What should I get for Sega Saturn?

[jebussaves88]

I've read a lot of lists online about what games were best on the Saturn. However, I always get the feeling that they were always more to the aquired taste with the best games always being the rare ones.

I owned a Saturn ten years ago, and have recently bought another one for £10. I wondered what games the Escapist community thought were the best on Saturn. If I could come up with around 10 or 20 good games, then I'll feel better about my purchase.

Any kind of game but sports. My taste in games is fairly broad

 

[rossatdi]

Guardian Heroes - kick ass side scrolling fantasy beat 'em up
Sonic Jam - 4 classic sonic 2d games
Story of Thor 2 - brilliant top-down adventure RPG which great puzzles.
Die Hard Arcade - brilliant 3d beat 'em up set in a bizarre version of Die Hard.

(I've got them all and still play them!)

 

[mintsauce]

Are you going to be able to play Japanese imports? Kind of an important question with Saturn gaming.

 

[aliiicat]

I'm not a fan of the Saturn, but Sega Rally on it rocks.

ps. if you want to hear a really funny rant on the Sega Saturn, download PSM3 Podcast Episode 10 (itunes), and skip to 01:08:15

 

[Susan Arendt]

Radiant Silvergun
X-Men vs. Street Fighter
Vib Ribbon
Harmful Park
Mr. Bones
Herc's Adventures


Some of those are Japanese imports, though, just FYI.

 

[Cyclomega]

Die Hard Arcade is in fact Dynamite Deka (the second one being Dynamite Cop on Dreamcast).

NiGHTS is a fun game, but an acquired taste.
Guardian Heroes and Radiant Silvergun are awesome games.
Silhouette Mirage (also available on PS) is also a fun game I'd recommend.

Otherwise, Story of Thor 2 is a great experience, and the Panzer Dragoon games are a must have.

 

[rossatdi]

Someone else who has actually played Story of Thor 2? Wow.

 

[Divinegon]

X-Men: Children of the Atom (Great 2D Beat-em-up)
Dragon Force (You could say this has a bit of RTS, since it's army based combats, but it has several RPG elements to it)
Panzer Dragon (You have to have this if you have a Sega Saturn)
Panzer Dragon Zwei (You have to have this right after having Panzer Dragon)
Panzer Dragon Saga (You seriously have to have this, but it's not that easy to find though)
Pandemonium (Cult like platform side scroller that is just odd)
Clockwork Knights 2 (Never played the first, but the second was so goofy but so fun. Another side-scroller)
Shining Force 3 (Awesome grid based RPG with neat story, cinematic like battle sequences and profession system)
Guardian Heroes (Like it was said before, great side scroller beat em up adventure game that involves multiple paths and multiple endings. Plus, you have a huge gold armor wearing skeleton that blasts everyone with his sword as a side kick. How cool is that?)
Exhumed (Hey, it was mentioned in Zero Punctuation. But it really is a neat 3D shoot-em-up)
Bug (Must have been one of the first Sega Saturn games. Maybe it's not that great, but I grew up on it and found it entertaining enough)
Nights: Into Dreams (Another cult like game with a concept I haven't seen replicated.)

 

[Hito_chan]

If you can afford/find a copy of it get Panzer Dragoon Saga, possibly one of the best RPGs I've ever played. Also Nights into Dreams is good too.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Oh, Dragon Force, yes! An absolute must-have. Burning Rangers is good fun, too.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Another side-scroller)
Shining Force 3 (Awesome grid based RPG with neat story, cinematic like battle sequences and profession system)

There's a Shining Force 3? Wow... I may need to buy a saturn soon.

 

[r4ndom]

A burial plot

 

[mintsauce]

A burial plot

Comments like that around here? I seriously hope you're joking.

 

[Cyclomega]

Oh, Dragon Force, yes! An absolute must-have. Burning Rangers is good fun, too.

I forgot Burning Rangers, but it's true it's great, both Clockwork Knights were cool too.
Bug Too I would discourage trying, it's more of a frustration than a good game.

Daytona USA was a fun experience, with Sega Rally, but we already mentioned this last one.

Fighting Vipers and Virtua Fighter 2 were absolute must-have on the console (Fighting Vipers 2 on Dreamcast if forgettable at worst, average at best), Last Bronx is hit-or-miss, but not bad, and Virtua Fighters Kids is cute and fun (VF in SD).

I don't remember if Shining Force 3 was released outside Japan, but it was a great game, for what I've heard.

 

[Hellion25]

Going with the Virtua Fighter/Fighting Vipers bit, there's also Fighter's Megamix which takes all the characters from both and puts them in the same game, along with a bunch of other secret characters. I love that game

As for other games, there have been a few good un's mentioned, the Panzer Dragoon series is a must. Plus it would be well worth your while to check out the following:

Baku Baku: A quirky puzzled game that revolves around matching up animals with the food. Kinda like Columns and Tetris.

Dark Savior: Old school RPG/Adventure game that was made by the people who made Landstalker. However it is looking mighty dated these days.

Any Capcom beat em up: Seriously, the superior quality of the 2d processing in the Saturn means that any Capcom fighter from the era will be massively better than the PS1 equivalent. Especially if you can get your hands on one of the RAM packs that allow for more detail in the games.

Exhumed/Powerslave: Name depends upon which side of the pond you are, but this is a cool little FPS set in Egypt. I always had a lot of fun with it.

Shining Wisdom: A Zelda-esque Action/Adventure game. Well worth a look.

Virtua Cop 1 & 2: Brilliant games if you can get your hands on a light gun or two. Otherwise they are decent enough.

Plus pretty much all the suggestions listed thus far are well worth your time.

 

[Woe Is You]

Radiant Silvergun

Good luck with THAT!

Though excellent, you might as well prepare to pay upwards 150 bucks to get a copy of it these days. It's that wanted.

Guardian Heroes was already mentioned, so I'll just chime in to list Enemy Zero and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (better than the PS1 version, has tons of new stuff in it). Fun times.

Quake on the Saturn is pretty interesting too, it's basically a completely different game from any of the other ports. Even the engine is different.

 

[Vortigar]

Strafe Mcgee:
Better yet, there's multiple episodes of Shining Force 3 if I recall correctly. Only one of them was ever released in the west though. And it is pretty rare.

Fighting games:
Virtua Fighter 2 aged pretty well, though not being able to sidestep and techroll is annoying.
Fighting Vipers, because this series needs another iteration. And beating up the skater is always good stuff.
Darkstalkers/Vampire Saviour, another lost fighting game franchise that needs more love. No BBHood in the Saturn version though. I always figured red riding hood would have an uzi for some reason.

And the one I posted for:
Fighters Megamix, because nothing beats beating someone up with the AM2 palmtree or a Daytona car.

Aside Strafe_McGee:
Keep the hate alive!

 

[Susan Arendt]

Radiant Silvergun

Good luck with THAT!

Though excellent, you might as well prepare to pay upwards 150 bucks to get a copy of it these days. It's that wanted.

Guardian Heroes was already mentioned, so I'll just chime in to list Enemy Zero and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (better than the PS1 version, has tons of new stuff in it). Fun times.

Quake on the Saturn is pretty interesting too, it's basically a completely different game from any of the other ports. Even the engine is different.

Didn't say it wouldn't be somewhat difficult, but it IS worth it.

 

[Mistah Kurtz]

Buy a modchip. I doubt the developers would be miffed that you didn't pay a hundred+ dollars for panzer dragoon.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

If you have a Saturn and don't have Guardian Heroes rectify this situation immediately!

Also Burning Rangers and Fighters Megamix are awesome too.