Sega Saturn

[Medic_wheat]

Current Saturn library. Not pictured JP Import Dugen Drangs.

[Azzurri]

I never got into Saturn, but I did pick one up about 10 years ago?  I think I got the system CIB with like 6 games or so.

Still have it in my basement, I actually think I have some rares titles too, which I got all for like $50.

I was tho a HUGE Dreamcast fan, to this day I have like 4 systems, 3 US and 1 JP, and I don't remember why I have so many.

[pulstar]

Magic Knight Rayearth and Guardian Heroes are awesome games. Soon enough the price of Saturn games will be so high you'll have to trade a Magical Chase just to get a Panzer Dragoon Saga...

[ctophil]

The Saturn was really good at 2d, but really hard to program for due to its twin 32-bit CPUs.

I had read in the book, "Service Games", that the Saturn was hard to program for because Sega didn't deliver developer tools to the developers until the console had already been released and that by the time the developers received any tools, things were already starting to look grim. I believe there was also a comment in this book from Sega rep who mocked the developers that were having a hard time programming because they were not as talented as the Sega developers. This is not word for word of course, just the story points I can recall. I enjoyed the book. Maybe give it a read if you are interested.

http://www.amazon.ca/Service-Games-Rise-Enhanced-Edition/dp/1494288354

Sounds like a good read.  Thanks for sharing.  :-) 

The problem had a lot more to do with the fact that the only way to get good performance out of the Saturn was to write everything in assembler which is far more tedious and time consuming than is writing it in a more modern language. The Playstation had very functional development kits that allowed you to write in C language and potentially get 90+% of the resources out of the hardware. Because of the convoluted hardware design of the Saturn, writing something in a C based development kit led to a huge amount of overhead and code that didn't run as efficiently leading to a significant performance drop.

The problem wasn't necessarily the developer tools so much as it was the Saturn was a complicated design that made it more difficult to properly optimize than it needed to be.

That is very true.  I didn't program for the Saturn.  But I did a little bit for the Playstation using the Net Yaroze (Hobbyist development kit for Playstation).  And I have to say that the PS1 was much easier, although I was a C++ programmer, but studying C wasn't too hard.  After reading developer comments about the Saturn, I stayed clear away.  Not only what you said was true, but the twin 32-bit processors were a pain to balance between them.  You can't let one CPU do less work than the other.  You had to have them both work like as if they were a single processor.  And Assembly is ugly if you had to use that most of the time on Saturn.  For those who don't know, Assembly is closer to machine language, meaning the syntax is easier for the computer to understand (and faster code) than the human programmer.  This makes it hard for you to see the bugs than the C language. 

[Medic_wheat]

Magic Knight Rayearth and Guardian Heroes are awesome games. Soon enough the price of Saturn games will be so high you'll have to trade a Magical Chase just to get a Panzer Dragoon Saga...

Not sure what the current price is for Saga. Will most likely buy rhe import as it's dirt cheap.

Was bidding on a Elevator Action Returns but had a flat (right after my interview) and by the time I got it changed and now waiting at discount tire the auction ended and at a good price $78 bucks free shipping. Sigh. Got snipered and wasn't able to counter before it ended.

[Digi.k]

Hmm, I love my Saturn all. Dead Or Alive was so awesome compared to the Playstation version, I love it. Krazy Ivan was the shit as well. Plus, in the USD, it had an amazing version of Quake, and that is just awesome!

Lobotamy was an amazing software company and they did fantastic stuff with the Saturn as did Travellers tales with Sonic R.

I agree with you completely. I wish that I knew what in the Hell ever happened to Lobotomy and why nobody seems to use them anymore.

If only I kept my old UK issues of The official sega saturn magazine.

This is one of the interviews with Ezra Dreisbach, a Lobotomy Programmer and creator of Death Tank !! it's a little grim reading tho...

http://www.segasaturn.co.uk/beta/news/ezra-dreisbach-interview/


and a more recent-ish interview... circa 2009

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/death-tanks-ezra-driesbach-interview

and another interview that was in the official sega saturn magazine.  Shortly after they made Duke Nukem on the sega saturn.

http://ukresistance.co.uk/saturn/satduke.htm

[pulstar]

Not sure what the current price is for Saga. Will most likely buy rhe import as it's dirt cheap.

The going rate in the UK is around £150-£200. JP PDS is very cheap. Lots of guides about as well. I'm sure there was some special code you have to put in the action replay import converter cart to get it working correctly. Not a problem if you got a region modded or JP Saturn though.

[Digi.k]

Not sure what the current price is for Saga. Will most likely buy rhe import as it's dirt cheap.

The going rate in the UK is around £150-£200. JP PDS is very cheap. Lots of guides about as well. I'm sure there was some special code you have to put in the action replay import converter cart to get it working correctly. Not a problem if you got a region modded or JP Saturn though.

the game OST has become pretty expensive too.  I love the music on both Zwei and Saga by composer; Saori Kobayashi.   I plan on playing crimson dragon too although the game itself has been criticized for apparently being too rudimentary for today's game standards...

[xelement5x]

Not sure what the current price is for Saga. Will most likely buy rhe import as it's dirt cheap.

The going rate in the UK is around £150-£200. JP PDS is very cheap. Lots of guides about as well. I'm sure there was some special code you have to put in the action replay import converter cart to get it working correctly. Not a problem if you got a region modded or JP Saturn though.

the game OST has become pretty expensive too.  I love the music on both Zwei and Saga by composer; Saori Kobayashi.   I plan on playing crimson dragon too although the game itself has been criticized for apparently being too rudimentary for today's game standards...

It's odd you say that.  A dude on the Facebook group local to me just found a brand new copy of the Azel soundtrack in a Denver thrift.  So weird...

[Digi.k]

It's odd you say that.  A dude on the Facebook group local to me just found a brand new copy of the Azel soundtrack in a Denver thrift.  So weird...

also a lil' jealous the music on there is amazing.  I just wish there was a sound option to listen to it in the actual game but the effects of the dragon flapping it's wings can be heard constantly....

there only a few redbook audio tracks on the game CD's but it's the stuff generated by the sound chip is what I love...

[cr8zykuban0]

a great system forsure for aecade ports like many people already know! the Japanese games were great for snk ports and shmups from what i heard. one shmup I really want to pick uo for the Japanese Saturn is battle garegga! its pricy but hopefully I can get a good deal on it. can anyone recommend me any more japanese shmups? thanks!

[Digi.k]

Sengoku Blaede
Soukyugurentai
Kingdom Grand Prix   <Although I didn't really like this game>
Game paradise
Sexy Parodius
Jikkyou Osharberi parodius
Batsugun
Dondonpachi
layer section
Twinkle star sprites
strikers 1945
strikers 1945 II
gunbird
Radiant Silvergun
Cotton 2
Cotton Boomerang
Gradius Deluxe pack
Detana Twin Bee yahoo! Deluxe pack
Salamander Deluxe pack plus
Thunderforce V
Thunderforce gold pack 1 & 2
Hyper Duel
Blast Wind
Shienryu
Sonic Wings Special
Image fight and X-multiply
Guardian Force
Bokan to Ippatsu! Doronbo Kanpekiban
DonPachi
Metal Black
Gun Frontier
3 wonders
Darius 2
Darius Gaiden
Fantasy Zone
Galaxy Force
Gekirindan
in the hunt
Layer Section II
skull fang
Kyukyoku Tiger II Plus
panzer dragoon
Panzer Dragoon Zwei
Sol Divide
Konami Antiques MSX Collection
Steam Heart’s
Cho Aniki
Space Invaders
Macross: Do You Remember Love?
Terra Cresta 3D
metal slug
silhouette mirage
stellar assualt
purika daisakusen

[Medic_wheat]

In the hunt is SO on my list

[DragonmasterDan]

In the hunt is SO on my list

The Saturn port is loaded with slowdown. It's actually quite a bit better on Playstation despite the Saturn's reputation as being a superior 2D system.

[Medic_wheat]

In the hunt is SO on my list

The Saturn port is loaded with slowdown. It's actually quite a bit better on Playstation despite the Saturn's reputation as being a superior 2D system.

I have heard the same thing and I do like that teh PS version saw a US release and long box. I just wish the box art was as good as the JP version