Nintendo Saturn?

Well, I don't know... First of all the Saturn remains all forlorn and forgotten, dissed and dismissed, seen as an 'also ran' and said to be a Sega failure. Then NiGHTS gets it's second incarnation on the Wii and all of a sudden, everybody and their Aunt is raving about it!

Two current Nintendo magazines are running enthusiastic articles (one a full SIX page spread) about Saturn games. First of all, N Gamer Magazine are extolling the virtues of the anticipated Wii Nights. They're running it as a front cover story. Within the article, they make the following point...


"Nights for Wii will change the console forever because... (reason three) Its a Sega game. NiGHTS: Journey Of Dreams was originally intended for A.N. Other console (presumably XBOX360) until the wonders of the Wii tempted (NiGHTS creator) Takashi Iizuka Nintendo-wards.







This and Mario & Sonic At The Olympics, are signs that the Nintendo-Sega relationship is tighter than ever: suggesting that the Wii may find itself the new home for other great franchises such as OutRun, Panzer Dragon, Samba De Amigo, After Burner and - dare we say it Shenmue?"

Interesting prospect, huh? What's even better is that the original versions of successful Saturn/Wii crossover franchises will perhaps become sought after items... Consoles themselves will perhaps become more sought after... A Saturn renaissance is upon us!

Official Nintendo Magazine also runs a two page retrospective on NiGHTs which tells me something I was quite unaware of, despite owning two copies of the game.
In the article "A Day In The Life: Like having a baby without the mess..." they reveal the following:




"Believe it or not, one of the most interesting parts of NiGHTS has nothing to do with the main game. Labelled 'A Life' by the game's developer, it allows you to wander around the landscape of any level, and discover striped eggs that, if touched by either Elliot or Claris, will hatch into winged creatures known as 'Nightopians' or (Pians), who then go about their business.

Of course this doesn't in itself sound very exciting until you realise how much of an influence this can have on your growing Pian population.

For instance, keeping them happy by hitting high scores on the levels and removing any enemies not only results in some serious breeding ( so more Piams to look after), but also makes them sing, wave and even make the levels music sound more joyful. Conversely, making them sad, by killing them (either yourself or by letting nearby Nightmaren run riot) produces a more sombre tone.

However, the most creative part of 'A Life' lies in creating your own special breed of creatures known as 'Mepians' - the result of an unholy alliance between Marens and Pians. Stun a Maren, hurl it into a Pian and then hatch the resulting egg. As Mepians take on a selection of elements from both parents, and with Mepians able to breed with one another, the combinations are endless (and useful if you want to create a Royal Mepian, which, despite being nigh on impossible, is the ultimate accolade).

After NiGHTS, Sonic Team went on to develop the 'A-Life' concept through the Chao Garden sections of the first two Sonic Adventure games. Just remember where the concept came from eh?"

Interesting suff, huh? They also run a great piece about the Saturn analogue pad (featured in Calebs first article), but I'll leave plagiarising that for another post...


Finally, again in N Gamer magazine, the Saturn get's it's props from an article in 'Virtual Console News'...


"Elsewhere Sega legend Makoto Osaki- he of the Shenmue and OutRun2- hasn't ruled bringing more of the Virtua Fighter series to Virtual Console, after Virtua Fighter 2 was ladled onto VC this month. "The major point is that there needs to be loads of demand from the players"he says. "If there's a place of business in it, there would be no reason to hesitate to develop remakes, but I believe this matter should be determined after more elaborate research." He's up for bringing back the bulbous-headed Virtua Fighter Kids too, "if the market demands it". Bring on the big heads!"

Thus the second incarnation of NiGHTs for the Wii has generated a total og eight and a half pages of Saturn related articles in current gaming magazines, a situation that would have been unthinkable a couple of monthe ago... Could the Saturn be following in the foot steps of the great Undead Console?

Athlete Kings Review

Now despite my love for the Saturn, I’ll freely admit that a lot of the games that bulk out my collection are not great. Virtual Hydlide and Blam! Machine Head are two new additions to the Saturn Junkyard Virtual Museum, that fall very distinctly into the “not great” category, (although to be fair Blam! Machine Head has a great opening sequence with some brilliant ‘ham’ acting.)

However, there are some Saturn games which stand up to comparison with some of their current peers. Sega Rally, (soon to appear in its third incarnation on PS3) is one of the finest driving games created. Daytona USA is not far behind. NiGHTs is such a good game that the announcement of its imminent rebirth on the Wii set the internet alight.

Side scrolling 2D Beat ‘em ups like the Street Fighter Alpha series or X Men – Children Of The Atom seem as fresh today as the day they were created.

House Of The Dead, Virtua Fighter and Dead Or Alive are all franchises that are still going strong, and Saturn games which are still great fun to play, despite their aging pixellated appearance.

Some of the most fun I’ve had in competitive play recently, came from playing Sega World Wide Soccer ’97 against my best friend (and beating him hands down to add to the fun…)

In short, these games stand the test of time, and are illustrations of the buzz one can get from Retro gaming.

But yesterday, I discovered a new giant in the world of the Saturn. Athlete Kings! This arcade port is a particularly relevant title at the moment as it is somewhat Wii like in its appeal. Whilst the remote is not swung about in motion sensor fashion, there is a degree of physicality to the game, that goes beyond the normal exertion employed in button mashing.

You see to power your athlete through his various decathlon disciplines, requires thumbs of fury. Huge, muscular thumbs. Steroid pumped, hulkish thumbs that can
hit the ‘A’ button at lightning speeds.

The game has four playing modes; Arcade, Decathlon, Practise and Two Player (or versus) Mode.

The events your athlete will have to compete in are as follows: Hundred metre dash, (hit the A button repeatedly as fast as you can to beat the qualifying time). You can also hit the “action button” (B) at the finish line, to throw that all important pose for your photo finish…

The long jump requires the same physical rigour as the 100 metre dash. This time however, hold the action button to jump. The longer you hold the button affects the angle of your jump, and therefore the distance. Step over the line before the sandpit and you’ve fouled so your timing is crucial!

The shot put, discus, javelin, pole vault and the high jump require basically the same controls, but with the shot put and the javelin, there is a pulse on the force meter that you have to catch at its highest level for maximum distance.

The 110m hurdles are hilarious, as the timing of pressing the action button is crucial and any mistake sees you colliding into them , time after time! The 400m and 1500m requires the player to run, but at the same time check progress against a stamina bar.

There is a brilliant element of pick up and play to the game, and non-gamers can enjoy it without any previous gaming experience. In this respect, it encompasses the spirit of the Wii and Nintendo’s desire to create ‘family oriented’ or party games. But this is Sega people, 100% Sega!

The graphics are luscious in Saturn terms, with smooth frame rates and animated cut scenes. I’d go as far to say they look almost Dreamcast like in their splendour. (The game was later reincarnated as a slightly more serious Dreamcast sports sim, Virtua Athlete 2K ) Presumably as the game play was so simple, it allowed the developers to go all out as far as the Saturn’s graphical abilities were able to go. Slightly comic in appearance, your athletes will flex if they win and throw a bitch fit if they lose…

Athletes include USA’s Rick Blade, Germany’s Karl Vain, Great Britain’s hugely Afro-ed Jef Jansens, Russia’s pervy looking Aleksei Rigel, Jamaica’s Femi Kadiena, Japan’s Joe Kudou, France’s Ellen Regiani and Li Huang … All suitably stereotypical game types!

All in all a genuine Saturn legend and a great game for a party! Athlete King, Father Krishna salutes you! Overall score 9/10! Superb!