I got a Sega Saturn for Christmas in 1995 when I was 11. My parents got it for me because I absolutely loved my Sega Genesis and even had a 32X. That was, hands down, the best Christmas ever. It came with 3 games (Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter and Virtua Cop). I eventually got Tomb Raider, X-Men vs Street Fighter, Street Fighter Alpha 3, a DarkStalkers game, and of course NiGHTS into Dreams with the bundled analog pad. I always wanted to get Shining Force III since I was a massive Shining Force I and II fan, but could never find it. I eventually moved on to the Sony PlayStation once support for the Saturn started dwindling, but the Saturn will always hold a very special place in my heart. I certainly wish I still had mine.
Chris Mauffray Wow, that would have been an awesome Christmas. I had to get my Saturn fix at the time by heading to the local department store and playing the Sega Rally demo for embarrassingly long periods of time :D
Why don't you buy another one? You can pick them up relatively cheap, and you never...ever know what someone has at a garage sale, you could possibly pick up panzer dragoon saga or any of them for 50 cents. I will probably get a Saturn soon, and just import the games. I've actually been thinking about moving to Japan so I may even just wait until that happens ( pipe dream ) but, you never know :)
@@AdamKoralik GA Tech has a ton of video game classes. If you are ever in Atlanta anyone from the public can audit them for free. Would be a cool video for you to make on afterwards about the experience.
Some kids today have never even heard of SEGA. Its very sad what happened to them. Very sad indeed. The gaming world would be a better place with a SEGA console in it.
I'm a 14 year old and a retro gaming fan. I can assure you there are a lot of kids that don't know nothing about SEGA, which is incredibly disappointing. They all just care of shallow games like Fortnite and Roblox
Was the only kid in my village with a Saturn back in 96,but never regretted it. Fighting Vipers,Deep Fear and Resident Evil were the absolute nuts on this console.
SEGA's management is what destroyed the Saturn. I was SOOO pissed off during this time period. I knew all about the Saturn before the 32X hit, and I purposely didn't buy a 32X in order to save up for the Saturn. It was a good call, but that launch...wow. SEGA was always so damn reactionary. The second processor, the surprise launch, all of it. It was a disaster of biblical proportions. What’s worse, Sony destroyed the Saturn right out of the gate by basically going ‘oh hey, our new shiny 3D powerhouse, umm yeah, it’ll only cost ya $299.99. Take that bitches!’ SEGA was never able to counter that regardless of some truly amazing deal during holiday 1996, and even into ’97. You’re right on about Virtua Fighter and Daytona. Long time arcade fans such as myself were omega pissed off by those releases. They were absolutely abysmal. The whole launch line-up was just sad, this is especially true when you compare it to the PlayStation’s launch later that year. SEGA did what they could in ’96 and ’97, but when Bernie opened his mouth with that famous quote everything just stopped, and I do mean everything. I was buying N64, Saturn, and PlayStation games at that point in time, but once Bernie said the Saturn wasn’t the future of SEGA, suddenly I found myself buying N64 and PS1 games, not because I didn’t want Saturn games, it was that they just dried up overnight. You can see it too if you look at the release schedule. I own every single Saturn release from around July 1997 until the end of ’98. It’s only a handful of releases, which is so, so unfortunate. Who knows what would have happened had he just shut up. Would they have won, no, but we likely would have more games get released. All that said, the Saturn is actually one of my favorite consoles. It was the system that taught me what it means to import. I have over 150 import games for the system that I bought back when it was relevant. From shmups to fighters, to everything in-between. The arcade perfect ports of Capcom’s fighters were amazing. All my friends were jealous back in the day, and going back today to play them is a blast because they hold up so well. My favorite joystick of all time was released for the Saturn (the HSS-0130), and the last Camelot RPGs from their time with SEGA were also only available on the Saturn (Shining Force III and Shining the Holy Ark). So many fantastic memories! It’s funny you mentioned the NetLink, I was a hardcore Saturn fan and I honestly didn’t even know about it because only five games actually work with it. The funny thing is that I bought it and actually played someone online (Sega Saturn NetLink - Setting Up An Online Match). It works to this very day because it was peer-to-peer and not server based. Overall the SEGA Saturn is a console that was overlooked by everyone, but I’m super happy it has been getting more time in the spotlight over the past few years. I’m also happy I purchased all the games I did back when the system was on store shelves. Going after the Saturn collection today is no easy task considering how expensive so many of the games are. I adored this episode as you brought back so many fantastic memories. If you made it this far, all I can say is, keep up the great work! I can’t wait for the next two parts :)
+Project COE: Hey buddy, good to see you here. Nice article and summary of Sega Saturn. Too well said and I keep a copy of it in my Saturn History folder!
this doesn't even cover what Bernard "The Saturn is not our future" Stolar did. He basically refused a lot of the Saturn's Japanese library because he said "2D was on the way out" (which I kinda get, since it was the 90s, where everything was transitioning to 3D) and RPGs were "too nerdy to be popular" (mind you he said this in 1997, a few months before a little-known Playstation game called Final Fantasy VII was due to be released). Want more of his antics? He cancelled the Dreamcast Streets of Rage 4 because he had never heard of Streets of Rage before. Yes, I'm serious. How about more antics? EA initially had interest in the Dreamcast, but Stolar denied them being a third party publisher because Sega had recently bought out a sports game developer called Visual Concepts. This, of course, would doom the Dreamcast to failure.
You know how people binge watch old TV shows? I have been binge watching Adam Koralik videos! I miss these generation recaps! Keep up the good work dude!
I was 18 when the Saturn launched. Bought a Japanese import machine on day 1 back in November '94. Great memories of that system, I stood by it till the bitter end and then picked up a DC on day one also. Boy do I feel old! Never bought a Sony console until 2001, I was definitely a SEGA/Nintendo fanboy back in the day.
When he made this video, Panzer Dragoon Saga was worth around $300-350 complete in box. It's 2022 and this game is now worth around $1,000-1,100 CIB. Insane.
Man..Imagine is Sega used the hype from the Genesis to launch the Saturn and kept the idea of playing Genesis games? I think everyone who owned the Genesis would have bough the Saturn just for the cross compatibility alone.
The failure of the Saturn also came to the fact because of this: - Sega CD - Sega 32X - Sega Game Gear - Sega Nomad - Sega Pico All of these, including the Genesis and the Master System, are manufactured and released CONCURRENTLY. That's a lot of money! So basically, they squandered all of their success in excess. Not a good move.
If I was like the CEO of Sega I would’ve dropped all the systems except the Saturn (of course), the Game Gear, and the genesis but only 2 years into the Saturns life
Great video. Made me all nostalgic for my old Sega Saturn. Surprised you didn't mention the near-perfect arcade ports of the Capcom Marvel Vs Series with the 4MB cartridge.
No problems man. It's a subjective thing. It was only watching this video that I realised, in retrospect, that I was a Sega fanboy. I remembered being actually quite defensive about the Playstation when it came out, which is why the Marvel VS fighters stood out to me: it was one of the few multiplatform games that was significantly better on the Saturn, since the RAM expansion allowed the character switching mechanism to work, a feat the Playsation versions couldn't do.
I am 25 and had one of these when I was 7 years old and had all the games you mentioned plus more and loved them. I still have that saturn to this day I just don't play it anymore..
Actually, the Sega Saturn has a Motorola 68k as it's sound cpu, the same cpu as in the Genesis, the Saturn could, with the right cart slot and optimizations, play a Genesis game.
no because nintendo tried to push the wii u and stuck with the system at least throught the traditional console life cycle sega made no attempt to push the system and dropped it
I actually had one of these growing up. I knew about it because of my magazine subscription to Sega Visions. Sold my Genesis and all my games and saved up some allowances for it. I owned Daytona USA and the CCE Edition, Virtual Racing, Virtual Fighter, Sonic 3D Blast, and Panzer Dragoon. For a while you could find the games to rent at video stores. My older sisters boyfriend worked at one and would always bring me different games to try. I used to go to the Electronics Boutique at the Local mall and look at all the games for it. Eventually after a couple years or so I noticed all the games for it just kinda disappeared. Not in stores. Not available to rent. And none of my friends whom I brought over had ever even heard of the thing. Being 12 or so in 1998 I was totally ignorant to what was happening behind the scenes and eventually ended up with a N64. Great video, been watching all of these.
Interesting that there was so little exposure to the Saturn in the US. It certainly wasn’t a big hit over here in the UK, but everyone was definitely aware of it (mostly as the butt of jokes). I actually knew a few people who owned one, but their interest slowly petered out when it became obvious how much it struggled with 3D games. By the time the N64 came out, the Saturn was pretty much irrelevant and most people had switched to PlayStation. It had potential, but in the end it's just another example of Sega reacting to last-generation problems instead of planning ahead.
I know this video is old, but I recently came upon a Sega Saturn FINALLY! I passed up on two chances to get a Saturn in my life only to finally get one in 2021. I am not disappointed. The retro store I bought my Saturn at came with an Action Replay for Region Free Gaming, and the first game I bought and tried with the system was Nights into Dreams with the 3D Controller. I definitely knew about Nights, but never played it until then, and I was instantly in love. I heard so many mixed things about the Saturn's 3D Pad to the point that I was a little nervous, but it instantly clicked and I had nothing but smiles and laughter while playing. I feel the same way. I'm so disappointed with myself for passing up on this console for so many years.
first time I played this console was in my rich friends house I cant even remember her name but her brother had one and Loaded and Virtua fighter 2 and I played the shit out of loaded that day but at the time I didn't now what console I was playing with I thought is was a weird PS1 cause the consoles name was hidden and at the time consoles where more a novelty and I didn't care about them but a few years later I spotted one for sale for £20 punt (Irish Pounds before the Euro) in are local ToyMaster and my parents bought me it and I have had it ever since great console but I never got loaded for it most find that
Segata Sanshiro, Segata Sanshiro, Sega Sa-aturn SHIRO!!!!! (I'm sorry, I just love that campaign) I too remember stumbling over the Saturn here in sweden in my teens. It was this weird thing. Noone I knew had one. All the demo-stations had just a strange pseudo 3D Sonic. So only recently I have found out all of these things about this console. And I really think that if they gave us the Segata ad-campaign that they ran in japan it might have done better. Because it wasn't so much that we didn't want it or that the library was bad. It was mostly, I think, that they really failed in letting us know it existed at all.
My Girlfriend and I bought the Sega Saturn for Christmas 1995 along with the driving wheel. Sega Rally 95. The Hockey game. The Golf and Hockey games and I thing maybe soccer and Bug. It was a fun Christmas I still have it today.
The one console that always stays hooked up and ready to go. Twenty plus years and it still entertains with so many unique and amazing games that it just never gets old. I fire up Christmas Nights every year around the holidays, and Saturn Bomberman is the best party game EVER! I got my "$600" worth for sure.
Thats right i remember your Too Many Games video. Jay Street Is where i normal go they they have two locations in the Mall with relatively different stock in each store which is nice i would totally recommend you checking them out next time you visit the Philly area. (btw i don't work there)
+Metal Game World There's also one in Plymouth Meeting Mall and while they have alot of old but common stuff, I didnt see any Saturns or TG16s. I was even looking to get into the GameCube, but no one has a copy of Killer 7, Lugis Mansion or Viewtiful Joe. I'll def chk out KOP though
I know this comment comes 9 years later but just two minutes in and yeah, that's Sega's business model in a nutshell. Have an idea for a new console, built it, yeah!!! Oh, it already conflicts with another console we already have on the model, F it, build it anyway, yeah!!! I look forward to enjoying the rest of the video.
My village loved the Sega Saturn. Almost all the kids bought one. We got a big projector and all the village people felt motivated to play its 2d glory. Then we put on Adam Koralik's youtube videos on the projector and we all worshipped him and gave praise to his intellect. Hail Sega!
Guardian Heroes was my personal favorite game for this console. Image Golden Axe and Street Fighter mashed up and made into a six player brawl fest. It was an amazingly fun party game!
I love my sega saturn. I play sega ages, sega rally (with the arcade racer wheel), Alien trilogy and my all time fave Bubble bobble and Rainbow islands.
I didn't have a TV in the house until I was 17, but I'll never forget playing Panzer Dragoon on the Saturn at Target. My search to find the name of the game is what got me into retro gaming.
In my opinion, the Saturn has some of the best composite output I’ve ever seen. Sure, composite will never be good, but even on a 4K tv I didn’t notice the artifacts as much. Is that just me?
My opinion about Sega would be that they were always ahead of their time. Which hurt them cuz the world wasn't ready to change with them I guess. They took big risks. I think that everytime a technology was available they quick wanted to implement it. I commend them for having some balls and trying to raise the bar and push the industry forward. I love Sega and I hope to see another console one day. I'm sure people would definitely buy it.
Sega of America DESPISED the 32X and wanted to keep it out of their markets. Their resistance to Saturn was because they didn't believe in the off the shelf components, and had a competing plan to co-develop a console with Sony. In retrospect.... not a bad plan. But Sega's always been deeply dysfunctional as a company.
I had a good friend who had one of these back in the day. Loved going over to his house back in 96 - 98 to play this console. Played a lot of Virtua Fighter 2, Bug, Daytona USA, and of course Nights. Excellent console! Great advise too on importing for it, definitely way cheaper then buying domestic titles.
Also great video, many thanks. Owning a mega drive as a kid I remember begging my parents in 1995 when I was 7 for a Saturn, I was desperate. Used to poor over anything Saturn related in gamesmaster magazines. They bought me a pc instead which was arguably the right thing to do lol. I just finally found a mint condition Saturn for a good price so I have finally realised my dream of owning one. ;)
The Saturn is an awesome console with tons of great games. Sega management in Japan should have listened more to Kalinski in America. I've still got my launch Saturn, modded to play Japanese games with 70 games. it's my most beloved console, just ahead of my Dreamcast and Jaguar. I was at the Sega conference at E3 95 when they sprung the news. Our jaws dropped. It was megaton level shit. Love these videos, great work.
Take what Kalinske and other SOA executives say with a grain of salt, because most people have only ever heard of their accounts and not what the Japanese side has to say. There's likely some bias and blame shifting going on; them not wanting to be responisble for their console business going under.
One thing that helped the Saturn to get some popularity in Portugal: A game show where you face an evil Identity that rules an post-apocaliptic world by playing Sega console and GAmes, and the end of each show was mostly a Virtual Fighter match lol .... OW, and DBZ also helped the Saturn (DragonballZ The LEgend for the Saturn was a game placed in the dragonball mania in Portugal around the mid 90´s lol)
Eh, eh...I completely remember that. "Templo dos jogos" was a cool show. I always wanted to be there to kick some ass with Virtua Fighter 2. Saturn was very popular on its early years around here.
Oh my God! Burning Rangers @20:16 I fell in love with that song on PSO v.2 and always wanted to play the Saturn game. Adam Koralik, you rock. Thank you for doing all these videos and this history on Sega. It's one of those nostalgic things that really hits home for me, and it's nice to see that people with far more passion over the company than I've ever had exist. Without you, Sega's history would slowly disappear.
Sega Saturn was a console very advanced before the Playstation 1, in this time the Saturn has two modes cd and cartridges to might play boths if not have cartridges plays compact discs games, is a console with memory card 4mb first in your time , Despite the fact that Playstation 1 was the console that ends up displacing Sega Saturn this console caused a great impact in being the first to use discs and cartridges and that the Playstation extended its range of games and use a memory card twice as much that it ends up reigning and be replaced by a great Playstation 2.
Thanks for the video! My first memory of the Saturn was when I was in 3rd grade in Toys R Us. There was a Saturn demo console with Virtua Fighter and across the aisle was a PlayStation demo console with Battle Area Toshinden. I was drawn to the Saturn but ultimately got a PlayStation a few years later as most of my friends had one. I got a white Japanese Saturn on eBay last summer pretty much so I could play X-Men vs Street Fighter and it's so much fun. My other favorite games for it are Assault Suit Leynos 2 (amazing!) and Gunbird. I ordered Layer Section yesterday so looking forward to play more Saturn games.
I really must thank you for mentioning Panzer Dragoon Saga in this video Adam. That got me interested in it, and after deciding neither to pay $400 for it nor import a Japanese copy that I wouldn't be able to read, I burned the game and have been playing it via the disc swap trick. Damn is it an awesome game. You said in this video that you hadn't finished it, so if that holds true today I *highly* recommend that you whip that baby out and do so. It's worth it.
dude the Wipeout on Saturn rang faster and smoother then the PlayStation version I have both but will only play the Saturn version,well till my Saturn died😵
Awesome. I designed the Dreamcast DVD sleeve you have at 26:27. One thing I did with all my Japanese Dreamcast DVD sleeves was replace GD-ROM on the back with CD-R. Pretty cool. Great video, loved every bit of it. Please keep em coming.
The reason the Tomb Raider sequels were exclusive to Playstation is because Sony paid to keep it off the Saturn so the Saturn would die. Of course Sony fanboys are ok with this, but call MS evil for making a timed exclusivity deal for Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Been watching all your videos. Most of the stuff on the older consoles I already knew but had kind of forgotten so was a good refresher. I wish you had included some actual footage of gameplay of some of your favourite games. I'm guessing there is a lot of video editing and work in general but would just be the icing on the cake. Especially some of those older consoles or rare games.
Bless you kind sir. I recently rediscovered the Saturn after playing it way back when. Your point about sega not building any awareness of its products was spot on for my experience with it as a kid. I love that now I'm getting into it again for all the imports I never knew existed, but the process of getting them for reasonable prices is sometimes a depressing quest.
I never owned a playstation.. I bought a Saturn and loved it. I died inside when the Dreamcast died, I did buy a Wii but never buy another console since.
nevermind824 I headed for Nintendo when the Dreamcast died too, although I started with the Gamecube. Between those two consoles, I played the two finest games that I have ever seen - Shenmue and Metroid Prime. Both are as close as any game has ever been to perfection. Nintendo still being around makes it vastly more bearable that Sega don't make their own machines any more. Here's hoping that the Shenmue 3 kickstarter works out...
Tawasiel 2008 yeah PC and loving it. I can't even use a controller anymore, mouse and keyboard is just so much better. I built a top of the line PC about 4 years ago and it is running fallout 4 60fps+ max settings... better than ps4 and xbox. Suprising
Having started gaming with the Mega Drive, I wanted the Saturn to be my next system, staying loyal to Sega even though everyone else went for Sony's PlayStation. But with the Saturn showing minor signs of losing its foothold in the market in 1997 and going greatly downhill in 1998, I got a PlayStation in May that year. I have no regrets for having got the Saturn early on!
As a child only be able to choose one console unfortunately the Saturn was no real option for me because the Playstation and the N64 were famous for many amazing games, and the (also more expensive) Saturn not. After the Dreamcast get discontinued I was shocked and couldn't believe Sega is out of hardware business, and it made me even more sad to miss the Saturn out.
just had to subscribe since your almost the only person talking about the Saturn, and still have a passion for it like I do, keep doing what you're doing.
I actually think Astal was actually gonna be a 32X game originally. The way the game looks reminds me of the colors and design of some of the 32X games like Knuckles Chaotix.
Kinda stings looking back on these old videos and realizing how much game prices have inflated. Astal has gone from around $35-40 complete in box to being worth nearly $100 CIB in 2022.
It seems incredible that there wasn't a genuine Saturn Sonic game available at launch, never mind that one wasn't released for during the entire life of the console. However, the West/East schism probably explains it. Sonic Team was a Japanese division but Sonic was a massive success story in the US and Europe. Sega of Japan probably didn't see it as a priority especially as the Saturn was doing quite well there. I would love to have seen a 2D/2.5D Sonic game using the Saturn's 2d capabilities. While the Adventure games on Dreamcast were OK, the series definitely peaked with S3&K. A Saturn sonic game could have taken the series to a new level and built on S3&K's style of creating a sense of a huge game world to explore through its vast stages. I would have envisaged multiple pathways through to the end of the game, greatly increasing replay value.
Actually, sonic adventure was planned for the saturn at one point(hell, there are even videos and images of classic sonic models from sonic jam in beta sonic adventure), but it was moved to the dreamcast because of hardware limitations. Sonic jam's hubworld spring model is actually inside sonic adventure's files, but was left unused.
+markafc83 From what I've read what mostly killed Sonic X-treme was Yuji Naka refusing to let STI use his game engine basically not only forcing STI to scrap the work they'd already done but to try to make a new game engine from scratch for it.
+markafc83 your right with games like clockwork knight or bug we could of had a cool 2d or 2.5d sonic game but with sm64 and crash bandicot the market didnt think so and even then by the time sonic team were making a sonic game for saturn it was too late...
I was a huge SEGA fan as a kid and I suffered the same thing you did. It wasn't until I was 18 years old, years after SEGA went under, that I had even heard of the Saturn.
Very interesting overview Adam. Even at the time, the facepalms were so obvious by Sega, especially regarding rushed releases of important titles and overlapping / competing hardware. Sega's late adoption of 3D was strange since they were the leaders in the 3D arcade realm, and Im sure many people were excited for the release of the Saturn for the Sega Model 2 conversions. One genre not touched on was 2D fighting games. The ports of Capcom's arcade fighters were the best available, especially with the 4MB ram cart. The 2nd version of the Saturn controller still stands to this day as the best 2D - fighting pad ever made. Also the hugely disappointing conversion of Daytona was mentioned, but not the fantastic version of Sega Rally, truly one of the all time greatest console driving games.
AdamKoralik Would like to see that extended one* Thinking a little more about the late adoption of 3D - arcade point, the parallel just struck me about the Sega/Mega CD. It came with all the custom sprite scaling chips, and Sega never bothered to port their amazing library of 2D scaling driving games. The best 16bit home conversion of any of those games was 'Outrunners' on the vanilla Mega Drive / Genesis, released a year after the Sega CD's release! Sega why did I keep coming back to you after so much abuse..
Next to the NES and Super Nintendo this is my favorite console of all time! I do have the region unlock cart, but the next time I go to Tokyo I'm going to try to find a white or a gray one for $20 in Akihabara. You should go to Akihabara someday too Mr. Adam Koralik! They have stores full of old consoles, games and what not in frigging stacks. You'd love it!
If the PS1 wasn't made and the N64 and Saturn still ended up in their present form, the highest chance is that FF7 would've actually been made for the PC, or maybe even an earlier released Xbox. One thing to keep in mind is that the N64 was the most powerful console graphically of the 5th gen, yet the PS1 does have hardware that can easily mimick what the N64 can do graphically, which helped give the PS1 it's edge. The Saturn did not have that, and was actually closer in graphical terms to the SNES than it was to the N64. What gave the PS1 it's edge was it was a Win-Win console, it was graphically powerful and used CDs. The N64 and Saturn were Win-Lose. The N64 was graphically powerful but used cartridges, and the Saturn used CDs but was graphically weak. So had the PS1 never been made and the N64 and Saturn ended up in their present form, many developers would've most likely been disgusted with the Win-Lose specs of both consoles and would've jumped ship to PCs, and/or Microsoft would've entered the console race with the Xbox in around 1997 instead of 2001 as it would be the perfect time to strike with Nintendo and Sega both in the mud.
The XBox wouldn't have come out earlier. In fact, if the Playstation never existed, it's doubtful Microsoft would have even bothered making the Xbox, as the entire thing from helping Sega to release, and even to this day was a knee jerk reaction by an upset Bill Gates at the rejection of DirectX on the PS2. Bill Gates was a genius, albiet a vengeful genius, and good God can the man hold a grudge. Hell, he even named the Xbox Project Midway.
Captain Blackey, that is just nonsense, the Saturn was at a technical level, more powerful than the playstation, it had 2 32 bit risk cpu's vs. playstation's 1, it had 2 display processors vs. playstation's 1, it also had twice the ram with 4 meg in total, 2 meg for the system, 1 meg for video and 1 meg for audio, the playstation only had 2 meg, 1 for system, 512 k each for video and ram, the Saturn was just notoriously difficult to program for and Sega was stupidly slow at releasing it's development tools for it.
Wisconsin State Fair, in the mid 90s, I remember seeing a Sega Saturn display unit outside with Bug! playing on it. At the time, the 3D graphics blew my little kid mind!
I know this was a long video and there's plenty that could have been discussed that wasn't but I think it is important to address something. The Sega Saturn's failure was almost entirely the fault of Sega of Japan. They were the idiots that this video mentions. They did the stupidest thing ever which led to the sorry state Sega is in today. They fucked over the guy who was responsible for making the Genesis a success in North America. When Tom Kalinske took over as the President of Sega of America, he was promised to have full autonomy in the US. As a result, he managed to do what Sega of Japan couldn't do. He made the Genesis a success in North America. Some Japanese executives felt insulted by this America who upstaged them even though he as making them money. As the years went on, Japan started to breach that autonomy. Tom's suggestions were turned down at every corner. He insisted on using a simple, single processor architecture for the Saturn and wanted to partner with Silicon Graphics. Japan turned down the offer and insisted on their more complex design. He insisted on NOT releasing the 32X but Japan forced Sega of America to be in charge of the project. He wanted to sell the Sega Saturn for a more competitive price, which would have resulted in some initial loss of money but would have been better for gaining a foothold but he was turned down. He insisted on a September 1995 launch in order to get a marketing campaign underway, but the Japanese forced the surprise May 1995 launch. All this led to Tom Kalinske's departure in 1996 and they brought in Bernie Stolar. We all know where that went. Also, for the US, 1991 was almost like a re-launch of the Genesis thanks to Sonic the Hedgehog. Meanwhile in Japan, they were already hard at work on a next-gen console. So when the Saturn was ready Japan, the oversees markets had at least 2 years of good Genesis support left. This is why there was much conflict between Sega Japan and SOA over how much longer the Genesis should be supported for.
Jon-Erich Smith Yeah I also learned about SOJ's incompetence after reading Console Wars then following up with a Google search. I'm glad you did your research.
Sega had a chance to team up with Sony to develop the PlayStation after Nintendo stabbed Sony in the back with the SNES CD add-on debacle. Tom Kalinske wanted to pursue this joint venture, and almost everyone, including Sega of America, Ken Kutaragi (the father of the PlayStation) and other executives at Sony, were on board as well, even going far as to say that they would go halfsies on each system they sell at a loss. But not Sega of Japan. When Tom proposed this idea to SoJ executives, they immediately shot it down, dismissing Sony as having no knowledge of console development. But Sony's technological know-how, determination, marketing, and vision of the future and what video gamers truly wanted propelled the PS1 and its successors to be very successful, even without the help of other console developers like Sega and Nintendo. I think that if Sega of Japan had not become arrogant and just kept taking Tom Kalinske's ideas into consideration, we perhaps might have gotten the SEGA PlayStation, or at least gotten a glimpse of it. According to Tom Kalinske, he called Sega of Japan's refusal to work with Sony on the PlayStation "the stupidest decision ever made in the history of business".
might seem strange, but the saturn is the first 5th gen console that i had ever heard of (at the time). i remember it appearing out of nowhere one day at the local electronics shop. they had johnny bazookatone playing and i was shocked at the sound quality and the background effects. good memories, good times
+AdamKoralik Thank you for making this video I have seen this video numerous times since you first uploaded it over a year ago. The Sega Saturn is my most favorite underrated console of all time because it is my first console I can remember ever seeing with my own 2 eyes at the age of roughly 2 or 3 years old around 1996-1997 or 1998. I was living on the Big Island of Hawaii in a town called Waimea there was a strip mall and within that strip mall was a high end toy store that had every toy out on the commercial toy/Video game market. I remember seeing loop a loop Hot Wheels sets on display literally all put out for every one to see to Mega-block sets that where glow in the dark and also within that store there was a square black console with a CD tray, a memory port in the back, two controller ports, the second edition Sega Saturn controller attach two the console, And the console was not in the kiosk but rather out in the open on display, Plus I distinctly remember the planetary logo on that console (which is obviously named after the Planet of the same name). And lastly I remember seeing a TV set (not a flat screen like it is today) displaying a game which was Sonic R and Possibly Nights into Dreams from time to time.
Fantastic video yet again, Adam! You went into detail about so much I had never heard before. Great job. Such a shame the Saturn didn't do well at all, it's a great little system. Unfortunately, it was such a colossal fail over here in the UK that pretty much every person who comes to my arcade has never even heard of it, yet alone seen one. They get blown away by seeing my Saturn collection and start asking questions and want to play it out of curiosity. It's a lot of fun :)
I remember seeing promo videos and commercials for the Saturn all the time when it was (going to be) released over here in Germany. Always wanted one myself but my mom couldn't afford the money and eventually got us _one_ of the _three_ N64s that also stopped her from getting me a Dreamcast. But still thanks for that great video, AdamKoralik, at some point I'll sure get my hands on a Saturn. By the way, Sonic R is amazing in every aspect.
In my opinion the most graphically technical and one of the best games for the Saturn was Myst it looked utterly amazing , dear God you can put in hundreds and hundreds of hours into that game trying to figure it all out to this day I’m not sure that I ever beat it to the end
If I want a Saturn, do you recommend just straight out buying a japanese Sega Saturn or would you still recommend buying a North American Sega Saturn with a region-unlock cartridge?
I'd recommend a Japanese Saturn with an Action Replay to unlock region code. Aside from being more aesthetically pleasing, you would be able to use the 4 MB RAM cart games more easily.
Really, Adam? You talk of the console's success in Japan with no mention of Segata Sanshiro? Or even the fact that the final commercial he was in had him sacrificing his life to save Sega from a terrorist missile that was meant to destroy the Dreamcast? For shame. I once saw a Saturn at a thrift store years ago when I think I was in middle school or the first years of high school. I think it was 30 dollars, It had no cords or controllers, and of course, my mother wouldn't agree to it. Nowadays, I regret not getting it because I like to learn about how to mod and improve console hardware and would love to clean and restore one if it weren't working. At the same thrift store, I got a working NES top loader for 12-15 bucks, I can't exactly remember. At least that was a good find.
AdamKoralik Ah, okay. Still, I think it would have been worth keeping in the section on him since his popularity in Japan was one of the bigger factors of the console's success in Japan.
The Sega Saturn is probably the most underrated console. Even more underrated than the Dreamcast because at least the Dreamcast has a big fan community and is widely known to core gaming fans.
I got a Sega Saturn for Christmas in 1995 when I was 11. My parents got it for me because I absolutely loved my Sega Genesis and even had a 32X. That was, hands down, the best Christmas ever. It came with 3 games (Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter and Virtua Cop). I eventually got Tomb Raider, X-Men vs Street Fighter, Street Fighter Alpha 3, a DarkStalkers game, and of course NiGHTS into Dreams with the bundled analog pad. I always wanted to get Shining Force III since I was a massive Shining Force I and II fan, but could never find it. I eventually moved on to the Sony PlayStation once support for the Saturn started dwindling, but the Saturn will always hold a very special place in my heart. I certainly wish I still had mine.
Chris Mauffray Wow, that would have been an awesome Christmas. I had to get my Saturn fix at the time by heading to the local department store and playing the Sega Rally demo for embarrassingly long periods of time :D
Chris Mauffray Great choices buddy
I mean I can't complain. Virtua, X-Men vs Street Fighter, SFA 3, Darkstalkers and possibly SF3? Who can complain? I'd wait on the lines.
Why don't you buy another one? You can pick them up relatively cheap, and you never...ever know what someone has at a garage sale, you could possibly pick up panzer dragoon saga or any of them for 50 cents.
I will probably get a Saturn soon, and just import the games.
I've actually been thinking about moving to Japan so I may even just wait until that happens ( pipe dream ) but, you never know :)
Chris Mauffray (look up pseudo Saturn if you're interested)
This guy should teach video game history in a college.
Joshua Ballard Appreciated.
Maybe his class is behind the camera :)
@@AdamKoralik GA Tech has a ton of video game classes. If you are ever in Atlanta anyone from the public can audit them for free. Would be a cool video for you to make on afterwards about the experience.
Who needs to go to med school when you can be a professional gaming historian..
That actually sounds awesome lol
Colleges are dumb tho
Some kids today have never even heard of SEGA. Its very sad what happened to them. Very sad indeed. The gaming world would be a better place with a SEGA console in it.
True I still have my Saturn and Dreamcast and my little brother told me “wait SEGA used to make consoles I thought they only make bad games”
@@rickyrosay33977 slap him with a wet fish 🐟
I'm a 14 year old and a retro gaming fan. I can assure you there are a lot of kids that don't know nothing about SEGA, which is incredibly disappointing. They all just care of shallow games like Fortnite and Roblox
@@rtroisback My late uncle showed me and my sister his Sega Genesis when we were very little, it was one of the very first consoles I played.
Was the only kid in my village with a Saturn back in 96,but never regretted it. Fighting Vipers,Deep Fear and Resident Evil were the absolute nuts on this console.
You lived in a actual village?
Nivada Stars no lol
@@davidvasey5065 what do you consider a village? A village is like a off grid Town of mud huts and tikis
@@davidvasey5065 we just don't use the word village. When I think of a village I think of a small tight nit poverty stricken town in Africa
SEGA's management is what destroyed the Saturn. I was SOOO pissed off during this time period. I knew all about the Saturn before the 32X hit, and I purposely didn't buy a 32X in order to save up for the Saturn. It was a good call, but that launch...wow. SEGA was always so damn reactionary. The second processor, the surprise launch, all of it. It was a disaster of biblical proportions. What’s worse, Sony destroyed the Saturn right out of the gate by basically going ‘oh hey, our new shiny 3D powerhouse, umm yeah, it’ll only cost ya $299.99. Take that bitches!’ SEGA was never able to counter that regardless of some truly amazing deal during holiday 1996, and even into ’97.
You’re right on about Virtua Fighter and Daytona. Long time arcade fans such as myself were omega pissed off by those releases. They were absolutely abysmal. The whole launch line-up was just sad, this is especially true when you compare it to the PlayStation’s launch later that year. SEGA did what they could in ’96 and ’97, but when Bernie opened his mouth with that famous quote everything just stopped, and I do mean everything. I was buying N64, Saturn, and PlayStation games at that point in time, but once Bernie said the Saturn wasn’t the future of SEGA, suddenly I found myself buying N64 and PS1 games, not because I didn’t want Saturn games, it was that they just dried up overnight. You can see it too if you look at the release schedule. I own every single Saturn release from around July 1997 until the end of ’98. It’s only a handful of releases, which is so, so unfortunate. Who knows what would have happened had he just shut up. Would they have won, no, but we likely would have more games get released.
All that said, the Saturn is actually one of my favorite consoles. It was the system that taught me what it means to import. I have over 150 import games for the system that I bought back when it was relevant. From shmups to fighters, to everything in-between. The arcade perfect ports of Capcom’s fighters were amazing. All my friends were jealous back in the day, and going back today to play them is a blast because they hold up so well.
My favorite joystick of all time was released for the Saturn (the HSS-0130), and the last Camelot RPGs from their time with SEGA were also only available on the Saturn (Shining Force III and Shining the Holy Ark). So many fantastic memories!
It’s funny you mentioned the NetLink, I was a hardcore Saturn fan and I honestly didn’t even know about it because only five games actually work with it. The funny thing is that I bought it and actually played someone online (Sega Saturn NetLink - Setting Up An Online Match). It works to this very day because it was peer-to-peer and not server based.
Overall the SEGA Saturn is a console that was overlooked by everyone, but I’m super happy it has been getting more time in the spotlight over the past few years. I’m also happy I purchased all the games I did back when the system was on store shelves. Going after the Saturn collection today is no easy task considering how expensive so many of the games are.
I adored this episode as you brought back so many fantastic memories. If you made it this far, all I can say is, keep up the great work! I can’t wait for the next two parts :)
+Project COE: Hey buddy, good to see you here. Nice article and summary of Sega Saturn. Too well said and I keep a copy of it in my Saturn History folder!
Glad you enjoyed :)
Sega’s mismanagement was what ultimately destroyed them as a company, not just the Saturn.
this doesn't even cover what Bernard "The Saturn is not our future" Stolar did.
He basically refused a lot of the Saturn's Japanese library because he said "2D was on the way out" (which I kinda get, since it was the 90s, where everything was transitioning to 3D) and RPGs were "too nerdy to be popular" (mind you he said this in 1997, a few months before a little-known Playstation game called Final Fantasy VII was due to be released).
Want more of his antics? He cancelled the Dreamcast Streets of Rage 4 because he had never heard of Streets of Rage before. Yes, I'm serious.
How about more antics? EA initially had interest in the Dreamcast, but Stolar denied them being a third party publisher because Sega had recently bought out a sports game developer called Visual Concepts. This, of course, would doom the Dreamcast to failure.
@@SirDibble25 Sega consoles aint niche bruh its just the consoles are and Sony and Microsoft are doing the right thing for making console exclusives
You know how people binge watch old TV shows? I have been binge watching Adam Koralik videos! I miss these generation recaps! Keep up the good work dude!
Always cool seeing people discover the greatness that was the Saturn years later.
I was 18 when the Saturn launched. Bought a Japanese import machine on day 1 back in November '94. Great memories of that system, I stood by it till the bitter end and then picked up a DC on day one also. Boy do I feel old! Never bought a Sony console until 2001, I was definitely a SEGA/Nintendo fanboy back in the day.
When he made this video, Panzer Dragoon Saga was worth around $300-350 complete in box. It's 2022 and this game is now worth around $1,000-1,100 CIB. Insane.
People in america would be playing more Sega Saturn if Segata Sanshiro went to america
I totally agree.
道神恵 ...and brought all those great Japanese exclusives with him.
yes
100% AGREE.
Man..Imagine is Sega used the hype from the Genesis to launch the Saturn and kept the idea of playing Genesis games? I think everyone who owned the Genesis would have bough the Saturn just for the cross compatibility alone.
Yeah but SEGA Japan were stupid and didn't want to and helped kill the saturn in NA/EU
Nintendo64_Lover Sega was NOT a well ran company..lol.
I love how when Sega was popular over here in America, Japan hated them, but when we didn't care for Sega, they loved 'em. Go figure.
+SeepMan Productions wasn't Sega more popular in Europe?
Uh no, Japan didn't love Master System even when it got crushed in America...and Dreamcast was popular [relatively] everywhere except Europe.
The failure of the Saturn also came to the fact because of this:
- Sega CD
- Sega 32X
- Sega Game Gear
- Sega Nomad
- Sega Pico
All of these, including the Genesis and the Master System, are manufactured and released CONCURRENTLY. That's a lot of money! So basically, they squandered all of their success in excess. Not a good move.
BlueComet001 Agreed.
Sega CD was marketed as a add-on while 32x was marketed as a next gen system
don't forget Bernard Stolar being a dumbass
If I was like the CEO of Sega I would’ve dropped all the systems except the Saturn (of course), the Game Gear, and the genesis but only 2 years into the Saturns life
The Model 2 controller is one of the best controllers ever made. The d-pad is fantastic for fighting games.
that good that it was reissued for the ps2 and recently for switch ps3 pc and saturn lmao.
Great video. Made me all nostalgic for my old Sega Saturn. Surprised you didn't mention the near-perfect arcade ports of the Capcom Marvel Vs Series with the 4MB cartridge.
Thanks. Sorry, can't mention everything.
No problems man. It's a subjective thing. It was only watching this video that I realised, in retrospect, that I was a Sega fanboy. I remembered being actually quite defensive about the Playstation when it came out, which is why the Marvel VS fighters stood out to me: it was one of the few multiplatform games that was significantly better on the Saturn, since the RAM expansion allowed the character switching mechanism to work, a feat the Playsation versions couldn't do.
I am 25 and had one of these when I was 7 years old and had all the games you mentioned plus more and loved them. I still have that saturn to this day I just don't play it anymore..
If only Sega had waited before releasing their shit, we could have had a dreamcast 3 by now
And it would've sucked too
James Green L
All they had to do was teach developers how to use the processors in tandem and share their texture libraries.
I was also disappointed that you can't use the Saturn cartridge slot for Genesis games. Missed opportunity.
Yeah, but there was no native Genesis hardware inside the Saturn.
Well, yes. Nobody is saying there is.
V3n0m7777 I know, but you said it was a missed opportunity, and I'm not entirely sure if it would have been a good investment to put it in.
3 months ago I was saying that I would have liked to have had that feature in the Saturn. Sega, clearly didn't agree.
Actually, the Sega Saturn has a Motorola 68k as it's sound cpu, the same cpu as in the Genesis, the Saturn could, with the right cart slot and optimizations, play a Genesis game.
So the Saturn is like the Wii U.
no because nintendo tried to push the wii u and stuck with the system at least throught the traditional console life cycle sega made no attempt to push the system and dropped it
SkulShurtugalTCG Yep
In precisely no way at all, sure.
lmao, no Nintendo ditched the Wii U right away, only focusing on 3DS the entire generation.
JustS0meAssHole Actually no, since the Switch is pretty successful
I actually had one of these growing up. I knew about it because of my magazine subscription to Sega Visions. Sold my Genesis and all my games and saved up some allowances for it. I owned Daytona USA and the CCE Edition, Virtual Racing, Virtual Fighter, Sonic 3D Blast, and Panzer Dragoon. For a while you could find the games to rent at video stores. My older sisters boyfriend worked at one and would always bring me different games to try. I used to go to the Electronics Boutique at the Local mall and look at all the games for it. Eventually after a couple years or so I noticed all the games for it just kinda disappeared. Not in stores. Not available to rent. And none of my friends whom I brought over had ever even heard of the thing. Being 12 or so in 1998 I was totally ignorant to what was happening behind the scenes and eventually ended up with a N64. Great video, been watching all of these.
Interesting that there was so little exposure to the Saturn in the US. It certainly wasn’t a big hit over here in the UK, but everyone was definitely aware of it (mostly as the butt of jokes). I actually knew a few people who owned one, but their interest slowly petered out when it became obvious how much it struggled with 3D games. By the time the N64 came out, the Saturn was pretty much irrelevant and most people had switched to PlayStation. It had potential, but in the end it's just another example of Sega reacting to last-generation problems instead of planning ahead.
Funny to see you here, also interesting fact
Yooo the drinker is here!!
I know this video is old, but I recently came upon a Sega Saturn FINALLY! I passed up on two chances to get a Saturn in my life only to finally get one in 2021.
I am not disappointed. The retro store I bought my Saturn at came with an Action Replay for Region Free Gaming, and the first game I bought and tried with the system was Nights into Dreams with the 3D Controller. I definitely knew about Nights, but never played it until then, and I was instantly in love. I heard so many mixed things about the Saturn's 3D Pad to the point that I was a little nervous, but it instantly clicked and I had nothing but smiles and laughter while playing.
I feel the same way. I'm so disappointed with myself for passing up on this console for so many years.
A whole more 4 Mb of RAM?!?!?!?!? SHUP UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!
I watched this boy non-stop when I was laid up from a motorcycling accident. He's sharp and funny.
Hope you're doing well.
I'm well, thank you.
+ Salem the Engineer Thanks for watching! Die Hard Arcade was pretty fun.
***** Thanks!
Now have you tried specifically Resident Evil on Sega Saturn w/rgb and scart?
I like the saturn but its a little bit underrated
first time I played this console was in my rich friends house I cant even remember her name but her brother had one and Loaded and Virtua fighter 2 and I played the shit out of loaded that day but at the time I didn't now what console I was playing with I thought is was a weird PS1 cause the consoles name was hidden and at the time consoles where more a novelty and I didn't care about them but a few years later I spotted one for sale for £20 punt (Irish Pounds before the Euro) in are local ToyMaster and my parents bought me it and I have had it ever since great console but I never got loaded for it most find that
Kevin Ayres Loaded was a great game but did get boring after a while as it was quite repetetive. Oh the good old days
Segata Sanshiro,
Segata Sanshiro,
Sega Sa-aturn SHIRO!!!!!
(I'm sorry, I just love that campaign)
I too remember stumbling over the Saturn here in sweden in my teens. It was this weird thing. Noone I knew had one. All the demo-stations had just a strange pseudo 3D Sonic. So only recently I have found out all of these things about this console. And I really think that if they gave us the Segata ad-campaign that they ran in japan it might have done better. Because it wasn't so much that we didn't want it or that the library was bad. It was mostly, I think, that they really failed in letting us know it existed at all.
Fascinating console.Friend mentioned this console when I mentioned getting a Dreamcast. Really interesting
My Girlfriend and I bought the Sega Saturn for Christmas 1995 along with the driving wheel. Sega Rally 95. The Hockey game. The Golf and Hockey games and I thing maybe soccer and Bug. It was a fun Christmas I still have it today.
resident evil 1 for the saturn is the best version it has extra content that i have never seen in any other version
The one console that always stays hooked up and ready to go. Twenty plus years and it still entertains with so many unique and amazing games that it just never gets old. I fire up Christmas Nights every year around the holidays, and Saturn Bomberman is the best party game EVER! I got my "$600" worth for sure.
I just pick up a Saturn today
Congratulations!
if you are ever in the Philly area go to the king of prussia mall and check out Jay street video games
I was there a couple months ago for Too Many Games actually. Didn't go there though.
Thats right i remember your Too Many Games video. Jay Street Is where i normal go they they have two locations in the Mall with relatively different stock in each store which is nice i would totally recommend you checking them out next time you visit the Philly area. (btw i don't work there)
+Metal Game World There's also one in Plymouth Meeting Mall and while they have alot of old but common stuff, I didnt see any Saturns or TG16s. I was even looking to get into the GameCube, but no one has a copy of Killer 7, Lugis Mansion or Viewtiful Joe. I'll def chk out KOP though
I know this comment comes 9 years later but just two minutes in and yeah, that's Sega's business model in a nutshell. Have an idea for a new console, built it, yeah!!! Oh, it already conflicts with another console we already have on the model, F it, build it anyway, yeah!!! I look forward to enjoying the rest of the video.
Probably my favorite system. The games on it are just so unique and incredible.
My village loved the Sega Saturn. Almost all the kids bought one. We got a big projector and all the village people felt motivated to play its 2d glory. Then we put on Adam Koralik's youtube videos on the projector and we all worshipped him and gave praise to his intellect. Hail Sega!
Guardian Heroes was my personal favorite game for this console. Image Golden Axe and Street Fighter mashed up and made into a six player brawl fest. It was an amazingly fun party game!
I love these videos! I usually prefer more clips of gameplay but your knowledge of game history is a joy to listen to.
I love my sega saturn. I play sega ages, sega rally (with the arcade racer wheel), Alien trilogy and my all time fave Bubble bobble and Rainbow islands.
I didn't have a TV in the house until I was 17, but I'll never forget playing Panzer Dragoon on the Saturn at Target. My search to find the name of the game is what got me into retro gaming.
In my opinion, the Saturn has some of the best composite output I’ve ever seen. Sure, composite will never be good, but even on a 4K tv I didn’t notice the artifacts as much. Is that just me?
I thoroughly enjoy your videos about all these classic video game systems. Keep up the good work, my friend.
My opinion about Sega would be that they were always ahead of their time. Which hurt them cuz the world wasn't ready to change with them I guess. They took big risks. I think that everytime a technology was available they quick wanted to implement it. I commend them for having some balls and trying to raise the bar and push the industry forward. I love Sega and I hope to see another console one day. I'm sure people would definitely buy it.
Sega gave us great stuff but didn't promote it all that well.
Cept the mega drive,that was promoted fantastically
I agree.
Sega of America DESPISED the 32X and wanted to keep it out of their markets. Their resistance to Saturn was because they didn't believe in the off the shelf components, and had a competing plan to co-develop a console with Sony. In retrospect.... not a bad plan. But Sega's always been deeply dysfunctional as a company.
It still baffles me how much goodwill Sega pissed away post-Genesis.
I had a good friend who had one of these back in the day. Loved going over to his house back in 96 - 98 to play this console. Played a lot of Virtua Fighter 2, Bug, Daytona USA, and of course Nights. Excellent console! Great advise too on importing for it, definitely way cheaper then buying domestic titles.
Guardian hero's was amazing on Saturn, not to mention Warcraft 2 was on Saturn as well.
I definitely plan on buying a Saturn. I already have a list of accessories and games planned.
"More of a Dead or Alive guy"
I like you more and more each video, Adam.
Also great video, many thanks. Owning a mega drive as a kid I remember begging my parents in 1995 when I was 7 for a Saturn, I was desperate. Used to poor over anything Saturn related in gamesmaster magazines. They bought me a pc instead which was arguably the right thing to do lol. I just finally found a mint condition Saturn for a good price so I have finally realised my dream of owning one. ;)
Maybe the Saturn would've done a bit better in America if it had been advertised with someone like Segata Sanshiro. Seriously, he was amazing!!
The Saturn is an awesome console with tons of great games. Sega management in Japan should have listened more to Kalinski in America.
I've still got my launch Saturn, modded to play Japanese games with 70 games. it's my most beloved console, just ahead of my Dreamcast and Jaguar.
I was at the Sega conference at E3 95 when they sprung the news. Our jaws dropped. It was megaton level shit.
Love these videos, great work.
Agree on the Kalinski thing.
Take what Kalinske and other SOA executives say with a grain of salt, because most people have only ever heard of their accounts and not what the Japanese side has to say. There's likely some bias and blame shifting going on; them not wanting to be responisble for their console business going under.
One thing that helped the Saturn to get some popularity in Portugal: A game show where you face an evil Identity that rules an post-apocaliptic world by playing Sega console and GAmes, and the end of each show was mostly a Virtual Fighter match lol .... OW, and DBZ also helped the Saturn (DragonballZ The LEgend for the Saturn was a game placed in the dragonball mania in Portugal around the mid 90´s lol)
Eh, eh...I completely remember that. "Templo dos jogos" was a cool show. I always wanted to be there to kick some ass with Virtua Fighter 2. Saturn was very popular on its early years around here.
Oh my God! Burning Rangers @20:16 I fell in love with that song on PSO v.2 and always wanted to play the Saturn game. Adam Koralik, you rock. Thank you for doing all these videos and this history on Sega. It's one of those nostalgic things that really hits home for me, and it's nice to see that people with far more passion over the company than I've ever had exist. Without you, Sega's history would slowly disappear.
Christopher Houser Thanks for watching!
Sega Saturn was a console very advanced before the Playstation 1, in this time the Saturn has two modes cd and cartridges to might play boths if not have cartridges plays compact discs games, is a console with memory card 4mb first in your time ,
Despite the fact that Playstation 1 was the console that ends up displacing Sega Saturn this console caused a great impact in being the first to use discs and cartridges and that the Playstation extended its range of games and use a memory card twice as much that it ends up reigning and be replaced by a great Playstation 2.
Thanks for the video! My first memory of the Saturn was when I was in 3rd grade in Toys R Us. There was a Saturn demo console with Virtua Fighter and across the aisle was a PlayStation demo console with Battle Area Toshinden. I was drawn to the Saturn but ultimately got a PlayStation a few years later as most of my friends had one. I got a white Japanese Saturn on eBay last summer pretty much so I could play X-Men vs Street Fighter and it's so much fun. My other favorite games for it are Assault Suit Leynos 2 (amazing!) and Gunbird. I ordered Layer Section yesterday so looking forward to play more Saturn games.
I really must thank you for mentioning Panzer Dragoon Saga in this video Adam. That got me interested in it, and after deciding neither to pay $400 for it nor import a Japanese copy that I wouldn't be able to read, I burned the game and have been playing it via the disc swap trick. Damn is it an awesome game. You said in this video that you hadn't finished it, so if that holds true today I *highly* recommend that you whip that baby out and do so. It's worth it.
What website did you use to burn it?
Rocco3255 I got the files from TheIsoZone.com I recommend ImgBurn for burning the discs.
dude the Wipeout on Saturn rang faster and smoother then the PlayStation version I have both but will only play the Saturn version,well till my Saturn died😵
Awesome. I designed the Dreamcast DVD sleeve you have at 26:27. One thing I did with all my Japanese Dreamcast DVD sleeves was replace GD-ROM on the back with CD-R. Pretty cool.
Great video, loved every bit of it. Please keep em coming.
Oh, ha, small world. Very nice design!
Thanks for watching.
I found out about the Saturn in 2008, I thought after the Genesis was the Dreamcast. lol
today i finally subbed. i cant deny that you have your finger on the pulse of retro gaming in a way that nobody else does.
thanks for the vids!
+William Hetherington Thanks!
The reason the Tomb Raider sequels were exclusive to Playstation is because Sony paid to keep it off the Saturn so the Saturn would die. Of course Sony fanboys are ok with this, but call MS evil for making a timed exclusivity deal for Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Been watching all your videos. Most of the stuff on the older consoles I already knew but had kind of forgotten so was a good refresher. I wish you had included some actual footage of gameplay of some of your favourite games. I'm guessing there is a lot of video editing and work in general but would just be the icing on the cake. Especially some of those older consoles or rare games.
Castlevania: Symphony of the night also had a Saturn version. Can't help but wonder if it had been an exclusive
no , they also made it on Playstation
Alexander Eastwood I know, that's why I said "if it HAD been"
+Zorbak962 yeh i see now lol sorry i miss read that comment.....actually i see your point ....that is interesting 🤔
And it didn't have nearly as much content or items, and you could not play as Maria on PS1.
The Saturn version of Castlevania- Symphony of the Night was only released in Japan. It never came out in the U.S. like the PlayStation version did.
Bless you kind sir. I recently rediscovered the Saturn after playing it way back when. Your point about sega not building any awareness of its products was spot on for my experience with it as a kid. I love that now I'm getting into it again for all the imports I never knew existed, but the process of getting them for reasonable prices is sometimes a depressing quest.
+Colin Gross Thanks for watching!
I never owned a playstation.. I bought a Saturn and loved it. I died inside when the Dreamcast died, I did buy a Wii but never buy another console since.
nevermind824 I headed for Nintendo when the Dreamcast died too, although I started with the Gamecube. Between those two consoles, I played the two finest games that I have ever seen - Shenmue and Metroid Prime. Both are as close as any game has ever been to perfection.
Nintendo still being around makes it vastly more bearable that Sega don't make their own machines any more. Here's hoping that the Shenmue 3 kickstarter works out...
I always considered the Xbox series a continuation, only because of the button layouts
Dam, do you play on pc then?
Tawasiel 2008
yeah PC and loving it. I can't even use a controller anymore, mouse and keyboard is just so much better. I built a top of the line PC about 4 years ago and it is running fallout 4 60fps+ max settings... better than ps4 and xbox. Suprising
Having started gaming with the Mega Drive, I wanted the Saturn to be my next system, staying loyal to Sega even though everyone else went for Sony's PlayStation. But with the Saturn showing minor signs of losing its foothold in the market in 1997 and going greatly downhill in 1998, I got a PlayStation in May that year.
I have no regrets for having got the Saturn early on!
The 3d world in sonic jam was apparently an early prototype of sonic adventure
As a child only be able to choose one console unfortunately the Saturn was no real option for me because the Playstation and the N64 were famous for many amazing games, and the (also more expensive) Saturn not. After the Dreamcast get discontinued I was shocked and couldn't believe Sega is out of hardware business, and it made me even more sad to miss the Saturn out.
Happy 20th Anniversary SEGA Saturn!! ^_^ ♥
NEXT YEAR:
Happy 25th anniversary SEGA Saturn (JPN)
I WISH they will be make saturn mini like MD
just had to subscribe since your almost the only person talking about the Saturn, and still have a passion for it like I do, keep doing what you're doing.
Thanks Tom!
I actually think Astal was actually gonna be a 32X game originally. The way the game looks reminds me of the colors and design of some of the 32X games like Knuckles Chaotix.
Kinda stings looking back on these old videos and realizing how much game prices have inflated. Astal has gone from around $35-40 complete in box to being worth nearly $100 CIB in 2022.
Love your videos about the consoles from each generation. Now i want a Mega Drive and Saturn all of a sudden, argh! thumbs up!
I had the saturn on UK release. Love it!
Lais Mac'Lovin me too loved it
I missed out on the Saturn too never had one at the time I bought mine this past year and I’m so glad what a wonderful console.
The Saturn had ported Capcom games better than Sony, but yeah...
Great to see some love for the Saturn. Thank you.
It seems incredible that there wasn't a genuine Saturn Sonic game available at launch, never mind that one wasn't released for during the entire life of the console.
However, the West/East schism probably explains it. Sonic Team was a Japanese division but Sonic was a massive success story in the US and Europe. Sega of Japan probably didn't see it as a priority especially as the Saturn was doing quite well there.
I would love to have seen a 2D/2.5D Sonic game using the Saturn's 2d capabilities. While the Adventure games on Dreamcast were OK, the series definitely peaked with S3&K. A Saturn sonic game could have taken the series to a new level and built on S3&K's style of creating a sense of a huge game world to explore through its vast stages. I would have envisaged multiple pathways through to the end of the game, greatly increasing replay value.
Actually, sonic adventure was planned for the saturn at one point(hell, there are even videos and images of classic sonic models from sonic jam in beta sonic adventure), but it was moved to the dreamcast because of hardware limitations. Sonic jam's hubworld spring model is actually inside sonic adventure's files, but was left unused.
+markafc83 From what I've read what mostly killed Sonic X-treme was Yuji Naka refusing to let STI use his game engine basically not only forcing STI to scrap the work they'd already done but to try to make a new game engine from scratch for it.
+markafc83 your right with games like clockwork knight or bug we could of had a cool 2d or 2.5d sonic game but with sm64 and crash bandicot the market didnt think so and even then by the time sonic team were making a sonic game for saturn it was too late...
I was a huge SEGA fan as a kid and I suffered the same thing you did. It wasn't until I was 18 years old, years after SEGA went under, that I had even heard of the Saturn.
Very interesting overview Adam. Even at the time, the facepalms were so obvious by Sega, especially regarding rushed releases of important titles and overlapping / competing hardware. Sega's late adoption of 3D was strange since they were the leaders in the 3D arcade realm, and Im sure many people were excited for the release of the Saturn for the Sega Model 2 conversions.
One genre not touched on was 2D fighting games. The ports of Capcom's arcade fighters were the best available, especially with the 4MB ram cart. The 2nd version of the Saturn controller still stands to this day as the best 2D - fighting pad ever made.
Also the hugely disappointing conversion of Daytona was mentioned, but not the fantastic version of Sega Rally, truly one of the all time greatest console driving games.
Yeah, true, I do regret not talking more about that.
I had a bit about it, but removed it in editing. The original version was 45 minutes long.
AdamKoralik Would like to see that extended one* Thinking a little more about the late adoption of 3D - arcade point, the parallel just struck me about the Sega/Mega CD. It came with all the custom sprite scaling chips, and Sega never bothered to port their amazing library of 2D scaling driving games. The best 16bit home conversion of any of those games was 'Outrunners' on the vanilla Mega Drive / Genesis, released a year after the Sega CD's release! Sega why did I keep coming back to you after so much abuse..
Next to the NES and Super Nintendo this is my favorite console of all time! I do have the region unlock cart, but the next time I go to Tokyo I'm going to try to find a white or a gray one for $20 in Akihabara. You should go to Akihabara someday too Mr. Adam Koralik! They have stores full of old consoles, games and what not in frigging stacks. You'd love it!
I own Panzer Dragoon Saga :) Been offered lots of money for this
nevermind824 I'll give you $5 for it.
Did GameStop offer you 15$ ??
I'll give you 5 dollars in store credit
hey adam, awesome video! theres another channel called retro alliance gaming that shows lots of dreamcast games in HD
I wonder how the saturn would have done against the n64 if the ps1 was never released.
Maybe it would have gotten ff7 and all that.
LiveToby ram cart, even better looking games than that and more online games.
If the PS1 wasn't made and the N64 and Saturn still ended up in their present form, the highest chance is that FF7 would've actually been made for the PC, or maybe even an earlier released Xbox.
One thing to keep in mind is that the N64 was the most powerful console graphically of the 5th gen, yet the PS1 does have hardware that can easily mimick what the N64 can do graphically, which helped give the PS1 it's edge.
The Saturn did not have that, and was actually closer in graphical terms to the SNES than it was to the N64. What gave the PS1 it's edge was it was a Win-Win console, it was graphically powerful and used CDs.
The N64 and Saturn were Win-Lose. The N64 was graphically powerful but used cartridges, and the Saturn used CDs but was graphically weak.
So had the PS1 never been made and the N64 and Saturn ended up in their present form, many developers would've most likely been disgusted with the Win-Lose specs of both consoles and would've jumped ship to PCs, and/or Microsoft would've entered the console race with the Xbox in around 1997 instead of 2001 as it would be the perfect time to strike with Nintendo and Sega both in the mud.
The XBox wouldn't have come out earlier. In fact, if the Playstation never existed, it's doubtful Microsoft would have even bothered making the Xbox, as the entire thing from helping Sega to release, and even to this day was a knee jerk reaction by an upset Bill Gates at the rejection of DirectX on the PS2. Bill Gates was a genius, albiet a vengeful genius, and good God can the man hold a grudge. Hell, he even named the Xbox Project Midway.
Captain Blackey, that is just nonsense, the Saturn was at a technical level, more powerful than the playstation, it had 2 32 bit risk cpu's vs. playstation's 1, it had 2 display processors vs. playstation's 1, it also had twice the ram with 4 meg in total, 2 meg for the system, 1 meg for video and 1 meg for audio, the playstation only had 2 meg, 1 for system, 512 k each for video and ram, the Saturn was just notoriously difficult to program for and Sega was stupidly slow at releasing it's development tools for it.
I can see the Final Fantasy games made for Saturn. They used 3D sparingly in that generation.
Wisconsin State Fair, in the mid 90s, I remember seeing a Sega Saturn display unit outside with Bug! playing on it. At the time, the 3D graphics blew my little kid mind!
I know this was a long video and there's plenty that could have been discussed that wasn't but I think it is important to address something. The Sega Saturn's failure was almost entirely the fault of Sega of Japan. They were the idiots that this video mentions. They did the stupidest thing ever which led to the sorry state Sega is in today. They fucked over the guy who was responsible for making the Genesis a success in North America.
When Tom Kalinske took over as the President of Sega of America, he was promised to have full autonomy in the US. As a result, he managed to do what Sega of Japan couldn't do. He made the Genesis a success in North America. Some Japanese executives felt insulted by this America who upstaged them even though he as making them money. As the years went on, Japan started to breach that autonomy. Tom's suggestions were turned down at every corner. He insisted on using a simple, single processor architecture for the Saturn and wanted to partner with Silicon Graphics. Japan turned down the offer and insisted on their more complex design. He insisted on NOT releasing the 32X but Japan forced Sega of America to be in charge of the project. He wanted to sell the Sega Saturn for a more competitive price, which would have resulted in some initial loss of money but would have been better for gaining a foothold but he was turned down. He insisted on a September 1995 launch in order to get a marketing campaign underway, but the Japanese forced the surprise May 1995 launch. All this led to Tom Kalinske's departure in 1996 and they brought in Bernie Stolar. We all know where that went.
Also, for the US, 1991 was almost like a re-launch of the Genesis thanks to Sonic the Hedgehog. Meanwhile in Japan, they were already hard at work on a next-gen console. So when the Saturn was ready Japan, the oversees markets had at least 2 years of good Genesis support left. This is why there was much conflict between Sega Japan and SOA over how much longer the Genesis should be supported for.
Jon-Erich Smith Yeah I also learned about SOJ's incompetence after reading Console Wars then following up with a Google search. I'm glad you did your research.
Sega had a chance to team up with Sony to develop the PlayStation after Nintendo stabbed Sony in the back with the SNES CD add-on debacle. Tom Kalinske wanted to pursue this joint venture, and almost everyone, including Sega of America, Ken Kutaragi (the father of the PlayStation) and other executives at Sony, were on board as well, even going far as to say that they would go halfsies on each system they sell at a loss.
But not Sega of Japan. When Tom proposed this idea to SoJ executives, they immediately shot it down, dismissing Sony as having no knowledge of console development. But Sony's technological know-how, determination, marketing, and vision of the future and what video gamers truly wanted propelled the PS1 and its successors to be very successful, even without the help of other console developers like Sega and Nintendo.
I think that if Sega of Japan had not become arrogant and just kept taking Tom Kalinske's ideas into consideration, we perhaps might have gotten the SEGA PlayStation, or at least gotten a glimpse of it.
According to Tom Kalinske, he called Sega of Japan's refusal to work with Sony on the PlayStation "the stupidest decision ever made in the history of business".
might seem strange, but the saturn is the first 5th gen console that i had ever heard of (at the time). i remember it appearing out of nowhere one day at the local electronics shop. they had johnny bazookatone playing and i was shocked at the sound quality and the background effects. good memories, good times
+thehoeslaper Thanks for watching!
Segas still run by morons.
Nick Fernandez
oh yeah
my third favorite system of all time very misunderstood and underrated
good review
+AdamKoralik Thank you for making this video I have seen this video numerous times since you first uploaded it over a year ago. The Sega Saturn is my most favorite underrated console of all time because it is my first console I can remember ever seeing with my own 2 eyes at the age of roughly 2 or 3 years old around 1996-1997 or 1998. I was living on the Big Island of Hawaii in a town called Waimea there was a strip mall and within that strip mall was a high end toy store that had every toy out on the commercial toy/Video game market. I remember seeing loop a loop Hot Wheels sets on display literally all put out for every one to see to Mega-block sets that where glow in the dark and also within that store there was a square black console with a CD tray, a memory port in the back, two controller ports, the second edition Sega Saturn controller attach two the console, And the console was not in the kiosk but rather out in the open on display, Plus I distinctly remember the planetary logo on that console (which is obviously named after the Planet of the same name). And lastly I remember seeing a TV set (not a flat screen like it is today) displaying a game which was Sonic R and Possibly Nights into Dreams from time to time.
I got a Sega Saturn for my 16th birthday and I loved the console.
can u feel the sunshine?
no
don't you feel that sometimes
you must stop making games
does it burn into your skin?
Fantastic video yet again, Adam! You went into detail about so much I had never heard before. Great job. Such a shame the Saturn didn't do well at all, it's a great little system.
Unfortunately, it was such a colossal fail over here in the UK that pretty much every person who comes to my arcade has never even heard of it, yet alone seen one. They get blown away by seeing my Saturn collection and start asking questions and want to play it out of curiosity. It's a lot of fun :)
Same here. It's very eye catching because it's such an enigma.
1:34 Absolutely, such a shame that the Saturn and Dreamcast were ruined by outright idiotic business decisions
That's crazy same way +Adamkoralik felt about missing out on sega and then going back to it in later years was exactly how i felt and did.
How did you live through the 5th generation without hearing about the Saturn during that time?
I remember seeing promo videos and commercials for the Saturn all the time when it was (going to be) released over here in Germany.
Always wanted one myself but my mom couldn't afford the money and eventually got us _one_ of the _three_ N64s that also stopped her from getting me a Dreamcast.
But still thanks for that great video, AdamKoralik, at some point I'll sure get my hands on a Saturn.
By the way, Sonic R is amazing in every aspect.
***** Thanks for watching!
-Sega of America fucked up with the launch of the console.
-Sega of Europe fucked up with the paper cases.
Happy i asked for all gen. overviews. The farther you go back the more interested i am. :)
There's a Saturn at a local thrift store for $70. Should I get it?
nope very expensive less is boxed
Ryan69 I would get it or you can pay 300 dollars on eBay 😂😂😂
In my opinion the most graphically technical and one of the best games for the Saturn was Myst it looked utterly amazing , dear God you can put in hundreds and hundreds of hours into that game trying to figure it all out to this day I’m not sure that I ever beat it to the end
If I want a Saturn, do you recommend just straight out buying a japanese Sega Saturn or would you still recommend buying a North American Sega Saturn with a region-unlock cartridge?
I'd recommend a Japanese Saturn with an Action Replay to unlock region code. Aside from being more aesthetically pleasing, you would be able to use the 4 MB RAM cart games more easily.
AdamKoralik Gotcha!
And the Japanese Saturn games are much cheaper I think.
Another great segment Adam. Im going to share this to the SEGA Collectors FB group.
Thanks!
Really, Adam? You talk of the console's success in Japan with no mention of Segata Sanshiro? Or even the fact that the final commercial he was in had him sacrificing his life to save Sega from a terrorist missile that was meant to destroy the Dreamcast? For shame.
I once saw a Saturn at a thrift store years ago when I think I was in middle school or the first years of high school. I think it was 30 dollars, It had no cords or controllers, and of course, my mother wouldn't agree to it. Nowadays, I regret not getting it because I like to learn about how to mod and improve console hardware and would love to clean and restore one if it weren't working. At the same thrift store, I got a working NES top loader for 12-15 bucks, I can't exactly remember. At least that was a good find.
I did at one point, but cut it out. The video was 45 minutes originally. Way too long.
AdamKoralik
I don't know how a brief mention of Segata Sanshiro could take more than ten minutes, but...if you say so.
ShogunGin0 No no, it didn't take that whole time. It was just one of the segments that hit the cutting room floor.
AdamKoralik
Ah, okay. Still, I think it would have been worth keeping in the section on him since his popularity in Japan was one of the bigger factors of the console's success in Japan.
Its a good thing you snatched that NES top loader, people are jacking up the prices on those for no fucken reason.
The Sega Saturn is probably the most underrated console. Even more underrated than the Dreamcast because at least the Dreamcast has a big fan community and is widely known to core gaming fans.
I love the Saturn very deeply. The console is extremely underrated.