More Segata Sanshiro Merchandise

Woo yay.

Bought another batch of Sega Saturn merchandise. Most of it has to do with our great king Segata Sanshiro. First of all, though, I want to introduce you to this weird Sega Saturn branded... thing. I actually don't know what it is, or what it does. I assume you can store... things in it. Maybe CDs? It's very soft and has a little strap to carry it around with you. Very weird, yet interesting.

Then there's this great Segata Sanshiro... plush puppet. It's approximately 30 cm tall and very soft, so you can cuddle it as much as you want. On the back he carries a Sega Saturn, because I guess he's currently on training. There's this nice detail actually on that little cardboard label: This puppet came in varations. There are two with a half smiling mouth and 3 others with an angry (!) mouth. Also his arm positions seem different from puppet to puppet. Of course I need them all now.

With the puppet came this really cool and tiny Segata Sanshiro cell phone strap. You can put it on your cell phone and when doing so, you are most probably the coolest person in your country. It's very detailed, very nice painted and Segata Sanshiro looks really angry. Last but not least there's this incredible Segata Sanshiro t-shirt. This one actually got quite expensive (around 35 EUR), but it's totally worth it. It came with the original factory sealed plastic bag and features one big and many small Segata Sanshiros on the front accompanied by the Segata Sanshiro title. Who wouldn't love to wear that every day?

Fighting Force Alpha Cover

So, regarding that Fighting Force for the Saturn; I have yet to play it (Shame on me!), but at least I finally find some time to post the cover artwork I made for it here. It is based on the japanese Fighting Force version for the Playstation and looks much better, than the PAL artworks, imho. Yet, I will also try to do a PAL style one, since I guess everyone is much more familiar with this one and some probably even like it. Download the fullsize (300 Dpi) JPGs right here.

P.S.: When you print it out, it's actually 1 mm bigger, than a real cover insert. So you have some kind of buffer, for cutting. Try to cut approx. 1 mm off of it, so that it'll fit the jewel case.

Judgement/Fighting Force on Sega Saturn

http://www.hidden-palace.org/?

Hey, do you remember how Fighting Force was supposed to be a Sega Saturn exclusive before Core suddenly decided to switch its development over to the Playstation? It was the first worrisome sign that the system wasn't going to be as fierce a competitor in the video game market as its predecessor, the Sega Genesis.

Anyway, someone's managed to find the early beta version of Fighting Force (dubbed Judgement Force) for the Sega Saturn. It doesn't look too pretty after being held in cold storage for a decade, but hey, Saturn fans have to take what they can get these days. On a side note, it looks like Saturn Junkyard member elend had something to do with this game getting dumped, so be sure to give him props for that.

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.

Fire Pro (and Segata Sanshiro) Returns

Just thought you might like to see my latest video, which unlike the last half-dozen may be somewhat relevant to this blog! This is footage of Fire Pro Wrestling R, starring the savage Saturn spokesman Segata Sanshiro. No, he's not in the game by default, but since Fire Pro has historically had an extremely versatile create a wrestler engine, it wasn't too difficult to add him to the cast. I made sure to give Segata a large assortment of judo holds and throws, making him both look and act like the real thing. As for all the other characters in the video... well, I didn't make those guys, but if you watched television at all during the '80s and '90s, I'm sure you'll recognize most of them. If you were BORN in the '90s, however, you'll just see the grumpy dad from Hogan Knows Best and the guy who's in all those terrible action movies.

Oh yeah, this being Saturn Junkyard and all, it's probably worth mentioning that there were two Fire Pro Wrestling games for the Sega Saturn. Here's a review of the first, Six Man Scramble, by another YouTube member:


Obviously, the characters aren't as detailed as the ones in Fire Pro R, more closely resembling the ones in Fire Pro A for the Game Boy Advance, but everything else in the game holds up remarkably well. There are plenty of characters, largely inspired by real-life wrestling superstars, and the number of options available to the player are simply mindblowing. This was one of the more popular imports for the Saturn back in the late 1990s, and given the popularity of the now defunct WCW at the time, it's easy to understand why.



Then there's Blazing Tornado, best described as the New Coke of Fire Pro games. This release threw the deep customization of traditional Fire Pro Wrestling games out the window and replaced it with a more arcade-quality look and feel. What that means to the player is a lot of pretty character artwork and a whole lot more frustration and mindless button mashing. It reminds me a whole lot of Three Count Bout for the Neo-Geo, right down to the corny characters and the unnecessary thumb blisters. It's not the worst of the Fire Pro Wrestling titles (that honor has to go to Fire Pro Gaiden on the Genesis, with the Turbografx-16 games and Iron Slam '96 duking it out for second place), but it deserves plenty of scorn for losing sight of what makes the series so appealing to both wrestling nuts and video game addicts.

If you buy only one Fire Pro Wrestling game, make it Fire Pro Wrestling R for the Playstation 2. I know, it's sacrilige to recommend video games for a non-Sega console here on Saturn Junkyard, but it really is the best Fire Pro release yet, and there's a vibrant community dedicated to making game saves crammed with custom characters. Plus, it's like fifteen bucks. Even with the economy as crummy as it is, you can afford to spend that much on the ultimate wrestling game. If it sweetens the deal at all, you can always create your own faux-bama and have him beat the crap out of a George W. Bush effigy. Can you smell what the Barack is cookin'?

Virtua Fighter Mobile

Hi folks, sorry I've not posted here for a while, but after making a triumphant return to contributing on this hallowed site, I stupidly fell down the stairs and dislocated my shoulder, so my posting abilities have been very limited! I did get a new phone recently and of course my first thought was "What would it be like for gaming?" I decided to treat myself to a download and was thrilled to see Virtua Fighter was listed amongst the games on offer.

I pride myself on having every incarnation of Virtua Fighter (I know Nebacha is gonna say I don't have the anniversary edition - so I mean available for me to play...) so I had to get this. It's a buzz to see VF on my phone, although if I'm honest, it's only passable as a gaming experience. I have previously really enjoyed playing games on my mobile, Prince Of Persia Mobile was sublime and addictive. But VF is just OK-ish. I might change my mind if I have a little more success with the game, I'm getting my arse kicked!

Anyhoo, I'll let you have a look at this more comprehensive review by Spanner Spencer from the excellent Pocket Gamer website.



"Even after all these years, Virtua Fighter still feels like a technological wonder. It was nigh-on inconceivable, when the game first appeared, that a one-on-one beat-'em-up could exist in three dimensions, let alone one as slick and realistic as this.

Now the mobile platforms are breaking through into similar territory as the arcades did back in 1993, and it's time to see how well they can handle a full-on 3D fighter. And what better way to test the concept than with the sophisticated and playable king of all 3D tournament brawlers, Virtua Fighter?

Certainly in appearance, Southend has excelled. The polygons are fewer in number, but considering the differences in screen size between the arcade original and this mobile conversion that's really no issue at all. More important than polygon count in this game is the animation, as that's what really brought the original Virtua Fighter to life.

The liquid smooth realism of the way the fighters performed their kung fu was only a part of it, however. They bobbed, weaved and blocked accurately – adding an air of authenticity that it took other games years to recreate, and some still fail even today. The mobile adaptation has clearly paid close attention to this important detail, and the nuances of each character are very visible, despite their miniature renderings.

"The other important factor and expected sticking point is in processing power, of course. When tested on a Nokia N81, Virtua Fighter mobile struggled to keep up with the lifelike pace of the fighter's movements – particularly during the chained combinations of punches and kicks that most characters use in abundance. Despite the dropped frames, however, the game speed remains constant, so although you might miss out on some of the animation sequence, the bout itself never loses a second.

It comes as something of a surprise that such a glaring problem has been lessened by a system apparently designed to handle an underpowered handset. The occasionally jerky animation isn't such an issue when you're not also waiting for the system to recover from excessive calculating – button presses still register and as soon as the animation becomes more tolerable (when a character is laid out after a flurry of attacks, for instance) the game picks up immediately where the animation left off. That's not to say skipped frames are a feature, but the inherent problem is handled extremely well.

The original Virtua Fighter did a sterling job of allowing simple combinations of buttons and joystick movements to perform some terrific moves, and this simplicity does a world of favours for the mobile adaptation. The keypad acts as a directional controller as per standard, with button '5' being used (surprisingly, but effectively) for blocking, while '7' and '8' work as kick and punch respectively, and the bottom row of buttons perform a dual function: Punch + Kick, Punch + Guard and Kick + Guard. This was added to the console versions of Virtua Fighter to make use of all the available buttons on the controllers and to help players unknot their fingers a little, and continues to help the mobile game's combinations immensely.

This isn't a game for everyone, though. By today's standards it's pretty shallow, and anyone who doesn't appreciate Virtua Fighter for its nostalgic value or place of honour in beat-'em-up history won't find a great deal to slake their pocket gaming thirst, so it has to lose a point or two for all round gaming appeal. Virtua Fighter fans, on the other hand, will enjoy seeing Pai, Akira, Jackie, Lau and the others in their original, untextured costumes."

The Saturn lives on

Just a moment ago a friend of mine showed me an article in a newspaper about the so-called esports. You know, those professional gamers who get paid to play Counter-Strike and Starcraft. Well, what does that have to do with our beloved Saturn? Guess what picture they chose to illustrate the article...

Click on it to maximize and notice just what controller the kid is holding. Hell yeah! Despite the Saturn not having virtually anything to do with the article, they still decided to show it. Now that's recognition for a good console :D

Sega Saturn Gutted to Make a PC.

Pulled from Sega Nerds.

Wow.

I am a bit on the fence about this.


On one hand it's a pretty sweet mod.


On the other hand some poor Saturn had to be gutted.


Damn! Is that a dual monitor setup?

Sega Saturn Posters... again

So... I was buying things from ebay.com again. This time another batch of Sega Saturn Posters. The first one is actually vinyl banner, though. It promoted the games, Sega Rally, Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop and World Series Baseball. I really like the claim they used there. "A little too real". Oh yes, that's exactly what Sega Saturn's 3D graphics are. Too bad it's a bit wrinkled in the corners, but I'll try to iron that out.

Other than that, I bought these two posters as well. One being a very cool Fighter's Megamix Poster and the other one being a promotion for the 3 Free Games package, they once released in the US. Too bad they have quite been destroyed with wrinkles here and there and even holes in them. But I'll try my best to preserve them for the future.

With so many posters currently in my posession I should really think about a Sega Saturn gaming room...

I'll let you know, once it's finished.

The Sega Saturn’s Explosive Shmups Library Posted at Racketboy

Go read this list!

An excellent rundown of Saturn Shumps.

Included (of course) is the excellent Galactic Attack / Layer Selection / Rayforce / Gunlock (different names same game). I reviewed this excellent looking game and it's one of the easier to find shumps that generally doesn't cost that much. If you want to start building a shumps collection try starting with this Taito classic.

In other news after 4 months of waiting I have gotten my 4-1 memory card which will allow me to play Saturn games that require extra memory. Look forward to some new reviews soon.

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.

In Praise Of Jonti Davies...

Those of the eagle eyed persuasion may have noticed a small comment at the bottom of my "Daddy's Home" post, which simply stated "Glad you enjoyed the article. :-) Jonti"...

There were no contact details on the Blogger ID, so I replied to the commentor... "Jonti! Are you indeed the journo who was kind enough to bestow on us all this prestigious article?If so, please contact me at revsimonearly@aol.com..."

Well, I'm thrilled to say that it was indeed dear Jonti and he contacted me last night with the following comment...

.

"Yep...and I also did the Burning Rangers interview that ran in gamesTM earlier this year. Oh, and I'm currently putting together a two-part 'Making of...' series of interviews looking at the three Panzer Dragoon Saturn games for Retro Gamer.

Yet more shameless plugs: if you like Sega stuff in general (and not just Saturn wonders), I recently interviewed Yu Suzuki for an Outrun cover piece (Retro Gamer 53); spoke to Yuji Naka for a Prope feature (gamesTM 70); and interviewed the guy who came up with Samba De Amigo for another 'Making of...' (Retro Gamer 56, out next week).

Like Homer S., I "live to give." ;-)

Very nice site you've got there...Jonti"

I can confirm that the email came from Otsu-shi, Japan and that a very gifted journalist from the most excellent Games TM, who has rubbed shoulders with the giants of gaming, does indeed check out and dig our humble little site! How cool is that?

So thanks again to Jonti for providing the most excellent article that we all so much enjoyed. Hopefully now the appropriate credit is now given, where it is most definitely due! Respect! :)

So there you go! Be sure to seek out and find his other articles and I will let you all know if we hear from him again!!

Sega Rally Championship - PS2

Just a quicky here. Here's some footage from the PS2 port/remake of Sega Rally 95 (I have it, yeay!). The guy playing is quite good (lol, "quite", he plays a lot better than me...), the video shows all the courses including the elusive Lake Side track and it shows off quite well the graphical improvements of this version, so I thought it deserved to be posted here. Enjoy

Pocket Fighter (1997 Capcom) *Japanese Import*

Ha! My Saturn could soon be seeing a lot of use, as I've got this little baby winging it's way from the Land Of The Rising Sun... Capcom's answer to Virtua Fighter Kids, I'm thinking I'm going to love it! The following information came from the rather excellent, http://www.arcade-history.com/

"A superb, abstract and humorous fighting game featuring miniaturized renditions from several Capcom fighting games; including the legendary "Street Fighter" series, as well as "Darkstalkers" and the little-known "Red Earthtake". During a bout, players will be able to release coloured gems from successful attacks against their opponent, as well as from wooden chests that regularly appear. Collecting these gems will 'power-up' the player's character, giving them more powerful attacks. There are two bars and three sub-bars in the interface. The two main bars are the life bar and the super bar; the first indicates the player's health and the second their ability to throw super combos. The Super Bar itself can be filled up to nine levels, allowing players to execute more super combos. Each super combo has a level assigned to it, and it uses Super Bars depending on it. The 3 sub-bars show the level of 3 of each player's special moves. Each character has at least three special moves, as shown in the sub-bars, and each of these corresponds to a color. Some characters have one or two additional Special Moves that aren't affected by sub-bars. Each time a player shoots their opponent, gems pop out of him or her, and the attacker can take them to power up their own special moves according to the colors. There are 4 buttons : PUNCH, KICK, SPECIAL, and TAUNT. The Special button is a chargeable move that cannot be blocked and upon impact drops gems in the opponent's possession. More gems will be dropped depending on how much the player charges the attack. Holding Down, Forward or no direction at all when using the Special button will cause a specific gem color to drop from the enemy. Holding Back along with the Special button allows for a defense that is specific against the unblockable Special attacks. Other kinds of attacks do no damage when blocked, and unlike most 2-D fighting games, this includes special and super moves. Pocket Fighter also features Flash Combos in which a player can execute a combo by pressing the KICK or PUNCH button after they have hit their opponent using the PUNCH button for a total of 4 hits. Flash Combos will usually cause a player's fighter (except Ryu) to change into various costumes during the sequence, and perform a powerful attack in the end. This final hit is usually the hardest in the sequence to connect with. These costumes range from uniforms (such as traffic cops or schoolgirls), to swimsuits, and even cameos of other Capcom characters. For example, Chun-Li may turn into Jill Valentine from the Resident Evil series, while Felicia may turn into Mega Man or other Darkstalkers characters not playable in the game. The commands are also very easy compared to the Street Fighter series, thanks to SPECIAL button. By doing a motion (for example : qcf or hcf) and pressing the Special Button the fighter will launch his or her super combo. In addition to the usual punches, kicks and fireballs, each character has a couple of very abstract yet powerful 'special' attacks; which can range from the player producing a huge mallet (Ken), to standing on a podium and motioning a bicycle race through the opposing fighter (Chun Li)."

Admit it, you're jealous aren't you? LOL! Oh, and there is a nice review of Saturn 2D fighters over at Racketboy...

If it's not a Saturn controller, it's not real control!

Of the Sega Saturn's many charms, perhaps the most appealing is the design of its controller. Nearly fifteen years after its Japanese introduction, the Sega Saturn joypad remains the most responsive controller available for any console, past, present, or future. It's become slightly antiquated in the 21st century due to its lack of analog thumbsticks, but there is no better way to play classic collections and the rare modern release presented in 2D than with the Saturn's sublime controller.

Knowing this, game companies have manufactured adapters for a variety of systems, ranging from Sega's Dreamcast to plain vanilla home computers. There was even a replica of the flawless Saturn controller released for the Playstation 2 in 2005. However, neither of these solutions are completely reliable. The adapters are limited to a handful of formats, and the replica controller has become obscenely expensive in the three years since it was available in import stores. Even if you're willing to shell out a hundred dollars or more for the joypad, there's no guarantee it will work with your favorite 2D games. Odin Sphere, the spiritual sequel to Princess Crown, refuses to recognize it, and it's just as useless with collections like Namco Museum 50th Anniversary and Mega Man Collection.

Perhaps the greatest frustration of all is that the razor-sharp precision of the Sega Saturn controller has been completely unattainable on Nintendo consoles, particularly the GameCube and its more popular successor the Wii. It's possible to get the replica controller working with the original Xbox if you daisychain it to an adapter, but if you're a GameCube or Wii fan, you're out of luck. Your only option would be to somehow build your own controller... which is exactly what I set out to do last night.

Inspired by similar projects on the Internet, I decided to make one of my spare Saturn controllers compatible with the GameCube and its close cousin. I first opened the Saturn controller, removed the original cable, popped off the logic chip in the center of the printed circuit board, then connected a series of very thin wires to the traces left in the chip's wake. These wires were then soldered to a male 15-pin D-shell connector.

(This connector is as old-school as it gets... it's used as the gameport in older personal computers as well as the controller port in the ancient Atari 5200 game system. It's not as elegant as the Saturn's flat connector, but it's extremely handy in a project like this, where you're making simple wire-to-wire connections rather than routing buttons through a logic chip.)

After I was finished with the Saturn controller, I then took a cheap third party GameCube joypad, opened the case, then soldered wires to the metal pads on its own printed circuit board. Some of these pads were split in half with an Xacto knife before making the connections to keep the signal and ground separate. The other ends of the wires were then soldered into another 15-pin D-shell connector; this time female.

There was a lot of setup involved, but all that effort was ultimately worthwhile. I'm a legendary klutz when it comes to electronics, and my projects rarely work the first time around. Luckily for me, this was one of those rare exceptions. I pulled my old GameCube out of the closet (no sense in taking any unnecessary risks with the Wii!), then plugged the finished project into it and popped in a copy of Alien Hominid. Every button I had wired up on both ends as well as the D-pad worked as planned. There were some slight issues with the A button sticking, but that was a mechanical error; something I fixed by cleaning the joypad housing with a toothbrush and a dab of dishwashing liquid.

Right now the joypad is working at 90% efficiency. I don't have the L and R buttons wired up on the GameCube controller, although those connections have been made on the Saturn joypad. Also, you can't use the C button for GameCube games, since the system doesn't really have one. The good news is that this design doesn't limit me to just the GameCube or Wii... it's modular, so I can apply it to all kinds of systems by tearing up their respective controllers. Holy crap, I just realized that I could make 3DO games playable with this hack! Way of the Warrior, here I come! Okay, maybe just Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

If you're handy with a soldering iron, I would definitely recommend giving this project a shot. All you need is a spare Saturn controller, a joypad from the game system you'd like to adapt, some very thin gauge wire (for the Saturn controller's PCB, it doesn't really matter what kind of wire you use for the other controller), and two 15-pin D-shell connectors; one male and one female. If you're feeling lost, this web site will give you some idea of what you'll need to do to get your Saturn controller working on other systems.

http://www.gamesx.com/controldata/usbsatpad/index.shtml

However, if you've ever worked with electronics, you won't have much trouble with this hack. There are no resistors, no capacitors, and none of that migraine-inducing electronics math... you just follow the traces from the pads on the Saturn controller's PCB to the buttons, and wire them up accordingly. Just make sure you're using a really thin tip on your soldering iron, and keep the wires separated so you won't get mixed signals while you're playing games.

I'll keep you guys informed on the progress of this mod, as well as its functionality with the Wii and any other modules I create in the future. I've already got my eyes set on that Super NES controller I've got buried in the closet...