its moments" games that reminded you it was a capable piece of kit, (when the developers could be bothered...)
This video showcases some of its most impressive looking titles, notable mentions- Dynamite Dekka, Grandia (which some say was Sega's answer to Final Fantasy, but then so was Panzer Dragoon, but both never hit the scale of Square's game...)

 

[Alexios]

Shitty emulated footage with glitches and issues all over the place (before even getting into the no crt making everything look shit deal). And no, the high res rendering used throughout the clips doesn't make that shit look better. Saturn deserves better treatment, not low effort clickbait like this.

​

 

[cireza]

which some say was Sega's answer to Final Fanta

Grandia was in development years before FF VII was released. It wasn't an answer, it was its own thing, building on the Lunar series.

Azel is hardly comparable to FF as well. Unless every single RPG was an answer to FF lol. It is largely inspired by its action roots and builds on them.

 

[Meicyn]

Shitty emulated footage with glitches and issues all over the place (before even getting into the no crt making everything look shit deal). And no, the high res rendering used throughout the clips doesn't make that shit look better. Saturn deserves better treatment, not low effort clickbait like this.

Honestly, I’m happy there are major strides being taken to make better CRT filters for emulated games. I want the CRT look for old games, but I don’t want an actual CRT because the tube whine is grating and I do not miss that.

 

[Azelover]

One game that impressed me back then was Shining the Holy Ark.

 

[Unknown?]

Honestly, I’m happy there are major strides being taken to make better CRT filters for emulated games. I want the CRT look for old games, but I don’t want an actual CRT because the tube whine is grating and I do not miss that.

Don't worry, you probably can't even hear that whine anymore. The older you get, the less likely you can.

 

[RAIDEN1]

So I guess it was the CRT's that lessened the "nastiness" of the mesh transparencies?

 

[Caio]

I loved Rayman.

 

[Sojiro]

Don't worry, you probably can't even hear that whine anymore. The older you get, the less likely you can.

I can vouch for this. I have a tube TV I use for my PS1/PS2/GC and whenever I have it on my kids complain about the noise, and I am none the wiser now lol. I am 41, but honestly I can't remember the last time I heard the CRT whine, maybe early 2000s? But back then everyone was using CRTs, and we were all used to it.

 

[Grechy34]

I can vouch for this. I have a tube TV I use for my PS1/PS2/GC and whenever I have it on my kids complain about the noise, and I am none the wiser now lol. I am 41, but honestly I can't remember the last time I heard the CRT whine, maybe early 2000s? But back then everyone was using CRTs, and we were all used to it.

I can hear the static from my CRT sometimes. Hard to explain.

 

[Danknugz]

i distinctly remember being incredibly underwhelmed by how poor daytona usa looked compared to the arcade.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

So I guess it was the CRT's that lessened the "nastiness" of the mesh transparencies?

That would mostly be due to the composite video signal. Using S-Video or RGB cables those meshes were visible in all their glory.

 

[RAIDEN1]

i distinctly remember being incredibly underwhelmed by how poor daytona usa looked compared to the arcade.

100% it was a rushed botched job, not exactly playing to the Saturn's strength when we know the Saturn's horsepower was considerably weaker compared to what was running Daytona.....if you saw Ridge Racer the contest was already over...and to imagine it was planned for the 32x, which would have looked even worse....

 

[Hudo]

I loved Rayman.

You gonna love Rayman Redemption, it's a free, fan-made remake of the original:
(I think it even surpasses the original)

Game Jolt - Share your creations

gamejolt.com

 

[Alan Wake]

I was very impressed with Tomb Raider and Resident Evil at the time, but now I can see how inferior the Saturn version av Tomb Raider is to the PlayStation version. Virtua Fighter 2 still looks good, though.

 

[SkylineRKR]

100% it was a rushed botched job, not exactly playing to the Saturn's strength when we know the Saturn's horsepower was considerably weaker compared to what was running Daytona.....if you saw Ridge Racer the contest was already over...and to imagine it was planned for the 32x, which would have looked even worse....

Ridge Racer ran on more compatible arcade hardware and was less ambitious than Daytona arcade. This was a blessing and a curse. The home port of Daytona would come off as lots worse as a result. Meanwhile Namco could port their games over rather faithfully, despite their games being significantly less impressive in the Arcade.

Still, Daytona should've been better to begin with. CCE had worse handling, but it looked much better. VF Remix was also more impressive than the model 1 port and should've been the launch version of VF.

 

[Papa_Wisdom]

One of the best games I saw on the Saturn wasn’t even really a game as such but the 3D platformer bit of sonic jam with all the museum content. That, to me showed that it would have been possible for sega and the Saturn to have its own “mario 64” type of game. I know it released towards the end of the Saturn’s life in the west and was made as more of an apology that no real sonic game had ever been released for the console but even just that little snippet of what could have been is something I still think about to this day.

 

[cireza]

I was very impressed with Tomb Raider and Resident Evil at the time, but now I can see how inferior the Saturn version av Tomb Raider is to the PlayStation version. Virtua Fighter 2 still looks good, though.

Saturn version is fine. It has a deeper field of view and the correct brightness. PS1 is way too bright. Resident Evil is also perfectly fine. You get a bit less polygons on Saturn in these games, this I totally agree.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Grandia was in development years before FF VII was released. It wasn't an answer, it was its own thing, building on the Lunar series.

Azel is hardly comparable to FF as well. Unless every single RPG was an answer to FF lol. It is largely inspired by its action roots and builds on them.

Exactly, Grandia started life as a Mega CD project

 

[Team Andromeda]

Always loved the effects the VDP2 would give Saturn games.





And unlike many would make out the Saturn did have some nice FMV when used..

 

[Alan Wake]

Saturn version is fine. It has a deeper field of view and the correct brightness. PS1 is way too bright. Resident Evil is also perfectly fine. You get a bit less polygons on Saturn in these games, this I totally agree.

Saturn version feels too dark on the other hand and, yes, less sharp. I had a blast with the game nonetheless, it's one of the most memorable experiences I've had a as a gamer.

 

[SpiceRacz]

One of the best games I saw on the Saturn wasn’t even really a game as such but the 3D platformer bit of sonic jam with all the museum content. That, to me showed that it would have been possible for sega and the Saturn to have its own “mario 64” type of game. I know it released towards the end of the Saturn’s life in the west and was made as more of an apology that no real sonic game had ever been released for the console but even just that little snippet of what could have been is something I still think about to this day.

The concept photos of Sonic Adventure on Saturn looked incredible. Running around in 'Sonic World' in Sonic Jam makes me think they could have pulled it off. As a proof of concept, it worked great.

 

[cireza]

Saturn version feels too dark on the other hand and, yes, less sharp. I had a blast with the game nonetheless, it's one of the most memorable experiences I've had a as a gamer.

It is the intended brightness. Also PAL Tomb Raider on Saturn is the only console version to have the proper aspect ratio as the game was created with 288p in mind. All others have stretched textures and Lara is too tall, since they were all adapted from that base Saturn version. They are also too fast.