Is the Sega Saturn Worth it?

[yoyo]

Q: Is Sega Saturn worth it?
A: Of course, and ignore anyone who says otherwise.

+1

One of my favorite consoles - bonus points for best external memory card. Saving & loading is a breeze and it makes the PS 1 memory card feel slow and cramped.

As you'd expect, the most wanted titles is insanely expensive, but good games can be had for dirt cheap.

I remember trying to save games on a PSX memory card, it did seem pretty slow, esp compared to a Saturn memory card. Waited forever for the save menu to pop up, waited forever for the file to write, and waited forever for exiting the menu to go back to the game.

[Tatsujin]

that's quite a lot forevers you waited there.

[DragonmasterDan]

I remember trying to save games on a PSX memory card, it did seem pretty slow, esp compared to a Saturn memory card. Waited forever for the save menu to pop up, waited forever for the file to write, and waited forever for exiting the menu to go back to the game.

The Saturn cartridge slot provides a lot more bandwidth to save than does the Playstation memory card slot. The downside is of course that a lot of Saturn memory card slots are jacked up and I've seen games freeze in attempting to save when good contact isn't being made.

[munchiaz]

I remember trying to save games on a PSX memory card, it did seem pretty slow, esp compared to a Saturn memory card. Waited forever for the save menu to pop up, waited forever for the file to write, and waited forever for exiting the menu to go back to the game.

The Saturn cartridge slot provides a lot more bandwidth to save than does the Playstation memory card slot. The downside is of course that a lot of Saturn memory card slots are jacked up and I've seen games freeze in attempting to save when good contact isn't being made.

So would the best bet be, transfer files on the Saturn to a memory card, and keep the saturn on board memory clean to save what you are currently playing?

[yoyo]

that's quite a lot forevers you waited there.

Quite so! I died and reincarnated a few times and it was done by the time I was 19 on the third rebirth.

[DragonmasterDan]

So would the best bet be, transfer files on the Saturn to a memory card, and keep the saturn on board memory clean to save what you are currently playing?

Yep, that's a good bet. There also exists a floppy drive peripheral for the Japanese Saturn for saves.

[Nando]

[jeffhlewis]

From the comments:
@nintendoman456 The Chinese weren't playing Sega Saturn in the old colonial days, Segata Sanshiro was sent in and the rape on Nanking happened. How Sega has fallen...

Oh Internet...

[SNKNostalgia]

I remember trying to save games on a PSX memory card, it did seem pretty slow, esp compared to a Saturn memory card. Waited forever for the save menu to pop up, waited forever for the file to write, and waited forever for exiting the menu to go back to the game.

The Saturn cartridge slot provides a lot more bandwidth to save than does the Playstation memory card slot. The downside is of course that a lot of Saturn memory card slots are jacked up and I've seen games freeze in attempting to save when good contact isn't being made.

So would the best bet be, transfer files on the Saturn to a memory card, and keep the saturn on board memory clean to save what you are currently playing?

This is why the 4-in-1 AR does everything needed. It works as a back memory cart, but not as a save memory cart. I just make sure to clear some space with the internal memory before firing up a big memory using game like Dragon Force or something. It works with all 1MB and 4MB games minus KOF '95. I never have to unplug the cart and it isn't thick and destructive like the Game Shark.

[Nando]

From the comments:
@nintendoman456 The Chinese weren't playing Sega Saturn in the old colonial days, Segata Sanshiro was sent in and the rape on Nanking happened. How Sega has fallen...

Oh Internet...

UGh! why I rarely to never read the comments.

[DragonmasterDan]

This is why the 4-in-1 AR does everything needed. It works as a back memory cart, but not as a save memory cart.

Everything except be consistently read from the cartridge slot (and even when it boots a lot of times the RAM functionality varies).

If you get it working, leave it in there and don't remove the cart or even move it around.

[Black Tiger]

I remember trying to save games on a PSX memory card, it did seem pretty slow, esp compared to a Saturn memory card. Waited forever for the save menu to pop up, waited forever for the file to write, and waited forever for exiting the menu to go back to the game.

The Saturn cartridge slot provides a lot more bandwidth to save than does the Playstation memory card slot. The downside is of course that a lot of Saturn memory card slots are jacked up and I've seen games freeze in attempting to save when good contact isn't being made.

So would the best bet be, transfer files on the Saturn to a memory card, and keep the saturn on board memory clean to save what you are currently playing?

This is why the 4-in-1 AR does everything needed. It works as a back memory cart, but not as a save memory cart. I just make sure to clear some space with the internal memory before firing up a big memory using game like Dragon Force or something. It works with all 1MB and 4MB games minus KOF '95. I never have to unplug the cart and it isn't thick and destructive like the Game Shark.

The 4-in-1 and possibly Capcom's 4 meg cart are said to not run 1 meg cart games properly and at best only cause slowdown. Some early 4-in-1 carts have a 1 meg mode switch on them.

[SNKNostalgia]

Depends on which model you have. I got one the better ones from NCSX back in 2001 or so. Some you even have to cut a trace and solder a wire I believe to get Vampire Savior working. I have no problems at all with my cart luckily. I have tested it out on a lot of games. Even if some games do cause problems, you rarely have to change out the cart.

[Black Tiger]

Saturns and Capcom 4-meg carts are cheap today anyways, so it's a non-issue.

X-Men VS Street Fighter with the cart cost me $230 bitd.

[IrishNinja]

i love this thread.  and in the Year of the Saturn (20th anniversary) no less!

prices are spiking, especially on US stuff - even common ones!  much like the turbo scene, there's better deals on the import end except for the big name J-only ones.  i can't recommend enough the idea of emulating, watching youtube etc about the big ticket items to see if they're really worth it to you, then patiently holding out for a deal - sometimes craigslist, mainly forums though.  for me, a few japanese sellers on ebay were totally worth it for SHMUPs/fighters/run-n-guns etc, usually buying at least a few at cheap prices to balance out the shipping (which also isn't bad once combined).  i got a model 2 with unibios + CD-r support mods for less than $100 about a year ago, and it's been the single most played console i have since then, including the PS4.