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...

2D to 3D done well

So, as promised, and after almost 48 hours of pure expectation, here I am to talk about the latest addition to my (tiny) PS2 import collection. Yes, the title I'm going to talk about is a PS2 game, and yes, it's an imported one. And finally, yes, it's a Metal Slug game, which explains my previous post.

So, without further delay, ladies and gentlemen (are there ladies visiting this blog?), I present to you:

...

...

(uh, the expectation, I can't control myself xD)


Metal Slug 3D!!!



Oh yeah! You heard me, it's Metal Slug 3D!

Ok, so now you're thinking, is it any good? Well, I'm happy to say that it's pretty damn good actually, especially if you're a fan of the series. Of course, you can't expect the quality of the "great PS2 games", but if you're interested read on, for I'm about to tell you exactly what is good and bad about this game.

But first it's time for a little introduction. Although I'm, as I said before, a huge Metal Slug fan, I never knew this game existed until some days ago when I was browsing racketboy for SNK related articles and, by luck, stumbled across a news article talking about some MS 3D. I immediately searched the net for more information about this unexpected title and it was just a matter of time before I had the game in my hands.



I was a little reluctant about it, though, because we all know what regularly happens when a good 2D franchise jumps to the 3rd dimension. If they wanted to add a fresh look to the series they could've just make a traditional 2D MS with 3D backgrounds, or even a totally 3D but cel-shaded game, but that's not what happened, with this title being in the most pure (and raw) 3D.

Fortunately the result is actually pretty good, although it could still be better if some cel-shading was used. Anyway, it's great to see that the development studio really tried to capture the feeling of the original games and convert it to a 3 dimensional world. Almost all the little details that become trade marks of the series are here, like the exaggerated amount of blood that spills when you kill an enemy soldier, the vehicles that bounce whenever you shoot them or your own metal slug bending his caterpillar tracks when you jump.



The characters available are the most well know from the series (Marco, Tarma, Eri and Fio), the weapons are all exact replicas of those present in the previous titles and even the narrator is the same, yelling the weapon's name whenever you pick up a new piece.

There are some things that I miss, though, like the destructible parts of the environments, the character's transformations (zombie, fattie, etc...) or the animal slugs. The whole story and the way it's told is also a lot different from what we're used to. Unlike the classic games, where the story had a lot of humour involved and was light-hearted, in this game it has a way more serious tone and it's told by some FMV's and several cut-scenes that sometimes take way more time than they should in a fast-paced action game.



Now, let's talk about the gameplay. In it's core this is just a brainless action game, where you just have to shoot everything that moves, with that being the traditional Morden soldiers and they're vehicles, like thanks, trucks or an occasional helicopter. The action is so fast-paced that, if it wasn't for the great lock-on system, it would have been really hard to hit anything without being shot to death first. Thanks to your friend lock-on, though, you just have to press R1 and then smash "square" to shoot mercilessly and slaughter a whole battalion in a matter of seconds (like in the previous games the regular enemy soldiers die with just one hit).



While in a Slug the things are a bit harder to control, with your slow tank being an easier target, but the fire-power kind of makes up for that. There are also two sections where you control a plane or a submarine, just like in some of the 2D games, which is really a neat addition that is going to make every fan smile.

But not everything is about recovering old things, for there is space for some new additions too. For a start, every character has its own abilities, like the amount of energy, accuracy, etc.., which can be improver either by spending the experience points you gain in each mission or by winning some medals.



But probably the most important addition is the customizable Slugs. Yes, that's right, now you can build your own Slug! You just have to complete the game with a good score to unlock the various parts you can change, like the whole core of the tank or just the cannon or the machine guns.

When you finish the game you also unlock a special grenade called Monolith (you throw a small monolith to the ground and then a giant one falls from the sky and pwns everything) and a mini-game where you control one of the POWs (you still have to rescue them along the levels).



So, I think I've already said everything worth mentioning about this game. Although it's not perfect, I was pleased to see the commitment of the team behind this game in recovering almost all that was good about the old games and converting it into 3D. The result is a pretty good game that any old Metal Slug fan simply must own.

Metal Slug: a retrospective

So, does the name Metal Slug ring a bell? No? Come on! It's the best run-and-gun series ever! The first game even had a Saturn port, although it needed the 4mb ram cart, making it a not so common game in your average Saturn collection. Anyway, most people played it in the arcades or using MAME, so I think it's safe to assume everyone knows what I'm talking about. What most people don't know is the amount of sequels that came out.


Metal Slug 2 is your average sequel, including new weapons, enemies, levels, etc, etc... A good game, though. Metal Slug X is, in my opinion, a lame remix/rip-off version of MS 2, something we didn't need since we all wanted a true sequel. Then it came, Metal Slug 3, introducing A LOT of new features but also increasing the already high difficulty of the series, making it a bloody hard game to beat. Many fans call it the best MS ever. I just call it the "Metal Slug from hell"...


These are the games most gamers know about or played. I too also thought for a long time that the series ended after this original trilogy. How I was wrong...
Some time ago I found out that there were more Metal Slugs out there, not just one, or two, but another whole trilogy!

Metal Slug 4 is by far the worst MS ever. The development company changed from the experienced guys who created the series to some fucking n00bs that didn't know how to make a decent MS. Most of the backgrounds were taken from previous games, nothing special was added and the overall experience is BAD! Avoid this game, unless you're like me and want to be able to proudly say "I've completed every MS game!".


Then came Metal Slug 5 to redeem the MS name. It has a more mech oriented theme and General Morden, the main antagonist of the whole series, is nowhere to be seen. This may seem bad, but the overall quality of the game makes up for this.


Finally, Metal Slug 6, is not only a return to the origins but also the first game not to run on the MVS arcade hardware, using Atomiswave instead. This means better graphics (more noticeably the backgrounds, since the characters look fairly equal), with zoom effects and other treats. This was, at least for me, the hardest game to find, but fortunately it was included in Metal slug Anthology, a collection that includes all of the mentioned games and is available for the PS2, PSP and Wii. If you are a fan of Metal Slug make sure you have this game, for it is one of the best compilations you'll ever find, along with other personal favourites of mine like Sonic Mega Collection Plus or Sonic Gems Collection (I intend to write something about these titles in the future).


So, why am I posting this all of a sudden? Well, those who regularly read my comments may remember me talking about a new imported game for the Saturn that was somewhat late, thus making me occupy my time with something else... That something else is what made me write this post as some sort of an "introduction" to what I'm about to post next. Be sure to come back tomorrow...

(uh, the suspense... xD)