Sega Saturn
- For emulators, see Sega Saturn emulators and Emulators on Sega Saturn, and for system information, see Sega Saturn.
The Saturn was a mixed bag for Sega. It was actually their most successful console in Japan; not a monster hit like the PlayStation, but it beat the Nintendo 64 by a hair there. Consequently, it amassed a very respectable game library, full of unique, high-quality titles. And to this day it is remembered there as one of the greatest consoles of all time.
On the other hand, it was a commercial disaster in the West. Headquarters decided to expedite the American launch by four months, perhaps trying to repeat the way the Genesis beat the TurboGrafx-16 to the punch years before. But it backfired hard. There was no time for advertising, so few people even knew it had come out. The limited stock meant that only some retailers got them, angering those who did not (KB Toys even decided to cut ties with Sega and not carry the Saturn at all). The few games available were all Sega's own, which angered third-party publishers. As it launched with a hefty $400 price tag, Sony hit back the same day by announcing they'd launch for $100 less. And the bundled copy of Virtua Fighter did not make up for that, as it was nowhere near the arcade megahit that it was in Japan. Sales never recovered, so most of its sweet quirky library remained overseas.
Since it failed in such a manner, you likely have missed out on several excellent titles. Let us fix that now.
The list
[edit | edit source]| Cover | Title | Genre | Description | Screenshots |
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Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean | RPG | Young Pike's parents got assraped by monsters and afterwards he was raised by The translation has Working Designs' usual sense of humor, which you could find hilarious or embarrassing, but since the story is kinda by the books, the Working Designs 'flavor' acts more in favor than against it. |
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Amok | Shooter | After decades of war between two megacorporations, a fragile truce has finally been reached. But a mercenary group would much rather see the immensely profitable bloodshed continue, and that's where you come in! A hardcore mech shooter, from some of the people who would later do the Hitman series. The voxel environments give it an unusual visual style. Also on PC. | 
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Astal | Platformer | A neat platformer regarding goddesses, life, creation, and crap like that. Very fun as you go around punching enemies, throwing objects at them, or using your fucking pinball of a bird to destroy them. The downside is that you only have one continue and three hit points instead of the Japanese version's five, although it does help its longevity as this game is really short. | 
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Baku Baku | Puzzle | This is a strange tile-based puzzle game that came out on different systems, originally for the SEGA Titan Video (TV) arcade systems. The concept revolves around feeding animals food, which helps you beat the other player somehow. Unlike the other versions, this one has extra modes and prettier graphics. You might like it if you've played something like Puyo Puyo.
Also on SEGA Master System/Game Gear and PC (online probably doesn't work anymore unless someone revived the servers). |
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Battle Arena Toshinden URA | Fighting | A fighting game with swords. What more can you ask for? Although, in this game, you can no longer pussy your way out of every damn attack by dodge rolling. | 
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Bug! | Platformer | Like the title says. You're a Bug and you do a lot of 2.5D platforman. Has a level where you can race Sonic the Hedgehog in his Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles sprite. Really shoddy graphics compared to now. Has a sequel BUG TOO!
Also came out on PC, but good luck finding it! |
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Bug Too! | Platformer | Sequel to Bug! More platforman and whatnot. | 
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Burning Rangers | Third-Person shooter | In the near future, the world will face an ultimate evil. FUCKING FIRES. It's up to you to save all the citizens, collect crystals, and extinguish those flames with a man on a jetpack. Has neat platforming as well as TPS. It plays better than it sounds. Godlike intro music. | 
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Clockwork Knight | Platformer | Part one of a platformer with a toy-theme. Probably the first game to pioneer a key as a weapon which is a nice little history lesson. Pretty cool, but a bit average. Still fun though.
Is bundled with CK2 as part of the Pepperouchau no Fukubukuro package, and it includes additional games, extras and bug fixes, so that's more preferred. |
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Clockwork Knight 2 | Platformer | Part two. You can play as your rival from the first as well.
Is bundled with part one as part of the Pepperouchau no Fukubukuro package, and it includes additional games, extras and bug fixes, so that's more preferred, even though the North American release is based on this version. European version, not so much, so avoid that one if you can. |
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Croc: Legend of the Gobbos | 3D Platforman / FUCK YEAH CROC | Awesome platformer from Fox Interactive and Argonaut. You'll have a really great time with this game, and the only downside is Croc's control. (This fucker moves like a tank.) Also on the PlayStation, PC and GameBoy Color. (GBC port is shitty as hell.)
Warning, the Saturn port will glitch up if not started correctly! |
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Cyber Speedway (US/EU) Gran Chaser (JP) |
Racing | In the future, there are no more wars: the galactic civilizations settle their conflicts with hovercar races! A futuristic combat racing game, sometimes dismissed as a "Wipeout wannabe"... which is stupid, this one came out first! But yeah, they follow the same formula so you get the idea. And while this one is not as celebrated, it's still a pretty enjoyable game in its own right. Note: the US version has a different soundtrack from the others. | 
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D | Survival Horror | Warp's first US release is a good one. You're some chick who's looking around a mansion for her father whose gone insane and barricaded himself from anyone. Explore the place, and even have some "oh shi-" moments coming your way. Not the best game out there, more of an acquired taste depending on what kind of games you like. Also on the PlayStation, 3DO, and DOS.
Has two sequels: Enemy Zero (SAT/PC) and D2 (Dreamcast). Both are worth checking out. |
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Darius Gaiden | Shoot 'em up | Fuck yeah, Darius! Guide your ship through multiple paths, fighting giant fish robots along the way. Also, this is one of ZUN's favorite games so all your Touhou friends have an obligation to play this. | 
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Dark Savior | Platformer / Puzzle / Action | A bounty hunter is escorting a monster to a prison island, but then he escapes - and your actions in this prologue will determine which route the game will follow! A mix of RPG with sections of action-platforming, puzzle, and fighting. From the same devs as Landstalker, it's a spiritual sequel but not plot-related. | 
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Decathlete (NA) Athlete Kings (EU) |
Sport | Sports 'n' shit, in 60fps no less.
Also available on PS2. Has a sequel of sorts called "Winter Heat", also on the Saturn and PS2, if you're curious to check it out. Note: The Japanese version contains a character from the manga Decathlon, and for copyright reasons, he was removed from international versions of the game. For a more swift kick in the nuts (at least for the U.S. and Canada), one of the characters, Jef Jansens, was removed in the North American version of both this and Winter Games. What the fuck, SOA? |
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Deep Fear (EU) | Survival Horror | Deep Fear was only released in JP and PAL regions, but both versions contain English voice acting. It has the same basic mechanics as early Resident Evil games, but is much more action-oriented, requires less back-tracking, and takes place in an underwater facility. The graphics and creature designs are excellent, but the environments are mostly bland and the story's a wash. Still, fans of classic survival horror won't regret tracking this one down. | 
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Die Hard Arcade | Beat 'em up | Cops fight terrorists using hand-to-hand skills, along with whatever forms of weaponry they come across. Quick Time Events give you a potential heads up on enemies. The sequel is known as Dynamite Cop and on the Dreamcast. | 
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Digital Pinball: Last Gladiators | Pinball | One of the finest realistic pinball games on the Saturn, this is the spiritual successor to the Super Pinball series on the SNES. There is also a Japan-only update, Ver. 9.7, but this one is good enough if you can't get that. See also its even better Japan-only sequel, Digital Pinball: Necronomicon. | 
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Dragon Ball Z: The Legend (EU) | Fighting | Great DBZ game for everyone who's a fan of the show. Covers the whole story of DBZ. English speakers should grab the translation patch here. Also available on the PlayStation, but it's Japan only, and is missing some graphical effects. |
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Dragon Force | RTS / Tactics | Fuck yeah, Dragon Force. Nothing to do with that band (this came out years before), this strategy game has you choose one of 8 kingdoms to play as and follow each of their stories. Each kingdom has a certain type of troop they specialize with. | 
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Duke Nukem 3D | FPS | Always bet on Duke! About as good as the PC version, just with a Saturn controller. Bonus level at the end is amazing. You can unlock Death Tank Zwei if you destroy every toilet or have quake.
Fun fact: this version does not run on the Build Engine as the DOS version. Instead, the game was fully remade for Slavedriver, the same engine as Powerslave. (And in turn, the DOS version of Powerslave ran on the Build Engine instead of Slavedriver.) |
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Earthworm Jim 2 | Platformer | A slight touch-up of the 16-bit versions, the most notable addition being the higher-quality audio. Also features a really goofy-looking CG Jim in certain cinematic scenes, but as 2D as ever in-game (Hey, it WAS the 90's. Everyone and their dog jumped on the 3D Gravytrain.). | 
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Enemy Zero | Survival Horror | Most survival horror games back then were the same, walk around and look for shit from an overhead view, find items, and shoot some monsters once in a while. Enemy Zero is different from that. It has a similar plot to Alien, in which some aliens escape onto a space ship in the future. The thing about this game is that it uses little to no sight distance, limits on your saves and loads, and a difficult yet rewarding shooting system to scare the shit out of you. The only thing that lets you know an alien is there is a chime that gets stronger if you are near one. And no, there is no health bar. Once an alien touches you, you're fucked. The FMVs and voices were great for its time and it really isn't obvious why this game is 3 fucking discs long. All in all, a great game by the late Kenji Eno and Warp. | 
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Fighters Megamix | Fighting | Exactly what it says on the box. Take VF2 (with some VF3 moves), combine it with Fighting Vipers (No PepsiMan sadly), and this game is the result. Two Modes of play (Virtua Fighter or Fighting Vipers). There's also shittons of unlockable characters and outfits as well (Yes, you can play as the Hornet car from Daytona USA). | 
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Fighting Vipers | Fighting | One of the other fighting games made by Sega after Virtua Fighter blew up. Has a more looser feel to the fighting, a more Rock & Roll attitude to it. Also includes breakable armour and arenas.
Japanese version is pretty notable for including motherfucking PEPSIMAN (theme included) as an exclusive hidden character (Hint: Lose your first match in the game). Also available on the PS2 (via SEGA AGES), PSN, and XBLA (Xbone compatible). Has a sequel on the DC if you like this. |
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Galactic Attack (US) Layer Section (JP) |
Shoot 'em up | Port of RayForce, aka Gunlock. A superb shooter with many power-ups and a lock-on system. Basically an arcade-perfect port, but with a caveat: lots of pseudo-3D visual effects are disabled or look wrong in horizontal mode, so you must play in vertical mode (rotated screen) for the proper experience. | 
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Golden Axe: The Duel | Fighting | Not too shabby, but a curious genre shift. Give it a shot if you like the series. Just don't expect any beat 'em up-an action. | 
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Guardian Heroes | Beat 'em up / RPG | YES. You know it, you love it, if you don't, you're gonna. Choose your characters from an assorted cast. The game has multi-planar combat with groups of foes, but also makes things interesting by having multiple routes of stages to go to, meaning you have a whole variety of playthroughs to take on. The RPG elements are mainly just boosting your skills up through stats. It's all action otherwise.
Also on Xbox Live Arcade. |
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Gungriffon | First Person Mech Shooter | Set in the distant year of 2015, blocks of nations fight it out for the last remaining natural resources to keep their war machines rolling.
You are the pilot of a High-Mac, an agile and deadly Mech. The game is presented in a first-person view, with your radar, ammo, and other info present in your HUD. You will be dropped into the middle of a battlefield, engaging enemies and protecting allies, convoys and military installations in Day/Night scenarios and in varying weather conditions. The missions are very well-paced, going from frantic full-scale battles to infiltration missions that require a touch of stealth. There are a good variety of enemy and friendly vehicles, ranging from tanks, mechs, artillery, helicopters, and more. The battlefield really comes to life with everyone fighting and dying around you. Second game is Japan-only. |
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House of the Dead | Rail Shooter/Light Gun | Shoot zombies, RELOAD, RELOAD. Despite the pared-down graphics, the gameplay is Sequels on Dreamcast, Wii, Xbox (via HotD3) and PC. Has a remake for Switch, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S, but that one doesn't have the same charm as the original. |
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Iron Storm | Turn-Based Strategy | Part of the Daisenryaku series. This game takes place during World War II, where you can play as either the United States of America, Nazi Germany, or Japan, and change the outcome of every battle in the war. | 
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Keio Flying Squadron 2 (EU) | Platformer | Sequel to the Sega CD shmup. Concentrates much more on platforming than shmup action though. You might like it more or less because of this, but it still manages to keep its Parodius-esque spirit alive and well. | 
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Last Bronx | Fighting | One of the other fighting games Sega put out after Virtua Fighter blew up. Think of it as Virtua Fighter meets Battle Arena Toshinden. Has a bit of an Anime style to the character designs. Japanese release has an extra disc of bonus material (moves list, character bios, training modes).
Also available on the PC, PS2 (via SEGA AGES), PS3 (via PSN), and Xbox Live. |
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Loaded | Top Down Shooter | THIS GAME IS BRO AS FUCK. Basically you play as one of a handful of characters killing guards and insane patients in some sort of mental hospital. THAT'S THE FIRST GODDAMNED LEVEL. The music is annoying and repetitive as fuck, but extremely goddamned catchy. It has multiplayer, so you and a bro can fuck shit up together. Also on the PlayStation and Steam. | 
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Lunacy (US) Torico (EU) |
Adventure / FMV | The story is about a traveler who calls himself Fred who finds himself imprisoned in Misty Town jail. He came to the village in search of answers to his past, a past of which he has no recollection. On his head, he bears a crescent-shaped tattoo. In his cell, Fred meets the strange and seemingly all-knowing Anthony, who tells him of the legends of the City of Moons. | 
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Magic Knight Rayearth | Action RPG | Three schoolgirls get isekai'd to a magical realm and have to become heroes to rescue its kidnapped princess from the evil high priest. Based on a 90s anime hit, this action-RPG is really solid. Each of the girls has different specialties in weapons and elements, making for a slightly more strategic experience. Plays akin to a Zelda/Ys type of game. Has cutscenes along with that Working Designs charm. Notorious for taking FUCKING FOREVER to come out in US.
Not to be confused with the SNES game based on the same series (which is pretty good too). Note: Use the Un-Worked Designs patch to undo the difficulty increase of the WD localization. |
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Manx TT Superbike | Racing | A solid port of the arcade game. Race on one of two tracks with bikes that have forgiving arcade handling and a good sense of speed for the console. Is decent on the standard d-pad but really plays best on the 3D control pad with the analog stick.
One of the game's cheats turns all of the bikes into sheep. |
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Marvel Super Heroes | Fighting | Classic Capcom fightan but instead of X-Men you have more than just X-Men; stuff like Spiderman, Captain America, The Hulk, etc. Also in America on the PlayStation. The Japanese version had Anita from Darkstalkers as a playable character via cheats, but for some reason she was removed from international versions.
Also in America on the PlayStation, and was part of the Marvel vs. Capcom Origins compilation for PSN and XBLA (includes Anita this time around) before being pulled off digital stores in 2014. |
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Mass Destruction | Combat | Drive a little tank and blow shit up to complete various missions. Fun multidirectional shooter in the same vein as 3DO classic Return Fire. Also on PS1, but for once the Saturn version got the higher framerate. | 
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Mega Man 8 Anniversary Collector's Edition | Action / Platformer | Megaman 8, same as the one on the PlayStation, but with a few extras such as mini-stages with Woodman and Cutman. Also, has a far superior Tengu Man stage song, though you're free to disagree. Really don't know why this version got cut out of every re-release, as it's the superior version. | 
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Mega Man X3 (EU) | Action / Platformer | Mostly the same as the SNES version, but now has a few cutscenes, along with a delicious CD-quality soundtrack, with damn near every song being remixed or rearranged. Available on the PlayStation but both of these remixed versions were released in Europe and Japan only. But don't sweat it; it was ported to the X Collection on GC/PS2 so you can see its enhanced version in America for the first time. | 
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Mega Man X4 | Action / Platformer | Unlike Mega Man 8, Also on the PlayStation, but other than the superior transparency effects, it has inferior audio (some intros not present in certain music tracks, alongside proper looping tracks), and missing graphical effects (heat wave effect, ripple effect). That version, sadly, is also available on PC, the Mega Man X Collection for PS2/Gamecube, and the MMX Legacy Collection for PS4/XBOne/Switch/PC. |
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Mortal Kombat Trilogy | 2D Fighting | Essentially, it's an updated Mortal Kombat 3 with all the characters from the first 3 MK games in one solid pack! Just look at dat list! Fun too if you love MK. | 
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Mystaria: The Realms of Lore (US/EU) Riglord Saga (JP) Blazing Heroes (US 2nd release) |
Tactical RPG | Lord Bane, the evil wizard who rules a neighboring realm, has put a mind spell on the queen and made her believe her own son to be a traitor. As the young prince, you must enlist brave allies to take on the wizard's forces and free your mama. Simple plot and badly aged visuals, but the gameplay and music are pretty sweet. The sequel, Riglord Saga 2, is Japan-only.
The game's second pressing had the title and a few minor details changed because TSR complained that it sounded too similar to the Dungeons & Dragons setting of Mystara. |
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Mr. Bones | Platformer | You play as an undead jazz blues musician who has to stop an undead group of assholes hell-bent on world domination. Simple stuff, until the game throws you into a wild mix of levels and playstyles that shift in bizarre, unpredictable ways. Most levels are 2D platforming which blend action and puzzle-solving. But then you have some levels where you have to play guitar to pacify an audience of enemies, or cracking jokes to defeat a cyborg skeleton. It's a quirky, bizarre and often very confusing trip, and one that has left an indelible impression on the Saturn.
The Japanese version has fixed cutscene resolution and lowered difficulty. |
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Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge | Fighting | Sequel/Update to the first Darkstalkers. It has a crazy cast of characters that are really detailed. It's only on the Saturn, so PlayStation fans who want all 3 games will just have to get a Saturn. | 
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NiGHTS: into dreams... | Action-Adventure | Be a flying dream creature, help young dreamers conquer their fears and beat your evil creator who wants to break into the real world. Pretty much the "killer app" of the system back in the day, from the creators of Sonic. Has a sequel of sorts on the Wii, but opinions are mixed on that, while damn near everyone likes this one.
Later ported to PS2 (JP-only), PS3, X360, and PC with "enhanced graphics", but some visual effects are either missing or borked. |
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Christmas Nights | Action-Adventure | Nights, but with Christmas-themed outfits, rings, and stages. Happy Holidays!
You can play as Sonic in this one! Unlocked in the updated HD version, albeit without the ability to play as Sonic. |
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Panzer Dragoon | Rail Shooter | You ride a dragon and shoot down enemies. Fuck yes. Each of these were known for being relatively hard to find, but also rather fun. Heavily inspired by Jean Giraud's Arzach, which explains the series' unique visual style. Movement is very similar to Star Fox in that only the boss battles are free range.
This game was widely ported: PS2 (part of the Sega Ages 2500 series), PC, and unlockable in Panzer Dragoon Orta For Xbox. In 2020 it got a remake for PC and modern consoles. |
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Panzer Dragoon II Zwei | Rail Shooter | Much more depth than the previous entry with alternate routes, extra attacks, and an evolving dragon that changes based on your performance. | 
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Panzer Dragoon Saga | RPG | You're a young mercenary hired by the Empire to guard an excavation for artifacts of a long-lost advanced civilization. But as your team is massacred by the mutinous Black Fleet, you must fight both of them to get your revenge while uncovering the terrible secrets of the Ancient Age.
Free roaming exploratory levels either on foot or by dragon with loads to do. Your dragon evolves here too like in Zwei and Orta. Battles are turn-based but with real-time maneuvering that lets you angle attacks and perform certain strategies and may include multiple enemies that generally have multiple points which you can combat using your attacks, items, or berserks (spells). This baby usually goes for well over |
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Parodius (EU) | Cute 'em up | Konami's self-parody of Gradius. Features similar stages and enemy types, but disguised as much goofier variants, such as a cat-battleship, and sweets factory, and more. Has higher quality sound and multiplayer, IIRC. | 
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PowerSlave (US) Exhumed (EU) |
FPS | You're in Egypt, in a town infested by mummies, Anubis soldiers, scorpions, and other evil spirits, and its up to you to kick some mummy ass. Sounds cool, right? You better believe it. Also available on PlayStation and DOS (note that the DOS version is vastly different). PAL release does not include the bonus game Death Tanks, and neither does the PlayStation version. Was remastered for PC and modern consoles in 2022 as "Powerslave Exhumed". |
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Rayman | Platformer | Fuck yeah, Rayman! This game showed us all that 2D gaming wasn't dead. Fun as fuck but it can also be hard as hell sometimes. Has an awesome sequel.
Also available on the PlayStation, the Atari Jaguar, and DOS (both the GBA and DSi versions are based on the DOS version apparently). Has some slight differences in that it uses some 3D effects at the end of the levels and has different backgrounds than the PlayStation on some levels. |
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Resident Evil | Survival Horror | About the same as the PlayStation version. It's just as good, no complaints, so you can have a fun time killing zombies on your Saturn.
Also ported to DS, but both the GameCube remake and its HD remaster for the PS3/PS4/360/XBOne/PC are better. |
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Return Fire (prototype) |
Combat | Drive various vehicles around and blow shit up to capture the enemy's flag. A port of the 3DO cult classic, it was completed but cancelled. Also on PS1 and PC. Get it here. |
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Saturn Bomberman | Action | Hell yeah. Has a classic story mode that can be played with 1 or 2 players, Dinosaur helpers to ride on in place of Rooeys, and of course, battle mode! This battle mode is famous for having characters from different Hudson series, such as Master Higgins and Bonk, allowing 8 players, and even having online mode! Technically, you can play with 10 players, but this disables some of the power-ups, disables dinosaurs, and alters the stage and players slightly. It's up to you whether you'll want to go with 8 or 10. | 
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Sega Rally Championship (Plus / Plus NetLink Edition) | Racing | This very competent conversion of the arcade rally racer proved that, contrary to what its launch titles made people think, the Saturn could do some good 3D visuals after all. Excellent soundtrack, alternating jazz-fusion and hard rock. Not really a ton of content, but there's an unlockable new track. Note: the Japan-only "Plus" edition is the ideal version, as it has better support for the 3D Controller and online multiplayer (if you're willing to jump through many hoops to get your Saturn online). Also on PC (ported from this) and PS2 (ported straight from the arcade). Sequel on Dreamcast and PC. |
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Sega Worldwide Soccer | Sport | Soccer for the Saturn. That's pretty much it. | 
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Shining Force III | Tactical RPG | Things are tense between a newly independent republic and the empire to which it used to belong. But subversive forces are trying to push them into war. Actually the US version is just the first scenario out of three that came out in Japan. The localization had some changes so people wouldn't realize they were getting only a fraction of the full story; get the retranslation patch to undo that. And then the translations for the other games (or just get the patched ISOs from CD Romance). |
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Shining The Holy Ark | RPG | First-person RPG. Has similarities to Golden Sun in various animations, music, and atmosphere. | 
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Shining Wisdom | Action-Adventure | Zelda like entry in the Shining series!
Note that the North American version wasn't localized by Sega of America, but instead by Working Designs, and because of this, the North American version lacks any connections to the Shining series. The PAL version, on the other hand, does. |
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Shinobi Legions (US) Shinobi X (EU) |
Action-Platformer | You're Sho, your girlfriend has been kidnapped by your bastard brother Kazuma, and it's up to you to kick some ass! While not quite as good as The Revenge of Shinobi or Shinobi III, as it ditches the pixel art in favor of digitized actors and FMVs making it look dated as hell, its also gorier, so you'll know you're in for a helluva time.
The European version has a different, vastly superior soundtrack by Richard Jacques, which sounds closer to Yuzo Koshiro's work in Revenge of Shinobi. |
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Solar Eclipse (US) Titan Wars (EU) |
Action / Space Sim | Similar to Star Fox, but more fast-paced, more power-ups, and more intense. Like Star Fox, you talk to your buds throughout the mission to make you feel like you aren't playing alone. | 
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Sonic R | Racing / Tails Doll / Can you feel the sunshine? | This game isn't as good as other Sonic games but is still fun to play with others. It has a GREAT soundtrack (if you like Brit pop) and has an original take on its racing techniques rather than just being a rip-off of Mario Kart or using some shitty boards. Also on PC, and on the Gamecube's (PS2 in Europe/Japan as well) Sonic Gems Collection. FUN FACT: This is the game that created that whole creepypasta "Tails Doll/Can You Feel the Sunshine?" thing. | 
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Sonic Jam | Platformer | Has the 4 main Genesis games (1, 2, 3, Sonic And Knuckles) along with full lock-on ability for Sonic and Knuckles. Works with 2 and 3 normally, and unlocks the Blue Sphere extended-mini-game with Sonic 1. There's also a 3D Sonic world to explore a bit, but nothing on Adventure's level. This is not emulation but actual ports, all the games were programmed from scratch for the Saturn! Optional spindash in Sonic 1, plus easy modes! | 
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Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels | FPS / Strategy | A game that combines gameplay of Doom and acts similar to the old Aliens vs. Predators game. The only thing though is you have a squad with you in which you can customize your gear and fight creatures in a struggle for survival in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Also on 3DO, PS1, PC. | 
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Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams | Fighting | First entry in the Alpha/Zero series. Very good, has a lot of new characters not seen in Street Fighter II and has great 2D graphics. Also on the PlayStation, GameBoy Color, Arcade, PSN, and PS2 via the Street Fighter Alpha Anthology collection. | 
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Street Fighter Alpha 2 | Fighting | The story of Street Fighter's origins is told through Ryu fighting an evil sonuvabitch named Akuma. You also get some Final Fight characters thrown in for some reason. It's on the Alpha Anthology Collection on the PS2 as well as the PlayStation, and SNES for a weird reason. Get it if you love Street Fighter and button mashin'. Named Street Fighter ZERO 2 in Japan. |
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Street Fighter Collection | Fighting | A very misleading name, as it does not include the original Street Fighter. But it does include: Super Street Fighter II, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold. Which are excellent, even if this is a very incomplete "collection". | 
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Street Racer (EU) | Racing | A hugely improved remake of a cartoony, combat-centric kart racer from the previous gen. Also on the PlayStation, but the Saturn version looks a lot better thanks to its clever use of VDP2 planes. | 
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The Legend of Oasis | Action RPG | Successor and Prequel to Beyond Oasis on the Genesis/Mega Drive. Has similar concepts of utilizing elemental spirits. | 
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The Need for Speed (US/EU) Over Drivin' GT-R (JP) |
Racing | The first game in the long-running NFS series, and the only one that got a Saturn port. While some visual detail was sacrificed next to the PS1 version, this one actually has more stable framerate, and the gameplay is a bit closer to the 3DO original.
The Japanese release was sponsored by Nissan, so all the cars were replaced with theirs. |
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Three Dirty Dwarves | Beat 'em up | A rather silly beat 'em up where you control three dwarves, each with unique abilities, as you fight through various levels in a rather silly environment/world. The art style is pretty awesome. | 
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Virtua Cop (1 and 2) |
Rail Shooter/Light Gun | Ever wanted to be a cop and shoot them fuckin' assheaded criminals? Well today's your lucky day, because the Virtua Cop games have exactly that. Both are also on PC. | 
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Virtua Fighter Remix | Fighting | Virtua Fighter 1, done right. Basically an apology from Sega after they rushed the original version of VF1 out the door to meet the release of the Saturn in America and Europe. Has polygon improvements, texture mapping, and improved gameplay. | 
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Virtua Fighter 2 | Fighting | It has better graphics, models, more players and stages than the first game (hey, it's a fighter, of course the sequels improve upon the prequels). The killer app for the Saturn in Japan.
Also on the PS2 (via SEGA AGES), PSN, and XBLA (Xbone compatible). There's a port on the Genesis if you like 2D fighting ports. |
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Virtua Fighter Kids | Fighting | Cutesy Virtua Fightan. Just what you'd expect from the series. Supposedly, it was actually made to test a new facial engine at the time, but was entertaining enough to become its own game. A bit more upbeat than 2 in style, music, and gameplay. | 
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Virtual On: Cyber Troopers | 3D Fighter | This game is the shit! Take control of a handful of robots and unleash the FURY!! Each robot has a unique arsenal of weapons to demolish your opponent in an awesome 3D fighter. In order for them to port this to the Saturn they had to get rid of crap like framerate and resolution, but don't let that stop you.
Even so, if you can't find the arcade version of this game, then this will do nicely. |
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Wipeout | Racing | Released a year after the 1995 PlayStation original, the Saturn port of Wipeout offers up a decent version albeit with a worse framerate, textures and the infamous Saturn mesh transparencies. No two-player serial link mode like in the PlayStation version is available either, and all three of the Sony licensed music tracks have been replaced, so no more Orbital, Leftfield and The Chemical Brothers. | 
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Wipeout 2097 (EU) Wipeout XL (JP) |
Racing | Once again, a big visual downgrade from the PlayStation version, and the licensed soundtrack was completely replaced. But it's still a solid game, and the new soundtrack by Tim "CoLD SToRAGE" Wright is excellent in its own right. So it's a valid alternative. Not released in the US. in-depth comparison |
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X-Men: Children of the Atom | Fighting | Capcom's first entry to Marvel fightan. Pretty good, at least this one and the sequel are in English on the Sega Saturn and the PlayStation. | 
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More Saturn facts
[edit | edit source]Specs
[edit | edit source]The Saturn is infamous for a complex and strange hardware design, with multiple processors all over. This, along with Sega's poor development tools (not to mention the weak sales), is a major reason why many developers didn't bother with it.
The system is widely considered inferior to the PlayStation when it comes to polygons. However, it is superior at 2D graphics, especially when paired with the Extended RAM Cartridges (only released in Japan) that allowed some arcade ports to be very close to the original. It could also do some unusual effects, especially the VDP2 infinite planes (think SNES' Mode 7 on steroids), often used to render vast pseudo-3D backgrounds that no other machine at the time could match.
Jupiter and the cartridge slot
[edit | edit source]The Saturn has a cartridge slot, but it was never used for games. It seems to be a vestige of the rumored Jupiter concept: a cartridge-based budget variant of the Saturn, for which a CD-ROM drive would be sold separately. This idea was quickly abandoned, so the slot was instead used by the aforementioned RAM cartridges, the Backup cartridge, and the Action Replay.
ODEs and modding
[edit | edit source]As optical drives wear out, it is a good idea to get an optical drive emulator. There are several options for the Saturn:
- Terraonion MODE - loads games from microSD cards, USB flash drives, or even SATA drives.
- Fenrir - loads games from microSD cards. Quite affordable.
- Satiator - loads games from standard SD cards; uses the rear expansion port instead of replacing the CD drive.
- Saroo - loads games from microSD cards; uses the cartridge port instead of replacing the CD drive. Also eliminates the need for an Extended RAM Cartridge. Affordable, available from various Chinese vendors, but of varying quality. Currently the cheapest solution and is becoming very reliable fast.
- Saturn Gamer's Cartridge - this is not an ODE, instead it is an alternative recreation of the Backup cartridge that lets you save your data to microSD. But with the Pseudo Saturn Kai software, it unlocks your Saturn to run burned CDs without the need to install a modchip.
Emulation
[edit | edit source]There are various emulators to play Saturn games on a PC or other devices. Yaba Sanshiro is hands down the best since it has implemented high resolution VDP2 planes, which is a huge visual improvement to games that use that feature. But if you have a low-end PC, SSF may be a better choice.
Others
[edit | edit source]Relevant guides from Randomized Gaming:
- The complete European Sega Saturn 60Hz guide to PAL optimised games
- Sega Saturn games with major region and version changes.
Recommendation copypasta
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The original image from /v/
Videos
[edit | edit source]| Fifth Generation | ||
| Consoles | 3DO - Commodore Amiga CD32 - Capcom CPS Changer - Atari Jaguar - Casio Loopy - SNK Neo Geo CD - Nintendo 64 - NEC PC-FX - Apple Pippin - Bandai Playdia - Sony PlayStation - Sega Saturn | |
| Handhelds | Nintendo Game Boy Color - Tiger game.com - SNK Neo Geo Pocket - Tiger R-Zone - Nintendo Virtual Boy | |