Your favorite Sega Saturn imports?

[DragonmasterDan]

I'm going to take the unpopular opinion and state that I actually like the US Saturn and Sega CD cases.

Why?

Well for a few reasons, for one you get larger manuals and packaging, a second reason is as stated before they don't get lost as often as other system cases. When I go game shopping I see lots of complete Saturn games,percentage wise the number of loose PS1 games is at least double or triple.

Third is, they kind of look cool.

Yes they break easily, and they waste space, and are difficulty to pack and ship. But they have some good qualities as well.

[DragonmasterDan]

The slot on the Saturn sucks so bad.  The only thing that works in my slot is my official memory cartridge, my Gameshark no longer works, so now I can't play any of my imports.

...which is okay, because all the best games came out in the US anyway. 

The Saturn cartridge slot is terrible. I own SIX Saturns, not one of them consistently reads carts. I long since gave up relying on carts to play imports and bought a Japanese Saturn (which of course doesn't read carts either).

[SignOfZeta]

Just imagine if of those huge cases were the standard in Japan. If you had a complete collection you'd need an entire room just for Saturn games.

My God I hate those cases. They shatter instantly, they hog, what, 3.5 or 4 x the space, something like that? Sure they have "bigger" manuals, but considering the horrible artwork and cheap-ass black and white manuals US games usually had, I'm not sure how this is any kind of advantage.

The only question is which system had a shittier US presence, the Saturn or the PC Engine? I'm actually not sure.

Both systems are known for shooters and fighters in Japan, but in the US at least 3/4 of the shooters and fighters never came out. This was also true of the RPGs. Both systems had ugly-ass black (because black is "mature") cases for the US. Both had enlarged controllers (although its almost impossible to tell the Turbo Duo pad is bigger, it is). There have to be other parallels...

And now, despite how great these systems are, they are basically viewed as huge failures in America, and are collected primarily by the sorts of people who also hoard loser systems like 3DO, CDi, and Jaguar.

Maybe I should do an evil alternative to my website, The White Line. It could be called The Black Line and cover all the bad things these three systems (PCE, SS, DC) share. Hmm...

[termis]

Man, I do hate those US saturn cases for all the known reasons.  But what I hate even more -- double CD cases for PCE/Saturn releases (especially for single CD game releases).  Those frickin things are way thicker than necessary for a thicker manual and another disc or so.  Publishers eventually got it right with DVD cases.  Big enough for thick manuals + maps, multiple discs, etc, and yet still slim enough, and robust all at the same time.

The white saturn looks decent enough, but personally, I think they totally got it wrong with all the gaudy colors for buttons.  pink, gray, green, yellow, etc... It just screams "cheap toy".

[SignOfZeta]

A double CD case still fits with all your other CDs. I have no problem with them.

[Mathius]

My Action Replay came today and surprisingly it worked the first time I used it. I must have lucked out and got a Saturn that didn't have its cartridge slot wore out, and by "wore out" I mean slightly used.

[DragonmasterDan]

My Action Replay came today and surprisingly it worked the first time I used it. I must have lucked out and got a Saturn that didn't have its cartridge slot wore out, and by "wore out" I mean slightly used.

Leave the action replay in the Saturn. Don't insert and reinsert it repeatedly. The trick with Saturn cartridge slots is finding a "sweet spot" where the system will read the cartridge consistently and leaving it in there. Also, the action replay may boot, but if some of the pins aren't perfect getting a RAM expansion game to work may be a problem.

Added in edit: Just on a side note, one of the reasons the cart slots wear out (besides cheap/bad design) is that third party carts (memory cards, 4 meg carts, action replay, gameshark etc) typically have wider PCBs that also lack the tapered edge that the official carts have. This often leads to the carts pushing the pins on the cart slot out of position. Once you get the cart reading, leave it in.

[SignOfZeta]

Leave the action replay in the Saturn. Don't insert and reinsert it repeatedly. The trick with Saturn cartridge slots is finding a "sweet spot" where the system will read the cartridge consistently and leaving it in there.

I agree with this. If you don't have any other carts, just leave it in there. From my experience, the people who say they don't have a problem with the SS cart slot are people who only have one cart.

Added in edit: Just on a side note, one of the reasons the cart slots wear out (besides cheap/bad design) is that third party carts (memory cards, 4 meg carts, action replay, gameshark etc) typically have wider PCBs that also lack the tapered edge that the official carts have. This often leads to the carts pushing the pins on the cart slot out of position.

I don't agree with this. My current main Saturn, a white one with a switch, has never seen a 3rd party cart in its life and the cart slot is still craparoo.

[Ninja Spirit]

My white Saturn kicked me out of my game back to the CD player once when I was trying to find the sweet spot with my memory cart....

[DragonmasterDan]

I don't agree with this. My current main Saturn, a white one with a switch, has never seen a 3rd party cart in its life and the cart slot is still craparoo.

I wasn't saying it was the SOLE reason, just a reason. Just using a first party memory card and a netlink and yanking one out and putting in another may have screwed up the cart slot on my first Saturn. It's just that third party carts do a better job of ruining it.

[Mathius]

It's not going anywhere.

[DragonmasterDan]

It's not going anywhere.

Have you tried any RAM expansion games?

[Mathius]

It's not going anywhere.

Have you tried any RAM expansion games?

I don't have any yet because I just go my Saturn last month. I plan to in the future. For now I am just collecting Japanese shooters.

[SignOfZeta]

My white Saturn kicked me out of my game back to the CD player once when I was trying to find the sweet spot with my memory cart....

Um...you did this when the unit was running?

[SignOfZeta]

I don't agree with this. My current main Saturn, a white one with a switch, has never seen a 3rd party cart in its life and the cart slot is still craparoo.

I wasn't saying it was the SOLE reason, just a reason. Just using a first party memory card and a netlink and yanking one out and putting in another may have screwed up the cart slot on my first Saturn. It's just that third party carts do a better job of ruining it.

I swapped carts a lot during the Netlink days when I was running a black US model, the original PAR, the 4-in-1 (when It was released), the official 4MB, and the back-up cart. I got my white Saturn after the Netlink was over. It hasn't seen anywhere near the cart slot action my original US model did and its always had a mod switch, so its only ever seen the 4MB and the back-up cart...and if anything the cart slot started acting up even worse, and even sooner than it did with my original model.

It always sucks, and there is nothing that can be done with it short of hardwiring the carts into place...which I've certainly put some thought into.

[DragonmasterDan]

I swapped carts a lot during the Netlink days when I was running a black US model, the original PAR, the 4-in-1 (when It was released), the official 4MB, and the back-up cart. I got my white Saturn after the Netlink was over. It hasn't seen anywhere near the cart slot action my original US model did and its always had a mod switch, so its only ever seen the 4MB and the back-up cart...and if anything the cart slot started acting up even worse, and even sooner than it did with my original model.

It always sucks, and there is nothing that can be done with it short of hardwiring the carts into place...which I've certainly put some thought into.

I kept buying replacement Saturns until their cart slots quit working. Eventually I bought one Japanese one (mine is the Gray color original model rather than the white) and have one US one I use (I have the others still), and leave official memory cards in and hope they stay in the sweet spot while I play and save games.

[SignOfZeta]

I just mess with the slot a lot. I've never known one to stop crop out completely, they just take a while to get working.

[DragonmasterDan]

I just mess with the slot a lot. I've never known one to stop crop out completely, they just take a while to get working.

I've known them to crap out completely, or take 30+ minutes to get working at which point I give up.

Added in edit: I spent about 15 minutes tinkering with one that has a particularly bad cart slot. I tried the following.
Netlink
First Party Sega Memory Card
Third party Interact Memory Card
Action Replay 4 in 1

I put in each cart 15 times in various levels of how far I put it in, the only cart to get any sort of a read (IE the All rights by Sega Screen pops up before it goes to the main menu) was the third party interact card, and when I went to the memory menu it still couldn't see it.

Further edits:
After a few tests in my Japanese Saturn, the third party, first party card and the netlink were all read within 5 tries. The action replay was not successful. So the problem is the slot, not the carts (well, maybe the action replay).

[Digi.k]

My goal is to play around with this Saturn for a while until I can afford to get a Japanese Victor Saturn.

Why the Victor Saturn out of curiosity?

It looks puurty

go with sexy parodius and try and get the previous one too  Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius but its got japanese menus so might be a little tricky navigating.

can also try cotton 2 and cotton boomerang

plus Princess Crown which is an action RPG but you can get by without knowing japanese

[Mathius]

My goal is to play around with this Saturn for a while until I can afford to get a Japanese Victor Saturn.

Why the Victor Saturn out of curiosity?

It looks puurty

go with sexy parodius and try and get the previous one too  Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius but its got japanese menus so might be a little tricky navigating.

can also try cotton 2 and cotton boomerang

plus Princess Crown which is an action RPG but you can get by without knowing japanese

Sexy Parodius came today! I am going to have to get a model 2 Saturn controller because the original just doesn't cut it for this game. For some reason the button placement throws me off.

[DragonmasterDan]

Sexy Parodius came today! I am going to have to get a model 2 Saturn controller because the original just doesn't cut it for this game. For some reason the button placement throws me off.

Do you have a model 3 UFO analog or a model 1 (similar to model 2, but slightly bigger and weird triggers at the top)?

[SignOfZeta]

I think he must be talking about the US-only early Saturn pad. I don't really think of it as a "model 1" because it isn't an evolutionary thing. All Japanese Saturns (which pre-dated the US Saturn by...I don't know, 7 months at least) came with the same pad, its only the US ones, and only the early US ones, that have that f-ed up thing with the shiny d-pad. When the US models went to round buttons then the basic design was standard world wide.

At the time we all complained about how shitty the US Saturn pad was, but honesty is not that bad at all. Its just mysterious that they bothered to design such a thing when they already had what was at the time, and still is, the best digital pad ever made.

[Mathius]

Yeah it's the original Saturn pad with the weird d-pad and shoulder buttons. Honestly, the pad works great with In The Hunt and Rayforce, but for some reason it just feels weird playing Sexy Parodius with it.

[Mathius]

go with sexy parodius and try and get the previous one too  Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius but its got japanese menus so might be a little tricky navigating.

can also try cotton 2 and cotton boomerang

plus Princess Crown which is an action RPG but you can get by without knowing japanese

Is Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius the same as the Deluxe Pack? I wonder why they went with all Japanese menus this time around?

I would really love to play one of the Cotton games eventually. Of course, the Turbo-CD version would be my preferable first in that regard.

I really do love Odin Sphere on the PS2, and as for Princess Crown (made by the same developer) I heard it had a lot of frustrating aspects to the game. We'll see.

[Joe Redifer]

Is Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius the same as the Deluxe Pack?

No.  The former is otherwise known as Parodius Forever With You or even Chatting Parodius.  It's very good and often overlooked because all anyone ever talks about is Sexy Parodius (which is inferior, in my opinion).

[Digi.k]

you might also want to try getting Astal too and Saturn Bomberman which personally I think is perhaps the best bomberman game ever!!!

and please consider all the Capcom stuff

there is also Soukyugurentai which a few say influenced radiant silvergun.. I think the re-release has a problem with import saturns.  I have the original release copy and that runs fine on my saturns. 

Battle garegga and Twinkle star sprites are also great on the saturn as is Thunder force V

EDIT

Sengoku Blaede 2 is great as well yup its spelt blaede on the japanese cover which might be a mistake

[Mathius]

you might also want to try getting Astal too and Saturn Bomberman which personally I think is perhaps the best bomberman game ever!!!

and please consider all the Capcom stuff

there is also Soukyugurentai which a few say influenced radiant silvergun.. I think the re-release has a problem with import saturns.  I have the original release copy and that runs fine on my saturns. 

Battle garegga and Twinkle star sprites are also great on the saturn as is Thunder force V

EDIT

Sengoku Blaede 2 is great as well yup its spelt blaede on the japanese cover which might be a mistake

Astal came yesterday along with Sexy Parodius. I heard a lot of good things about Astal so I picked it up on GameGavel for around $15. I would really like to pick up Sengoku Ace as well as Blaede. Did it have a Saturn release?

[DragonmasterDan]

Astal came yesterday along with Sexy Parodius. I heard a lot of good things about Astal so I picked it up on GameGavel for around $15. I would really like to pick up Sengoku Ace as well as Blaede. Did it have a Saturn release?

Astal is a pretty decent 2D platformer. It's visually beautiful, as a game it's solid but definitely a game with more style than substance, I know this is an obvious question but have you picked up Nights?

Added in edit: Oh and one more thing, I would be foolish not to mention my single favorite 32-bit game. Dragon Force !!!!!!

[Joe Redifer]

Nights, like Sonic, is another popular Sega game that I just can't get in to, though I think it's even worse than Sonic.  It's just so.... boring.  It's kind of ugly, too.

[Mathius]

I might pick up Nights just to see what all the fuss was about.

So, what's Dragon Force all about?

[DragonmasterDan]

I might pick up Nights just to see what all the fuss was about.

So, what's Dragon Force all about?

Nights is a fun but difficult game. It's not really a platformer, it's a timed flying game.


Dragon Force is a game that's a strategy RPG. But it's the best strategy RPG ever. If you don't speak Japanese you'll want to pick up the US version. I have a review online I made YEARS ago

http://www.gamesarefun.com/gamesdb/review.php?reviewid=17

[SignOfZeta]

I never found NiGHTS to be difficult at all. Not even slightly. Its basically a score attack game you can beat on the first try but will play over and over again, if its your kind of thing.

I quite like it, but I understand why other people don't. Same with Shenmue, Rex, Scud Race, and a bunch of other Sega games I love.

[termis]

Yeah, nights just didn't do it for me.  It definitely looks good (especially for its time), but it seemed more like... say, a really well-done mini game, if that makes sense.

Dragon Force is awesome, and I love the quirky Working Designs humor (though it does seem a bit force-fitted... but hey, all WD games are like that).

[Ninja Spirit]

I find Dragon Force to have a really steep learning curve. I've beat some battles here and there though and I still don't really understand what I'm doing.

[SuperDeadite]

Dragon Force is fun, but a bit broken.  Game has different troop formations that seem strategic.  But in truth, most of them are pointless.  Only real strategy is troop affinity, but again  this is broken, because Dragons only have 1 weakness.  So basically, get dragons, then just rush, rush, rush.

[Digi.k]

I find Dragon Force to have a really steep learning curve. I've beat some battles here and there though and I still don't really understand what I'm doing.

can feel like you don't have control especially on the map where everything just seems to happen!!

BTW OP you should try Shining in the Holy Ark.. I find it looks ugly but IMO its a great japanese first person RPG by camelot makers of golden sun and shining force games.  I don't remember the english translation costing too much but I haven't checked the prices for these things in years..

plus Dead or Alive and the japanese version of Fighting Vipers just for pepsi man.

You might like Panzer dragoon Zwei too

Nights btw just has some great "candyfloss" music

also Tengai Makyou IV just for the plain weirdness... its JRPG within a fictional america where satanic forces have come to destroy americans XD.  It's completely in japanese tho but I just love it mostly for the music.... hmmm I really should get off my ass and make a music vid for that on youtube....

[DragonmasterDan]

Dragon Force is fun, but a bit broken.  Game has different troop formations that seem strategic.  But in truth, most of them are pointless.  Only real strategy is troop affinity, but again  this is broken, because Dragons only have 1 weakness.  So basically, get dragons, then just rush, rush, rush. 

I don't want to do much spoiling, but for a good part of the game, getting Dragons is difficult. It's only useful as a strategy towards the end of the game.

 Also, when you fight them, you definitely benefit from having good generals with Samurai.

[SuperDeadite]

Which is the big issue for me personally.  The start of the game is the most challenging part.  Once you get dragons, game gets way too easy.  Strategy games should get harder as you progress, not easier.

Dragon Force is fun, but a bit broken.  Game has different troop formations that seem strategic.  But in truth, most of them are pointless.  Only real strategy is troop affinity, but again  this is broken, because Dragons only have 1 weakness.  So basically, get dragons, then just rush, rush, rush. 

I don't want to do much spoiling, but for a good part of the game, getting Dragons is difficult. It's only useful as a strategy towards the end of the game.

 Also, when you fight them, you definitely benefit from having good generals with Samurai.

[DragonmasterDan]

Which is the big issue for me personally.  The start of the game is the most challenging part.  Once you get dragons, game gets way too easy.  Strategy games should get harder as you progress, not easier.

Well the fun of it is building your empire though. But yeah, the best strategy is obviously to have one large invasion force and just hold down fort at your other locations once you build up that strong initial group.

[TheClash603]

Shining the Holy Ark cost me $25 a few weeks ago shipped CIB, so you should be able to find this game at a good price.

If you don't speak Japanese, this topic has slowly moved to "good US Saturn games."

[DragonmasterDan]

Shining the Holy Ark cost me $25 a few weeks ago shipped CIB, so you should be able to find this game at a good price.

If you don't speak Japanese, this topic has slowly moved to "good US Saturn games."

Shining the Holy Ark is like the cover art to Cosmic Fantasy 2, or extended use of a virtual boy. It will hurt your eyes after a few minutes.

I remember that being a giant quadralateral looking ugly mess. With that said, it's probably been a decade since I booted it up.

And I think the OP has the action replay, so who cares about regions.

[SignOfZeta]

If you don't speak Japanese, this topic has slowly moved to "good US Saturn games."

I'm not sure what this means. You don't have to "speak Japanese" to play an import Saturn game. Its a disc, its round, same size and shape, put in the machine, turn it on, use the controller. Pretty simple.

As with the PC Engine, knowledge of Japanese isn't required for the vast majority of JP Saturn games. Most of the really popular Saturn imports are fighting games and shooters, most of which have all English text anyway, in the places where they have any text at all. So you can't read the endings in XMen vs Street Fighter. So what? They don't make any damn sense no matter what language they are in.

[DragonmasterDan]

I find Dragon Force to have a really steep learning curve. I've beat some battles here and there though and I still don't really understand what I'm doing.

It takes some time to learn, and it takes a little while to master. You need to come up with strategies to capture generals and build your army up early on, then develop your own more advanced tactics. I'd go into further detail but I don't want to turn this into a Dragon Force thread.

[Ninja Spirit]

I'd go into further detail but I don't want to turn this into a Dragon Force thread.

Great idea, I should make one.

=============
When it comes to J-RPG's, I don't worry so much about the story that I just use the language barrier as a learning opportunity. Total immersion all the way....that is when hiragana and katakana in menus, or kanji with hiragana on top as an aid. (Now I'm reflecting when I was playing Far East of Eden: Kabuki Den, in that game, in the items/weapons/armor screens, the name of the thing itself is in kanji, but the description of it is basically its hiragana equivalent, and that helped.)

However, one certain game, Samurai Spirits/Shodown RPG.....that's some scary shit, because all menus and status attributes are in kanji, you'll have to read it like you were born and raised Japanese. With that said, my Neo Geo CD and Sega saturn version copies are just straight trophies.

[Digi.k]

you might also wanna try hanagumi taisen columns and puyo puyo sun which I honestly think are 2 of the best puzzle games I've ever played

[SignOfZeta]

I do like that Sakura Columns game, even though I don't usually like that the series. Putting the super meters and the brighter graphics made a big difference.

On the subject of puzzle games, Super Puzzle Fighter IIX and Magical Drop 3 are pretty popular.

[TheClash603]

If you don't speak Japanese, this topic has slowly moved to "good US Saturn games."

I'm not sure what this means. You don't have to "speak Japanese" to play an import Saturn game. Its a disc, its round, same size and shape, put in the machine, turn it on, use the controller. Pretty simple.

As with the PC Engine, knowledge of Japanese isn't required for the vast majority of JP Saturn games. Most of the really popular Saturn imports are fighting games and shooters, most of which have all English text anyway, in the places where they have any text at all. So you can't read the endings in XMen vs Street Fighter. So what? They don't make any damn sense no matter what language they are in.

My apologies for using the word speak, rather than read.  As a person who knows only one language, I assume the two go together, but that may be my ignorance at work.

However, my point was that several import suggestions were not the best, because I have played the US versions, and had the game been in another language, I would not have beem able to play.  Unfortunately, paying the premium for a US version of a game like Dragon Force is often necessary.

I agree the Saturn is a popular choice for imports due to shooters and fighting games, and to the topic creator, I suggest mainly importing that type of game.

One counter to my own point of getting the US version of a game is Saturn Bomberman.  US version is very expensive, but the import is not.  This is the best Bomberman game, and a must buy in my opinion.

[SignOfZeta]

The US version of Bomberman SS is expensive? Shit, I need to ditch my copy!

I wonder how many copes of the JP version I could trade it for...

[DragonmasterDan]

One counter to my own point of getting the US version of a game is Saturn Bomberman.  US version is very expensive, but the import is not.  This is the best Bomberman game, and a must buy in my opinion.

A friend of mine bought a Saturn gameshark and a copy of the import for like 20.00 for exactly the reason you just described. The US one is too expensive.

[CGQuarterly]

My personal favorites are (in no particular order):

Elevator Action Returns
Capcom Generations vol. 2 (the Ghosts 'n Goblins collection)
Salamander Deluxe Pack
Gradius Deluxe Pack
The Outrun Sega Ages disc
Radiant Silvergun

Chris