Saturn Saturn appreciation thread

[SeeroftheNight]

Don't be mean to my baby like that. Panzer came in the wake of the first Star Fox, and make sure you're playing the Japanese release SoA tinkered with the balance making perfect clears impossible.

Oh my gosh THANK YOU

I've always found the Panzer Dragoon to be obnoxiously difficult and this is the first I've heard of the Japanese version having different difficulty balancing.

Post automatically merged: Oct 2, 2025

Good idea. I kind of tossed that option aside in my mind because I really wanted an emulator with a displayable content library with thumbnails. Thanks for the push.
UPDATE: this is worse than retroarch. Worse than trying to install windows 3.1 on DOSbox.View attachment 115799

You should use Mednaffe, it's a frontend for Mednafen. It's not the best UI, but it's far better than RetroArch.

 

[solnK!]

Good idea. I kind of tossed that option aside in my mind because I really wanted an emulator with a displayable content library with thumbnails. Thanks for the push.
UPDATE: this is worse than retroarch. Worse than trying to install windows 3.1 on DOSbox.View attachment 115799

...damn, my bad, im sorry.

 

[Nickakyoin]

Soukyuu Gurentai aka Terra Diver.
Just play it, people. This game is just pure shmup blessing.
First Saturn game ever tried during a con event and immediately felt in love for the (nowadays crusty) visuals and understood what I've missed out. An unlucky console just like the Dreamcast that still both got quite a great amoung of amazing games, both known and unknown.

 

[CheesyExplosive]

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

I actually saw this at a used game store yesterday! Could have bought it, but I didn’t recognize the game so I just kept on moving. What’s the game like?

 

[ThunderBoy]

 

[CheesyExplosive]

I actually saw this at a used game store yesterday! Could have bought it, but I didn’t recognize the game so I just kept on moving. What’s the game like?

Well if you seen it then go back and buy it! it's still frankly there since nobody cares a lot about rpgs nowadays. anyway here's a demo:

 

[stealthRUSH stealthRUSH]

 

[solnK!]

Amazing

 

[bcdusk]

So in defence of the Sega Saturn:

Is not like the PS1 was a marvel that made 3D easy, it had several limitations,what the PS1 had was being way cheaper so people had time to get used to the hardware quirks.

One great advantage the Saturn had was the ram expansion slot allowing for some quite great Arcade ports. And it did 2D really well.

The main problem the Sega Saturn did with 3D is that it did different from anyone else.

So for multiplataform games only those done for the Sega Saturn first looked good.

Tomb Raider (Sega Saturn vs Playstation) Side by Side Comparison

Tom Raider was actually released first for the Sega Saturn.

Most people seem to agree the Sega Saturn version has better audio. Also as an early Sega Saturn game it doesn't take fully advantage of the hardware anyway.

Now if you wanna know what the Sega Saturn was truly capable of here is a video about the better looking Sega Saturn games.

The biggest problems the Sega Saturn had were in order, Price, lack of mainline Sonic game that wasn't a port from the Sega Genesis and Sega of America being a dumbass.

The last one is directly responsible for the Sega Saturn doing so badly in the USA.

No it wasn't just the 32x that was Sega of America idea, it was a comedy of errors and dumb dumbs that's almost ridiculous.

 

[killk28]

View attachment 116245

Soukyuu Gurentai aka Terra Diver.
Just play it, people. This game is just pure shmup blessing.
First Saturn game ever tried during a con event and immediately felt in love for the (nowadays crusty) visuals and understood what I've missed out. An unlucky console just like the Dreamcast that still both got quite a great amoung of amazing games, both known and unknown.

This game is a Japan only gem, one of the top notch shmup, a must try, just found out that the bgm is not from the cd track, how crazy is that? The bgm is crazily good!

 

[UnDubious]

Somebody said the American version of Panzer Dragoon was made harder earlier in the thread, does anyone know if they did that with Panzer Dragoon 2 as well?

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Somebody said the American version of Panzer Dragoon was made harder earlier in the thread, does anyone know if they did that with Panzer Dragoon 2 as well?

I haven’t tried the JP version, and I promise to do so as soon as I can. From what I’ve played of my American copy of Zwei, it’s an even harder game than the first, though I would put that down as a matter of scale. You have a lot more going on in Zwei, as well as it being tricky to find those alternate paths along the story, so it can be a somewhat challenging game.

Also, no matter the Panzer title (1, Zwei, Orta) the bosses are all going to be damage sponges. Positive damage sponges! I find them more fun to fight than not. But they’re still a genuine challenge to take down either way, especially your first time through.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Watching a video right now about the difficulty that comes from re-releasing old games, and dude… the Saturn has like zero chance. But the people behind modern ports LITERALLY LOOK AT ONLINE BUZZ TO CONVINCE PUBLISHERS OF VIABILITY. That’s what’s so important about keeping the flame for these games alive. That’s what’s so important about getting Saturn emulation out there easily to everyone. The Saturn, as it stands, is essentially abandonware. The whole library is abandonware. So it’s up to us, as fans, to keep the lights on for Saturn games and introduce new people to it. Heck, it worked on me! I only joined this year and now I’m knee deep in this.

We need to keep the Saturn spirit alive and keep getting new people into it! Only then will we ever see any Saturn games get a proper re-release!

 

[Ikagura]

I wanna replay it

 

[bcdusk]

View attachment 138821
I wanna replay it

You can, basically any modern Saturn emulator can play it well.

 

[Ikagura]

You can, basically any modern Saturn emulator can play it well.

Yep, I was tempted to play it via the PS2 remaster but you had to finish the game once... Darn.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

I’m watching some Saturn documentaries by Pandamonium. I’m so happy. I love Saturn and SEGA’s mid-90’s games.

 

[bcdusk]

Sega Lord X in YouTube has a lot of Sega Saturn videos.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

An awesome Saturn Box set from Australia, released during the summer of '95. You may not love the original Daytona port on Saturn (I do, but that's neither here nor there), but you can't deny this box looks jaw dropping on a shelf.

 

[ThunderBoy]

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Funnily enough, they dropped the price down to $249 not too long after introducing the $299 scheme. They really wanted the Saturn to succeed.

It did in our hearts!

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

If you’ve never seen it, I HIGHLY recommend this video. It’s more than just some random game reviewer making a mockery of retro games. It’s a true labor of love by the shmup and shooter fandom to give light to every single one of the shooters the Saturn has! I know that it certainly enlightened me to some games I’m excited to try out!

Also, here’s a piece of Saturn fan art:

The iconic jungle boss battle from the second stage of Panzer Dragoon Zwei!

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Good lord, Princess Crown is so good. My main issue with it is the slow pace of leveling up and the occasional lack of good guidance on where to go, but I love the peril the game’s mechanics bring to you early on. And, I’d imagine, it becomes a game where you truly feel like you’ve mastered your arsenal by the time all is said and done.

Anyone and everyone: please play this game.

 

[solnK!]

Good lord, Princess Crown is so good. My main issue with it is the slow pace of leveling up and the occasional lack of good guidance on where to go, but I love the peril the game’s mechanics bring to you early on. And, I’d imagine, it becomes a game where you truly feel like you’ve mastered your arsenal by the time all is said and done.
View attachment 145970
Anyone and everyone: please play this game.

I want to play this one so bad, it just looks so pretty