Episode 7 - Burning For Burning Rangers

In this week's episode we go full blown book club, or game club if you will. With all the hubbub over Sonic Team's classic over at the Yard, Brian figured it suiting for us to dissect and discuss what made and continues to make this game so great. Tune in and hear what all the fuss is about yourself!

Contributors: 

The SSG - Samuel 

The VirtuaSchlub - Brian 

Father K - Simon 

NebachadnezzaR - Nuno;

Junkyard Let's Play - Panzer Dragoon II Zwei

If you missed the livestream on FB yesterday, join The Southern Sega Gentleman and The Virtua Schlub as they fight through the Empire's Hordes, in the Saturn Masterpiece, Panzer Dragoon Zwei. Special guest Dave and Pat from the Sega Saturn, Shiro! Podcast join in on the action. 

Sunday Let's Play's are streamed ever Sunday at 3pm Central US time / 9pm UK time. Like and follow the official Saturn Junkyard FB page to keep up to date.  

Import Friendly? - Burning Rangers

In this inaugural episode we kick of our new series, Import Friendly?, with the Japanese release of Burning Rangers. The SSG takes a look at just how pick up and playable the Japanese release is for Western speakers, and whether the cost savings are worth it.

Pebble Beach Golf Links - Golf Heaven Or Golf Hell?

As I set the weekly Saturn game challenge last Sunday over at the Saturn Junkyard Facebook page, I was feeling upbeat and positive. I was happy to be finally setting a challenge around a golf game... So many of our weekly challenges had been around driving games, that I felt a golf game would be providing those gamers who liked their sports at a gentler pace, something to get their (false) teeth into. And wasn't I the guy who had waxed lyrical about how playing Sega golf games had brought me to the point of purchasing a Saturn? Yes, this was going to be great!

Virtua Schlub: "The Holy Grail..."

The game had entered my head when the Yard's very own Virtua Schlub (Mr. Brian Vines) had posted a selfie of him holding the titular game with the esteemed caption: "The Holy Grail".

'Pebble Beach  Golf Links' was the Sega Sports title built around moustachioed golf-tubster Craig Stadler. The picture had encouraged fond reminiscence about the game, mostly centred around the inclusion and utterings of Craig himself, affectionately monikered "Old walrus chops".

Welcome to the Afterburner Afterparty: A Sky Target Review

"I feel the need...the need for speed!"

Another review video has landed on the SJY YouTube channel. This one is for Sky Target, the Sega Saturn reincarnate of Afterburner's classic arcade, fighter jet shooter formula. Can it stay in formation or will it choke on vapor trails? Watch and find out!

In the Inaugural Junk Club, We are All Burning Rangers!

It's like a book club but with fewer white whales and more futuristic firefighters*! Over the next couple of weeks, keep an eye out for various threads around the Junkyard Facebook community where members will be asked a series of questions and share their memories, experiences, and perspectives surrounding Sega and Sonic Team's late Saturn classic, Burning Rangers! Whether you're a longtime fan (or critic), have just recently discovered it, or plan on burning and playing it soon, you're welcome to participate! All you have to to do is join our Facebook group if you haven't already.

Along the way, we may drop some Burning Rangers-related content, including videos on the SJY YouTube channel and -- later on -- maybe even an episode of the TitanCast where we'll share some members' musings about the game from our Junk Club threads.

* Though for Simon, maybe level 3 of Burning Rangers is his Moby Dick.

Budget Buying Guide Part Two

In this episode of TitanCast we go over each of our "Building A Saturn Library On A Budget" list. The team was tasked to find seven titles, all under $200, that would make a decent beginners library.

Buzzsprout:

http://thesaturnjunkyard.buzzsprout.com/

ITunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-saturn-junkyards-titancast/id1320249250?mt=2

Google Play:

https://play.google.com/music/m/Irnjy5iegkh5pfj6cdx3gjqnxle?t=The_Saturn_Junkyards_Podcast

Retro Bits and Pieces

image from Game Tyrants

One month after its cryptic announcement that it would be making Sega-licensed products, Retro-Bit finally revealed what those products would be at this year's Winter CES show. First, the bad news... those plug 'n play game systems I was hoping to see didn't materialize, including a replacement for AtGames' tone-deaf Sega Genesis consoles and handhelds. The good news is that there will be joypads based on the stock controllers for the Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, and Sega Dreamcast.

The controller for each of these systems will come in three flavors. The first will plug directly into the console, letting you replace controllers you've lost or shattered in a fit of Bust-A-Move 2-fueled rage. (What? Don't laugh until you've tried to beat Woolen yourself.) The second uses Bluetooth technology to bridge the gap between 20th and 21st century gaming. You can either sync it with your home computer or insert an adapter into a spare controller port on your system, letting you play without the hassle of cables.

The last and possibly most exciting joypad has a USB cable, letting you connect it to a home computer. I fail to understand why anyone would want to use a Dreamcast controller in 2018 when I spent most of the early 2000s using adapters to avoid it. However, the Genesis and Saturn USB pads will be a boon for the hundreds of fighting games and arcade classics currently available on Steam. Before Retro-Bit and Sega teamed up, your only options for Saturn-quality control on a PC were buying an adapter or finding the joypad that was briefly manufactured by Sega Logistics Service. If Retro-Bit's replica controllers are as good as the real thing, you'll be able to get the quality control of a Saturn pad without breaking the bank or hunting for elusive peripherals.

As an aside, these new controllers may also work with the Mayflash Universal Adapter Ultimate, a handy accessory for the Xbox One which I recently reviewed on my own blog. I'm mentioning this here not only as a shameless plug, but because the Xbox One has a handful of Saturn games in its library (Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers, Radiant Silvergun, Guardian Heroes, et al) without a proper way to play them. The Mayflash adapter doesn't work with every controller, but with a high rate of compatibility, you're sure to find something that's better suited to the previously mentioned games than the stock Xbox One pad.

(Special thanks to Game Tyrants for the recent news on Retro-Bit's Sega controller line.)

Gaming Music Remixed Down At Club Saturn! (Part 2)

You may remember in the first part of this post, that we established the link between rave culture and gaming, that came about in the middle of the 1990s, when that particular type of music could be found dominating the airwaves, creeping into television programme soundtracks and as the music of choice, to sell anything from cars to Guinness. We also noted how much, both Sega as a company and the Saturn as a console, embraced the rave scene wholeheartedly*, using it's music as the soundtrack to many software titles, the odd commercial and as part of the very project we are reviewing right now:
Club Saturn.
*as did I- see pic below!

Father K embraces the rave scene... @ the Tribal Gathering, first legal rave in two years, May 6th 1995.

So read the first part of the article and get ready for part two...

Read more...

Killing Pixels Part Deux: Saturn Games in HD

I was about to title this post “Saturn games in 4K”, which would’ve sounded much more impressive, but alas, I don’t own any 2160p monitor to record footage from and didn’t want to sound like a liar, so let’s settle for HD then.

Mind you, 1080p is still a much bigger number than 240p – the Saturn’s original resolution (yeah, some games run in 480i, let’s not go there for the sake of simplicity), and because resolutions are areas and not lines having a number that’s more than 4 times higher means an actual increase in the order of 16x.

New Year, New 'Yard! The Junkyard Gets a Makeover!

SITE UNDERGOING MAINTENANCE: Shit may look real weird for a while.

Ain't we fancy.

SJY on YouTube: Zap! Snowboarding Trix '98 Review

Join us for this in-depth video review as we hit the virtual slopes to see whether Zap! Snowboarding Trix! '98 can shred with the best for Sega Saturn snowboard superiority!

This is a follow up to our previous Grudge Match video, which pitted Steep Slope Sliders against the original Zap! in a battle for king of the Saturn's snowboard mountain!

Killing Pixels - How to make your emulated games look old-school

Remember when I said I’d write a full, in-depth article about emulating Saturn games? This is not it.

Sorry.

Instead, I’m just going to whet your appetite for one of the many wonders of emulation or, in case you’ve already dipped your toes in this huge pool, I’ll walk you through the process of enhancing your experience.

You too can watch this miracle transformation on all the games you love and cherish.

[open the picture for full effect]

Read More...

New Year's MegaCast!

Happy New Year to all of you out there!

In this episode the team members of both The Saturn Junkyard's TitanCast, and Sega Saturn, Shiro! Podcast sit down, break bread, and talk about the Past, Present, and Future of our beloved Sega Saturn. 

You can also find us over at the YouTube Channel, on ITunes, and Google Play!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaI2ihlWw1wlfbaUfLR3bPA
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-saturn-junkyards-titancast/id1320249250?mt=2

   

While your at it, don't forget about the Shiro! Boys:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTSQ67HNTG7ENRNU_XGFUA
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sega-saturn-shiro/id1281372055?mt=2

SJY on YouTube: Grudge Match for Sega Saturn Snowboard Supremacy!

For this video, we thought it'd be fun to see what happens when we pit two Saturn snowboarding titles against each other in a one-on-one battle for snowboard superiority. Which will reign as the king of the Saturn slopes? Let's shred the virtual gnar and find out!

Note: I'm very new at this whole video-making thing (I've never made one before this) so forgive the slow, awkward pacing and tangential meandering. I'll be tightening that stuff up in future videos but in the meantime, I also welcome any other feedback you may have.

Cheers!