You know your audience man, you know your audience. Been gaming since 84 here and managed an arcade for 16 years with more time in than that. Loved the Saturn. Very much under rated.
Ugh right in the feels THGM! I was always a nintendo kid!!! But my babysitters brother had sega genesis. I slowly gained a secret obsession with sega. When chirstmas 1996 rolled around I had to make a choice, N64 or maybe this my chance to finally have that sega! So I went for it, sega saturn please! It came packed with daytona 500, a light gun and virtua cop. Also Panzer dragoon demo disc that included a levelfrom nights. I was hooked omg this thing was insane, the load time was a bit slow but the games OMG. That was until the weekend after christmas sleepovers. everyone else got n64 and brought a controller with them so right from the jump i was controllerless :( It was quickly reveled that I had made a terrible mistake and I would be stuck longingly looking athe N64 section in blockbuster while I was stuck with 9 choices on saturn.
When dealing with Japan-only console games, there is always a chance to get something *really* weird. There's a reason a number of these never made it over to the States.
I was randomly at a mall the day the first E3 was going and SEGA surprise released (what a mistake!) the Saturn. I saw some boxes in a Babbages and went to look at them. The store manager told me they actually had them for sale right then. I was a punk kid, but I had a job and no bills so I was able to scoop it up and headed straight home, I have no recollection of why I even went to the mall that day!😂 I LOVED my Saturn!
@@doom5895 off the top of my head: Powerslave, Shining Force 3, Virtua Fighter 1&2, Fighter’s Megamix, Gun Griffin, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Daytona USA and CCE, SEGA Rally, Virtua Cop 1&2, Guardian Heroes, Dragon Force, Dead or Alive, Panzer Dragoon 1&2 (sadly haven’t played Saga yet), Tomb Raider, Bomberman, Dark Stalkers, Nights, so many and probably a ton more I can’t think of right now!😂
Capcom Fighters not only made me get a Saturn, but it was also the first Sega System I ever owned growing up a Nintendo kid. Since then I got the Legacy Systems and realized how many really cool games I missed. I also got Panzer Dragoon Saga at retail price from Toys R Us. Sadly I had to use my Saturn Library as a savings account after losing my job and needing money after heart failure/surgery. I loved that system. I miss those games 😂
Im glad I got my Saturn last holiday season bought the console with 3 games Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers, and Sega Rally Racing 95. Ever since my collection grew where it needed to be such as getting into the Capcom games and some of the AM2 games. Overall this is an amazing video informing gamers what to get if their into the Sega Saturn.
Growing up as a Nintendo kid, I wanted a Saturn for one game only, Die Hard Arcade. Played it all the time at my local arcade and when my neighbour got it for Xmas I practically lived at his house. Ended up getting my own Saturn years later and I still consider DHA as one of the Saturn's best games.
@@WheeledHamster I used to collect tons of games in the box. I had hundreds of games. I've since downsized and prefer to emulate on android instead of paying for overpriced games. For some systems its funner to play on my phone. Its funner to play snes or gameboy games with save states, cheats, and the ability to speed up the game, on top of being able to play whenever you want. Now that i got out of the collecting mindset I realize a lot of old games are funner in small doses and arent worth what theyre going for these days. I recommend that people try emulation and not get caught up in owning. Some genres like rpgs are way more enjoyable on emulators. Ive recently played thru 8 different snes rpgs in the last month on my phone
Astal, Silhouette Mirage, Xmen COTA, Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter, Guardian Heros, Princess Crown, Dungeons and Dragons, Mega Man X3/4, and so much more...Saturn always gave such amazing games I love to play! It's my fave little Dream Machine....besides Dreamcast of coarse!
You have the best most detailed dive into gaming that only “passionists” can appreciate. I just wished I had friends or Co-Workers to talk about it physically but most people are in to COD or only new popular games
That's because this generation is more dumb downed and trendy. People don't have their own tastes or good taste at that anymore. People are trendy now a days and wants to be like everybody else therfore missing out on great games that would keep you coming back years later. People now a days rather play what everybody else plays like boring online only games, fps shooters that are the same Every year (you gotta be an ediot to buy and get excited for the same game every year lol) and stupid battle royal games. Gaming lost its art, creativity, fun factory and flare years ago. Video games are trash now. The older systems were far better.
My half brother's dad told me he had a Sega Saturn somewhere in his garage. I thought for sure it had to be something else, but there it was. He just gave it to me for free. It came with one controller and nothing else, so I had to buy a third party video cable online. What's particulary odd to me is why this didn't happen sooner, and why I never knew he had one. I managed to buy an untested Sega Rally Championship for 10 usd. After adding Virtua Fighter and Street Fighter Alpha II, it's almost always been hits after hits with this console. It's become one of my favorite consoles of all time, alongside the likes of the Turbografx-16.
I remember playing Die Hard Arcade at our local arcade in Eau Claire, WI, and fell in love with it. I then asked myself, "What system is this game going to come out on?" My brother told me most likely Sega Saturn since it was made by Sega. I believe this is back in 1996, around the N64's release, and everyone was talking about Goldeneye at the time. But I wanted a Sega Saturn and got it for Christmas instead of a N64 while not knowing if Die Hard Arcade would make it to the Sega Saturn. A few months later, it did come out on Saturn and I got it for my birthday later that year. Best birthday ever!
The reason why the Saturn had multiple processors was that was how arcade games were commonly made. Only issue is most developers were moving exclusively to console. Due to seeing the potential of games that would take many hours and require multiple sittings for the average person to beat. Ironically, now all consoles nowadays use multiple processors, as Moore's law went out of the window around about 2010. Even at uni I was taught how to do parallel programming. Something 99% of programmers would not know back in the 90's. By 1997 Sega did make tools and provided proper documentation, but the direction of traffic was already one way.
Segas own arcade hardware wasn't done like that (ST-V is Saturn hardware turned into an arcade cabinet and was much weaker than their Model2)... Namco's were also one main CPU (System 11)... So what arcade boards housed two main CPUs? It was a terrible architecture, not having an SDK readily available for third party devs like Sony had was also a terrible idea. Regarding programmers... I think the majority today creates code that is single threaded since Javascript is so popular, and doing anything multithreaded is avoided in all cases were it isn't a necessity even in languages that supports it.
The reason the Sega Saturn had multiple processors is due to Sony and the PS1. The Saturn was designed to be a 2d console. When Sony announced the PS1 SEGA had to quickly redesign the Saturn to run 3D polygons. This is the only reason the Saturn is designed the way it is. But we all love it regardless.
Growing up, I barely heard of the PlayStation and barely get the chance to play one, I played Sega Saturn games, without knowing I've played Sega Saturn games, when it came to, going to the arcade, but when it came to the Sega Dreamcast, I somewhat, fell in love with that game, based off of, me playing the game Power stone, for the very first time.
You and Lady Decade have been really stepping up your game on the quality of these videos! Nice! I had a Sega Saturn damn near mint condition I got from a pawn shop back in 2007. Had it for a while, but it was tough getting quality games for it since they were so expensive by then. I had to sell it l because of financial issues and I regret it to this day!
So glad i was a Saturn owner during that generation, considering how expensive Saturn collecting is these days. I remember when i went to go get my Saturn about a week or so after it released, and the store clerk told me that the Sony Playstation was coming out very soon if i wanted to reserve one of those instead and wait. I was like, Sony? the stereo company? Nah! .. lol.. So glad i made that choice. Got to have some awesome Sega arcade ports for the time, and stuck with the Saturn right up until its "death" in the U.S. Got a mod cart and started importing games from japan, making my friends with playstations jaws drop with the amazing ports of Capcoms fighters using the ram carts. lol.. Good memories for sure.. I did end up getting a PS1 of course a few years later, but the 32 bit generation was one of my favorites, and 80% of that was because of my Saturn. Was fortunate enough to collect over 100 Saturn games in my collection over the years. About half of them i got at retail, usually on release. But around 30 of them i got in one go when one of my local Blockbuster was fading out its Saturn game rentals, they were like $5 each, i bought the whole collection, lol.
Nice piece but I do gotta bite you for saying Sony? The stereo compnay!? That was actually a closed minded statement, something I never was even as a kid. As a hardcore gamer, even if I had a favorite company and the store clerk told me the better playsis coming, I would actually look into it to see if I'm really making the right choice with money. Your comment sounded like early blind fanboism lol and at the end of the day u still end up buying the ps1! The oh the irony🤣🤣🤣 The Saturn indeed was a great console! but as usual Sega bad marketing and continuum of bad decisions is what did them in. I think the 9lder console will always be better than the newer consoles. Time's and games were better back then.
I had the same thought when I heard of Playstation lol. I got the Saturn also and never regret it. Eventually I saw Sony was actually worth taking a second look and bought as well. They both have their pros and cons, but the Saturn with that RAM cart and continued Japanese releases is a power house and still impressive til this day.
@@redcrimson1028 Blind fan boy? Are you dumb lol? Nobody knew anything about the Playstation back then, it was literally before Sony even released it. Sony literally had no history or experience in the hardware market at this point. So either your a lot younger than me, not aware of that, and are a Sony fanboy trying to start something. Or if you are old enough to have lived through that particular console generation, then you where already aware Sony had yet to prove itself in the hardware market, and are a Sony fanboy, and just trying to troll.. Either way your an idiot. For the record, im a fanboy of all platforms. I literally own pretty much ever console that was ever released in North America. Even most of the obscure ones like the 3DO, CDi, Jaguar, ect. So you should probably understand the person your talking too before you speek.. In fact never mind that, just don't speek, you suck at it.
@@zenerone99 Yeah well i grew up with Sega, had a Master System, and of course a Genesis, and yes, even got the addons, SegaCD, and 32X. So it was easy for me to choose the Saturn, since other than publishing a few 16bit titles over the years Sony hadn't yet done really anything in the video game market. Naturally a couple years later when the Playstation started to gain a lot of headway, and once i saw Resident Evil, I bought a Playstation. Basically once it was announced the Saturn version of Resident Evil was going to be released over a year after the PS1 version, I didn't want to wait, i got a playstation to play RE.
I missed out on the Sega CD, 32X and the Saturn back in the 90’s. I was invested in the Genesis, SNES, 3DO, then eventually the PlayStation and Xbox systems as time went on.
I also was one of the many people who passed up on the Saturn at the time of its release. I remember all the magazines at the time hyping up the Playstation and saying it was the future. While I did enjoy the PS at the time (MGS, FFVII, Tekken, were all titles I loved) that Saturn is looking so much more appealing.
I paid $20 oz for my Saturn from my friend at the time well late in 2010 he actually asked for it back later I said no chance john. Thanks why I brought you lunch yet for a lunch meal I own a Saturn it’s a sick console that no one appreciates till now and 5yrs prior to 2010 either way it’s so cool I’ll never sell it
They should make a mini Saturn nowadays. With top games in it. Good thing i still have my white Saturn and also Panzer Dragoon Saga. I have 1 mb upgrade card for SNK. And then i have the 4 mb card for Capcom games. Saturn is really fun. It's just back then i was a kid and only had money for 1 console, and that turned out to be Playstation. I bought my Saturn in Japan when it was almost dead here in the EU. What Saturn really missed was the good Megadrive games. They should have continiued those titles by making new parts. I would very much welcome a new Golden Axe, although Saturn did have Golden Axe Dual. Saturn has all the Japan arcade games. That is why it sold good in Japan. Here we needed more console games. And Saturn didn't really made lots of console games for home.
I finally decided to pick up a Saturn this summer. I scored (on eBay of all places) a Japanese gray one in the original box with a standard controller, the 3D multi-controller, and 5 games. It had free shipping and came in three days! All for $175! Plus the standard controller had an issue and wasn’t functioning properly, so the seller sent me another one and told me to keep the old one for spare parts! I am so glad I finally got a Saturn!
About time Segata-sempai found you and beat the awesomeness of the Sega Saturn into you! I'll be looking forward to seeing more Saturn videos on this channel!
My anecdotal experience with the Sega Saturn: Me in the late 90’s: hey, maybe we should get a sega Saturn, it looks pretty sweet. My step dad: nah it’s way overpriced. The PlayStation is cheaper. We’ll just get a PlayStation. THAT SIMPLE CONVERSATION happened in millions of homes across America and unbeknownst to us at the time killed Sega consoles. Keep in mind my step dad had also bought a Sega CD right when they came out and wasn’t particularly impressed. I think even with their smaller game selection and prior cd/32x tomfoolery they could have sold a LOT more of these things if they could have gotten the price way way down.
Growing up I was always a Nintendo kid. Had the NES, the SNES and a Gameboy. I had some friends who had the Master System, Genesis and the Game Gear but I was content with my Nintendo consoles. Fast forward to my teenage years, and specifically the year 2000 and I saw a Sega Saturn for sale at a pawn shop for $30. Just like that, I had my first Sega system. I have a little over two dozen NA titles and half a dozen Japanese titles (got the Memory Plus cartridge as well). The game I play the most right now is the OG Street Fighter Alpha. May not be arcade perfect but it plays just fine without the Ram cartridge. This video was a real trip to watch. Thanks as always Mr Top Hat.
This is a fantastic video. Thank you for all of the hard work put into this. What a nostalgic trip. I never owned a Saturn, but have always wanted one after growing up next to my best friend who owned one. I want one now. This video is so informative and well edited. A deep well of information! Love this channel. Bravo!
I noticed satiator the other day after having heard of its development years ago. Looks great! By this point my collection is pretty nice and big with many of the games you mentioned here but for some of the ones I wasn’t able to obtain it still may be a good option down the line.
Your videos are always top notch dude and so i've been playing video games since the late 70's and Sega was my favorite company back then and they wasn't patient to let the Genesis die and went wrong by producing that 32X & the Sega cd instead of just dropping the Sega Saturn and then when everyone is hungry for more then drop the Sega Dreamcast but no Sega wasted lots of money - smh.
I highly recommend getting your Saturn refurbished and chipped to read backups. Either that or do the Satiator or something similar. The Saturn's library is incredible if you can just play whatever you want from any region, and I honestly now see how it holds its own even against the Sony PlayStation because of its games. Nowhere else are you going to find some of these experiences, and you shouldn't be limited because of cost or rarity if your intention is to enjoy some beautiful old games stranded on a dead console.
I got a Saturn the same Christmas Sonic Jam released. When it eventually broke in the early 2000’s, I had to buy a second hand one from a local pawn brokers. I still have it, with the same pawn brokers warranty stickers on it, and by sheer luck I ended up working at and managing the pawn brokers from 2015-2018! Now I’m reliving it via Steam Deck, streaming too (gameplay only, no face or voice on stream)
When I came across a Model 1 CIB on eBay for $179.99 back in 2016, I asked the seller if the box was yellowed, since it appeared so in the pictures. He assured me it wasn't, so I bought it. The next day, he refunded me without notice and took the listing down. After two days of silence, he told me he had reassessed the box and believed it was yellowed, not wanting to risk bad feedback. I told him I wanted it anyway, so he reduced the price to $149.99. When I got it, not only was it not yellowed, the box turned out to be in far better condition than it looked, better than some systems I've seen sold new. Definitely a prize of my collection.
My story with the Saturn is an interesting one. I first got an American Model 2 with about 10 games back in 2009, at an estate auction, and it introduced me to a game library I only ever read about in magazines as a kid (I Had a PS1 and a N64 as a kid, and never knew anyone who had a Saturn.) Unfortunately, I had to sell all of it off in order to buy a mattress in 2016. (Fortunately, none of the games I had or sold off were extremely rare). Fast forward to April 2021, and, as soon as I got my 2nd stimulus check, I bought a CIB Japanese Model 2 with 6 games and 2 controllers for about $150. And, that following Christmas, I ended getting a Fenrir ODE and a Action Replay 4MB cart from my Parents. The Saturn was truly an underrated system that was way ahead of it’s time, and has one of the most unique Game libraries out there. If you have the means to buy one now, do it, along with a Satiator or Fenrir. You’ll truly get your money’s worth IMO.
@@QVAZzzz The UI is very simplistic for the Fenrir, but every game but one I’ve thrown at it works just fine (The Game that doesn’t work is a Fan Translation for a wrestling game.) You’ll need to open the Saturn and take out the laser to install it, but if you have some technical know how, it shouldn’t be too hard. Plus, it’s only $140 via Stone Age Gamer, compared to the $260 for the Satiator.
There were a few key decisions that SoJ disagreed with how Kalinske (and SoA) on how to proceed that would have changed how history as we know it proceeded.
I bought the saturn for Shining Force III just from looking at the game box. Don't regret it at all. Music was amazing as was the story. The game mechanics seemed a bit simplistic though.
Pseudo Kai I can highly recommend. This year I was buying a Saturn and a Pseudo Kai cartridge and its amazing. It's reading burned CDs without any issues and regionfree. About the price I agree, too. About 100$ or less for a Saturn is a great deal. You can use an original Saturn controller or a Playstation or Xbox controller with a wingman adapter, too, for to benefit from analog sticks and wireless.
Clearly, the Saturn failed from the mistakes Sega of Japan made. If they'd listened to what Sega America was telling them about the US market instead of forcing them to do what they were told, things could have been so different. If Sega of Japan hadn't told Sony NO, they wouldn't have created the competition that ultimately killed their console business.
The Saturn truly does stand the test of time. Where as with the PlayStation and the N64 wanted to focus more on 3d gaming, the Saturn on the other wanted to focus more on 2d gaming even the 3d games were brightly coloured instead of it being dark, grey and gritty. I wish cel shaded graphics were more of a thing during that generation and the one after.
The Saturn wasn't as hard to program for as many make out. Learning the hardware was what everyone had done up until this point in games development and this was the same approach SEGA took when developing the Saturn. However, Sony changed the game, as it were. With the help of Psygnosis, they developed libraries that made the PS1 significantly easier to develop for in comparison to this traditional method of development. Add in the complexities of developing 3D games when most developers had only made 2D games up to this point, and the PS1 seemed so much easier to develop for.
Um... thats somewhat true with a couple things, fairly wrong with others. 3D game development, at least in the early years of the PS1 was not really easier or harder than traditional 2D side scrollers. Now, the Saturn was not said to be difficult to program for because the PS1 "changed the game". Programming for the PS1 was about average. But i think what youre trying to reference here is the dev kits having a fairly streamlined and easy to use UI. As for the Saturn..... no. Sega really messed up by modeling the Saturns hardware off their arcade boards. This is great for a dedicated team making one game and who have experience on those arcade boards. It was a nightmare for everyone else. A nightmare.... not, "wasn't as hard to program for as many make out". The PS1 had a normal chip set. Main processor, secondary processor, GPU and audio. The make up of most consoles, simple and to the point. Okay.... i hope i remember this all, its been a long time... The Saturn and its arcade based chip set had 2 main processors but not a dual, a third or secondary.... however you want to put it, processor. A digital signal processor. 2 GPUs 1 for 3D processing 1 for 2D processing A sound chip that for some reason could also be used for general processing. And each processor had multiple mem buses and individual RAM chips. Yah. I think i remembered everything. Nightmare. As i said, for a dev team with exp with the hardware and know it well, truly great things could be done. This is why first party Sega games where incredible. But third party games... that hardware set up is so specific and different it creates for wild variables and connections that no other developer outside of Sega arcade programmers, had ever seen, would ever need to know and account for on anything else before or after. It created a scenario where basic things that normally take 20 minutes on any other console or PC, could take days, maybe weeks, of silly, pointless, trial and error testing to figure out the paths data takes. By comparison the notably more difficult to program PS3 and its 9 processors, was as easy as it gets to program for when placed side by side with the Saturn. And all these new, extreme complications, was entirely unnecessary for a console system. Lets be a bit honest. First, i absolutely love the Saturn, i have 2. Second, its time for that honesty. Im really getting the impression youre just wanting to fan out on the Saturn. Because what you said, is not very accurate but you seem to want to excuse or boost it a bit. So i will pander to your fandom a bit. If we saw a few dev teams who programmed on it for years and really took the time to fully know and understand the best ways to access the hardware options, the games they could produce would probably be closer to some PS2 gen... up to 3, games (obviously it would depend on the game), than PS1. What it was probably able to do at an apex it never reached, would have most likely been nothing short of astonishing.
my first experience with sega saturn is playing one of the best games in the platform X-MEN VS STREET FIGHTER (the japanese version with the memory expansion)
Saturns American commercials are still the best marketing for any game system in history. I used to sit around with my finger on the VCR record button to catch all of them.
I'm a proud Saturn owner, I got mine modified on purchase to play imports as well. Also got the VCD add on card to allow to watch VCD movies and shows on the Saturn. My fav shooter is still Radiant Silvergun..if I want a eye strain headache then I go play Dodonpachi. I have X-Men vs SF as well, and Fatal Fury Real Bout and Real Bout Special along with all Saturn King of Fighters releases
I put a Terraonion MODE in my Saturn... I have a gigantic collection... A unique part about Saturn is that you had to actively hunt for gems while the system was new... I imported so many games that I made my money back by inviting school friends over and treated my room like an arcade.... We played fighting games and shooters constantly... But the most played were Decathlete and Winter Heat... Those sessions got INTENSE... Absolutely adore the Saturn...
Virtua Fighter was the game that made me want a Sega Saturn! When I had played Virtua Fighter first time in the arcades, I was intimidated playing it.. but I was also blown away by it. VF2 and VF3 managing to top that later on.. but Sega Saturn done an amazing job for the time and with an awesome lineup of games. I had to have it regardless of the price too!
Sega's bizarre avant-garde commercials left us all scratching our heads between Ice Cube having rings around his head and then Sinead O'Connor likewise with rings around her head we just didn't know what the heck it was.
I got my North American Saturn console from a retro store for $60 in 2015. I got a arcade stick and an Action Replay to play Japanese imported fighting games that had yet to be re-released on newer consoles. It was a way better system than what I remembered it being.
I proudly own both my Japanese and English Saturns! I still buy games for both and really love these systems as much as my SNES and Playstation systems! Can't get enough of their fantastic libraries!!!
Not only could the Saturn run 2d fighting games better than anything else. The version 1 controller is the best fight controller I've ever held. I mean, cmon, the 6 button layout and the way the dpad rolls around was amazing
I still own my white JP Sega Saturn and i still love it more than the PS. Also, i need to thank you for playng KoF's Psycho Soldier sound, there's no better way to start a vidéo, even Guile's theme can't compete.
Fantastic video…. After snes for me it was clear it has to be the hardware of a gaming veteran enterprise. The saturn was very powerful indeed. 2D/3D and the mix of both. To bad only a few could harvest its power. Sega, Treasure,Lobotomy Software and Team Ninja….a yes Atlus. At least Japanese people appreciated the console. If it had the proper support of talented developers…it would haven even a more impressive library. Still hoping Shenmue 1 demo will sometimes run on it….. Nowadays Saturn has a huge homebrew community releasing incredible games….even Sonic X treme will come out soon….
My parents bought me one as it was being clearanced out so I was able to get tons a great games for super cheap. I go back and forth between Saturn and Genesis as my favorite system ever.
I bought the Saturn from ToysRus once the three games were included (VF2, Virtua Cop, and Daytona). I still have that same exact console. I later bought a grey Japanese Saturn off an employee at a Hollywood Video. They’re sitting side by side in my retro game room. My biggest regret is having sold my copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga in 2004. I do still have my copy of Magic Knight Rayearth however, as well as a nice collection of Japanese games.
When the Sega Saturn was out, I think I played it before, I'm not sure if I did or not, but I'm pretty sure, that I've played a Sega Saturn, based off of the game, Knights into dreams and virtual fighter, virtual fighter, is one of my favorite fight games.
I imported a model 1 Saturn last June, for kind of an odd reason- Not only do I want to explore the library, but more importantly, it gives me motivation to do something I've wanted to do for years- Lerning Japanese. Who knows what's waiting in there?
I remember reading about several amazing games for the Saturn on EGM’s top 200 games of all time list, titles like Virtua Fighter 2, Guardian Heroes, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Dragon Force and more. I had picked up a used Sega Saturn in 2002 or 2003 along with a copy of Virtua Cop, Virtua Fighter 2 and eventually Daytona USA and Puzzle Bobble 2. I remember drooling over the more expensive titles and not having the cash to purchase them. Fortunately this would change later on in life after purchasing the Action Replay Card along with some of the slightly affordable US titles with Nights into Dreams, Galactic Attack, Darius Gaiden and Alien Trilogy. Lastly we have my import games, where I purchased titles like Radiant Silvergun, Saturn Bomberman, Marvel Super Heroes Vs Capcom, Darkstalkers 3, Marvel Super Heroes, Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon Zwei and many more. Perhaps of the 3 main consoles available during the time, the Saturn has aged far better than the Ps1 which placed an emphasis on 3D visuals, and the N64 Sega killed this console before it even had a chance by the early launch, and lack of support for the massive library of stellar 2d games, alienating the hardcore gaming audience that supported the platform in Japan. While it wouldn’t have made enough of a difference to import the 2d arcade games, I believe a few thousand more units would have been shifted if the console were marketed more as an “Arcade at Home” platform similar to the Neo Geo.
in the 90, mostly fighting game era, Saturn was my dream console and I didn't have the money afford one.... My friend actually bought one and I can get to it sometime and that was amazing... (Iwas in high school). King of fighters and Street fighters series were so good on Saturns. Until today, Seage Saturn and Gensis still my favorite consoles.. And finally I bought one from Ebay to fulfilled my childhood dream..
Never owned a Saturn, it's one of the few "major" consoles that has eluded me. I've never even played one, nor did any friends/family own one at the time! But as much as I'd like one... I dunno man... I think I'd rather wait for a Saturn Mini console where I can get all the "essential" games for £100 or less. Buying disc-based games 2nd hand is usually a terrible experience (what is it with people being unable to look after their stuff to begin with? PS1 games are absolutely terrible for scratched discs...makes me wonder what the heck people were doing with them!)
Sakura Wars is a great 1st party developed title for the Saturn which has a fantastic fan translation. Worth checking out if you haven't seen it before.
Check Out this video looking at 80 JAPAN ONLY Saturn Games - th-cam.com/video/XzQKrJEttb4/w-d-xo.html
You know your audience man, you know your audience. Been gaming since 84 here and managed an arcade for 16 years with more time in than that. Loved the Saturn. Very much under rated.
Right down to the facts I even talked about with Kabee Toy Stores. Well done. Just another well researched piece that brings me back.
Ugh right in the feels THGM! I was always a nintendo kid!!! But my babysitters brother had sega genesis. I slowly gained a secret obsession with sega. When chirstmas 1996 rolled around I had to make a choice, N64 or maybe this my chance to finally have that sega! So I went for it, sega saturn please! It came packed with daytona 500, a light gun and virtua cop. Also Panzer dragoon demo disc that included a levelfrom nights. I was hooked omg this thing was insane, the load time was a bit slow but the games OMG. That was until the weekend after christmas sleepovers. everyone else got n64 and brought a controller with them so right from the jump i was controllerless :( It was quickly reveled that I had made a terrible mistake and I would be stuck longingly looking athe N64 section in blockbuster while I was stuck with 9 choices on saturn.
When dealing with Japan-only console games, there is always a chance to get something *really* weird. There's a reason a number of these never made it over to the States.
What is game name of game at 32:24?
I was randomly at a mall the day the first E3 was going and SEGA surprise released (what a mistake!) the Saturn. I saw some boxes in a Babbages and went to look at them. The store manager told me they actually had them for sale right then. I was a punk kid, but I had a job and no bills so I was able to scoop it up and headed straight home, I have no recollection of why I even went to the mall that day!😂
I LOVED my Saturn!
Do you still have it?
@@Al-Ex-North-Star I do indeed!
Fav games?
@@doom5895 off the top of my head: Powerslave, Shining Force 3, Virtua Fighter 1&2, Fighter’s Megamix, Gun Griffin, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Daytona USA and CCE, SEGA Rally, Virtua Cop 1&2, Guardian Heroes, Dragon Force, Dead or Alive, Panzer Dragoon 1&2 (sadly haven’t played Saga yet), Tomb Raider, Bomberman, Dark Stalkers, Nights, so many and probably a ton more I can’t think of right now!😂
@@EvilFuGuru Hell yeah.
Capcom Fighters not only made me get a Saturn, but it was also the first Sega System I ever owned growing up a Nintendo kid. Since then I got the Legacy Systems and realized how many really cool games I missed. I also got Panzer Dragoon Saga at retail price from Toys R Us. Sadly I had to use my Saturn Library as a savings account after losing my job and needing money after heart failure/surgery. I loved that system. I miss those games 😂
Owned my Saturn since launch, still got it, still play it
Legend says Segata Sanshiro is still out there somewhere beating small children for not playing the sega saturn.
As he should
Saturn remains my favorite console of all time. I still have one hooked up. In my gaming room it’s an Xbox Series X, a Neo Geo and my Saturn.
Im glad I got my Saturn last holiday season bought the console with 3 games Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers, and Sega Rally Racing 95. Ever since my collection grew where it needed to be such as getting into the Capcom games and some of the AM2 games. Overall this is an amazing video informing gamers what to get if their into the Sega Saturn.
If you haven't gotten it yet, Daytona USA was pretty amazing. It's one of the best racing games I've ever played.
Growing up as a Nintendo kid, I wanted a Saturn for one game only, Die Hard Arcade. Played it all the time at my local arcade and when my neighbour got it for Xmas I practically lived at his house. Ended up getting my own Saturn years later and I still consider DHA as one of the Saturn's best games.
The Saturn is the most underrated console of all time. It is home to some of the greatest games ever, many of them exclusives.
I plan on purchasing one as my next console. To sit nicely with my Dreamcast collection!
I just bought a Nintendo 3DS to play one game: A Link Between Worlds. I don't think it ever gonna be released on Switch...
3DS maybe my all time favourite system. So many amazing exclusives!
Thats a awesome game, I couldn’t put it down i finished that game fast as hell lol.
that came out on 3ds stupid
I can play that on my Samsung S20 Ultra.
@@WheeledHamster I used to collect tons of games in the box. I had hundreds of games. I've since downsized and prefer to emulate on android instead of paying for overpriced games. For some systems its funner to play on my phone. Its funner to play snes or gameboy games with save states, cheats, and the ability to speed up the game, on top of being able to play whenever you want.
Now that i got out of the collecting mindset I realize a lot of old games are funner in small doses and arent worth what theyre going for these days. I recommend that people try emulation and not get caught up in owning. Some genres like rpgs are way more enjoyable on emulators. Ive recently played thru 8 different snes rpgs in the last month on my phone
This Chistmas I'll have my Saturn for 26 years
Astal, Silhouette Mirage, Xmen COTA, Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter, Guardian Heros, Princess Crown, Dungeons and Dragons, Mega Man X3/4, and so much more...Saturn always gave such amazing games I love to play! It's my fave little Dream Machine....besides Dreamcast of coarse!
If I win the Powerball drawing, I'm going to buy a Sega Saturn and some games. Hopefully I'll have some money left when I'm done.
You have the best most detailed dive into gaming that only “passionists” can appreciate. I just wished I had friends or Co-Workers to talk about it physically but most people are in to COD or only new popular games
That's because this generation is more dumb downed and trendy. People don't have their own tastes or good taste at that anymore. People are trendy now a days and wants to be like everybody else therfore missing out on great games that would keep you coming back years later. People now a days rather play what everybody else plays like boring online only games, fps shooters that are the same Every year (you gotta be an ediot to buy and get excited for the same game every year lol) and stupid battle royal games.
Gaming lost its art, creativity, fun factory and flare years ago. Video games are trash now. The older systems were far better.
@@redcrimson1028 wholeheartedly agree , the most interesting games made now are usually by indie devs
@@PatrickIngham21 true and those indie style games are how nes, snes games were, how ironic, that was one of thr best eras in gaming
My half brother's dad told me he had a Sega Saturn somewhere in his garage. I thought for sure it had to be something else, but there it was. He just gave it to me for free. It came with one controller and nothing else, so I had to buy a third party video cable online. What's particulary odd to me is why this didn't happen sooner, and why I never knew he had one. I managed to buy an untested Sega Rally Championship for 10 usd. After adding Virtua Fighter and Street Fighter Alpha II, it's almost always been hits after hits with this console. It's become one of my favorite consoles of all time, alongside the likes of the Turbografx-16.
I remember playing Die Hard Arcade at our local arcade in Eau Claire, WI, and fell in love with it. I then asked myself, "What system is this game going to come out on?" My brother told me most likely Sega Saturn since it was made by Sega. I believe this is back in 1996, around the N64's release, and everyone was talking about Goldeneye at the time. But I wanted a Sega Saturn and got it for Christmas instead of a N64 while not knowing if Die Hard Arcade would make it to the Sega Saturn. A few months later, it did come out on Saturn and I got it for my birthday later that year. Best birthday ever!
The reason why the Saturn had multiple processors was that was how arcade games were commonly made. Only issue is most developers were moving exclusively to console. Due to seeing the potential of games that would take many hours and require multiple sittings for the average person to beat. Ironically, now all consoles nowadays use multiple processors, as Moore's law went out of the window around about 2010. Even at uni I was taught how to do parallel programming. Something 99% of programmers would not know back in the 90's. By 1997 Sega did make tools and provided proper documentation, but the direction of traffic was already one way.
Segas own arcade hardware wasn't done like that (ST-V is Saturn hardware turned into an arcade cabinet and was much weaker than their Model2)... Namco's were also one main CPU (System 11)... So what arcade boards housed two main CPUs? It was a terrible architecture, not having an SDK readily available for third party devs like Sony had was also a terrible idea.
Regarding programmers... I think the majority today creates code that is single threaded since Javascript is so popular, and doing anything multithreaded is avoided in all cases were it isn't a necessity even in languages that supports it.
The reason the Sega Saturn had multiple processors is due to Sony and the PS1. The Saturn was designed to be a 2d console. When Sony announced the PS1 SEGA had to quickly redesign the Saturn to run 3D polygons.
This is the only reason the Saturn is designed the way it is.
But we all love it regardless.
Amazing video!! I was one of the weirdos who got the Saturn at launch!! I absolutely loved it and still play it to this day!!
I bought the Saturn on release day and it is still working. Always loved my saturn and all the games on it.
I wish SEGA didn't forget about the Saturn.
We need a Saturn classic collection in the modern consoles.
Especially the light gun games.
I paid $120 for suikoden 2. Don't regret it one bit. Highly underrated RPG.
Took this video's advice and just bought a Sega Saturn. It was the only console I was always intrigued by
Growing up, I barely heard of the PlayStation and barely get the chance to play one, I played Sega Saturn games, without knowing I've played Sega Saturn games, when it came to, going to the arcade, but when it came to the Sega Dreamcast, I somewhat, fell in love with that game, based off of, me playing the game Power stone, for the very first time.
You and Lady Decade have been really stepping up your game on the quality of these videos! Nice! I had a Sega Saturn damn near mint condition I got from a pawn shop back in 2007. Had it for a while, but it was tough getting quality games for it since they were so expensive by then. I had to sell it l because of financial issues and I regret it to this day!
So glad i was a Saturn owner during that generation, considering how expensive Saturn collecting is these days. I remember when i went to go get my Saturn about a week or so after it released, and the store clerk told me that the Sony Playstation was coming out very soon if i wanted to reserve one of those instead and wait. I was like, Sony? the stereo company? Nah! .. lol.. So glad i made that choice. Got to have some awesome Sega arcade ports for the time, and stuck with the Saturn right up until its "death" in the U.S. Got a mod cart and started importing games from japan, making my friends with playstations jaws drop with the amazing ports of Capcoms fighters using the ram carts. lol.. Good memories for sure.. I did end up getting a PS1 of course a few years later, but the 32 bit generation was one of my favorites, and 80% of that was because of my Saturn. Was fortunate enough to collect over 100 Saturn games in my collection over the years. About half of them i got at retail, usually on release. But around 30 of them i got in one go when one of my local Blockbuster was fading out its Saturn game rentals, they were like $5 each, i bought the whole collection, lol.
Genius 🎮🏆
Nice piece but I do gotta bite you for saying Sony? The stereo compnay!? That was actually a closed minded statement, something I never was even as a kid. As a hardcore gamer, even if I had a favorite company and the store clerk told me the better playsis coming, I would actually look into it to see if I'm really making the right choice with money. Your comment sounded like early blind fanboism lol and at the end of the day u still end up buying the ps1! The oh the irony🤣🤣🤣
The Saturn indeed was a great console! but as usual Sega bad marketing and continuum of bad decisions is what did them in. I think the 9lder console will always be better than the newer consoles. Time's and games were better back then.
I had the same thought when I heard of Playstation lol. I got the Saturn also and never regret it. Eventually I saw Sony was actually worth taking a second look and bought as well. They both have their pros and cons, but the Saturn with that RAM cart and continued Japanese releases is a power house and still impressive til this day.
@@redcrimson1028 Blind fan boy? Are you dumb lol? Nobody knew anything about the Playstation back then, it was literally before Sony even released it. Sony literally had no history or experience in the hardware market at this point. So either your a lot younger than me, not aware of that, and are a Sony fanboy trying to start something. Or if you are old enough to have lived through that particular console generation, then you where already aware Sony had yet to prove itself in the hardware market, and are a Sony fanboy, and just trying to troll.. Either way your an idiot. For the record, im a fanboy of all platforms. I literally own pretty much ever console that was ever released in North America. Even most of the obscure ones like the 3DO, CDi, Jaguar, ect. So you should probably understand the person your talking too before you speek.. In fact never mind that, just don't speek, you suck at it.
@@zenerone99 Yeah well i grew up with Sega, had a Master System, and of course a Genesis, and yes, even got the addons, SegaCD, and 32X. So it was easy for me to choose the Saturn, since other than publishing a few 16bit titles over the years Sony hadn't yet done really anything in the video game market. Naturally a couple years later when the Playstation started to gain a lot of headway, and once i saw Resident Evil, I bought a Playstation. Basically once it was announced the Saturn version of Resident Evil was going to be released over a year after the PS1 version, I didn't want to wait, i got a playstation to play RE.
Yeah I’ve been thinking to get one. I would only buy a few games but I’d get my money’s worth.
I remember when on youtube it was a big deal that the Atari 2600 was 30 years old. Lol
This makes me want to buy a Saturn too. Because I as didn't experience in my youth although I did have a 64 and my cousin had the ps1.
I missed out on the Sega CD, 32X and the Saturn back in the 90’s. I was invested in the Genesis, SNES, 3DO, then eventually the PlayStation and Xbox systems as time went on.
I'd buy a Sega Saturn just for Die Hard Arcade alone! I played that game to death back in the arcade days 😄
I have a copy of it, with a scratch that makes it not work :(
Cant you plish it and fix it
The Saturn was the PS3 of its day. Impressive hardware but difficult to squeeze impressive software through it.
Best console from that generation in my opinion.
I also was one of the many people who passed up on the Saturn at the time of its release. I remember all the magazines at the time hyping up the Playstation and saying it was the future. While I did enjoy the PS at the time (MGS, FFVII, Tekken, were all titles I loved) that Saturn is looking so much more appealing.
I paid $20 oz for my Saturn from my friend at the time well late in 2010 he actually asked for it back later I said no chance john. Thanks why I brought you lunch yet for a lunch meal I own a Saturn it’s a sick console that no one appreciates till now and 5yrs prior to 2010 either way it’s so cool I’ll never sell it
Sega needs a Saturn mini next 🎮🏆
They should make a mini Saturn nowadays. With top games in it.
Good thing i still have my white Saturn and also Panzer Dragoon Saga.
I have 1 mb upgrade card for SNK.
And then i have the 4 mb card for Capcom games.
Saturn is really fun.
It's just back then i was a kid and only had money for 1 console, and that turned out to be Playstation.
I bought my Saturn in Japan when it was almost dead here in the EU.
What Saturn really missed was the good Megadrive games.
They should have continiued those titles by making new parts.
I would very much welcome a new Golden Axe, although Saturn did have Golden Axe Dual.
Saturn has all the Japan arcade games. That is why it sold good in Japan.
Here we needed more console games. And Saturn didn't really made lots of console games for home.
I finally decided to pick up a Saturn this summer. I scored (on eBay of all places) a Japanese gray one in the original box with a standard controller, the 3D multi-controller, and 5 games. It had free shipping and came in three days! All for $175!
Plus the standard controller had an issue and wasn’t functioning properly, so the seller sent me another one and told me to keep the old one for spare parts!
I am so glad I finally got a Saturn!
About time Segata-sempai found you and beat the awesomeness of the Sega Saturn into you! I'll be looking forward to seeing more Saturn videos on this channel!
Bought a clear blue Saturn with 1TB Mode and all games installed, set to arrive today. I'm waiting by the door like a dog.
My anecdotal experience with the Sega Saturn:
Me in the late 90’s: hey, maybe we should get a sega Saturn, it looks pretty sweet.
My step dad: nah it’s way overpriced. The PlayStation is cheaper. We’ll just get a PlayStation.
THAT SIMPLE CONVERSATION happened in millions of homes across America and unbeknownst to us at the time killed Sega consoles. Keep in mind my step dad had also bought a Sega CD right when they came out and wasn’t particularly impressed.
I think even with their smaller game selection and prior cd/32x tomfoolery they could have sold a LOT more of these things if they could have gotten the price way way down.
There needs to be a Sega Saturn Mini.
Growing up I was always a Nintendo kid. Had the NES, the SNES and a Gameboy. I had some friends who had the Master System, Genesis and the Game Gear but I was content with my Nintendo consoles.
Fast forward to my teenage years, and specifically the year 2000 and I saw a Sega Saturn for sale at a pawn shop for $30. Just like that, I had my first Sega system. I have a little over two dozen NA titles and half a dozen Japanese titles (got the Memory Plus cartridge as well). The game I play the most right now is the OG Street Fighter Alpha. May not be arcade perfect but it plays just fine without the Ram cartridge.
This video was a real trip to watch. Thanks as always Mr Top Hat.
This is a fantastic video. Thank you for all of the hard work put into this. What a nostalgic trip. I never owned a Saturn, but have always wanted one after growing up next to my best friend who owned one. I want one now. This video is so informative and well edited. A deep well of information! Love this channel. Bravo!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to watch.
both n64 and ps1 back at that time was a huge flex. u must have done all ur chores
I noticed satiator the other day after having heard of its development years ago. Looks great! By this point my collection is pretty nice and big with many of the games you mentioned here but for some of the ones I wasn’t able to obtain it still may be a good option down the line.
I sold my Atari Jaguar 5 years ago and purchased a Saturn, I love having the Saturn in my collection.
Your videos are always top notch dude and so i've been playing video games since the late 70's and Sega was my favorite company back then and they wasn't patient to let the Genesis die and went wrong by producing that 32X & the Sega cd instead of just dropping the Sega Saturn and then when everyone is hungry for more then drop the Sega Dreamcast but no Sega wasted lots of money - smh.
I highly recommend getting your Saturn refurbished and chipped to read backups. Either that or do the Satiator or something similar. The Saturn's library is incredible if you can just play whatever you want from any region, and I honestly now see how it holds its own even against the Sony PlayStation because of its games. Nowhere else are you going to find some of these experiences, and you shouldn't be limited because of cost or rarity if your intention is to enjoy some beautiful old games stranded on a dead console.
Underrated console
Loved the video! You earned yourself a sub my friend
Welcome aboard!
I loved the saturn as a kid too! My parents got me the n64 and saturn and i gamed for hours lol! My favorite saturn game was Fighters Megamix!
I Appreciate a Fighting Vipers shoutout :D good video!
I got a Saturn the same Christmas Sonic Jam released. When it eventually broke in the early 2000’s, I had to buy a second hand one from a local pawn brokers.
I still have it, with the same pawn brokers warranty stickers on it, and by sheer luck I ended up working at and managing the pawn brokers from 2015-2018!
Now I’m reliving it via Steam Deck, streaming too (gameplay only, no face or voice on stream)
I'm glad i still have mine from when i was a kid, i just wish finding games in good shape at reasonable prices wasn't such a pain
Had mine since 97!
It still works 🤙🏾
When I came across a Model 1 CIB on eBay for $179.99 back in 2016, I asked the seller if the box was yellowed, since it appeared so in the pictures. He assured me it wasn't, so I bought it. The next day, he refunded me without notice and took the listing down. After two days of silence, he told me he had reassessed the box and believed it was yellowed, not wanting to risk bad feedback. I told him I wanted it anyway, so he reduced the price to $149.99. When I got it, not only was it not yellowed, the box turned out to be in far better condition than it looked, better than some systems I've seen sold new. Definitely a prize of my collection.
My story with the Saturn is an interesting one.
I first got an American Model 2 with about 10 games back in 2009, at an estate auction, and it introduced me to a game library I only ever read about in magazines as a kid (I Had a PS1 and a N64 as a kid, and never knew anyone who had a Saturn.)
Unfortunately, I had to sell all of it off in order to buy a mattress in 2016. (Fortunately, none of the games I had or sold off were extremely rare). Fast forward to April 2021, and, as soon as I got my 2nd stimulus check, I bought a CIB Japanese Model 2 with 6 games and 2 controllers for about $150. And, that following Christmas, I ended getting a Fenrir ODE and a Action Replay 4MB cart from my Parents.
The Saturn was truly an underrated system that was way ahead of it’s time, and has one of the most unique Game libraries out there.
If you have the means to buy one now, do it, along with a Satiator or Fenrir. You’ll truly get your money’s worth IMO.
Unfortunately fenrir is sold out ):
@@QVAZzzz The UI is very simplistic for the Fenrir, but every game but one I’ve thrown at it works just fine (The Game that doesn’t work is a Fan Translation for a wrestling game.)
You’ll need to open the Saturn and take out the laser to install it, but if you have some technical know how, it shouldn’t be too hard.
Plus, it’s only $140 via Stone Age Gamer, compared to the $260 for the Satiator.
There were a few key decisions that SoJ disagreed with how Kalinske (and SoA) on how to proceed that would have changed how history as we know it proceeded.
I bought the saturn for Shining Force III just from looking at the game box. Don't regret it at all. Music was amazing as was the story. The game mechanics seemed a bit simplistic though.
Sad you only got to play 1/3 of the game.
They really should release the other 2 parts of 3 in America already.
Pseudo Kai I can highly recommend. This year I was buying a Saturn and a Pseudo Kai cartridge and its amazing. It's reading burned CDs without any issues and regionfree. About the price I agree, too. About 100$ or less for a Saturn is a great deal.
You can use an original Saturn controller or a Playstation or Xbox controller with a wingman adapter, too, for to benefit from analog sticks and wireless.
The Sega Satun was my favorite system growing up and this us the best documentary on it that I have ever seen. Thank you TopHat.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Clearly, the Saturn failed from the mistakes Sega of Japan made. If they'd listened to what Sega America was telling them about the US market instead of forcing them to do what they were told, things could have been so different. If Sega of Japan hadn't told Sony NO, they wouldn't have created the competition that ultimately killed their console business.
The Saturn truly does stand the test of time. Where as with the PlayStation and the N64 wanted to focus more on 3d gaming, the Saturn on the other wanted to focus more on 2d gaming even the 3d games were brightly coloured instead of it being dark, grey and gritty. I wish cel shaded graphics were more of a thing during that generation and the one after.
The Saturn wasn't as hard to program for as many make out. Learning the hardware was what everyone had done up until this point in games development and this was the same approach SEGA took when developing the Saturn. However, Sony changed the game, as it were. With the help of Psygnosis, they developed libraries that made the PS1 significantly easier to develop for in comparison to this traditional method of development. Add in the complexities of developing 3D games when most developers had only made 2D games up to this point, and the PS1 seemed so much easier to develop for.
Um... thats somewhat true with a couple things, fairly wrong with others.
3D game development, at least in the early years of the PS1 was not really easier or harder than traditional 2D side scrollers.
Now, the Saturn was not said to be difficult to program for because the PS1 "changed the game". Programming for the PS1 was about average. But i think what youre trying to reference here is the dev kits having a fairly streamlined and easy to use UI.
As for the Saturn..... no.
Sega really messed up by modeling the Saturns hardware off their arcade boards. This is great for a dedicated team making one game and who have experience on those arcade boards.
It was a nightmare for everyone else.
A nightmare.... not, "wasn't as hard to program for as many make out".
The PS1 had a normal chip set. Main processor, secondary processor, GPU and audio. The make up of most consoles, simple and to the point.
Okay.... i hope i remember this all, its been a long time...
The Saturn and its arcade based chip set had 2 main processors but not a dual, a third or secondary.... however you want to put it, processor.
A digital signal processor.
2 GPUs
1 for 3D processing
1 for 2D processing
A sound chip that for some reason could also be used for general processing.
And each processor had multiple mem buses and individual RAM chips.
Yah. I think i remembered everything.
Nightmare.
As i said, for a dev team with exp with the hardware and know it well, truly great things could be done. This is why first party Sega games where incredible.
But third party games... that hardware set up is so specific and different it creates for wild variables and connections that no other developer outside of Sega arcade programmers, had ever seen, would ever need to know and account for on anything else before or after.
It created a scenario where basic things that normally take 20 minutes on any other console or PC, could take days, maybe weeks, of silly, pointless, trial and error testing to figure out the paths data takes.
By comparison the notably more difficult to program PS3 and its 9 processors, was as easy as it gets to program for when placed side by side with the Saturn.
And all these new, extreme complications, was entirely unnecessary for a console system.
Lets be a bit honest.
First, i absolutely love the Saturn, i have 2.
Second, its time for that honesty. Im really getting the impression youre just wanting to fan out on the Saturn. Because what you said, is not very accurate but you seem to want to excuse or boost it a bit.
So i will pander to your fandom a bit.
If we saw a few dev teams who programmed on it for years and really took the time to fully know and understand the best ways to access the hardware options, the games they could produce would probably be closer to some PS2 gen... up to 3, games (obviously it would depend on the game), than PS1.
What it was probably able to do at an apex it never reached, would have most likely been nothing short of astonishing.
my first experience with sega saturn is playing one of the best games in the platform X-MEN VS STREET FIGHTER (the japanese version with the memory expansion)
I'll never forget when my mom surprised me with "Nights into Dreams" randomly when I got home from school after begging for it for months.
I was a Sega and Sony kid back in my days. I was more into Sega and Sony before I got into Nintendo and Microsoft.
i still have mine , house of the dead , sonic jam , the xmen vs street figher games .
This man is amazing. He’s British, wears a top hat, avid game player, and also a wrestler. What’s not to love about this guy?
Saturns American commercials are still the best marketing for any game system in history. I used to sit around with my finger on the VCR record button to catch all of them.
I'm a proud Saturn owner, I got mine modified on purchase to play imports as well. Also got the VCD add on card to allow to watch VCD movies and shows on the Saturn. My fav shooter is still Radiant Silvergun..if I want a eye strain headache then I go play Dodonpachi. I have X-Men vs SF as well, and Fatal Fury Real Bout and Real Bout Special along with all Saturn King of Fighters releases
That’s why knowing Japanese is helpful I got panzer dragoon saga for dirt cheap.
Got mine as a lovely early Xmas gift from my bro last year, he and I always wanted one X3
I put a Terraonion MODE in my Saturn... I have a gigantic collection... A unique part about Saturn is that you had to actively hunt for gems while the system was new... I imported so many games that I made my money back by inviting school friends over and treated my room like an arcade.... We played fighting games and shooters constantly... But the most played were Decathlete and Winter Heat... Those sessions got INTENSE... Absolutely adore the Saturn...
Virtua Fighter was the game that made me want a Sega Saturn! When I had played Virtua Fighter first time in the arcades, I was intimidated playing it.. but I was also blown away by it. VF2 and VF3 managing to top that later on.. but Sega Saturn done an amazing job for the time and with an awesome lineup of games. I had to have it regardless of the price too!
Sega's bizarre avant-garde commercials left us all scratching our heads between Ice Cube having rings around his head and then Sinead O'Connor likewise with rings around her head we just didn't know what the heck it was.
I got a Saturn at launch and had a lot of fun with it.
I got my North American Saturn console from a retro store for $60 in 2015. I got a arcade stick and an Action Replay to play Japanese imported fighting games that had yet to be re-released on newer consoles. It was a way better system than what I remembered it being.
I was blown away by Sega Rally in the arcades and it was the reason I chose Saturn over PlayStation.
I proudly own both my Japanese and English Saturns! I still buy games for both and really love these systems as much as my SNES and Playstation systems! Can't get enough of their fantastic libraries!!!
Not only could the Saturn run 2d fighting games better than anything else. The version 1 controller is the best fight controller I've ever held. I mean, cmon, the 6 button layout and the way the dpad rolls around was amazing
I still own my white JP Sega Saturn and i still love it more than the PS. Also, i need to thank you for playng KoF's Psycho Soldier sound, there's no better way to start a vidéo, even Guile's theme can't compete.
I still have mine that I bought in 1995 with MSH vs SF and X-men vs SF. Unfortunately I sold House of the dead with two light guns at a garage sale.
Fantastic video….
After snes for me it was clear it has to be the hardware of a gaming veteran enterprise.
The saturn was very powerful indeed. 2D/3D and the mix of both. To bad only a few could harvest its power. Sega, Treasure,Lobotomy Software and Team Ninja….a yes Atlus. At least Japanese people appreciated the console. If it had the proper support of talented developers…it would haven even a more impressive library.
Still hoping Shenmue 1 demo will sometimes run on it…..
Nowadays Saturn has a huge homebrew community releasing incredible games….even Sonic X treme will come out soon….
Amazing Video. Thank you.
My parents bought me one as it was being clearanced out so I was able to get tons a great games for super cheap. I go back and forth between Saturn and Genesis as my favorite system ever.
I bought the Saturn from ToysRus once the three games were included (VF2, Virtua Cop, and Daytona). I still have that same exact console. I later bought a grey Japanese Saturn off an employee at a Hollywood Video. They’re sitting side by side in my retro game room. My biggest regret is having sold my copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga in 2004. I do still have my copy of Magic Knight Rayearth however, as well as a nice collection of Japanese games.
Omg I love Nights. NIGHTS was a game of pure bliss and happiness in the past. Just seeing it made me happy.
I just recently swapped out the optical drive with a Fenrir sd card reader (ode) in my Saturn. Excellent system!!!
When the Sega Saturn was out, I think I played it before, I'm not sure if I did or not, but I'm pretty sure, that I've played a Sega Saturn, based off of the game, Knights into dreams and virtual fighter, virtual fighter, is one of my favorite fight games.
I got my saturn during the pandemic, loving it!
I imported a model 1 Saturn last June, for kind of an odd reason- Not only do I want to explore the library, but more importantly, it gives me motivation to do something I've wanted to do for years- Lerning Japanese.
Who knows what's waiting in there?
I still need to get an ODE for my Saturn
This is the last console I really want for my collection, so thank you for your input on what games to look out for. Sooooon.
I remember reading about several amazing games for the Saturn on EGM’s top 200 games of all time list, titles like Virtua Fighter 2, Guardian Heroes, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Dragon Force and more. I had picked up a used Sega Saturn in 2002 or 2003 along with a copy of Virtua Cop, Virtua Fighter 2 and eventually Daytona USA and Puzzle Bobble 2. I remember drooling over the more expensive titles and not having the cash to purchase them. Fortunately this would change later on in life after purchasing the Action Replay Card along with some of the slightly affordable US titles with Nights into Dreams, Galactic Attack, Darius Gaiden and Alien Trilogy.
Lastly we have my import games, where I purchased titles like Radiant Silvergun, Saturn Bomberman, Marvel Super Heroes Vs Capcom, Darkstalkers 3, Marvel Super Heroes, Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon Zwei and many more.
Perhaps of the 3 main consoles available during the time, the Saturn has aged far better than the Ps1 which placed an emphasis on 3D visuals, and the N64
Sega killed this console before it even had a chance by the early launch, and lack of support for the massive library of stellar 2d games, alienating the hardcore gaming audience that supported the platform in Japan. While it wouldn’t have made enough of a difference to import the 2d arcade games, I believe a few thousand more units would have been shifted if the console were marketed more as an “Arcade at Home” platform similar to the Neo Geo.
in the 90, mostly fighting game era, Saturn was my dream console and I didn't have the money afford one....
My friend actually bought one and I can get to it sometime and that was amazing... (Iwas in high school). King of fighters and Street fighters series were so good on Saturns.
Until today, Seage Saturn and Gensis still my favorite consoles.. And finally I bought one from Ebay to fulfilled my childhood dream..
You’ve been on a roll lately💪🏽keep these great videos coming!
Thank you, I am the most motivated I have been in years at present.
@@TopHatGamingManChannel why do you think that is, Richard?
Never owned a Saturn, it's one of the few "major" consoles that has eluded me. I've never even played one, nor did any friends/family own one at the time! But as much as I'd like one... I dunno man... I think I'd rather wait for a Saturn Mini console where I can get all the "essential" games for £100 or less. Buying disc-based games 2nd hand is usually a terrible experience (what is it with people being unable to look after their stuff to begin with? PS1 games are absolutely terrible for scratched discs...makes me wonder what the heck people were doing with them!)
Sakura Wars is a great 1st party developed title for the Saturn which has a fantastic fan translation. Worth checking out if you haven't seen it before.