Saturn Vs Dreamcast

[zacharinolongpants]

I'm currently experiencing owning both a saturn with a saroo and a dreamcast with a gdemu.
My question is, which one do you personally think is best? I won't have a full answer for a while, because it will take a long time to play all these games lol.

Here is a short comparison from my end.

The saturn controllers are less comfy than dc, but have one of the best d pads on both the mk2 and the 3d pad.
I think the saturn looks cooler with its big bulky design and I love the logo. I find that I really like the pixel graphics on the saturn more than the dc but this is only a subjective. I like still having the disc drive and having all the games where as the gdemu is just for games; not sure if you can play music; which is a plus for the saturn. It is very hard to say which has the cooler menus and I would have to say the saturn is cooler but that the dc is very close ( shows how much I like the aesthetic of the two)

In terms of games I think that the saturn is best for 2d fighters, rpgs and shmups. The dc has more action games imo like jet set radio, maken x and sonic adventure.

In conclusion, I think the dc has the better variety and quantity of good games for my tastes, but the saturn is best for rpgs and shmups. They both have great 3d and 2d fighting games, fighters megamix being a fav. Definitely all my friends want to play the dreamcast more than the saturn tho I have noticed.

I feel like if I could read Japanese, I'd say the Saturn. But as it stands, the Dreamcast has a healthy volume of accessible classics for English speakers that everybody else has already brought up. I still love the overall vibe and period the Saturn existed in. Street Fighter Alpha 3 is dope on DC. Oh and if you can find it, Twinkle Star Sprites (silly name, I know lol) is a ridiculously awesome shoot'em up that's arranged like a VS puzzle game if you have some folks to play with.

 

[Sayo]

This is like comparing apples and oranges.

 

[zilbert25]

They are both different in many ways. DC graphics are better, less games but also plenty of quality titles. Saturn graphics are definitely worse but it has a huge library and a beautiful feel about it. Saturn will keep you entertained for a long, long time with the amount alone. It has some great sequals from the megadrive days too. You would miss one without the other but if you had to chose only 1...Hmmm really cant decide.

 

[hazys]

The Saturn reminds me of the Vita in that it was a very high-quality system that felt completely out-of-step with the times. Like the Vita its library is fairly limited, but what's there is very good, especially if you mod it to play fan translations/JP-only releases. It also has very high-quality controllers and peripherals.

The Dreamcast was a lot more experimental but with mass appeal, it was like the Wii but unsuccessful. However the controllers and peripherals took a hit in quality. The main issue with the Dreamcast is that most of its best exclusives have been ported elsewhere, but as a system it was very cool and forward-looking with its online features.

 

[pl1sk1n]

This is like asking me to choose between both of my children. I think the DC is sliiiiiiiiiiiightly better than the Saturn, but by the smallest of margins. They both have super solid libraries and they both sauce to them, appearance-wise.

^ this 100%

 

[ThunderBoy]

I prefer Dreamcast.
Incredible amount of games for the short time it lived.

 

[Jotaro]

both consoles were amazing, for 2d games, saturn was next levels, had superior ports even than most 2d ps1 games, which had shared

meanwhile, dreamcast, was proto ps2 levels, had gems like

- the shenmue games
- d2
- tech romancer
- soul calibur
- soul reaver 1
- sword of the berserk (first berserk game)
- headhunter 1
- re code veronica
- cannon spike
- sonic adventure 2
- doa2
- grandia 2
- skies of arcadia
- project justice
- mvc2
- crazy taxi 2
- blue stinger
- ready 2 rumble games

and several others

super underrated console, its a shame, that it got axed from sega, had so much potential, they could still make few more games, if they had more budget and promotion.

 

[Parasite_Steve]

Saturn. By a hair. I love both systems but the Saturn has the more unique and interesting library. But that is with hindsight. At the time it would have been the DC for sure since most of the Saturn‘s best games never left Japan.

 

[Loops]

Dreamcast - spent a lot of time exposed to that console and it's library whilst growing up! Saturn always seemed like an almost mythical, unattainable console in the UK to me - I only knew of one person that had it, and that was years after it was released well into the 6th/ going on 7th Gen.

 

[burntman]

both consoles were amazing, for 2d games, saturn was next levels, had superior ports even than most 2d ps1 games, which had shared

meanwhile, dreamcast, was proto ps2 levels, had gems like

- the shenmue games
- d2
- tech romancer
- soul calibur
- soul reaver 1
- sword of the berserk (first berserk game)
- headhunter 1
- re code veronica
- cannon spike
- sonic adventure 2
- doa2
- grandia 2
- skies of arcadia
- project justice
- mvc2
- crazy taxi 2
- blue stinger
- ready 2 rumble games

and several others

super underrated console, its a shame, that it got axed from sega, had so much potential, they could still make few more games, if they had more budget and promotion.

i love project justice so much, need to get the arcade stick, i cant get enough of having different controllers for systems. It's great.

Post automatically merged: Jan 25, 2025

Dreamcast - spent a lot of time exposed to that console and it's library whilst growing up! Saturn always seemed like an almost mythical, unattainable console in the UK to me - I only knew of one person that had it, and that was years after it was released well into the 6th/ going on 7th

Was so excited to get a boxed white saturn.

 

[Ikagura]

My nostalgia would say Dreamcast.

The Saturn has too many good games locked out of the west.

 

[iPhone15Pro]

dreamcast since you can surprisingly do quite abit with the console ~ saw my cousin play psx games on it in the early 2000s for example ( kinda wished he didn't give it to his nephews and to me instead when he was giving it away though loll )

thoughts though - sega should have been the first to have been like 'backwards compatible' feature
would've been awesome if the dreamcast was able to play saturn (the amount of good fighting games on that system ...! ), sega cd, and 32x games direct boot
perhaps the dreamcast would have lasted longer if they did that ~

 

[burntman]

dreamcast since you can surprisingly do quite abit with the console ~ saw my cousin play psx games on it in the early 2000s for example ( kinda wished he didn't give it to his nephews and to me instead when he was giving it away though loll )

thoughts though - sega should have been the first to have been like 'backwards compatible' feature
would've been awesome if the dreamcast was able to play saturn (the amount of good fighting games on that system ...! ), sega cd, and 32x games direct boot
perhaps the dreamcast would have lasted longer if they did that ~

oh yeah thats right with the bleamcast. I dont know if it works on gdemu, but i do know that it can play atomiswave ports and neogeo cd ports which is loads of games and the load times are faster i think

 

[themoon]

Lot of people saying both have a solid library, and I would say relative to their competition in their respective generations, both libraries are a bit lacking. I personally find that there's more on the Saturn that I can keep coming back to. That being said, if you're into homebrew or mucking about with consoles, the Dreamcast is literally, well... a dream. Quite possibly the best homebrew/hacking scene of any console, past or present.

 

[Gaz]

I'm currently experiencing owning both a saturn with a saroo and a dreamcast with a gdemu.
My question is, which one do you personally think is best? I won't have a full answer for a while, because it will take a long time to play all these games lol.

Here is a short comparison from my end.

The saturn controllers are less comfy than dc, but have one of the best d pads on both the mk2 and the 3d pad.
I think the saturn looks cooler with its big bulky design and I love the logo. I find that I really like the pixel graphics on the saturn more than the dc but this is only a subjective. I like still having the disc drive and having all the games where as the gdemu is just for games; not sure if you can play music; which is a plus for the saturn. It is very hard to say which has the cooler menus and I would have to say the saturn is cooler but that the dc is very close ( shows how much I like the aesthetic of the two)

In terms of games I think that the saturn is best for 2d fighters, rpgs and shmups. The dc has more action games imo like jet set radio, maken x and sonic adventure.

In conclusion, I think the dc has the better variety and quantity of good games for my tastes, but the saturn is best for rpgs and shmups. They both have great 3d and 2d fighting games, fighters megamix being a fav. Definitely all my friends want to play the dreamcast more than the saturn tho I have noticed.

Dreamcast. I owned one back in the day.