Monday 12 January 2009

Saturn comes back around to show you everything...

Lets you choose what you will not see then,

drags you down like a stone or lifts you up again,

spits you out like a child, light and innocent."


I have not become a poet. Far from it. These are lyrics to a Tool song called "The Grudge" but somehow when I was listening to it during a transpennine train journey with my Chao, it struck me that I had neglected the Saturn somewhat. (Also, I was thinking it's about time I wrote on here again!). See Tool perform the Grudge live below:




At 128-Bit, the Dreamcast is clearly the console that modern gamers on a budget would pick up - especially if they saw the games on offer. Great games, great graphics. There is however, an often overlooked console also from SEGA: Sega Saturn. And there's still a compelling reason, or two, to buy a Saturn in this century.


Most people will remember it, either fondly or with disdain, but most will remember it. Games such as Virtua Fighter, Panzer Dragoon and the excellent SEGA Rally Championship cannot be forgotten. 


NiGHTS is another excellent game that is often subject to over-hyped nostalgia, but is actually still an excellent game, though it looks somewhat dated when played on a TV with a screen larger than 14".


Most PAL gamers will have these games - and they damn well out to get them today if they haven't! There are some import gems that don't require you to master Japanese - or even learn any of it (why have I been wasting my time and money...). There are some fantastic PAL games that everyone raves about, some import games that people rave about. I thought it would be more value to list a few of my own favourite games, that I currently play, rather than just another "Saturn Top Ten". So, without further ado, I present to you a list of a few of my favourite games that I think should be in anyone's 2009 Saturn collection:


Twinkel Star Sprites:




 Forget Radiant silvergun. Unless you have serious money, don't even bother. It's a good game, but it's not worth the high prices. Find something else to play. There's better for cheaper. This is not dirt cheap though - that tells you something!


Elevator Action Returns! 




Absolutely great game. Picked this up without knowing what it was and have really enjoyed playing it with my brother. It's a great two player coin-op co-op, with tons of replay value and is great for a quick blast.


Saturn Bomberman



Amazing game. Haven't played it much recently, but there's nothing quite like bomberman!


Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter




X-Men vs. Street Fighter




RAM Cart (4MB) needed for both of those bad boys above.


King of Fighter's '97




Burning Rangers




Metal Slug




Chase HQ and SCI




Strikers 1945




So, there you have something to get your teeth into! Get these great games as they are still great fun today and could give your Saturn a new lease of life! Worth getting your system modded or picking up that sexy white Saturn...

10 comments:

elend said...

Oh great. Elevator Action Returns. I still need that title. I saw a video of the first stage years ago and wanted it ever since. Great action!

マーティン said...

It's a great game - I recommend you get it!

Animated AF said...

Elevator Action Returns is on Taito Legends 2 on the PS2 and Xbox btw. Darius Gaiden was on that collection disc too but that didn't stop me from buying it for the Saturn too!

Twinkle Star Sprites is on both the Dreamcast and Saturn, but the Saturn version has more features whereas the DC one is a direct arcade port and nothing more. I don't own either mind: both versions reach around £40-50.

NebachadnezzaR said...

This is exactly the kind of post I love, not only seeing other people's favourite games but also giving me some names to add to my "to play" list.

I'm with you with Radiant Silvergun. It's great if you're looking for a shmup with a lot of depth to it, but if you just want to blast your way through enemy ships there are better, and cheaper, games out there.

The Strikers series, for example, is one of my favourites on the Saturn, and that Twinkle Star Sprites looks good too, got to try it out.

BTW, the other day a couple of friends passed by my house and guess what we played: Dodonpachi and Sega Rally, fuck yeah! :D

elend said...

Nebachadnezzar: cool friends you have there. If my friends would come over and I'd show them Do Don Pachi, they'd only look weird at me and ask me, why I want to play this childish crap. One guy even once said: "That looks like SNES graphics. Lame." Now that really hurt back then. ;O

If you want to blow out money for a Shoot'em Up game on the Saturn, I strongly recommend "Hyper Duel", which is around 100 EUR expensive and incredibly great.

gnome said...

All that eye candy...

Nights said...

i want X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter and king of fighters 97 T.T

マーティン said...

Has anyone listened to that Tool song yet? I really like it. CD version sounds amazing too.

NebachadnezzaR said...

I did! :) Tool is not really my thing, although I like Aenema and that one wasn't bad either

fatherkrishna said...

"i want X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter and king of fighters 97 T.T"

I'm with NiGHTS... Surely it's the 2D fighters that stand up the best in 2009... The graphics just look sumptuous.

Great post Martin...

BTW: check this out!

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sega/2007/01/best-sega-saturn-games-for-today-top.html