My Lame 'Nuts & Bolts' Saturn

Before you execute a Segata stanglehold on me for not posting a pic from a Saturn game, let me explain. I recently picked up the 360 game 'Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts' and am throughly enjoying it. Particularly the vehicle building aspect. Finally a way for me to play with Legos as a grown man! Of course, my first order of business was to build a Sega Saturn car. As you can see above, I did a so-so job. As this is my first vehicle, and my parts inventory is small, I ask you to forgive me and let me have another crack at it once my skills improve. Expect a "model 2" in the coming month. Do I get extra points for adding the memory cartridge?


Fun fact: 'Nuts & Bolts' has one degree of seperation from Segata Sanshiro. Banjo & Kazooie appeared in the 360 version of 'Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing', and Segata himself was considered as a racer early in the dev stages. They even drew up concept art (which has yet to be seen)! His lack of inclusion was, in part, due to Sega not owning the likeness of Hiroshi Fujioka (Segata's actor).

Obligatory vintage Hiroshi image:

UPDATE – I gave it another try and made a much better Saturn vehicle:

Sega Model 2 emulator

Like most gamers, until recently I thought the arcade games emulation scene was just about MAME and nothing more, since that is the one emulator everybody talks about. Well, now I've expanded my horizons, and so I want to expand yours too, by telling you about a great Model 2 emulator.


By now I can almost hear Gagaman(n) screaming "Why the hell are you posting this in The Saturn Junkyard? This place is for Saturn posts and nothing more! Go post this stuff in your own blog!". Well, the fact is, like always there is a link between this and the Saturn. See, the Model 2 is for the Saturn what the NAOMI board is for the Dreamcast. Can't see the picture yet? The M2 board is basically a Saturn with more power locked inside an arcade cabinet, which explains the many games they have in common.

Know Sega Rally? Daytona USA? Sega Touring Car? Dead or Alive? Virtual-On? The list could go on, and on, but I think you all get the idea by now. All this games and many more were originally released for the Model 2 and later ported to the Saturn, with some having better conversions than others.


So, if we already have most games on our beloved Saturn, why would we want such an emulator? Well, many games have been ported, but only half or so, so there's plenty more games exclusive to the system waiting for you to have a blast with them, like Desert Tank, Gunblade, Indy 500, Motor Raid, Over Rev or Zero Gunner, just to name a few.

On the other hand, since the Saturn is less powerful than the M2, no ports are "arcade perfect", with all sporting worse graphics and many having tweaked gameplay, removed features and such, so if you want to experience the real Daytona USA, for example, this is the way to go.


Unfortunately, all 3D emulators need a lot of work into them, and since this one is still in development, not everything runs perfectly yet. All the racing games I've tried so far have graphical and control issues (so no "arcade perfect" Daytona for you, yet...), and many games run somewhat slow. The latter issue is mostly due to my PC, since I've heard that people with recent machines run every game at full speed. My PC is not that bad, though, so if you want to have good speeds on most games make sure your PC is really good.

Anyway, despite this, I already had a blast playing Zero Gunner (full speed, graphically perfect) and Gunblade (half speed, graphical issues), a game that was a real blast from the past, since it was the last game I've played in a real arcade, 4 years ago on a trip to Lisbon. Many more games await me, so there's plenty more stuff to try the emulator with.

Huh? Want links? Well, of course! Here they are:

Emulator

Roms

As always, if you have any problems with the emulator, just tell me about it and I'll try to help.

And, as always, good bye and good (arcade) games ;)