On the TitanCast: Kenji Eno's Legendary D with Derek Alexander of Stop Skeletons From Fighting

 

Greetings Junkies!

The Halloween season is upon us and Stop Skeletons From Fighting's Derek Alexander joins the TitanCast crew for a D-lightful retrospective deep dive into Warp and Kenji Eno's cinematic horror adventure game, D.

Help us wallow in the spooky spirit as we vibe in Kenji Eno’s brain castle!

Now playing on a podcast app near you, including:

(Host site w/ more app links)

Referenced links:

Stop Skeletons from Fighting

SSFF's Patreon, including Stop Skeletons From Podcasting episodes | https://www.patreon.com/StopSkeletonsFromFighting

SSFF's Kenji Eno Past Mortem video | https://youtu.be/i3TrfyNTcB8

SSFF on Twitter | @stopskeletons

Nuno's book via Editorial Divergênci (publisher site)

Book page: Pela Cabeca do Rei Volume

The Virtua Planet (Brian's blog)

Main page | https://thevirtuaplanet.com/

"The Bouncer: Square's Cutscene 'Em Up Sandwich" | 

http://thevirtuaplanet.com/2022/10/04/the-bouncer-squares-cutscene-em-up-sandwich/

TitanCast Episode 29 -- The Yakuza: Like a Dragoncast with Kinsey Burke and KC RadioMan | https://thesaturnjunkyard.blogspot.com/2021/03/yakuzalikeadragoncast.html

Host links

Brian's Twitter (@VirtuaSchlub)

Camron's Instagram (@Tsundain)

Sam's Twitter (@SMylesDrew)

Junkyard links

Saturn Junkyard website/blog

Saturn Junkyard YouTube channel

Saturn Junkyard Twitch channel

SJY Facebook community

SJY Twitter (@SaturnJunkyard)

The Dreamcast Junkyard website/blog (sister site)

The Dreamcast Junkyard's Dreampod podcast

Finally Revealed: How to Play as Ryo Hazuki on the Sega Saturn!

OK, so it ain't Saturn Shenmue but bear with us here. This is still really dang cool!

As many fans already know, AM2’s Fighters Megamix is an ambitious crossover 3D fighting game for the Sega Saturn, featuring a mashup of iconic Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers characters duking it out for...reasons. For those who are unfamiliar with the game, we have written about it here on the Saturn Junkyard. It even ranked just outside folks' top 10 all-time favorite Saturn titles in our community poll a while back.

Aside from being an all-around excellent video game, Fighters Megamix is particularly notable for its smattering of weird and obscure unlockable fighters, including Bark and Bean from Sonic the Fighters, Janet from Virtua Cop 2, Rent-A-Hero (in the Japanese version), original character Deku, the prototype VF1 character Siba (who was cut from the original game before release), and most notoriously, the Hornet stock car from Daytona USA. And, uh, meat. The game even lets players fight as the AM2 palm tree logo once they've logged in a whopping 84 hours!

But apparently, that isn't everybody…

In a recent Japanese interview as part of the GO SEGA 60th Anniversary series, former Sega arcade/AM2 executive and Fighters Megamix director Hiroshi Kataoka let it slip that, buried deep within the recesses of Fighter Megamix’s code, there is one more unlockable fighter that the community has yet to unearth. Further, it was strongly hinted that this character would go on to be a massive fan favorite in the Sega community, which is especially since you bought merchandise relevant given the recent hubub surrounding certain other infamous AM2 prototypes on the Sega Saturn.

The fact that he is apparently unlockable as an alternate Akira skin also lends some credence to our suspicions, and it was later confirmed that Shenmue's Ryo Hazuki -- or at least a very early prototypical iteration of him -- is indeed a hidden playable character in Fighters Megamix.

Ryo? In Fighters Megamix?! This is cool!

It can't be overstated how monumental this potentially is for the Sega fan community. The fabled Saturn prototype build of Shenmue (a.k.a. Project Guppy, a.k.a. Virtua Fighter RPG: Akira's Story, a.k.a. Project Berkley) has been a white whale for fans ever since AM2 revealed detailed footage from the prototype project alongside Shenmue II. Perhaps one day a former Sega or AM2 employee (who is also a supremely benevolent and all-around wonderful human being) will step forward and grace the world with a playable build of Saturn Shenmue and give us adoring fans a chance to experience it for ourselves in its full 32-bit glory. Unfortunately, this prototype build reportedly ran on an upgraded version of the Saturn (rather than stock hardware), which could pose its own practical challenges to our collective pipe dream. Nevertheless, it would be a remarkable glimpse into the unbridled ambition of a masterful Yu Suzuki-led AM2 team who dared to unravel the seams of the medium to engage players in new ways and immerse them fully in its living, breathing virtual world.

Until then, having the chance to play as Ryo in a 25 year-old fighting game could be the next best thing. However, there is a catch. Unlocking our (baby) boy Ryo in Fighters Megamix is apparently a very time-consuming ordeal and none of us at the Junkyard have had a chance to try it since learning this information a couple of days ago. For any patient and dedicated souls in the community with some extra time their hands, this is how it’s supposed to work:

Similar to other secret characters in the game, unlocking Ryo requires playing Fighters Megamix for a certain threshold of time before be becomes playable. Unfortunately, in Ryo's case, this is double the amount of time it takes to unlock the AM2 palm tree: 168 hours!

Worth it.

Done doing that? Good.

After logging a full 168 hours into Fighters Megamix, simply go into any mode and highlight Akira on the fighter select screen, hold *L+R+B+X+Z simultaneously before selecting the character with either A, C, or Y. 

* Note: we believe they meant L and R as in the shoulder buttons, not the D-pad inputs.

And after that…?

Let’s get sweaty.

That’s all we know so far. We will follow up with some updates once we’re able to play as Ryo for ourselves. In the meantime, if anyone in the community can unlock Ryo first and share their spoils with the Saturn Junkyard Facebook community, we will be forever grateful for your legendary exploits!

May Segata Sanshiro guide your path.

The Panzer Dragoon Remake: Flying Blind Through Familiar Skies

I’ve always been sympathetic to, and even charmed by Sega’s mid-‘90s transitional struggles. For a time, the company was caught perpetually off guard as the industry conventions it had relied on (and indeed, helped define) crumbled amidst a swift generational shift. Sega adapted, more or less. It eventually forged its own creative renaissance that continues to endear the company to many of us today, even if it was ultimately a victim of that sea change.

In my mind, no game exemplified that precarious phase more than the original Panzer Dragoon. As something of a killer app in the Sega Saturn’s early days, the original title stands as a cult classic, particularly by association with its offspring. Fans maintain an enduring fondness for the original Panzer Dragoon, of course, but it remains even better known for kicking off a remarkable and criminally underappreciated gaming franchise.

For its part, the original Panzer Dragoon was a timid first step in a bold new direction. It navigated a generational chasm between a familiar arcade-action framework and the unbound possibilities of 3D gaming. Between them, Panzer Dragoon took a contorted middle path. It utilized the third dimension to great artistic and mechanical effect, hoisting players atop a majestic dragon and immersing them in a 360˚ perspective as they locked lasers with fantastical beasts in a mysterious, post-apocalyptic setting. Those concepts contributed to a distinct vision and tone that felt entirely new. However, several of the game's structural aspects – like its rigidly linear pathways, finite life/continue counts, and lack of upgrades or progression systems – did not.

The game is about dragons, after all, so in those terms the original Panzer Dragoon was like a young fledgling: confined to well-trodden ground despite its loftier ambitions for flight. With later installments, the series would grow its wings, evolve with more modern conventions, and soar with a swagger to match its ambition.

But now, 25 years later, developer MegaPixel Studio and publisher Forever Entertainment return us to that young fledgling via the Nintendo Switch (for now, with PC and other platforms eventually).

At face value, the Panzer Dragoon remake basically does what it promises. It lets me hop back into the dragon’s saddle and guides me through the linear pathways and familiar locales from the original game. Homing lasers in tow, I again blast the waves of monsters surrounding me. The remake largely succeeds in replicating the basic structure of Panzer Dragoon, no doubt, but it overlooks many of the things which defined its novel vision in the first place. At no point does the Panzer Dragoon remake ever make a compelling case for why it really needed to exist.

The Sega Saturn Megamix

Whilst browsing Flickr for Saturn related stuff I found this amazing cover by some dude called Theodore Taylor III (the third?). The unique illustration of something that appears to be "Sonic" really caught my attention. He truly looks like the worn out, abused and resigned character he actually is these days. (Whereas Sonic 4 and Sonic Colors seem to slightly change that but who knows, what Sega comes up with next.)


Anyway. Theodore not only illustrated that very nice CD Cover, but he also made the Megamix himself. And since it's a free download, why not check it out on his blog. Personally I think he could have made some better transitions (or transitions at all?!), but the tunes are still great of course. Check out the playlist on his blog and dance to some Sega Saturn music.

Meet Segata-chan!

Well... yeah.

Oh btw! My collection.

So I was moving into a much smaller apartment, which meant that I had to "outsource" my Saturn collection. Which is quite a pity, but who can display all those Saturns properly anyway. I'd need a single room for that. So I bought two Ikea billy shelfs and put everything in there.

The right shelf is exclusively full of Saturn hardware, namely Saturns and periphery, whilst the left shelf features all my Saturn games (PAL, some US and a lot of JP), special editions and also random crap from my household like a complete run of Amiga Joker magazines. Oh and PSX games as well.

New Apparel Anyone?

The Tokyo Game Show is slowly wrapping up and the first user submitted pictures from the TGS hallways appeared on the web. Usually I am not that interested in modern gaming anymore, but when I saw two pictures in particular I was quite shocked! Apparently there are two new Sega Saturn t-shirts being released by COSPA and good lord, do they look gorgeous or what?! With a price tag of 3,045 Japanese Yen they are not what I'd call "cheap", yet I feel the incredibly powerful urge to actually buy them. All three of them! Three? Yes, the second shirt (picture down there) is actually coming in two colors. A weirdo turquoise color and the more classic and gorgeous bordeaux on white (what's up with all that french in the colors?).

If you plan to buy those shirts, then you have two possibilities. Visit the COSPA site, (there's an "english guide" here) try your luck and see if they ship overseas. Or place an order through the Shopping Mall Japan service, which lets you bid on japanese auctions, as well as making purchases in japanese online shops! Good luck.

YOU MUST PLAY THE SEGA SATURN!

Oh and btw! They do have equally great Mega Drive Shirts as well!

Let's Go Away!

In 2009 the Sega Saturn is celebrating its 15th birthday and it is indeed a good year for our beloved Saturn. As some sort of a birthday present, Sega is releasing a 4 CD Set of one of the greatest soundtrack to ever grace mankind's ears - Daytona USA. It will feature the music from the games Daytona USA, Daytona USA 2 and Daytona 2001 not only as the arcade versions, but also the great Sega Saturn and PC versions. Also expect some smashing remixes! The release date is the 9th of April 2009! Be sure to make a note in your calendar and order it in the official Sega Direct store (or shortly afterwards on ebay probably).

OBEY

Yes. This is a 150 cm tall cardboard standee of 0ur master Segata Sanshiro. Please do not ask what I had to pay for it, because it was quite much. But money is nothing when it comes to Segata Sanshiro. If he calls, I'll pay. No matter how much.

I have nothing more to say.

More Sega Saturn... Stuff

So I was buying random Stuff on Yahoo Auctions again. This time, a very very cool... uhm... Sega Saturn... tablet(?). Honestly, I don't know what it is. But it has the famous Sega Saturn claim "This Is Cool" on it, so I better believe it. Maybe Sega executives sniffed their coke on this tablet, who knows. It's very heavy and apart from the Sega Logo and the "This Is Cool" slogan free of any hints what it might have been and where it could have come from.

This Virtua Cop poster was bought on Yahoo Auctions as well and it was actually ridiculous cheap. Only 1.200 Yen, which is about 14 USD these days. Well ok, you have to count the Shopping Mall Japan fees to it. Anyway, I never actually saw something like this in Germany, so I am quite happy to be able to buy it from Japan.

I have already won the next weird Saturn stuff and will post about it, once I received it. Stay tuned.

The Sega Saturn Backpack

Finally I was able to buy one of these great Sega Saturn backpacks. They were released by Sega to... well... only god knows why. But as a Sega Saturn fan I really appreciate that and thank Sega for releasing something that cool. Whereas other console branded backpacks only have logos on them, the Sega Saturn backpack actually looks like a Sega Saturn with all its details. It even comes with a Joypad pouch! You have 2 external pockets. One under the CD lid and the other in the Saturn's memory card slot. Other than that, the main pocket is big enough for a Sega Saturn and other crap as well. It only costs around 47 Pound Sterling (7,140 Yen) and should be in the possession of every Saturn fanatic.

On a little sidenote: Also check out this incredibly cool Mega Drive tote! That's the birthday present for your girlfriends.

The Sega Saturn PC

Another weekend, another "browsing the internet for random Sega Saturn finds". This time, I present to you, the Sega Saturn PC. Famous (?) japanese website Akiba PC hotline tried to put a complete PC inside a Sega Saturn case and actually succeeded quite well. They even modded the mouse to operate as an USB mouse, which I'd really love to use on my PC as well. Too bad, the Saturn mouse didn't have a scroll wheel yet. Check out their page for some interesting pictures and even two proof of concept videos.

Daddy's Home!

Hello my dear Saturn brothers!

Yes 'tis I the long absent Father Krishna, back from the brink and ready to contribute to this most hallowed site again! I have conducted a little experiment recently. I wanted to leave the SJY to fend for itself, like a parent giving their child a gentle push out of the family home. I wanted to see how the site would fair without me and I'm pleased to say, my baby has become a fully functional adult, independent of it's Father and thriving in the blogosphere, thanks to the wonderful team that keep it alive. So first of all a great big thank you to elend, Caleb, Nebacha and Arugulaz (particularly elend!)



But what kind of dad would I be if I didn't come by every once in a while, to check up on my offspring every once in a while, bringing the odd present every now and then? So here I am with a present for you all. For I'm now going to present you with a five page article from 'games TM'. magazine, lovingly typed and transcribed word for word by myself. The article is in celebration of a very special man. In fact to us lot here at the SJY, he's more than a mere mortal, he's a shining golden lord. A deity of mythic proportions...

The one, the only, SEGATA SANSHIRO!!!!

Without any further ado, here we go... I've got a lot of typing to do, so I better get on! As usual
I'll use the quotation scarlet coloured text. I would credit the journalist who wrote the article, but he/she is not named personally....

" Hello Segata Sanshiro!" from games tm. No. 74 (August 2008)

Hiroshi Fujioka is a burly chap and he seems fully committed to everything he does, even if that means answering the questions of pesky journalists like us. He made his movie debut in a1965 flick called Anko Tsubaki Wa Koi No Hana aged 19. born in Ehime, Shikoku, the actor then went on to star in dozens of Japanese cinema classics, but he achieved even greater fame throughout Asia in the early Seventies for his role in the Kamen Rider TV series. With his renowned skills in the martial arts,it seemed like the most obvious choice, when Sega decided to employ Fujioka as a fearsome judo master of a Saturn promoting character during the late Nineties.

Fujioka began his work with Sega mid-1997, once the Saturn had been established as moderately successful in Japan. On the 28th of November that year, when the advert for Sonic R was broadcast on national television, he made his first appearance as Segata Sanshiro, a martial arts specialist whose reason for being, was to command people to play Saturn games. He also performed in 16 radio commercials, which ran on local Japanese stations between 1997 and 1999, some of which were in the promotion of specific Saturn titles, while others were image building exercises and chances for the Segata Sanshiro message to be heard. A classic example from the winter holiday of 1997, aimed at school and university students,went like this: "This is Hiroshi Fujioka, Segata Sanshiro. All of you students who are preparing for exams, soon you will be on the home stretch. Those of you who like games, resisting games may be painful, but your future prospects are precious. That's why you should resist games and focus on your studies. It's difficult for me to say this, but when spring comes, you will be free to play... Play Sega Saturn."

Even away from his working life, Fujioka is intensely focused on the martial arts, so in many ways his role as Segata Sanshiro was a perfect match. Fujioka is a first dan in karate and iaido, as well as a third dan in judo, fourth in battado and kotachi goshindo, and a seventh dan toudo master. "(Since I was) six years old my father saw to it that I was trained to use a Japanese sword, through practising the ancient art of bushido," he explains "so having been accustomed to the martial arts for such a long time, I felt in harmony with (the Segata Sanshiro character)." Fujioka had been immediately in tune with Sega's ideas for the most visible and enigmatic of marketing characters.

"I thought it was good that they wanted to send a strong message to children in an age when young people had no direction," he explains. The creation of the Segata sanshiro character work of Sega's PR machine. "I contributed some serious ideas myself," Fujioka reminds us, but his parody of 'Sugata' Sanshiro had already been decided upon when Fujioka turned up at Sega HQ one day in the summer of 1997. Sugata Sanshiro, incidentally, was the fictitious and eponymous lead character in the first film directed by the legendary Akira Kurosawa. Sugata Sanshiro learns to rely on judo, and the actor cast as the original Sanshiro, Susumu Fujita, bears a vague resemblance to Fujioka. For the Japanese public , Segata Sanshiro would be an obvious reference-in-parody to the first hero delivered by Kurosawa.

Then there was the name itself, cleverly constructed to sound a lot like 'Sega Saturn , shiro' - an imperative that means 'play Sega Saturn' - but which can also be interpreted as referencing the white colour of the then standard Japanese Saturn SKU. After accepting the proposed role, Fujioka was as determined as ever to exceed his employer's expectations. We ask about his motivation, other than his stern professional resolve and the obvious but unspoken financial benefits. "There were various motivations for me, but one enjoyable feature was that the role enabled me to influence society for good" he says without any irony. "My schedule was incredibly busy, but (Segata Sanshiro) had an effect on all sorts of people. The reaction from young people was particularly strong."

The bulk of Fujioka's work as Segata Sanshiro centered on starring in TV commercials to promote Sega's latest games. The scenarios of these adverts were always related to the games they promoted, but set in a hyper dramatic reality in which Sanshiro had scope to be active and heroic. The Burning Rangers advert was set inside a burning building (obviously), while the Winter Heat commercial showed Sanshiro racing a professional speed skater across an ice rink. Sometimes there was no clear connection to anything: one of the earliest Segata Sanshiro appearances sees him beating up a group of "young punks" who "weren't focused", before reminding them, as would be his wont, to "play Sega Saturn". The ad then cuts to promotional footage of Sonic R.

Fujioka has some fond memories of the production of these highly effective commercials: "Running around a skating rink barefoot without using a stuntman, breaking ten roof tiles with my head, punching an extra large (Saturn) controller until my fist was bloody... I did all of these things seriously focused: I have strong memories of (performing those stunts). I wanted to convey to the younger generation that whatever they do, if they make a serious effort, afterward they can enjoy this great sense of exhilaration. But to do so, I felt that I first had to charge into this experience myself, in order to make the idea understood. The staff and cast, all of us were united and putting in great effort. That's why on location, when we were filming the commercials, there was a good level of tension. I think that everyone could see that in our productions."

The adverts' recurring theme song, Sega Saturn Shiro, which is sung throughout most of the television slots Sega produced, eventually became worthy of a release as a CD single. Fujioka sang the Kamen Rider theme song, 'Let's Go!! Rider Kick', for the first 13 episodes of that series , and released a handful of singles between his big break in 1971 and 1985 , dabbling in love songs and pop, but this challenge was something else. While the version used in adverts and elsewhere had been sung by Ichiro Tomita. Fujioka was determined to do his own work in the studio when a CD single was at stake. "I was nervous when recording (the Segata Sanshiro theme song)," Fujioka openly admits. "But even today I love that song. If you listen to it, your blood will begin to flow and you'll start to feel courageous and brave. I'm grateful that I was able to sing such a powerful song."

Fujioka's workload also included appearances at promotional events, and he seems, characteristically, to have relished playing the Segata Sanshiro role in such circumstances. "Yes I performed at various events", he reminisces. "Each time I turned up, there were many fans gathered to greet me, and I was happy to hear their comments and receive their support. At those events, the message of the TV commercials was repeated to make sure it was clearly understood. I really looked forward to such opportunities."

By 1998, Segata Sanshiro was a sufficiently popular and well recognized character for Sega to produce an entire game starring Fujioka as Sanshiro. The result of this collaboration was a title called Segata Sanshiro Shinkenyugi, the 'Shinkenyugi' bit meaning 'serious sports', which is appropriate enough when the mini-games in this compendium are based on Fujioka's daring stunts from Sanshiro's television appearances. Of Shinkenyugi, Fujioka tells us: "I was happy (for the Segata Sanshiro game to be developed.) I thought it was something worth doing, but I also felt some responsibility. Of course I've heard various things about the game...."



We'd venture a guess that Fujioka is tacitly admitting that it wasn't a great game - and he'd be right - but it's not without his own inimitable charm, and we'll always have time for head chopping slates or pulling judo-disc shapes... Happily we can report that Sanshiro wasn't a hypocrite. While he was admonishing everybody to "play Sega Saturn" the man behind the message Hiroshi Fujioka himself, was a genuine fan of Sega's output. "I played and even really enjoyed (Sega's games)," he tells us. "I think they put out a message to the world." Fujioka likes to emphasise the ideological resonance of his Segata Sanshiro character. He believes it was necessary to convey "the message" to the younger generation in the late Nineties.

The most obvious reason that Sanshiro is so well loved and so well remembered, however, is his sense of humour, which carries through every in-character appearance he made during his tenure as the fearsome face of Sega. When he's surrounded by zombies in the TV ad for TheHouse Of The Dead, he scowls and says "these aren't humans", as though he has only just realised the fact and is outraged that he hadn't been informed of their ghastliness some time earlier. Another time, on the scene of the Burning Rangers advert, Segata Sanshiro is giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a woman and doesn't seem to troubled by the inferno around them - by the end of the ad he seems to have completely forgotten the notion of escaping the building. Meanwhile, the commercial for Pro Baseball Greatest nine '98 placed Sanshiro in a batting centre scenario, but instead of using a bat to slog the incoming volley of baseballs, he kicks one for a home run before showing off his masculinity by revealing a bare chest and allowing half a dozen balls to pelt him in the midriff. Without flinching.

By the end of 1998, the Dreamcast krunch was imminent and virtually all Saturn development had been terminated, leaving the obviously Saturn-tied Segata Sanshiro with just one last obligation: to go out with a bang by ushering in the Dreamcast era. And how he did it. Sanshiro leaped from the roof of Sega HQ to prevent the company building from being hit by an incoming missile, as the inspirational Segata Sanshiro theme song blared away and Sega employees looked in awe from their office windows. It was the last great sacrifice in Segata Sanshiro's quest, although Fujioka showed up in character at the Dreamcast launch and looked alive and well. Hiroshi Fujioka later provided the voice of Ryo Hazuki's father in the Japanese versions of Shenmue and Shenmue II, but the Segata Sanshiro character had at last been retired. He was brought back for a one off special progamme on Fuji TV at the end of 1999, but other than that appearance, it was game over.


In the place of two Saturn game-packed years in Japan, Sanshiro had left a marketing legacy that included books, T-shirts, action figures, CDs and games, all of which are sought after by local Sega fans. We ask Fujioka to confirm that Segata Sanshiro is as dead as Elvis. He concurs, but remains positive: "I'm not contracted (to Sega) at present, but if there's some new project then I'd definitely like to participate. I think Segata Sanshiro still delivers a good message even today, so a revival would be interesting..."

Phew! That took a while! Hope you all enjoyed it! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to don my Elvis Wig and judo suit and retire to the SJY dojo, to light some incense and bow down in prayer! Goodnight my brothers!

SKU You, Pal!

http://bestsku.com/platform.asp?catid=Sega%20Saturn

I'm referring, of course, to Best SKU, which currently has a sale on Sega Saturn accessories. These include an RF adapter, the Virtua Stick, and Sega's sublime Saturn Control Pad, all for low-to-the-floor prices. One oddity is an Australian version of the Control Pad with the D-pad and buttons recessed inside large oval windows. It's like the alien cousin of the standard Saturn controller!

Annnnyway, most of the items on the site are just $4.99, with the Virtua Stick priced at a slightly higher $9.99. I've got no clue how much shipping costs or if these guys are even trustworthy, but if you need more Saturn controllers (and really, what Saturn fan couldn't use more of them?) and are willing to take a chance on an unknown mail order company, this is a golden opportunity for you.

One final note... at long last, I've got a computer that can handle Saturn emulation at a reasonable speed. You folks have any recommendations as to what emulator I should be using, and what games I can play with it?

Just in Case You Missed This, IGN's Top Sega Saturn Games

I think we can all agree with this list.

http://retro.ign.com/articles/894/894643p1.html

Street Fighter The Movie The Game. (Making of!)

Yeah so I know the folks over at Segasaturn.co.uk felt this game was the worst Saturn Game ever...

But come on folks!

I bought it and it's probably the best $3 I spent. (In the top ten at least)

Go back and read my review where I discuss why the game is totally worth $4.00 (American)!

In any case take a look at some of these production shots. Just because...
Cammy Minogue

http://alan-noon.blogspot.com/2007/08/follow-up-street-fighter-movie.html

Also the original discussion about the game.

http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=125411

Come on people! The Saturn version was SO MUCH better than the arcade version. We can all agree on that.

Tokyo - City Of Dreams?

So, there I was. In Tokyo. The city, which I heard so much about. All my retrogaming dreams would finally come true. Well, at least that's what I thought. Many of my mates on the internet already warned me about Tokyo not being the retrogamer's paradise, which it used to be. I took a mental note but still thought, that it at least must be better over there than in my hometown in Germany. And well, it was. Sort of.

~Akihabara~

On day 2 of our visit, we went straight to Akihabara, to check out some retroshops. At first we had some trouble finding one, but then we found the quite famous "Super Potato" shop. We went up the stairs to floor 1 and the amount of retrogames you'll find there is a bit overwhelming at first. You have dozens of Super Famicom carts, even more Famicom carts and also Sega Saturn games. A whole shelf full of them! In a neat little glass showcase, they stacked up the really rare items. A little bit of hardware can be found here and there as well. So that sounds great, doesn't it? Well it was to a certain degree. What wasn't as nice, were the prices of the games. A Guardian Heroes did cost around 24 EUR there. I already bought that for 7 EUR on ebay.de! The other prices were mediocre at best, too. Especially the rare items were really expensive. So the only bargain you could obtain were 100 Yen (0,60 EUR) games like Virtua Fighter, Daytona USA or Fighting Vipers. I managed to get some great bargains here and there (Like Miniskirt Police for 13 EUR, which I have to review in some days!), but I was still a tad dissapointed. Other Retroshops in Akihabara (and there aren't too many of them either!) have roughly the same pricing, so if you are after the good Sega Saturn games, you might want to continue browsing ebay.

But hey, I was warned, wasn't I? So I had a look for some boxed hardware and... uhm... found nothing. The Super Potato shop had that boxed white Saturn, but with a 80 EUR price tag and a definitely not mint box, I had to pass. I bought the even more rare V-Saturn on ebay.de for around 70 EUR for example. I wasn't even able to find some boxed Joypads or something like that. Not to speak of truly rare and / or unique items like the Sega Saturn backpacks, SegaFan Issues or the Segata Sanshiro action figure. If you are a collector of unboxed Famicom games, then Tokyo is still your paradise. But regarding Sega Saturn games Tokyo is not a must anymore. If you are there to see the extraordinary city, then it's fine to browse some Saturn Games here and there and save some money whilst buying a shitload of 100 Yen games.

~Bars~

When staying in Tokyo, your brain is constantly exposed to an immense amount of flashing lights, uber sized billboards, incredibly gorgeous girls and incredibly loud sounds. So it's just natural, that you want to relax somewhere and drink as much beer, as you can. A mere days before we flew to Japan we actually found two Tokyo based videogame themed bars in the internet. 8-Bit Café and 16 Shots. They were even just minutes away from our hotel, so it was clear that we'll hang out there and drink like crazy. We first visited the 8-Bit Café, which is nothing more than an apartment located on the fifth floor in one of Tokyo's skyscrapers. It's quite small, but you can squeeze a lot of people into it, if you want. And more importantly there was gaming goodness lying around everywhere. Super Famicom carts, two Sega Saturns, a showcase filled with odd stuff and a lot of videogame related books. Of course you can play all that stuff as well! We immediately ordered some beer and for some odd reason they only had german Löwenbräu beer. That didn't stop us from drinking, though. After some rounds of Street Fighter II we also managed to get in contact with some true locals, who already were kinda drunk. It was a really nice evening there.

The next day, we wanted to visit the 16 Shots bar, which was only 5 Minutes away from the 8-Bit Café. It was even smaller, roughly fitting max. 7 people inside. 4 at the counter and 3 around a great cocktail cab with Raiden Fighters 2. The first thing you noticed was the music. In the 16 Shots bar the playlist was filled with videogame tunes like the Segata Sanshiro Theme (!), Virtua Fighter tunes and countless of other stuff, whereas the 8-Bit Café was mainly playing "ordinary" electronic music. The 16 Shots bar had a lot of gaming goodnes flying around here and there, as well. But the really great thing about it was the toilet, which had a pinboard with business cards on it. Those weren't normal business cards but business cards from people who work at Sega, Grasshopper Manufacture, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Famitsu, etc. Nearly the whole industry was there and I was peeing right next to them. When visiting the 16 Shots bar more often during our stay, we noticed why there were so many business cards hanging at the toilet pinboard. Those people actually visit the bar quite frequently! We managed to meet people from Climax (Dark Saviour anyone?), Grasshopper Manufacture, the guy who made Every Extend Extra and most importantly a very nice and friendly guy from Sega. We drank a bit, talked a bit and whoops, the next day we had an appointment at the Sega Headquarter in Ootori.

~Sega~

The next day we arrived in Ootori on time and already saw a huge Sega sign when we stepped out of the JR line station! We didn't hesitate and went straight to it, posed infront of the Sega sign at the doors and went in. Inside it looked like your ordinary office building, with (gorgeous) secretaries running around and people waiting in the foyer to be picked up. It did take quite some time until our acquaintance came. But it was our mistake. We went straight into the Arcade Division Building and the Sega guy was waiting at the true Headquarter, just two blocks away, which we totally missed. The main headquarter was more representative with a huge Sonic in the Foyer, huge display windows with Sega memorabilia and some LCD screens with trailers of upcoming games running on them. We went into an empty conference room on the third floor and takeld a bit with him. Mostly about Dreamcast stuff, since the interview was mostly lead by a mate from Dreamcast-Scene.com.

So there wasn't too much Sega Saturn related stuff involved in our conversation, but we got a glimpse of how it must have been to work at Sega at that time. The guy, whom we talked with, was actually working on Burning Rangers and some other big games for the Sega Saturn. He also saw Shen Mue running on stock Sega Saturn hardware, which brought some tears to my eyes, once I heard that. I wish I would have been able to ask more interesting questions about the Sega Saturn, but time was scarce and he wasn't able to answer the truly interesting questions, since he didn't work in the responsible departments. And besides, there is not much unanswered stuff left, I am afraid.

~Tokyo In General~

So there you have it. That was Japan for me. Few retrogames, the ones you find are either very common and thus only about 100 Yen, or very rare and very expensive up to 98,000 Yen (roughly 600 EUR for an "Heim Waltz"). The girls in Tokyo are incredibly gorgeous, with the majority of them wearing (no matter how cold it is) nothing but Miniskirts, high heels, stockings and crazy tops. 99 % of them are super skinny and very cute as well. Contrary to popular belief, Tokyo is actually quite cheap. A can of coke out of a vending machine is 120 Yen (0,60 EUR), a Big Mac is 240 Yen (1,50 EUR, WTF? It's currently over 3,10 EUR in Germany!) and you can get the cheapest Metro ticket for around 100 - 140 Yen. So, Tokyo isn't really expensive. You can actually live there and you can especially afford a vacation there. Our flight was around 600 EUR and the 2 stars Hotel 400 EUR for 9 days. And let me tell you, that 2 stars in Japan are like 6 stars over here! It was incredibly noble and just perfect. I'll definitely visit Tokyo again some day.

The Best DS Lite Mod To Date

Whilst browsing the japanese Yahoo Auctions site for rare Sega Saturn goodness, I came across this modded Nintendo DS lite. Yahoo seller xxx_pumpkinfactory_xxx refurbished his DS not only with weird bling bling, which he probably stole from his girlfriend, but also with the miniature Sega Saturn Gashapon we all love. I dunno what to think about it. The Sega Saturn looks class as always, but the bling bling gives me the chills. Also note the selection of very expensive games underneath it! Psychic Assassin Taromaru (around 200 USD), Radiant Silvergun (around 150 USD), Death Crimson (! around 100 USD) and Guardian Heroes (well... cheap!) give the Saturn modded DS the stage it (probably) deserves. Oh and btw, click the picture for a bigger version.

On a sidenote: Yes, I'll also post something about Sega and the Sega Saturn in Japan, too! I still have to edit the photos I took, though. Approximately 1,100 pics! Don't worry, I won't post all of them in one single blog post.

Crypt Killer, Yes it's mostly 2D but it's fun.

Crypt Killer (Not to be confused with Corpse Killer that's a different game) was a Konami arcade game that got released on the Playstation and Saturn in 1997.

Let me be straight with you. This game has 2D enemies. It looks horrible compared to Saturn Shooters like House of the Dead.

But for some reason I had fun time playing it.

Perhaps it's the nostalgia of playing the arcade version during those awkward years when I hadn't gotten my drivers license yet. The arcade version had huge plastic shotguns which were pretty cool looking.

Perhaps the real reason I like this game is that I have recently come into possession of a Sega Stunner Saturn lightgun. I was quite lucky to get it since Saturn hardware seems to be increasing in price online. The lightgun is great. Two buttons. Simple design.

Maybe that's what makes the game so appealing to me. It's just simple, mindless blasting of 2D targets. No need to worry about shooting an innocent like in House of the Dead. There are none in this game. Just shoot shoot shoot and shoot some more. It doesn't make the game all that exciting for marathon gaming but it's fun none the less.

Lets run down the major points:

PROS

-Your main weapon is a shotgun and you can choose in the settings how close you have to come to shooting something for it to count as a hit. Which is nice.

-Cool little items pickups like gatling guns and super shotguns.

-Nice little effects that break up the action. For example at one time your character falls down and rolls. The first person camera does a complete roll which is pretty cool.

-Choose your own path by shooting either of two doors. Sort of makes the on rails aspect of the game more bearable.

-Cheesy Monster sound effects actually work well in this game. In fact a lot of things in the game are quite amusing.

CONS

-The game looks horrible. At least there is a variety of 2D enemies though.

-The main character sometimes yells out stuff that during the 1990s *might* have been cool but now are really lame.

-Somewhat shoddy hit detection on some of the enemies when they first appear. For example you have to wait until a zombie fully rises out of the ground before you are able to shoot him.

-The story is stupid and there seems to be no reason for the giant floating head that tells you nonsense things throughout the game.

If you can look past the 2D enemies like I did this game is actually fun.

The PS version of the game got some horrible reviews. However, there are almost no reviews for the Saturn version. I don't know if the Saturn version is really that much better or not. I know that a lot of people complained that lightguns were pretty inaccurate for the PS version which does not seem to be the case for the Saturn version at all. In any case...

I would spend $5 bucks for a CD of this game. I would spend $8 for a complete set.

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!