I wouldn't exactly say the Sega Saturn was a "golden time" for Sega, anything but that...from a position of being a top competitor in 1991/1993....to then falling down badly...during the Saturn era is anything but that....
My two all time favorites. Miss the golden Sega years. To this day Genesis is my all time favorite console.
It was in terms of creativity and remained true during the Dreamcast gen.
I was talking more Master Sysytem and Genesis, but I did enjoy my Saturn, a lot. The Dreamcast was awesome too, but the PS2 crushed it. Still remember the Dreamcast coming with a built in 56k modem. Playing NFL 2K with friends online was bliss.
Basically the Dreamcast was everything the Saturn SHOULD have been....
I agree. Yet the PS2 still crushed it. You’re missing my entire point though. I just miss Sega consoles and games.
Sega Lord X is the one to watch.
That game is absolutely nuts. Next to PDS, I think RS might be the 2nd most impressive game on the Saturn. The visuals in it are stunning.
Admittedly even though PDS was a top Saturn game, given when it actually came out part of me wishes they ported it mid-development to the Dreamcast and had it as a launch title.
The Saturn is a product of 1994, conceived during the years before this date. It could have never been the Dreamcast. The way they made their console makes perfect sense for such an early age of 3D at budget price for the home market + wanting to include proper 2D as well.
What I mean is, it was a system that was developer friendly, which the Saturn was not, teaming up with Microsoft made it even more easier to develop for....unlike the Saturn which was haphazardly put together and Sega taking their eye of the ball with the release of the 32x when they thought their position was in imminent danger due to Atari's 64 bit behemoth on the horizon....
Well this certainly isn't the case. Everything was done on purpose, obviously. Anybody who takes time to look at its architecture can easily understands why every component is there.
Sorry for derailing, this cracks me up though
My two all time favorites. Miss the golden Sega years. To this day Genesis is my all time favorite console.
Me and my little brother spent COUNTLESS hours playing this online 2v2 against other people. One of the funnest experiences I’ve had in gaming.
Just ordered a Japan Saturn 3D Controller and Nights/Christmas Nights.
Roughly $76 total. Not too bad.
Any thoughts/comments on the 3D controller? Always wanted to try it out, I'm not the biggest fan of Nights but always wanted to try it with the analog stick. Playing Azel with the analog should be interesting too.
Holy shit, it just dawned on me that the Saturn 3D controller is basically what the Dreamcast would go with, lol. Never registered with me how similar they are in design. Thankfully the saturn has the cord at the top of the controller instead of the bottom (Dreamcast).
edit- Also ordered a repro copy of Shining Force 3, english translation. Really hope it works. i have repro discs from the 90s and they work flawlessly but I always have issues with my own burned games. Nice stop gap until I get a Satiator.
ALSO, I ordered the component cables and saturn adaptor. My buddy just got a CRT and I've been helping with with picking out gear, he totally renewed my interest in my Saturn gear and got me fiending again, lol.
I thought the 3d pad felt reasonably good. Actually I always hoped that somebody would have made an adapter so I could used it on the Dreamcast instead of the DC controller. (Which you would have thought someone would have done since you can disconnect the cable.) Actually doesn't Burning Rangers also use it?Just ordered a Japan Saturn 3D Controller and Nights/Christmas Nights.
Roughly $76 total. Not too bad.
Any thoughts/comments on the 3D controller? Always wanted to try it out, I'm not the biggest fan of Nights but always wanted to try it with the analog stick. Playing Azel with the analog should be interesting too.
Holy shit, it just dawned on me that the Saturn 3D controller is basically what the Dreamcast would go with, lol. Never registered with me how similar they are in design. Thankfully the saturn has the cord at the top of the controller instead of the bottom (Dreamcast).
edit- Also ordered a repro copy of Shining Force 3, english translation. Really hope it works. i have repro discs from the 90s and they work flawlessly but I always have issues with my own burned games. Nice stop gap until I get a Satiator.
ALSO, I ordered the component cables and saturn adaptor, no hard mod required. Awesome stuff. My buddy just got a CRT and I've been helping him with picking out gear, he totally renewed my interest in my Saturn gear and got me fiending again, lol.
I definitely preferred it over the Dreamcast controller, due to buttons and cable placement. It really struck me as bizarre that they went with four face buttons, causing there to be less inputs than the Saturn.
Yea, Burning Rangers utilizes it. Here's a full list.
segaretro.org
Same here. I mean I always liked the 6-buttons on the front for fighters, which there were quite a few on the DC. Plus the Sega D-pad was better for them as well. Actually come to think of it I thought the analog control was smoother than the DC. Pretty much everything on the DC controller was a step down from the Saturn one.(didn't even the triggers on the DC pad break?)
Only certain versions of Sega Rally (Netlink and Plus) work with the 3D controller, and that is the vastly superior way to go.Yea, Burning Rangers utilizes it. Here's a full list.
3D Control Pad - Sega Retro
Cool to know that Powerslave, Quake, and DN3D all use it, I have burned copies of those, will have to give it a try. Powerslave on Saturn is great, remastered version is the definitive way to play but Saturn is definitely close 2nd compared to the other versions of the game.
edit- Deep Fear too, that'll be cool. Great game.
I had to double check, apparently the triggers and the analog pad are both hall effect sensors. So on the big plus side no worries about stick drift on the 3d pad.Yea, Burning Rangers utilizes it. Here's a full list.
3D Control Pad - Sega Retro
Cool to know that Powerslave, Quake, and DN3D all use it, I have burned copies of those, will have to give it a try. Powerslave on Saturn is great, remastered version is the definitive way to play but Saturn is definitely close 2nd compared to the other versions of the game.
edit- Deep Fear too, that'll be cool. Great game.
Man, I would have loved using the Saturn controller to play Street Fighter Alpha 3 on the Dreamcast. Six buttons plus a far superior d-pad. It’s wild to me how much of a downgrade the Dreamcast controller was. Honestly, I sometimes wonder if they skimped on capability because they worked around making the VMU central to the experience while having to work around pricing constraints. Unfortunate really, since I never cared for the VMUs, as all it did was add unnecessary weight in my view.
Yeah it was all about the gimmicky VMU stuff - that explains all the issues. Even the DC's wire was facing the wrong way because of that and the wire was so short on top of that, heh.
It's sad that they tried to effectively create the next Tamagotchi with the VMUs. I don't think I ever played one of the games on the VMU itself and I really didn't look at the screen while playing the DC since it was so small and pixelated.
I haven’t… what makes it better than the Dreamcast version?
I just learned yesterday while browsing Saturn fan sites that Zero 3 is even on the console. I had no idea.
Im almost certain the Dreamcast and PS1 port of Alpha 3 have missing frames of animation - the Saturn version basically is the arcade game - it uses the 4mb ram cart. I remember reading the DC port was rushed back then. The DC port felt off to me - and playing it on the stock DC pad is godawful.
Alpha 2 is my fav if the Alpha series. Love the character set - music and backgrounds. It had a more serious tone. As a kid I was stuck on with watered down SNES port but I still played it to death.
That’s fascinating, I honestly had stopped buying anything Saturn related once the Dreamcast hit US shores. I think the last Saturn product I ever had was the Shining Force 3 Premium Disc received direct from Camelot back in the day.
Nah, you aren’t alone, I didn’t care for either game. And while we’re on the subject of bad games, add Sonic R to the list. Great soundtrack, fantastic visuals, awful to play. All the characters control like spinning tops, I never felt like there was precision to the controls like you got from Mario Kart 64 when those games were going head to head.
Yea dude, Sonic R is truly awful. I'll give it another go with the 3D controller but I don't expect improvements. You just slide everywhere in the game and it's so easy to fall off the track. An unplayable nightmare the few times I've tried it.
Never got into Astal myself but Guardian Heroes is all about the juggles man. Plus the branching paths, gotta love those. You have more attacking/defending options compared to really any other beatem in existence. Its like a fighting game brought to the beatem up genre. Even the battle mode was cool - pick the tiny bunny character.
I'll have to go back and revisit it. I didn't get that vibe at all but like I said, I wouldn't be surprised if I was approaching the game all wrong.
