What is the best Sega Saturn game?

[Heinzu]

Grandia was good.

 

[Ren96]

What game is that?

Soukyugurentai or Terra Driver (1997). A fantastic shoot 'em up that had a PS1 version. Like 90% of the shoot 'em ups released on both consoles, the Sega Saturn version is the best.

 

[killk28]

What game is that?

Soukyuugurentai, a Japan only Shmup, a must try.

https://retrogametalk.com/repo/sega_saturn_isos/soukyugurentai-japan/

 

[calebthegnome]

That's a very tough call. But a few that I would recommend to anyone new to the Saturn are Bulk Slash (awesome action mecha game), Shinrei Jusatsushi Tarōmaru (a strange side-scrolling action game where you kill people with psychic powers), and Dragon Force (a very impressive strategy rpg where you indirectly control the battles). Each of them offers gameplay that you dont really see in other platforms of the era.

 

[SaturnWolf64]

What's your favourite SS game?

There's soo many great Saturn games I love playing Wipeout and Wipeout 2097 , My favorite games might be tie between Panzer Dragoon Zwei and Panzer Dragoon Saga , I still need to Pick up Nights into Dreams BUG/BUG Too! And ( Japanese copies of Albert Odyssey and Magic Knight Rayearth ) I've had my Sega Saturn since October 2017 of the best purchases I've ever made in my opinion

 

[Ikagura]

What's your favourite SS game?

Maybe it'd be better to avoid to write that to mention the Saturn.

 

[RETRO-VETRO RETRO-VETRO]

Maybe it'd be better to avoid to write that to mention the Saturn.

Wait, why?

 

[thanonyx thanonyx]

Wait, why?

Because of the Schutzstaffel (often abbreviated as the SS). They were the worst of the worst that the Nazis had to offer.

 

[RETRO-VETRO RETRO-VETRO]

Because of the Schutzstaffel (often abbreviated as the SS). They were the worst of the worst that the Nazis had to offer.

OH, fuck...okay got it!

 

[Ikagura]

Because of the Schutzstaffel (often abbreviated as the SS). They were the worst of the worst that the Nazis had to offer.

And why Bomberman on the Saturn changed its title for the west.

Not to say you did a bad thing, just that outside of context saying those letters (or even making the firsts of Happy Hour) could lead to bot not taking the context into account.

 

[RETRO-VETRO RETRO-VETRO]

Also, I thought this thread had died already.

 

[Deleted member 111615]

You want some easy excellent arcade fighting game full of characters? Fighters Megamix.
You want some good RPG? Panzer Dragoon Saga o Shining Force 3 (all three episodes, now fan translated).

but Saturn is a treasure full of gems from day 1 until the end... so, at least 50 more games should be here.

 

[Deleted member 58254]

bug too

 

[calebthegnome]

Also, I thought this thread had died already.

Like the Saturn, this thread will never die

 

[Joshbong]

I just looked up Zero Divide - The Final Conflict and I am now so mad I’ve never seen it before. Plays like Virtua Fighter but has mech-like characters that can be shaped like dragons and insects?! That sounds amazing! Plus, it runs at a solid 60 with detailed worlds… from a third party developer.

Actually wild that I had never known this game was on the Saturn.

Nice, it's a really fun game, definitely on the obscure side. I made a reddit post around a year ago that shows how to unlock everything. Had to piece it all together from Japanese game magazines but it was worth it imo. Zero Divide 2 on ps1 is also great and much easier to find info on.

 

[RandomHajile]

Shining the Holy ark. Maybe Guardian Heroes as a close 2nd, but STHA is one of my all-time favorite Dungeon crawlers too. It's so perfect and sexy and has that saturn aesthetic down pat.

 

[Ikagura]

Shining the Holy ark. Maybe Guardian Heroes as a close 2nd, but STHA is one of my all-time favorite Dungeon crawlers too. It's so perfect and sexy and has that saturn aesthetic down pat.

Is this a spiritual successor to Shining in the Darkness?

 

[RandomHajile]

Is this a spiritual successor to Shining in the Darkness?

Yup, and it's about as addictive too. SitD was one of my first Genesis games, and it's just as good. Same gameplay mechanics. I believe it's in the same world, though there are no obvious or direct links other than to some of the "Vandal" lore. I highly recommend it.

 

[deceptionfalls]

its either Princess Crown or Radiant Silvergun for me, cant go wrong with those

 

[desaturn]

A deceptively-tough question, as Saturn has/had so many games that are objectively among the finest in their genre, even today.

BEST game overall? Probably... Panzer Dragoon Saga or NiGHTS into Dreams. Both games, while not long and easy to complete, displayed a perfect blend of simplicity, ingenuity, and pure artistry that is rarely displayed i modern media.

My personal FAVORITE? If I had to choose...I'll still cheat and say the totality of Shining Force III (all 3 scenarios). Simply because looking back, I must have racked up more total playtime across those 3 discs than any other game in my life, easy.

(Honorable mention goes to Burning Rangers tho - one of the most creative concepts, a fresh take on action games, and one that would genuinely benefit by getting a full-budget modern remake from a qualified dev team)

 

[PhaseJump]

Is this a spiritual successor to Shining in the Darkness?

Yup, and it's about as addictive too. SitD was one of my first Genesis games, and it's just as good. Same gameplay mechanics. I believe it's in the same world, though there are no obvious or direct links other than to some of the "Vandal" lore. I highly recommend it.

One of the dungeons is a throwback to it.

Sega did the same thing in Phantasy Star 4, throwing music from the first game into it.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

A deceptively-tough question, as Saturn has/had so many games that are objectively among the finest in their genre, even today.

BEST game overall? Probably... Panzer Dragoon Saga or NiGHTS into Dreams. Both games, while not long and easy to complete, displayed a perfect blend of simplicity, ingenuity, and pure artistry that is rarely displayed i modern media.

My personal FAVORITE? If I had to choose...I'll still cheat and say the totality of Shining Force III (all 3 scenarios). Simply because looking back, I must have racked up more total playtime across those 3 discs than any other game in my life, easy.

(Honorable mention goes to Burning Rangers tho - one of the most creative concepts, a fresh take on action games, and one that would genuinely benefit by getting a full-budget modern remake from a qualified dev team)

These games are commonly cited for a reason. While I subjectively like certain other games more, I consider all of the above listed games as the best uses of the Saturn hardware to deliver a game that’s unique to the system and generation.

 

[Ikagura]

One of the dungeons is a throwback to it.

Sega did the same thing in Phantasy Star 4, throwing music from the first game into it.

Interesting, doing nostalgia throwbacks before it was getting commonplace.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Interesting, doing nostalgia throwbacks before it was getting commonplace.

Heck, it was probably nostalgic for the developers at that point!

 

[Waffle_the_Great]

Shining the Holy ark. Maybe Guardian Heroes as a close 2nd, but STHA is one of my all-time favorite Dungeon crawlers too. It's so perfect and sexy and has that saturn aesthetic down pat.

STHA was pretty good. Little tricky up until after the fight with Rilix. Then you kind of start growing insanely fast and can usually plow through most of the fights. Having all 50 fairies though was always fun to just light up your attacker before the battle began.