Sega Saturn turns 20, and it's not as s*** as you think

As Winston Churchill once said: "History is written by the victors." And so, 20 years after Sega Saturn arrived, and around 15 since its untimely death, Sega's 32-bit console is, frankly, a bit of a joke. 'Saturn LOL' seems to be about the gist of it. But don't be fooled by modern-day popularist opinions.

[NerdStalker]

I had a sega Saturn and I never thought it was a joke, it had loads of interesting games, but Sony was just releasing more advanced titles at the time in my opinion, That's what lead to sega downfall that and the mega cd before the Saturn.

[thereapersson]

Yeah, I always remember having an admiration for the Saturn. I remember being able to play all my favorite arcade titles as I remember them from their cabinet versions, which was quite helpful that Sega had such a presence in the arcade industry at the time. I remember the Power VR collaboration, and how many great titles came off that.

Even though I enjoy what Sony brought to the table, I can't deny what Sega did for the games industry as a whole. Long live the Saturn, and the DreamCast for that matter!

[zeee]

I miss my Saturn!

[miyamoto]

I really love my Sega Saturn and the games it had like Guardian Heroes, Fighter's Mega Mix, Panzer Dragoon Series, the Capcom Fighting games were superb. and of course the awesome Dragon Force RPG.

I was really rooting for it against the PlayStation back in the days but yeah it run out of steam and many games were held back in Japan by Bernie Stolarz.

Its just the rivalry between Sega Japan and Sega America that killed it.

[Baka-akaB]

It's Sega and it's propension to fold and give up quickly that made it a joke . For all the support we fans gave it , they even stopped releasing stuff worldwide , besides arcade ports , as soon as the ps1 overtook it .

Remember Sega and Shining Force 3 part 2 ? Or how they released no Phantasy Star , beyond a compilation that never left japan till the compilation hits the ps2 and gba years later ? They left the console without a new game in the west for even a whole year ... and moved on to the dreamcast .. where they literally did the same thing all over

[Volkama]

I finally re-played Shining Force 3 scenarios 2 and 3 a couple of months ago! There is an emulator about that includes a good translation project.

I got a lot of enjoyment out of the Saturn and Dreamcast. I wouldn't say it's a shame that Sega quit making hardware, but I would say it is a shame that all their dev talent seemed to abandon the ship when it happened.

[bigboss20]

Sony buried this back in the day lol my brother had one we really liked it I loved die hard arcade :D and I played tomb raider and resident evil on there first they were the days lol then I got a PlayStation and enjoyed that Evan more lol

[Frodosmugins]

When everyone went PS at the time, I went for the Saturn. Whilst everyone was playing Tekken I was on Virtua Fighter, and when people were playing Ridge racer Id be playing Sega Rally!

I loved my Saturn and I wouldn't say one of the best consoles ever It really did justice for me!

Yea you can go buy PS1 games of the PS store now days but you don't see any Saturn games around!
Im glad I got to experience the Saturn!

Some of my fave games you might not get to play now days!

Panzer Dragoon
Shining Force Series
Dragon Force
Guardian Heroes
Fighters Megamix
Saturn Bomberman (best in series)
Fighting Vipers
Grandia
Last Bronx
Radiant Silvergun

Oh and Exhumed, that game was really good for its time!

[thereapersson]

Sega Rally was arguably better than Ridge Racer was at the time. I didn't truly love a Ridge Racer title until I played R4 late in the PlayStation's lifecycle.

Sega still had many cool games that you couldn't get anywhere else, and you named a hell of a lot of them. I remember owning the original PlayStation yet being envious that I couldn't play House of the Dead or Panzer Dragoon.

[filchron]

HOTD with the saturn 3D controller controls so nicely. still has smoother reticle targeting than any game out even today imo. just bought a modded saturn a while back and have been having wayyy more fun on it than my friends PS1 (i myself only had N64 back in the day)

[Baka-akaB]

Actually many of those have been re-released or ported on various platform over the years , when not included in those sega compilation that span over almost all platforms afterward .

Not all of those , nor maybe the best of the list (sigh can't believe Sega isnt remastering the whole panzer dragoon library at this point , when even the creator is willing and able ) , but quite a few still

[1nsomniac]

Hi-five for Exhumed, that game was awesome. I still have it hidden away with my Saturn somewhere. Wonder how well it has aged, it was massively ahead of its time with lighting if I remember rightly..

I had awesome fun with Marvel Vs Capcom & Nights into Dreams as well.

[Fullmetalevolust]

I will fire up my Saturn today just to play the games you just mentioned. It will go down as my favorite console of all times! It was 90s Arcade, and JRPG goodness.
The platformers and action games kicked ass!!

[FromTheAshes]

This system is underrated and was capable of alot more than given credit for.

The AM2 conversion of VF2 actually ran at a higher resolution on the Saturn at 704x480 than the Model 2 counterpart despite not having 3D backgrounds.

http://www.sega-saturn.com/...

[filchron]

yup, higher resolution than the PS2 could even display. and it's DOA1 had better resolution and framerate than the PS1 ver.

[Svinya]

PS2 could display 1920x1080i, and did so in Gran Turismo 4..

[FromTheAshes]

@Svinya

I think he meant that even the PS2 couldn't emulate Model 2 correctly despite it being more powerful. Model 2 was ahead of its time in 1994.

[RosweeSon]

Great little system just a shame about the memory being stored on a battery (I.e all your saves get wiped if the watch battery inside the console dies so do all your saves, bit of a design flaw there other than that great console.
Disagree! Google it its a fact internal memory was stored using a watch battery if that dies so do your saves.

[LegendarySins]

Any gamer worth their salt had a memory cartridge for it.

[MarkoX85]

One of my very early gaming experiences are attached with this console. "Sega Saturn" the ultimate sensation of 90s.

[jmtstan]

never own a Saturn just ps1, but my friend does... occasionally will go to his house to play some Daytona USA, VF, and the arcade perfect DOA. Dreamcast was my all time favourite, I bought one even though they announce to cease making console.

[RosweeSon]

http://www.retrogarden.co.u...
You may want this so you don't lose any saves then ;) some great games on their tho and as chap above its where I started tomb raider and resident evil, great days.

[BludoDaSmelly]

I didn't think the Saturn was bad. I owned one but they made too mamy mistakes on consoles. When Sega got it right finally it was too late.

[Garrison]

I loved my Sega Saturn. It had such fun games as Sega was just on a roll those years. I still think Sega had the most innovative and fun first party output out of all 3 consoles at the time. If only the hardware aspect of the company wasn't so downright wacky and would've been more meticulous and forward thinking they would of been still a huge player there.

Sega's downfall was a huge loss to the industry, I don't think any other company out there has what Sega had back in those days, an incredible large pool of diverse talent, along with an emphasis on new experiences (Not Sequels), Sega didn't really have a "B" team during Dreamcast era even.
The amount of characters that Sega owns is overwhelming, almost all strong enough to achieve timelessness, it's just that sequels wasn't really Sega's "thing" even if they had them from time to time.

[Macdaddy71]

I loved my Saturn, Sony have made great consoles n games... But Saturn, dreamcast, 3DO, first Xbox gave my the best games...I always supported the underdogs!!!! Heck I gave $700.00 for the first 3DO n don't regret a dime of it....same goes today...I own ps4, Xbox one, n Wii U...but my X1 is my go to system,...i own evil within on ps4, n own 16 games on my X1... I just feel MS give me the best gaming right now....
That's why I wish people n gaming site would give all systems love,..I know the feel I get playing my X1, if a kid or a gamer get the same feeling I do play there ps4, omg I'm happy for them, please don't stop

[Picnic]

The Saturn was bound not to sell well.

First of all, it was following the Mega CD and the 32X. People were confused about what Sega was trying to do. Just offer incremental upgrades all the time?

And the impression was that Sega didn't seem to confident in 3D at this time. The Saturn was associated by myself as primarily being loved by hardcore 2D fighter game and racing game fans.

Sega was cold to many who were happy to keep Sega as a fond memory rather than have hopes in them as offering the best games consoles for the future. The likes of Donkey Kong Country on the SNES meant that Sega had been beaten in the minds of many. To many, Sega didn't have casual-oriented 'character' any more - they'd stopped making cutesy platformers and the Saturn didn't even have a new Sonic game. Sonic Jam was only a compilation of Sonic's Megadrive games- athough I read that it did include a 3D hub world.

Sony was just a cooler prospect at the time and being slightly cooler can be all that is needed to make a huge difference in sales.

If the N64 and Mario 64 had launched before the PS1 - and if Resident Evil had never had a PS1 verison- it could have been a bit of a different story.

But Sony had the timing, the flashy games, the modern controller. They'd learned from Sega's successes and mistakes and put out a relatively simple console that could play CDs at a low price.

For me, the PS3 (rather than the PS2) is where Sony properly proved that they were a truly worthy successor to Sega with a range of great games.

Sega were too slow on the uptake in keeping Sonic relevant at the time and their marketing was regraded as rather old fashioned wacky rather than cool.

The Dreamcast was more of a tragedy than the Saturn but, again, it appeared expensive considering that it didn't play DVDs and there was now too much concern that it could quickly become discontinued.. which of course it was after selling 10 million consoles which, at the time was regarded as not enough but, in light of the WiiU's sales, it is now clear that the Dreamcast would have sold far fewer if it hadn't been so cutting edge at the time.

[Spikeantestor]

I was a Genesis kid and a BIG fan of Virtua Fighter in the arcade so I really wanted one. But the initial price was too high (400 if I remember) and I tried out Tekken 2 on a PS out of boredom one day and that kept me from getting a Saturn during any of its prime years.

Eventually, when Funcoland was trying to get rid of them, I got one with Virtua Fighter 2 and messed around with it for a few months.

While I don't regret getting the PS Alin the least I will still always feel bad I missed out on being a Saturn fan when it mattered and playing the best games it offered before they got crazy rare and expensive. Would have loved to have had Panzer Dragoon Saga, Marvel v.s. Street Fighter, and a handful of others.

[bangoskank]

I said it before and I'll say it again: Panzer Dragoon Saga is one of the best games ever made and is the most criminally underappreciated. That franchise needs to be remade but the story kept intact.