You are out on the streets - Saturn Video.

A nice compilation video. I can't say that I am a fan of Twisted Sister but this seems to work just fine.



Bonus points to anyone who can name all the games featured in this!

Christmas NiGHTS, Sega Saturn video...

Not that I'm impulsive or anything, but I felt so peeved at missing out on my Christmas NiGHTS, that I just HAD to buy one... It set me back £11, but hey! you've got to speculate to accumulate...

Plus, I resisted the temptation to sell one of my children and buy that Hi Saturn Navi, so I reckon I deserve a treat...

Snipped by 50p!

Hi folks! In a recent Saturn shocker, I've just found out that my recent bid for official Sega Saturn Magazine issue 26, with a free demo disc of Christmas Nights has been beaten by a measly 50p! I had made a top bid of £5.00, and then gone off for the weekend, full of hope!

However, on my return home I checked my eBay account, only to cry bitter tears as I discovered that some bastard had bid £5.50 and won!!! BAH!

Still, on a positive note, I did manage to secure issue 15 with free demo CD called 'Sega Flash' (Vol3) I think... For the princely sum of £2.39 no less! So all is not lost...

BTW, as there isn't much to this post,I thought I'd include a real picture of the Good Father, so you can finally put a human face to the patron of this particular blog... You've seen Caleb, NebachadnezzaR and now old FK... Here I am last Saturday in one of the arcades at my caravan site in Wales, posing ridiculously in the cab of my all time favourite driving game and Saturn stalwart, Sega Rally! If you're wondering about the gesture I'm rather rudely making, it's 'cos I'd just lost two games to my mate John, who is taking the picture... If you're wondering why I'm wearing shades inside, it's so I look like a bad ass! LOL!

I'll pictorially catalogue the wonderful selection of Sega arcade games on each successive visit I make. Oh well, I'll sign out and wish you a fond farewell! Oh, and in a bit of Wii news, I'm now online on my Wii and have just downloaded the Megadrive classic Comix Zone on the Virtual Console... But I'll need to chat about that over at 'the other place...' Good Night!

Hi Saturn Navi Available At Last!

I first heard about this holy grail of Saturns from the sage like Gnome, about a year ago.

When I saw it it was love at first sight. The shape, the colour, the contours, that cute little screen and the karaoke feature not to mention the highly coveted Sattelite Navigation System...

For ages, I've had a little reminder in my eBay account, that if one ever became available, they should let me know so I could buy it. Well today that email arrived and I looked in my piggy bank to collect all my worldly funds, in order to make said purchase...

The only problem was that at £2000, I was about £1980 short... Oh well, one day my friends, one day...

On a plus side, whilst visiting my old friend Mr. Kahn at Rusholme Consoles, where I had gone to pick up a couple of Dreamcast leads, I happened upon a lovely little package... A mini PS1 with flip-top Sony LCD screen, VCD adaptor and 5 games in boxed up mint condition for £95!

I played 'Area 51' on it and it was lovely!

I know £95 might seem a little steep, but I loved it... It was like an officially released Treamcast... I'll let you know whether I succumb to this temptation as the weeks and months go by...

This is what I look like!

Oh and BTW! For those of you who have always wondered what the good Father looks like (apart of course from my 'Hitman' persona,) check out my Simpsonized portrait! Do yourself at http://www.simpsonizeme.com/!

My gift for you!

I so hate my pc... After a long, long post the fucker decides to just shut down and take all my writings with it. Fuck...

Anyway, here's the short version of my former long, long post. I recently acquired the first issues of the Official Sega Saturn Magazine in digital format (.cbr, which you can view with the help of a little program called CDisplay). Now, since I'm feeling generous, I'm willing to upload the very first issue into a public server, so that all of you can download for free.


The thing is, I don't know exactly how legal this is, and I don't know if any of you are interested, so here's the deal: if Father K decides that this is not really into the spirit of the SJY, this post is deleted and we all carry on our merry lives. But, if I receive positive comments demanding for the magazine, I will upload it ASAP.

Here are the highlights of said issue:

-Jamma Show news:

Fighting Vipers, Virtua Cop, Manx TT, Virtual On, X-Men, Marvel Super Heroes.

-In Development:

Hang On GP '95, Guardian Heroes.

-Coin Operated:

Indy 500

-Showcase:

Big Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua Cop showcase, Clockwork Knight 2, Sega Rally.

-Review Index:

Clockwork Knight 2, NBA Jam TE, Mortal Kombat 2.

-Out Now:

Virtua Fighter Remix, Daytona USA, Bug, Shinobi X, Panzer Dragoon.


EDIT: It seems that you can already obtain it, along with other issues, here. So, what are you waiting for? Go there now!

Corpse Killer - Graveyard Edition

Wow, long time no posting! At least when it comes to Saturn games, and not PS2 sequels, arcade emulators or NiGHTS trailers. Anyway, today I've played on my Saturn for the first time in, I don't know, a month or something. The game? Well, the title of this post should be clue enough.

I've been curious about this game for a long time. After all, I completely missed the 90's wave of FMV games, and this one seemed decent at least. But I still needed some more incentive to actually go ahead and play it. Well, that motivation came in the form of this Videogame Vault.


So, now that I've finally played it, what do I have to say? Well, the game actually has a good start. You control some kind of soldier/commando (I really didn't pay much attention to the story) who lands on a tropical island. The action starts right away, as your character's parachute gets stuck in a tree, and while you're hanging in there a fucking zombie comes out of a bush to eat you alive!

Fortunately Rastaman appears, and strikes the zombie with a big-ass knife! Cool! Anyway, as you probably guessed, the game is made of 10 min videos intercalated with a 1 minute shooting sequence, but this is not as bad as it may seen. The movie clips are actually pretty good, with decent acting and an overall production value superior to some b-movies. Of course it still has it's WTF moments, like when the "evil doctor" electrocutes an Action-Man, but it's generally entertaining.


The playing sequences are not that bad, either, but they're also not great. Basically there are zombies coming out of nowhere that you have to shoot, using either regular or special bullets. The problem is, this is a light-gun shooter, and there is not light-gun support. Yup, you have to play with the Saturn pad, which is not that bad since the zombies usually appear in the same horizontal plan, and you just have to move left or right, with little up and down required. Anyway, for faster zombies this is a pain, and if at the beginning you can pass a section with little to no damage, later on you'll been completely owned by the zombie horde.


Also, here comes another problem, there's no decent save system. It's somewhat hidden and it's not really practical, so you're better off just trying to beat the 2 game discs in one sitting. There's also no continues, so once you die it's really game over.

So, overall, this is a somewhat fun game. It's short, hard and definitely not the best game on the Saturn, but if you like this kind of games and if you're expectations are not too high, this should be an entertaining experience. And by the way, I think the game was only released in the US.

Primal Rage

What do you get when a giant meteor hits the earth in the present? Whopping great bloody dinosaurs returning from the past of course! Yes I know it makes no bloody sense whatsoever, but then Primal Rage it really doesn't have to.

Originally a hugely popular arcade franchise developed by (then) corporate giants Atari (oh how the mighty have fallen...) Primal Rage was ported out to just about every gaming system available at the time, including the Atari Jaguar, SNES, Master System, Megadrive, Playstation and of course our beloved Saturn. Exclusive it most certainly aint...

Wikipedia describes it's convoluted storyline thus...

" In Primal Rage, a meteor strike has devastated the earth; civilization has been utterly reduced to rubble and mankind has regressed into tribes of Stone Age dwellers. Into this new radiation-scarred world, primitively referred to as "Urth", primordial rainforest has covered the land and numerous new species have evolved. Among these are giant mutated apes, and reptiles that have regressed on the evolutionary scale back into dinosaur-like beasts.
Other ancient dinosaurs, having been in suspended animation for 65 million years (due to one of their number, Vertigo, being held in magical imprisonment on the moon) have finally awoken from their eons-long slumber after the last extinction level event which originally killed off most of the dinosaurs.
Out of their ranks emerge seven creatures who wage war for control over the new world; they are torn between those who wish to keep peace on Urth, and those who attempt to plunge the world into further chaos for personal gain. These creatures have otherworldly or supernatural abilities and each is said to represent a different aspect of nature i.e. life and death, fire and ice; and they are considered to be a "god" of their respective sphere. There are four "Virtuous Gods" and three "Evil Gods".

Roughly translated, all that guff simply means we've got a bunch of dinosaurs plus a couple of giant Ape Men who want to kick each others ass, in return for conquering the newly divided planet. Each beats is worshipped by the newly savaged humans, who dance around their reptilian gods in a slightly gay way... These little people are rendered video, which mean that at some point some sad wannabe actors dressed up in faux fursand pranced camply, in front of a camera for a pittance!

So what does Promal Rage offer us today? Well the easiest comparison would have to be Mortal Kombat... If you wanted to visualise this games gameplay then that would be it's nearest neighbour. Playing against the AI isn't much fun, but against friends, its a blast! The graphics are fabulous for the time, and the colours are so vivid and intense, that for the first five minutes , I thought I was having a mushroom flashback!

There's some great cutscenes, and very hammy voice acting, and I swear the opening sequence is better than the Metroid Prime 2 Echoes opening sequence I experienced the other day... This is the first game of my most recent Saturn haul that I have played for any time, and I like it! I can only see it having any lasting appeal as a versus game for drunken nights with friends, but it's visual appeal deserves showcasing here...

I mentioned before that Atari seem to have been kicked into minor league players in the videogame industry lately... Maybe the upcoming, nostalgia fuelled movie-crossover will boost the company's bank balance a bit!

For an impartial and slightly more detailed overview look here...

For the very informative full Wikipedia entry look here...

For some lovely Primal Rage inspired art look here...

Mr. Robot Review

Now just a gosh darned minute!" I pretend to hear you cry... "This is the bloody Saturn Junkyard, for crying out loud! What's with all these tenuous reviews of games on other systems!? First the Wii and the PS2, now the PC! This isn't a fucking Saturn game, in fact its got no links to the Saturn at all!!!"

To you I say "Aha! That's where you're wrong! So bog off!" For it was through this hallowed Saturn shrine, via the awesome Racketboy, that my inane musings allowed me to fortuitously win and receive the very excellent 'Mr. Robot' produced by the lovely folks at Moonpod. For the background on that particular story, look here...

Not only did I receive the game itself, but also this rather lovely mouse mat, and I have to say, I was rather thrilled with the package! This game was the first original PC game I had ever owned. Budget priced ports of Saturn and Dreamcast games like House Of The Dead 2 and Sonic R, (both bought for a mere £ each) don't really count.

You see I'm not a 'PC gamer' save the odd internet based pearl tossed to me by my good friend Gnome, or the sort of 'at-work-time-filler' that you'll find on Miniclip. Up until now, I've been a console gamer. My PC has simply been a place where I can blog, read emails and scour the internet for pr0n... But I digress...

Now I've been struggling to find interest in any games recently. In fact I've had something of a bout of blogging/gaming impotence of late. In fact, I've even had a sudden attack of healthy living; watching what I eat, giving up the demon weed, not drinking and even - wait for it- going to the gym!!!! Totally un-gamer like pursuits, I'm sure you'll agree... And it was in a haze of unfamiliar sobriety, that I decided to pick up Mr. Robot and try to progress from where I'd left off, (in the early stages of the game, some months before...)

The blurb on the back of the box is a good starting point, if you know nothing about the game... Read on!

"Asimov's 3 Laws"

1.) Always look busy

2.) Put off 'til tomorrow, what can be done today

3.) If HEL asks, blame Samson"

Asimov is a lowly service mechanoid aboard the the interstellar colony ship 'Eidolon'; carrying hundreds of frozen humans to a new world. When Eidolon's computer brain (HEL) malfunctions, it falls to Asimov to undertake a perilous journey through the bowels of the massive ship to save his precious human friends and the precious human cargo.

* Solve puzzles.

* Overcome obstacles.

* Hack hostile networks.

* Evade crazed robots.

*Save the mission"

And that's it all in a nutshell! The game is charming! Easily played at your own pace, with a generous save system, that means you can either play through in a continuous session, or dip in for short bursts. There is a nice Retro feel to it, the graphics are slick yet simple, basic yet beguiling. It's also instantly familiar, with plenty of humorous 'tongue in cheek' Sci Fi and computer dialogue and references.

The puzzles are straight forward, but by no means always easy! The game's hero Asimov, is a loveable little 'droid and it's easy to identify with his day to day drudgery, bossed around by his superiors, and given a variety of menial (and sometimes dangerous) jobs. Plus there are the jock-like mechanoids who bully and berate him as he goes about his business...

There are many hidden power-ups scattered throughout the seeming multitude of levels and a constant theme is the hacking battles, where Asimov has to enter the main frame of his opponents and infect their programs with crippling viruses.There are handy maps, inventories, arsenals and item lists that can be accessed at any time, including 'healing' power-ups that can be used to repair Asimov when the heat of battle has become too much!

One aspect of the game that I found a little alien at first was using the keyboard to control Asimov. By no means complicated, (you have to use the arrow keys, ctrl and shift) it's just that I'm used to a joypad, and using a keyboard seemed, at first, a litle bit strange... However I soon got used to it and after a while it felt natural...

I'd highly reccomend this game to anyone who plays games on their PC... Why not give it a try?

For a much better review look here... Oh! and do click on the other links, they're well worth it!

This is FK, returning to business as usual, saying "goodnight dear children, wherever you are..."

Sega Model 2 emulator

Like most gamers, until recently I thought the arcade games emulation scene was just about MAME and nothing more, since that is the one emulator everybody talks about. Well, now I've expanded my horizons, and so I want to expand yours too, by telling you about a great Model 2 emulator.


By now I can almost hear Gagaman(n) screaming "Why the hell are you posting this in The Saturn Junkyard? This place is for Saturn posts and nothing more! Go post this stuff in your own blog!". Well, the fact is, like always there is a link between this and the Saturn. See, the Model 2 is for the Saturn what the NAOMI board is for the Dreamcast. Can't see the picture yet? The M2 board is basically a Saturn with more power locked inside an arcade cabinet, which explains the many games they have in common.

Know Sega Rally? Daytona USA? Sega Touring Car? Dead or Alive? Virtual-On? The list could go on, and on, but I think you all get the idea by now. All this games and many more were originally released for the Model 2 and later ported to the Saturn, with some having better conversions than others.


So, if we already have most games on our beloved Saturn, why would we want such an emulator? Well, many games have been ported, but only half or so, so there's plenty more games exclusive to the system waiting for you to have a blast with them, like Desert Tank, Gunblade, Indy 500, Motor Raid, Over Rev or Zero Gunner, just to name a few.

On the other hand, since the Saturn is less powerful than the M2, no ports are "arcade perfect", with all sporting worse graphics and many having tweaked gameplay, removed features and such, so if you want to experience the real Daytona USA, for example, this is the way to go.


Unfortunately, all 3D emulators need a lot of work into them, and since this one is still in development, not everything runs perfectly yet. All the racing games I've tried so far have graphical and control issues (so no "arcade perfect" Daytona for you, yet...), and many games run somewhat slow. The latter issue is mostly due to my PC, since I've heard that people with recent machines run every game at full speed. My PC is not that bad, though, so if you want to have good speeds on most games make sure your PC is really good.

Anyway, despite this, I already had a blast playing Zero Gunner (full speed, graphically perfect) and Gunblade (half speed, graphical issues), a game that was a real blast from the past, since it was the last game I've played in a real arcade, 4 years ago on a trip to Lisbon. Many more games await me, so there's plenty more stuff to try the emulator with.

Huh? Want links? Well, of course! Here they are:

Emulator

Roms

As always, if you have any problems with the emulator, just tell me about it and I'll try to help.

And, as always, good bye and good (arcade) games ;)

Nights_ Journey of Dreams

Check out these trailers:

- Japanese trailer

- E3 2007 trailer

OMFG!!!111oneoneone

Guess now is a good time to have a Wii, ain't it , Father? ;)