Saturn Sega Saturn Launch Titles!

[LaserMoose]

Which Saturn game is your favorite out of its North American launch titles? Do you have any fond memories of picking up your Saturn?

Personally, I think I enjoy Daytona USA the most out of the bunch. Even though it has some major cutbacks to its frame rate and draw distance, I still find the gameplay to be very fun. As I'm a recently new Saturn owner, I don't have any real stories of my own to say about the system - that said, I think it's my favorite looking console!

Sega Saturn North American Launch Titles!​		NA Release Date:​	1995-05-11​
Clockwork Knight​		Daytona USA​
Panzer Dragoon​		Pebble Beach Golf Links​
Virtua Fighter​		Sega International Victory Goal​

 

[Type Kaiser]

Hey, there. It's great you have a Saturn, congratulations. It's going to be a great time playing.
Personally, I must say I didn't have one, but I know it's an excellent console. Sega, always trying to stay ahead of the competition, ended up finding a strong competitor in the United States: the Sony PlayStation.
As for the game, I'm familiar with Daytona USA and its counterparts, and I must say I like them and have a certain appreciation for them, so my vote goes there.

 

[LaserMoose]

Hey, there. It's great you have a Saturn, congratulations. It's going to be a great time playing.
Personally, I must say I didn't have one, but I know it's an excellent console. Sega, always trying to stay ahead of the competition, ended up finding a strong competitor in the United States: the Sony PlayStation.
As for the game, I'm familiar with Daytona USA and its counterparts, and I must say I like them and have a certain appreciation for them, so my vote goes there.

Thank you! I've still only had it for a short while, and when I'm not playing MH Rise or FF7 on other systems, I've been playing Mega Man 8, Daytona, and the many fighters available on the Saturn. I love the controller - from the first minute, it felt like one of the best controllers that I've used.

 

[DunkeyKong]

Daytona USA and Sega Rally Racing is one of the best launch titles, especially for racing fans. Panzer Dragoon is quite great too

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Yeah, Daytona is my favorite so far as well! But Clockwork Knight and Panzer Dragoon are titles I plan to play as well, so I may update how I feel in this thread when I get there. Daytona is just a fun port, despite how rough it is. Has more content than its main rival, Ridge Racer, and has a bunch of cute secrets to mess with.


Like horse.
I have yet to unlock the horse.
I want to unlock the horse.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

I kinda want to, as a massive "what if?" get a U.S. Model 1 Saturn, a box for it, and every launch game. I have an obsession for console launches, because playing launch games with all the extra stuff brings me the excitement of a console launch.

That said, this is a LONG TERM plan. Don't expect that until, like 3 to 5 years from now if ever.

 

[bjork]

For me it's a tie between Panzer Dragoon and Pebble Beach Golf Links. Panzer was unreal at the time, and I really like the atmosphere in those games, I wish they kept going with them. The golf game is fun because The Walrus gives you advice and I have a soft spot for T&E Soft golf games, even if they are kinda clunky.

 

[LaserMoose]

(How unfortunate, the box art of my initial post is quite small for the left column...it appeared normal when I checked before posting.)

For me it's a tie between Panzer Dragoon and Pebble Beach Golf Links. Panzer was unreal at the time, and I really like the atmosphere in those games, I wish they kept going with them. The golf game is fun because The Walrus gives you advice and I have a soft spot for T&E Soft golf games, even if they are kinda clunky.

Truly, Pebble Beach Golf Links has some beautiful FMVs, courtesy of Craig "The Walrus" Stadler. I would buy modern golf games if they had a Craig over my shoulder at all times.

 

[bjork]

T&E Soft music is so damn good. In the other games that let you pick a caddy, there's a lady caddy who I've decided is Canadian because she says "now hoole it oot" and I like her.

 

[Pikachun]

Panzer Dragoon....What beautiful music here. Mmmm, an orgasm for my ears ^__^

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Panzer Dragoon since it's the only I've played so far.

 

[stealthRUSH stealthRUSH]

My Sega Saturn system came with the 3-Free-Games promotion

Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop, and Daytona USA back in 1996.

Besides the demo disc Bootleg Sampler. I enjoyed playing all three, although out of your choices I went with Panzer Dragoon which ended up one of my favorite series on the system.

 

[snes9x]

Is the Saturn port of Daytona USA any good? I've only played Panzer Dragoon and Daytona is the only other launch title that I could see myself enjoying. (Apologies to Mr. Stadler)

 

[thanonyx thanonyx]

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

My Sega Saturn system came with the 3-Free-Games promotion

View attachment 56251
Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop, and Daytona USA back in 1996.

Besides the demo disc Bootleg Sampler. I enjoyed playing all three, although out of your choices I went with Panzer Dragoon which ended up one of my favorite series on the system.

Ive seen this around! It’s very very cool, while also being a clear example of SEGA doing everything they can to try and sell a Saturn to you. It’s a desperation tactic, but that doesn’t mean we as consumers won’t reap those benefits!

Is the Saturn port of Daytona USA any good? I've only played Panzer Dragoon and Daytona is the only other launch title that I could see myself enjoying. (Apologies to Mr. Stadler)

I own it! And I adore it.
So, visually, it is ROUGH. Daytona was an insane game to try and port to Saturn, since you have multiple highly detailed tracks with up to 40 cars on the road. It also didn’t help that the game was made before the SEGA Graphics Library (SGL) that was made during the development of the Virtua Fighter 2 port for Saturn, which would go on to make Saturn development much easier for SEGA internal. So, yeah. Undeniably, it is chunky as shit and is running at a frame rate that is low.

But it’s stable. It still has the aesthetic of Daytona. And most importantly: the gameplay is intact. It handles like a dream, has a perfectly accurate audio presentation, and eventually you just forget how the game doesn’t look the best and you just start enjoying the game because it’s just so fun and still so charming. And, on top of all of that, it’s full of cute little secrets, including being able to unlock the ability to play as a horse instead of a car.

 

[LaserMoose]

Ive seen this around! It’s very very cool, while also being a clear example of SEGA doing everything they can to try and sell a Saturn to you. It’s a desperation tactic, but that doesn’t mean we as consumers won’t reap those benefits!

I own it! And I adore it.
So, visually, it is ROUGH. Daytona was an insane game to try and port to Saturn, since you have multiple highly detailed tracks with up to 40 cars on the road. It also didn’t help that the game was made before the SEGA Graphics Library (SGL) that was made during the development of the Virtua Fighter 2 port for Saturn, which would go on to make Saturn development much easier for SEGA internal. So, yeah. Undeniably, it is chunky as shit and is running at a frame rate that is low.

But it’s stable. It still has the aesthetic of Daytona. And most importantly: the gameplay is intact. It handles like a dream, has a perfectly accurate audio presentation, and eventually you just forget how the game doesn’t look the best and you just start enjoying the game because it’s just so fun and still so charming. And, on top of all of that, it’s full of cute little secrets, including being able to unlock the ability to play as a horse instead of a car.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

@snes9x the Daytona games on Saturn (Daytona USA and a later release, known as Daytona USA CCE) are both interesting titles to go back to, even today. I'd recommend the Japanese version of CCE, as the other releases of CCE altered the soundtrack. But original Daytona USA handles better than CCE, in my opinion. I'd check out both if you're interested.

 

[snes9x]

Thanks, I'll give em a shot

 

[Riveler]

Although I love Panzer Dragoon (never finished it though) and Daytonaaaaaaa, my favorite game is Clockwork Knight.

When I got my Saturn, it came with a demo disc with some games and videos. One of the playable game was Clockwork Knight 2 and I've decided I simply had to buy the game. And I did.

Years later, I've bought an used copy of Clockwork Knight. And it's as good as the second one.

Last year I discovered that the first game can be unlocked in the second one by using a code on the mode selection screen: Up, Down, Left, Up, Left, Down, Right, Up, L, R, L, R

That made my copy of the first game totally useless.