[Agobue]

As Winston Churchill once said: "History is written by the victors." And so, 20 years after Sega Saturn arrived, and around 15 since its untimely death, Sega's 32-bit console is, frankly, a bit of a joke. 'Saturn LOL' seems to be about the gist of it. But don't be fooled by modern-day popularist opinions. Saturn had (technically) more power than PSone. It had a games library glistening with AAA-quality gaming jewels. It deserves your attention. So put your preconceptions to one side and let me explain why this wonderful games console warrants more respect.



http://www.gamesrada..._campaign=Owned

This post has been edited by Agobue: 25 November 2014 - 11:29 AM

[DigitalDuck]

The Saturn will always have a place in my heart, even though I generally prefer PS1 and never owned a Saturn until recently, because it had its own ideas of where games should go and I think we'd have a very different market right now if the Saturn had been the winner of that generation.

The Saturn version of OutRun managed to be not only arcade-perfect, but arcade-better (and had the best music too!). After Burner, Space Harrier, Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Daytona USA essentially made the arcade obsolete.

And Rayman. The Saturn version of Rayman is THE definitive version, having all of the content of the PS1 version with higher-quality graphics and sound, and of course that fantastic (digital) controller that has yet to be beaten in my opinion. If only it had a similar analogue controller instead of that plate then I'd never need to use another one again.

[TheKazeblade]

I just missed being old enough to have been aware of the Saturn. I was about 4 at the time and by the time I was old enough to be into games, I went with the PSOne. But in recent years I've definitely become enamored with the console, and will one of these days pick one up. They seem fairly easy to come by around my area, and fairly cheap. I just haven't done it yet.

It's hilariously ironic that the very reason Saturn lost to PSOne back in the day is the exact same reason PS3 lost to all of its competitors last gen. Power is great, but it's worthless if it's a pain to program for. Alas, history has chosen its victor.

[GagaMan]

I was one of those weird kids that got a Saturn instead of a Playstation. I still remember my mum trying to convince me to choose a Playstation instead but I said "but that one doesn't have Sonic on it". I didn't get one until late 1997, as before that I was fully content with my Mega Drive. Parents got it from Currys for about £220 with Sonic Jam, Sega Ages, Bubble Bobble/Rainbow Islands, Sega Rally and Manx TT.

I think I was a bit too young in the Mega Drive days so mostly just got Sonic and crappy kids games like Bubsy and Smurfs on that, but I think the Saturn truly molded my gaming tastes to what they are. I could have had a Playstation but I'm pretty glad I had a Saturn instead, especially since a lot of the games I own from back then are rare now haha.

[Andrew Rosa]

It's still my favorite SEGA console. I picked up a PlayStation when it was first launched because we just couldn't afford the Saturn. It wasn't until the system had been retired and marked down to $20 that I picked one up. Had the three pack-in games (Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop and Daytona USA), and I bought Burning Rangers. I played the Hell out of that unit. Once I started picking up stellar imports like X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Elevator Action 2: The Return and Deep Fear, there was no going back. So many fantastic arcade ports and exclusives. Of all my consoles (I have 20) it's the one I play the most. Really wish it could have lived a longer, fuller life.

[Jason]

As someone who didn't have a current game console until GameCube, I have fond yet brief memories of my Saturn. I got my first one in 2000, with Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic Jam, and Sonic R. That's all I ever had for it. I was a strict Sonic fanboy until I was a teenager. Even so, I don't remember ever seeing a single Saturn game on a store shelf or for rent at Blockbuster. However, my brother was always able to find games for his N64. So guess which system got the bigger TV in the basement, and which one got the small one in the guest room?

I sold that Saturn back in 2003, but I got another one a couple of years ago after finding out what else the system had to offer. With the price of Saturn games these days, I got a modchip to even hope to own more than 5 games.

It's a fun system in retrospect, but comparing it to what was released at the time, it probably wasn't a good time for most owners. Kind of why the GameCube is popular now but the butt of jokes in the moment.

[Kiddo Cabbusses]

Hardware-wise, I will say my Sega Saturn experience is probably the worst, because the Saturn was the first console to ever outright "break" on me. Yes, even my NES from childhood with shitty RIF Connectors and all lasted longer than my first Saturn console. It was unfortunate, because mid/late-gen games like Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtual On impressed me a good bit and I still had loyalty and faith in Sega to support them during that time. Heck, I was even following those "Red Shoe Diaries" for Sonic Xtreme. From my perspective back then - and considering what little else the Sega Saturn had going for it - Sonic Xtreme was meant to be THE Saturn game to get. So it was crushing to see it replaced with a quick up-port of 3D Blast (And by replaced, I mean with older versions of the boxart in print ads LITERALLY swapping out the "Xtreme" logo to the "3D Blast" logo to try to trick people into thinking it was a simple renamed product.) and the hyped moved to Sonic Team's project NiGHTs, a game which I thought was okay, but not particularly wow-inducing even compared to the earlier Virtua Fighter 2. In retrospect, the "3D Joystick" NiGHTs had also felt underused in potential compared to what Nintendo would do just a bit later with it's N64 lineup. Furthermore, I was becoming aware of the import-only lineup, including "X-Men Vs. Street Fighter" and it's apparent arcade-perfectness, and it made me angry that Sega was intentionally keeping the best video games in Japan only, which was a betrayal of my expectations not just for depriving me of what I wnat, but because it seemed like a very Nintendo-y thing to do - Sega was betraying the message they gave to their audience to sell the Genesis on.

... But yeah, back to my Saturn breaking, it busted on Virtua Cop 2 for some reason and I didn't replace it until a good many years later.

[Elston87]

The only game I ever played on the Saturn back in the day at my uncle's place was Sega Rally Championship, and boy was I in love with that title. It was a hard choice for me; I got a PlayStation as a Christmas gift in 1997 and it was a blast. A similar game to S.R.C. on the PlayStation was Rally Cross, which was also hella fun. Both games had great physics, rockin' soundtrack, and addicting gameplay. I actually found myself listening to the soundtrack for S.R.C. moreso than Rally Cross. That game alone tempted me to also get a Saturn alongside my PlayStation, but unfortunately that decision did not stick...

Nowadays a local vendor selling a functional Saturn is hard to come by in my area. I've been seeking one out for quite some time; I still have that lonely copy of Sega Rally, sitting on my bookshelf not being played in a console, gifted to me by my uncle before I had to relocate. The day I find a working Saturn console is gonna be the day where one big-ass nostalgia bomb is just gonna explode in my head.

GAME OVER YEEAAAAAAHHHH!!

[RenyNoise]

I'm thinking about buying a Saturn myself. Anyone know any hardware issues that I should look out for? A guy on Craigslist is selling one, but he says that it needs the "Reset Button pushed a few times to start, like most old Saturns." Should I even be taking that seriously?

This post has been edited by RenyNoise: 02 December 2014 - 05:57 PM